Goodbye & Thanks
Thrown in a fire?
I mentioned in my previous RMT that playing has become too stressful for me and that it often makes me irrationally anxious, but I can't help but daydreaming about team building. I feel like I was able to build another solid team and I've had fun with it in testing, so I thought I would make another RMT for it. This team came about when I randomly thought back to this post that BKC made a little while ago about SpDef Landorus-T, and I felt compelled to build around that idea. I hadn't really used Melmetal or Zapdos too much yet in this meta, so I wanted to try to include them as well. I'll talk about my building thought process a little more explicitly here:
As I said in the intro, I remembered BKC's post about how he designed SpDef Lando to be a makeshift SpDef Gliscor, and since I had been playing/really like ORAS, I thought this would be fun to try out. The meta was pretty different when BKC created this set and I modified it slightly (although I'm not sure if the changes I made were really that beneficial), but I think that it's still a great set that can work nicely in the current meta.
I hadn't really used Melmetal too much, so I wanted to try it out more. I personally don't like the Banded set much because of how it struggles against common Pokemon like Moltres, Zapdos, Toxapex, and Corviknight, but I think that the Toxic-Protect set is a lot of fun. I've found the Toxic-Protect set to be generally pretty useful in most matchups, and I appreciate how Melmetal's bulk and nuking capability can often let it act as an emergency trade against many threatening Pokemon. In general, I like Melmetal a lot; I think that it's a fun and unique Pokemon to use.
I went with Zapdos for my hazards removal. I have previously built around Moltres, so I wanted to try Zapdos out this time. I feel like Zapdos is great in this meta, and while Static isn't always as useful as Flame Body, it's still a fantastic ability, and Zapdos's higher speed and arguably better typing makes Zapdos feel to me like a slightly more versatile option. That said though, I think that Zapdos and Moltres are both very good right now.
As long as Urshifu-SS is still in the tier, I feel like all balance or bulky offense teams need a check to it, and that's a pretty short list of options. I was down to either Clef or Galarian Weezing, and although I do like G-Weezing a lot and have built many teams with it before, I wanted to go with Clef this time. I like the versatility and utility of Clef, and Soft-Boiled, coupled with Magic Guard, tend to give it more longevity than Galarian Weezing. Again though, I really do like G-Weezing, but I think that it can be difficult to justify using with Clef also as an option.
I like Pult and even though it isn't as good or common as it once was, I feel like it can still function pretty well in the meta. It still sits in a great speed tier, especially now that Pheromosa has been banned, and it can act as almost a pseudo-Scarfer for a form of speed control. I went with the Specs set because I wanted it to be a more threatening special breaker, and it also needs Specs to be a reliable revenge killing option against non-Scarfed Spectrier.
I think that Cinderace is one of the best offensive Pokemon in the tier and it's very easy to fit on teams. I wanted Cinderace to be my physical breaker and it also pairs well with Pult's U-turn to grab momentum. Ace with Boots can just patch up a lot of wholes with a team since Libero makes it easy to customize your coverage to fit what you need, and Boots allows it to repeatedly come in for free to pressure the opposing team.
The Team:
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
So as I said in the intro, I got the idea of SpDef Lando from BKC, and I recommend that anyone interested reads his post here to better understand his thoughts behind the set. Basically, Lando with SpDef helps check special attackers such as un-boosted Tornadus-T, Thundurus-T, Tapu Koko, Spectrier, and some variants of Latios and Magearna (although it can be a pretty shaky check to some of these, so it's important that you don't rely on it too heavily as your sole defensive answer and utilize your other options as well). The nice thing about specially defensive Lando is that it isn't as passive as most of the other defensive options in the tier, so it can often threaten back whatever it's checking with Earthquake or Toxic; the simple synergy between Earthquake being super effective against Steel and Poison types that are immune to Toxic and Toxic hitting everything that's immune to Earthquake except for Corviknight, Skarmory, and Celesteela (and I guess Steel types like Excadrill and Aegislash that sometimes have Air Balloons, but that's uncommon) is really nice. Specially defensive Lando is also one of my better answers to Volcarona, since even bulky variants get 2HKOed by Earthquake and don't threaten too much damage back, especially when you account for Leftovers. Lando should also be able to live 2 +1 Flamethrowers from more offensive Volcarona, provided you can time a Protect correctly or get decently low rolls, and Lando 2HKOs it back with Earthquake, although clicking Protect against Volcarona can be scary because you open yourself up to being swept if they click Quiver Dance again. The two changes I made from BKC's set were giving Lando some Speed and changing Knock Off to Stealth Rock. I wanted to use Stealth Rock on Lando because it frees up Clef to use an additional utility move and I think that SpDef Lando is a good Rocker that can cripple common Defoggers like Moltres, Zapdos, and Mandibuzz with Toxic-Protect, along with also preventing Excadrill from being able to spin freely like it can against Clef. That being said, Knock Off would be nice on Lando and would allow it to be able to do something against Corviknight and Skarmory, so I could see Knock Off potentially being better over Rocks. The 20 Speed EVs allows Lando to hit 223, which is a benchmark that I like to hit to outrun things like Magnezone and Aegislash, as well as many SpDef Heatran and Moltres variants. I could see going up to 230 to creep Modest Magearna and the rare Arctozolt not in hail, but I'm not sure if that's worth it. Even with SpDef, Lando isn't a great switch-in to Specs Magearna, unless you catch a Volt Switch but then your speed wouldn't matter, and if it sets up with Shift Gear, it will be faster than Lando regardless. I also think there's a good chance that Magearna gets banned anyway. As for Arctozolt, it's very rare and it will usually be in hail anyway, where it will also always be faster. Overall, everything that has always made Lando so good are still true, like it's excellent typing, stats, and ability in Intimidate, and the removal of HP Ice this gen makes it a more reliable answer to otherwise dangerous special attackers like Tapu Koko. Intimidate helps against physical attackers, even though Lando isn't invested in PhysDef, and Leftovers + Protect helps go a long way for longevity. Lando helps check some key threats like Excadrill or opposing Lando as well, which my team isn't particularly sturdy against. Toxic is great on Lando to not only help against the Defoggers that I mentioned earlier, but it also catches most things that want to switch into an Earthquake, like Hydreigon or Tornadus-T. Finally, I feel like how common many other Lando sets are, like Scarf, SD, or physically defensive with Rocky Helmet, can play to your advantage because not as many people expect a specially defensive Lando with Toxic + Protect.
Clefable (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Knock Off
- Thunder Wave
Clef is probably the member of this team that I feel the most uncertain about, but that's more regarding the specifics of the set and not the decision to go with Clef itself. As I said before, I feel like you really need an Urshifu check right now if you're building a balance or bulky offense team, and that leaves you with only a handful of options. I like Buzzwole but I didn't want to use it again because it doesn't really provide any utility aside from checking things like Urshifu and Garchomp, and I was close to going with Galarian Weezing over Clef, but I think that Clef is usually just better and offers more dependable longevity. Even if Urshifu ends up getting banned soon, which appears to be fairly likely, Clef will always be a decent option to include on more balanced or bulky offense teams, thanks to its excellent typing, decent bulk, wide selection of utility moves, and great abilities (Magic Guard is more splashable but I think that Unaware is still good). Clef is also a fairly good check to other physical attackers like Cinderace without Gunk Shot or non-SD Lando, but Clef isn't so bulky that it just blanketly walls things like Pex can; Clef's value comes more from its utility moves, Fairy typing, and access to Magic Guard (again though, Unaware can obviously be good too). Clef isn't a very good answer to something like Garchomp because it gets 2HKOed by +2 Earthquake and Moonblast doesn't OHKO Garchomp, but Clef does prevent Garchomp from getting a speed boost from Scale Shot, which is important since it lets you revenge kill Garchomp with Dragapult after a sac. You can also pivot to Landorus after Clef takes an Earthquake and fires off a Moonblast because the Garchomp will likely click Earthquake again; a relatively healthy Lando should be able to take a Stone Edge or Scale Shot from a +1 Garchomp after the Intimidate and finish it off with your own Earthquake, but that's more risky and may not be worth it to just save a Clef at fairly low health. Moonblast and Soft-Boiled seem mandatory on Clef, but the last two spots are pretty customizable. Knock Off is obviously one of the best moves in the game and it makes Clef much harder to switch into - I think it's hard to pass up Knock on Clef. In the last slot, I was initially considering Aromatherapy because there is a lot of status going around, but I don't think that my team is particularly weak to status; Clef is a status absorber, Cinderace has Gunk Shot to threaten things like Moltres and Zapdos without making contact, and Dragapult is my only Pokemon harmed by Toxic Spikes. I went with Thunder Wave because it further cripples things like Toxapex and opposing Clefable, while also hitting some common switch-ins like Melmetal and Heatran. Spreading status is also helpful for potentially setting up my Specs Dragapult to sweep with Hex. As I've mentioned though, I could see going with Rocks on Clef instead of Lando over either Knock or T-Wave. One thing I do like about having Knock on Clef instead of Lando is that you can freely Knock into Moltres and Rocky Helmets without fearing Flame Body burns or Rocky Helmet chip, both of which Lando doesn't want to take (especially the potential Flame Body burn). I could see Wish being used over T-Wave on Clef as well. I also was kind of conflicted on the choice of item. I originally was thinking of Rocky Helmet, which I could still see as maybe being better, but I didn't think that my team really needed as many things getting chipped by it. Leftovers is always nice for the passive recovery and it can make it easier for Clef to click things like Knock or T-Wave without needing to heal up directly. Finally, I put 4 EVs into Speed to outrun uninvested Swampert, the rare uninvested Aegislash, G-Weezing, and opposing Clef. I'm not sure how useful any of that is though and I also don't know if not having the 4 SpDef EVs changes anything important. I also was considering using 12 Speed EVs to creep uninvested Tyranitar, but again, I don't know if that's really worth it or if you'd miss the little bit of extra bulk.
Melmetal @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 88 HP / 152 Atk / 156 SpD / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Toxic
Again for transparency, I got this spread from the great craing ;_; and the second team from this team dump that they posted. I slightly altered it to give Melmetal more Speed to hit 132, which creeps Hippowdon and things like Rhyperior that are looking to creep Hippo as well. I took those extra EVs away from Attack because Melmetal needs 88 HP and 156 SpD to always live a +1 Choice Specs Spectrier Shadow Ball from full health, which helps as an emergency fail-safe that can prevent getting swept by Spectrier, since Double Iron Bash will OHKO it back. I'm not sure if moving those Attack EVs to Speed impacts any important damage rolls though. I like the Toxic + Protect set a lot on Melmetal because even without too much investment, Melmetal still hits incredibly hard. Not many things can switch safely into Double Iron Bash, even without a Choice Band, and Toxic cripples things like Moltres, Zapdos, Slowbro, Swampert, or Suicune that are almost forced to switch in out of fear of Double Iron Bash. Earthquake hits Steel types like Heatran, Excadrill, and Aegislash that resist Double Iron Bash and aren't affected by Toxic, and the same is true for Toxapex. I also think that having Earthquake is important to prevent being trapped freely by Magnezone. Protect is excellent to both rack up Toxic damage and also get more Leftovers recovery. I think that the redundancy between Landorus and Melmetal both having Toxic + Protect is actually a good thing, because it can allow you to further rack up Toxic damage while switching between them. I think that Melmetal and Landorus make great partners in general, since Melmetal resists the Ice type attacks that are the biggest threat to Lando, and Lando is immune to Ground type attacks and resists the Fighting attacks that Melmetal is weak to. Overall, Melmetal has become one of my favorite Pokemon in the tier, and I hope that it doesn't end up eventually getting banned again. I feel like it's a unique and excellent Pokemon, but it doesn't seem to me to be overpowered in the current meta. Melmetal has the attacking power to deal out big damage or force switches, which it can punish with Toxic, and it also has enough bulk, especially on the physical side, to live even super effective hits from many threatening Pokemon, like Excadrill or Heatran, and OHKO them back. Pure Steel typing is also fantastic and it makes Melmetal a good check to threatening setup sweepers like Magearna with Draining Kiss + Stored Power and Calm Mind Tapu Fini. Melmetal can also deal nicely with some variants of Magearna and Tapu Lele, but it needs to be careful of eating Focus Blasts or Aura Spheres. Protect helps eliminate the prediction against Choice-locked attackers as well, except it obviously doesn't work against Urshifu. Melmetal still helps play a small role in checking Urshifu though, since it resists Iron Head and is immune to the more commonly used Poison Jab, which are the only two attacks from Urshifu that threaten Clef. Again, I've found this Toxic + Protect set to be more reliable and consistent, which is why I like it a lot better than other sets like Choice Band or Assault Vest.
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Defog
Zapdos is my Defogger and it helps check the many physical attackers that the rest of my team, and Clef in particular, can't always stand up to, like Kartana, Rillaboom, opposing Melmetal, Azumarill, Galarian Zapdos, Hawlucha (if Clef is already chipped a little or it has a Psychic Seed), Excadrill, and Cinderace, although it's a more shaky check against those last two. 40 Speed EVs and a Timid nature lets Zapdos hit 270 Speed, which is nice to creep neutral-natured base 85 Pokemon like Modest Nidoking, Adamant Rillaboom, and Kingdra outside of rain. Heavy-Duty Boots are clearly the item of choice because it allows Zapdos to come in freely even when Rocks are up. With that said, and while Zapdos does really want to keep its Boots, it's not as crippled by losing them as Moltres is, since it's only 2X weak to Rocks. Static is a fantastic ability to punish U-turn from things like Cinderace and opposing Landorus, and generally makes it harder for any physical attacker to click a contact move. Roost and Defog and pretty mandatory moves on Zapdos, but it's less clear when choosing the last two. I really think that Hurricane should be on most Zapdos sets because it hits pretty hard against many things that you need Zapdos to check, like Kartana and Rillaboom, while also just offering good damage across the board on switch-ins. The confusion chance can also help win the hazard war against Pokemon like Ferrothorn and further annoys switch-ins, but you also have to deal with Hurricane's 70% accuracy, although this does actually get mitigated by Defog dropping the opponent's evasion. Heat Wave could be nice for things like Excadrill, Ferrothorn, and Scizor, but Zapdos tends to handle them fine anyway with Hurricane and possibly paralysis, although Drills with Rock Slide or specially defensive variants with Toxic can be a problem. Finally, you're usually choosing between Discharge and Volt Switch for your Electric move. I like Discharge because further spreading paralysis can help Dragapult clean up with Hex and sometimes helps 1v1 some things like Cinderace, but Volt Switch also would be nice for momentum. Another reason why I chose Discharge is because being able to stay in and click an Electric type attack helps against things like Toxapex and Slowbro, which can always be annoying to break, and it also can be good against Tapu Fini, however you need to be careful of letting it get too many Calm Minds off.
Dragapult (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Hex
Dragapult acts as almost a pseudo-Scarfer/form of speed control, since it's naturally the fastest Pokemon currently in OU. It isn't as fast as most Scarfers but it's fast enough to come in an revenge kill or threaten out things like Torn-T, +1 Adamant Dragonite, +1 Adamant Blaziken, Tapu Koko (although Shadow Ball doesn't OHKO Koko and it OHKOs back with Dazzling Gleam), Cinderace without Sucker Punch, and possibly most importantly right now, non-Scarf Spectrier. I went with the Specs set on Pult because I wanted it to be a more threatening special breaker that can punch wholes in opposing teams and help revenge kill better, but other sets like Boots with Wisp or T-Wave/Hex/Dragon Darts/U-turn can also be nice. You also need Specs on Pult to guarantee that you revenge kill Spectrier with Shadow Ball, which is really important, especially because Infiltrator allows Pult to take down Spectrier even if it's behind a sub. Shadow Ball and Draco Meteor are pretty necessary for your most damaging moves, and U-turn also feels mandatory to get momentum against common switch-ins like Blissey, Tyranitar, and Mandibuzz. I was choosing between Hex and Fire Blast in the last spot, but I think that Hex fits better with my team, as Lando, Melmetal, Clef, Zapdos, and even Cinderace with Gunk Shot or more rarely, Pyro Ball, can all spread status for Pult. Fire Blast would be nice for things like Ferro or Corviknight, but they're not great at taking Shadow Balls anyway, especially if you get the 20% chance SpDef drop, and Hex usually 2HKOs them if they're statused. It helps that Clef can paralyze both Corviknight and Ferrothorn pretty efficiently. If you do U-turn out of Steel types, you can also bring in Cinderace to threaten them as well. Thunderbolt also could be nice to threaten something like Mandibuzz or specially defensive Toxapex more, but you can always U-turn out against them and bring in something like Zapdos, Melmetal, or Lando, they both still need to be pretty healthy to not get 2HKOed by Draco Meteor, and Hex is a guaranteed 2HKO against a paralyzed (or potentially burnt by Pyro Ball) specially defensive Pex. Pult's typing can be helpful at times, since it allows it to not be OHKOed by things like a +2 Crawdaunt Aqua Jet, any +2 attack from Chlorophyll Venusaur, and a Banded Urshifu-RS Aqua Jet in the rain, while it can usually OHKO them back (although you probably need some chip on Venusaur, but it usually gets chipped by its own Life Orb). Being immune to Dragonite's Extreme Speed can be very helpful, especially since Pult is faster than +1 Adamant Dragonite and has a 37.5% chance to OHKO it even through Multiscale with Draco (it's obviously guaranteed if Dragonite isn't at full health). Being faster than Adamant Blaziken even after a Speed Boost and resisting/being immune to both of its STABs actually might make Pult my best switch-in to Blaziken, since if it SDs, I'd still be faster and would OHKO it with Draco. Things could get a little more dicey if it clicks something like Stone Edge on the switch and then Protects to get faster than Pult, but that requires a lot of prediction and even then, it isn't a guaranteed 2HKO without Rocks being up against you. Finally, I know that some people like to put 8 EVs into Defense to make it so that Pult is guaranteed to live a Cinderace Sucker Punch from full, but I don't think that's worth it. Sucker Punch is only a 6.3% chance to OHKO without any Defense investment and I would rather have better damage rolls across the board than slightly improve my chances of barely living an attack from full health against one Pokemon that doesn't even always carry Sucker Punch. Besides, Sucker Punch is likely going to OHKO with or without that investment if Rocks are up against you anyway.
Cinderace (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- U-turn
- Gunk Shot
- Sucker Punch
Finally, I think that Cinderace rounds out my team nicely. I feel like it's definitely one of the best offensive Pokemon in the tier, and I hope that it doesn't end up getting banned again, but I could see that being discussed more in the future, especially if things like Magearna, Urshifu, and Spectrier go first. Cinderace is an excellent pick for balance or bulky offense teams because it allows you to shore up your coverage, courtesy of Libero, it has a nice speed tier, can repeatedly come in freely thanks to Boots, and offers valuable momentum and priority through U-turn and Sucker Punch. I think that Pyro Ball and U-turn are both almost mandatory on Ace since Pyro Ball threatens Ferrothorn, Buzzwole, Corviknight, Skarmory, Celesteela, Tangrowth, defensive Magearna, and Amoonguss, and U-turn grabs momentum while still hitting some switch-ins like Slowbro hard, thanks in part to Libero. Gunk Shot is great to not only hit Fairies like Clef and Tapu Fini, but it's also your best option against Moltres and Zapdos that switch in, since it's a non-contact move, so you don't need to worry about Flame Body or Static, and the 30% poison chance can greatly cripple them and/or put them into 2HKO range. Sucker Punch is really nice in the last spot to give my team some priority, which it really appreciates since I don't have a Scarfer. Sucker Punch can help pick off weakened Scarfers or Dragon Dancers to prevent sweeps or clean up late game, and it's also a near guaranteed OHKO against Dragapult and a guaranteed OHKO against Spectrier, if you have Rocks up for both. Cinderace does have a bit of 4MSS because it wants High Jump Kick to not be walled by Heatran and Zen Headbutt for Pex, but you can always U-turn out of them and go to something else to threaten them, like your Landorus or maybe Dragapult or Zapdos. U-turning out against Rocky Helmet Toxapex or the less common but still good Flame Body Heatran isn't great though, and you have to always be careful of clicking U-turn if they have a Moltres, Zapdos, or Volcarona that they could also switch to. Cinderace is however one of my emergency checks to Volcarona, although it isn't a great one, depending on the Volcarona set. Cinderace should handle bulkier Volcarona sets consisting of Quiver Dance/Roost/Safeguard/Fire move fine because it will still 2HKO them with Pyro Ball and even at +1, Volcarona can't do too much back. More offensive Volcarona are a little scarier because after a QD, Volcarona will be faster than Cinderace and can 2HKO Ace with Psychic, while Pyro Ball (or Gunk Shot if you want to risk the accuracy but go for the 30% poison chance, which could end up knocking it out if you got a decent roll) won't OHKO Volcarona. You could click Pyro Ball and then follow it up with Sucker Punch against Volcarona, which should KO it, provided Pyro Ball hit, but then you're opening yourself up to the 30% chance of getting a debilitating Flame Body burn. Either way though, between Cinderace and my SpDef Lando, which I mentioned earlier, I don't think that I should be getting swept by Volcarona if I handle things correctly. Finally, Cinderace's Achilles' heel is often the imperfect accuracy of key moves like Pyro Ball and Gunk Shot. It can be disastrous to miss your moves with Cinderace because it is pretty frail, but that's no different than dealing with things like Draco missing (although Gunk Shot being 80% accurate does make using it more scary against things like Fini), and it's not that big of a price to pay for how good I feel like Cinderace otherwise is.
Threats:
I haven't tested this team too extensively, so I could have easily overlooked something, but these are the main threats that I've come across:
Very little can safely switch into Nidoking, and the less common but still good Nidoqueen, and my team doesn't have any of those safe switch-ins. I can try to switch around them with Melmetal, Lando, and Zapdos, but that's very risky and I'm probably losing a Pokemon if I lose the guessing game; it also would require me to bluff my Lando being faster if I can even bring it in on an Earth Quake or Sludge Wave. They can also be a pain to revenge kill because only a Draco from my Dragapult can OHKO them, and it's a roll against more bulky Nidoqueens. I was considering using the Scarf + Trick Clef set with Speed for Garchomp and Urshifu that craing ;_;/Ben Gay popularized (which again, he mentions a lot in this post) to try to lock the Nidos into Sludge Wave, but you pretty much need to sac your Clef to it (unless you catch it on the switch), and while that set is really good, I've found it more difficult to use than just a more standard defensive one.
I've talked before about how I really don't like Spectrier, and since my team doesn't have a Ghost resist or immunity, I'm by default weak to it. I do have some counterplay against it though. My SpDef Lando should be able to not get 2HKOed by Specs Shadow Ball thanks to Leftovers + Protect, provided it doesn't get a SpDef drop, and I can either hit it hard with Earthquake or Toxic it back. If it's Scarfed, a healthy Lando should 1v1 it, again, assuming no SpDef drops. If it's Sub + Wisp, it's more annoying, but Earthquake still breaks the Sub even while burned, and you can threaten Toxic after breaking the sub. Clicking Toxic after breaking the sub is also good if it's Sub + Disable. Melmetal can also act as an emergency revenge killer, even after it gets a Grim Neigh boost, which is very helpful against Scarfed variants. If it isn't Scarfed though, Dragapult is always my best revenge killing option; which is nice because even forcing it to switch out, not many things can switch safely into Specs Pult (although unfortunately the presence of Spectrier makes Dragapult checks like Chansey/Blissey, Tyranitar, and Mandibuzz more common). So with all of that said, Spectrier is a big pain and it can pretty much claim a kill whenever it comes in against my team.
Magearna is another Pokemon that can be very annoying but may not last in OU. My team has answers to some Magearna sets, but the thing about Magearna is that it can run several varied sets that require different checks, so it's really hard to ever build a team that accounts for all Magearna possibilities. If it's the setup set with Stored Power + Draining Kiss, Melmetal should be able to handle it, but it can't if Magearna has Focus Blast or Aura Sphere. Similarly, Melmetal can't reliably deal with the Specs set; it still takes a lot from Fleur Cannon, gets OHKOed by Specs Focus Blast and 2HKOed by Aura Sphere, doesn't like getting Volt Switched on, and gets severely crippled by Trick. My SpDef Lando can live any Specs attack except for Ice Beam, so maybe I should give it more speed to outrun Modest Magearna, but I still can't OHKO it back with Earthquake. Lando isn't really a good switch-in to Specs Magearna because it takes a ton from Fleur Cannon, is OHKOed by Ice Beam, and also really doesn't like getting Tricked. So yeah, Magearna is another big pain that is really hard to switch into and can sometimes just end up sweeping my team.
Heatran can be difficult for me to deal with because my best switch-in is Lando, and it really doesn't like getting chipped by Magma Storm or Toxic, or burnt by Lava Plume. I also have a hard time knocking Heatran out because my Cinderace can't really touch it, it doesn't take much from Dragapult (unless it's been paralyzed by my Clef or Zapdos and use Hex on it), and Melmetal takes 72 - 84.9% from Magma Storm, although I can OHKO it back with Earthquake to essentially force a trade. In general, that's one of the most important roles that Melmetal plays - it lives hits from things like Heatran or Excadrill that can be difficult for me to deal with, and it OHKOs them back.
I don't really have a good switch into Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, especially Choice Banded versions in the rain. The good news for me is that it will likely need all three hits of Surging Strikes to OHKO Zapdos (and it won't OHKO without rain being up), which means that there is a 65.7% chance that it gets paralyzed by Static, making it easier to deal with in the long run. I was considering having a Rocky Helmet on Clef to help with Urshifu-RS, but Clef will still get OHKOed by Adamant, Choice Banded Surging Strikes in the rain, and I don't know if chipping it is really important, since Dragapult threatens to OHKO it anyway with Draco Meteor after the sac, although it could be nice to have the option of just clicking Shadow Ball against it instead. It's also a 50/50 chance for Dragapult to live a Choice Banded Surging Strikes from Adamant Urshifu-RS in the rain, so that's an option as well, but it really only should be used as a last resort.
I don't think that Excadrill is as big of a threat as the other Pokemon I've mentioned, but it can still cause my team problems. The utility variant with Toxic is hard for me to switch into, because I don't want my Landorus or Zapdos getting hit with Toxic, Melmetal is threatened by Earthquake, and Clef is threatened by Iron Head (if it has it over something like Rapid Spin). If it's an SD Drill, it can either blow by my Landorus with an Iron Head flinch or my Zapdos with Rock Slide. If it has an Air Balloon, it also becomes even more annoying because it sets up freely on my Landorus and Melmetal; I think that a Sand Rush version with an Air Balloon and Rock Slide could sweep my entire team, but I don't think that's very common.
Replays:
Like I said before, playing has become less fun for me, so I didn't use this team too much (although I feel like I've used it enough to get a general feel for its effectiveness), but I have a few replays to show it in action. All of these games were played on an alt that I had been using to test actual garbage earlier (I was fooling around with some Trubbish Spikes teams before), so it's not really high ladder or anything, but they still illustrate how the team functions.
Replay 1 - vs. Balance 1
This is a replay from before Pheromosa was banned, and I hadn't finalized some of the sets yet, so I still had things like Rocky Helmet and Aromatherapy on Clef and Melmetal had less Speed and more Attack, but it does highlight some of the synergy between Melmetal and SpDef Lando nicely. Toxic on Melmetal is great this game as it catches Moltres on the switch. Lando is also able to Toxic Tapu Lele and Protect on both Melmetal and Lando racks up the Toxic damage on Moltres and Lele, while also helping them stay healthier. Lando also does a nice job of keeping the Rocks up against the badly poisoned Moltres. I probably misplay against the CM Fini a little and I get lucky with my Melmetal not getting burned when I clicked Double Iron Bash into Moltres and also with the crit later on Pheromosa, but I think that I should have been alright anyway since it was either a Choice Band/Scarf or Life Orb Pheromosa, so it would either need to lock itself into a move and wouldn't just sweep, or it would end up wearing itself down through LO chip.
Replay 2 - vs. Sun
I feel like my team doesn't match up too well against sun, but I managed to win this game. Again, you see the combination of Toxic + Protect on both Lando and Melmetal helps wear down that unconventional SD + Rock Polish Lando. I think that I misplay a little by not having my Lando click Toxic against their Hydreigon when it goes for Nasty Plot, but I was thinking that it was Scarfed. Melmetal's bulk and ability to essentially trade kills that I keep talking about is also demonstrated as it lives the Aegislash Shadow Ball and OHKOs it back with Earthquake. I don't think that the crit at the end against Venusaur was really meaningful because it couldn't OHKO my Dragapult with anything, even at +2, and Shadow Ball was 2HKOing regardless. Dragapult does great this game overall by repeatedly coming in to revenge kill or grab momentum.
Replay 3 - vs. Bulky Offense
I played kind of sloppily this game, but it still shows some intricacies of my team. It was unfortunate that the Explosion from their Lando prevented me from removing Rocks and I didn't expect their Melmetal to have Ice Punch, which is why I brought in my Lando against it to get up Rocks. I also thought that their Melmetal was Banded, and I still don't know what their set was because they took too much from Dragapult's Shadow Ball to be AV, when I saw that it didn't have Leftovers and didn't stay in to click Earthquake against my Cinderace, which is why I later switched my Clef into it. I think that my opponent misplayed a little when they went with Superpower from their Melmetal when I U-turned out with Cinderace and I'm also not sure if sacing their Galarian Weezing to Defog was the right move either. I also think that they should have just clicked Earthquake with Salamence towards the end against my Cinderace, assuming they had it, instead of going for game with DD. The reason why I wanted to include this game though is because Melmetal starred in it and you can see how it offers both defensive utility against things like Tapu Lele, while still having a large offensive presence. As I wrote in chat to remind myself, that Focus Blast miss at the end by the Scarf Lele didn't matter, as it was only doing 69.7 - 82.2% against my Melmetal. This game also shows how nice Sucker Punch is on Cinderace because I don't think I would have been able to pull it out late without it.
Replay 4 - vs. Balance 2
I think that this could be the best replay I have to show off my team and I think I was going up against a better player than I was in the previous three replays. The Draco Meteor miss on Turn 7 hurt me a lot and I don't know if it would have even killed, depending on how bulky the Nidoqueen was, but I felt like I had to go for it, given have threatening Nidoqueen is to my team. My Lando does really well again this game by spreading Toxic on to both the opposing Zapdos and the Slowbro, as well as finally cleaning up against the Nidoqueen, which thankfully wasn't faster than me. The value of Leftovers and Protect are also clear on Lando this game, as it heals a ton of damage and sticks around until the end of the game, despite not having a recovery move and getting substantially chipped earlier in the game. I think that I misplay a little by going for U-turn with Cinderace against their Nidoqueen on turn 31, and I got lucky that they didn't click Ice Beam again as my Lando came in, but I think that I was afraid of Pyro Ball's accuracy, I thought that they may have gone Slowbro, so I didn't want to click Sucker Punch and give it a free switch, I didn't want to click Sucker Punch if they went for a desperation Stealth Rocks, and I think it was a roll for U-turn to knock out the Nidoqueen from there anyway. I feel like that Nidoqueen should have been knocked out before anyway because of the earlier Draco and Hurricane misses, but I still probably should have handled that situation better. The end game is pretty interesting, and I think that going for Thunder Wave with Clef on Turn 35 to paralyze their Cinderace was the right move, although unfortunately for me, my own Cinderace also gets paralyzed by their Zapdos's Discharge a few turns later. It probably was a mistake for me to stay in with my Cinderace against their Zapdos in the first place though, as I likely should have gone back to Lando on Turn 38. I also probably shouldn't have risked the speed tie/paralysis on Turn 40 just to U-turn with my Cinderace, but it luckily worked out. Looking back on it now, Clef Knocking Off their Slowbro's Helmet earlier also helped, because it lets my Cinderace chip it and finish it off with U-turn. I do get lucky a couple of times that my Lando doesn't get burned by Scald, but I don't think that really would have mattered much. Ultimately, it ends up coming down to my Cinderace hitting Gunk Shot through paralysis, and fortunately for me, it does to OHKO their Clef. I think that Clef getting OHKOed by Gunk Shot means that it wasn't very physically defensive, but either way I think that I should have won if I hit one or two Gunk Shots.
Replay 5 - vs. Balance 3
Along with the fourth replay I posted, I think that this replay demonstrates how my team functions the best. Immediately on Turn 1, I was debating whether or not to Knock or T-Wave the Tapu Lele, but I decided to keep Clef healthier in case their Krookodile or Hawlucha got past my Zapdos. Toxic on Melmetal is big again as it allows me to catch their Moltres on the switch, while Protect racks up Toxic damage and keeps my Melmetal healthier throughout the game, thanks to Leftovers. Lando does a good job of keeping the Rocks up against the badly poisoned Moltres and Protect + Leftovers goes a long way again in keeping Lando healthy. I switched my Melmetal out of their Tapu Fini on Turn 10 because I wanted to keep it healthier for Lele later, and Zapdos was a nice midground switch-in. It might have been a little greedy of me to stay in on Turn 12 and go for another Hurricane with Zapdos against their Krookodile, but I didn't take that much from Stone Edge, plus it was Confused, and I didn't want to potentially switch something else into a Knock; we both ended up missing anyway. My Landorus being slower than their Moltres actually is very useful on Turns 16 and 17 because it lets me Earthquake on their Roosts and take it out. I think that it may have been better for my opponent to have just Defogged on Turn 17 and given up Moltres to remove Rocks, and I almost clicked Rocks again that turn, but I thought that I would have been able to get up Rocks again at some point anyway. It was kind of a guessing game there between Rocks/Earthquake and Defog/Roost, and I managed to get it right, but I was in the better position even if I had guessed incorrectly. I had a pretty free Hurricane on Turn 26 that I should have taken instead of Discharging, but I think I was just too paranoid about missing and letting a Hawlucha setup, which could have been a problem if it had Stone Edge. The importance of Intimidate is shown by Landorus not getting 2HKOed from 56% after switching into the Scarfed Krookodile's Knock Off on Turn 33. Even if I did get 2HKOed by Krookodile there though, I think that I should have been fine, since both Melmetal and Cinderace would have eaten a subsequent Knock Off, even after the Moxie boost. I was kind of surprised that their Melmetal was faster than mine, especially because it also was a Leftovers Melmetal, not Banded, and I have a decent amount of Speed investment on my Melmetal, but it didn't end up mattering, as my Melmetal put it in range of Dragapult's Shadow Ball, which also cleaned up their Tapu Fini to close out the game. I never ended up brining my Cinderace in this game, but I had it as another option to clean up late-game, so long as I hit my moves like Gunk Shot and Pyro Ball.
Conclusion:
So this was another really long writeup, and I keep telling myself that I'm going to take a break from Pokemon because it's become weirdly too stressful, but I like this team a lot and wanted to do another RMT for it. I feel like it is pretty solid and I like how even some of my more defensive Pokemon like Lando, Melmetal, and Zapdos still have good offensive presences, due to their high attacking base stats and strong moves; it feels kind of more like bulky offense than balance to me in that regard. I definitely think there's room to tinker with spreads or sets, and the meta is still shifting (and will continue to with their being a good chance that more suspect tests are on the horizon), but this team is ultimately comprised of six very good Pokemon and offers enough versatility to respond to a variety of situations, so I imagine that it can remain respectable, even as the meta morphs. I personally feel like this is one of the more fun and all-around solid teams I've built in that way; it's kind of hard to articulate but I enjoy how different Pokemon on this team can be played in different ways depending on the situation (I feel like Melmetal and Lando encapsulate that by offering both defensive utility and offensive presence - either through their direct attacks or Toxic) and how you can setup your path to victory differently in response to the team you're facing. That may not make much sense and maybe I'm imagining things, but to me at least, I feel like this team allowed me to play more creatively than some of the other ones I've built. So anyway, I'll end this the way I always do for my RMTs: I truly am thankful for anyone that takes the time to read or glance over this post, and I hope you all are doing well!
PokePaste
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
Clefable (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Knock Off
- Thunder Wave
Melmetal @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 88 HP / 152 Atk / 156 SpD / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Toxic
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Defog
Dragapult (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Hex
Cinderace (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- U-turn
- Gunk Shot
- Sucker Punch
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
Clefable (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Knock Off
- Thunder Wave
Melmetal @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 88 HP / 152 Atk / 156 SpD / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Toxic
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Defog
Dragapult (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Hex
Cinderace (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- U-turn
- Gunk Shot
- Sucker Punch
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