As much as I love all kinds of old gen metagames, DPP OU isn't really my main tier. I haven't built as many teams or played as many games in it as I have for something like ADV or ORAS, so I have a lot left to explore. However, I feel a lot more confident when I play it than I do for most tiers; it took me less than 100 games to hit 1500 on the DPP ladder, whereas it took me over 400 for ADV since I first picked that tier up when I was brand-new to Showdown. Even outside of the volatile ladder environment, I feel like DPP is a good "comfort food" tier, especially with offense, and I credit a lot of that to this squad. It's gone through some changes since I initially made it as one of my first-ever teams, but the core idea has always been the same: keep the tempo up, spam Dragon Dance, and show off the strengths one of my favorite mons of all time, Mamoswine. So without further ado, here's an in-depth look at my favorite self-built DPP team: Dragonless DragMag!
The stuff I find interesting will be bolded since that seems to be the standard for some RMTs I've seen.
The 'Mons
PEPSI MAAAAAAN (Azelf) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 228 HP / 216 Def / 64 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- U-turn
- Explosion
Classic bulky Azelf, not a ton to see here. When you want Stealth Rock up ASAP and don't want to fit it elsewhere, use Azelf. Since Gyarados and Scarf Rotom both really appreciate Stealth Rock being kept off if possible, I went for a physically bulky spread to let it survive just about anything from standard SR leads like TTar and Metagross (on top of stuff that HP investment covers like Heatran and Empoleon), letting it use Taunt and get rocks up no matter what. And of course that also guarantees an Explosion in situations where Taunt isn't necessary, like against Machamp. U-turn is the filler move here to break Aero sashes and pivot out of Ghost-types, giving Rotom or TTar an easy entry. The spread has a tiny bit of Speed creep for support Jirachi leads. I also experimented with a Sitrus Berry set with a bit more Speed at one point, but I never really found it useful enough to justify the loss of status protection against Roserade/Breloom/Machamp leads.
Barbatos (Gyarados) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Ice Fang
- Dragon Dance
- Thunder Wave
We all know how much Gyarados holds a lot of HO teams together, and it's no different here; it's notably my only Water resist, which forces techs for stuff like Suicune elsewhere, but it's workable. Lum Berry is definitely my favorite item on Gyara these days, and I built in a way that doesn't pressure me to use the sometimes-necessary evil of Wacan. Setting up in front of Breloom is great, and dodging burns from Gengar/Heatran is amazing too. Twave as the last move is a bit greedy; this team arguably wants Gyara to run Taunt more since it lets you set up on Hippowdon, but I can't resist the urge to snipe a Latias or scarf Rotom with Twave as they switch in, it's pure dopamine. Paraflinch also speaks for itself, it's nearly Jirachi-level bullshit. Lmk what you think about the last move, it's arguably one of the less optimal parts here. Also I absolutely love Gyara's back sprite in this gen, it looks so... muscular.
Gusien (Tyranitar) @ Passho Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Dragon Dance
I used to think Passho Berry was a necessary evil to patch up how bad I am against offensive waters, but now I think it's genuinely one of the best items on DD Tar, and I'm tired of pretending it's not. Turning the tables on Suicune and Offmie is an incredible feeling; even if you're in a situation where you'll die to two Hydro Pumps, just forcing them to hit two in the first place is really huge, and of course Starmie and Empoleon won't even get that second chance since you just blast them apart at +1. It also helps a little bit against Gyarados. EdgeQuake coverage is self-explanatory, I went for Stone Edge over Crunch to hit Gyarados and Zapdos harder and get more neutral damage against most waters. Ice Punch hits Breloom and non-Scarf Flygon, deletes Gliscor, and gives you a more accurate move against stuff like Dnite and weakened defensive Zapdos. The main flaw with this coverage is really just how much it relies on Stone Edge accuracy in some scenarios.
Boop Snoot (Mamoswine) @ Leftovers
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 172 HP / 104 Atk / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Knock Off
- Substitute
Here it is, the real heat of this team (ignore the Rotom-Heat below). I really love Mamoswine, it's got a great design, great typing, and the best priority move in the game. In particular this Mamo is meant to punish Skarmory, Clefable, Scarf Rotom, and ESPECIALLY Scarf Flygon, the bane of offense players everywhere. Knock Off is great for dealing with Shed Shell Skarmory, which, while rare, kinda ruins this team otherwise. It's also a really safe move to click in general if you don't want to commit health to a Sub; a common interaction I've seen is that Swampert or Suicune will switch into Mamo, get its Leftovers removed, and suddenly they have no way to escape the KO range of a +1 Gyara or TTar, respectively. I feel like this set is a great example of why Knock Off isn't just a great tool for defensive teams. BUT WAIT, you ask! How does Mamo deal with Clefable without Superpower? That's where the EVs come in: 172 HP EVs let you make Seismic Toss-proof Subs, forcing Clef to toss again and letting you 2HKO SpDef variants with Earthquake. Being good into BoltBeam coverage also means Mamo trades hits decently with CM sets that run more Defense investment, but you mainly handle those Clefs with TTar or Trick from Rotom. I've heard some people say they don't like these kinds of Mamo sets and prefer more coverage, and tbf I would be open to dropping Sub for Superpower and using a more standard EV spread. I just find this way of annoying Clef really satisfying. Opinions are once again welcome here, that's the whole reason I'm making an RMT. Sidenote: I find it funny that Mamoswine's HGSS sprites make it look a bit derpy from the front, but very angry from the back.
Let Him Cook (Rotom-Heat) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Overheat
- Trick
Rotom is a mon that I really need to explore more. It's way too easy for offense to just slap a Scarf on it without looking at other stuff, but there's a reason for that: Scarf Rotom is amazing. The sheer amount of matchups that spinblocking, Trick, and a fast STAB Tbolt improves speaks for itself. It's also quite hard to drop HP Ice on Scarf Rotom a lot of the time, as the ability to revenge kill dragons and hit Breloom is just that important. However, with the glorious Mamoswine as a partner, Rotom is no longer as necessary in those roles! This briefly led me to experiment with Scarf Gengar as well, but I ultimately stuck with Rotom since the Steel resistance is super valuable for containing Scizor and Metagross, which my Magnezone is only situationally good against. Overheat is also a lot better for hitting them back than HP Fire. Having the room to run Shadow Ball gives you a strong neutral move to hit Swampert with, which is nice, and it smacks Latias a lot harder than HP Ice would. You can even KO Gengar after baiting a Focus Blast from it with TTar or Magnezone! Rotom-Heat is notably a lot easier to Pursuit than Wash or Mow, but both of my DDers set up on a Pursuit-locked TTar easily, and they appreciate the chip damage from rocks and a Tbolt or two.
Matsumoto (Magnezone) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 68 HP / 252 SpA / 188 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Magnet Rise
- Protect
Mag is probably the least spicy thing here aside from Azelf, but that's because it's just great at what it does by default. Magnet Rise is the only set that fits since it can trap Bronzong (Zong walls Crunch/Fpunchless TTar), which is made even better by Protect's ability to block Explosion. Protect with Lefties also makes Mag a better Draco switch-in and lets it trade blows with waters and Jirachi. HP Grass is usually aimed at Swampert and Quag on these teams, but here it's mainly to deal with Hippo and Donphan, which are much bigger headaches for this team overall. Losing HP Fire means Mag can't trap SD Scizor reliably, but Gyara and Rotom help a lot with that issue. Forretress is not a real Pokemon. I cheated on the Speed EVs a bit to grab slightly more bulk, which lets Mag trap Empoleon and switch into Dragon moves more reliably while still outspeeding Modest Emp and offensive SD Scizor. Not having max Speed means it can't trap fast Metagross, but this team hardly feels weak to Metagross regardless.
The Threats
What does the team struggle with?
Bulky Ground-types 
This team really doesn't like Hippowdon. Azelf can beat it easily in the lead matchup, but chances are it just comes back later and cause problems for one of my sweepers. This makes it nearly impossible to deny rocks in the medium- to long-term, which makes Gyarados less flexible. Donphan is similarly annoying, but it can also force Rotom into mindgames with Assurance, which absolutely sucks. Swampert and Quag are slightly more bearable since Mag 1v1s them and Gyara can also slug it out with Pert if it really needs to. Generally my gameplan for these Pokemon is to boom on them with Azelf if possible, or just smash them into submission with continuous offensive pressure.
Rain Teams 
I mentioned that the team is a bit weak to Water-types by default, especially Suicune, but in practice I'm able to contain them with enough offense, Thunderbolts, and a well-used Passho Berry. However, this is not the case with teams that double down on Water-type aggression with Rain Dance and threats like Specs Kingdra. It turns out that building to account for these kinds of teams is pretty difficult without a Latias or a dedicated special wall... who could've seen that coming. The matchup is winnable in my experience, but you need to play TTar to absolute perfection.
Smaller concerns:
Infernape
: This team undoubtedly has enough tools to pivot around your standard MixApe and wear it down with rocks and sand, but things become a bit hairier if Azelf can't deny early Stealth Rock since it means Gyarados can't switch in nearly as comfortably. The loss of Hydro Pump on Rotom also hurts here, since it can't reliably KO Ape unless it's taken two rounds of rocks or a solid chunk of sandstorm chip.SD Scizor
: Magnezone can't trap SD Scizor sets without HP Fire since it'll just get crushed by Superpower, and TTar and Mamoswine are both prime Bullet Punch targets. The plan here is to have Rotom and Gyarados in the right place at the right time, but they're both potentially undermined by Pursuit and hazard pressure, respectively, so it requires careful play.Aerodactyl
: Aero lead is super annoying for any Azelf team since it can get early rocks against you, but Azelf can at least bait a Taunt from them most of the time. The gameplan here is to U-turn out to break Sash as they Taunt and chase them out or KO them with Rotom, which works more often than not because Aero teams are usually frail enough that they can't stand up too well to an Azelf team if rocks go up early.Thanks for reading! I'd love to discuss the team with anyone interested. The Pokepaste is linked below if you want to try it yourself.
https://pokepast.es/6bcf1cce423daab3
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