SS OU Blaziken + Rillaboom Bulky Offense

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Introduction

OLT has a penchant for sparking creativity in OU's best builders, and its most recent iteration did not disappoint. This team is centered around Rillaboom + Blaziken, a dangerously powerful sweeping core that support each other nicely. Rillaboom provides Blaziken with Grassy Terrain, which weakens Earthquake and gives it some much-needed healing while threatening bulky Water-types like Slowbro; in return, Blaziken takes advantage of the Steel-types like Corviknight and Melmetal that Rillaboom often baits in. Defog Tornadus-T is an excellent answer to opposing Rillaboom and importantly clears Spikes while forcing Ferrothorn out with Heat Wave. It also checks Kartana, which the rest of the team struggles mightily against. Melmetal brings important Psychic and Fairy resistances to the table while breaking for the team's two sweepers nicely. Specially defensive Garchomp with Protect takes advantage of Rillaboom's Terrain to become nigh-unkillable while checking the tier's ever-present Electric-types Zapdos and Tapu Koko. Finally, Slowbro can pivot its more offensive partners in safely with Teleport while spreading status with Scald and Toxic and providing Future Sight support. This team highlights some of the more interesting trends that have popped up in OU due to OLT, showing off the strengths of bulky Rillaboom and Blaziken.

In-Depth

:ss/Rillaboom:
Rillaboom @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Grassy Glide
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch

Bulky Rillaboom aims to take advantage of its natural bulk and its strong priority. Early-game, Knock Off should be used repeatedly to make progress. Drain Punch hits Ferrothorn super effectively and Corviknight neutrally, letting Rillaboom beat both one-on-one if Corviknight does not have Brave Bird or Iron Defense. Rillaboom's most important role on this team is setting Grassy Terrain, which the team's three Protect users, Blaziken, Garchomp, and Melmetal, take great advantage of to stay healthy.

:ss/Tornadus-Therian:
Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 40 SpD / 164 Spe
Timid Nature
- Heat Wave
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Defog

Tornadus-T helps massively against Kartana while providing useful utility in Knock Off, U-turn, and Defog. Heat Wave is used over Hurricane because it is Tornadus-T's safest option against Kartana while importantly pressuring Ferrothorn, preventing it from setting up Spikes consistently. Much like Rillaboom, Knock Off provides immense value early-game, removing Heavy-Duty Boots from Zapdos or Rocky Helmet from Toxapex. From there, Tornadus-T can generate momentum with U-turn + Regenerator, getting the teams wallbreakers onto the field safely.

:ss/Blaziken:
Blaziken @ Leftovers
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 144 HP / 252 Atk / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- Protect

Blaziken is often seen as a purely offensive Pokemon due to its low bulk; however, investing in bulk and taking advantage of Protect + Grassy Terrain allows Blaziken to threaten a sweep multiple times throughout a match. Protect also gives Blaziken the chance to safely accumulate Speed boosts, making up for the lack of investment. 112 Speed EVs allow Blaziken to outspeed Tyranitar naturally and Nihilego at +1. Oftentimes, Blaziken can win poor matchups if its checks are successfully weakened, as it can snowball very quickly.

:ss/Melmetal:
Melmetal @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 20 HP / 232 Atk / 224 SpD / 32 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- Superpower
- Thunder Punch
- Protect

Melmetal is an essential part of the team for its ability to take on Tapu Lele, Weavile, and Choice item Kartana. Its Double Iron Bash is an excellent tool for weakening the opposing team for one of Rillaboom or Blaziken to sweep. Superpower is used to hit Steel-types like opposing Melmetal, Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Kartana, while Thunder Punch is nice for Corviknight, Toxapex, and Slowbro. Much like the rest of the team, Melmetal can use Protect to accumulate Leftovers + Grassy Terrain recovery; it is also helpful for scouting Choice item attackers like Dragapult and Tapu Lele.

:ss/Garchomp:
Garchomp @ Leftovers
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpD / 16 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Protect

Specially defensive Garchomp is a newer take on the famous TankChomp set that helps the team deal with Heatran and Tapu Koko. Garchomp provides excellent support via Stealth Rock and Toxic, the latter of which is especially potent alongside all the Protect users on the team. Protect is, again, quite helpful for taking advantage of Grassy Terrain and scouting, and because Garchomp is defensive, it's not too bad that its Earthquake gets weakened by the Terrain.

:ss/Slowbro:
Slowbro @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Toxic
- Teleport

Slowbro provides the team with excellent support while shoring up the matchups against Urshifu-R and rain. Alongside Tornadus-T, it forms a potent pivoting Regenerator core that is difficult to dispatch of. Future Sight + Teleport heightens the wallbreaking potential of Rillaboom, Melmetal, and Blaziken, which all can struggle to deal with Toxapex. Scald and Toxic help Slowbro spread status to slowly chip away at foes' health. Toxic is a rare choice on Slowbro, and so is dropping Slack Off, but because the team relies so much on Pokemon like Dragonite and Zapdos being weakened and the team excels at revenge killing, Toxic provides a lot more value. Oftentimes, Slowbro is totally fine relying on purely Regenerator healing to check the physical threats it needs to.

Threat List

Dragapult - With no Ghost-resistant Pokemon and Garchomp as the designated special wall, Dragapult can be a huge issue. Luckily, it isn't too difficult to keep Dragapult off the field, as it can't cleanly switch into any member of the team; furthermore, it can be scouted easily with Protect.

Weavile - The only real Weavile answer on the team is Melmetal, which can get worn down quickly after its Leftovers are removed with Knock Off. Even though Blaziken has some bulk investment, it cannot realistically switch into Weavile, and it still gets outsped at +1 Speed.

Zapdos - Because Garchomp is the only Zapdos switch-in, it is liable to take quite a lot of chip from Hurricane or get crippled by Toxic. Zapdos is especially worrying if it is offensive, as its Hurricane is extremely difficult to switch into, and it can quickly stop Melmetal and Rillaboom from wallbreaking effectively.

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1630636738 - Highv0ltag3 vs. RaiZen1704
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1630929196 - TJ vs. Cicada

Importable
Rillaboom @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Grassy Glide
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 40 SpD / 164 Spe
Timid Nature
- Heat Wave
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Defog

Blaziken @ Leftovers
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 144 HP / 252 Atk / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- Protect

Melmetal @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 20 HP / 232 Atk / 224 SpD / 32 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- Superpower
- Thunder Punch
- Protect

Garchomp @ Leftovers
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpD / 16 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Protect

Slowbro @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Toxic
- Teleport

Credits
Created by: xray
Written by:
dex
Quality Checked by: ironwater
Grammar checked by: Astra
Art by: Band
 

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