SS OU RMT, Hex Dragapult. (My First Team)

Hello, this is my first team!

Dragapult @ Leftovers
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hex
- Thunder Wave
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
I chose Dragapult as my main attacker, mostly because of it's speed which let me apply status moves faster and STAB with Hex. As for the moves, I chose Thunder Wave to slow down opposing Pokémon with Paralysis which while not too helpful on Dragapult because of it's blistering speed, it does help with my other Pokemon (and Will-O-Wisp is already on another 'Mon.) Draco Meteor is there as a last resort to deal lots of damage fast without any setup in order to quickly KO a 'Mon. U-turn because Dragapult's speed usually lets U-turn move first, making it a nice move to switch into better Pokemon for certain times where Dragapult would likely lose and still do at least some chip damage. Leftovers for help healing, very helpful in a status build from what I've seen, Infiltrator to bypass Subsitutes and Light Screen/Reflect, finally EV's are pretty standard from what I can tell, max Special Attack for Hex and Meteor damage, Speed to make Dragapult out-speed most Pokemon, and lastly some Special Defense for the last 4 EV's.

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Recover
- Baneful Bunker
- Toxic Spikes
Toxapex is the Physical wall for this build, absorbing attacks for the other 'Mon's along with Ferrothorn. Scald used as a STAB move as well as a potential Burn proc, Recover to keep up the HP pool, Baneful Bunker as a Protect move with the added function of giving out a status condition to contact attacks, helping the Hex users in the team, Toxic Spikes for a Status-Afflicting entry hazard to help Hex. EV's are also pretty standard, max Defense and HP with the last point going into Special Defense as some minor extra coverage. Black Sludge and Regenerator for more HP maintenance.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Power Whip

Ferrothorn is here as another wall, supporting Toxapex by covering it's weaknesses with Electric resistance and Ground resistance. For EVs, I chose to go into Special Defense instead of Defense to cover Toxapex more. Leech Seed for HP maintenance and chip damage, Stealth Rock for another entry hazard to chip at switching 'Mons, Knock Off is used to get rid of items as well as a Super Effective move against opposing Dragapults or other Ghost Types albeit useless if the opposing Dragapult/Ghost Type is a Physical attacker and is able to KO the Ferrothorn before it gets the Knock Off off. Lastly, Power Whip for a STAB move to not be completely useless offensively. Iron Barbs to punish Physical Attackers slightly, and Leftovers to maintain HP.

Rotom-Heat @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Defog
Rotom Heat is chosen as another Hex user, as well as to spread Will-O-Wisp to power up Hex and cripple Physical Attackers. Hex and Will-O-Wisp serve the same purpose as Hex and Thunder Wave for Dragapult, Levitate gives an immunity to Ground-Types, Volt Switch works with U-Turn for fast switching between Pokemon, and Defog wipes Hazards for the team. Heavy Duty Boots lets it be immune to enemy Hazards and be more effective at Defog-ing. SpA is maxed out since Rotom H is my second Hex user, HP is close to max to add some bulk to it, and 2 points in Special Defense also to add bulk.

Terrakion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
Terrakion is here to be a second Sweeper Pokemon along with Hex-apult. Iron Head to beat down Fairy Types that would normally KO Dragapult, Earthquake for a powerful STAB move that could destroy teams with a Swords Dance buff, Close Combat for the same reason but for Terrakion's second typing, Fighting. EVs serve the same purpose as Dragapult and are also the same, max Atk and Speed with the last 4 EV's going into Special Defense. Justified is there for even more Atk increase.

Clefable @ Expert Belt
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Flamethrower
Clefable is here as a counter to Dragon-Types and also as a Special Tank and nice Fairy-Type to compliment the Dragon- and Steel-types above (Dragapult and Ferrothorn, respectively.) Moonblast as a Super Effective counter to Dragon-Types and Fighting-Types, Wish for healing, Protect to stall out status effects block heavy attacks, and Flamethrower to counter Ferrothorn. Expert Belt to help against Dragon Types and Ferrothorn even more.

This is my first Gen 8 OU team and first competitive Pokemon team in general, please edit anything you think could be better in your rate as I have little experience with the meta of Pokemon Showdown!
 
Some minor changes:
Clefable: Magic Guard over Unaware, life orb/lefties over ebelt. Unaware isn’t rly important for you, magic guard is better and gives free life orb boost.
Pex: Haze over bunker. You already have tspikes for poisoning, and haze makes up for losing unaware somewhat
 
Some minor changes:</p><p>Clefable: Magic Guard over Unaware, life orb/lefties over ebelt. Unaware isn’t rly important for you, magic guard is better and gives free life orb boost.
Pex: Haze over bunker. You already have tspikes for poisoning, and haze makes up for losing unaware somewhat
Thanks for the edits! Magic Guard blocks all non-physical damage, right? If that's how it works, it does make more sense to use life orb on them, I don't really understand the need for Haze though. Is that just for getting rid of setup-sweeper Pokémon who stack Swords/Dragon Dances?
 
Thanks for the edits! Magic Guard blocks all non-physical damage, right? If that's how it works, it does make more sense to use life orb on them, I don't really understand the need for Haze though. Is that just for getting rid of setup-sweeper Pokémon who stack Swords/Dragon Dances?
Yeah that way something like kart can’t just break through pex by swords dancing in its face. It also has more pp than pretty much every boosting move. I suggested it since you aren’t using unaware clefable anymore to stop boosting attackers.
 
I'm not too sure about rotom heat on this team tbh as its just doing what dragapult does but slightly worse. If you want an electric pivot than zeraura would be better, though maybe a fire type special attacker could work as well. If you use zera than wilo wisp might be better as you wouldn't that much speed control. For fire type special attackers, blacepholon would work better as it gets stab hex iirc while hitting harder and faster.
 
I'm not too sure about rotom heat on this team tbh as its just doing what dragapult does but slightly worse. If you want an electric pivot than zeraura would be better, though maybe a fire type special attacker could work as well. If you use zera than wilo wisp might be better as you wouldn't that much speed control. For fire type special attackers, blacepholon would work better as it gets stab hex iirc while hitting harder and faster.
Thanks for the reply, Blace doesn't get hex btw, I'll check out Zeraora though.
 

Ehmcee

A Spoopy Ghost
is a Pre-Contributor
Welcome to Smogon!

Honestly this is a great attempt at a first team, with a very clear team structure playing around a specific game plan.
However I have a few suggestions:

Minor Changes:
:dragapult: :leftovers: -> :dragapult: :heavy-duty-boots:
This team's hazard removal option is slightly unreliable, due to not having access to recovery, boots allows Dragapult to pivot in and out even more, which i would argue is more useful than lefties, due to Dragapult's shaky bulk.

:clefable: :expert-belt: ->:clefable: :leftovers:
New Set:
:swsh/clefable:
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Teleport

Flamethrower on Clefable is a nice Ferro lure, but hits very little else apart from other steel types, which clefable won't want to be staying into most of the time. Teleport is a great move on Clefable, due to it's ability to pivot out and bring in your offensive threats freely. It also works in combination with wish, meaning if you are able to use wish and teleport afterwards, you get to heal a pokemon to usually 100% scott free.

:swsh/toxapex:
Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 SpD
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze

Toxic Spikes comes into the way of Paralysis a lot of the time, and while it does help spread poison, there are a lot of answers to toxic spikes, in the form of other poison types or general hazard removal. A few later changes also appreciate paralysis a lot more, so i switched tspikes for Knock Off, and Baneful Bunker for Haze. There is also a slight removal of physical bulk, which is poured into Special Defense, this allows Toxapex to avoid a 2HKO after rocks damage by a Shadow Ball from Specs Dragapult:
252 SpA Blacephalon Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 108 SpD Toxapex: 100-118 (32.8 - 38.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock



Major Changes:
These aren't 100% ways to improve your team, but I would recommend trying them out.

:swsh/rotom-heat::heavy-duty-boots: -> :swsh/rotom-wash::leftovers:

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 172 SpD / 88 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
- Pain Split

Unfortunately, Rotom-Heat isn't doing too hot in the meta right now, most ground types sit on it, as well as will-o-wisp being generally less useful on Rotom-Heat's common pivots. Hex is also an unviable option on a pokemon like Rotom-Heat, since the lack of stab means the move is still less powerful than your main stab options. This Rotom-Wash set acts as another way to spread paralysis, while having the neat addition of scaring out ground types with hydro pump, giving you an easier time setting status on as many mons as possible.


Now have two different options for the last remaining slot, depending on wether you like a bulkier or more offensive build.
:swsh/terrakion: -> :swsh/buzzwole: / :swsh/victini:

:buzzwole:
Buzzwole @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Rocky Helmet
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 152 HP / 168 Atk / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Roost

Buzzwole replaces Terrakion as your fighting type, and patches up a few shaky holes in your team, such as checking weavile, bisharp, kartana, rillaboom and garchomp. This is a slightly more offensive leaning set that actually exerts offensive pressure, even 2HKOing max physdef pex after rocks with earthquake: 168+ Atk Buzzwole Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 128-152 (42.1 - 50%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO.
Heavy-Duty-Boots might be better due to a lack of hazard control option, but Helmet works fine as well, to punish physical attackers.

:victini:
Victini @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Glaciate
- V-create
- U-turn
- Bolt Strike

Victini is another good option, replacing rotom-heat as your fire type, while being much more offensive for the team. V-Create hits a lot of the tier super hard excluding bulky waters, which get hit hard regardless by Bolt Strike. It also greatly appreciates Wish Support from Clefable, since it acts as a check to both Tapu Lele and Kyurem, two offensive threats that tend to break through this kind of defensive core through sheer power.

Pokepastes:

Buzzwole Variant:
https://pokepast.es/6f97bb36a9c4f82d

Victini Variant:
https://pokepast.es/0b7f13773bf20335
 
Welcome to Smogon!

Honestly this is a great attempt at a first team, with a very clear team structure playing around a specific game plan.
However I have a few suggestions:

Minor Changes:
:dragapult: :leftovers: -> :dragapult: :heavy-duty-boots:
This team's hazard removal option is slightly unreliable, due to not having access to recovery, boots allows Dragapult to pivot in and out even more, which i would argue is more useful than lefties, due to Dragapult's shaky bulk.

:clefable: :expert-belt: ->:clefable: :leftovers:
New Set:
:swsh/clefable:
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Teleport

Flamethrower on Clefable is a nice Ferro lure, but hits very little else apart from other steel types, which clefable won't want to be staying into most of the time. Teleport is a great move on Clefable, due to it's ability to pivot out and bring in your offensive threats freely. It also works in combination with wish, meaning if you are able to use wish and teleport afterwards, you get to heal a pokemon to usually 100% scott free.

:swsh/toxapex:
Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 SpD
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze

Toxic Spikes comes into the way of Paralysis a lot of the time, and while it does help spread poison, there are a lot of answers to toxic spikes, in the form of other poison types or general hazard removal. A few later changes also appreciate paralysis a lot more, so i switched tspikes for Knock Off, and Baneful Bunker for Haze. There is also a slight removal of physical bulk, which is poured into Special Defense, this allows Toxapex to avoid a 2HKO after rocks damage by a Shadow Ball from Specs Dragapult:
252 SpA Blacephalon Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 108 SpD Toxapex: 100-118 (32.8 - 38.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock



Major Changes:
These aren't 100% ways to improve your team, but I would recommend trying them out.

:swsh/rotom-heat::heavy-duty-boots: -> :swsh/rotom-wash::leftovers:

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 172 SpD / 88 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
- Pain Split

Unfortunately, Rotom-Heat isn't doing too hot in the meta right now, most ground types sit on it, as well as will-o-wisp being generally less useful on Rotom-Heat's common pivots. Hex is also an unviable option on a pokemon like Rotom-Heat, since the lack of stab means the move is still less powerful than your main stab options. This Rotom-Wash set acts as another way to spread paralysis, while having the neat addition of scaring out ground types with hydro pump, giving you an easier time setting status on as many mons as possible.


Now have two different options for the last remaining slot, depending on wether you like a bulkier or more offensive build.
:swsh/terrakion: -> :swsh/buzzwole: / :swsh/victini:

:buzzwole:
Buzzwole @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Rocky Helmet
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 152 HP / 168 Atk / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Roost

Buzzwole replaces Terrakion as your fighting type, and patches up a few shaky holes in your team, such as checking weavile, bisharp, kartana, rillaboom and garchomp. This is a slightly more offensive leaning set that actually exerts offensive pressure, even 2HKOing max physdef pex after rocks with earthquake: 168+ Atk Buzzwole Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 128-152 (42.1 - 50%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO.
Heavy-Duty-Boots might be better due to a lack of hazard control option, but Helmet works fine as well, to punish physical attackers.

:victini:
Victini @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Glaciate
- V-create
- U-turn
- Bolt Strike

Victini is another good option, replacing rotom-heat as your fire type, while being much more offensive for the team. V-Create hits a lot of the tier super hard excluding bulky waters, which get hit hard regardless by Bolt Strike. It also greatly appreciates Wish Support from Clefable, since it acts as a check to both Tapu Lele and Kyurem, two offensive threats that tend to break through this kind of defensive core through sheer power.

Pokepastes:

Buzzwole Variant:
https://pokepast.es/6f97bb36a9c4f82d

Victini Variant:
https://pokepast.es/0b7f13773bf20335
This was super helpful, thank you so much! I also noticed Rotom-H was getting obliterated, thanks for suggesting Rotom-W because I had no idea what I could replace it with. I have a few questions though. One is if I should replace Magic Guard with Unaware on Clefable or not, I was running Life Orb on it and forgot to edit the post. Another is getting rid of Toxic Spikes for Pex and replacing it with Knock Off, I understand there are a ton of checks to it, but in that case, why not just use Toxic instead?
 

Ehmcee

A Spoopy Ghost
is a Pre-Contributor
This was super helpful, thank you so much! I also noticed Rotom-H was getting obliterated, thanks for suggesting Rotom-W because I had no idea what I could replace it with. I have a few questions though. One is if I should replace Magic Guard with Unaware on Clefable or not, I was running Life Orb on it and forgot to edit the post. Another is getting rid of Toxic Spikes for Pex and replacing it with Knock Off, I understand there are a ton of checks to it, but in that case, why not just use Toxic instead?
Magic Guard is definitely preferable, allows Clefable to both sponge toxic and be immune to hazard damage. Toxic on Toxapex is definitely an option you can run too, knock off just helps a lot against prominent ghost types like dragapult, blacephalon or the slightly niche gengar. If you want to run toxic, i would suggest maybe trying out knock off / toxic / recover / haze, since you don't really need the scald burn for anything.
 

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