OU SM OU - Teambuilding Competition: (Week 3: Jirachi on post #424)

**Grass Spam Ho**

:sm/tapu-bulu: :sm/hawlucha::sm/charizard-mega-x: :sm/magearna: :sm/serperior: :sm/landorus-therian:(https://pokepast.es/cf5453d6b479c2c2)

This team is based around the ability to abuse Grassy Terrain from Bulu to a very high extent. Charizard and Bulu, with their powerful offensive nature, bring opportunities for Hawlucha and Magearna to eventually win.

**Explanations**

I chose Hawlucha, Tapu Bulu, and Charizard because Charizard and Bulu can check a good amount of each other's threats and provide good support with the abilities of Grassy Terrain to enable offensive potential. A bulky Calm Mind Magearna helps greatly with its ability to switch into stuff like Zam and Lele while maintaining offensive pressure with Calm Mind.

These guys enable a late-game Hawlucha win by pressuring a lot of stuff that would be hard for Hawlucha to deal with at the very start.

Bulky Magearna and Lando are perfect glue as they provide a VoltTurn core that can pivot into a lot of threats in the entire tier while still being able to provide offensive pressure to force progress. When you can't usually switch into or make much progress against a threat, you always have your Charizard and Bulu that can deal with those said threats.

Imprison max HP Yache Lando is cool here because of its ability to stop opposing hazards from going up while having your own rocks and U-turn to be able to pivot into stuff safely with the max HP investment. Yache is cool because it will definitely catch stuff like Koko and other Ice Beam users off guard, allowing you to kill said threat or pivot out with less risk.

Serp is chosen here to help enable even more offensive pressure with Glare to stop threats and make even more progress with Leaf Storm by abusing terrain, defogging rocks if needed, and preventing rocks from going up with Taunt.

**Threats**

*Charizard Y:*
On preview, it looks like this thing is going to destroy a bunch of stuff, so it usually ends up with you having to trade your Charizard X in most cases, especially with the lack of hazard control for it, so be sure to watch out for that.

*Opposing Hawlucha:*
This thing can definitely become a demon if you lose key mons like Magearna or Charizard to have somewhat of a chance to stop it in its tracks, or you may have to end up in iffy Hawlucha 1v1s.

**Things That Aren't Super Threatening but to Watch Out For**

*Things faster than you:*
As you can see, Hawlucha is the main speed control of this team, but it can only switch in once and keep its Speed boost. This automatically puts you at a disadvantage from a speed perspective, so most of the time, you're going to have to rely on Lando and Serp to switch in and try to take back momentum with the threat of Leaf Storm and the ability to Glare anything that can come in or U-turn to use your other threats. However, this can vary depending on what the opponent has.

Thanks for listening!
 
ETERRAIN OFFENSE
:SM/Medicham-Mega: :SM/excadrill: :SM/zapdos::SM/Tapu koko: :SM/Hawlucha: :SM/toxapex:
https://pokepast.es/452e24a9938dae3f

Simply a terrain offense utilising Tapu kokos electric terrain which hawlucha could abuse

*Explanations*
Kokos electric terrain enables to open opportunities for mega medi to break through walls like clefable,toxapex,skarm,tapu bulu and tapu fini with Tpunch under etterain reliably and mlatias,zapdos,lando T, gliscor and defensive maltaria with ice punch.
With koko and mega medi adding offensive pressure it would enable hawlucha to be a reliable wincon in the end game.

I choose Zapdos and excadrill on my defensive core considering that they are excellent partners that synergise well and block volt turn momentum.
Zapdos acts as my ground immune mon which can check opposing mons like hawlucha,Kartana, mega pinsir and etc whilst also pressuring ferrothorn with heatwave and gliscor,lando with hp ice, volt switch also comes in handy to gain momentum.
Excadrill is reliable as it can consistently switch on mons like koko, magearna, cresellia and non heatwave zapdos, Excadrill can set up rocks and use rapid spin to keep hazard off the field, toxic is crucial to cripple down cresellia which can otherwise be painful for the team
Lastly toxapex acts my water/fire resist which is crucial to consistently switch on mons like Zard Y and volcarona which could otherwise be deemed as threats and an offense like this could well appreciate Tspikes on the opposing field carrying out the offensive pressure which is required.

Ev spread explanation:-
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 32 HP / 4 Atk / 56 Def / 248 SpD / 168 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Earthquake
This ev spread enables drill to live band weavile knock off, outspeed modest heatran and ohko spD Rotom wash after rocks.


Zapdos @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- Roost
- Heat Wave
Ev spread allows zapdos to outspeed modest heatran and maximise phys def.



Tapu Koko @ Fairium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
- Calm Mind
- Roost
Maximise speed and spa also ohko gliscor with Z after +1 cm and rocks.


Medicham-Mega @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Thunder Punch
- Fake Out
- Ice Punch
Ev spread allows medicham to Maximise Physical attack.


Toxapex @ Payapa Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SpD
Bold Nature
- Knock Off
- Haze
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes
Ev spread allows pex to live 3 dark pulse from non battle bond gren.


Hawlucha @ Electric Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 136 SpD / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
Ev spread allows it to live clefable moonblast from full and outspeed timid kingdra under rain.

THREATS:-
Tapu lele= Tapu lele can be a nuisance for the team considering how excadrill is the only psycic resist and could be dealt w 2-3 psyshocks or focus blasts. However it could be revenge killed or played well w palapa berry toxapex.
Kyurem black= also a nuisance breaker which could grab a kill at any point of the game, best strategy would be to bait the Z after which kb becomes less of a nuisance.
Cresellia:- a difficult mon to break through, which once starts setting up w cm can be a nuisance however excadrill has toxic to cripple down the opposing cresslias.
 
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Week 2: Keldeo
:sm/Keldeo:
Keldeo's good special attack and speed lets it function as a decent wallbeaker in OU. It's typing and good bulk lets it check pokemon like Ash-Greninja, Heatran, Weavile and Tyranitar. Thanks to its signature move Secret Sword, it can break through many usual water-type checks like Chansey and Ferrothorn. However, it is not seen often because most of its sets are countered by the staple pokemon Tapu Fini and Toxapex. It also doesnt have powerful coverage and has to rely on weaker moves like HP and Icy Wind.
Deadline: 17th September 2024, GMT + 5:30.
Note:
I have decided to give people 7 days to vote on teams.
 
https://pokepast.es/801359813e3afbb3
keldeo is rough to build with but triple fairy + keldeo seemed solid


Explanation:-
balanced structure utilising three fairy’s.
Keld + maw was a good idea since it pressures toxapex and koko helps maw to lure pex w Tpunch. Celesteela was here to abuse mu vs bulu and lele. Finally slapped in fini for hazard removal, water resist and Misty terrain avoids any status which can be harmful for keldeo and maw.

Ev spread explanation:-

Keldeo @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Calm Mind
- Substitute

Simple subset keldeo, beats toxapex on 1 v 1, helps w mu against bulkier teams and sub avoids any damage for leech seed or hazards .

Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 204 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Thunder Punch
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch

Sd maw, utilising koko etterain w Tpunch helping against mons like pex and skarm.

Tapu Koko @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Scarf koko providing speed control, nature is modest since the aim is to outspeed scarf Kartana. Grass knot here to catch seisimitoed and gastrodon however this could be changed to dazzling.


Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 32 Def / 228 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
- Leech Seed
- Protect

Bulky Celesteela enables improved mu vs bulu and lele which can seem painful otherwise.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn

Basic Phys def lando reaching 231 spee and the remaining evs utilised into phys def. Could go for hp ice or toxic over knock


Tapu Fini @ Icium Z
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 152 Def / 88 SpD / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Scald
- Haze
- Defog

Phys def Tapu fini helping to swirch on better against mega medi and lucha , speed allows to out speed craw and remaining SpD to jumppoints in spD. Z haze to recover full hp giving it a second life.

Potential threats:-
Team has the balance breaker problems as it can struggle against mons like volcarona and Zard Y furthermore it can also struggle to break through ferrothorn as ferro can catch steela with leech and keldeo can’t constantly switch on ferro risking whip and leech seed.
 
Keldeo+Band pursuit scizor

:sm/keldeo::sm/scizor::sm/alakazam-mega::sm/seismitoad::sm/zapdos::sm/magearna:

This is a fun team built around Keldeo, with a focus on dealing with its usual checks. I paired it with Pokémon that can punish Latias and pressure Toxapex and Tapu Fini, while also keeping it safe from threats like Tapu Koko and Tornadus. Scizor isn’t the Mega here; it’s running Choice Band for Pursuit trapping, which helps get rid of key threats and clean up late-game with a much needed priority.

Alakazam is on the team because it’s one of my favorites and works really well with Keldeo. Plus, it helps with the team’s speed problem. Knock Off on Alakazam is great for removing annoying items like Assault Vest, Black Sludge, or Leftovers, which helps a lot against bulkier mons.

I needed a good Tapu Lele check, so I added Magearna. I went with a Calm Mind set to just stack boosts and spam set ups. Seismitoad gives the team a solid Ground-type with Water and Electric immunity, plus it can handle Fire moves and annoy Toxapex even more.

Zapdos rounds out the squad as the Defogger, even though it’s not the best option for that role, but there weren’t many better choices. The Z-move helps against Toxapex/Fini teams and works well with both Alakazam and Keldeo. zapdos is fast hp ice for gliscor ect...Just be careful around Kartana, Serperior, charizard x, ect...or bad luck—you’ll have to outplay those! :blobthumbsup:
 
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Choice Specs Keldeo + Z-Wood Hammer Tapu Bulu
:sm/keldeo-resolute: :sm/cresselia: :sm/tapu-bulu: :sm/heatran: :sm/charizard-mega-x: :sm/landorus-therian:
:keldeo-resolute: - I love Keldeo. Despite specs really not being a real set, I chose to build with it here since I expected other people to already post with the far superior sub cm set. I pair it with future sight cresselia and z-wood hammer tapu bulu to help break through its many defensive checks like toxapex, tapu fini, latias-mega and the rare venusaur-mega to name some. Scald is the most spamable stab attack since it cant miss and burn puts more pressure on checks. Toxic is there for latias and slowbro that don't fear burn very much and are susceptible to toxic, putting a lot more pressure on them to consistently switch into keldeo. Hydro pump and secret sword are self explanatory; strong stab moves to break through teams. The 36 spdef allows keldeo to survive 2 + fire blasts from volcarona after a turn of grassy terrain healing.

:cresselia: - I then went with cresselia since it is able to act as a fat wall to common issues for the team structure I was going for in medicham-mega and tapu-lele, while also having surprising offensive utility in future sight and thunder wave. Future sight is specifically there to nail toxapex and venusaur-mega which are able to switch into keldeo and tapu bulu too in the case of venusaur, however it is also able to hit targets neutrally such as tapu-fini and rotom-wash. Thunder wave cripples threats like tapu-lele, alakazam-mega and tornadus-therian which can otherwise be troublesome and are able to revenge kill keldeo and tapu-bulu. Ice beam is an immediate attack that can pressure landorus-therian and garchomp mostly.

:tapu-bulu: - Z-wood hammer tapu-bulu is strong. Very strong. At +2 it is capable of outright removing latias-mega, zapdos and magearna with bloom doom and at +0 it has a high chance to remove tornadus-therian after rocks. Superpower is an obvious choice to hit other steel types, especially since I don't need stone edge to remove those flying types. However, I do see stone edge being useful to hit both charizard formes as they switch in if that is something you are interested in. Synthesis is needed to recover HP, incredibly important without leftovers or horn leech to recover some passively. The spread ohkos zapdos from full at +2, outspeeds max speed adamant tyranitar and survives 2 hydro pumps from evolved greninja.

:Heatran: - Next up was a rocks setter and steel type, which coincidentally is also able to pressure toxapex and latias-mega with magma storm. It provides a valuable fairy and grass resistance, along with a second ice and psychic resist, patching up a lot of the defensive holes the team had before. It is also not passive, pressuring out defensive pokemon that fear being trapped and racking up chip damage very quickly on pokemon like tapu fini.

:charizard-mega-x: - Honestly I had no idea what mega would fit on here but I think this is a pretty good choice. Charizard blows through a lot of common pokemon with its high power and coverage, most notably wearing tapu fini down with ease for keldeo it finish off. I use 3 attacks here to catch as much as possible, although grassy terrain weakening our own earthquake can hurt. I valued hitting heatran and toxapex outside of terrain more due to them being annoying to remove otherwise and another option is running outrage instead of dragon claw. Outrage can annihilate so much with the downside of locking it into the move, but the damage is incredibly appealing considering it means it is a roll to 2hko slowbro after stealth rocks and leftovers and guaranteed to 2hko rotom-wash and toxapex.

:landorus-therian: - Lastly, it was a pretty easy choice to add choice scarf landorus-therian since the team was in need of a ground type, flying type, defogger and speed control. It fits this role perfectly, giving a valued pivot into many physical attacks and a fast pivot to bring in attackers with the switches it can force itself. The spread always lives Jolly +0 Mega-Charizard-X Flare Blitz after Stealth Rocks and outspeeds +1 adamant Charizard since it looks like a big problem if cresselia can't get a thunder wave off. Unfortunately, grassy terrain does weaken earthquake so that is something to be wary of.
 
Week 3: Jirachi
:sm/jirachi:
Jirachi has a good defensive typing and good bulk that lets it be a decent check to Magearna, Alakazam and Tapu Lele. It also provides some speed control with Choice Scarf and can give setup sweepers a second wind with Healing Wish. Defensive sets with Wish + Protect are also used occasionally on specific defensive teams.
Your goal this week is to post teams featuring Jirachi.
Deadline: 4th October 2024, 11:30PM, GMT +5:30.
Note: I have decided to change the voting period to 4 days instead of 7 from this week onwards
 
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