ORAS OU The Thundurus-Therian Formation And The Gallade-Mega Evolution (Peak 1953)

[DANN3]

Hi, this is a team I built with Toon Linked and laddered fairly high until I inevitably became salty and tilted into the depths. The concept of the team was fairly simple (use double dance Thundurus-T to break balance or clean offense, with ttar providing pursuit support for common special sponges including Latis and the occasional Raikou, and a special Gallade set to lure bulky grounds). Excadrill is deadly under the sand and provides hazard removal, while Slowbro and Clefable are the defensive backbone and Slowbro can function as a win condition.

Thundurus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 124 HP / 252 SpA / 132 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 HP / 0 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power
Nasty Plot
Agility

Thundurus-T is a pretty cool set-up sweeper which can break through balance with a nasty plot or clean offense with an agility. It does a good job of threatening standard fat balance since it is surprisingly bulky and can set up on many things, including Scizor, Tornadus-T, Slowbro, and more. HP flying is STAB, which makes it hit harder than HP ice, and also gives it a better matchup vs bulky grasses like Venusaur and Ferrothorn, even though it misses out on ground and electric types. The speed allows it to outspeed Kingdra in rain while maxing out SpA. The HP investment lets it tank and set-up on many neutral hits as well as some super effective ones and its immunity to T-wave and resistance to a lot of priority as well as Jirachi's iron head make it a pretty solid win-con vs offense. In addition, it 6-0s Shedinja stall, which for some reason has been making a comeback on the ladder.

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
Stone Edge
Crunch
Pursuit
Superpower

Even though Thundurus-T is powerful, there are a few special sponges (Latis, Raikou, Kyu-B, Chansey, etc.) which can tank hits and threaten it back. Scarfed T-Tar helps eliminate the offensive ones through pursuit trapping and can get residual on a lot of mons through sand, which can put them in range of a thunderbolt. It is also reasonably fast so it provides speed control for faster threats to balance and the sand for Excadrill to revenge kill stuff. Overall, its an extremely solid mon which can check a lot of annoying things including Talonflame and Manectric.

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
Swords Dance
Earthquake
Iron Head
Rapid Spin

Since the team looked pretty good against bulky offense/balance and there was already a T-Tar, it looked convenient to add an Excadrill as another win-con against certain types of offense as well as a Clefable check. We went with SD balloon since it can weaken ground types for Thundurus-T as well as potentially beating opposing sand and pressuring balance even more (Skarmory can't freely spike stack). We went with adamant since jolly lacked the power to clean teams. This leaves the tam slightly weaker to max speed Heatran and other mons in that range, but having scarfed T-Tar as well as Gallade somewhat makes up for that.

Gallade-Mega @ Galladite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
Close Combat
Zen Headbutt
Knock Off
Will-O-Wisp

With sand being good against offense and Thundurus-T being somewhat good against balance, we needed something that could help Thundurus-T set up. Will-o-wisp Gallade serves as an amazing lure for ground types such as Hippowdon and Landorus-T, and Thundurus-T can set up on them after they are burned. Excadrill also appreciates them being weakened for a potential sweep. Gallade also has an extremely good speed tier, being able to outspeed Keldeo and speed tie with Latis, Diancie, Metagross, and more. It is also extremely powerful, being able to OHKO Ferrothorn (Lopunny falls short of this) and threaten Slowbro with a Knock Off. It also benefits greatly from healing wish since it has decent bulk and not many things can take 2 hits from it.

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Calm Mind
Scald
Psyshock
Slack Off

Finally, our team needed a defensive backbone. Slowbro is a good check to Keldeo and ground types and a decent win-con with calm mind. Many teams are unprepared for the CM set and it can sweep teams even if it is burned or paralyzed. With regenerator, it can pivot into many attacks and because of this, it has multiple opportunities to sweep, especially with healing wish support from Clefable.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Stealth Rock
Moonblast
Soft-Boiled
Healing Wish

Clefable was added to finish the defensive core, provide rocks, and give healing wish support to Thundurus-T, Gallade, and Slowbro. It is also a decent switch in to Weavile and Alakazam, which are both extremely threatening.With healing wish, it Thundurus-T has a second chance to sweep bulky teams (and 2 chances usually gets the job done). It is also a pretty good lati switch in if T-Tar is weakened.

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Importable

http://pastebin.com/u16Zt7CT

Shoutouts

Toon Linked -- for making the team with me
Team Pokepals -- for the banner
Hiye -- for inspiration for the name
Rampecker -- for being a pervert
Rampage095 -- for being 12 years old
dukevesper -- for being a duke
imsosorrylol -- for being so sorry

(Toon Linked Shoutouts)

adilbilal - You've made me into the player I am today, and one day, you'll be a superstar :]
AD impish john - Man, we've had so many great moments together. ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST!
Sundar - I remember when we first met back in WiFi... One day you'll be the best mono steel player :P
DoomXFTW - Thanks for being such a good friend, I hope your life will take a turn for the better one day :)
KGBeast - You were a great friend when I used to play mono.. Stay grounded my friend ;)
hiyee - greatest haxball teammate
ShootingStarmie - greatest haxball player
Rampage095 - worst haxball player
Team Pokepals - lol
Additional shoutouts: ItsLogicBro, xDaBoss, Nebuchadnezzar, and all of my friends who were with me back in the WiFi/OU days. I hope I didn't miss anyone, and if I did, I'm deeply sorry. :]
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Peak

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[Flygonial]

Yo, nice team DANN3 - I'll just take a second to drool at the presentation. Overall, it's quite solid, and I can't find very many major flaws with it defensively. Most of what I'll do is suggest a few optimizations.

Your team can play around most 'mons defensively, but I can see Mega Scizor being more of an issue that any other 'mon. Bulky SD Superpower variants break Exca while U-turn variants can put a dent in Slowbro while pivoting out of your team's checks to it. I don't see many non-disruptive ways to deal with it nor do I know how well it fares in practice, however, so it's still up to you. Fire Blast could be placed on Slowbro or Clefable, but both of them are disruptive to the functioning of the team as Slowbro can no longer break blobs while Clef can't provide Healing Wish support - vital to the team's goal. Gliscor is another issue I see, but I'll cover it more in the next paragraph.

I'm more concerned about the offensive side of the spectrum - your team seems to have an issue breaking Mega Slowbro, Mega Scizor (again), and Gliscor. The first can get a free switch-in on half your team, the second can pivot around its checks, and the latter can check literally everything on the team except for Slowbro. The first two, your team can play around to an extent, Gliscor can wall and actually sweep the team. Unboosted, nothing on the team 2HKO's it. Say, if you switch Slowbro into it as it SDs, then it SD's again and you CM for the 2HKO, then Gliscor gets the 2HKO on you and breaks through.

Realistically, it doesn't easily 6-0 you per say, as Mega Gallade can usually revenge kill it if Slowbro got a good roll or if it gets a good roll. This is though, you've already got Gallade supporting Thundy-T against Mega Venu and Ferro, so I don't feel like going with HP Flying is necessary. HP Ice would make Gliscor significantly easier to play around and breaks things like fat Celebi anyways. Your other options are Ice Beam Clefable or Slowbro, and I don't really see much appeal in those - but if you do, then you could try Ice Beam Slowbro and Fire Blast Clefable. Still, I wouldn't really recommend those.

I don't see much else with the team I can significantly alter, so I'll just ask a question - what do the EVs on Clefable do? When I first saw it, I thought it was just a mistaken writing of the 172 / 84 spread, but seeing it again, I want to ask. Either way, I hope I helped, even just marginally.

TL; DR: HP Ice > HP Flying, maybe Ice Beam and Fire Blast on Clefable.

 

[DANN3]

Yo, nice team DANN3 - I'll just take a second to drool at the presentation. Overall, it's quite solid, and I can't find very many major flaws with it defensively. Most of what I'll do is suggest a few optimizations.

Your team can play around most 'mons defensively, but I can see Mega Scizor being more of an issue that any other 'mon. Bulky SD Superpower variants break Exca while U-turn variants can put a dent in Slowbro while pivoting out of your team's checks to it. I don't see many non-disruptive ways to deal with it nor do I know how well it fares in practice, however, so it's still up to you. Fire Blast could be placed on Slowbro or Clefable, but both of them are disruptive to the functioning of the team as Slowbro can no longer break blobs while Clef can't provide Healing Wish support - vital to the team's goal. Gliscor is another issue I see, but I'll cover it more in the next paragraph.

I'm more concerned about the offensive side of the spectrum - your team seems to have an issue breaking Mega Slowbro, Mega Scizor (again), and Gliscor. The first can get a free switch-in on half your team, the second can pivot around its checks, and the latter can check literally everything on the team except for Slowbro. The first two, your team can play around to an extent, Gliscor can wall and actually sweep the team. Unboosted, nothing on the team 2HKO's it. Say, if you switch Slowbro into it as it SDs, then it SD's again and you CM for the 2HKO, then Gliscor gets the 2HKO on you and breaks through.

Realistically, it doesn't easily 6-0 you per say, as Mega Gallade can usually revenge kill it if Slowbro got a good roll or if it gets a good roll. This is though, you've already got Gallade supporting Thundy-T against Mega Venu and Ferro, so I don't feel like going with HP Flying is necessary. HP Ice would make Gliscor significantly easier to play around and breaks things like fat Celebi anyways. Your other options are Ice Beam Clefable or Slowbro, and I don't really see much appeal in those - but if you do, then you could try Ice Beam Slowbro and Fire Blast Clefable. Still, I wouldn't really recommend those.

I don't see much else with the team I can significantly alter, so I'll just ask a question - what do the EVs on Clefable do? When I first saw it, I thought it was just a mistaken writing of the 172 / 84 spread, but seeing it again, I want to ask. Either way, I hope I helped, even just marginally.

TL; DR: HP Ice > HP Flying, maybe Ice Beam and Fire Blast on Clefable.

I think that the HP on Thundurus comes down to what's more common in the meta (ground types like Garchomp, Hippowdon, Landorus-T (Gliscor is really good but I don't see it a lot) or grass types like Ferrothorn and Mega Venusaur). Grass types are less common but they are much harder to wear down then ground types (If i have HP Ice then Mega Venusaur walls 5/6 of my mons, even with sand to limit its recovery) and I have slowbro anyways. I tried HP Ice with life orb Excadrill and it seemed to be about as effective (it just comes down to the team you are playing). Mega Scizor is hard to deal with but I can't deal with everything and I have some ways of dealing with it (Thundurus beats it 1v1, Gallade can wisp it, Excadrill gets damage on it depending on its set). I dont know what 172 / 84 on Clefable does, but 184 / 72 never gets 2hkod by Latios:

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Clefable: 175-208 (44.4 - 52.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 172 Def Clefable: 179-212 (45.4 - 53.8%) -- 2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[ez]

yo. I notice how mega zam, charizard y and gengar might give ur team a bit of trouble since u dont really have a ''safe'' switch in into it. This is why i recommend u too run Chople Berry tyranitar instead of scarf tyranitar as this can help u vs charizard y/zam/gengar and still eliminate things that scarf ttar got rid of like the lati@s. Tyranitar can also help u lure the scizors and fire blast as this team dosent have much for scizor besides wil-o-wisp gallade but i would rely on ur gallade more then this tyranitar to deal with scizor tbh this is just a cool bait.

Now that ur not force to be locked into a move with tyranitar u can run rocks on tyranitar and free up a slot on clefable. I would recommend running an unaware set on clefable to help ur team against set up sweepers like manaphy and mostly serperior. Ur thundurs can revenge manaphy but for serp ur probably gonna end up sacking ur tyranitar so exca can outspeed but exca cant even oko serp. Unaware clef helps with set up mons like phy and serp since clefable ignores there stat boost. Healing wish was used to bring back mons but with heal bell and wish u can support ur other mons too but u can also do it multiple times instead of once

sets

Tyranitar (M) @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Def / 180 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
- Pursuit

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind /Heal bell
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect

Changes In Short:

Chople >scarf to better deal with mega zam /charizard y/gengar/hoopa-unbound

Unaware>healing wish clef helps vs set up sweeper while still supporting the team

 

[FlamingVictini]

Hey there,
Really interesting team, I especially like the use of WoW Gallade with thund and driller to help out the team, with the ever-useful slowbro+clef core in the back to support the team and also provide wincon/way to restore wincon.

I think ez's rate makes a great point on the threat of zam (cm or just a non-boosting attacker) or lo torn vs your team, and serperior is certainly a threat as well. While his suggested changes aren't bad, they change the team dynamics a bit imo and don't really seem super optimal. I tend to like chople tar to handle those mons scarftar can't outrun, but on this extremely bisharp weak team I think you really need to keep your scarf superpower, and you may not be willing to change the team so much. Hence, I suggest a quick fix: A spread of 248/164/96+ evs on clefable (hp/def/sdef) will allow you to avoid the 2hko from lo psychic from zam and will help sponge torn hits better, while still having really good chances to avoid 2hko's from psyshock/lop return and other physical attacks. 248 hp evs may seem odd with magic guard but i've fiddled with clef rolls a lot before and it works out (still looking to optimize more physdef clefable sets tho D: ). Anyways, with this quick change you should be a bit safer vs some special attackers that threaten your team. I recommend moving 4 evs from hp to sdef on slowbro to reduce hazard damage (nvm just checked and it doesn't really make a difference. Goes to show the smogon mentality of making every hp number odd isn't always correct haha). Also nice 0 satk ivs on physical attackers, planning ahead for the special version of foul play ;)

haha anyways good work, i really like the use of wisp gallade and thund-t, good luck in the future man :]