XY OU Mega Gardevoir Offense Team

[Behexenhaus]

I don't think there's anything really wrong with this team. Maybe I'm just not used to it yet, but I'm not making much progress in the ladder. Maybe I need some insight from the RMT forum, right? I've tried a few different HO teams before with little success, but now I'm trying to tone it down a little, invest in some defensive spreads to cushion my team a little more. I still want to take the offensive approach, though. I prefer the faster pace.

Note that I took most of these EV spreads from those posted in the site's dex:

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

I use a defensive variant of Landorus-Therian, mostly for stealth rock. I used to run SR on a scarfed Landorus-T, but I was irritated by having to manually switch out and losing momentum. He works better as an intimidating pivot if he's invested in defense, but he still has offensive potential with his great coverage and base attack stat. This set doesn't work as well as a lead as the offensive variant since he loses out on speed, so I have to choose whom I send out first very carefully.

Kyurem-Black @ Leftovers
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Mild Nature
- Substitute
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power

Substitute is my favored set on Kyurem-B. The protection against status is a huge plus, and Kyurem-B's natural bulk works very well with this set. After getting in the sub, the rest is simple. Teravolt is really nice for taking down Rotom-W and Mega Venusaur, and I don't have to worry about will-o-wisps or leech seeds with sub. I try to get him in the game earlier rather than later, since he takes down a lot of the counters for the rest of my team.

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Ice]

The third and final hyphenated name on my team is Keldeo-Resolute. I gave Keldeo a choice scarf and 252+ speed so I can have a somewhat reliable revenge killer. Scald is essential on this guy for crippling switch-ins, but hydro pump is useful as well. I chose HP ice because HP flying can't do much to Mega Venusaur without specs, and ice is generally better coverage. Smogon's dex lists HP electric as the preferred choice, but I already have two other pokes with electric coverage, and only one with ice.

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Will-O-Wisp

Mega Gardevoir was my final addition to this team, and I think she patches things up pretty nicely. It's great to break through subs, even though Gengar can still outspeed her and get in a shadow ball before she can psyshock him. Her special defense is high enough to take even those super effective hits, though, and she can cripple physical attackers with will-o-wisp. Overall, she's a great support for the team, as she covers many of their weaknesses.

Bisharp @ Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance

Bisharp and Gardevoir have fantastic defensive synergy, and having a stealth rock setter enables defiant boosts from defoggers. Sucker punch is the only priority attack on my team, which is worrying, but it's not a deal-breaker for me. Bisharp is also the only one on my team with a setup move, so he occupies a very crucial spot on the team. I prefer having blackglasses over life orb because recoil was causing problems for me, and I don't use iron head all that much anyway. I would love to have pursuit on this guy, but I feel like I need all four of his current moves.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Defog
- Heat Wave
- Thunderbolt

The least offense-oriented member of the team is my defogger, Zapdos. Like Landorus-T, Zapdos has some EVs put into defense so that I can use more roosts and defogs. With Zapdos' naturally high special attack, I can still cause a lot of damage with heat wave and thunderbolt. I'm thinking I might want to run volt switch over thunderbolt, but I'm not sure. I don't find myself using thunderbolt that often because Kyurem-B gets to duke out fusion bolts all the time.

 

[TheEnder]

Hi there Behexenhaus, this is a pretty good team you got here :) At the moment though, strong Pokemon such as Keldeo, Landorus, Mega Charizard Y, Mega Medicham and opposing Mega Gardevoir seem like huge threats to your team. To assort some of the weaknesses, running Latios over Zapdos would be a possible change. Latios let's you have a great switch-in to the former 4 of the threats I mentioned, in addition to keeping a Defog user in your team. While adding another Pokemom walled by Ferrothorn doesn't seem like a great idea, running HP Fire to nail it on the switch is a great strategy. Giving up Defog for an extra coverage move also seems like something that could benefit your team greatly. Using Latios over Zapdos makes yor team even weaker to opposing Mega Gardevoir, and while Kyurem-B is a monster against the right teams, I think switching it for a check to Mega Gardevoir would be smart. Ferrothorn would be a good Pokemon to have on the team, but giving Charizard's and Heatran a lot of free turns and adding another poke weak to Mega Medicham wouldn't be that smart. While it is still an option, I think adding Gengar over Kyurem-B would be beneficial for your squad. Gengar let's you make your opponents think twice about clicking HJK and Hyper Voice, and in addition to revenge killing these threats, it is a terror to every balanced team.

Looking at your team, Azumarill and Mega Gyarados looks like trouble if you choose to go with Gengar. To patch this up, I think running HP Electric over HP Ice on Keldeo would be smart. Anither option is making it hold a Choice Specs rather than a Choice Scarf, which makes it a much better wallbreaker. Then again, this is just optional, but I think it's something that would improve its performance on your team. Lastly, I think running Pursuit on Bisharp would help a lot in making Gardevoir clean, as trapping Doublade, Jirachi and Chansey is great for assisting its sweep. That's really all I had, hope I helped out with your team :]

Summary

Latios @ Life Orb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid / Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psyshock / Earthquake
- Roost / Defog


Gengar @ Life Orb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Taunt


Keldeo @ Choice Specs
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]


Bisharp @ Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Pursuit

 

[MrJeff]

Hi there, I'd like to suggest a change to your Zapdos, If you don't mind. Landorus-T won't always be able to take on Mega Pinsir because I've seen a rise in Hyper Cutter variants.

With 68 SpA EV's Zapdos' Thunderbolt will always OHKO MPinsir (provided they aren't some kind of weird HP invested set).
Also, I personally like to run 20 Spe EV's to outspeed common stall mons, all 252 base 70's and all 252+ base 60's.
I bung the rest in maximising physical defense to make sure birds aren't a problem.

Here's the changes I suggested, for you to copy :)

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Def / 68 SpA / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Defog
- Heat Wave
- Thunderbolt

With that in mind your team looks great; I hope you ladder well.

 

[Behexenhaus]

Hey MrJeff, thanks for pointing that out. I read somewhere that the 20 Spe EVs were mostly for outspeeding max Spe Aegislash, but I can see those EVs being useful in other places.

Also, TheEnder, sorry for not responding to your critique sooner! I started out trying Latios over Zapdos, which gave my team an offense boost, but it also opened up more weaknesses to fairy (specifically Mega Gardevoir, as you've already said). So then I took out Kyurem-B and used Gengar, but I opted for the SubSplit build because I still like to have that status protection. As for Keldeo, I feel like I still need scarf on him for revenge killing purposes. And as for Bisharp, I feel like I need SD because he's the only one on my team capable of setting up at the moment.

I was thinking maybe I could put pursuit on Bisharp and then change Keldeo to a calm mind set, but then I would still need a revenge killer. Maybe I could put the scarf on Landorus-T? I guess I wouldn't keep SR on him if I did that. Maybe I should give this a try?

 

[TheEnder]

Hey MrJeff, thanks for pointing that out. I read somewhere that the 20 Spe EVs were mostly for outspeeding max Spe Aegislash, but I can see those EVs being useful in other places.

Also, TheEnder, sorry for not responding to your critique sooner! I started out trying Latios over Zapdos, which gave my team an offense boost, but it also opened up more weaknesses to fairy (specifically Mega Gardevoir, as you've already said). So then I took out Kyurem-B and used Gengar, but I opted for the SubSplit build because I still like to have that status protection. As for Keldeo, I feel like I still need scarf on him for revenge killing purposes. And as for Bisharp, I feel like I need SD because he's the only one on my team capable of setting up at the moment.

I was thinking maybe I could put pursuit on Bisharp and then change Keldeo to a calm mind set, but then I would still need a revenge killer. Maybe I could put the scarf on Landorus-T? I guess I wouldn't keep SR on him if I did that. Maybe I should give this a try?

Yeah, running if running Scarf Keldeo, Pursuit is probably better than SD on Bisharp. But, as you said, you lack a win-condition. I don't really think you need a revengekiller though, as your defensive core is very good, so I feel SD Bisharp and Specs Keldeo would be the best option :) If you really think Scarf Keldeo is needed, I suggest you opt to use Pursuit on Bisharp, as this makes Keldeo your win-condition. Thoughts?

Edit: I don't think you should change Landorus-T's set, as it checks a plethora of physical threats, which is an ability you lose if changing to a Scarf version. It is also your Stealth Rock user, sl you'd have to reconstruct the entire team if chaning its set.

 

[Behexenhaus]

SD Bisharp and Specs Keldeo. Got it.

So then what if I give Latios the scarf? I lose out on defog, but with Zapdos and Kyurem-B gone, do I still really need defog?

 

[TheEnder]

SD Bisharp and Specs Keldeo. Got it.

So then what if I give Latios the scarf? I lose out on defog, but with Zapdos and Kyurem-B gone, do I still really need defog?

Actually, your team is weak to Greninja, so mabye Scarf Keldeo is the better option after all. If you're going with Specs Keldeo though, Scarf Latios is cool for getting some suprise kills and crippling some walls, so try out these options and see which one you like the best:

v1:

- Choice Specs +

- Swords Dance +

- Choice Scarf

v2:

- Choice Scarf +

- Pursuit +

- LO 3 Attacks

 

[Behexenhaus]

Okay, sounds good. Thanks for all your advice!