SS OU 3am Suspect Laddering ft. GOATcrab

[ShootingStarmie]

3am Suspect Laddering

Introduction
With the next DLC officially being announced and Cinderace officially being banned from OU, I thought it'd be worth sharing and retiring my favorite team this generation. This team was my gateway back into Pokemon, and I feel like it truly reflects my outlook on competitive Pokemon as a whole. Its a very offensive build, which utilities underrated sets and options, and always acts in a proactive way, never reactive. From the get go I try to force my opponent to play my game, and react to threats that I create, meaning I'm in control of the pacing and usually always maintain momentum. 3am was the chosen song for this RMT, usually being the time I'd find myself laddering (and also reflecting Crawdaunt's never ending hunt for its prey).


Team Building Process
Team was originally built around the GOATcrab. This was mostly inspired by the SS OU Teambuilding Competition thread, but I had good success with Crawdaunt in previous generations, and instantly respected its power as soon as I used it.

Basic idea was to bring Crawdaunt in safely is break stuff, so I went with a basic Volt-turn core and picked the best Pokemon for the job.

Team had decent synergy but no real plan. I had previous success with a Rillaboom + Hawlucha core, and the typing synergy seemed to fit the team well. Rillaboom also complimented the VoltTurn strategy, so it was a great addition.

The actual team was put together, just needed hazards. I really liked the idea of Spike stacking, as Spikes seemed very anti meta at the time with bulky regen teams running rampant. Mew is I think the best Spikes user, and usually gets up at least SR + 1 layer of Spikes with Red Card.

I replaced Dragapult with Gengar for its ability to take on Fairy-types that my team was weak to. Clefable, Togekiss, and Hatterene are all much more easily managed thanks to Gengar.

With the Cinderace suspect taking place, it was allowed back into OU for a short while. I replaced Zeraora with Cinderace, as it's a better pivot, and created a F / W / G core for my team.

This is the final version of the team, and the one I had most success with.​

In Depth Look

Trinitrotoluene (Cinderace) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pyro Ball
- Zen Headbutt
- Sucker Punch
- U-turn

Cinderace was the best Pokemon in the tier bar none, and fit perfectly onto this team. With STAB on every move, priority in the form of Sucker Punch, and ability to grab momentum with U-turn, this benefited my team in more ways than you could imagine. I chose to run an Adamant nature, as the loss in Speed only meant you were outsped by the likes of Timid Gengar, which was swiftly put away with Sucker Punch anyway. I chose to run Zen Headbutt over something like High Jump Kick or Gunk Shot due to its more consistent nature, (recoil from missing, or more likely to miss seemed like asking for trouble when laddering). Cinderace blasted through the likes of Skarmory and Corviknight, while also acting as a fail-safe check against the likes of Dragapult and Toxtricity. Heavy-Duty Boots are the best item for Cinderace, preventing it from easily being worn down. I will miss you Cinderace, even if you were broken as shit.

ThelordofbadRNG (Rillaboom) @ Choice Band
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- U-turn
- Grassy Glide
- Knock Off

Rillaboom is such a good Pokemon, and fits right at home with team. With its decent Attack stat backed up by Grassy Terrain and Choice Band, Rillaboom's Wood Hammer and Grassy Glide are ridiculously strong. U-turn is a superb move, and when used in conjunction with entry hazards, would be checks to your sweepers are easily overwhelmed. The only thing to keep in mind when using Rillaboom is the turns left of Grassy Terrain, as its pretty important for Grassy Glide and Hawlucha to be effective. A lot the times, you'll find yourself simply sweeping by just clicking Grassy Glide once bulky Flying and Fire-types are weakened or removed. Synergy wise, Rillaboom and Cinderace can provide a U-turn core, constantly pivoting to one another, racking up chip damage from entry hazards and U-turn. Rillaboom also provides Grassy Terrain, healing my team members and activating Hawlucha's Grassy Seed.

Blitzamirin (Crawdaunt) @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet

Absolute GOAT. Oh, you need an explanation for the GOATcrab? Well alright...with its great base Attack backed up by Life Orb and Adaptability, Crawdaunt is a tremendous wallbreaker for this team. Numerous times have I had balance and stalls flat out just lose once I get a Swords Dance up. The GOATcrab is capable of tremendous feats at +2, such as OHKOing Skarmory, Toxapex, Ferrothorn, Amoonguss, Azumarill, and Tangrowth after Stealth Rock. Crawdaunt is often able to freely set up a Swords Dance on passive Pokemon such as Skarmory, Toxapex, and Hippowdon, and gives me a great match up against ever popular sand teams featuring Tyranitar, Excadrill, and Tangrowth. Aqua Jet is also very important for this team, allowing Crawdaunt to pick off weakened threats and act as a great check to Volcarona. Synergy wise, Crawdaunt completes my Fire / Water / Grass core, and compliments the rest of the team really well. Truly the MVP of the team.

Katy (Hawlucha) (F) @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Unburden
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Substitute

Hawlucha is a fantastic Pokemon that gives me a great match up against opposing offense teams such as Sun and Rain. Thanks to its typing and tremendous speed, Hawlucha also acts as a fail safe check powerful threats such as Urshifu and opposing Rillaboom. Grassy Seed is a one time activation, so be sure to only bring out Hawlucha if its necessary, or there's an opportunity to sweep. I opted to run Substitute, as Hawlucha can find itself setting up on passive Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and non Haze Toxapex. Rather than relying on priority attacks, Hawlucha instead outspeeds the entire metagame once Unburden is activated and hits decently hard with its powerful STAB attacks. As far as synergy goes Hawlucha of course pairs nicely with Rillaboom, acting as a check to Volcarona while also cleaning up teams that are weakened by Crawdaunt.

ShinyAzelf (Mew) @ Red Card
Ability: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Flare Blitz

The Asiancy provides...entry hazards! Mew is the best suicide lead bar none. With decent natural bulk and a good speed tier, Mew is able to consistently lay multiple entry hazards on the field. Spikes usually take priority, as most Pokemon that are weak to Stealth Rock are using Heavy-Duty Boots anyway. Taunt prevents Mew from being setup bait, and also prevents foes from using Defog and Stealth Rock respectively. Flare Blitz is the attacking move of choice, capable of threaten Excadrill who could otherwise spin away hazards, and can also nail Ferrothorn and Scizor. Flare Blitz's recoil can also sometimes be beneficial, allowing for a free switch-in for your other members, not giving the opponent any room to breathe (Defog and Rapid Spin fail without a target to hit). Red Card is very important, shuffling the opposing team and increasing chip damage. Red Card also acts as a fail safe check to set up sweepers, assuming Mew lives the hit they'll be forced out.

deetah (Gengar) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Sludge Wave

Scarf Gengar is heat. This set catches a lot of people off guard, and helps my match up against certain threats to the team. Without Gengar, I'm far more vulnerable to the likes of Clefable, Togekiss, Dragapult, and Hatterene. A Modest nature is chosen for the extra firepower, as with a Choice Scarf you're outspeeding near everything already anyway. Trick is a great move, and helps provides setup opportunities for Crawdaunt or Hawlucha assuming you Trick your Scarf to a defensive Pokemon. Of course keep the Scarf if you need to check Scarf Togekiss, or Dragapult. One thing to note is Gengar is outsped by Jolly Urshifu and Timid Hydreigon once it loses it's Scarf, but this is situational, so I prefer Modest. Dazzling Gleam is chosen over Focus Blast, as I prefer more consistent damage, and it also OHKOes Urshifu should it choose to use Wicked Blow or switch in on Gengar directly. Gengar also acts as a Spinblocker for the team, as keeping entry hazards up is vital for the team to succeed.

Moving forward
While we don't have long left of this metagame, this team is still very fun and very good to use. Of course Cinderace isn't allowed, so there are a few options to replace it with. Zeraora is a great pivot, and fits nicely onto this team with its great power and Speed. Volcarona is also an option, acting as another win condition and maintains the Fire / Water / Grass core. I also experimented with Urshifu, as with U-turn and Sucker Punch it can fill a similar role to Cinderace. Excadrill is also worth mentioning, acting as a secondary check to Fairy-types.

Threat list

- With Magic Bounce, Hatterene prevents the standard game plan of leading off with Mew and getting hazards up. Gengar can blast through it, and the team doesn't care if it gets Calm Mind boosts. Annoying, but bearable.

- Both Scarf and bulky Togekiss provide problems for their own reasons. Scarf Air Slash 6-0s me with a bit of luck if you don't have access to Scarf Gengar, and Defensive Togekiss is hard to wear down, while also checking Rillaboom and outspeeding Crawdaunt.

- Acts in a similar fashion to Togekiss, both able to check Rillaboom and outspeed Crawdaunt. Mandibuzz also checks Gengar, and can Defog away my hazards, so its pretty annoying.

- This is a problem if its able to set up. Against my team, it really only finds room to set up against Mew, but its a problem if Dragapult leads against Mew. It can be revenge killed with Cinderace's Sucker Punch and Hawlucha, but its unreliable with Substitute.

- Pray you win the speed tie, lol.

Wrapping up
Thanks for taking the time to read this RMT. The nicknames chosen are to reflect the users who I've recently become friends with or reconnected with. They've all helped or supported me in some way, so shout outs to all of them.

Importable:

heat

Trinitrotoluene (Cinderace) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pyro Ball
- Zen Headbutt
- Sucker Punch
- U-turn

ThelordofbadRNG (Rillaboom) @ Choice Band
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- U-turn
- Grassy Glide
- Knock Off

Blitzamirin (Crawdaunt) @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet

Katy (Hawlucha) (F) @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Unburden
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Substitute

ShinyAzelf (Mew) @ Red Card
Ability: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Flare Blitz

deetah (Gengar) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Sludge Wave

 

[Caionamax]

Now that is gone, do you replace the cinderace slot with zeraora or with other?

 

[ShootingStarmie]

Now that is gone, do you replace the cinderace slot with zeraora or with other?

Both have their merits, and I think it mostly depends on the person using the team. I have more experience with Zeraora, but Volc provided some success as well. Urshifu and Excadrill have merit also. I covered this in the "moving forward" section