SM OU Radioactive

[Egor]

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Introduction
We all remember that Mega Garchomp was considered a piece of shit for a lot of time, mainly because the regular form of Garchomp is way more easy to fit on teams, can use a Z-Move nuke, and sits in better Speed tier. However, fairly recently people started to explore Mega Garchomp. Players realized how this thing is actually threatening under sand, and started to use Mega Garchomp more. After some time, Mega Garchomp has became so good that it's a kind of antimeta currently. Not because of its Swords Dance set which is suited exclusively for sand teams, but rather because of the most recent mixed Stealth Rock set. The key of this set's success is Mega Garchomp's good matchup against almost any hazard setter and remover thanks to great defensive typing and high-BP moves backed up by both solid base attacks. I couldn't just pass by this set, and this team was born. It's one of my favorite squads right now, so I thought "why not to share it with other players?". Ok, enough words; introducing the team to you guys!

Teambuilding Process

Obviously I started from Mega Garchomp. It's a mixed Stealth Rock set, I've already told about it and will tell more in the In-Depth Look. Ok, moving on.

Ash-Greninja creates a really nice offensive core with Mega Garchomp. The former appreciates how the latter pressures Toxapex and lures in bulky Grass-types like Tangrowth and Amoonguss, then dealing heavy damage to them. Furthermore, Mega Garchomp and Ash-Greninja form an effective hazard stacking core.

Magearna fills a necessary role of a bulky Steel-type, being able to pivot on Psychic- and Fairy-types like Mega Alakazam and Tapu Lele. Also it acts as my Flying and Dark resists which are necessary on every team too, given how Tornadus-T and Ash-Greninja are popular.

Amoonguss completes my defensive backbone with Magearna, acting as a Water resist and my main pivot on Ash-Greninja, eating an attack and then letting me play around Ash-Greninja's Choice lock. Additionally, the combination of Amoonguss and my Ground-types makes my matchup agains Tapu Koko a lot easier. The main reason why I use it over Tangrowth is its ability to be annoying af with Spore and Stun Spore.

Tornadus-T gives me a Ground immunity, a Defog, and a better matchup versus stall. It also helps Ash-Greninja to break past bulky Grass-types like Mega Venusaur and Tangrowth. Originally there was Zapdos instead of Tornadus-T, but after some games I realized how difficult Mega Venusaur was for me, and I still have a solid Flying resist in Magearna.

Lastly, Landorus-T gives me a form of speed control and generates some momentum with U-turn. Also it somewhat checks the opposing Landorus-T and Garchomp and gives me a second Ground immunity.

In-Depth Look

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Ability: Rough Skin
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Mild
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor
- Stealth Rock

Ok, let's talk about Mega Garchomp more. Earthquake still hits harder than Earth Power even with full Special Attack investment due to higher BP and Attack stat. Draco Meteor smashes a lot of common Pokémon like Landorus-T, Tornadus-T, and Rotom-W that like to switch in on Mega Garchomp directly. Fire Blast complements Mega Garchomp's coverage, hitting Steel- and Grass-types like Celesteela, Mega Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Tangrowth. This Mega Garchomp's luring capabilities as well as typing and bulk let it function as an effective Stealth Rock setter. Mild nature is preferred because it maximizes Mega Garchomp's damage output and doesn't reduce its Special Defense so Mega Garchomp takes on Heatran and the likes more effectively.

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Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Spikes

You see here absolutely standard Ash-Greninja. There isn't much to explain. I prefer Hydro Pump to Surf here because the team is pretty fast-paced and needs to dish out as much damage as possible. Dark Pulse and Water Shuriken are obvious choices. Spikes is the best Ash-Greninja's option on the last slot so it can actually break through most of its answers like Toxapex and Tangrowth.

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Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 28 Def / 232 SpD
IVs: 6 Spe
Nature: Calm
- Heart Swap
- Pain Split
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon

This is a specially defensive Magearna. Heart Swap lets me get rid of boost from the likes of Reuniclus and Mega Latias. Pain Split is Magearna's only form of real recovery. Volt Switch allows Magearna to generate momentum for me and pivot out from an unfavorable matchup. Flash Cannon is Magearna's most reliable attacking option. The EV spread survives Landorus-T's Earthquake, while 6 Speed IVs are needed to underpace Celesteela so Magearna can absorb Leech Seed and run away by using Volt Switch, bringing in a teammate for free. Leftovers increases Magearna's longevity even more.

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Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 56 Def / 204 SpD
Nature: Calm
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Stun Spore

Pretty standard Amoonguss. Spore is the first reason why Amoonguss is so annoying, Stun Spore is the second. Giga Drain lets Amoonguss damage stuff like Rotom-W and Tapu Fini. Hidden Power Fire allows Amoonguss to check Kartana as well as prevents it from being a Spikes fodder for Ferrothorn. Regenerator is needed to keep Amoonguss healthy throughout the battle.

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Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 88 HP / 160 SpA / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Defog

Offensive Tornadus-T. The combination of powerful Hurricane, Knock Off, and Taunt is really annoying for defensive cores and stall teams. Defog is so I won't get overwhelmed by hazard stacking teams too easily. Flyinium Z means that Tornadus-T has a devastating nuke to break past something. The EV spread lets Tornadus-T survive a Greninja's Ice Beam from full, assuming there isn't any boosting item.

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Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 244 Atk / 68 Def / 196 Spe
Nature: Naive
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Standard Choice Scarf Landorus-T that you see every day you play OU. Earthquake and U-turn are obvious. Stone Edge is so Tornadus-T and Zapdos aren't untouchable for Landorus-T. Hidden Power Ice turns Landorus-T into a pretty good check to the opposing Landorus-T and Garchomp. The EV spread enables Landorus-T to survive a +2 Hawlucha's Acrobatics after Intimidate.

Threatlist

: rip 6-0. My only hope is to paralyze it with Amoonguss's Stun Spore.

: I can't do anything to it behind a Substitute.

: once it gets in for free, it just clicks a button, insanely wearing down my team. However, Mega Medicham can be handled offensively.
That gayish Protect

: since I heavily rely on an offensive counterplay in Heatran matchup, Protect can disrupt it a lot by scouting a Choice lock on Ash-Greninja and Landorus-T. Mega Garchomp can't switch in on this Heatran many times due to the latter usually carrying Toxic and the former's lack of recovery.

Conclusion
Overall, I think it's a pretty fun and interesting team. Sure, bad matchups and flaws always exist, but they can usually be outplayed. I appreciate any form of feedback from y'all! Have a good day!

shoutouts

ithrowrocksatkids thanks for inviting me in The Kitchen, nice place to talk and play
Micaiah spatulakun Wildcat Formation Vikasso let's tackle this ghosting tour!
Mister Tim hope we'll find enough people to play on WCoP 2020!
lyd I love your teams and rates, they're amazing
Sickist nice rates, keep it up man
all people from Данжн Азамата 16 лет I like hanging out with you guys. btw как там ваш батл? ну что там с вашим батлом?
again spatulakun I enjoy talking to you bro
Windgrace I enjoy talking and building with you too bro

 

[ithrowrocksatkids]

Looks cool but you should probably mention that mega lop is rlly nice vs this as well. You can switch in a few times with like lando mage but it just beats everything on your squad and pup or ice punch are both very threatening

 

[bigtalk]

This is really funny, I have almost an exact replica of this team sitting in my teambuilder (I even opted for the same Torn EV spread), as I also decided to build around mixed Mega Chomp + offensive Torn. The only major differences I have are: CM+Split Magearna over your specially defensive variant, and Slowbro over Landorus, which trades some speed/offensive presence for the ability to check Fighting-types more reliably. Here it is: https://pokepast.es/2d07e5003eef574a

I'll explain the rationale I had for each of these differences. I made my Mage CM+Split because I thought the team had a poor stall matchup; Chansey 6-0's the team unless the stall player is dumb enough to let you knock them with Torn. While this makes Psychic-types like Tapu Lele a bit more threatening for me, Slowbro can pivot into them if it's healthy enough and scout what they're locked into, which relieves pressure on Mage. I put Slowbro over Landorus because it deals with Medicham/Lopunny/Hawlucha/Charizard X better, and it still has the bulk to check Ground-types, ie. surviving +2 Continental Crush from Garchomp. Finally I have Sludge Bomb over Stun Spore on Amoonguss; while the utility of Stun Spore was nice, I felt like it was necessary to offensively pressure Tangrowth/banded Bulu because the rest of the team is extremely weak to these two (offensive Torn is OHKO'd by Wood Hammer and cannot regenerate all the damage from HP Ice).

Feel free to try out my version of the team and tell me what you think.