SM Ubers Uber HO-OH Stall

[michael45]

Introduction​

Hi there, this is my first rate my team ever so hopefully I can get some good tips. Ive been playing with this team a lot and so far have been having decent success, its been doing very well though does have its flaws so hopefully I can find some ways to improve it.

A few things about the team, its a stalling team with Ho-oh as its main offensive threat. I wanted to make a team that was around Ho-oh (my favourite legendary) and after a bit of messing around came up with this team.

A few things about suggestions for the team.
1) Ho-oh has to stay its the main reason I made this team, it's moves and EVs can be changed entirely but I always want it on the team. All other team members are replaceable
2) I would rather avoid putting Primal Groudon on the team if necessary, I know its the best pokemon in the tier I would just like to avoid it If I can.
3) Id like the team to remain defensive and stall based if possible I have had quite a lot of fun with this in showdown.

And without further waffling onto the team.

Teambuilding Process​

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Ho-Oh is the main start for this team, I wanted it as it has a great mix of offensive power and defensive capabilities it has strong attack and STAB moves but also has defensive options in regenerater and recover and is also the main offensive threat to the team

When I decided this was gonna be a stall team I originally put Giratina on this slot as I read it paired well with Ho-oh due to defog and Phasing options however after some testing I have found Giratina O to work better so far, It is a great check to Primal Groudon also has defog (very important to the team) and can also can finish off weaker targets

Ah Magearna... possibly my favourite addition I needed a cleric on my team and magearna was my best choice due to its ability to completely shut down Geomancy Xerneas.

(Arecus Water)Insert obligatory Arceus form here. I needed a second Defogger as Rocks were such a detriment to Ho-Oh and Giratina Had little recovery, of all the support Arceus form I decided to go with water due to it covering some resistances and defogging and statusing like a pro, However this is most likely the most replaceable member

(Mega Sableye)I thought I should definitely add a mega into the mix and what better mega for stall teams then Sableye! I wanted its magic bounce for even more hazard protection and its immunities make switching it in quite easy.

Ferrothorn was the last addition as i needed something to set up hazard myself (instead of just getting rid of them) and something to stop Primal Kyogre from rampaging through my team and who does both of those things better then Ferrothorn!

The Team​

Ho-Oh @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 104 HP / 252 Atk / 152 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Recover
- Toxic
- Earthquake
​

As said before Ho-oh is the main reason for this team. I decided to go with a more Offensive build ( a lot of my EVs are just smogon suggested ones) as a way of finishing of after all the Toxic does its damage, Leftovers helps keep it alive while keeping its moves open to change. speaking of moves Sacred fire and recover are staples obviously, Toxic for that extra status on switches and the final slot I have been playing around with earthquake has decent coverage and gets the last hit on a Primal Groudon who thinks hes gonna have an easy switch, I also ruins Mega Gengar.

Ho-Ohs main roll is To hit stuff and hit it hard it deals with steel types fantastically and the burns from Sacred fire can really shut down some physical sweepers

A few changes I have considered is the changing of earthquake to brave bird which obviously hits hardest, I have tested it and so far prefer Earthquake but I need to look into it a bit more, Also toxic is seen a LOT on my team so may not be necessary on Ho-oh further coverage or whirlwind maybe?

Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Draco Meteor
- Toxic
- Defog
​

Giratina Works fantastically as a Groudon switch in its bulk and typing also allow it to switch in to others easy. Its main role is defog as Ho-oh hates rocks so much and defog is necessary. It has other uses though to Its a fanatic toxic spreader able to tank a few hits even those that are super effective, and if everything is already status with toxic or burns from sacred fire Hex just tears through them Draco Meteor is always a good Hard hitting attack if the target doesnt have status and you need it gone now. However offensive usefulness aside its main roll is always defog.

The main issue with Giratina O is recovery.. or lack of it with no wish support on my team despite its bulk there no way to heal Giratin which means I have to be careful how I use it If I wanna use its more offensive stuff this is where Giratina could be better but so far have found the stronger attacks more useful.

Magearna @ Leftovers
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heart Swap
- Fleur Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Heal Bell
​

I LOVE this thing, I needed a cleric as status ws my own worst nightmare and when I saw what this thing can do to geomancy Xearneas I had to have it. Switch in maybe tank a hit then heart swap all of those stat boosts away and get a free kill either on the xearneus or whatever they decide to switch in possibly more. If its Z-Geomancy evern better as that means I get a free turn when I use Heart swap, Magearna is also my main switch in to dragons, being immune to their attacks and being able to Fleur Cannon them (when the damn thing hits) volt switch acts a great pivot and healbell is there for cleric stuff.

The issue with Magearna is coverage if something resists Fairy there is little it can do even with all those stolen Stat boosts, Volt switch is too useful to give up and The support moves is why Magearna is necessary anyway classic 4-moveslot syndrome

Arceus-Water @ Splash Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Recover
- Toxic
- Ice Beam
​

Arceus is my second, and normally primary defogger its can switch in super easy, defog, get a toxic off and hit whatever with Ice beam, its speed and bulk make it my main source of spreading Toxic and recover makes it able to stall out anything that's not Kyogre. I went with water... primarily because I didn't know which other support arceus form to go with. but so far has been super valuable.

Its main weakness has been its complete and total lack of offensive ability, Yeah Ice beam is good for those dragons and Mega Salamance but its not normally doing much besides toxic stalling, Luckily thats the point of the team so it doing it as well as it does doesn't affect it to much.

Sableye-Mega @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 24 Def / 232 SpD
Calm Nature
- Fake Out
- Foul Play
- Recover
- Toxic
​

Sableye Is my primary lead, while not always in the lead Fake out means i dotn have to worry about it always being able to mega evolve. it also Laughs in the face of statud and hazard leads such as Smeargle and Deoxys S and D who reel in horror as they cannot do a damn thing to it. Foul Play has incredible ability to get rid of some annoying pokemon for my team too. Aeigislash is ruined by it and Solgaleo and Necrozma DM are.... well they are still hurt pretty bad by it. Magic bounce is also valuable throughout the entire game especially on a team wheere hazards and status can be such a problem.

Sableyes main issue is 4-moveslot syndrome If i could somehow have Fake out and Knock off on I definitely would, however Foul play has been too valuable. Also it is easily set up on by sweepers that are not weak to dark, Mega Salamance and Groudon come to mind however toxic does help with this.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Power Whip
​

It Sets up hazards, It counter Kyogre, It can Stall Like mad, honestly what more does it need to do to fit on the team leech seed and rocks are invaluable to this team and combined with protect and all the Toxic on my team and it can stall out Pokemon that even threaten it normally. So far a Fantastic addition.

Conclusion​

Here I will go through some main Threats to my team that I could use some suggestions for dealing with.

STEEL TYPES - If Ho-oh goes down these things become a problem, All other types can be Toxic and stalled but steel laughs that off, and can sometimes run through my team, luckily a lot of big steel types have secondary types I can take advantage of Looking at you Necrozma DM.

FAIRY TYPES (That are not Geomancy Xearneus) - The main one here is Fairy Arceus who can sometimes cause problems, I dont have any specific moves to take them down and their coverage often leaves switch ins hard to do, my main answer to them so far is Toxic stalling, thank god they are not immune to poison.

PHASING- I have at the moment no way of Phasing set up sweepers accept Magearnas Heart Swap while some this works well against against physical sweepers it doesn't really help magearna at all and doesn't stop them from jsut setting up more and if substitute is involved then there are more issues if they get it off before Toxic. Most Toxic can deal with well but some can become a problem (one specific one listed below)

ZYGARDE - Particularly Sub-Dance Variants cause problems, Thousand Arrows makes switching in really hard and if I don't get him Toxic there isn't a whole lot I can do to stop him once he gets going if Arceus water is down.

MEGA SALAMANCE - Normally not an issue as I can burn it or Toxic it out..... Unless it has Facade, Then this thing can just walst through my team if magearna and Arceus Water are down and even then they struggle to do much as they can barely take a hit from this beast. Though If they get a hit of its normally dead.

XEARNEUS - Now.. Geomancy Xearneus may be my teams personal toy however once specific type causes problems. Cleric xeaneus with aromatherapy destroys my team. My offensive threats cant break it and I cant Status it due to Aromatherapy, This has so far been the hardest counter to my team.

So what do you think? whats good? where can I improve? let me know

Importable

Ho-Oh @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 104 HP / 252 Atk / 152 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Recover
- Toxic
- Earthquake

Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Draco Meteor
- Toxic
- Defog

Magearna @ Leftovers
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heart Swap
- Fleur Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Heal Bell

Arceus-Water @ Splash Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Recover
- Toxic
- Ice Beam

Sableye-Mega @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 24 Def / 232 SpD
Calm Nature
- Fake Out
- Foul Play
- Recover
- Toxic

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Power Whip

 

[Felloinyello]

First thing that jumps out at me is the lack of phasing, as you said. I also didn’t really like the giratina-o choice over standard giratina because I feel that giratina could be used as a rest staller and maybe Magearna heal belling that boi to get it woke. You can kill two birds with one stone with this set with dragon tail (you can sub this for Roar if you like).

giratina

Giratina) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Toxic
- Dragon Tail
- Rest

ya and I would put in will-o-wisp instead of toxic on sableye and *maybe* go with a physical set because of your foul play usage. The reasoning behind this is that you said you could burn stuff but the only cause of burns I saw was ho-oh’s sacred fire, and you can’t really rely on a 50% burn to shut down stuff like Rayquaza which can pretty much OHKO hooh after chip and a dragon dance.

 

[Umbra#]

I would agree with the above set, Distorted Gira is definitely a better fit for you team, its actually gets recovery in the form of RestoChesto or leftovers and Rest which you can run on this team as there is a heal bell.

Except I would sub in Roar because dragon tail loses to sub.

 

[woofpack]

only issue with roar is that it gets you walled by taunt and makes it a free switch in and ko for mega gengar but it basically defuses sub dance zygarde so I guess it's a bit of a pick your poison choice

 

[Umbra#]

The first time M Genga comes in you can switch at least and bring in whoever.

So you can play around it once at least.

Also when I was laddering I saw much my Zygarde than Gengar and got too the mid 200s before I got bored so. Probably prefer a safe counter to Zygarde myself.