Howdy do gents. First of all, props to whoever gets the reference. Doing something a little different here. This doesn't classify as a meme entirely, but it's definitely a bit unorthodox. Back in the good old days of RBY, Tauros was basically the best pokemon in the game. Over the years it sort of fell into obscurity, all the way down to NU. And while I don't disagree with the tiering, sheer force is not an ability to sleep on, neither is 110 base speed. Tauros has interesting relationships with many of the top tier pokemon, and can 2hko the majority of the tier. Regardless of if I'm right (not about Tauros being like top tier, but about it being usable if nothing else) or if I'm just insane, I embarked on my journey, and I'd like to walk you through my path should you be interested. The more eyes that go over a team the more optimization can be done. This is currently the third iteration of the team, I'd tested originally with spikes gren and had tested with balloon heatran+sub coil Zygarde, but found problematic mathcups with too many pokemon. Anyways, annoying introduction aside let's go over the team:
The team: https://pastebin.com/YWmDrCqF
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574487523 (came back from a turn 2 freeze into a crit into a flinch)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574428799
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574483648 (I hax the crap out of this poor man ;-;)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574572392 (accidentally brought intim tauros lmao)
Teambuilding Process:
Tauroso Rosso (Tauros) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Body Slam
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
So beginning with the theme of the team. Tauros on paper has offences and coverage to pose as a threatening breaker while also sporting an above average speed stat for what it is. For referance, Tauros can 2hko Tapu Fini after rocks. Right off the bat, a few weaknesses were in immediate need of being patched. While Tauros can 2hko several steel types and normal resists alike such as Magearna, Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Mega Scizor it still falls short of threatening the likes of specially defensive Skarmory and Celesteela. Faster offensive threats, namely Tapu Koko and Gren, needed to be accounted for as well. And then of coarse I needed counter play versus the most common scarfers in the tier, like Keldeo or Garchomp (to name only a few). And finally, potentially the most important, pure normal typing leaves much to be desired in terms of opportunity to be brought in, so I would need several reliable pivots to support it.
Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge
So the immidiate partner I chose for Tauros was Keldeo. Being one of the best offensive checks to Greninja in the tier, while also able to switch into and threaten Heatran and Volcarona, Charizard and Gyarados after a speed boost. While the team at the moment offered a fantastic amount of speed control to the team, more flaws became to rise. First, and most important: it lacked the immediate power to muscle past bulkier teams (particularly stall) and would need reliable answers to pokemon that could pivot into Keldeo with ease; namely Latios, Rotom, Tapu Fini, Tangrowth and Venusaur.
Lando Calrissian (Landorus-Therian) @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant/Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- U-turn/Rock Polish
To round off the major part of the offensive core, I slapped on Landorus-T. Because.... this is gen 7 OU. But for real, Landorus offers the team a way of breaking past entrenched defensive cores with swords dance+z Stone Edge. The ground immunity along with STAB earthquake is just an amazing thing to add to any team especially one that appreciates the ability to break through steel types. I'm a little bit on the fence on the moveset, because I really like the ability to pivot with U-turn on landorus but find that the offensive EV distribution doesn't really offer that many opportunities to pivot. But with the addition of Landorus the team was beginning to look more and more weak to the ever prevalent Tangrowth as well as scarfed Tapu Lele.
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Def / 164 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost
So now I start looking into the defensive and support needs of the team. As mentioned, a check to scarfed Lele and grass types in general was needed. I also, as mentioned before, needed sufficient ability to pivot defensively in order to make Tauros a viable pick. I was also hoping to pick up a little bit more sustainability and a form of hazard control. Mega Scizor does all the above... gives priority with Bullet Punch, gains momentum into Tauros with U-turn, sustains itself with roost, and removes hazards with defog. Though does make Magnezone really, really annoying to the team.
Hot (BAN ME PLEASE) (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Toxic
So I still needed a stealth rocker, I still needed a secondary fire resist for the likes of Charizard Y, along with something that could check the pokemon that Scizor would like to check but fears fire coverage from (ei; Mega Mawile, Tapu Lele, Latios without EQ, etc). Heatran gives the team significantly more bulk, without passing up on offensive capabilities. I'm also kind of on the fence with the entire Heatran set. Heatran really suffers from 4MSS. I wish I had room for taunt tbh. But earth power seems necessary for opposing Heatran and Charizard X. I guess toxic might be out of place but Volcarona setting up in my face scares me.
Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
And finally, to round out the team: I was looking for a Tapu Koko answer, a check to ground types, a Greninja check, and something that doesn't care about things like Tapu Lele. Tangrowth was the best all around answer to patch together the weak points of the team. Tangrowth is like, one of the only "true" ground resists in the tier along with Landorus, since pretty much everything else either gets blown away by banded Zygarde or set up on by sub-coil Zygarde.
Threatlist:
,
(stall in general rip),
,
(ok you can't actually blame me for this one hello protean gren actually blows back the entire tier get this thing out plz)
The team: https://pastebin.com/YWmDrCqF
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574487523 (came back from a turn 2 freeze into a crit into a flinch)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574428799
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574483648 (I hax the crap out of this poor man ;-;)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7oususpecttest-574572392 (accidentally brought intim tauros lmao)
Teambuilding Process:
Tauroso Rosso (Tauros) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Body Slam
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
So beginning with the theme of the team. Tauros on paper has offences and coverage to pose as a threatening breaker while also sporting an above average speed stat for what it is. For referance, Tauros can 2hko Tapu Fini after rocks. Right off the bat, a few weaknesses were in immediate need of being patched. While Tauros can 2hko several steel types and normal resists alike such as Magearna, Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Mega Scizor it still falls short of threatening the likes of specially defensive Skarmory and Celesteela. Faster offensive threats, namely Tapu Koko and Gren, needed to be accounted for as well. And then of coarse I needed counter play versus the most common scarfers in the tier, like Keldeo or Garchomp (to name only a few). And finally, potentially the most important, pure normal typing leaves much to be desired in terms of opportunity to be brought in, so I would need several reliable pivots to support it.
Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge
So the immidiate partner I chose for Tauros was Keldeo. Being one of the best offensive checks to Greninja in the tier, while also able to switch into and threaten Heatran and Volcarona, Charizard and Gyarados after a speed boost. While the team at the moment offered a fantastic amount of speed control to the team, more flaws became to rise. First, and most important: it lacked the immediate power to muscle past bulkier teams (particularly stall) and would need reliable answers to pokemon that could pivot into Keldeo with ease; namely Latios, Rotom, Tapu Fini, Tangrowth and Venusaur.
Lando Calrissian (Landorus-Therian) @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant/Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- U-turn/Rock Polish
To round off the major part of the offensive core, I slapped on Landorus-T. Because.... this is gen 7 OU. But for real, Landorus offers the team a way of breaking past entrenched defensive cores with swords dance+z Stone Edge. The ground immunity along with STAB earthquake is just an amazing thing to add to any team especially one that appreciates the ability to break through steel types. I'm a little bit on the fence on the moveset, because I really like the ability to pivot with U-turn on landorus but find that the offensive EV distribution doesn't really offer that many opportunities to pivot. But with the addition of Landorus the team was beginning to look more and more weak to the ever prevalent Tangrowth as well as scarfed Tapu Lele.
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Def / 164 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost
So now I start looking into the defensive and support needs of the team. As mentioned, a check to scarfed Lele and grass types in general was needed. I also, as mentioned before, needed sufficient ability to pivot defensively in order to make Tauros a viable pick. I was also hoping to pick up a little bit more sustainability and a form of hazard control. Mega Scizor does all the above... gives priority with Bullet Punch, gains momentum into Tauros with U-turn, sustains itself with roost, and removes hazards with defog. Though does make Magnezone really, really annoying to the team.
Hot (BAN ME PLEASE) (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Toxic
So I still needed a stealth rocker, I still needed a secondary fire resist for the likes of Charizard Y, along with something that could check the pokemon that Scizor would like to check but fears fire coverage from (ei; Mega Mawile, Tapu Lele, Latios without EQ, etc). Heatran gives the team significantly more bulk, without passing up on offensive capabilities. I'm also kind of on the fence with the entire Heatran set. Heatran really suffers from 4MSS. I wish I had room for taunt tbh. But earth power seems necessary for opposing Heatran and Charizard X. I guess toxic might be out of place but Volcarona setting up in my face scares me.
Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
And finally, to round out the team: I was looking for a Tapu Koko answer, a check to ground types, a Greninja check, and something that doesn't care about things like Tapu Lele. Tangrowth was the best all around answer to patch together the weak points of the team. Tangrowth is like, one of the only "true" ground resists in the tier along with Landorus, since pretty much everything else either gets blown away by banded Zygarde or set up on by sub-coil Zygarde.
Threatlist:
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