[Rank 1 - Dragapult Hyper Offense]
[Foreword]
I've had free time to have fun with the game and no tier is more fun than National Dex OU. Mega Pokemon, Z-Moves and Hidden Powers make the tier a blast and reminiscent of Gen 7, and honestly even earlier Offense metagames like DeoSharp. S/o blunder and aim for showcasing the tier.
Hyper Offense is my favorite playstyle and it has been a pleasure to throw OU’s best mons of all time on a team and play. Some general HO guidelines -- pick a favorite Magearna set, find something to consistently set Stealth Rocks, and finish with strong setup mons to break and sweep! I spoke with Nat Dex veterans and they were kind enough to share HO builds below. These all highlight Dragapult as it is currently devastating the tier.
[Imports]
built by Valentine
built by peapo dc 豆 
built by SputnikGT 
There are many different variations to go with, the possibilities really are endless.
[Set Breakdown]
Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 56 SpA / 200 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Iron Head
- Fleur Cannon
Personally I think Magearna is phenomenal. People will tell you Magearna isn't even in the top 10. I beg to differ. Gear is banned in Gen 8. When you look back on Gen 7, the next thing on the chopping block really was Magearna. Magearna's deep movepool, typing and ability make it a unique and terrifying threat. Access to Iron Defense, Shift Gear, Calm Mind and Z-Move Soul-Heart Boosts give it setup options to dismantle any opposing team. No team is prepared for the right Magearna set. Shift Gear + Z-Move kill -- and you're swept. Iron Defense, Stored Power Draining Kiss, nothing can kill you, you're swept. People will mention Haze Pex, or the prevalence of Heatran, but they're not mentioning the times they've got blown away by Electric Fighting coverage.
Not only does Gear have incredible offensive prowess, It’s one of the tiers premier pivots. Specially Defensive Heart Swap Magearna has an excellent niche, stealing boosts from opposing setup sweepers, such as Gear, that could otherwise sweep your team. It’s also nice to Heart Swap away SpA drops from Fluer Cannon. Gear functions as a way to stop getting swept by setup and opposing Greninja specifically. Volt Switch is of course mandatory, with Pain Split or Twave as additional support options. Peapo DC has a killer Gear set above, Calm Mind Pain Split, that allows your HO team to demolish stall. Your Magearna can be adjusted to sweep, take hits, or dismantle stall.
The AV set above gave me a consistent switch-in to prevalent attackers such as Greninja, Dragapult, and really any special attacker. Being able to sponge a hit and Volt Switch into a threat safely can gain a lot of advantage. HP Fire is specifically for Mega Scizor, which can be really problematic for this team. Aura Sphere is a consideration to hit incoming Drill a tad harder. Fleur Cannon nukes Lando-T, and other ground types that try to take advantage of Volt Switch. It is also the best way to OHKO Dragapult coming out of Phantom Force. Iron Head was originally for opposing Magearna, but Iron Defense sets will ruin your day. To be perfectly honest, I have switched to a SpDef leftovers set with Vswitch / Fleur / Heart Swap / (Pain Split/TWave) to more consistently wall and get momentum off opposing Greninja and Magearna. But the AV set gives a lot of consistency against Greninja specifically, which would otherwise OHKO the entire team.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
Nothing gets up Rocks as consistently and smoothly and Landorus. Stone Edge has been amazing tech to peg the incredible amount of Zapdos and Charizard on the ladder. It also gives you a nice neutral option against Gliscor and other things you may not want to switch out on. Everytime I put HP Ice over Stone Edge, I immediately run into a Zapdos and regret it. You can tag Charizard Turn 1, when they think they are safe getting a KO, you live Weather Ball thanks to Sash and promptly OHKO. You 2HKO Zappers as they try to Defog, which is a righteous favor for Hawlucha in the back. Explosion is for surprise KOs on things that let you get them too low -- Mega Venu, Tang, opposing Lando-T, Gliscor as a few examples. But the primary purpose for Explosion is to ensure rocks against slow Defoggers. Smack Down is an excellent alternative to Stone Edge to more consistently hit your targets, with the added bonus of beating Steel/Flyings. As for the EV spread, I'm truly amazed by the amount of Zapdos my Lando outspeeds. I originally ran Jolly but Adamant has been hands down amazing and I haven’t ran into a faster Zapdos yet. This set will very nearly get you rocks guaranteed, or deal out tons of damage in the process.
Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
Specs Koko is a BEAST. You Dazzling Gleam their Lando-T switch-in once and they can't come in again. Spam Volt Switch -> Go Magearna -> Spam Volt Switch -> Go back to Koko. It's embarrassing how many teams just don't have answers to the Vswitch vortex. HP Fire is specifically for the ever annoying Mega Scizor, with the addition of 2HKOing Ferrothorn and Excadrill coming in on your STABs. The main point of this mon is literally just click Volt Switch as much as possible, and Dazzling Gleam the stuff that stops you from doing that.
Koko is a great consideration over Rillaboom specifically to help with Zapdos, Hawlucha, Mega Pinsir, Cinderace, Kommo-O, Skarmory, Toxapex, Corviknight and Celestella matchups. Kokos combination of speed, power and resistances have a lot to offer it’s main partner, Hawlucha.
Hawlucha @ Electric Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Acrobatics
- Taunt
Throughout every iteration of the team I built, truly I never changed this set. Hawlucha is such a centralizing set up sweeper in this tier. In a game where speed is so important, especially where +1 Dragapult runs the show, Lucha is really really clutch. Not only do you outpace +1 Pult, you outspeed Mega Pert and Kingdra in Rain. You outspeed Venu in Sun. You resist most reliable forums of priority and Electric Seed +1 Def helps you in that regard already. Taunt shuts down your opponent trying to Toxic, Haze, Whirlwind or otherwise stop your sweep. There's almost nothing that can control the endgame as much as Hawlucha. Find a Ground move, or a weak physical attacker and set that Swords Dance up. This spread specifically is what I attribute multiple accounts in the top of the ladder. Most opposing Hawlucha don't run so much speed -- i'm sure they will consider it now. Inb4 Jolly Luchas. Truly I see no reason to run less speed in a tier where the Lucha speedtie will often decide a game.
Dragapult @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Phantom Force
- Dragon Darts
- Flamethrower
In Gen 8, it was hard to know about Dragapult at first. The only Pokemon we could really compare it to in the Past was Deoxys-Speed, and Pheromosa. Nothing else has been so fast in an OU tier before. However, it's high attack stat was invalidated by it's shallow physical movepool. And base 100 Special Attack is so average in a tier with stuff like Chansey and Sdef Clefable. Dragapult has kept it's standing in Gen 8 for the time being. Turns out that is only because we banned Dynamax and Z-moves do not exist (yet) in Gen 8 OU. Ghostium-Z gives Dragapult it's consistent Physical Ghost move, and it is truly disgusting. Never-Ending Nightmare is a nuke that will score you a KO in nearly every game you play. There are so few pokemon that are safe against this monster. People run Mega Tyranitar for the sole purpose of walling and beating this mon.
Players have started running Naive nature, in order to speed tie and outspeed other Dragapult. Personally I think the power of Naughty is too much to give up. Overall, this mon is certainly overcentralizing and should be considered for a suspect.
Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- Leaf Blade
- Knock Off
The Rain matchup was overall horrid and Scarf Kart gave me the best glue to solve the problem. I've ran Scarf Koko and Greninja with Grass Knot to surprise Mega Swampert in the Rain. Others have Rillaboom on their teams to consistently stop Rain. Personally, I happened to run Kartana and it worked out alright. Running this coverage gave me a lot of options of lategame sweeping. Kart outspeeds Adamant Mega Pert in Rain, which is a really nice perk. I often switch Kartana in on Ferro to block Leech Seeds. It's really nice to outpace and OHKO Mega Lopunny, and other Scarfers such as Lele, Jirachi. Notably Kart outspeeds +2 Megearna. Kart definitely has it's uses, mainly making sure you don't lose to Rain, spamming STABs + Knock Off, and eating up a few physical hits after you Explode with Landorus.
[Conclusion]
Hyper Offense is a very fun style that has had limited options in the recent generation. I'm thankful for the ability to play a high variance tier like National Dex, and utilize the strong Offensive options that the tier has to offer.
[Foreword]
I've had free time to have fun with the game and no tier is more fun than National Dex OU. Mega Pokemon, Z-Moves and Hidden Powers make the tier a blast and reminiscent of Gen 7, and honestly even earlier Offense metagames like DeoSharp. S/o blunder and aim for showcasing the tier.
Hyper Offense is my favorite playstyle and it has been a pleasure to throw OU’s best mons of all time on a team and play. Some general HO guidelines -- pick a favorite Magearna set, find something to consistently set Stealth Rocks, and finish with strong setup mons to break and sweep! I spoke with Nat Dex veterans and they were kind enough to share HO builds below. These all highlight Dragapult as it is currently devastating the tier.
[Imports]
built by Valentine
built by peapo dc 豆
built by SputnikGT
There are many different variations to go with, the possibilities really are endless.
[Set Breakdown]
Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 56 SpA / 200 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Iron Head
- Fleur Cannon
Personally I think Magearna is phenomenal. People will tell you Magearna isn't even in the top 10. I beg to differ. Gear is banned in Gen 8. When you look back on Gen 7, the next thing on the chopping block really was Magearna. Magearna's deep movepool, typing and ability make it a unique and terrifying threat. Access to Iron Defense, Shift Gear, Calm Mind and Z-Move Soul-Heart Boosts give it setup options to dismantle any opposing team. No team is prepared for the right Magearna set. Shift Gear + Z-Move kill -- and you're swept. Iron Defense, Stored Power Draining Kiss, nothing can kill you, you're swept. People will mention Haze Pex, or the prevalence of Heatran, but they're not mentioning the times they've got blown away by Electric Fighting coverage.
Not only does Gear have incredible offensive prowess, It’s one of the tiers premier pivots. Specially Defensive Heart Swap Magearna has an excellent niche, stealing boosts from opposing setup sweepers, such as Gear, that could otherwise sweep your team. It’s also nice to Heart Swap away SpA drops from Fluer Cannon. Gear functions as a way to stop getting swept by setup and opposing Greninja specifically. Volt Switch is of course mandatory, with Pain Split or Twave as additional support options. Peapo DC has a killer Gear set above, Calm Mind Pain Split, that allows your HO team to demolish stall. Your Magearna can be adjusted to sweep, take hits, or dismantle stall.
The AV set above gave me a consistent switch-in to prevalent attackers such as Greninja, Dragapult, and really any special attacker. Being able to sponge a hit and Volt Switch into a threat safely can gain a lot of advantage. HP Fire is specifically for Mega Scizor, which can be really problematic for this team. Aura Sphere is a consideration to hit incoming Drill a tad harder. Fleur Cannon nukes Lando-T, and other ground types that try to take advantage of Volt Switch. It is also the best way to OHKO Dragapult coming out of Phantom Force. Iron Head was originally for opposing Magearna, but Iron Defense sets will ruin your day. To be perfectly honest, I have switched to a SpDef leftovers set with Vswitch / Fleur / Heart Swap / (Pain Split/TWave) to more consistently wall and get momentum off opposing Greninja and Magearna. But the AV set gives a lot of consistency against Greninja specifically, which would otherwise OHKO the entire team.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
Nothing gets up Rocks as consistently and smoothly and Landorus. Stone Edge has been amazing tech to peg the incredible amount of Zapdos and Charizard on the ladder. It also gives you a nice neutral option against Gliscor and other things you may not want to switch out on. Everytime I put HP Ice over Stone Edge, I immediately run into a Zapdos and regret it. You can tag Charizard Turn 1, when they think they are safe getting a KO, you live Weather Ball thanks to Sash and promptly OHKO. You 2HKO Zappers as they try to Defog, which is a righteous favor for Hawlucha in the back. Explosion is for surprise KOs on things that let you get them too low -- Mega Venu, Tang, opposing Lando-T, Gliscor as a few examples. But the primary purpose for Explosion is to ensure rocks against slow Defoggers. Smack Down is an excellent alternative to Stone Edge to more consistently hit your targets, with the added bonus of beating Steel/Flyings. As for the EV spread, I'm truly amazed by the amount of Zapdos my Lando outspeeds. I originally ran Jolly but Adamant has been hands down amazing and I haven’t ran into a faster Zapdos yet. This set will very nearly get you rocks guaranteed, or deal out tons of damage in the process.
Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
Specs Koko is a BEAST. You Dazzling Gleam their Lando-T switch-in once and they can't come in again. Spam Volt Switch -> Go Magearna -> Spam Volt Switch -> Go back to Koko. It's embarrassing how many teams just don't have answers to the Vswitch vortex. HP Fire is specifically for the ever annoying Mega Scizor, with the addition of 2HKOing Ferrothorn and Excadrill coming in on your STABs. The main point of this mon is literally just click Volt Switch as much as possible, and Dazzling Gleam the stuff that stops you from doing that.
Koko is a great consideration over Rillaboom specifically to help with Zapdos, Hawlucha, Mega Pinsir, Cinderace, Kommo-O, Skarmory, Toxapex, Corviknight and Celestella matchups. Kokos combination of speed, power and resistances have a lot to offer it’s main partner, Hawlucha.
Hawlucha @ Electric Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Acrobatics
- Taunt
Throughout every iteration of the team I built, truly I never changed this set. Hawlucha is such a centralizing set up sweeper in this tier. In a game where speed is so important, especially where +1 Dragapult runs the show, Lucha is really really clutch. Not only do you outpace +1 Pult, you outspeed Mega Pert and Kingdra in Rain. You outspeed Venu in Sun. You resist most reliable forums of priority and Electric Seed +1 Def helps you in that regard already. Taunt shuts down your opponent trying to Toxic, Haze, Whirlwind or otherwise stop your sweep. There's almost nothing that can control the endgame as much as Hawlucha. Find a Ground move, or a weak physical attacker and set that Swords Dance up. This spread specifically is what I attribute multiple accounts in the top of the ladder. Most opposing Hawlucha don't run so much speed -- i'm sure they will consider it now. Inb4 Jolly Luchas. Truly I see no reason to run less speed in a tier where the Lucha speedtie will often decide a game.
Dragapult @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Phantom Force
- Dragon Darts
- Flamethrower
In Gen 8, it was hard to know about Dragapult at first. The only Pokemon we could really compare it to in the Past was Deoxys-Speed, and Pheromosa. Nothing else has been so fast in an OU tier before. However, it's high attack stat was invalidated by it's shallow physical movepool. And base 100 Special Attack is so average in a tier with stuff like Chansey and Sdef Clefable. Dragapult has kept it's standing in Gen 8 for the time being. Turns out that is only because we banned Dynamax and Z-moves do not exist (yet) in Gen 8 OU. Ghostium-Z gives Dragapult it's consistent Physical Ghost move, and it is truly disgusting. Never-Ending Nightmare is a nuke that will score you a KO in nearly every game you play. There are so few pokemon that are safe against this monster. People run Mega Tyranitar for the sole purpose of walling and beating this mon.
Players have started running Naive nature, in order to speed tie and outspeed other Dragapult. Personally I think the power of Naughty is too much to give up. Overall, this mon is certainly overcentralizing and should be considered for a suspect.
Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- Leaf Blade
- Knock Off
The Rain matchup was overall horrid and Scarf Kart gave me the best glue to solve the problem. I've ran Scarf Koko and Greninja with Grass Knot to surprise Mega Swampert in the Rain. Others have Rillaboom on their teams to consistently stop Rain. Personally, I happened to run Kartana and it worked out alright. Running this coverage gave me a lot of options of lategame sweeping. Kart outspeeds Adamant Mega Pert in Rain, which is a really nice perk. I often switch Kartana in on Ferro to block Leech Seeds. It's really nice to outpace and OHKO Mega Lopunny, and other Scarfers such as Lele, Jirachi. Notably Kart outspeeds +2 Megearna. Kart definitely has it's uses, mainly making sure you don't lose to Rain, spamming STABs + Knock Off, and eating up a few physical hits after you Explode with Landorus.
[Conclusion]
Hyper Offense is a very fun style that has had limited options in the recent generation. I'm thankful for the ability to play a high variance tier like National Dex, and utilize the strong Offensive options that the tier has to offer.
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