ORAS OU Dig Doug

[Eraxxer]

What's up guys, I'm back again with a team I whipped up because I was lobbying for Dugtrio to be ranked higher on the Viability Ranking Thread and I needed replays. I'm really happy with how the team turned out and so far it's one of my favorite teams to ladder with. The whole team is about using Dugtrio to create opportunities for the partners in crime Altaria and Volcarona to sweep. Here's how that happens:


Teambuilding Process​

Since Duggie is a support mon, I couldn't really just start the team around it by itself. Volcarona usually has to run HP Ground to deal with Heatran so I decided it would make a good "core" to start with. Just the presence of Duggie makes people extemely hesitant to go into their Heatrans, which is really cool for Volc to get set up.

Talonflame was an instant problem to the two mons I had set out. I also wanted a lot of volt-turn on the team to try to bait in things for Duggie to trap so Rotom looked good. Burn spreading helped Volcarona out a lot, and Rotom is pretty much the ultimate glue mon as we all know, a good switch in on mostly any Pokemon.

I wanted to capitalize even further on Duggie, and I was having troubles with things like Charizard X and Y, other Altaria, Keldeo, Serperior and some others. I decided DD mono attacking Altaria fits the bill really well, as it stops a bunch of threats to the team and of course Duggie gets even more use, dealing with things like Heatran, Bisharp if its sash is intact, Raikou, Diancie and others that threaten Altaria.

At this point Gengar was an immediate problem, and Mega Venusaur essentially walled everything in my team 100%. I wanted more Volt-Turn, I also really would appreciate Knock Off support for stall and fat mons in general. Torn-T is amazing for this, with its amazing speed tier and I slapped an Assault Vest on it (how the hell does a bird wear a vest?) and great coverage.

I realized all of a sudden that Stealth Rocks killed me. I wanted something as a dedicated wall to stop a lot of problems to the team, while still getting rid of pesky hazards. Mew sort of fit the bill and I used it for a while. The annoying Bisharp weakness sucked though, and Mew was quite passive in its role.

Skarmory was my decision over Mew. Skarm still defogs while checking a lot of relevant threats that Mew couldn't: Heal Bell or Sub Altaria, Bisharp no matter what, Mega Diancie, MMetagross, Azumarill and others. Unfortunately its biggest liability is that with only a tiny bit (~10%) of prior damage, MLop's HJK 2HKOes after rocks, and Mew could easily wall Lop, taking only around 30% from Return. Adamant Lopunny can pretty easily 2HKO after rocks without any prior damage, too.

Sets in Detail

Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Earthquake
-Stealth Rock
-Stone Edge
-Memento

Stealth Rock is really useful. Skarmory doesn't really have the moveslots for it so I slapped it on Duggie, and you basically need a Focus Sash, and Memento helps aid setup even further than just trapping Heatran and co. Stone Edge and Toxic were tossups, Toxic for things like Hippo and Lando, but I like being able to beat Charizard Y which can otherwise be a problem (do NOT make the mistake of thinking Altaria is a switchin just because it resists Fire Blast).

Volcarona @ Lum Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 72 HP / 252 SpA / 184 Spe
Timid Nature
-Fire Blast
-Bug Buzz
-Giga Drain
-Quiver Dance

This is a fairly standard set, speed will outspeed scarf Landorus-T after a Quiver Dance and I can run probably three of Volc's best coverage moves as I don't need to use HP Ground. Flame Body deters Mega Lopunny Fake Outs, Lum lets me get around Klefki and Thundurus, but I am considering Passho because I already have Heal Bell Altaria.

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
-Hydro Pump
-Will-O-Wisp
-Pain Split
-Volt Switch

You guys know the drill. Every Rotom-Wash aspires to run this set. Speed lets it burn Azu even after Belly Drum, Volt Switch gives me that precious momentum that I need, and I went for the physically defensive option over specially defensive because I needed to guarantee stopping Talonflame.

Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Return
-Roost
-Heal Bell
-Dragon Dance

No fancy stuff here, just your standard 252/252/4 spread mono attacking DD Mega Altaria. Heal Bell is great for the whole team as status is easy to spam against it, and it lets me leave Tornadus, for example, in on say a Rotom-W to Knock Off without caring about burn. Duggie's Memento and Heatran removal is simply amazing for this Pokemon to succeed.

Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Knock Off
-Focus Blast
-Hurricane
-U-Turn

Again, U-Turn is great for this team, but running Torn-T without it is pretty dumb anyway. Focus Blast over Heat Wave because I would rather hit TTar really hard than OHKO Ferrothorn, because it doesn't matter if I get T-Waved or anything (most of the time).

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
-Defog
-Roost
-Counter
-Whirlwind

The moveset is always really hard to pick with Skarmory. This has had the most success in practice, although against special attackers I can literally only whirlwind. I didn't want to mess around with Rocky Helmet as Leftovers is super SUPER helpful in checking the aforementioned Lopunny, although I'm sure you guys can help me with this decision.

Threats

I don't have a switch for this monster. Duggie can trap it and get decent damage off after a sac or something, but Duggie then goes down afterwards. Volc can set up a QD on it, but can't OHKO with +1 Fire Blast (needs like 20% prior damage).

As I've mentioned, this thing is a bit threatening. One crit or just some forced chip damage on my Skarm and I'm pretty dang helpless to it. Of course, I do have some last minute checks, namely Altaria and Tornadus, but they lose a hell of a lot of HP in the process, and every free switch Lop gets is basically a sac I have to make to deal with it.​

Importable

Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Memento
- Stealth Rock

Volcarona @ Lum Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 72 HP / 252 SpA / 184 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
- Bug Buzz
- Quiver Dance

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Heal Bell
- Roost
- Return

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Knock Off
- Focus Blast
- Hurricane
- U-turn

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Defog
- Counter
- Whirlwind

Anyway, that's all I have to say about that. Thanks in advance for your feedback, everything is appreciated!​

 

[Flygonial]

Doesn't feel right to leave a decent team that's also presented decently sitting around with no rates, especially after my own Volcarona RMT got no rates. So here we go, I myself am not too sure about how to deal with your MLop and MGarde weakness, but I do have some suggestions to optimize your team.

I'll suggest either changing your Tornadus-T spread to 132 HP / 160 SpA / 216 Spe, or 112 HP / 4 Def / 160 SpA / 232 Spe. The former is the standard spread, the latter allows for you to take a Return from MLop after rocks, outspeed max speed Hawlucha. The latter isn't really relevant anymore, especially since your team isn't that weak to Hawlucha, but it's just really attention to detail. You can take those EVs and slap them elsewhere, or even run 108 HP and dump them somewhere else since that still avoids the OHKO from MLop (Although it doesn't get an SR number, it won't matter as much with Regenerator).

You might also want to change Mega Altaria's spread to 16 HP / 252 Atk / 240 Spe, which allows for you to outspeed Weavile at +1. If you want to just run max-max, then take those EVs out of HP and drop them off at one defensive side for a Rocks number. Alternatively, you can run a bulkier spread which quite suits your MAlt set, although it will lack much power. I can suggest 168 HP / 108 Def / 232 Spe (Impish), or 168 HP / 40 Atk / 60 Def / 240 Spe (Adamant). The former allows for you to take a CB Scizor's Bullet Punch after rocks and outspeed Modest Scarf 'Tran at +1, the latter allows for you to survive CB Scizor's BP at full while still being able to have more power and speed.

Hope I helped!

 

[Eraxxer]

Hope I helped!

Before I start I'll just say I'm only quoting the last part of your comment because I don't want to take up heaps of space just to repeat something that's already been said. Anyway, appreciate the feedback man. There's a lot of suggestions, and I definitely think I could use them. Primarily the Tornadus one, I'll change that now to the first set you mentioned (I really want max speed just to tie with other Torn-T's, Pidgeots, I guess outspeed Duggie and Alakazam too) and since both of your Altaria suggestions are pretty decent I'll try both out over on Showdown and be back with what I've found out in a day or so.

Thanks for your feedback! I'll check out your RMT now, see if I can help, because no good RMT deserves to be ignored... expect a reply within a few hours.

 

[Flygonial]

Before I start I'll just say I'm only quoting the last part of your comment because I don't want to take up heaps of space just to repeat something that's already been said. Anyway, appreciate the feedback man. There's a lot of suggestions, and I definitely think I could use them. Primarily the Tornadus one, I'll change that now to the first set you mentioned (I really want max speed just to tie with other Torn-T's, Pidgeots, I guess outspeed Duggie and Alakazam too) and since both of your Altaria suggestions are pretty decent I'll try both out over on Showdown and be back with what I've found out in a day or so.

Thanks for your feedback! I'll check out your RMT now, see if I can help, because no good RMT deserves to be ignored... expect a reply within a few hours.

I think it counts as thread necromancy since it's been inactive for 21 days... I wouldn't risk it if I were you, and I'm not completely sure if it goes against it, here's the page about warnings.

 

[Eraxxer]

I think it counts as thread necromancy since it's been inactive for 21 days... I wouldn't risk it if I were you, and I'm not completely sure if it goes against it, here's the page about warnings.

No worries. Having actually looked at the team I'll just say that it's really good and I honestly couldn't find any flaws other than things that are mainly just up to preference- like Knock Off on Scizor - but nothing of major consequence. Again, thanks heaps for the feedback!