OU DPP OU creative and underrated sets

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Magnezone @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power
- Thunder Wave
- Magnet Rise

Leftovers is still the best item for non-Scarf Magnezone, but Shuca Berry lets you reliably cripple Hidden Power Ground Jirachi, which can be massive for teams that struggle with Mixed / CM sets. As a bonus, you can also punish HP Ground Scarf Magnezone users that think they can claim your Magnezone after you trap another of their steels. Your own Hidden Power's type can be whatever fits your team best, but I think Fire / Ground are the overall best.

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Jirachi @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Psych Up
- Iron Head
- Fire Punch / Ice Punch
- Thunder Punch / Ice Punch

Obviously, this set is neither the most splashable one nor the epitome of consistency as Psych Up is pretty much useless in some matchups, but I think it's still a pretty cool tech versus the ever popular hyper offenses. The idea is pretty simple: Shuca allows you to live a hit from all of Gyarados / Dragonite / Tyranitar at +1, copy their boosts in Attack and Speed and proceed to outspeed them. In my opinion, the bare minimum benchmark you wanna hit for Speed is 263 speed so that you outspeed every Adamant DDer and Jolly Metagross. 176 Speed EVs mean you sit at 280 Speed if Adamant (you outspeed Adamant Lucario) and 308 Speed if Jolly (you outspeed all Scarf Lucario), both of which are important benchmarks as well. I think Iron Head should never be dropped (for obvious reasons), but the rest of the moveset is pretty customizable and should be determined based on the rest of your team and vice versa. Generally speaking, you need a solid plan for each of the standard physical Jirachi answers (Heatran, Swampert, Rotom etc.) and you also need anti-hazard measures due to the lack of Leftovers (it would be awesome if this set could afford Leftovers, but I doubt it can afford to). Last but not least, Psych Up also offers some defensive utility versus slower Calm Mind users, but that's more of a bonus than an actual reason to use it, as a Special / Mixed set is possible but even less consistent.

Adamant
+1 252+ Atk Jirachi Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Wacan Berry Gyarados: 272-320 (82.1 - 96.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Jirachi Ice Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Yache Berry Dragonite: 234-276 (72.4 - 85.4%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Jirachi Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 332-392 (97.3 - 114.9%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Jirachi Fire Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lucario: 302-356 (107.4 - 126.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Jirachi Thunder Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Empoleon: 250-296 (80.6 - 95.4%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Jirachi Fire Punch vs. 60 HP / 0 Def Metagross: 180-212 (56.9 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Jolly
+1 252 Atk Jirachi Ice Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Yache Berry Dragonite: 214-252 (66.2 - 78%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 Atk Jirachi Ice Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Yache Berry Dragonite: 214-252 (66.2 - 78%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 Atk Jirachi Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 302-356 (88.5 - 104.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 Atk Jirachi Fire Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lucario: 274-324 (97.5 - 115.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 Atk Jirachi Thunder Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Empoleon: 228-270 (73.5 - 87%)
+1 252 Atk Jirachi Fire Punch vs. 60 HP / 0 Def Metagross: 164-194 (51.8 - 61.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
 

hellpowna

beware of coco
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
been a while i did not come here :)
hope you guys are all well. Ive been playing much more than im used to do lately, and i am here to share something super cool
Before introduce this one, i just wanna say im still on working on this and still trying to find the best spread(if ever exist).
Im not sure this can find a "competive" spot into the modern tier, but during my ladder test, and especially against some specific teams ("psuedo stall") found his glory and made me "dream"



dash and blast (Infernape) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 64 Atk / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Stealth Rock / Vacuum Wave
- Fire Blast
- Endeavor
- Close Combat

your first reaction "what the hell is this"?

how can i ever disagree with you?

i really loved the way this mon goes in, kick ass and does what it has to do: pressure to bulky waters.
If you want to use, just make sure to use someone who does not let set rock ups as lead (scarf loom with spore, scarf lead roserade), or taunt ones.
Otherwise, you can use it with a fast uturner (most common one flygon).

The correct sequence:

1) is fall asleep the first mon or u turn into ape.
2) use the stab to let the common check comes in (latias, starmie, suicune, gyarados etc)
3) endeavor (after or before gets hits - highly depending who the opp mon is)

the bulky water(which plays an important role into dpp) is fucked up.

Well, i unfort do not have logs to provide how this set can work, but its much easier trying it than talking of it.

I am also working on this and trying, as i said above, to find some competitive "spread" to understand how this mon could be better than it seems.

actually found this one

dash and blast (Infernape) @ Passho Berry
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Timid nature

Some damages

252+ Atk Gyarados Waterfall vs. 64 HP / 0 Def Passho Berry Infernape: 186-219 (60.1 - 70.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Starmie Hydro Pump vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Passho Berry Infernape: 217-256 (70.2 - 82.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 0 SpA Suicune Surf vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Passho Berry Infernape: 247-292 (79.9 - 94.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Rotom-Wash Hydro Pump vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Passho Berry Infernape: 149-176 (48.2 - 56.9%) -- 91.4% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Latias Surf vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Passho Berry Infernape: 183-216 (59.2 - 69.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Good Luck if you ever want to try it!

coco
 

august

you’re a voice that never sings
is a Community Leaderis a Tiering Contributoris a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis the 8th Smogon Classic Winnerwon the 5th Official Smogon Tournamentis a Five-Time Past WCoP Champion
OGC Leader
i'm going to talk a bit about some set choices on a team that i used in classic playoffs (replay here: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen4ou-590349). i cannot take credit for the 6, i believe (to my knowledge) that it goes to Kristyl

throughout some of the recent "metagame phases", people have favored the "i brawled" flavor of defensive teams - scarftar / clefable / latias / jirachi / rotom-a / skarmory. theres plenty of reasons for this, its a very solid 6 that can run a lot of different sets depending on the matchup that you're expecting to face. you have plenty of spikes immunes for defensive mirror matches, and scarftar + jirachi + latias can provide enough offense for you to turn the corner against offensive teams after they've expent too many resources. this style of team was popular even before the latias reintroduction, and latias provides them with a much needed water resist + sturdy phazer for the likes of crocune.

gliscor stall had fallen a bit out of favor, and understandably so. it didn't have the best showing in spl, and (from experience) it feels a lot more matchup neutral across the board. by dropping jirachi, you have some more flexibility in covering threats but you also miss out on, well, jirachi. jirachi gives you a panic button in a lot of matchups and also can singehandedly swing the game in your favor against teams like the cabal HO (azelf/dnite/gyara/ddtar/agiligross/sd empoleon) alongside skarmory + early rocks. while i don't think its possible to emulate everything that you miss out on by sacrificing jirachi, you do get some added bonuses.

my goal with the set tailoring on this team was:
- be able to beat the set up spam hyper offenses proactively, instead of being a sitting duck for many turns hoping for no fire punch burns on skarm as you roost and phaze, etc
- have solid plan B vs magnezone stuff (i see these in 80% of my official games) so that you aren't just forfeiting vs magnezone + things that want skarmory gone TM

anyway, heres what i decided on

(i) - proactivity against the Dragon Dancers


golden face (Skarmory) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 184 Def / 60 SpD / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Counter
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind

This lets you be a little bit less passive against DDtar + DDnite. you miss out on flying move vs stuff like SD Breloom (which is why i went with Wing Attack Gliscor) and Taunt Gyarados (:warning:), but you get some surprise KOs with Counter vs DD mons. The reason this set works so well is that DD spam stuff without Magnezone wants to apply as much pressure as possible vs Skarm. Only brave souls will go for second dragon dances in the face of a phazer that can shuffle your entire team once it gets going.

The EVs ensure that you always OHKO +1 ddtar with counter after SR as it Fire Punches / Stone Edges

+1 252 Atk Tyranitar Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 184+ Def Skarmory: 150-176 (44.9 - 52.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Possible damage amounts: (150, 150, 152, 154, 156, 158, 160, 162, 162, 164, 168, 168, 170, 172, 174, 176)

the extra sdef is sometimes even relevant, phazing things like crocune

To get the most out of this set, you'll want a Stealth Rocker that can get them up vs Azelf lead (in this formulation i used SR lead Scarftar, a tech ive shamelessly stolen from ABR). one last thing that I want to note is that: against teams that are adopting different structures than the canonical hyper offense (bronzong) or playing "differently" (bringing out metagross early, for example, which is usually a poor decision because it allows skarmory to get a spike) that may indicate magnezone (:warning:) you should think about NOT clicking counter at your earliest convenience. counter is a cool tech for you look like a noob countering into magnezone (trust me on this)

(ii) - solid plan B against magnezone stuff


rain dogs (Quagsire) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Haze
- Recover

Haze Quagsire (again, thanks to ABR for the tech) is excellent at shutting down the non-Dragonite DD mons that offensive teams lean on to break, i.e. DDtar and Gyarados. Haze is also just generally useful, and has high PP so its not useless in defensive mirror matches. some relevant calcs:

+1 252 Atk Tyranitar Crunch vs. 252 HP / 216+ Def Quagsire: 166-196 (42.1 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Gyarados Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 216+ Def Quagsire: 144-170 (36.5 - 43.1%) -- 98.6% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Empoleon Drill Peck vs. 252 HP / 216+ Def Quagsire: 120-142 (30.4 - 36%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

and the sdef:
+1 252+ SpA Suicune Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Quagsire: 176-208 (44.6 - 52.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Starmie Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Quagsire: 174-204 (44.1 - 51.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

this slot was formerly occupied by milotic. milotics neutrality vs stealth rock and non-immunity to sand can be a burden in the matchups where you need it to be good. quagsire can fill a lot of those roles, but is much worse vs gengar

(iii) trepassable used shore up!


appliance nebs (Rotom-Mow) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

nebs over here can actually reasonably drop tbolt if you have rain dogs in the squad. BKC told me to try out shadow ball just on the basis of not letting breloom in as freely, and theres absolutely no doubt that it won me the game. i don't think that i really need to explain much more about the set in general, on this particular team it gives you a spinblocker / fighting immune / spikes immune / boom sponge that can just be really freaking hard to kill

anyway if youre still here, thanks for reading

MORLORD MAFIA
 
it was a joke about sash ape being the mon that got reserved

on a more serious note: stuff like sea incense empoleon with stuff like knock/hydro or even weird stuff like hydro pump+hydro cannon is cool to me but its way less effective with latias being common place on those nido clef stalls,

lum was cool at a point when dealing with rose lead was more important, dual rocks on emp+jira also kinda takes care of that issue without using lum tho i guess
 
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it was a joke about sash ape being the mon that got reserved

on a more serious note: stuff like sea incense empoleon with stuff like knock/hydro or even weird stuff like hydro pump+hydro cannon is cool to me but its way less effective with latias being common place on those nido clef stalls,

lum was cool at a point when dealing with rose lead was more important, dual rocks on emp+jira also kinda takes care of that issue without using lum tho i guess
Haha I had a feeling it was but then I was like idk maybe just maybe he has a cool tech on lead emp he forgot to post.
 
Scizor: @ Leftovers/Shed Shell
Ability: Technician
Knock Off
Roost/Swords Dance
U-Turn
Bullet Punch

Similar premise to using Knock Off Gliscor, Scizor is great on Dragmag with Sand up, being able to trap and punish Shed Shell Skarmory and Forretress is valuable to Bulky DDnite. Other switch-ins like Zapdos, Rotom, Heatran, and Gyarados don't appreciate losing Leftovers. U-Turn is a scouting option so you have an idea of your opponent's Scizor checks. Some really handy upsides to using Scizor over Gliscor is its resistances, and its access to priority and STAB U-Turn. However, it lacks Taunt.



blade CoCo (Gallade) (M) @ Custap Berry
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Destiny Bond / Ice Punch
- Magic Coat
- Zen Headbutt

(LEAD)

Custap Gallade is a lovely lead, but I prefer running Magic Coat over Ice Punch/WoW. Magic Coat is really handy against bulky Stealth Rock leads like Metagross or Spikes leads like Roserade.
 

Pideous

World Defender
I do enjoy knock off on some bulky sciz over sd, it can be nice with something like Jirachi which wants iron head chip to stick against a lot of sciz's switch ins. Btw it's a shame but magic coat doesn't reflect hazards in this gen, would be a cool tech otherwise
 
I do enjoy knock off on some bulky sciz over sd, it can be nice with something like Jirachi which wants iron head chip to stick against a lot of sciz's switch ins. Btw it's a shame but magic coat doesn't reflect hazards in this gen, would be a cool tech otherwise
Correct, I'm thinking of the old BW1 format with Gallade. MC doesn't block Taunt until then either. Brain saw lead Gallade and got that nostalgia hit. One old set I've been looking for (that definitely was from DPP lmao) was RestTalk T-Wave Gyarados but I don't remember whose RMT had it.
 

hellpowna

beware of coco
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
..if you run like a lightning you crush like a thunder..

there's nothing better than this to introduce something incredibly strong which can find an incredibly spot in the modern tier.


lux aetherna (Zapdos) @ Magnet
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Grass] / Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
- Heat Wave / Roost / Metal Sound

despite zapdos usage went low especially with latias unban, i always believed in Zapdos powerness , despite im not a big fan.
This set expresses his impressive power when played as lead.
No matter what your opp will ever bring, mostly of the pokemon will be doomed by thunder.
I really think this mon can be an incredibly partner for special sweepers; infact this one finds his utility if paired with pokemon who benefits from the weakening of Latias/Clef/Ttar -> ex: calm mind jira, calm mind cune, agility poleon etc.

HP ice or Grass its high depeding on your team choices. HP ice gives the best coverage, while HP grass is mainly for Swampert.
Heat wave is to complete the coverage but it's really needed, otherwise you can use Roost

We do not need to talk about Protect powerness, coz in the past, BKC well explained how strong is it! i really loved how this move fits incredibly well here. You can also use U-Turn for the momentum, but i think protect is much better here.
It's amazing to scout Explosion from Suicude Lead, or meteors from Latias, or Scarf Ttar (which is raised up lately. In general, i think Protect is just an incredible move, who can be used not only by defensive threats.

You can also consider to use Metal Sound, paired with Thunder becomes incredibly dangerous




At a glance some damages

252+ SpA Magnet Zapdos Thunder vs. 180 HP / 0 SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 168-198 (43.5 - 51.2%)
252+ SpA Magnet Zapdos Thunder vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 195-229 (49.4 - 58.1%)
252+ SpA Magnet Zapdos Thunder vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 174-205 (45 - 53.1%)
252+ SpA Magnet Zapdos Thunder vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Latias: 99-117 (32.8 - 38.8%) After Rocks Tias will be ohked from agility poleon Icebeam for example)
252+ SpA Magnet Zapdos Thunder vs. 252 HP / 224+ SpD Jirachi: 184-217 (45.5 - 53.7%)
252+ SpA Magnet Zapdos Thunder vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-Heat: 118-139 (38.8 - 45.7%)
252+ SpA Magnet Zapdos Thunder vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Rotom-Wash: 118-139 (48.9 - 57.6%)

conclusion:


i mean, i'm not a super fan of something that relies on "luck", because i triy to maximise my odds to win, but this is could be incredibly strong against not well equipped team. I love to see how this mon makes "easier" for other pokemon to sweep.

bonus team with the one i topped the ladder

https://pokepast.es/a20df20c085a4a8f

 
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Chou Toshio

Over9000
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ScarfSkarm / AKA Smogon Bird 0.4
Skarmory
Choice Scarf
Jolly
80 HP / 252 ATK / 176 Speed
-Brave Bird
-Spikes
-Sleep Talk
-Whirlwind / [Blank]

Alternative Moves, Edited: Rock Slide, Toxic, Stealth Rock, Pursuit

Edit: My most recent team lead with this Mon peaked at Ladder Rank 5, Detailed RMT here: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/skarf-skarmory-semi-stall-dpp-ou-ladder-top-5.3711350/

Summary: You know how Skarmory’s Brave Bird leaves a surprising sting even with zero EVs? You know how Skarmory has only 1 pt less ATK than Talonflame? And you know how unlike a Pokémon like Staraptor or Honchkrow Skarmory lacks SR weak, is immune to sand and Spikes, has good natural physical bulk and a butt load of resistances? In other words Skarm has a host of attributes that would be attractive on a choice user except that it has low attack and a crappy offensive movepool— but… based on our experience with Gen 6 OU we know that STAB Brave Bird is pretty much all a mon needs to potentially wreck a team as long as you have the Speed advantage. In DPP, we know that Tyranitar is just fast enough to be an awesome Scarfer— and Skarmory is faster than TTar.
Furthermore in DPP we find a meta that’s much slower, much more prone to being worn down by passive damage (especially compared to Skarmory), much harder to remove hazards, and much shorter on good flying resistances.

With the given EVs Skarmory outruns Azelf/Starmie, still has enough bulk to switch in a few times, and has real potential to sweep or at least outspeed and kill an unsuspecting threat expecting to outspeed Skarm.

Here’s the premise:
-Skarmory starts as a suicide Spiker (lead or not) that guarantees Spikes v. everything up to Azelf and can seriously smack Roserade and Machamp. Even against Magnezone you at least guarantee 2 layers in a meta with Rotom-A to spin block.
-Has the potential to kill an unsuspecting threat in the mid game. It puts huge pressure on them to bring in Starmie to spin, but if Starmie comes in on Spikes/SR/Sand and expects to spin on this Skarmory it’s dead. This Skarm can switch into Gengar’s Shadow Ball and if it has any prior damage it’s dead. People often bring in Infernape into this Skarm with no idea what’s about to happen, or switch in Lucario or Gyarados into Hazards plus MAX Brave Bird expecting to set up, only to get those mons 2HKO’d without even denting Skarm. Latias is harder, but it can also be surprisingly KO’d. Of course with Sleep Talk this Skarm is a fantastic mon to soak Breloom’s Spore as between BB, Spikes, and Whirlwind (Whirlwind is optional but I’ve found to be good) you are guaranteed to get something good from Sleep Talk. If you switch into a Breloom on Sub, you can even click Whirlwind first to abuse negative priority and Out-Slow Breloom, purposefully get slept, and then Sleep Talk the next turn into Whirlwind at normal speed, blowing Loom out before it gets to Focus Punch (ridiculous maneuver but I’ve gotten this to actually work twice). Alternatively drop Whirlwind to make your Sleep Talks more consistent, but I like Whirlwind.
-And even in the late game— which is totally reasonable for Skarm’s passive damage resilience— Skarm has real potential for a late game Brave Bird Sweep; a poor man’s ScarFlygon that has more early game utility. Not to mention unlike Flygon Skarmory resists Bullet Punch and ExtremeSpeed and hits Scizor/Lucario neutral with its spammable STAB.

Skarm nets value by fulfilling any one of its 3 roles, and it’s all but guaranteed to fulfill the first, with decent odds of fulfilling the 2nd or third, and sometimes it goes crazy and does all 3– winning the whole game. It’s kind of like RBY Triple KO Chansey— you’ve done your job just by getting sing off (Spikes in Skarm’s case), but if you manage to fish a freeze or bait a counter, it’s just gravy on top.
Sleep Blocking, Nabbing Surprise Kills, Revenge Killing, Late Game Sweeping, it’s all doable for this Skarm but all just gravy after ensuring Spikes.

And it’s even more vicious because Skarm’s first role of setting spikes dramatically increases the odds it will succeed at a surprise kill or pull off a sweep— it sets up for itself. It’s like the entirety of DPP Semi-Stall’s spike and sweep style wrapped up in one mon. It role compresses Custap Skarm and Skarf Flygon into one slot, even if it does neither role as well. You’ll want another SR mon and another main late game sweeper, but Skarm provides backup plans for both the hazard game and the sweep.

Oh and finally, another GREAT boon to Scarf Skarm is that not only is this hard to see coming... it's not easy to out either. Because Shed Shell Skarm is popular and because the main moves this clicks (Spikes, Brave Bird, Whirlwind) are on the main set, there are a LOT of situations where the opponent has no way to know until they just lost a Pokemon to BB spam or Sleep Talk. Lots of situations in which Skarm can prey on the enemy's assumptions.

I’ve taken this set to the top 10 of the ladder, so here are some replays for y’all to enjoy (most hilarious ones at top):

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1473605219-urzb61r3z3tqviamcjlbrvg89s91onypw

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1473535910

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1477476279

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1459776602

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1458813800-isksrjv0a9gsg6pzfjpb0nd87na797epw

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1457942503

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1452613143

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1443213181-evxs89ixgy7wh0qjujqlqboj8641tx4pw
 
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Jirachee

phoenix reborn
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ScarfSkarm / AKA Smogon Bird 0.4
Skarmory
Choice Scarf
Jolly
80 HP / 252 ATK / 176 Speed
-Brave Bird
-Spikes
-Sleep Talk
-Whirlwind / [Blank]

Alternative Moves: Brick Break, Rock Slide, Toxic, Stealth Rock

Summary: You know how Skarmory’s Brave Bird leaves a surprising sting even with zero EVs? You know how Skarmory has only 1 pt less ATK than Talonflame? And you know how unlike a Pokémon like Staraptor or Honchkrow Skarmory lacks SR weak, is immune to sand and Spikes, has good natural physical bulk and a butt load of resistances? In other words Skarm has a host of attributes that would be attractive on a choice user except that it has low attack and a crappy offensive movepool— but… based on our experience with Gen 6 OU we know that STAB Brave Bird is pretty much all a mon needs to potentially wreck a team as long as you have the Speed advantage. In DPP, we know that Tyranitar is just fast enough to be an awesome Scarfer— and Skarmory is faster than TTar.
Furthermore in DPP we find a meta that’s much slower, much more prone to being worn down by passive damage (especially compared to Skarmory), much harder to remove hazards, and much shorter on good flying resistances.

With the given EVs Skarmory outruns Azelf/Starmie, still has enough bulk to switch in a few times, and has real potential to sweep or at least outspeed and kill an unsuspecting threat expecting to outspeed Skarm.

Here’s the premise:
-Skarmory starts as a suicide Spiker (lead or not) that guarantees Spikes v. everything up to Azelf and can seriously smack Roserade and Machamp. Even against Magnezone you at least guarantee 2 layers in a meta with Rotom-A to spin block.
-Has the potential to kill an unsuspecting threat in the mid game. It puts huge pressure on them to bring in Starmie to spin, but if Starmie comes in on Spikes/SR/Sand and expects to spin on this Skarmory it’s dead. This Skarm can switch into Gengar’s Shadow Ball and if it has any prior damage it’s dead. People often bring in Infernape into this Skarm with no idea what’s about to happen, or switch in Lucario or Gyarados into Hazards plus MAX Brave Bird expecting to set up, only to get those mons 2HKO’d without even denting Skarm. Latias is harder, but it can also be surprisingly KO’d. Of course with Sleep Talk this Skarm is a fantastic mon to soak Breloom’s Spore as between BB, Spikes, and Whirlwind (Whirlwind is optional but I’ve found to be good) you are guaranteed to get something good from Sleep Talk. If you switch into a Breloom Sub, you can even Whirlwind first to purposefully get slept before Sleep Talking into Whirlwind, blowing Loom out before it gets to Focus Punch (ridiculous maneuver but I’ve gotten this to actually work twice). Alternatively drop Whirlwind to make your Sleep Talks more consistent, but I like Whirlwind.
-And even in the late game— which is totally reasonable for Skarm’s passive damage resilience— Skarm has real potential for a late game Brave Bird Sweep; a poor man’s ScarFlygon that has more early game utility. Not to mention unlike Flygon Skarmory resists Bullet Punch and ExtremeSpeed and hits Scizor/Lucario neutral with its spammable STAB.

Skarm nets value by fulfilling any one of its 3 roles, and it’s all but guaranteed to fulfill the first, with decent odds of fulfilling the 2nd or third, and sometimes it goes crazy and does all 3– winning the whole game. It’s kind of like RBY Triple KO Chansey— you’ve done your job just by getting sing off (Spikes in Skarm’s case), but if you manage to fish a freeze or bait a counter, it’s just gravy on top.

And it’s even more vicious because Skarm’s first role of setting spikes dramatically increases the odds it will succeed at a surprise kill or pull off a sweep— it sets up for itself. It’s like the entirety of DPP Semi-Stall’s spike and sweep style wrapped up in one mon. It role compresses Custap Skarm and Skarf Flygon into one slot, even if it does neither role as well. You’ll want another SR mon and another main late game sweeper, but Skarm provides backup plans for both the hazard game and the sweep.

I’ve taken this set to the top 10 of the ladder, so here are some replays for y’all to enjoy (most hilarious ones at top):

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1473535910

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1473605219-urzb61r3z3tqviamcjlbrvg89s91onypw

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1477476279

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1459776602
Small nitpick is that Skarmory doesn't learn Brick Break so it can't be an alternate move.

One thing Skarmory DOES learn though is Pursuit! You might be able to nab the finishing blow on a weakened Gengar, or a Choice-locked Latias looking to switch out.

Great post!!
 

Chou Toshio

Over9000
is an Artist Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Small nitpick is that Skarmory doesn't learn Brick Break so it can't be an alternate move.

One thing Skarmory DOES learn though is Pursuit! You might be able to nab the finishing blow on a weakened Gengar, or a Choice-locked Latias looking to switch out.

Great post!!
Thanks Jirachee! Yeah I’m not sure why I had it in my head that Skarm gets brick break— now that you mention it I now remember looking for that move and not finding it in early testing.

I DID test Pursuit though, and what I found was that nothing runs away from Skarmory because no one expects this; and at 40 BP it’s way too weak. Maybe if this caught on massively and Gengars/Starmie started respecting Skarm’s Brave Bird it would start being good!
 

Le Don

La Déchéance d'un homme
is a Community Contributor
RoAPL Champion
PS : Another post is coming soon !
Goumbapaz.png

Happy New Year !

So, here I am, late at night, sitting at my desk, drinking my tea and building some gen 4 teams like a normal well-adjusted person. ( BKC ref )

lati.png
Creative set
CASCADE REMIX (Latias) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Timid Nature
- Rain Dance
- Trick ?
- Healing Wish ?

This is an interesting tech on Scarf Lati. Being able to outspeed everything and cleaning weather / setting rain for Suicune / Kingdra is very cool. I built a Special spam with this set and a Protect Suicune and it is really fun to use.
You don't want to use RD Rotom / Kingdra // Sday Loom / Tran ? So try this.

Metagross DPP HGSS.png
( LEAD ) Creative set
LE PIÈGE (Metagross) @ Expert Belt / Leftovers ( not recommended )
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 92 Atk / 236 SpA / 180 Spe
Rash Nature

- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake / Explosion ?
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Grass Knot

Mostly a fun set. It is an alternative offensive way to deal with Skarm + Pert instead of using a HP Grass Zone.
Lures Pert, Milo, Mie, Cune, Quag, Gastro, Gyara, Skarm, Forre, Zor and Zong. Thx to HP Fire you don't need Zone support. Pairs really well with SD Gliscor : Sub SD, BBQ ( BoltBeamQuake ) SD, Roost SD ...
You need Tyranitar support for Rotom and Defensive Latias. But yh dropping Leftovers is a pain ( but Ebelt is too important if you want to OHKO Pert for example ) and not running Explosion can also be a pain.
EVs :
236+ in SpA means that you OHKO 240 HP Pert and you OHKO after Rocks 252 HP 52 SpD Pert
180 in Speed ( 220 ) means that you outspeed Empo Lead, Swampert ( not + Speed ), Modest Zone, some Heatrans, Machamp
Rest in Attack.

236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Grass Knot (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Swampert: 379-446 (93.8 - 110.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Grass Knot (80 BP) vs. 240 HP / 0 SpD Swampert: 403-475 (100.4 - 118.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Grass Knot (100 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Milotic: 189-223 (48 - 56.7%) -- 34.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery ( 86.3% chance to 2HKO after sandstorm damage and Leftovers recovery )

236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Grass Knot (80 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Starmie: 208-247 (79.6 - 94.6%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Grass Knot (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Starmie: 208-247 (64.1 - 76.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Grass Knot (100 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 204-240 (59.8 - 70.3%)
236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Grass Knot (100 BP) vs. +1 0 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 134-160 (39.2 - 46.9%)
236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Grass Knot (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 204-240 (50.4 - 59.4%) -- 81.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery ( guaranteed 2HKO after sandstorm damage and Leftovers recovery )
236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Grass Knot (100 BP) vs. +1 252 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 134-160 (33.1 - 39.6%) -- 100% chance to 3HKO after sandstorm damage and Leftovers recovery

236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Grass Knot (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 200+ SpD Quagsire: 364-432 (92.3 - 109.6%) -- 50% chance to OHKO ( 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock )

236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Grass Knot (60 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ SpD Gastrodon: 225-268 (52.8 - 62.9%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

236+ SpA Metagross Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados: 114-135 (34.4 - 40.7%) -- 51.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock, sandstorm damage, and Leftovers recovery
236+ SpA Metagross Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados: 113-134 (28.6 - 34%) -- 99.7% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery


236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 213-252 (63.7 - 75.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Skarmory: 146-172 (43.7 - 51.4%) -- 98.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Forretress: 316-374 (89.2 - 105.6%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO ( guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock )

236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Scizor: 379-451 (110.4 - 131.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 204 SpD Scizor: 307-364 (89.5 - 106.1%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO ( guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock )

236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Bronzong: 141-168 (41.7 - 49.7%) -- 21.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
236+ SpA Expert Belt Metagross Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Bronzong: 105-124 (31 - 36.6%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

Hippowdon mâle DP.png
Underrated Set
STUPÉFIANT ET NOIR (Hippowdon) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature

- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off

I've always been very high on Hippo. It is bulky as f, Sand, very good switch in to MixGon / MixNite which are terrifying for a lot of teams. Kristyl already talked about it but again imo SpD Toxic Hippo is really good. Being able to 1v1 Defensive Starmie ( without Hydro ) is so good, you can keep your rocks against it. This set also put on a timer waters, Gliscor, Latias etc.
You need MRise Zone support because Skarm / Zong walls this set and be sure to have a good Breloom answer / lure. Extremely good with a wincond that abuse of "toxiced" pokemons ( Sub Jirachi ... ).

And now for the end ...


The best set ever created ...


The best Toxic Hippo abuser ...


My last creation ...

Flygon Shiny DPP Front.png
Underrated Set
ÇA VA ENSEMBLE (Flygon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Protect


16bit: and ye it has a real niche, I've tried building w/ it before but it's hard to fit but I think it's really good in the right structure

Flygon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Naughty Nature
- Substitute
- Earthquake
- Flamethrower/Fire Blast/Hidden Power Ice
- Dragon Claw

Substitute Flygon has always been a very appealing idea to me. Flygon gets probably more opportunities to set up a sub than pretty much anything in the meta. Some examples of this include against opposing ScarfGon (where w/out dclaw it usually u turns out to not have to commit to outrage, or just use its bad EQ lock), RestTalk Rotom, and in any scenario where you can threaten MixGon coverage (this is a lot of scenarios btw). Use maximum Attack with a +Atk nature to really dish it out offensively against pretty much everything (in particular Metagross, Clefable, Tyranitar). Filler move depends on team pacing and support pieces. Gliscor is probably the most annoying Pokemon to deal with for this set, so if you have Magnezone support you can go ahead and try HP ice out. Flamethrower is good on slower paced stuff, Fire Blast is good on more offensive teams. I'd suggest pairing this with sand and a Knock Off user because if you hit RestTalk Rotom with Knock, you can always 3HKO it in sand with Dragon Claw. This set absolutely shreds offense and makes a great cleaner, and isn't bad against stall either.
Excal has already explored Sub Flygon and explained very well why it is good but I decided to do a small modification when I tried to build around it : PROTECT > Flamethrower, HP Ice w/e.
I absolutly LOVE that set. It is SO fucking good vs offense, shits on FWG core once it sets up a Sub, abuse so well of Sand and has a lot of longevity thx to Protect and Leftovers.
Sub allows you to counter RestTalk / SubWoWSplit ( without Shadow Ball ) Rotom, Heatran etc. Protect allows you to scout choice locks which is very good in a Trick weak team. Flygon also has a very good defensive typing, a very good ability and is immune to Sand so it is really easy to set up a Sub and to get easy recovery.
Paired with Toxic Hippo, Toxic Milo, Toxic Jirachi etc which Toxic Waters / Hippo / Gliscor etc ( aka Flygon's answer ), this set is extremely dangerous for a lot of teams even for stall teams. Once the water is toxiced, find the occasion to set up a Sub and start to annoy everthing with your stabs and Protect + Sand.
Adamant Nature to have a good chance to 3HKO Bold Rotm after Rocks + Sand. Adamant EQ hits so hard and 2HKO pretty much everything.
Protect also baits Azelf who wants to explode on you.
Again this set needs Zone support so use pokemons that dislikes Skarm with it ( hello Toxic Hippo ).
I built a team using this combo and I've been messing around with it : https://pokepast.es/874c5b5ad78d524f ( you can for Wish > Tect but imo Tect is better here )

Everything is in the name of the team. Milo with HP Fly can remove Loom ( the team is still weak to it ). Scarf Rotom for Speed control and for setups like Dnite or Metagross. Not the best team but it has some insane matchups and you have weapons to deal with everything. Be careful of Breloom, Suicune + Weather cleaner and setups. Some replays :
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1482384993-v8ffdd6zrfqrtqnmc3w5i5nxireqrdfpw vs Mamo HO ( I think my opp was Christos )
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1482389933-vvrfxnstbhqww3s9vzvzi38pgobpcp3pw vs Hippo + Gliscor + Rotom + Skarm Stall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1476562775 Flygon destroying an offense
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1476564395 vs Rest Suicune FWG
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen4ou-1476567347 Toxic Hippo in action

That's all for me.
Thx for reading.
 
Last edited:

hellpowna

beware of coco
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
finally got a bit of time to keep on working on one of my favorite pokemon so far -> kingdra.
Recently, i had the incredible opportunity and the honor to chat with vashta who inspired me to play time ago.
For the new comers, vashta was one of the best british player and an absolute beast in dpp (you can check some of his team in the rmt archive).
We talked about the dpp community and how the tier changed during the time.
In a tour we played, he shown me a tech which impressed me a lot.
As a true fan of innovative sets i tried to fix it as much as i could. I've expiremented a lot during the tour and ladder and it found his spot.
This set is incredible strong against some kind of teams (mostly bulky-offenses), and give a great MU against mostly of the modern teams..

V for Vashta (Kingdra) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Yawn
- Draco Meteor
- Hydro Pump
- Protect
/SPOILER]

This set came from the past.
I've used it time ago, but did not thought of it, before i told with vashta.
the impressive and underrated power is something incredible.
This set works perfectly as lead, but im pretty sure it can find his place as an offense support with hazards.
The incredible power of double stabs plus yawn and protect make this an incredible opening for your sweepers.
with a correct sequence of moves this set can make incredible damages over opp team and give you oppounirt to set up with the sweepers.
Protect is my favorite and fantastic move, especially for offensive mons.
The idea is to force your opp to swich out with protect/yawn, and hit him with double stats. Not only; this will help you to understand better the opp team by reveling his team.
Last but not least, i'm pretty sure this dra can be used during the match and not only as lead, but at the moment as lead is much recommended.

Thanks for reading and thanks Vahsta for forever inspires me through the years
 

Ara ara

sayonara
is a Social Media Contributor Alumnus
Good morning everyone! I wanted to talk a bit about a set I experimented with for the last few days. Barring Smeargle, Jynx is the only OU-legal Mon with both Trick/Switcheroo and a Sleep Move with greater accuracy than Hypnosis. Both Scarf Trick and Sleep Moves have been great options, especially in the Lead position, which is why I was curious about the potential of using both together. Scarf Sleep has been an option on Scarf Roserade and Lead Scarf Breloom even without Trick, so I could not think of a reason why Scarf Jynx Lead should not work.
1645036837491.png

Ara ara sayonara (Jynx) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Forewarn
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 3 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Trick
- Lovely Kiss
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Scarf + Trick + Lovely Kiss are the attributes that I went off of, as I already explained. Ice Beam is an amazing STAB Move that hits pretty hard while also having the added benefit of having a 10% chance to completely ruin your opponent's mood. As for the last move I went for HP Ground over Psychic, as almost everything in OU that gets hit by Psychic, does not want to take Ice beam either. While Both Types are resisted by Steel, Ice Beam at least hits Skarmory for neutral damage and Psychic deals even more pitiful damage against Jirachi and Bronzong. HP Ground however provides Coverage against Heatran most importantly, while also hitting most other Steels, Tentacruel and Infernape. Focus Blast sucks and does less to Heatran, Infernape and Jirachi anyway, so why bother risking the miss...

Forewarn is a pretty trash ability, but it can sometimes provide interesting information about your opponent's Mons, like whether Jirachi carries Thunder or whether Starmie-Lead is Surf or Pump. In the most cases, revealing the highest BP Move holds no informational value at all, however, like revealing Explosion on every Lead-Mon that learns it. It's not totally useless though, and getting a heads up in 1 out of 10 games when something weird is going on can really help.

I think going modest is worthwile on this set, as the speedtier is still good enough to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame with Scarf. The only thing coming to mind that you miss out on while scarfed would be opposing adamant scarf Flygon, which would otherwise be outsped and threatened by Ice Beam. Speed EVs are for outspeeding scarf Heatran / other max speed Heatrans after tricking your scarf, as well as adamant Lucario. Being modest allows Jynx to fire off really dangerous Ice Beams, as well as to get a chance at KOing Timid Tran with Hidden Power or at least prevent it from coming in ever again with rocks up.

252+ SpA Jynx Hidden Power Ground vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 292-348 (90.4 - 107.7%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

I found this set to have surprising disruptive potential, contributing to Jynx being scary to face almost as much as its uncanny stare.
In the most scenarios, Jynx is able to cripple two opposing Pokémon, first tricking the Scarf onto the opposing lead, then putting the next Pokémon to sleep with Lovely Kiss.
Faster Leads such as :Aerodactyl: Aero and :Azelf: Azelf (as well as a ton of Skarm leads, as I noticed on the ladder) will usually try to taunt you to prevent Lovely Kiss, but since you're faster, you can trick the Scarf onto them, locking them into a dead move, forcing them to switch out, where you can either fire off an Ice Beam hitting the switch which provides you with information about their defensive investment and therefore their team structure, or you can try to predict their switch in based on their Lead and switch as well.
As for any other hazard Leads or the aforementioned Leads trying to set up Stealth Rocks or any other field condition instead of taunting you, they're getting tricked-locked into a dead move again, repeating the above except that you're able to go for a sneaky Kiss on their switch, as you're not taunted this time.
If they attack you, you're probably either dead or hanging by a thread, possibly due to a Focus Sash you stole, as Jynx is blown up pretty easily, especially on the physical side. This is not the optimal scenario, but you still have something to work with. Your opponent is locked into an attacking move, which leaves them in an abusable position. Ideally you can switch into a breaker or setup sweeper and proceed to mess the opposing team up. Be careful not to be bamboozled by the Scarf you gave your opponent Turn 1 however! This happens especially often if your opponent sports a lead without hazards, like AoA Metagross or a choiced lead themselves. :Metagross: Gross and :Machamp: Champ usually feel safe behind a Lum Berry or a Focus Sash, so they won't switch out fearing Lovely Kiss as other slow leads sometimes do.
And if you're getting outsped and Iron Headed to death by opposing :Jirachi: Scarf Rachi Lead, you can go to your Magnezone and revengekill it, or set up with your Gyarados and go ham.

Great partners include :Magnezone: Magnezone, as Jynx lures in a ton of Steel Types and even tricks away Skarmory's Shed Shell, it doesn't need to preserve Scarf for it, you can trick any junk you got from your first trick just to snatch away the Shed Shell. It can also trap Bronzong, Jirachi and Metagross once they're choicelocked into their respective steel moves, which they usually use to kill Jynx. This Steel removing/crippling duo in turn greatly supports set-up based sweepers like :Dragonite: Dragonite, :Gyarados: Gyarados and :Tyranitar: Tyranitar, which are also great at abusing the free setup opportunities opened up by having opposing Pokémon choicelocked into awkward moves. Non-DD Tyranitar with Pursuit is a cool option as well, as it can trap some non-steel mons that are choicelocked after killing Jynx.
Needless to say, you should pair Jynx with a stealth rocker yourself, as it provides no hazard support itself.

In any case, your opponent is not getting an easy 2 for 1 including hazards and a kill with their Suicide Leads as they planned, which already messes up their gameplan a lot. In fact, you're usually getting a favourable deal with crippling two Pokémon most of the time. As you'll see in the replays, this Jynx Set really forces the opponent in a lot of awkward positions which leave a ton of room for exploitation. It nearly always gives you something to work with and I never felt that I really got nothing out of my lead.

In order to demonstrate what Jynx is capable of, I took onto myself the pain that comes with laddering in DPP OU to gather some representative replays.

[Gen 4] OU replay: Vashta vs. Ad Naus - Pokémon Showdown (pokemonshowdown.com)- Jynx get's Trick onto Skarmory, locking it into Taunt while also taking away the Shed Shell, which allows it to get trapped by Zone. My trapping attempt was too obvious, as Tar comes in to scout my next move. After we both double switch out, Jynx get's the Lovely Kiss off onto Pert and Ice Beams twice before going down. At this point it has tricked Skarm, which is integral for allowing Gyarados or DNite to sweep, put Pert to sleep with already 2 sleep turns in and chipped both Pert and Tar, while the opponent has no Hazards layed out and is locked into Pursuit with Scarf Tar. While Jynx died in the process, did a pretty decent job disrupting the opponent's early turns.

[Gen 4] OU replay: Ad Naus vs. Quuuaaaasanntt - Pokémon Showdown (pokemonshowdown.com) -a nice Rain MU, which involves the common dynamic with Azelf, locking it into Taunt with Trick, forcing the opponent to switch into their secondary rain setter, which I sadly could not immediately put to sleep thanks to Taunt, to prevent rain alltogether. Due to some low rolls, Jynx fails to 3HKO, which is offset by one turn of freeze which limits Uxie to setting rain and then dying. For some reason my opponent went into Clamperl instead of a Swift Swimming rain abuser. This allows me to get a second Trick off, after which I'm free to Lovely Kiss. By the time my opponent switches into something fastern than my Jynx and revengekill it, they have already lost a Mon, got one severely weakened and two Mons crippled with only 2 Turns of Rain left.

I ran into the same opponent again later, as they used a more traditional rain team, which resulted in a more reproducibly yet still solid result. Jynx gets a Trick off as Azelf Rain Dances, Lovely Kisses on the Switch and then proceeds to attack on the next switch (Ice Beam in hindsight been a much better play than to opt for HP Ground). Azelf will be more more easily played around even after Jinx died and Qwilfish did not burn any sleep turns, being basically turned into sacrifice fodder. Note how the opponent virtually only got one turn where they used rain, thanks to Jynx's disruptive influence with forcing them to waste turns by switching and stealing the Damp Rock before Azelf got the Rain Dance off.

[Gen 4] OU replay: Ad Naus vs. Serbosse - Pokémon Showdown (pokemonshowdown.com) - Jynx Tricks on the opposing switch out, immediately crippling a major part of the opposing defensive backbone. It then tanks the Hyro Pump to put it to sleep. Jynx is then free to fire off a STAB Ice beam, which is always dangerous due to its Freeze Chance, quod erat demonstrandum. Zone proceeds to pick off the frozen prey, which leaves the opponent at basically 4 remaining pokémon to play with.
I prefer Trick and Sleep to go onto two different targets, but Milotic being this incapacitated helps a ton of offensive members of the team.

Hopefully I could convince at least some of you to try this or similar sets out. I'd love to hear about your experiences and ideas how to make it work the most effectively, as I still have to improve as a team builder and might have overlooked something.
Thanks for reading and take care! :Jynx:
 
Empoleon @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 8 SpA / 36 SpD / 212 Spe
Lonely Nature
IVs: 27 Def / 30 SpA
- Swords Dance
- Return/Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Hidden Power [Electric]


I made this set on a rain team. My team was kinda weak to dd ttar/dd gyara so I wanted a safe check at it. It worked well on the ladder/friendly (friendlies?), but i'm not sure about the idea of bringing this set in a serious tour. Still a fun one

Lonely Nature sounds weird, but it makes sure that earthquake from ttar at +1 will make you in the range of torrent, which is nice because :

+2 252+ Atk Torrent Empoleon Aqua Jet vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 302-356 (88.3 - 104%)

It means that Waterfall or Aqua Jet at +2 will always kill dd ttar after rocks.


HP Elec and Aqua Jet are enough to revenche kill gyara after rocks :

8 SpA Empoleon Hidden Power Electric vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados: 224-264 (67.6 - 79.7%)
252+ Atk Torrent Empoleon Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Gyarados: 50-59 (15.1 - 17.8%)

Even if the rain is actived and that gyara has leftovers, HP elec and Aqua Jet (boost thanks to the rain) will still be enough to revenche kill it.

Also, if your oppo uses waterfall (with rain actived) on empo, you'll still be in the range of torrent after rocks : +1 252+ Atk Gyarados Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Empoleon in Rain: 195-229 (63.1 - 74.1%)

212 in speed to outspeed restalk rotom and 36 SpD is just a bonus.



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Lucario @ Lum Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance
- Ice Punch/Crunch
- Bullet Punch

I like to use this set when my team is weak to rotom restalk or latias defensive. You can choose between ice punch or crunch depending on your team; if you prefer to hit dragonite/gliscor hard, then you'd rather use ice punch (plus, gliscor is now played without speed, so there's a good chance you'll outrun it). If you want to hit rotom hard, then you'd rather use crunch. There are also other advantages: you make sure that jirachi can't burn you with fire punch, or paralyze you with body slam, etc...

Bullet punch is an interesting priority : you can kill ttar scarf (which is very popular nowadays) or gengar. Make sure you have the hazards up (spikes/rocks) before you setup

- Without Life Orb lucario doesn't hit as hard, but you don't lose 10% every turn, which is great because lucario has more longevity



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Magnezone @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 20 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Explosion
- Hidden Power [Grass]


With that spread, zone can live earthquake from dragonite at +1 after rocks (same for gyara/ttar). But the main reason is to "bait" mixgon. Skarmory and mixgon are very popular nowadays, and the most common scenario with this set's : you trap skarm, he'll send mixgon and you boom on it. Most of people will just attack and not switch out since zone shuca is rare. And you're not in range to any of his att's because there aren't any spikes up.

Thanks to Shuca, metagross can't set up on zone, you can para it, hit it hard, etc... Same for a lot of mons that have earthquake.

Defensive zone's also great for jirachi, because fire punch does 0 and you still hit it hard with tbolt and para it.

It can also live Close Combat from lucario scarf after rocks : 252+ Atk Lucario Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 96+ Def Magnezone, etc. : 284-336 (82.5 - 97.6%)

20 in speed is enough to outspeed swampert.

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Tyranitar @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 88 HP / 184 Def / 220 SpD / 16 Spe
Careful Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Thunder Wave/Toxic
- Superpower


I like to use this set in a very offensive team, because ttar brings a lot of support: It can tank any special attack and many physical attacks. There are also many scenarios where ttar can be in custap range:

With this set, ttar can live earthquake from ttar at +1 after rocks. You revenge kill it, and you are in custap range, which means you can surprise your oppo not with custap but with thunder wave/toxic.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Latias Draco Meteor vs. 88 HP / 220+ SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 165-195 (45.4 - 53.7%)

So there is a good chance that you will live 2 draco of modest latias specs after rocks. The highest rolls of two dms are 79%. So you can revenge kill it and to be in custap range.

4 Atk Life Orb Flygon Earthquake vs. 88 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 258-306 (71 - 84.2%)

You can surprise mixgon who thinks to kill you after earthquake + rocks, and to be in custap range, etc...

Toxic is very usefull because you can use it on mons such as swampert (which you overspeed), zapdos, gliscor, hippo, suicune, etc, which can be annoying in offensive teams. Thunder wave can be an alternative if you use this set in a paraspam



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Kabutops @ Custap Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 204 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Waterfall
- Endure


That's a set I made for another rain team. Kabutops with custap berry sounds crazy, but from my experience it worked well. It allows to counter most of the dders. For example, if kingdra is locked on draco meteor and my oppo sends dd ttar, I can send kabutops, use endure and punish it with waterfall. Same for gyarados/dragonite which are ohko by stone edge. 204 in speed is enough to outspeed scarf flygon.



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Cresselia (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 3 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]


This is a set I added on a rain team. It's very important because this set hardly works without mons who can remove the sand and hits ttar hard (you need at least 2/3 users of rain dance). The idea is to setup cresselia in late game once ttar's gone and that the sand has been removed. The coverage Ice beam + HP Ground allows to hit hard jirachi and latias, which are top tier.
 
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Jeong

Banned deucer.

Heatran @

Ability: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
Modest / Naive Nature
- Magma Storm
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Earth Power
- Explosion

Long time no comment here.

Well, I know there are several Heatran sets, so I don't know if this one is added.

Tran is one of my favorite mons and I think he is one of the best in the tier. Basically, this version draws things like pert or Bliss and can be finished by Magma + HP Grass or Magma + Explosion combo. Be careful with Protect Bliss, you have to know how to play here since we don't have Taunt. The same can be applied in fable. Sash is an interesting support, as it allows me to take out faster Heatran without having to switch out. Explosion + Sash can also work on threats like nite or Gyarados. +216 SpA is supposed to be for timid/naive Azelf sash. It usually has a good match up with leads other than Ttar, Empo, Aero, Starm (click boom lol) cune.

Good teammates can be: Gyara himself, Twave Latias, Leech/Sub loom. Basically a FWG core or something that covers well and is supportive.
 
I'm a 1400-1500 ladder scrub, but here's something I find really fun to use:


Infernape @ Leftovers
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 48 HP / 208 Atk / 60 Def / 192 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Will-O-Wisp
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz​

Main purpose of this is to lure gyara and invalidate it with WoW, but it's also nice to put some chip on things like Zapdos and Rotom. EVs could be optimized better tbh, but it's nice to take burned Gyara Waterfall well.
 

skrimps

cry bozo
is a Top Artist Alumnus
I've been messing with Rain on the ladder and settled on these cool sets for Kingdra and Bronzong, so I figured they would make a solid first post.

1657494559471.png

Kingdra @ White Herb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 32 SpD / 168 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Draco Meteor
- Substitute

White Herb lets Kingdra surprise switch-ins baiting a Draco Meteor by following up with a full power Rain-boosted Hydro Pump or even a second full power Draco Meteor depending on the opponent's Pokemon. Substitute foils status like Toxic or Thunder Wave, invalidates Sucker Punch, abuses switch-outs (which only stacks further with the White Herb Draco), etc. It can also buy time for another full five turns of Rain.

168 Speed Timid puts Kingdra at 271 Speed which outpaces 252 Speed Neutral Rotom-A without weather, and 544 Speed under Rain which outpaces +Speed Scarf Azelf. Max SpAtk because damage. 56 HP does something important with Substitute if I'm recalling correctly.

1657494681970.png

Bronzong @ Damp Rock
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rain Dance
- Gravity
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake

Gravity serves two primary purposes: 1) preventing Magnezone from using Magnet Rise to invalidate Bronzong, and 2) boosting the accuracy of my team's Hydro Pumps and Rain-less Thunders. I've toyed with Toxic Spikes on this Rain team to soften fatter builds too, and Gravity grounds Pokemon like Latias, Flygon, Dragonite, Rotom, Gyarados, Zapdos, etc. so they get chipped faster. It used to be Explosion but I haven't missed it.

EVs on both Pokemon might not be perfect so I'm always open to suggestions.
 
:swampert:
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 136 HP / 44 Atk / 252 SpA / 76 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Focus Punch

With how dominant spikes + clefable is right now special swampert seems pretty bad. However, when you can fit rocks on another pokemon swampert has the ability to run unorthodox sets to tech for certain things. The EV spread allows you to outspeed 0 speed base 60's (clef) and the attack allows hydro into focus punch to ko 80 defense clefable with lefties. I found that this works really well with discharge/twave zapdos since a lot of teams are forced to go latias on it once clef it dead. Both of them also have good defensive synergy if you are able to spin consistently.
 

Le Don

La Déchéance d'un homme
is a Community Contributor
RoAPL Champion
My teambuilding serie ( Insomnie ) has come to end after 13 episodes.
Some cool and weird stuff from it :

Porygon-Z
FLEX (Porygon-Z) @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 3 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Nasty Plot
- Tri Attack
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Not consistant but so fun to use LOL. This thing is TERRIFYING for stall teams ( and even more with screens support to prevent Scarf Tar to revenge kill it easily ). Sadly it's not very good against offense but not that bad thx to its coverage. You need Timid to outspeed some Jirachi hitting 300 in Speed.

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Porygon-Z Hidden Power Ground vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Jirachi: 408-480 (100.9 - 118.8%)
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Porygon-Z Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Latias: 372-438 (102.1 - 120.3%)
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Adaptability Porygon-Z Tri Attack vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Clefable: 358-422 (90.8 - 107.1%)
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Adaptability Porygon-Z Tri Attack vs. 252 HP / 196+ SpD Clefable: 376-444 (95.4 - 112.6%)
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Adaptability Porygon-Z Tri Attack vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Hippowdon: 412-486 (98 - 115.7%)
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Adaptability Porygon-Z Tri Attack vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Skarmory: 310-365 (92.8 - 109.2%)
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Adaptability Porygon-Z Tri Attack vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Skarmory: 209-247 (62.5 - 73.9%)
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Adaptability Porygon-Z Tri Attack vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Forretress: 229-270 (64.6 - 76.2%)


Forre DP Front.png

CASCADE (REMIX) (Forretress) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion
- offensive move

I wanted to use Forre in a offensive structure because it's super good vs stalls with spin + spikes but it's sooooooo passive and so weak. Being a setup folder for everything is very annoying so I decided to run Explosion. No one expects Boom on Forre so I most of the time claim one kill with it or you put them in range of Mach Punch Loom ( Dnite / Gyara / Suicune / Tar etc ). With boom you reset the momentum and you're not passive anymore, wonderful isn't it ?


Zapdos, DPP.png

ARRÊT DU COEUR (Zapdos) @ Lum Berry / Magnet
Ability: Pressure
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Charge Beam
- Agility

Yay ! 70% chance to 1v1 Clef / Latias ! vs fat teams : Charge beam on the clef / lati coming in, pray for the boost, get it, then spam Tbolt / Hp Ice. vs offensive teams : Agility gg . Screens support. Lum for Twave.
+1 252+ SpA Zapdos Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Latias: 196-232 (53.8 - 63.7%)
+1 252+ SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 196+ SpD Clefable: 202-238 (51.2 - 60.4%)
+1 252+ SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Jirachi: 249-294 (61.6 - 72.7%)


Mamoswine HGSS.png

SHOOTE UN MINISTRE (Mamoswine) @ Leftovers
Ability: Oblivious
- Protect

Scouts Rotom / Lati etc, more sand / Tspikes chip ( Milo / Pert / Nape etc ) and even more longevity. Pair it with DD Tar, you will not be disappointed trust me.

Thank you for reading.
 
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ScarfSkarm / AKA Smogon Bird 0.4
Skarmory
Choice Scarf
Jolly
80 HP / 252 ATK / 176 Speed
-Brave Bird
-Spikes
-Sleep Talk
-Whirlwind / [Blank]
Relatedly, I've been having some fun and mixed success with SD Skarm:

Skarmory @ Shed Shell / Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe
Impish Nature
- Substitute
- Roost
- Swords Dance
- Brave Bird

It's definitely a bit of a gimmick, but it's pretty fun and can net KOs between the sub and plenty of opportunities to get to +4 or +6. Skarmory is the only stab BB user to get an attack boosting move (Blaziken get SD & Bulk Up, but no stab). Originally, I wanted to rip off the Bulk Up Coviknight set that was going around at the start of gen 8, but it turns out Curse and Brave Bird aren't compatible with Skarm (Crobat is in the same boat).

Seems like it should pair well with toxic spikes, though you'll still need to handle Zapdos and Magnezone who can switch in with pretty much no downsides.


Forre DP Front.png

CASCADE (REMIX) (Forretress) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion
- offensive move
It's a shame there's no gen 5 sturdy but does Forretress have the natural bulk to pull off custap? leftovers has limited utility on this set where longevity isn't really needed, and custap might enable a few extra explosions here and there.

---

A lead I've been messing about with:


Smeargle @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Spe / 40 anything
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Trick
- Destiny Bond
- Lunar Dance / Thunder Wave / U-Turn / Explosion / filler

Smeargle _is_ kinda ass, but this set does have some utility imo. Fast sleep on leads is nice for teams that really don't want SR up and are happy to cede the momentum at the start of the game. Between Spore and one of Trick or Destiny Bond, Smeargle can often cripple 2 mons in a game.

Perhaps not super creative/unconventional either - there's a scarf lead listed on the main site. But I think it's decent and focusing on spore + trick/db is more effective than trying to use Smeargle to setup hazards.
 
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