Introduction:
I spent a very draining 2 minutes thinking of a theme for this RMT, and literally went with the first thing that popped in my head; so please, forgive me for the tired 50 Shades of Grey reference, and also my love for the somewhat overrated J-Law. I'd be lying if I told you a lot of planning went into this team, it's really just a mish-mash of Pokemon that I threw together, and only slightly tweaked in between laddering sessions. But it's proved to quite a fun little team to recklessly play.
Laddering Proof:
Currently at: 1679
Team Building:
Mega-Pinsir has become my staple mega mainly because Mega-Venusaur is a bitch, and I'm sick of using Talonflame.
Rapid Spin support is essential for Pinsir to do his job as the resident 'Mega-Venusaur aerilate-assassin'. Excadrill was originally AV, but I quickly changed it to Scarf, mainly due to my own love for the set.
Rocks are nice + Lando-T is by far my favourite SR 'mon this gen.
With the previous 3 Pokemon being physical, I obvz wanted something specially-dominant and Specs Keldeo comes in like a damn wrecking ball. Pinsir and Keldeo cover each other's weakness relatively well, with Kel certainly benefiting from all the dead damn Venusaur's.
Thundurus has been my bro this gen, the mixed set is incredibly fun and Defiant can work on other things besides Bisharp, u kno? Thundy provides synergy, but it could be better; I've been toying with the idea of switching him out for Rotom-W.
Aegislash covers up some of my weaknesses, like the ever-so slight Ice weakness. Most of you are probably sick of seeing Aegi, but I find the will he/won't he King Shield predictions kinda fun. Aegi does add a little bit to my Fire weakness, leaving me to rely on Keldeo a bit too much, which is probably the main weakness of the team.
I spent a very draining 2 minutes thinking of a theme for this RMT, and literally went with the first thing that popped in my head; so please, forgive me for the tired 50 Shades of Grey reference, and also my love for the somewhat overrated J-Law. I'd be lying if I told you a lot of planning went into this team, it's really just a mish-mash of Pokemon that I threw together, and only slightly tweaked in between laddering sessions. But it's proved to quite a fun little team to recklessly play.
Laddering Proof:
Currently at: 1679
Team Building:
Mega-Pinsir has become my staple mega mainly because Mega-Venusaur is a bitch, and I'm sick of using Talonflame.
Rapid Spin support is essential for Pinsir to do his job as the resident 'Mega-Venusaur aerilate-assassin'. Excadrill was originally AV, but I quickly changed it to Scarf, mainly due to my own love for the set.
Rocks are nice + Lando-T is by far my favourite SR 'mon this gen.
With the previous 3 Pokemon being physical, I obvz wanted something specially-dominant and Specs Keldeo comes in like a damn wrecking ball. Pinsir and Keldeo cover each other's weakness relatively well, with Kel certainly benefiting from all the dead damn Venusaur's.
Thundurus has been my bro this gen, the mixed set is incredibly fun and Defiant can work on other things besides Bisharp, u kno? Thundy provides synergy, but it could be better; I've been toying with the idea of switching him out for Rotom-W.
Aegislash covers up some of my weaknesses, like the ever-so slight Ice weakness. Most of you are probably sick of seeing Aegi, but I find the will he/won't he King Shield predictions kinda fun. Aegi does add a little bit to my Fire weakness, leaving me to rely on Keldeo a bit too much, which is probably the main weakness of the team.
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At a Glance:
The Meat of the RMT:
The Truly Terrifying (arms crossed) Shade of J-Law: Thundurus
@ Expert Belt
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- U-turn
- Thunderbolt
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Do I care about your Priority Taunt/T-Wave? Not really. Mixed Thundurus is a little underrepresented, I see far too many Nasty Plot variants with that life-ruining FocusBlast Miss. Mixed Thunder-bro is for the men who like their fighting coverage move to be nice and strong, as well as accurate. Defiant is an interesting ability, with Defog flying around you can switch in and get a nice +2 Attack. I realise that Thundurus can't benefit from Sticky Web in the way Bisharp can, but Thundurus can really defy (get it?) some people's expectations. After seeing Defiant, most opponents have been baffled by the possibility of a physical Thundurus and thus proceed to panic, switching in anything and everything. Having a +2 Superpower is especially nice late-game, when in need of some cleaning-up. +2 U-turn is also nice and even without the boost, in not being hindered by a Ground-type immunity, it's definitely more reliable than Volt Switch. Expert Belt is sometimes nice to bluff the choice item, but I could understand if you opt for Life Orb, or even Leftovers. I usually play Thundurus as my lead, a lot of people expect me to Priority-Taunt their Galvantula/Deoxys-D/Smeargle/Lando-T, leading them to go for something like Magic Coat, or a damaging move. I'm usually free to U-turn away into some nice momentum, breaking sashes and the delicate hearts of young players.
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- U-turn
- Thunderbolt
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Do I care about your Priority Taunt/T-Wave? Not really. Mixed Thundurus is a little underrepresented, I see far too many Nasty Plot variants with that life-ruining Focus
The Undeniably Adorable Shade of J-Law: Keldeo
@ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Secret Sword
Keldeo is perhaps not as popular as it was last gen, due to the rise of attacking threats like Talonflame and Mega-Pinsir, and also Azumarill as a solid switch-in. But my god, give this little pony a pair of Choice Specs and it becomes an all-mighty obliterating monster. I'm a little bit of an aggressive player, and I sometimes like to bring Keldeo into a situation hoping my opponent assumes I'm Scarf, often allowing me to fire off some massive damage, or fish for a Scald burn on a switch. I've been messing around with Keldeo's moveset in between sessions, and originally it was Icy Wind and HP Electric over Scald and HP Fire, but I quickly found (laugh all you want) Ferrothorn to be a threat to the team, as I was lacking a fire move. I added HP Fire as a quick fix, and it's actually been working out fine, most opponents don't expect it or the Specs boost.
Just a couple of calcs of some scenarios where Specs have definitely saved me from defeat:
The Angry & Menacing (yet still endearing) Shade of J-Law: Mega-Pinsir
@ Pinsirite
Ability: Moxie (Aerilate)
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Jolly (Freddy_48) Nature
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack
- Return
- Close Combat
I know a lot of people are calling for Mega-Pinsir to be banned, and I somewhat agree, with things like Mega-Venusaur and AV-Conkeldurr commonly flying around, there are plenty of opportunities to switch in this bad boy and do damage on the switch, or attempt to set-up. You'd assume the SR weakness to be crippling, but when all you need is some late-game unboosted Quick Attacks, Mega-Pinsir just don't care about any rocks. I've seen a lot of people running EQ, I prefer Close Clombat (1) because of my slight Ferrothorn issue and (2) it's nice to hit Rotom-W in the face when cleaning up. Pinsir is definitely the core Pokemon of the team, my basic strategy being: let my hard-hitters do their thing, and bring in M-Pinsir to finish the job. I really have very little to say about Mega-Pinsir and his role on the team, he is phenomenal and by far my favourite Mega.
The F-I-E-R-C-E Shade of J-Law: Aegislash
@ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak
Completely standard, but somehow an incredibly rewarding set? I really like Aegislash, especially as a mixed attacker, and even more so with that extra priority move in Shadow Sneak. As I said in my team building section, I vastly enjoy the mind games that come with King's Shield; will he/won't he, set-up/no set-up? Aegislash is a great Pokemon with an offensive & defensive presence that's not accomplished with any other Pokemon. Leftovers are great, although I might play around with Weakness Policy, or maybe something like Spooky Plate or Sitrus to bluff the policy. Synergy wise, with Keldeo's and Lando's weaknesses there are plenty of opportunities to switch Aegislash in and fire off some Shadow Ball's. I also rely on Aegi as my primary Lati@s switch-in, and while I love to play this thing incredibly recklessly, I usually don't until Lati is down or severely damaged.
The Sassy & Mysterious (scarf-wearing) Shade of J-Law: Excadrill
@ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
Originally I was running AV Excadrill, but I obviously found speed to be an issue when wanting to find opportunities to Spin. Quite frankly, I also found Excadrill (outside of spinning) to be dead weight. An easy solution would be to add Tyranitar to the team and run Sand Stream, but then my opponents would expect me to outspeed them, and Mold Breaker is just too good to drop. So instead I opted for Scarf Excadrill, which I had previous experience with, but I don't think it's ever slotted into one of my teams as effortlessly as it has in this one. Emergency Scarf Rapid Spin is so great, so so great. A nice low-ladder play that I have fun with is early game Rotom-W baiting, letting Keldeo take a predicted Hydro, then switching into Exca to take the Volt Switch, then with the opponent expecting to outspeed and Hydro, crush the thing with EQ. Quite fun, but less effective as you climb up the ladder. Excadrill offers a nice Talonflame kinda-counter, but I prefer to use it as a check. Between Mega-Pinsir and Keldeo, T-Flame is not my friend.
The Intimidating Shade of J-Law: Landorus-Therian
@ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spd
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Kinda hate myself for saying this, but I don't think I will ever build a team without a Pokemon who can provide me with Stealth Rocks. Unless of course, there's a massive debuff next gen. You're probably wondering why I'm missing that essential U-turn, or the Knock Off, which apparently ever single Pokemon under the sun gets. And I would love to have both moves, but I like HP Ice too much; Gliscor and other Lando's are fun to mess with. I can also switch in on Garchomp, activate Intimidate, hit a HP Ice, and watch them switch out while I go for rocks. EQ is staple, and Stone Edge provides an extra answer to Talonflame and Charizard. I've been toying with the idea of bringing in another SR user over one of the other team member's and giving Lando an Assault Vest, freeing up a slot for U-Turn/KO.
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@ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Secret Sword
Keldeo is perhaps not as popular as it was last gen, due to the rise of attacking threats like Talonflame and Mega-Pinsir, and also Azumarill as a solid switch-in. But my god, give this little pony a pair of Choice Specs and it becomes an all-mighty obliterating monster. I'm a little bit of an aggressive player, and I sometimes like to bring Keldeo into a situation hoping my opponent assumes I'm Scarf, often allowing me to fire off some massive damage, or fish for a Scald burn on a switch. I've been messing around with Keldeo's moveset in between sessions, and originally it was Icy Wind and HP Electric over Scald and HP Fire, but I quickly found (laugh all you want) Ferrothorn to be a threat to the team, as I was lacking a fire move. I added HP Fire as a quick fix, and it's actually been working out fine, most opponents don't expect it or the Specs boost.
Just a couple of calcs of some scenarios where Specs have definitely saved me from defeat:
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Conkeldurr: 253-298 (61.1 - 71.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Scald vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mandibuzz: 204-241 (48.1 - 56.8%) -- 2HKO after SR
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Rotom-W: 157-186 (51.6 - 61.1%) -- 2HKO after SR
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 187-222 (57.7 - 68.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Scald vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mandibuzz: 204-241 (48.1 - 56.8%) -- 2HKO after SR
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Rotom-W: 157-186 (51.6 - 61.1%) -- 2HKO after SR
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 187-222 (57.7 - 68.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
The Angry & Menacing (yet still endearing) Shade of J-Law: Mega-Pinsir
@ Pinsirite
Ability: Moxie (Aerilate)
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack
- Return
- Close Combat
I know a lot of people are calling for Mega-Pinsir to be banned, and I somewhat agree, with things like Mega-Venusaur and AV-Conkeldurr commonly flying around, there are plenty of opportunities to switch in this bad boy and do damage on the switch, or attempt to set-up. You'd assume the SR weakness to be crippling, but when all you need is some late-game unboosted Quick Attacks, Mega-Pinsir just don't care about any rocks. I've seen a lot of people running EQ, I prefer Close Clombat (1) because of my slight Ferrothorn issue and (2) it's nice to hit Rotom-W in the face when cleaning up. Pinsir is definitely the core Pokemon of the team, my basic strategy being: let my hard-hitters do their thing, and bring in M-Pinsir to finish the job. I really have very little to say about Mega-Pinsir and his role on the team, he is phenomenal and by far my favourite Mega.
The F-I-E-R-C-E Shade of J-Law: Aegislash
@ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak
Completely standard, but somehow an incredibly rewarding set? I really like Aegislash, especially as a mixed attacker, and even more so with that extra priority move in Shadow Sneak. As I said in my team building section, I vastly enjoy the mind games that come with King's Shield; will he/won't he, set-up/no set-up? Aegislash is a great Pokemon with an offensive & defensive presence that's not accomplished with any other Pokemon. Leftovers are great, although I might play around with Weakness Policy, or maybe something like Spooky Plate or Sitrus to bluff the policy. Synergy wise, with Keldeo's and Lando's weaknesses there are plenty of opportunities to switch Aegislash in and fire off some Shadow Ball's. I also rely on Aegi as my primary Lati@s switch-in, and while I love to play this thing incredibly recklessly, I usually don't until Lati is down or severely damaged.
The Sassy & Mysterious (scarf-wearing) Shade of J-Law: Excadrill
@ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
Originally I was running AV Excadrill, but I obviously found speed to be an issue when wanting to find opportunities to Spin. Quite frankly, I also found Excadrill (outside of spinning) to be dead weight. An easy solution would be to add Tyranitar to the team and run Sand Stream, but then my opponents would expect me to outspeed them, and Mold Breaker is just too good to drop. So instead I opted for Scarf Excadrill, which I had previous experience with, but I don't think it's ever slotted into one of my teams as effortlessly as it has in this one. Emergency Scarf Rapid Spin is so great, so so great. A nice low-ladder play that I have fun with is early game Rotom-W baiting, letting Keldeo take a predicted Hydro, then switching into Exca to take the Volt Switch, then with the opponent expecting to outspeed and Hydro, crush the thing with EQ. Quite fun, but less effective as you climb up the ladder. Excadrill offers a nice Talonflame kinda-counter, but I prefer to use it as a check. Between Mega-Pinsir and Keldeo, T-Flame is not my friend.
The Intimidating Shade of J-Law: Landorus-Therian
@ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spd
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Kinda hate myself for saying this, but I don't think I will ever build a team without a Pokemon who can provide me with Stealth Rocks. Unless of course, there's a massive debuff next gen. You're probably wondering why I'm missing that essential U-turn, or the Knock Off, which apparently ever single Pokemon under the sun gets. And I would love to have both moves, but I like HP Ice too much; Gliscor and other Lando's are fun to mess with. I can also switch in on Garchomp, activate Intimidate, hit a HP Ice, and watch them switch out while I go for rocks. EQ is staple, and Stone Edge provides an extra answer to Talonflame and Charizard. I've been toying with the idea of bringing in another SR user over one of the other team member's and giving Lando an Assault Vest, freeing up a slot for U-Turn/KO.
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Potential Threats:
- As long as my opponent doesn't realise that Ferrothorn is the actual thorn in my backside, I can usually play around until Keldeo, M-Pinsir or Thundurus takes it out. But I don't like risking T-Wave, and Leech Seed is not something I enjoy messing around with.
- Only a partial threat if it's carrying a coverage move to hit Keldeo, and in my laddering I've come across HP Electric & Grass Knot variants. I usually have to sack something, and keep Aegi in good health.
- I struggle to counter other Keldeo's, I check it perfectly fine, but my own Keldeo is my only reliable switch-in, who dreads a fellow Specs user, and really doesn't appreciate potential Scarf Sacred Swords either.
Conclusion & Importable:
Overall, this is a really fun team that I've actually had a blast with. It's nowhere near perfect, but with good predictions and some planning ahead, it can really do a number on other teams. The main problem, as I've previously mentioned is an over-reliance on Keldeo as a switch-in to the Water moves I really don't love. But Pinsir is too gud, Scarfdrill is sp33dy, and Thunderbro is defying gravity, and you can't bring him down.
Try to forgive me for the somewhat sloppy RMT, big blocks of serious text just aren't in my nature <3
Conclusion & Importable:
Overall, this is a really fun team that I've actually had a blast with. It's nowhere near perfect, but with good predictions and some planning ahead, it can really do a number on other teams. The main problem, as I've previously mentioned is an over-reliance on Keldeo as a switch-in to the Water moves I really don't love. But Pinsir is too gud, Scarfdrill is sp33dy, and Thunderbro is defying gravity, and you can't bring him down.
Try to forgive me for the somewhat sloppy RMT, big blocks of serious text just aren't in my nature <3
Thundurus (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- U-turn
- Thunderbolt
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Secret Sword
Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack
- Return
- Close Combat
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak
Landorus (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spd
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Excadrill (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- U-turn
- Thunderbolt
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Secret Sword
Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack
- Return
- Close Combat
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak
Landorus (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spd
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Excadrill (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
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