Introduction,
Its been a while. I've been out of this game for ages but I'm not gonna be sentimental because my name likely isn't recognisable around here too much now. This is the team I've been using for what little I've played of the ass generation known as XY. I haven't used it anywhere near as extensively as I have my previous RMTd teams but I'm hella bored of sending off CVs and decided to write a massive fuck-off document about a children's video game again. If you want credentials, I used a really old version of this team in World Cup tryouts / testing and to get my only frontier win this year vs cbb but thats about it! I might use this in ORAS so if anyone can think of any updates to make it more usable there then please suggest them!
I set out trying to build a modern defensively-inclined team, not necessarily full stall although it sort of ended up that way. Although I didn't play early XY at all, it was obvious even to me that modern offense had adapted to those early stall builds (MVenusaur, Skarmory, Heatran, Suicune, Chansey etc cores). The trend with offensive teams at the time of building appeared to be two offensive water types (normally Keldeo and Greninja) and a dedicated stallbreaker such as Landorus-I, MHeracross, MGardevoir, or MMedicham. My aim was to put together a team that turns those offensive Water-types into a liability for my opponent, whilst also keeping those threatening stallbreakers in check.
The team started with monoattacker Gyarados, which is able to check all of the above in some capacity whilst also providing a win condition. ScarfTar and defensive Landorus-T were added because between them they can check just about every Pokemon in the game and I'm really comfortable using them. These 3 slots remained the same throughout testing, with a wide variety of defensive Grass-types, Defog / Rapid Spin users and fillers trialed in the final 3 slots before settling on this final build.
Its not as creative as some of the other teams I've RMT'd in the past, but I think its an interesting team that had favourable match-ups against a few of the common meta teams at the time. Intro is already super long so I'll just jump right in and explain the team in detail:
-----
Up close,
Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Rock Slide
- Fire Punch
This thing crops up on like 70% of all the teams I've made since 2009. Although its not the metagame-defining force it once was, ScarfTar still provides a safety net against a plethora of scary Pokemon meaning I don't have to bank on having my specific counters at full health to beat strongmons in the late-game. It was barely possible to hard-wall everything in DPP so it sure as shit isn't possible now, which is why a safety-net such as ScarfTar is invaluable. Tyranitar maybe isn't the best choice for this role anymore, given its weakness to basically all the common priority and the fact it can't beat Greninja, but it also has a bunch of benefits that your run-of-the-mill scarfer can't boast.
The ability to switch-in on even some of the tiers strongest special attackers is what sets Tyranitar out from the crowd, along with the capability to checkmate a number of them with Pursuit. Years of BW has also conditioned me into trying to shoehorn some form of weather control into every team I use, and it definitely helps here given the threat of MCharizard Y and the resurgence of Rain. With two Intimidate users on the team, its also important that I have something faster than Bisharp that can deal decent damage to it without getting donked by Sucker Punch. The only surprise on this set is Fire Punch, which I chose over Superpower / Earthquake for its ability to hit MHeracross for at least some damage, whilst retaining coverage on Bisharp.
-----
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 184 HP / 220 Def / 104 Spe
Lax Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
Part 2 of my "check just about everything" core. Landorus-T is the team's primary answer to Sand, one of the most common team archtypes towards the end of XY OU. Additionally, Landorus is a great check to the Magnezone / Diggersby / Pinsir cores that started popping up in the later stages of the meta. I probably run more speed than most Landorus' but I really valued getting the jump on Diggersby.
Theres mostly no reason to reinvent the wheel with Landorus-T because its standard set does everything so well, but I felt the need to try something a little different here after having some issues in testing. I found I was never using Stone Edge or Knock Off when I had them in that 3rd slot, so decided to switch it up for Hidden Power [Ice] to more reliably handle Dragonite and Garchomp. Hidden Power [Ice] also helps in the Landorus-T mirror, wears down Chesnaught switch-ins to help out Gyarados, and on the odd occasion comes in handy against SDef Gliscor even though it does fuck all. U-turn conserves momentum, provides set-up oppurtunities for Gyarados, and lets me dance around scary stuff like MHeracross a little easier.
-----
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 124 Def / 76 SDef / 60 Spd
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Baton Pass
- Recover
It took a while for Celebi to show up in XY, but it was only a matter of time. I remember bugging CrashinBoomBang on IRC every couple of days with "is celebi good yet?????" back in like March only to be shot down every time :'(.
The main reason for picking Celebi over other bulky Grass-types was access to reliable recovery and Natural Cure. I'm normally a fan of Amoonguss but I felt like it didn't fit here at all, especially given the trouble it has with Belly Drum Azumarill due to its poor speed. Chesnaught is in a similar boat in that good opponents don't let it get free recovery too easily and its a major burn target. Ferrothorn, again, is susceptible to burns and has serious trouble with Magnezone, who was starting to see usage again around about the time I started teambuilding. I tried Gourgeist but it was really bad.
Set should be familiar to those who played BW. GDrain / HP Fire are the coverage options of choice allowing me to deal with the offensive water types and check would-be switch-ins such as MScizor and Ferrothorn. Baton Pass allows me to escape Bisharp and also keeps up momentum so I can find set-up oppurtunities for Gyarados.
Speed beats positive base 75s like MHeracross, the HP + Def evades an OHKO from CB Azumarill Knock Off and rest in SDef. Might be inefficient but I haven't taken the time to try and correct it.
------
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 20 Def / 216 SpD / 20 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Defog
- Roost
Obligatory hazard control. I tried a bunch of builds using Starmie for a while but I found it really difficult to cover everything I wanted to because Starmie does very little in terms of counterplay. Scizor provides a much needed answer to non-HP Fire MGardevoir in addition to clearing hazards, which freed up my options elsewhere in teambuilding.
The set is something that you occasionally see MScizor running but is kinda rare for base Scizor, although the function is identical. I'm running a Careful nature and tons of special defense here to make up for the discrepancy in bulk but in all honestly you can counter MGardevoir really well with significantly less bulk that I'm running - I'd probably get a lot more out of running some more attack investment. Superpower is the coverage move of choice here to nail Ferrothorn, Excadrill, and Bisharp.
The first of two Mega Evolutions on the team, which isn't exactly conventional but kind of serves a purpose here. Mega Gyarados isn't always needed, and Scizor can gain a lot from having a Mega option in those scenarios. Additionally, even by just holding the Mega Stone, Scizor now matches up much better against Bisharp, and can beat it a little easier 1v1.
------
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 248 HP / 196 Def / 20 SpA / 36 SpD / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Wish
- Hyper Voice
- Heal Bell
Sylveon is something I'd never used before I built this team and I honestly didn't expect it to be as solid as it is. It is deceptively bulky on both ends of the scale, letting it tank just about any unboosted, non super effective attack from some of OUs strongest threats and hit back with Pixilate-boosted Hyper Voice from 110 base SAtk - this thing is no slouch offensively. Hyper Voice's capability to bypass Substitutes is also a huge asset whenever it comes into effect, allowing Sylveon to beat SubDD MGyarados, almost all Kyurem-B and the occasional SubToxic Gliscor.
Wish support is invaluable given my reliance on Landorus-T to check a host of threats - it allows me to play very unconservatively with Landorus-T, for example letting it take multiple attacks from MHeracross to get an Intimidate on it if I'm confident I can pull off a Wish later on an Excadrill or something . Heal Bell is similarly important, most importantly allowing me to clear Gyarados' sleep. It also helps the team run more smoothly, making Scizor a more reliable MGardevoir switch-in knowing I can later clear a burn and letting me play a little more recklessly.
------
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 184 HP / 4 Def / 216 SpD / 104 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
I can't remember exactly who showed me this set but shoutouts to you anyway. Its nothing too special anymore and a lot of people see it coming, but at the time I first built this team it felt like there was an exclusive clique running it.
Gyarados is able to function as a utility check to some of the metagame's scariest wallbreakers, all in a single slot. Keldeo, Greninja, and Landorus-I are hard countered and become set-up fodder late-game; MHeracross and MMedicham are neutered by Intimidate and have to play a guessing game over whether I'll Mega evolve or not; and Mega Gardevoir can barely muster a 2HKO, allowing Gyarados to beat it 1v1 with SR up.
Depending on the match-up, Gyarados can either stay in its base form to perform this early-game role, or can mega evolve if the opponent is heavily reliant on Bisharp, for example. When the opponents team is sufficiently worn down, Gyarados catches plenty of oppurtunities to start Dragon Dancing up and round the game out through attrition, again either in its base form or its mega form. Its a perfect example of being efficient with team slots, which is incredibly important for defensive teams in XY.
I can't remember what exactly the EVs do here. The speed lets you beat Adamant Scarf Landorus-T after 2 DDs by some margin. If anyone knows what I'd be hitting 448 speed to beat then let me know and I'll edit this.
-----
Threatlist,
Obviously this team isn't completely rock solid, and has its fair share of weaknesses:
Conclusion,
Managed to kill 3 hours but I should probably go and do some actual work now. Screw importables, this is an outdated team that might work in ORAS but probably won't so none of you will ever use it. Shoutouts: tab Harsha BKC Jirachee Funkasaurus Bloo Nachos ium CrashingBoomBang tml Fiction Jayde Leftiez @probablyforgotsomeone
p.s. fuck Togie
p.s.s. i didn't actually peak #1, who even has time for ladder lol
Last edited: