Introduction:
Hey y'all, it's Akumeoy, and despite having been around in the OM forums & PS room for a few years, this is my first RMT. My activity has been lower as of late for various reasons, but I've managed to produce a team that I really like playing and that has served me well in a meta that I think is cool and diverse, so I figured I'd share it with you all instead of just posting an import in the thread like I usually do. If you've never heard of Nature Swap before, check out the thread here for more information.
Premise:
- Disrupt the opponent with Heatran and Tapu Bulu
- Wall threats and inflict chip with Heatran, Vaporeon, and Landorus-Therian
- Net KOs with Mega Abomasnow and Aggron
I started the team off by looking at someone else's team that seemed threatening and trying to determine what gave it trouble. I noticed that a combination of Grass and Ice coverage would do the trick, and then I noticed that Mega Abomasnow can trade one of its attacking stats for a solid Speed tier. So I started with that. It exceeded expectations, in particular due to its surprisingly good bulk -- despite its awful defensive typing, it gets switch-ins on several relevant threats.
Around this point, I decided that a balance team would best suit the snowman, since it has several exploitable weaknesses to shore up whilst providing valuable chip damage. Heatran is the obvious starting point, since it can switch into a few types that MSnow hates (Fire, Bug, Flying, Poison, Steel) and provide its own residual damage.
It seemed natural to round out the team's defensive capabilities with a fat Water-type, especially since the Abomatran core loses to Mega Camerupt; Vaporeon and its huge bulk have not disappointed. Wish passing and status spreading both do massive favors for its teammates, especially since none of them actually possess reliable recovery moves and you can never have too much chip.
Heatran and Vaporeon are both more suited to being special walls than physical ones, so I added Lando-T to be the team's physical wall, since it's fat as shit. It also has a useful typing and stuff. Despite losing a lot of offensive presence compared to standard, it fulfills its purpose admirably, while also checking off Defog.
I'm an offense player at heart, so looking at the team, I worried about its ability to clean and revenge kill. Less tangibly, Mega Abomasnow was the only thing that could really capitalize on a late-game sac, but I preferred to use the snowman in the early game. Also, I needed a rocker and another Toxic immunity. Aggron and Steelix both fit the bill, but I liked Aggron's STAB head Smash a lot, so I went with that.
Experience proved me dreadfully weak to Kommo-O; more generally, Heatran was overburdened dealing with Dragon-types on top of its other problems. Meanwhile, two double Ground weaknesses was troubling to say the least, even if I did have Ground-type switch-ins; in that vein, Mega Abomasnow was struggling to function as a Fat Grass Type between its offensive obligations and SR weakness. Stall was also proving to be an issue. Tapu Bulu slotted into the team pretty well, giving me an additional source of passive recovery and boosting Mega Abomasnow's attacks, pivoting into Clangorous Soulblaze, and punishing switch-ins with powerful Wood Hammers and pesky Taunts.
The Team:
Abomasnow @ Abomasite
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
Stats: 90/30/105/132/105/132
The star of the team. Blizzard and Energy Ball are powerful Special STABs that cover a lot of the meta's threatening mons; a physical set with something like Ice Shard and Wood Hammer could be done, but honestly the Wood Hammer recoil and the low power of the snowman's physical Ice moves make that unappealing.
Hidden Power Fire is used in the third slot to hit Steel-types such as Magearna, Magnezone, Metagross, and Mega Scizor for super-effective damage; however, in practice, you're usually just clicking a STAB, since those are pretty strong and HP Fire's damage output is not great. The last slot is pretty much filler -- I've used Focus Blast (for Heatran, when I'm feeling lucky), Shadow Ball (for Alolan Marowak), Safeguard (to see if it was good [meh]), Leech Seed (it was alright), and finally settled on Substitute. I almost never feel the need to click that slot.
By running a Timid nature, Mega Abomasnow trades the ability to go mixed for an excellent Speed tier that lets it outspeed mons such as Hasty Kartana, Jolly Mega Charizard X, Timid Kyurem, Jolly Volcanion, Hasty Rhyperior, and Hasty Metagross. While you're ogling its stats, take note of its very solid 90/105/105 natural bulk -- this is what will let you pivot into moves such as Tangrowth's Power Whip, Lando-T's Earth Power/Earthquake, and weak Knock Offs. You should almost always lead off with Mega Abomasnow if the opponent can't obviously punish you for it, as getting up Hail early and having a chance to click Blizzard is worth the possibility of being forced out, since the team is equipped to switch into stuff anyways. If you don't lead with it, try to pivot it in early game to get off as much damage as possible.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
- Protect
- Toxic
Stats: 91/90/106/106/130/77
Low-key the best mon in the tier. No, I'm serious, nothing I've seen is as consistent or threatening as Heatran. Heatran is fat as fuck and doesn't give a SHIT about how much newfound bulk your mons have, because it doesn't NEED to break you with direct damage, and it WILL fuck you up. While its improvement is not as dramatic as the snowman's, it's still a very solid anti-meta pick that should honestly be spammed a lot more than it already is.
The set is optimized to deal a lot of residual damage and tank special hits. Toxic and Taunt are obvious picks for this, letting Heatran wear down (almost) any threat in the long run, while generally being fairly useful for hitting things on the switch. With the team's lack of pivot moves, it really appreciates the opportunity to trap one of its switch-ins with Magma Storm. Additionally, as explained below, the residual damage from Magma Storm can be effectively doubled via copious Protect usage. This is especially useful vs. Calm Mind users like Espeon and Magearna.
I used to have Earth Power in the last slot, and I can't say I never miss it, but Protect is honestly invaluable. Thanks to Heatran's Leftovers, after Toxiking or Taunting an opponent, every turn it stays on the field magnifies this HP differential, lets it scout the opponent, waste turns of opposing field conditions, and recover HP. Use it freely unless you expect to get set up on -- even if it fizzles while they switch, you can click it again to get more HP back.
Anyways, Heatran's job is to switch into resisted moves, especially ones that often come out at Mega Abomasnow. It's really, really important to not let Heatran take a Knock Off if it doesn't have to; if this happens, you'll need to keep it alive with Wish support, which is far less than ideal. But this should all be familiar to anyone who uses SpD Heatran in standard formats -- it plays very similarly.
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Wish
- Protect
Stats: 130/65/110/60/95/65
It's a fat Water-type. The statline boosts Vaporeon's Defense because it needs that to take on various threats, but it's invested in Special Defense because it needs that bulk to take on things like Mega Camerupt.
The moveset here should be really self-explanatory. Wish is Vaporeon's source of recovery, and can support the team if Vaporeon is healthy enough to switch out. Protect lets Wish actually be reliable, and stalls for time in the same way Heatran does above. Scald lets Vaporeon not be 100% Taunt-bait and can burn opponents. Toxic spreads residual damage vs. things that Scald would otherwise be useless against.
Vaporeon should be played fairly conservatively, as its low offensive presence means it won't get a lot of opportunities to trade with the opponent, and it needs as much HP as it can to tank all of the hits it needs to. Basically, if it can't outright wall the opponent, consider switching something else in instead. If Vaporen drops below like 75%, it's often useful to toss out a Wish just to make sure you get it done -- you can always forego using Protect the next turn if you don't expect to take damage. Your two chief concerns are taking a Toxic and accidentally burning something you want to Toxic, so think twice before blindly switching into fat Salamence or clicking Scald if their Kommo-O hasn't spent its Z-move.
Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Defog
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Rest
Stats: 89/90/145/105/80/91
You know how Lando-T runs an effective defensive set in standard metas with Intimidate and 89/90 physical bulk? The same premise with 89/145 defensive bulk is as ridiculous as you might expect. With these stats, Lando-T can easily tank hits from even boosted physical threats, which Vaporeon and Heatran struggle to do.
This residual damage is also nice because it circumvents some of the need for speed control on account of happening on the switch. Earth Power and Defog are its primary sources of damage and utility -- a non-grounded, Rocks-neutral Defogger reeeeeally eases the hazards matchup. Hidden Power Flying noscopes Fighting-types like Mega Heracross, Buzzwole, and Hawlucha, which might otherwise be able to set up on it, and indeed often attempt to set up on it. HP Ice is almost useless, since the team has good answers to everything it hits anyways. Rest goes in the last slot to give Lando-T an opportunity to recover health; while it doesn't often wake up from this sleep vs. offense, it's useful for PP stalling and status absorbing vs. fatter teams, and lets it stay alive longer to get off Intimidates and Rocky Helmet chips vs. all playstyles.
Lando-T pretty much doesn't check any special attackers, so don't even try. Since it doesn't have room for Toxic or a boosting move, Lando-T needs to supplement its ability to check physical threats with Rocky Helmet; as such, switching into Lando should be the default response to almost any physical attacker you aren't already outspeeding. Rocky Helmet chip + Toxic chip on the switch can often handle threats that you might not even get a chance to attack directly. It's not a tragedy if Lando loses its Helmet, so if Aggron and Abomasnow aren't suitable switch-ins, Lando can tank it. As for Defogging, rocks and webs are only an issue if you expect to lean on Mega Abomasnow (or sometimes Aggron), and can be left for when you get a free turn; in contrast, actively make the time to remove Spikes and Toxic Spikes, since they threaten everything else.
Aggron @ Groundium Z
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Head Smash
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
Stats: 70/110/50/60/60/180
The team's cleaner and rocker. It's not the best rocker ever, but like hell I'm giving up Defog on Lando. 180 Speed is the kind of ridiculous stat that people come to the tier for, and I can't blame them. Aggron is a very solid attacker, and its super-fast Steel-type ilk are why Hyper Offense is kinda meh in the meta and not an awful matchup for this team.
Stealth Rock is Stealth Rock. Heavy Slam and Head Smash are Aggron's most powerful STABs, which make up for its average Attack and lack of boosting item. Head Smash is only 80% accurate, so you should only click it if you really need the thing in front of you dead, but that's just how it is on this bitch of an earth. Earthquake is good coverage, hitting things like Metagross, Toxapex, Heatran, Mega Camerupt, and miscellaneous Electric-types. Groundium Z turns it into Tectonic Rage, which circumvents Grassy Terrain for a turn and often lets it pick up the KO on Toxapex. Not like I have anything better to use my Z crystal on, and it turns Tricks and weak Knock Offs into switch-in opportunities.
If you're ever tempted to switch Aggron into a singularly resisted move, don't. Only take weak resisted moves or quad resisted moves. Knock Offs from weak shit can be doable, but it's not a long-term solution. Anyways, Aggron has two modes: early game and late game. Early game, you should try to get up Rocks after coming in on something it can KO, and then save it for later; it's not a tragedy if you can't get up rocks, though. Late game, it should come in on a sac after its switch-ins are gone and click attacks to win the game. Don't try to predict in this mode, as you might not be able to afford a bad prediction, and it's non-choiced and very fast anyways.
Tapu Bulu @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Megahorn
- Taunt
- Swords Dance
Stats: 70/130/75/85/95/115
Kind of an odd choice, but it does its job. Still, it'll take me a bit to explain. It has an acceptable speed tier, and with its powerful Grass-type STAB, it can really take chunks out of things that have the misfortune of underspeeding it. Grassy Terrain provides all of its usual benefits, and thanks to the team's focus on residual damage & passive healing, it can usually exploit this more effectively than the opponent. Heatran, in particular, loves it. It really helps that Bulu's best switch-ins are either non-entities (Celesteela, Mega Venusaur, Volcarona, Zapdos) or are handled well by its teammates (Mega Scizor, Mega Charizard X, Heatran, Kartana).
Swords Dance and Wood Hammer don't really need introduction: It's how you deal damage. Specifically, the team has no boosting moves, so if something ends up being too hard to break with status and the snowman, Bulu might be up to the job. Taunt lets Tapu Bulu disrupt switch-ins and stop defensive opponents from recovering or spreading status; basically, if you're saving Heatran for something else, Bulu is your Taunt user.
Now for Megahorn. AV Tangrowth switches into Lando, Vaporeon, and Aggron, and threatens Abomasnow and Heatran with HP fire and Earthquake. Toxic only helps so much. Calm Mind-using Psychic-types such as Reuniclus, Alakazam, and Espeon all set up on large chunks of the team and dissuade it from clicking Toxic outright -- these can solo you if you're not careful. Tapu Bulu is optimized to beat these threats: Megahorn is its best move vs. both, collecting the unboosted 2KHO on Tangrowth and circumventing Wood Hammer's recoil for only a small damage drop vs. Psychics. Superpower and Stone Edge are more conventional coverage options, sure, but this team already has several good answers to the Steel- and Flying-types they're supposed to hit.
Tapu Bulu will often need to take two hits to do its job (Taunting + clicking 1-2 attacks, etc.), but it can have trouble with that on account of its STAB's recoil and not running a bulky spread. This is where Wiki Berry comes in -- once you're threatened with a KO, it'll give you enough of a burst to live your Wood Hammer recoil and maybe one hit afterwards, which can let you eke the advantage you need out of it. It's not a big deal if Tapu Bulu dies after you're done with it, so longevity-increasing items like Leftovers probably aren't worth it, and it doesn't really need more offensive power than it already has.
Tapu Bulu should not be played as a wallbreaker unless you're facing one of the things it's supposed to break; in any other circumstance, it is an offensive support mon, and should be treated as such. It's more useful for taking a hit and retaliating, or using Taunt to disrupt something, getting its terrain up so the snowman can spam Energy Ball, or coming in on a resist and just clicking Wood Hammer once or twice to get off hits. If the opponent has Kommo-O, Bulu should ALWAYS be your switch-in, as you do NOT want Kommo-O to get off a Clangorous Soulblaze. Once it's neutered that one move, Kommo-O is not as much of an issue, so you can usually switch back into Vaporeon or something, or just use Wood Hammer if you don't need it any more.
Other Options:
God knows I'm not the world's best player, so I'm sure there's room for optimization/innovation on this team. Here are some ideas that I think could improve the team, or maybe they won't, who knows. Naturally, if you make your own alterations and find that they help the team, let me know.
- Substitute + Leech Seed on Mega Abomasnow. This would do some noticeable work vs. Toxapex and other stall mons, while setting up a damage differential vs. the threats that HP Fire normally hits. It would mostly miss the ability to bring down Mega Scizor (which won't KO you with BP from full).
- Alomomola > Vaporeon. Mola can run Vaporeon's set and has very similar stats after nature swapping, mostly trading Water Absorb for Regenerator. It probably functions about as well and relies less on Wish, but keep an eye on Araquanid and Azumarill if you do.
- Optimize Vaporeon's EVs. I'll admit, the specifics of proper EVing for high-HP walls has always sort of eluded me, and I'm not sure whether the ones here could be better.
- Optimize Tapu Bulu's EVs. It's a pretty standard offensive spread, but maybe it could use some bulk? I'm not sure what for, though.
- A different item on Tapu Bulu. I don't know what this would entail, but it's the team's most optional item slot, so it's probably worth experimenting.
I'm confident that effectively pressuring the opponent and making smart plays can let this team win vs. any particular Pokemon, if not vs. any particular team. Specifically, I've won vs. all of these threats at least once; some, like Tapu Lele, have never actually made me lose a game. But, still, they require careful play to manage.
Replays:
I didn't save any replays because I'm an idiot, though honestly a lot of them weren't really worth it because OM ladders don't really bring their A-game a lot of the time. But I peaked #4 on the ladder, lol. Check it out:
Ignore the GXE, I fucked around with a shitty Webs team on that account before I made this one. Naughty Mimikyu's pretty good, though.
Ignore the GXE, I fucked around with a shitty Webs team on that account before I made this one. Naughty Mimikyu's pretty good, though.
Importable:
Abomasnow @ Abomasite
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
- Protect
- Toxic
Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Defog
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Rest
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Wish
- Protect
Aggron @ Groundium Z
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Head Smash
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
Tapu Bulu @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Megahorn
- Taunt
- Swords Dance
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
- Protect
- Toxic
Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Defog
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Rest
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Wish
- Protect
Aggron @ Groundium Z
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Head Smash
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
Tapu Bulu @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Megahorn
- Taunt
- Swords Dance
Shout-Outs:
I don't really have any? Not much in the way of friends around here, nobody in particular really helped me with the team. Thanks to everyone who plays and talks about OMs, though, for making competitive Pokemon that much more interesting. I couldn't have done it without you -- or rather, there would be nothing to do without you.
I'm out, peace.