With SWSH coming on the next month i felt like i should drop some of the teams i made in USM. If you know me you most likely know that i like building with less seen or wanky stuff (although sometimes I build with more conventional stuff for tours), so don't expect amazing teams from here
USM became kinda boring after some time for me so whenever something different popped up in the meta or some people suggested me different stuff/concept I certainly tried to build with it, so it was always nice to follow people like ben gay, ABR, Eo and others, while also seeing posts in tournaments threads with underlooked stuff in the meta like BKC's post.
So with enough useless talking, let's go to the teams (pokepastes are on the images) :
This team was made with the Modest Ash-Gren idea from BKC, which I found interesting. Grassium Tran was the next choice because although it isn't something new it is more rare nowadays, possibly being able to lure Tapu Fini for Ash Gren, Steela because as you will see in this post will be a common trend on my teams because it check a lot of dangerous stuff that can be hard to cover, mainly Kartana which now regular gren doesn't outspeed. Bulu for speed control, ash gren check and also supports Heatran with Terrain. Nidoking was added because it pressures a lot of balance builds while also being the mandatory Electric immunity and also can absorb TSpikes. Since I was lacking a mega and a ''decent'' switch to Toxapex, I added Mega-Zam, which can also pivot into EPower Heatran since I don't have any decent switches to it. This Celesteela set might be awkward but since I'm a bit paranoic with Mawile, this spread allows Steela to outspeed 179 Maw and at least trade with/kill it before it gets severely crippled by Knock Off if I need to.
https://pokepast.es/5836f311b98b79a0 V1
https://pokepast.es/fedcd96b946eef09 V2
Built around Gambitini and Z-Freeze Shock KyuB as the name says with the rest of the team being Pokemon that can soft check some dangerous threats while also being threats by itself (Gyara/Azu for Ash-Gren, Sciz/Gearna for Psychic/Grass/Fairy/Dragon check, Lando for Ground and Electric immunity while also being the mandatory Rocks user and Liechi SD Timid Tana, which although is a subpar set can be a surprising late game cleaner. Since I already have Z-KyuB, I put Liechi Berry because with its bulk evs, it can survive and be in berry range vs stuff like Ice Beam from M-Latias, Shadow Ball Mega-Zam and Shuca Koko. This Lando spread was mostly for this team because it can survive two hurricanes/one z-fly from Torn and use Custap to get a surprise kill on it, possibly clearing the path to a Kartana sweep. Iron Head was chosen on the M-Gyara version because it helps luring Bulu for Kartana and can possibly help vs Clef. The M-Scizor set was originally SD Bullet SPower Bug Bite, but DEdge probably is a better alternative since it also hits Pex (was originally a slot to hit Rotom-W hard w/o using SPower).
This team was made around the FSight Slowbro + MagmaProToxic Heatran + Lop, which is a strong core rn. This team is more standard-ish, but has some niche stuff because again, i'm paranoic with some particular Pokemon match up and in this case was CM Reuni. With standard sets this team would be straight 6-0ed by the Calm Minding Blob but this is where Skill Swap Slowbro and SD Ferrothorn come in, covering basically all Reunis sets since u can toxic reuni and take away it's magic guard with Slowbro and Slowbro can stall Toxic vs Blast/AA Reuni enough turn while SD Ferrothorn can force Energy Ball variants out. SD Ferrothorn is also cool for some specifics scenarios like vs Stalls that relies on Mega-Sableye to prevent Spikes from Ferrothorn, which although it seems rare nowadays it can still be useful and with 16 speed it guarantees that u outspeed non-creeped M-Sab. Shuca Pex was used because although Black Sludge can be useful, SD Lando could be really annoying for this team so Pex can at least minimize opportunies from SD Lando to break through the team.
prob a subpar team but it's a fun team to use on ladder ig. i've always liked those teams where two pokemons have different roles on the team from what the opp would expect in team preview so I tried to build with Scarf Bulky Zapdos + something that could bluff scarf, which ended up being Double Dance Lando-T. The inicial ''core'' was Zap + Lucha + some Tapu, because this Zapdos can potentially lure some annoying Pokemon that could prevent de Lucha sweep (Weavile and Ash-Gren mainly). Evs on Zapdos are enough to outspeed Ash Gren and always kill Weavile with Heat Wave after rocks. I used Bulu as the Tapu of choice because it was less passive while being a decent check to Gren/Rain, with this set (which zomog used in Snake) it is still has enough bulk to check them while also not being really passive . M-Diancie was chosen because it can check non-Fightnium Torns more effectively since the Zapdos is Scarf while also being able to prevent hazards. Celesteela to glue the team and Landorus-T was the Electric immunity + Scarf bluffer of choice. Rockium prob should be better in a lot of scenarios but Groundium is cool vs greedy Toxapexs and other Pokemon that might stay in if Terrain is up.
iirc Binding Band Heatran was created by Eo and basically I haven't seen it in a long time but it's a really cool set if you don't mind not having leftovers/has another z-user. This Heatran set is amazing to quickly chip Fini and Rotom for Gren/Sciz/Scor. Nothing really fancy on this team outside of BB Heatran and Groundium Kommo-o, which although most of the time you'd prefer Kommonium, it helps luring Toxapex for Scizor and Gren while also doing a decent chunk to Fini.
A second team I built with the Scarf Zapdos + something that could bluff Scarf. Scarf Zapdos can potentially lure Weav and Ash-Gren for M-Latias, Heat Wave + Superpower Ebelt Torn-T lures some of M-Latias checks (Ttar, Maw, Heatran, M-Scizor...) while providing Defog support for Zapdos. LO Clef was added as an another way to chip M-Mawile, since if I were using lefts Clef, M-Mawile could get free turns everytime on it. Gastro was added to check Ash-Gren and Zam and for the last slot Z-Zen Headbutt Jirachi can lure Toxapex for the team while bluffing Scarf:
184 Atk Jirachi Shattered Psyche (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Toxapex: 288-338 (94.7 - 111.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
More standard-ish team with a little twist: Secret Power Lop. Secret Power + Grassy Terrain has a 30% chance of putting something to sleep (w/o terrain still has 30% chance to paralyze), which can be quite useful for turning a potential check into fodder.
Basically a common sand team with this interesting Exca set. I think I saw it being used by Tricking/Bro kappa (can't rly remember) and it really caught my eyes to build something with it so I paired it Ttar obviously and with Mega-Zam, since it appreciates a lot Celesteela being weakened, with EBall Zam to help more vs rain.
I made it while trying to build something cool with Hydreigon, coming up with the forgotten (at least in OU) Z-Belch Hydra, which lures Fini for Ash-Gren. Soft Sand Lando-T was added because it helps luring greedy toxapexs that might stay in either by thinking it is scarf or if at full health, think that they can tank one EQ and fish for burn and then added Scarf Serp since most people would expect scarf lando, Z-Serp (when they don't see lefts) and Metronome Hydra. It is also a decent utility revenge killer. This M-Latias set was the one that ABR used in one of his teams, and Toxic is an interesting tech since u can actually check Mega-Swampert with it while also being useful in some other scenarios like preventing something like M-Charizard from sweeping.
252 Atk Soft Sand Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Toxapex: 294-348 (96.7 - 114.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
This is a more serious team that I built to play vs Twixtry for seasonal and I liked it, but unfortunately I got outplayed and lost even tho I kinda got the match up I wanted with it. NP Hoopa is a really powerful breaker and can be really hard for most fat teams to handle, something that I expected my opponent to bring. I paired it with Ash-Gren because they share common checks, so Hoopa could weaken then to Gren finally overwhelm them. I originally was Z-Psychic Hoopa to break through stuff like Fini easier but opted for Fightnium because stuff like AV Gearna could be annoying. Zapdos basically was there to check Tana/Torn-T and potentially para them, Fini as my Ash-Gren check, with Hydro Pump to hurt greedy heatrans while also preventing Mawile from getting much wallbreaking opportunities and Yache Lando because I was weak to Koko
Lastly, the infamous triple fire team that was used by some Brazilians in ST and also used by Empo in OLT with some changes. I created it to use in a Brazilian tournament wanting to take advantage of how most teams actually were kinda weak to fire types. I originally had the standard Char-Y set + some weird TR Metronome Tini (which was an emergency way of speed control, since this team is somewhat slow) but after scrolling through Char-Y moveset I saw Tailwind and thought about how it could be good for helping Victini spamming V-Create while also helping with speed. Dropping Solar Beam isn't much of a problem since the other two fires pressure Fini a lot and Kommo-o can potentially lure it. Since I'm using those three fire types, it was nearly impossible to cover all the things defensively so it can sometimes be overwhelmed by other offensive teams. This Kommo-o set was the one that Ojama created afaik, which can lure Toxapex and Fini. Jolly prob is better since you outspeed Mega-Zam at +1, but now it doesn't have a guaranteed kill at +1 vs Pex. Toxic is used on Rotom's last slot because w/o it M-Latias can be really hard to deal with.
Bonus:
Meme-ish team that I built with the idea of Guzz knocking Fini for Ash-Gren, but it turned into an ass team that I decided to put some whack pokes in it. It actually can work sometimes on ladder if you don't take it too serious (s/o
Ash KetchumGamer and
mncmt for laddering with this dogshit) and is fun to see people raging @ vileplume lmao.
It was the first time I make a long ass post like that so I hope u guys enjoy the teams, may updated if I come with another heat before USM ends
s/o BoA gang
Wanted to build around ghost pz for a long time and I'm back into the ou metagame after nearly 3 years so this is the perfect time isnt it?
