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Introduction.
Hey everyone and welcome to another one of my RMT's (I've made around 4 throughout my time hear on smogon). Anyway since I have lost BSS SSNLs to Mishimono I figured I would present to you the team that ended up carrying me through most of the tournament. I ended up making this team for a project I had created called Secret Santa and after that project I just kind of started using it. I'm pretty happy with this team overall as it plays pretty easy, requires little to no prediction, and is an overall fun team to use. Please Enjoy my creation!
Teambuilding.
The requester of the team, Solerme had request a team built around a pokemon with access Gravity and Gengar-Mega. I chose Landorus-Therian as the pokemon to utilize Gravity because it its sheer ability to influence your opponent is a huge advantage. Landorus-Therian is able to run a multitude of sets as well as threaten many different pokemon throughout the Battle Spot Singles meta. Not only this but it's great glue for almost any forming team. Furthermore in terms of Gravity users, Landorus-Therian was the only one that was really appealing to me.
Unfortunately I found that Gengar-Mega was quite lacking in terms of its contribution to the team; which I will admit might have just been because I don't like the mon. Instead of Gengar I decided to add Aegislash as it encompasses the same premises except it doesn't run Hypnosis. Not only this but because of its ability, Stance Change, it is able to hold both an Offensive and Defensive presence on the team which greatly relieves pressure when building. All these things coupled with its fantastic Ghost, Steel-typing made it the perfect swap when replacing Gengar.
After replacing Gengar I decided that the team I would be making would in fact be a balanced team. The next rational step would be to add something that could reliably check scary things in the meta such as Salamence-Mega, Landorus-Therian, Tapu Lele, and Mimikyu. Porygon2, being one of the best defensive threats in the game, it was the perfect solution for the current problem at hand. Furthermore it provides fantastic team support by clicking toxic on almost everything 70% of the time. Not only this but Porygon2 is a master at producing chip damage to slowly chip the other team down. It was basically a necessity for how this team was going to play out when I started building it.
Next I knew I needed some kind of sweeper in order to really apply pressure to the opposing team. Against my better judgement regarding current team resists I added Salamence-Mega. Salamence is one of the most threatening Sweepers in the tier rn hence why it is sitting at the S Rank on the Viability Rankings thread. Its scary during team preview due to the decent number of sets it can run (both special and physical). This coupled with the fact that it hits incredibly hard makes it an easy pick for any team looking for sweeper.
Okay so at this point in the build I knew it was time to buckle down and start patching up weaknesses. My team was unfortunately really weak to USUM's newest toy, Nagandel. My way of patching this weakness was getting a lure in order to throw the opponent off and get some surprise factor. The best possible lure for the problem at hand was Celesteela as it can easily take advantage of the opponents Nasty Plot. Salamence and Landorus-Therian also benefit from Celesteela's bulk and Steel-typing as it is able to come in on Ice-type attacks thus relieving pressure.
Finally the team lacked speed control and a pokemon that was able to Bop stall. I decided that instead of using some dumb Pheromosa Wallbreaker set I would instead go for a much more nicer approach with Rotom-Wash. Because of its incredible typing, decent bulk, and its access to Volt-Switch; I knew from the get go it belonged on this team. It makes for the perfect lead in a vast majority of the games it plays in and I'm quite proud with how well it fits on the team.
Sets.
Canis Terra (Landorus-Therian) @
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Atk / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
Gravity is by one of the easiest moves to click if the opponent as ground immunities on his/her team while they are switching. Swords Dance may also be used when the Opponent decides to switch but I feel it is most often safer to click Gravity. Z-Earthquake is able to put in a lot of work against opposing teams trying to avoid a normal Earthquake. Furthermore it helps Landorus-Therian not become Setup Fodder for opposing Blaziken with Protect. Rock Tomb is can be used to in order to slow down faster pokemon that may be a threat to the team later on. It can also Provide valuable chip damage for later in the game. Regarding EVs the 212 in the Speed category is to outspeed Offensive Tapu-Fini which is what often comes in on Landorus-Therian. Overall Landorus-Therian is an invaluable team mate when facing stall or teams that like to run Skarmory or Celesteela.
Tizona (Aegislash) @
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 204 HP / 164 SpA / 140 Spe
Modest Nature
Being built as a balanced team It's only fair that Sub Toxic Aegislash were included on the build. Being able to Toxic stall threats that might threaten other Pokemon is very useful in terms of crippling their team. King's Shield allows Aegislash to return to its shield form which is extremely useful for surviving Foul Play from a plethora of Pokemon and even a Fire Blast from Nagandel. Not to mention it pairs extremely well with Rotom-Wash the pivot on the team. Substitute comes in extremely handy when just forcing a switch or even for just stalling turns against a weakened toxiced mon. Also as a plus Shadow Ball OHKO's Bulky Gengar-Mega which allows the team to be free Destiny Bond and the risk of getting trapped. Overall Aegislash is an extremely solid Pokemon that definitely carries its weight on the team.
Hax Duck(Porygon2) @
Ability: Trace
EVs: 244 HP / 164 Def / 100 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Porygon2 holds its place on team as the check to many prevalent threats such as Metagross-Mega, Salamence-Mega, Mimikyu, and Landorus-Therian. This in and of itself makes Porygon2 an extremely valuable teammate when going up against more offensive builds. Foul Play and Ice Beam are used to check their respected Pokemon; Mimikyu, Metagross, Aegislash for the prior and Landorus-Therian, Salamence, Gliscor, and Hippowdon for the latter. Furthermore with access to Toxic and Recover, Porygon2 is able to find ways to Toxic stall the opposing team. Porygon2, in more ways than one, opens up ways for Salamence or Landorus-Therian to set-up and sweep the opposing team.
Tiamat (Salamence-Mega) @
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Salamence-Mega does a fantastic job of applying heavy pressure during the team preview; most likely due to the fact that its one of the best set up sweepers in the tier currently. Double-Edge hits like a truck once Salamence gains the ability Aerilate which thanks to USUM's Evolution mechanics happens right away. Earthquake, since it is very seldom you run both Landorus-Therian and Salamence, is a coverage option for Tapu-Koko, Aegislash, and Heatran. Dragon Dance is of course for setting up and sweeping mid to late game. Roost helps Salamence maintain its longevity throughout the match which is incredibly helpful when you are consistently taking Double-Edge recoil.
Kaguya(Celesteela) @
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
As a lure Celesteela performs exceptionally well luring out Pokemon that like to switch in on Leech Seed or a Protect as that is the set Celesteela most often runs. This set however allows Celesteela to chip unsuspecting switch-ins and then pick up an OHKO off of Z-Air Slash while the opposing Pokemon is weakened. After picking up a KO, Celesteela becomes a decent Physical Wall due to the +1 Defense boost it receives however because it lacks recovery it is more easily sacked and used to just chip the attacking Pokemon if switch-ins are unavailable. This is of course after Celesteela has lured what it was intended to lure.
Raiumi (Rotom-Wash) @
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Rotom-Wash makes for a fantastic lead, pivoting out with Volt Switch if the match-up is poor. Hydro Pump does a decent chunk to pokemon that threaten the team such as Mega-Tyranitar, Volcarona, and Mamoswine. Trick is great for disabling stall's ability to function well since team lacks any real big wall breakers. Hidden Power Ice is an absolute necessity so it doesn't become setup fodder for Salamence-Mega. Furthermore Rotom-Wash out speeds common Pivoting lease like Rotom-Heat, and Pheromosa. Not to mention Rotom-Wash also outspeeds Blaziken at +1.
Threats.
Due to the lack of Fighting-type coverage moves, there is no real way to deal with Tyranitar and its mega evolution. Because of the SpD boost from Sandstorm it becomes hard to kill tyranitar with a Flash Cannon or a Hydro Pump making it a threat to team. On top of that Dragon Dance is able to sweep the team with ease because of the amount of potential set up fodder it has. Generally, Landorus-Therian is my only real answer to Tyranitar but it's more so a soft check because of Ice Punch. However once Tyranitar gets to +1 Speed Landorus-Therian becomes obsolete as it is to slow to get off a Z-Earthquake.
Choice Scarf Kartana is genuinely a really scary Pokemon right now in Battle Spot Singles. It hits a majority of the team pretty hard due to its base 181 attack. Celesteela is able to check Kartana decently well however it doesn't really want to take a hit. As another option in terms of dealing with Kartana is Landorus-Therian. Z-Earthquake has solid 25% chance to OHKO and Landorus-Therian takes at max 44% from a Leaf Blade without the attack drop. Overall this Pokemon is incredibly solid in most situations and is able to dismantle my team pretty quickly if I didn't play the team preview right.
Replays.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7battlespotsingles-707732006 Vs. Mishimono Round 4 g2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7battlespotsingles-707394349 Vs. Algeria4ever Round 3 g2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7battlespotsingles-702589571 Vs. zugubu royale Round 2 g2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7battlespotsingles-698134213 Vs. London13 Round 1 g2
Importable.
Conclusion.
I'm having a lot of fun currently with Battle Spot Singles and I'm very excited for future tournaments such as the Circuit tournament which should be coming up soon. I hope you everyone who decides to pick this team up enjoys using it as much as I have over the past couple months. Lastly I want to thank chemcoop for being my former BSS tutor and I want to thank bobochan for being a large reason why I stayed with BSS after being tutored. I also want to thank HJAD and allstarapology for being the damn near coolest PU players I've ever met. Also tagging Airwind for learning english and being the best CAP user.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7battlespotsingles-707732006 Vs. Mishimono Round 4 g2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7battlespotsingles-707394349 Vs. Algeria4ever Round 3 g2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7battlespotsingles-702589571 Vs. zugubu royale Round 2 g2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7battlespotsingles-698134213 Vs. London13 Round 1 g2
Importable.
Conclusion.
I'm having a lot of fun currently with Battle Spot Singles and I'm very excited for future tournaments such as the Circuit tournament which should be coming up soon. I hope you everyone who decides to pick this team up enjoys using it as much as I have over the past couple months. Lastly I want to thank chemcoop for being my former BSS tutor and I want to thank bobochan for being a large reason why I stayed with BSS after being tutored. I also want to thank HJAD and allstarapology for being the damn near coolest PU players I've ever met. Also tagging Airwind for learning english and being the best CAP user.
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