Hello! I've been tinkering with tapu bulu as a wallbreaker and had some success so i decided to build a team around it, and reached the highest I've ever gotten, top 100 on the SS OU ladder. This team is specifically made to defeat rain, stall, and landorus-therian, all of whom i normally hate facing.
Proof of Peak
Teambuilding Process
i started with tapu bulu, a mon i believed was powerful and underrated in the current meta. against balance teams, bulu really shines as there’s basically nothing in the tier that wants to switch into grass + fighting coverage. those who can are limited to flying types or victimize that hate rock slide, or buzzwole who loses the 1v1 to a bulu carrying zen headbutt.
the biggest problem with bulu is that it loses to torn, weavile, and dragapult, fast and strong common attackers. to patch this up on the defensive side, i added AV melmetal who serves as an answer to all three, and on the offensive side i added zeraora, who outspeeds and defeats them. both of these pokemon also serve as checks to specs tapu lele, who bulu loses to as well (he actually beats scarf).
i needed a rocker, ground type, and check to garchomp. i also wanted a pivot that could get my breakers in safely. landorus-t is always an option, but i wanted something that could perform better against weavile, and so i opted for physdef swampert. pert has access to ice beam, which means it can do massive amounts of damage to landorus-t as well as garchomp, and is also grounded, which means it synergizes well with bulu’s grassy terrain. i also added gapdos, as a classic partner for zeraora and as something that could punish lando-t and defog.
finally, i needed hazard control, and also realized i needed a cleric to protect against scald burns as all of my pokemon were physical attackers. i also wanted something to bolster the rain matchup. bulu can check rain abusers, but can get worn down by repeated flip turns into zapdos or torn. so, i opted for fat dragonite, whose dragon typing and multiscale act as a blanket check against these threats.
This team is truly anti-Landorus-Therian. Out of all the pokemon only Zeraora loses outright, and in the right circumstances (with Grassy Terrain up and a little bit of chip) Zeraora can actually win 1v1. It is also anti-stall, as Tapu Bulu is one of the most threatening Pokemon for stall to face as it 2HKOs max defense Unaware Clefable after rocks and OHKOs Quagsire, while Zapdos-G is also threatening as it punishes defog attempts with insanely powerful Brave Birds. Finally, rain teams rarely have good defensive answers for Tapu Bulu, especially in combination with Dragonite, who can take many hits, and Zeraora, who immediately threatens Pelipper and Ferrothorn and can OHKO or 2HKO pretty much every offensive Hurricane user.
Breakdown
Tapu Bulu @ Life Orb / Coba Berry
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide / Stone Edge / Zen Headbutt
bulu’s terrain is key to this team. it allows swampert and melmetal to check ground types with their ice coverage moves, allows zeraora to take on a slightly weakened lando-t at +1, etc. bulu is also a threatening sweeper in its own right, destroying nearly the entire tier after a swords dance:
the only mons he really loses to are slowking-g, buzzwole, victini, and blaceph, but we have very strong answers to those pokemon regardless. it also loses to either zapdos or buzzwole depending on the set. I personally like rock slide over zen headbutt because I find zapdos to be more annoying than buzzwole, but they're both pretty annoying for this team so either one is an option. zen headutt has the added benefit of having a chance to OHKO Toxapex after rocks at +2, and doing slightly more damage to Dragapult than Rock Slide. However, Rock Slide is better against Moltres-Galar. it's really a matter of personal preference.
bulu is also arguably the best rain answer in the game. many bulu sets use Coba Berry to have a truly dominating matchup against rain, but this requires you to run stone edge over rock slide for the OHKO on Hurricane users, and I hate that unreliability. I find it easier to just predict when Zapdos and Torn want to come in and Rock Slide then, or simply switch to Melmetal to tank or Swampert to Flip Turn out. However, I have seen the Coba set put in work so I am including it.
Here are some replays of Bulu destroying common rain cores on ladder:
Melmetal @ Assault Vest
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 128 HP / 116 Atk / 252 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- High Horsepower
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide
melmetal synergizes extremely well with tapu bulu. terrain gives melm much appreciated passive recovery, but most importantly, the presence of melm sometimes incentivizes opposing weavile to click something other than ice moves into bulu, who then OHKOs Weavile with any of its 3 moves. this is massively important, as this team has 2 soft checks to weavile in pert and zeraora but no hard counter, which makes every situation like this important. The move choices are simple; DIB is mandatory, High Horsepower for Heatran, Ice Punch for Lando-T, Garchomp, and Zapdos, and Rock Slide for Volcarona. Superpower is a subpar option as we have three pokemon who beat Ferrothorn and DIB already destroys Tyranitar.
other than that melmetal is a blanket check to special attackers, easily tanking a specs blaceph flamethrower or heatran magma storm from full and OHKOing in return with high horsepower. melmetal also baits in volcarona and kills it with rock slide, and volc is otherwise very problematic as dragonite has no physical moves. most prominently, melmetal is a phenomenal answer to tapu lele, who otherwise rips through the team with specs moonblast, and nearly all variants of dragapult, who can either spam shadow ball freely or set up with DD if melmetal isn’t there.
melmetal also synergizes extremely well with dragonite, as it resists the ice, fairy, and dragon moves dragonite is weak to while dragonite resists the fire and fighting and is immune to the ground moves that melmetal is weak to. with grassy terrain support melmetal can take care of almost any pokemon that dragonite cannot, and vice versa.
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Flip Turn
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
- High Horsepower
pert’s role compression is amazing- it’s a pivot, rocker, electric immunity, lando-t check, garchomp check, etc. pert’s main problem is it gets worn down quickly, but with grassy terrain and cleric support, this is less of a problem than you might think. pert also is a phenomenal answer to heatran, which is necessary as aragonite lacks earthquake– it can OHKO with horsepower or flip turn anticipating a switch. furthermore, it’s very strong against all variants of zeraora, although this isn’t really too much of a concern given we already have bulu, dragonite, and melmetal.
252+ Atk Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 108-126 (26.7 - 31.1%) -- approx. 4HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 127-150 (31.4 - 37.1%) -- 83.4% chance to 3HKO
0 SpA Swampert Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 260-308 (72.8 - 86.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 259-306 (64.1 - 75.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Swampert High Horsepower vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 336-396 (93 - 109.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Weavile Triple Axel (40 BP) (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 288-342 (71.2 - 84.6%) -- approx. 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Hawlucha Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 262-309 (64.8 - 76.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Swampert Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 132 SpD Hawlucha: 136-162 (45.7 - 54.5%) -- 52.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Bisharp Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 132-156 (32.6 - 38.6%) -- 98.6% chance to 3HKO
0 Atk Swampert High Horsepower vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 222-264 (81.9 - 97.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Victini V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 94-111 (23.2 - 27.4%) -- 75.9% chance to 4HKO
+1 252 Atk Dragonite Dual Wingbeat (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 156-186 (38.6 - 46%) -- approx. 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Swampert Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 112-134 (34.6 - 41.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 187-220 (46.2 - 54.4%) -- 53.1% chance to 2HKO
0 Atk Swampert High Horsepower vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken: 296-350 (98.3 - 116.2%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
Rocks and flip turn are necessary. High Horsepower is an easy to use move that destroys Zeraora, Victini, and Blaziken and can do big damage to Melmetal. Ice Beam is also crucial here to check Garchomp and Dragonite and weaken Landorus-Therian for Zeraora.
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Heal Bell
- Roost
- Defog
dragonite provides hazard removal, a cleric, and a check to rain, sun, and kartana, rillaboom, and zeraora. the classic ou utility set includes eq for heatran, pex, and more, but my team doesn’t particularly care about any of these pokemon regardless. bulu can destroy pex and pert can switch into heatran. defog and roost are necessary, and ice beam is ideal to weaken garchomp for zapdos and zeraora. additionally, ice beam has a chance to freeze, and I’ve won many games just by using it on dragonite, pert and ice punch on melmetal. finally heal bell over eq is necessary because otherwise the team loses, hard, to scald / steam eruption / will o wisp. it also allows gapdos to play more freely against kantonian zapdos, as it’s often worth it to risk the static para to kill given that there’s cleric support in the back. also, eq is weakened in grassy terrain anyway.
furthermore, dragonite is crucial against rain teams, as nothing on rain can touch it barring flip turn. it resists volcanion and barraskewda's stabs and can defog away ferrothorn's hazards.
Zeraora @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Plasma Fists
- Knock Off
- Blaze Kick
zeraora is our late game wincon, speed control, and our strongest answer to zapdos. it’s very often that zeraora knocks off boots, allowing gapdos to secure key OHKOs and 2HKOs. blaze kick over CC is important to OHKO Kartana and deal more damage to ferrothorn. fighting coverage is not important on this team because bulu and gapdos already have extremely strong fighting moves, and all the pokemon fighting coverage hits are handled pretty well by swampert and melmetal on the defensive end.
Zapdos-Galar @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Stomping Tantrum
- Close Combat
- Drill Peck
brave bird and CC are mandatory. drill peck is something i find clicking very often to preserve health against lando-t, ferrothorn etc, and tantrum is great to ease the burden of prediction. u-turn is an option but the team is heavily predicated on switching to one of the defensive pokemon and doubling to a breaker, which means it’s important to preserve zapdos as much as possible, meaning we want drill peck. u-turn is an option but honestly it just results in taking unnecessary helmet chip from the likes of slowbro, garchomp, pex, and ferrothorn– if you attack with zapdos it should be to get a kill, especially because doubling to tapu bulu allows you to beat all of the aforementioned helmet users. tantrum is used primarily to beat tapu koko after some chip, or to attack heatran if there’s a ghost in the back.
gapdos also synergizes fantastically with Zeraora. I'll paste one of my previous posts to explain why:
"This core is in my opinion even stronger than the pinkacross regieleki/gapdos core. It follows a similar premise, to lure in Landorus-T with Zeraora and double into Zapdos, hitting it with a nuclear +1 Brave Bird. Even if Lando comes in on Zeraora safely via U-Turn or something, Zapdos is a comfortable switch in on Earthquake or Defog from Landorus. In general, Gap is very strong against ground types as it is immune to their stabs and can hit them with an incredibly powerful Close Combat. For instance:
Zapdos is also very strong against Buzzwole, who is another extremely prominent Zeraora answer. When these pokemon are chipped, Zeraora can often sweep. The main counterplay to Gapdos is to use Toxapex to scout and then switch into a better answer, or to outspeed it. Zeraora takes care of both by being the fastest pokemon in the tier and thus outspeeding popular revenge killers like Dragapult, Weavile, and Torn-T, even using them as setup fodder in some cases. These pokemon cover each others' defensive answers and generally overwhelm teams with offensive pressure."
Usage Tips
this team uses the breaking power of gapdos and tapu bulu to allow for a late game zeraora sweep, while chipping the opponent with swampert flip turns and moves from melmetal. because melm and dragonite are very dominating checks to many pokemon, double switches are very necessary to the success of this team. for instance, if you switch dragnoite into a kartana sacred sword, it’s never going to stay in, and if he has a toxapex or ferrothorn in the back dragonite is useless barring an ice beam freeze. so, you may consider doubling to tapu bulu to start setting up and be immediately threatening.
on this team, many pokemon play roles that are different than what they usually do. for instance, dragonite is usually a good volcarona answer; however, on this team it is helpless against volc. the real volc answer is melmetal, as it switches in on QD and OHKOs with Rock Slide. against Volcarona, always always keep Melmetal healthy. also, Gapdos can be a check if the volc lacks psychic, and pert can be if the volc lacks giga drain. similarly, swampert is usually not a great check to physical attackers or ground types, however on this team it is thanks in part to terrain support.
Threats
/ screens in general
dual screens HO can very quickly overwhelm our defensive backbone, and we have no taunt to stop setup sweepers. this is most pronounced against aurora veil as our defogger despise hail because it breaks multiscale and ice types are 4x effective against him.
(iron defense)
kind of 6-0s on preview.
(Choice Band)
2HKOs everything with beat up. this thing is so broken
Importable
Lesser threats
we have cleric support, AV melmetal, and swampert, but zapdos is still a pain. often ill just go for knock on zeraora so that he takes rocks and then gapdos can 2HKO, or try to use rock slide on bulu to beat it. but it’s still difficult to play around this thing.
(if bulu isn’t zen headbutt)
buzzwole beats every single pokemon except gapdos, so keeping it healthy is super important. we can go swampert as a short term answer and flip turn out, but pert hates taking the helmet chip. also, zeraora blaze kick means it can win after some chip, but really you’re relying on good predictions w gapdos to beat this.
(especially if bulu isn’t rock slide)
we don’t have a great switch in. pert is ok but hates random expanding force. this isn’t the worst thing in the world to see given knock on zeraora and brave bird on gapdos in addition to pert, but combined with other strong attackers it can overwhelm our core.
Replays
Conclusion
I hope you all use this and enjoy! It's a very powerful team if used correctly, have fun!
Proof of Peak
Teambuilding Process
i started with tapu bulu, a mon i believed was powerful and underrated in the current meta. against balance teams, bulu really shines as there’s basically nothing in the tier that wants to switch into grass + fighting coverage. those who can are limited to flying types or victimize that hate rock slide, or buzzwole who loses the 1v1 to a bulu carrying zen headbutt.
the biggest problem with bulu is that it loses to torn, weavile, and dragapult, fast and strong common attackers. to patch this up on the defensive side, i added AV melmetal who serves as an answer to all three, and on the offensive side i added zeraora, who outspeeds and defeats them. both of these pokemon also serve as checks to specs tapu lele, who bulu loses to as well (he actually beats scarf).
i needed a rocker, ground type, and check to garchomp. i also wanted a pivot that could get my breakers in safely. landorus-t is always an option, but i wanted something that could perform better against weavile, and so i opted for physdef swampert. pert has access to ice beam, which means it can do massive amounts of damage to landorus-t as well as garchomp, and is also grounded, which means it synergizes well with bulu’s grassy terrain. i also added gapdos, as a classic partner for zeraora and as something that could punish lando-t and defog.
finally, i needed hazard control, and also realized i needed a cleric to protect against scald burns as all of my pokemon were physical attackers. i also wanted something to bolster the rain matchup. bulu can check rain abusers, but can get worn down by repeated flip turns into zapdos or torn. so, i opted for fat dragonite, whose dragon typing and multiscale act as a blanket check against these threats.
This team is truly anti-Landorus-Therian. Out of all the pokemon only Zeraora loses outright, and in the right circumstances (with Grassy Terrain up and a little bit of chip) Zeraora can actually win 1v1. It is also anti-stall, as Tapu Bulu is one of the most threatening Pokemon for stall to face as it 2HKOs max defense Unaware Clefable after rocks and OHKOs Quagsire, while Zapdos-G is also threatening as it punishes defog attempts with insanely powerful Brave Birds. Finally, rain teams rarely have good defensive answers for Tapu Bulu, especially in combination with Dragonite, who can take many hits, and Zeraora, who immediately threatens Pelipper and Ferrothorn and can OHKO or 2HKO pretty much every offensive Hurricane user.
Breakdown
Tapu Bulu @ Life Orb / Coba Berry
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide / Stone Edge / Zen Headbutt
bulu’s terrain is key to this team. it allows swampert and melmetal to check ground types with their ice coverage moves, allows zeraora to take on a slightly weakened lando-t at +1, etc. bulu is also a threatening sweeper in its own right, destroying nearly the entire tier after a swords dance:
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Rock Slide vs. 248 HP / 220 Def Zapdos: 385-455 (100.5 - 118.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Horn Leech vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Landorus-Therian in Grassy Terrain: 341-403 (89.2 - 105.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 144+ Def Buzzwole: 278-330 (66.5 - 78.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery and Grassy Terrain recovery
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Close Combat vs. 128 HP / 0 Def Melmetal: 499-588 (112.6 - 132.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Horn Leech vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Hippowdon in Grassy Terrain: 725-853 (172.6 - 203%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 252 Def Magnezone: 486-575 (172.3 - 203.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 406-478 (115.3 - 135.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Horn Leech vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Dragapult in Grassy Terrain: 263-309 (82.9 - 97.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 322-382 (83.4 - 98.9%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Horn Leech vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Koko: 364-430 (129.5 - 153%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Horn Leech vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Tapu Fini: 439-517 (127.6 - 150.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+4 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 168+ Def Corviknight: 381-448 (95.4 - 112.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Horn Leech vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex in Grassy Terrain: 222-263 (73 - 86.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Grassy Terrain recovery
+1 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Horn Leech vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Landorus-Therian in Grassy Terrain: 341-403 (89.2 - 105.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 144+ Def Buzzwole: 278-330 (66.5 - 78.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery and Grassy Terrain recovery
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Close Combat vs. 128 HP / 0 Def Melmetal: 499-588 (112.6 - 132.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Horn Leech vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Hippowdon in Grassy Terrain: 725-853 (172.6 - 203%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 252 Def Magnezone: 486-575 (172.3 - 203.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 406-478 (115.3 - 135.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Horn Leech vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Dragapult in Grassy Terrain: 263-309 (82.9 - 97.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 322-382 (83.4 - 98.9%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Horn Leech vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Koko: 364-430 (129.5 - 153%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Horn Leech vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Tapu Fini: 439-517 (127.6 - 150.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+4 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 168+ Def Corviknight: 381-448 (95.4 - 112.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Tapu Bulu Horn Leech vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex in Grassy Terrain: 222-263 (73 - 86.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Grassy Terrain recovery
bulu is also arguably the best rain answer in the game. many bulu sets use Coba Berry to have a truly dominating matchup against rain, but this requires you to run stone edge over rock slide for the OHKO on Hurricane users, and I hate that unreliability. I find it easier to just predict when Zapdos and Torn want to come in and Rock Slide then, or simply switch to Melmetal to tank or Swampert to Flip Turn out. However, I have seen the Coba set put in work so I am including it.
Here are some replays of Bulu destroying common rain cores on ladder:
Melmetal @ Assault Vest
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 128 HP / 116 Atk / 252 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- High Horsepower
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide
melmetal synergizes extremely well with tapu bulu. terrain gives melm much appreciated passive recovery, but most importantly, the presence of melm sometimes incentivizes opposing weavile to click something other than ice moves into bulu, who then OHKOs Weavile with any of its 3 moves. this is massively important, as this team has 2 soft checks to weavile in pert and zeraora but no hard counter, which makes every situation like this important. The move choices are simple; DIB is mandatory, High Horsepower for Heatran, Ice Punch for Lando-T, Garchomp, and Zapdos, and Rock Slide for Volcarona. Superpower is a subpar option as we have three pokemon who beat Ferrothorn and DIB already destroys Tyranitar.
other than that melmetal is a blanket check to special attackers, easily tanking a specs blaceph flamethrower or heatran magma storm from full and OHKOing in return with high horsepower. melmetal also baits in volcarona and kills it with rock slide, and volc is otherwise very problematic as dragonite has no physical moves. most prominently, melmetal is a phenomenal answer to tapu lele, who otherwise rips through the team with specs moonblast, and nearly all variants of dragapult, who can either spam shadow ball freely or set up with DD if melmetal isn’t there.
melmetal also synergizes extremely well with dragonite, as it resists the ice, fairy, and dragon moves dragonite is weak to while dragonite resists the fire and fighting and is immune to the ground moves that melmetal is weak to. with grassy terrain support melmetal can take care of almost any pokemon that dragonite cannot, and vice versa.
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Flip Turn
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
- High Horsepower
pert’s role compression is amazing- it’s a pivot, rocker, electric immunity, lando-t check, garchomp check, etc. pert’s main problem is it gets worn down quickly, but with grassy terrain and cleric support, this is less of a problem than you might think. pert also is a phenomenal answer to heatran, which is necessary as aragonite lacks earthquake– it can OHKO with horsepower or flip turn anticipating a switch. furthermore, it’s very strong against all variants of zeraora, although this isn’t really too much of a concern given we already have bulu, dragonite, and melmetal.
252+ Atk Iron Fist Melmetal Double Iron Bash (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 108-126 (26.7 - 31.1%) -- approx. 4HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 127-150 (31.4 - 37.1%) -- 83.4% chance to 3HKO
0 SpA Swampert Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 260-308 (72.8 - 86.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 259-306 (64.1 - 75.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Swampert High Horsepower vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 336-396 (93 - 109.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Weavile Triple Axel (40 BP) (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 288-342 (71.2 - 84.6%) -- approx. 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Hawlucha Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 262-309 (64.8 - 76.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Swampert Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 132 SpD Hawlucha: 136-162 (45.7 - 54.5%) -- 52.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Bisharp Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 132-156 (32.6 - 38.6%) -- 98.6% chance to 3HKO
0 Atk Swampert High Horsepower vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 222-264 (81.9 - 97.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Victini V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 94-111 (23.2 - 27.4%) -- 75.9% chance to 4HKO
+1 252 Atk Dragonite Dual Wingbeat (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 156-186 (38.6 - 46%) -- approx. 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Swampert Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Multiscale Dragonite: 112-134 (34.6 - 41.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 187-220 (46.2 - 54.4%) -- 53.1% chance to 2HKO
0 Atk Swampert High Horsepower vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken: 296-350 (98.3 - 116.2%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
Rocks and flip turn are necessary. High Horsepower is an easy to use move that destroys Zeraora, Victini, and Blaziken and can do big damage to Melmetal. Ice Beam is also crucial here to check Garchomp and Dragonite and weaken Landorus-Therian for Zeraora.
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Heal Bell
- Roost
- Defog
dragonite provides hazard removal, a cleric, and a check to rain, sun, and kartana, rillaboom, and zeraora. the classic ou utility set includes eq for heatran, pex, and more, but my team doesn’t particularly care about any of these pokemon regardless. bulu can destroy pex and pert can switch into heatran. defog and roost are necessary, and ice beam is ideal to weaken garchomp for zapdos and zeraora. additionally, ice beam has a chance to freeze, and I’ve won many games just by using it on dragonite, pert and ice punch on melmetal. finally heal bell over eq is necessary because otherwise the team loses, hard, to scald / steam eruption / will o wisp. it also allows gapdos to play more freely against kantonian zapdos, as it’s often worth it to risk the static para to kill given that there’s cleric support in the back. also, eq is weakened in grassy terrain anyway.
furthermore, dragonite is crucial against rain teams, as nothing on rain can touch it barring flip turn. it resists volcanion and barraskewda's stabs and can defog away ferrothorn's hazards.
Zeraora @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Plasma Fists
- Knock Off
- Blaze Kick
zeraora is our late game wincon, speed control, and our strongest answer to zapdos. it’s very often that zeraora knocks off boots, allowing gapdos to secure key OHKOs and 2HKOs. blaze kick over CC is important to OHKO Kartana and deal more damage to ferrothorn. fighting coverage is not important on this team because bulu and gapdos already have extremely strong fighting moves, and all the pokemon fighting coverage hits are handled pretty well by swampert and melmetal on the defensive end.
252 Atk Zeraora Blaze Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kartana: 268-316 (103.4 - 122%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Zeraora Blaze Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 204-240 (57.9 - 68.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. +2 0 HP / 0 Def Zeraora in Grassy Terrain: 96-114 (30.2 - 35.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
+1 252 Atk Zeraora Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Landorus-Therian: 156-184 (40.8 - 48.1%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Zeraora Blaze Kick vs. 252 HP / 144+ Def Buzzwole: 204-242 (48.8 - 57.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Grassy Terrain recovery
252 Atk Zeraora Blaze Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Ferrothorn: 204-240 (57.9 - 68.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. +2 0 HP / 0 Def Zeraora in Grassy Terrain: 96-114 (30.2 - 35.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
+1 252 Atk Zeraora Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Landorus-Therian: 156-184 (40.8 - 48.1%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Zeraora Blaze Kick vs. 252 HP / 144+ Def Buzzwole: 204-242 (48.8 - 57.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Grassy Terrain recovery
Zapdos-Galar @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Stomping Tantrum
- Close Combat
- Drill Peck
brave bird and CC are mandatory. drill peck is something i find clicking very often to preserve health against lando-t, ferrothorn etc, and tantrum is great to ease the burden of prediction. u-turn is an option but the team is heavily predicated on switching to one of the defensive pokemon and doubling to a breaker, which means it’s important to preserve zapdos as much as possible, meaning we want drill peck. u-turn is an option but honestly it just results in taking unnecessary helmet chip from the likes of slowbro, garchomp, pex, and ferrothorn– if you attack with zapdos it should be to get a kill, especially because doubling to tapu bulu allows you to beat all of the aforementioned helmet users. tantrum is used primarily to beat tapu koko after some chip, or to attack heatran if there’s a ghost in the back.
gapdos also synergizes fantastically with Zeraora. I'll paste one of my previous posts to explain why:
"This core is in my opinion even stronger than the pinkacross regieleki/gapdos core. It follows a similar premise, to lure in Landorus-T with Zeraora and double into Zapdos, hitting it with a nuclear +1 Brave Bird. Even if Lando comes in on Zeraora safely via U-Turn or something, Zapdos is a comfortable switch in on Earthquake or Defog from Landorus. In general, Gap is very strong against ground types as it is immune to their stabs and can hit them with an incredibly powerful Close Combat. For instance:
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Hippowdon: 202-238 (48 - 56.6%) -- 88.3% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Swampert: 310-366 (76.7 - 90.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 136 Def Garchomp: 259-306 (61.6 - 72.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Swampert: 310-366 (76.7 - 90.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 136 Def Garchomp: 259-306 (61.6 - 72.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Zapdos is also very strong against Buzzwole, who is another extremely prominent Zeraora answer. When these pokemon are chipped, Zeraora can often sweep. The main counterplay to Gapdos is to use Toxapex to scout and then switch into a better answer, or to outspeed it. Zeraora takes care of both by being the fastest pokemon in the tier and thus outspeeding popular revenge killers like Dragapult, Weavile, and Torn-T, even using them as setup fodder in some cases. These pokemon cover each others' defensive answers and generally overwhelm teams with offensive pressure."
Usage Tips
this team uses the breaking power of gapdos and tapu bulu to allow for a late game zeraora sweep, while chipping the opponent with swampert flip turns and moves from melmetal. because melm and dragonite are very dominating checks to many pokemon, double switches are very necessary to the success of this team. for instance, if you switch dragnoite into a kartana sacred sword, it’s never going to stay in, and if he has a toxapex or ferrothorn in the back dragonite is useless barring an ice beam freeze. so, you may consider doubling to tapu bulu to start setting up and be immediately threatening.
on this team, many pokemon play roles that are different than what they usually do. for instance, dragonite is usually a good volcarona answer; however, on this team it is helpless against volc. the real volc answer is melmetal, as it switches in on QD and OHKOs with Rock Slide. against Volcarona, always always keep Melmetal healthy. also, Gapdos can be a check if the volc lacks psychic, and pert can be if the volc lacks giga drain. similarly, swampert is usually not a great check to physical attackers or ground types, however on this team it is thanks in part to terrain support.
Threats
/ screens in generaldual screens HO can very quickly overwhelm our defensive backbone, and we have no taunt to stop setup sweepers. this is most pronounced against aurora veil as our defogger despise hail because it breaks multiscale and ice types are 4x effective against him.
(iron defense)kind of 6-0s on preview.
(Choice Band)2HKOs everything with beat up. this thing is so broken
Importable
Lesser threats
we have cleric support, AV melmetal, and swampert, but zapdos is still a pain. often ill just go for knock on zeraora so that he takes rocks and then gapdos can 2HKO, or try to use rock slide on bulu to beat it. but it’s still difficult to play around this thing.
(if bulu isn’t zen headbutt)buzzwole beats every single pokemon except gapdos, so keeping it healthy is super important. we can go swampert as a short term answer and flip turn out, but pert hates taking the helmet chip. also, zeraora blaze kick means it can win after some chip, but really you’re relying on good predictions w gapdos to beat this.
(especially if bulu isn’t rock slide)we don’t have a great switch in. pert is ok but hates random expanding force. this isn’t the worst thing in the world to see given knock on zeraora and brave bird on gapdos in addition to pert, but combined with other strong attackers it can overwhelm our core.
Replays
destroying stall
bulu destroys stall, 6-0
zapdos and zeraora destroy a tang/heatran/clef defensive core
vs iron defense ferro + lele + fini. bulu gets tricked a scarf and rips through the team
dragonite and melmetal put in work vs kart / koko / shifu
swampert flexes its defensive utility vs lele/victini psyspam
bulu beats both heatran and kartana for the 6-0
dragonite baits chomp, melmetal baits blacephalon for the kill
vs scarfshifu + grass spam, this got me to 1823
vs kartana under screens
vs lando, kart, scarf lele
vs arctozolt, chomp, volcanion
vs scarf gapdos
vs buzzwole, crawdaunt
vs ferro, weavile, pult bo
vs garchomp, urshifu offense
bulu destroys stall, 6-0
zapdos and zeraora destroy a tang/heatran/clef defensive core
vs iron defense ferro + lele + fini. bulu gets tricked a scarf and rips through the team
dragonite and melmetal put in work vs kart / koko / shifu
swampert flexes its defensive utility vs lele/victini psyspam
bulu beats both heatran and kartana for the 6-0
dragonite baits chomp, melmetal baits blacephalon for the kill
vs scarfshifu + grass spam, this got me to 1823
vs kartana under screens
vs lando, kart, scarf lele
vs arctozolt, chomp, volcanion
vs scarf gapdos
vs buzzwole, crawdaunt
vs ferro, weavile, pult bo
vs garchomp, urshifu offense
Conclusion
I hope you all use this and enjoy! It's a very powerful team if used correctly, have fun!
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