Introduction:
Hi! As many of you know, I plan on leaving Smogon in 3-5 weeks or so. For old time's sake, I decided to post one more RMT featuring some underrated Pokemon. I used a couple of ladder alts recently, one of whiched peaked the ladder a week ago (fuckingloveimanalt) and another that went 46-4 and hit #6 or so exclusively with this team (dreadful twerp), and was pretty unlucky to finish with that record. I am pleased I could impregnate the top of the Ubers ladder with my alts Wish Killer style one final time, and am finished with it for good.
Teambuilding process:
I wanted to try support Groundceus out on a Ho-Oh balance team, after seeing Hack say that he thought such a team couldn’t work and Groundceus was better suited on offense. I dislike devoting two teamslots to Defog, so I knew I was going to want Diancie to go along with Ho-Oh and Arceus. From there, I added Primal Groudon because it is a Primal Groudon, a Ferrothorn because I wanted the extra Xerneas + Kyogre +Latios insurance and thought Spikes would be cool, and Alomomola because the team needed help vs. SD Arceus and a wish passer all in one and Alomomola is underrated as fuck (even if Mega Slowbro is usually better).
The team:
Ho-Oh @ Choice Band
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 192 HP / 252 Atk / 64 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Earthquake
- Sleep Talk
One of the nice things about Ho-Oh balance is that, uh, you get to use fucking Ho-Oh. Turkey fulfills many roles on this team, including serving as the CM Arceus check (outside of Rock which is handled by Groudon and Ferrothorn) and as a crushing wallbreaker that gives the team some much needed offensive presence. Sleep Talk gives this team added security against Darkrai since Diancie can get worn down quickly and Ferrothorn loves getting flinched or hit with random ass Focus Blasts. So yea, typical Ho-Oh stuff. I opted to use maximum attack because I have plenty of Xerneas answers on this team and this spread is simply better at actually breaking down walls. I’m not real enough to run a ton of speed creep, especially since I am wary of CM Arceus, but 64 is usually enough to creep opposing base 90’s that don’t go out of their way to sacrifice bulk for speed, particularly the annoying defensive Primal Kyogre.
Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spe
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Diamond Storm
Part one of the mandatory “keep rocks the fuck away from Ho-Oh” core. I use a ton of physical defense to help out with Mega Salamence and Ho-Oh; it also lives a hit from support Groudon from full health in a pinch. Moonblast and Diamond Storm are obviously solid STAB moves and Heal Bell is absolutely mandatory on this team because burns on Ferrothorn and any status on Alomomola will significantly impact their ability to check certain threats. Removing poison from Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh helps too. The final move is up in the air, but I eventually settled on Earth Power to help out in the Klefki matchup. Groundceus ensures that lead Primal Groudon do not scare me if I choose to lead with Diancie, but finding a free turn can sometimes be difficult vs. more offensive teams and sometimes involves risky aggressive switches that I would rather not make with this team, so Earth Power can be replaced by Protect. Klefki becomes extremely annoying though and not being able to finish off somewhat weakened Primal Groudon mid-match can be a bummer.
Arceus @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Defog
The main reason why I built this team was to use support Groundceus, so I knew it would find its way onto this team. I had tried Groundceus on a more offensive team but found that it gave up some Defog opportunities if you weren’t aggressive with double switching, and unfortunately overpredicting on the ladder or in room tournaments is generally a horrible idea. I did not like its job performance on offense, so I decided to try it on a very defensively-oriented balance squad and have been pleased with the results. Judgment smacks Primal Groudon and does good neutral damage to much of the tier, and Ice Beam is for Rayquaza, Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, and Shaymin-S on the switch. I can afford to run Defog over Toxic on this set because Alomomola and Diancie provide such excellent answers to opposing Ho-Oh, and Groundceus is quite good at using Defog due to its positive matchup vs. SR users like Primal Groudon, Mega Diancie, and Dialga. I am going to be honest and say that support Groundceus is not a particularly great Pokemon in this metagame and need a fair amount of support to work, but it fits like a glove on this team.
Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 248 HP / 56 Def / 176 SpD / 28 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
King Mandatory makes an appearance here to set SR, check Primal Kyogre, and make set-up sweepers go away in a pinch (while wrecking Baton Pass chains unless they somehow manage to get an ingrain up, this team is ladder idiot proof I swear). Roar Groudon is the only way to beat Geomancy Xerneas that pick the perfect coverage moves to circumvent Ferrothorn and Ho-Oh, so in Xerneas matchups Groudon will attempt to check Xerneas and Ferrothorn becomes the primary Kyogre check, assuming CM or physical. I use Earthquake because I am not very lucky, but Precipice Blades is also fine. Stone Edge hits flying types and chips Giratina-O a bit. This is a really simple Pokemon right down to the EV spread, so I don’t feel the need to elaborate further.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Def / 192 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect
Ferrothorn provides a much needed secondary Primal Kyogre and tertiary Xerneas check. It hard counters the super-scary Rest Geomancy Xerneas, but the again so does half of this team. Spikes are really nice against teams that rely on Giratina-O as their Defog user and Primal Groudon as their SR setter, as I will have an advantage in the hazard war more often than not due to this team’s ability to handle both + Tina-O’s lack of reliable recovery. Leech Seed, Protect, and Gyro Ball are all needed (the latter is used over Power Whip because I find Lati@s and HP Rock Xerneas more difficult to deal with than Primal Kyogre, although defensive Kyogre can be annoying to deal with). I still like Ferrothorn in this metagame even though it obviously has issues with stuff like Mega Sableye, Ho-Oh, and other Pokemon that this team generally handles just fine. The typing, ability, and movepool give it unique traits over other niche Steel types.
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Knock Off
Alomomola <3. This is clearly a very defensive team, yet I have several Pokemon with no / limited reliable recovery. I decided I needed a Wish passer, but thought Blissey was an awkward fit as the Pokemon it checks are redundant to what I already had. I was, however, a little vulnerable to Extreme Killer Arceus and Primal Groudon, the latter of which I only had one true check to. Granted, Alomomola is not a terrific check to either but I have found it to be good enough. More importantly, Alomomola can take advantage of walls like Water Arceus and Mega Sableye, as well as Ho-Oh locked into Sacred Fire, to pass gigantic wishes to restore its teammates to full health (none of Ferrothorn, Diancie, nor Groudon have particularly large HP stats, although the latter is respectable in that regard). Wish and Protect are mandatory, Toxic is needed to hit Extreme Killer / Primal Groudon / special attackers on the switch / etc, and Knock Off cripples defensive Pokemon such as Klefki and Ferrothorn while somewhat discouraging Gengar switchins. Scald is a pretty terrible move on it so I don’t bother with it.
Threatlist:
Swords Dance Ghost Arceus: Am very weak to this, definitely the biggest threat. Alomomola and Ferrothorn are shaky “checks,” fortunately it will only get one chance to set up against this team so once you defeat or phase it, it becomes less threatening. CM Ghostceus is also threatening to a lesser extent (Ho-Oh)
Defensive Primal Kyogre: Can wear down Primal Groudon and burn Ferrothorn. If healthy, Alomomola can come in, tank two Scalds, and pass Groudon a Wish if necessary.
Refresh Extreme Killer Arceus: Lum Berry EKiller is too weak to break through Alomomola, even after a free boost, but Adamant Silk Scarf is a different story. Refresh kind of forces Mola to click Toxic repeatedly after knocking off the Silk Scarf to lessen it damage output. Fortunately, I hardly ever see this set these days despite it being good.
Swords Dance Ground Arceus: See Ghost Arceus, except Mola fares a little better against it, but it has the recovery to last longer. Ferrothorn lives a +2 Earthquake and can Gyro it once Mola uses Toxic on it. Very tough to face.
Mixed Primal Groudon: Mola and Groundceus both dislike it. Cannot touch Ho-Oh but I might lose a Pokemon if I do not identify its set quickly enough.
HP Fire Latios: Tough to handle, Diancie + Ho-Oh are soft checks I guess.
Replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-395338369 vs the mighty HailFail. I was able to overcome taunts about how suboptimal support Groundceus is to secure a victory.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-395783485 vs. fellow ladder don wfuu
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-392186430 vs. shadowquinn, see this team can beat legit players, an early break helped me out
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-393034402
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-392703102
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-393144846
Importable:
http://pastebin.com/xuHQRXsR
No shoutouts BTW, I will give shoutouts in my sappy goodbye post in 2-4 weeks.
