After getting absolutely trashed by Zeraora during the economy tour, I thought I’d see how well it does in an actual Natdex OU setting. I’ve seen some success with it, peaking at 1550 twice, so I thought I would share it here to see what improvements can be made.
The Scout (Zeraora) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Volt Switch
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
Zeraora, funnily enough, is most comparable to Landorus-T in terms of what it brings to teams. Like Landorus, it acts as a fast pivot and attacker, as well as an electric immunity. It has some notable advantages and disadvantages, though. One one hand, it has quite a bad matchup versus ground types, since they can block its volt switch. It also has no ground immunity and has pathetic physical bulk. On the other hand, it destroys bulky waters and metal birds with ease,and doesn’t get ruined by HP ice from electrics or flash cannon from magnezone. It also benefits greatly from grassy terrain rather than being crippled by it, which as you will see is very important. Heavy duty boots let me switch in and out with ease, and EV’s are to max speed, while hitting hard. Hasty because spdef is more important than physdef against the electrics you check.
The Medic (Rillaboom) @ Choice Band
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Wood Hammer
- U-turn
- Superpower
As I mentioned before, Rillaboom benefits a lot from Zeraora because it no longer has to worry about crippling its teammate. It also appreciates metal birds being dealt with, and revenge kills almost everything with chip. Grassy terrain is absolutely massive, since I have earthquake weak Pokémon, as well as Pokémon who rely heavily on passive recovery to take hits. Band because Wood Hammer beats Pex, and U-turn can get threats in, especially Kartana. Superpower beats Heatran on the switch.
The Heavy (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Toxic
- Earth Power
- Protect
I really need some defensive backbone for my team, and Heatran makes a great fit. I won’t go into detail on why it works well with Rillaboom, but it works well with Zeraora because it can bait in grounds and get good damage on them, and grounds not named Gliscor will get worn down into Knock Off or Close Combat range. Magma Storm has about 2 switch ins, and Toxic wears opponents down. Earth Power beats Heatran on the switch and most fire resists, and lets you not run through your 8 Magma Storm PP too fast. Protect racks up Toxic and Magma Storm damage, scouts opponents, and lets you recover 12.5% with Grassy Terrain up. It also makes Mega Medicham easier to deal with. I chose not to run speed because I like being able to take more special attacks like Koko’s thunderbolt easier, and I can deal with speedy Heatrans in other ways.
Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 180 Def / 80 SpD
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
I needed hazard control and physical walling, so once again, I am using Corviknight. Rocky Helmet gets chip against physical attackers, and can most notably let you Roost spam against +2 Fire Fang MMaw, and not let Lopunny U-turn for free. Everything else is pretty standard, not much to say here. Switch in to attacks, defog, roost, use U-turn to get a teammate in.
Kommo-o @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Drain Punch
- Toxic
- Taunt
Looking at this team, I can’t deal with Ash-Greninja or Heatran very well, and Charizard Y can become a game of 50/50’s. In addition, I need a stealth rocker. I found Kommo-o to be a great fit, with its defensive Stealth Rock set. Heatran gets taunted to stop toxic and protect, and DrainPunch keeps me healthy in the face of Magma Storm. I may consider switching up the EV’s to focus on SpDef, with speed for Heatran, but I find defence to be useful in a pinch against certain threats.
Kartana @ Normalium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- Giga Impact
Finally, Kartana, my main win condition. I’ve chosen to run a Normal Z set without Swords Dance, since I fiend coverage too important. Leaf Blade, boosted by Grassy Terrain, coming off of the second highest base attack in the game is absolutely nuclear, and does massive damage to resists. Sacred Sword hits Heatran and weakened Corviknight, and smart strike hits any Fairies. Giga impact boosted by Normalium Z destroys resists, most importantly Zapdos. Bringing this in late-game against a team after copious chip damage can end the game fast, especially with its great speed tier beating Garchomp. EV’s are standard, with the remaining 4 going to defence because there’s no point in investing in special defence.
Threats:
Gliscor: Only a Grassy Terrain Leaf Blade or Wood Hammer really breaks it, and if it doesn’t get baited by Zeraora first thing in the game, it will passively heal all of my chip damage off.
Mega Mawile: You absolutely need to push damage on this before stalling it out with Corviknight, and you will probably lose Corviknight in the process.
Kommo-o: Z sets ruin you, Corviknight can stall with Rocky Helmet, unless they have Flamethrower, in which case you hope Brave Bird can kill or put it in Grassy Glide range.
https://pokepast.es/4e0111018a7d4aae Pokepaste link
The Scout (Zeraora) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Volt Switch
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
Zeraora, funnily enough, is most comparable to Landorus-T in terms of what it brings to teams. Like Landorus, it acts as a fast pivot and attacker, as well as an electric immunity. It has some notable advantages and disadvantages, though. One one hand, it has quite a bad matchup versus ground types, since they can block its volt switch. It also has no ground immunity and has pathetic physical bulk. On the other hand, it destroys bulky waters and metal birds with ease,and doesn’t get ruined by HP ice from electrics or flash cannon from magnezone. It also benefits greatly from grassy terrain rather than being crippled by it, which as you will see is very important. Heavy duty boots let me switch in and out with ease, and EV’s are to max speed, while hitting hard. Hasty because spdef is more important than physdef against the electrics you check.
The Medic (Rillaboom) @ Choice Band
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Wood Hammer
- U-turn
- Superpower
As I mentioned before, Rillaboom benefits a lot from Zeraora because it no longer has to worry about crippling its teammate. It also appreciates metal birds being dealt with, and revenge kills almost everything with chip. Grassy terrain is absolutely massive, since I have earthquake weak Pokémon, as well as Pokémon who rely heavily on passive recovery to take hits. Band because Wood Hammer beats Pex, and U-turn can get threats in, especially Kartana. Superpower beats Heatran on the switch.
The Heavy (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Toxic
- Earth Power
- Protect
I really need some defensive backbone for my team, and Heatran makes a great fit. I won’t go into detail on why it works well with Rillaboom, but it works well with Zeraora because it can bait in grounds and get good damage on them, and grounds not named Gliscor will get worn down into Knock Off or Close Combat range. Magma Storm has about 2 switch ins, and Toxic wears opponents down. Earth Power beats Heatran on the switch and most fire resists, and lets you not run through your 8 Magma Storm PP too fast. Protect racks up Toxic and Magma Storm damage, scouts opponents, and lets you recover 12.5% with Grassy Terrain up. It also makes Mega Medicham easier to deal with. I chose not to run speed because I like being able to take more special attacks like Koko’s thunderbolt easier, and I can deal with speedy Heatrans in other ways.
Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 180 Def / 80 SpD
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
I needed hazard control and physical walling, so once again, I am using Corviknight. Rocky Helmet gets chip against physical attackers, and can most notably let you Roost spam against +2 Fire Fang MMaw, and not let Lopunny U-turn for free. Everything else is pretty standard, not much to say here. Switch in to attacks, defog, roost, use U-turn to get a teammate in.
Kommo-o @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Drain Punch
- Toxic
- Taunt
Looking at this team, I can’t deal with Ash-Greninja or Heatran very well, and Charizard Y can become a game of 50/50’s. In addition, I need a stealth rocker. I found Kommo-o to be a great fit, with its defensive Stealth Rock set. Heatran gets taunted to stop toxic and protect, and DrainPunch keeps me healthy in the face of Magma Storm. I may consider switching up the EV’s to focus on SpDef, with speed for Heatran, but I find defence to be useful in a pinch against certain threats.
Kartana @ Normalium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- Giga Impact
Finally, Kartana, my main win condition. I’ve chosen to run a Normal Z set without Swords Dance, since I fiend coverage too important. Leaf Blade, boosted by Grassy Terrain, coming off of the second highest base attack in the game is absolutely nuclear, and does massive damage to resists. Sacred Sword hits Heatran and weakened Corviknight, and smart strike hits any Fairies. Giga impact boosted by Normalium Z destroys resists, most importantly Zapdos. Bringing this in late-game against a team after copious chip damage can end the game fast, especially with its great speed tier beating Garchomp. EV’s are standard, with the remaining 4 going to defence because there’s no point in investing in special defence.
Threats:
Gliscor: Only a Grassy Terrain Leaf Blade or Wood Hammer really breaks it, and if it doesn’t get baited by Zeraora first thing in the game, it will passively heal all of my chip damage off.
Mega Mawile: You absolutely need to push damage on this before stalling it out with Corviknight, and you will probably lose Corviknight in the process.
Kommo-o: Z sets ruin you, Corviknight can stall with Rocky Helmet, unless they have Flamethrower, in which case you hope Brave Bird can kill or put it in Grassy Glide range.
https://pokepast.es/4e0111018a7d4aae Pokepaste link
+ 
-> 
+ 
-> 