Project usum teambuilding workshop [closed until further notice]

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Requesting: Calm Mind Mega Alakazam + Specs Tapu Lele


Alakazam-Mega @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Tapu Lele @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt



Description:
Tapu Lele works fantastically to support Mega Alakazam thanks to its Psychic Surge ability, making Mega Alakazam more threatening as a potential breaker, while also preventing it from being revenge killed by priority moves like Water Shuriken or Extreme Speed. Most teams have limited if any Psychic responses and Tapu Lele can easily rip open said responses for Mega Alakazam to clean up late game.

(Movesets subject to change if team prefers others...)
 

Garchomp @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Swords Dance

Or

Garchomp @ Firium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Fang

Description:
Requesting a team with Garchomp. It's getting worse but I'd like to see an ok team with it.

Sets are the standard SD/SR set with Dragonium Z and a SD+Firium Z set that is meant to break through stuff like Celesteela and Tapu Bulu after a boost.
 

Request
Primarina Specs + M-Zard X

Primarina (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 200 HP / 252 SpA / 56 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sparkling Aria / Hydro Pump
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Charizard-Mega-X (M) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance / Earthquake
- Roost


Primarina Specs and Zard X make a great core FW/DF. Primarina eliminate mons like Heatran, Double Dance Substitute Zygarde thanks to Sparkling Aria bypass substitutes, 2HKO always to M-Saur/Pex with Psychic and other things can thread Zard X. Zard X can deal with Tangrowth, Celesteela and other mons threat Primarina.

I really love Primarina and I think is an underrated mon.
 


Request: Nasty Plot Z-Hyper Beam Porygon-Z

Porygon-Z @ Normalium Z
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Beam
- Ice Beam / Shadow Ball
- Tri Attack / Agility
- Nasty Plot


Basically, Nasty Plot when you can. Then, Z-Hyper Beam to kill pretty much anything not Ghost. When that thing dies, you can follow up with a Hyper Beam to most likely kill or severely weaken something else.

Seriously, pretty much all fat walls drop to +2 Z-Hyper Beam (or even +2 Hyper Beam). You dont even need hazards to OHKO except one. And nothing lives +2 Z-Hyper Beam into +2 Hyper Beam. Some calcs for Ferrothorn, Chansey, Celesteela, Toxapex, Clefable

+2 252+ SpA Adaptability Porygon-Z Breakneck Blitz (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 374-440 (106.2 - 125%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ SpA Adaptability Porygon-Z Breakneck Blitz (200 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 622-734 (88.4 - 104.4%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO (For this one, just Nasty Plot again to +4 or set up Stealth Rock first)

+2 252+ SpA Adaptability Porygon-Z Breakneck Blitz (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 156 SpD Celesteela: 419-493 (105.2 - 123.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ SpA Adaptability Porygon-Z Breakneck Blitz (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 552-650 (181.5 - 213.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Adaptability Porygon-Z Breakneck Blitz (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Unaware Clefable: 534-630 (135.5 - 159.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO


- Nasty Plot and Hyper Beam are obvious.
- Shadow Ball or Ice Beam is needed for Ghost. Can kill choiced-locked Blacephalon or Lando-T in a clutch.
- Tri Attack is more useful against slow teams while Agility is more useful against fast teams.

Problems for Porygon-Z include: AV Magearna, faster threats and small number of set-up opportunities.

Please build one team featuring this for me. I'd really appreciate it. I think Veil, or Webs or Trick Room can use this. Thank you
 
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SD Mawile + SD Rocks Chomp

requested by ℓσℓι + Thy lord Mega Sceptile
So with mawile I wanted to pair it with some offensive rocker that checked heatran and put a ton of pressure on landorus t so I used SD rocks dragon z chomp which hasn't been used much lately but its still super good imo. Since i wasnt using landorus and I didnt wanna be super weak to physical attackers and didn't wanna use celesteela I used volt switch phy def zapdos. This checks stuff like lopunny and kartana, as well as tapu bulu. It also gives me defog and with volt switch you lure in ttar and can volt into a breaker of your choice. From there i wanted another steel type since mawile doesn't really check lele and i also wanted something for tapu koko and ash greninja so ferro did all of this + gave me spikes. Thunder wave is for luring volcarona since that mon is always a threat but it also lures zard x which is nice. At this point I didnt really have any form of special pressure and blacephelon looked super annoying so specs greninja with ice beam was added to lure av tapu bulu since it looked annoying. Last mon I added was scarf lando t since this mon just does so much. It provided me a scarfer + a defogger as well as a blanket check to physical attackers and some more volt turn to bring in my breakers.​
 
SD Mawile + SD Rocks Chomp

requested by ℓσℓι + Thy lord Mega Sceptile
So with mawile I wanted to pair it with some offensive rocker that checked heatran and put a ton of pressure on landorus t so I used SD rocks dragon z chomp which hasn't been used much lately but its still super good imo. Since i wasnt using landorus and I didnt wanna be super weak to physical attackers and didn't wanna use celesteela I used volt switch phy def zapdos. This checks stuff like lopunny and kartana, as well as tapu bulu. It also gives me defog and with volt switch you lure in ttar and can volt into a breaker of your choice. From there i wanted another steel type since mawile doesn't really check lele and i also wanted something for tapu koko and ash greninja so ferro did all of this + gave me spikes. Thunder wave is for luring volcarona since that mon is always a threat but it also lures zard x which is nice. At this point I didnt really have any form of special pressure and blacephelon looked super annoying so specs greninja with ice beam was added to lure av tapu bulu since it looked annoying. Last mon I added was scarf lando t since this mon just does so much. It provided me a scarfer + a defogger as well as a blanket check to physical attackers and some more volt turn to bring in my breakers.​
Team seems pretty good thanks.
 

Request: 3 Attack Roost Zard X + Waterium Z Keldeo
Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Roost

Keldeo-Resolute @ Waterium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Calm Mind
- Taunt

Description: I really like this offensive type of core, Zard doing the damage at times but also being able to take hits from some neutral attacks due to its decent natural bulk. It checks bulky grass types Keldeo can't take on by its self like AV Tangrowth or AV Tapu Bulu.
Keldeo’s great typing makes it a strong walbreaker in the tier. Waterium Z provides Keldeo with a strong nuke to get through most bulky walls in the tier. They can both handle each other’s checks and do quite a bit of damage by themselves.
 
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M-Latios + Blacephalon

Latios-Mega @ Latiosite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Earthquake
- Recover

Blacephalon @ Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
- Fire Blast / Mind Blown
- Trick

Gary's explanation on SM ULTRA CORES:
If you've been playing on the ladder, you should really be noticing the common trend of T-tar lure + Blacephalon. People for some reason still like to call Blacephalon bad because of simply being walled by one Pokemon, but fortunately Tyranitar is super easy to wear down. I was using a team ABR passed me which featured Mega Latios with HP Fight + Scarf Blacephalon; Mega Latios being able to often lure in AV T-tar only to be smacked by it. However, the only reason it was HP Fight > EQ was because of Bulu being on the team as well, but while using the team, I found that when I needed to use Earthquake, Grassy Terrain was rarely ever a factor, so I just decided on using Earthquake instead. EQ can 2HKO most of the AV T-tars running around after SR, and even if you happen to get low rolls, if T-tar chooses to stay in and try to Pursuit you, Mega Latios will win 1v1. After T-tar is heavily weakened, T-tar is no longer a reliable switch-in, and it allows your Blacephalon to go to town afterward. Personally I like Scarf with this set, just cause it's a really cool cleaner vs these Naga offenses running around, and can still really mess up AV T-tar balances because most people wont be running a secondary dedicated Blacephalon check on those teams. Specs is also good too just because it runs through balances after T-tar is weakened or killed, and Pex is unfortunately not the best switch-in.

I've seen a lot of other T-tar lures with Blacephalon such as like Tectonic Rage or Hydro Vortex Latios, Steelium Heatran, etc. I just like Mega Latios a lot in this meta because of all the T-tars, AV Magearna, and SpD Heatrans running around, and how easy it is to lure those in with Quake.
 
SD Mawile + SD Rocks Chomp

requested by ℓσℓι + Thy lord Mega Sceptile
So with mawile I wanted to pair it with some offensive rocker that checked heatran and put a ton of pressure on landorus t so I used SD rocks dragon z chomp which hasn't been used much lately but its still super good imo. Since i wasnt using landorus and I didnt wanna be super weak to physical attackers and didn't wanna use celesteela I used volt switch phy def zapdos. This checks stuff like lopunny and kartana, as well as tapu bulu. It also gives me defog and with volt switch you lure in ttar and can volt into a breaker of your choice. From there i wanted another steel type since mawile doesn't really check lele and i also wanted something for tapu koko and ash greninja so ferro did all of this + gave me spikes. Thunder wave is for luring volcarona since that mon is always a threat but it also lures zard x which is nice. At this point I didnt really have any form of special pressure and blacephelon looked super annoying so specs greninja with ice beam was added to lure av tapu bulu since it looked annoying. Last mon I added was scarf lando t since this mon just does so much. It provided me a scarfer + a defogger as well as a blanket check to physical attackers and some more volt turn to bring in my breakers.​
Thanksu. Looks beautiful, can't wait to try it out
 

Finchinator

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M-Latios + Blacephalon

Latios-Mega @ Latiosite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Earthquake
- Recover

Blacephalon @ Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
- Fire Blast / Mind Blown
- Trick

Gary's explanation on SM ULTRA CORES:
If you've been playing on the ladder, you should really be noticing the common trend of T-tar lure + Blacephalon. People for some reason still like to call Blacephalon bad because of simply being walled by one Pokemon, but fortunately Tyranitar is super easy to wear down. I was using a team ABR passed me which featured Mega Latios with HP Fight + Scarf Blacephalon; Mega Latios being able to often lure in AV T-tar only to be smacked by it. However, the only reason it was HP Fight > EQ was because of Bulu being on the team as well, but while using the team, I found that when I needed to use Earthquake, Grassy Terrain was rarely ever a factor, so I just decided on using Earthquake instead. EQ can 2HKO most of the AV T-tars running around after SR, and even if you happen to get low rolls, if T-tar chooses to stay in and try to Pursuit you, Mega Latios will win 1v1. After T-tar is heavily weakened, T-tar is no longer a reliable switch-in, and it allows your Blacephalon to go to town afterward. Personally I like Scarf with this set, just cause it's a really cool cleaner vs these Naga offenses running around, and can still really mess up AV T-tar balances because most people wont be running a secondary dedicated Blacephalon check on those teams. Specs is also good too just because it runs through balances after T-tar is weakened or killed, and Pex is unfortunately not the best switch-in.

I've seen a lot of other T-tar lures with Blacephalon such as like Tectonic Rage or Hydro Vortex Latios, Steelium Heatran, etc. I just like Mega Latios a lot in this meta because of all the T-tars, AV Magearna, and SpD Heatrans running around, and how easy it is to lure those in with Quake.
- click for importable

This team is a relatively standard build with Scarf Blacephalon and Mega Latios, a core that Gary outlines here and you requested. I think that this team is solid and functions quite well. I will just go through the sets and synergy:
  • Blacephalon is the standard Choice Scarf set, but it has Explosion over what could be Will-O-Wisp, Knock Off, or a second Fire move. This lets you assure an OHKO on Volcarona, which you will likely need to revenge kill when facing. In addition, it can function as a nice emergency exit button later on in games when Blacephalon is no longer needed, but it is hard to safely pivot in to Kartana or pre-Ash Greninja while leaving the opponents Pokemon alive.
  • Mega-Latios is there in order to serve as a Tyranitar lure, but also do all of the things Latios generally does. It is a nice special attacker with a practical defensive presence that hits hard and fast. Earthquake on this thing compliments the Blacephalon very well and the additional bulk the mega evolution grants it also makes up for how fragile Blacephalon is sometimes, too.
  • Landorus-Therian is filling the generic Stealth Rock role on this team, but there is a bit more to this set. I have been using this variant of Landorus-T on some teams ever since the middle of Snake and I like it a lot because of the Knock support that it gives in the Celesteela match-up, making it infinitely easier to kill or chip to support Mega Latios and Kartana. It also takes pressure off of Blacephalon as it currently has to lock in to Fire Blast to make progress/force out Celesteela currently, which can potentially lead to getting outpredicted and trapped, giving Heatran a Flash Fire boost, or even letting Toxapex come in to wreck havoc in an ungodly fashion. On top of this, I have added Speed to this Landorus-T in order to outrun Adamant Zygarde, which the team otherwise is vulnerable to defensively, and Heatran, which is especially nice considering it gives another form of support for Blacephalon in case Mega Latios is not enough. I feel U-turn is not necessary here as the team lacks Pursuit and can function on hard-switches. The SAtk is to 2HKO opposing Leftovers Landorus-T with Hidden Power Ice and the SDef is for surviving Mega Manectric HP Ice from full. Before you ask: Yes, all of my Landorus-T spreads are this complex.
  • Next member is standard AV Magearna, which is nice to check things like Tapu Lele, Latios, and even Greninja in the early game (although I do feel this team might be a tad more Greninja vulnerable than I would like it to be and that might be because of the core of Blacephalon + Mega Latios being Greninja food). I am running less speed IVs than normal not only to assure that I underspeed opposing Magearna, but also to outslow Chansey, giving me a clean Volt Switch to whatever I choose. I have ran this spread for a while and I find it to be quite effective in the fat match-up. Additionally, I go with Iron Head to help me with opposing CM + SG Magearna, that otherwise can make quick work of my team.
  • Specs Ash Greninja is a very standard set and a pretty easy addition to the team, giving me a soft, temporary check to opposing Blacephalon, some priority to help on the revenge killing front, and even Spikes, which can be very helpful in the balance or fat match-ups.
  • Finally, SD Kartana with Defog is the last member and sort of a glue Pokemon for this team. It helps a lot against bulkier teams, but it also provides arguably necessary Defog support and a hard hitter to nuke things like Clefable, Landorus-T, etc. I wanted to use Grassium as a 'kill button' in a sense, but also because I knew that my team played in to Knocking Celesteela with Landorus-T, so I was aiming to chip it into range for +2 Sacred earlier on regardless, making one of the biggest Z-Sacred Sword targets taken care of in the team's gameplan (assuming it is executed properly). You could likely use Z-Sacred Sword if you wanted to in order to have a safety net in this sort of match-up, but generally I prefer the nuke on this sort of team with a STAB Z-Leaf Blade, so I went in this direction. A potential OO would be making this Z-Sacred Sword with Knock Off > Swords Dance and then making Landorus-T Protect with Leftovers over Knock Off with Rocky Helmet to give more longevity against things like Zygarde, but I like this variant much better against bulkier teams, so keep that in mind.
 
- click for importable

This team is a relatively standard build with Scarf Blacephalon and Mega Latios, a core that Gary outlines here and you requested. I think that this team is solid and functions quite well. I will just go through the sets and synergy:
  • Blacephalon is the standard Choice Scarf set, but it has Explosion over what could be Will-O-Wisp, Knock Off, or a second Fire move. This lets you assure an OHKO on Volcarona, which you will likely need to revenge kill when facing. In addition, it can function as a nice emergency exit button later on in games when Blacephalon is no longer needed, but it is hard to safely pivot in to Kartana or pre-Ash Greninja while leaving the opponents Pokemon alive.
  • Mega-Latios is there in order to serve as a Tyranitar lure, but also do all of the things Latios generally does. It is a nice special attacker with a practical defensive presence that hits hard and fast. Earthquake on this thing compliments the Blacephalon very well and the additional bulk the mega evolution grants it also makes up for how fragile Blacephalon is sometimes, too.
  • Landorus-Therian is filling the generic Stealth Rock role on this team, but there is a bit more to this set. I have been using this variant of Landorus-T on some teams ever since the middle of Snake and I like it a lot because of the Knock support that it gives in the Celesteela match-up, making it infinitely easier to kill or chip to support Mega Latios and Kartana. It also takes pressure off of Blacephalon as it currently has to lock in to Fire Blast to make progress/force out Celesteela currently, which can potentially lead to getting outpredicted and trapped, giving Heatran a Flash Fire boost, or even letting Toxapex come in to wreck havoc in an ungodly fashion. On top of this, I have added Speed to this Landorus-T in order to outrun Adamant Zygarde, which the team otherwise is vulnerable to defensively, and Heatran, which is especially nice considering it gives another form of support for Blacephalon in case Mega Latios is not enough. I feel U-turn is not necessary here as the team lacks Pursuit and can function on hard-switches. The SAtk is to 2HKO opposing Leftovers Landorus-T with Hidden Power Ice and the SDef is for surviving Mega Manectric HP Ice from full. Before you ask: Yes, all of my Landorus-T spreads are this complex.
  • Next member is standard AV Magearna, which is nice to check things like Tapu Lele, Latios, and even Greninja in the early game (although I do feel this team might be a tad more Greninja vulnerable than I would like it to be and that might be because of the core of Blacephalon + Mega Latios being Greninja food). I am running less speed IVs than normal not only to assure that I underspeed opposing Magearna, but also to outslow Chansey, giving me a clean Volt Switch to whatever I choose. I have ran this spread for a while and I find it to be quite effective in the fat match-up. Additionally, I go with Iron Head to help me with opposing CM + SG Magearna, that otherwise can make quick work of my team.
  • Specs Ash Greninja is a very standard set and a pretty easy addition to the team, giving me a soft, temporary check to opposing Blacephalon, some priority to help on the revenge killing front, and even Spikes, which can be very helpful in the balance or fat match-ups.
  • Finally, SD Kartana with Defog is the last member and sort of a glue Pokemon for this team. It helps a lot against bulkier teams, but it also provides arguably necessary Defog support and a hard hitter to nuke things like Clefable, Landorus-T, etc. I wanted to use Grassium as a 'kill button' in a sense, but also because I knew that my team played in to Knocking Celesteela with Landorus-T, so I was aiming to chip it into range for +2 Sacred earlier on regardless, making one of the biggest Z-Sacred Sword targets taken care of in the team's gameplan (assuming it is executed properly). You could likely use Z-Sacred Sword if you wanted to in order to have a safety net in this sort of match-up, but generally I prefer the nuke on this sort of team with a STAB Z-Leaf Blade, so I went in this direction. A potential OO would be making this Z-Sacred Sword with Knock Off > Swords Dance and then making Landorus-T Protect with Leftovers over Knock Off with Rocky Helmet to give more longevity against things like Zygarde, but I like this variant much better against bulkier teams, so keep that in mind.
The team looks great! Ty :3
 

power

uh-oh, the game in trouble



Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 32 HP / 216 Atk / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Thousand Arrows
- Toxic
- Protect

I had a lot of fun building this one.

SubTect Toxic Zygarde Balance


(Click the Sprites)
Scizor + Mantine + Scarf Lele is a tried and true balance archetype since even OST XIII, and it shows up again here. I added this because I wanted to go in a more balance-y direction, and I liked pairing Mantine with Zygarde because of its ability to check both Greninjas well. Clefable checks All-Out Pummeling Magearna and Special Defensive Scizor helps deal with other variants such as Twinkle Tackle and Double Dance Variants. Attack invested Scizor also really helps the matchup versus hyper offense and bulky offense. It's even strong enough to usually knock out Tapu Koko with +2 Bullet Punch after Stealth Rock. Scarf Magnezone rounds out the squad by trapping stuff like Ferrothorn and Scizor which trouble this variant of Zygarde, as well as trapping SD Kartana who's a huge nuisance to this team. It also checks Mega Pinsir as extra insurance if Tapu Lele goes down. I opted for Calm Mind on Clefable to threaten various Pokemon like Zapdos with set-up and give offense a huge headache, as well as boost up on 3 attacks magearna and the like. It also gives a headache to Toxic + Toxic Spikes Toxapex which Mantine can't safely Defog (Calm Mind Clefable and Magearna are literally the reasons this set is bad, please don't run non-Haze Toxapex). I opted for Haze > Toxic on Mantine to better deal with stuff like Sub + QD Volcarona. Aromatherapy is one of my favorite quirks of this team - it's there as filler on Scarf Lele because Lele really doesnt want anything else on this team, and it's super cool because it lets Zygarde safely Toxic Mew and allows you to play more aggressively around Toxic Heatran with Mantine + Zygarde. Overall, I'm really pleased with how this one turned out - besides a rather nasty weakness to Mega Charizard X, it's been really fun and solid in pretty much every other matchup.​
 
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I had a lot of fun building this one.

SubTect Toxic Zygarde Balance


(Click the Sprites)
Scizor + Mantine + Scarf Lele is a tried and true balance archetype since even OST XIII, and it shows up again here. I added this because I wanted to go in a more balance-y direction, and I liked pairing Mantine with Zygarde because of its ability to check both Greninjas well. Clefable checks All-Out Pummeling Magearna and Special Defensive Scizor helps deal with other variants such as Twinkle Tackle and Double Dance Variants. Attack invested Scizor also really helps the matchup versus hyper offense and bulky offense. It's even strong enough to usually knock out Tapu Koko with +2 Bullet Punch after Stealth Rock. Scarf Magnezone rounds out the squad by trapping stuff like Ferrothorn and Scizor which trouble this variant of Zygarde, as well as trapping SD Kartana who's a huge nuisance to this team. It also checks Mega Pinsir as extra insurance if Tapu Lele goes down. I opted for Calm Mind on Clefable to threaten various Pokemon like Zapdos with set-up and give offense a huge headache, as well as boost up on 3 attacks magearna and the like. It also gives a headache to Toxic + Toxic Spikes Toxapex which Mantine can't safely Defog (Calm Mind Clefable and Magearna are literally the reasons this set is bad, please don't run non-Haze Toxapex). I opted for Haze > Toxic on Mantine to better deal with stuff like Sub + QD Volcarona. Aromatherapy is one of my favorite quirks of this team - it's there as filler on Scarf Lele because Lele really doesnt want anything else on this team, and it's super cool because it lets Zygarde safely Toxic Mew and allows you to play more aggressively around Toxic Heatran with Mantine + Zygarde. Overall, I'm really pleased with how this one turned out - besides a rather nasty weakness to Mega Charizard X, it's been really fun and solid in pretty much every other matchup.​
Thanks, the team looks great and the zone pairing was a great idea since the sub/toxic zygarde set has problems with Ferrothron and scizors.
 
request: band kartana
requested by: KuraiTenshi26

Magnezone @ Electrium Z
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn / Hidden Power [Ice]

Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 56 SpD / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Wood Hammer
- Superpower
- Nature's Madness

Kartana @ Choice Band
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Knock Off
- Sacred Sword

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Iron Head
- Volt Switch
- Explosion / Hidden Power [Fire]

Blacephalon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Explosion
band kartana is a really fun pokemon. before USUM, i built SD kartana + tyranitar, so i wanted to avoid that archetype when building this. a friend of mine had a pretty cool team with band kartana + magnezone early into USUM, so i wanted to go with that for this.

modest z-thunderbolt magnezone gets rid of most steels, allowing kartana to spam leaf blade freely. since i already had two slots taken up by steels that don't provide a lot of defensive utility, i added AV magearna to handle things like tapu lele, greninja (sorta), offensive magearnas, etc. magearna also acts as a slow pivot, which makes it a lot easier to get kartana in. i'm running explosion in the last slot to help with volcarona (an ABR trick), but if you don't think this is necessary, you can run HP fire. next, i added defensive landorus-t because it checks a lot of general stuff and has insane role compression. imsosorrylol was the one who suggested defog + rocks, and to my surprise, it works really well here. i don't personally think you need HP ice, but if you think it is necessary, you can run it over u-turn. with that said, i personally really like having another slow pivot for kartana. to finish off the defensive backbone here, i added AV bulu since it can efficiently check grounds, greninja, and tapu koko. additionally, grassy terrain makes band kartana's leaf blade even more spammable. finally, i needed some form of speed control, so i added scarf blacephalon (as DANN3 suggested). in addition to providing speed control, blacephalon pressures steels and grasses for kartana. i'm running explosion here for volcarona.

pinsir seems annoying for this team. if you have hp ice on landorus-t that can help, and blacephalon handles it offensively if you keep it rather healthy. mega venusaur isalso annoying. blacephalon doesn't kill it, but it can hit w/ fire blast then die, allowing kartana to come in for free and kill, and kartana 2hkos w/ smart strike with prior damage, so they can't really switch in. running aerial ace isn't really necessary since it barely does more than smart strike.

these are just the standard analysis spreads, so adjust accordingly if you prefer different ones. i hope you enjoy the team 8)!

edit:
[23:09] hungoversundaylove: in ur post
[23:09] hungoversundaylove: for clout
[23:09] hungoversundaylove: "peaked 2000"

edit2: in hindsight this loses to scarf blacephalon but it's not coming in on anything so you're good dw it's totally fine.
 
Last edited:
request: band kartana
requested by: KuraiTenshi26

Magnezone @ Electrium Z
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn / Hidden Power [Ice]

Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 56 SpD / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Wood Hammer
- Superpower
- Nature's Madness

Kartana @ Choice Band
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Knock Off
- Sacred Sword

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Iron Head
- Volt Switch
- Explosion / Hidden Power [Fire]

Blacephalon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Explosion
band kartana is a really fun pokemon. before USUM, i built SD kartana + tyranitar, so i wanted to avoid that archetype when building this. a friend of mine had a pretty cool team with band kartana + magnezone early into USUM, so i wanted to go with that for this.

modest z-thunderbolt magnezone gets rid of most steels, allowing kartana to spam leaf blade freely. since i already had two slots taken up by steels that don't provide a lot of defensive utility, i added AV magearna to handle things like tapu lele, greninja (sorta), offensive magearnas, etc. magearna also acts as a slow pivot, which makes it a lot easier to get kartana in. i'm running explosion in the last slot to help with volcarona (an ABR trick), but if you don't think this is necessary, you can run HP fire. next, i added defensive landorus-t because it checks a lot of general stuff and has insane role compression. imsosorrylol was the one who suggested defog + rocks, and to my surprise, it works really well here. i don't personally think you need HP ice, but if you think it is necessary, you can run it over u-turn. with that said, i personally really like having another slow pivot for kartana. to finish off the defensive backbone here, i added AV bulu since it can efficiently check grounds, greninja, and tapu koko. additionally, grassy terrain makes band kartana's leaf blade even more spammable. finally, i needed some form of speed control, so i added scarf blacephalon (as DANN3 suggested). in addition to providing speed control, blacephalon pressures steels and grasses for kartana. i'm running explosion here for volcarona.

pinsir seems annoying for this team. if you have hp ice on landorus-t that can help, and blacephalon handles it offensively if you keep it rather healthy. mega venusaur isalso annoying. blacephalon doesn't kill it, but it can hit w/ fire blast then die, allowing kartana to come in for free and kill, and kartana 2hkos w/ smart strike with prior damage, so they can't really switch in. running aerial ace isn't really necessary since it barely does more than smart strike.

these are just the standard analysis spreads, so adjust accordingly if you prefer different ones. i hope you enjoy the team 8)!
Thanks for building :] Looks quite fire-weak, but I love the core and the way support was added to it. Can't wait to give it a shot!

On another note, gonna request CB Terrakion (yeah, I love myself some braindead choiced breakers lol)



Terrakion @ Choice Band
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Iron Head / Earthquake
- Double Kick / Quick Attack / Toxic

Terrakion gets a lot of hate in the VR thread because its scarf set is really bad, and it rightfully is. However, Ttar has proven that banded stone edge is a powerful tool, especially when paired with a strong secondary typing. Terrakion has an even stronger offensive dual STAB as well as having a phenomenal speed tier for such a powerful breaker. The third moveslot is pretty much to hit some pokemon that try to stomach banded stone edge, such as Toxapex or Clefable. Fourth move is a cheese move typically, such as double kick for sash lead Smeargle/Excadrill, quick attack for rather weak priority, or toxic to hit things like Lando-T or defensive Tangrowth. You could have Iron Head and Earthquake on the same set, it's up to the builder what the moveset should be. It's weird enough to build around Terrakion, so don't wanna impose more onto the task.

I can't request a core around Terrakion because it's below B+, but some good teammates would be stuff that pressures Lando-T or other defensive pivots/tanks/walls (in case you get a case of builder's block or something with this mon. It can seem weird to build around, which is why I'm asking you wonderful people @.@). SD Knock Off Scizor-M/Mawile-M come to mind, as they can make defensive cores way easier to chip down by removing items, and then together they break and sweep their way through teams. The Lati twins have near perfect type synergy with Terrakion, so there is that. Ash Greninja has great synergy with fighting type attackers in general, and can spike stack to make Terrakion's job easier.

Appreciate whoever builds around this :]
 

false

maybe this is heaven
is a Tournament Directoris a Forum Moderatoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a defending SPL Championis a defending SCL Champion
-------------
sad @_@


requested by xexus101
-------------
lelezam has been done approximately 500 billion times so there's not a lot of room for variation. i tried to make this one a bit different by not using ferrothorn, but honestly lele zam with ferro pex lando is probably just about as consistent as you're going to get if you're looking for the most standard and effective version of this archetype.


mega alakazam is double stab so that it can pressure things like chansey with terrain up, which helps a lot in the stall matchup. tapu lele is fightinium-z because it's super useful to dent things like magearna and scizor while also removing heatran. z-move also helps bluff scarf which is absolutely something you should be trying to do in the early game (magearna doesn't show leftovers so that can bluff the z-move). toxapex checks 90% of the meta and fits really well here. toxic spikes is pretty necessary because without a ferrothorn to round out the backbone there are some inherent holes, so being able to put stuff like tapu lele on a timer is great. payapa berry allows u to better deal with psychium z volcarona, and also stomach a hit from something like a lele if you really need to. haze is obviously another alternative here, and you can run black sludge or even iapapa berry too if you'd prefer that. scarf magnezone keeps kartana in check while also dealing w/ sciz and chipping away at heatran. defensive lando is defensive lando. magearna is standard double dance with ipapapa > leftovers. this allows you to set up a bit better vs stuff like lele, while also checking bulu and lati. however, most importantly it allows you to bluff the z-move in combination with tapu lele bluffing choice scarf, make sure to use that to your advantage. this team is obviously not flawless because it strays from a more tried and true formula but it has a couple of interesting elements that i'd say make it pretty fun to use. hope u like it (◕‿◕✿)
 
Requesting Mega Sharpedo
Sharpedo @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Crunch
- Psychic Fangs
- Ice Fang/Liquidation/Earthquake

Description:
Mega Sharpedo has always been a guilty pleasure 'mon for me, a Pokemon that has basically always been considered to be mediocre/bad in OU but I like to use it anyway.

Protect is to nab a guaranteed speed boost in Sharpedo's base form to set up a sweep. Crunch is a very strong STAB move because of STAB and Mega Shark's Strong Jaw ability and, a Crunch from Mega Sharpedo actually hits harder than a Crunch from a +1 Jolly Mega Gyarados.

Psychic Fangs is a coverage move that basically gets STAB because of Strong Jaw and allows Mega Shark to blow past targets such as a weakened Mega Venusaur and Toxapex as well as stuff like Keldeo.

The last two moves are up to the builder. Ice Fang hits Landorus-T, Zygarde, Garchomp harder than any other move and is Sharpedo's option against most grass types such as Tapu Bulu. Earthquake provides coverage on targets such as Bisharp, Magearna and Tapu Koko while Liquidation is a strong STAB move that is Sharpedo's best option against 'mons such as Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Mega Diancie and Excadrill.
 

z0mOG

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DPL Champion
Thanks for building :] Looks quite fire-weak, but I love the core and the way support was added to it. Can't wait to give it a shot!

On another note, gonna request CB Terrakion (yeah, I love myself some braindead choiced breakers lol)



Terrakion @ Choice Band
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Iron Head / Earthquake
- Double Kick / Quick Attack / Toxic

Terrakion gets a lot of hate in the VR thread because its scarf set is really bad, and it rightfully is. However, Ttar has proven that banded stone edge is a powerful tool, especially when paired with a strong secondary typing. Terrakion has an even stronger offensive dual STAB as well as having a phenomenal speed tier for such a powerful breaker. The third moveslot is pretty much to hit some pokemon that try to stomach banded stone edge, such as Toxapex or Clefable. Fourth move is a cheese move typically, such as double kick for sash lead Smeargle/Excadrill, quick attack for rather weak priority, or toxic to hit things like Lando-T or defensive Tangrowth. You could have Iron Head and Earthquake on the same set, it's up to the builder what the moveset should be. It's weird enough to build around Terrakion, so don't wanna impose more onto the task.

I can't request a core around Terrakion because it's below B+, but some good teammates would be stuff that pressures Lando-T or other defensive pivots/tanks/walls (in case you get a case of builder's block or something with this mon. It can seem weird to build around, which is why I'm asking you wonderful people @.@). SD Knock Off Scizor-M/Mawile-M come to mind, as they can make defensive cores way easier to chip down by removing items, and then together they break and sweep their way through teams. The Lati twins have near perfect type synergy with Terrakion, so there is that. Ash Greninja has great synergy with fighting type attackers in general, and can spike stack to make Terrakion's job easier.

Appreciate whoever builds around this :]


Importable

The main thing that I felt would work well with CB terrakion was Steelium Z magnezone. I felt like Mag helps here in a couple ways. First of all, it traps Mega Scizor, Skarmory, Phys Def Celesteela, all things that could be small answers to Terrak in general. I went with Z-Flash Cannon to serve as a Lando-T lure mainly, as phys def lando is most likely the main thing that would be answering Terrakion on most common teams.
As for the Terrakion set, I just used the 3 main attacks and then quick attack in the 4th slot. This is to help combat Volcarona/other sweepers at least a little bit. I wanted to try poison jab, as it could be nice for hard read OHKOs on things like Bulu/offensive tapus, 2hko on clef w/o accuracy etc.
I felt Mega Latias was a nice fit defensively and is very good for sweeping teams once certain steel types (Scizor/Cele/Ferro) are removed thanks to Magnezone, so it was my choice of mega here.
Ferrothorn is my go-to Greninja check and Tapu Lele/Koko soft-check. Initially I had wanted protect as the fourth move to keep ferro more alive for gren/koko checking, but this team has a glaring weakness to Volcarona, so I substituted it for thunder wave as at least some means of stopping it from setting up (as ferro is the main target a volc would setup against vs me).
Next came choice scarf Lando-T to add speed control and a hazard remover (really loving scarf defog Lando this gen, just feels amazing every time).
Lastly, Clef to help vs physical breakers like Lop/Zyg, as well as help in the battle vs. stall. My gameplan against stall would generally be to try and break as much as I could with Terrakion, and then moving on to Lati/Clef to try and sweep with CM.

CB Terrakion isn't something that I was ever inclined to build with, and I'm not sure that it's actually good what-so-ever. If I wanted a physical breaker, I'd run with CB Zygarde/Kartana/Lopunny etc. On another note, I'd generally prefer dual dance z-Stone Edge over CB for Terrakion, but that's for another team.
 

Nedor

thiccc
View attachment 91892 View attachment 91891
Tapu Lele @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- Knock Off

Description: These two mons pair well with each other since kartana lures in celesteela and can knock off it's leftovers opening up specs Lele to do major damage. In addition, Lele benefits kartana by weakening steels making it easier for kartana to clean late game. The sets can be manipulated however as long as kartana has knock off. Flipping the two and making Lele scarf and kartana z or something is also an option. Thanks to whoever decides to build with this core. Much appreciated :)
hey, i got you with this core. also hello everyone, thanks false for bringing me into the building team :)

request:

requested by: XxKidofDeathxX
importable



alright so, your original request was non-scarf lele + scarf kartana, which is the section of the team that i kept. however, i made kartana defog as opposed to knock off, but made up for this in other areas of the team. the general concept of this team is to break down and remove steels for kartana as it easily gets out of hand with beast boost. i chose cm fightinium lele as the set for this in particular because it forces the opponent to guess between the scarfer (lele | kart). this set often bluffs scarf easily, giving it free kills on mons such as ferrothorn, heatran, mega scizor, bisharp, etc., freeing up leaf blade and smart strike a ton. to make up for the lack of knock off to remove leftovers from celesteela and landorus-t, fast taunt + knock off gliscor was added to function as a solid ground resist, heatran answer which typically troubles balance, something alongside tapu lele to annoy fatter teams that are reliant on toxic spikes + set-up, and wearing stuff down in general is nice for scarf kartana. for its offensive and defensive utility, assault vest calm magnezone is used as a secondary steel to manage opposing lele, offensive magearna, pivot on greninja, and more importantly keep constant pressure on steel types that the rest of the team baits in. next, i needed an answer to dd zygarde along with filling the role of an sr user without using landorus-t, and phys. def clefable was an easy choice for most of the physical meta. protect is an interesting tech i wanted to try to deal with dd + tectonic rage zygarde and it ended up working incredibly. protect also lets you help scout the opponent and regain leftovers to help you stay out of range of lando-t, m-lopunny, m-medicham, etc. lastly, with special attackers like specs greninja, charizard-y, and assault vest magearna being capable of spamming their attacks comfortably, sp. def toxapex fits perfectly into the team. toxic also baits in zapdos which is huge in the long-run for scarf kartana to win. this team has been very fun for me to use and it requires you to use your brain for long-term thinking and what conditions you have to meet in order to win. you can also try taunt on tapu lele if you feel that you don't need calm mind in most matchups, but it is nice to have an option to hit even harder. hope you enjoy :)

here's another team i used against njnp in snake that is a more offensive approach and very fun to use:



importable
 
hey, i got you with this core. also hello everyone, thanks false for bringing me into the building team :)

request:

requested by: XxKidofDeathxX
importable



alright so, your original request was non-scarf lele + scarf kartana, which is the section of the team that i kept. however, i made kartana defog as opposed to knock off, but made up for this in other areas of the team. the general concept of this team is to break down and remove steels for kartana as it easily gets out of hand with beast boost. i chose cm fightinium lele as the set for this in particular because it forces the opponent to guess between the scarfer (lele | kart). this set often bluffs scarf easily, giving it free kills on mons such as ferrothorn, heatran, mega scizor, bisharp, etc., freeing up leaf blade and smart strike a ton. to make up for the lack of knock off to remove leftovers from celesteela and landorus-t, fast taunt + knock off gliscor was added to function as a solid ground resist, heatran answer which typically troubles balance, something alongside tapu lele to annoy fatter teams that are reliant on toxic spikes + set-up, and wearing stuff down in general is nice for scarf kartana. for its offensive and defensive utility, assault vest calm magnezone is used as a secondary steel to manage opposing lele, offensive magearna, pivot on greninja, and more importantly keep constant pressure on steel types that the rest of the team baits in. next, i needed an answer to dd zygarde along with filling the role of an sr user without using landorus-t, and phys. def clefable was an easy choice for most of the physical meta. protect is an interesting tech i wanted to try to deal with dd + tectonic rage zygarde and it ended up working incredibly. protect also lets you help scout the opponent and regain leftovers to help you stay out of range of lando-t, m-lopunny, m-medicham, etc. lastly, with special attackers like specs greninja, charizard-y, and assault vest magearna being capable of spamming their attacks comfortably, sp. def toxapex fits perfectly into the team. toxic also baits in zapdos which is huge in the long-run for scarf kartana to win. this team has been very fun for me to use and it requires you to use your brain for long-term thinking and what conditions you have to meet in order to win. you can also try taunt on tapu lele if you feel that you don't need calm mind in most matchups, but it is nice to have an option to hit even harder. hope you enjoy :)

here's another team i used against njnp in snake that is a more offensive approach and very fun to use:



importable
Thank you for taking the time out to build with this core. I'm excited to try out both teams. Very much appreciated. Just one question do you think payapa berry pex would also be an option since mag can get worn down fairly quickly allowing Lele to just clean? It also helps the volcorona matchup a bit
 
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Choice Specs Hydreigon Bulky Offence

Requested by Robb576

Overview:

Originally the team was built around the core of SD Rockium-Z Terrakion (super underrated breaker btw) and SD Scizor, but Hyrdreigon became an essential part of the team so I felt the team would be fine for your request. The basic gist of the team is to abuse your breakers (Terrak+Hydre) to beat down or remove checks and counters to SD Scizor (primary win con) and Scarf Landorus (Seconadry win con); Which sounds simple enough, but it does require you to play somewhat aggressively to gain opportunities to break through your opponents team,

In-Depth:

Like i stated at the beginning, the team was originally built around the combination of SD Terakkion and SD Scizor, mainly because I wanted to explore the breaking potential of Terrakion. After using the team a bunch I got to see the monster that is SD Terrakion, which complete breaks teams apart with it's near perfect coverage and great attack stat accompanied by the option to boost it to unstoppable levels. Being able to remove pokemon like Defensive lanorus at +1 with Z-edge, Physically Defensive Celesteela, Skarory and basically anything that isnt named Hippo. It also gets a suprisingly good amount of switch in oppontunies especially when paired with U-turn Scizor, as it's able to come in on a plethora of Steels, Fires, birds and more thanks to a great offensive typing. Although originally i thought the last slot on it was filler, after using substitute I dont think there's any better option, due to it allowing you to capitalise on switches and chokes. There's been times where im at +2 and my opponent decides to sack something else in which im able to get a sub off and blow through the rest of their team or other instances that Im unsure if my opponent will stay in or not and want to gauge what theyll do etc. Not to keep harping on about it, but it also provides a beneficial component in the stall match up, even quagsire stall is beatable if they take any sort of chip or you're able to get a crit like here.

Anyway, now that I've sucked off Terrak for about 200 or more words, I guess i should mention the other members of the team or something. Scizor was added because of fantastic synergy with Terakkion, in fact I'd say it's the best partner for Terrakion and there's not much if anything in the same league of pure synergistic value to compete with it. With U-turn it's able to gain momentum on a lot of the Pokemon Terrakion wants to be in on, such as Zapdos, Marowak, Heatran, Charizard, Magnezone and so on. It also benefits from the removal of all these mons, which is why i made it SD so I could fully take advantage of this benefactor. Defensively, scizor is able to switch into a lot of the fairies, psychics, steels and so on that may threaten terrakion on and terrakion despite not being the most defensively incllined can still alow for a one or two time switch in to some of the things that threaten Scizor.

Next up, I needed a water resist desperately and a sturdier fire resist, so I thought to myself why do that and then check 90% of the meta while im at it, so that's why Toxapex is on the team! I opt to use Payapa Berry as the item, as Scizor isnt the best of Psychic Resists, due to the fact most of them carry Fire coverage and being able to scout there moveset out is nice. Usually I prefer Toxic with Paypa Berry, since it actually lets you cripple psychics rather then hit them with a piss scald for 14% and hope you burn them, but I went with T-spikes since the team (when I had finished it) was lacking solid answers to quite a few potent threats like Tapu-Koko, so being able to put them on a timer and wear them down was extremely beneficial.

Moving forward I was looking I noticed I didn't have a ground immunity or a ground of my own, so I flexed my brain cells as hard as I could and came up with a great solution to the problem, Landorus-T. I went with scarf because the team was lacking speed control when I finished it and it was the best it due to it's ability to revenge kill particular threats to the team that other forms of speed control couldn't. Hp Fire was chosen over Hp Ice, as the team was utterly obliterated by SD Kart with Fightium-Z due to it's ability to scare out and set up on multiple members and nothing else being fster then it to kill or even chip it into earthquake range, Stone was my last move choice over knock or explosion as the team was threatened heavily by Pinsir, as my next best answer in Terrakion, would have a chance to die to +2 quick attck if it dropped below 70%.

Inching towards the end, the team lacked Stealth Rocks and a general physical wall to stop the bombardment of physical attackers, since Landorus was scarf and Pex was Max SpD making them unsuitable to handle certain physical threats. Clefable was added for this purpose, as well as something to soak up status and give an additional anti-stall countermeasure. I went with Knock Off as it had a lot of utility in removing the items of pokemon that could potentially be annoying to both my win cons and breakers, for example AV Magearna, Leftovers Landorus. Leftovers Celesteela, AV Tangrowth, AV torn and so on.

Finally we have Hydreigon, which funny enough was the last member to be added and wasn't even originally on the team to begin with, but thanks to it's utility both offensively and even defensively it fit absolutely perfectly and made the team click. Originally I had Hoopa, but I felt that I needed something at-least faster then Landorus, as I had no real way to immediately threat it and I was also really struggling verse Tran as well as Blace. Hydreigon couldnt have fit more perfectly in this slot and ended up becoming one of the key members for the team, You'll probabaly notice a key thing about the set, that being it's missing Draco Meteor, which is otherwise a staple on every Hydreigon. The reason I dropped Draco is because I felt like I never used it since there were always these moments where if I drop draco as they go into there fairy I lose all my momentum and they essentially get a free turn. I tried out using Flash Cannon over it and I found it much more useful, as it removed the need to predict in certain situations, such as where my opponent might have a Clefable or a Bulu paired with a Tyranitar, I know dont need to predict to click Fireblast or Earth Power just to potentially 2hko one of them.

Threats:


Offensive Landorus is pretty annoying to deal with, due to the lack of raw ohkoing ability I have for this mon, which means it's pretty hard to stop it from getting at-least one kill unless it's been chipped into dark pulse range or Z-edge range.


I don't have a counter to this on the team, it's T-bolt and Hp Ice combination often forces a lot of 50/50's as to whether or not ill go Hard lando or pivot through Pex into Lando. I usually lead with Landorus turn 1 verse any team with a Koko to minimise the amount of times this happens and then try to set up t-spikes shortly after to limit it even more.



Bit more of an obscure thing, but Taunt+CM keldeo is pretty much an auto lost unless your opponent was foolish enough to let you chip it into eq range or your lucky enough to win a speed tie to get that chip with Terrak. Like I said though, CM+Taunt Keldeo inst the most common of things and if you cant win them all, might as well lose to something you rarely see.



Like I mentioned previously as to why I used hp-fire on Landorus, Kartana with SD Fightium is a complete nuisance to face, being able to force many components on the team out to gain a free sd and basically kill something.



I've been fortunate not to play that much rain while testing, but it doesn't take to main brain cells to see that the combination of Water and Ground stabs with Ice Coverage is very hard to deal with for this team without correct play.

Other Options:

There are some other options I think are complete viable to run on some of the mons, but I will leave a disclaimer that I havent tried any of these other options out, simple because they worked for me fine as they are now. One of the big ones I considered, was to run Hp Ice > HP Fire on Landorus and then to run a Max defense HP Fire scizor to act as a more reliable check to Kartna and also give a better way of dealing with offensive Landorus, however this would be at the cost of a great win con for the team in SD Scizor. I've also thought about dropping U-turn on Scizor for Knock Off and then running T-wave or CM on Clefable, mainly because Knock off Allows Scizor more Offensive Utility as a set up sweeper; However this does mean you'll lose a way to safely bring in Terrakion and I dont know how we'll that'll pan out. The final alternative I think you can run is DRaco > Fire Blast/Flash Cannon, which although I said I didnt feel like I needed it, it's still useful for the Ohko potential on Landorus.

Closing Words:

This was way to long for a workshop post, but I had a day from work in the first time in who nows how long and I was really compelled to write for some reason. Any who, I had a lot of fun making and playing with this team and I can safely say it's one of my favorites from USUM so far and I hope you like the team as much as I do!





 
Last edited:
With the un-ranking of Porygon-Z and builders probably not wanting to touch it with a 20ft pole, the previous request has been deleted. So now still wanting a fun ladder team to try follow meta trends, I'm gonna learn from my mistakes and request two more viable mons:
Double Dance Landorus Therian Formation + Mega Pinsir

Landorus-Therian @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish

Pinsir-Mega @ Pinsirite
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Quick Attack
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance
Of course I couldn't ask for a standard set, I mean wheres the fun in that. I never used Double Dance LandoT when it was at its peak during early SM, so I was thinking why not use it early USM, where people aren't expecting it anymore. I read through the old analysis for the set, and it suggested a team mate that shares a lot of checks with LandoT, and with M.Pinsir seemingly on the rise in Viability as far as I can tell, I think they make a pretty fun pairing. Like the previous request, the team doesnt have to be super serious, just something I can ladder casually with a friend. I'm most comfortable using BO, but more Offensive Balances would also be fine as a preference, but make it into a playstyle you're most comfortable with building it around. Also the sets arent set in stone, like the Evs can change, FlyniumZ can be used over RockiumZ, and other changes like that. If M.Pinsir isnt working, you can drop that too, its just an idea, but the main focus is Double Dance LandoT.

Thanks in advance:)
 

Robb576

It's all in the numbers
is a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus

Choice Specs Hydreigon Bulky Offence

Requested by Robb576

Overview:

Originally the team was built around the core of SD Rockium-Z Terrakion (super underrated breaker btw) and SD Scizor, but Hyrdreigon became an essential part of the team so I felt the team would be fine for your request. The basic gist of the team is to abuse your breakers (Terrak+Hydre) to beat down or remove checks and counters to SD Scizor (primary win con) and Scarf Landorus (Seconadry win con); Which sounds simple enough, but it does require you to play somewhat aggressively to gain opportunities to break through your opponents team,

In-Depth:

Like i stated at the beginning, the team was originally built around the combination of SD Terakkion and SD Scizor, mainly because I wanted to explore the breaking potential of Terrakion. After using the team a bunch I got to see the monster that is SD Terrakion, which complete breaks teams apart with it's near perfect coverage and great attack stat accompanied by the option to boost it to unstoppable levels. Being able to remove pokemon like Defensive lanorus at +1 with Z-edge, Physically Defensive Celesteela, Skarory and basically anything that isnt named Hippo. It also gets a suprisingly good amount of switch in oppontunies especially when paired with U-turn Scizor, as it's able to come in on a plethora of Steels, Fires, birds and more thanks to a great offensive typing. Although originally i thought the last slot on it was filler, after using substitute I dont think there's any better option, due to it allowing you to capitalise on switches and chokes. There's been times where im at +2 and my opponent decides to sack something else in which im able to get a sub off and blow through the rest of their team or other instances that Im unsure if my opponent will stay in or not and want to gauge what theyll do etc. Not to keep harping on about it, but it also provides a beneficial component in the stall match up, even quagsire stall is beatable if they take any sort of chip or you're able to get a crit like here.

Anyway, now that I've sucked off Terrak for about 200 or more words, I guess i should mention the other members of the team or something. Scizor was added because of fantastic synergy with Terakkion, in fact I'd say it's the best partner for Terrakion and there's not much if anything in the same league of pure synergistic value to compete with it. With U-turn it's able to gain momentum on a lot of the Pokemon Terrakion wants to be in on, such as Zapdos, Marowak, Heatran, Charizard, Magnezone and so on. It also benefits from the removal of all these mons, which is why i made it SD so I could fully take advantage of this benefactor. Defensively, scizor is able to switch into a lot of the fairies, psychics, steels and so on that may threaten terrakion on and terrakion despite not being the most defensively incllined can still alow for a one or two time switch in to some of the things that threaten Scizor.

Next up, I needed a water resist desperately and a sturdier fire resist, so I thought to myself why do that and then check 90% of the meta while im at it, so that's why Toxapex is on the team! I opt to use Payapa Berry as the item, as Scizor isnt the best of Psychic Resists, due to the fact most of them carry Fire coverage and being able to scout there moveset out is nice. Usually I prefer Toxic with Paypa Berry, since it actually lets you cripple psychics rather then hit them with a piss scald for 14% and hope you burn them, but I went with T-spikes since the team (when I had finished it) was lacking solid answers to quite a few potent threats like Tapu-Koko, so being able to put them on a timer and wear them down was extremely beneficial.

Moving forward I was looking I noticed I didn't have a ground immunity or a ground of my own, so I flexed my brain cells as hard as I could and came up with a great solution to the problem, Landorus-T. I went with scarf because the team was lacking speed control when I finished it and it was the best it due to it's ability to revenge kill particular threats to the team that other forms of speed control couldn't. Hp Fire was chosen over Hp Ice, as the team was utterly obliterated by SD Kart with Fightium-Z due to it's ability to scare out and set up on multiple members and nothing else being fster then it to kill or even chip it into earthquake range, Stone was my last move choice over knock or explosion as the team was threatened heavily by Pinsir, as my next best answer in Terrakion, would have a chance to die to +2 quick attck if it dropped below 70%.

Inching towards the end, the team lacked Stealth Rocks and a general physical wall to stop the bombardment of physical attackers, since Landorus was scarf and Pex was Max SpD making them unsuitable to handle certain physical threats. Clefable was added for this purpose, as well as something to soak up status and give an additional anti-stall countermeasure. I went with Knock Off as it had a lot of utility in removing the items of pokemon that could potentially be annoying to both my win cons and breakers, for example AV Magearna, Leftovers Landorus. Leftovers Celesteela, AV Tangrowth, AV torn and so on.

Finally we have Hydreigon, which funny enough was the last member to be added and wasn't even originally on the team to begin with, but thanks to it's utility both offensively and even defensively it fit absolutely perfectly and made the team click. Originally I had Hoopa, but I felt that I needed something at-least faster then Landorus, as I had no real way to immediately threat it and I was also really struggling verse Tran as well as Blace. Hydreigon couldnt have fit more perfectly in this slot and ended up becoming one of the key members for the team, You'll probabaly notice a key thing about the set, that being it's missing Draco Meteor, which is otherwise a staple on every Hydreigon. The reason I dropped Draco is because I felt like I never used it since there were always these moments where if I drop draco as they go into there fairy I lose all my momentum and they essentially get a free turn. I tried out using Flash Cannon over it and I found it much more useful, as it removed the need to predict in certain situations, such as where my opponent might have a Clefable or a Bulu paired with a Tyranitar, I know dont need to predict to click Fireblast or Earth Power just to potentially 2hko one of them.

Threats:


Offensive Landorus is pretty annoying to deal with, due to the lack of raw ohkoing ability I have for this mon, which means it's pretty hard to stop it from getting at-least one kill unless it's been chipped into dark pulse range or Z-edge range.


I don't have a counter to this on the team, it's T-bolt and Hp Ice combination often forces a lot of 50/50's as to whether or not ill go Hard lando or pivot through Pex into Lando. I usually lead with Landorus turn 1 verse any team with a Koko to minimise the amount of times this happens and then try to set up t-spikes shortly after to limit it even more.



Bit more of an obscure thing, but Taunt+CM keldeo is pretty much an auto lost unless your opponent was foolish enough to let you chip it into eq range or your lucky enough to win a speed tie to get that chip with Terrak. Like I said though, CM+Taunt Keldeo inst the most common of things and if you cant win them all, might as well lose to something you rarely see.



Like I mentioned previously as to why I used hp-fire on Landorus, Kartana with SD Fightium is a complete nuisance to face, being able to force many components on the team out to gain a free sd and basically kill something.



I've been fortunate not to play that much rain while testing, but it doesn't take to main brain cells to see that the combination of Water and Ground stabs with Ice Coverage is very hard to deal with for this team without correct play.

Other Options:

There are some other options I think are complete viable to run on some of the mons, but I will leave a disclaimer that I havent tried any of these other options out, simple because they worked for me fine as they are now. One of the big ones I considered, was to run Hp Ice > HP Fire on Landorus and then to run a Max defense HP Fire scizor to act as a more reliable check to Kartna and also give a better way of dealing with offensive Landorus, however this would be at the cost of a great win con for the team in SD Scizor. I've also thought about dropping U-turn on Scizor for Knock Off and then running T-wave or CM on Clefable, mainly because Knock off Allows Scizor more Offensive Utility as a set up sweeper; However this does mean you'll lose a way to safely bring in Terrakion and I dont know how we'll that'll pan out. The final alternative I think you can run is DRaco > Fire Blast/Flash Cannon, which although I said I didnt feel like I needed it, it's still useful for the Ohko potential on Landorus.

Closing Words:

This was way to long for a workshop post, but I had a day from work in the first time in who nows how long and I was really compelled to write for some reason. Any who, I had a lot of fun making and playing with this team and I can safely say it's one of my favorites from USUM so far and I hope you like the team as much as I do!





This team looks absolutely amazing, and the writeup is one of the most solid I've ever seenl! I'm glad hydra found its place on a team which I couldn't even come up with in the first place. This team will most likely be a favorite of mine as well! Thank you!
 
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Volcarona @ Psychium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Bug Buzz

Tapu Lele @ Twisted Spoon
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Taunt

Description:
These two mons carry very synergistic ties between one another. Tapu Lele not only lures tran and gets rid of it for volc with a psyshock into focus blast(if it hits)but it also protects volc from being revenged with priority thanks to it's ability--psychic terrain-- such as water shurikan from Ash Greninja. Volc acts as a very potent sweeper or even a special breaker thanks to its coverage in this metagame making this core particularly dangerous to face. Thanks to whoever decides to take this request. Much Appreciated :)
 
Requesting: Team built around Mega-Garchomp Wall-breaker



Garchomp @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Fang
- Swords Dance


Description:
Mega-Chomp's massive attack of 170, access to swords dance, and possibly even a boost from Sand force makes it an amazing wall-breaker. In the sand and with SD he can OHKO most OU tanks such as Fini, Chansey, Clefable, and if Stone edge is used, can still 2HKO Defensive Lando-T, even at +1. He also sits supereffectively on many other tanks like Toxapex, not needing an SD or Sand to OHKO.
 
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