Project OU Weekly Research v2 | Week 6- Infernape / Mega Gardevoir / Raikou

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Terrakion.

Banned deucer.
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approved by Celticpride | last one by starry blanket​

The main goal of this project is to encourage and maintain discussion on lesser used, but still effective, Pokemon in ORAS OU with community participation. In addition to discussion based on the Pokemon (plural) of that week, the thread acts as a nice way to encourage people to build with more creative options in the tier, getting them out of their comfort zone a bit.
How it works:​
  • Each week, 2-3 Pokemon will be chosen as our "test subjects".​
    • From there, those of you participating can simply post saying which Pokemon you're gonna focus on.​
  • At the end of the week, those participating simply post their findings in this thread. Things you can post include (but are not limited to):​
    • strategies used​
    • how you went about building with this Pokemon​
    • general strengths / weaknesses you noticed about the Pokemon​
    • if the meta is in favor of the Pokemon or not​
    • sets you used with the Pokemon​
    • and many more.....​
  • During the discussion period, I'll tag everyone who grabbed a Pokemon.​
  • Finally, as we're starting up the next week, I'll be announcing archived posts for each Pokemon from the previous week!​
    • The posts that get archived are simply the posts that the people I normally talk to OU stuff about & I deem the best at "summarizing" that Pokemon.​
    • PLEASE NOTE: the archived posts aren't necessarily the best posts due to the very subjective nature of choosing them. The main reason the archive exists is to have an example post to refer to for the various test subjects.​
Guidelines:​
  • Unlike other variations of this project on the other various tier subforums, you do not have to ladder to participate in these. Of course, battling & building a bit with your selected test subject are both highly suggested, but simply using a (not super old) build you already had and / or just testing with friends or testing in OU room tours is totally fine!​
  • Posting replays and imports of the team you used are also both highly encouraged, but not mandatory.​
  • If you take a test subject, it is expected that you'll post. Your posts don't need to be super lengthy & detailed, but they shouldn't be super short and simple. I'm not gonna put some arbitrary regulation on how many sentences you should have, but you should have at least a small paragraph.​
If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to PM / VM me. Have fun n_n

Week 1:
by HailFall
by ethanlol
by Punching Spagetti

Week 2:
by HailFall
by ZANBAKUResh
by Cheryl.
 
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Week #1

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Breloom | Mega Ampharos | Gyarados

Breloom was being discussed to be rise to B+ on the viability thread as it is able to punch holes through a lot of teams and has good priority within Mach Punch. Mega Ampharos was a Mega that wasn't able to get used in the last research project while also resisting a lot of common types in the meta. I also tried making a Mega Ampharos team and failed so I hope to steal someone's. Mega Ampharos is also one of the cutest things out there! Gyarados is an underrated sweeper that usually gets outshined by other Dragon Dancers in the tier.

REMEMBER: you simply pick 1 one of these 3 (or 2 / 3 of them if you want :p) and post here saying which one you're taking. also, you can use any set you want!

the discussion period will start on 6/16 (at night in EST); those of you who want to participate have between now and then to play around with these pokemon.
​
 
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I'll take Breloom, as I suggested its rise to B+ in VR.

I dug this hole for myself, and dammit, it's time to dig deeper.


Overview~

As one of several viable Grass-types in OU, Breloom stands out as a powerful physical attacker with a strong STAB priority move in Mach Punch, utility with Spore, and a decent movepool. It carves its niche by breaking bulky waters and grounds, checking sand, punishing stall builds, and generally being tough for every playstyle to switch into. Breloom mostly fits in on Offense or Bulky Offense.

Pros~
  • High attack stat + strong STABs let it hit very hard; even some resists can be 2HKO'd
  • Spore is very hard to deal with for teams lacking Grass-types or clerics
  • Priority in Mach Punch
  • Lure options with SD + berries, Sash + Rock Tomb, etc.
  • Most defensive Pokemon in this meta struggle to beat it
  • Unpredictable due to varied sets and items
Cons~
  • Somewhat frail, can't take strong resisted hits and needs to be brought in safely
  • Hard walled by M-venu/Amoonguss/Tangrowth if not SD +berry
  • Flying-types can come in relatively safely if not running Rock Tomb
  • Low speed makes for easy revenge-killing by opponent
  • Worn down quickly
Does the Meta Favor Breloom~

Yes and no. Breloom can take advantage of the rising usage of sand and stall builds as it checks many of the archetypes' best abusers. The increasing demand for bulky grounds and the reliability of bulky waters make for a need to break them, hence Breloom's use in this meta. Unfortunately, Amoonguss and Tangrowth have risen in popularity as well, and Mega Venusaur is still a threat. As such, players must be sure to have a way to beat the other Grass-types in OU lest Breloom be walled and KO'd by them. Breloom can punish Offense when momentum is in its favor, but falls over if the opposing Offense team can threaten it well enough. It can be matchup-dependent, but typically isn't deadweight.

The Set~

I chose to use Adamant Life Orb loom with Focus Punch (see the team for the full set). This set primarily has the same role as all Technician Breloom variants- use Spore, fire off Mach Punches and Bullet Seed, ect. For the last moveslot I chose Focus Punch to smash stuff like Clef, Tangrowth, Talon, and the like, allowing Breloom to take advantage of the forced switches it creates. Adamant is to hit harder with Focus Punch. Alternatively, Rock Tomb can be used to OHKO certain switch-ins, but I wanted to run LO and would argue that Rock Tomb works better with Sash loom.

Building with Breloom~

More like building on shrooms. I'm not a great teambuilder by any means and dropped a lot of ELO playing around with various sets and teams. I decided on the one listed below. Breloom, of course, needs a way to beat stuff like Amoonguss and the other bulky Grass-types that hinder it. I picked Mew, which although isn't something I really like, checks them pretty handily and can remove hazards. Also one of the meta's more reliable Megacham checks, which plows through the team otherwise. Breloom seemed like a good candidate for a Fire/Water/Grass core, so I threw in Zard X and Keldeo. Zard is slightly bulky to help deal with Rotom-W after mega-evolving, while Keldeo wears down Grasses even more, helps beat Stall, and baits Tangrowth and Slowbro (which loom can't always beat) with Toxic. The wallbreaking core with Mew's defensive utility made a sweeper desireable, so I chose SD Sand Rush Excadrill, along with Smooth Rock support Ttar to bring sand, rocks, and punish the Lati's. Only issues I notice rn is that Mew can get overloaded and KO'd too easily.

The team:

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 104 HP / 220 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw

Breloom @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Spore
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Focus Punch

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind
- Toxic

Tyranitar @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Def / 180 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SpD / 32 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Defog
- Psychic
- Soft-Boiled

Playing with the team~

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-388238417 vs Offense
Opponent was using some kind of heat but you can see how Breloom helps the team.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-388241816 vs Offense
A different HO I made, Breloom serves as a wincon, allows Weavile to clean but opp forfeits.


Should You Use It~

In my opinion it depends on how well you can build teams. Breloom can underperform if not supported well, but like many B-rank Pokemon, can put in work if you use it well. It may take a few builds to get it right, but in the end it should prove rewarding.
 
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Hey guys here is the loom build i decided to showcase. Pretty simple nonetheless but effective as it can exert some nice pressure. More offensive builds are ideal for loom as it can hit hard and threaten the opposing team. SD loom functions as a wincon and can help the team in general by cleaning up late-game and punching holes earlier into the game if needed so. Spore provides useful utility as putting a threat to sleep can put the team in an overall better position. Meaning the opponent has to decide which one should they send out as sleep fodder. Due to loom's slow speed stat, momentum generators like mega manectric and landorus therian help bringing it in safely as in conjunction with LO recoil, residual damage it gets worn down way too fast. Also this team isn't meant to be taking hits so like I can't just switch loom suddenly and watch it get OHKO'd. Mega manectric + Landorus Therian also form a cool dual intimidate core, meaning they can soften up physical attacks for the rest of the team. Mega manectric is an offensive check to birds like talonflame, tornadus therian and mega pinsir. As they tend to be problematic for breloom because they can just outright OHKO it. Breloom can pick off fast threats like mega lopunny just by simply clicking mach punch, which is great as mega lopunny is threatening to more offensive builds in general due to how it can just heavily damage them. Safely ensuring a mega evolution via fake out and can pressure the team with its fast speed and hard hitting prowess. Breloom can beat some nuisances to mega manectric like tyranitar since it too can heavily damage a member via CB stone edge or so. Azumarill functions as a wincon too as it can just dent a lot of holes into the opposing team when given opportunities. CB azumarill is nothing to laugh at, as this thing can murk your team with the combination of play rough, waterfall or aqua jet. Acts as a great cleaner due to the form of priority in courtesy of aqua jet. Double edge > superpower is a cool choice on CB azumarill as it can put more pressure on bulky grasses like amoong, mega venusaur which help mega manectric and breloom. Don't need to worry about ferro too much as i got multiple ways to take care of it. Alternatively loom can run a natural gift lansat berry set to lure in the bulky grasses that annoy azumarill and get rid of them potentially. Gengar can get a free kill if given the right opportunities, proving as a problem to stall / balanced archetypes in general. It can come in on some pokemon like clefable, quagsire, gliscor and mega venusaur without knock off and fire off a move. Though its worn down quite easily due to LO and residual damage. It's typing also gives it some chances to come in for free, like for example on choice locked pokemon. Typical examples of this would be choice scarf lando t / chomp locked into eq, specs / scarf keld choiced locked into secret sword. Wisp on gengar is a cool option as it can cripple tyranitar making mega manectric's life easier. Finally to wrap this up heatran was added in the last slot. I obviously needed a rocker and hey I had breloom + azumarill, a grass water core so far. Might as well add tran too as they can form a grass water fire core. An additional fairy check and checks charizard x due to balloon. Meaning it can do some serious damage to mega altaria with flash cannon and charizard x with earth power. Being able to check mega scizor too is nice. But yea team synergizes well, just a simple and effective offensive team. Hope you enjoy :3c!

Breloom @ Life Orb / Lansat Berry
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Bullet Seed
- Mach Punch
- Swords Dance /Natural Gift

Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
- U-turn

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Double Edge/Superpower

Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Will-O-Wisp /Icy Wind

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
- Stealth Rock
 
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Ampharos-Mega (M) @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 28 SpA / 232 SpD
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Dragon Pulse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

In my experiences, my head literally hurt when I tried to build with M-Ampharos. This is because I think Rotom-W is better at checking the things M-Ampharos are meant to check such as Talonflame, Pinsir, while it gets setup on by Scizor. Ampharos has the Electric-Dragon typing which gains it resistances against fire, water, grass, flying, steel, and electric. But this also leaves it vulnerable to common types in Ice, Ground, and Dragon and mons like Kyurem, Diancie, Clefable, Landorus etc. Ampharos is meant to be a defensive pivot, but it lacks reliable recovery and can't switch-in to much and gives free switch-ins to a lot of things. It gets worn down by hazards and RestTalk is not going to always be able to be used due to it's really low speed tier. Ampharos has really high HP, defensive stats, and special attack which allows it two sets. Agility 3 attacks and SpD pivot. Overall it likes partners like Jirachi, Landorus, Skarmory which patch up weaknesses while some complete a Volt-Turn. Overall, I think it is still an ok pivot, but has more opportunity cost when compared to Rotom-W. For me, it's lack of utility hinders it, something that does not apply to Rotom-W.

I think the fact that each team must have some sort of ground type is really bad for Ampharos. I also think that weakness to common types such as ground, dragon and fairy hinders it's effectiveness. I think it gives way too many switch-in opportunities to ground types and fairies. In my eyes, very niche.

No team, but Ampharos teams usually contain a Volt-Turn core of Ampharos+Jirachi or Ampharos+Landorus etc. Like all Volt-Turn teams I think a wallbreaker of some sort like Feraligatr, Nidoking, etc is needed. Ampharos appreciates hazard control, but it's hard to fit in. Ampharos cores are naturally weak to weavile and kyurem so keldeo or infernape are good.

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Ampharos-Mega (M) @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 28 SpA / 232 SpD
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Dragon Pulse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

ampharos.gif
jirachi.gif

Ampharos-Mega (M) @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 28 SpA / 232 SpD
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Dragon Pulse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Heart Stamp
- Healing Wish
Volt-Turn cores that cover Ampharos' weaknesses, but as you see they share weaknesses.
 
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closing week 1 signups!

thanks to those who signed up!
you guys have between now and monday (6/20) night EST to write up your posts about whichever pokemon you took (Breloom / Mega Ampharos / Gyarados).
HailFall ethanlol JTD783 StarBomber109 Camilas Punching Spagetti Martin. Littlelucario -Magic-

as a reminder:
If you take a test subject, it is expected that you'll post. Your posts don't need to be super lengthy & detailed, but they shouldn't be super short and simple. I'm not gonna put some arbitrary regulation on how many sentences you should have, but you should have at least a small paragraph.
Click to expand...
and as a reminder to those unsure of what to post:
Things you can post include (but are not limited to):
  • strategies used
  • how you went about building with this Pokemon
  • general strengths / weaknesses you noticed about the Pokemon
  • if the meta is in favor of the Pokemon or not
  • sets you used with the Pokemon
Click to expand...
remember: you aren't limited to these guidelines; they're just here to help in case you aren't sure what to post. if you'd prefer to focus on 1 specific aspect of the pokemon you selected rather than a broad overview, that's totally okay! if you're still lost, try checking out this post by Infernal. if you didn't sign up but you'd like to post, feel free to do so, but just don't post if you haven't used the pokemon in awhile / at all. also, if you signed up, but you cannot find the time to post, don't worry about it! just please don't do it regularly :x
 
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Breloom
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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​

Breloom is a potent offensive threat in OU thanks to its great 130 Attack stat complimented by a good ability in Technician and the movepool to abuse it. Breloom has interesting offensive typing that carves out it's niche as a wallbreaker that has the potential to threaten offensive teams as well with its surprisingly powerful priority moves. On top of this Breloom has access to Spore, letting it cripple one of the opponents pokemon and even turn them into setup bait. Breloom's typing allows it to break common threats such as Excadrill, Tyranitar, and most Rotom-W, which is a large part of how it has cemented itself a place in the metagame. Breloom also has some other interesting options in a stallbreaker set that takes advantage of its access to Poison Heal. Unfortunately however, Breloom has a poor Speed stat and terrible bulk which hold it back immensely. It is difficult to bring in safely and provides little to no defensive synergy with anything, meaning that Breloom can be difficult to fit onto teams. That being said however, Breloom's numerous positive qualities still outshine its downsides, even if it's still not very splashable.

Sets I Used​

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Standard
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Breloom @ Life Orb / Black Belt
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Spore
- Swords Dance / Force Palm / Rock Tomb / Focus Punch
This set is the most common one, and arguably the most effective. Mach Punch is Breloom's main Fighting-type STAB move which gets a Technician boost and has +1 priority to let it threaten pokemon like Sand Rush Excadrill and Mega Lopunny. Bullet Seed is Breloom's Grass-type STAB move, which receives a Technician boost and on average deals out significantly more damage than Seed Bomb and lets Breloom demolish pokemon like Slowbro. Spore is the next move which lets Breloom cripple its switch-ins such as Tornadus-T and Latios, which forces the opponent to fodder something to sleep before bringing in their Breloom check. Swords Dance is the main move in the final slot which increases Breloom's offensive capabilities, and can potentially turn it into a wincon. Force Palm is Fighting-type STAB that hits harder than Mach Punch and has a nifty 30% paralysis chance. Rock Tomb can be used to lure Talonflame and Tornadus-T. Finally, Focus Punch is an option that lets Breloom hit a switch-in exceptionally hard, and potentially even finish it off with Mach Punch. In addition it does a great job of pressuring pokemon like physically defensive Skarmory and Mandibuzz by preventing them from roosting off the damage safely. Focus Punch works particularly well in tandem with spore, as anything that tries to switch into Breloom after something has been foddered to sleep will have to be able to eat a 150 base power STAB move coming off a 130 Attack stat. If the opponent does not switch, then their sleep fodder is being threatened as well. Choosing an Adamant or Jolly nature typically depends on whether or not your team appreciates Breloom being capable of speed tying with pokemon like Timid Volcanion and Jolly Bisharp. If neither of those are particularly threatening, Adamant is usually the best choice. Otherwise use Jolly

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Lure
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Breloom @ Lansat Berry
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Natural Gift
- Swords Dance
This set has many similarities to the previous set so I'll be focusing on the differences between this one and the other. A Lansat Berry and Natural Gift work together to allow Breloom one chance to hit the foe with a 100 base power Flying-type move. This is helpful as it allows Breloom to lure many of its traditional checks such as Amoonguss, Tangrowth, Mega Venusaur, and Celebi and swiftly eliminate them. With a Jolly nature Amoonguss, Celebi, and Mega Venusaur all have a very high chance to be OHKOed by Natural Gift if Breloom sets up a Swords Dance on the switch and Stealth Rock is up. Physdef Tangrowth will be harder to take down however, and will require a Mach Punch after the damage from Natural Gift to be finished off. This shouldn't be a massive problem though, as Tangrowth's Hidden Power Fire and Ice cannot OHKO Breloom. Unfortunately this set does not have room to run spore, so there is some opportunity cost to using this set over the standard one.

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Stallbreaker
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Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Seed Bomb
- Superpower / Drain Punch
- Facade / Mach Punch
- Swords Dance
This is a very very niche set that gives Breloom a better matchup against Stall Teams. Poison Heal in combination with a Toxic Orb make it much more difficult for Breloom to be worn down by residual damage, as it cannot be statused after the Toxic Orb has activatied, and it gets 1/8 of its HP back each turn. 12 HP EVs maximize the recovery from poison heal, while maximum Speed investment along with a Jolly Nature is used to let Breloom speed tie with Bisharp and Volcanion, something vital if Breloom does not run Mach Punch. The rest of the EVs are put into attack to make Breloom hit as hard as possible. Seed Bomb is Breloom's Grass-type STAB move on this set, and is used over Bullet Seed on this set as the lack of Technician makes Seed Bomb have a much more consistently high damage output. Superpower is the hardest hitting move on this set, and receives a STAB boost. Drain Punch is another option that offers more longevity at the expense of a notable amount of power. Facade is in the next slot to give Breloom a powerful coverage move to hit pokemon like Amoonguss and Mega Venusaur that otherwise wall this set extremely hard. Mach Punch is an option over Facade to improve Breloom's matchup against offensive teams, but is dissapointingly weak without any boosting item or Technician. Swords Dance is the final move that lets Breloom make itself very threatening to defensive teams by boosting its Attack to sky-high levels and being very scary to switch into.



Building Around Breloom

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Breloom @ Black Belt
Ability: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Spore
- Swords Dance

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 68 Atk / 188 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Knock Off
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 152 Def / 108 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Swords Dance
- Roost

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder Wave
- Will-O-Wisp

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Protect
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Roost
I started out with the core of lure Breloom and lure Thundurus. These two have insane synergy with each other, where Thundurus beats tons of common Breloom checks like Amoonguss, Mega Venusaur, Physdef Tangrowth, Tornadus-T, and Latios. In exchange Breloom destroys the pokemon bulky enough to eat hits from this Thundurus set such as Tyranitar, Hippowdon, and Ferrothorn. Both Breloom and Thundurus, however, are exceedingly frail and hate weavile. As a result I decided physdef Mega Scizor was the right pick for the next slot, being a solid counter to Weavile, Mega Lopunny, Mega Metagross, and more while also providing slow U-Turn support to bring Breloom and Thundurus in safely. Rotom-W was my next pick, as I wanted a way to handle Flare Blitz Talonflame, as well as a more solid Tornadus-T answer and something that can pivot into Heatran. This was especially nice as it forms the second part of my VoltTurn core with Scizor. I opted for double status because the team has major issues with Earthquake Mega Charizard X. I decided on Heatran for my next slot as it gave me another Clefable check, a Hidden Power Fire Mega Diancie counter, a Hidden Power Fire Latios counter, and a stealth rock setter all compressed into one slot. I went for protect>toxic because mega medicham was a massive problem for this team. Finally, I decided Latios would be a good choice for the last slot. It gave me a check to Keldeo and speedy electrics, and a defogger to help Thundy out.

Breloom Vs the Metagame​

The metagame is a bit of a mixed bag for Breloom at the moment. While the continued rise of sand and bulkier teams helps Breloom out a lot, usage of physically defensive grass types is also increasing. Pokemon like Tornadus-T and Latios are also common as ever, so it has its fair share of stops. Breloom is still a very effective pokemon however, when used with the right support.
 
I took on all three, but I didn't make one team out of them like I did before, I use Breloom a ton, so I'll start with that
breloom.gif

What does he do?
Bree is a hard hitting grass type that has access to the somewhat rare move SPORE. Spore is a 100% accurate sleep move, which also combos very well with Focus Punch, making breloom a very dangerous threat. It also has two very useful abilities in Poison Heal and Technician. Breloom has been a competitor ever since the ADV days when it was introduced, and it still packs a punch for the unprepared.

Strengths
+High attack power
+Hard hitting moves either through technician or the raw power of STAB focus punch
+Spore! (also being grass, it absorbs opposing spores)

Weakneses
-Slow
-Frail, plus MANY weaknesses (4x flying weakness means it will never beat talonflame)
-Somewhat limiting moves, probably one of the worst cases of 4mss. It would really love to have spore substitute focus-punch mach-punch force-palm rock-slide swords-dance and bullet-seed, but it has to pick between those and it can only have 4.

Sets Used

Toxic orb
Vindicator (Breloom) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Spore
- Focus Punch
- Rock Slide
The good ol' spore-punch setup. This set while super old can still catch teams off guard if they don't have a way to answer spore. Rock Slide is chosen as the coverage move because it has better coverage along Focus Punch. Spore is kinda the meat of this set, spore the thing that switches in to counter you and you'll be set. You can also play mind games with focus punch. If they expect you to spore, you can sub instead. Focus Punch hits redic hard and can obliterate a bunch of things. If they don't have a dedicated spore switch-in they're probably going to get wrecked by this guy.

Breloom @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Mach Punch
- Rock Tomb
- Spore
- Swords Dance
Mostly a wallbreaker, this set uses the boost from SD to power up and start smashing face. It's useful against stall teams who rely on ferrothorn as ferro is setup bait for this pokemon, though there's a few other things it can setup on as well. I went for leftovers to last a little bit longer, and I think I was running sub instead of spore on this set at least once. A sub leftovers set does actually make a lot of sense, but I just liked having the staying power and didn't wanna get worn down by life orb.

Bree (Breloom) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Serious Nature
- Spore
- Focus Punch
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
Another raw power set, more for abusing spore than anything else, it also rocks the technician Mach Punch for raw power and bullet seed to obliterate water types. This set is probably the weakest of the bunch however as it doesn't really capitalize on anything other than spore, it's only really good at taking out chancey...and even then a toxic orb set would probably do that a bit better.

There's a bunch of other sets I have used in the past, but I won't go into them as they aren't really that special and don't have any unique EVs just different arrangements of the moves and abilities. I did use a Choice Scarf set vs friends on my DS but that's not really OU.

Teambuilding with bree

I guess I mostly use breloom on teams where I feel like I need a strong physical presence. Instead of highlighting every single team I've put Breloom on, I'll give you a bunch of replays instead.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-386246620
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-379663293 <-Someone else's breloom destrying me.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-356173939
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-352715324 <-Ok, I ended up losing this game, but there's a breloom in it!
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-346071178 <-An older replay, but it shows Breloom picking apart a M-Medi team.

Generally bree isn't a thing I build around, it's a thing I add to teams that I feel need it, or that can use it. It's one of my favorite grass types so I use it a lot. It's really strong but it has a lot of counters, and some of them are very popular (Talonflame) it's good just make sure if you add it to a team the counters can be dealt with. Usually, you'll want to pair Breloom with a strong water type or rock type that can cover talonflame.

M-Ampharos
ampharos-mega.gif

This one had me banging my head against a wall for sure
Who is he?
Mega Ampharos is a strange electric type. He's really slow, has decent special attack, a crapload of special defense, and a decent hitpoint stat. He has all the makings of a tank (odd for an electric type) except for the fact that he doesn't have reliable recovery, and he's so slow that he can't really sweep. He does have a nifty ability but it doesn't really help him that much. Bypassing volt absorb and motor drive isn't really that useful for him as he can't bypass GROUND TYPE.

Strengths
+Actually great special attack and defense
+Good hitpoint stat
+Awesome and unique typing in OU of Electric Dragon

Weaknesses
-Ground types (which by the way are super common)
-Super slow, making him vulnerable to other, faster dragons.
-no recovery outside of rest.

Teambuilding with M Amph.

After wracking my brain for a while, I came up with this
QEA6yGt.png

Obviously, this team has some serious weaknesses, but let me defend my logic a little. I started out with M-Amphy, and added in a defensive Lando-T because I needed rocks and I needed someone to switch into Ground attacks for free. I also added BD Azu because I thought that with all the volt switching and stuff I'd have a good opportunity to set up. After that I added a SpeDef Ferrothorn to help me deal with Lati@s. I also needed something to absorb fire moves that wasn't ampharos or azumaril, and I needed rapid spin. When I had finished, I had 3x ground weaknesses, so this wasn't going to fly, I went back to the drawing board.

SQ2pM8k.png

The first four were pretty set, and they actually worked quite nicely together, For rapid spin I litterally went to serebii and looked at all the pokemon that learn it. Hitmontop was just about the only one that didn't amplify a weakness, so I decided to try him out, and Clefable served as a nice tank but it also provides heal-bell and wish support, which is vital to a team like this where you have a rest-talker.
Ampharos @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 28 SpA / 232 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Dragon Pulse
- Sleep Talk
- Rest

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 236 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def / 16 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- U-turn

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Waterfall

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Spikes
- Power Whip

Hitmontop @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- Sucker Punch
- Bullet Punch

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect
Replay and analysis.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-388595967

At first I didn't have too much faith in Ampharos. Don't get me wrong, Amphy is my favorite pokemon, and I love that fact that he got a mega, but he still doesn't quite fill a role that another electric type doesn't already fill...however, he can still find some use on teams. I don't think you're going to suprise anyone with this pokemon as most people know what it does, but they might not be ready for exactly how tanky it can be.

Gyarados
gyarados.gif

What does he do?

Gyarados is a water type that is very confused about himself. He started out as a red carp (or koi) then upgraded into a dragon, and then turned into a shrimp. His confusion lead to UNYEILDING RAGE and made him a powerhouse in OU for a long time :P. Gyarados has been a staple on many teams due to his both offensive and defensive presence. A little overshadowed by the ability to mega-evolve (I say this because most M-Gyara users know that hitting that mega evolve buttion is just another option, which is a testament to how strong Gyara is.)

Strengths
+Water Flying is actually a pretty nice defensive typing, giving him an immunity and a lot of resists to very scary attacks.

+Intimidate is probably the best thing about Gyarados. It also gives him defensive power making it easy to setup on phyisical attackers.

+Good all-round stats with Dragon dance, making him very scarry even after 1 DD

Weaknesses
-Electricity. Being 4x weak to it means you'll need a switchin, expecially to pokemon like Mega Manectric and Rotom, who obliterate you with volt switch.

-Rock. Stealth rock can be a big problem for Gyara, limiting the amount of times he can switch in.

-No reliable recovery, meaning he can't be quite as awesome a tank as he would like.

Sets Used
The only base Gyara I've used lately is on my Altaria team I'm trying to ladder with.
RAGE (Gyarados) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 220 Atk / 4 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Bounce
- Waterfall
- Substitute
I originally had a much more offensive set, with max speed and attack, but I decided to go with a more defensive set. I'm still not sure which one matches up better with Altaria.

I was using this team in a replay above (where I got owned by a Breloom :P) I think it still needs work.

In the metagame Gyarados can actually fit in pretty well. He counters a lot of steel types and physical attackers, and can in turn setup on them. He can't just be thrown onto a team though, he needs support. Excadrill is probably his best partner right now, although M-Manectric can do alright (which is one of the few cases where you'd want to have a different mega) M-Scizor can also be a nice partner, as Gyara can come in on fire types that would otherwise obliterate Scizor.
 
Gyarados
gyarados-rg.png

Set and Strategy

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Substitute

So this is the set I eventually settled on after trying a few different options. Gyarados is a pretty dangerous threat after just one dragon dance, and if he's behind a sub, there aren't many Pokemon that can handle him gracefully. Waterfall and Bounce give surprisingly good coverage, while substitute helps him avoid status moves that would end his sweep early. Substitute can be switched out for a coverage move like ice fang or crunch, but this makes it harder to set up on Pokemon that like to abuse statuses like Amoongus. The strategy dex recommends using a bulkier set, however, I didn't find it making a huge difference in survivability, so I opted for a more offensive setup. Finally, while moxie sounds great in theory, I found it extremely difficult to set up without intimidate padding his defense a bit. In general, I found the best time to set up on defensive Pokemon that rely on statuses like Amoongus or resisted physical attackers. Unfortunately, in order to be effective, Gyarados needs a fair amount of support. Rapid spin support helps Gyarados switch in more freely as he looks for a set up opportunity. In addition, he having a team member to spread burn around will also help him come in and sweep more easily.

Team and strategy

lopunny-mega.png
heatran.png
gyarados.gif
amoonguss.png
rotom-wash.png
excadrill.png


This is the team that I used primary while testing out Gyarados. The main idea was to use the core of Heatran, Amoongus and Rotom-Wash to wear down the opponents team and remove key threats to allow Mega Lopunny or Gyarados to sweep. Gyarados needs a lot of support to be able to work effectively. Excadrill keeps rocks off the field to help Gyarados mitigate damage when switching between my core. Rotom and Amoongus are also extremely effective at spreading burn and sleep, both of which can help provide valuable set-up opportunities.

Gyarados in the Metagame

Overall, I think the metagame is kind of poor for Gyarados right now. While he is a dangerous dragon dance, there are many other dragon dancers in the metagame that are more durable or force more switches. With the amount of support Gyarados requiresand the popularity of pokemon like Azumaril, Sableye and the prevalence of priority moves, it is difficult to justify building a team around Gyarados when there are other dragon dancers with better coverage, more options and less required support.
 
closing!

the posts being added to archive are this post on Breloom by HailFall , this post on Mega Ampharos by ethanlol , and this post on Gyarados by Punching Spagetti.

thanks Ajwf for helping me pick the posts to archive. remember: the archived posts are simply the posts that best summarize the pokemon for future reference. not every post needs to summarize the pokemon; some people may just want to center their posts around one aspect, and that's totally okay. you don't need to follow the guidelines perfectly to post here; they're just there to guide you a bit if you're unsure of what to post.

week #2!

diggersby.gif
tyranitar-mega.png
kyurem-black.gif


Diggersby | Mega Tyranitar | Kyurem-Black​

Week of the powerhouses. To me, Diggersby has always been an interesting Pokemon, having a unique trait of Huge Power + STAB Earthquake. Also upon ORAS, Diggersby did get some cool additions. Mega Tyranitar has fallen from its former glory but can still pull off a Dragon Dance set really effectively with the coverage it gets. Also free Lati@s switch ins ez. Kyurem-B always been known to dismantle stall and some balance teams with its movepool and how ridiculously strong this Pokemon is. fine print: (im not afraid to admit, i cried in BW2 and wanted this thing banned!) :(

REMEMBER: you simply pick 1 one of these 3 (or 2 / 3 of them if you want :p) and post here saying which one you're taking. also, you can use any set you want!
the discussion period will start on 6/24 (at night in EST--sorry for being late); those of you who want to participate have between now and then to play around with these pokemon.

enjoy!
 
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Mega Tyranitar

248-mega.gif


Overview:

Mega Tyranitar is one of those Pokemon that on paper has a lot going for it, but is much less threatening in practice. It capitalizes on its superior post-mega evolution speed (a whopping base 71) to go for Dragon Dance, boosting its Attack to new heights and its speed to the point that it outruns much of the unboosted meta. However, nearly every scarfer and speed-booster can easily outrun it, and the likes of Mega Alakazam, Mega Sceptile, and Mega Beedrill can outspeed and OHKO a +1 Mega Tar. With Mega-Tyranitar's impressive coverage in EdgeQuake, Ice Punch, Crunch, Thunder Wave, and basically every special coverage move you can imagine, it can be surprisingly versatile. Unfortunately, its phenomenal bulk, which helps it set up, can't always save Mega Tyranitar from its unimpressive defensive typing. It also screams "priority-bait" to anything not named Talonflame. Mega-Tyranitar can be used, but requires a lot of team support to work well.

Sets:

Offensive Dragon Dance, aka the only viable set

Tyranitar @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Dragon Dance
-Stone Edge
-Ice Punch
-Superpower

This set utilizes Mega Tyranitar's bulk and coverage to pull off a sweep. After a Dragon Dance, it outruns everything up bar postive-natured base 135's such as Mega Lopunny and hits immensely hard. Stone Edge is the spammable STAB, smashing anything hit neutrally and obliterating those hit super-effectively. Ice Punch easily takes out Landorus-T and Garchomp while covering common Dragon and Grass-types. Superpower breaks most relevant Steel-types and opposing Tyranitar.

The Team:

I started by trying to cover Tar's weaknesses, such as Fighting, Water, and Grass. Amoonguss was an excellent partner as it resisted those types and 1v1'd most Ground-types while Mega Tyranitar checked most Flying- , Psychic-, and Fire-types well. Amoonguss' Spore made setting up with Tyranitar easier as well. I wanted to make use of Mega Tyranitar's sand and added Air Balloon Excadrill, which removed hazards and added more offensive pressure and speed. I realized that the team was weak to stall, so I tossed in Heatran to trap and remove bulky threats such as Chansey and Skarmory with Magma Storm. From there, I figured it would be helpful to complete the Fire/Water/Grass core and added Slowbro, which spread Thunder Waves and Scald burns to support the team as well as checking opposing sand builds. Finally, I decided another wincon and blanket check would be helpful to the team, so I put Clefable as my last mon. It also gave me more Thunder Wave abuse.

Tyranitar @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Ice Punch
- Superpower

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Spore
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder Wave
- Slack Off
- Scald
- Psyshock

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Iron Head

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Toxic
- Earth Power
- Taunt

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast

Replays:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-390589525 amoong and drill put in work vs Jamvad's Mega Diancie/Volcarona team

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-390598904 an actual sweep

Verdict:

After playing around with Mega Tyranitar, I've realized that it's better than I had anticipated, but it's not great by any means. While it can be fearsome after a DD, it's tough to set up and doesn't put in work consistently. Due to the bulky water/ground/grass-types running rampant in the meta as well as stall, the meta clearly doesn't favor Mega Tyranitar. It's an interesting mon to mess around with, but I wouldn't recommend seriously laddering with a Mega Tyranitar team unless you're very confident in your team building abilities.
 
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