HARIYAMA'S
Heroes
Heroes
Introduction
I realized I hadn’t made an RMT in a while, so here goes. After
Teambuilding Process
Hariyama is the mon I started with. Knock Off is so strong, plus Whirlwind and Thick Fat make it a great defensive Pokemon.
Starmie is great parter for Hariyama, resisting Psychic and adding spin.
Ttar is Ttar. Sand, as well as Pursuit to get rid of Ghosts to ensure Starmie gets a spin off.
It was really here where I figured out the playstyle: Spikeless Balance. Hariyama is so good into Skarm & Friends/the Big 5 that we can run this style of team and not get steamrolled by it. Metagross is our steel, rock resist, and adds Explosion to destroy walls.
I had a couple of mons capable of doing damage, but no big sweeper to take advantage of the progress Hariyama and the others make. So, I added CB Mence. Its damage output is ridiculous, plus Spike-immune and Intimidate.
The team really didn't have a good cleric or tank, so Wish Bliss was an easy pick. It can WishPass to Hariyama or Salamence, or whoever else needs it most.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen3ou-1945267454-ekw74s7u9nyautp9xoxpxyczkdsix6jpw
The Team
One Of My Lies (Hariyama) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat / Guts
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Impish Nature
- Brick Break
- Knock Off
- Whirlwind
- Hidden Power [Bug]
"And does forever have a life to call its own? Don't give me answer, 'cause you only know as much as I know." - Green Day
Hariyama is, of course, the star of the team. This is a supportive Hariyama. Knock Off is its most important move, because nothing likes having its item removed. Removing Lefties, combined with Ttar's Sandstorm, makes any non-Rock, Steel, or Ground type take residual damage at the end of each turn. Brick Break is our main STAB, and HP Bug hits Celebi and even Claydol. Whirlwind helps to check Suicune by switching it out after it Calm Minds. EVs maximize bulk. Thick Fat makes Hariyama even stronger defensively, but there are definitely some situations where I was wishing I had Guts. Both are good, it's up to you.
Pitiful Children (Starmie) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 40 SpA / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Surf
- Psychic
"If you feel their silent tears... turn that knob and switch that gear" - Be More Chill Ensemble
Starmie has one simple job: Rapid Spin. Getting rid of Spikes helps with Blissey's WishPassing so we don't take damage every time we switch. When partnered with Hariyama, Starmie can do one other important thing: It can outstall Skarmory. Normally, Starmie can't. Every time it uses Rapid Spin to remove Spikes, Skarm heals with its Leftovers due to how little damage Rapid Spin does. But if its Lefties get Knocked Off by Hariyama, then that bit of damage sticks. Otherwise, this is just standard Bulky Starmie. Psychic can hit Gengar if it isn't taken out by Ttar's Pursuit. Surf is reliable STAB. Natural Cure means that Skarm can't even Toxic stall this superstar!
DidntStartTheFire (Tyranitar) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]
"We didn't start the fire, but when we're gone, it'll still burn on, and on, and on..." - Billy Joel
The number 1 mon in the format (sorry Skarm). This is my favorite Ttar set. It's bulky, traps things, and sets up Sand. As mentioned earlier, Sand really stings if Hariyama can get some Leftovers Knocked Off. Ttar's main job is to destroy Gengar, but it can also beat Claydol or Starmie in a pinch. Pursuit and Crunch beat the aforementioned 3, while Fire Blast smacks Skarm and others. HP Grass is our last coverage move, to hit Claydol and Starmie again but also for opposing Ttar and Swampert.
I'm Just Ken (Metagross) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Atk / 80 Def
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
"I'm just Ken and I'm enough, and I'm great at doing stuff" - Ryan Gosling
Metagross is our Steel-type and therefore a Rock resist, overall it's just great defensively. It also has strong offensive potential. It's immune to Intimidate from Salamence and can also live a Choice Band Dugtrio EQ. Earthquake is a solid coverage move to hit Magneton that try to trap it, as well as other Steel-types. Rock Slide is an interesting tech here, it is to hit Moltres, Zapdos, and Charizard. Finally, Explosion is to blow up (literally) a wall like Blissey.
Basket Case Demo (Salamence) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Brick Break
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
"They said this has been motionless orbit flight, around each other, intoxicating their minds." -Green Day (Yes, I know there's already a Green Day nickname. But shiny Salamence matches Dookie's cover's color scheme perfectly.)
Choice Band Salamence is this team's sweeper. The sheer power of Choice Band 252 Atk Adamant attacks can break through just about anything. In addition, Intimidate is nice to reduce a bit of damage. HP Flying is our main STAB attack, and Brick Break OHKOs Tyranitar and 2HKOs Blissey. Rock Slide is to hit other Flyers. Earthquake is another spammable move (until you run into a flying-type) that hits steels, Metagross mainly. Salamence is a bit tough to get in as it takes sand damage, but if you can have Blissey WishPass to it or use it to get a revenge kill.
Live Forever (Blissey) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Ice Beam
- Wish
- Soft-Boiled
"Maybe, I don’t really wanna know, how your garden grows, 'cause I just wanna fly." -Oasis
Blissey is the tank and cleric. Salamence can get worn down by sand chip and Hariyama just gets worn down a lot in general, but a well timed Wish from Blissey can turn that all around. Both Bliss and Starmie have Natural Cure as their ability, allowing them to switch around and avoid being statused. Seismic Toss is our main move if we want to deal damage and chip something, and Ice Beam is a secondary move to hit Salamence mostly, but also other Ice-weak mons. Soft-Boiled is a must-use on Blissey for reliable recovery. Evs max Blissey's weak Defense stat and add some Sp. Atk so Ice Beam does more damage.
Ramblings
This team is a bit of a paradox, honestly. It was built around Hariyama, but the other Pokemon don’t support Hariyama. It is the other way around. Starmie, Ttar, Bliss, Metagross, and Salamence are a solid 5 mons with a couple of rougher matchups. Hariyama really fixes these matchups (e.g. checking Suicine) and helps the other mons make progress with Knock Off.
The Songs
One of My Lies by Green Day - Old Green Day song from before they were popular. This one of the best songs I've heard about being a teenager. Good lyrics, guitar, catchy chorus. If you can get past the bad production quality, you'll love this song.
The Pitiful Children from Be More Chill - Be More Chill is overall a pretty "meh" musical, but has a couple of great songs. Pitiful Children is one of these songs. It takes one of the most cliché evil plans and turns it into an awesome, catchy song.
We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel - I’m a history nerd. This song is amazing from a songwriting perspective. I probably couldn’t take any historical events and rhyme them into a song. This song takes events from just 40 years.
I'm Just Ken by Ryan Gosling - We've (hopefully) all heard this one. Some songs are popular just because of the memes and aren’t actually good. This isn’t one of those songs. I'm Just Ken is funny, but also surprisingly well-written and always makes me happy to listen too.
Basket Case - 4-Track Demo by Green Day - Basket Case is a classic. And this is the original demo of it. Surprisingly though, the two songs are very different. They have the exact same melody, but with drastically different lyrics. If you haven't heard Basket Case yet, it's a must-listen, and if you have, enjoy the different lyrics on the demo!
Live Forever by Oasis - I've liked a couple of Oasis songs for a while, but this is a new addition to my favorites. It's just the right amount of optimism you need sometimes. This song really shows how good Oasis is.
Outro
This is one of my favorite teams I've built to date. I've built some teams for other gens as well, and plan on sharing those soon. Next up will be a DPP OU team with some interesting Water-type sweepers, so stay tuned for that. I'll see you next time, but I do have 1 simple request: Make Hariyama OU!
