SM OU Trap Offense In Sun and Moon Overused

[Copacetiik]

Hello Everyone. I have been a lurker on Smogon for a long time but decided to post this RMT not only to try and maximize the potential of a team I'm working on, but also improve my overall ability by interacting with high leveled competitive players on this site. Thanks for checking out this team!

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Dance
- Roost

Charizard X is the mega selection and physical sweeper of the team. This set has been pretty much the standard since the Charizardite was released. I like Roost over coverage like Earthquake because the team is excellent at trapping and eliminating threats to Charizard. You'll see more on that later. Charizard is effective at sweeping through many common threats after one boost like Tapu Koko, Tapu Bulu, Zygarde, Celesteela ect.

Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch
- Stealth Rock
- Reversal

Dugtrio is a pokemon whose niche has grown in the last couple games. Now it is as popular as ever, having multiple popular trap targets in the meta. The two most obvious traps are Heatran and Toxapex, both major walls for Charizard, but it's not hard to find other uses for trio. The focus sash set allows it to trap and win against Tapu Koko lacking U-turn. It can trap and revenge against strong offensive threats like Bisharp, Mawile, and Excadrill. The magnezone win is a nice bonus. It can also check marowak which threatens this team. The focus sash set allows me some chances to set up stealth rock which aids the sweepers. While the primary task of Dugtrio is to wall counters to the sweepers, it has a lot of utility as a revenge killer and suicide setup.

Decidueye @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Defog
- Leaf Blade
- Spirit Shackle
- Roost

This is where things get a little uncommon. What started as an experiment turned into a major cog for the team. Decidueye carries many roles but most notably it is defog support for an offensive core that couldn't function without it. Decidueye resists stealth rock, has a decent typing and reliable recovery to go with it's surprisingly good special bulk. Along with being a quality fogger decidueye acts as a sort of second trapper and stall breaker for the team. Spirit shackle allows Decidueye to trap and win against bulky grass pokes trying to switch in like ferrothorn and Tangrowth. It also wins against bulky waters that the sweepers on the team would have trouble with like Tapu Fini or Suicune and breaks up various stall pokes with the threat of trapping. It's effective against popular rain teams in this meta.

Tapu Koko @ Magnet
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- U-turn
- Nature's Madness

Tapu Koko is the team point guard that provides movement for the traps and sweepers to get around and give me the matchups I want. It's arguably the best pivot in the game right now and for good reason. Having both switching moves keeps me out of danger if an opponent has a marowak or a dugtrio. Natures madness lets me tack on great damage against other pokemon trying to freeze my motion like Landorus or Zygard. With Koko, I get a potent special attacker against water types and a fast threat against frail enemies trying to be aggressive against my bulkier team. Koko can pivot away from pokemon trying to wall it like Ferrothorn or garchomp and create favorable matchups all day long. It can also open up sweep opportunities late game for the sweepers.

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam

Greninja is a wall breaker that takes care of a lot of threats to the team. Having ice beam gives me a check to the dangerous ground types in the meta. These checks open up opportunity for Greninja to unload powerful attacks and chip away at the opposition and put the sweepers in position. Bulky foes like Volcarona, Tyranitar and the Tapu's are threatened by Greninja, and fire types that would otherwise be dangerous to the sweepers become a lot more managable.

Celesteela @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Autotomize
- Air Slash
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon

The final member of the team is Celesteela, the special sweeper that works alongside Charizard. I love this set because people often expect the defensive variant which creates openings. This set is pretty common, with air slash being the primary weapon and flash cannon and fire blast making up for coverage. By the time Celesteela enters the fray, Electric types have been removed by dugtrio. Fire types are weakened by Greninja or trapped and knocked out by Dugtrio. Bulkier waters were eliminated by Decidueye, and Celesteela can clean up the mess.

Thanks for reading :)
Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X Ability: Tough Claws EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Adamant Nature - Dragon Claw - Flare Blitz - Dragon Dance - Roost

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X Ability: Tough Claws EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Adamant Nature - Dragon Claw - Flare Blitz - Dragon Dance - Roost

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X Ability: Tough Claws EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Adamant Nature - Dragon Claw - Flare Blitz - Dragon Dance - Roost

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X Ability: Tough Claws EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Adamant Nature - Dragon Claw - Flare Blitz - Dragon Dance - Roost

 

[AriaoftheStars]

I thought this was an interesting concept so I decided to try it. I must say - I really love this team! You've done a fantastic job, it worked even better than I expected!

One thing I've noticed, however, is that status really hurts this team. Charizard really doesn't like being poisoned, and it makes me wish we had a heal bell somewhere, but I'm not sure where we'd be able to fit it.

I find myself using Decidueye the most because of the obscene amounts of Defogging, and he's turned out to be surprisingly reliable! On the other hand, opposing Greninja seem to be a threat. I try to Thunderbolt them with Koko, but they see it coming and start using me as Spikes Fodder - and then spam Gunk Shot/Ice Beam to scare me away from switching to Decidueye. Luckily Celesteela seems to help with that, but it doesn't seem to like Ice Beams much either...

Really though, fantastic job!

 

[Copacetiik]

Thank you!

At this point I am heavily considering making gren scarf in order to better counter rain and have a better revenge killer for things like the fairies or magaerna.