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Resource BDSP OU Sample Teams
- Thread starter Eve
- Start date
Crawdaunt + Gengar BO Team. I've gotten to ~1800s with this so it's at least usable.
https://pokepast.es/64c19fd0100762fe
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Moonlight
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
Most clefs run Moonblast + flamethrower, but I use ice beam + flamethrower to help keep your rocks staying on the field as it can push out opposing defog Gliscor. We run max defense so that it can check common threats like banded dragonite (provided that you dont switch into a banded iron tail)
Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost
Standard SpDef Scizor to check Lati twins and other special attackers (aside from starmie and if your luck sucks specs gengar)
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 168 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Pivot Rotom-Wash. We run 8 Spe to outspeed Adamant crawdaunt, and some Def to be able to switch in on mamoswine comfortably. It runs mostly SpDef so that it can come in on Starmie and togekiss. Protect is there to scout for choiced mons like Magnezone as well as to get a bit more leftovers recovery.
Gengar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Energy Ball
- Focus Blast
This mon is broken, so we have it on the team. It 2hko's nearly all of the OU metagame if you predict correctly, which you often will not even have to do, since shadow ball hits about everything for neutral damage. We have focus blast in case they have Tyranitar but you shouldn't be using it much. Energy Ball is mostly just for killing manaphy.
Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Knock Off
- Crabhammer
- Aqua Jet
- Sludge Bomb
Mixed Crawdaunt so that you can always 2ohko tangrowth on the switch in. It also has an interesting upside of being able to 2hko azumarill with knock off + sludge bomb. Alternatively you can run dark pulse over sludge bomb, which does just a small bit less than sludge bomb against tangrowth thanks to the adaptability boost and is also able to 2hko skarm if you dont want to miss crabhammer.
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 184 HP / 20 Def / 156 SpD / 148 Spe
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake
Nothing really interesting about this Gliscor. It's the defogger. It's able to live an analytic specs flash cannon from zone if it really needs to. It's 1 point faster than breloom so that you can knock it out with acrobatics.
https://pokepast.es/64c19fd0100762fe
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Moonlight
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
Most clefs run Moonblast + flamethrower, but I use ice beam + flamethrower to help keep your rocks staying on the field as it can push out opposing defog Gliscor. We run max defense so that it can check common threats like banded dragonite (provided that you dont switch into a banded iron tail)
Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost
Standard SpDef Scizor to check Lati twins and other special attackers (aside from starmie and if your luck sucks specs gengar)
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 168 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Pivot Rotom-Wash. We run 8 Spe to outspeed Adamant crawdaunt, and some Def to be able to switch in on mamoswine comfortably. It runs mostly SpDef so that it can come in on Starmie and togekiss. Protect is there to scout for choiced mons like Magnezone as well as to get a bit more leftovers recovery.
Gengar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Energy Ball
- Focus Blast
This mon is broken, so we have it on the team. It 2hko's nearly all of the OU metagame if you predict correctly, which you often will not even have to do, since shadow ball hits about everything for neutral damage. We have focus blast in case they have Tyranitar but you shouldn't be using it much. Energy Ball is mostly just for killing manaphy.
Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Knock Off
- Crabhammer
- Aqua Jet
- Sludge Bomb
Mixed Crawdaunt so that you can always 2ohko tangrowth on the switch in. It also has an interesting upside of being able to 2hko azumarill with knock off + sludge bomb. Alternatively you can run dark pulse over sludge bomb, which does just a small bit less than sludge bomb against tangrowth thanks to the adaptability boost and is also able to 2hko skarm if you dont want to miss crabhammer.
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 184 HP / 20 Def / 156 SpD / 148 Spe
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake
Nothing really interesting about this Gliscor. It's the defogger. It's able to live an analytic specs flash cannon from zone if it really needs to. It's 1 point faster than breloom so that you can knock it out with acrobatics.
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Worry not sample users for I have descended from the ladder to free you of your outdated 
HOs and bring you an actually viable playstyle
BALANCE 
THE LOOMING THREAT
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 220 HP / 100 Atk / 188 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Seed Bomb
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Spore
Sub punch
famed stall destroyer is here once again to claim all of their souls with the ability to out stall stall's 
Sludge Bomb and 2HKO if tang hits 70% (which is doable between Knock Off, U-Turn, and Stealth Rocks chip) combined with mixed lure 
scaring stall away from using to begin with decimates the matchup freeing the rest of the team to focus on what they do best while remaining useful in non stall matchups with 100 Attack allowing it to 2HKO even 
after rocks and 
even without. The 220 HP allows to set up a Substitute in front of 
with the sub always surviving the volt switch from uninvested (and even up to 116 sp att for what thats worth) and even offensive failing to break the sub 31.2% of the time. The sub also survives uninvested 
Earthquake, Choice Band 
Aqua Jet 50% of the time and itself always lives +6 Aqua jet only taking 60-70%, Sp def 
s Scald 56.2% of the time, so many U-turns, and a few other hits. Spores you set up on literally anything that doesn't outspeed and OHKO you and 188+ speed lets you outspeed up to jolly 
with 4 extra evs in speed to speed creep players speed creeping jolly .
THE BLOB
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock
Now what eatss Focus Punch? Well aside from which loses to Seed Bombing theres 
one of the scariest mons in the tier to which 
is the one reliable switch in and if fears then it is we shall run. Now Nasty Plot can actually break if it gets up the Nasty Plot and Focus Blast twice so if can win in 3 turns we just have to beat it in 2 which is exactly what Shadow Ball does (after rocks or Life Orb recoil). The 4 Sp attack evs does slightly more damage than 0 sp att which helps rolls in wierd HP situations during end games with the 4 sp def doing the same to s damage rolls slightly reducing them. The rest is standard being the teams rocker, healing, and Thunder wave to trip up anything trying to use the passivity of to set up or just outlast it (although Ice Beam for and Seismic Toss for not pokemon are good options in this slot too).
THE SCORE
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 88 Def / 176 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 27 Spe
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Roost
The uncontested best mon in the tier which is very fair and balanced, seriously when have defensive pokemon ever been broken? SHUT UP
AND 
NOBODY ASKED!
......
Anyways is quiet frankly phenomenal with the combination of Poison Heal and Roost allowing it to turn anything 75% damage or less into 0% damage in a single turn after switching in to take almost any attack with it monstrous natural defense and invested sp def letting it take any non-Ice beam (and actually most of those too) or non-STAB water move attack. This is specifically EV'd to always eat Choice Specs Draco Meteor from allowing you to viably click Knock Off taking half of 's health and their specs or (more importantly) get a free Knock on the double switch into their answer expecting you to make the extremely predictable switch. Speaking of predictable switches this also eats max sp att Hydro Pump allowing you to stay in against thinking they scare you out and trying to Volt Switch; block said volt and either taking their item or using U-turn to generate momentum off the mon you opponent is relying on to generate momentum for them. The defense investment is enough to take +2 
Life Orb adamant Meteor Mash and knock it out in return while also taking some stupid hits like s unboosted Waterfall, Choice band ADAMANT 
s Reckless boosted Brave Bird, and; even tho it is only a 6.2% chance which is more likely than a crit just saying, it can even live s Adaptability Crabhammer if you Knock off its Choice Band.
Seriously What Is This Mon.
On top of all that its Flying type + Poison Heal make it functionally immune to all hazards meaning if the only way this pivot is being pressured is hazards which can be the case quiet often can freely pivot into whatever you need quiet literally forever (although you can only safely U-turn 32 times) which in mirror matches can lead to Infinitely continuous games.
So yeah get your use of this while you can.
THE STAR
Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Thunderbolt
The one true spinner here to claim your opponent's hazards once again with enough speed to outspeed and allowing for an emergency spin or to KO the attempting to spin block (and as much as I love 
lets be real the tiers only ghost is ) 
reliably clears the field of the hazards needed to pressure and Unaware 
into KO range from various threats. also reliably wins the lead matchup against suicide lead HOs. Underspeeding 
allows to safely spin as rocks go up getting the speed boost and outspeeding 2HKOing with Scald afterwards forcing to Explosion to KO without getting up rocks and only getting that KO 31.3% of the time on top of the 30% chance for a Scald burn which always lets live. And if decides to just throw up rocks again and not even go for the boom can just spin on whatever comes in after (unless its but if your worried about this super specific interaction you can switch Thunderbolt for Psychic and move the 44 EVs into sp attack for a 81.3% chance to OHKO ) being faster than every Choice Scarf user in the tier after a spin boost. And even if the HO uses the almost always inferior 
lead can just Scald and then spam spin afterwords to keep to rocks off again winning the lead matchup.
Note: The reason you scald is because leads run Rock Tomb specifically to beat who try and spin for the rock clear+ speed boost and then knock them out after with water move although this is bulky enough that you can just click spin anyways and recover off the damage however giving that many turns to HO isn't always a viable option.
Aside from all that Scald if just your free damage move that also fishes for burns against the grounds and damages fires like
and 
that this is tasked with handling as the teams resident bulky water with Thunderbolt allowing it to take on opposing bulky waters and threaten 
into KO range for although Psychic and Ice Beam for and dragons/grasses are viable options in this slot too.
THE GAR
Gengar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Hex
- Focus Blast
Emerging from the shadow realm has arisen to claim to souls of BDSP OU teams everywhere. A simple max speed max sp attack spread lets you tie and opposing while doing as much damage as possible with Shadow Ball being your freest move against everything given that the tiers darks are 
and which have paper defenses and being dropped by a Focus Blast. As for the normals we have with again paper defenses and the one actual switch in the game has with even 
being 2HKO'd 82.4% of the time and always after rocks (assuming Focus Blast lands). Sludge Bomb is your stronger STAB but requires more planning and conditions to be met given the many Poison resist with steels being outright immune. Sludge Bomb also has a 30% poison rate to pair nicely with Hex which becomes 130 base power when the opponent is statused giving you a specs Draco Meteor with even less resist and no miss chance. Hex also pairs very nicely with the rest of the teams supoort with having Spore, having Thunder Wave, packing Scald to fish for burns (and Thunderbolt to para if you want to ultra outskill the other player), as well as Thunder Wave on this team is a status spreading machine! Focus blast nails the extremely small list of mons that can temporarily stop those being , , and sp def although you could drop this for the more accurate and spammable Energy Ball which gives you a safe OHKO against 
and retains the good hit on while being decently spammable and safer than hoping you hit Focus Blast relying on your teammates to handle and . (Oh and don't worry about the choice lock restricting you move choice or your low defenses makes pivoting in on almost any attack practically free.)
THE SAVIOR
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave
- Protect
- Wish
The one true lord who needn't rely on flashy gimmicks such as changing types to deceive the masses unlike some false prophets the God of Balance has graced this lowly player base with their presence thwarting the vicious slanderous supporters of the EVIL plethora of set up sweepers in the tier that has caused the masses to spark such blasphemous beliefs as "balance is unviable because of <insert sweeper>" The Almighty has graced us balance players with their presence.
PRAISE BE ONTO THEE
PRAISE BE ONTO CLEFABLE
Now while us mortals will never true understand The Almighty let begin an attempt to. The maximum health our lord chooses to wield is fairly self justified utilizing and odd HP stat to minimize the treacherous hazards who our gracious lord has permitted to engage in combat while the defenses as well as our lord's Calm and collected nature appear to allow it to courtly invite themself to meet the one it dained to deem King of the Sea under any condition even if a defiant non-believer has littered the path to said King with hidden Spikes and the Sneakiest of Pebbles.
There exist an old tale of an event from a time long ago when our gracious lord went to meet with this humble and Modest King on behalf of their friends and allies who believed the Orb of Life The King had recently acquired would create a power imbalance in they're friendly sportsman like duels. Upon meeting The King our lord grew curious of what power could have possibly been bestowed onto The King by the Orb of Life and challenged The King to one of their usual duels to see if their allies worries had indeed been well founded and to The Almighty 's surprise The King nearly won the day with what could have been a well placed attack however no such attack ever came and The Almighty was able to stand strong against The Kings onslaught using the Wishes and prayers of its worshipers along with its divine powers of Protection to survive until the Orb of Life finally took its toll on The King 's stamina and our lord was declared the victor. Since then similar friends and foes have attempted to use the Orb of Life to defeat The Almighty whether through Sheer Force of will or by accepting the toll the Orb of Life places on its bearers however with the excepting of The King of the Land 
all have failed to defeat our lord in combat without being taken down themselves or suffering from our lords gift of Thunder 
allowing whoever our lord deems to ally with on that day able to achieve victory once again.
HOs and bring you an actually viable playstyle BALANCE https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1481748416-p39seg6bt8tdclxzg95npnw5xop69y4pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1481164499
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1488309537
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1488315144
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1478566990-266w4keb2qa3gzl7e3goe3uub0zk2rjpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1481164499
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1488309537
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1488315144
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1478566990-266w4keb2qa3gzl7e3goe3uub0zk2rjpw
THE LOOMING THREAT Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 220 HP / 100 Atk / 188 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Seed Bomb
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Spore
Sub punch
famed stall destroyer is here once again to claim all of their souls with the ability to out stall stall's Sludge Bomb and 2HKO if tang hits 70% (which is doable between Knock Off, U-Turn, and Stealth Rocks chip) combined with mixed lure scaring stall away from using to begin with decimates the matchup freeing the rest of the team to focus on what they do best while remaining useful in non stall matchups with 100 Attack allowing it to 2HKO even after rocks and even without. The 220 HP allows to set up a Substitute in front of with the sub always surviving the volt switch from uninvested (and even up to 116 sp att for what thats worth) and even offensive failing to break the sub 31.2% of the time. The sub also survives uninvested Earthquake, Choice Band Aqua Jet 50% of the time and itself always lives +6 Aqua jet only taking 60-70%, Sp def s Scald 56.2% of the time, so many U-turns, and a few other hits. Spores you set up on literally anything that doesn't outspeed and OHKO you and 188+ speed lets you outspeed up to jolly with 4 extra evs in speed to speed creep players speed creeping jolly . THE BLOB Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock
Now what eats
s Focus Punch? Well aside from which loses to Seed Bombing theres one of the scariest mons in the tier to which is the one reliable switch in and if fears then it is we shall run. Now Nasty Plot can actually break if it gets up the Nasty Plot and Focus Blast twice so if can win in 3 turns we just have to beat it in 2 which is exactly what Shadow Ball does (after rocks or Life Orb recoil). The 4 Sp attack evs does slightly more damage than 0 sp att which helps rolls in wierd HP situations during end games with the 4 sp def doing the same to s damage rolls slightly reducing them. The rest is standard being the teams rocker, healing, and Thunder wave to trip up anything trying to use the passivity of to set up or just outlast it (although Ice Beam for and Seismic Toss for not pokemon are good options in this slot too).THE SCOREGliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 88 Def / 176 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 27 Spe
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Roost
The uncontested best mon in the tier which is very fair and balanced, seriously when have defensive pokemon ever been broken? SHUT UP
AND NOBODY ASKED!......
Anyways
is quiet frankly phenomenal with the combination of Poison Heal and Roost allowing it to turn anything 75% damage or less into 0% damage in a single turn after switching in to take almost any attack with it monstrous natural defense and invested sp def letting it take any non-Ice beam (and actually most of those too) or non-STAB water move attack. This is specifically EV'd to always eat Choice Specs Draco Meteor from allowing you to viably click Knock Off taking half of 's health and their specs or (more importantly) get a free Knock on the double switch into their answer expecting you to make the extremely predictable switch. Speaking of predictable switches this also eats max sp att Hydro Pump allowing you to stay in against thinking they scare you out and trying to Volt Switch; block said volt and either taking their item or using U-turn to generate momentum off the mon you opponent is relying on to generate momentum for them. The defense investment is enough to take +2 Life Orb adamant Meteor Mash and knock it out in return while also taking some stupid hits like s unboosted Waterfall, Choice band ADAMANT s Reckless boosted Brave Bird, and; even tho it is only a 6.2% chance which is more likely than a crit just saying, it can even live s Adaptability Crabhammer if you Knock off its Choice Band.Seriously What Is This Mon.
On top of all that its Flying type + Poison Heal make it functionally immune to all hazards meaning if the only way this pivot is being pressured is hazards which can be the case quiet often
can freely pivot into whatever you need quiet literally forever (although you can only safely U-turn 32 times) which in mirror matches can lead to Infinitely continuous games. So yeah get your use of this while you can. THE STAR Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Thunderbolt
The one true spinner here to claim your opponent's hazards once again with enough speed to outspeed
and allowing for an emergency spin or to KO the attempting to spin block (and as much as I love lets be real the tiers only ghost is ) reliably clears the field of the hazards needed to pressure and Unaware into KO range from various threats. also reliably wins the lead matchup against suicide lead HOs. Underspeeding allows to safely spin as rocks go up getting the speed boost and outspeeding 2HKOing with Scald afterwards forcing to Explosion to KO without getting up rocks and only getting that KO 31.3% of the time on top of the 30% chance for a Scald burn which always lets live. And if decides to just throw up rocks again and not even go for the boom can just spin on whatever comes in after (unless its but if your worried about this super specific interaction you can switch Thunderbolt for Psychic and move the 44 EVs into sp attack for a 81.3% chance to OHKO ) being faster than every Choice Scarf user in the tier after a spin boost. And even if the HO uses the almost always inferior lead can just Scald and then spam spin afterwords to keep to rocks off again winning the lead matchup.Note: The reason you scald is because
leads run Rock Tomb specifically to beat who try and spin for the rock clear+ speed boost and then knock them out after with water move although this is bulky enough that you can just click spin anyways and recover off the damage however giving that many turns to HO isn't always a viable option.Aside from all that Scald if just your free damage move that also fishes for burns against the grounds and damages fires like
and that this is tasked with handling as the teams resident bulky water with Thunderbolt allowing it to take on opposing bulky waters and threaten into KO range for although Psychic and Ice Beam for and dragons/grasses are viable options in this slot too. THE GAR Gengar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Hex
- Focus Blast
Emerging from the shadow realm
has arisen to claim to souls of BDSP OU teams everywhere. A simple max speed max sp attack spread lets you tie and opposing while doing as much damage as possible with Shadow Ball being your freest move against everything given that the tiers darks are and which have paper defenses and being dropped by a Focus Blast. As for the normals we have with again paper defenses and the one actual switch in the game has with even being 2HKO'd 82.4% of the time and always after rocks (assuming Focus Blast lands). Sludge Bomb is your stronger STAB but requires more planning and conditions to be met given the many Poison resist with steels being outright immune. Sludge Bomb also has a 30% poison rate to pair nicely with Hex which becomes 130 base power when the opponent is statused giving you a specs Draco Meteor with even less resist and no miss chance. Hex also pairs very nicely with the rest of the teams supoort with having Spore, having Thunder Wave, packing Scald to fish for burns (and Thunderbolt to para if you want to ultra outskill the other player), as well as Thunder Wave on this team is a status spreading machine! Focus blast nails the extremely small list of mons that can temporarily stop those being , , and sp def although you could drop this for the more accurate and spammable Energy Ball which gives you a safe OHKO against and retains the good hit on while being decently spammable and safer than hoping you hit Focus Blast relying on your teammates to handle and . (Oh and don't worry about the choice lock restricting you move choice or your low defenses makes pivoting in on almost any attack practically free.) THE SAVIOR Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave
- Protect
- Wish
The one true lord who needn't rely on flashy gimmicks such as changing types to deceive the masses unlike some false prophets the God of Balance has graced this lowly player base with their presence thwarting the vicious slanderous supporters of the EVIL plethora of set up sweepers in the tier that has caused the masses to spark such blasphemous beliefs as "balance is unviable because of <insert sweeper>" The Almighty
has graced us balance players with their presence.PRAISE BE ONTO THEE
PRAISE BE ONTO CLEFABLE
Now while us mortals will never true understand The Almighty
let begin an attempt to. The maximum health our lord chooses to wield is fairly self justified utilizing and odd HP stat to minimize the treacherous hazards who our gracious lord has permitted to engage in combat while the defenses as well as our lord's Calm and collected nature appear to allow it to courtly invite themself to meet the one it dained to deem King of the Sea under any condition even if a defiant non-believer has littered the path to said King with hidden Spikes and the Sneakiest of Pebbles.There exist an old tale of an event from a time long ago when our gracious lord went to meet with this humble and Modest King
on behalf of their friends and allies who believed the Orb of Life The King had recently acquired would create a power imbalance in they're friendly sportsman like duels. Upon meeting The King our lord grew curious of what power could have possibly been bestowed onto The King by the Orb of Life and challenged The King to one of their usual duels to see if their allies worries had indeed been well founded and to The Almighty 's surprise The King nearly won the day with what could have been a well placed attack however no such attack ever came and The Almighty was able to stand strong against The Kings onslaught using the Wishes and prayers of its worshipers along with its divine powers of Protection to survive until the Orb of Life finally took its toll on The King 's stamina and our lord was declared the victor. Since then similar friends and foes have attempted to use the Orb of Life to defeat The Almighty whether through Sheer Force of will or by accepting the toll the Orb of Life places on its bearers however with the excepting of The King of the Land all have failed to defeat our lord in combat without being taken down themselves or suffering from our lords gift of Thunder allowing whoever our lord deems to ally with on that day able to achieve victory once again.
Last edited:
~ Psychic Spam ~
After spending my time laddering with stolen teams from this sub, I finally decided to build one of my own. The team is based around two of the strongest psychic types in the meta; Latios and Alakazam. The rest of the team revolves around beating their checks and counters so Zam can eventually sweep.
Specs Latios to come in and break stuff. You know what this thing does.
Nasty plot Zam is the main sweeper. Sash gives you a free turn to set up or take a hit. Psyshock to smack Blissey.
Specs Magnezone to trap steel types (eg. scizor, jirachi, empoleon) which check zam and lati. Sleep talk is nice tech which allows mag to be a nice spore absorber.
Obligatory spdef Scizor to check the strong special attackers in the tier (eg. lati, zam, gengar). Swords dance means it's not too passive.
Def Gliscor checks physical attackers and forms a nice defensive core with scizor. Also sets up rocks and gets momentum with u-turn. Speed EVs to outspeed neutral Heatran.
Finally choice band infernape. Gives you another option for wrecking steel types, and smacks Blissey too.
Enjoy the team :)
Attachments
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This team isn't anywhere near as complicated as my other ones so the post will be short but going 29-1 while getting reqs for the manaphy suspect test has proven the team to be quite effective and I figured I may as well post it here for anyone else trying to get reqs or just playing the tier if manaphy remains unbanned.
Manaphy's Evs creep non +speed base 100s with any more speed only creeping Jolly Lucario, Timid Roserade, and Timid opposing Manaphy. The Sp. att lets you OHKO even Sp. def Rotom Wash after Tail Glow without actually losing out on any OHKO's or 2HKO's over max Sp. att. The rest is just an EV dump to maximize bulk odd number HP minimizes hazards but even maximizes lefties healing so honestly take your pick. Custap opens up a lot of crazy plays with Donphan and I've found it to bee much better than lefties on this team. I don't remember what Dragonite is creeping but its something and the Energy Ball slot on Gengar can be whatever you want it to be Energy Ball is just what I've liked best.
And other than that the rest is just standard HO things good luck with reqs and have fun playing!
https://pokepast.es/c9acaa764ef78670
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Explosion
Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 168 HP / 4 Def / 188 SpA / 148 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Energy Ball
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Meteor Mash
- Swords Dance
Dragonite @ Choice Band
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 16 HP / 252 Atk / 240 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
Donphan @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Rapid Spin
Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Energy Ball
- Destiny Bond
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Explosion
Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 168 HP / 4 Def / 188 SpA / 148 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Energy Ball
Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Meteor Mash
- Swords Dance
Dragonite @ Choice Band
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 16 HP / 252 Atk / 240 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
Donphan @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Rapid Spin
Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Energy Ball
- Destiny Bond
And other than that the rest is just standard HO things good luck with reqs and have fun playing!
Probably the last team I'm posting here unless I make one specifically for this thread, today I'll be posting about a more aggressive version of balance
HAZARD STACK BALANCE 
THE VILE
Weavile @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Assurance
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Throat Chop
The center of the team Choice Band brings an immense offensive pressure that highly threatens stall and offense alike! While 's high speed and attack are fairly obvious as to their usefulness as well as it's STAB combination being very threatening to offensive staples like , , and 
as well as defensive staples like , , and it is far from the shallow one trick matchup fishing Pokémon it appears to be on the surface. As surprising as this may sound packs a fairly vital piece of defensive utility in being 3HKO'd by 's Choice Specs and Life Orb Shadow Ball or 4HKO'd by Choice Scarf and while still doesn't want to take any other attack simply diswaying from clicking Shadow Ball in the first place is phenomenal defensive utility for such an offensive Pokémon. As for the offenses while the last 3 moves are fairly simple STAB and priority the first move is the real star of the show here. Assurance is a move that doubles in power if the target was already damaged this turn and while this has mainly seen use in Doubles and VGC formats the damage boost can be triggered by something as simple as the entry hazards Stealth Rocks and Spikes. With this in mind this team was built to turn from a hard to pivot around threat into an auto KOing machine as the extra power from the base 120 Assurance and damage from Stealth Rocks and/or Spikes allow things like and to be potentially OHKO'd as they switch in and the common check to be pushed from a scary 3HKO to a clean 2HKO so long as Icicle Crash lands.
THE COG
Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 48 HP / 252 SpA / 208 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Trick
- Will-O-Wisp
Keeping terrifying offensive threats like, , and 
in check Choice Scarf is the cog the keeps the machine running! With just enough speed to outpace base 80 threats as listed above (and 
if you take 8 HP EVs and put them into speed) even if they grab a speed boost through Dragon Dance or Choice Scarf and maximum offensive power to increase the chances that an otherwise threatening sweeper or breaker will fall to the combination of Volt Switch or Hydro Pump and the Stealth Rocks+Spikes that the team hopes to keep on the field manages to hold the team strong against some of the premier offensive threats in the metagame. Although mainly holds the team together with its offensive prowess and pivoting into a defensive piece or claiming a soul with the utility options allow to operate with a great deal of flexibility. Using Trick to functionally disable a set up sweeper looking for its chance to go for game as well as maintaining threat potential against more defensive or outright stall teams that may be able to pivot around 's STABs without too much trouble can often be the difference between breaking the opposing defensive core and winning the war of attrition or falling just short and allowing something like a to remain unphased. The last move here is actually pretty flexible however I have found Swords Dance to be this teams largest threat so packing Will-O-Wisp to nullify it even after losing your Choice Scarf to Trick is the best use of this slot although Thunder Wave can accomplish this as well and Thunderbolt is always useful for simple reliable damage.
THE THORNS
Roserade @ Black Sludge
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 32 SpA / 228 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Synthesis
- Sludge Bomb
- Leaf Storm
Easily one of the most underrated Pokémon in the tier (only competing with
) the masked marauder joins the team to lay those most devastating of traps which all grounded Pokémon fear Spikes! While extra damage is always good the pairing with Choice Band Assurance takes the offensive pressure of Spikes to the next level as 
itself is the best answer to the most common revenge killer used to take out that of course being .Even though Rock Tomb can actually 2HKO this extremely uncommon variant is the only one that can do so with even Focus Punch being healed off through the combination of Black Sludge and Synthesis while threatening to OHKO any variant through the use of Sludge Bomb and being able to set up a free layer of Spikes as switches out and multiple if they try to stay in. Speaking of free layers of Spikes the extremely common, super popular can not threaten in any way due to its natural resistances, high special defense, and Natural Cure removing any potential chip damage through Will-O-Wisp burns or speed drops through Thunder Wave paralysis allowing to get as many free layers of Spikes as it likes unless Volt-Switches out which is highly exploitable by any Ground type enabling the mere presence of a Ground type to lead users to throw off Hydro Pumps trying to predict the Ground coming in and allowing to generate free Spike turns when it would otherwise be limited to one. While 's stats may lead you to think simple max speed max special attack spreads would be most efficient 's inability to touch Steel types often prevent it from doing too much direct damage on teams without 
which leads to be most effective utilizing bulkier spreads with simple a max HP spread allowing it to beat any , , or with even +6 Aqua Jet never KOing even after rocks. 's fairly unique speed tier provides it the ability to save a few EVs in speed without missing out on anything aside from Jolly whom it can't touch anyways and opposing max speed and with these few extra EVs can gain an immense amount of offensive potential due to its naturally high stats and the superb base power of Leaf Storm sealing rolls against many Water types and threatening to 2HKO physically defensive who may try to Defog the Spikes away.
THE SCORE
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 27 Spe
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Knock Off
I still can't believe this thing is as underrated as it is or that its not even on most peoples ban radars (6585 word rant on why here The Ban Gliscor Rant) but hey if the Pokémon is in the tier no problem using it to improve the team.
Due to the teams lack of the fully specially defensive takes up the mantle of check managing to be 3HKO'd by Choice Specs Shadow Ball and always living a Choice Specs Hex from full while also threatening the OHKO in return as well as never being OHKO'd by Choice Specs Draco Meteor or Surf allowing for to take an item with Knock Off or gain momentum with U-turn in front of unless it has Ice Beam which is relegated to the Choice Scarf variants who are dead weight against . I've only just realized that in the previous team I posted to the thread the 27 speed IVs on was never explained so let's fix that now. The 27 speed IVs on allow it to underspeed opposing even if they lack speed investment meaning this can switch into and safely pivot out of opposing always giving momentum to this as even if the opposing U-turns or Knock Offs it will move first always allowing U-turn to become an extremly safe option instead on a potential speed tie gamble. As for why 27 and no less, 27 speed IVs has at 222 speed which is 1 point faster than an Adamant max speed meaning can safely switch in and Roost off any damage without fearing the 2HKO and threatening its own 2HKO in return. This speed also maintains the advantage against Modest and the one person using Jolly to win "ties" against other . Other than that its just standard things eat all the hits, heal them off, pivot out to some frailer teammate to let them use their offensive potential without worrying about their low defenses, take some items, and KO a few Pokémon yourself due to the spamable nature of STAB Earthquake.
THE ZOR
Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 160 Def / 100 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 24 Spe
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Defog
- Roost
The tier staple is the far sturdier more reliable answer to and neither of which are too bothered by the hazard stacking nature of this team and while fully specially defensive may further the effectiveness in which can fulfill that roll the highly threatening nature of and are what lead this team to choose a mixed defenses spread and the reason is such an important member of the team to begin with. Before I forget again I'll briefly explain the 24 speed IVs which are far simpler than 's 27. The 24 speed IVs simply let you lose (or win I guess?) the speed "tie" against other while being fast enough to outrun 8 speed and other Pokémon with base 60 speed. Although U-turn and Bullet Punch are very obvious in their uses they manage to be even more effective on this team due to the switch forcing nature of these move combined with the switch punishing nature or Stealth Rocks+ Spikes easily producing massive amounts of chip damage putting many things in even uninvested Bullet Punch 2HKO or OHKO range quickly and perfecting the Volt-turn-turn core with and between which the 3 can stand up to almost any attack and threaten out almost any Pokémon magnifying the effects of hazard stacking to a terrifying extreme. Now while Defog has extremely poor synergy with hazard stacking and is the better user of Defog 's moveslots are simply too important (yes even more important than Swords Dance on ) to fit Defog and running with no hazard control whatsoever is an extremely risky gambit and unfortunately the Rapid Spin users have fairly poor synergy with the rest of the team. and 
are by far the best candidates for a Rapid Spinner here however I could not justify giving up the slots on for the Wish support needed to keep healthy with its passive nature tending to give free Rapid Spins and Defogs to the opponent. simply can't fit all the coverage and Recover and Rapid Spin it needs to fulfill its roll on this team while lacking any one of its coverage options results in free removal to either opposing , 
or , or 
whereas even when gives free entry to something like Defog it can simply U-turn out to a teammate who can threaten the hazard remover and preserve the hazards.
THE SAVIOR RETURNS
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Moonlight
- Flamethrower
- Moonblast
While I don't have any ideas for some dramatic improv to hype up today but I may edit this to have one if it sounds like fun at some point. That being said our lord has graced the team once again with their presence fulfilling their usual balance roles of thwarting Tail Glow , Swords Dance , Dragon Dance and so so many more boosted threats while also being the Stealth Rocker for the hazard stacking goal of the team. The extremely common presence of Defog makes Flamethrower super effective at removing most teams method of clearing the hazards littering their side of the field and limiting the to a singular hazard clear for the game just for those hazards to be set back up later. While the melting nature of Flamethrower is invaluable in its utility this and Stealth Rock take up too many moveslots to justify a Wish+Protect variant which limits to the 8PP weather dependent Moonlight for its recovery, although the one turn nature of this recovery is very useful for keeping up pressure against potential hazard removers and limiting the amount of chances they get to remove hazards. Now while Ice Beam may seem like the better option for the last slot due to its usefulness against Defog Moonblast actually has enough PP to 1v1 physically defensive while maintaining the better damage against everything else and not having lose to every Water type including the famed balance crusher making it simply too valuable to be passed up on.
And that's all for this team have some fun playing with it enjoy your time and remember...
PRAISE BE ONTO THEE
PRAISE BE ONTO CLEFABLE
HAZARD STACK BALANCE https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1494003245-aerg7xkel1noazwsxuen281l701dtyopw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1493577052-h5h4bfq3g1a6lqoae84ksi8a62u5wonpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1491780283
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https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1493577052-h5h4bfq3g1a6lqoae84ksi8a62u5wonpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1491780283
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1491785982-q3x9kpo2ujhfku4b72tsl794gqk2tkvpw
THE VILE Weavile @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Assurance
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Throat Chop
The center of the team Choice Band
brings an immense offensive pressure that highly threatens stall and offense alike! While 's high speed and attack are fairly obvious as to their usefulness as well as it's STAB combination being very threatening to offensive staples like , , and as well as defensive staples like , , and it is far from the shallow one trick matchup fishing Pokémon it appears to be on the surface. As surprising as this may sound packs a fairly vital piece of defensive utility in being 3HKO'd by 's Choice Specs and Life Orb Shadow Ball or 4HKO'd by Choice Scarf and while still doesn't want to take any other attack simply diswaying from clicking Shadow Ball in the first place is phenomenal defensive utility for such an offensive Pokémon. As for the offenses while the last 3 moves are fairly simple STAB and priority the first move is the real star of the show here. Assurance is a move that doubles in power if the target was already damaged this turn and while this has mainly seen use in Doubles and VGC formats the damage boost can be triggered by something as simple as the entry hazards Stealth Rocks and Spikes. With this in mind this team was built to turn from a hard to pivot around threat into an auto KOing machine as the extra power from the base 120 Assurance and damage from Stealth Rocks and/or Spikes allow things like and to be potentially OHKO'd as they switch in and the common check to be pushed from a scary 3HKO to a clean 2HKO so long as Icicle Crash lands. THE COGRotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 48 HP / 252 SpA / 208 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Trick
- Will-O-Wisp
Keeping terrifying offensive threats like
, , and in check Choice Scarf is the cog the keeps the machine running! With just enough speed to outpace base 80 threats as listed above (and if you take 8 HP EVs and put them into speed) even if they grab a speed boost through Dragon Dance or Choice Scarf and maximum offensive power to increase the chances that an otherwise threatening sweeper or breaker will fall to the combination of Volt Switch or Hydro Pump and the Stealth Rocks+Spikes that the team hopes to keep on the field manages to hold the team strong against some of the premier offensive threats in the metagame. Although mainly holds the team together with its offensive prowess and pivoting into a defensive piece or claiming a soul with the utility options allow to operate with a great deal of flexibility. Using Trick to functionally disable a set up sweeper looking for its chance to go for game as well as maintaining threat potential against more defensive or outright stall teams that may be able to pivot around 's STABs without too much trouble can often be the difference between breaking the opposing defensive core and winning the war of attrition or falling just short and allowing something like a to remain unphased. The last move here is actually pretty flexible however I have found Swords Dance to be this teams largest threat so packing Will-O-Wisp to nullify it even after losing your Choice Scarf to Trick is the best use of this slot although Thunder Wave can accomplish this as well and Thunderbolt is always useful for simple reliable damage. THE THORNS Roserade @ Black Sludge
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 32 SpA / 228 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Synthesis
- Sludge Bomb
- Leaf Storm
Easily one of the most underrated Pokémon in the tier (only competing with
) the masked marauder joins the team to lay those most devastating of traps which all grounded Pokémon fear Spikes! While extra damage is always good the pairing with Choice Band Assurance takes the offensive pressure of Spikes to the next level as itself is the best answer to the most common revenge killer used to take out that of course being .Even though Rock Tomb can actually 2HKO this extremely uncommon variant is the only one that can do so with even Focus Punch being healed off through the combination of Black Sludge and Synthesis while threatening to OHKO any variant through the use of Sludge Bomb and being able to set up a free layer of Spikes as switches out and multiple if they try to stay in. Speaking of free layers of Spikes the extremely common, super popular can not threaten in any way due to its natural resistances, high special defense, and Natural Cure removing any potential chip damage through Will-O-Wisp burns or speed drops through Thunder Wave paralysis allowing to get as many free layers of Spikes as it likes unless Volt-Switches out which is highly exploitable by any Ground type enabling the mere presence of a Ground type to lead users to throw off Hydro Pumps trying to predict the Ground coming in and allowing to generate free Spike turns when it would otherwise be limited to one. While 's stats may lead you to think simple max speed max special attack spreads would be most efficient 's inability to touch Steel types often prevent it from doing too much direct damage on teams without which leads to be most effective utilizing bulkier spreads with simple a max HP spread allowing it to beat any , , or with even +6 Aqua Jet never KOing even after rocks. 's fairly unique speed tier provides it the ability to save a few EVs in speed without missing out on anything aside from Jolly whom it can't touch anyways and opposing max speed and with these few extra EVs can gain an immense amount of offensive potential due to its naturally high stats and the superb base power of Leaf Storm sealing rolls against many Water types and threatening to 2HKO physically defensive who may try to Defog the Spikes away. THE SCOREGliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 27 Spe
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Knock Off
I still can't believe this thing is as underrated as it is or that its not even on most peoples ban radars (6585 word rant on why here The Ban Gliscor Rant) but hey if the Pokémon is in the tier no problem using it to improve the team.
Due to the teams lack of
the fully specially defensive takes up the mantle of check managing to be 3HKO'd by Choice Specs Shadow Ball and always living a Choice Specs Hex from full while also threatening the OHKO in return as well as never being OHKO'd by Choice Specs Draco Meteor or Surf allowing for to take an item with Knock Off or gain momentum with U-turn in front of unless it has Ice Beam which is relegated to the Choice Scarf variants who are dead weight against . I've only just realized that in the previous team I posted to the thread the 27 speed IVs on was never explained so let's fix that now. The 27 speed IVs on allow it to underspeed opposing even if they lack speed investment meaning this can switch into and safely pivot out of opposing always giving momentum to this as even if the opposing U-turns or Knock Offs it will move first always allowing U-turn to become an extremly safe option instead on a potential speed tie gamble. As for why 27 and no less, 27 speed IVs has at 222 speed which is 1 point faster than an Adamant max speed meaning can safely switch in and Roost off any damage without fearing the 2HKO and threatening its own 2HKO in return. This speed also maintains the advantage against Modest and the one person using Jolly to win "ties" against other . Other than that its just standard things eat all the hits, heal them off, pivot out to some frailer teammate to let them use their offensive potential without worrying about their low defenses, take some items, and KO a few Pokémon yourself due to the spamable nature of STAB Earthquake. THE ZORScizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 160 Def / 100 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 24 Spe
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Defog
- Roost
The tier staple
is the far sturdier more reliable answer to and neither of which are too bothered by the hazard stacking nature of this team and while fully specially defensive may further the effectiveness in which can fulfill that roll the highly threatening nature of and are what lead this team to choose a mixed defenses spread and the reason is such an important member of the team to begin with. Before I forget again I'll briefly explain the 24 speed IVs which are far simpler than 's 27. The 24 speed IVs simply let you lose (or win I guess?) the speed "tie" against other while being fast enough to outrun 8 speed and other Pokémon with base 60 speed. Although U-turn and Bullet Punch are very obvious in their uses they manage to be even more effective on this team due to the switch forcing nature of these move combined with the switch punishing nature or Stealth Rocks+ Spikes easily producing massive amounts of chip damage putting many things in even uninvested Bullet Punch 2HKO or OHKO range quickly and perfecting the Volt-turn-turn core with and between which the 3 can stand up to almost any attack and threaten out almost any Pokémon magnifying the effects of hazard stacking to a terrifying extreme. Now while Defog has extremely poor synergy with hazard stacking and is the better user of Defog 's moveslots are simply too important (yes even more important than Swords Dance on ) to fit Defog and running with no hazard control whatsoever is an extremely risky gambit and unfortunately the Rapid Spin users have fairly poor synergy with the rest of the team. and are by far the best candidates for a Rapid Spinner here however I could not justify giving up the slots on for the Wish support needed to keep healthy with its passive nature tending to give free Rapid Spins and Defogs to the opponent. simply can't fit all the coverage and Recover and Rapid Spin it needs to fulfill its roll on this team while lacking any one of its coverage options results in free removal to either opposing , or , or whereas even when gives free entry to something like Defog it can simply U-turn out to a teammate who can threaten the hazard remover and preserve the hazards. THE SAVIOR RETURNSClefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Moonlight
- Flamethrower
- Moonblast
While I don't have any ideas for some dramatic improv to hype up
today but I may edit this to have one if it sounds like fun at some point. That being said our lord has graced the team once again with their presence fulfilling their usual balance roles of thwarting Tail Glow , Swords Dance , Dragon Dance and so so many more boosted threats while also being the Stealth Rocker for the hazard stacking goal of the team. The extremely common presence of Defog makes Flamethrower super effective at removing most teams method of clearing the hazards littering their side of the field and limiting the to a singular hazard clear for the game just for those hazards to be set back up later. While the melting nature of Flamethrower is invaluable in its utility this and Stealth Rock take up too many moveslots to justify a Wish+Protect variant which limits to the 8PP weather dependent Moonlight for its recovery, although the one turn nature of this recovery is very useful for keeping up pressure against potential hazard removers and limiting the amount of chances they get to remove hazards. Now while Ice Beam may seem like the better option for the last slot due to its usefulness against Defog Moonblast actually has enough PP to 1v1 physically defensive while maintaining the better damage against everything else and not having lose to every Water type including the famed balance crusher making it simply too valuable to be passed up on.And that's all for this team have some fun playing with it enjoy your time and remember...
PRAISE BE ONTO THEE
PRAISE BE ONTO CLEFABLE
Skarm Bliss Stall But its Balance
Featuring (Click here for pokepasta.. paste or on the team):
Calm Mind Blissey the pink god
and paired with its fellow partner in crime
Skarmory
and the rest of the gang
The core of this team is of course going to be the Skarm Bliss duo, focused more on enabling CM Blissey. But this ain't a standard stall team (its a bit more balance like or a mix of stall balance?) as it lacks the sustain a standard stall team. However, the key features of this team is stacking passive damage and knocking off items for leftovers recovery. CM is imo one of the strongest mons in OU atm as with a standard defensive EV spread it takes every neutral Physical attack (banded) in the game while still maintaining its special wall capabilities. For example in a clutch Blissey can tank many physical neutral hits, even from some of the strongest Choice band users in the game:
However what treats are there to this CM Blissey with BoltBeam coverage?
Calm mind Unaware Clefable as it means if it ends up in a 1v1 situation that you have to pray to the haxgods for a para or Freeze. Unaware clef is dealth with passive damage combined with the use of Tentacruel who walls most can standard Clef sets run moonblast and occasionally flamethrower/fireblast coverage (can run tbolt tho).Tangrowth can also deal with Clef on the Switch or if it lacks fire coverage destroy it with its own Sludge Bomb.
Weather its SD or CB. At +1 its waterfall and Knockoff destroys Blissey as well as 2 hit KO Skarmory. Therefore No item physical spread Tangrowth is tasked with the job to deal with him
Choice Scarf Rotom. getting scarf locked is just a disaster. Best switch ins are Tank chomp who doesnt rlly mind a burn too much as well as the scarf and tanking its hits. Most ideally if u expect a trick switch in tentacruel to give him blacksludge to wear it down. After Tricking rotom isn't much of a treat anymore.
The APE
Infernape destroys both Skarmory and Blissey with its Stab Fire/Fighting combination. Maneauvring outround the ape is key. The best checks to the ape for this team are Garchomp and Donphan as Infernape fails to 1KO them from full and after rocks and treaten the ape with a 1HKO stab EQ. However, if you are put into a situation where Choice Band ape is starring you down you are in a world of Hurt. You have also the option to use Tentacruel as it resist both stabs but gets destroyed if the Ape is packing EQ. Not to mention if paired with Azumaril a healthy Tentacruel is much desired.
252 Atk Choice Band Infernape Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 56 Def Donphan: 204-241 (53.1 - 62.7%)
252 Atk Choice Band Infernape Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 16 Def Garchomp: 258-304 (61.4 - 72.3%)
The Magma Monster
Blissey can deal with this... Until you stair down at his trapping taunt set and you are boned. If Heatran does not carry taunt Blissey can just force a free switch by CMing up and forcing damage and potentially a para on the Tran. If not your best switch-ins are either Tentacruel or Garchomp who aren't the most durable members of the team as they lack recovery. The way I have dealt with the Tran is by targeting its recovery. This can be done by leech seeding (meaning Blissey can out sustain in the trap 1v1) or by knocking off its leftovers after which if Blissey can setup atleast 1 CM she 1v1s Tran though severly hurt (about 20%-40% hp).
The Blue Blob
Not too much of a treat as you have options like Tangrowth for its CB set and Tentacruel for resisting both its stab. However caution with the blue blob is advised as a free belly drumb could prove to be disastrous for both these checks Tangrowth can't take a Play Rough after it was allowed to Belly Drum up any more and Tentacruel has to be healthy in order to have a chance to check it. The good news is that at least the Blue blob will have a hard time setting up for free as the whole team has something that it doesn't like ranging from passive damage, phasing and straightup raw damage from the likes of chomp.
6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 441-519 (109.1 - 128.4%)
6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 220+ Def Tentacruel: 308-363 (84.6 - 99.7%)
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 220+ Def Tentacruel: 346-408 (95 - 112%)
Full Stall teams
Full stall teams can be a real pain to deal with with this team, as they pack more recovery and more passive damage beating this team if it goes to a war of attrition, which this team exchanges for bit more direct power and hazard control in 2 spinners. Full stall teams feature stuff like unaware Quagsire which can be a pain to deal with as, yes you have a tangrowth but who is foolish enough to leave a it in and get a gigadrain off it? Defensive Starmie as well is a pain bc unlike other common hazard controllers like gliscor and scizor you dont have a real way to treaten it (Tangrowth but u get blasted with an Ice Beam).
and
Not much need to be said here (but let me do it anyway). CM Blissey a special wall that can take can setup on many mons even the mighty Garchomp (just do it on the switch tho) as a Jolly non-boosted chomp only deals 48.5% damage max to Blissey while Blissey KOs it with an Ice beam. If the enemy Scizor is running Defog, it is setup fodder for both Skarm and Blissey, Blissey can just CM up as U-turn only deals 30% damage and Skarmory can spike up and waste scizor's Defog PP. If it's SD just simply switch spike up + whirlwind/taunt with Skarmory. A funny alternative I tried with Skarmory is the to exchange its 4th slot move with Swords Dance (with no attack investment still), if it ever comes to a 1v1 situation with an SD Scizor Skarmory can just stay health vs Scizor and SD up to max and 1shot it with Brave Bird. Skarmory can potentially sweep if their electric fire coverage is removed as max boosted no atk Skarm Brave Bird is no Joke. Manaphy which should in theory be one of the most menacing mons of balance or stall teams, is setup fodder for Blissey as modest Surf fails to 2HKO Blissey. Skarmory can run Leftovers which makes every non-Magnezone matchup even more oppressive especially with the SD set (also resets sturdy), but in exchange makes Magnezone a pain to deal with and hard to setup Spikes (Therefore I favor shed shell). If you can also opt on Serene Grace for Blissey for the Nasty Para Freeze hacks, but it does leave you more vurnable to poison.
Donphan's Spread is the standard spread I use for for every Donphan I use that even forgot why I made it like that. All I can say about this spread is that it makes use of Donphan's ability to take hits from physical attackers and while making sure he isnt setup fodder due to its respectable EQ stab and its Ice Shard targeting the Dragons. Donphan is also on the team for the double spinning to take away hazards for the team. Works also great vs suicide Azelf as knockoff into ice shards provides a good matchup
The other spinner to maintain control of the hazards game. Tasked with taking care of CM unaware Clefable, taking hits from Infernape and as well as the dangerous Azumaril and Taunt Trapper Heatran. The speed EVs are to outspeed max speed TTar, while everything else is invested into HP and physical bulk as its 120 SPDEF is decent on its own. Can also take hits from a +2 Lucario life orb
The monster of the original gen 4 DPP, Tank chomp is Stealth Rocker of this team and is tasked with just that, Tanking hits and dishing it back in full force. The EVs are set to be faster than base 100 mons to deal with mons that can potentially be dangerous such as Manaphy after it has taken some passive damage. Fire blast is a nice coverage vs Scizor and Skarmory, and also does not allow the suicide variant of Skarmory to be put into Custap range. 4th Move is up for grabs, right now i have decided to stick with poison jab as coverage for Azumaril and CM clef should that one be let loose, but alternatives can be roar (especially should you decide to run SD Skarmory).
Literally the Sponge of the team tasked with dealing the Dangerous Crawdaunt where this team is otherwise very weak to as well as the many other physical attacks that are too much for Skarmory, such as a Banded locking in Close comband from infernape and in a Pinch a boosted Lucario.
Featuring (Click here for pokepasta.. paste or on the team):
Calm Mind Blissey the pink god
and paired with its fellow partner in crime
Skarmory
and the rest of the gang
The core of this team is of course going to be the Skarm Bliss duo, focused more on enabling CM Blissey. But this ain't a standard stall team (its a bit more balance like or a mix of stall balance?) as it lacks the sustain a standard stall team. However, the key features of this team is stacking passive damage and knocking off items for leftovers recovery. CM is imo one of the strongest mons in OU atm as with a standard defensive EV spread it takes every neutral Physical attack (banded) in the game while still maintaining its special wall capabilities. For example in a clutch Blissey can tank many physical neutral hits, even from some of the strongest Choice band users in the game:
252+ Atk Choice Band Tyranitar Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 499-588 (69.8 - 82.3%)
252 Atk Choice Band Infernape Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 456-537 (63.8 - 75.2%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Mamoswine Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 487-574 (68.2 - 80.3%)
252 Atk Choice Band Weavile Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 336-396 (47 - 55.4%)
252 Atk Choice Band Infernape Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 456-537 (63.8 - 75.2%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Mamoswine Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 487-574 (68.2 - 80.3%)
252 Atk Choice Band Weavile Throat Chop vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 336-396 (47 - 55.4%)
Unlike Clefable Who has it is vurnable to Poison and most importantly STEEL, which is a problem as Scizor, Zone and Tran are very common in the current meta. What is Blissey Weak to? Only Fighting moves. And its stats are simply amazing as its high HP allows it just to take EVERY special attack in the game and many mons will struggle to deal more than 50% of its HP if not banded or boosted. For example both get 3HKO by an unboosted chomp (should they not recover ofc, but which of the 2 can sponge Special attacks better? BLISSEY!
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 196+ Def Clefable: 153-180 (38.8 - 45.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 297-349 (41.5 - 48.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey: 246-289 (34.4 - 40.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey: 169-201 (23.6 - 28.1%) -- 91.1% chance to 4HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 169-201 (42.8 - 51%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Not to mention, which of the 2 is less bothered by status? BLISSEY! Who is not scared by the dangerous Specs gengar? BLISSEY!
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 196+ Def Clefable: 153-180 (38.8 - 45.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 297-349 (41.5 - 48.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey: 246-289 (34.4 - 40.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey: 169-201 (23.6 - 28.1%) -- 91.1% chance to 4HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 169-201 (42.8 - 51%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Not to mention, which of the 2 is less bothered by status? BLISSEY! Who is not scared by the dangerous Specs gengar? BLISSEY!
The APE
Infernape destroys both Skarmory and Blissey with its Stab Fire/Fighting combination. Maneauvring outround the ape is key. The best checks to the ape for this team are Garchomp and Donphan as Infernape fails to 1KO them from full and after rocks and treaten the ape with a 1HKO stab EQ. However, if you are put into a situation where Choice Band ape is starring you down you are in a world of Hurt. You have also the option to use Tentacruel as it resist both stabs but gets destroyed if the Ape is packing EQ. Not to mention if paired with Azumaril a healthy Tentacruel is much desired.
252 Atk Choice Band Infernape Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 56 Def Donphan: 204-241 (53.1 - 62.7%)
252 Atk Choice Band Infernape Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 16 Def Garchomp: 258-304 (61.4 - 72.3%)
The Magma Monster
Blissey can deal with this... Until you stair down at his trapping taunt set and you are boned. If Heatran does not carry taunt Blissey can just force a free switch by CMing up and forcing damage and potentially a para on the Tran. If not your best switch-ins are either Tentacruel or Garchomp who aren't the most durable members of the team as they lack recovery. The way I have dealt with the Tran is by targeting its recovery. This can be done by leech seeding (meaning Blissey can out sustain in the trap 1v1) or by knocking off its leftovers after which if Blissey can setup atleast 1 CM she 1v1s Tran though severly hurt (about 20%-40% hp).
The Blue Blob
Not too much of a treat as you have options like Tangrowth for its CB set and Tentacruel for resisting both its stab. However caution with the blue blob is advised as a free belly drumb could prove to be disastrous for both these checks Tangrowth can't take a Play Rough after it was allowed to Belly Drum up any more and Tentacruel has to be healthy in order to have a chance to check it. The good news is that at least the Blue blob will have a hard time setting up for free as the whole team has something that it doesn't like ranging from passive damage, phasing and straightup raw damage from the likes of chomp.
6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 441-519 (109.1 - 128.4%)
6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 220+ Def Tentacruel: 308-363 (84.6 - 99.7%)
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 220+ Def Tentacruel: 346-408 (95 - 112%)
Full Stall teams
Full stall teams can be a real pain to deal with with this team, as they pack more recovery and more passive damage beating this team if it goes to a war of attrition, which this team exchanges for bit more direct power and hazard control in 2 spinners. Full stall teams feature stuff like unaware Quagsire which can be a pain to deal with as, yes you have a tangrowth but who is foolish enough to leave a it in and get a gigadrain off it? Defensive Starmie as well is a pain bc unlike other common hazard controllers like gliscor and scizor you dont have a real way to treaten it (Tangrowth but u get blasted with an Ice Beam).
As of the making of this post I reached 1500 from a climb out of 1100 (why 1100 read below)
I always drop when trying new teams to like about 1100 before trying out new teams. If you want a team that can carry you to from all the way to atleast 1500 (thats how I got back to 1500 elo lol)? This is your team and I'm fairly confident that this team is very strong against any offensive team especially the unprepared ones.
I always drop when trying new teams to like about 1100 before trying out new teams. If you want a team that can carry you to from all the way to atleast 1500 (thats how I got back to 1500 elo lol)? This is your team and I'm fairly confident that this team is very strong against any offensive team especially the unprepared ones.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1496979662-a0a1523msdjineiyaxv0yygtst0nurxpw
2nd place OU BDSP tournament (shouldve been first place): https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1495892899
2nd place OU BDSP tournament (shouldve been first place): https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1495892899
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Click image for more detail
https://pokepast.es/70e841e5e53bcb67
---
Balance offense built based on Bob's 'all pokemon must have 100% accuracy move' philosophy, we have Crawdaunt and Latios as primary breaker. These two supported with solid defensive backbone. This team supposed to play aggressive game by providing safe switch in to our breaker whenever possible, especially Crawdaunt. But unlike hyper offense, we have spare room to breath for scout and it is possible to play safe if needed. Pretty simple, nothing complicated really. Just like Bob.
Win with this.
https://pokepast.es/d1a0024d5582de3d
Get some Ws with this before Gengar is gone.
Really solid bulky offense.
The more turns you can keep Rotom-W in, the more likely you are going to win.
Major threats:
Breloom Spore: I've thought of changing Gliscor's Roost->Protect just to get Toxic Orb activation against Brelooms, but playing smart and finding which team member is least important and can serve as Sleep fodder is my main counter-play.
Knock-off Spam: Some people stay in with Knock off Gliscor/Tangrowth/Donphan and can terrorize this team. Getting early Toxic Orb activation is critical. Keep in mind this team plays around 2 VERY important walls without access to a spammable recover move: Rotom-W and Heatran. This often makes Clef the best option to lose an item if Gliscor hasnt activated orb. DO NOT LOSE ITEMS ON HEATRAN OR ROTOM-W EVER.
Blissey: If your opponent is very conservative with their Blissey and continuously chips Crawdaunt you can sometimes lose 'Daunt before Blissey is dead and your odds of winning plummet. Magma Storm/Taunt Heatran is my second answer but is far less reliable and can get Para-haxed.
Rain: Kingdra is so good. Sometimes this matchup is incredibly one sided. Be aggressive with Crawdaunt and spam protect to waste rain turns.
Sub+DD+Fly Dragonite: There is one guy on the ladder that uses this set. Incredibly annoying behind a sub. Getting a T-wave off and having protect mons to neutralize Fly is a must. AVOID burn with Rotom-W or Heatran because T-wave way more important.
Opposing Tank Rotom-W: One of the most underrated pokemon in this meta. Can just sit on stuff and be a nuisance. Sacrificing some Gegnar HP for a massive hit is a viable way to get this thing too low to function. Also forcing it to switch into Rocks + Magma Storm over and over is strong.
https://pokepast.es/d1a0024d5582de3d
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 204 SpD / 60 Spe
Careful Nature
- Roost
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Defog
Pretty standard SpDef Defog Gliscor. 1 point faster than Timid Magnezone. Build momentum, dont get Knocked off/burnt before Toxic Orb activation.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 168 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
A lot of people run PhysDef Rotom-W. It's a solid set but I find the freedom to switch into Starmie and other SpAttackers with ease is much stronger. This thing still checks Mamoswine easily with this set too. Getting Latios burnt and Protecting as much as possible is an annoying but VERY viable way to beat choiced sets. 8 Speed lets you outpace Adamant Crawdaunt.
Gengar (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Hex
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Bomb
Tactical Nuke. Slept on counter to SD Lucario with the combo of speed and Extreme Speed immunity.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
Incredible stall breaker and pivot. I think having the chance to burn Scizor/Staraptor/Dragonite is so powerful it forces the opponent to play differently. Also so many threats that can KO Heatran are choiced, so scouting with Protect is critical for safe switches. Finally, if your opponent has a very easy time Defogging, consider not always prioritizing rocks and just going for repeated chip. The PhysDef helps you work against Weavile and gives you extra chances to activate Flame Body.
Crawdaunt (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
- Crunch
Physical breaker. There are like less than 5 switch-ins to this. Insane strength. It can 2-Hit KO offensive Azu switching in and is faster than Adamant Azu sets. If your opponent has a Weavile it is sometimes VERY valuable to keep this healthy and save priority for the late game Weavile KO. Keep Crawdaunt @ 100% and this guy can OHKO +1/+1 Feraligatr with Knock Off without fear of being Waterfall flinched due to Sheer Force.
Clefable (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder Wave
- Flamethrower
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
T wave OP. Destroyer of Dragonite. Also can 1v1 Donphan without risking Knock Off on other mons without a recovery move. Save this for later most of the time.
Hope you all enjoy the team. Protect is so good in this Choice-item heavy meta.
https://pokepast.es/d1a0024d5582de3d
Get some Ws with this before Gengar is gone.
Really solid bulky offense.
The more turns you can keep Rotom-W in, the more likely you are going to win.
Major threats:
Breloom Spore: I've thought of changing Gliscor's Roost->Protect just to get Toxic Orb activation against Brelooms, but playing smart and finding which team member is least important and can serve as Sleep fodder is my main counter-play.
Knock-off Spam: Some people stay in with Knock off Gliscor/Tangrowth/Donphan and can terrorize this team. Getting early Toxic Orb activation is critical. Keep in mind this team plays around 2 VERY important walls without access to a spammable recover move: Rotom-W and Heatran. This often makes Clef the best option to lose an item if Gliscor hasnt activated orb. DO NOT LOSE ITEMS ON HEATRAN OR ROTOM-W EVER.
Blissey: If your opponent is very conservative with their Blissey and continuously chips Crawdaunt you can sometimes lose 'Daunt before Blissey is dead and your odds of winning plummet. Magma Storm/Taunt Heatran is my second answer but is far less reliable and can get Para-haxed.
Rain: Kingdra is so good. Sometimes this matchup is incredibly one sided. Be aggressive with Crawdaunt and spam protect to waste rain turns.
Sub+DD+Fly Dragonite: There is one guy on the ladder that uses this set. Incredibly annoying behind a sub. Getting a T-wave off and having protect mons to neutralize Fly is a must. AVOID burn with Rotom-W or Heatran because T-wave way more important.
Opposing Tank Rotom-W: One of the most underrated pokemon in this meta. Can just sit on stuff and be a nuisance. Sacrificing some Gegnar HP for a massive hit is a viable way to get this thing too low to function. Also forcing it to switch into Rocks + Magma Storm over and over is strong.
https://pokepast.es/d1a0024d5582de3d
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 204 SpD / 60 Spe
Careful Nature
- Roost
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Defog
Pretty standard SpDef Defog Gliscor. 1 point faster than Timid Magnezone. Build momentum, dont get Knocked off/burnt before Toxic Orb activation.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 168 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
A lot of people run PhysDef Rotom-W. It's a solid set but I find the freedom to switch into Starmie and other SpAttackers with ease is much stronger. This thing still checks Mamoswine easily with this set too. Getting Latios burnt and Protecting as much as possible is an annoying but VERY viable way to beat choiced sets. 8 Speed lets you outpace Adamant Crawdaunt.
Gengar (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Hex
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Bomb
Tactical Nuke. Slept on counter to SD Lucario with the combo of speed and Extreme Speed immunity.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
Incredible stall breaker and pivot. I think having the chance to burn Scizor/Staraptor/Dragonite is so powerful it forces the opponent to play differently. Also so many threats that can KO Heatran are choiced, so scouting with Protect is critical for safe switches. Finally, if your opponent has a very easy time Defogging, consider not always prioritizing rocks and just going for repeated chip. The PhysDef helps you work against Weavile and gives you extra chances to activate Flame Body.
Crawdaunt (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet
- Crunch
Physical breaker. There are like less than 5 switch-ins to this. Insane strength. It can 2-Hit KO offensive Azu switching in and is faster than Adamant Azu sets. If your opponent has a Weavile it is sometimes VERY valuable to keep this healthy and save priority for the late game Weavile KO. Keep Crawdaunt @ 100% and this guy can OHKO +1/+1 Feraligatr with Knock Off without fear of being Waterfall flinched due to Sheer Force.
Clefable (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder Wave
- Flamethrower
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
T wave OP. Destroyer of Dragonite. Also can 1v1 Donphan without risking Knock Off on other mons without a recovery move. Save this for later most of the time.
Hope you all enjoy the team. Protect is so good in this Choice-item heavy meta.
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BULKY DOUBLE DEFENSIVE CORE
The Team
I leave here a pretty solid Bulky Balance which i also used to get reqs in the Gengar Suspect.
The idea is a double defensive core - Phys. Def:
The last two mons are the wincon:
I know this will be outdated soon with the Gengar ban, but I am working to find a new good solution.
Lazy climb team <--link
Featuring Scarf Moxie Heracross
and its partners in crime
Why Heracross
With Gengar gone, OU has been a surge of psychic types in the tier as there is no real ghost type outside of Mismagius which doesnt come close to the power of Gengar.
INTRODUCTING, Scarf Heracross a mon with its STAB Close Combat + Megahorn both 120 BP has close to no switchins. Psychics cant switch stay in on a mega horn or risk being KOed (JIrachi is neutral but doesnt like it either) with the only exception are bulky flying types such as Skarmory, Gliscor and Dnite and the only non resist being Donphan, physical Def Clefable. Aside from those mon's NOTHING switches in on Heracross.
Max Speed Jolly too outrun as much as possible. 120 BP STAB Close Combat and Megahorn to hit the meta rlly hard, followed up Stone edge for Flying type coverage. Sadly heracross coverage is kinda lackluster so it is rounded out with EQ to hit fairy types on the ground as much as possible.
, Energy ball for potential Water/ground types which could be annoying such as gastro hitting rotom wash with it followed by fire coverage for steels, Stab Psychic and hasty nature combined with explosion. As it hits kills blissey after a hitting stab psychic.
, magnet rise if you had a free switch allowing you to hit have free time on most ground types. Volt switch as you carrying magnet rise means your opponent will think twiche of switching to a ground type + analytic booster tbolt, flash cannon potential on switching out. EVS are set to outspeed no speed Gliscor.
Banded
Adamant, Hit hard with ESPEED, break teams open with Outrage fire punch, EQ coverage. Not much need to be sad here. Potetial alternative wincon with ESPEED sweep.
, Mandatory Stealth Rocker. By far the weakest member of the team, Whose only reason of being is being a bulky ground type that doesn't make the team aditionally vulnerable to water types. Stealth rock, EQ for the hardest hitting stab, scald to spread burns and ice beam for coverage for dnite + gliscor + chomp. It is possible to run Counter over Ice beam, however this risks you being extra vulnerable too setup from mon's like azumaril, dnite, crawadaunt, feraligatr, most of which don't mind taking swamperts relatively weak EQ.
, Great pivot for the team. Max Spdef to tank all the psychic types that run around like Alakazam and Latios, rounding out the defensive core of this team with Swampert. Defog to for hazard control and standard Bullet Punch priority roost to round it out.
PS. I peaked at 1650 with this team
Featuring Scarf Moxie Heracross
and its partners in crime
Why Heracross
With Gengar gone, OU has been a surge of psychic types in the tier as there is no real ghost type outside of Mismagius which doesnt come close to the power of Gengar.
INTRODUCTING, Scarf Heracross a mon with its STAB Close Combat + Megahorn both 120 BP has close to no switchins. Psychics cant switch stay in on a mega horn or risk being KOed (JIrachi is neutral but doesnt like it either) with the only exception are bulky flying types such as Skarmory, Gliscor and Dnite and the only non resist being Donphan, physical Def Clefable. Aside from those mon's NOTHING switches in on Heracross.
252 Atk Heracross Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 236-278 (58.4 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Heracross Close Combat/Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-Wash: 132-156 (43.4 - 51.3%) -- 56.3% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Heracross Close Combat/Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-Wash: 132-156 (43.4 - 51.3%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Heracross Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scizor: 138-163 (40.1 - 47.3%) -- 2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery (This set is not common)
252 Atk Heracross Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0+ Def Scizor: 174-205 (50.5 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+1 252 Atk Heracross Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 162-192 (48.5 - 57.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (after moxie boost skarm ain't a good check anymore and will be chunked)
252 Atk Heracross Close Combat/Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-Wash: 132-156 (43.4 - 51.3%) -- 56.3% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Heracross Close Combat/Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-Wash: 132-156 (43.4 - 51.3%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Heracross Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scizor: 138-163 (40.1 - 47.3%) -- 2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery (This set is not common)
252 Atk Heracross Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0+ Def Scizor: 174-205 (50.5 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+1 252 Atk Heracross Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 162-192 (48.5 - 57.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (after moxie boost skarm ain't a good check anymore and will be chunked)
Max Speed Jolly too outrun as much as possible. 120 BP STAB Close Combat and Megahorn to hit the meta rlly hard, followed up Stone edge for Flying type coverage. Sadly heracross coverage is kinda lackluster so it is rounded out with EQ to hit fairy types on the ground as much as possible.
Banded
As established in the previous paragraph, Heracross has almost no-switchins In order to enable Heracross i have build a double wall breaker core with Adamant Dnite + life Orb Azelf with Explosion. Scizor acts as the defog with bonus of carrying double priority with dnite banded Espeed. Scizor is also the teams best friend for pivoting, gaining a free switch on the more common latios, due to gengar ban, allowing you to safely bring in the frail but hard hitting Azelf and dnite, breaker the the opponent appart allowing for a moxie sweep. A cheeky adition to this team is analytic Magnezone, the adition is to deal with fairies and Skarmory. As this team doesn't struggle too much with skarmory trapping steels aint too much of an issue (as well as most people don't check for magnet pull) we run analytic magnet rise. Closing out the team is Swampert, who acts as the water ground type anchor of the team that doesn't make the team too vulnerable to water types. Most importantly, it is a ground water type that can carry mandatory STEALTH ROCK. Swamperts Bulk allows you to fish for burns and beam to hit glicor and chomp followed by EQ to hit azu and crawdaunt as much as possible for chip.
PS. I peaked at 1650 with this team
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Dual Psychic Dragmag
The Squad (click for paste)
Peak: 1812
Feels like I've made a budget rmt...
The Squad (click for paste)
Peak: 1812
Thought to start out with the basic +core. Then I put chompfor the electric resist/volt blocker and the tran counter. I've been really liking sub sd chomp just cause of how threatening it is, so I figured I'd put it on this team. With magnezone beating clefable, sub sd didn't seem to be too restricting. Alakazamis a mon I took inpiration from playing BW. It's just an extremely threatening special atking mon with sheer power, and sash + mg sets are amazing for revenge killing or just genuinely picking up kills. The fact that zone also beats scizor leaves 0 kazam walls on their team.
+core. Then I put chompfor the electric resist/volt blocker and the tran counter. I've been really liking sub sd chomp just cause of how threatening it is, so I figured I'd put it on this team. With magnezone beating clefable, sub sd didn't seem to be too restricting. Alakazamis a mon I took inpiration from playing BW. It's just an extremely threatening special atking mon with sheer power, and sash + mg sets are amazing for revenge killing or just genuinely picking up kills. The fact that zone also beats scizor leaves 0 kazam walls on their team.I figured that I needed some sort of solid defensive core, so I went with the typical clefable + washtom. I needed a rocker and a wall for the latis, so I figured to go with clefable. Jirachi
was an option, but I don't really love the idea of double steel. Rotom wash acts as a wall against mons like Mamoswine, a soft weavile check, and physical dragons like dragonite: dragonite:. Scarf also allows it to serve as a mon to cripple clefable and be used as speed control. Wisp is run over thunder wave for mons like chomp and dnite.
+ washtom. I needed a rocker and a wall for the latis, so I figured to go with clefable. Jirachi was an option, but I don't really love the idea of double steel. Rotom wash acts as a wall against mons like Mamoswine, a soft weavile check, and physical dragons like dragonite: dragonite:. Scarf also allows it to serve as a mon to cripple clefable and be used as speed control. Wisp is run over thunder wave for mons like chomp and dnite.There are some sets in the team that can definitely be changed. I'll just go down the list...
Rotom -> From scarf to solid lefties, run dual status over trick.
Clefable -> Magic guard to unaware: Unaware beats mons like chomper and cm latios/tias.
Latios -> Latios to Latias: helps with breloom mu.
Rotom
-> From scarf to solid lefties, run dual status over trick.Clefable
-> Magic guard to unaware: Unaware beats mons like chomper and cm latios/tias.Latios
-> Latios to Latias: helps with breloom mu.
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https://pokepast.es/4470122e29a82fcc
got to #2 on ladder w this team. super basic cheesy screens offense ... espeon is rly good and is usually able to set up screens multiple times in a match if u don't throw it away early. for that reason i normally don't lead w it unless vs like skarm ho. chople DD ttar / bulky gyarados / sub np toge are all insanely fat behind screens so try to find which is ur wincon before setting up. special chomp bc rocks and it handles rotom ok for gyara and toge. last mon ada lucario for more immediate breaking.
unaware clef is annoying i almost always will prioritize paralyzing it so u can try to flinch it down w toge or gyara but otherwise just chip away at it or mash it w/ luc. lo starmie is also rly scary and kind of 6-0's so keep light screen up vs that and pivot wisely. most mu's aren't auto-lose tho. Magnezone is threatening and dunks on toge but the rest of the team handles it fine.
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So why Aespa? Is it because you're a SAVAGE?
https://pokepast.es/d39a3003e1717ee0
I haven't had fun in this game for a long time. I find this team easy to use and fun at the same time. I have a bad habit of erasing the W-L record, but I reckon maybe I'm going 18-0 with +1400 / +80gxe. It's not much of a feat because I've never been good at laddering, and I just wanted to try something with Medicham as a base. The team usually has a good matchup, but you have to be careful with threats like Weavile, zone/ Latios. I have good synergy and in principle I can control those situations. Zapdos is still a good mon and Defog user despite forgetting/missing several important answers, but it can still be used to its advantage. Medicham still boasts a great attack thanks to his ability despite not having any megs in this meta, but with that coupled with Scarf support it can be dangerous if it doesn't fit well. Tangrowth and rachi are key here, along with Zapdos giving the team balance to not be as vulnerable or have as much of an offensive presence. BD Azu is great as with the right support I can see the hole and clean up what's left of the opposing team. Yache chomp my SR user, one of the best. SD allows me to push Defog glisc for example and keep SR. As I mentioned before, Yache is a great support as I can take Ice Beam from things like nite or Latios, not just physical damage.
Replay vs volturn.
https://pokepast.es/3368e5b234f0a97d
Here’s an update to my ongoing quest to make Trick Room not just viable, but generally good at high ladder! Currently hanging in the 1700s.
Trick Room has been my favorite playstyle for generations. It combines a uniquely bulky and aggressively offensive playstyle. While Trick Room teams require creativity to build, they also generally allow the builder to capitalize on and penetrate meta trends, as well as utilize and experiment with mons that would otherwise be seen not having the right stats to fit into the meta. This is very refreshing when you see the same five or six S and A tier mons dominating the ladder. And now, with the removal of Gengar from the tier, Trick Room has never been better in BDSP OU as all the relevant setters (except Keckleon) were Shadow Ball fodder.
I find this team is a blast to play with on the ladder, as it absolutely mangles Stall much to my delight, and very often leads to some quick 6-8 turn games against unprepared Offense teams, but also requires tactical hit and run nuance to play effectively against better opponents properly utilizing Balance.
General gameplan: Like all good Trick Room teams, this squad is ABSURDLY aggressive. We begin with three bulky TR setters to reverse speed priority, all of whom can get some tactical kills all their own, bring Stealth Rock utility early game, and seize momentum with Explosion and Lunar Dance. Couple that bulk and utility with an insane amount of offensive pressure in our three breakers (well, four with Lunar Dance), each of whom take advantage of various defensive typings, speed tiers and priority. The team packs enough immediate breaking power and speed to tear Stall apart without needing to use precious turns to set up TR, yet under TR, is “fast” enough to take down offense, especially when factoring in priority, and bulky enough to take hits when it needs to.
The Squad:
Mew is the first Trick Room / Stealth Rock / Explosion momentum grabber. SR is vital in a lot of MUs. Rocks breaks/finish Sash-mons, saves vital Trick Room turns and is very helpful against Shedninja stall and Dragonite's Multiscale, while also letting your breakers just be generally more effective against fatmons. Mew is a good lead unless you see Breloom, Heatran, Togekiss, Tyranitar or Weavile or some random strong and fast ghost, dark or bug type. Without sleep or a strong supereffective move, Mew will get its job done. Explosion will handily KO most offensive mons neutral to it, remove an annoying Substitute, or chunk a defensive mon well. Mental Herb lets it set TR against Taunt leads like Azelf or Aerodactyl, throw up rocks the following turn before they can Taunt again and then Explode in their faces, denying the subsequent Rapid Spin or Defog from clearing their field. Mew's Overheat synergies well with Explosion in that Overheat hits Steels and pysically bulky mons like Skarmory, Scizor, Skarmory, Forretress and Tangrowth hard, meaning they all have to respect Mew, and therefore, cannot reliably tank its powerful Explosion. The choice of Overheat specifically along with our EVs and nature assure Mew will always OHKO Sp Def Scizor, barring a miss.
Important Note: Mew is not negatively speed invested for the reason that it needs to be able to outspeed some key threats to the team with Trick Room down. Specifically Overheat should be used against Scizor before setting Trick Room, and the use of Explosion vs Jolly Crawdaunt and Belly Drum Azurmarril will ensure you don’t get swept by these potent threats.
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Next, we have Bronzong. It functions much like Mew in that it is an early game TR + SR setter with Explosion for offensive momentum. Giving Zong similar traits to Mew may seem redundant at first, but having two rockers means the sneaky pebbles are going up regardless of which one is chosen as a lead, but also that teams that rely on having rocks down will be forced to sack their spinner or Defogger only to have the rocks go up a second time from our backup rocker, after their hazard control has fainted. Having the two pair together also means the more useful one can be preserved if the opponent carries a specific threat you expect them to use late game, like in the instance in the case where you would want to preserve Mew against Crawdaunt or Scizor or when you’d like to have Bronzong to check Heatran, Breloom or Extremespeed Lucario. It’s also nice to use the less useful one first if the opponent has Rotom, who can carry Trick to cripple one of your TR setters and seriously hamper your offensive momentum.
Investigating this double Exploding Trick Rooming rocker role further, Bronzong does have some important differences from Mew. Bronzong’s Steel typing lets it shrug off powerful Dragon type attacks from the likes of Latios and Dragonite. Instead of Overheat, Bronzong packs Earthquake, which when coupled with Heatproof, makes Bronzong the preferred lead choice when confronted with Heatran, who Mew cannot touch. Having a setter able to beat Heatran is vital, as Mew and Cres can be trapped with Magma Storm, which may force awkward uses of Explosion and Lunar Dance to preserve momentum. Bronzong should almost always EQ against Heatran, as your opponent will likely overpredict with a fire move or Taunt. EQ also hits other grounded steel types like Magnezone and Jirachi, which again, allows Explosion to function better as a KO option. EQ is also your team’s best option against a +2 Extremespeed Lucario in TR, because Bronzong resists ES, and Cres can’t damage it effectively. For Zong’s item choice, Lum Berry ensures Bronzong can set up against sleep moves, namely Breloom, which again, complements Mew nicely and also helps Bronzong against Paraflinch Togekiss, who might opt for a flinch strat which would easily wear down Mew before it could set up TR.
Last Zong note: Don’t be afraid to bluff Levitate if it suits you against Gliscor or Garchomp. However, if your opponent isn’t buying it, we do have a real ground immunity, which bring us to our next mon.
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Cresselia is your defensive wall, Ground immunity and mid/end game Trick Room setter. Lum Berry is, again, for setting up on Breloom and T. Wave Togekiss, which helps take some pressure off Bronzong. Moonlight lets it hang around when needed as a defensive pivot and sit on Dragons all day (especially Garchomp) and Ice Beam hits them hard even without investment, as well as pressuring Gliscor and Breloom. Given Cres’ bulk and access to healing with Moonlight, in a pinch it can also fish for freezes with Ice Beam. Lunar Dance faints Cres and brings one of your other mons back to full, and is generally a move that should be saved for end game when one of your breakers can clean up your opponent’s final 3 mons, or alternatively, heal Mew or Bronzong if they are weakened and you need them to check something specifically. Crawdaunt is generally the most obvious Lunar choice, but against Stall, having two Nidokings will force a lot of mixed pressure that will result in your opponent having to make an uncomfortable amount of predictions to play around. Heracross’ Flame Orb burn being healed by LD makes it the least optimal choice, but can be used in tactical cases, just bear in mind it will take a turn for Flame Orb to reactivate.
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Speaking of the breakers, obviously, because it’s Trick Room, the best damn breaker of the tier, Crawdaunt, is here. LO Mixed Crawdaunt with STABs and Sludge Bomb is the optimal set for our breaking purposes, and will almost GUARANTEED force progress if Trick Room is up. Very few mons want to switch in to this thing, especially in Trick Room, and the list true list of counters amounts to just one very niche mon: Poliwrath. Even the likes of Skarmory, Clefable, Tangrowth. Breloom and Azurmarril cannot hard switch in Daddy in Trick Room.
Thanks to Adaptability, our Water and Dark STABs are absurdly powerful. Waterfall has a handy 20% flinch chance, while Knock Off is the most clickable move on the team, given that if it doesn’t outright KO what it hits, it will remove the opponent’s item. An important note here, Knock Off is always the best move against opposing Azurmarrils as this denies them Sitrus and Belly Drum or its Band, and will ensure the rest of the team can more easily check it defensively. Offensive Breloom also dies to a Knock Off + Aqua Jet in TR. Aqua Jet helps picks off faster threats outside TR, as well as ensuring Infernape’s Mach Punch isn’t a threat to Crawdaunt inside TR. Sludge Bomb allows Crawdaunt to mangle Tangrowth and chunk itemless Azurmarril, as Crawdaunt will live a +4 Aqua Jet from full and outspeed in TR.
Good to note: Since our breakers are all Dark weak, Crawdaunt is generally a good lead of choice if you expect your opponent to lead with them. Crawdaunt is a good option defensively against Weavile, can pressure Honchkrow with Aqua Jet outside TR, and can always pressure Tyranitar offensively, Trick Room or no.
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Next up is the sleeper pick, and a set I tailor made for this team, Mixed Attacker Nidoking. Honestly, even in non-Trick Room teams, I am convinced this is Nidoking’s best set. This guy brutalizes Stall and Offense alike with its strong STABs, coverage and priority.
Like Mew, Nidoking is purposefully not negatively speed invested in order to serve as middling speed attacker. This means Nido can outspeed Stall without needing to set up TR, but it's also still slow enough that it WILL do good work against Offense and Balance with TR up. For this reason, Nidoking is almost always your lead against full Stall for its immediate mixed offensive pressure, unless they have Shedinja, in which case setting up Stealth Rock still needs to be your highest priority. (Keep in mind Mew is a good switch in for Shed, as it can return Will'o burns aimed at the breakers for a free Synchronize Shed KO.)
This Nidoking takes advantage of Sheer Force and Life Orb to both sides of the attacking spectrum, while also being fully invested in both Attack and Special attack. Physical Poison Jab is your strongest neutral move and best option against Rotom W and Clefable and nails an unassuming Blissey hard on switch in, expecting a full special set. Nearly as strong, its second STAB, Earth Power, hits Scizor and bulky defensive waters like Slowbro hard, as well as other steels. Ice Beam obliterates all the dragons and Gliscor and Tangrowth and two shots Skarmory. Finally Sucker Punch is chosen as the last move for its utility against offense, offsetting our lack of speed investment outside TR, and allowing Nidoking to surpringly snipe some weakened treats and the likes of Alakazam, Starmie and Latias.
Nidoking’s Poison and Ground typing is nice defensively, sporting an electric immunity for some cheeky Volt Switch blocks, picking up Toxic Spikes, and a handy Fighting resist to take Breloom’s Mach Punches which can force Crawdaunt out after a sack.
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Now the final member of the team has been interchangeable for some time, but each of them carried some issues. Band Azurmarril made the team weak to defensive pivoting and Protect, while over time Play Rough misses lead to far too many loses. Overheat / Solar Beam Torkoal was a powerful breaker, but worsened the MU against dragons and Curse Snorlax. Then, finally, it hit me. The answer was not another slow breaker, but another middle speed breaker, able to outspeed offensive mons with TR but still serve pressure to stall without TR. Thus, I turned to another nigh unwallable and definitive anti-meta wallbreaker, Guts Heracross.
Heracross is the ying to Crawdaunt and Nidoking’s yang. Heracross is max Attack, but has some bulk investment and just enough speed to let it outspeed some key Dark type threats to the team. Heracross’ speed investment and power also permits us yet another formidable option against Stall right out of the gate, with no TR setting required.
Close Combat, Façade and Night Slash provide perfect coverage. Close Combat is strong Fighting STAB. Guts + Flame Orb, along with Façade is strong neutrally, even two shotting defensive Clefable and Quagsire and one shotting defensive Togekiss after Stealth Rock. Night Slash is chosen as our last move over bug STAB, as this is our best option to hit fat psychics like Slowbro, while also ensuring we don’t get walled fully by ghost types.
Swords Dance brings even more breaking power for common defensive fatmons mons like Gliscor and Tangrowth, both of whom cannot touch Heracross due to its defensive typing. Guts with Flame Orb ensures status is less of a stressor to the team, and allows Hera to handily check Breloom post orb activation.
Speed notes reasoning: Knowing Heracross' exact speed tier is important, 242. Because it IS speed invested, it is only useful IN Trick Room against faster opponents.
A few different bulk and speed EV tiers can be chosen for Heracross. At the very least it should outspeed Jolly Crawdaunt, as otherwise, the team has no good option against the lobster outside Trick Room. The amount of HP bulk with this spread is handy, as it can more easily tank Aqua Jets and Scizor's Bullet Punch and hard switch into offensive Rotom W. However, I have opted to EV to 242 speed, specifically to let Hera outspeed to Adamant Honchkrow by a single point. Without this benchmark, while uncommon, this team would immediately fold to the mobster bird. If you like, you could also opt to have Heracross outspeed Jolly Heatran, but I find this unnecessary as the team already has multiple options against it, and the trade off for less bulk is generally undesirable is it becomes less sturdy of a check to the meta at large.
One last note: Heracross is not a bad option to take a Trick Scarf from Rotom W, as with its speed investment, it become decently fast outside TR with the scarf, and the resulting burn on Rotom will mean it will be less able to defensively check Crawdaunt and Nidoking.
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Main threats: Crawdaunt: Public enemy No. 1. It can one shot every member of the team, minus our own Crawdaunt, who will lose the trade outside TR. Crawdaunt also resists both of our priority and can always Aqua Jet Nidoking. Our best options against Crawdaunt outside TR are Mew using Explosion, Heracross (who can live Aqua jet from decent health and KO), and hard switching out own Crawdaunt and using Waterfall. Do NOT use Knock Off against Crawdaunt, as allowing the opposing Crawdaunt to chip itself with Life Orb recoil is actually good for our team, as it will often knock itself out. Checking it inside Trick Room is easier, as Bronzong can explode on it, Cres can Lunar Dance heal/pivot, and our own Crawdaunt, while gaining the speed advantage.
Mismagius: This is the only viable ghost left after Gengar’s exit from the tier, and while it is thankfully uncommon, it is the single worst MU for the team. The Substitute + Nasty Plot set is extremely dangerous and will result in a 6-0 if you give it the slightest chance. All the TR setters struggle against it, and besides being Ghost weak, Mag is immune to both Earthquake and Explosion meaning it sets up on Bronzong for free. It can stall out TR turns with Sub, as well as tank Mew’s Overheat and Cres’ Ice Beam. Crawdaunt can pressure it with Aqua Jet and check it if its only move is Shadow Ball, but will lose to Thunderbolt if behind a Sub. Heracross can tank a hit from full, and threaten with Night Slash. Nidoking is awkward against it too, but can play mind games with its stronger Ice Beam and Sucker Punch. SP can also catch Mag off guard and otherwise, can checkmate it if it doesn’t have enough health to Sub.
Honchkrow: Another uncommon, yet potent threat that will likely earn a KO every time it comes on the field when TR is down. Hard switching on it is a very dangerous game that can easily lead to you being 6-0ed if you play unwisely. However, Stealth Rock, recoil damage, Crawdaunt and Heracross all help keep it manageable. Honch threatens all the TR setters with its Dark STABs. While Cres can tank ONE Night Slash hit unboosted, but if Moxie activates, this becomes a non-option. Brave Bird ensures Heracross and Crawdaunt cannot hard switch in. Heracross must be preserved in this MU because Heracross is speed invested specifically to avoid this 6-0, and is your single option if Trick Room is down. If TR is already up, Honchkrow is much less of a nuisance, as the Psychics can all outspeed and hit it, but should need to wary of Sucker Punch. Switching around SP is always an option, so if all else fails, go for reads. It might pay off.
SD Lucario: Not an issue most of the time without a boost, but it will sweep you if it sets up and Bronzong is fainted. Just hit it with whatever you've got and don’t let it set up. It doesn't care about Trick Room or Crawdaunt’s Aqua Jet with Extremespeed. +2 ES will kill all your breakers. Remember to preserve Bronzong in this MU, even if you have to Lunar Dance it. Bronzong is your best option against it in TR since it resists its prority moves and will KO it with Earthquake.
Banded Outrage: It goes without saying Banded Outrage is very strong, whether it comes from Salamence, Dragonite, or Garchomp. While Cres can tank a hit and we have Bronzong, if Bronzong is down, it may be worth a sack before pivoting to Cres and trying to set TR, lest we get 2HKO and otherwise, barring confusion, it is GGs.
Curse Snorlax and Bulk Up Swampert: Quite uncommon, but I’ll put these two together, as they can snowball out of control quickly. Daddy’s Knock Off will remove their Lefties if they already have a boost, but Crawdaunt won’t be able to KO without its own demise. Heracross is your best option to beat these guys after a boost, as it is itself quite bulky, and will always outspeed and outboost them booth. Swampert can run Damp, so be mindful that Explosion is not an option against it.
Edit:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1587867634
As of June, this team is still putting in good work, and I’m sitting pretty at high ladder.
I hadn’t saved any replays, but I feel like this particular battle showcases all the strengths of the team against a very sturdy stall team, which employs many threats you might think could go toe to toe with this team, Gliscor, Weezing, Wish / Protect Clef, Tangrowth and Slowbro.
Yet the team perseveres through constant offensive pressure, coupled with some handy double switches, tactically shifting speed tiers with Trick Room. The use of double Stealth Rock makes an appearance.
That's all, have fun!
The Squad:
Mew is the first Trick Room / Stealth Rock / Explosion momentum grabber. SR is vital in a lot of MUs. Rocks breaks/finish Sash-mons, saves vital Trick Room turns and is very helpful against Shedninja stall and Dragonite's Multiscale, while also letting your breakers just be generally more effective against fatmons. Mew is a good lead unless you see Breloom, Heatran, Togekiss, Tyranitar or Weavile or some random strong and fast ghost, dark or bug type. Without sleep or a strong supereffective move, Mew will get its job done. Explosion will handily KO most offensive mons neutral to it, remove an annoying Substitute, or chunk a defensive mon well. Mental Herb lets it set TR against Taunt leads like Azelf or Aerodactyl, throw up rocks the following turn before they can Taunt again and then Explode in their faces, denying the subsequent Rapid Spin or Defog from clearing their field. Mew's Overheat synergies well with Explosion in that Overheat hits Steels and pysically bulky mons like Skarmory, Scizor, Skarmory, Forretress and Tangrowth hard, meaning they all have to respect Mew, and therefore, cannot reliably tank its powerful Explosion. The choice of Overheat specifically along with our EVs and nature assure Mew will always OHKO Sp Def Scizor, barring a miss.
Important Note: Mew is not negatively speed invested for the reason that it needs to be able to outspeed some key threats to the team with Trick Room down. Specifically Overheat should be used against Scizor before setting Trick Room, and the use of Explosion vs Jolly Crawdaunt and Belly Drum Azurmarril will ensure you don’t get swept by these potent threats.
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Next, we have Bronzong. It functions much like Mew in that it is an early game TR + SR setter with Explosion for offensive momentum. Giving Zong similar traits to Mew may seem redundant at first, but having two rockers means the sneaky pebbles are going up regardless of which one is chosen as a lead, but also that teams that rely on having rocks down will be forced to sack their spinner or Defogger only to have the rocks go up a second time from our backup rocker, after their hazard control has fainted. Having the two pair together also means the more useful one can be preserved if the opponent carries a specific threat you expect them to use late game, like in the instance in the case where you would want to preserve Mew against Crawdaunt or Scizor or when you’d like to have Bronzong to check Heatran, Breloom or Extremespeed Lucario. It’s also nice to use the less useful one first if the opponent has Rotom, who can carry Trick to cripple one of your TR setters and seriously hamper your offensive momentum.
Investigating this double Exploding Trick Rooming rocker role further, Bronzong does have some important differences from Mew. Bronzong’s Steel typing lets it shrug off powerful Dragon type attacks from the likes of Latios and Dragonite. Instead of Overheat, Bronzong packs Earthquake, which when coupled with Heatproof, makes Bronzong the preferred lead choice when confronted with Heatran, who Mew cannot touch. Having a setter able to beat Heatran is vital, as Mew and Cres can be trapped with Magma Storm, which may force awkward uses of Explosion and Lunar Dance to preserve momentum. Bronzong should almost always EQ against Heatran, as your opponent will likely overpredict with a fire move or Taunt. EQ also hits other grounded steel types like Magnezone and Jirachi, which again, allows Explosion to function better as a KO option. EQ is also your team’s best option against a +2 Extremespeed Lucario in TR, because Bronzong resists ES, and Cres can’t damage it effectively. For Zong’s item choice, Lum Berry ensures Bronzong can set up against sleep moves, namely Breloom, which again, complements Mew nicely and also helps Bronzong against Paraflinch Togekiss, who might opt for a flinch strat which would easily wear down Mew before it could set up TR.
Last Zong note: Don’t be afraid to bluff Levitate if it suits you against Gliscor or Garchomp. However, if your opponent isn’t buying it, we do have a real ground immunity, which bring us to our next mon.
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Cresselia is your defensive wall, Ground immunity and mid/end game Trick Room setter. Lum Berry is, again, for setting up on Breloom and T. Wave Togekiss, which helps take some pressure off Bronzong. Moonlight lets it hang around when needed as a defensive pivot and sit on Dragons all day (especially Garchomp) and Ice Beam hits them hard even without investment, as well as pressuring Gliscor and Breloom. Given Cres’ bulk and access to healing with Moonlight, in a pinch it can also fish for freezes with Ice Beam. Lunar Dance faints Cres and brings one of your other mons back to full, and is generally a move that should be saved for end game when one of your breakers can clean up your opponent’s final 3 mons, or alternatively, heal Mew or Bronzong if they are weakened and you need them to check something specifically. Crawdaunt is generally the most obvious Lunar choice, but against Stall, having two Nidokings will force a lot of mixed pressure that will result in your opponent having to make an uncomfortable amount of predictions to play around. Heracross’ Flame Orb burn being healed by LD makes it the least optimal choice, but can be used in tactical cases, just bear in mind it will take a turn for Flame Orb to reactivate.
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Speaking of the breakers, obviously, because it’s Trick Room, the best damn breaker of the tier, Crawdaunt, is here. LO Mixed Crawdaunt with STABs and Sludge Bomb is the optimal set for our breaking purposes, and will almost GUARANTEED force progress if Trick Room is up. Very few mons want to switch in to this thing, especially in Trick Room, and the list true list of counters amounts to just one very niche mon: Poliwrath. Even the likes of Skarmory, Clefable, Tangrowth. Breloom and Azurmarril cannot hard switch in Daddy in Trick Room.
Thanks to Adaptability, our Water and Dark STABs are absurdly powerful. Waterfall has a handy 20% flinch chance, while Knock Off is the most clickable move on the team, given that if it doesn’t outright KO what it hits, it will remove the opponent’s item. An important note here, Knock Off is always the best move against opposing Azurmarrils as this denies them Sitrus and Belly Drum or its Band, and will ensure the rest of the team can more easily check it defensively. Offensive Breloom also dies to a Knock Off + Aqua Jet in TR. Aqua Jet helps picks off faster threats outside TR, as well as ensuring Infernape’s Mach Punch isn’t a threat to Crawdaunt inside TR. Sludge Bomb allows Crawdaunt to mangle Tangrowth and chunk itemless Azurmarril, as Crawdaunt will live a +4 Aqua Jet from full and outspeed in TR.
Good to note: Since our breakers are all Dark weak, Crawdaunt is generally a good lead of choice if you expect your opponent to lead with them. Crawdaunt is a good option defensively against Weavile, can pressure Honchkrow with Aqua Jet outside TR, and can always pressure Tyranitar offensively, Trick Room or no.
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Next up is the sleeper pick, and a set I tailor made for this team, Mixed Attacker Nidoking. Honestly, even in non-Trick Room teams, I am convinced this is Nidoking’s best set. This guy brutalizes Stall and Offense alike with its strong STABs, coverage and priority.
Like Mew, Nidoking is purposefully not negatively speed invested in order to serve as middling speed attacker. This means Nido can outspeed Stall without needing to set up TR, but it's also still slow enough that it WILL do good work against Offense and Balance with TR up. For this reason, Nidoking is almost always your lead against full Stall for its immediate mixed offensive pressure, unless they have Shedinja, in which case setting up Stealth Rock still needs to be your highest priority. (Keep in mind Mew is a good switch in for Shed, as it can return Will'o burns aimed at the breakers for a free Synchronize Shed KO.)
This Nidoking takes advantage of Sheer Force and Life Orb to both sides of the attacking spectrum, while also being fully invested in both Attack and Special attack. Physical Poison Jab is your strongest neutral move and best option against Rotom W and Clefable and nails an unassuming Blissey hard on switch in, expecting a full special set. Nearly as strong, its second STAB, Earth Power, hits Scizor and bulky defensive waters like Slowbro hard, as well as other steels. Ice Beam obliterates all the dragons and Gliscor and Tangrowth and two shots Skarmory. Finally Sucker Punch is chosen as the last move for its utility against offense, offsetting our lack of speed investment outside TR, and allowing Nidoking to surpringly snipe some weakened treats and the likes of Alakazam, Starmie and Latias.
Nidoking’s Poison and Ground typing is nice defensively, sporting an electric immunity for some cheeky Volt Switch blocks, picking up Toxic Spikes, and a handy Fighting resist to take Breloom’s Mach Punches which can force Crawdaunt out after a sack.
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Now the final member of the team has been interchangeable for some time, but each of them carried some issues. Band Azurmarril made the team weak to defensive pivoting and Protect, while over time Play Rough misses lead to far too many loses. Overheat / Solar Beam Torkoal was a powerful breaker, but worsened the MU against dragons and Curse Snorlax. Then, finally, it hit me. The answer was not another slow breaker, but another middle speed breaker, able to outspeed offensive mons with TR but still serve pressure to stall without TR. Thus, I turned to another nigh unwallable and definitive anti-meta wallbreaker, Guts Heracross.
Heracross is the ying to Crawdaunt and Nidoking’s yang. Heracross is max Attack, but has some bulk investment and just enough speed to let it outspeed some key Dark type threats to the team. Heracross’ speed investment and power also permits us yet another formidable option against Stall right out of the gate, with no TR setting required.
Close Combat, Façade and Night Slash provide perfect coverage. Close Combat is strong Fighting STAB. Guts + Flame Orb, along with Façade is strong neutrally, even two shotting defensive Clefable and Quagsire and one shotting defensive Togekiss after Stealth Rock. Night Slash is chosen as our last move over bug STAB, as this is our best option to hit fat psychics like Slowbro, while also ensuring we don’t get walled fully by ghost types.
Swords Dance brings even more breaking power for common defensive fatmons mons like Gliscor and Tangrowth, both of whom cannot touch Heracross due to its defensive typing. Guts with Flame Orb ensures status is less of a stressor to the team, and allows Hera to handily check Breloom post orb activation.
Speed notes reasoning: Knowing Heracross' exact speed tier is important, 242. Because it IS speed invested, it is only useful IN Trick Room against faster opponents.
A few different bulk and speed EV tiers can be chosen for Heracross. At the very least it should outspeed Jolly Crawdaunt, as otherwise, the team has no good option against the lobster outside Trick Room. The amount of HP bulk with this spread is handy, as it can more easily tank Aqua Jets and Scizor's Bullet Punch and hard switch into offensive Rotom W. However, I have opted to EV to 242 speed, specifically to let Hera outspeed to Adamant Honchkrow by a single point. Without this benchmark, while uncommon, this team would immediately fold to the mobster bird. If you like, you could also opt to have Heracross outspeed Jolly Heatran, but I find this unnecessary as the team already has multiple options against it, and the trade off for less bulk is generally undesirable is it becomes less sturdy of a check to the meta at large.
One last note: Heracross is not a bad option to take a Trick Scarf from Rotom W, as with its speed investment, it become decently fast outside TR with the scarf, and the resulting burn on Rotom will mean it will be less able to defensively check Crawdaunt and Nidoking.
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Main threats: Crawdaunt: Public enemy No. 1. It can one shot every member of the team, minus our own Crawdaunt, who will lose the trade outside TR. Crawdaunt also resists both of our priority and can always Aqua Jet Nidoking. Our best options against Crawdaunt outside TR are Mew using Explosion, Heracross (who can live Aqua jet from decent health and KO), and hard switching out own Crawdaunt and using Waterfall. Do NOT use Knock Off against Crawdaunt, as allowing the opposing Crawdaunt to chip itself with Life Orb recoil is actually good for our team, as it will often knock itself out. Checking it inside Trick Room is easier, as Bronzong can explode on it, Cres can Lunar Dance heal/pivot, and our own Crawdaunt, while gaining the speed advantage.
Mismagius: This is the only viable ghost left after Gengar’s exit from the tier, and while it is thankfully uncommon, it is the single worst MU for the team. The Substitute + Nasty Plot set is extremely dangerous and will result in a 6-0 if you give it the slightest chance. All the TR setters struggle against it, and besides being Ghost weak, Mag is immune to both Earthquake and Explosion meaning it sets up on Bronzong for free. It can stall out TR turns with Sub, as well as tank Mew’s Overheat and Cres’ Ice Beam. Crawdaunt can pressure it with Aqua Jet and check it if its only move is Shadow Ball, but will lose to Thunderbolt if behind a Sub. Heracross can tank a hit from full, and threaten with Night Slash. Nidoking is awkward against it too, but can play mind games with its stronger Ice Beam and Sucker Punch. SP can also catch Mag off guard and otherwise, can checkmate it if it doesn’t have enough health to Sub.
Honchkrow: Another uncommon, yet potent threat that will likely earn a KO every time it comes on the field when TR is down. Hard switching on it is a very dangerous game that can easily lead to you being 6-0ed if you play unwisely. However, Stealth Rock, recoil damage, Crawdaunt and Heracross all help keep it manageable. Honch threatens all the TR setters with its Dark STABs. While Cres can tank ONE Night Slash hit unboosted, but if Moxie activates, this becomes a non-option. Brave Bird ensures Heracross and Crawdaunt cannot hard switch in. Heracross must be preserved in this MU because Heracross is speed invested specifically to avoid this 6-0, and is your single option if Trick Room is down. If TR is already up, Honchkrow is much less of a nuisance, as the Psychics can all outspeed and hit it, but should need to wary of Sucker Punch. Switching around SP is always an option, so if all else fails, go for reads. It might pay off.
SD Lucario: Not an issue most of the time without a boost, but it will sweep you if it sets up and Bronzong is fainted. Just hit it with whatever you've got and don’t let it set up. It doesn't care about Trick Room or Crawdaunt’s Aqua Jet with Extremespeed. +2 ES will kill all your breakers. Remember to preserve Bronzong in this MU, even if you have to Lunar Dance it. Bronzong is your best option against it in TR since it resists its prority moves and will KO it with Earthquake.
Banded Outrage: It goes without saying Banded Outrage is very strong, whether it comes from Salamence, Dragonite, or Garchomp. While Cres can tank a hit and we have Bronzong, if Bronzong is down, it may be worth a sack before pivoting to Cres and trying to set TR, lest we get 2HKO and otherwise, barring confusion, it is GGs.
Curse Snorlax and Bulk Up Swampert: Quite uncommon, but I’ll put these two together, as they can snowball out of control quickly. Daddy’s Knock Off will remove their Lefties if they already have a boost, but Crawdaunt won’t be able to KO without its own demise. Heracross is your best option to beat these guys after a boost, as it is itself quite bulky, and will always outspeed and outboost them booth. Swampert can run Damp, so be mindful that Explosion is not an option against it.
Edit:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1587867634
As of June, this team is still putting in good work, and I’m sitting pretty at high ladder.
I hadn’t saved any replays, but I feel like this particular battle showcases all the strengths of the team against a very sturdy stall team, which employs many threats you might think could go toe to toe with this team, Gliscor, Weezing, Wish / Protect Clef, Tangrowth and Slowbro.
Yet the team perseveres through constant offensive pressure, coupled with some handy double switches, tactically shifting speed tiers with Trick Room. The use of double Stealth Rock makes an appearance.
That's all, have fun!
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Hello nice to meet you, my name is Bob, he want to appreciate this funky looking team! At first Bob wondering what Lum Berry and Poison Jab doing there, but its all understandable after Bob read the explanation.
https://pokepast.es/3368e5b234f0a97d
Here’s an update to my ongoing quest to make Trick Room not just viable, but generally good at high ladder! Currently hanging in the 1700s.
Trick Room has been my favorite playstyle for generations. It combines a uniquely bulky and aggressively offensive playstyle. While Trick Room teams require creativity to build, they also generally allow the builder to capitalize on and penetrate meta trends, as well as utilize and experiment with mons that would otherwise be seen not having the right stats to fit into the meta. This is very refreshing when you see the same five or six S and A tier mons dominating the ladder. And now, with the removal of Gengar from the tier, Trick Room has never been better in BDSP OU as all the relevant setters (except Keckleon) were Shadow Ball fodder.
I find this team is a blast to play with on the ladder, as it absolutely mangles Stall much to my delight, and very often leads to some quick 6-8 turn games against unprepared Offense teams, but also requires tactical hit and run nuance to play effectively against better opponents properly utilizing Balance.
General gameplan: Like all good Trick Room teams, this squad is ABSURDLY aggressive. We begin with three bulky TR setters, all of whom can get some tactical kills all their own, bring Stealth Rock utility early game, and seize momentum with Explosion and Lunar Dance. Couple that bulk and utility with an insane amount of offensive pressure in our three breakers (well, four with Lunar Dance), each of whom take advantage of various defensive typings, speed tiers and priority. The team packs enough immediate breaking power and speed to tear Stall apart without needing to use precious turns to set up TR, yet under TR, is “fast” enough to take down offense, especially when factoring in priority, and bulky enough to take hits when it needs to.
The Squad:
View attachment 413614
Mew is the first Trick Room / Stealth Rock / Explosion momentum grabber. SR is vital in a lot of MUs. Rocks breaks/finish Sash-mons, save vital Trick Room turns and is very helpful against Shedninja stall and Dragonite's Multiscale, while also letting your breakers just be generally more effective against fatmons. Mew is a good lead unless you see Breloom, Heatran, Togekiss, Tyranitar or Weavile or some random strong and fast ghost, dark or bug type. Without sleep or a strong supereffective move, Mew will get its job done. Explosion will handily KO most offensive mons neutral to it, remove an annoying Substitute, or chuck a defensive mon well. Mental Herb lets it set TR against Taunt leads like Azelf or Aerodactyl, throw up rocks the following turn before they can Taunt again and then Explode in their faces, denying the subsequent Rapid Spin or Defog from clearing their field. Mew's Overheat synergies well with Explosion in that Overheat ensures Steels like Skarmory, Scizor, Skarmory, Forretress hard, and Tangrowth all have to respect Mew, and therefore, cannot reliably tank its powerful Explosion.
Important Note: Mew is not negatively speed invested for the reason that it needs to be able to outspeed some key threats to the team with Trick Room down. Specifically Overheat should be used against Scizor before setting Trick Room, and the use of Explosion vs Jolly Crawdaunt and Belly Drum Azurmarril will ensure you don’t get swept by these potent threats.
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View attachment 413615
Next, we have Bronzong. It functions much like Mew in that it is an early game TR + SR setter with Explosion for offensive momentum. Giving Zong similar traits to Mew may seem redundant at first, but having two rockers means the sneaky pebbles are going up regardless of which one is chosen as a lead, but also that teams that rely on having rocks down will be forced to sack their spinner or Defogger only to have the rocks go up a second time from our backup rocker, after their hazard control has fainted. Having the two pair together also means the more useful one can be preserved if the opponent carries a specific threat you expect them to use late game, like in the instance in the case where you would want to preserve Mew against Crawdaunt or Scizor or when you’d like to have Bronzong to check Heatran, Breloom or Extremespeed Lucario. It’s also nice to use the less useful one first if the opponent has Rotom, who can carry Trick to cripple one of your TR setters and seriously hamper your offensive momentum.
Investigating this double Exploding Trick Rooming rocker role further, Bronzong does have some important differences from Mew. Bronzong’s Steel typing lets it shrug off powerful Dragon type attacks from the likes of Latios and Dragonite. Instead of Overheat, Bronzong packs Earthquake, which when coupled with Heatproof, makes Bronzong the preferred lead choice when confronted with Heatran, who Mew cannot touch. Having a setter able to beat Heatran is vital, as Mew and Cres can be trapped with Magma Storm, which may force awkward uses of Explosion and Lunar Dance to preserve momentum. Bronzong should almost always EQ against Heatran, as your opponent will likely overpredict with a fire move or Taunt. EQ also hits other grounded steel types like Magnezone and Jirachi, which again, allows Explosion to function better as a KO option. EQ is also your team’s best option against a +2 Extremespeed Lucario in TR, because Bronzong resists ES, and Cres can’t damage it effectively. For Zong’s item choice, Lum Berry ensures Bronzong can set up against sleep moves, namely Breloom, which again, complements Mew nicely and also helps Bronzong against Paraflinch Togekiss, who might opt for a flinch strat which would easily wear down Mew before it could set up TR.
Last Zong note: Don’t be afraid to bluff Levitate if it suits you against Gliscor or Garchomp. However, if your opponent isn’t buying it, we do have a real ground immunity, which bring us to our next mon.
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View attachment 413617
Cresselia is your defensive wall, Ground immunity and mid/end game Trick Room setter. Lum Berry is, again, for setting up on Breloom and T. Wave Togekiss, which helps take some pressure off Bronzong. Moonlight lets it hang around when needed as a defensive pivot and sit on Dragons all day (especially Garchomp) and Ice Beam hits them hard even without investment, as well as pressuring Gliscor and Breloom. Given Cres’ bulk and access to healing with Moonlight, in a pinch it can also fish for freezes with Ice Beam. Lunar Dance faints Cres and brings one of your other mons back to full, and is generally a move that should be saved for end game when one of your breakers can clean up your opponent’s final 3 mons, or alternatively, heal Mew or Bronzong if they are weakened and you need them to check something specifically. Crawdaunt is generally the most obvious Lunar choice, but against Stall, having two Nidokings will force a lot of mixed pressure that will result in your opponent having to make an uncomfortable amount of predictions to play around. Heracross’ Flame Orb burn being healed by LD makes it the least optimal choice, but can be used in tactical cases, just bear in mind it will take a turn for Flame Orb to reactivate.
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View attachment 413616
Speaking of the breakers, obviously, because it’s Trick Room, the best damn breaker of the tier, Crawdaunt, is here. LO Mixed Crawdaunt with STABs and Sludge Bomb is the optimal set for our breaking purposes, and will almost GUARANTEED force progress if Trick Room is up. Very few mons want to switch in to this thing, especially in Trick Room, and the list true list of counters amounts to just one very niche mon: Poliwrath. Even the likes of Skarmory, Clefable, Tangrowth. Breloom and Azurmarril cannot hard switch in Daddy in Trick Room.
Thanks to Adaptability, our Water and Dark STABs are absurdly powerful. Waterfall has a handy 20% flinch chance, while Knock Off is the most clickable move on the team, given that if it doesn’t outright KO what it hits, it will remove the opponent’s item. An important note here, Knock Off is always the best move against opposing Azurmarrils as this denies them Sitrus and Belly Drum or its Band, and will ensure the rest of the team can more easily check it defensively. Offensive Breloom also dies to a Knock Off + Aqua Jet in TR. Aqua Jet helps picks off faster threats outside TR, as well as ensuring Infernape’s Mach Punch isn’t a threat to Crawdaunt inside TR. Sludge Bomb allows Crawdaunt to mangle Tangrowth and chunk itemless Azurmarril, as Crawdaunt will live a +4 Aqua Jet from full and outspeed in TR.
Good to note: Since our breakers are all Dark weak, Crawdaunt is generally a good lead of choice if you expect your opponent to lead with them. Crawdaunt is a good option defensively against Weavile, can pressure Honchkrow with Aqua Jet outside TR, and can always pressure Tyranitar offensively, Trick Room or no.
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View attachment 413619
Next up is the sleeper pick, and a set I tailor made for this team, Mixed Attacker Nidoking. Honestly, even in non-Trick Room teams, I am convinced this is Nidoking’s best set. This guy brutalizes Stall and Offense alike with its strong STABs, coverage and priority.
Like Mew, Nidoking is purposefully not negatively speed invested in order to serve as middling speed attacker. This means Nido can outspeed Stall without needing to set up TR, but it's also still slow enough that it WILL do good work against Offense and Balance with TR up. For this reason, Nidoking is almost always your lead against full Stall for its immediate mixed offensive pressure, unless they have Shedinja, in which case setting up Stealth Rock still needs to be your highest priority. (Keep in mind Mew is a good switch in for Shed, as it can return Will'o burns aimed at the breakers for a free Synchronize Shed KO.)
This Nidoking takes advantage of Sheer Force and Life Orb to both sides of the attacking spectrum, while also being fully invested in both Attack and Special attack. Physical Poison Jab is your strongest neutral move and best option against Rotom W and Clefable and nails an unassuming Blissey hard on switch in, expecting a full special set. Nearly as strong, its second STAB, Earth Power, hits Scizor and bulky defensive waters like Slowbro hard, as well as other steels. Ice Beam obliterates all the dragons and Gliscor and Tangrowth and two shots Skarmory. Finally Sucker Punch is chosen as the last move for its utility against offense, offsetting our lack of speed investment outside TR, and allowing Nidoking to surpringly snipe some weakened treats and the likes of Alakazam, Starmie and Latios.
Nidkoking’s Poison and Ground typing is nice defensively, sporting an electric immunity for some cheeky Volt Switch blocks, picking up Toxic Spikes, and a handy Fighting resist to take Breloom’s Mach Punches which can force Crawdaunt out after a sack.
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View attachment 413618
Now the final member of the team has been interchangeable for some time, but each of them carried some issues. Band Azurmarril made the team weak to defensive pivoting and Protect, while over time Play Rough misses lead to far too many loses. Overheat / Solar Beam Torkoal was a powerful breaker, but worsened the MU against dragons and Curse Snorlax. Then, finally, it hit me. The answer was not another slow breaker, but another middle speed breaker, able to outspeed offensive mons with TR but still serve pressure to stall without TR. Thus, I turned to another nigh unwallable and definitive anti-meta wallbreaker, Guts Heracross.
Heracross is the ying to Crawdaunt and Nidoking’s yang. Heracross is max Attack, but has some bulk investment and just enough speed to let it outspeed some key Dark type threats to the team. Heracross’ speed investment and power also permits us yet another formidable option against Stall right out of the gate, with no TR setting required.
Close Combat, Façade and Night Slash provide perfect coverage. Close Combat is strong Fighting STAB. Guts + Flame Orb, along with Façade is strong neutrally, even two shotting defensive Clefable and Quagsire and one shotting defensive Togekiss after Stealth Rock. Night Slash is chosen as our last move over bug STAB, as this is our best option to hit fat psychics like Slowbro, while also ensuring we don’t get walled fully by ghost types.
Swords Dance brings even more breaking power for common defensive fatmons mons like Gliscor and Tangrowth, both of whom cannot touch Heracross due to its defensive typing. Guts with Flame Orb ensures status is less of a stressor to the team, and allows Hera to handily check Breloom post orb activation.
Speed notes reasoning: Knowing Heracross' exact speed tier is important, 242. Because it IS speed invested, it is only useful IN Trick Room against faster opponents.
A few different bulk and speed EV tiers can be chosen for Heracross. At the very least it should outspeed Jolly Crawdaunt, as otherwise, the team has no good option against the lobster outside Trick Room. The amount of HP bulk with this spread is handy, as it can more easily tank Aqua Jets and Scizor's Bullet Punch and hard switch into offensive Rotom W. However, I have opted to EV to 242 speed, specifically to let Hera outspeed to Adamant Honchkrow by a single point. Without this benchmark, while uncommon, this team would immediately fold to the mobster bird. If you like, you could also opt to have Heracross outspeed Jolly Heatran, but I find this unnecessary as the team already has multiple options against it, and the trade off for less bulk is generally undesirable is it becomes less sturdy of a check to the meta at large.
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Main threats: Crawdaunt: Public enemy No. 1. It can one shot every member of the team, minus our own Crawdaunt, who will lose the trade outside TR. Crawdaunt also resists both of our priority and can always Aqua Jet Nidoking. Our best options against Crawdaunt outside TR are Mew using Explosion, Heracross (who can live Aqua jet from decent health and KO), and hard switching out own Crawdaunt and using Waterfall. Do NOT use Knock Off against Crawdaunt, as allowing the opposing Crawdaunt to chip itself with Life Orb recoil is actually good for our team, as it will often knock itself out. Checking it inside Trick Room is easier, as Bronzong can explode on it, Cres can Lunar Dance heal/pivot, and our own Crawdaunt, while gaining the speed advantage.
Mismagius: This is the only viable ghost left after Gengar’s exit from the tier, and while it is thankfully uncommon, it is the single worst MU for the team. The Substitute + Nasty Plot set is extremely dangerous and will result in a 6-0 if you give it the slightest chance. All the TR setters struggle against it, and besides being Ghost weak, Mag is immune to both Earthquake and Explosion meaning it sets up on Bronzong for free. It can stall out TR turns with Sub, as well as tank Mew’s Overheat and Cres’ Ice Beam. Crawdaunt can pressure it with Aqua Jet and check it if its only move is Shadow Ball, but will lose to Thunderbolt if behind a Sub. Heracross can tank a hit from full, and threaten with Night Slash. Nidoking is awkward against it too, but can play mind games with its stronger Ice Beam and Sucker Punch. SP can also catch Mag off guard and otherwise, can checkmate it if it doesn’t have enough health to Sub.
Honchkrow: Another uncommon, yet potent threat that will likely earn a KO every time it comes on the field when TR is down. Hard switching on it is a very dangerous game that can easily lead to you being 6-0ed if you play unwisely. However, Stealth Rock, recoil damage, Crawdaunt and Heracross all help keep it manageable. Honch threatens all the TR setters with its Dark STABs. While Cres can tank ONE Night Slash hit unboosted, but if Moxie activates, this becomes a non-option. Brave Bird ensures Heracross and Crawdaunt cannot hard switch in. Heracross must be preserved in this MU because Heracross is speed invested specifically to avoid this 6-0, and is your single option if Trick Room is down. If TR is already up, Honchkrow is much less of a nuisance, as the Psychics can all outspeed and hit it, but should need to wary of Sucker Punch. Switching around SP is always an option, so if all else fails, go for reads. It might pay off.
SD Lucario: Not an issue most of the time without a boost, but it will sweep you if it sets up and Bronzong is fainted. Just hit it with whatever you've got and don’t let it set up. It doesn't care about Trick Room or Crawdaunt’s Aqua Jet with Extremespeed. +2 ES will kill all your breakers. Remember to preserve Bronzong in this MU, even if you have to Lunar Dance it. Bronzong is your best option against it in TR since it resists its prority moves and will KO it with Earthquake.
Banded Outrage: It goes without saying Banded Outrage is very strong, whether it comes from Salamence, Dragonite, or Garchomp. While Cres can tank a hit and we have Bronzong, if Bronzong is down, it may be worth a sack before pivoting to Cres and trying to set TR, lest we get 2HKO and otherwise, barring confusion, it is GGs.
Curse Snorlax and Bulk Up Swampert: Quite uncommon, but I’ll put these two together, as they can snowball out of control quickly. Daddy’s Knock Off will remove their Lefties if they already have a boost, but Crawdaunt won’t be able to KO without its own demise. Heracross is your best option to beat these guys after a boost, as it is itself quite bulky, and will always outspeed and outboost them booth. Swampert can run Damp, so be mindful that Explosion is not an option against it.
That's all, have fun!
Bob wonders can Mew replace Overheat with Flamethrower? Will it miss crucial OHKO/2HKO? Using non perfect accuracy moves is not Bob's thing.
Bob likes the "absolutely mangles Stall" premise. Definitely will try but with change in here and there to make 100% acc version. Thanks and have a good day!
Hey Bob. Thanks for checking out the team. :)
I guess I didn’t explain Overheat. I’ve tried both Overheat and Flamethrower and I found the later suboptimal for this reason:
Mew’s 12 Sp Attack EVs and a Rash Nature with Overheat ensures that Mew will always cleanly OHKO Sp Def Scizor (except for the rare miss of course), which is fairly common in this meta as a check to Latios and Alakazam.
I single out Scizor specifically for this calc because it can be a big nuisance for this team. Cresselia and Bonzong are both unable to damage it effectively, Crawdaunt cannot reliably kill Def Scizor with Knock Off, meaning Crawdaunt will die to U-Turn. Nidoking can chunk Scizor well with Earth Power, but will take massive damage if not faint or lose momentum to U-Turn. A healthy Heracross will beat all Scizor variants 1v1, it still takes a turn for Flame Orb to activate, by which time Scizor will have U-Turned away, forfeiting our momentum. Having an instant threat against all Scizor takes a lot of pressure off the breakers.
Mew’s slot on this team is largely chosen because of its role compression in being able to pressure Ground neutral/immune Steel types, set Trick Room and explode. By using Overheat over Flamethrower, we can invest Mew much less into Special Attack, ensuring we maintain as many HP and Attack EVs as possible letting Mew more reliably set Trick Room and Explosion will hit harder on the meta at large, making more Mew more effective as securing kills in general and thus, saving additional Trick Room turns.
Certainly Flamethrower will kill offensive Scizor, but the trade off is Mew will take a good chunk of damage from Scizor’s U-Turn on Sp Def variants, which will not only forfeit momentum to the opponent, but almost ensure Mew will not have the required bulk to tank the next hit, set Trick Room NOR Explosion. Having as many opportunities to set Trick Room and grab momentum is very important for this team. While that 10% miss rate can be unfortunate, ultimately I think it is a calculated risk that pays off the majority of the time.
! BREAKER SQUAD !
(click for pokepaste)
Here's a super fun and easy to use team that I've been laddering with recently. I broke into the 1700s for the first time so you can definitely have success with it. The team works by applying lots of offensive pressure on the opposing team with three strong breakers. There's then a two pokemon defensive core which can tank hits and pivot into your attackers. Finally there's a scarfer which can be used to sweep teams late game.
Band Azumarill is crazy strong and smacks anything not named Tangrowth for massive damage. Get this thing in as much as possible early game to make some dents in the opposing team. Aqua jet can also sweep in some games.
Band Infernape also hits really hard. Close combat and flare blitz are really strong, while u-turn gets momentum. Mach punch provides priority.
Specs Lati is obviously super strong and S rank for a reason. Hits physical walls that check azu and ape.
Phys Def Rotom is a really good mon and the first part of the defensive core. Checks azu, cradaunt, feraligatr, mamoswine etc. It can get momentum with volt switch and spread burns with will-o-wisp. 88 speed ev's mean you outspeed jolly crawdaunt by one point.
SpDef Scizor the second part of the defnsive core. Checks strong special attackers such as lati and alakazam, and can get momentum with u-turn. Min speed means you underspeed tangrowth and get a slow u-turn off.
Finally scarf Garchomp, which is a great sweeper late-game. If you can identify which opposing pokemon you need to take out (ie. fairy types, steel types, flying types), you can usually sweep late game with earthquake or outrage. Also sets up rocks.
That's the team, hope you enjoy and happy laddering
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agslash23
Banned deucer.
Roserade Hazard Stack Bulky Offense
https://pokepast.es/824dae0282dde0be
I wanted to build a Bulky Offense team in BDSP OUcoz Eve is looking for a BO team for samples , particularly Hazard Stack since it has worked amazingly for me in metagames like SS OU, so here goes the team :
- Since I wanted to build a Hazard Stack, I needed to find a Spiker first of all. Roserade is a good spiker, as it pressures common Hazard Removers like Gliscor, Latias (lacking Psychic), Starmie (avoids OHKO from Ice Beam, and OHKOes in return with Grass- STAB). It also has a good typing that lets it check threats like Breloom, Azumarill, Rotom-W, Clefable. It spreads status too, which is always valuable. Stun Spore is preferred over Sleep Powder here to enhance Togekiss's ParaFlinch, and to make Garchomp more dangerous.
- Heatran is the Stealth Rock setter of choice here, as it has fantastic synergy with Roserade. It checks Pokemon that annoy Roserade such as Latios, Weavile, Steel- types, while Roserade takes care of bulky Water- types. It also beats Defog Scizor (who easily beats Roserade) to keep Hazards up.
- Since this is a Hazard Stack, I wanted to have a Rapid Spinner over Defogger. Only one Rapid Spinner fits on such Bulky Offenses - Starmie, as it beats opponent Hazard setters like Heatran, Gliscor, Garchomp, while having the bulk, typing, access to recovery, and speed to check Mamoswine, Infernape, Lucario.
Interestingly, we have completed an FWG core until now.
- We have covered the Hazard core, so now it's time to add a Hazard Abuser. Weavile is one of the best breakers for that, as it loves Hazard Damage on checks like Sczior, Clefable, Azumarill, Infernape, Lucario, which also means that Assurance hits at a BP of 120 as it forces a switch. It also revenge kills Dragon- and Ground- types that the FWG core can find trouble with.
- While Weavile can Revenge Kill Dragon- and Ground- types, we lack real switch ins to them. As we have only two slots left, we need to compress these checks into 1 slot, and thus Togekiss was my choice. When equipped with a Scarf, it revenge kills weakened foes by Flinching them, thus appreciates Hazards wearing down bulkier foes. Stun Spore on checks like Heatran further increases chances to ParaFlinch stuff to death.
- We needed a Ground- type to block Volt Switches, immediately pressure Heatran. Garchomp was the choice here over Gliscor as I preferred power over longevity here. Like Weavile and Togekiss, it appreciates Hazards wearing down Slowbro, Tangrowth, Unaware Clefable. Further, if Roserade manages to paralyze Lati@s on the switch, Garchomp can win just after a single SD boost (provided opponent Weavile and Togekiss are eliminated).
Replays :
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1539673043 - Match ended quickly, but you can see how Potent Hazard Stack is here (Garchomp is an easy wincon here once Rotom-W and Clefable are gone)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1539777392 - Burning down Fat
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1539794149 - Frantic Ending vs Offense
https://pokepast.es/824dae0282dde0be
I wanted to build a Bulky Offense team in BDSP OU
- Since I wanted to build a Hazard Stack, I needed to find a Spiker first of all. Roserade is a good spiker, as it pressures common Hazard Removers like Gliscor, Latias (lacking Psychic), Starmie (avoids OHKO from Ice Beam, and OHKOes in return with Grass- STAB). It also has a good typing that lets it check threats like Breloom, Azumarill, Rotom-W, Clefable. It spreads status too, which is always valuable. Stun Spore is preferred over Sleep Powder here to enhance Togekiss's ParaFlinch, and to make Garchomp more dangerous. - Heatran is the Stealth Rock setter of choice here, as it has fantastic synergy with Roserade. It checks Pokemon that annoy Roserade such as Latios, Weavile, Steel- types, while Roserade takes care of bulky Water- types. It also beats Defog Scizor (who easily beats Roserade) to keep Hazards up. - Since this is a Hazard Stack, I wanted to have a Rapid Spinner over Defogger. Only one Rapid Spinner fits on such Bulky Offenses - Starmie, as it beats opponent Hazard setters like Heatran, Gliscor, Garchomp, while having the bulk, typing, access to recovery, and speed to check Mamoswine, Infernape, Lucario.Interestingly, we have completed an FWG core until now.
- We have covered the Hazard core, so now it's time to add a Hazard Abuser. Weavile is one of the best breakers for that, as it loves Hazard Damage on checks like Sczior, Clefable, Azumarill, Infernape, Lucario, which also means that Assurance hits at a BP of 120 as it forces a switch. It also revenge kills Dragon- and Ground- types that the FWG core can find trouble with. - While Weavile can Revenge Kill Dragon- and Ground- types, we lack real switch ins to them. As we have only two slots left, we need to compress these checks into 1 slot, and thus Togekiss was my choice. When equipped with a Scarf, it revenge kills weakened foes by Flinching them, thus appreciates Hazards wearing down bulkier foes. Stun Spore on checks like Heatran further increases chances to ParaFlinch stuff to death. - We needed a Ground- type to block Volt Switches, immediately pressure Heatran. Garchomp was the choice here over Gliscor as I preferred power over longevity here. Like Weavile and Togekiss, it appreciates Hazards wearing down Slowbro, Tangrowth, Unaware Clefable. Further, if Roserade manages to paralyze Lati@s on the switch, Garchomp can win just after a single SD boost (provided opponent Weavile and Togekiss are eliminated).Replays :
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1539673043 - Match ended quickly, but you can see how Potent Hazard Stack is here (Garchomp is an easy wincon here once Rotom-W and Clefable are gone)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1539777392 - Burning down Fat
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8bdspou-1539794149 - Frantic Ending vs Offense
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View attachment 386823We're currently looking for successful Balance and Bulky Offense teams! If you have any, we'd love to se
art by lei!
Hello! This thread aims to provide a collection of successful BDSP OU teams to help new players get acclimated to the metagame and different playstyles.
Posting Guidelines
Sample teams will be selected by a collection of experienced BDSP OU players.
Current Sample Teams
Below are the current sample teams! Click the minisprites for the importables of the teams.
Hyper Offense
DragMag
Offense
Breaker Spam Offense by adem
Bulky Offense
Stall
Gastrodon Stall by Critical Failure
Where are you all playing ladder/competitive at? I've tried searching google and reddit etc but hosted ladders are either not being held anymore or I can't find the information in general.
Any tips to point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!!
Any tips to point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!!
Pokemon Showdown brother, the official Smogon Battling emulator https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/
So people aren't actually battling via link code on switch? Because I did see that and it looked like its own thing that had nothing to do with switch so I wrote it off.
Fake DragMag
I have reached 1700s with this team!
IMPORTABLE
Main idea
It looks like DragMag but there are two important distinctions from the usual DragMag teams.
1) It is very robust against entry hazards. I am always worried about entry hazards, so I wanted to build a team that doesn't need to clear them.
2) Magnezone has Analytic. Hence it cannot trap steels but it can kill almost all switch-ins.
The team
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 76 Atk / 188 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Protect
Gliscor is my first setup sweeper. I decided for Knock Off over Facade and for Protect over Roost. Since it is placed on the top position, it can trick the opponent into thinking it is a SR setter. Apart from being a sweeper, Gliscor is a vital switch-in against ground moves. It has 244 EVs in HP because it is the most cost-effective way to give it (at least some) bulkiness. The Jolly nature with 188 EVs in Spe are so that it outspeeds all base-100 Pokémon with neutral nature and all Rotom-As with +Spe nature. It is also above Suicune and Nidoking with +Spe nature. The remaining 76 EVs are invested into Att for more OHKOs.
Garchomp @ Yache Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Facade
Garchomp is my second setup sweeper. Together with my Gliscor, they could be called SD+EQ spam. The set is almost standard; there are only two things I should comment on. Garchomp attracts two moves like bees to a honeypot: Ice Shard (usually from Mamoswine) and Will-O-Wisp (usually from Rotom-Wash). For the former reason, it holds Yache Berry. For the latter reason, it knows Facade. It is usually fine to setup Swords Dance when facing opponent's Rotom-Wash directly, typically obtaining burn in the same turn. Then you can sweep with Facade; and if the opponent sends Magnezone or Heatran, they still reliable die to Earthquake despite of the burn.
Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpA / 16 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Tri Attack
Magnezone has the potential to clear any opponent's Pokémon that the rest of my team doesn't like. Unfortunately, its offensive potential relies on prediction. Its Flash Cannon boosted by Specs+Analytic can OHKO opponent's Gliscor or Garchomp on switch-in. Its Volt Switch boosted by Specs+Analytic can OHKO opponent's Rotom-Wash on switch-in if it is the offensive variant. If it is the bulkiest specially-defensive Rotom-Wash (252 HP / 252+ SpD), it still receives 71–84 % from Magnezone's Thunderbolt. I think it is a good trade-off for not being able to trap steel types. The only interesting thing that my Magnezone outspeeds is uninvested Clefable (and also uninvested Tyranitar; but its Spe is only seldom left uninvested). However, Magnezone can survive Waterfall from +1 (i.e., DD-boosted) Adamant Feraligatr @ Life Orb, thanks to its HP investment, and happily OHKOs Feraligatr using Volt Switch (but for that, Analytic is not needed). And last but not least, it can take hits from ice moves which are very often used against Garchomp and Gliscor.
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Atk / 152 SpD
Brave Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Ice Beam
Tyranitar is a huge asset of my team. All my Pokémon are immune to Sandstorm. And I want a bulky SR setter. Stone Edge can be replaced by a different move.
Clefable @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpA / 16 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower
- Moonlight
Clefable (with Magic Guard and Life Orb) is a great Calm Mind sweeper for what I like to call "bulky hyper offense". The downside is that Moonlight is useless during Sandstorm. And also, once the opponent knows that Clefable's ability isn't Unaware, it opens doors for all kinds of setup sweepers. Nevertheless, Clefable is a solid Pokémon that can destroy a huge part of the opponent's team (sometimes it does without using Calm Mind — hit and run).
Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball
Alakazam is the second member of the Magic Guard + Life Orb squad. Having two Pokémon that can enter the arena at any time without any chip is amazing. Energy Ball provides a vital coverage for my team (OHKOs Azumarill, Swampert, Quagsire, Gastrodon, and also Rotom-Wash if it is the offensive variant) which is more important than having Nasty Plot — the rest of my team nearly depends on setup moves.
Disadvantages
1) The team is extremely weak to Crawdaunt.
2) The team is weak to Mamoswine.
3) Once Magnezone gets chipped, the team gets completely destroyed by Feraligatr.
4) If Gliscor gets knocked out, there is no ground resist.
5) Since Magnezone doesn't have Magnet Pull, the team may have trouble against Skarmory and against certain Scizor sets.
6) There is no priority move in the whole team. Hence if you mess up, you have less options to recover.
I have reached 1700s with this team!
IMPORTABLE
Main idea
It looks like DragMag but there are two important distinctions from the usual DragMag teams.
1) It is very robust against entry hazards. I am always worried about entry hazards, so I wanted to build a team that doesn't need to clear them.
2) Magnezone has Analytic. Hence it cannot trap steels but it can kill almost all switch-ins.
The team
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 76 Atk / 188 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Protect
Gliscor is my first setup sweeper. I decided for Knock Off over Facade and for Protect over Roost. Since it is placed on the top position, it can trick the opponent into thinking it is a SR setter. Apart from being a sweeper, Gliscor is a vital switch-in against ground moves. It has 244 EVs in HP because it is the most cost-effective way to give it (at least some) bulkiness. The Jolly nature with 188 EVs in Spe are so that it outspeeds all base-100 Pokémon with neutral nature and all Rotom-As with +Spe nature. It is also above Suicune and Nidoking with +Spe nature. The remaining 76 EVs are invested into Att for more OHKOs.
Garchomp @ Yache Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Facade
Garchomp is my second setup sweeper. Together with my Gliscor, they could be called SD+EQ spam. The set is almost standard; there are only two things I should comment on. Garchomp attracts two moves like bees to a honeypot: Ice Shard (usually from Mamoswine) and Will-O-Wisp (usually from Rotom-Wash). For the former reason, it holds Yache Berry. For the latter reason, it knows Facade. It is usually fine to setup Swords Dance when facing opponent's Rotom-Wash directly, typically obtaining burn in the same turn. Then you can sweep with Facade; and if the opponent sends Magnezone or Heatran, they still reliable die to Earthquake despite of the burn.
Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpA / 16 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Tri Attack
Magnezone has the potential to clear any opponent's Pokémon that the rest of my team doesn't like. Unfortunately, its offensive potential relies on prediction. Its Flash Cannon boosted by Specs+Analytic can OHKO opponent's Gliscor or Garchomp on switch-in. Its Volt Switch boosted by Specs+Analytic can OHKO opponent's Rotom-Wash on switch-in if it is the offensive variant. If it is the bulkiest specially-defensive Rotom-Wash (252 HP / 252+ SpD), it still receives 71–84 % from Magnezone's Thunderbolt. I think it is a good trade-off for not being able to trap steel types. The only interesting thing that my Magnezone outspeeds is uninvested Clefable (and also uninvested Tyranitar; but its Spe is only seldom left uninvested). However, Magnezone can survive Waterfall from +1 (i.e., DD-boosted) Adamant Feraligatr @ Life Orb, thanks to its HP investment, and happily OHKOs Feraligatr using Volt Switch (but for that, Analytic is not needed). And last but not least, it can take hits from ice moves which are very often used against Garchomp and Gliscor.
Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Atk / 152 SpD
Brave Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Ice Beam
Tyranitar is a huge asset of my team. All my Pokémon are immune to Sandstorm. And I want a bulky SR setter. Stone Edge can be replaced by a different move.
Clefable @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpA / 16 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower
- Moonlight
Clefable (with Magic Guard and Life Orb) is a great Calm Mind sweeper for what I like to call "bulky hyper offense". The downside is that Moonlight is useless during Sandstorm. And also, once the opponent knows that Clefable's ability isn't Unaware, it opens doors for all kinds of setup sweepers. Nevertheless, Clefable is a solid Pokémon that can destroy a huge part of the opponent's team (sometimes it does without using Calm Mind — hit and run).
Alakazam @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball
Alakazam is the second member of the Magic Guard + Life Orb squad. Having two Pokémon that can enter the arena at any time without any chip is amazing. Energy Ball provides a vital coverage for my team (OHKOs Azumarill, Swampert, Quagsire, Gastrodon, and also Rotom-Wash if it is the offensive variant) which is more important than having Nasty Plot — the rest of my team nearly depends on setup moves.
Disadvantages
1) The team is extremely weak to Crawdaunt.
2) The team is weak to Mamoswine.
3) Once Magnezone gets chipped, the team gets completely destroyed by Feraligatr.
4) If Gliscor gets knocked out, there is no ground resist.
5) Since Magnezone doesn't have Magnet Pull, the team may have trouble against Skarmory and against certain Scizor sets.
6) There is no priority move in the whole team. Hence if you mess up, you have less options to recover.
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