SAY THE NAME
Hello everyone! I’m back nearly a year after my first Gen 7 RMT with another creation, and this time I got to keep the bad ideas with an even better peak! Jokes aside, I’m very pleasantly surprised with this one, primarily because I got to use Scizor. Without monologuing too long, I started playing pokemon in the Draft community back in 2016, and I don’t think there’s a single pokemon I’ve used more than Scizor. I had tried to make it work in the past, but attempts were half baked and sloppy. About a month and a half ago though, I sat down and gave it another attempt. What I ended up with was a team that allowed me to spend the last month+ not only watch my favorite bug wreck shop all the way to the top of the Gen 7 OU ladder, but also find legitimacy in a few other harebrained ideas I’ve had. Hope you enjoy!
Hello everyone! I’m back nearly a year after my first Gen 7 RMT with another creation, and this time I got to keep the bad ideas with an even better peak! Jokes aside, I’m very pleasantly surprised with this one, primarily because I got to use Scizor. Without monologuing too long, I started playing pokemon in the Draft community back in 2016, and I don’t think there’s a single pokemon I’ve used more than Scizor. I had tried to make it work in the past, but attempts were half baked and sloppy. About a month and a half ago though, I sat down and gave it another attempt. What I ended up with was a team that allowed me to spend the last month+ not only watch my favorite bug wreck shop all the way to the top of the Gen 7 OU ladder, but also find legitimacy in a few other harebrained ideas I’ve had. Hope you enjoy!
As stated in the intro, regular scizor has been a mainstay of my draft league career for many years. This was my first and foremost reason for wanting to use it. I had been constantly keeping an eye on places to use it in standard play as early as 2020, and decided to give it another run. (I’ll spare the details of its jobs until the set details.) When I entered it in the builder though, it was with another mon right off the rip: Mega Slowbro.
I’d been eyeing these two up as a pair for some time, particularly since the week of the teambuilding competition that featured Slowbro back in March (hope you’re enjoying your break, Kaiba). These two scratch eachothers’ backs in a huge variety of ways; Slowbro pivots in and throws out strong future sights, and Scizor capitalizes strongly off them by frequently forcing lose/lose scenarios for opposing teams and by trapping certain very annoying pokemon for Slowbro. I quite liked the synergy of these two, and sought out to fill out my offense first and foremost. Enter, Kartana
Kartana was my choice simply due to being in my opinion the most consistent breaker in the tier regardless of matchups. It also afforded the team some semblance of speed and was another great beneficiary of both Scizor’s trapping and Slowbro’s Future Sights. From this slot on onwards, the team fell into place pretty naturally.
Zapdos fit like a glove here; it provides defog, takes on most grasses and grounds in the tier to take pressure off Scizor and Slowbro respectively, spreads paralysis to help with the teams general speed issue, and most notably takes on Tornadus-Therian exceptionally well which was otherwise incredibly strong into my other choices.
No electric immune. No rocks. Heatran. Do I really need to elaborate?
For the last slot, several things were left unchecked: Magearna, Greninja, Mega Alakazam (barring trap), honestly just special hits at large. Was it really ever gonna be anyone else here? The team also excels at knock absorbing as a bonus.
SETS AND DETAILS
blood on the rust (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
The reason for creating this team! Beyond my love for using it in other formats, there were a handful of reasons I found Scizor intriguing.
Steel, while being on the weaker end of offensive types in this meta, has certain matchups where the resists are very poor. As an example, Xtra$hine style Hyper Offense teams (Koko, Medicham, Lando) will often have either no direct resist to Bullet Punch or something like Greninja or Rotom-Wash which take crippling damage or are outright KO'd by U-turn. It also invites in Landorus-Therian which can be doubled on or chipped for Kartana. In general it provides speed control as well as fulfilling certain other niches like picking off Mega Mawile or Azumarill after a Z Belly Drum as well.
The real magic of the set is Pursuit, however. In combination with U-turn, Scizor is able to successfully trap and remove most variants of Mega Latias, Reuniclus, and Mega Alakazam (might I mention, it does so without a weakness to Toxic Spikes). And, in tandem with Bullet Punch, gives the user the option to trap a near endless number of low health opponents. It will always be risky, but pursuiting a low health Mega Medicham or Tornadus-Therian for example can be a massive swing in the users favor when winning with bulk or with Kartana.
Superpower rounds out the moveset and gives Scizor the most damage into all sorts of options including Mega Scizor, Skarmory, Celesteela, and many others.
Adamant nature maxes out its damage potential and the Speed EVs are enough to outpace paralyzed Mega Alakazam and outpacing miscellaneous pokemon like Adamant Crawdaunt, most Tapu Bulu sets and slow Rotom-Wash.
visions of bodies (Slowbro-Mega) @ Slowbronite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Slack Off
- Psychic / Focus Blast / Flamethrower / Other
Alright so, I've been fanboying about Scizor long enough. If I'm gonna be real, this pokemon is the actual star of the team and has put in an unbelievable amount of work in vs all team styles.
At large, regular Slowbro has seen a consistent rise in tournament usage and I've seen it quite a bit on the ladder too this year. It provides an uncommon trait in being a water that stands up to the tier's physical attackers, and can deal out significant punishment in return while Regenerator mitigates recovery turns. I consider it a very strong pick and a bona fide member of the tier at this point. I had been building with it for most of the year and always opted for Z (Psychium on Future Sight is fantastic moveslot compression), but in this case I feel Mega Slowbro is Ideal. For starters, the bulk is phenomenal. Being able to increase your base defense by 70 on command is an actual life saver in so many match ups and makes standing up to even the strongest physical threats possible, even without much defense investment. (Worth noting however that I only recommend Mega Evolving for specific and calculated reasons - the loss of Regenerator is crippling against residual damage and many battles see it not clicking mega, hence me including both sprites :p)
blood on the rust (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
The reason for creating this team! Beyond my love for using it in other formats, there were a handful of reasons I found Scizor intriguing.
Steel, while being on the weaker end of offensive types in this meta, has certain matchups where the resists are very poor. As an example, Xtra$hine style Hyper Offense teams (Koko, Medicham, Lando) will often have either no direct resist to Bullet Punch or something like Greninja or Rotom-Wash which take crippling damage or are outright KO'd by U-turn. It also invites in Landorus-Therian which can be doubled on or chipped for Kartana. In general it provides speed control as well as fulfilling certain other niches like picking off Mega Mawile or Azumarill after a Z Belly Drum as well.
The real magic of the set is Pursuit, however. In combination with U-turn, Scizor is able to successfully trap and remove most variants of Mega Latias, Reuniclus, and Mega Alakazam (might I mention, it does so without a weakness to Toxic Spikes). And, in tandem with Bullet Punch, gives the user the option to trap a near endless number of low health opponents. It will always be risky, but pursuiting a low health Mega Medicham or Tornadus-Therian for example can be a massive swing in the users favor when winning with bulk or with Kartana.
Superpower rounds out the moveset and gives Scizor the most damage into all sorts of options including Mega Scizor, Skarmory, Celesteela, and many others.
Adamant nature maxes out its damage potential and the Speed EVs are enough to outpace paralyzed Mega Alakazam and outpacing miscellaneous pokemon like Adamant Crawdaunt, most Tapu Bulu sets and slow Rotom-Wash.
visions of bodies (Slowbro-Mega) @ Slowbronite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Slack Off
- Psychic / Focus Blast / Flamethrower / Other
Alright so, I've been fanboying about Scizor long enough. If I'm gonna be real, this pokemon is the actual star of the team and has put in an unbelievable amount of work in vs all team styles.
At large, regular Slowbro has seen a consistent rise in tournament usage and I've seen it quite a bit on the ladder too this year. It provides an uncommon trait in being a water that stands up to the tier's physical attackers, and can deal out significant punishment in return while Regenerator mitigates recovery turns. I consider it a very strong pick and a bona fide member of the tier at this point. I had been building with it for most of the year and always opted for Z (Psychium on Future Sight is fantastic moveslot compression), but in this case I feel Mega Slowbro is Ideal. For starters, the bulk is phenomenal. Being able to increase your base defense by 70 on command is an actual life saver in so many match ups and makes standing up to even the strongest physical threats possible, even without much defense investment. (Worth noting however that I only recommend Mega Evolving for specific and calculated reasons - the loss of Regenerator is crippling against residual damage and many battles see it not clicking mega, hence me including both sprites :p)
+1 252 Atk Tough Claws Charizard-Mega-X Dragon Claw vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 135-160 (34.2 - 40.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Weavile Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 162-192 (41.1 - 48.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+2 252+ Atk Hawlucha Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 165-195 (41.8 - 49.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 158-188 (40.1 - 47.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+4 0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 163-193 (41.3 - 48.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Weavile Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 162-192 (41.1 - 48.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+2 252+ Atk Hawlucha Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 165-195 (41.8 - 49.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 158-188 (40.1 - 47.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+4 0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 44+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 163-193 (41.3 - 48.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
What makes this variant of Mega Slowbro especially potent here is that it's a set geared toward facilitating my offense. In addition to the 70 pt defense increase, Slowbro's SpAtk balloons up to 130, and it does very impressive damage with the allotted evs. It allows it to easily 2hko even Careful Gliscor without the need for Ice Beam, and turns its already strong Future Sights into tactical nukes.
216 SpA Slowbro-Mega Future Sight vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 216-254 (71 - 83.5%)
216 SpA Slowbro-Mega Future Sight vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Toxapex: 282-332 (93 - 109.5%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
216 SpA Slowbro-Mega Future Sight vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tapu Koko: 241-285 (85.7 - 101.4%)
216 SpA Slowbro-Mega Future Sight vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 231-273 (60.4 - 71.4%)
216 SpA Slowbro-Mega Future Sight vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Serperior: 199-235 (68.3 - 80.7%)
216 SpA Slowbro-Mega Future Sight vs. 244 HP / 244 SpD Gliscor: 183-216 (51.9 - 61.3%) - this calc may not initially appear impressive but keep in mind that gliscor needs only 9% of damage accrued on it to die to Future Sight + Chansey Seismic Toss after rocks
216 SpA Slowbro-Mega Future Sight vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 127-150 (38 - 44.9%) - once again, not eye popping damage but skarm is an easy target and this damage can easily land to a position where it cannot take a superpower from Scizor or a hit from Kart
216 SpA Slowbro-Mega Future Sight vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Toxapex: 282-332 (93 - 109.5%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
216 SpA Slowbro-Mega Future Sight vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tapu Koko: 241-285 (85.7 - 101.4%)
216 SpA Slowbro-Mega Future Sight vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 231-273 (60.4 - 71.4%)
216 SpA Slowbro-Mega Future Sight vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Serperior: 199-235 (68.3 - 80.7%)
216 SpA Slowbro-Mega Future Sight vs. 244 HP / 244 SpD Gliscor: 183-216 (51.9 - 61.3%) - this calc may not initially appear impressive but keep in mind that gliscor needs only 9% of damage accrued on it to die to Future Sight + Chansey Seismic Toss after rocks
216 SpA Slowbro-Mega Future Sight vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 127-150 (38 - 44.9%) - once again, not eye popping damage but skarm is an easy target and this damage can easily land to a position where it cannot take a superpower from Scizor or a hit from Kart
One of the biggest conundrums I've faced with this team is deciding a last move. I've had success with all three listed, with Focus Blast being a standout for A. Blowing away Crawdaunt, Greninja, and doing massive damage to Mega Gyarados and Ferrothorn and B. Being an awful move. Still very worth consideration. Other choices are Flamethrower to help with Kartana/Mega Scizor/Ferro matchup, Ice Beam to nab OHKO on Garchomp and (usually) on Gliscor. I would also like to give a brief shoutout to raw Zap Cannon. This one is not for the faint of heart and only for the dumb of ass, but cooking Gyarados on multiple occasions was worth the headache.
If you take one thing away from the team, let it be that this sort of Mega Slowbro set is (in my opinion at least) very legitimate in the current metagame. Could not be more impressed with it.
swiss-cheesed (Kartana) @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Knock Off
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance
Kartana is broken.
Oh right, I have to fill out more lines for this slot dont I...
Slowbro is the backbone of this team's offense, but Kart is its enforcer. Countless games with seemingly difficult matchups have been won simply by getting this thing in at the right time and forcing opponent to make unwilling sacrifices. Ironically, the teams lack of speed lends itself to Kartana's favor - if the opponent is unaware of the team comp, it is exceptionally easy to bluff a choice scarf here and catch an unsuspecting kill, or even a swords dance if the situation is right.
I initially had Choice Band on Kartana in addition to Scizor. I decided to remove it after Protect usage became a near auto-loss and the reality that locking into leaf blade could spell this team's demise into opposing Kartana. I then went to Life Orb with this same moveset as a countermeasure. It was quite effective, but I found all too often that Life Orb chip was too detrimental to continue with, especially if opponent has a Rocky Helmet user.
Therefore, I went with Fightinium Z. The various steel types of the tier are the team's biggest defensive roadblocks, and All-Out Pummeling with Swords Dance allows Kartana to blow through these with relative consistency.
Gonna go ahead and give a shoutout to the goat Zaza for giving me this suggestion. It's become a natural fit for the team, and I wouldn't dream of changing it now. Besides, it's not like I have another Z Us-
great migration (Zapdos) @ Electrium Z
Ability: Static
EVs: 216 HP / 32 Def / 44 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Defog
- Roost
oh
So yeah funny story, this set was already in the build when I changed Kartana to Fightinium. Double Z is not unheard of but is generally seen with bulkier Kartana/Regenerator pokes. Using it here has been quite the trip, and I think the team is genuinely better off for it.
Electrium Z + Thunderbolt does massive damage to just about everything in the tier that doesn't already resist it. It can be used to snipe and remove a Rotom-Wash, greedy Toxapex, bulky Manaphy, weakened Heatran, even trade for most of Tapu Lele's HP. It also allows it to cheat on coverage as well; no Heat Wave means Ferrothorn is annoying, but Mega Scizor can also often be beat using a well timed Z from Zapdos if it comes down to it (more on this in Threats list).
HP Ice allows it to keep rocks off from Lando-T, Gliscor and many of the tier's other stealth rockers. In addition, it allows Zapdos to be a secondary check to Swords Dance Gliscor - even Careful variants face a 95% chance of being 2hkoed and are naturally outsped.
The EVs allow Zapdos to outpace Tapu Lele and Max speed Landorus-Therian, and the bulk allows this set to not be 2hkoed by CB Kart without rocks, and guaranteed live Hurricane into Z Hurricane from offensive Torn-T after rocks. Leftover EVs in SpA are helpful for various rolls.
I mentioned in the teambuilding process that Zapdos was pretty much a dream fit on this team. While that is true, it has several flaws that are important to keep track of.
Firstly, being a defogger weak to rocks is it's own set of issues - its longevity can be badly nerfed vs rockers it doesn't 1v1, and it becomes even more vulnerable to residual damage (Toxic and Sandstorm especially cause significant issues). I do think it may be worth exploring discharge and leftovers with more bulk, but for the moment, being a Kartana/Tornadus check with the ability to blow up opponents has felt very strong.
devil baby (Gliscor) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 220 SpD / 44 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Roost
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
Gliscor checks Heatran to a nearly unparalleled degree and was an obvious choice for this slot. Gliscor's other unique qualities happen to be quite beneficial to this team as well: it's the tier's premier status absorber and notoriously resistant to passive damage (an invaluable quality in rare but necessary PP wars), and is a rocks user that can U-turn on opposing defoggers to force progress, all with the ability to stay healthy for well past the 100 turn mark if needed. Other qualities include being a very solid pick into Sand that complements Zapdos And Slowbro well and outpacing Hoopa-Unbound which poses a massive threat to this team.
EV's are enough to outpace Adamant Hoopa-U and rest is in spdef to maximize efficacy vs Heatran.
guernica the wall (Chansey) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Def / 92 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave / Skill Swap
- Toxic / Skill Swap
Considering this team needed some backbone help vs just about every special attacker in the game, public enemy no.1 Chansey ended up being another natural fit.
Most of its jobs are self explanatory, but to give a few examples, it gives the team an option to pivot into Tapu Koko that doesn't risk taking crippling damage on Gliscor. It forces choiced Tapu Lele into clicking Psyshock, which can give Slowbro a chance to fire off a devastating Future Sight. Ironically, it can even help vs stuff like Kartana; the less things it can SD on, the better (more on this later).
I opted for double status over rocks due to the pace of the team being much easier to maintain with Gliscor handling hazard duty, and the afforded flexibility in Chansey's ability to punish its opponents has been clutch in a variety of situations. Another suggestion by Zaza was Skill Swap on Chansey, which helps in a handful of the teams' worst matchups (more on this in the Threats list).
EVs give Chansey maximum physical bulk and enough speed to outpace Tapu Lele after paralysis, allowing for easier terrain stalling and emergency removal of it. It goes without saying that without Thunder Wave, it's best to put the speed in HP.
THREATS
If you take one thing away from the team, let it be that this sort of Mega Slowbro set is (in my opinion at least) very legitimate in the current metagame. Could not be more impressed with it.
swiss-cheesed (Kartana) @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Knock Off
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance
Kartana is broken.
Oh right, I have to fill out more lines for this slot dont I...
Slowbro is the backbone of this team's offense, but Kart is its enforcer. Countless games with seemingly difficult matchups have been won simply by getting this thing in at the right time and forcing opponent to make unwilling sacrifices. Ironically, the teams lack of speed lends itself to Kartana's favor - if the opponent is unaware of the team comp, it is exceptionally easy to bluff a choice scarf here and catch an unsuspecting kill, or even a swords dance if the situation is right.
I initially had Choice Band on Kartana in addition to Scizor. I decided to remove it after Protect usage became a near auto-loss and the reality that locking into leaf blade could spell this team's demise into opposing Kartana. I then went to Life Orb with this same moveset as a countermeasure. It was quite effective, but I found all too often that Life Orb chip was too detrimental to continue with, especially if opponent has a Rocky Helmet user.
Therefore, I went with Fightinium Z. The various steel types of the tier are the team's biggest defensive roadblocks, and All-Out Pummeling with Swords Dance allows Kartana to blow through these with relative consistency.
Gonna go ahead and give a shoutout to the goat Zaza for giving me this suggestion. It's become a natural fit for the team, and I wouldn't dream of changing it now. Besides, it's not like I have another Z Us-
great migration (Zapdos) @ Electrium Z
Ability: Static
EVs: 216 HP / 32 Def / 44 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Defog
- Roost
oh
So yeah funny story, this set was already in the build when I changed Kartana to Fightinium. Double Z is not unheard of but is generally seen with bulkier Kartana/Regenerator pokes. Using it here has been quite the trip, and I think the team is genuinely better off for it.
Electrium Z + Thunderbolt does massive damage to just about everything in the tier that doesn't already resist it. It can be used to snipe and remove a Rotom-Wash, greedy Toxapex, bulky Manaphy, weakened Heatran, even trade for most of Tapu Lele's HP. It also allows it to cheat on coverage as well; no Heat Wave means Ferrothorn is annoying, but Mega Scizor can also often be beat using a well timed Z from Zapdos if it comes down to it (more on this in Threats list).
HP Ice allows it to keep rocks off from Lando-T, Gliscor and many of the tier's other stealth rockers. In addition, it allows Zapdos to be a secondary check to Swords Dance Gliscor - even Careful variants face a 95% chance of being 2hkoed and are naturally outsped.
The EVs allow Zapdos to outpace Tapu Lele and Max speed Landorus-Therian, and the bulk allows this set to not be 2hkoed by CB Kart without rocks, and guaranteed live Hurricane into Z Hurricane from offensive Torn-T after rocks. Leftover EVs in SpA are helpful for various rolls.
I mentioned in the teambuilding process that Zapdos was pretty much a dream fit on this team. While that is true, it has several flaws that are important to keep track of.
Firstly, being a defogger weak to rocks is it's own set of issues - its longevity can be badly nerfed vs rockers it doesn't 1v1, and it becomes even more vulnerable to residual damage (Toxic and Sandstorm especially cause significant issues). I do think it may be worth exploring discharge and leftovers with more bulk, but for the moment, being a Kartana/Tornadus check with the ability to blow up opponents has felt very strong.
devil baby (Gliscor) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 220 SpD / 44 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Roost
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
Gliscor checks Heatran to a nearly unparalleled degree and was an obvious choice for this slot. Gliscor's other unique qualities happen to be quite beneficial to this team as well: it's the tier's premier status absorber and notoriously resistant to passive damage (an invaluable quality in rare but necessary PP wars), and is a rocks user that can U-turn on opposing defoggers to force progress, all with the ability to stay healthy for well past the 100 turn mark if needed. Other qualities include being a very solid pick into Sand that complements Zapdos And Slowbro well and outpacing Hoopa-Unbound which poses a massive threat to this team.
EV's are enough to outpace Adamant Hoopa-U and rest is in spdef to maximize efficacy vs Heatran.
guernica the wall (Chansey) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Def / 92 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave / Skill Swap
- Toxic / Skill Swap
Considering this team needed some backbone help vs just about every special attacker in the game, public enemy no.1 Chansey ended up being another natural fit.
Most of its jobs are self explanatory, but to give a few examples, it gives the team an option to pivot into Tapu Koko that doesn't risk taking crippling damage on Gliscor. It forces choiced Tapu Lele into clicking Psyshock, which can give Slowbro a chance to fire off a devastating Future Sight. Ironically, it can even help vs stuff like Kartana; the less things it can SD on, the better (more on this later).
I opted for double status over rocks due to the pace of the team being much easier to maintain with Gliscor handling hazard duty, and the afforded flexibility in Chansey's ability to punish its opponents has been clutch in a variety of situations. Another suggestion by Zaza was Skill Swap on Chansey, which helps in a handful of the teams' worst matchups (more on this in the Threats list).
EVs give Chansey maximum physical bulk and enough speed to outpace Tapu Lele after paralysis, allowing for easier terrain stalling and emergency removal of it. It goes without saying that without Thunder Wave, it's best to put the speed in HP.
THREATS
For the Threats list, I' d like to divide the list not by the specific pokemon, but by their counterplay.
get em up
All of these are threatening with the right sets, and require the team get up rocks with increased urgency to help with Scizor throwing out BPs. Worth noting that CB Victini can be trapped by Scizor after one V-create and a round of rocks. If rocks can't be upheld, see the next option.
Kartana.jpg
This section is not dedicated to one specific Pokemon but an ideology I've realized. If the matchup looks bad, get Kart in. Claim stuff with Kartana. Don't throw HP on Kartana. Kartana is broken. Almost no team has true perfect counterplay to it and the sacrifices it forces can swing just about any bad MU in your favor.
Now son, don't let that click Swords Dance
Yeah uh, SD Kart is also maybe this team's biggest weakness. If anyone has any suggestions for fixing this let me know but it appears to be an inherent structural issue. Best that can be done is generally not locking in with Scizor Bullet Punch or getting a kill with Gliscor vs an unrevealed Kartana that could be Swords Dance. If you can avoid those, the team can usually find a way to handle it without prayers.
Less zesty variants of Slowbro can also lead to similar situations with Mega Gyara and Dragon Dance/Substitute. Keep Kart healthy and stay alert.
Lemon Scented
Ok so, I kinda neglect Mega Scizor on this build. It's fallen off a fair bit but not so much that it's completely irrelevant. Most variants of this team carry 0 fire moves, so you must carefully initiate Plan Z. Both Zapdos' and Kartana's Z moves can be used to lure out and kill it, and Scald burns from Mega Slowbro or Thunder Wave from Chansey both boost your odds with this.
Guess I'll Die*
I was enjoying my merry day using double status Chansey when I rolled one Skypenguin who sent out Sub Leech Seed HP Fire Serp and I had never seen a game be more instantly over in my life. This was the cause for Skill Swap Chansey consideration, fortunately this set is extremely niche for ladder play. Genuinely unsure why though, this sets otherworldly broken into most balance.
get em up
All of these are threatening with the right sets, and require the team get up rocks with increased urgency to help with Scizor throwing out BPs. Worth noting that CB Victini can be trapped by Scizor after one V-create and a round of rocks. If rocks can't be upheld, see the next option.
Kartana.jpg
This section is not dedicated to one specific Pokemon but an ideology I've realized. If the matchup looks bad, get Kart in. Claim stuff with Kartana. Don't throw HP on Kartana. Kartana is broken. Almost no team has true perfect counterplay to it and the sacrifices it forces can swing just about any bad MU in your favor.
Now son, don't let that click Swords Dance
Yeah uh, SD Kart is also maybe this team's biggest weakness. If anyone has any suggestions for fixing this let me know but it appears to be an inherent structural issue. Best that can be done is generally not locking in with Scizor Bullet Punch or getting a kill with Gliscor vs an unrevealed Kartana that could be Swords Dance. If you can avoid those, the team can usually find a way to handle it without prayers.
Less zesty variants of Slowbro can also lead to similar situations with Mega Gyara and Dragon Dance/Substitute. Keep Kart healthy and stay alert.
Lemon Scented
Ok so, I kinda neglect Mega Scizor on this build. It's fallen off a fair bit but not so much that it's completely irrelevant. Most variants of this team carry 0 fire moves, so you must carefully initiate Plan Z. Both Zapdos' and Kartana's Z moves can be used to lure out and kill it, and Scald burns from Mega Slowbro or Thunder Wave from Chansey both boost your odds with this.
Guess I'll Die*
I was enjoying my merry day using double status Chansey when I rolled one Skypenguin who sent out Sub Leech Seed HP Fire Serp and I had never seen a game be more instantly over in my life. This was the cause for Skill Swap Chansey consideration, fortunately this set is extremely niche for ladder play. Genuinely unsure why though, this sets otherworldly broken into most balance.
CONCLUSIONS
All in all, I'm pleasantly surprised with myself and with this team for being functional by some definition of the word. That being said, I think certain ideas here do have even higher potential than what I've accomplished here, and am happy to hear out any feedback or suggestions on variations I could do, yes, even if that means losing Scizor my beloved.
Being real though any and all questions are welcome. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this! And shoutouts to Zaza once again for the advice and for the handful of educational beatdowns.Part of me wants to wax poetic here about GSC Karen and her speech about strong pokemon vs weak pokemon, but a bigger part of me wants to listen clipping. and take a nap. have a good one all
https://pokepast.es/656ea5dd23df4dab
https://pokepast.es/d442004b84531fe6 without nicknames for boring folks
https://pokepast.es/d442004b84531fe6 without nicknames for boring folks
#1
Highest ELO Peak
Highest ELO Peak
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