ORAS OU RMT: Mega Pinsir Returns

[Notorious544d]

Mega Pinsir Returns
(Pun intended :P)

Artwork by brightobject​

Introduction:

Hey everyone, I wanted to share my M-Pinsir team for my first RMT. Ever since XY, M-Pinsir's destructive power never got old to me and even post-ORAS, I couldn't settle for any of the new megas since I was so spoiled for power! Watching the most obnoxious walls get KO'd from full health as well as seeing faster threats crumble with priority is extremely satisfying late game. I've been having great fun with this M-Pinsir/Excadrill offensive core and would love some feedback on how this team can better handle its threats. Of course, you're welcome to use the team as well since I've also had great success with it (peaking at 1619 on my 'lolzuk' alt).

Enjoy :)

The team:

Breloom @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Swords Dance

Breloom is my lead 80% of the time. The threat of spore as well as a successful land gives me great early momentum. I try to keep the sash in tact for as long as possible because if rocks are off the field, it can act also act as an excellent revenge 'killer' with spore. Swords Dance can make Breloom a potential win condition since once again, if its sash is intact than getting it off is guaranteed and then it can just Mach Punch everything late game. Breloom is a great bulky water check, dealing with Rotom-W and M-Slowbro. You want to run Jolly to ensure that your spores can land without taking prior damage. However, be careful with spamming your spores because you'd want to land it on Pokemon that would annoy your team rather than Pokemon that would have been useless anyway because this gives your opponent free death fodder. Also be aware of Tyranitar's sandstorm which will break Breloom's sash at the end of the turn.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower
- Soft-Boiled
- Calm Mind

Standard Calm Mind Clefable is a great defensive pivot that puts offensive pressure, a great stallbreaker and another potential win condition. It fulfils so many roles at once and is a great glue and chick magnet (it lures steel types :P) which could potentially be nailed with flamethrower or if the opponent has a Heatran, it gives me an opportunity to double switch into Tyranitar, Excadrill, M-Pinsir or Keldeo. Being immune to hazard and sandstorm damage is also awesome.

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Specs Keldeo has great synergy with M-Pinsir as it is an excellent wallbreaker. If the opponent switches into Latias to take the scald, great! It's now in range to M-Pinsir's +2 Quick Attack. It also deals with Skarmory, weakens Rotom-W (lol if they switch into Secret Sword), checks Bisharp and Gyarados/M-Gyarados and in general, spreads burns with Scald's 90% 30% burn chance and punches holes, making it easier for M-Pinsir to sweep.

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Thunder Wave

Tyranitar is a solid Talonflame check and it gets sandstorm running for Excadrill. I went for a bulky utility spread for better survivability since Tyranitar has excellent mixed defences. If my opponent doesn't know my spread, it has a great presence and forces switches, allowing me to get up Stealth Rocks quite consistently. Thunder Wave screws up switch ins like Keldeo and Clefable. Tyranitar can even stomach a M-Metagross' Meteor Mash and retaliate with Thunder Wave, which is massive and then proceed to weaken it with crunch. When Tyranitar is at low health, I can fodder it to get up 5 turns of Excadrill rampage. In general, Tyranitar is an amazing glue.

Excadrill @ Soft Sand
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Excadrill is such a great team mate to M-Pinsir because it checks so many threats that M-Pinsir hates such as M-Metagross, Talonflame, Thundurus, M-Diancie, M-Manectric, M-Aerodactyl and scarf Heatrans, Tyranitar's and Jirachis. I use to carry Life Orb but losing health on every Rapid Spin as well as getting in range to priority like Aqua Jet, Mach Punch and Sucker Punch ruined its potential sweep. It just wore it down too much for my liking and so I now use 'Soft Sand' for insanely powerful Earthquakes. Adamant has a significant power increase but Jolly is also good for outspeeding Gyarados outside of sand for example. You can also use Air Balloon or even go innovative with Passho Berry. Being so fast while not being locked into a move gives Excadrill great flexibility and taking nothing from rocks makes it a reliable spinner. It's also a great switch in to rock and electric type moves that threaten M-Pinsir whilst M-Pinsir is a reliable switch to predicted fighting or ground type moves.

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

The star of the show, M-Pinsir is an excellent wallbreaker and late game sweeper. Once all its checks have been weakened, M-Pinsir sets up a Swords Dance. If your opponent fails to kill it or status it during that turn, M-Pinsir proceeds to sweep. Although M-Pinsir has a decent 105 speed, faster and frailer Pokemon do not appreciate an Aerilate Quick Attack. As a reference, +2 M-Pinsir's Quick Attack hits AS HARD as +1 Jolly M-Gyarados' Crunch. M-Pinsir has an overlooked 125 defence which allows it to set up on non-supereffective, physical moves relatively easily. +2 Return can OHKO fully healthy Slowbro, Suicine, Mandibuzz, Gliscor and M-Sableye after Stealth Rock. If rocks are off the field, M-Pinsir can also act as a solid wallbreaker (without setting up) as clicking Return will 2HKO the majority of the unresisted metagame. Hyper Cutter is used to ensure that Intimidators do not get the attack drop when they switch in and this helps it beat Landorus-T (if it stays in). Also bare in mind that the turn Pinsir comes in, it 'only' takes 25% from Stealth Rocks so if you can't keep rocks off your side of the field, it's not the end of the world. As mentioned before, Excadrill is a great partner as when rock or steel type scarfers try to revenge you, Excadrill is usually a good switch into predicted rock type attacks. M-Pinsir is truly a monster late game.

Threat list

M-Manectric volt-turn teams are probably the biggest threat to this team. My safest switch is Tyranitar but then M-Manectric will usually just Volt Switch into Landorus-T (which will then probably use U-turn) which loses so much momentum. I usually have to sack or severely cripple my Pokemon in order to weaken M-Manectric or scarf Landorus-T. The only way I can revenge kill this is by sandstorm Excadrill, but even then the opponent will usually hard switch to Landorus-T, which makes Excadrill less threatening via Intimidate and stalls out invaluable Sandstorm time.

This team has no safe switch ins to this monster. Even if I correctly predict the right move, I can't do much back since M-Metagross outspeeds my whole team. Once again, I have to rely on sandstorm Excadrill to deal with this. The only other way I can beat this is if M-Pinsir is already at +2 and Metagross has not yet mega evolved, since Earthquake OHKO's. If it has already mega evolved, M-Pinsir has to be in good health to stomach a Meteor Mash (which can so up to 70%). Oh and sashed Breloom can pressure a Spore which is broken but at the cost of 99% of its health.

Thundurus can usually be handled by Tyranitar and Excadrill but that's assuming that it doesn't have Focus Miss Blast. Tyranitar's Sandstorm helps rack up residual damage with Life Orb recoil as well as activate Excadrill's Sand Rush, which can KO with Rock Slide. Still, Thundurus needs to be dealt with before M-Pinsir cleans up because Prankster Thunder Wave is so freaking cheap! it resists Quick Attack and has a faster Thunder Wave.

Although not very common right now under M-Metagross' dominance, if M-Diancie gets up a Rock Polish, it's GG. I once again have to rely on Excadrill under Sand to kill this. Either that or if it hasn't mega-evolved (and doesn't have protect), M-Pinsir can OHKO with unboosted Earthquake. However, M-Diancie typically doesn't run both Protect and Rock Polish and so if I apply enough offensive pressure, I can usually beat it.

Landorus-T's Intimidates are just so annoying. Excadrill hates the defensive variant while M-Pinsir hates scarf (since Return hits non-scarf really hard). However, it isn't too hard to wear down as long as you have rocks up and is relatively easy to bait out. Pinsir's Hyper Cutter also helps screw Landorus-T's switch ins but it is a one time use and M-Pinsir prefers to be at +2 to net crucial KO's.

Gengar is impossible to safely switch into if it carries Focus Miss Blast. The sub set is annoying for Tyranitar as well since burn damage quickly racks up and makes Tyranitar very weak offensively. It also outspeeds my team bar sandstorm Excadrill but if Gengar is behind a sub, Will-O-Wisp severely cripples it. In general, Gengar severely weakens my team and wrecks havoc.

I know what you're thinking. Weak to M-Venasaur... on a M-Pinsir team? Sadly, M-Pinsir's Stealth Rock weakness prevents it from freely switching in all the time and excluding M-Pinsir, my team actually struggles against it. Excadrill can 2HKO with Earthquake but it takes a lot of damage from Giga Drain which can potentially make the 2HKO into a 3HKO. Also, M-Venasaur teams typically carry a Skarmory to specifically handle M-Pinsir which is very annoying to break down.

I know Skarmory is very passive and is usually a free switch to Clefable or Keldeo (hopefully it doesn't Brave Bird) but Skarmory is a huge headache for both M-Pinsir and Excadrill. I usally aim to get it down to 50% health, then +2 Return from M-Pinsir can KO after rocks. Stall teams with a Skarmory slapped on can be annoying to break down as they usually have answers to Keldeo and Clefable. Also, Skarmory can severely cripple M-Pinsir before even being called out through whirlwind shenanigans.

This stupid washing machine is annoying. It's not too hard to deal with as it is easily worn down, but it's a stupid momentum gainer and is annoying for M-Pinsir and Excadrill (unless I can bluff Mold Breaker lol). Ugh.

Importable

Excadrill @ Soft Sand
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Thunder Wave

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower
- Soft-Boiled
- Calm Mind

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Breloom @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Swords Dance

Shoutouts

I'd like to give a massive shoutout to Scy for his excellent M-Pinsir teambuilding guide linked here. Although it was made before ORAS, it is still completely relevant since the guide is very in-depth. In fact, my team is very similar to his sand offence team (I genuinely didn't realise this until I re-looked at the guide lol). He is a very skilled player and also has a Youtube channel so go check him out :)

Thank you for reading this RMT! I'd love some feedback on this team or on the format of this RMT since this is my first ever one and I hope you have as much success and enjoyment using this team as I have! :)

 

[Radio_Active]

Why not run Hippodown>Ttar to deal with Most of your above threats? It is not as good as Ttar but better for this team, as it walls a portion of your threats.. Sorry, sets are upto you.

Edit: You can also run Moxie>Hyper Cutter as you can get a +1 boost with Quick Attack.

 

[Disciple_1]

Yo cool team. As Radio_Active said above Hippowdon definitely is a better choice for your team over T-tar. It handles most threats mentioned and can set up rocks. It also has reliable recovery in slack off. I would recommend running rock tomb on Breloom. Since most teams with Talonflame will definitely switch tflame into breloom, rock tomb is a brilliant option to KO it on the switch. Also I would run frustration > return on Pinsir. Though ditto is uncommon it is best to be wary and that way you don't lose on any power also.

Hope I helped glhf battling :)

 

[Notorious544d]

Yo cool team. As Radio_Active said above Hippowdon definitely is a better choice for your team over T-tar. It handles most threats mentioned and can set up rocks. It also has reliable recovery in slack off. I would recommend running rock tomb on Breloom. Since most teams with Talonflame will definitely switch tflame into breloom, rock tomb is a brilliant option to KO it on the switch. Also I would run frustration > return on Pinsir. Though ditto is uncommon it is best to be wary and that way you don't lose on any power also.

Hope I helped glhf battling :)

Thanks for your feedback. The reason I run Return is because if Ditto comes in on +2 M-Pinsir, it'll likely use Quick Attack to revenge it. If it doesn't, then I'll use Quick Attack to kill it.

Using Hippo is interesting but I'd probably gotta have to use a SpD variant. The reason I chose Tyranitar is because it has better bulk in sandstorm, it has an offensive presence and Thunder Wave is just that good. Using SpD Hippo will make me weaker to Talonflame but could help check Thundurus, Gengar and M-Manectric so I may give it a shot.

 

[Disciple_1]

Thanks for your feedback. The reason I run Return is because if Ditto comes in on +2 M-Pinsir, it'll likely use Quick Attack to revenge it. If it doesn't, then I'll use Quick Attack to kill it.

Using Hippo is interesting but I'd probably gotta have to use a SpD variant. The reason I chose Tyranitar is because it has better bulk in sandstorm, it has an offensive presence and Thunder Wave is just that good. Using SpD Hippo will make me weaker to Talonflame but could help check Thundurus, Gengar and M-Manectric so I may give it a shot.

Fine.... Tho according to your threat list, most of them are definitely walked by Hippowdon even the Def variant. And also if your Pinsir is taken out then opposing pinsirs will rip your team to shreds. Hippowdon helps with this too. Return and frustration are interchangeable so it makes no difference.

 

[Notorious544d]

This is a kind of random question, but does anybody know why the sprites have stopped moving? Alternatively, could somebody link me to another website that has the moving sprites? Thanks.