XY OU RMT - Crimson Squad - Balanced Mega Scizor

[Rosqi]

Hello everyone! I would like to present you my balanced team Crimson Squad. I am working on it since a few days now and it is working pretty well. I did not record the exact winrate of the team but it must be around 70% (in the ranks 1350-y).

Overview of the Team:

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Darmanitan @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide/Superpower

much dmg such fast. If i could summarize him in a few words it would be like that. Without a doubt the Pokemon I have the more fun to play with and that I find really underrated. He has a pretty good coverage, Sheer Force and its very good Attack makes him hitting very hard and the Scarf/Nature/EVs allows him to outspeed pretty much everything that isn't boosted. I usually use him to Lead to hit the opponent very hard (most of the mons setting hazards aren't safe versus him like Ferro, Ttar and so on). Anyway most of the mons that don't resist fire takes amazing amounts of damages to the STAB Flare Blitz and get 2HKO.

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Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Volt Switch

Rotom-Wash covers most of Darmanitan's weaknesses and remains very useful thanks to Will-O-Wisp to shut down physical threats. Pain Split is used for the extra sustain, Volt Switch is nice for building a U-Volt core with Darma/Scizor.

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Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Atk / 176 Def
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Roost

Scizor creates a nice synergy with Rotom-Wash as they cover each other and build a U-Volt mechanic. I chose a spread to enhance his survavibility (Roost is there for the same purpose). Knock Off is preferred to Superpower for the extra support. Bullet Punch is the main STAB and priority move. I went with the Mega version to enhance the bulkiness and attack power even more.

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Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost

Latias is here used as an offensive defogger. I tried a CM version, but I need the anti-hazard because of Darma's weakness to SR which prevents me to abuse my U-Volt synergy. Draco Meteor is the nuke STAB, very threatening, and the Psyshock passes through the Specially defensive. Roost is there for the sustain.

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Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Ice Punch
- Payback

I noticed that my team did not have any strong response to Bisharp (except a luck Will-O-Wisp from Rotom-W). I then decided to take Conkeldurr, mostly for the priority STAB Mach Punch which is destructive. I run a usual Assault Vest version as it is very efficient. Ice Punch is there for Landorus mostly.

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Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Lava Plume

I wanted for the last a SR setter and noticed that my team was getting totally wrecked by Fairies. I went with Specially defensive Heatran for the extra Fairy resistance. This set is also pretty much classic, I don't really have anything to add I guess.

Thanks for the read and any recommendation (I am sure you have)! I'll continue to work around this All-Red Team that I'm appreciating more and more and wishing to make the best possible.

 

[jacob]

If you like darm then you should love using victini not only is it faster and bulkier it doesn't actually kill its self with its stab

I would suggest a simple spread of 252speef, 252attack, and jolly

 

[leremyju]

Hey, this is great time and I love darmanitan too. However, I think you should replace U-turn on Scizor with Swords Dance. Swords dance gives your team a sweeper and a stronger fairy check, as most bulky clefables are not OHKO'd by it. Scizor also helps put more offensive pressure on opposing teams.

Next, this team is very Volcarona weak. You have Heatran as a check, and Conkeldurr to an extent. Giga Drain variants can also beat Rotom-Wash while bulkier ones can outlast Rotom. I am going to suggest dropping Ice Punch on Conkeldurr for Rock Slide/Stone Edge. This helps your matchup versus both Charizard Y and Volcarona. Ice Punch in my opinion is really overrated and is not as neccessary on this team. Also, you said your Conkeldurr has 252 SpA, might want to change that. Payback is inferior to Knock Off. Although Payback can have 100 base power, Knock Off can remove Leftovers and other items, to let Scizor break teams down.

Last, you could try Healing Wish over Roost on Latias. I love Roost but when Darmanitan is basically killing itself to recoil and Stealth Rocks, you can make it healthy again and continue ripping apart teams.

Try out these changes and see if they work n_n

changes

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Atk / 176 Def
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Roost

Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost / Healing Wish


Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Rock Slide / Stone Edge
- Knock Off

 

[Rosqi]

Thanks a lot for your very interesting feedback.

I will definitely try Victini, you sold it pretty well haha.

Indeed I did not took Volcarona into consideration, thanks for pointing that out. I did not encounter any so far. And sorry for the SpA on Conkeldurr, I meant SpD obviously, typo error do not mind it. I completely agree for the Knock Off, I will change it right away.

Same goes for the Healing Wish. As you pointed out Darma will be subject to great health-dropping because of the recoil of Flare Blitz and possible hazards, so the Healing Wish can be very interesting in that case.

 

[firehusky]

Hi Rosqi, welcome to Smogon!

This is a pretty cool team, so I'll give my two cents on it.
First off, I recommend replacing Darmanitan with Victini. Victini has access to V-create, which is also extremely powerful, and doesn't take recoil damage like Darmanitan does. I recommend a Choice Scarf set of V-create | Bolt Strike | U-turn | Final Gambit, as it fulfills Darmanitan's role of being a nuke, momentum grabber, and a powerful revenge killer. Another change that I feel you should make is Swords Dance over U-turn on Scizor. Swords Dance Mega Scizor is a great late game win condition, as well as still being able to check fairy types such as diancie and altaria. You still retain a volt turn core, as choice scarf victini is still carrying U-turn. A final change I feel you should make is Knock off instead of Payback on Conkeldurr. Payback reaches full power at 100 BP, while Knock Off against a Pokemon with an item is 97.5, so the difference in damage is extremely minimal. However, Knock Off has the added utility of taking away items from Pokemon such as Chansey that rely on them, while also being a "safe" move that is safe to use on the switch, as almost nothing enjoys losing their item.

Hope my rate helped!

 

[leremyju]

For the above, I think you should consider Trick over Final Gambit, because you won't be doing too much if you are worn down, and its generally a last ditch attempt to do something.

 

[Rosqi]

Thanks a lot Quilava Boy :D Your recommendations are pretty similar from the ones given before you, so I had the opportunity to test those changes already and they work pretty well.

Victini especially as his coverage is much different from Conkeldurr in comparison to Darma (they share Rock and Ground whereas Victini has an Electrik move which no other pokemon in my team has). I still feel emotional about having replaced my red gorilla but its worth it haha.

One thing that I am noticing more and more though is the low-impact of Latias in most of my games. Her natural bulk does not allow her to sweep as much as I wish it would, plus running two support moves really reduces her coverage and offensive impact. I am thinking about changing her item/nature/ev spread to make her more resistant.

 

[Snowy]

Hey I really enjoy your teams make and the use of some forgot about mons like Conkeldure and Darmanitan(or Victini by the sounds of it now)! On a side note just from looking at your team and scarf Excadrill with Moldbreaker can hit your entire team for huge damage and with nothing but the exception of Scizor wanting to switch into an earthquake. Yes you do have checks in scarf Darmanitan/Victini and even Conkeldure can take it out from a certain range with mach punch, but if Excadill gets the free switch your team will nearly always have to sacrifice something. So what do you change? I thought about it for a while and realised that Heatran doesn't hold much purpose on the team due to most members already being able to do what it does, other than provide stealth rocks. So that why I believe you should implement defensive Landorus-T over Heatran and Changing the spread on Mega Scizor to a more SpD based one.

Suggested sets + Explanations

Landorus-T:

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

Although the staple and most familiar defensive Landorus-T set, it provides the presences and ability to for fill the holes of the team and also take on the roles of defensive Scizor. This set becomes your primary handle to Mega Loppuny, Excadril and most other physically offensive monsters in the tier without ice stab, due to its respectable defense and bulk plus its amazing ability. The move set is pretty easy to understand but I would be willing to explain it to you if need be.

Mega Scizor:

Hide

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 40 Atk / 76 Def / 144 SpD
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Knock Off
- Bullet Punch

Although thee move set is nothing special the spread has been customized to east Draco Meteors from Latias and some other special hits, while providing enough defense to not be 2hko'd before rock by Mega Loppunys High Jump Kick and take on max attack scarf Landorus-T. Being able to take this forms of hits allows Mega Scizor to set up more easily and clean house. As an addition you might want to take away some evs to run enough speed to handle Rotom-W so you dont get burnt.

Other than these few little things I would say the teams shaping up nicely! I hope you enjoyed my rate and have an enjoyable and successful future with this team.

 

[Rosqi]

Thanks for the compliment and recommendations! While creating my teams I always try to give some love to under used pokemons. It creates a bit of surprise and some of them are really underrated while having a lot of potential!

I will try swaping Heatran for Lando-T but to be honest I do not really see how Lando-T is more useful to the team than Heatran (except the Intimidate maybe). I picked Heatran mostly for his Fairy resistance which my team needs. I already have Ground immunities and his resistance set is pretty much covered by other of my pokemons already.

Also about the Excadrill issue that you are pointing out I think Rotom-W is a good answer to it as it resists/is immune to both its STABs, can burn it and can greatly damage it thanks to Hydro Pump. If the Excadrill runs Mold Breaker instead of Sand Rush/Force that can be problematic indeed, but I really do not see any of them on my rank.

That Excadrill was getting too much in my mind so I did some calc:
-Earthquake from Excadrill Adamant 252Atk vs my Rotom-W : 85.8% - 101.6%
-Hydro Pump from my Rotom-W vs 0HP/252SpD Excadrill: 96.6% - 114.3%
So if I do not switch in an Earthquake, with full HP, we have approximately the same probability to kill each other, without counting hazards. Only problem might be the bad accuracy of Hydro Pump.

The Scizor Spread seems very interesting, I will definitely give it a try!