Trainer Academy is a room on Pokemon Showdown all about helping players get better at competitive Pokemon, whether in building, playing, or metagame knowledge. We're normally just a live help chat for team rating, battle reviews, or introducing new players, but for more formal teaching, we're starting (roughly) biweekly workshops!
In these workshops, our experienced helpers accept cores or team ideas from the chatroom, then build teams live! Much discussion happens here, giving newer players an insight into the building process. We also accept questions and critiques from the audience, keeping everyone on the same page and making sure the teams are as solid as possible. Afterwards, we test the teams out in showcase games, giving viewers an idea for how they work in real play. Finally, we host a roomtour in the respective tier, giving chat a chance to try the teams themselves or just have fun competing!
Past Workshops:
Cinderace Magearna VoltTurn
VinCune Rillaboom Balance
This team is built around the VoltTurn core of Cinderace and Magearna. They synergize well with one another as they can pivot out on their respective checks to bring the other in, while Magearna can also cripple one of Cinderace's most prominent defensive answers, Toxapex, with Trick. Slowking makes for a great partner as it can use Teleport to bring them in safely and Future Sight makes their defensive counterplay even more limited, as it notably deals heavy damage to the aforementioned Toxapex, among others. Slowking also makes for a solid switch-in to special attackers like Nidoking, Tapu Lele, and Latios. Similarly, Tangrowth is able to sponge hits from physical attackers like Excadrill, Garchomp, Kartana, Rillaboom, and Barraskewda, and is the primary switch-in to Urshifu. Since Choice Band Urshifu is able to 2HKO Tangrowth, the next two members provide the secondary switch-ins: Landorus-T can comfortably take Close Combat, while Hydreigon can Roost off Wicked Blow. Importantly, Landorus-T also compresses the roles of speed control (to revenge kill fast threats like Dragapult and Tapu Koko), Electric immunity (to prevent your opponent from freely pivoting around with Volt Switch), and Stealth Rock setter. Finally, Hydreigon is the team's entry hazard remover and checks Spectrier and Heatran well.
The concept of this team is supporting Suicune, the wincon of the team. Rillaboom makes for a great partner as it summons Grassy Terrain, which Suicune can make great use of by using it as an additional means of passive recovery next to Leftovers, while using Protect and Substitute to Pressure stall the foe's PP. Heatran can bust through the Grass-types Suicune and Rillaboom may struggle with, like Ferrothorn and Tangrowth, and as such completes a Fire-Water-Grass core. Additionally, it can trap and eliminate Pokemon like Toxapex and Blissey with Magma Storm + Taunt for Suicune and greatly benefits from Rillaboom's Grassy Terrain with the use of Protect as well. The heavy Special Defense investment allows it to check threats like Magearna and Tapu Lele. Nidoking provides some necessary firepower and is the Electric immunity and Stealth Rock setter for the team. Notably, it also absorbs Toxic Spikes which would otherwise be detrimental to Suicune. Clefable makes for the Urshifu check (and also has some Special Defense investment to deal with Kyurem in a pinch) and can notably lure in and cripple Toxapex for Suicune with Trick + Sticky Barb. It also has Aromatherapy to cure any status effects Suicune and the others may be affliced with, which is once again very important for Suicune to thrive. Finally, Tornadus-T is the team's entry hazard remover and provides some necessary speed to deal with threats like Kartana.
Mega Garchomp Sand
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-1259709039
Diancie Volcarona Balance
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-1259742235
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-1259717211
Full Chatlog
A request for the M-Chomp Sand Core as provided by users. We decided to go with a more defensive backbone to cover some of the larger threats in the metagame. The team is based on SubSD M-Garchomp to force switches and break more defensive cores while Excadrill handles offense. Celesteela, Clefable, and Tangrowth patch up holes against things like Tapu Lele, M-Alakazam, M-Medicham, and more. The team still has a weakness to things like Manaphy and to an extent Char-Y if Tyranitar can't cover, but we felt it would be too challenging to cover everything possible and tried to make the best of what was provided. Enjoy!
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-1259709039
Diancie Volcarona Balance
We were provided a core of Mega Diancie + Volcarona. Trainer Academy users and auth both decided to go for a more balanced approach to apply offensive pressure with pivots in the form of Rotom-W and Kommo-O. Two win conditions were placed on the team: Quiver Dance Psychium Volcarona and Calm Mind Magearna for more defensive oriented teams. Scarf Landorus-T was added to provide speed control, originally a Stealth Rock user but switched to defog for hazard removal. Enjoy!
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-1259742235
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-1259717211
Full Chatlog
Slowbro Specs Keldeo
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1272723432
Gengar Cinderace Offense
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1273185163-wwosldlajgy6lui6op4a66cdjyjoqwgpw
Full Chatlog
Core requested for Specs Keldeo + Slowbro. Trainer Academy decided to go for a more hazard stack approach to support Keldeo and manage threats long term. Keldeo provides wall-breaking power with Future Sight support provided by Slowbro. Ferrothorn was added to supply both Stealth Rock and Spikes with bulky Nasty Plot Hydreigon as an additional way to threaten more defensive builds and Spectrier check. AV Amoonguss was added as a pivot and check to Kartana and Zeroara which posed a big threat to initial draft and Scarf Landorus-T with Defog for speed control and if the hazard game wasn't in our favor. Trainer Academy understood the Volcarona weakness but understood it would be difficult to cover everything without changing dynamics entirely. Enjoy!
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1272723432
Gengar Cinderace Offense
The team is formed around Cinderace and Gengar being the main cleaners of the team, while Rillaboom does the breaking. We used bulky pivots with slow momentum like Corviknight and Blissey to safely get in our main breaker Rillaboom. Due to the high longevity of bulky Garchomp, Blissey, and Corviknight, they are able to repeat this process of slow momentum to break with Rillaboom as well as chip with Cinderace. Lastly the status spam from Garchomp as well as Blissey helps Gengar break with substitute hex in the long run. Enjoy!
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1273185163-wwosldlajgy6lui6op4a66cdjyjoqwgpw
Full Chatlog
Scarf Latios DragMag
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5ou-1291033427
Full Chatlog
For this edition of our workshop, it was decided by poll to make a Weatherless team. We chose to build the team around the structure called DragMag (Dragons + Magnezone). To start, we identified which Pokemon we would use for DragMag's key roles (1 SR Setter + Magnezone + 3/4 Dragons + Filler).
The team was built around Scarf Latios, which gives the team a very good breaker and offers speed control. In addition to that, with Trick it manages to annoy Pokemon like Reuniclus quite a bit.
After that, we include Magnezone, a mandatory member to trap and eliminate steel types like Skarmory or Ferrothorn, who wall Garchomp and Latios. Sunny Day offers extra utility in the rain matchup, and Magnet Rise is very useful for trapping Excadrill and avoiding Earthquakes.
The next addition was the SR Setter; Jirachi provides the team with a good defensive typing and lots of utility. U-Turn helps gain momentum, and paired with Icy Wind provides the perfect setup for Magnezone to trap Excadrill.
Garchomp is an excellent Set-Up Sweeper due to its incredible stats and offensive coverage. Yache Berry allows it to stay in on and pressure Thundurus-T, Landorus-T, Mamoswine, and others. Dual Chop was chosen over Dragon Claw to kill Focus Sash users like Alakazam, and Substitute allows setup against pokemon like Rotom-W.
To complete the last 2 slots, we have 2 excellent wallbreakers. Life Orb Starmie puts an incredible pressure on most Rain Teams once Ferrothorn is eliminated, and provides the Rapid Spin that Dragonite is so grateful for. Finally we have Dragonite, whose Choice Band Outrage is able to KO almost the entire tier, while tanking hits with Multiscale.
This team is quite offensive, so you have to take advantage of your opponent's every mistake to apply as much pressure as possible. You should also prioritize Jirachi's SR so that the Dragons have an easier time sweeping weakened targets.
The team was built around Scarf Latios, which gives the team a very good breaker and offers speed control. In addition to that, with Trick it manages to annoy Pokemon like Reuniclus quite a bit.
After that, we include Magnezone, a mandatory member to trap and eliminate steel types like Skarmory or Ferrothorn, who wall Garchomp and Latios. Sunny Day offers extra utility in the rain matchup, and Magnet Rise is very useful for trapping Excadrill and avoiding Earthquakes.
The next addition was the SR Setter; Jirachi provides the team with a good defensive typing and lots of utility. U-Turn helps gain momentum, and paired with Icy Wind provides the perfect setup for Magnezone to trap Excadrill.
Garchomp is an excellent Set-Up Sweeper due to its incredible stats and offensive coverage. Yache Berry allows it to stay in on and pressure Thundurus-T, Landorus-T, Mamoswine, and others. Dual Chop was chosen over Dragon Claw to kill Focus Sash users like Alakazam, and Substitute allows setup against pokemon like Rotom-W.
To complete the last 2 slots, we have 2 excellent wallbreakers. Life Orb Starmie puts an incredible pressure on most Rain Teams once Ferrothorn is eliminated, and provides the Rapid Spin that Dragonite is so grateful for. Finally we have Dragonite, whose Choice Band Outrage is able to KO almost the entire tier, while tanking hits with Multiscale.
This team is quite offensive, so you have to take advantage of your opponent's every mistake to apply as much pressure as possible. You should also prioritize Jirachi's SR so that the Dragons have an easier time sweeping weakened targets.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5ou-1291033427
Full Chatlog
SS Mono Ground Sand
Natdex Mono Ice
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/...-1313396210-373qz7ajqdnoscc9qhdgig6eeqlpx68pw
Full Chatlog
We decided to build around Sand Ground since it is the most viable archetype available to Ground teams. However, already three of the six slots were filled by staples being Excadrill, Hippowdon, and a Water immunity; we chose Seismitoad for this team due to its more offensive nature. Choice Band Excadrill with an Adamant nature under the sand outspeeds various threats such as Choice Scarf Latios, Spectrier, and Dragapult. Its STAB moves are its main attacks, while X-Scissor is used to take on Dark- and Psychic-type Pokemon, namely being Zarude. Hippowdon is a fairly standard set, between Gravity Landorus-T and Excadrill ideally can give Excadrill 3 turns of uninterrupted Earthquake's which can be devastating to deal with. Landorus-T is running a rather unusual set. However, Monotype Ground teams have adapted to use this set because Landorus is banned, allowing the team to take on Steel still. Substitute + Gravity + Bulk Up allows Landorus-T to take advantage of passive Steel-type Pokemon such as non-Air Slash Celesteela, Ferrothorn, Skarmory, then proceed to breakdown Steel teams. Seismitoad was placed there to answer a common threat in Azumarill while also running 220 Speed to outpace all Azumarill and Rotom-W, which creep them. This allows it always to take on Azumarill and completely neutralize Rotom-W. It does well against Water and Ground teams as well. Nidoking is placed there to take advantage of the Flying matchup; its attacks are fairly standard; we opted to use Substitute over a 4th attack to handle Flying teams better because there is no Mamoswine present on this team. Finally, we round the team off with a Kyurem check being Swords Dance Garchomp. Swords Dance Garchomp can break Kyurem's Substitute and OHKO it with Scale Shot, while it can also target Pokemon such as Galarian Moltres and Choice Specs Zapdos with Stone Edge. The best way to use this team would probably be to use Excadrill or Garchomp as the win-conditions. Being able to set Gravity and sand multiple times through the match is also very important. Against Ice teams, you want to prevent Alolan Ninetales from setting up Aurora Veil; you can then break through them with Excadrill and beat Avalugg with Nidoking. Overall, this team is excellent and definitely usable at every level of play.
Ice always feels lacking; while Heavy-Duty Boots did somewhat solve this, it still feels like the teams never complete. We had to make some compromises on sets to get all the utility and compression we wanted, such as not running Avalugg but using Rapid Spin on our Cloyster, which is also the anti-Steel Pokemon. Alolan Ninetales is a standard set. Piloswine is the specially defensive tank for the team, Stealth Rock setter, and Fire-type check to keep Volcarona and Mega Charizard X at bay. Cloyster after a Shell Smash can OHKO Mega Scizor with Hydro Vortex and take out Ferrothorn with Hidden Power Fire, making it a formidable foe to Steel teams, then we compressed it also to be the Rapid Spin user, so we had more room for offensive Pokemon. After we decided to add Speed control and raw power, Choice Scarf Weavile was added alongside Choice Band Galarian Darmanitan. Choice Scarf Weavile can take on Pokemon such as Choice Scarf Latios, Choice Scarf Victini, and Mega Aerodactyl. Galarian Darmanitan adversely has great coverage to support its Ice STAB to hit absolutely everything for neutral damage. Due to it having Gorilla Tactics and a Choice Band, every time this monster comes in, it will most likely claim a kill vs. any slower Pokemon. You should bring it in at opportune times through the match. U-turn also helps it pick up momentum. You definitely want to keep the field clear of hazards before bringing this Pokemon out, if possible. Finally, Substitute Kyurem was added as just a strong attacker and can stall Piloswine's Toxic out.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/...-1313396210-373qz7ajqdnoscc9qhdgig6eeqlpx68pw
Full Chatlog
Kommo-o Semiroom
DD Kyurem-B Offense
Showcase Replay:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8doublesou-1323562730
Full Chatlog
For this team, we decided to build around Kommo-o, which can win games outright with Clangorous Soul and good positioning. Aura Sphere was chosen here over Flamethrower to help against Heatran and Incineroar. The Clanger has a terrible time against Tapu Fini because of Misty Terrain, so Rillaboom and Metagross help a great deal there. Steel Roller Gross especially can be very powerful with the right positioning, there are only a few mons that can safely tank it. Zeraora was added to help answer Dragapult, and is a second fake out and a naturally fast mon. Finally, it was only decided pretty late that the team needed more speed control and still didn't have a great Pult or Zygarde matchup, so Volcanion and Porygon2 were added to complete a Semi Trick Room teamcomp. To reflect this, Rilla was given Wood Hammer for more power under Trick Room, and Gross is running Hammer Arm and AV. P2 is running Toxic over Thunderbolt to help with bulkier mons, as the coverage isn't necessary here.
As DOU's other hyphenated setup sweeper, Kyurem-Black uses raw bulk to DD in front of anything except its counters. Urshifu-R was added next for more immediate power and to discourage Intimidate and Protect, as Kyube already has a great Rilla matchup. Originally, Entei was picked for the next slot to help answer Kartana and Genesect, but it was decided later that a Scarf Gene of our own would be more reliable and leave fewer openings. Amoonguss pairs extremely well with DD Kyube, it redirects important hits with Rage Powder, can Pollen Puff to heal Kyube back up, and is a strong Trick Room check with Spore. Clear Smog helps with CM Fini. AV Tyranitar was added as a psychic immunity and general bulky attacker, as Psyspam has recently been on the rise. Finally, Zapdos is here for speed control with Tailwind. Volt Switch and Boots were chosen to help with positioning, as this team really wants to find openings to bring the damage dealers in.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8doublesou-1323562730
Full Chatlog
VGC Series 9 Workshop 05/07/2021
To welcome the new VGC Series 9 format, we built two teams, one around Celesteela and Garchomp, the other around Terakkion Dragapult Sun. Shoutouts to Raineko and zeefable for hosting and descriptions, as well as our VGC guests. Following this workshop, zee is also stepping down from TA auth to focus more on leading the VGC forum. Thanks for all of your hard work keeping the room going! Also, be sure to check out zee's VGC introduction!
SteelaChomp Offense
TerraPult Sun
Full Chatlog
To welcome the new VGC Series 9 format, we built two teams, one around Celesteela and Garchomp, the other around Terakkion Dragapult Sun. Shoutouts to Raineko and zeefable for hosting and descriptions, as well as our VGC guests. Following this workshop, zee is also stepping down from TA auth to focus more on leading the VGC forum. Thanks for all of your hard work keeping the room going! Also, be sure to check out zee's VGC introduction!
SteelaChomp Offense
The core of Celesteela and Garchomp served as the focal point for this team. The two complement each other extremely well, as Celesteela is a special attacker that can check the likes of Glastrier, Rillaboom, and Kartana, while Garchomp is a physical attacker that can answer Celesteela's threats like Incineroar, Rotom-H, and Zapdos. Both of these are capable Dynamax users too, which gives a lot of flexibility. Regieleki was added to have a means of speed control in Electroweb and a way to answer opposing Water-types, mostly Tapu Fini and rain cores, and can also Dynamax itself in the right situation. Clefairy and Incineroar came next to add some bulk to an otherwise offensive team, with the former being especially helpful for checking Urshifu-Single-Strike and providing Friend Guard, while the latter is great for crippling physical attackers like Glastrier and Landorus-T with Intimidate and Burning Jealousy. Urshifu-Rapid-Strike was an excellent way to round out the team, providing an additional check to Fire- and Ground-types as well as an offensive Pokemon who isn't so reliant on Dynamax.
While this team was intended to be made around Terrakion and Dragapult, we quickly decided to expand this to add Venusaur and Torkoal too. When the four Pokemon are combined, the user has a multitude of flexible offensive options including Beat Up on Terrakion for Justified, Dynamaxing Dragapult and letting Terrakion take advantage of the defense drops from Max Phantasm, sleeping threats with Venusaur, or even going for the G-Max Vinelash to consistently chip down the opponent. Safety Goggles Togekiss was the next Pokemon we decided to add, as it is an excellent partner for Dragapult, allowing it to handle the sun matchup with ease. Togekiss also has other perks like hard walling any Amoonguss without Sludge Bomb and making quick work of the Urshifu forms. Lastly, Porygon2 was added to both answer Ground-types like Landorus-T and Garchomp with its powerful Ice Beam and serve as a Trick Room setter to aid the offensive Torkoal set in freely spamming Eruptions.
SS OU Workshop 05/30/2021
For this time's SS OU workshop, we built two teams, one around Specs Kyurem and Zeraora, the other around Screens Grimmsnarl and Double Dance Terrakion. Shoutouts to Katy for helping me host, Tysonslayer for providing their expertise in chat, and t045t3r for writing up descriptions! We were a bit short staffed this time, so thanks again to all of the contributions from the chat as well!
Kyurem Zeraora Balance
Screens Double Dance Terrakion
Full Chatlog
For this time's SS OU workshop, we built two teams, one around Specs Kyurem and Zeraora, the other around Screens Grimmsnarl and Double Dance Terrakion. Shoutouts to Katy for helping me host, Tysonslayer for providing their expertise in chat, and t045t3r for writing up descriptions! We were a bit short staffed this time, so thanks again to all of the contributions from the chat as well!
Kyurem Zeraora Balance
Kyurem and Zeraora was our first poll winner! Offensively, they are both extremely synergistic as the two can heavily pressure each other's checks such as Landorus-Therian, Dragapult, Blissey, and specially defensive Clefable. Together, they define a core with formidable breaking power. We decided to add Dragonite and specially defensive Heatran as general bulk and insurance against threats to the main core such as Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, Volcarona, and opposing Heatran. Dragonite is also an alternative win condition with much more longevity than Kyurem. We then decided to add Scarf Tapu Fini, as a means to check central metagame threats like opposing Kyurem and Dragapult, and can also Defog in a pinch. Finally, Scizor was added for pivoting and as an additional check to Kyurem, sealing the build with a decently stable defensive core and rounding it out with extra consistency.
For our second team of the workshop, we decided to build around Double Dance Terrakion. The amount of offensive pressure it can exert paired with dual screens allowed us to take a fairly unique direction for a hyper offense team. We chose Grimmsnarl as our Screens user for the strong Dragapult matchup and the reliability of Prankster. Initially, the group was thinking about Megahorn on Terrakion to lure Pokemon such as Tangrowth and Slowbro, but All-Out-Attacker Nasty Plot Tornadus-T was chosen instead to lure the aforementioned checks. Bulk Up Zeraora was a fantastic fit for the team, as it provides great role compression as a check to VoltTurn, Dragapult, and Urshifu-R, while also being a strong sweeper in its own right. Hazards Mew with High Horsepower was added next specifically as an answer to Heatran and Excadrill along with the natural bulk and pressure from hazards. Finally, we added AV Tapu Bulu as a defensive answer to Urshifu-R, Zeraora, and Landorus-T. Tapu Bulu is also flexible enough to be used offensively and provides Grassy Terrain healing to the team if necessary, closing out this HO team.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1369377039-t1emaeg23en2uzmg7e8ephmgcqv7e9opw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1369387605-k80xjbft15m5xiypcslrb8y2g4z5sx8pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1369396107-6l12gv2le9uigxc7nevdl4cr9hm5wpbpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1369408187
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1369412863-3m6p7f9o5vc7uf60d5mbsvuau5mi7sapw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1369423010-mbj7wvxbxop75p65x56j1tjvjfuizt2pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1369387605-k80xjbft15m5xiypcslrb8y2g4z5sx8pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1369396107-6l12gv2le9uigxc7nevdl4cr9hm5wpbpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1369408187
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1369412863-3m6p7f9o5vc7uf60d5mbsvuau5mi7sapw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1369423010-mbj7wvxbxop75p65x56j1tjvjfuizt2pw
Ray Darm Bulky Offense
Kyu-W Marshadow Balance
Full Chatlog
The core we started out with is Choice Scarf Darmanitan-Galar and a Rayquaza of undetermined set. The two have great offensive synergy, overwhelming checks like Necrozma-DM with their strong attacks while also giving us speed control and fakespeed in Extreme Speed. We then added SpD Necrozma-DM for Stealth Rock and t-wave support, also giving us a Xerneas answer. Speed lets it outpace paralyzed Calyrex-S. Calyrex-S seemed extremely problematic and Defog was a must, so SpD Yveltal was added to cover both. U-turn on it gives us momentum to go into our breakers. Speed is enough to outspeed max speed base 90s like choice specs Kyogre and Groudon. Eternatus is our Kyogre answer and situational Marshadow check. Sitrus Berry allows us to invalidate Marshadow's Poltergeist and we opted for Mystical Fire over Flamethrower to have a better match-up vs CM ogre and Geoxern. Toxic hits Yveltal and other set up sweepers. Finally, Zarude was added as another ghost resist and an extremely solid answer to Ground-types like Groudon and Zygarde. the physically defensive set also helps against Zekrom, boosting alongside it with Bulk Up. We finally settled on making Rayquaza CB to give us that extra bit of oomph to allow Galarian Darmanitan to take over the game. This team plans to win proactively by always having a threat ready to take over the game, whether that's Rayquaza or G-Darm. If one of them dies, their shared checks in Kyogre, Groudon, and Necrozma-DM should be chipped enough that the other can take over afterwards.
The offensive core of the team aims to pressure opponents as hard as possible and punish them for predicting incorrectly. Marshadow uses Spectral Thief instead of Poltergeist due to the surge of Balloon Xerneas and Sitrus Berry Eternatus making it worse, while also giving us a good way to deal with set-up Groudon and Zygarde-C. Once more, Calyrex-S was an issue so we added Yveltal again. Stealth Rock and T-wave support was once more added through Necrozma-DM, and then SD Groudon was added as another win condition and a way to punish other Ground-types. Toxic Spikes was a suggestion to give us another win condition, pairing up well with our Thunder Wave users to force opponents into getting statused. Eternatus not only provides just that, but it also answers Kyogre. Boots is the item of choice to give us a better match up against webs which could otherwise be an issue. This team plans to force the opponent to switch very often in a futile attempt to find a Pokemon that properly covers your wallbreakers. Toxic Spikes + phazing from Eternatus means often enough walls that are sub-optimal are brought in and that gives you a free opportunity to go to your offensive core.
Xerneas Landorus Offense
Meteor Beam Eternatus
Full Chatlog
This team wants to utilise both Amoonguss's Rage Powder and Incineroar's Fake Out to position Xerneas to use Geomancy as freely as possible, letting it become a fearsome sweeper in the game. Landorus, Regieleki and Urshifu-R are used for immediate pressure that take on some of Xerneas's most common answers such as Incineroar, Nihilego and Zacian-C.
This team wants Eternatus to become super strong after using its Meteor Beam, with positional support from Incineroar and Rillaboom and speed control from Suicune. Rillaboom helps tackle problematic Ground-types such as Groudon, and Incineroar helps tackle Zacian-C. Regieleki is a secondary attacker, as well as speed control with Electroweb. Ditto gives the team a good matchup in many Restricted Pokemon, being able to transform into Zacian-C, Calyrex-S and Geomancy-boosted Xerneas and beat them all.
Arctozolt Hail
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1401061171
Raichu-A Offense
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1401064705-acghwlhx615j7j1jj0f5paldzk4o45vpw
Full Chatlog
Our first team was focused around Substitute + 3 Attacks Arctozolt and Ninetales-Alola. The extension of Hail with Icy Rock makes Arctozolt very potent with limited switch-ins and Substitute to take advantage of switches. Ninetales is running Moonblast to pressure Weavile, Kyurem, and Dragapult and Pain Split for longevity. Heatran was chosen as the next partner with its ability to take advantage of Steel-types and switch into Fire-types that could be a problem for Hail. Mandibuzz was the Flying-type of choice as it can switch into Grass-types and Dragapult without stacking weaknesses and provided Defog for hazard control. Since the team didn't have reliable switch-ins against Urshifu-R and Weavile, we decided that Calm Mind Tapu Fini was an excellent fit that can also function as another wincondition. Landorus-T closes up the team, giving it an Electric immunity and Stealth Rock setter as well as providing Slow U-turns to bring in Arctozolt and Tapu Fini safely.
Raichu-A Offense
The core for the second team focuses on Tapu Koko and Alolan Raichu, with Terrain Extender to provide full abuse for Alola-Raichu. We went with Psyshock over Psychic as it allowed for better pressure against Blissey and Galarian Slowking. Corviknight provided a lot for the main core such as Ground Immunity, hazard remover that can pressure Ferrothorn, and a check to Dragapult and Tapu Lele. Urshifu-R synergized well with the main core as it invited in Bulky-Water types and can U-Turn on them into Raichu to break through them. However, Urshifu-R is also able to pressure said Bulky Water-types with Thunder Punch, especially with the extended terrain duration. Since Urshifu-R lacks Aqua Jet in this team, we decided Toxapex was the best fit for the last slot, as it gave the team a water resist, a way to pressure bulky pokemon with Knock Off and Toxic, and our primary answer to Volcarona.
Full Chatlog
Zacian-C Offense
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8battlestadiumsingles-1414763520
Xerneas Screens
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8battlestadiumsingles-1414760074
The team functions to enable Zacian-C by covering a variety of its checks and getting in Zacian-C as often as possible safely with triple U-Turn. Zacian-C runs a bulky spread, just outspeeding base 110s with 4th move Wild Charge for Bulky Waters such as Toxapex. AV Rillaboom allows the team to better deal with Kyogre and Calyrex-Shadow as well as Knocking off Chansey and Porygon2's Eviolites. Landorus-T is the team's Zacian-C check with Stealth Rock to break potential Focus Sashes. Rock Tomb is there to deal with Volcarona and Moltres and for Speed Control. Mimikyu's Disguise allows it to pseudo check a variety of Pokemon and it serves as a secondary win condition and stopper in non-mirror matchups. Scarf Urshifu-RS is there for opposing Darmanitan-Galar lead and helps check fire types such as Volcarona, Heatran and Arcanine. Lastly, Porygon2 is there for Calyrex-Shadow and is also generally good at soaking up physical hits from Landorus-T and Garchomp as well as walling Zapdos whilst firing back with an Ice Beam.
Selection:
Vs. Mirror: Zacian, Landorus-T + 1
Vs. Calyrex-S: Zacian, then 2 of Rillaboom, Mimikyu, Porygon2, Urshifu-RS
Vs. Kyogre: Zacian, Rillaboom + 1
Vs. Eternatus: Zacian, Mimikyu + 1 if stall Rillaboom is good for Knock off or Lando for Rocks, Skarmory is difficult
Vs. Most other Restricted: Should be fine with Zacian-C + matchup picks
Vs. Necrozma Dusk Mane: Lando/P2 is needed
Selection:
Vs. Mirror: Zacian, Landorus-T + 1
Vs. Calyrex-S: Zacian, then 2 of Rillaboom, Mimikyu, Porygon2, Urshifu-RS
Vs. Kyogre: Zacian, Rillaboom + 1
Vs. Eternatus: Zacian, Mimikyu + 1 if stall Rillaboom is good for Knock off or Lando for Rocks, Skarmory is difficult
Vs. Most other Restricted: Should be fine with Zacian-C + matchup picks
Vs. Necrozma Dusk Mane: Lando/P2 is needed
Xerneas Screens
This team is a Screens offence aimed with Xerneas + Volcarona as primary sweepers, and then a secondary mode of Hippowdon + Dracovish for certain matchups. Ditto is there as a niche pick to dissuade opposing setup. The Grimmsnarl spread allows you to live 1 behemoth blade from Zacian-C after screens. Dual Screens, Spirit Break and then either Thunder Wave or Taunt is fine in the last slot. The Xerneas is Substitute to take advantage of status and weaker pokemon such as Chansey. Focus Blast is for Heatran, Zacian-C and other Steels. The spread allows Xerneas to live a Behemoth Blade into Quick Attack from Zacian-C under a Reflect and outspeed Jolly Dracovish. Volcarona is a secondary sweeper designed to be able to set up on Zacian-C under a Reflect. It has Psychic for Toxapex, and Giga Drain allows it to deal damage to Bulky Waters such as Kyogre and Tapu Fini. The secondary mode is Standard Hippowdon + Sand Rush Banded Dracovish, which can help in a variety of matchups when the opponent has Strong Xerneas/Volcarona checks. The Hippowdon spread lives two Behemoth Blades from Zacian-C after proccing Sitrus. Dragon Rush on Dracovish is a filler for when you need a flinch, Psychic Fangs can be used here instead.
Selection: Ideal Selection is Grimmsnarl, Xerneas and Volcarona
Sometimes teams will have significant counterplay, such as Zacian-C + Heatran in which case a different mode is needed.
Secondary mode is Hippowdon, Dracovish + 1 - You can even lead Xerneas then have this core later.
Ditto can be used Vs. Zacian-C teams without a good Zacian-C check or heavy setup teams.
Selection: Ideal Selection is Grimmsnarl, Xerneas and Volcarona
Sometimes teams will have significant counterplay, such as Zacian-C + Heatran in which case a different mode is needed.
Secondary mode is Hippowdon, Dracovish + 1 - You can even lead Xerneas then have this core later.
Ditto can be used Vs. Zacian-C teams without a good Zacian-C check or heavy setup teams.
Gengar Scarf Blacephalon Ghost
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8monotype-1433065836
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This workshop team was a Ghost team built around Brick Break Gengar and Scarf Blacephalon. Brick Break Gengar helps against types that abuse screens like Dark and Fairy. Spell Tag is the chosen item on Gengar as Shadow Ball is the most spammable move. The rest of the team is fairly standard, with setup on Spectrier, Aegislash, and Dragapult. Blacephalon and Red Card Mimikyu are for answering setup sweepers like Volcarona and Cinderace.
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Band Dragonite Magnezone
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1449990821-phrueoglw0sickr46772ykkd65knjphpw
Timid Kartana Screens HO
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1450023762-k0yboy0d7k5lh1rdv0d6555j7ctdnldpw
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This team was built around the core of Choice Band Dragonite and Magnezone, as Magnezone greatly benefits Dragonite by helping it against Steel-types like Corviknight and Ferrothorn. Tapu Fini and Landorus-T were added next as Defog and Stealth Rock support, while providing a Weavile check and Ground-type, respectively. They also easen the matchup against pokemon like Dragapult. Weavile, our next pick, acts as a good Ghost-resist and a good form of Speed Control along with Tapu Fini; its synergy with Dragonite and Magnezone also makes it a good pick for the team. Scizor rounds off the team with its Steel-typing and ability to soft check Kartana and check Tapu Lele and Kyurem.
Timid Kartana Screens HO
Our second team in this workshop is a Dual Screen Hyper Offense team featuring Speed boosting Kartana. Since this Kartana set struggles with the likes of Toxapex and Buzzwole, Galarian Moltres and Bulk Up Zeraora were chosen, as they can pressure shared checks like Toxapex, which can open up a lategame clean for Kartana. Scizor offers even more pressure on the likes of Corviknight and Toxapex, especially with Sand Tomb which can get rid of Toxapex entirely. Its useful Steel-typing also gives the team a better matchup against powerful Pokemon like Tapu Lele, which can be really hard to switch into otherwise. Garchomp was chosen as another wallbreaker to even further pressure Buzzwole, Corviknight and Landorus-T. Its Ground-typing and ability to switch into Heatran also greatly benefits the team. Lastly, to benefit all these setup sweepers, Light Clay Alolan Ninetales is used to give all of them easy setup opportunities behind its Aurora Veil.
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Belly Drum Azumarill
Scizor Raikou Balance
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspbattlefestivaldoubles-1466041117
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This team was built around Belly Drum Azumarill, which with the right support can win games outright. Moody Smeargle is its primary partner here, providing plenty of disruption with Fake Out, Follow Me, and Spore. Tailwind is also speed control support for the other members. 3 Attacks Garchomp beats Electrics, with Haban Berry to help with Latios and other dragons. Arcanine is the bulky Snarl set, which can mitigate a lot of opposing damage while still serving the traditional Fire role. Rotom-Mow rounds the team out defensively against things like Rain, and also serves as an answer to Gastrodon and other bulky Waters, which are otherwise problematic for this team. Finally, Nasty Plot Togekiss was added as another offensive option, as well a second Follow Me user if necessary. Overall, the team aims to win with BD Azu or NP Toge if possible, but has the tools to win traditionally too.
Scizor is very well placed in the Battle Festival Doubles meta, as it's a powerful answer to common threats like Latios, Togekiss, and Cresselia. Fitting the goodstuffs theme, Latios was added next, as it's one of the best Pokemon in the format. Raikou was added next for killing bulky Waters, while also providing damage reduction with Snarl and Reflect. Gastrodon answers Fires like Heatran, and solidifies the Rain matchup. Tyranitar was added as yet another Fire answer, as Gastrodon may still struggle against certain ones like Snarl Arcanine. It is also another setup wincon with Dragon Dance to give the team more options. Finally, Togekiss was added again in the last slot as a Follow Me user and general attacker. It runs Protect, which helps with Follow Me prediction, and there's no need for additional setup between Scizor and Tyranitar.
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Scizor + Weavile Offense
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1484031880
Double Dance Torterra Screens HO
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1484035216
Double Dance Torterra Hazard Stack
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This is a team built around a core of fairly standard Pokémon in the BDSP OU Metagame, Weavile and Scizor. The former's phenomenal offensive presence is well complemented by the latter's defensive profile, not to mention Scizor's ability to pivot Weavile safely in. This core struggles against Heatran and other steels, and thanks to the presence of Assurance Band Weavile the next step was to add hazards and something dealing with said Steels; Stealth Rock SD Garchomp was the first answer, with Yache Berry helping up keeping hazards up against Starmie, and Magnezone was the best tool complementing Scizor's presence and giving us the ability to get rid of Skarmory. Next up, noticing we're very weak against hazards, hurting all of our Pokémon's staying power - especially Weavile's -, we added Starmie, the best Rapid Spin user a offense can have, giving us another Heatran switch-in that lasts as well as the usual bulky water. Finally, we were weak to Stall, we lacked a Breloom answer, and a way to deal with any kind of Manaphy; a Pokémon that covered all these weakness was the unusual Rotom-Mow, here in Scarf fashion with TrickPlot.
Double Dance Torterra Screens HO
This team is a Dual Screens Hyper Offense centered around Double Dance Torterra, and we picked the best Screens lead in Azelf, and gave Yache Berry to Torterra to allow it to get many more setup opportunities on stuff like Latias and Starmie, and deny revenge killing from the likes of Weavile. Next, we added Life Orb MixChomp as it lures and breaks 2 common Torterra stopgaps in Skarmory and Tangrowth, and pressures Unaware Clefable, while breaking holes in teams for Torterra to clean. Then, we added Azumarill which we made into Mystic Water since it helped us basically secure the Stall MU (which Tort struggles in) as well as break down the opposing team for Tort, while also being able to clean late game as well. Haban Berry Support Tias is a really nice binding piece on HO’s, as it offers Healing Wish which is extremely useful for both Garchomp and Azu as they tend to get worn down easily, as well as function as a secondary check for Garchomp. Lastly, Sash Zam gives us a neat revenge killer vs stuff like Gengar and opposing Zam which can be troublesome.
Double Dance Torterra Hazard Stack
This is an alternate route we went with our Torterra, a hazard stack team, and we went with an interesting lead combo with double Sash Qwilfish and Mamoswine, as TSpikes is extremely useful for putting UnaClef into Tort range, as well as potentially taking down a key mon with Destiny bond. Mamo is also a great anti lead, as it is immune to Taunt and can force out stuff like Garchomp and Lati, and functions as a solid breaker in its own right on teams lacking hard counters. CM Latios is a great breaker, and in conjunction with the great hazard support can easily break / wear down opposing teams for Tort. Magnezone is a key member of the team, easily removing opposing Skarm (frees up Tort and Mamo), and Sciz (frees up Tort and Latios), and Specs boosted attacks make it scary in its own right. Lastly, Feraligatr gives us another breaker for the team as easily cleaves through them once weakened, and it synergises especially well with TSpikes poisoning Clefable, Quagsire, and Tangrowth, letting it break past them much easier.
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Z Kyurem Lopunny Offense
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1501528628-jny8jlug91keuh2hrnct7iwgsee5tnspw
SpDef Lando Bulk Up Corvi Balance
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1501532758
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The main premise of this team is to shut down defensive teams with Specs Tapu Lele + 3a Kyurem in order to clear the path for a safer Lopunny/Kartana or even Heatran endgame. The defensive backbone is simple: Helmet Landorus deals with strong physical threats like opposing Mega Lopunny and also acts as an Electric/Ground immunity, pivoting safely into Tapu Koko's Thunderbolts which otherwise overwhelm this team. Defog lets it remove annoying hazards which could be detrimental to this team. Heatran serves as the main defensive Steel-type and allows you to have a soft pivot into Scarf Lele and a hard switch-in to defensive mons like Toxapex (doesnt threaten spdef tran much if at all) and Ferrothorn, preventing them from setting up hazards or pestering the attackers this team carries. Offense teams often also get cleaned by Kartana alone, with assistance from Lele.
SpDef Lando Bulk Up Corvi Balance
The main wincon, surprisingly, is not Volcarona with this team. It's Bulk Up Corviknight! Although depending on the matchup, this can change quite easily. BU Corv is a sleeper threat in the current metagame and finds an easy time setting up on more common BO structures such as Lele + Lop + Fini + others with minimal assistance from its teammates. But, to support it, pokemon like Rotom-W exist to pressure out mons like Heatran which Corviknight cannot pressure stall reliably. Specs Koko provides more of an immediate offensive presence and gives Volcarona more breathing room to set-up and sweep as well. Volcarona runs a defensive spread here to best capitalise on its ability in Flame Body to try and punish U-turns from Lopunny/landorus by burning them, which can let Volc use them as a setup chance later on down the road. Thunder Wave Clefable obviously is just there to further support Corviknight by setting rocks and paralysing everything. Landorus also supports it by knocking off opposing Corviknights Leftovers, Zapdos' boots, Rotom-W's leftovers, among other stuff.
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Zacian Dialga Offense
Ice Rider Kyogre Trick Room
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This team aims to utilise the massive potential damage output of the big Steel restricted Pokemon. Dialga wants to Dynamax frequently, making its high Special Attack and great coverage an absolute boon. Zacian-C ends up being a great partner for this thanks to not needing Dynamax to deal major damage. With 2 big Steel-types on the team, Ground-types like Groudon, Seismitoad and Gastrodon could otherwise be somewhat of a problem, making Rillaboom a necessity. Grimmsnarl is used to enable the rest of the team, with a fully support oriented set. With a lack of diversity in the restricted Pokemon, Ditto helps to flex as a really potent attacker for the team, often copying opposing restricteds like Calyrex-Shadow. Urshifu follows the same logic as Zacian-C, able to dish out plenty of damage without the need for Dynamax.
This team is primarily focused on getting Trick Room up with one of the various setters to gain a speed control advantage. Mimikyu is capable of consistently achieving this with the combination of a Fake Out immunity, Mental Herb to stave off Taunt, and Disguise allowing it to take at least one hit. Calyrex-I and Stakataka are great attackers in Trick Room, both excellent at Dynamaxing and threatening much of the meta. Amoonguss is also great at utilising Trick Room turns, with its low Speed and access to Spore being a nuisance to several teams. Incineroar provides Fake Out and helps keep the likes of Zacian-C in check, which could otherwise be problematic. Kyogre functions as a means to beat opposing Incineroar while providing a long term wincon.
Specs Dragalge VoltTurn
Silvally-Dark VoltTurn
Agility Braviary Hazard Stack
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VoltTurn in NU works well because pivots are plentiful and wallbreakers are hard to handle. Look no further than Choice Specs Dragalge, a wallbreaker with STAB attacks boosted by Adaptability and coverage to beat virtually all walls, if not at least pivot out versus them thanks to Flip Turn. To facilitate wallbreaking opportunities, most of Dragalge’s teammates like Heliolisk, Talonflame, and Tsareena are all pivots as well. They also provide support with Talonflame’s Swords Dance and Tsareena’s Knock Off to break through or wear down troublesome walls; Protect users like Sylveon and Vaporeon scout and deter Dragalge, so setting up versus them or removing their Leftovers mitigates this issue. Stakataka and Quagsire function as a two-part defensive core that check most attackers well enough to provide safety turns for the rest of the offensive support. Where they may fall short, like against Blastoise and Starmie, they can at least pivot into weaker attacks and double into Heliolisk to regain momentum.
Sometimes on VoltTurn, less is more, so attackers like Choice Specs Dragalge may benefit more from a solid defensive core with clerics rather than piling on pivots. Sylveon itself is a defensive staple that creates switch-ins not through pivoting moves, but through passing Wish. This support along with Heal Bell is vital to keep the rest of the defensive core healthy. Quagsire is supported by another Steel-type, this time Copperajah, for the duo to cover most offensive threats; Chople Berry is great so Copperaja nets a safe switch-in versus special wallbreakers with Focus Blast like Dragalge and Exploud. VoltTurn elements remain with Rotom-C and Talonflame both working to bring in Dragalge as much as possible. They also wear down its checks like Escavalier and Snorlax through their pivoting and status spreading.
Sometimes on VoltTurn, less is more, so attackers like Choice Specs Dragalge may benefit more from a solid defensive core with clerics rather than piling on pivots. Sylveon itself is a defensive staple that creates switch-ins not through pivoting moves, but through passing Wish. This support along with Heal Bell is vital to keep the rest of the defensive core healthy. Quagsire is supported by another Steel-type, this time Copperajah, for the duo to cover most offensive threats; Chople Berry is great so Copperaja nets a safe switch-in versus special wallbreakers with Focus Blast like Dragalge and Exploud. VoltTurn elements remain with Rotom-C and Talonflame both working to bring in Dragalge as much as possible. They also wear down its checks like Escavalier and Snorlax through their pivoting and status spreading.
Silvally formes are notable in low tiers for their extra strong Multi-Attack and good coverage. While Silvally-Ground is usually the go-to, another forme like Silvally-Dark can work as well. Silvally-Dark punishes some attackers like Indeedee-F and Decidueye while breaking through Diancie thanks to Iron Head. Its U-turn supports the team by bringing in other attackers like Copperajah versus Sylveon and Tsareena versus Quagsire. Swords Dance Talonflame and Choice Scarf Starmie are additional pivots to complement this VoltTurn team and are capable of cleaning after Silvally-Dark breaks open crucial walls. Mudsdale and Copperajah are the defensive backbone of the team. Mudsdale also provides Stealth Rock and appreciates Silvally-Dark beating Xatu for it.
There are a lot of other VoltTurn teammates that can support Silvally-Dark. Dragalge and Choice Scarf Rotom-C are two great specially offensive pivots that work together with Silvally-Dark and punish some of the physical walls it fails to deter. Silvally-Dark also makes a Swords Dance duo with Escavalier, as the two share coverage and boosting capabilities to wear down shared checks like Quagsire, Talonflame, and Mudsdale to allow the other to sweep. Escavalier is also a necessary special wall for the defensive core to take Dragon and Fairy-type attacks from the likes of Dragalge and Sylveon, with Pallosand and Mantine functioning as physically defensive support.
There are a lot of other VoltTurn teammates that can support Silvally-Dark. Dragalge and Choice Scarf Rotom-C are two great specially offensive pivots that work together with Silvally-Dark and punish some of the physical walls it fails to deter. Silvally-Dark also makes a Swords Dance duo with Escavalier, as the two share coverage and boosting capabilities to wear down shared checks like Quagsire, Talonflame, and Mudsdale to allow the other to sweep. Escavalier is also a necessary special wall for the defensive core to take Dragon and Fairy-type attacks from the likes of Dragalge and Sylveon, with Pallosand and Mantine functioning as physically defensive support.
Hazard-stack offense needs a way to punish Defoggers, so why not try Defiant Braviary with Agility to turn a Defog into a potential cleaning opportunity? Braviary’s Flying / Fighting coverage is already very strong, and it utilizes its Normal STAB attack Facade so that it may still sweep versus burn spreaders like Talonflame, Vaporeon, and Weezing. Frosslass and Rhydon provide the Spikes, Stealth Rock, and spinblocking support necessary for this playstyle to function. The main sweepers are two Meteor Beam users in Starmie and Diancie. Meteor Beam allows the duo to both boost and attack in the same turn, preserving as much offensive momentum as possible. Choice Scarf Togedamuro preserves momentum as well thanks to blocking Volt Switch, and the fast U-turn + Nuzzle is beneficial for positioning the sweepers and creating setup opportunities.
Bulky offense Spikes teams are another way to utilize Agility Braviary as a Defog deterrent. Ferroseed. Diancie’s strong, mixed coverage already forces out most Defoggers and makes for a great Stealth Rock user. For Spikes, there’s Ferroseed, which also punishes Rapid Spin users like Tsareena and Dhelmise with Iron Barbs + Knock Off. Entry hazard chip damage works great with Silvally-Ground and Choice Scarf Rotom-C as their pivoting attacks rack up extra chip damage on their checks. Meteor Beam Starmie consolidates the roles of a wallbreaker and Rapid Spinner so the team is more offensive while not succumbing to opposing entry hazard playstyles.
Bulky offense Spikes teams are another way to utilize Agility Braviary as a Defog deterrent. Ferroseed. Diancie’s strong, mixed coverage already forces out most Defoggers and makes for a great Stealth Rock user. For Spikes, there’s Ferroseed, which also punishes Rapid Spin users like Tsareena and Dhelmise with Iron Barbs + Knock Off. Entry hazard chip damage works great with Silvally-Ground and Choice Scarf Rotom-C as their pivoting attacks rack up extra chip damage on their checks. Meteor Beam Starmie consolidates the roles of a wallbreaker and Rapid Spinner so the team is more offensive while not succumbing to opposing entry hazard playstyles.
Prep vs. Ox the Fox
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For our prep example, we chose Ox the Fox, a prominent OU player. From our scout obtained through https://fulllifegames.com/Tools/ReplayScouter/, we noticed a few commonalities across Ox's recent teams. Defensively, we noticed he often brings physically bulky steels like Melmetal, as well as high usage of Tapu Fini. Offensively, we saw a lot of ground attackers like Garchomp and Landorus, often paired with Weavile or Heatran.
For our team, we started with Choice Specs Volcanion, as it is a wallbreaker with a strong matchup against both Melmetal and Fini. Weavile was chosen next to help punish HO and pair well with Volcanion, completing our main offensive core. For the defensive side, we first chose Corviknight as it's an extremely solid answer to Grounds and clears hazards for Specs Volcanion. Next, we added Slowbro to patch up our weakness to Urshifu. It's also a great help in pivoting our attackers in safely with Teleport. To reliably answer Heatran and add Electric immunity, we started with Garchomp, but switched to SpDef Lando to help fix the Koko matchup. Finally, we rounded out the team with a Koko of our own, who answers Toxapex and helps with pivoting even more.
Of course, keep in mind that scouting and counterteaming is not 100% accurate. You can never know for sure what an opponent can bring, but taking the time to study how they play and what they like to bring can give a big edge in high stakes tournaments. Just make sure you don't neglect other matchups!
For our team, we started with Choice Specs Volcanion, as it is a wallbreaker with a strong matchup against both Melmetal and Fini. Weavile was chosen next to help punish HO and pair well with Volcanion, completing our main offensive core. For the defensive side, we first chose Corviknight as it's an extremely solid answer to Grounds and clears hazards for Specs Volcanion. Next, we added Slowbro to patch up our weakness to Urshifu. It's also a great help in pivoting our attackers in safely with Teleport. To reliably answer Heatran and add Electric immunity, we started with Garchomp, but switched to SpDef Lando to help fix the Koko matchup. Finally, we rounded out the team with a Koko of our own, who answers Toxapex and helps with pivoting even more.
Of course, keep in mind that scouting and counterteaming is not 100% accurate. You can never know for sure what an opponent can bring, but taking the time to study how they play and what they like to bring can give a big edge in high stakes tournaments. Just make sure you don't neglect other matchups!
Rillaboom Melmetal Offense
Blacephalon Aegislash Ghost-Spam
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Melmetal in Grassy Terrain has seen an increase in usage in the last few months, mainly thanks to xray and his Rillaboom Melmetal core, but we decided to put a twist on that core using Tapu Bulu as our Grassy Terrain setter instead. We decided to use a Swords Dance Tapu Bulu set with Toxic to take advantage of Melmetal's Protect while proving to be a very good breaker in its own right, as the Flying-types that love to switch into Horn Leech / Close Combat coverage definitely do not appreciate taking a Toxic and getting stalled out later in the game. The EV spread is to ensure we live 2 Choice Band Urshifu Surging Strikes after Stealth Rocks at 100% HP. Melmetal does its usual job of abusing the Earthquake reduction in terrain while gaining 12% HP a turn, proving to be very troublesome to kill in Grassy Terrain.
We noticed a Fire-type weakness on this team, so we decided to go with another Pokemon that abuses terrain, Volcanion. Bulky Volcanion proves to be incredibly useful vs things like Volcarona and Heatran, and it also loves the Earthquake reduction scaring out things like Landorus-Therian when in Terrain. With a core of Tapu Bulu, Melmetal, and Volcanion, this team could be very susceptible to Hyper Offence, and even things like Choice Scarf Kartana could be very annoying for this team to deal with, so we went with Choice Scarf Latios. The Future Sight support Latios provides makes the Balance matchup very easy, and while it is weaker than Tapu Lele, the speed tier in outspeeding Choice Scarf, or Timid +1 Kartana is very important for this team. It is also very nice vs HO as it is not scared out by DD Dragapult, and can revenge kill things like +1 Garchomp if Tapu Bulu had previously fainted dealing with something else. As speed control is not an issue for us, and Grassy Terrain being on the team, Bisharp was chosen as the second Future Sight abuser. CB Bisharp is stronger than Weavile, and it serves as a secondary Steel-type that appreciates the Earthquake reduction in Grassy Terrain. It works very well against fatter teams in general, but against more offensive-oriented teams it will typically just try to get Sucker Punch damage off.
Finally, with a Ground-type and Stealth Rocker needed in the last slot, offensive Landorus-Therian was selected. Typically, Garchomp is common in this slot on Grassy Terrain teams, but we decided to go with Normal Gem Explosion Landorus-Therian to give this team a U-Turner which it previously lacked and a way to chip and guarantee Stealth Rocks vs things such as other defensive Landorus which can be annoying to deal with if we do not always have Terrain up, as it can hit 3 of our Pokemon super effectively with Earthquake and U-Turn out on Latios. Landorus feels free to Defog on opposing Landorus as well, so hitting it with Explosion as they try to do that is very useful. This team also plays very offensively, so understanding what is most important to win games is essential, but with Tapu Bulu, Volcanion, Landorus and Melmetal having very great complementary defensive typings, it is very easy to use those 3 as pivots while you try to get in a position to start breaking.
We noticed a Fire-type weakness on this team, so we decided to go with another Pokemon that abuses terrain, Volcanion. Bulky Volcanion proves to be incredibly useful vs things like Volcarona and Heatran, and it also loves the Earthquake reduction scaring out things like Landorus-Therian when in Terrain. With a core of Tapu Bulu, Melmetal, and Volcanion, this team could be very susceptible to Hyper Offence, and even things like Choice Scarf Kartana could be very annoying for this team to deal with, so we went with Choice Scarf Latios. The Future Sight support Latios provides makes the Balance matchup very easy, and while it is weaker than Tapu Lele, the speed tier in outspeeding Choice Scarf, or Timid +1 Kartana is very important for this team. It is also very nice vs HO as it is not scared out by DD Dragapult, and can revenge kill things like +1 Garchomp if Tapu Bulu had previously fainted dealing with something else. As speed control is not an issue for us, and Grassy Terrain being on the team, Bisharp was chosen as the second Future Sight abuser. CB Bisharp is stronger than Weavile, and it serves as a secondary Steel-type that appreciates the Earthquake reduction in Grassy Terrain. It works very well against fatter teams in general, but against more offensive-oriented teams it will typically just try to get Sucker Punch damage off.
Finally, with a Ground-type and Stealth Rocker needed in the last slot, offensive Landorus-Therian was selected. Typically, Garchomp is common in this slot on Grassy Terrain teams, but we decided to go with Normal Gem Explosion Landorus-Therian to give this team a U-Turner which it previously lacked and a way to chip and guarantee Stealth Rocks vs things such as other defensive Landorus which can be annoying to deal with if we do not always have Terrain up, as it can hit 3 of our Pokemon super effectively with Earthquake and U-Turn out on Latios. Landorus feels free to Defog on opposing Landorus as well, so hitting it with Explosion as they try to do that is very useful. This team also plays very offensively, so understanding what is most important to win games is essential, but with Tapu Bulu, Volcanion, Landorus and Melmetal having very great complementary defensive typings, it is very easy to use those 3 as pivots while you try to get in a position to start breaking.
Ghost-spam in OU has been one of the most experimented-with playstyles throughout the course of the generation, as with the small number of ghost resists in this tier, a lot of people have been attracted to this core. Our team is centered around the core of Choice Specs Blacephalon and SD Aegislash, which does an incredible job at abusing the lack of real switchins to ghost types. Choice Specs Blacephalon is the main breaker and is really typically clicking Shadow Ball or Flamethrower, but the Trick Taunt combination works very well when dealing with things like Blissey, which, when paired with Aegislash makes the stall matchup very easy. SD Aegislash is one of the most annoying Pokemon for stall to deal with, as it completely destroys Unaware Clefable, which is the most common Unaware user on stall. Against more offensive teams, Aegislash will typically serve as something that gets one strong STAB hit off and potentially a Shadow Sneak before dying.
Pivoting moves such as U-Turn are a must-have on Ghost-spam teams, as without them, it is almost impossible to create situations where your Ghost types can start breaking holes in the opposing teams. This team was oriented towards a more offensive playstyle as the nature of Ghost-spam is to be offensive, so instead of building a defensive core around these two Ghosts, strong pivots with great defensive typings for this team were preferred instead. Urshifu-Rapid-Strike and Landorus-Therian are two U-Turn users that are essential for this team. Urshifu's ability to resist Dark-type attacks makes things like Weavile, which would otherwise be extremely threatening menial to deal with. Our Ghosts also love coming in on things that Urshifu U-turns out of, including Slowbro, Clefable, Rillaboom, Skarmory and more. Landorus-Therian provides our team with the essential Ground-type for dealing with Electrics and a very solid Ground immunity which we were previously weak to, making it the perfect pivot for this team.
Galarian-Moltres fits the bill of abusing things that threaten this team, in this case, the idea was opposing Ghost types. Being able to set up on Ghost types locked into Ghost moves works wonders for this team, as even if one of our Ghosts gets revenge killed, we are still able to create an advantage out of it. Finally, Choice Scarf Kartana is another example of a good defensive typing on an offensive Pokemon working great as paired with a Choice Scarf makes Kartana very nice for cleaning late-games after our Ghost types have punched holes in teams. This team is not meant to be played defensively, so keeping up momentum is very important and playing aggressively to ensure the Ghost types can take advantage of any opportunity they can get is essential.
Pivoting moves such as U-Turn are a must-have on Ghost-spam teams, as without them, it is almost impossible to create situations where your Ghost types can start breaking holes in the opposing teams. This team was oriented towards a more offensive playstyle as the nature of Ghost-spam is to be offensive, so instead of building a defensive core around these two Ghosts, strong pivots with great defensive typings for this team were preferred instead. Urshifu-Rapid-Strike and Landorus-Therian are two U-Turn users that are essential for this team. Urshifu's ability to resist Dark-type attacks makes things like Weavile, which would otherwise be extremely threatening menial to deal with. Our Ghosts also love coming in on things that Urshifu U-turns out of, including Slowbro, Clefable, Rillaboom, Skarmory and more. Landorus-Therian provides our team with the essential Ground-type for dealing with Electrics and a very solid Ground immunity which we were previously weak to, making it the perfect pivot for this team.
Galarian-Moltres fits the bill of abusing things that threaten this team, in this case, the idea was opposing Ghost types. Being able to set up on Ghost types locked into Ghost moves works wonders for this team, as even if one of our Ghosts gets revenge killed, we are still able to create an advantage out of it. Finally, Choice Scarf Kartana is another example of a good defensive typing on an offensive Pokemon working great as paired with a Choice Scarf makes Kartana very nice for cleaning late-games after our Ghost types have punched holes in teams. This team is not meant to be played defensively, so keeping up momentum is very important and playing aggressively to ensure the Ghost types can take advantage of any opportunity they can get is essential.
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