Team Yanmega in OU!

[Pipotchi]

Yanmega was one of my favourite pokemon from last gen, with two great abilities in Speed Boost and Tinted Lens, so I figured it might be even better this generation due to its great flying type STAB and the fact that pokemon that rely on bulk and neutral typing seem to be fading away... Yanmega can bypass resistances with access to the fantastic Tinted Lens ability, meaning an incredibly small portion of the metagame can switch safely into it.
So lets get right into my team-building thought process!

TEAM BUILDING (idea stolen from other threads, ty)

Starting off the team has to include Yanmega! Slapping on a Choice Specs and it starts hitting for some particularly high damage, with very few decent switch-ins due to resistances being cancelled. This Yanmega can break walls or sweep for me, but with 95 speed and a strong but not mind-blowing 115 SpA, I'm going to have to pick pokemon that soften up the enemy team first....

So lets include a great stealth rock lead! Infernape is still strong this gen, being able to put up stealth rock while avoiding any ohkos with focus sash. Fire fighting is good coverage and he can help wear down opponents alongside yanmega with u-turn. Getting up my own rocks is important, so I now need a pokemon who can get rid of their rocks without defogging my own- Yanmega gets obliterated by stealth rock, and Infernape would definitely appreciate being able to switch in again while at 1hp...

Usually you would frown on using a mega-slot for a support role, but Mega Blastoise is so reliable as a rapid spinner and my team needs that- he also packs a huge punch and gives some great coverage! Mega Blastoise is a good all-rounder, but ultimately his main aim is to get rid of those pesky rocks that hinder my team. Now I've dealt with their stealth rock, I want to add a ghost to keep mine up!

And so Gengar joins the fray! What's great about Gengar is that he can also take out anything that worries me with a quick Destiny Bond- due to the nature of my team, I am trying to wear down the opponent by trading hits until a healthy Yanmega can switch in and clean up their team. Having a very fast Destiny Bond to take out something problematic is great for this purpose, and blocking rapid spin is great for Yanmega's endgame sweep too. In fact, residual damage is pretty damn important for my team- it REALLY helps me deal with rotom-W and genesect, perhaps enough so that I want someone who can deal with Defoggers too...

Bisharp is a great addition to the team, filling a lot of holes- he offers important steel typing, important dark typing and resistance to dark and ghost, as well as countering defog, sticky web, and offering some insanely powerful priority. I think its a testament to how good he is that a pokemon with a BST of under 500 is so dominant in today's metagame. For my team, Bisharp offers scary revenge killing capabilities as well as being my secondary sweeper. With him, my team is looking pretty much complete! All that's left is something decent to wall physical threats. Also, whilst my team isn't TOO slow, the pokemon that I'm intending to sweep (Bisharp and Yanmega) are not that fast either... looks like there's only one pokemon for the job!

Zygarde... a very underused and misunderstood (perhaps also by myself) pokemon. He always intrigued me as a pokemon and so I'm taking the opportunity to use him and find out more about him! He's actually been fulfilling his role well- spreading status with glare and dragon tail, while offering thunder wave immunity himself- and with his help, Bisharp and Yanmega are able to take out several threats they otherwise couldn't! What's more, both Bisharp and Yanmega are able to use paraflinch on a paralyzed pokemon, both having access to 30% flinch moves (Air Slash and Iron Head). Most paralyzed pokemon will lose vs my two sweepers, so Zygarde is definitely a useful asset!

So with the team complete, I will introduce the movesets and explain my reasoning behind the moves.

Yanmega @ Choice Specs | Tinted Lens
Modest | 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
-Bug Buzz
-Air Slash
-Shadow Ball
-U-Turn

So Yanmega is the team which I built this team around, and hopefully for good reason! Not many pokemon can soak up its attacks, with only Magnezone and Aggron having a resistance to air slash after tinted lens, and 10 pokemon in total who can resist bug buzz- togekiss, mawile, klefki, infernape, heatran, charizard, talonflame, chandelure, skarmory, and aegislash. What's great is that no pokemon in the game resists both STABs, so correct choice means Yanmega can be a fantastic clean-up with a specs, and with nothing resisting its attacks by x4, specs will still do reasonable damage to anything that switches in, besides Blissey and the pink blob crew.
With both STABs being incredible coverage by themselves, and U-turn being good to let Yanmega scout, Shadow Ball is the final move, giving Yanmega a tool to smack Aegislash (and I guess Chandelure) with and with shadow ball being resisted by nothing due to tinted lens, the only thing that Yanmega has to worry about is Normal types- and Blissey and Chansey are full-stops to Yanmega anyway.
Honestly I feel this pokemon is good enough this gen to be used more than the 0.43% usage that it is receiving...
I ended up going modest nature due to the metagame slowing down a lot this gen and due to having paralysis support. This means he outspeeds everything as slow as Gyarados.. not too bad, but it definitely emphasizes the need for team support.

Infernape @ Focus Sash | Blaze
Rash | 64 Atk / 192 SpA / 252 Spe
-Stealth Rock
-Mach Punch
-Overheat
-U-Turn

So Infernape is often my lead in this team, and he excels at putting up stealth rock with high speed and a focus sash. He also offers some much needed priority if he survives, and 64 attack EVs are enough to ohko bisharp with full hp investment most of the time- he can switch in at 1hp on a sucker punch or sword's dance, and proceed to outspeed the next sucker punch and ohko. Anyways, this set I believe is well known enough for me to not have to sing its praises. Infernape is one of the "suicide leads" that can actually stay alive for a surprising amount of time at 1hp.

Blastoise @ Blastoisinite | Rain Dish
Modest | 252 Hp / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
-Rapid Spin
-Dark Pulse
-Aura Sphere
-Water Pulse

What an underrated mega-evolution. While mega-blastoise might fail as a sweeper due to unfortunate speed, he's one of the most reliable support pokemon in the game. With dark pulse, he obliterates all ghosts including specially defensive Sableye- this means I can keep rocks off the field for my Yanmega and Infernape with relative ease. Also a bulky water type is quite useful for my team, providing a good source of special bulk which my team somewhat lacks. He takes all the rock, ice and fire type attacks aimed at yanmega with ease and provides a good defensive core with zygarde, with zygarde being immune to electric and blastoise resisting ice type attacks.

Gengar @ Black Sludge | Levitate
Timid | 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Substitute
-Disable
-Shadow Ball
-Destiny Bond

So Gengar is on my team due to his very useful immunities and utility as a spinblocker. I've opted for a Sub Destiny Bond set, as I find it extremely useful to have a pokemon who can just instantly take out any slower threat which my team struggles to wear down with attacks and passive damage- for instance, a clefable who has accumulated too many boosts. While it can be played around, most people do not expect destiny bond. Gengar gives my team some speed, with many of the other pokemon not being quite as fast as is needed to take out base 100s.
I could end up changing the disable on this set for focus blast, but I really despise the miss chance on that move. I know I will end up keeping Sub, Shadow Ball, and Destiny Bond though. Perhaps Will-O-Wisp is a good choice to surprise any physical attackers, or Taunt to force people to attack and trigger Destiny Bond would be a better choice. Disable has not been quite as useful as I'd hoped.

Bisharp @ Life Orb | Defiant
Adamant | 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Substitute
-Sucker Punch
-Sword's Dance
-Iron Head

Good old Bisharp. This pokemon fits so perfectly into today's meta, its so anti-meta its almost meta. Substitute turns sucker punch into an actually reliable attack, and iron head can paraflinch anything to death which has been previously paralyzed by Zygarde. Bisharp is my team's secondary sweeper, crucial Dark type stab, poison immunity, stick web counter and defog counter. Lets just say that this guy does a lot, and rarely fails to live up to expectations. Combining life orb and sub means he is not long for this world, but how much of the opponent's team will be left standing when he finally drops?
I recently made a post about this set singing its praises, so I won't go too crazy all over again. But a Bisharp safely behind a substitute with any form of boost, whether it be a +2 from swords dance, sticky web, or defog is just the very definition of win condition.

Zygarde @ Leftovers | Aura Break (T_T)
Impish | 252 Hp / 252 Def / 4 Spe
-Glare
-Dragon Tail
-Coil
-Earthquake

I'm still kinda getting to grips with the legendary worm, but so far he's doing a good job of spreading paralysis. As mentioned before, Zygarde aims to paralyze anything that outspeeds Yanmega or Bisharp, allowing them to paraflinch them to death with their 30% flinch chance moves Air Slash and Iron Head. Dragon Tail forces something else to come in to be paralyzed, and Coil is a good move to use while the opponent switches around trying to avoid getting their team paralyzed. EQ is pretty much mandatory, being a great move with great damage and accuracy, and STAB bonus. Ultimately my Zygarde is not attempting to sweep, but he CAN set up a boost if given the chance, which can be used to break down the opponent's team. In the end, Yanmega and Bisharp are the team's sweepers and Zygarde is there primarily to support this duo with paralysis, something which can also help
As said, Zygarde forms a strong bulky duo with Blastoise, covering Blastoise's electric weakness and also slowing down opponents for Blastoise to take advantage of with its monstrous special attack, while Blastoise can switch in happily on the ice type attacks thrown at Zygarde. I think I need more time with this pokemon to really get used to using it, but it feels good so far!

And that's my team!

I made some pretty big changes, switching out a Zapdos for mega blastoise, but I think my team benefited from it in the long-run. If you can think of ways to improve it, tell me! Hopefully I want to keep Yanmega over anything else, but please tell me if you can think of any other pokemon switches that benefit the team. I personally think the main issues to my team are pivots like Genesect, Rotom-W, and Landorus-T but with correct play they can be dealt with- Infernape has a relatively easy time vs genesect, and stealth rock really hurts all 3 pivot pokemon who are weak to being worn down- and my team is strong at keeping hazards on the field. Zygarde is a decent answer to scarf rotom and Landorus-T, taking any hit apart from Hp Ice pretty well, and being able to retaliate with dragon tail or glare respectively.
But yea, tell me what you think!

 

[Zebstrika]

Can you just use Dragon Tail on Zygarde when you predict a switch, to get more damage and prevent them from switching who they wanted to switch to? Then you can replace Coil with Stone Edge to hit stuff that's immune to EarthQuake. You said yourself you don't normally pull off a sweep with Zygarde and imo you just do more damage by Dragon Tailing the predicted switches and extra damage with Stone Edge on flyers and some of the bugs.

 

[Pipotchi]

You're probably right! I will try out Stone Edge. Honestly I have very little experience with or against Zygarde so I just tried to put a set together, thank you for the help :)

 

[DarkPhoton]

I like your team, it balances well and has a good goal of paraflinching and a decent defensive core. With your special attackers however I find slightly lacking, and I'll give you the exact reasons. Your mega blastoise is all to important for rapid spinning to make sure your yanmega and infernape don't go down and your bisharp and and such to spikes and sticky web, which means it's hardly going to kill too much although it does hit very hard. Added to the fact that he is part of your defensive core, he won't see much action between switching into moves and needing to rapid spin.

However this is the main problem - your remaining hope of a special sweeper is actually a great choice, its fast and powerful. But you're opt to using gengar as more of a support and spinblocker, with only Shadow Ball which makes him completely walled by some pokes forcing more switches. You need at least 1 special sweeper proper to work IMO, there are so many good walls out there which are weak on the special side that you may find your match at a stop if Gengar is down from Destiny Bond or another reason and your blastoise can't risk coming in to get killed cuz rocks still may come out etc.

One good fix is give Gengar focus blast, as the famous Shadow Ball - Focus Blast duo is incredibly strong and hits everything super hard (especially the normal types that otherwise wall you!). Removing disable is the best idea here imo, because while its great its not worth getting walled and forcing switches which your team doesnt want with 2 stealth rock weak pokemon. Spin blocking is great with disable but... honestly, to disable and to destiny bond their spin blockers is hardly worth it leaving you with only a tank spinner Special Attacker that might leave you craving for a special poke to break down pokes blocking your two physical sweepers with infernape with U-turn and mach punching and potential for Zygarde to do even more physical damage.

You could go even more offensive with Gengar if you wanted, he has great coverage with Thunderbolt as well, so you could go 3 moves and a Sub, and it can still spin block and do a lot of damage. Life orb is great as well and allows you to net many important 1HKO and 2HKOs.

NOTE: I know Infernape has some special investment and overheat, but again, its something that people can easily switch to block and force you out and make unnecessary switches.

 

[Pipotchi]

I made the changes which I think were necessary, gave Gengar focus miss and put stone miss on zygarde. Hopefully those moves pay off... I also put a life orb on the gengar because i dont intend for him to stay around for TOO long.
You are right about Mega Blastoise though, its hard for him to absorb hits + spin when he is also supposed to be an attacking force for my team. Honestly that team slot has been switching around a lot, originally I had a defogger there but its too useful for me to have the ability to keep my own stealth rock up, especially with a suicide-esque lead like infernape. What I need in that slot is someone to spin hazards while having the ability to tank special hits, ideally. Honestly Ive been thinking about Cryogonal but that might just be too silly.

 

[nkhlshnd99]

Have infernape a hasty nature 4 more speed & 4 download.

 

[Pipotchi]

Considering Putting Mega Tyranitar and Life Orb Starmie to replace Infernape and Mega Blastoise, what do you guys think? M Tyranitar offers more chip damage to wear down opponents as intended, as well as acting as the special wall my team really needs... also a good check for Megazard Y which my team is lacking somewhat. Offensive Starmie gives me more special attacking as well as a somewhat useful additional fighting resistance to cover the additional x4 fighting weak pokemon I've put on my team to pair with Bisharp. I can also use Tyranitar as a lead to put up the stealth rock that infernape would, as well as start off the sand which will help wear people down from the start. Starmie also acts as a fantastic status absorber for the team, also giving me a decent answer to smeargle leads.

 

[TheAwesomeDude]

IMO, go with them. I was just going to say to replace something to counter Charizard Y and then you put this up first. Mega Tyranitar is a perfect fit on your team and easily counters Charizard Y. Starmie also has a good niche at spinning away hazards without taking much harm from toxic spikes do to natural cure.

Another option instead of Starmie is Espeon. Instead of rapid spinning hazards away, you could simply deflect them back at the unsuspecting foe. Espeon also makes a good counter to Smeargle as well. Espeon can make most leads such as Forretress, Ferrothorn, and Deoxys-S/D useless as most fail to have an attacking move. Espeon also has a decent special attack stat as well as a formidable speed stat making it a good alternative sweeper if Yanmega and Bisharp fail to do their job. Here is the set I would use:

Espeon@Life Orb
252 Special Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Health
Modest/Timid
Psyshock (STAB, good counter against Blissey)
Shadow Ball (Coverage)
Signal Beam/Grass Knot/Hidden Power Fire (Coverage)
Protect (Scout)

 

[Speed Boost]

Pipotchi

I would recommend a few changes without completely starting from scratch. I will recommend these changes based on what I see as the offensive core of your team. So, these recommendations are what I believe would be better suited to fill in the gaps around Yanmega, Mega Blastoise and Bisharp

First off, the role Infernape provides could be better performed my Sash Mamoswine in my opinion. It has access to Stealth Rocks, and priority Ice Shard. Mamoswine also has good synergy with Yanmega since you can U-Turn on the predicted witch to Heatran, Magnezone, Dragonite, etc. and threaten with its duel STABs. It can also threaten many common switch-ins to Bisharp, such as Heatran, Landorus-T, Garchomp, Mandibuzz, Togekiss, etc.

Mamoswine @ Focus Sash
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Icicle Spear
- Ice Shard

We still could use a Talonflame check. I think Rotom-Heat would be a good fit in place of Zygarge. We can run Discharge so you can still spread paralysis for Yanmega, Mega Blastoise and Bisharp. I would go with Discharge over Thunder Wave since it hits Rotom-W and other Electric types that would otherwise be immune. Might as well get some damage if you can't get the para. It will also have good synergy with Mamoswine, since it will bring in the likes of Heatran, Tyranitar, Landorus-T, Gliscor, etc. It will be able to take any attack from standard Genesect sets as well. Here is a cool mixed wall that can tank physical and special attacks, while being able to spread paralysis with discharge. I can also surprise switch-ins like Landorus, Glisor and Dragonite with HP Ice.

Rotom-Heat @ Assault Vest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 8 SDef / 248 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Discharge
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Now I have some changes for your current sets, starting with Gengar. You could really use a Choice Scarfer so you can effectively revenge kill hyper fast treats like Greninja, Alakazam, Latios and Starmie. I would try a duel STAB set with Destiny Bond and Trick. Tricking a Choice Scarf to a Blissey, Heartan, Ferrothorn or Mandibuzz will be clutch in helping you break through defensive cores.

Gengar (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Destiny Bond
- Trick

The last change I would make would be Hidden Power Ground over Shadow Ball on Yanmega to hit Heatran, Magnezone and Aegislash.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Yanmega Hidden Power Ground vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 276-328 (71.5 - 84.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Choice Specs Yanmega Hidden Power Ground vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 380-448 (117.6 - 138.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Yanmega Hidden Power Ground vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Magnezone: 432-512 (125.5 - 148.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Yanmega Hidden Power Ground vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 140-166 (43.2 - 51.2%) -- 58.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Hope this rate is helpful. Cool to see someone use Yanmega in OU.

 

[jg1198]

I agree that Mamoswine fits the team much better than Infernape, and volt-turning to him brings a lot offensive pressure, and I have got to say that Yanmega is awesome with tinted lens and choice specs, it literally 2HKO's so much of this slow bulky metagame, and as long as rocks aren't on the field, its actually suprisingly easy to switch in. Thanks to Tinted Lens, it's taking huge chunks of HP out of even Rotom-W and Heatran just with Air Slash.