SV OU Scarf Flamigo Fighting Spam

[carbonlifeform]

A while back, I posted in the OU Metagame Disucssion about how much I was enjoying Scarf and ID/BP . In that post, I was going to say "obviously, don't run them together", and then I thought, why not?

Fighting is a really strong offensive type in the current metagame, and these two `mons do completely different things. Flamigo's Scrappy helps mitigate the threat of ghosts, while Iron Hands phases and is just a nightmare to kill with defensive investment. Then I thought, why not go all out and throw into the mix.

I'm enjoying the results so far, but could definitely use advice on EV tweaks or a couple of `mon replacements.

@ Choice Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Facade

Scarf Flamigo just hits things. 90 Speed is pretty good for a scarfer in this meta, with Chi Yu being the only common scarf `mon that beats it. Brave Bird hits most of the things that resist CC, and U-Turn lets you scout and pivot. I lead this pretty much any time I don't see a Glimmora on the other team. Scrappy also makes it an underrated Tera Sweeper, as it can find some good opportunities to just clean house if you haven't over-expended your CC PP.

@ Leftovers
Ability: Quark Drive
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Thunder Punch
- Whirlwind

At +2 Def, this thing solos Adamant Band Great Tusk (not that that's a thing people run) even without clicking over to Tera Flying. It laughs in the face of Kinggambit, Dragonite, and physical setup sweepers in general, between its bulk and its ability to whirlwind them out after setting up side by side. Thunder Punch is handy coverage to have in moments where you can't set up, and Iron Hands hits 316 attack uninvested, so it still hurts things it needs to in the case where you've got no choice but to smack a Gholdengo, Ape, or Pult.

SpD investment makes it much bulkier in that side. In a pinch. It can survive anything Chi-Yu throws at it short of Specs Overheat, making it a reasonably emergency check to scarf chi-yu.

@ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Earthquake

Offensive glue. Knock, Spin, ground STAB, and some more fighting coverage just to round it out. I originally ran AV Treads here, but Tusk's added punch really does help.

@ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Recover
- Shadow Ball
- Make It Rain

When your'e running three fighting types, you need something to help out with Psychic and Fairy `mons. Enter Gholdengo. Bulky Air Balloon is my preferred set, though I can see how Scarf Trick might help some of my MUs against bulkier teams, where I tend to struggle.

Chien-Pao @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Crunch
- Ice Shard
- Sacred Sword

Secondary Speed control and wall breaking. Ice Shard over Sucker for consistency and to help against dragons, specifically. Tera Poison flips the MU against Fighting, Fairy, and Bug, gives me an emergency way to clear Tspikes, and only really costs me a Ground weakness, which is covered reasonably well by two immunities.

@ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpD / 88 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder Wave
- Protect

I needed a pivot that could help me scout Chi-Yu, and para support helps this team's so-so speed a lot. Also helps chunk opposing Donphan froms and Ting Lu and offers some support against Dondozo.

Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1755480147-v49e5hlofhohehw635zhgm63dbtdfj4pw
Got my butt kicked through 13 turns but managed to wear down the other team enough for Tera Flamigo to break it open and Iron Hands to seal the deal.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1755446195-2okx66skmboby84u9ghqp5u5twsfdftpw
In an unfamiliar MU against rain, Washtom has just enough bulk to TWave Floatzel, Flamigo keeps pressure up, and Iron Hands brings it home again.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1755434191-y5jmoaa6wha0iljs0szckoxg17e7d6npw
Tera Poison saves my bacon.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1755395171
Without SpD investment on Iron Hands, I lose this one at the end. Draco Meteor goes from being a guaranteed 2HKO to not even being a guaranteed 3HKO.

On the other hand, here's me getting absolutely roasted going against a Fat team:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1755225899-05kf7hzdblgaja5j0yf458pk5fksqnhpw

Major threats are Hatt, Dirge, Garganacl, and, to a lesser extent, Dondozo. Oh, and Fire Tuaros. That thing is a demon against this team, lol. Gholdengo is carrying too much of the weight in those MUs. Hazzard support would probably help, but I don't know what to drop to get it. Replacing Tusk with Chomp could be an option, but then I need another tweak to get some removal in.

Thoughts appreciated!

 

[Setsu]

Hey, I tried Flamingo myself yesterday and it went alr. Really strong mon with next to no switch ins if you predict correctly. However I was running CB Flamingo along with CB Breloom, which made me immediatly see your lack of breaking power. This team really struggles to break pass Clodsire, Dondozo, Corviknight, Toxapex, and even Garganacl. ID Garga and Curse Dondozo in particular seem like a nightmare, and with Whirlwind you are just prolonging the game but not really neutralizing anything. For reference

0 Atk Iron Hands Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Dondozo: 144-170 (28.5 - 33.7%)

You don't exactly struggle to break each mon individually as you can overwhelm most of them or use them as entry point to get a big attack but... when you have no breaking power then that attack just falls flat. For example you can try to get Iron Hands vs a Corviknight, but what's the point if they can just switch into Clodsire and wall you.

Other than that I fail to see why you need PhysDef on Gholdengo. Recover and HP investment is a nice call as Valiant can be scary. The Rotom-Wash Speed EVs allow it to outspeed Max Speed Scizor which could be nice, but you already have Gholdengo and Iron Hands so Scizor shouldn't be much of an issue. You can instead focus on giving your Rotom-Wash the SpDef investment it actually needs to help vs Valiant and Chi-Yu. Some changes thus I would try

1. I would just make the Flamingo and Iron Hands both banded. Both open the way for a Chien-Pao late game, do very well vs fat and Iron Hands in particular still has good bulk. For Iron Hands you can try a set like the one here.
2. More bulk on Rotom-Wash would be nice as you don't NEED all the speed.
3. Rework the Gholdengo. You can keep the moveset and try Max HP Max SpAtk (maybe with some speed) if you have trouble with Valiant. Else you can consider scarf to mantain speed control.

This is the part where I talk about how weak the team actually is to Chi-Yu's Flamethrower. Rotom-Wash can take a couple flames but not much more than that. Use the calc! Keep your Rotom-Wash healthy, make sure to not lose your faster mons vs specs and to keep something like Iron Hands decently safe vs late game scarf. Something I could see myself trying for this is changing Great Tusk for Iron Treads or Cyclizar. Both have spin, the former is faster than Chi-Yu (you can try Booster Energy on it for speed control) but is weak to Flame, while the latter resists Flame and has Shed Tail, but you would have to play without hazards.

Rain is also troublesome. Make sure to keep Rotom-W and Iron Hands healthy for the late game, consider Sucker Punch > Ice Shard on Pao.

Play aggressive! The team won't work if you don't. If you have Chien-Pao out vs a Dondozo team then double into Iron Hands/Gholdengo/Rotom, don't stay vs Dondozo to do 25, take helmet chip and be forced out. Iron Hands invites in Great Tusk; you can ofc CC and be forced out/use your tera the turn after but you can also double into Flamingo and threaten with Brave Bird.

 

[carbonlifeform]

Thanks for the input! You're 100% correct on the lack of breaking power against fat. Clodsire + Corv cores and Ting Lu + Amoongus cores are both rough, and Dondozo, Hatt, and Garganacl give me nightmares. So, obviously, the team needs work now that balance is having a resurgence around all of those mons.

That said, I'm pretty sold on the Scarf Flamigo + ID/BP Iron Hands combo. Those two pretty much invalidate offense on their own, which is why I'm trying to build the rest of the team to support it.

Scarf Flamigo wins way more MUs than Band, in my experience. It obliterates every Gholdengo, Treads, non-scarf Chi-Yu, non-ice shard Chien Pao, is a safe switch-in to Tusk, matches up well against Ape, revenges Dragapult after a bit of chip (or tera-ing), Quaquaval, Meowscarada, the list goes on. As seen in a couple of replays, a timely Tera Fighting can give it the oomph to break through Corv/Washtom/other pseudo-checks.

ID/BP Iron Hands, meanwhile, owns physical setup sweepers, including ones that you would reasonably expect to beat it based on raw power and coverage and has the heft to serve as an emergency check to strong special attackers if that's what your game plan requires. I've got the receipts to prove it. It also does very well against unprepared Screens + Shed Tail teams, as it can pretty easily beat Grimm and stall out screens/remove subs with whirlwind.

As for the other `mons currently on the team, Gholdengo definitely seems like an option for replacement. Defensive Air Balloon can do some stuff, but this team has enough anti-meta tech going on already that it's probably time to swap to Scarf/Trick or just go for something with more raw breaking power. Volc and Iron Moth are both feeling like possibilities. I might be feeling either Agility or Sub Booster Energy Iron Moth in that slot, as something a bit more consistent/immediate to help with the MU against Fairies, Corv, Amoongus, and even Dondozo while also providing TSpikes removal, which is the hazard that most aggravates Iron Hands.

I've also been testing the team with in instead of , and the hazards and improved speed tier have definitely been beneficial. With Tusk gone, I'm torn on my best option for removal, though. Moth and Garchomp give me a more solid backbone against Fire-locked Chi-Yu, with the fighting types and Pao helping with Dark-locked ones. Maybe that opens up Hatterene as a hazard control option? but I'm not sold on what set (it's not a `mon I pilot very instinctively). I've tried stuff as wacky as Tatsugiri, so I'm open to ideas. Maybe that insane Tera Dark Power Trip Corv set from 1LDK. Fancy1 and AndViet's RMT, lol

 

[1LDK]

Okay so, quick story, i did heard about Power Trip Corv a long time ago but didnt really knew how to use it, but decided to try it out of frustration from gholdengos, Andviet gave me a better spread for it, and we swept

Its not better than the standar corv set but its an excelent lure, an excelent meme and can def work in this meta