SM OU Normalium Z Kartana balance team

Zneon

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Aight so I am not that great at teambuilding, in fact I'm still learning, so if there's anything I should fix please let me know, but this is one of my first teams when I getting back into OU, and I wanted to test out Kartana, so I made this balance team, which seemed to do well for me on the ladder today.


Kartana @ Normalium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Giga Impact

This is obviously the star of the show, this will be my wallbreaker / sweeper with Normalium Z being able to break through checks like Tornadus-T and for the most part Tangrowth, Sacred Sword is there of course because I don't want to be walled by Heatran and Ferrothorn forever, Leaf Blade is there to completely dent mons are unresisted because of Kart's superb attack stat and STAB, and Swords Dance to make Kart incredibly threatening late game or even sweep when its checks are gone by my other mons, so this is the mon I build around.



Toxapex @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Haze
- Recover

I felt out of all the Pokemon to be my second mon for the team, Toxapex was perfect, because it just reliably covers Kartana's weaknesses so well and consistently as well, I gave it Calm to sponge up special hits, which is something Kart can never really do, and which the Tspikes support, Pex can help Kart even more with its sweeping capabilities, as well as cripple defensive mons like Chansey, Alomomola and Mega Sableye, by forcing them to use their Recovery move most of the time, or force them to switch. Scald burns are always useful for the support because strong physical attackers can always be a big problem for my team without having a way to deal with them, Recover to always keep my Pex healthy and overall improve its longevity in a match, and Haze to deal with set up sweepers that can be a huge problem for my team, so Pex will be the defensive backbone.


Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 52 Def / 76 SpD / 136 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Defog
- Knock Off
- Roost
- Earthquake

So, Earthquake can do some damage to me, Landorus-T is always threatening and if its Scarf and locks itself into Earthquake, I would lose 100% so I needed to find a mon that is immune to Earthquake and still be a useful asset to my team, so I've chosen Gliscor, now why have I chosen Gliscor over Landorus-T, well because of Roost, with roost I can keep Gliscor healthy, which allows Gliscor be useful and provide utility for the team for most of the match, Defog because it will be my main defogger because it can potentially deal with the majority of SR setters, Knock Off for the added utility, just to cripple mons like Chansey for example, Roost to keep Gliscor healthy in a match, and Earthquake is its attacking move to threaten mons like Heatran and Toxapex.



Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 176 SpD / 80 Spe
Serious Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Protect
- Stealth Rock

We have Heatran next, I've chosen Heatran because it can add a layer of protection for my Kartana, and with its amazing resistances, it fits well with my team. Lava Plume is the move I've chosen because despite being weaker than Magma Storm, it has a 30% burn chance just like Scald, meaning that it can also cripple physical threats with burns, Toxic is the second move because of Protect, which allows it to cripple mons with prolonged toxic damage, therefore potentially putting them in range of where Kartana can end them with one of its moves, Protect there for extra Leftovers recovery as well as punish mons like Mega Lopunng for using High Jump Kick, and Stealth Rock to put rack up consistent damage on mons as they switch in, causing more pressure on them and eventually putting them in range of dying to Kartana and some of the other Pokemon in the team.

Tapu Koko @ Magnet
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost

Next up is Tapu Koko, it will be not only a wallbreaker, but also be a handy pivot with Volt Switch, Magnet is there to do really good damage with Volt Switch and Thunderbolt, without getting recoil from Life Orb, or locking myself into one of those moves from Choice Specs, Volt Switch is for the high power, that is further boosted by Magnet, and to provide momentum for the rest of my team, Thunderbolt is my main STAB that puts a dent to anything that doesn't resist it, or just straight up 2HKO them with it, HP Ice for everything that is immune to Volt Switch, the biggest culprits being Landorus-T and Gliscor, which can 2HKO both of them on the switch, and Roost to keep Tapu Koko healthy and to potentially outlive its checks in a match



Alakazam-Mega @ Alakazite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- Recover
- Shadow Ball

Last will be Mega Alakazam, now I've chosen this as my main special wallbreaker, that can be used to break down defensive mons with its power, Focus Blast is used for Pokemon like Heatran, Tyranitar, Greninja and Ferrothorn, who are resisted or immune to its main STAB, which will be its next move being Psychic, this is, like I said, its main STAB that is used to severely cripple mons that aren't resisted or immune to it, unless they special sponges like Chansey, which with the Tspikes support, can't switch into Mega Alakazam forever since they will eventually drop to the toxic damage. Recover for the added longevity and allowing it to outlive its checks so it can potentially clean up late game with my other offensive threats in the team, and Shadow Ball to hit Psychics that would wall Alakazam otherwise, which Jirachi and Tapu Lele for example.

But to conclude, I am doing pretty well with this team, I am not the best teambuilder, like I said I'm still learning, but I am getting there, I'm still fairly new to the competitive scene since I've only played for 3 months. But if there is anything I need to change or fix, do let me know, feedback is always appreciated, have a great day everyone!
 
Your Tana looks fine, not gonna touch that.
Next, the biggest problem is that you don't have another ground immunity or resist
Basically once your gliscor is gone, your opponent can freely click EQ and scarf Lando-T can easily sweep.
Pex isn't helping to alleviate that nor Tran or Koko so I'm suggesting AV Tang over Pex.
Why does your Tran have Serious put Calm
Koko looks fine
Zammy looks fine
I'm not gonna do anything else cuz i just skimmed it
 
Hey fren! This is a pretty sick team, definitely something I'd really enjoy running. I've always enjoyed spamming Alakazam + Kartana so I can definitely get behind this build, but I definitely have some problems with this team. This team is kinda weak to cb Kartana + Firium Heatran + Lele in general, but since you can play around them in the short term decently well, it's not the biggest issue at all. Speaking of, my biggest problems come from the fact that this team is just so weak to the faster Psychics and SD Grounds. Starting with the Psychics, there's pretty much nothing that this team can do versus Draco Mega Latios and Mega Alakazam, which absolutely shits on everything. Both get an incredible amount of free turns vs this team, particularly vs the non-breakers (ie everything that's not Kart / Zammer, although both can come in on a slow turn or a sac or something like that) and practically force a sac. whenever either of the two come in. Alakazam is arguably worse, since it legit outspeeds everything and only thing stopping it is the speed tie with your own Alakazam, which def isn't ideal. In the case of the SD Grounds, there's realistically nothing stopping them from clicking SD once and then spamming EQ since Gliscor can't actually defensively check any of them so its like basically the same as losing a mon. Aside from that, I'd only really say that stuff like Knock Off spam is annoying, since there isn't too much that wants to repeatedly switch into stuff like Tornadus-T and Ferrothorn, which is kinda lame since both hard wall quite a few mons and will gain huge momentum easily + cripples something for the rest of the match. So w/ that in mind, here's what you could do:

:Tornadus-Therian: > :Tapu-Koko:

I ended up going Torn over Koko here since the huge amounts of role compression was pretty much invaluable for this team; Torn generally has better synergy with Kartana + Alakazam since it not only makes progress vs a lot of their shared checks, mainly Celesteela, defensive Magearna and Tangrowth, but you're also able to lure in Kart / Zammer bait a lot easier than koko does, especially since most teams will rely on stuff like Heatran, Toxapex, Rotom-W, or Tapu Koko as their Tornadus checks, which is obviously great for them both since its a free turn to attack or to regain the momentum. It also happens to give you a better Kartana + SD Ground check than both Koko and Gliscor, effectively merging the teamslots into one, which gives you so much more freedom to run another breaker in the free slot.

:Magearna: > :Heatran:

Like Tornadus, Magearna just straight up feels a lot better here since it just brings so much more important role compression than Heatran could. Magearna brings better defensive utility versus a lot of the bigger threats to the team, particularly choiced Kartana, Tornadus-T, the big Psychics in zammer / lati@s / lele, and maw gear/, while also giving the breakers free turns vs basically the same stuff as torn really, but also stuff like Ferrothorn and opposing Magearna. It's also an infinitely better Dark resist than Koko since it can actually afford to pivot in on Ash Gren and play around with that. Although it doesn't particularly want to switch into it, it can also afford to pivot into the big knock users in Tornadus / Mawile / Weavile since it doesn't rely on its Lefties as much as say, Heatran but its also Lefties so you definitely don't want to be losing it.

:Garchomp: > :Gliscor:

Ok so at this point this team is like pretty reliant on zammer as the Heatran check, which isn't bad but it's also far from ideal, so Garchomp basically fit perfectly, since it also added the obligatory Ground and Rocks into the one slot which is pretty sick. Dragonium chomper is really nice here since you're able to break past a lot of mons that threaten either Kartana + Alakazam like Magearna / Zapdos/ Tornadus-T / Mega Lati on the switch, just making everything so much more easier. There's really not much to say other than it just fits a lot better than Glisc really.

For some smaller changes, I ended up replacing Giga Impact + Normalium w/ Synthesis + Meadow Plate / Leftovers since Garchomp occupied the Z Slot and improving the Ground matchup was really important, since Tornadus-T alone isn't exactly the best answer. You could also potentially run a bulkier spread of 136 HP / 120 Atk / 252 Spe w/ Lefties to always avoid the 2HKO from +2 Chomper EQ iirc but that's entire up to you. You'd also probably like to consider running Baneful Bunker or Toxic over Haze, since it's pretty much redundant w/ Heart Swap Magearna.

:Kartana::Toxapex::Tornadus-Therian::Alakazam-Mega::Magearna::Garchomp:
Code:
Kartana @ Meadow Plate / Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost  
EVs: 136 HP / 120 Atk / 252 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Leaf Blade  
- Knock Off  
- Swords Dance  
- Synthesis  

Toxapex (M) @ Black Sludge  
Ability: Regenerator  
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD  
Calm Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Scald  
- Toxic / Baneful Bunker
- Toxic Spikes  
- Recover  

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet  
Ability: Regenerator  
EVs: 240 HP / 64 Def / 204 Spe  
Timid Nature  
- Hurricane  
- Knock Off  
- U-turn  
- Defog  

Alakazam-Mega (M) @ Alakazite  
Ability: Magic Guard  
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe  
Timid Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Psychic  
- Focus Blast  
- Shadow Ball  
- Recover  

Magearna @ Leftovers  
Ability: Soul-Heart  
EVs: 248 HP / 172 Def / 88 SpD  
Bold Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Volt Switch  
- Flash Cannon  
- Heart Swap  
- Pain Split  

Garchomp (M) @ Dragonium Z  
Ability: Rough Skin  
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Stealth Rock  
- Earthquake  
- Outrage 
- Swords Dance


Anyways, that's pretty much everything, the team's a little steela weak (as in: you can't break it immediately), but between the numerous amounts of mons that's slowly chipping away at it + either Kartana or Tornadus-T being able to guarantee cripple it, the matchup should be fine. LO Clef with Flamethrower is also pretty annoying but if you pressure that offensively, it shouldn't be too problematic. If you have any questions, hmu @ curiosity # 2758 on discord and I'd be happy to answer anything for you. Hope you enjoy the team!
 
I agree with the moves except for kartana with synthesis it's a very high chance it's either getting 2hkod or 1 shot I'd run maybe secret sword or smart strike
 

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