Anyone have replays of recent games? Just want to take a gander at a few teams and how they are played.
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Tournament SPL XI: OU Discussion
- Thread starter TPP
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I'll get around to sharing teams and whatnot at the conclusion of the tour, but now that we are out I think the main thing I'd like to comment on is what I consider the sheer weirdness of SS OU compared to other tiers that I've played. There are undeniably "broken" threats left and right - Clefable, Dugtrio, Kyurem are probably the most obvious, but mons like Dracovish and Dragapult have an incredible warping effect on the tier as well. I wonder if it's worthwhile to look at suspect testing them, which I imagine will happen at the end of the tour, but a large part of this tournament was indeed trying to think of novel ways to handle these threats while not repeating the same team over and over. To me, this is one reason why offense was as good as it was for much of the tournament (Christo will agree) because you can afford to be a bit more relaxed on the defensive portion of the game if you have enough offensive outs.
The emergent effect, though, is that we really see teams fall into one of two buckets almost every time: either some sort of goofball offense aiming to hit from blind spots against traditional balance / semi-stall OR those traditional balance / semi-stall teams. The teams themselves can differ a fair amount inside of the bucket, but this has the effect of looking like, to spectators, that a lot of the teams are the same and a lot of the games play out similarly.
The emergent effect, though, is that we really see teams fall into one of two buckets almost every time: either some sort of goofball offense aiming to hit from blind spots against traditional balance / semi-stall OR those traditional balance / semi-stall teams. The teams themselves can differ a fair amount inside of the bucket, but this has the effect of looking like, to spectators, that a lot of the teams are the same and a lot of the games play out similarly.
Now that i'm mostly done with tour play for a little while at least gonna go over some of the stuff I brought this season, playing OU seriously for the first time was a really fun experience and I was glad I got a second chance after my disaster campaign last year. I built most of my own teams with input from a few others here and there, a lot of them are outdated but hey why not share.
Week 1: For Week 1 we'd already lost the week and I was subbing in to play my first official game in a year, didn't really wanna use something boring and not give it my best. Ended up picking this cool Specs Pelipper Bulky Offense, Pelipper in Pre-Home was a cool breaker that basically forced games at some points to come down to Water move vs. Flying move predictions against the typical Seismitoad Clef Corvi stuff we were seeing this early. In the game vs. Jayde I ended up getting some pretty crucial luck with my Excadrill that meant I really just had to coast and not actively throw the mid to late game, but Pelipper did clean up the end and this was still one of the teams I was more fond of.
Week 3: This time playing a game that mattered and starting, vs. Teal I wanted to make some Anti-Offense, I hadn't really built with Cinderace a ton yet so Mimikyu was something I was more comfortable trying to use. Rest of the team filled into breaking / defensive niches, Corviknight was a necessity for Drill but Bulk Up was a fantastic win con in its own right, changed from Cloyster to Rotom-Wash pretty late in order to cover opposing Cloysters better. Very happy with this one in building and in game execution.
Week 4: Toxtricity had been catching my eye as a cool breaker that could get through some Dugtrio builds with Shed Shell, I also thought Tace was going to switch it up after his high Excadrill / Pult usage. Rest of the team is pretty standard, I feel like I was one of the early adopters of Jolly SD Aegi which had a lot of milage in the middle of the tour before people started EVing around it. Offensive Seismitoad lured Ferrothorn and 2HKOed it on the switch for Toxtricity. Played a pretty terrible early game, but was able to claw back and get a win with Toxtricity getting basically a perfect matchup.
Week 5: Ditto Balance felt like it covered most of Christo's most comfortable archetypes, Specs Chandy was a breaker I wanted to try for some time. Nothing too special in the sets, finally got around to using Satanic ass Trick Clef. Probably the game I'm least happy about execution wise, played way too passively and trying not to lose instead of focusing on my own win paths like I should have been.
Week 6: Simia had been using mostly Balance / Bulky Offense and I thought some straight offense would take it to him, Rhyperior is one of my favorites on these teams and this time went for the screens route with setup spam in Hawlucha and Dragapult. Ended up not getting a great matchup, also missing a pretty sucky Fire Blast on Ferrothorn that would have given me another ko / big hit with Pult but there were definitely routes I could have improved as well.
Week 7: Post-Home madness, wanted to bounce back after a couple losses so decided to play around with some of the new toys. Didn't realize Zeraora was gonna have such high usage honestly but makes sense in hindsight, Terrak is still rlly cool despite being locked into suboptimal set choices thanks to the tactical moles. This team does not have an ice resist but an easy fix is by using a Scarf Oven or something instead of Zera, ended up working out well enough in game so I can't complain really. Scarf Pult could also work with some different ice resists while fixing speed issues, Zeraora + Pult felt safe enough for me at the time, wasn't expecting Rain.
Week 8: Do or die week for the BIGs, we ended up losing before Suapah and I played which was unfortunate because I was looking to enjoy the stakes. I was waiting for a time to bring out Duggy and he seemed like the kind of player worth doing it for, Scarf Keld and Bisharp where two picks I liked both for breaking and defensive synergy with it, rest of team is standard SS nonsense. Probably my favorite game of the season, ended up being really tight and we both had some great sequences and a couple misplays, coming down to a speed tie at the end.
Big shoutout to Ricardo for being the best support a girl could ask for and consistently providing good advice / fun teams, as well as the rest of the Magma BIGs for their help, and also xray Christo starry blanket for outside the team contribution, was fun to test with you guys.
Week 1: For Week 1 we'd already lost the week and I was subbing in to play my first official game in a year, didn't really wanna use something boring and not give it my best. Ended up picking this cool Specs Pelipper Bulky Offense, Pelipper in Pre-Home was a cool breaker that basically forced games at some points to come down to Water move vs. Flying move predictions against the typical Seismitoad Clef Corvi stuff we were seeing this early. In the game vs. Jayde I ended up getting some pretty crucial luck with my Excadrill that meant I really just had to coast and not actively throw the mid to late game, but Pelipper did clean up the end and this was still one of the teams I was more fond of.
Week 3: This time playing a game that mattered and starting, vs. Teal I wanted to make some Anti-Offense, I hadn't really built with Cinderace a ton yet so Mimikyu was something I was more comfortable trying to use. Rest of the team filled into breaking / defensive niches, Corviknight was a necessity for Drill but Bulk Up was a fantastic win con in its own right, changed from Cloyster to Rotom-Wash pretty late in order to cover opposing Cloysters better. Very happy with this one in building and in game execution.
Week 4: Toxtricity had been catching my eye as a cool breaker that could get through some Dugtrio builds with Shed Shell, I also thought Tace was going to switch it up after his high Excadrill / Pult usage. Rest of the team is pretty standard, I feel like I was one of the early adopters of Jolly SD Aegi which had a lot of milage in the middle of the tour before people started EVing around it. Offensive Seismitoad lured Ferrothorn and 2HKOed it on the switch for Toxtricity. Played a pretty terrible early game, but was able to claw back and get a win with Toxtricity getting basically a perfect matchup.
Week 5: Ditto Balance felt like it covered most of Christo's most comfortable archetypes, Specs Chandy was a breaker I wanted to try for some time. Nothing too special in the sets, finally got around to using Satanic ass Trick Clef. Probably the game I'm least happy about execution wise, played way too passively and trying not to lose instead of focusing on my own win paths like I should have been.
Week 6: Simia had been using mostly Balance / Bulky Offense and I thought some straight offense would take it to him, Rhyperior is one of my favorites on these teams and this time went for the screens route with setup spam in Hawlucha and Dragapult. Ended up not getting a great matchup, also missing a pretty sucky Fire Blast on Ferrothorn that would have given me another ko / big hit with Pult but there were definitely routes I could have improved as well.
Week 7: Post-Home madness, wanted to bounce back after a couple losses so decided to play around with some of the new toys. Didn't realize Zeraora was gonna have such high usage honestly but makes sense in hindsight, Terrak is still rlly cool despite being locked into suboptimal set choices thanks to the tactical moles. This team does not have an ice resist but an easy fix is by using a Scarf Oven or something instead of Zera, ended up working out well enough in game so I can't complain really. Scarf Pult could also work with some different ice resists while fixing speed issues, Zeraora + Pult felt safe enough for me at the time, wasn't expecting Rain.
Week 8: Do or die week for the BIGs, we ended up losing before Suapah and I played which was unfortunate because I was looking to enjoy the stakes. I was waiting for a time to bring out Duggy and he seemed like the kind of player worth doing it for, Scarf Keld and Bisharp where two picks I liked both for breaking and defensive synergy with it, rest of team is standard SS nonsense. Probably my favorite game of the season, ended up being really tight and we both had some great sequences and a couple misplays, coming down to a speed tie at the end.
Big shoutout to Ricardo for being the best support a girl could ask for and consistently providing good advice / fun teams, as well as the rest of the Magma BIGs for their help, and also xray Christo starry blanket for outside the team contribution, was fun to test with you guys.
Replay dump, most of these are from pre-HOME, but I found them funny enough to keep them around:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-476299
When your name is blarghlfarghl, none of your Pokemon are holding the items they started with, your predictions are going horribly wrong and the universe just generally hates you today.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-476279
Aegislash VS Mamoswine in a SPINE-BREAKING CONTEST.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-476220
This is basically the definition of Hex spam.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-476193
Gen 8 appears to be an episode of "Hawlucha Is Garbage".
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-475777
More on the above theme, as Empo's HO team falls to bits. But one of his mons hadn't read the script... Also, if that Cloyster is Focus Sash rather than the obvious Kings Rock he wins that game XD. Justice.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-475945
Finally after so long of waiting, we get to see the power of LORD VISH in all its glory...
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-476237
The exact opposite theme, or Rain gone wrong.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-475764
Talah found out to his cost a while back that standard Bulk Up Corv is generally setup bait for Double Dance Corv. But as this game shows, the devil is in the details...
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-476197
Adaam's attempt to bring double weather is intercepted and derailed by Trick MANIA!!
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-475929
Prize for the weirdest team bought to SPL. And note: If you Encore a mon, be sure it's not locked into a move it wants to use...
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-476343
Some things changed with HOME's release. Other things, like Duggy trapping things virtually off the lead with no room for counterplay, stayed the same.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-478708
Ditto V Ditto, Transform actually gets used and who is the REAL Dugtrio?
Anyone got their own favourite replay(s) to share?
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-476299
When your name is blarghlfarghl, none of your Pokemon are holding the items they started with, your predictions are going horribly wrong and the universe just generally hates you today.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-476279
Aegislash VS Mamoswine in a SPINE-BREAKING CONTEST.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-476220
This is basically the definition of Hex spam.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-476193
Gen 8 appears to be an episode of "Hawlucha Is Garbage".
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-475777
More on the above theme, as Empo's HO team falls to bits. But one of his mons hadn't read the script... Also, if that Cloyster is Focus Sash rather than the obvious Kings Rock he wins that game XD. Justice.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-475945
Finally after so long of waiting, we get to see the power of LORD VISH in all its glory...
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-476237
The exact opposite theme, or Rain gone wrong.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-475764
Talah found out to his cost a while back that standard Bulk Up Corv is generally setup bait for Double Dance Corv. But as this game shows, the devil is in the details...
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-476197
Adaam's attempt to bring double weather is intercepted and derailed by Trick MANIA!!
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-475929
Prize for the weirdest team bought to SPL. And note: If you Encore a mon, be sure it's not locked into a move it wants to use...
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-476343
Some things changed with HOME's release. Other things, like Duggy trapping things virtually off the lead with no room for counterplay, stayed the same.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-478708
Ditto V Ditto, Transform actually gets used and who is the REAL Dugtrio?
Anyone got their own favourite replay(s) to share?
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Congrats to the Alpha Ruiners for winning SPL! Now that SPL is over, I will tag all SS OU players from the teams that made playoffs. Like last time, if you were involved with SS OU in SPL, then you are more than welcome to post here.
Sacri' Eo Ut Mortus soulgazer Updated Kanto Jordy Christo TDK blunder CTC Insult suapah blarghlfarghl Relous false FLCL Empo Twixtry mncmt
Edit: The 2nd post of this thread has been updated to include all SS OU replays from SPL XI
Sacri' Eo Ut Mortus soulgazer Updated Kanto Jordy Christo TDK blunder CTC Insult suapah blarghlfarghl Relous false FLCL Empo Twixtry mncmt
Edit: The 2nd post of this thread has been updated to include all SS OU replays from SPL XI
Last edited:
One last replay, which can be summed up as follows:
☆STARRY: bro
☆STARRY: the fuck do i do vs the fish
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-478262
☆STARRY: i feel violated bro
Anyway, a last look over the stats shows some interesting trends to take note of (besides Clef's 72.56% usage rate, 83.72% post-Home usage rate).
To be continued next time, when I look at the biggest flops of SPL and the team you should be spamming on the ladder.
☆STARRY: bro
☆STARRY: the fuck do i do vs the fish
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-478262
☆STARRY: i feel violated bro
Anyway, a last look over the stats shows some interesting trends to take note of (besides Clef's 72.56% usage rate, 83.72% post-Home usage rate).
| 44 | Gyarados | 5 | 1.88% | 80.00% |
We be Dragon Dancing. Gyara's ability to feast on common structures and use its coverage to hit what the rest of its team misses cannot be understated. Whatever walls the rest of your team cannot puncture, Gyara can use its deep coverage pool (and Taunt) to slaughter. Even without Dynamax.
| 44 | Mew | 5 | 1.88% | 80.00% |
Most thought Mew would serve as a hazard lead for HO, but as it turned out, Mew joined in the Dragon Dancing once and lost, was used as a special breaker once and won, and sat on the bench/was sacced for 3 more wins. It hasn't used a move since HOME came out, but similarity to Gyara, it offers the ability to target whatever your team is weak to with its limitless movepool.
| 44 | Mimikyu | 5 | 1.88% | 80.00% |
I thought Mimi should drop to UU eventually, but it seems to be a terrifying sweeper for offense this gen. It was a star player in its one loss, which would have be a win if Cloyster had been Focus Sash or Hawlucha had pulled its useless weight. Its surprising bulk and unique typing help it take hits even after its nerfed Disguise has been broken. Its speed tier, while abysmal last gen, is now a nasty shock for unprepped teams. Don't forget this threat when building a Gen 8 OU team.
| 31 | Obstagoon | 11 | 4.14% | 72.73% |
Obstagoon's raw Guts-boosted power can dismantle common teams. It literally has no switch-ins, and a base 95 speed makes it terrifying to play against. The ability to set up with Bulk Up cannot be underestimated either, as it makes it virtually impossible to stop. Not to mention its 4th moveslot is highly flexable, with options like Taunt, Switcheroo and Parting Shot claiming wins. Not to mention King's Shield-lite Obstruct, which forced an immediate switch almost every time it works, but couldn't even get a look in among Obstagoon's massive movepool. With underexplored options like Defiant, Reckless Double-Edge, Gunk Shot and Fire Punch, not to mention decent bulk, Obstagoon is only going to get more dangerous as more sets are worked out. Its only current issue is the one set it does run works too well.
| 31 | Rhyperior | 11 | 4.14% | 72.73% |
Rhyperior is a beneficiary of how good EdgeQuake is right now, and how deadly an offensive Stealth Rocker can be. Its low speed and many weaknesses are patched up by massive bulk and Weakness Policy. Not much more to say, it's a pretty straightforward mon. But it sure is effective.
| 33 | Cinderace | 10 | 3.76% | 70.00% |
Many people wrote off non-Libero Cinderace from within the first month of SS OU. Court Change, while a strong move on paper, was a one-time trick. Your opponent just reset the hazards and that was that. But Cinderace's surprising support pool, blazing speed and devastating Pyro Balls have left dents in more than a few teams. Cinderace has found a natural home on Hyper Offense, which appreciates its ability to provide one-time hazard support and pivoting. The nature of Hyper Offense means the opponent rarely has multiple opportunities to set hazards, so Court Change's drawbacks vanish and you are left with a supreme hazard pivot with some nifty resistances and a Fire STAB that blasts common threats hard. Not to mention Taunt and Sucker Punch, two nifty support options that have claimed a couple of surprised victims each. God knows what it'll be like with Libero.
| 30 | Mantine | 12 | 4.51% | 66.67% |
The breakout star of SPL rain teams, Metronome Mantine has claimed more than a few victims at this point who figured Rain=Dracovish in their prep. Its incredible special bulk lets it Sub up in front of many common threats while adding a thicker defensive spine to Rain teams. Retaining Roost helped it a great deal as it regained health over and over, sometimes resorting to stalling out the threat in front of it. And its sure-hit Hurricanes or boosted Surfs have a habit of dismantling things after a couple of Metronome boosts. Rotom-W is probably the best check, but its use fell off post-HOME. Zeraora makes a decent revenge killer of it once the Rain has lifted, but it has its own problems to worry about.
| 13 | Ferrothorn | 44 | 16.54% | 63.64% |
While all the hype was on the new kids, Ferrothorn quietly gets on with whatever it's been doing for the past 4 gens, with the exact same continued success. Memes about Hidden Power Fire aside, Ferro has benefited a ton from Dexit, with its most hated foes vanishing and its favourite friends surviving, especially Rain teams in the second half of SPL. When your winrate is approaching 2 wins for every loss despite you being on around 1/6 teams, you know you good. Teams have resorted to "checks" like Flamethrower Clef and Body Press Corv to try and keep it at bay. It's clearly not working. Ferrothorn's one issue is it has way too many good options to possibly choose them all, but whatever just throw on any 4 moves and it'll probably work. Keep in mind that base 94 Attack and those lethal STABs too.
| 7 | Excadrill | 65 | 24.44% | 55.38% |
Honourable mention to Drill for having the highest winrate inside the top 10 used mons. In spite of the Rapid Spin buff, Drill remains the only user of said move in OU. Its sweeping sets however, have suffered from the prevalence of the two birds and the 4MSS that makes Rock coverage hard to fit.
We be Dragon Dancing. Gyara's ability to feast on common structures and use its coverage to hit what the rest of its team misses cannot be understated. Whatever walls the rest of your team cannot puncture, Gyara can use its deep coverage pool (and Taunt) to slaughter. Even without Dynamax.
| 44 | Mew | 5 | 1.88% | 80.00% |
Most thought Mew would serve as a hazard lead for HO, but as it turned out, Mew joined in the Dragon Dancing once and lost, was used as a special breaker once and won, and sat on the bench/was sacced for 3 more wins. It hasn't used a move since HOME came out, but similarity to Gyara, it offers the ability to target whatever your team is weak to with its limitless movepool.
| 44 | Mimikyu | 5 | 1.88% | 80.00% |
I thought Mimi should drop to UU eventually, but it seems to be a terrifying sweeper for offense this gen. It was a star player in its one loss, which would have be a win if Cloyster had been Focus Sash or Hawlucha had pulled its useless weight. Its surprising bulk and unique typing help it take hits even after its nerfed Disguise has been broken. Its speed tier, while abysmal last gen, is now a nasty shock for unprepped teams. Don't forget this threat when building a Gen 8 OU team.
| 31 | Obstagoon | 11 | 4.14% | 72.73% |
Obstagoon's raw Guts-boosted power can dismantle common teams. It literally has no switch-ins, and a base 95 speed makes it terrifying to play against. The ability to set up with Bulk Up cannot be underestimated either, as it makes it virtually impossible to stop. Not to mention its 4th moveslot is highly flexable, with options like Taunt, Switcheroo and Parting Shot claiming wins. Not to mention King's Shield-lite Obstruct, which forced an immediate switch almost every time it works, but couldn't even get a look in among Obstagoon's massive movepool. With underexplored options like Defiant, Reckless Double-Edge, Gunk Shot and Fire Punch, not to mention decent bulk, Obstagoon is only going to get more dangerous as more sets are worked out. Its only current issue is the one set it does run works too well.
| 31 | Rhyperior | 11 | 4.14% | 72.73% |
Rhyperior is a beneficiary of how good EdgeQuake is right now, and how deadly an offensive Stealth Rocker can be. Its low speed and many weaknesses are patched up by massive bulk and Weakness Policy. Not much more to say, it's a pretty straightforward mon. But it sure is effective.
| 33 | Cinderace | 10 | 3.76% | 70.00% |
Many people wrote off non-Libero Cinderace from within the first month of SS OU. Court Change, while a strong move on paper, was a one-time trick. Your opponent just reset the hazards and that was that. But Cinderace's surprising support pool, blazing speed and devastating Pyro Balls have left dents in more than a few teams. Cinderace has found a natural home on Hyper Offense, which appreciates its ability to provide one-time hazard support and pivoting. The nature of Hyper Offense means the opponent rarely has multiple opportunities to set hazards, so Court Change's drawbacks vanish and you are left with a supreme hazard pivot with some nifty resistances and a Fire STAB that blasts common threats hard. Not to mention Taunt and Sucker Punch, two nifty support options that have claimed a couple of surprised victims each. God knows what it'll be like with Libero.
| 30 | Mantine | 12 | 4.51% | 66.67% |
The breakout star of SPL rain teams, Metronome Mantine has claimed more than a few victims at this point who figured Rain=Dracovish in their prep. Its incredible special bulk lets it Sub up in front of many common threats while adding a thicker defensive spine to Rain teams. Retaining Roost helped it a great deal as it regained health over and over, sometimes resorting to stalling out the threat in front of it. And its sure-hit Hurricanes or boosted Surfs have a habit of dismantling things after a couple of Metronome boosts. Rotom-W is probably the best check, but its use fell off post-HOME. Zeraora makes a decent revenge killer of it once the Rain has lifted, but it has its own problems to worry about.
| 13 | Ferrothorn | 44 | 16.54% | 63.64% |
While all the hype was on the new kids, Ferrothorn quietly gets on with whatever it's been doing for the past 4 gens, with the exact same continued success. Memes about Hidden Power Fire aside, Ferro has benefited a ton from Dexit, with its most hated foes vanishing and its favourite friends surviving, especially Rain teams in the second half of SPL. When your winrate is approaching 2 wins for every loss despite you being on around 1/6 teams, you know you good. Teams have resorted to "checks" like Flamethrower Clef and Body Press Corv to try and keep it at bay. It's clearly not working. Ferrothorn's one issue is it has way too many good options to possibly choose them all, but whatever just throw on any 4 moves and it'll probably work. Keep in mind that base 94 Attack and those lethal STABs too.
| 7 | Excadrill | 65 | 24.44% | 55.38% |
Honourable mention to Drill for having the highest winrate inside the top 10 used mons. In spite of the Rapid Spin buff, Drill remains the only user of said move in OU. Its sweeping sets however, have suffered from the prevalence of the two birds and the 4MSS that makes Rock coverage hard to fit.
| 56 | Shuckle | 2 | 0.75% | 100.00% |
The one Sticky Web user bought to SPL has a 100% winrate. Hmm.
| 56 | Cobalion | 2 | 0.75% | 100.00% |
Stealth Rock+Volt Switch+Flinch Hax=Good. Terrakion last seen nervously looking over its shoulder.
| 66 | Vaporeon | 1 | 0.38% | 100.00% |
Water Absorb+Wish Pass=Great for the 1% of teams without a pink mon on them.
| 66 | Hitmontop | 1 | 0.38% | 100.00% |
It gets Earthquake apparently.
| 66 | Lucario | 1 | 0.38% | 100.00% |
Lucario is so cool, all it has to do to win is switch into a Fighting move and instantly die. Oh yeah.
The one Sticky Web user bought to SPL has a 100% winrate. Hmm.
| 56 | Cobalion | 2 | 0.75% | 100.00% |
Stealth Rock+Volt Switch+Flinch Hax=Good. Terrakion last seen nervously looking over its shoulder.
| 66 | Vaporeon | 1 | 0.38% | 100.00% |
Water Absorb+Wish Pass=Great for the 1% of teams without a pink mon on them.
| 66 | Hitmontop | 1 | 0.38% | 100.00% |
It gets Earthquake apparently.
| 66 | Lucario | 1 | 0.38% | 100.00% |
Lucario is so cool, all it has to do to win is switch into a Fighting move and instantly die. Oh yeah.
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I built all of my SPL teams apart from the first week, and always based the team I was going to use off the most current meta because new trends were emerging very quickly. After the first two weeks, I realized not much variance was going on week by week with the teams being used. The same staple cores were being repeated with slight variation, where you only had to prepare for defensive cores containing corv / clef / seis / mandibuzz / kommo / ecadrill. A combination of 2-4 of those pokemon were nearly always guaranteed while the rest of the team is filled out by filler bulky offensive threats like dragapult, aegislash, rotom heat, hydreigon, etc. Despite offensive teams being consistent(depends on the team) in SS OU, most players did not attempt the playstyle more than once.
I like to use a variety of playstyles in order to stay unpredictable, so I wanted to use HO frequently because it can be consistent vs SPL team archetypes. I want to share the HO build I used in Week 2 and Week 5, because it was definitely the best team I built in the gen so far.
https://pokepast.es/8fb4a1336ecf635f
This build was created as the anti-meta HO built around Cloyster + Cinderace + Togekiss. Cloyster with King's Rock has high potential to sweep most teams because the most relevant Steel types in the tier do not resist icicle spear (corviknight, excadrill, ferrothron, Aegislash). Corv and Exca are both used as setup bait, while aegislash runs almost exclusively 0 HP offensive sets, so it is very easy to chip. On top of this, Cloyster sets up on Dracovish which is a threat to HO. Cinderace was paired with Cloyster because I saw the potential of Court Change + Taunt + using no Stealth Rock. Cinderace is extremely potent if used properly. Heavy Duty Boots + good speed tier + U turn + typing allows it to be the perfect pivot on HO. Cinderace acts as a consistent fairy resist in order to check Clefable while also switching into Corvinknight, so hard switching into it to Court Change
rocks away is easy. On top of this, Cinderace is deadly in the end game if you pivot enough into it to put it in Blaze range. Togekiss is the perfect partner for Cinderace because Cinderace is walled by the two most common Rockers, Seismitoad and Kommo-o. This combo allows Cinderace to bait in one of the Rockers and U-Turn into Togekiss as they click Stealth Rocks. Togekiss is EV'd to Substitute on Seismitoad's Scald, while also being able to Sub up on Kommo-o and Toxapex. Assuming Togekiss does not sweep, Cinderace can easily Court Change the Rocks onto their side, and Taunt prevents rocks from going back up.
Dragapult was used as the team's speed control, Rotom switch in, and another momentum getter paired with Cinderace. Grimmsnarl was used as my Dragapult check while also hard bluffing Screens, which looks obvious on this team. I saw Bulk Up 3 attacks having high sweeping potential because Bulk Up allows it to get past Iron Head Corviknight and only a small amount of chip is needed to OHKO Clefable at +1 with Play Rough. Dugtrio was used as a Volt Switch immunity, more speed control, the ability to trap Toxapex and Clefable, bluffing having Stealth Rocks, and Memento. Choice Band was ideal in the pre-home meta, but changing to Focus Sash allows this team to function well in the current meta.
I believe this team is extremely successful because it sports potent offensive threats while simultaneously defensively checking the majority of the meta. The team's only weakness is versus opposing HO, and even then, it's not a guaranteed loss.
I like to use a variety of playstyles in order to stay unpredictable, so I wanted to use HO frequently because it can be consistent vs SPL team archetypes. I want to share the HO build I used in Week 2 and Week 5, because it was definitely the best team I built in the gen so far.
https://pokepast.es/8fb4a1336ecf635f
This build was created as the anti-meta HO built around Cloyster + Cinderace + Togekiss. Cloyster with King's Rock has high potential to sweep most teams because the most relevant Steel types in the tier do not resist icicle spear (corviknight, excadrill, ferrothron, Aegislash). Corv and Exca are both used as setup bait, while aegislash runs almost exclusively 0 HP offensive sets, so it is very easy to chip. On top of this, Cloyster sets up on Dracovish which is a threat to HO. Cinderace was paired with Cloyster because I saw the potential of Court Change + Taunt + using no Stealth Rock. Cinderace is extremely potent if used properly. Heavy Duty Boots + good speed tier + U turn + typing allows it to be the perfect pivot on HO. Cinderace acts as a consistent fairy resist in order to check Clefable while also switching into Corvinknight, so hard switching into it to Court Change
rocks away is easy. On top of this, Cinderace is deadly in the end game if you pivot enough into it to put it in Blaze range. Togekiss is the perfect partner for Cinderace because Cinderace is walled by the two most common Rockers, Seismitoad and Kommo-o. This combo allows Cinderace to bait in one of the Rockers and U-Turn into Togekiss as they click Stealth Rocks. Togekiss is EV'd to Substitute on Seismitoad's Scald, while also being able to Sub up on Kommo-o and Toxapex. Assuming Togekiss does not sweep, Cinderace can easily Court Change the Rocks onto their side, and Taunt prevents rocks from going back up.
Dragapult was used as the team's speed control, Rotom switch in, and another momentum getter paired with Cinderace. Grimmsnarl was used as my Dragapult check while also hard bluffing Screens, which looks obvious on this team. I saw Bulk Up 3 attacks having high sweeping potential because Bulk Up allows it to get past Iron Head Corviknight and only a small amount of chip is needed to OHKO Clefable at +1 with Play Rough. Dugtrio was used as a Volt Switch immunity, more speed control, the ability to trap Toxapex and Clefable, bluffing having Stealth Rocks, and Memento. Choice Band was ideal in the pre-home meta, but changing to Focus Sash allows this team to function well in the current meta.
I believe this team is extremely successful because it sports potent offensive threats while simultaneously defensively checking the majority of the meta. The team's only weakness is versus opposing HO, and even then, it's not a guaranteed loss.
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