I've always been a fan of unpredictable and innovative sets so I decided to build a team composed mainly of janky sets that people don't expect and it has actually been working out pretty decently. Its not designed to be a top 10 team on the ladder but its a very fun team and actually wins a lot of battles if played right. I took a couple mons from the "Next Best Thing" thread so props to those guys for coming up with these sets. Although the team might not be as effective when I post it because people might pick up on the sets, but I feel like doing it anyway just for fun.
The team at a glance:
So I will go through my team building process one by one.
Gardevoir-Mega @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 56 Def / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Future Sight
- Focus Blast
- Protect
I started with Gardevoir because it is my favourite mega. I've used future sight on Gardevoir before (I actually didn't get this from the next best thing thread) so I already know it to be a threat so I went with that. I went modest nature to hit as hard as possible, 200 speed to outspeed Altaria so it cant revenge kill and dumped the rest into Def so a Garchomp EQ is a roll after SR. Focus Miss is there to miss against Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Excadril, although out of the 3, Heatran is by far the biggest threat to the team so HP Ground is also an option so you don't have to risk a miss. Protect to stall out future sight, for free megas against loom/bish, and to scout choiced mons like keldeo or heatran. And in case you were wondering I put trace as the ability because showdown will give normal gardevoir the ability trace instead of synchronise. Trace can actually get utility from mega sableye (bouncing back a wisp or toxic on the switch is extremely satisfying), also switching into a fire move from heatran, intimidaters etc.
My next mon I wanted to be able to take advantage of future sight. By this I mean a mon that can beat a Gardevoir switch-in that will probably want to come in to take the future sight. Gardevoir switch-ins consist of Heatran, Ferrothorn, Metagross, Scizor, Jirachi, bulky Excadril. I at first thought of Infernape but I felt he lacked the wallbreaking power which was needed and the bulk to last long in the match. So I went with Choice Banded Azumarill. Although not the best answer to these mons, a banded superpower plus a future sight is enough to get a kill or do severe damage. Azumarill also often gets late game sweeps with aqua jet due to the nature of the team.
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Superpower
So right now I felt like I needed a rocker. I didn't want a passive rocker that is taunt bait so I looked on the Next Best Thing thread and I was intrigued by SketchUp's Lead Bisharp.
Bisharp @ Focus Sash
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
This is my lead 99% of the team. You basically have to be ballsy and force yourself to stay in no matter the match-up and set up rocks and taunt other rockers, even if its Heatran. Knock off because it is godlike and iron head to damage fairies and get some chip damage on Mega Venusaur, because youll need damage on that thing. I didn't go with metal burst because I was often faster than opposing leads. Looking at the team, they usually expect your rocker to be Rhyperior, so they like to predict you to switch out and set up there own rocks, so be aware of this and taunt them The only time I don't lead with bisharp is when I expect them to lead with Sableye, which is when I lead with Gardevoir and usually switch into Bisharp right away on their switch out just to set up rocks. You have to be smart and figure out who their rocker is, if they lead with it just taunt it even if its a bad matchup like a Lando-T or Heatran. If you outspeed and taunt their rocks, great. Set your own up then damage them. Lando prob won't EQ because you have a Chesnaught. If they do attack you, then decide if it would be more beneficial to set up rocks or damage them, because knocking off Heatran's lefties early on is huge. Getting damage on Lando isn't that important because you have Chesnaught and a scarfed Lando is actually a liability for them.
The next mon I also got from the Next Best Thing thread. It is Celticpride's RestTalk Victini:
Victini @ Leftovers
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 248 HP / 12 Atk / 64 Def / 128 SpD / 56 Spe
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- U-turn
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
This thing is surprisingly bulky. Early on I bluff a choice scarf and u-turn with it for momentum or v-create if they don't have switch-ins. This is why its crucial to keep rocks off your side. Without rocks its a great pivot and allows it to check/counter a good amount of the OU metagame like Alakazam, Gardevoir, Gyarados (if they fear bolt strike), Jirachi, Scarfed Kyurem-B, Lati@s, Lopunny, Metagross, Scizor, HP Fire Serpior, and Thundurus. With rocks away you can come in on a lot of these mons and just rest away the damage, then just sleep talk and hopefully hit them back.
Now I needed a bird check. Looking at the NBT thread again, I liked SketchUp's Choice banded Rhyperior:
Rhyperior @ Choice Band
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Def
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Ice Punch
- Megahorn
This mon is usually expected to be a bulky rocker with lefties. Most people don't expect a choice banded ice punch on their Lando-T switch in to dodge an expected EQ. Thats what this thing mostly does is ice punch Lando's and Lati@s. It can also eat up any flying move and basically any other physical move and get a kill. Its also good with Gardevoir's future sight because it can EQ anything that wants to come in on the future sight. Megahorn is there for incoming Slowbros or Celebis.
So now I figured I needed a setup sweeper. I didn't finding anything I liked on the NBT thread so I looked who could learn belly drum. I considered a Charizard with Acrobatics, but apparently belly drum and acro weren't compatible to have together which is unfortunate. So I decided, since I had a bird check and I lacked a Breloom and Gyarados counter, I would go with this janky Chesnaught set which is actually Jesus in OU:
Chesnaught @ Salac Berry
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Drain Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Belly Drum
- Substitute
I've actually swept a ton of teams with this thing and it actually 6-0's a lot of teams in OU. With Max Speed Jolly, you outspeed non-mega Alakazam. Its also a check/counter for Bisharp, Breloom, Chansey, Excadril, Ferrothorn, Gyarados, Hippowdon, Scarf Keldeo (if they don't icy wind), Lopunny, Rotom-W, Slowbro (if it only has scald), T-Tar, Venusaur (if it doesnt have HP Fire). It can come in multiple times per battle and get a lot of HP back with drain punch, and possilby set up and sweep later on. It can set up on so many mons and there's been many instances where I literally set up rocks then just 6-0 with this. Its EV'd to where a sub and a belly drum will activate Salac. Its fantastic for Shuckle leads because you can belly drum 1st turn and pretty much get all your health back right away. Lando-T can only break your sub with a high roll, which is why I said it is a liability for them. Very unexpected and actually very easy to get off a belly drum behind a sub and sweep with.
Threats:
Gengar. You basically have to weaken it with rocks and chip damage from LO, then kill with Aqua Jet, or get a BD off with Chesnaught before it comes in. +6 Seed Bomb OHKOs. Or if they choke and have sludge bomb instead of sludge wave then Chesnaught gets a free +6.
Mega Venusaur with HP Fire. If it doesn't have HP Fire, Chesnaught gets a free +6.
Altaria. But thats literally any team though.
MegaZam, MegaGross, MegaVoir, Lati@s. But only if rocks are up.
Well that's it. Feel free to try it out, have some fun with it. I definitely recommend trying it out before you leave suggestions for it though even thought I would appreciate some tweaks or adjustments to the team. I have some replays but they were taken from lower on the ladder so I'm not sure if they mean anything. I got up to 1600ish but I don't have any replays from there because the battles weren't that entertaining.
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-240547779
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-240560572
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-240570318
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-240645761
The team at a glance:
So I will go through my team building process one by one.
Gardevoir-Mega @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 56 Def / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Future Sight
- Focus Blast
- Protect
I started with Gardevoir because it is my favourite mega. I've used future sight on Gardevoir before (I actually didn't get this from the next best thing thread) so I already know it to be a threat so I went with that. I went modest nature to hit as hard as possible, 200 speed to outspeed Altaria so it cant revenge kill and dumped the rest into Def so a Garchomp EQ is a roll after SR. Focus Miss is there to miss against Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Excadril, although out of the 3, Heatran is by far the biggest threat to the team so HP Ground is also an option so you don't have to risk a miss. Protect to stall out future sight, for free megas against loom/bish, and to scout choiced mons like keldeo or heatran. And in case you were wondering I put trace as the ability because showdown will give normal gardevoir the ability trace instead of synchronise. Trace can actually get utility from mega sableye (bouncing back a wisp or toxic on the switch is extremely satisfying), also switching into a fire move from heatran, intimidaters etc.
My next mon I wanted to be able to take advantage of future sight. By this I mean a mon that can beat a Gardevoir switch-in that will probably want to come in to take the future sight. Gardevoir switch-ins consist of Heatran, Ferrothorn, Metagross, Scizor, Jirachi, bulky Excadril. I at first thought of Infernape but I felt he lacked the wallbreaking power which was needed and the bulk to last long in the match. So I went with Choice Banded Azumarill. Although not the best answer to these mons, a banded superpower plus a future sight is enough to get a kill or do severe damage. Azumarill also often gets late game sweeps with aqua jet due to the nature of the team.
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Superpower
So right now I felt like I needed a rocker. I didn't want a passive rocker that is taunt bait so I looked on the Next Best Thing thread and I was intrigued by SketchUp's Lead Bisharp.
Bisharp @ Focus Sash
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
This is my lead 99% of the team. You basically have to be ballsy and force yourself to stay in no matter the match-up and set up rocks and taunt other rockers, even if its Heatran. Knock off because it is godlike and iron head to damage fairies and get some chip damage on Mega Venusaur, because youll need damage on that thing. I didn't go with metal burst because I was often faster than opposing leads. Looking at the team, they usually expect your rocker to be Rhyperior, so they like to predict you to switch out and set up there own rocks, so be aware of this and taunt them The only time I don't lead with bisharp is when I expect them to lead with Sableye, which is when I lead with Gardevoir and usually switch into Bisharp right away on their switch out just to set up rocks. You have to be smart and figure out who their rocker is, if they lead with it just taunt it even if its a bad matchup like a Lando-T or Heatran. If you outspeed and taunt their rocks, great. Set your own up then damage them. Lando prob won't EQ because you have a Chesnaught. If they do attack you, then decide if it would be more beneficial to set up rocks or damage them, because knocking off Heatran's lefties early on is huge. Getting damage on Lando isn't that important because you have Chesnaught and a scarfed Lando is actually a liability for them.
The next mon I also got from the Next Best Thing thread. It is Celticpride's RestTalk Victini:
Victini @ Leftovers
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 248 HP / 12 Atk / 64 Def / 128 SpD / 56 Spe
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- U-turn
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
This thing is surprisingly bulky. Early on I bluff a choice scarf and u-turn with it for momentum or v-create if they don't have switch-ins. This is why its crucial to keep rocks off your side. Without rocks its a great pivot and allows it to check/counter a good amount of the OU metagame like Alakazam, Gardevoir, Gyarados (if they fear bolt strike), Jirachi, Scarfed Kyurem-B, Lati@s, Lopunny, Metagross, Scizor, HP Fire Serpior, and Thundurus. With rocks away you can come in on a lot of these mons and just rest away the damage, then just sleep talk and hopefully hit them back.
Now I needed a bird check. Looking at the NBT thread again, I liked SketchUp's Choice banded Rhyperior:
Rhyperior @ Choice Band
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Def
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Ice Punch
- Megahorn
This mon is usually expected to be a bulky rocker with lefties. Most people don't expect a choice banded ice punch on their Lando-T switch in to dodge an expected EQ. Thats what this thing mostly does is ice punch Lando's and Lati@s. It can also eat up any flying move and basically any other physical move and get a kill. Its also good with Gardevoir's future sight because it can EQ anything that wants to come in on the future sight. Megahorn is there for incoming Slowbros or Celebis.
So now I figured I needed a setup sweeper. I didn't finding anything I liked on the NBT thread so I looked who could learn belly drum. I considered a Charizard with Acrobatics, but apparently belly drum and acro weren't compatible to have together which is unfortunate. So I decided, since I had a bird check and I lacked a Breloom and Gyarados counter, I would go with this janky Chesnaught set which is actually Jesus in OU:
Chesnaught @ Salac Berry
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Drain Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Belly Drum
- Substitute
I've actually swept a ton of teams with this thing and it actually 6-0's a lot of teams in OU. With Max Speed Jolly, you outspeed non-mega Alakazam. Its also a check/counter for Bisharp, Breloom, Chansey, Excadril, Ferrothorn, Gyarados, Hippowdon, Scarf Keldeo (if they don't icy wind), Lopunny, Rotom-W, Slowbro (if it only has scald), T-Tar, Venusaur (if it doesnt have HP Fire). It can come in multiple times per battle and get a lot of HP back with drain punch, and possilby set up and sweep later on. It can set up on so many mons and there's been many instances where I literally set up rocks then just 6-0 with this. Its EV'd to where a sub and a belly drum will activate Salac. Its fantastic for Shuckle leads because you can belly drum 1st turn and pretty much get all your health back right away. Lando-T can only break your sub with a high roll, which is why I said it is a liability for them. Very unexpected and actually very easy to get off a belly drum behind a sub and sweep with.
Threats:
Gengar. You basically have to weaken it with rocks and chip damage from LO, then kill with Aqua Jet, or get a BD off with Chesnaught before it comes in. +6 Seed Bomb OHKOs. Or if they choke and have sludge bomb instead of sludge wave then Chesnaught gets a free +6.
Mega Venusaur with HP Fire. If it doesn't have HP Fire, Chesnaught gets a free +6.
Altaria. But thats literally any team though.
MegaZam, MegaGross, MegaVoir, Lati@s. But only if rocks are up.
Well that's it. Feel free to try it out, have some fun with it. I definitely recommend trying it out before you leave suggestions for it though even thought I would appreciate some tweaks or adjustments to the team. I have some replays but they were taken from lower on the ladder so I'm not sure if they mean anything. I got up to 1600ish but I don't have any replays from there because the battles weren't that entertaining.
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-240547779
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-240560572
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-240570318
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-240645761
