1. The Concept
Post-Home in SVOU I have been using a lot of Fighting spam Offence teams with multiple Fighting types, reaching a previous peak at >2000 on ladder using Trailblaze Urshifu-Rapid-Strikes before it was banned. Despite similar concepts being viable with teams composed of fighting types selected from Zamazenta, Sneasler, Iron Valiant, Great Tusk, and even questionable picks like Iron Hands, Quaquaval and Heracross, none have been nearly as successful as before. Likely my most used pokemon since Home dropped has also been Rillaboom, with Terrain Extender on Balance supporting bulkier teams and enabling Grassy Seed sets on Sneasler. While I have combined the two before, I decided to build with actual usable hazard setters and removal in Great Tusk and Ting Lu, with the last mon varying over testing until finally Cresselia was selected. Do not come here looking for fake concepts like "Defensive Answers" and "Flying Resists", all you need in life is Fighting types and the Urge to Kill.
Ladder peak while using the team, I also used this team to get reqs for the ongoing Kingambit suspect test.
Link to Team
A clip from Blunder's OLT stream of me in the 1900s vs an OLT player using Psyspam. (The start of the game is not shown but it plays out from a point where their Sneasler had gone down to the end.)
A replay of a previous version of the team, same spreads on every mon but with max HP Zapdos over Cresselia. This is usable but not recommended due to a poor MU against many of the popular stall teams currently on ladder. Note that Cress beats every mon on the opposing team aside from Gambit, which is a part of what inspired the change.
2. The Team
Treacherous Spins (Great Tusk) @ Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 120 HP / 128 Atk / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Ice Spinner
- Rapid Spin
- Bulk Up
As usual, Great Tusk provides incredible role compression, as a form of hazard removal who can also potentially sweep himself. Without Tera Water, the rain matchup is entirely reliant on sacking into their Wave Crashers and revenging with Sneasler, but this is prone to being stopped by Zapdos; Terastallization lets Tusk eat a crash and deal back serious damage or even kill with Headlong. Ice Spinner lets you hit Dragonite, Zapdos, Landorus and Enamorus in one, Stone Edge or Head Smash can alternatively be run to deal with Moltres and hit Zapdos and Enam harder but the shaky accuracy and inability to hit Landorus hurts hard. Bulk Up turns the set into a potential win-con, and 1v1s late-game Kingambit in case the team's other answers are weakened. Leftovers improves longevity, and max speed Jolly is key to outspeeding Gholdengo and speed tying Jolly Baxcalibur while a mix of HP and attack investment allows for Tusk to easily come in on weaker mons or resisted hits without nerfing its offensive capability.
Michael Vick (Zamazenta) @ Leftovers
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Body Press
- Heavy Slam
- Crunch
- Iron Defense
Iron Defense 3 Attack Zamazenta is a monster, with Heavy Slam dealing with fairies like Enamorus and Iron Valiant and Crunch hitting Galarian Slowking, Gholdengo and Dragapult. This invalidates almost any physical attacker 1v1, especially on the initial switch in where even a Life Orb Glaive Rush from Baxcalibur will not 2HKO. Tera Steel walls most Glowking sets while also flipping its Psychic and Fairy weaknesses and guaranteeing an OHKO with Heavy Slam into both Val and Enam; Tera Electric is an alternative that walls Zapdos and blocks both Static and Glowking T-Wave, but I find that the resistances of Steel are more valuable. Max def gives great physical bulk and maximises the strength of Body Press, allowing for this set to beat max HP Zamazenta 1v1 without Tera involved, and max speed Jolly outspeeds Meow and Gren as well as punishing non-Timid/Jolly Pult hard. Leftovers is necessary due to this mon's nature as a near-universal defensive check and an ID sweeper.
Creepin' (Sneasler) (F) @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Unburden
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dire Claw
- Close Combat
- Night Slash
- Swords Dance
The number of games you will win with Sneasler alone will have you questioning whether this mon should be legal in SVOU, with Dire Claw's Hax chance only adding to what is basically Mega Hawlucha. Grassy Seed lets you live any form of priority while outspeeding the entire unboosted metagame with the given spread aside from opposing Jolly Sneasler, with 330 speed outpacing Adamant Floatzel in the rain, and still allowing you to outspeed base 100s which is crucial against Static from Zapdos. The HP EVs mean that under Grassy Terrain defensive Tusk never 2HKOs with EQ. While Acro is a strong option on Sneasler, the team already has multiple answers to opposing Tusk and the ability to kill all offensive Ghold with +2 Night Slash, along with +2 Tera Dark Night Slash OHKOing max defensive Ghold and any non-Colbur Glowking, is far too valuable for a team where these mons can pose an issue to Zamazenta. Tera Dark ensures these kills while also blocking Future Sight, and even unboosted Tera Dark Night Slash OHKOs offensive Dragapult without hazards.
Ball W/O Lu (Ting-Lu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 200 HP / 92 Def / 216 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
Ting Lu, the universal wall of OU. Nothing unboosted OHKOs this mon and bringing this in on pivots like Glowking, Zapdos, Moltres and Amoonguss easily lets you stack up hazards and force them to give you free switches/turns with defog or spin. Make no mistake, this is not a typical hazard stack team as not only is there no Ghold, you have no spin blocker apart from the occasional Tera Ghost Lu for matchups where tera'ing any other mon does not seem necessary, but especially into teams with their only removal option (Tusk) typically thrown away to prevent a Sneasler or Zama sweep this mon can work wonders. Earthquake is not ideal on a Grassy Terrain team so Heavy Slam can be ran instead to hit Enamorus and Valiant, but Rilla is not terrain extender so with testing I have found EQ more reliable. Mixed defences allow you to take on physical threats while still stonewalling many special attackers, which is incredibly useful against teams where you can pop Booster Energy on multiple pokemon by simply clicking whirlwind multiple times; I had a game where Tera Ghost Lu popped 3 Grassy Seeds and a Booster Energy, which led to the opponent forfeiting immediately. Tera Ghost is neutral to most threats which would force tera such as DD Bax, DD Dragonite and most Sneasler, while also providing this spinblocking utility. Do not throw this away as a lead hazard stacker unless you foresee a good lead matchup as Lu is far more useful than that.
Iron Bands (Rillaboom) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Grassy Surge
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- U-turn
The greatest team support you could ever ask for, Rillaboom is one of the most reliably useful pokemon I've used post-Home with the ability to proc Grassy Seeds, weaken Tusk EQs for Sneasler and give any grounded mon an extra leftovers; the key is building a team where you get more value from that than your opponent. Jolly lets you outspeed Dragapult and scarf Gholdengo, and while Knock Off does not KO either it significantly helps the rest of the team. Knock Off is also crucial vs Zapdos and Moltres, as rocks puts both in +2 Sneasler range. Wood Hammer is incredibly strong, 2HKOing most neutral targets and even max atk Cinderace, and Tera Grass is occasionally useful to push this over the edge to include 2HKOing Pex, Ghold and max HP Zapdos, as well as OHKOing spdef Clodsire, physdef Tusk and Walking Wake who is otherwise a threat to this team. Drain Punch is rarely clicked but provides valuable coverage against Kingambit trying to switch in for free, and U-turn lets you bring in sweepers while also serving to break Focus Sash on lead pokemon like Hisuian Samurott.
Saint Laurent Cres (Cresselia) @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 248 HP / 208 Def / 52 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
Throughout the entire teambuilding process, there has been one universal constant; The whole team gets 12-0'd by Unaware. This slot was previously filled by Zapdos, but after one too many stall losses Tera Poison Cresselia takes its place as an incredibly bulky Stored Power sweeper who beats Ditto due to its much higher HP pool, although Tera Steel is the most optimal set if you are struggling with stall as this both walls Toxapex and 1v1s Ditto. Leftovers is also viable for more utility if Cress is coming in multiple times, but Grassy Seed makes you hit the field with 443 HP and 507 Def, which lets you 1v1 most physical attackers while most special attackers struggle particularly against Tera Poison. Enamorus' Moonblast-EP combo is walled by Poison + Levitate, while special Valiant cannot hit you hard and physical Valiant does 15-18 with Knock Off even before Tera. This set struggles with Kingambit using it as setup fodder and benefits heavily from the rest of the team being able to deal with that, although the given EV spread allows for you to outspeed even Jolly Kingambit and after 3 or 4 Calm Minds Moonblast does too much to them. Moonlight is necessary to remain healthy.
3. Team Use
As mentioned previously, this is NOT a Hazard Stack team; Lu only leads into teams where it will have a good lead MU such as vs Grimmsnarl, Pult or Glowking, and typically Scarf Rilla is a better lead to Knock Off into Flying types/Dragapult, U-turn on Samurott-H and claim a free Wood Hammer into the wrong lead. Depending on the opposing team structure, Sneasler can be used as a breaker to claim kills and open the way for Zama to sweep, or as a late game cleaner. It is even viable to U-turn into Sneasler on Samurott-H turn 1 if they don't have a solid answer, since often they can't safely kill you in 1 hit even after taking out the Samurott and you can blow holes in teams for Zama to exploit with a surprise Tera Dark Night Slash into Ghold/Glowking. Rilla and Sneasler are Female for Cute Charm Enamorus after a traumatic experience with Wood Hammering into one and getting immobilised next turn, preventing me from killing on the next hit.
The most important tool against Flying types that this team with 4 Flying-weak pokemon and no resist has is Knock Off, as both Zapdos and Moltres are near necessary switch ins to Rillaboom and even if Rilla gets burnt it's typically worth it. Even throwing away a Sneasler to get 80% off on a defensive Zap is often a viable play, as this will put it into Body Press range for Zama and that can be enough to sweep. Landorus-T is also an issue as it can bring Sneasler sweeps to a crashing halt with Intimidate + resisting its dual STAB, but its lack of reliable recovery often lets you get off Wood Hammers on it to permanently remove its ability to act as a check turn 1.
Lu is always a free switch in to Glowking, Zap, Moltres, Amoonguss, and Ghold, despite not being able to touch 2 of these. These are the opportunities to get up rocks or spikes even if they have a Cinderace, as the team does not mind having hazards on both sides and Tusk is often able to spin due to it outspeeding and KOing non-Scarf Ghold. Against rain, Lu is a solid lead as Pelipper doesn't do much to you, although it's often better to lead Rilla and U-turn into Lu to bait Hurricane and get 12.5% recovery per turn. Both Tera Ghost Lu and Tera Water Tusk are very useful tools into rain, although it is important to keep Lu alive for the Zapdos and the Ground typing can help with that. Sneasler outspeeds any pokemon on rain apart from Jolly Floatzel, and almost all Floatzel run Adamant (don't hold me to this though if you run into one), and Zama can guaranteed take a Tera Water Wave Crash from full and KO back with Body Press if this is ever necessary. Tera Dark Sneasler also takes any hit from defensive Pelipper, giving you an opportunity to set up +2 or sometimes get to +4 to OHKO the Zapdos if you have already dealt with their Aqua Jet mons. Whirlwind Lu is key into HO, as burning Booster can ruin an opponent's whole game plan and prevent them from revenging your sweepers; make sure to preserve enough HP for this.
4. Threats
The biggest threats to this team defensively, as mentioned before, are Zapdos and Moltres. These both sit on most of your physical sweepers, spread status and generally are annoying, and your main counterplay is using them as opportunities to stack hazards and knocking off their boots as they come in on Rilla, although they are both setup fodder for Cresselia. Additionally, Ghold, Galarian Slowking and Amoonguss can handle Zamazenta pretty well, so it's good to break these with Sneasler before attempting a Zama sweep. Dondozo walls 4, and your primary way of breaking it on stall is with Stored Power Cress; Tera Dark Dozo handles this set but once it Teras, you can then whirlwind it out and it no longer beats Sneasler. Stall Toxapex is an issue despite Sneasler and Tera Cress sitting on it, as it forces Cress to Tera Poison which loses it the Ditto MU, so attempting to sweep with Cress is only really viable if you are already at +2 when the Pex comes in as this will kill most Pex. Garg with Tera Fairy gets off Salt Cures for free on a lot of your mons, although Terrain + Lefties negates this pretty well and Cress can recover it off while using it as setup fodder due to a Body Press resistance + EQ immunity.
Offensively, you have no solid switch in to Specs Wake/Enamorus/Valiant and it's easy for your Bax answers to get worn down as Tusk and Zama's only recovery comes from Leftovers + Terrain. Dragapult is also one of the only solid revenge killers to Zamazenta, though Tera Steel stops them from killing with Draco if you're ~70%. Watch out for Will-O Pult though, as this will waste your Tera entirely. Tera Poison Cress is your only real answer to Sneasler aside from Tera Ghost Lu, who can whirlwind it out to burn its Unburden, and Lu is also very useful to burn Booster Energy on Tusk, Moon and Valiant who can be hard to consistently answer with the speed/attack boost. Volcanion can also be an issue, and Wave Crash users on rain often force Tera, but the general structure of the team is to kill them before they kill you. Funnily enough for a triple fighting team, Kingambit can be an issue too and forcing them to Tera a different mon is often the best approach to dealing with it. Tera Fairy with Tera Blast destroys everything bar Cress and Tera Steel Zama and Tera Flying is annoying, although Zama and Tusk still beat it 1v1.
Offensively, you have no solid switch in to Specs Wake/Enamorus/Valiant and it's easy for your Bax answers to get worn down as Tusk and Zama's only recovery comes from Leftovers + Terrain. Dragapult is also one of the only solid revenge killers to Zamazenta, though Tera Steel stops them from killing with Draco if you're ~70%. Watch out for Will-O Pult though, as this will waste your Tera entirely. Tera Poison Cress is your only real answer to Sneasler aside from Tera Ghost Lu, who can whirlwind it out to burn its Unburden, and Lu is also very useful to burn Booster Energy on Tusk, Moon and Valiant who can be hard to consistently answer with the speed/attack boost. Volcanion can also be an issue, and Wave Crash users on rain often force Tera, but the general structure of the team is to kill them before they kill you. Funnily enough for a triple fighting team, Kingambit can be an issue too and forcing them to Tera a different mon is often the best approach to dealing with it. Tera Fairy with Tera Blast destroys everything bar Cress and Tera Steel Zama and Tera Flying is annoying, although Zama and Tusk still beat it 1v1.
5. Final Note
Never posted anything on RMT before but been building for a minute now, was inspired to after getting reqs for the Kingambit suspect pretty easy and reaching top 100 on my main with it during OLT.
Shoutout myself cus I build solo, proud of the nicks more than anything haha
Also shoutout the Agency cord for the mental support as I try throw mons at the wall of OU til they stick, been posting in there for a while and idm any q's either here or on Discord at KyleJD.
