SS OU Zera-Chomp Offense (Pokepaste Added Now) - Reached 1700 with over 80% GXE

[agslash23]

Zera-Chomp Offense

https://pokepast.es/7f572297d0b13e75​

Hello and welcome to an RMT post about a team that I have been trying out recently on the ladder with decent-to-good success. The team is based on the offensive core of Bulk Up Zeroara and Swords Dance + Scale Shot Garchomp, and the other members have been chosen to enable this core to break/sweep/clean effectively. So, without any further ado, let me get started with the team thought process.

Team-Building Process



Core members of the team, Zeraora and Garchomp form a great setup sweeping core that attempt to overwhelm shared checks like Buzzwole, Tangrowth, Landorus-T etc.. (More details about their synergy). Usually, Garchomp breaks and sweeps early game. While SD + Scale Shot Garchomp can sweep very well by itself, Zeraora cleans up whatever Garchomp couldn't late-game, and uses BU to act as a late game wincon.



I needed a teammate who baits in its checks, then pivots out of its check to bring in core members safely, granting them an easy sweeping opportunity. Scizor fits the bill very well and is a great partner to both Zeraora and Garchomp. Scizor synergises well with Zeraora by U-Turning out and bringing it in against Corviknight and Tapu Fini, while it does the same for Garchomp by bringing it in against Heatran, Volcarona etc.. Most importantly, Scizor baits in Toxapex for both Zeraora and Garchomp. Additionally, Scizor is itself a setup sweeper that can switch into Weavile, Rillaboom, Kyurem etc.., mons that can trouble the core.



Next, I needed Stealth Rock to aid the setup sweeping. I further needed checks to opponent electric and ground types (It would be awful to swept by opponent Zeraora and Garchomp, ngl). Only one mon fits this bill, the mon that can fit any bill - Landorus-T



The team needs checks to Dragapult, Urshifu-R, Volcarona, as well as secondary Weavile and Heatran checks to alleviate pressure on Scizor and Garchomp/Lando-T respectively. The team also needs a stallbreaker to deal with fat teams due to lack of immediate power yet. Tapu Fini can do all of this thanks to its incredible typing, stats and access to Taunt + Nature's Madness + Whirlpool. Access to Nature's Madness further means that it breaks holes early game for Zeraora, Garchomp and Scizor to capitalize and sweep.



Finally, the team needed a Blacephalon check, immediate wallbreaking and a secondary switch in to Dragapult's Shadow Ball. Hydreigon ticks all these boxes. Here, it drops Earth Power for Flamethrower to be an immediate threat of Ferrothon, Buzzwole etc..

Threatlist

- While SpDef Lando checks it, it lacks recovery and thus can get overwhelmed long-term. If it faints, Koko toys with this team. The only way of beating it then would be to keep Zeraora or Scizor very healthy and setup.

- None of the mons in this team like to switch into Victini. SpDef Lando can take a few hits, but gets overwhelmed. Thankfully, Victini is easy to revenge kill here with Zeraora and Garchomp

- CB Melmetal can 2HKO every mon in this team with Double Iron Bash, including Scizor who is Physically Defensive and resists the move. Further, Melmetal's huge bulk means that it can win supposed 50-50s as well. Best way to deal with CB Melmetal is pivoting around Lando-T and Scizor, and then brining in Garchomp or Hydreigon to RK Melmetal with EQ or Flamethrower.

- Rain can be dealt with using Tapu Fini and Scizor, but it does force my team to always play on the backfoot as Barraskewda outspeeds even Zeraora in rain.

Credits

ausma - Well, what can I say, but thank you for helping me understand a lot about team-building. You have been really patient with me on Discord RMTs (Remember when I had asked you to rate like 4 CB Ttar teams in 1 week - I just wanted to make CB Ttar work anyhow), being available almost every time I wanted your help, while critiquing my team in a really logical and fun manner. We have built many fun heat teams like this, and would continue to do so

Finchinator - You have rated my teams on various servers in spite of your busy schedule. Further, your effort towards Smogon is unparalleled, and the varied resources you publish here (like VR and Sample Teams) are really too good. Really appreciate your dedication to the community

Abhi Katy Windingsss Tysonslayer Magnum airfare Gomi - The various projects you guys host on Smogon have provided me with a very interesting perspective of teambuilding . Further, these projects have helped make this an awesome community to hang out within.

adsam - While you are a NatDex player, working with you on improving my NatDex teams has helped me understand the process of general team-building better. This has made a better SS OU builder/player overall

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1391193208-adg330yyqg3q1wnz90j752itzc57vq0pw

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1391203667-jq07y01jmm90gimrb3ujwez8xd7hqxwpw

Success with this team so far

Closing Comments

This was a really fun team to play with, and I would like you all to try out this team and let me know how the team is working for you all. Feel free to suggest any changes (However, I wouldn't be changing Zera and Chomp)

Hope you have fun with this team :)

 

[FriarTuck]

This team looks really fun to play! I may be having a braindead moment, but I couldn't find a paste with the sets, would love to give it a shot!

 

[Akai]

This team looks really fun to play! I may be having a braindead moment, but I couldn't find a paste with the sets, would love to give it a shot!

your brain is still perfectly working don't worry, there is no pokepast atm on the thread

 

[FriarTuck]

your brain is still perfectly working don't worry, there is no pokepast atm on the thread

Phew! thought my brain was broke

 

[agslash23]

I was the braindead one, lol

Have added the paste now

 

[neuro]

hi, nice team, i'm trying it and i'm liking it
i wanna make two suggestions:
1) drain punch is very good on bulk up zeraora, especially if you run it without leftovers;
2) would it be worth to try defog on hydreigon? with it you can get rid of toxic spikes and maybe give leftovers to scizor and/or zeraora.

 

[ElStefano]

Hey there,

Great team with nice synergy!
After reading trough the good cores I came up with a very similar team myself, 5/6 mons are the same :D Also did well for me. I tweaked some sets looking at your spreads, which made it even better. Maybe you are also interessted in my changes:

- Make Tapu Fini the Scarf Set. You don't have a scarfer yet, so the speed control is appreciated. Trick still cripples fat teams.

- Try banded Tyranitar over Hydreigon. Helps vs opposing weather, chips the opponent with sand (4/6 members of your team are immune naturally), claims a kill almost every time it comes in on a passive mon.

- Why leftovers on chomp? I use life orb, the anti ice berry might also be a good idea with weavile being used so much.

Good luck laddering =)

 

[Leglock]

Clefable is quite brutal for this team. The only thing that can check it but can't answer it is Tapu Fini.

 

[agslash23]

hi, nice team, i'm trying it and i'm liking it
i wanna make two suggestions:
1) drain punch is very good on bulk up zeraora, especially if you run it without leftovers;
2) would it be worth to try defog on hydreigon? with it you can get rid of toxic spikes and maybe give leftovers to scizor and/or zeraora.

Glad you liked the team <3. As for your suggestions, CC is a better choice IMO to beat likes of Ferrothorn late game and also not needing to boost too much. Also, Defog on Hydreigon could be alright, but losing a coverage move is far worse on this sort of team.

Hey there,

Great team with nice synergy!
After reading trough the good cores I came up with a very similar team myself, 5/6 mons are the same :D Also did well for me. I tweaked some sets looking at your spreads, which made it even better. Maybe you are also interessted in my changes:

- Make Tapu Fini the Scarf Set. You don't have a scarfer yet, so the speed control is appreciated. Trick still cripples fat teams.

- Try banded Tyranitar over Hydreigon. Helps vs opposing weather, chips the opponent with sand (4/6 members of your team are immune naturally), claims a kill almost every time it comes in on a passive mon.

- Why leftovers on chomp? I use life orb, the anti ice berry might also be a good idea with weavile being used so much.

Good luck laddering =)

Thank you for trying out this team. Love that you liked it <3.

- Scarf Fini isn't too necessary here coz Zera and BP on Scizor are enough for speed control. I need Fini's bulk on this team more than speed as I need it to check Pult, Shifu, Weavile better.

- You know what, I tried CB Ttar on this team instead of Hydra before I posted it here!! It's really good on this team. However, since I lack defog, I prefer a mon immune to spikes, so I decided to stick with Hydra. But, again your call

- Leftovers enables Chomp to check Zapdos, Heatran, opponent Zeraora, etc,, while also ensuring it can switch in more easily, especially with rocks up

Clefable is quite brutal for this team. The only thing that can check it but can't answer it is Tapu Fini.

Only on paper is Clef a problem. In game, Scizor beats utility and CM + Thunder Clef (Magic Guard) which are it's most common sets. If it's unaware Clef, Lando Toxics it. Fini beats non-Thunder variant of Clef with Taunt + NM. Hydreigon 2HKOes most variants of Clef with Flash Cannon. I agree that if it gets too many CM boosts, it can be a problem. But, this team is all about playing aggressively and you must deny Clef any breathing space to beat it.

 

[Clone]

Not much to say here other than that this team looks pretty solid and it's clearly been working for you. My only concern is your lack of Fighting resists. Urshifu clicks CC for free any time it gets in on Garchomp, scizor, or hydreigon (since you lack draco). I don't think switching any members would make the team better, as each member has its role on the team. I would, however, like to offer an alternative EV spread for fini to hopefully lighten the load on the team and lessen the need for prediction:


move 1: Whirlpool
move 2: Moonblast
move 3: Nature's Madness
move 4: Taunt
item: Leftovers
ability: Misty Surge
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpD

Taken straight from the analysis, this spread avoids the 3HKO from CC. Gives you a little breathing room while also taking a shadow ball or 2 from pult if needed.

You could also try draco on hydra but I understand why you have flamethrower and think it's perfectly fine as is. Just something to consider if you don't click it that much

Cool team.

 

[agslash23]

Not much to say here other than that this team looks pretty solid and it's clearly been working for you. My only concern is your lack of Fighting resists. Urshifu clicks CC for free any time it gets in on Garchomp, scizor, or hydreigon (since you lack draco). I don't think switching any members would make the team better, as each member has its role on the team. I would, however, like to offer an alternative EV spread for fini to hopefully lighten the load on the team and lessen the need for prediction:


move 1: Whirlpool
move 2: Moonblast
move 3: Nature's Madness
move 4: Taunt
item: Leftovers
ability: Misty Surge
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpD

Taken straight from the analysis, this spread avoids the 3HKO from CC. Gives you a little breathing room while also taking a shadow ball or 2 from pult if needed.

You could also try draco on hydra but I understand why you have flamethrower and think it's perfectly fine as is. Just something to consider if you don't click it that much

Cool team.

Hey, thanks for your response.

Sure, that Fini set looks really good and would definitely try it. As for Hydra, I have considered Draco Meteor on it (over Flamethrower I think) and would try that too

 

[Red Raven]

This isn't an outright replacement but just something I wanna suggest for you to consider since I have a similar team. In fact, my team has three of the same pokemon

Using spdef Hippo over Landorus. Hippo still provides you with some leeway against Garchomp, takes pressure off Fini to handle Heatran in the event there are some Heatran + Moistshifu teams, still stuffs Koko, has recovery and has still stealth rock. Most important of all is sand stream. From what I can tell, Arctozolt puts a lot of pressure on the team if it gets a sub down. Sand stream would reset the weather and render Zolt more manageable. While not a true answer, with stealth rock and sand stream, you also pressure Pelipper which would greatly help against rain while also preventing an auto lose to Venusaur sun. It also appreciates Fini's terrain which blocks all attempts to toxic it

Also, to add on to the hail problem, perhaps also consider using yache berry on Garchomp so that it can lure in and destroy Snowtales or allow it to man up against Arctozolt

 

[Smashburn]

hi, nice team, i'm trying it and i'm liking it
i wanna make two suggestions:
1) drain punch is very good on bulk up zeraora, especially if you run it without leftovers;
2) would it be worth to try defog on hydreigon? with it you can get rid of toxic spikes and maybe give leftovers to scizor and/or zeraora.

Personally I wouldn't use Drain Punch on Zeraora, it takes away from a lot of its ability to bring consistency in an offensive team as it is a huge power sink to be able to have that recovery, this includes leftovers as well, as without boots on a team without defog it is liable to toxic spikes.

I don't think it is worth it to use Defog on Hydreigon, it is very frail and it fills an offensive role, not a defensive one. Defoggers (at least in the OU this gen) are characteristically bulky and have plenty of utility such as the likes of Tapu Fini and Corviknight, both of which fit their niches well. To add, Scizor does not run leftovers ever, it requires boots as a part of its utility/bulk absorbing knock off and in general bringing important resistances that cannot be mimicked or replaced.

 

[Smashburn]

Op, what are the stat calcs for on each of these mons? Specifically Scizor and Tapu Fini

 

[agslash23]

This isn't an outright replacement but just something I wanna suggest for you to consider since I have a similar team. In fact, my team has three of the same pokemon

Using spdef Hippo over Landorus. Hippo still provides you with some leeway against Garchomp, takes pressure off Fini to handle Heatran in the event there are some Heatran + Moistshifu teams, still stuffs Koko, has recovery and has still stealth rock. Most important of all is sand stream. From what I can tell, Arctozolt puts a lot of pressure on the team if it gets a sub down. Sand stream would reset the weather and render Zolt more manageable. While not a true answer, with stealth rock and sand stream, you also pressure Pelipper which would greatly help against rain while also preventing an auto lose to Venusaur sun. It also appreciates Fini's terrain which blocks all attempts to toxic it

Also, to add on to the hail problem, perhaps also consider using yache berry on Garchomp so that it can lure in and destroy Snowtales or allow it to man up against Arctozolt

Hippo is way too passive on such an offensive team, Lando is the much better option - it hits harder, provides ground immunity and U-Turn. Worst of all, I autolose to opposing Scale Shot + SD Chomp if I leave out Lando.
Fini's terrain ironically makes Hippo more passive coz it can't toxic stuff anymore.

Hail is manageable with Scizor for now.

 

[agslash23]

Op, what are the stat calcs for on each of these mons? Specifically Scizor and Tapu Fini

Scizor :

This spread makes it survive +2 Superpower from LO Rilla. You also avoid 2KHO from Specs Kyurem's Ice Beam


+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Rillaboom Superpower vs. 248 HP / 172+ Def Scizor: 279-330 (81.3 - 96.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyurem Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 88 SpD Scizor: 131-154 (38.1 - 44.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO


Tapu Fini :

I got the spread from a Discord rater, so I'm not 100% sure what the benchmarks are. But, it checks Dragapult, Urshifu-R very well, avoiding 3HKO in certain instances

252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 120+ SpD Tapu Fini: 109-129 (31.7 - 37.6%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 76 Def Tapu Fini: 122-144 (35.5 - 41.9%) -- 86.5% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[GaijinEagle]

Very nice team, thx for sharing. For dealing w Koko, would a +SpA Scarfed Hydreigon w Earth Power work? It OHKO's after rocks.

 

[Smashburn]

Scizor :

This spread makes it survive +2 Superpower from LO Rilla. You also avoid 2KHO from Specs Kyurem's Ice Beam


+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Rillaboom Superpower vs. 248 HP / 172+ Def Scizor: 279-330 (81.3 - 96.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyurem Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 88 SpD Scizor: 131-154 (38.1 - 44.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO


Tapu Fini :

I got the spread from a Discord rater, so I'm not 100% sure what the benchmarks are. But, it checks Dragapult, Urshifu-R very well, avoiding 3HKO in certain instances

252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 120+ SpD Tapu Fini: 109-129 (31.7 - 37.6%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 76 Def Tapu Fini: 122-144 (35.5 - 41.9%) -- 86.5% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Thanks! Appreciate some explaination

In addition to this I had a thought, why not use a slower Landorus with some Def? The team has no problem checking the likes of Bisharp and Magnezone which 92 Spe EVs are meant to outspeed, and increased Phys Def would decrease load bearing on the likes of Fini and Scizor defensively, respectively. Scizor being overpressured in a defensive position leads to it being overwhelmed, and likewise for Fini with no access to recovery which quickly cripples your defensive core for a significantly shorter game opposite of your favor. The EVs I've seen have been 16 Def (with intimidate) to avoid OHKO from Adamant Melm Double Iron Bash, in general just a slight bit of bulk means the team doesn't struggle as much. If you want you can go in more on the Def and sacrifice more unnecessary speed for Physical bulk, as the minimum speed that seems to be needed for this team is 221 on Landorus- or if you're afraid of other speed 220's and speed creep you can use 230 to avoid Arctozolt outside of hail as well.

Here are the sets:



Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 164 SpD / 48 Spe
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- U-turn

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 164 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- U-turn

PS

Bulkier Lando with minimum 44 Def lets you get up rocks and pivot around +1 and +2 and LO Rillaboom Grassy Glide (from Intimidate)
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Landorus-Therian in Grassy Terrain: 321-380 (84 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Landorus-Therian in Grassy Terrain: 321-380 (84 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Landorus-Therian in Grassy Terrain: 214-253 (56 - 66.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Helps with defensive loadbearing from Hydreigon as well for being your backup check to Rillaboom if Scizor goes down

Also use a 30 Spe EV Scizor to slow-turn out on other Scizor, 1v1 isn't an issue with Phys Def

Here's the new paste https://pokepast.es/3a93ba823a35ac8c

Tested out the team, works very well with the new changes

 

[agslash23]

Very nice team, thx for sharing. For dealing w Koko, would a +SpA Scarfed Hydreigon w Earth Power work? It OHKO's after rocks.

Nah, I need it's wallbreaking here, Koko can be dealt with, just that it requires me to play a bit more carefully.

Thanks! Appreciate some explaination

In addition to this I had a thought, why not use a slower Landorus with some Def? The team has no problem checking the likes of Bisharp and Magnezone which 92 Spe EVs are meant to outspeed, and increased Phys Def would decrease load bearing on the likes of Fini and Scizor defensively, respectively. Scizor being overpressured in a defensive position leads to it being overwhelmed, and likewise for Fini with no access to recovery which quickly cripples your defensive core for a significantly shorter game opposite of your favor. The EVs I've seen have been 16 Def (with intimidate) to avoid OHKO from Adamant Melm Double Iron Bash, in general just a slight bit of bulk means the team doesn't struggle as much. If you want you can go in more on the Def and sacrifice more unnecessary speed for Physical bulk, as the minimum speed that seems to be needed for this team is 221 on Landorus- or if you're afraid of other speed 220's and speed creep you can use 230 to avoid Crawdaunt as well.

Here are the sets:



Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 164 SpD / 48 Spe
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- U-turn

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 164 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- U-turn

PS

Bulkier Lando with minimum 44 Def lets you get up rocks and pivot around +1 and +2 and LO Rillaboom Grassy Glide (from Intimidate)
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Landorus-Therian in Grassy Terrain: 321-380 (84 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Landorus-Therian in Grassy Terrain: 321-380 (84 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Landorus-Therian in Grassy Terrain: 214-253 (56 - 66.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Helps with defensive loadbearing from Hydreigon as well for being your backup check to Rillaboom if Scizor goes down

Also use a 30 Spe EV Scizor to slow-turn out on other Scizor, 1v1 isn't an issue with Phys Def

Here's the new paste https://pokepast.es/3a93ba823a35ac8c

Tested out the team, works very well with the new changes

Sure, will try these out

 

[chain_chomp]

I've been casually dabbling with teambuilding around Scale Chomp and Spec Aegislash and funnily enough have so far come up with a team very similar to this, except I use Scarf Fini for speed and Aegislash takes the place of Zera. Otherwise everyone else is there in the same role with the same set more or less.