SM OU FerroPex, VicTar

This is my first RMT post here on Smogon's forums! I'd like to issue a disclaimer first: this team is pretty new and I'm still climbing the ladder with it, and I'm only just above 1500 at the time of this posting, although I hope to end up much higher in the time to come ;)

OVERVIEW



In building this team, I knew that I wanted to build around Z Celebrate Victini. In the OU Metagame, it's a fearsome sweeper with the exception of a few notable threats: Latios / Latias, Zygarde, Alolan Muk, Hippowdon, and Mega Swampert in Rain. With the right teammates to clear the way, I saw that it may be one of the most effective late game cleaners available. The team as a whole is meant to function as a bulky offensive with coverage bias towards defensive typings, with capabilities to both stall and hit ridiculously hard in key points. It has multiple "cores" present within the team, which I will define more clearly towards the end of the team's breakdown. Extra little detail: almost all of the time, with few exceptions, I make sure that every team member's Max HP is an odd number. A general rule of thumb for rocks, HP-halving moves, and the like, yes, but worthy of mention nonetheless.

BREAKDOWN



Victor (Victini) @ Normalium Z
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Searing Shot
- Stored Power
- Focus Blast
- Celebrate
The staple member of this team, Victini boasts incredible offensive power. I chose Victini because it's one of the best Z Boosters out there alongside Jirachi, Greninja, and Porygon Z, and I needed a powerful, fast fire type to round out the team's coverage, to provide hard answers to the likes of opposing Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor, and that doesn't lose half of its HP to Stealth Rock. This set is straight from Smogon's strategy dex; I did some workshopping on it of my own but couldn't find anything else better for the team, so apologies for its unoriginality. This Victini is to be used almost exclusively in late game clean ups and wincon sweeps, since, while it is exceedingly powerful, its lifespan and time of effectiveness is not long enough to perform well in early game, since there are things that will force it out if not removed beforehand, as mentioned above, and switching it out after it sets up renders it basically useless, becoming mediocre at best in the OU tier. If its most prominent foes are removed before it sets up, this team member becomes perhaps one of the most potent sweepers in the entire metagame. That's where its teammates come in.




Aculos (Ferrothorn) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect
Ferrothorn is a defensive monster. I chose it because I needed a member of the team that could answer to Mega Swampert, all the Tapus and survive/scout their fire coverage moves if present, contribute to the team's stall/ passive recovery capabilities with Leech Seed + Leftovers + Protect, punish physical attackers alongside Landorus-T (Mega Swampert, specifically), and complete a defensive core-type scheme with Toxapex all at the same time. Neither Celesteela or Tangrowth can accomplish all of these roles at once with one viable set. For these reasons combined, I decided to turn Ferrothorn into a mixed defender, so as to function both as a physical counterpart to The Pex, and to wall Moonblasts and Psychics from Tapu Lele namely on the specially defensive side. This set is from Gen 6 OU; I have found that it is still quite effective with its given teammates in the current OU Metagame. Power Whip punishes Swampert, Gastrodon, and Tapu Fini quite effectively, while Gyro Ball takes care of any Tapu Lele brave enough to stay in on it, along with many other faster threats in the tier; 0 Speed IVs with a Relaxed Nature maximize this effect. Minimum speed also helps it to function well in Trick Room teams along with Toxapex, providing a full Trick Room ready core if needed.





Gadrego (Toxapex) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
- Haze
The Pex, as Smogon's Strategy Dex likes to call it. Toxapex is one of the most defensively versatile Pokémon ever created; however, for this team, I needed it to be almost strictly Specially Defensive. Hence, why I decided to go with the given Smogon set for the current metagame; again, an unoriginal choice. Regenerator allows it to repeatedly switch in on powerful attackers that it resists, a list which is too long to post here. Toxic over Toxic Spikes, I found, is more effective on this team due to allied and opposing Defog. I prefer Toxic anyways since it's a more direct and reliable way to badly poison your opponents that doesn't fear hazard removal, despite the prominence of opposing Tapu Fini's Misty Terrain. Scald provides a significant chance to burn opponents like Ferrothorn and physically offensive switch ins. Recover greatly increases longevity, and Haze destroys setup sweepers like Volcarona, in conjuction with Toxic. Specially Defensive Toxapex also reliably switches in to Mega Charizard Y regardless of whether or not it carries Focus Blast, a gamble that Tyranitar generally would rather not take; Toxapex removes that problem before Tyranitar switches in to cancel sun. This set also functions as a part of two different defensive cores for this team: the Specially Defensive counterpart to both Ferrothorn and Landorus-T, two mons which Toxapex pairs wonderfully with in the first place. Ferrothorn, in particular, completes an amazing stall core with this Toxapex. 0 Speed IVs with negative nature to function well in Trick Room, as mentioned above.





Dominus (Tyranitar) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Superpower
Choice Banded Tyranitar is perhaps one of the most important Pokémon on this team. Victini would not be good at all without it, since Tyranitar is an almost guaranteed answer to two of Victini's biggest problems: Latios and Latias, through Pursuit trapping. This set is preferable to a Mega Tyranitar set on this team due to the Choice Band set's "get in, hit, get out" nature; Mega Tyranitar accomplishes more of a sweeping role in OU, and therefore may be tempted to set up with Dragon Dance in front of a Latios or Latias, and let it escape unscathed. Pursuit is, in all honesty, the only Dark STAB required on this Tyranitar, since the entire reason for Dark STAB on this team in the first place is to utitlize Pursuit trapping. Instead of Crunch, I chose to add Superpower for coverage against opposing Tyranitar and to finish off other unsuspecting opponents who are weak to Fighting-type moves. The stat drop from Superpower is of no consequence now, since this Tyranitar is meant to come into battle, hit hard, and switch out almost immediately, especially since it can no longer be trapped into battle to be removed, thanks to Arena Trap's recent ban from the OU metagame. EVs are placed into HP and Atk, to maximize Tyranitar's switch in capabilities via the SpD boost from Sand, and to hit as hard as possible (pretty freaking hard). Stone Edge is a STAB move not to be taken lightly; it can cause massive damage even to some targets that switch in to resist it. You shouldn't expect to outspeed very many things with a Tyranitar unless you're running the Mega Dragon Dance set, therefore I decided to bypass the issue entirely and just invest fully in HP for more overall bulk. If an opposing Tyranitar, or any other threat, tries to Superpower your own, Landorus-T is there to switch in, absorb the hit, and punish the opposition. Ferrothorn and Landorus-T both take no damage from Sand, so the short period of Sand shouldn't be of much consequence, since the three of these mons together provide a quite formidable core of their own, yet again.





Vistov (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Static
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost
Zapdos is a severly underrated Pokémon in the OU tier as of late. I chose it for a few reasons: Landorus-T now has access to Defog, and takes less Stealth Rock damage on switch in than Zapdos does, even though Landorus-T lacks a method of hard recovery, and is therefore the better Defogger; even though Zapdos can also use Defog and have Static at the same time, thanks to Virtual Console now, Zapdos, in turn, is a better user of Hidden Power Ice than Landorus-T is. The additional Heat Wave Fire-type coverage is necessary for field clearing before Victini comes in to set up, and Volt Switch is chosen over Discharge to form a slow Volt-Turn core with Landorus-T, which is very useful for sponging hits and allowing Victini to come in and set up during late game without taking damage, necessary due to Victini's frailty on the switch in. Static along with a physically defensive stat roll makes it difficult for opposing physical sweepers to function properly, especially with the chance of paralysis crippling the fast ones, namely Tapu Bulu and Hawlucha; the latter of which would run through this team otherwise. Zapdos is the best answer to Hawlucha in the first place, either forcing it out or killing it on the spot, rendering it much less effective for the opponent either way.





Calrissian (Landorus-Therian) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Defog
Ah, yes. Finally, the OU tier's most beloved Pokémon: Landorus-Therian. Metioned plenty of times already leading up to this point, any competitive battler who knows what they're doing knows full and well of the versatility that Landorus-T is capable of. For this team, I chose a stat roll from its Physically Defensive set. Stealth Rock isn't a necessity for this team as much as Defog is, and Landorus-T is the best option for the team to use Defog, as mentioned above. Earthquake still does respectable damage without Atk investment, U-turn pivots extraordinarily well, and Knock Off is an option in Hidden Power Ice's absence to cripple item-dependent opponents either on switch-in or otherwise. Landorus-T provides a solid answer to Mega Lopunny's Fighting-type STAB moves, while intimidate helps to invalidate pretty much any physical attacker in the tier. It acts as a part to cores with Toxapex, Ferrothorn and Tyranitar, and Zapdos, to fulfill several different core functions. Landorus-T is almost obligatory to nearly any OU team I create; this one is no exception.


Functional "Cores" Present Within The Team:

Slow Volt-Turn:



Defensive Stall / Trick Room Viability:



"VicTar" Prep and Sweep:



Defensive Sand Core:



Defensive Utility Core:



Note: Yes, I realize that the term "Core" is meant to describe the one main feature of a team; however, these subschemes could all be used as "Core" functions to a team, therefore, I found it important to highlight upon each one of them, to help identify the inner workings of my team.



WEAKNESSES:

Oh no... the part where I talk about what my team is bad at. :(
1. Mega Medicham and Mega Tyranitar

They both have coverage options that are hard to deal with. Mega Tyranitar, in particular, can OHKO my own Tyranitar after one Dragon Dance with Stone Edge, and usually runs Fire Punch for Ferrothorn. This can be tough to deal with, especially if my Landorus-T is removed from the field.

2. It lacks speed.

Victini is the only team member with substantial speed, and that's through setup. I had Tapu Koko in place of Zapdos before, but Zapdos has provided much more overall success over Tapu Koko. This may be a very irrelevant detail of a bulky offensive / stall capable team like mine, but I feel it still should be addressed for recommendations.

3. Victini is incredibly frail.

Before setup, Victini can hardly take hits or switch into Stealth Rock. This is troubling for a mon that is so incredibly important to a team like this one, especially since it can't stand up to a Choice Scarfed Nihilego that's in mid-sweep after Toxapex is gone. It is also vulnerable to opposing Leech Seed + Protect + Leftovers stallers. Surprisingly enough, Specially Defensive Celesteela can finish off a weakened Z Victini by surviving a +1 Searing Shot from full health and setting its seeds, then protecting, subtracting a hefty amount from Victini's HP.



Replays: The Team In Action

Performing at its best: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-680444894
Achieving a rough victory: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-680438478

Victor (Victini) @ Normalium Z
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Searing Shot
- Stored Power
- Focus Blast
- Celebrate

Aculos (Ferrothorn) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect

Gadrego (Toxapex) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
- Haze

Dominus (Tyranitar) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Superpower

Vistov (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Static
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost

Calrissian (Landorus-Therian) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Defog
 
Last edited:
Hello GuardArc!
This is a cool team built around z-celebrate Victini. Now, it’s time to rate it!
First of all, one of the main problems with this team is the lack of stealth rock. Stealth rocks are absolutely mandatory on every team, as they provide crucial chip damage to wear the opposition down. Like you also said, you lack speed control, meaning offensive teams can easily overwhelm your team.
Pokemon Threats
Pschium Z Volcarona is very threatening to this team, as it can use ferro as set up fodder and proceed to ohko all of your Pokémon with slight chip.
Kartana has no trouble sweeping your team, mainly the swords dance variants, as this team has no way to outspeed it or wall it.
Tapu Bulu is also a huge threat to this team, as it almost always runs superpower meaning you have no switchins.
Z Freeze Shock Kyurem B is also a huge threat to this team, as it can take advantage of zapdos and 2hko every member of this team. LO varaiantd can also be annoying if they run HP fire.
Changes
I would replace zapdos with scarf Kartana. Zapdos doesn’t really provide too much to this team, and scarf Kartana gives you a form of speed control that check most of your threatlist. It also provides defog support for victini.
For Toxapex I would give it a Payapa berry as this gives it more insurance against Psychic Volcarona.
Since I suggested scarf Kartana as a defogger, you are free to run Stealth rock Lando. You should also run HP ice on defensive Lando over Knock off. It seems strange, but this allows lando to properly check ground types.
Finally, change your ttar spread to max speed max attack. Max speed is very important for ttar as otherwise he gets equally outsped by the bulkier Pokemon he is supposed to break.
Optionally, you could change protect to spikes on ferro, as spikes work very well with ferro as it wears Down the opposing team quickly, but seeing as Medicham is a big threat to this team, you could keep protect. Spikes seem better however.
 
Thanks so much for all your help :D I'm new to the forums, still learning how they work, haha. Thanks for the rate as well, some good feedback here. Appreciate you, friend.
 
Like said above, you need speed control or you are going to have trouble with koko, scarf kartana, specs ash gren, etc. So this isnt a one liner, I would recommend:

Stealth Rocks > Defog on Lando
Lando doesnt need Defog, honestly I think you should replace Hp ice on Zapdos for defog. Which leads me to:

Defog > hp ice for Zapdos
Yes, hp ice hits Lando but, Defog works MUCH better on Zapdos than Lando bcz Lando kinda needs hp ice and stealth rocks to, imo be a defensive lando. If u want defog Kartana go for it, im just telling u this just in case of u keeping Zapdos. Also, u lose to specs koko btw.
Specs Koko is handhelds by Ferrothorn, so i don’t really see how koko 6 v 0s this.
Edit: True.
 
Last edited:

Chokepic

You're a choker if you say you've never choked
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Hey, cool team built around victini.

You don't have stealth rock so change ttar to mega ttar and put the stealth rock set.

Your team lacks a scarf, so use scarf lando.

Now you dont have defog so change hp ice to defog.

Just a quick rate, I can't put the sets because i don't have time, sorry :^(
 

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