What is up Hariyama Alert Nation. I'm your host, Dazzling Gleamstar... Let's get right into the RMT!
So about three weeks ago I posted a very rough draft of a team I had initially constructed as a meme team. But taking the criticisms I got there, and ideas from people who helped me test the team, I've evolved the team and I'm confident in saying that I've finally finished the team. This RMT isn't really to ask for help, but to post a team I'm personally a bit proud of. While it may not be anything extraordinary, this team was able to win a a 48 person random OU smogon tournament, as well as bring 3 different people who helped me test into 1600's (which i get isn't incredible, but they just used it to help me test and it got them far enough).
(Major thanks to Flaming Victini for the rotom and mosa idea, I orignally had Tornadus and Tapu Fini. Major thanks to Jarrett, Jores and Eoin for helping me test. IDK their smogon names so I'll update it later if I find them).
The Finished Product:
http://pastebin.com/6V3V9t3D
The Teambuilding Process:
Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Skill Swap
So starting off with the focal point of the team, and it's a set I've been surprised at how well it's worked. Tapu Lele has such incredible offences in tandem with its coverage, STABS and ability that it has very scary sweeping potential with the right checks weakened after it gains a speed boost. Skill swap, in addition obviously to the speed boost, has a few situational benefits in several different situations. Copying something like beast boost from an Uber Beast sac or Protean from Greninja trying to come in on a predicted psychic move, or even something like adaptability from Porygon could easily spell game over. A few other notable interactions are copying poison heal off Gliscor, setting up on Landorus thanks to intimidate cutting the EQ damage, and also as something people might overlook: every time you skill swap another tapu, you reset Psychic terrain (since you activate their terrain, and then they activate your terrain after).
I'm running psyshock as my psychic move of choice for a few reasons, first being it hits specially defensive walls harder (I'm not modest so chansey eats for eternity, but it's better than nothing), then after that it hits a few specific targets I'm a little afraid of for more damage; namely Volcarona, assault vest users like Magearna, Gyarados... etc. Moonblast of coarse as secondary STAB, and I'm using HP fire as my coverage move over something like tbolt as it deals better with the steel types that trouble this team. Metagross has a chance to get 2hkod if it switches in before mega evolving, and it's able to 2hko the likes of Ferrothorn and Scizor. The set therefore gets walled by the likes of Heatran, Assault vest Magearna, and Celesteela, however Magearna is able to be whittled down easily enough and I have relatively good switch ins to the others.
Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Bullet Punch
- Hammer Arm
When I had first conceptualized the team, the immediate partner to Lele that came to mind was Metagross. I'll admit that my first thoughts were less on how they cover each others weaknesses and break down each others checks, and more of a simple "Hmm, spamming Zen headbutt in Psychic terrain sounds incredibly fun". It's really satisfying to see, but zen headbutt in terrain OHKOs spdef rotom after rocks the almost 90% of the time (which may not be the most relevant thing but I just find it satisfying to say). That being said, these 2 pokemon DO work incredibly effective as a pair. Even with Psycic terrain being a very common battleground effect, bullet punch is still a very useful move to have, as it checks the likes of scarf or QD Pheramosa and speed boosting sweepers, and just in general offers more speed control which takes less pressure off Pheramosa. Metagross gives me a check to opposing Tapu Lele, which in itself is a terrifying pokemon, as well as the likes of Mega Pinsir. Hammer arm hits Ferrothorn, Celesteela, and Scizor for more damage than earthquake, and beats non-rocky helmet Scarmory 1v1 since hammer arm lowers your speed and can 2hko Skarmory when it roosts, and of coarse is still able to hit heatran.
Pheromosa @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 104 SpA / 152 Spe
Naughty Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
- U-turn
Choice scarf Pheramosa has quickly become a favored sweeper of mine this gen. I've never been a fan of poison jab on scarf mosa since Tapu Fini shrugs that off anyways and most of the time I'd much rather have U-turned on it, so for that reason I decided I may as well run rapid spin as a safety net versus sticky web or spike stack teams. This is a fairly standard spread, which outpaces every relevant choice scarf user as well as every speed boosting sweeper after they boost (outspeeds +2 adamant Landorus, Volcarona, Gyarados and Salamence). Ice beam is of coarse great for Landorus and basically anything that resists its STABs other than Tapu Fini. And then high jump kick and U-turn are self explanatory as excellent STAB options.
Dragalge @ Black Sludge
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 248 HP / 164 SpA / 96 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Bomb
- Focus Blast
- Toxic Spikes
I've wanted to make an OU team with Dragalge for ages now, and I believe I've finally been able to accomplish that desire while not taking away from the viability of the team. Dragalge (in my oppinion) partners exceptionally well with all 4 other members of the team; covering weaknesses both defensively and offensively. The EV spread lives an ice beam from Pheramosa after a quiver dance and after rocks, lives a breakneck blitz from Pheramosa after a quiver dance, and will always OHKO back with draco through the spdef boost. It also avoids the 2hko from Volcarona HP ground after a single boost, while putting it in range of High Jump Kick from scarfed mosa. Dragalge also is a great answer to Mega Charizard Y, as fire blast struggles to 3hko and sludge bomb can 2hko in return. Dragalge is also a great check to things like Keldeo, Tapu Koko, Greninja, choice band Tapu Bulu which (from my experiences at least) rarely carries zen headbutt, as well as heatran as offensive heatran cannot 2hko with timid earth power while being 2hkod by focus blast. Dragalge also blanket checks things like Magnezone, Gengar, and has a "chance" to live +3 ice beam from manaphy, which is kinda neat. I'm using focus blast over hp fire to hit Heatran while also still hitting Ferrothorn and Excadrill, but honestly the move never actually lands so I don't know why I use it. Toxic spikes adds more pressure in the hazard war (since my removal is choice scarf Pheramosa) and helps for Tapu Lele and mosa in the late game cleanup by weakening key members of the enemy team.
Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power Ice
- U-turn
I mean, I'm not going to lie to you. Adding Landorus was no "team-building genius" on my part. I can make up some excuse like "It takes off pressure from Dragalge and Metagross by checking ground types like Excadrill and Zygarde" or "It gives me a solid check to opposing Metagross or Scizor" or "It threatens the likes of Magearna so I don't have to switch into it" or "It can check choice scarf Pheramosa by 75% of the time (switching into 3/4 of the moves" but honestly dude... this is SUMO OU. You run Landorus. Because it blanket checks like literally half the metagame. HP ice lets you threaten things like other Landorus (which could otherwise be a big problem) and Zygarde, it's just such a good pokemon dude, and one of the best stealth rockers in the entire game. Earthquake hits a lot of things the team is afraid of for super effective damage and U-turn brings momentum into all 4 of my heavy hitters previously mentioned.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split
As a final pick, I chose Rotom as a way to glue together the majority of the holes the team had. Well... actually that's a lie, Rotom was recommended to me as a change to the original team, and it's made all the difference in the world. Rotom helps versus offensive threats like BB and protean Greninja, Landorus, Scizor, Gyarados and Metagross, as well as a good pivot with volt switch into defensive mons like Heatran, defensive Landorus, Celesteela, and Tapu Fini. Rotom also lives a boosted attack from QD Mosa. Will-o-Wisp breaks down aforementioned physical attackers, with pain split offering sustainability and Hydro being a reliable STAB on the rare chance that it hits.
Threatlist:
Now in general, it's impossible to account for everything when trying to build around something like what I'm trying to build around. This team has absolutely no way of beating stall. If it wasn't for the fact that the focus of the team was to use Z skill swap, I'd have changed the Tapu Lele to shed shell, taunt-3 attacks. But because it's not, I'm obligated to say that this team cannot under any circumstances muscle through stall. So fair warning.
The team is also threatened by protean Greninja and Pheramosa, but at the end of the day what team isn't. But the team does have counter play for both pokemon, and the matchup isn't unwinnable.
I made this team before Mawile was released, and haven't really taken a lot of time to alter it since its release. Mawile is a terrifying pokemon, to say the least, but I feel like a have a few relatively decent checks, as Tapu Lele 2hkos and denies sucker punch, Rotom-Wash outspeeds and threatens with Will-o-Wisp, and Landorus threatens is with EQ+Intimidate+being naturally faster. Other steel types in general are threatening, for example opposing Metagross or Magearna, but can be dealt with by several pokemon on the team.
Those are just a few things. The team has a lot of holes and I'll be the first to admit. But it has counter play to the majority of the major threats in the tier, offers a good balance between offensive pressure and defensive pivots, and is overall just a really fun team to use (or so I've found), which at the end of the day was its original purpose.
Replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-544590419
This was the championship game for the small tournament I mentioned. It's actually a pretty funny game, because this guy basically called out what he thought was his victory like halfway through the game by saying something like "you shouldn't have sacced the only thing that lived a hit from gengar" and then ended up losing because metagross lived a hit from gengar.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-542426678
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-542025708
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-542450587
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-542386392
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-543313178
These are all replays from 1500-1600, if I'm not mistaken. They may not be the greatest matches but they show off the team.
And this is just a fun montage of the funner moments we had with the team, on the lower end of the ladder.
So about three weeks ago I posted a very rough draft of a team I had initially constructed as a meme team. But taking the criticisms I got there, and ideas from people who helped me test the team, I've evolved the team and I'm confident in saying that I've finally finished the team. This RMT isn't really to ask for help, but to post a team I'm personally a bit proud of. While it may not be anything extraordinary, this team was able to win a a 48 person random OU smogon tournament, as well as bring 3 different people who helped me test into 1600's (which i get isn't incredible, but they just used it to help me test and it got them far enough).
(Major thanks to Flaming Victini for the rotom and mosa idea, I orignally had Tornadus and Tapu Fini. Major thanks to Jarrett, Jores and Eoin for helping me test. IDK their smogon names so I'll update it later if I find them).
The Finished Product:
http://pastebin.com/6V3V9t3D
The Teambuilding Process:
Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Skill Swap
So starting off with the focal point of the team, and it's a set I've been surprised at how well it's worked. Tapu Lele has such incredible offences in tandem with its coverage, STABS and ability that it has very scary sweeping potential with the right checks weakened after it gains a speed boost. Skill swap, in addition obviously to the speed boost, has a few situational benefits in several different situations. Copying something like beast boost from an Uber Beast sac or Protean from Greninja trying to come in on a predicted psychic move, or even something like adaptability from Porygon could easily spell game over. A few other notable interactions are copying poison heal off Gliscor, setting up on Landorus thanks to intimidate cutting the EQ damage, and also as something people might overlook: every time you skill swap another tapu, you reset Psychic terrain (since you activate their terrain, and then they activate your terrain after).
I'm running psyshock as my psychic move of choice for a few reasons, first being it hits specially defensive walls harder (I'm not modest so chansey eats for eternity, but it's better than nothing), then after that it hits a few specific targets I'm a little afraid of for more damage; namely Volcarona, assault vest users like Magearna, Gyarados... etc. Moonblast of coarse as secondary STAB, and I'm using HP fire as my coverage move over something like tbolt as it deals better with the steel types that trouble this team. Metagross has a chance to get 2hkod if it switches in before mega evolving, and it's able to 2hko the likes of Ferrothorn and Scizor. The set therefore gets walled by the likes of Heatran, Assault vest Magearna, and Celesteela, however Magearna is able to be whittled down easily enough and I have relatively good switch ins to the others.
Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Bullet Punch
- Hammer Arm
When I had first conceptualized the team, the immediate partner to Lele that came to mind was Metagross. I'll admit that my first thoughts were less on how they cover each others weaknesses and break down each others checks, and more of a simple "Hmm, spamming Zen headbutt in Psychic terrain sounds incredibly fun". It's really satisfying to see, but zen headbutt in terrain OHKOs spdef rotom after rocks the almost 90% of the time (which may not be the most relevant thing but I just find it satisfying to say). That being said, these 2 pokemon DO work incredibly effective as a pair. Even with Psycic terrain being a very common battleground effect, bullet punch is still a very useful move to have, as it checks the likes of scarf or QD Pheramosa and speed boosting sweepers, and just in general offers more speed control which takes less pressure off Pheramosa. Metagross gives me a check to opposing Tapu Lele, which in itself is a terrifying pokemon, as well as the likes of Mega Pinsir. Hammer arm hits Ferrothorn, Celesteela, and Scizor for more damage than earthquake, and beats non-rocky helmet Scarmory 1v1 since hammer arm lowers your speed and can 2hko Skarmory when it roosts, and of coarse is still able to hit heatran.
Pheromosa @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 104 SpA / 152 Spe
Naughty Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
- U-turn
Choice scarf Pheramosa has quickly become a favored sweeper of mine this gen. I've never been a fan of poison jab on scarf mosa since Tapu Fini shrugs that off anyways and most of the time I'd much rather have U-turned on it, so for that reason I decided I may as well run rapid spin as a safety net versus sticky web or spike stack teams. This is a fairly standard spread, which outpaces every relevant choice scarf user as well as every speed boosting sweeper after they boost (outspeeds +2 adamant Landorus, Volcarona, Gyarados and Salamence). Ice beam is of coarse great for Landorus and basically anything that resists its STABs other than Tapu Fini. And then high jump kick and U-turn are self explanatory as excellent STAB options.
Dragalge @ Black Sludge
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 248 HP / 164 SpA / 96 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Sludge Bomb
- Focus Blast
- Toxic Spikes
I've wanted to make an OU team with Dragalge for ages now, and I believe I've finally been able to accomplish that desire while not taking away from the viability of the team. Dragalge (in my oppinion) partners exceptionally well with all 4 other members of the team; covering weaknesses both defensively and offensively. The EV spread lives an ice beam from Pheramosa after a quiver dance and after rocks, lives a breakneck blitz from Pheramosa after a quiver dance, and will always OHKO back with draco through the spdef boost. It also avoids the 2hko from Volcarona HP ground after a single boost, while putting it in range of High Jump Kick from scarfed mosa. Dragalge also is a great answer to Mega Charizard Y, as fire blast struggles to 3hko and sludge bomb can 2hko in return. Dragalge is also a great check to things like Keldeo, Tapu Koko, Greninja, choice band Tapu Bulu which (from my experiences at least) rarely carries zen headbutt, as well as heatran as offensive heatran cannot 2hko with timid earth power while being 2hkod by focus blast. Dragalge also blanket checks things like Magnezone, Gengar, and has a "chance" to live +3 ice beam from manaphy, which is kinda neat. I'm using focus blast over hp fire to hit Heatran while also still hitting Ferrothorn and Excadrill, but honestly the move never actually lands so I don't know why I use it. Toxic spikes adds more pressure in the hazard war (since my removal is choice scarf Pheramosa) and helps for Tapu Lele and mosa in the late game cleanup by weakening key members of the enemy team.
Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power Ice
- U-turn
I mean, I'm not going to lie to you. Adding Landorus was no "team-building genius" on my part. I can make up some excuse like "It takes off pressure from Dragalge and Metagross by checking ground types like Excadrill and Zygarde" or "It gives me a solid check to opposing Metagross or Scizor" or "It threatens the likes of Magearna so I don't have to switch into it" or "It can check choice scarf Pheramosa by 75% of the time (switching into 3/4 of the moves" but honestly dude... this is SUMO OU. You run Landorus. Because it blanket checks like literally half the metagame. HP ice lets you threaten things like other Landorus (which could otherwise be a big problem) and Zygarde, it's just such a good pokemon dude, and one of the best stealth rockers in the entire game. Earthquake hits a lot of things the team is afraid of for super effective damage and U-turn brings momentum into all 4 of my heavy hitters previously mentioned.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split
As a final pick, I chose Rotom as a way to glue together the majority of the holes the team had. Well... actually that's a lie, Rotom was recommended to me as a change to the original team, and it's made all the difference in the world. Rotom helps versus offensive threats like BB and protean Greninja, Landorus, Scizor, Gyarados and Metagross, as well as a good pivot with volt switch into defensive mons like Heatran, defensive Landorus, Celesteela, and Tapu Fini. Rotom also lives a boosted attack from QD Mosa. Will-o-Wisp breaks down aforementioned physical attackers, with pain split offering sustainability and Hydro being a reliable STAB on the rare chance that it hits.
Threatlist:
Now in general, it's impossible to account for everything when trying to build around something like what I'm trying to build around. This team has absolutely no way of beating stall. If it wasn't for the fact that the focus of the team was to use Z skill swap, I'd have changed the Tapu Lele to shed shell, taunt-3 attacks. But because it's not, I'm obligated to say that this team cannot under any circumstances muscle through stall. So fair warning.
The team is also threatened by protean Greninja and Pheramosa, but at the end of the day what team isn't. But the team does have counter play for both pokemon, and the matchup isn't unwinnable.
I made this team before Mawile was released, and haven't really taken a lot of time to alter it since its release. Mawile is a terrifying pokemon, to say the least, but I feel like a have a few relatively decent checks, as Tapu Lele 2hkos and denies sucker punch, Rotom-Wash outspeeds and threatens with Will-o-Wisp, and Landorus threatens is with EQ+Intimidate+being naturally faster. Other steel types in general are threatening, for example opposing Metagross or Magearna, but can be dealt with by several pokemon on the team.
Those are just a few things. The team has a lot of holes and I'll be the first to admit. But it has counter play to the majority of the major threats in the tier, offers a good balance between offensive pressure and defensive pivots, and is overall just a really fun team to use (or so I've found), which at the end of the day was its original purpose.
Replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-544590419
This was the championship game for the small tournament I mentioned. It's actually a pretty funny game, because this guy basically called out what he thought was his victory like halfway through the game by saying something like "you shouldn't have sacced the only thing that lived a hit from gengar" and then ended up losing because metagross lived a hit from gengar.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-542426678
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-542025708
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-542450587
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-542386392
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-543313178
These are all replays from 1500-1600, if I'm not mistaken. They may not be the greatest matches but they show off the team.
And this is just a fun montage of the funner moments we had with the team, on the lower end of the ladder.
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