Hello Smogon.
This team is being shared today because I know Shadow Tag is going to be banned, and I can't let it leave without sharing one of my favorite teams.
The idea and inspiration for this ORAS OU team came from a balanced variant back in XY OU, and ever since ORAS OU release, I haven't changed a single thing sans Landorus when it got banned.
This RMT is here to prove that Wobbufeut has a niche, a niche I believe is both healthy and not ban-worthy, to the metagame. It is a final plea, it is me saying: Why can't we just suspect Gothitelle?
SOme of you will take this team to mean that Shadow Tag ban is justified, seeing as how Wobb is certainly a potent threat in its own right, but that is fine.
I just want people to realize Wobbufeut's potential, and to consider it before they vote.
Teambuilding Process
So I wanted to recreate a team with both Wobbufeut and Garchomp. At the start of ORAS OU, Rocky Helmet Garchomp was long since forgotten, and Dragon Tail with a defensive spread actually held surprise value, landing me a lot of opportunities from sheer surprise factor. It became my favorite lead for offensive teams, and for one real reason: it counters Talonflame and provides Stealth Rocks. Talonflame is such a huge threat to Heavy Offense, and at the time, Talonflame was used a lot more; it even stayed in on Garchomps back when they were frail Sash sets. I had began using the set since Kangs was OU in XY I never went back to Sash when it got banned (everyone else stopped using it... until mid- next gen lol). Wobbufuet is such a threat and so underrated that I had to bring it back in ORAS OU.
After experimenting with Megas, I finally settled on Lopunny. Lopunny is great in that Wobbufeut actually traps all of its counters (more on that later). Lopunny's weakness to Talonflame only makes it a better partner for the lead Garchomp.
Ever since BW2 OU, Gengar has been a favorite of mine. Taunt LO hits really hard, and it had shut down a lot of stall back in XY OU. Of course, with Mega Sableye on every variant of stall, its stallbreaking potential has dropped considerably. But aside from that, it's a fast and hard-hitting pokemon, with great offensive typing. Gengar is there to block Rapid Spins and break down Defog users, and it acts as a lategame answer to stall teams.
Scizor might seem weird, but I'm really weak to the Lati@s twins. Scizor was originally just put in there to combat them, but its evolved to do so much more. Priority is nice to stack up with Lopunny's Fake Out, and Scizor's Pursuit is nice to pair up with on Wobbufeut, creating a mini-trap core. U-Turn offers switch initiative and can often be used to bring out Wobb for free. Bullet Punch makes Scizor great at chipping down key threats to KO ranges.
The last slot is Manaphy. It's there because Landorus got banned, and I needed a replacement to combat stall -- imagine how hard M-Sab stall is to face! You'd think Scarf Goth would be an issue, but a lot of times I can bait Gothitelle and double switch into Scizor and Pursuit Trap it. Gengar and Wobbs can't be trapped, and a lot of people play Goth blindly, allowing me to swap unsuspectingly and bring out a Scarf fodder. Manaphy remedies the extreme weakness I had against Mega SD Scizor, which was such a huge threat back when I had been carrying Landorus.
Team Overview
Trait: Rough Skin
Nature: Naive
EVs: 192 HP / 172 Def / 144 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
Garchomp is one of the best offensive leads in the metagame. Between Rough Skin and Rocky Helmet, it can easily punish physical threats--most especially useful against priority attacks, Talonflame to be specific. Dragon Tail allows it to catch SR weak mons off guard, to force them in before the enemy Hazard Control can remove rocks. Thanks to the residual damage of Rough Skin and Rocky Helmet, Rapid Spin becomes insanely hard to pull off when each spin is punished for 24% of their HP. Fire Blast is used over Endure or Toxic to hit Scizor and Ferrothorn, which can otherwise be a bit threatening in the right circumstances.
I know my nature and evs look weird, but hear me out. Naive is used so that I don't have a negative defensive nature. I prioritize speed over boosting Garchomp's defense because I believe in outspeeding Jolly Excadrill and below. You could opt to run less speed, but I like hitting Jolly Bisharps and Mild nature Kyurem-B, etc. The HP is at 192 instead of 252 to propel Garchomp to 405, a really good HP number to hit, with the rest dumped into Defense to help aid it in its job.
Trait: Shadow Tag
Nature: Bold
EVs: 28 HP / 248 Def / 232 SDef
- Encore
- Destiny Bond
- Mirror Coat
- Counter
Wobbuffet is underrated as heck. For starters, it traps every Lopunny counter imaginable. Don't believe me?
Take a look at this list:
If you're not convinced... all bulky Psychic types are Pursuit Trapped by Scizor, and Wobbs is great for keeping them from switching out + going into Scizor. And priority attacks are taken down by Garchomp's Rocky Helmet and Rough Skin combination.
Apart from just trapping Lopunny counters, it traps so many other, countless threats (Raikou, Lopunny, Thundurus, Metagross, Swampert, etc.). Encore can create set up opportunities for Manaphy, Custap + D-Bond can clutch trap threats when Wobbs is too weak to sustain a hit, and Mirror Coat / Counter punish offensive mons.
I mean--Wobbs makes fighting things like Rain Offense so much easier, too, and is great for creating openings against defensive teams with Encore.
The nature and evs allow Wobbs to better tank hits from the likes of Scarf Landorus-T and Conk's Knock Off, which is why my evs are slightly different than standard. Otherwise, it's quite straightforward.
Trait: Scrappy
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Fake Out
- Ice Punch
- High Jump Kick
- Frustration / Return
Lopunny is quick and powerful. Fighting type has always been a great offensive typing, and normal isn't too bad considering all the stuff it can hit for hard neutral. Fake Out is great priority, especially since it's a +2 tier, allowing it to go before most other forms of common priority. This pokemon is usually used to lategame sweep against offensive teams or to break down specific defensive threats vs stall. For the most part, the team itself supports Loppuny's inevitable sweep, but sometimes Lopunny paves the way for Manaphy, removing defensive threats like Ferrothorn and Chansey, or fast electric types like Raikou, Thundurus, Manectric (although Wobb also helps in this regard).
I use Jolly because speed is important the meta - adamant isn't needed when Manaphy, Gengar, and occasionally Wobbs are already breaking the bulky threats. Maximum investment because it's useless anywhere else.
Trait: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
Gengar is great at everything. Seriously. It's fast, it's powerful, it has great offensive typing (and can screw over Fairy types, which is huge for this team), and can shut down defensive threats with Taunt. Personally, I like having a Pokemon that can pseudo counter Hazard Control, with Taunt shutting down Defog and its Ghost typing flanking Rapid Spin. The moveset is obvious, but effective: ghost STAB, poision STAB, and fighting coverage. Gengar is usually there to shutdown defensive threats (usually after pesky Sableye has been removed) or just hit things hard in general.
Timid nature maximizes speed potential. Effort values are maxed to boost speed and special attack stats. Life Orb is there for raw power, which is essential to score most of its KOs.
Trait: Technician
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
- Bullet Punch
- U-Turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Scizor is such a champion. I needed a Dragon type resist and a second, more reliable, answer to fairy types like Clefable. Scizor was my answer. Scizor can effectively trap Lati@s for me, making Gengar, Manaphy, and Lopunny's life that much easier. Pursuit trapping is also effective for eliminating bulky psychic threats like Celebi (ew), Cresselia, etc.: U-Turn is great for grabbing momentum and giving me a free switch in to Wobbs. Superpower is there to hit stuff like Ferrothorn for Manaphy, although I suppose Knock Off wouldn't be too bad (but seriously, Fighting coverage is awesome).
EVs date way back to BW era. 248 HP hits a SR number, maximum attack, rest dumped into special defense (because I want to get the slow U-Turn momentum against other Scizor).
Trait: Hydration
Nature: Timid
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
- Tail Glow
- Rain Dance
- Surf
- Energy Ball
Manaphy is great at breaking stall teams. It's kind of mandatory, and after my last stallbreaker (Landorus) got banned, Manaphy was my go-to answer. Thanks to Hydration and the Rain Dance boost, Manaphy can muscle through things like Chansey and effectively punish everything on stall. Gothitelle is kind of annoying... except lol I'm not stupid; I bait it with Manaphy, then Pursuit Trap it with Scizor. Gengar and Wobbs, immune to Goth's trapping, also can lead to a mind-game swap to Scizor before the opponent realizes I'm not trapped. Energy Ball is used because hitting stray niche mons like Swampert, Seismitoed, Gastrodon, and even common ones like Rotom-W, are beneficial to this team. Manaphy is my greatest answer against Rain offense alongside Wobbs, and Energy Ball is mandatory to take down the water types that flood Rain teams. Other coverage moves, like Rest or Ice Beam, just aren't justified enough because the team itself can work around everything that Manaphy can't. It's as simple as that.
The effort values are ripped from the analysis. Timid is there because speed tier is important, and the bulk helps?? Maybe?? Anyway - Manaphy has lots of benefits of Landorus, once being a more reliable answer to the dreaded M-Scizor, which otherwise punished this team btally.
Ending Notes
Wobbs is a great Pokemon, and highly underrated. It's sad for me to see that most will never know its true potential.
Oh, if you wanted to see some of this team in action, Emvee used it on his YT channel before Land had gotten bannned. He uses some pokes over Gar to get over Scizor, but otherwise it's my team:
and
Wobbs is a great Pokemon, and highly underrated. It's sad for me to see that most will never know its true potential.
Oh, if you wanted to see some of this team in action, Emvee used it on his YT channel before Land had gotten bannned. He uses some pokes over Gar to get over Scizor, but otherwise it's my team:
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 192 HP / 172 Def / 144 Spe
Naive Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
Wobbuffet @ Custap Berry
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 28 HP / 248 Def / 232 SpD
Bold Nature
- Destiny Bond
- Encore
- Counter
- Mirror Coat
Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Punch
- Frustration
Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Wave
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Timid Nature
- Tail Glow
- Surf
- Rain Dance
- Energy Ball
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 192 HP / 172 Def / 144 Spe
Naive Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
Wobbuffet @ Custap Berry
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 28 HP / 248 Def / 232 SpD
Bold Nature
- Destiny Bond
- Encore
- Counter
- Mirror Coat
Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Punch
- Frustration
Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Wave
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- Superpower
Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Timid Nature
- Tail Glow
- Surf
- Rain Dance
- Energy Ball
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