Best Girl (Tapu Lele) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball / Focus Blast
This Pokemon is stupidly strong. End of story. The damage calculator doesn't currently take into account the damage boost that the terrain-related abilities provide. But, there's only one calc I really need to show.
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psyshock vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 427-504 (66.5 - 78.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Note, all calculations are made with the correct 135 and 120 BP of Psychic and Psyshock after Psychic Terrain's power boost, as the calculator does not include them yet. But, just look at how much damage the fattest Pokemon takes from Tapu Lele. That's not okay. But if you need more convincing...
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 240 HP / 0 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 127-150 (39.5 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Shadow Ball vs. 240 HP / 0 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 204-240 (63.5 - 74.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Landorus-Therian: 433-510 (113.6 - 133.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 112 SpD Hippowdon: 412-486 (98 - 115.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psyshock vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Volcanion: 276-325 (76 - 89.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 60 Def Zapdos: 345-406 (89.8 - 105.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 136+ SpD Zygarde-Complete: 300-354 (47.1 - 55.6%) -- 76.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Aegislash is a Pokemon who by all rights should counter Tapu Lele, but can only reliably do this one time the entire game. It also risks taking crippling damage from a Shadow Ball if the switch is predicted, and thanks to Psychic Terrain, is unable to retaliate with Shadow Sneak at all. Please view the second replay provided to see why Scarf < Specs. Other Pokemon that resist Psychic or Psyshock will not be surviving two hits, in some cases, even one. If you're neutral? Forget about it. When considering that Psychic has an immunity in Dark-types, they still have a super effective Moonblast to fear being OHKO'd by. I predict Tapu Lele will be a potent force for a long time considering the unique circumstances Psychic Terrain provides.
Secondly, I wanted a Pokemon to be able to abuse the priority negation that Tapu Lele graces the battlefield with. Unsurprisingly, the most notable individual to come to mind is Pheromosa. Now, I would like to preface this by acknowledging that she will likely be banned within a week of the official Gen 7 metagame's start, but while it lasts...
Day 1 Quickban (Pheromosa) @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Poison Jab
Now, the main problem one will immediately notice with Pheromosa is her movepool. It's pretty abysmal. Though, there is just enough in it to still make her a ridiculously centralizing threat considering those 137/137/151 offenses. While the biggest weakness of this Pokemon is priority, Tapu Lele's Psychic Terrain will completely negate that, and Pheromosa is left free to run rampant. That's not to say she has no counters. In fact, the new Pokemon Toxapex (which, while I did not use it in the team, I also feel it will be a very important Pokemon in the upcoming Gen 7 metagame), as well as Aegislash can hard-wall this Ultra Beast. ...That said, U-turn allows her to simply switch right out to an appropriate counter... one of Toxapex's being Tapu Lele herself. The pressure of this Ultra Beast's very existence is enough to have opponents play their game differently, especially when backed by Psychic Terrain. You might as well forfeit if your Pheromosa counter is KO'd and Psychic Terrain was set up successfully for her.
So, while Psychic Terrain preventing priority is great and all, I figured that I should also have a Choice Scarf user. I needed something powerful enough to make the terrain turns worth it, so I turned to Xurkitree and decided to give it a shot. Like the idea of Scarf Moxie Salamence or Heracross, Xurkitree's gigantic Special Attack stat was very appealing, and Beast Boost serves as a Special Attack version of Moxie in this situation. Despite only having a speed stat of 83, it's still higher than some boosting Pokemon such as Dragonite or Gyarados. Little did I know that this Pokemon would end up being one of the most important Pokemon on the team, as it serves as both a revenge killer, sweeper, and wallbreaker all in the same Pokemon. While its offensive coverage may be somewhat odd, it does still work out well, and also makes use of Tapu Koko's Electric Terrain should I run into one.
Jankitree (Xurkitree) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Energy Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Now that my offensive core was complete, I figured I'd add my Stealth Rock user. Considering the unbans, I might as well go with Landorus-I, who is a superb wallbreaker to provide even more pressure alongside Tapu Lele, and also takes down the two most prominent Pheromosa walls, Toxapex and Aegislash. It's a relatively simple set, but it works.
Uber #1 (Landorus) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Stealth Rock
Despite wanting to make an offense team, I still always tend to add a defensive core for a bend-but-not-break bandage to help keep my team going. In this case, thanks to the wonderful unbans, I could add Mr. Reliable, standard Aegislash, as the third member of the team. Nothing special here, everyone already knows what it does and how good it is.
Uber #2 (Aegislash) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
Now, here was the place to add a second Pokemon to my defensive core, and also the first time I really had to take some time and think about the current team I had. I flipped between several Pokemon, but interestingly enough, amidst all the usual bulky species, I ended up going with yet another new Ultra Beast, Guzzlord. I took a good look at the strengths and weaknesses of my team and decided that I really did need a catch-all answer to generic special attackers. Aegislash isn't stopping a Hydro Pump for long, and Fire, a common coverage type, ran unchecked. I originally was going to go with the janky pick of Goodra (with Gooey for Psychic Terrain shenanigans) before further deciding that having resists for Tapu Lele and Aegislash's weakness of Ghost (and Dark for Aegislash as well) would be beneficial. I weighed my options but then realized Guzzlord covered both. Most people were struggling to put together a good set for him, but after combing through his moveset, I patched together one that did work.
T H I C C (Guzzlord) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
