“an experiment into how brainless i can make a viable team”
Peaked 1950+ ELO (Top 40)
by dondyxd
I’m not a great player. Sure, I’ve improved over the last couple of months when I started to take team building more seriously and look at it as more of an improvable skill, but I’m not blunder level. It’s going to take me a while to start making absolutely fire plays that also work out on a consistent basis. So I got thinking - what kind of team compositions requires the absolute minimum number of brain cells required to play this game at a semi-decent level?
On a completely unrelated note, Medicham-M has 600 base attack off of a Jolly Nature and outspeeds the vast majority of the metagame and 2HKOs everything not named defensive Mew.
The first iteration of this team looked very different than what it eventually became. I started by putting the two most broken, brainless wallbreakers in the tier together on one team. Not very much offensive synergy between the two, if we’re being honest, since they both lose to the same kind of stuff. I guess Lele could be able to muscle through steel types like Scizor or Celesteela with Psyshock into Z-Psyshock, leaving them weak enough for Pinsir to clean up… but it was a flimsy foundation, at best.
It’s widely accepted that right now, one of the best defensive core consists of Landorus-T + Ferrothorn + Toxapex. However, I absolutely hate using that core, since I’m of the opinion that it’s ridiculously passive and loses to a ton of stuff, most notably free attack Lele (i.e. CM + Psychic). So I opted for a more “offensive” defensive core, with Offensive Trapper Heatran and Scarf Landorus to check a variety of metagame threats while still being able to threaten common mons like Magearna and Tapu Koko. Tangrowth fits naturally here, acting as a less passive check to Ash-Greninja that can also threaten the Knock Off on Chansey and AV Bulu.
Team was looking sort of slow, without a Base 100+ scarfer I found it hard to check faster threats like the omnipresent Greninja. Koko fit the team like a glove, since it’s fantastic speed tier, STAB typing and ability to click HP Ice turn 1 and get rid of the enemy Landorus-T was always appreciated with this kind of team. It’s ability to force switches combined with Volt Switch allows me multiple opportunities to bring in my big breakers. It also somewhat shored up my weakness to the ever-present Hawlucha and Pinsir that seemed to be rampaging through the tier at the time, which wasn’t helped with my good friend KuraiTenshi26 dropping a Pinsir flyspam team that was featured on Pokeaim’s channel :thinking:
I dropped this team in my GSPL’s team Discord, and one thing was immediately brought up - I could combine the wall-breaking power of Lele and the priority offered by Pinsir into one terrifying powerhouse - Medicham-M. With STAB HJK and Zen Headbutt hitting off of an unboosted 600 base attack with a Jolly nature, not much in OU cared to switch into this monster outside of defensive Mew, which was rapidly dropping in usage. Special thanks to Titania for this suggestion. Dropping Pinsir was also nice, as Medicham comparably handles Stealth Rocks much better than Pinsir, which is unsurprisingly important on a team with only Scarf Landorus Defog as its hazard removal.
In a meta where one steel type simply isn’t enough to handle a Tapu Lele set that deals 60%+ to Heatran with Psychic, a secondary check to Psyspam was absolutely mandatory. Defensive Jirachi allowed me to keep up the VoltTurn momentum with Landorus and Koko while neutralizing threats like Hawlucha (which rarely runs over 328 speed nowadays) and the aforementioned Lele with Thunder Wave. Wish is a nice utility move as well, since ‘mons without recovery like Scarf Landorus and Z-Crystal Heatran really appreciate the healing.
I also played a match at this ELO and lost, but it's on Blunder's channel if you look hard enough for it. It's in that video where he talks about 2017 music with CTC.
Hopes and Dreams (Landorus-Therian) @
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Scarf Landorus isn’t what I built the team around, but it ended up being one of the most important members of the composition. With it’s S-tier ability and typing, as well as its invaluable utility and ability to keep up momentum and force switches with Earthquake and U-Turn, Landorus serves as a valuable defensive pivot into physical threats like Charizard-Mega-X, Zygarde, Tyranitar, the near omnipresent Kartana, and most importantly other Landorus-T’s, a ‘mon that the rest of my team struggles to check.
Defog, while not mandatory, serves as a nice check against spike-stacking or Sticky Webs teams, and Landorus’ solid natural bulk and speed tier as well as its ability to force switches with it’s strong STAB Earthquake is often enough to be able to get off a Defog if the team needs it to. Hidden Power Ice nabs a nice 2HKO on most variants of Landorus-T that aren’t SpDef invested, while dealing a good chunk of damage to most Zygarde variants as well as allowing me to check the uncommon Garchomp. U-Turn is a near necessity on Scarf Landorus, allowing me to keep up the momentum and giving me opportunities to bring in my breakers vs passive ‘mons like Toxapex or Celesteela. Earthquake is just mandatory STAB that hits the vast majority of the tier for good damage - it also allows Landorus to serve as a semi-decent AV Magearna check, since it’s typing allows it to block Volt Switch and instantly give your team momentum at the same time (risky plays, but more on that later).
A Jolly Nature is useful for at least speed tying with other scarfed Landorus-Ts in the tier, as well as outspending +2 Modest SG Magearna (uncommon, but that’s my set so I might as well mention it right?). A max/max EV spread is used since I really don’t want to speed-creep anything too relevant, and for the most part I’m more than willing to risk a speed tie with other Landorus-Ts, especially with Adamant Scarf being relatively common as well.
0- SpA Landorus-Therian Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Landorus-Therian: 192-228 (50.2 - 59.6%) -- 78.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0- SpA Landorus-Therian Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 188-224 (52.5 - 62.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0- SpA Landorus-Therian Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde: 172-204 (48 - 56.9%) -- 84.4% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Alakazam-Mega: 250-295 (99.6 - 117.5%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Lele: 225-265 (80 - 94.3%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Greninja: 244-288 (85.6 - 101%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 40 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 290-344 (115.5 - 137%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0- SpA Landorus-Therian Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 188-224 (52.5 - 62.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0- SpA Landorus-Therian Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde: 172-204 (48 - 56.9%) -- 84.4% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Alakazam-Mega: 250-295 (99.6 - 117.5%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Lele: 225-265 (80 - 94.3%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Greninja: 244-288 (85.6 - 101%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 40 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 290-344 (115.5 - 137%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Reality (Heatran) @
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 148 HP / 136 SpA / 4 SpD / 220 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
“Standard” trapper Heatran with Stealth Rocks is my main stall breaker, trapping and eliminating threats like Toxapex and Chansey that would otherwise give the rest of my team a hard time, especially if Medicham-M is dead. Despite Magma Storm’s low accuracy, it’s high base power and 12.5% a turn chip damage is more than enough to make up for it hitting only half the time.
One cannot bring up Heatran in a RMT and not mention its amazing defensive typing. Fire/Steel gives it a handy nine resistances and two immunities, and it’s 4x weakness in Ground is nicely covered by an immunity in Landorus-T and a bulky resistance in Tangrowth. Running a Z-move on Heatran gives it a pseudo-resistance to Knock Off as well, making it a safer switch in to Kartana, although one has to be wary of Sacred Sword. As a result of its fantastic typing and natural bulk, Heatran is one of the more reliable Stealth Rockers in the tier, and with some prediction can beat other common Rockers/Defoggers like Skarmory or even defensive Landorus, which almost never runs more than 223 speed.
Earth Power in conjunction with a Groundium Z transforms it into Tectonic Rage, which is mostly useful for destroying Toxapex after Magma Storm and Stealth Rocks damage. It’s also nice for eliminating of Tyranitar, a common Heatran switch-in, and putting a stop to ‘mons like Z-Celebrate Victini or Stakataka, which are albeit less common nowadays, especially with Stakataka languishing in the depths of UU. Taunt allows Heatran to function as a true stallbreaker, denying Chansey of it’s Softboileds and Toxapex of its Recovers while their health slowly ticks away to Magma Storm.
The EV spread is optimized to cover as much of the common OU meta as possible, and shoutouts have to be given to Titania of my GSPL team (2GFs Togepis) for helping me with the spread. 136 SpAtk EVs in conjunction with a Modest nature gives the same amount of damage output as 252/Timid, and 220 Speed EVs hit the highly contested 245 Speed, which creeps most forms of Mew as well as Jolly Base 60s. 148 HP EVs and 8 SpDef EVs maximize Heatran’s ability to tank hits while giving it the ability to switch into Stealth Rocks 9 times as opposed to 8, which almost never matters but it’s nice to have that threshold just in case, right? It also means that non-Specs regular Greninja can never KO you with Hydro Pump, which is more a testament to how bad regular Greninja is than anything.
136+ SpA Heatran Magma Storm vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 46-55 (15.1 - 18%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Stealth Rock and trapping damage
136+ SpA Heatran Tectonic Rage (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 216-256 (71 - 84.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
*71% + 15.1% + 12.5% (from trapping damage) = 98.6, all but guaranteed KO especially after rocks
136+ SpA Heatran Tectonic Rage (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 216-256 (71 - 84.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
*71% + 15.1% + 12.5% (from trapping damage) = 98.6, all but guaranteed KO especially after rocks
n0t tHaT g00d (Tangrowth) @
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
Tangrowth is still a premier specially defensive pivot and tank, and I’m honestly not sure why it’s been dropping off in usage as of late. While it is passive, it is less of a complete momentum drain than similarly specially defensive walls like Toxapex or Celesteela, and actually has some offensive presence by threatening switch-ins with a crippling Knock Off. Regenerator is also extremely nice, and the main reason I prefer Tangrowth over it’s grass-type brethren like Tapu Bulu or Ferrothorn. This serves as my primary Greninja-Ash check, but its solid physical bulk makes it a very usable check to threats like Lopunny-M or Kartana.
Giga Drain is mandatory STAB, allowing me to hit Greninja-Ash super effectively, while Knock Off deters threats from hard switching in for fear of getting their item removed, which is very useful for Scarfers like Blacephalon or Kartana, both of which are huge threats to my team. HP Ice allows Tangrowth to serve as a semi-decent Zygarde check, something that the team sorely lacks, while Earthquake gives me the ability to check SG Magearna as well as being able to nab a surprise KO on Heatran sometimes.
EV spread is also very simple, with a max/max spread and a Sassy nature maximizing my special defence. Since for all intents and purpose Tangrowth is my go-to pivot into many strong special attackers, it is important to absolutely maximize Tangrowth’s ability to tank special hits. Perhaps even more important is my ability to keep Tangrowth away from disgusting users of Knock Off such as Kartana, since as soon as the Assault Vest is removed I pretty much instantly lose any counterplay I might have had to Ash-Greninja.
252 SpA Blacephalon Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 106-126 (26.3 - 31.2%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 SpA Heatran Magma Storm vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 236-282 (58.5 - 69.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after trapping damage
252 SpA Magearna Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 142-168 (35.2 - 41.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Kingdra Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth in Rain: 129-153 (32 - 37.9%) -- 94.1% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Dark Pulse vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 160-189 (39.7 - 46.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Swampert-Mega Ice Punch vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Tangrowth: 164-194 (40.6 - 48.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth in Psychic Terrain: 240-283 (59.5 - 70.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO *B_N L_L_
252 SpA Magearna Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 142-168 (35.2 - 41.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Kingdra Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth in Rain: 129-153 (32 - 37.9%) -- 94.1% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Dark Pulse vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 160-189 (39.7 - 46.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Swampert-Mega Ice Punch vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Tangrowth: 164-194 (40.6 - 48.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth in Psychic Terrain: 240-283 (59.5 - 70.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO *B_N L_L_
Best Tapu (Tapu Koko) @
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Choice Specs Koko is one of my favourite ‘mons to use, even though it goes against the theme of the team being “zero IQ.” Contrary to popular belief, Koko is, in my opinion, one of the most difficult ‘mons in the game to use, since you usually have to predict and play around the opponent’s Ground-types with HP Ice and Volt Switch if you want to be able to consistently use Koko to its full potential. If you can do that, Koko’s unassuming base 95 special attack stat will reward you with surprisingly large amounts of damage output with its STABs.
Hidden Power Ice is on the set strictly for the 50% usage Landorus-T, as it OHKOs most standard variants (252HP/148SpDef is the threshold to avoid being OHKOd, which I know is a lure used specifically for Koko). Landorus-T, being the most common ground type in the game right now, is often the biggest barrier to freeing up Koko. Other relevant ground-types like Zygarde and Garchomp have a nice secondary Dragon-typing to take advantage of, and as a result are usually either straight OHKOd or heavily maimed by Dazzling Gleam. Volt Switch and Thunderbolt are Koko’s hard-hitting Electric STAB that, when coupled with a Choice Specs, are capable of OHKOing most non-resists in the tier.
I should mention that Koko singlehandedly makes just about every other electric-type not named Zapdos irrelevant in OU. This is because Thunderbolt in Electric Terrain reaches absurd levels of power - for comparison, it out-damages Modest Xurkitree’s Thunderbolt by a good margin, and has a good chance of 4HKOing Chansey (which is depressing, but still). It also singlehandedly dismantles the popular CelePex core, and Volt Switch hits very hard off despite it’s relatively low base power.
EVs are very simple, and a Timid nature is used to at least speed tie with other Kokos (There’s a replay vs PokeTCG Gamer1288 where I lose the game off of a speed tie, which illustrates the importance of at least speed tying) and other base 130s.
are calcs really necessary at this point? we all know what this mon does
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Celesteela in Electric Terrain: 468-552 (117.5 - 138.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex in Electric Terrain: 300-354 (98.6 - 116.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Dazzling Gleam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 362-428 (101.1 - 119.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Dazzling Gleam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde: 330-390 (92.1 - 108.9%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Landorus-Therian: 372-440 (97.3 - 115.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable in Electric Terrain: 289-342 (73.3 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Celesteela in Electric Terrain: 468-552 (117.5 - 138.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex in Electric Terrain: 300-354 (98.6 - 116.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Dazzling Gleam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 362-428 (101.1 - 119.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Dazzling Gleam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde: 330-390 (92.1 - 108.9%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Landorus-Therian: 372-440 (97.3 - 115.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable in Electric Terrain: 289-342 (73.3 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
have faith :) (Medicham-Mega) @
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
As mentioned in the team building process section, the slot of Medicham was originally occupied by Lele + Pinsir-M. Then, Titania from my GSPL team (same one who helped with Heatran’s EVs) mentioned that I could combine Lele and Pinsir-M into one giant monster of a mon in Medicham-M. I can’t say that I’m a fan of Pure Power, but there’s no denying how absurdly strong it makes Medicham-M. Sporting a raw 600 base attack (well, 598) combined with a base 130 power STAB in High Jump Kick and a solid secondary STAB in Zen Headbutt, there is very little in the metagame that is able to wall Medicham. Indeed, the list consists of little else outside of Defensive Mew, which is easily trapped by my Heatran, and Bold Clefable, which takes over 40%~ each time it switches into High Jump Kick and cannot stay in on Zen Headbutt.
Speaking of Zen Headbutt, it was chosen over Thunder Punch as it allowed me to more reliably threaten both Toxapex and Venusaur-M. Despite Venusaur’s low usage, its presence in the tier has to be respected, and Zen Headbutt allows me to scratch it with at least something on my team. Furthermore, Thunder Punch has an extremely noticeable drop off in power outside of Electric Terrain, while Zen Headbutt scores a 2HKO on Toxapex even at -1 from, say, a Landorus-T Intimidate.
Ice Punch is the last move as it allows me to cleanly OHKO Zygarde and Garchomp as well as do over ~60% at -1 to defensive Landorus. A Jolly nature is used so I can at least hit the crowded base 100 speed tier, outspeeding Tapu Lele (which is rarely scarfed nowadays) and Landorus-T (which is commonly scarfed, but I have switch-ins to it). If needed, I can at least speed tie with Volcarona and Salamence as a last resort. It’s so important that I outspeed Lele as Zen Headbutt in Psychic Terrain cleanly 2HKOs it, allowing me to sometimes nab surprise KOs on Lele switch-ins who try to use their Psychic Terrain to cheekily block my Fake Out.
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Celesteela: 277-327 (69.5 - 82.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Ice Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Dragonite: 564-668 (174.6 - 206.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO (THROUGH MULTISCALE)
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 369-435 (103 - 121.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Jirachi: 354-417 (87.8 - 103.4%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Magearna: 313-370 (89.1 - 105.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Zen Headbutt vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Lele in Psychic Terrain: 207-245 (73.6 - 87.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 192-226 (48.7 - 57.3%) -- 47.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
-1 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 216+ Def Landorus-Therian: 292-344 (76.4 - 90%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery (at -1, to boot)
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 248 HP / 244+ Def Scizor-Mega: 202-238 (58.8 - 69.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Ice Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Dragonite: 564-668 (174.6 - 206.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO (THROUGH MULTISCALE)
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 369-435 (103 - 121.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Jirachi: 354-417 (87.8 - 103.4%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Magearna: 313-370 (89.1 - 105.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Zen Headbutt vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Lele in Psychic Terrain: 207-245 (73.6 - 87.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 192-226 (48.7 - 57.3%) -- 47.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
-1 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 216+ Def Landorus-Therian: 292-344 (76.4 - 90%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery (at -1, to boot)
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 248 HP / 244+ Def Scizor-Mega: 202-238 (58.8 - 69.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Wish Foundation (Jirachi) @
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 56 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
A pretty nice set that has been on the rise lately. As Lele and Psyspam usage has only increased, Jirachi has risen up as a premier Lele check. It’s ability to cripple common threats with Thunder Wave and pass Wishes to its teammates cannot be understated either, as my Z-move Heatran and Scarfed Landorus greatly appreciate at least some form of recovery. Iron Head is mandatory STAB that also hits Lele very hard and has a rather nifty 60% chance to flinch. I can’t say I haven’t won games off of paraflinch hax, that’s for sure. U-Turn allows me to keep up the momentum (where has the seen before?), forming a nice little VoltTurn core with Landorus-T and Tapu Koko. This only gives me more opportunities to send in my breakers.
While paralysis has been nerfed this generation, and for good reason as well, Thunder Wave is absolutely invaluable to this set. It allows me to cripple most importantly Scarf Kartana (Jirachi easily lives an unboosted Knock Off) and Hawlucha, which rarely runs 328+ speed nowadays, giving me the option to revenge kill it with my Medicham-M’s Ice Punch. It can serve as an emergency check to certain setup sweepers.
The EV spread allows me to survive 2 HP Fires from Specs Tapu Lele before rocks, while speed creeping Jolly Base 60s and hitting the same speed benchmark as my Heatran. The rest of the EVs are dumped in to Defense to allow me to better check other Medicham-Ms and Lopunny-Ms, which are otherwise massive threats to the team.
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 56+ SpD Jirachi in Psychic Terrain: 70-83 (17.3 - 20.5%) -- possible 7HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 168 Def Jirachi in Psychic Terrain: 63-74 (15.5 - 18.3%) -- possible 8HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ SpA Tapu Lele Shattered Psyche (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 56+ SpD Jirachi in Psychic Terrain: 151-178 (37.3 - 44%) -- 100% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery (+1 Modest Shattered Psyche)
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 168 Def Jirachi in Psychic Terrain: 63-74 (15.5 - 18.3%) -- possible 8HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ SpA Tapu Lele Shattered Psyche (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 56+ SpD Jirachi in Psychic Terrain: 151-178 (37.3 - 44%) -- 100% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery (+1 Modest Shattered Psyche)
Playstyle:
So don’t get me wrong - this team is VERY offensive in nature, and thus should be played like an offense team. My friend criticized this team since he thinks it loses to Ash-Greninja, and while it clearly does, especially if the Assault Vest is knocked off of Tangrowth, one has to make very aggressive plays to compensate for the weaknesses. A good example IS the Ash-Greninja MU - if you think it’s going to get Spikes up on the Heatran, most people would switch out to Tangrowth because that is absolutely the safe play. However, if it’s early-mid game and your opponent doesn’t gain much from 25% worth of chip on a Regenerator Tangrowth… there’s absolutely an argument for staying in and Z-Earth Power-ing the Ash-Greninja, eliminating a huge threat to the team early on. Similarly, if a Scarfed Kartana is in against Medicham-M, in the early-mid game Knock Off is ABSOLUTELY the play from most Kartana players, since without the Assault Vest on Tangrowth a special sweeper in the back becomes that much more threatening. Knowing that… there’s an argument to simply stay in, eat the Knock Off and trade 40% worth of damage on Medicham-M to eliminate their scarfer altogether. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not saying to play recklessly with the team - I’m saying to take calculated risks that may be risky, but have a greater reward than their “safer” counterparts.
Mimikyu - Not much checks it on my team. Heatran can take a hit at +2 but it loses a ton of its health to do so. Thankfully it’s dropping in usage outside of dedicated hazard stack/hyper offence archetypes. Basically I can’t really prevent it from setting up and once I do, it’s going to do about 50%~ to one of my ‘mons, and can sweep under the right circumstances.
Zygarde - I have one flimsy check to this thing - Scarf Landorus - which can 2HKO non- bulky sets and survive one Thousand Arrows, but it dies very quickly to Z-Outrage. Tangrowth is often my pivot on this thing but if its low or dead then I usually just lose, especially if its the bulky SubDD variant.
Greninja-Ash - I can revenge kill it and sponge hits from it. If Assault Vest is knocked off it becomes more of a problem. If it transforms then I jump on GameFreak’s Twitter and start complaining about their balance decisions and how they “pander to the lowest common denominator.”
Toxic Spikes - Toxapex was a mistake. I also played against a Beedrill/Suicune Toxic Spikes team and got smashed pretty hard by it.
Choice Scarf Blacephalon - Pretty much an instalose matchup if Heatran/Tangrowth are dead. Even if they are alive it requires a lot of careful prediction to play around it.
Zygarde - I have one flimsy check to this thing - Scarf Landorus - which can 2HKO non- bulky sets and survive one Thousand Arrows, but it dies very quickly to Z-Outrage. Tangrowth is often my pivot on this thing but if its low or dead then I usually just lose, especially if its the bulky SubDD variant.
Greninja-Ash - I can revenge kill it and sponge hits from it. If Assault Vest is knocked off it becomes more of a problem. If it transforms then I jump on GameFreak’s Twitter and start complaining about their balance decisions and how they “pander to the lowest common denominator.”
Toxic Spikes - Toxapex was a mistake. I also played against a Beedrill/Suicune Toxic Spikes team and got smashed pretty hard by it.
Choice Scarf Blacephalon - Pretty much an instalose matchup if Heatran/Tangrowth are dead. Even if they are alive it requires a lot of careful prediction to play around it.
Unfortunately it looks like I haven't been saving many of my replays.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-686446961 - Lobby tour win #1
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-684681129 - Lobby tour win #2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-684438045 - vs "stay a1ert," 1800 elo, tangrowth is le TANK
- loss to poketcg gamer1288 on blunder's channel.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-685561493 - loss to blacephalon. showcases how WEAK my team is blace.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-686446961 - Lobby tour win #1
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-684681129 - Lobby tour win #2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-684438045 - vs "stay a1ert," 1800 elo, tangrowth is le TANK
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-685561493 - loss to blacephalon. showcases how WEAK my team is blace.
I do want to shoutout my GSPL (not quite SPL, but I'm happy I'm playing in it :)) team, and most importantly CALLOUS who took a chance on drafting me (well, replacing someone who quit so I wasn’t technically drafted xd), some no-name semi-high ELO player who’s biggest claim to fame was writing a bunch of RMTs. Also, Titania who helped me with the EV spread for Heatran and Jirachi. To the rest of my team - thanks for supporting me lol, hopefully I won’t continue to get blown the fuck out like I did vs Meowdo lmao.
Another shoutout to my BOY KuraiTenshi26, you’re pretty much the reason that I got back into OU in the first place and you always push me to improve on the ladder. Slightly salty you got your Flyspam team featured on Pokeaim’s channel and mine didn’t lmao. see you in grands of the next draft season amirite? Really a shoutout goes to everyone in my draft league, most of which don’t have Smogon accounts but y’all really push me to improve and continue playing this game and one day be as good as the best in the league (Waszap). Shoutout to “abidoofthatcares” for the LIT Jirachi nickname as well.
Kabukixd u suck at randoms get on my level
Another shoutout to my BOY KuraiTenshi26, you’re pretty much the reason that I got back into OU in the first place and you always push me to improve on the ladder. Slightly salty you got your Flyspam team featured on Pokeaim’s channel and mine didn’t lmao. see you in grands of the next draft season amirite? Really a shoutout goes to everyone in my draft league, most of which don’t have Smogon accounts but y’all really push me to improve and continue playing this game and one day be as good as the best in the league (Waszap). Shoutout to “abidoofthatcares” for the LIT Jirachi nickname as well.
Kabukixd u suck at randoms get on my level
When I first found out about Smogon, it was like 2010 and I had just finished playing through Pokemon Platinum. I was watching some Marriland videos of him competitive battling some other guys on Wi-Fi and he mentioned something about EV training. Naturally, I had no idea what the fuck he was talking about, and a couple of Google searches later I found an article about EV training on Smogon. I was eager to contribute to the community (after I had a rudimentary understanding of EV training, of course, and thought that I knew everything there was about competitive ‘mons), and many theoretical battles later with my imaginary friends I had come up with the perfect DPP team. The kind of god squad that SPL teams were lining up to pay for. It was a thing of beauty. I hastily typed up my first RMT in Microsoft Word, hastily added some pictures and subsequently spent another half an hour painstakingly explaining my nickname choices. Took me a while, but I thought it was well worth it. I posted it on Smogon and waited for the reception.
It was almost immediately deleted. Turns out that copy-pasting the RMT straight from Microsoft Word was completely incompatible with the Smogon Forums, and my RMT looked like an enormous mess.
Now, nearly 8 years later, I’m nearly 1,000 ELO better than I was back then (When I played on Shoddy Battle at the time, I don’t remember what the starting ELO was, but if it was 1,000 like it is on Pokemon Showdown I managed to get my account into the 900s. I sucked hard), and I’m eager to finally have a chance to explain my nicknames to the community.
It was almost immediately deleted. Turns out that copy-pasting the RMT straight from Microsoft Word was completely incompatible with the Smogon Forums, and my RMT looked like an enormous mess.
Now, nearly 8 years later, I’m nearly 1,000 ELO better than I was back then (When I played on Shoddy Battle at the time, I don’t remember what the starting ELO was, but if it was 1,000 like it is on Pokemon Showdown I managed to get my account into the 900s. I sucked hard), and I’m eager to finally have a chance to explain my nicknames to the community.
Section is probably sort of cringe.
Hopes and Dreams is an Undertale reference. But it’s more-so since my old nickname for Landorus-T was “Pebble Genie,” and I thought that genies were the kind of creatures to grant you your wildest hopes and dreams.
Reality comes from the fact that I’m a fan of DDLC. Monika isn’t even that good of a girl honestly, but her song is nice.
n0t tHaT g00d is a meme from my draft league. It was originally about Volcanion, since someone thought that it wasn’t “that good.” But it was. I should know, I lost to a SubToxic Volcanion in my draft.
Best Tapu is fairly self explanatory. The objective Tapu ranking goes Koko > Lele > Bulu > Everything Else > Fini
have faith :) is a longer story. The slot was originally occupied by Pinsir, and my Pinsir’s nickname is “Faith.” Well, it used to be “PraY” since I’m a huge fan of League of Legends eSports, and PraY was one of my favourite ADCs of all time. But I wanted something that wasn’t such an explicit reference, and I thought Faith was a nice callback while not being explicitly a League of Legends reference.
Wish Foundation comes from my draft league as well. Shoutout to “abidoofthatcares.”
Hopes and Dreams (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Defog
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Earthquake
Reality (Heatran) @ Groundium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 144 HP / 136 SpA / 8 SpD / 220 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
n0t tHaT g00d (Tangrowth) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake
Best Tapu (Tapu Koko) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
have faith :) (Medicham-Mega) @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
Wish Foundation (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 56 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Wish
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Defog
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Earthquake
Reality (Heatran) @ Groundium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 144 HP / 136 SpA / 8 SpD / 220 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
n0t tHaT g00d (Tangrowth) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake
Best Tapu (Tapu Koko) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
have faith :) (Medicham-Mega) @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
Wish Foundation (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 56 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Wish
Conclusion
thanks for reading really hopefully the next rmt I do will feature a team that gets me into the promised ELO of 2k
Last edited:
