Hi! I'm a midladder player (peaked at 1524, hover around mid-high 1400's) and was wondering about ways to improve this team. I've been workshopping it for a month or 2 now and it's come quite a long way from where it started. Wanted help patching a few holes in the team. Any bit of advice is appreciated.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 108 Def / 152 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
Standard defensive Lando. Very good physically defensive pivot, great lead, Intimidate is the greatest support ability of all time, decent bulk when invested, and pretty decent offensively even without investment. SR is there because it's required on every team and Lando is a great user of the move, Earthquake is a very strong stab option, HP Ice preys on the plethora of 4x ice weak mons in the tier (Garchomp, other Lando, and most importantly Gliscor) and lets me scout out what set those mons might be running (hint hint: if they take 70%+, they might not be running a ton of HP investment). U-turn is an incredible pivoting tool that does surprisingly ok damage due to Lando's attack. Takes a lot from SE special attacks but Tapu Fini eats those for breakfast.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Toxic
The mon I struggle with the most. The rest of my team contributes a lot on a game-to-game basis, but I've struggled to find a super consistent performer for this last slot. I wanted a second rocks setter so that 1. I have more opportunities to get up rocks and 2. Lando dying doesn't massively cripple my team, and right now the mon I've chosen for that role is Heatran. I chose the specially defensive variant because Gyarados is already my dedicated Z move abuser and I find offensive heatran incredibly lacking without z moves, plus it never hurts to have more defensive pivots. Stealth Rock is there for reasons listed above, Magma Storm is there because trapping+chip on a move that has good damage output is crazy (and Heatran is bulky enough that missing all the time isn't the end of the world), Earth Power is there because it consistently hits the opponent, which is crazy useful and it beats Pex and opposing Tran. Toxic is there because it cripples a lot of pokemon and I don't have any other status-inflicting moves on the team, which is a big problem in certain matchups. However, getting destroyed by the numerous fighting, water, and ground types moves in the tier really sucks, and it needs leftovers so no air balloon.
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 44 SpD / 200 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Moonblast
- Surf
- Taunt
Pretty standard Fini. It's got very good special defense, which allows it to switch into a lot of special attackers in the tier. Defog is there because it's required on every team and Fini is a great user of the move (man, I'm starting to think these pebbles are actually pretty important). Moonblast is broken (seriously, why the hell is Ghost stuck with sball, Steel with flash cannon, Rock with power gem, but fucking fairy is just struggling too much offensively to be stuck with dazzling gleam?) and doesn't really require much explanation. I chose surf over scald because the power difference is extremely noticeable and scald can only burn either flying/levitate mons or it has to wait 5 turns. I used scald for the longest time but it just isn't worth it. Taunt is there to prevent setup sweepers from getting too out-of-control (lot easier to deal with +1 volc than +3) and shut down defensive and support mons. Really vulnerable to knock off because it can't heal, and it usually ends up dying because it's my best answer to a lot of threats. For some reason relying on one mon to check half of the opponent's team doesn't usually end well. Weird.
Victini @ Choice Band
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- Brick Break
- U-turn
V-Create gives me enough dopamine to make up for my complete lack of meaningful human connections.
Apart from turning ShowDex into cookie clicker, victini has bolt strike to deal with water types such as pex and slowbro that aren't 2hko'd by V create (because a lot of resists are), brick break to deal with heatran (bolt strike only 2hkos offensive heatran which is about as rare as a queer Chili Peppers fan), and u-turn to pivot. It also has a pretty interesting defensive profile. 328 speed, 100/100/100 bulk and psychic/fire typing means it can come in some notable threats (Lele, Alakazam (although you can't switch in if rocks are up/it has sball), choice-locked kartana, and a few others that elude me at the moment) and either threaten them out or straight up remove them. the cool thing about v-create is that nothing takes it well unless they have regenerator, flash fire, or a 4x resist, so you can wear down most switch ins just by repeatedly clicking the move (especially w/ rocks up). however, it really hates the prevalence of ground, dark, and water moves in the tier, as it's bulk, while impressive considering its power, isn't enough to take more than one or two SE attacks. Shout out to knock off for fucking crippling this thing, V create without choice band just leaves me wondering why I didn't just run roost+3 attacks zard x instead. Still an absolutely incredible wallbreaker, really underrated in my opinion.
Latios (M) @ Latiosite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 48 Atk / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Psychic
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Roost
Alakazam-M but it can beat steel types (having to land focus blast means alakazam will lose to steel types a lot of the time) and it won't automatically die to any physical attack. That's pretty much it. 48 Attack EVs significantly improve odds of OHKOing Tran and 2HKOing AV Mag, while not noticeably weaking Psychic or Ice Beam. Psychic is disgustingly powerful STAB, and Ice is probably the single best coverage type in the entire tier. Debating running hasty on this thing, but I feel like its a bad idea. P.S. Don't run Draco on this thing. It's as awful as it is tempting.
Gyarados @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Moxie
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Bounce
My wincon. Gyarados is, in my opinion, the most consistent dragon dancer in the tier. Zard X has crippling 4MSS, Mega TTar has to rely on Stone Edge, Ice Punch, and Fire Punch, which are all atrocious moves, and Gyara-M has the same issue as Zard X but without the mind-shattering power of flare blitz. But Gyara has everything it needs; Flyinium Z allows it to blow past a lot of mons (and Bounce is surprisingly good outside even after using your z move), Waterfall to destroy the variety of ground and fire types in the tier (crucially, it can kill defensive lando with a little chip which allows it to handle the biggest threat to most ddancers), and earthquake is the perfect coverage to round things off, destroying the steel types that find themselves on damn near every team in the tier. Moxie is the cherry on top, rectifying Gyara's relatively unimpressive attack stat (god USM OU is fucking crazy) and allowing it to punish poor switches extremely hard. Only real issues this thing has are SR weakness, inability to take advantage of terrain (misty and grassy in particular would be really helpful), and difficulty picking up kills before +3 or so (at which point it can stop worrying about its attack stat and low bp moves). Still, it is an incredibly consistent game-to-game threat. Even it matches where it can't win the game, it can still setup midgame and punch massive holes for Victini and Latios to take advantage of. EVs are like this because the only mon that's close to relevant that max speed lets you beat is dragonite, but the bulk doesn't really accomplish anything specific other than the desperate hope I'll take 4-5% less from a lethal attack then I otherwise would.
Now, you may or may not have noticed that every single pokemon on my team can hit pex super effectively. This is because regenerator, in my opinion, is extremely uncompetitive and rewards skillless play (because why have to think about switching when you know you'll be enormously rewarded for it every single time?), so I can't simply wear it down over time. However, the ability to beat pex unfortunately doesn't cover this teams biggest weakness: It is cleanly 6-0d by stall. very few of my mons threaten enough damage against their respective checks to pressure them, and it doesn't help that half of my team are significantly less powerful defensive supports. taunt is my only way of stopping these mons from making progress, and that makes my team incredibly reliant on fini and misty terrain to prevent stall from walking all over me. victini is a potent wallbreaker but it can't kill a whole team. latios, while strong, isn't doing nearly enough damage to break down these teams. Pex still puts in work against my team on these stall teams because unless I assume it's coming in every single time I attack, I won't do enough damage to stop it from ignoring it completely with regenerator+recover. any help beating these teams would be enormous. I'm considering switching out Gyara for MGyara even tho it uses my mega slot and is overall worse simply for its ability to beat stall. I'm open to massively changing the team, but I'd need a damn good reason to swap Lando, Victini, or Fini. Thanks in advance for any help.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 108 Def / 152 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
Standard defensive Lando. Very good physically defensive pivot, great lead, Intimidate is the greatest support ability of all time, decent bulk when invested, and pretty decent offensively even without investment. SR is there because it's required on every team and Lando is a great user of the move, Earthquake is a very strong stab option, HP Ice preys on the plethora of 4x ice weak mons in the tier (Garchomp, other Lando, and most importantly Gliscor) and lets me scout out what set those mons might be running (hint hint: if they take 70%+, they might not be running a ton of HP investment). U-turn is an incredible pivoting tool that does surprisingly ok damage due to Lando's attack. Takes a lot from SE special attacks but Tapu Fini eats those for breakfast.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Toxic
The mon I struggle with the most. The rest of my team contributes a lot on a game-to-game basis, but I've struggled to find a super consistent performer for this last slot. I wanted a second rocks setter so that 1. I have more opportunities to get up rocks and 2. Lando dying doesn't massively cripple my team, and right now the mon I've chosen for that role is Heatran. I chose the specially defensive variant because Gyarados is already my dedicated Z move abuser and I find offensive heatran incredibly lacking without z moves, plus it never hurts to have more defensive pivots. Stealth Rock is there for reasons listed above, Magma Storm is there because trapping+chip on a move that has good damage output is crazy (and Heatran is bulky enough that missing all the time isn't the end of the world), Earth Power is there because it consistently hits the opponent, which is crazy useful and it beats Pex and opposing Tran. Toxic is there because it cripples a lot of pokemon and I don't have any other status-inflicting moves on the team, which is a big problem in certain matchups. However, getting destroyed by the numerous fighting, water, and ground types moves in the tier really sucks, and it needs leftovers so no air balloon.
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 44 SpD / 200 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Moonblast
- Surf
- Taunt
Pretty standard Fini. It's got very good special defense, which allows it to switch into a lot of special attackers in the tier. Defog is there because it's required on every team and Fini is a great user of the move (man, I'm starting to think these pebbles are actually pretty important). Moonblast is broken (seriously, why the hell is Ghost stuck with sball, Steel with flash cannon, Rock with power gem, but fucking fairy is just struggling too much offensively to be stuck with dazzling gleam?) and doesn't really require much explanation. I chose surf over scald because the power difference is extremely noticeable and scald can only burn either flying/levitate mons or it has to wait 5 turns. I used scald for the longest time but it just isn't worth it. Taunt is there to prevent setup sweepers from getting too out-of-control (lot easier to deal with +1 volc than +3) and shut down defensive and support mons. Really vulnerable to knock off because it can't heal, and it usually ends up dying because it's my best answer to a lot of threats. For some reason relying on one mon to check half of the opponent's team doesn't usually end well. Weird.
Victini @ Choice Band
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- Brick Break
- U-turn
V-Create gives me enough dopamine to make up for my complete lack of meaningful human connections.
Apart from turning ShowDex into cookie clicker, victini has bolt strike to deal with water types such as pex and slowbro that aren't 2hko'd by V create (because a lot of resists are), brick break to deal with heatran (bolt strike only 2hkos offensive heatran which is about as rare as a queer Chili Peppers fan), and u-turn to pivot. It also has a pretty interesting defensive profile. 328 speed, 100/100/100 bulk and psychic/fire typing means it can come in some notable threats (Lele, Alakazam (although you can't switch in if rocks are up/it has sball), choice-locked kartana, and a few others that elude me at the moment) and either threaten them out or straight up remove them. the cool thing about v-create is that nothing takes it well unless they have regenerator, flash fire, or a 4x resist, so you can wear down most switch ins just by repeatedly clicking the move (especially w/ rocks up). however, it really hates the prevalence of ground, dark, and water moves in the tier, as it's bulk, while impressive considering its power, isn't enough to take more than one or two SE attacks. Shout out to knock off for fucking crippling this thing, V create without choice band just leaves me wondering why I didn't just run roost+3 attacks zard x instead. Still an absolutely incredible wallbreaker, really underrated in my opinion.
Latios (M) @ Latiosite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 48 Atk / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Psychic
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Roost
Alakazam-M but it can beat steel types (having to land focus blast means alakazam will lose to steel types a lot of the time) and it won't automatically die to any physical attack. That's pretty much it. 48 Attack EVs significantly improve odds of OHKOing Tran and 2HKOing AV Mag, while not noticeably weaking Psychic or Ice Beam. Psychic is disgustingly powerful STAB, and Ice is probably the single best coverage type in the entire tier. Debating running hasty on this thing, but I feel like its a bad idea. P.S. Don't run Draco on this thing. It's as awful as it is tempting.
Gyarados @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Moxie
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Bounce
My wincon. Gyarados is, in my opinion, the most consistent dragon dancer in the tier. Zard X has crippling 4MSS, Mega TTar has to rely on Stone Edge, Ice Punch, and Fire Punch, which are all atrocious moves, and Gyara-M has the same issue as Zard X but without the mind-shattering power of flare blitz. But Gyara has everything it needs; Flyinium Z allows it to blow past a lot of mons (and Bounce is surprisingly good outside even after using your z move), Waterfall to destroy the variety of ground and fire types in the tier (crucially, it can kill defensive lando with a little chip which allows it to handle the biggest threat to most ddancers), and earthquake is the perfect coverage to round things off, destroying the steel types that find themselves on damn near every team in the tier. Moxie is the cherry on top, rectifying Gyara's relatively unimpressive attack stat (god USM OU is fucking crazy) and allowing it to punish poor switches extremely hard. Only real issues this thing has are SR weakness, inability to take advantage of terrain (misty and grassy in particular would be really helpful), and difficulty picking up kills before +3 or so (at which point it can stop worrying about its attack stat and low bp moves). Still, it is an incredibly consistent game-to-game threat. Even it matches where it can't win the game, it can still setup midgame and punch massive holes for Victini and Latios to take advantage of. EVs are like this because the only mon that's close to relevant that max speed lets you beat is dragonite, but the bulk doesn't really accomplish anything specific other than the desperate hope I'll take 4-5% less from a lethal attack then I otherwise would.
Now, you may or may not have noticed that every single pokemon on my team can hit pex super effectively. This is because regenerator, in my opinion, is extremely uncompetitive and rewards skillless play (because why have to think about switching when you know you'll be enormously rewarded for it every single time?), so I can't simply wear it down over time. However, the ability to beat pex unfortunately doesn't cover this teams biggest weakness: It is cleanly 6-0d by stall. very few of my mons threaten enough damage against their respective checks to pressure them, and it doesn't help that half of my team are significantly less powerful defensive supports. taunt is my only way of stopping these mons from making progress, and that makes my team incredibly reliant on fini and misty terrain to prevent stall from walking all over me. victini is a potent wallbreaker but it can't kill a whole team. latios, while strong, isn't doing nearly enough damage to break down these teams. Pex still puts in work against my team on these stall teams because unless I assume it's coming in every single time I attack, I won't do enough damage to stop it from ignoring it completely with regenerator+recover. any help beating these teams would be enormous. I'm considering switching out Gyara for MGyara even tho it uses my mega slot and is overall worse simply for its ability to beat stall. I'm open to massively changing the team, but I'd need a damn good reason to swap Lando, Victini, or Fini. Thanks in advance for any help.