SM OU Supersonic Salamence

MegaGalladeBlade

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magnezone.png
tapu fini.png
landorus-therian.png
greninja.png
heatran.png


Introduction​

I wanted to use Salamence in OU but his mega evolution is banned, so I thought the next most viable thing, and most fun thing, would be a flynium Z set. The entire team is built around covering his weaknesses, forcing switches, and volt switching/u-turning Salamence into pokemon that he can set up against.
The Team

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Salamence @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fly
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
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Salamence is obviously the star of the team. His moxie ability has a snowball effect which makes him harder to stop each time he knocks out a pokemon. If the opponent has pokemon faster than Salamence (which will usually be the case) the first thing Salamence wants to do is dragon dance in order to outspeed opposing pokemon for the rest of the game. One dragon dance will usually be sufficient, unless the opponent has something like sand rush Excadrill with sandstorm potential. on the Dragon Dance turn the opponent will usually send in a pokemon to wall salamence such as Clefable, Landorus, etc. Salamence then uses Supersonic Skystrike to break said walls, giving him another attack boost with moxie, and proceeds to sweep. Dragon claw is for STAB that doesn't require two turns like Fly. Earthquake for coverage. I chose Jolly nature because moxie will make an Adamant nature obsolete after a few turns and it's more important to outspeed as many things as possible.
Despite what some may think, Fly is actually not a bad option as its own move once Salamence has one or more attack boosts. it is more powerful than Dragon Claw, allowing Salamence to pick up KO's Dragon claw and earthquake otherwise wouldn't. sure the extra turn allows the opponent to switch but few mons wants to take a +2 fly even if they resist it. Salamence will usually be able to finish off the switched mon with either another Fly or his other attacks. Also, Fly allows Salamence to avoid status and makes moves such as Defog fail for one turn (assuming Salamence is faster at this point) while Salamence KOs on the next turn.

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Magnezone @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 168 HP / 252 SpA / 88 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire]
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Magnezone's role is pretty obvious. Magnet pull with HP Fire lets him trap and kill most other steel types which wall Salamence such as Ferrothorn and Celesteela. I chose assault vest because I wanted to use Magnezone as a defensive switch-in. It also allows Magnezone to outlast other Magnezones if they trap eachother in a HP fire spam war. Experience with this team has definitely made me happy with that item choice. Flash cannon is for faries. volt switch is paired with Landorus' and Greninja's u-turns in order to maintain momentum and find an opportinity to bring in Salamence so he can start setting up Dragon Dances safely. 88 speed allows him to outspeed uninvested magearna, celesteela, tyranitar, and clefable while still keeping him slow enough to be a slow bulky pivot whereas my two u-turners are fast.

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Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 100 Def / 160 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Moonblast
- Surf
- Haze
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Tapu Fini completes the Steel/Dragon/Fairy core. She provides defog support and stops others from setting up with Haze. I prefer Haze over Taunt because I'm not running speed EV's and I have never been in a situation where I wish I had taunt instead. She is a particularly good check to Mega Medicham, and Hawlucha. The EV's allow her to survive +2 itemless acrobatics from Hawlucha even after stealth rock damage and OHKO back 93.7% of the time with moonblast. Misty terrain blocks status which my team appreciates.

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Landorus-Therian @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Gravity
- U-turn
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Landorus is a pokemon I am unsure about. I either want to change him to a different sweeper or just change his set. Particular criticism here would be appraciated. I gave him u-turn to maintain momentum. Knock off deals with Chansey and things with leftovers or black sludge when toxapex switches in. Gravity is kind of a gimmick and I haven't found it as useful as I thought it would be. The idea is that everything gets grounded so he and Salamence can hit more things with earthquake and get rid of threats like celesteela, and especially Zapdos and Rotom. Gravity is also useful if Misty Terrain is active, so Salamence and Landorus become grounded and can't get burned or paralyzed. I gave him the Earth Plate so earthquake does more damage and helps after Gravity is set up. Salamence can use his Z move, but one drawback is that Gravity doesn't let him use regular Fly. Although I don't use Gravity very often, it has definitely come in clutch and won a few matches for me. I might just need practice with it.
Also, I just made him max speed because I thought I need another speedy sweeper amongst all these bulky supporters, but there have been many times when I needed a bulky Landorus and this spread fell short.

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Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Rock Slide
- Ice Beam
- U-turn
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I was very skeptical of this Greninja set at first, but now I absolutely love it. His main role is to revenge kill everything like Landorus, Garchomp, all Tapus, and especially Volcarona and Mega Charizard Y. He nukes Fairy walls off the bat. His u-turn creates great momentum and makes him a fantastic lead scout combined with his choice scarf. There have been many battles where the opponent leads with Tapu Koko expecting to taunt or scout volt switch but gets caught off guard and KO'd with Gunk Shot. This Greninja puts in serious work and usually gets at least 2-3 KO's per game. Overall, I really like this Greninja set and would be very hesitant to change it.

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Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Ancient Power
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
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Heatran is another pokemon I am not totally sure about, but I have been pleased with him so far. I added him to the team basically as a backup for Magnezone and Greninja so I don't have to rely so heavily on them while also providing stealth rock and toxic support. He can deal with bulky steels, Chansey, Volcarona, Mega Charizard Y and especially Victini whose bolt strike or fusion bolt would kill Tapu Fini. Ancient Power is for those 3 fire types. His special bulk and resistances have helped me out in so many pinches where I'm not sure other pokemon would have. Lava Plume has also come in handy many times when Magnezone's HP fire was too weak. 76 speed lets him outspeed uninvested Rotom.
I have tried Mega Venasaur in this slot before. He is a good alternative and is a better check to Magearna with focus blast which my team is particulary weak to, but also makes the team weaker to Volcarona and Victini. I wouldn't be opposed to trying him again with some advice or even changing this slot to some wallbreaker like Mega Lopunny.

Conclusion​

Overall, I have been loving this team. Salamence is a badass and absolutely wrecks once you get the ball rolling. However, If I lose my Salamence early, which I am prone to do, the team lacks another strong sweeper. Landorus only has earthquake, and Greninja doesn't like being locked into his moves. He's meant to get in, kill and get out. Shift Gear Magearna, Mega Swampert in Rain, and Clangorous Soulblaze Kommo-o with poison jab are the biggest problems I have run into for this team right now.
The main things I'm considering are changing Landorus or Heatran to a sweeper such as Mega Lopunny or Mega Medicham and/or Landorus' set. So what do you think? And Thanks!

Salamence @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fly
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake

Magnezone @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 168 HP / 252 SpA / 88 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 100 Def / 160 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Moonblast
- Surf
- Haze

Landorus-Therian @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Gravity
- U-turn

Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Rock Slide
- Ice Beam
- U-turn

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Ancient Power
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
 
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you have 3 fire resistance I do not see how heatran fits in the team would not be better some speed like mega lopunny or tornadus-t?
pd:you do not have any replay
 
Ok so I have changed Landorus' set to a defensive one being:

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]

I tried Mega Venasaur again and Mega Lopunny in place of Heatran and didn't like them. I thought of using Choice Scarf Tapu Lele as a sweeper, but then I should change my Scarfed Greninja and didn't want to do that. I finally decided to replace Heatran with this Mega Alakazam.

Alakazam-Mega @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball

These two edits allowed me to finally make it to the 1400's. What do you guys think of the team now?
 
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