Gen 6 Atlantis to Interzone

Genesis7

is a Past SCL Champion
RoAPL Champion
Introduction

ORAS OU is a tier that is lauded by few for its balanced nature while still retaining an offensive pace and shirking the pitfalls seen by other "skill-based" tiers such as GSC, where games can often be decided by the attention span of the players. ORAS is truly a game of inches; a game can quickly fall out of your favor if you play impulsively or without care, a tier where a stall player (STALLBABY as they will be referred to as going forward) can see his meticulously crafted team fall apart in a matter of seconds because of a hard-read gone wrong. The ORAS player knows the highs of the High Jump Kick 2HKOing the opponent's weakened Slowbro unexpectedly as the STALLBABY types "ADAMANT??!!??" fervently onto his formula-stained Macbook keyboard. The lows of course come as well; the Technician HP Fire clocking your own Mega Scizor as you go for the safe U-Turn, the SmogTours chat slowly devolving into a wasteland of LMAOOOOOS and -'s. The beauty of ORAS OU is that a game is never truly lost at team matchup, you can regain momentum and you winning position with simple out-maneuvering, and your opponent can as well. Perhaps the criticisms of the tier as an overcentralized metagame that is characterized by a select few threats and their checks is accurate, but these standard teams are truly fun to play and challenging to play against (in a good way!). There is still room for surprise and creativity and opportunity for a newcomer to establish himself as one of the greats. I love ORAS OU, it has provided me with hours upon hours of fun throughout the past few years, and I would like to share what I feel is one of my more user-friendly teams to the masses so you all can enjoy the tier as well.

Building Process

This team was originally built for my SPL debut game vs. Axel10 of the Indie Scooters, he was a surging threat in the Pokemon world at the time, after several successful WCoP campaigns he finally found his way into SPL and had translated his earlier success to the biggest stage. I noted that Axel used a quite varied sample of teams throughout ORAS, shifting from balanced offense, to bulky offense, to hyper offense, and using a large pool of Pokemon in the process. Since Axel was quite new to the Smogon consciousness my team and I were unaware whether he built his own teams or not, this made him fairly tough to prepare for. In the end I decided that he and his team felt that he was better than me and that he would just use a solid team, perhaps not even building a new one for this match but just recycling a tried and true classic. I also mostly decided that he would just play balanced offense or hyper offense vs. me, he seemed most comfortable with it and my style of builds were quite successful at dismantling STALLBABIES and regenerator-tards (despite my being fairly confident in this assumption, I still prepared for all broad matchups and archetypes). Oh yes, it was going to be a good ORAS offense slugfest.

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BandTar + Keldeo was an offensive core I used heavily in WCoP 2016 and in smaller off-site tournaments that gained me a ton of success. Keldeo lacks really any reliable switch-ins due to Scald and its brute strength with Choice Specs. Offense's main switch-in is Latios which gets trapped by Tyranitar. Tyranitar also helps to invalidate many passive teams and STALLBABY squads, this core really just helps to alleviate matchup issues at the offset, and at this point I was not overly known for this core, so I felt confident bringing it again.

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I knew I wanted to use Lum Berry Garchomp since Axel and the Scooters had spammed Rotom-W up to this point, and it typically pivoted easily around my teams. Lum Berry allowed me to at least get Stealth Rocks and a hit off with a Rotom-W matchup, and if my opponent brought Thunder Wave Rotom, I would be sitting pretty.


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Believe it or not I hardly ever used Clefable in tournament play, I preferred Ferrothorns or Mews to occupy the "glue" slot on my teams. With my team already handling Heatran quite well, I figured that it was very safe to go with Clefable here, it also gave me a soft answer to Medicham and allowed me to get some more speed control with Thunder Wave.


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I decided to with Mega-Scizor here, I honestly could not tell you why, perhaps because Axel was such a proponent of Heatran and I felt that it would be punished so easily by the rest of my team. I remember being nervous about the Mega-Metagross matchup as well and Mega-Scizor is easily the best answer for it.


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I added Scarf Latios as the final mon to give me my obligatory Scarfer and hazard control/Keldeo "check".


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At this point I realized I struggled a bit too much with Specs Keldeo and needed a good way to punish it, I actually made this change in Mega about 15 minutes before game time because my original build just was not performing at all in tests and Scizor seemed to be the causal factor. I quickly won my last couple test games before the scheduled time and decided to stick with my Mega-Metagross, even if certain matchups would suffer in the process.


Detailed Analysis

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Tyranitar@ Choice Band | Sand Stream
Adamant Nature | 44 HP/252 ATK/4 SPDEF/208 SPEED
Crunch | Stone Edge | Pursuit | Superpower


Fairly standard BandTar moveset, I prefer Superpower over Earthquake because it just has better coverage in my opinion with its ability to hit Ferrothorn for super-effective damage whilst retaining a reliable way to hit Heatran and predicted switch-ins. The speed outsped a common bulky Mega-Scizor spread I had been seeing floating around while still being able to live 2 Life Orb Draco Meteors from Latios. BandTar's relevance in ORAS OU cannot be understated; its terrific natural bulk allows it to play several roles depending on the matchup you are faced with. Perhaps you want to preserve its HP in order to reliably trap Latios, maybe you want to use it as a pivot into common rockers lie Heatran and Clefable and set up a tactical loop switch, perhaps you use it as a way to chip passive Pokemon like Slowbro, Heatran. Amoonguss, Zapdos, and more by Pursuit trapping them and punishing their Defog/hazards/switch-in to your other potent attackers. Tyranitar is best equated to a Swiss Army knife; it always comes in handy every match and it carries an endless array of uses.

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Keldeo @ Choice Specs | Justified
Timid Nature | 252 SPA/4 SPD/252 SPEED
Scald | Secret Sword | Hydro Pump | Hidden Power Ice

Tyranitar and Keldeo will always be the most fearsome duo in my eyes, they both threaten and remove each other's checks and threats and blast holes for the remaining team members. I chose Hidden Power Ice as my final move for this team because my matchup against Tangrowth could be a bit better and at this point in time Mega-Venusaur was nearly completely absent from the metagame, meaning that Hidden Power Flying just missed out on the additional Latios coverage that Hidden Power Ice offers. Keldeo functions as a nuke on this team as it always does, but also gives me a much needed check to Mega-Scizor, who would otherwise only be handled by a +2 Garchomp or getting caught by my Hidden Power Fire Latios. Keldeo is a Pokemon I almost never leave home without, it is not a Pokemon that is an exploitable teambuilding trend as the metagame just really lacks strong answers to it. Even fairly solid answers on the surface like Amoonguss and Slowbro can easily be 2HKOed by potential 4th slots in Keldeo's repretoire, and of course nothing appreciates switching into a potential Specs Focus Blast. The recent talks in the Pokerealm posit Keldeo as a potential suspect, and truthfully this worries me. A strong tier is strong as a sum, not because of its parts. We can lament the Keldeo matchup until the end of time but at the end of the day I really truly have fun with this tier and do not get bored of it, and I think other ORAS-aficionados feel the same way. This Pokemon is something that must always be prepared for, but it lacks the true perfect storm that warrants a Pokemon's ban. Pokemon like Keldeo make ORAS great, and it is tough to envision the tier without it, so let us stop trying to fix what is not broken! If the tier is too offensive for you then you may just be a STALLBABY!

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Metagross @ Metagrossite | Clear Body
Jolly Nature | 252 ATK/4 SPD/ 252 SPEED
Meteor Mash | Ice Punch | Thunder Punch | Hammer Arm

Here is yet another Pokemon that has been brought up as a potential suspect and has seen itself being eliminated from SM OU already. Thunder Punch is great for Skarmory and Slowbro who both can be troublesome to break for the team if certain members are removed early, potential moves like Zen Headbutt felt superfluous since defensive builds were already so enormously threatened by my other members. BoltBeam coverage just felt to be the most suitable option here since more creative options just did not serve a real purpose. Metagross can very easily clean up once defensive glues are removed by the likes of Keldeo, Tyranitar, and Garchomp, while providing a very nice answer to Clefable, who would otherwise be quite dangerous late-game. Hammer Arm hits Ferrothorn who this team likes to be whittled down as no singular move OHKOes it, save for a high roll Secret Sword from Keldeo. In many of the games I have played with these team Metagross has served its purpose very well as a late-game cleaner, which is easy to keep it as when the team is relatively unfazed by Dragon types and the like, it really only has to come in on Clefable, who in itself only gets free turns vs. Latios.

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Garchomp @ Lum Berry | Rough Skin
Jolly Nature | 252 ATK/4 SPD/ 252 SPEED
Stealth Rocks | Swords Dance | Earthquake | Outrage

I have already explained that I wanted to use this Garchomp because of the prevalence of the Scooters' Rotom-W use, and really in essence all this mon functions as on paper is a suicide lead, without the objective requirement of being led with and being thrown away. If that makes any sense. Basically, the opponent's rocker will never be able to OHKO Garchomp, so you are getting guaranteed Rocks every game with a team that really punishes hazard removal. The beauty of this set is that if the opponent's rocker happens to be a Landorus or Clefable and decides to swap in on your telegraphed Stealth Rocks, you gain instant momentum when they anticipate you to switch out and you Swords Dance. Garchomp's job has already been done, it has set up Stealth Rocks, Tyranitar can punish your opponent trying to get rid of them later, the power of Garchomp, as compared to other more passive rocks, allows you to instantly punish the vacuum-safe play of your opponent setting up his Stealth Rocks in turn. Lum Berry also allows Garchomp to set up Stealth Rocks and then immediately pressure status Pokemon that would like to switch in; like Rotom-W or Mew. A versatile Pokemon on a team that cannot really afford to lose momentum through a passive rocker, and can't afford to be set up on while attempting to absorb a hit or set up hazards.

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Latios Choice Scarf | Levitate
Timid Nature | 252 SPA/252 SPD/252 SPEED
Draco Meteor/Surf/Hidden Power Fire/Defog

This choice really just arose from the need for hazard removal and an emergency check to Mega-Scizor and Keldeo. Hidden Power Fire fits the role of checking the former, and Surf allows Latios to punish trapping Tyranitars a bit more and give a bit more security when you just need to reliably clean up at the endgame. Psyshock or Psychic may be better suited here to handle Amoonguss and Mega-Venusaur a bit better however. Not much to say about this guy, just a bit of a nice jack-of-all trades and a surprising Scarfer on a team that could have so many different potential choices.

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Clefable @ Leftovers | Magic Guard
Calm Nature | 252 HP/172 DEF/84 SPD
Calm Mind | Moonblast | Softboiled | Thunder Wave

Everyone has a Clefable horror story, where the thing just did the impossible and managed to manhandle your team when it seemed all but over. Clefable is the ultimate glue, status absorber, and slow sweeper, and also functions as a bit of speed control and the primary Fighting resist for this team. Clefable fits that bill of just being able to deal enough damage and have just the right movepool to not be dead weight on an offensive team like this. Clefable manages to get reliable chip damage on relevant defensive annoyances to allow the rest of the team to thrive and at least gives this team some semblance of a Mega-Medicham switch-in, even if that might be a bit of a stretch. Clefable just does what it always does on this team, it just works.

Afterword

This team saw the debut of one of my playstyle theories, the Primacy Theory. This theory recognizes the bias of certain players to not use the timer to their advantage, or to ignore its impact on the game altogether until they are forced to deal with it. Builds like the one I used here are prepared with certain planned leading turn scenarios in mind, this allows me to speed up my gameplay early on; gaining a psychological advantage against my opponent while also causing his timer to run down. Through playing with this team so often, I gained a sort of "script" for how most matchups will play out, at least the predictable early game. This team is so functional in this regard because opponents will be hard pressed to gain momentum early on against this team, through aggressive play you may never give it up until you start to chip away at your opponent's team and they are forced to start revenge killing you. Of course, later portions of the game have to be given considerable thought and planning, so you can't rely on this forever, but the early advantage you gain from lowering your opponent's timer not only forces them to think under pressure, but gives you the ability to sit back and plan your long-term gameplan out. This seems abstract on its face, but it is truly useful, being cognizant of your opponent's headspace, not only during the game, but in all areas of preparation and play, is paramount to ensuring a greater chance of success! Also, a quick shoutout to dream light Finchinator Ciele and jacob who helped me test and tweak this team during SPL, and also to Nedor who I adapted portions of the RMT format from.

Threatlist
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Has enough speed to decimate your team with a Specs set, the Scarf set is not powerful enough to punch through the team. Try to play around it and anticipate when your opponent wants to grab momentum and swap into it, otherwise you may find yourself battered and bruised fairly quickly.


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Keep Keldeo healthy and if you do manage to lose it, do not let it get a Swords Dance, as you will need Latios to be out of Bullet Punch range. Your opponent will instinctively keep it in the back until Keldeo is gone, you have enough answers to things you may be tempted to switch Keldeo into, so two can play at that game.

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It will find a tough time mega-evolving unless it is in a revenge kill position. Most opponents will attempt to swap it in on an anticipate Clefable Softboiled, if it is telegraphed, just go for a Thunder Wave and remove its utility then and there. Otherwise just try and keep it un-mega as long as possible.


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Cannot come in on any member unless in a revenge killer role, so just know when to trap with Tyranitar and be ready to lose it then and there.


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It is easy to bluff a Scarfer against this Pokemon and force it out and it also suffers the same issue as Medicham, luckily a full health Clefable can switch in reliably.


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Not super common anymore but it will be forced into an awkward 50/50 on its Protect turn, so try and play around that and swap around with Metagross otherwise.


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Does not have an opportunity really at all to get to +2 unless you are locked into a move, so just make sure you are not put into that situation.


Replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-300745
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-ou-272383
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-ou-271110
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-ou-249883


Importable

Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 208 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Superpower
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Stone Edge

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

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Ice Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Hammer Arm

Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage

Latios @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled
 

Attachments

nice team man. meta + keld is awesome because scizor being forced to roost is free keld and we know how nasty that is, especially with cbtar lurking. ttar helping pick off slowbro for meta is great too. I'd think about focus blast keldeo though because you said hpice is for tang but fb crushes it and gastrodon looks like it could be a real douche. in general it's disgustingly strong, extra push could be great for scizor and I've had some scenarios where lando/clef try to switch in because they resist the fighting move but get creamed anyway. I'd also consider healing wish scarf latias because metagross often gets played around with chip damage and while it does a huge chunk in the process it's just nearly unfair to have it come back later at full health to finish the job with ease. means you can be a little more reckless about switching it in as well. it can help keep keldeo alive too for help against weav/bish/sciz trying to gang up on it. I generally don't think surf is too great on that set anyway so you won't miss much, and I've tried hpfire scarf lati before but it just doesn't work so I'd go with draco/psyshock/hw/defog. lastly, worth considering fire punch tar and/or flamethrower clefable to assist against scizor (potentially bold, also helps against medicham, lop and weav). ferro can be a prick too so that helps. twave is nice but I don't see it as too necessary. again, good stuff, oras is great
 

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