SM OU RMT:Rejoining the Meta-Volcarona Offense

[Chris01]

After a long hiatus from competitive Pokemon I decided to check up on the current meta as it stands, after a couple matches I ended up building this particular team based on a huge threat as of right now: Volcarona.

Teambuilding Process

Volcarona @ Charti Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ground]

• Very simple set, Quiver Dance is flat out amazing and lets Volcarona sweep with a solid amount of ease.
• Fire Blast is a powerful stab move of choice while Giga Drain offers coverage against Pokemon such as Tapu Fini, Keldeo and Greninja.
• HP Ground is used to hit Heatran,Nihilego and Marowak-A.
• Charti Berry allows Volcarona to not get revenge killed by Keldeo's Stone Edge, Garchomp's Rock Slide or Nihilego.
• Here are the Calculations:
  • 252 Atk Garchomp Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Charti Berry Volcarona: 234-276 (75.2 - 88.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
    
  • 0 Atk Keldeo Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Charti Berry Volcarona: 158-186 (50.8 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
    
  • 252 SpA Nihilego Power Gem vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Charti Berry Volcarona: 248-294 (79.7 - 94.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge
- Scald

• Serves the team as a Revenge Killer especially against opposing Volcaronas.
• Secret Sword and Scald complement eachother nicely with Secret Sword hitting Scald switch ins such as Ferrothorn, Rotom-W and Manaphy while at the same time hitting bulkier Special Walls such as Chansey.
• Additionally Secret Sword can revenge kill Ash-Greninja or Protean Greninja.
• Hydro Pump is a powerful Stab Move of choice and Stone Edge can revenge kill Volcarona (and Charizard-Y).

Magearna @ Electrium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shift Gear
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Aura Sphere

• Second set up sweeper that can break past bulky foes such as Toxapex thanks to Electrium Z.
• Packs Bolt-Beam coverage with Aura Sphere over Focus Blast for the reliable accuracy.

Zygarde @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Superpower

• Serves as a mid-game hole puncher that can also reliably switch to a lot of predicted hits thanks to its great natural bulk. (e.g. Charizard Y's Fire Blast etc.)
• Thousand Arrows is an incredibly easy move to spam and in tandem with Choice Band it can dish out some serious damage to the other team.
• Extreme Speed can pick up weakened foes or even pressure them out, can also assist in revenge killing or cleaning up late game.
• Outrage muscles past Tangrowth that can take Thousand Arrows with ease.
• Superpower hits Ferrothorn and Chansey, 2HKOing the former and earning a pivot chance with the latter.

Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake

• Used to reliably switch into the likes of Tapu Koko, Keldeo and Ash-Greninja (while bearing in mind the potential 2HKO from Ice Beam).
• Giga Drain is the stab move of choice that reliably handles the Water types its meant to check.
• Knock Off provides great utility by removing a foes item.
• Hiddern Power Ice allows it to hit Garchomp, Landorus-T and Zygarde who would otherwise take advantage of Tangrowth.
• Earthquake hits Heatran and Steel Types such as Magearna.

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 140 SpD / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Defog

• A way to reliably remove Stealth Rocks on a team with Volcarona is of great importance thus Mew with Defog can be of use.
• Psychic hits Toxapex, Amoongus, Keldeo and Mega Heracross for Super Effective damage.
• Will O Wisp can cripple physical threats such as Zygarde, Mega Mawile, Mega Medicham and Landorus-T.
• Soft-Boiled works as reliable recovery.
• The given Defense EVs with a Bold Nature allow Mew to wall Adamant Medicham's HJK and Thunder Punch under Electric Terrain while its Special Defense EVs can tank Psychic and Moonblast from non-Specs Tapu Lele.
• The Speed EVs allow it to outspeed Adamant Heracross-Mega, Adamant Tapu Bulu and Defensive Landorus-T.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's all for the team, any suggestions and such are greatly appreciated-thank you for your time.

 

[Slakinglike]

I love your team, and I have just a few nitpicks, not to many changes because your team looks very solid. I would change:

Electrium Z --> Fightinium Z

With Fightinium Z you have a way to hit those annoying steels like M Scizor, Heatran, Ferrothorn, and others. Aura Sphere cannot do enough damage to really give you reliable damage. You really don't need the extra Electrium Z power.

AV Tangrowth --> SpD Mega Venusaur

Call me crazy, but I have found that this mon works wonders and does more than AV Tangrowth does. It walls Magearna, Ash Greninja, and non psychic special attackers. It can tank waters, fairies, and ice bound attackers with Thick Fat and 252 HP and 252 SpD. Volcarona covers Venu's psychic weakness and they have good synergy together in general. It may not be able to Knock Off items but it can out stall so many mons. It may not be able to hurt with a HP Ice Zygarde, but it can tank it with a WoW from your Mew.

Set:

Venusaur-Mega @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Synthesis
- Earthquake
- Giga Drain
- Leech Seed

 

[FreeSymphonia]

I love your team, and I have just a few nitpicks, not to many changes because your team looks very solid. I would change:

Electrium Z --> Fightinium Z

With Fightinium Z you have a way to hit those annoying steels like M Scizor, Heatran, Ferrothorn, and others. Aura Sphere cannot do enough damage to really give you reliable damage. You really don't need the extra Electrium Z power.

AV Tangrowth --> SpD Mega Venusaur

Call me crazy, but I have found that this mon works wonders and does more than AV Tangrowth does. It walls Magearna, Ash Greninja, and non psychic special attackers. It can tank waters, fairies, and ice bound attackers with Thick Fat and 252 HP and 252 SpD. Volcarona covers Venu's psychic weakness and they have good synergy together in general. It may not be able to Knock Off items but it can out stall so many mons. It may not be able to hurt with a HP Ice Zygarde, but it can tank it with a WoW from your Mew.

Set:

Venusaur-Mega @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Synthesis
- Earthquake
- Giga Drain
- Leech Seed

I disagree with Mega Venusaur, especially a sp.def variant. Sure, it can work for you (and that may be a team building thing), but for this team specifically, it's almost required to have a Tangrowth. The team (like most offense) suffers from being far too weak to things such as Zygarde, which Tangrowth can switch in almost comfortably well. Cals as shown:

252+ Atk Choice Band Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Tangrowth: 83-98 (20.5 - 24.2%) -- guaranteed 5HKO

Let's take a look at Mega Venusaur:

252+ Atk Choice Band Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Venusaur-Mega: 169-199 (46.4 - 54.6%) -- 62.9% chance to 2HKO

And to flatter myself a little more, a bold variant of Mega Venusaur:

252+ Atk Choice Band Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Venusaur-Mega: 127-150 (34.8 - 41.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Not only does Tangrowth handle this threat far better, unlike Mega Venusaur which needs to run Synthesis for recovery, Tangrowth has Regenerator which far outclasses Venusaur. Especially on an offense team, the Tangrowth Pivot support offers more because of this recovery reason. Hell, I'd argue that Mega Venusaur just simply doesn't fit the archetype altogether. If you really wanted to wall things such as Magearna or Ash-Gren, the just run Chansey offense.

 

[Chris01]

Appreciate your reply Slakinglike ,
I'll consider Fightinium Z over Electrium Z on Magearna if I notice the aforementioned steel types causing me trouble.

I'll have to disagree regarding the Mega Venusaur change considering how much more utility AV Tangrowth offers with Knock Off and Regenerator for pivoting. Besides that AV Tangrowth can handle Zygarde, a giant threat right now, with much more ease than Venusaur.

Volcarona covers Venu's psychic weakness...

Another point I'd like to point out is that Venusaur will make my matchup against Tapu Lele and such much more painful since Volcarona can't reliably switch in on any Psychic-that role goes to Mew and Magearna if needed.

 

[Chris01]

I disagree with Mega Venusaur, especially a sp.def variant. Sure, it can work for you (and that may be a team building thing), but for this team specifically, it's almost required to have a Tangrowth. The team (like most offense) suffers from being far too weak to things such as Zygarde, which Tangrowth can switch in almost comfortably well. Cals as shown:

252+ Atk Choice Band Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Tangrowth: 83-98 (20.5 - 24.2%) -- guaranteed 5HKO

Let's take a look at Mega Venusaur:

252+ Atk Choice Band Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Venusaur-Mega: 169-199 (46.4 - 54.6%) -- 62.9% chance to 2HKO

And to flatter myself a little more, a bold variant of Mega Venusaur:

252+ Atk Choice Band Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Venusaur-Mega: 127-150 (34.8 - 41.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Not only does Tangrowth handle this threat far better, unlike Mega Venusaur which needs to run Synthesis for recovery, Tangrowth has Regenerator which far outclasses Venusaur. Especially on an offense team, the Tangrowth Pivot support offers more because of this recovery reason. Hell, I'd argue that Mega Venusaur just simply doesn't fit the archetype altogether. If you really wanted to wall things such as Magearna or Ash-Gren, the just run Chansey offense.

Couldn't have put it better myself, completely agree.

 

[Tinberz]

Hey, nice team!

Your team is really solid already so no big changes are required. I do have some small suggestions though:

Fightinium Z > Electrium Z; Focus Blast > Aura Sphere
Like the other raters, I think Fightinium Z is better as teams with Toxapex are generally stall teams that carry Chansey, which walls Mage anyway. Z-Focus Blast is great for hitting things like Tran, opposing Mage, and Ferrothorn, all of which otherwise would stop your sweep. It's quite common now so be prepared for your opponent to switch to Tran and back to something that eats Z-Focus Blast in order to stop your sweep; hence you might have to predict a bit. That isn't stopping this Mage from fucking up 99% of teams.

Sludge Bomb > Earthquake
You don't need Earthquake cus Tran is literally a free Zygarde or Keldeo so you might as well switch to them. Sludge Bomb is more important for Bulu, which otherwise has a rather good matchup against your team since you are probably not gonna switch Volcarona into it as much as you want.

Ice Beam > Psychic
Great for Lando, Zygarde, Latios, and Garchomp in general. Pretty much an optional change but these threats are more important than Keldeo and the rarer Toxapex. You are better off burning MHera (assuming it isn't Jolly), giving Mage ez setup.

Bug Buzz > Giga Drain
This is just a personal preference on non-z stone Rona as you hit Latios, TTar, Zygarde, Garchomp, and Tangrowth better, while mainly losing out to Keldeo, that is easily worn down anyway.

Regarding the suggestions on MVenu, I would not recommend it as your team, like every other team, needs a reliable Ground switch-in. Also Regen is lowkey borked.

Here are the sets:

Sets

Magearna @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Shift Gear

Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Sludge Bomb

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 140 SpD / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Defog

Volcarona @ Charti Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Hope I helped, thanks for reading and have a nice day! n_n

 

[Chris01]

Hey, nice team!

Your team is really solid already so no big changes are required. I do have some small suggestions though:

Fightinium Z > Electrium Z; Focus Blast > Aura Sphere
Like the other raters, I think Fightinium Z is better as teams with Toxapex are generally stall teams that carry Chansey, which walls Mage anyway. Z-Focus Blast is great for hitting things like Tran, opposing Mage, and Ferrothorn, all of which otherwise would stop your sweep. It's quite common now so be prepared for your opponent to switch to Tran and back to something that eats Z-Focus Blast in order to stop your sweep; hence you might have to predict a bit. That isn't stopping this Mage from fucking up 99% of teams.

Sludge Bomb > Earthquake
You don't need Earthquake cus Tran is literally a free Zygarde or Keldeo so you might as well switch to them. Sludge Bomb is more important for Bulu, which otherwise has a rather good matchup against your team since you are probably not gonna switch Volcarona into it as much as you want.

Ice Beam > Psychic
Great for Lando, Zygarde, Latios, and Garchomp in general. Pretty much an optional change but these threats are more important than Keldeo and the rarer Toxapex. You are better off burning MHera (assuming it isn't Jolly), giving Mage ez setup.

Bug Buzz > Giga Drain
This is just a personal preference on non-z stone Rona as you hit Latios, TTar, Zygarde, Garchomp, and Tangrowth better, while mainly losing out to Keldeo, that is easily worn down anyway.

Regarding the suggestions on MVenu, I would not recommend it as your team, like every other team, needs a reliable Ground switch-in. Also Regen is lowkey borked.

Here are the sets:

Sets

Magearna @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Shift Gear

Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Sludge Bomb

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 140 SpD / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Defog

Volcarona @ Charti Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Hope I helped, thanks for reading and have a nice day! n_n

Thank you very much for your suggestions,
I'm unsure about Sludge Bomb on Tangrowth as EQ is a great way to handle Heatran since Bloom Doom is always a possibility for Keldeo and HP Ice for Zygarde, in the case of Magma Storm taking damage would still be annoying. Here's some calcs for Heatran vs Tang

• 252 SpA Heatran Magma Storm vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 236-282 (58.4 - 69.8%) -- guaranteed 2HK0
  
  
• 0 Atk Tangrowth Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 272-324 (84.2 - 100.3%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

After some chip damage Tangrowth can handle Heatran if it comes to that.

Regarding Fightinium Z I'm kinda torn:

• 252 SpA Magearna Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 168-198 (23.8 - 28.1%) -- 94.1% chance to 4HKO

• 252+ SpA Magearna Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 182-216 (25.8 - 30.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

• 252+ SpA Magearna Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 182-216 (28.3 - 33.6%) -- 0.2% chance to 3HKO

• 252+ SpA Magearna All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 290-342 (45.2 - 53.3%) -- 33.6% chance to 2HKO

• 252+ SpA Magearna All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 290-342 (41.1 - 48.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

• 252 SpA Magearna All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 264-312 (37.5 - 44.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

As you can see, no matter what, Chansey can just heal back the damage it takes so either way against stall Chansey just takes care of Magearna.
You do make a solid point regarding Fightinium-Z vs Magearna/Heatran/Ferro though.

As for Bug Buzz > Giga Drain, I'll have to take it into account since Giga Drain hits a lot of things the team already can take care of while Bug Buzz deals with the targets you mentioned. The extra bit of recovery Giga Drain offers is what is making me double think this.

And lastly Ice Beam > Psychic is a valid point that I'll have to consider especially considering Zygarde's relevance right now.

-Thank you for your time

 

[Slakinglike]

Couldn't have put it better myself, completely agree.

Looking back on it I did try to correct it because you don't need a SpD version of Venusaur and Tangrowth fits your situation better. Sorry but I hope the Fightinium Z helped.

 

[Chris01]

Looking back on it I did try to correct it because you don't need a SpD version of Venusaur and Tangrowth fits your situation better. Sorry but I hope the Fightinium Z helped.

No need to apologize, any sort of feedback is appreciated, thanks for your time.