Hello Smogoners, I know it hasn't been long since my last RMT but since I'm doing UU for SPL/Farm League and the VGC15 season starts soon (meaning I probably will not build seriously in OU for a while) I thought I may as well share the team I used the majority of the time to achieve suspect test reqs in OU, while it's certainly not the best team out there it's a lot of fun to use and represents the kind of balanced/bulky offensive teams that may be able to thrive after Greninja gets the hammer.
Basically I wanted to build around this neat BO core of Metagross (one of my very favorite Pokemon since I first laid eyes on it) and Keldeo, pretty well known core as they check each other's counters very well and they can really punch holes into the opposing team.
At that point I needed to add things that could counter whatever beat this core. The first things I thought of were Talonflame, Scarf Landorus-T and Slowbro, so I decided to add an Air Balloon Heatran to the team for Rocks, a check to Talon, and to ease the matchup vs Lando leads, and then I added LO Taunt Gengar to stop CroBro in it's tracks. Gengar + SubCM Keldeo are godsends for the stall matchup, and the threat of Gengar also stops Landorus-T from mindlessly EQing or U-turning.
At that point, I realized I still had a weakness to fast Electric types especially because my Heatran is an offensive variant, so I added my own Scarf Landorus-T to the squad because you basically lose nothing from using it and it provides a load of utility in one slot, including easing the matchup vs Latis, Electrics, Bird spam, and other Landorus.
By this point I was well aware of my horrible weakness to bulky Water types and Rain teams, but I figured the rest of the team worked well enough that I could dedicate this slot solely to countering bulky Waters and Rain and nothing else. I tried a lot of things, including SDef Rotom-W, both Latios and Latias, and pretty much every Raikou set you could think of.
But I finally settled on using Specially Defensive Celebi, and honestly this thing is fantastic for the team, forming the infamous DPP CeleTran core and also forming a FWG core with Keldeo, Natural Cure made the deal even sweeter as it could absorb status from the likes or Rotom-W and Thundurus for the team and switch into Scald from threatening bulky Waters such as the still massively threatening Slowbro without fear. Landorus-T is slightly more annoying now but it was well worth having pretty much THE Water type counter for a team massively weak to them
Keldeo @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Secret Sword
- Scald
The first Pokemon in the offensive core at the center of this team, SubCM Keldeo really pulls its weight mainly as a consistent check to common Dark types like Bisharp, Mega Gyarados and Tyranitar that could otherwise spell trouble for me, being more reliable at it than Choiced variants because this set carries Leftovers. Substitute protects me from status that could be used to wear down a Choiced variant of Keldeo, and together with Calm Mind and good natural bulk, Keldeo sets up on a decent portion of the meta, as well as being a nightmare for stall to deal with, and whatever it can't get past (Fairies and Latis come to mind) can usually be dealt with by Metagross or another team member. Once set up, Keldeo is very difficult to stop, and even when not set up Keldeo hits hard from it's complimentary dual STABs, one of which is capable of crippling the opponent with a burn.
Keldeo already has good natural bulk so investing in offensive stats was the most optimal route in terms of EVs and nature to take advantage of it's good 108 Speed tier and not have to rely on getting set up to still do work for the team.
Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt
Behold the poster-boy of 6th Gen BO, Mega Metagross is just a fantastic Mega Pokemon to build around, possessing the ultimate combination of power, bulk and speed. What it lacks in good offensive STAB coverage is made up for by it's teammates for the most part, but whatever it can hit for at least neutral will not enjoy the hit at all. I found Iron Head more reliable than Meteor Mash as the main STAB, as it still got most of the same 2HKOes without missing and a nifty flinch chance. Many forego Bullet Punch in favor of more coverage but imo the priority is worth the slot for revenge killing the threat that is Mega Diancie, and finishing off foes that another move just barely missed the KO on (this happens more often than you would expect). Bullet Punch just gives you the most value out of Metagross, allowing it to do work on faster but weakened threats late-game while it itself is low on HP instead of just dying. BP saves games, and besides, Earthquake alone provides most of the additional coverage you'll need outside of your STABs, hitting Heatran, Bisharp, Excadrill, other Metagross, as well as additional neutral coverage.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
The Quarterback of OU himself, Landorus-T has been finding a place on pretty much every team I make nowadays, and this one is no exception. Landorus-T is one of my two Bird checks and is also my primary way of eliminating pesky Electric types and other fast, frail threats. Intimidate is also a great asset in general to take advantage of on bulky offense. The black sheep on this set is HP Ice and that's just because other Landorus-T are annoying and weakening them with a first turn HP Ice really opens up a ton for Metagross and essentially eliminates a major annoyance to Celebi. I didn't really miss Knock Off too much. The rest of the moves are fairly self explanatory, I definitely wanted to run max Speed so I can smack other Scarf Lando with HP Ice before they can U-Turn away, and Naive nature to do as much damage as possible with HP Ice against all x4 weak targets like Garchomp and even weakened Dragonite if I don't feel like risking Stone Miss.
Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Ancient Power
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
A lot of people really sleep on just how good/annoying BalloonTran still is. It's imo one of the most reliable offensive SR users in the game, it hits hard, is hard to really knock out in one hit thanks to it's fantastic natural bulk and the Balloon, and it's speed can sometimes catch opponents off guard, for example, it's faster than Jolly Mega Scizor so instead of just getting swept by that thing at +2 after Keldeo is substantially weakened I just Fire Blast it before it can Superpower. I opted for Fire Blast for it's ability to 2HKO most Mega Venusaur after Rocks and Mega Sableye. Fire STAB is what allows Heatran to do it's main job of deterring Steel types that may wall Metagross like Skarmory. Ancient Power hits Zard-Y and Bird, I didn't really need Flash Cannon since I already have Metagross and Gengar to destroy Fairies. Earth Power rounds off the set, mostly for other Heatran and CharX, but can also do huge damage to Stallbreaker Talonflame after Roost and gives Heatran a neutral move on Water types like Starmie and Slowbro, as well as hitting Tentacruel for Super Effective.
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 220 SpD / 40 Spe
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Baton Pass
- Perish Song
- Recover
The team's dedicated Rain check and bulky Water counter, Celebi is an absolute lifesaver against the likes of Mega Slowbro, Suicune, Rotom-W, Azumarill, and opposing Keldeo. Giga Drain is the optimal STAB move to hit Water types hard and recover a little bit of HP, and it's very helpful for Mega Swampert on Rain teams in particular. Recover is a mandatory move on this kind of Celebi,. Baton Pass looks a bit odd but it prevents me from being Pursuit trapped and is another one of those momentum saving moves akin to U-turn (just not doing damage), forming a really neat pivot core with Landorus-T. Finally, Perish Song is essential to halt CM SlowBro and CM Suicune, as well as any other Pokemon known for slow but deadly set ups like Clefable, and is also really neat for annoying stallmons like Gliscor that just refuse to die and will likely not do so until the very end of the battle. The EVs/Nature give Celebi close to max SDef for switching into strong Water type attacks while speed creeping Specially Defensive Gliscor and Adamant Bisharp.
Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
At first glance Gengar doesn't seem to contribute as much to the team as the other members, but it's a very solid overall Pokemon to severely weaken or cripple a wide variety of bulky, annoying threats (such as such as Hippowdon, Ferrothorn, Rotom-W, Landorus-T, and Mew) that any other one team member wouldn't be able to cover all at once. Gengar basically makes my team a lot more difficult to wall even after losing a couple team members, and it also greatly eases the matchup against stall teams, as it can deny them recovery and hazard control with Taunt while having a fantastic typing with several important immunities.
Ultimately, Gengar might be the most expendable member on the team, but he manages to pull just enough weight, mostly due to how unprepared some teams are for the best (and only) offensive Ghost type in OU, to merit the spot.
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