The Harbingers Volume 1
Hi all! This is my first ever RMT, and though I feel that my team has potential, I feel like it falls short in a lot of places, and I need help reworking it. It’s an ugly team to look at and play, but hopefully that doesn’t dissuade some of you guys from looking at this.
I'm running a balance build based on the utility of Jirachi, strength of Zygarde, speed control of Lopunny and Landorus, and a bit of hax, courtesy Jirachi and Zygarde.
The Team
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 248 HP / 196 SpD / 64 Spe
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
I’ll start with Jirachi. I think that this ‘mon is terrifying right now. In a metagame where paralysis moves are rising in popularity at an alarming rate, Jirachi can take advantage of this phenomenon with its iconic Iron Head and Body Slam combo. I feel like Body Slam has enough utility right now to forgo a U-turn, especially because the paralysis that my team can spread nullifies the “slow U-Turn”. WishTect is really good, because three of the best ‘mons in the game (Heatran, Zygarde, Landorus-T) love being topped off by 200 HP wishes. All in all, it might seem weird to build a team around a glue ‘mon and not vice versa, but I thought that Jirachi could thrive.
Tyranitar (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 184 HP / 232 SpD / 92 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
Another rising meta trend is AV Tyranitar. There’s not much that hasn’t been said about how brilliant this thing is. This thing destroys Heatran (Corkscrew can do under 50%), eats a Focus Blast from Mega-Alakazam and OHKOs back, shreds Blacephalon and Volcarona, 1v1s Serperior, Pursuit traps the Latis, resets weather on Charizard-Y, and walls Koko to hell and back. This thing is a monster right now, and I liked it because it formed a really cool defensive core with Jirachi, who takes on opposing fairies like Magearna and passes wishes to top off Tyranitar when he’s weakened. Another thing of note is Ttar’s ability to outspend things like Heatran after paralysis, which is damn useful for a ‘mon without recovery.
Zygarde @ Groundium Z
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Glare
- Substitute
Fun fact, Zygarde is broken. I’m running the Sub/Glare/DD/Thousand Arrows Groundium set, because I’ve been seeing it pop up lately and I needed a set up sweeper that could switch into bulkier mons that I had trouble touching with the previous two (Ferrothorn and Toxapex) and just sub up and DD. Glare has awesome synergy with Jirachi and Tyranitar. I’m considering switching a move out for Extreme Speed right now, because as you’ll later see I have an awful matchup vs. offense.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Stealth Rock
Next up, I realized that I completely folded to Scarf Lando-T and Ash-Greninja. Thus, I chose Ferrothorn to check both of these. Spikes are great on this team because they put pressure on the opponent, something that my team really needed. Spikes also go hand in hand with paralysis spam, as both of them are great at limiting what the opponent can do to prevent Zygarde and Jirachi from outright winning. Power Whip allows it to more proactively check the threats that is wants to come in on, giving it a good option against Greninja, Tyranitar, Mega Swampert, and Gastrodon. Leech Seed is basically a necessity on Ferrothorn and can also get Jirachi and Tyranitar out of a pinch through switching them into Leech Seed heals. I’m dual hazards because I can’t seem to fit Rocks otherwise.
Lopunny (F) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Punch
- Fake Out
Mega Lopunny is here to prevent offense from rolling over my team harder than the Boston Red Sox have rolled through the MLB playoffs thus far. I’m running Fake Out for necessary priority, STABs because it’s a Lopunny, and Ice Punch because my Zygarde and Landorus matchups are pretty awful. I was debating running Medicham over Lopunny, but I continued with Lopunny due to its ability to outspeed Tapu Koko and Ash Greninja (the only other 'mon on the team that outspeeds Ash Gren is Scarf Lando, and I wanted something that wasn't weak to Shuriken). It helps me control late games when I'm conserving sacrifices and need something to duel with slower sweepers. It's not the best Mega right now, but I'm not sure what alternatives I have as an immediate check and revenge killer against the offensive mons that I'm having the most trouble with.
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 244 Atk / 68 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Explosion
- Defog
Finally, Landorus-Therian is on my team. Intimidate is great, having a fighting resist is great, having a ground immune is great, having fast strong U-Turn is great, and having a Choice Scarfer is great. I needed defog very badly due to having easily chipped 'mons forming the teams backbone, and Lando-T is a premier user of the move. I chose to use Explosion on the set due to its ability to trade with opposing breakers and sweepers that threaten my main three-‘mon core of Jirachi, Ferrothorn, and Tyranitar. It's a blanket check to physical attackers that puts the opponent on the ropes whenever it comes in, and it opens opportunities for Jirachi to come in and cripple something.
Threatlist
Ash-Greninja and Alakazam-Mega: These two need no introduction as the tier’s best special sweepers. I’m hard-pressed for switch-ins already, and when I lose Lando they become exponentially harder to deal with.
Celesteela: I have basically no way of dealing with this thing outright, I often have to resort to paralysis and Zygarde’s Substitute to set up on it.
Rotom-Wash: This thing spreads burn, never dies, is immune to paralysis, and is quad resistant to Iron Head. Again, Zygarde already having a Substitute is my best shot.
Mega Mawile: It always comes in and claims one, but that’s Mawile I guess.
Kartana: If Kartana is Swords Dance/Knock Off/Leaf Blade/Sacred Sword I’m pretty screwed. Lando-T and Jirachi are my primary switch-ins, but a well-played Kartana can clean house against me.
Mega Medicham: It’s uncommon to see right now, but this things tears holes in the first four members of the team.
Conclusion
I've been playing this team by proactively paralyzing opponents and stacking hazards in the early game, and then settling into a slower-paced reaction-based game that my bulky core allows for. I chip and stifle opponents until I find a chance for Zygarde to come in, which either sweeps or opens up a sweep for Lopunny.
The game is the most fragile and losable in the early game, because I rely heavily on accomplishing my initial gameplan in a short amount of time. I originally carried an even slower and bulkier build with Clefable and Tornadus-Therian over Lopunny and Lando, but I made the replacements because I needed a more physically meaty defogger and a way of catching the faster threats that survived the rounds of Glares and Slams and Spikes. However, my team's late game is still quite shaky, because as soon as Jirachi goes down, the team cannot recover health. At that point, I don't have enough power or speed to make a last stand and often get overwhelmed. Basically, if I don't get my checklist done in the first 15 turns, the more pressure I am put under, and the checklist is long and hard to accomplish.
I’ve already contemplated switching Ferrothorn for Celesteela, which takes a bit of the physically defensive load and shores up my Mega Alakazam weakness, but I don’t know where else to fit hazards or a Greninja switch-in. If anybody has advice on what to do with the team, I would very much appreciate it.
Thanks for reading, and have an awesome day!
Importable
https://pokepast.es/7d5ed52c95e05f79
Hi all! This is my first ever RMT, and though I feel that my team has potential, I feel like it falls short in a lot of places, and I need help reworking it. It’s an ugly team to look at and play, but hopefully that doesn’t dissuade some of you guys from looking at this.
I'm running a balance build based on the utility of Jirachi, strength of Zygarde, speed control of Lopunny and Landorus, and a bit of hax, courtesy Jirachi and Zygarde.
The Team
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 248 HP / 196 SpD / 64 Spe
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Iron Head
- Body Slam
I’ll start with Jirachi. I think that this ‘mon is terrifying right now. In a metagame where paralysis moves are rising in popularity at an alarming rate, Jirachi can take advantage of this phenomenon with its iconic Iron Head and Body Slam combo. I feel like Body Slam has enough utility right now to forgo a U-turn, especially because the paralysis that my team can spread nullifies the “slow U-Turn”. WishTect is really good, because three of the best ‘mons in the game (Heatran, Zygarde, Landorus-T) love being topped off by 200 HP wishes. All in all, it might seem weird to build a team around a glue ‘mon and not vice versa, but I thought that Jirachi could thrive.
Tyranitar (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 184 HP / 232 SpD / 92 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
Another rising meta trend is AV Tyranitar. There’s not much that hasn’t been said about how brilliant this thing is. This thing destroys Heatran (Corkscrew can do under 50%), eats a Focus Blast from Mega-Alakazam and OHKOs back, shreds Blacephalon and Volcarona, 1v1s Serperior, Pursuit traps the Latis, resets weather on Charizard-Y, and walls Koko to hell and back. This thing is a monster right now, and I liked it because it formed a really cool defensive core with Jirachi, who takes on opposing fairies like Magearna and passes wishes to top off Tyranitar when he’s weakened. Another thing of note is Ttar’s ability to outspend things like Heatran after paralysis, which is damn useful for a ‘mon without recovery.
Zygarde @ Groundium Z
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Glare
- Substitute
Fun fact, Zygarde is broken. I’m running the Sub/Glare/DD/Thousand Arrows Groundium set, because I’ve been seeing it pop up lately and I needed a set up sweeper that could switch into bulkier mons that I had trouble touching with the previous two (Ferrothorn and Toxapex) and just sub up and DD. Glare has awesome synergy with Jirachi and Tyranitar. I’m considering switching a move out for Extreme Speed right now, because as you’ll later see I have an awful matchup vs. offense.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Stealth Rock
Next up, I realized that I completely folded to Scarf Lando-T and Ash-Greninja. Thus, I chose Ferrothorn to check both of these. Spikes are great on this team because they put pressure on the opponent, something that my team really needed. Spikes also go hand in hand with paralysis spam, as both of them are great at limiting what the opponent can do to prevent Zygarde and Jirachi from outright winning. Power Whip allows it to more proactively check the threats that is wants to come in on, giving it a good option against Greninja, Tyranitar, Mega Swampert, and Gastrodon. Leech Seed is basically a necessity on Ferrothorn and can also get Jirachi and Tyranitar out of a pinch through switching them into Leech Seed heals. I’m dual hazards because I can’t seem to fit Rocks otherwise.
Lopunny (F) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Punch
- Fake Out
Mega Lopunny is here to prevent offense from rolling over my team harder than the Boston Red Sox have rolled through the MLB playoffs thus far. I’m running Fake Out for necessary priority, STABs because it’s a Lopunny, and Ice Punch because my Zygarde and Landorus matchups are pretty awful. I was debating running Medicham over Lopunny, but I continued with Lopunny due to its ability to outspeed Tapu Koko and Ash Greninja (the only other 'mon on the team that outspeeds Ash Gren is Scarf Lando, and I wanted something that wasn't weak to Shuriken). It helps me control late games when I'm conserving sacrifices and need something to duel with slower sweepers. It's not the best Mega right now, but I'm not sure what alternatives I have as an immediate check and revenge killer against the offensive mons that I'm having the most trouble with.
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 244 Atk / 68 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Explosion
- Defog
Finally, Landorus-Therian is on my team. Intimidate is great, having a fighting resist is great, having a ground immune is great, having fast strong U-Turn is great, and having a Choice Scarfer is great. I needed defog very badly due to having easily chipped 'mons forming the teams backbone, and Lando-T is a premier user of the move. I chose to use Explosion on the set due to its ability to trade with opposing breakers and sweepers that threaten my main three-‘mon core of Jirachi, Ferrothorn, and Tyranitar. It's a blanket check to physical attackers that puts the opponent on the ropes whenever it comes in, and it opens opportunities for Jirachi to come in and cripple something.
Threatlist
Ash-Greninja and Alakazam-Mega: These two need no introduction as the tier’s best special sweepers. I’m hard-pressed for switch-ins already, and when I lose Lando they become exponentially harder to deal with.
Celesteela: I have basically no way of dealing with this thing outright, I often have to resort to paralysis and Zygarde’s Substitute to set up on it.
Rotom-Wash: This thing spreads burn, never dies, is immune to paralysis, and is quad resistant to Iron Head. Again, Zygarde already having a Substitute is my best shot.
Mega Mawile: It always comes in and claims one, but that’s Mawile I guess.
Kartana: If Kartana is Swords Dance/Knock Off/Leaf Blade/Sacred Sword I’m pretty screwed. Lando-T and Jirachi are my primary switch-ins, but a well-played Kartana can clean house against me.
Mega Medicham: It’s uncommon to see right now, but this things tears holes in the first four members of the team.
Conclusion
I've been playing this team by proactively paralyzing opponents and stacking hazards in the early game, and then settling into a slower-paced reaction-based game that my bulky core allows for. I chip and stifle opponents until I find a chance for Zygarde to come in, which either sweeps or opens up a sweep for Lopunny.
The game is the most fragile and losable in the early game, because I rely heavily on accomplishing my initial gameplan in a short amount of time. I originally carried an even slower and bulkier build with Clefable and Tornadus-Therian over Lopunny and Lando, but I made the replacements because I needed a more physically meaty defogger and a way of catching the faster threats that survived the rounds of Glares and Slams and Spikes. However, my team's late game is still quite shaky, because as soon as Jirachi goes down, the team cannot recover health. At that point, I don't have enough power or speed to make a last stand and often get overwhelmed. Basically, if I don't get my checklist done in the first 15 turns, the more pressure I am put under, and the checklist is long and hard to accomplish.
I’ve already contemplated switching Ferrothorn for Celesteela, which takes a bit of the physically defensive load and shores up my Mega Alakazam weakness, but I don’t know where else to fit hazards or a Greninja switch-in. If anybody has advice on what to do with the team, I would very much appreciate it.
Thanks for reading, and have an awesome day!
Importable
https://pokepast.es/7d5ed52c95e05f79
