SM OU The Anti-Meta Trifecta (SUMO pokebank OU)

[Dazzling Gleamstar]

So in general, I stick more towards the more balanced play styles. Very rarely do I dabble in offense or hyper offense, but every now and again I get an it that just can't be scratched without playing a little bit of adrenaline pumping offense. Sustainability and reliability as switch ins be damned, I decided to kiss my ELO goodbye to play some of the high risk-high reward play style. Considering all things as they are, my favorite part about pokemon is the teambuilding process so I had a lot of fun building this team. It began as a bit of a meme (often how most of my favorite teams begin) where I was thinking to myself "I really want to build a team with Tapu Koko, but I want to screw over Marowak as hard as I can". This evolved further to build a team of 3 major lure sets: the "Anti-Meta Trifecta". Is this team good? Well, my dear reader, that's for you to decide. However... is this team fun? I certainly can give you an answer to that. And the answer is yes.

Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Brave Bird
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Volt Switch

So here's the very first pokemon. Tapu Koko has been a pokemon on my "to make a team with" list for ages now, ever since it was first leaked. As mentioned, I wanted this set to lure Marowak so I passed by thunderbolt for hidden power ground. HP ground was chosen because in addition to hitting Marowak, it also hits Magnezone and slightly less relevant but it hits heatran as well.

252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Hidden Power Ground vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Marowak: 166-198 (51.2 - 61.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Hidden Power Ground vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Marowak: 117-138 (36.1 - 42.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Marowak: 86-101 (26.5 - 31.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

As you can see, supper effective hidden power 2hkos offensive Marowak, while also puts SpDef Marowak in range of dying to a combination of dazzling gleam+HP ground, meaning that Marowak can no longer switch into STAB dazzling gleam. Brave bird is fairly self explanatory but is for Amoongus, Venusaur and Tapu Bulu, or rather for grass types in general. Volt switch is of course the electric STAB of choice to keep as much momentum on my side of the field as possible, which is always important for any form of offensive team.

Dugtrio (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge

Choice banded Dugtrio is the second part of my "Lure Core" as it were. The idea of the team was to make it a fun way to get surprise factor kills, which are always so satisfying. So the way the set works is you pursuit trap Marowak and Aegislash. Aegislash is a little bit harder to actually pull off because of kings shield, but like what if I go for rocks on your kings shield? Then what champ, then what? So like, in an ideal world they just switch.

252 Atk Choice Band Dugtrio Pursuit vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Aegislash-Blade: 374-442 (115.4 - 136.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Dugtrio Aerial Ace vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Buzzwole: 248-292 (59.3 - 69.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Metagross-Mega: 288-338 (95.6 - 112.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Dugtrio Pursuit vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Marowak: 202-238 (62.3 - 73.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (which means it can't switch into Koko anymore)
252 Atk Choice Band Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 100 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 378-446 (103.2 - 121.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Dugtrio Aerial Ace vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Tapu Bulu: 146-172 (42.4 - 50%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 162-192 (53.2 - 63.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (scald doesn't kill)

Not many of these calcs are really too relevant to show, but I thought I'd include them either way. Aerial ace is pretty specific for Buzzwhole, Heracross, and Tapu Bulu after its taken wood hammer recoil.

Scizor (M) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Atk / 16 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Swords Dance
- Roost

Mega Scizor seems to have a way of finding itself on almost all my SUMO teams. I feel like it's really just pretty much the best mega to have. U-turn plus Dugtrio is my way of dealing with Magnezone as I can effectively trap and eliminate it. Swords dance seemed like the best set to run for the team as it gave my team setup potential that the team was lacking. As always, Scizor provides an answer to stuff like Kartana, Tapu Bulu and a check to Tapu Lele.

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split

Physically defensive rotom begins to form a volt-turn core with Tapu Koko and Scizor. It gives me a decent check to the likes of Tapu Fini, Metagross, Greninja, sand rush Excadrill, Landorus and Pinsir. Will-o-Wisp was the status move chosen as the niche versatility that toxic or thunder wave provide wasn't necessarily needed.

Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog

Thus far, I wanted a little bit more speed to round things off, as well as a hazard remover. After some consideration, I picked up life orb Latias which completed a dragon-fairy-steel core with Scizor and Tapu Koko. Hidden power fire was necessary for hitting Scizor and Ferrothorn.

Heatran (M) @ Grassium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Magma Storm
- Solar Beam
- Earth Power

And finally, the last cog of the Trifecta Machine: Grassium Z, modest Heatran. Without a better option as hazard setter (I hate using sash+rocks dugtrio. It's like, a bad version of a suicide lead and rarely ever actually accomplishes the 2 roles that it's been given: hazard setter and trapper) my first moveslot was taken up by the ever necessary stealth rocks. After that, magma storm was chosen as my nuke to spam, with earth power for coverage on ttar and other heatrans. But to round off the set, solar beam with Grassium serves as a really fun lure to things like Tapu Fini, mega Gyarados, and Rotom.


And that's the team. It's not the best team, and I don't have any replays to add just yet. But overall I've really been enjoying this team and wanted to get people's thought on it. As long as you don't recommend sash Dugtrio.

 

[Uberkong]

Hey Dazzling Gleamstar your team is pretty cool, but I have to say that in the Pokebank OU metagame you might appreciate more speed investment on Heatran, since one of Heatran's best qualities is the ability to outpace the base 70 speed tier. Running a timid max speed heatran would allow you to avoid a superpower KO from max speed Scizor, which could sweep your team if it finds the opportunity to swords dance on a -2 SpAtk Latias. Additionally, being able to hit rotom hard doesn't mean much when you are tanking a hydro pump before you can attack, making you much more easily worn down by hazards and revenge killed. Speed investment isn't entirely necessary, however I sometimes find that the added bulk of mid-speed tier pokemon like heatran doesn't mean much when you end up having to tank more hits due to a lack of speed investment. I think that with the generally low speed of most alolan pokemon, we simply might have to wait to see how much speed is worth investing in most mons.

Also, I really like choice banded Dugtrio, as it seems like a solid way to handle Toxapex, which appears to be a hurdle for many offensive teams this generation.

 

[Dazzling Gleamstar]

Hey Dazzling Gleamstar your team is pretty cool, but I have to say that in the Pokebank OU metagame you might appreciate more speed investment on Heatran, since one of Heatran's best qualities is the ability to outpace the base 70 speed tier. Running a timid max speed heatran would allow you to avoid a superpower KO from max speed Scizor, which could sweep your team if it finds the opportunity to swords dance on a -2 SpAtk Latias. Additionally, being able to hit rotom hard doesn't mean much when you are tanking a hydro pump before you can attack, making you much more easily worn down by hazards and revenge killed. Speed investment isn't entirely necessary, however I sometimes find that the added bulk of mid-speed tier pokemon like heatran doesn't mean much when you end up having to tank more hits due to a lack of speed investment. I think that with the generally low speed of most alolan pokemon, we simply might have to wait to see how much speed is worth investing in most mons.

Also, I really like choice banded Dugtrio, as it seems like a solid way to handle Toxapex, which appears to be a hurdle for many offensive teams this generation.

Hey thanks for the reply, I like the idea of speed a lot thanks for the idea.