Introduction
Ah, hyper offense, the boom or bust style of play, and probably the most fun,
Teambuilding Process
Azelf is the best non Ubers lead in the game, without a doubt. It has speed, taunt, rocks, and great coverage moves. Per usual on HOs, I need the rock support as the team forces a lot of switches and punishes them for it, making them easier to take on later, and as I said, no one sets up rocks better than Azelf (except maybe the rare Aerodactyl), and shuts down rocks on the opposing team.
Did someone say physical wall breaker? No, oh, ok. Anyway, I believe that Kartana is the best physical wall breaker in OU due to its blistering speed, insane attack, and a defense stat that should not be that high for a piece of paper. It also doesn't take up a mega slot like Mega Medicham and Lopunny, while having a nice movepool and really only one weakness, fire, and there is really only 2 good fire types in OU right now.
And the counterpart to Kartana, Tapu Lele. In the earlier RMT, I decided to go for choice scarf, but here, I need to kill things so hard that I can punish switches into counters and just destroy anything that doesn't resist it. It is the standard Tapu Lele set from the dex, and is one of two pokemon on the team that has stayed the same since I first built this team.
Keldo is another versatile special mon that fulfills one niche and one overall necessity. We shall start with the later, it provides necessary speed control that this team otherwise lacks. Sure, they are fast, but they'll get outspeed by almost any scarfed mon. It also fits the role of anti anti-lead. This Keldeo counters all of Azelfs anit-leads, like Greninja and Tyranitar to name a couple. They don't appreciate a scarfed secret sword to the face.
There are two things that this team is missing: EQ support and a setup sweeper/ cleaner. Hey look, Garchomp. Sitting at a great speed tier with 102, a great typing, despite the commonness of HP ice and Fairies, an amazing attack stat that can do damage without being boosted, and an insane movepool, and getting great defenses by sacrificing a little Special Attack it wasn't going to use. I wish that this mon was more popular.
Even an HO team needs some support. Kartana, which can cause some heavy damage to the team, hates seeing this thing. It also provides Defog support, because even though Zapdos is the only one weak to rocks, none of the team likes taking the damage from it. Also, it is a nice wall and provides some speed control with Discharge.
The Team
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Zen Headbutt
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Taunt
Kartana @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Sacred Sword
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
Tapu Lele @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Stone Edge
- Scald
Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Discharge
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Defog
Conclusion
This team has gone through quite a few changes, especially in the setup sweeper spot, ranging from Mega Scizor, Megazard X, and Mega Medicham (my first wall breaker before Kartana). I realize that this team does not have a mega, but I couldn't really think of a mega that would do a better job replacing one of the pokemon already on the team.
Counters:
Stall teams: What a surprise, the HO team doesn't like stall. Granted, if I can break the main wall, I can run on a rampage through the team, but it is often hard to set up, especially with Mega Sableye, Chansey, and Toxapex forming an especially hard core to break.
Rain Teams: Yes, I do have many of the counters for them, but they still provide a degree of difficulty.
Psychic Types: Outside of Knock Off Kartana, I don't have a counter for them outside of hitting as hard as humanly possible and hoping I don't lose too many pokemon.
Zygarde: While Garchomp could theoretically beat the substitute Zygarde, it loses to all other forms, being unable to reliably pick up the OHKO before losing to Earthquake if it doesn't have an SD up. Also, Garchomp is one of two reliable counters, the other being Lele. If Zygarde isn't locked into Outrage, it isn't safe to send in Lele on the switch, at least I've noticed that Zygarde does a bit too much damage on those switches.
Tapu Lele: I have 1 fairy resist on the team, and that one is Kartana, and Kartana has just garbage Special Defence. Usually, I'll try to take it out with Keldeo if weak and locked into HP fire, or my own Lele and pray to the RNG that I win the speed tie.
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Zen Headbutt
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Taunt
Kartana @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Sacred Sword
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Stone Edge
- Scald
Tapu Lele @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Discharge
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Defog
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Zen Headbutt
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Taunt
Kartana @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Sacred Sword
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Stone Edge
- Scald
Tapu Lele @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Discharge
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Defog
Last edited: