XY OU Regen Core At Its Finest (Peaked #1)

[mastermind15]

Preface​

Hello Smogonites, Mastermind here with my first RMT. The concept of Regen Core has always fascinated me ever since it was conceived back in Gen 5. I have always felt that it is a surprisingly under-utilized play style that is excellent for scouting and dealing with residual damage. Although it does have its fair share of counters (such as the ubiquitous use of entry hazards), I feel it is a legitimate strategy that can be both unusual and devastating to the other team.

Proof of Peak​

Note: Originally, I meant to post this team the last time I played on the ladder in early June, but I ran into technical difficulties so I couldn’t. Now that I finally have been able to, it is, admittedly, a little outdated due to the BP and Deo bans. In my opinion though, the recent bans have only served to further strengthen this already formidable squad.

Some unusual things about my team


· No entry hazard moves!

· No legendaries

· No stat boosting Pokemon

· No hard hitting Sp. Attacking Pokemon​

The Teambuilding Process​

Since type synergy is paramount to me and knowing that I liked Regen Core, Amoongbro was obvious. This forms the backbone and first defensive layer of my team. I never cease to be surprised by how well these mons work together, checking a considerable amount of the meta by themselves.

Seeing that I had a huge weakness to dark and ghost types, I then added Mandibuzz who could sponge those hits. Additionally, Mandibuzz’s flying typing is useful to my team because it doesn’t take damage from ground-type attacks. This is important because no other poke on my team resists ground.

At this point, having two defensive and one specially-defensive pokemon, I felt bulky Tyranitar was essential, as it could counter and pursuit trap hard hitting specially offensive pokemon such as Latios and Latias, while serving as a check to Mega-Gardevior, Mega Charizard-Y, and specially attacking Kyurem-B. The added ability to start a sandstorm is also important, as it allows me to somewhat take away momentum from weather based teams. This duo of Ttar and Mandy has served as valuable support to my core by providing an essential second defensive layer to my Amoongbro core.

Realizing that boosting pokes such as Belly Drum Azumarill and DD Charizard-X could sweep my team, Imposter Ditto logically followed to counter these pokes as well as to potentially sweep my opponent.

Knowing that my team severely lacked offensive presence, and seeing that I had a big weakness to rock and dragon attacks, I then added Mega-Mawile.​

The Team At A Glance

​

The Members​

Slowbro (Bill) @ Assault Vest

Ability: Regenerator

EVs: 252 Hp, +252 Def, 4 Sp. Attack

0 attack ivs

Bold Nature

Scald

Fire Blast

Ice Beam

Psychic
​

Here is the first member of my Regen Core: Slowbro. While he may have standard EVs and IVs, his move set is unusual in that I don’t utilize Slack Off. The reason for this is I feel Slowbro has great move coverage, so I wanted to make use of it. Additionally, Regenerator heals 1/3 of total health upon switch, so I figured slack off was redundant. The Sp. Defense increase due to AV provides a special utility to Slowbro as I can now somewhat take bulky rotom-w’s volt switch and scald the incoming mon, as well as play mind games by being able to switch him in to take attacks from powerful special attackers such as Landorus-I and Latios.

Amoongus (Penelope) @ Black Sludge

Ability: Regenerator

EVs: 252 Hp, 32 Def, +224 Sp. Defense

Calm Nature

Spore

Giga Drain

Clear Smog

Foul Play​

The other member of my Regen Core, Amoongus complements Slowbro excellently in terms of synergy. Regarding the EVs, I put as much investment as I possibly could in special defense because Slowbro already serves as my physical wall. Now you may be wondering what I meant by most Sp. Defense investment for her seeing as how I have only 224 Sp. Defense EVs in Amoongus. The reason why I have the extra EVs invested in defense is to check Mega-Heracross. With 32 Defense EVs, I can live at roughly full health a Pin Missile barrage from Adamant nature Mega Heracross and hopefully Spore him in the process. The moveset for Amoongus is pretty typical. I use spore to incapacitate one of my opponent’s pokes, while Giga Drain provides valuable STAB recovery. Clear Smog takes momentum away from boosting mons, while foul play allows me to hit Scizor and Thundurus somewhat hard.

Mandibuzz (Agatha) @ Leftovers

Ability: Overcoat

EVs: 248 Hp, +200 Def, 44 Sp. Defense, 16 Speed

Bold Nature

Foul Play

Defog

Roost

Taunt​

Mandibuzz finds its niche on my team through its important role as a defogger as well as its excellent and much needed dark/flying typing. The EV set comes from a fusion of two sets I found on Smogon’s analysis for Mandy. I primarily dump my EVs into hp and defense in order lighten the defensive burden on Slowbro. 44 Sp. Defense EVs are useful for taking hits from Landorus-I and specially attacking Aegislash. The 16 speed EVs are for out speeding max speed Mega Mawile and Azumarill. The attacks are all standard. Foul Play for damage and to check things like SD Mega Scizor and Bisharp. Defog for eliminating entry hazards. Roost is used for healing and taunt for stopping hazard setters.

Tyranitar (Sam) @ Assault Vest

Ability: Sand Stream

EVs: 252 Attack, +248 Sp. Defense, 8 Sp. Attack

Sassy Nature

Crunch

Pursuit

Superpower

Fire Blast
​

Tyranitar fulfills a plethora of rolls for my team. Initially, he checks many special attacking threats such as Mega Gardevior and Mega Charizard-Y. His bulk is only good enough to check these threats though with the extra padding provided by Assault Vest, which is partially why I don’t run stealth rock. Another thing Tyranitar can do is trap, which is important when against mons like the Lati twins, Mega Manectric, and Gengar. Finally, Tyranitar’s ability Sand Stream allows me to slow the momentum of weather teams, break sashes, and lessen the healing power of synthesis from Mega Venusaur. 252 attack EVs are important for giving Tyranitar an offensive presence, while 248 Sp. Defense is used to help lighten the Sp. Defense load for Amoongus. 8 Sp. Attack EVs are used to amplify the power of Fire Blast which is important against Baton Pass teams that utilize Scolipede to boost defense. While this decision to include Fire Blast may seem questionable, I haven’t lost to BP yet since using this move, whereas Stone Edge doesn’t seem to put much of a dent in bp (when it happens to hit). Crunch is nice for stab and is also useful against bulky psychic-type Pokemon that don’t want to switch and can heal. Superpower is very useful against Chansey, who is very threatening to my team without it.

Ditto (Kevin) @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Imposter

EVs: 252 Hp, 252 Def, 4 Speed+

Naïve Nature

Transform

Transform

Transform

Transform​

Ditto fulfills his role on the team by acting as a check and deterrent to stat boosting pokes, most notably Belly Drum Azumarill, Dragon Dance Mega Charizard-X, Dragon Dance Mega Gyarados, and Swords Dance Bisharp. Nature, EVs, and moves are all standard and self-explanatory.

Mawile (Delilah) @ Mawilite

Ability: Intimidate

EVs: 132 Hp, +252 Attack, 124 Speed

Adamant Nature

Sucker Punch

Play Rough

Fire Fang

Focus Punch​

Even though this team is focused on Regen Core, Mega Mawile is definitely the star of my team. His unique typing allows me to check mons like Conkeldurr, Tyranitar, Mega Scizor, and opposing Mandibuzz. I obtained the EV set from the Smogon analysis of Mega Mawile. 124 Speed EVs are used to outspeed any no speed investment Scizor as well as opposing Mega Mawile, Azumarill, and Aegislash. While Sucker Punch and Play Rough are self-explanatory, many may question why I have both Focus Punch and Fire Fang. The reason for this is my team really needs fire coverage to take out pokes like Scizor, Ferrothorn, and opposing Mega Mawile. The fighting coverage is needed to take care of Heatran and roosting Mega Charizard X and Y when my opponent anticipates Sucker Punch. Both moves are also important for killing roosting Skarmory, as Skarmory will do its move: I use Fire Fang; Skarmory will roost; and then I hit Skarmory with an Ohko Focus Punch if Skarmory can’t heal all the way and Sturdy doesn’t activate.



Conclusion


So there you have it. It has taken months of hard work to top the ladder with Regen Core, but I can confidently say it has been a fun ride to constantly tweak this unique team. Be warned that although this team is good, if you are new you will probably find it difficult to use. There are a lot of nuances to the team, and scenarios you will have to experience in order to be successful with it. While there are lot of threats out there to this team, if you play these mons right, I believe they can win any battle. As a side note, I plan to take a break from laddering for a while as I have a lot of games I need to finish in my spare time, but if you have any thoughts and/or critiques please share them. I am interested to hear.

 

[killingj0k3]

Wow congratulations on the peak, I'm also working on something similar but I can see from your team that mine was lacking a few things, mainly offensive presence I guess. If you don't mind me asking, surely brick break would be better on Mawile in this case then Focus punch? Or is it there purely for the predicted switch in?

Also, on your Ditto, maybe edit the IV's so you can catch pokes that use hidden power, such as Thundy.

How do you deal with Lando-I, as with my team, knock off variants is a huge issue.

 

[RufflesPro]

Wow really great team! I actually really like your team because it's one of the very few stall/semi-stall teams who uses Mandibuzz over Skarmory, no hazard, and AV T-tar.

I actually fought that team more than once on the ladder, once I had a taunt war with Mandibuzz and the other you surprised me with Fire Blast from a Slowbro vs. Scizor.

Anyways really solid team!

 

[mastermind15]

Thanks for the replies. As far as Focus Punch goes killingjok, it is superior to Brick Break, in my opinion, due to its extra power. I use it a lot against Skarm, Mega Charizards, and Heatran, and let me tell you, it works in that it oftentimes Ohko's when it hits unlike Brick Break. Personally, Landorus-I is a relatively easy mon for my squad to deal with due to AV Slowbro. Between switching into Ditto, Amoongus, Slowbro, and Mandibuzz, Landy-I is usually not able to dent my team much even with Knock Off.

Thanks also Asterat for all the tips. I will consider them. Let me just say though, Mandy's function is crucial to my team due to its ability to eliminate hazards, and its typing helps me out a lot in dealing against threats like Aegislash, Bisharp, and Excadrill. Believe me, I have tried before, but I can't think of any other overall better hazard eliminator for my team.

Thanks for the encouraging words Professional. I am glad you noticed the uniqueness of the team!

 

[cuteflounder]

Hey man, I was the one who challenged you on PS earlier today.

Anyways, this is a very unique take on stall so I'll try to keep member changes to a minimum in order to preserve the integrity of the team. Based off of our battle and just looking at the team on paper, some potential issues appear to be Mega Pinsir, Zard X, Mega Mawile, and Gliscor. First off, I'd like to propose replacing Mandibuzz with a physically defensive Zapdos.

Hide

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 172 Def / 68 SpA / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Roost

Zapdos provides you with a more reliable way of handling Mega Pinsir outside of Ditto/Sucker Punch mindgames from Mawile while still being able to handle threats like Mega Gyara, and to a lesser extent Bisharp and Excadrill.

At this point you're still a bit weak to Zard X, Mega Mawile, and Gliscor, and more reliable answers to Bisharp and Excadrill wouldn't hurt. I think that Ditto is your most replaceable member here. A physically defensive Gliscor of your own gives you a good way of dealing with these threats and also alleviates some pressure off of Mawile in punching holes in opposing stall.

Hide

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 204 Def / 60 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off / Toxic
- Taunt
- Roost

Gliscor's benefits against things like Zard X and Mega Mawile are fairly self-explanatory. However, I think that it also benefits your team's matchup against opposing Gliscor by effectively preventing them from doing any noticeable damage due to your team.

Anyways, I hope I helped in some way. Good luck with the team and congrats on the peak :^)

 

[RufflesPro]

Tbh, if you replace your Specially defensive Tyranitar to a Physically defensive one you will be able to solve all those problems, since Gliscor is handled by Slowbro

you could either do 252 Atk / 248+ Def / 8 SpA or 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252+ Def, you can shift EVs from Def to Atk and SpA as you want, this would solve your problem vs. Talonflame when T-tar is weakened, and ofc solves you problem against Pinsir and Mega Char X if Ditto is not around

And to the above posted I should say: Zapdos should never be used on stall, it's only good on Balanced, Mandibuzz is a much better options since it stops Ghost and Dark Spam along along with being immune to Psychic (amoonguss) type

 

[ItoI6]

I really wanted to make a ditto/regen stall team back when I was near ladder top but it always seemed to be really similar to this team in the end so I never used it much lol

A few changes you might consider though

1) Alomomola>Slowbro. The main reason for this is helping mawile get in for free against stall with wishes so you dont get worn down by stosses and stuff. It would also be a big help for your ttar considering it has no healing of its own. I use a spread of 252hp/16def/240spec def bold though I'm really not sure what youre supposed to run lol. You are kind of fucked versus stall if mawile dies and have to play like a 200 turn game by pp stall switching to win after that so I feel like this would be really helpful. You could also try that mirror coat gimmick if you want to have another answer to char y.

2) Tyranitar. I have to ask does this set really beat the things its supposed to beat? Superpower seems like a real waste of a move slot considering this is how much it does to chansey

252 Atk Tyranitar Superpower vs. 0 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 354-418 (55.2 - 65.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after sandstorm damage

I always twave ttars when I'm in with chansey, then I'd just softboiled until I'm at full and beat you 1v1 lol. I dont even think it even 2hkos after the drop and this is versus 0hp chansey. This set doesnt have Stone Edge either so you cant ohko char y while it 2hkos with focus blast...Definitely remove superpower for something else. And if fire blast is just for baton pass I think sr/crunch/pursuit/stoneedge lefties or chople for the char y lure would be a lot better at this point in the metagame.

3) Maybe knockoff>taunt on mandi for taking off lando-i life orb. 108 spec def evs are necessary to avoid a 2hko from lando-i focus blast but ehhhh that might be too much investment. your team looks to be in a bad place if mandi is gone and lando is around though.

Now that I think about it this team is really weak to mega-mawile and mega-garde lol I can't see how you beat them if played well tbh. Maybe scarfheatran over tyranitar would be a good answer to these threats, as it also checks char y and makes a f/w/g core for what its worth

 

[mastermind15]

Let me begin by saying I think your suggestions cuteflounder are brilliant and right on the money. So many of my teams major threats such as Mega Heracross, Mega Zards, and bulky WoW users seem to be much easier to deal with by adding in that Zapdos and Gliscor combo. I will implement the changes and see if they prove to be as good in practice as they seem in theory. Thanks again for the awesomely helpful rate!

Thank you also to Itol6 and Professional for the suggestions. I feel you are both right to see problems with the current Ttar set I utilize. Personally, Professional, I feel it is critical that my Ttar remains a special wall as I don't have as many issues in the physically defensive area, but only have Amoongus for Special Defense if I were to make the change. Ttar, I feel, excellently synergizes with Amoongus as it can take those hard hitting fire attacks and is immune to Psychic, along with providing an important dark and ghost resistance.

I feel you make a legitimate point Itol6 regarding the move Superpower. Chansey though really is a massive threat to my team without it as I really only have Mega Mawile to deal with it then. As of now, I feel Assault Vest Ttar works best for my team, so I can't substitute in Stealth Rocks. Stone Edge is too inconsistent and weak against Chansey for killing it at critical points. At least in my experience, players usually wait until Chansey is at half health to heal, which is an opportunity for me as Ttar is then able to surprise kill this threat at that range of Hp with Superpower.

Thanks again all for your time on the rates and please let me know if any of you can think of a better Ttar set!

 

[mastermind15]

Sorry cuteflounder, I meant to ask you in the last post, but could you explain the reasoning behind the Gliscor EVs or link me to where you found it.
Thanks!

 

[cuteflounder]

Sorry cuteflounder, I meant to ask you in the last post, but could you explain the reasoning behind the Gliscor EVs or link me to where you found it.
Thanks!

Yep, 244 HP EVs hit a magic leftovers/toxic orb number to maximize passive recovery, 60 speed EVs outspeed Bisharp which can be helpful in beating it 1v1 and lastly, the leftover EVs are dumped into defense.

 

[over9000chainz]

Good job man. I'm hating you right now lol, this team might make the Amoonbro core OU and my UU teams will crumble

 

[Master B8s]

Hey man, I don't know if you still use this team, but I've tried using this team and it worked real great. I'm not amazing but this team is quite good and balanced. I just have to ask what you did with M-Mawhile being banned and how you're changing it up. When the suspect ladder was out, i switched Mega Mawhile for Mega Charizard-X. I thought it worked real well, because i noticed Scizor gave your team a bit of trouble. I started using a bulky DD set, but i shifted towards a bulky WOW set seeing how it completed a FWG core, and Zard-X had offensive presence with Tough Claws. Just wanted to hear what you think.