I made this team looking to build around an underrated mon, and the mon I picked was Necrozma, specifically taking advantage of the unique properties of its signature move, Photon Geyser. This is an offensive team based around constant pressure that's designed to break key defensive mons and clean up afterward with Scarf Kartana doing its thing lategame. It's been pretty effective, cracking top 100 on the OU Showdown ladder, and I want to post it because I think my Necrozma set is genuinely good in addition to being creative.
Necrozma @ Life Orb
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 24 HP / 40 Atk / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Rash Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Photon Geyser
- Heat Wave
This is the star of the show, mixed DD Necrozma. Photon Geyser can function as either a physical or special move depending on which attacking stat is higher, and it is affected by boosts, meaning that it's possible to switch between being physical and special. This set is designed to exploit that so it can function as a potent mixed wallbreaker capable of breaking most common defensive cores. EVs are such that after one Dragon Dance Photon Geyser becomes a physical move, enabling it to 2HKO Blissey. With max Special Attack and Life Orb Heat Wave can 2HKO even specially defensive Corviknight, and because Photon Geyser ignores the ability of mons it attacks, it can boost its way past Unaware mons like Clefable, which specially boosting sets with Psyshock very notably cannot do. This gives this set the ability to break the common Blissey/Corv/Pex/Clef stall core, as well as many other bulky cores. Earthquake is very potent for breaking Heatran/Galarian Slowking/TTar and rounds out this set's coverage. Note that this does come at the cost of Necrozma's speed and sweeping potential, it still gets outsped by Weavile and Dragapult at +1, so it won't actually sweep unless against hard stall or if your opponent misplays and lets you get to +2 or higher. It also struggles to get past regular Slowbro/king, Mandibuzz, and Hydreigon. Still, this thing hits hard without setup with maxed out base 127 Special attack, and it also has the ability to punish the special walls it tends to lure in. Bring this thing in at the right time and it usually KOs or heavily dents the opponent's team, creating opportunities for its teammates to clean up.
Tapu Fini @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 44 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Defog
Scarf Fini is a more standard set, but it provides massive amounts of utility to the team compressed into one slot. Misty Terrain is great for protecting Necrozma and Garchomp from status, with scarf it provides needed speed control against Weavile and Dragapult, while it can also trick said Scarf onto a defensive mon, potentially crippling it and creating an opportunity to freely bring in an offensive threat. Defog is nice to have as a hazard removal option if I need it, and of course Fini's solid bulk and spectacular typing make it a useful check to fearsome threats like Urshifu-R and Weavile, at least for a while.
Garchomp @ Leftovers
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Another offensive mon that oozes utility. It has a nice speed tier and functions well as an offensive Stealth Rock setter, exerting pressure on many Defoggers. Most notably it can take out Mandibuzz with +2 Stone Edge(80% of the time...) which Necrozma greatly appreciates, and it in turn appreciates Necrozma's ability to break Unaware Clefable as well as things like Corviknight, Tangrowth, and Buzzwole. Rough Skin is quite handy for chipping down its checks. Overall it's just a solid mon that wears out defensive walls both directly with its attacks and indirectly through Rocks. It also provides a needed Electric immunity and checks things like Zeraora.
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
EVs: 64 HP / 248 SpA / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hurricane
- Roost
Another offensive mon with solid defensive utility. It's bulky enough to check Rillaboom and can potentially cripple sweepers with Static. This mon emphasizes special attacking prowess with solid coverage and can wreak havoc if Necrozma happens to lure out and KO or heavily dent their special wall. It's also a needed Ground immunity that can switch in fairly easy and exert offensive pressure with its coverage and power. It especially is valuable for its ability to pressure defensive Grass types and metal birds that annoy Garchomp. Roost is handy as an option to heal itself before continuing its assault.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 232 SpD / 24 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Toxic
Another great glue mon that still has tremendous offensive presence. It traps and breaks a lot of slower defensive mons with Taunt, especially Slowbro/King, and can also throw out a Toxic on a lot of its switch-ins, especially flying/levitating ones because Misty Terrain isn't a concern. Usually if I'm trapping something the terrain's worn off by the time I land Magma Storm + Taunt anyways. Also its massive special bulk is important as a blanket check that can switch into any number of threatening special attackers and keep the team together. Few defensive cores really deal with this thing well.
Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Sacred Sword
- Smart Strike
- Leaf Blade
Finally the main speed control and lategame cleaner, this mon feasts on broken defensive cores, outspeeding most common scarfers and tanking most priority well. It can come in earlier and provide Knock Off utility and/or occasionally tank physical Water/Grass moves in a pinch, but mostly it's there to clean up at the end against heavily weakened teams. It outspeeds Dragapult, tanks Grassy Glides and Aqua Jets, and generally is just good at closing out matches once the opponent's defensive mons have been broken.
Overall I think this is a potent offensive team that can handle a lot of different teams in the meta, especially more defensive ones. It does occasionally get overwhelmed by strong offensive mons like Weavile, Urshifu-R, and Dragapult, but these can often be played around. It also does unfortunately have the issue of sometimes losing due to missing moves like Hurricane, Stone Edge, Heat Wave, Magma Storm, etc. but there aren't really alternatives that accomplish what I need them to. I especially love Necrozma as Photon Geyser is a cool move with a cool gimmick and I've never seen anyone else use a set that utilizes it like this.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1414307823 (Necrozma cleans up)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1413700527 (Necrozma opens things up for Kartana)
Necrozma @ Life Orb
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 24 HP / 40 Atk / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Rash Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Photon Geyser
- Heat Wave
This is the star of the show, mixed DD Necrozma. Photon Geyser can function as either a physical or special move depending on which attacking stat is higher, and it is affected by boosts, meaning that it's possible to switch between being physical and special. This set is designed to exploit that so it can function as a potent mixed wallbreaker capable of breaking most common defensive cores. EVs are such that after one Dragon Dance Photon Geyser becomes a physical move, enabling it to 2HKO Blissey. With max Special Attack and Life Orb Heat Wave can 2HKO even specially defensive Corviknight, and because Photon Geyser ignores the ability of mons it attacks, it can boost its way past Unaware mons like Clefable, which specially boosting sets with Psyshock very notably cannot do. This gives this set the ability to break the common Blissey/Corv/Pex/Clef stall core, as well as many other bulky cores. Earthquake is very potent for breaking Heatran/Galarian Slowking/TTar and rounds out this set's coverage. Note that this does come at the cost of Necrozma's speed and sweeping potential, it still gets outsped by Weavile and Dragapult at +1, so it won't actually sweep unless against hard stall or if your opponent misplays and lets you get to +2 or higher. It also struggles to get past regular Slowbro/king, Mandibuzz, and Hydreigon. Still, this thing hits hard without setup with maxed out base 127 Special attack, and it also has the ability to punish the special walls it tends to lure in. Bring this thing in at the right time and it usually KOs or heavily dents the opponent's team, creating opportunities for its teammates to clean up.
Tapu Fini @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 44 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Defog
Scarf Fini is a more standard set, but it provides massive amounts of utility to the team compressed into one slot. Misty Terrain is great for protecting Necrozma and Garchomp from status, with scarf it provides needed speed control against Weavile and Dragapult, while it can also trick said Scarf onto a defensive mon, potentially crippling it and creating an opportunity to freely bring in an offensive threat. Defog is nice to have as a hazard removal option if I need it, and of course Fini's solid bulk and spectacular typing make it a useful check to fearsome threats like Urshifu-R and Weavile, at least for a while.
Garchomp @ Leftovers
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Another offensive mon that oozes utility. It has a nice speed tier and functions well as an offensive Stealth Rock setter, exerting pressure on many Defoggers. Most notably it can take out Mandibuzz with +2 Stone Edge(80% of the time...) which Necrozma greatly appreciates, and it in turn appreciates Necrozma's ability to break Unaware Clefable as well as things like Corviknight, Tangrowth, and Buzzwole. Rough Skin is quite handy for chipping down its checks. Overall it's just a solid mon that wears out defensive walls both directly with its attacks and indirectly through Rocks. It also provides a needed Electric immunity and checks things like Zeraora.
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
EVs: 64 HP / 248 SpA / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hurricane
- Roost
Another offensive mon with solid defensive utility. It's bulky enough to check Rillaboom and can potentially cripple sweepers with Static. This mon emphasizes special attacking prowess with solid coverage and can wreak havoc if Necrozma happens to lure out and KO or heavily dent their special wall. It's also a needed Ground immunity that can switch in fairly easy and exert offensive pressure with its coverage and power. It especially is valuable for its ability to pressure defensive Grass types and metal birds that annoy Garchomp. Roost is handy as an option to heal itself before continuing its assault.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 232 SpD / 24 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Toxic
Another great glue mon that still has tremendous offensive presence. It traps and breaks a lot of slower defensive mons with Taunt, especially Slowbro/King, and can also throw out a Toxic on a lot of its switch-ins, especially flying/levitating ones because Misty Terrain isn't a concern. Usually if I'm trapping something the terrain's worn off by the time I land Magma Storm + Taunt anyways. Also its massive special bulk is important as a blanket check that can switch into any number of threatening special attackers and keep the team together. Few defensive cores really deal with this thing well.
Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Sacred Sword
- Smart Strike
- Leaf Blade
Finally the main speed control and lategame cleaner, this mon feasts on broken defensive cores, outspeeding most common scarfers and tanking most priority well. It can come in earlier and provide Knock Off utility and/or occasionally tank physical Water/Grass moves in a pinch, but mostly it's there to clean up at the end against heavily weakened teams. It outspeeds Dragapult, tanks Grassy Glides and Aqua Jets, and generally is just good at closing out matches once the opponent's defensive mons have been broken.
Overall I think this is a potent offensive team that can handle a lot of different teams in the meta, especially more defensive ones. It does occasionally get overwhelmed by strong offensive mons like Weavile, Urshifu-R, and Dragapult, but these can often be played around. It also does unfortunately have the issue of sometimes losing due to missing moves like Hurricane, Stone Edge, Heat Wave, Magma Storm, etc. but there aren't really alternatives that accomplish what I need them to. I especially love Necrozma as Photon Geyser is a cool move with a cool gimmick and I've never seen anyone else use a set that utilizes it like this.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1414307823 (Necrozma cleans up)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1413700527 (Necrozma opens things up for Kartana)
