SM OU Newbie Team (trying things out)

[gyarayquaza]

to say it lightly, I've been out of the meta quite a bit since gen 7 came out, and naturally a lot of drastic changes are still catching up to me. for the meantime, though, this is a fun team that keeps me entertained in the lower parts of the ladder - although I did peak around 1500 once or twice, I still think it's a bit gimmicky. so I'd love recommendations!

without further ado,

Greninja-Ash @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Water Shuriken
- Dark Pulse
- Hydro Pump
- U-turn

Ash-Greninja is one of the cooler mons come out this generation, so I had to play with its standard set a bit - I find that although the Protean set is a lot more versatile, it doesn't serve as a definitive win condition the same way Ash-Greninja does (mostly due to the speed difference). here, Hydro pump is STAB, Water Shuriken is priority STAB, Dark Pulse is STAB coverage, and U-Turn often prevents would-be setup switches from doing their thing.

Volcarona @ Firium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Ground

Volcarona is probably one of the premier Fire types of this generation, especially with the advent of Z-crystals. this is another pretty standard set that is often able to pivot into Mega Scizor or Tangrowth and set up a Quiver Dance - late game, this is pretty much another win condition. Fire Blast is STAB and brings with it an immensely powerful Inferno Overdrive, should the time arise. Giga Drain shuts down things like Greninja and Tapu Fini once you have the Quiver boost. finally, HP Ground decimates Heatran - and does good damage to Toxapex at +2.

Tapu Koko @ Magnet
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

Tapu Koko acts as another pivot, who is faster than standard Greninja, among others. Thunderbolt hits hard against even neutral enemies, and obliterates any bulky Waters in the way - while Volt Switch sacrifices power for pivoting. HP Ice covers threats that often are untouched otherwise by bringing an Ice-type attack to the table. U-Turn is there for when Volt Switch isn't reliable (e.g. against incoming Landorus, Excadrill, or Tyranitar switches).


Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 16 SpD / 52 Spe
Calm Nature
- Taunt
- Nature's Madness
- Moonblast
- Defog

my defogger - and pretty good at it. originally this was a Latios who wasn't really doing me much good; lo and behold the transformation into a standard Fini, bearing bulk and a decently paced Taunt to shut down walls. Nature's Madness is great for predicted switches that would otherwise sit comfortably in your way (Ferrothorn). finally Moonblast is there to damage Dragons mostly.

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

my rocks - although it has come in handy for its other moves as well, Lando is basically just a bulky intimidator who sets up rocks. a standard set; EQ is big STAB, Stone Edge is useful coverage, and U-Turn allows for further pivoting action.

Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt

my mega - Mega Metagross rounds out a bit of coverage with Steel attacks and ever useful Psychic coverage. fairy ad poison types are often dealt with by this - although admittedly, it is annoyingly the only thing on the team that can do that job.


so that's the team right now! as far as negatives go, I notice that without certain mons (Metagross and Volcarona especially) all coverage falls into obscurity and the team is screwed - I also flat out am outspend by things like Scarfchomp and Scarf keldeo. Ironically, Volcarona also obliterates my team after one Quiver Dance. Zygarde isn't impossible to deal with itself, but presents difficulty as nothing seems to comfortably switch in. Protean Greninja variants also hard check this team outside of revenge kills by means of taking advantage of type change. Tyranitar (and special walls in general) also present extreme difficulty as my team is mostly special attackers, with very little coverage. these are some of the most prominent threats, but I'm sure there are more

anyway, thank you for reading! any and all changes are very welcomed. just fuck me up, friends

 

[Virizain]

This team is pretty nice, only thing I want to point out is the sets your running.

Firium Z------> Psychium Z

The age of Firium Z Volc is dead, dude. Firium Z supposedly is supposed to KO Salamence, Alolan Marowak, and Fire Resisits in general but it only does like ~80% so it needs stealth rocks up on the opposing side and even after that, a bit of prior damage to achieve the KO. Shattered Psyche OHKOes Toxapex, Garchomp, Salamence and even AlolaWak at +1 without any insane chip damage. It misses out on Heatran, yeah, but from the looks of your team, its not like its a problem.

Volcarona @ Psychium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
- Psychic

Stone Edge------> Hidden Power Ice

What is Stone Edge supposed to hit, exactly? Volcarona and MegaZardX are hit hard enough by earthquake already and it can just U-turn out of incoming MegaZardY's and Talonflame is nowhere to be found. Hidden power ice, despite having like, ~0 special attack investment still 2KOes opposing Landorus Therian and Slaps other ground types like Garchomp and Zygarde, and Hippo for huge damage. So even though it doesn't have a lot of targets, its still better then Stone Edge.

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power Ice
- U-turn

 

[gyarayquaza]

This team is pretty nice, only thing I want to point out is the sets your running.

Firium Z------> Psychium Z

The age of Firium Z Volc is dead, dude. Firium Z supposedly is supposed to KO Salamence, Alolan Marowak, and Fire Resisits in general but it only does like ~80% so it needs stealth rocks up on the opposing side and even after that, a bit of prior damage to achieve the KO. Shattered Psyche OHKOes Toxapex, Garchomp, Salamence and even AlolaWak at +1 without any insane chip damage. It misses out on Heatran, yeah, but from the looks of your team, its not like its a problem.

Volcarona @ Psychium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
- Psychic

Stone Edge------> Hidden Power Ice

What is Stone Edge supposed to hit, exactly? Volcarona and MegaZardX are hit hard enough by earthquake already and it can just U-turn out of incoming MegaZardY's and Talonflame is nowhere to be found. Hidden power ice, despite having like, ~0 special attack investment still 2KOes opposing Landorus Therian and Slaps other ground types like Garchomp and Zygarde, and Hippo for huge damage. So even though it doesn't have a lot of targets, its still better then Stone Edge.

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power Ice
- U-turn

Thank you for the recs!! I've been thinking about HP Ice on Lando, so I may try it soon. Little more skeptic of Psychium Z, but I'll give it a look-see

 

[bludz]

Hey man nice team. Despite your intro I think this is a pretty competitive team and I don't see much gimmick to it. I do however see room for improvement in certain areas.

First off, you mentioned your weakness to Volcarona which is a pretty big issue. Ferrothorn and Tangrowth are also pretty annoying, since they check most of your team outside of Volcarona, while they pressure with moves like Leech Seed and Knock Off. Celesteela also looks kind of frustrating to play around since it will heal up against a lot of your mons.

I think your team composition is pretty good, so I'll just be suggesting some changes to your sets.

Let's start with Mega Metagross. I know that you don't appreciate opposing Metagross that much, but other targets of Earthquake like Alolan Marowak and Jirachi are not too problematic for your team. Because of Ferrothorn, I think Hammer Arm is a better option over Earthquake. This still hits Heatran, and nails Ferrothorn hard so you can bust through it. I also don't think that Bullet Punch is necessary especially with Pheromosa now gone and I'll be suggesting a Choice Scarfer to patch up some speed issues that BP would otherwise help to relieve. I would recommend Thunder Punch here, since it hits Celesteela and Skarmory hard, and can also receive a boost from your Tapu Koko's Electric Terrain to 1v1 Skarmory and apply more pressure to defensive teams. Thunder Punch is also nice for hitting Water-types, so you could try using Ice Punch over Zen Headbutt as you'd still have ways to hit Keldeo and Toxapex with T Punch in hand. This last suggestion is really more just to try it out and see which move you think fits better, since the only way to really know is by play testing. Ice Punch can be pretty beneficial for pressuring offensive Lando-T and Zygarde

Now I think to help with speed issues a bit against +1 threats, you could utilize a Choice Scarfer. In the case of your team I would probably just change your Tapu Koko's item to a Choice Scarf. Now I know it isn't the greatest scarfer, but it gets the jump on just about everything including Scarf Keldeo which is probably the most common Scarf holder. You can use a Lonely Nature with Brave Bird to revenge kill Volcarona. Brave Bird is also nice for weakening typical switch-ins like Tangrowth or Amoonguss. Lonely Nature still ensures you will be faster than Scarf Latios and below, and Volcarona is far more likely to live Brave Bird from a Hasty Tapu Koko. This is also better for bulky Volcs although you still risk being burned, at least you have Greninja as a backup.

4 Atk Tapu Koko Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 278-328 (89.3 - 105.4%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

4+ Atk Tapu Koko Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 304-358 (97.7 - 115.1%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

I'll also echo the comment above about HP Ice on Landorus-T. Stone Edge isn't that necessary as Metagross and Tapu Koko already cover Mega Pinsir, and HP Ice lets you better deal with Zygarde and opposing offensive Landorus as well as Garchomp.

Honestly, I could even see fitting another lure to Ferrothorn on here, since it Leech Seeds 5/6 mons (4/6 if you Taunt with Fini but risk massive damage) and forces Defogs by Spiking. I wasn't seeing a great way to add one so it isn't in my suggestions but I think it's something you should keep in mind.

sets

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Hammer Arm
- Thunder Punch
- Zen Headbutt / Ice Punch

Tapu Koko @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Lonely Nature
- U-turn
- Thunderbolt
- Brave Bird
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

Hope this was helpful!

 

[GnralLao]

I'm gonna piggyback on bludz's suggested changes, but the new Koko spread is actually inefficient. You could use a spread of 108 Atk / 252 SpA / 124 Spe with a Hasty Nature to get the same stats and still have 24 spare EVs to invest in other stats. You could invest all those 24 EVs in Atk, but personally, I'd go with a slightly different spread to increase Koko's chance to OHKO Volcarona with Brave Bird and enabling it to always outspeed modest Kingdra in the rain instead of speed-tying with it (once Fini is out or worn down enough, Kingdra can deal major damage upon your team):

Tapu Koko @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 128 Atk / 252 SpA / 128 Spe
Hasty Nature
- U-turn
- Thunderbolt
- Brave Bird
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Like I said, you could also put all of the remaining 24 EVs into Atk if you're not too worried about that. This will lead you to a new spread of 132 Atk / 252 SpA / 124 Spe with a Hasty Nature.

This is what happens against Volcarona:

128 Atk Tapu Koko Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 308-364 (99 - 117%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
(308, 312, 316, 320, 322, 326, 330, 334, 338, 342, 344, 348, 352, 356, 360, 364)

or

132 Atk Tapu Koko Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 310-366 (99.6 - 117.6%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
(310, 314, 318, 322, 324, 328, 332, 336, 340, 344, 346, 350, 354, 358, 362, 366)

compared to

108 Atk Tapu Koko Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 304-358 (97.7 - 115.1%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO


That's about it from me. bludz covered everything else pretty well. Hope this helped and good luck with your team! Ü