SM OU "Take It Slow" - An OTR Magearna Offense

[Riddikulusness]

Take It Slow

[placeholder until I can get my hands on a banner]
Introduction

Hey guys! Thanks for checking out this team! My name is RIDDIKULUS442 (or Riddikulusness on PS). This is my most successful team I've made in SM so far, which is built around probably my favorite mon to use in OU, which is OTR Magearna. Also, if the team looks familiar, it's because PokeaimMD used it in a video. I peaked at about 1750 on the ladder. I definitely could have gotten higher, but I get tilted easily and lose in streaks once I get tilted. Without further ado, here's the team!

Teambuilding Process

So, I wanted to make a team around OTR Magearna, since it is an incredible late game cleaner thanks to it's combination of Slow Speed + Trick Room, Soul-Heart, Great Typing, and overall solid bulk.​

I added SD + Smack Down Lando since it takes on stall very well. It also can beat the things that Magearna cannot, like Celesteela and Heatran. These two also have solid synergy defensively despite Lando having no bulk investment.

I added Spikes Protean Greninja since Magearna appreciates things getting whittled by Spikes. It also has extrasensory so it can break past Toxapex.

I added AV Tangrowth since I needed an answer for Tapu Koko, Ash-Gren, and Zygarde. It also can be a useful pivot into Tapu Lele, Garchomp, and non-Super Sonic Skystrike Lando.

I added Mega Mawile since it pairs extremely well with OTR Magearna because of it's low speed and shared typing. It can smack things that Magearna hates like Toxapex and Celesteela.

Finally, Scarfchomp was added because I desperately needed a form of speed control. It also makes sure I don't autolose to Volcarona and Zard-Y.

A Closer Look

Magearna @ Fairium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Fleur Cannon
- Trick Room
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

OTR Magearna was what I built around, as it is a phenomenal late-game cleaner with incredible snowballing potential thanks to Soul-Heart. It has respectable bulk because of it's HP investment and outstanding typing. Z-Fleur Cannon gives it a 195 BP nuke that almost insures it gets a Soul-Heart boost. Normal Fleur Cannon is still great since it still hits very hard. The only downside to it is that it drops your special attack by 2. Flash Cannon is a consistent STAB move that has respectable power. Trick Room allows Magearna to "outspeed" most Pokémon and assist it's sweep. I have Hidden Power Fire over Focus Blast so I can hit Ferrothorn and Skarmory more consistently at the cost of getting walled by Heatran. This mon can turn many Pokémon, like Tapu Lele, Tangrowth, Latios, Dark Pulse-Locked Ash-gren, and Nihilego into setup fodder. I prefer OTR Magearna to Shift Gear because of its bulk and capability to run a +Sp. Atk nature. Here are some calcs to show off Magearna...

Magearna Calcs

252+ SpA Magearna Twinkle Tackle (195 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tangrowth: 253-298 (62.6 - 73.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ SpA Magearna Twinkle Tackle (195 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 349-412 (86.3 - 101.9%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

252+ SpA Magearna Twinkle Tackle (195 BP) vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Landorus-Therian: 408-481 (106.8 - 125.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Magearna Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 224-264 (63.6 - 75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

+1 252+ SpA Magearna Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Koko: 273-322 (97.1 - 114.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

252+ SpA Tapu Lele Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Magearna: 128-152 (35.2 - 41.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Dark Pulse vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Magearna: 98-116 (26.9 - 31.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO (can set up on when lock in on Pulse)

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Magearna: 268-316 (73.8 - 87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (has enough bulk to take one Pump from full)

Landorus-Therian @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Smack Down
- Swords Dance

Offensive Smack Down Lando is a fantastic partner to Magearna. It is able to take on the things that Magearna despise, like Heatran, Celesteela, Toxapex, etc. It also help vs. stall, since Magearna can't do much vs. stall. Earth Plate EQ hits incredibly hard; it allows it to do things like 2HKO max HP max Def Clefable. I chose Smack Down Lando over Zygarde for a few reasons. One, it gives me a Rocks setter. Two, it hits harder than CB Zygarde does. Lastly, it has a better match-up vs. Stall thanks to SD. It also isn't locked into a move, while CB Zygarde is. I chose Smack Down over Gravity because it is able to break Skarm's sturdy. SD allows Earth Plate EQ to OHKO anything that isn't a bulky resist, like Tangrowth. Overall, a great partner to OTR Magearna.

EPlate EQ Calcs

252+ Atk Earth Plate Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 205-243 (52 - 61.6%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Earth Plate Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Toxapex: 254-300 (83.5 - 98.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

252+ Atk Earth Plate Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 266-314 (79.6 - 94%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (has a chance to kill after a smack down.)

+2 252+ Atk Earth Plate Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Tangrowth: 191-225 (47.2 - 55.6%) -- 78.5% chance to 2HKO (just to show off its power)

+2 252+ Atk Earth Plate Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 313-369 (88.9 - 104.8%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Extrasensory
- Spikes
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump

Spikes Greninja puts massive pressure on a lot of teams thanks to the extreme lack of reliable hazard removers. Gren has a great speed tier, which allows it to outspeed Dugtrio, Tornadus-T, and Thundurus. The moveset provides optimal coverage for my team. Extrasensory smacks Toxapex and M-Venusaur, two of the best stops to Magearna. Ice Beam is a reliable STAB move thanks to Protean, and it hits things like Zygarde and Lando more reliably. Hydro Pump allows me to smack Heatran really hard, which is probably the best Magearna check. Pump also allows me to hit Medicham really hard, which is by far the biggest threat to this team. Not much more to say, Greninja is really good not only in general, but for this team as well.

Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake

AV Tangrowth is my main answer to things like Koko, Ash Gren, Zygarde, Keldeo, Scarfchomp, and non-SSSS Lando. It is the main pivot on my team against most special attackers like Koko, Gren, Magearna, and even Tapu Lele. Giga Drain gives me a form of recovery outside of regenerator. Leaf Storm can be used if you want more power over semi-reliable recovery. Knock Off can cripple certain Pokémon like Scarf Lele, Scarfchomp, and CB Zygarde. HP Ice allows me to actually beat Zygarde and Landorus. I chose EQ over Sludge Bomb or Rock Slide since it allows me to hit Heatran on the switch. It also hits Koko and Magearna harder. Because of its natural physical bulk, it can take on physical attackers like Zygarde, Garchomp, Tapu Bulu, and can take 1 hit from Medicham as well.

Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 124 HP / 252 Atk / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Fire Fang

Mega Mawile is an amazing wallbreaker because of its outstanding attack thanks to Pure Power. This makes its attack stat hit about 678 (or base 259 to put it in perspective). Mawile shares its fantastic typing with Magearna, forming a deadly Fairy Spam core. It also benefits greatly from Magearna's Trick Room because its terrible speed. Play Rough hits even resisted pokemon hard, and is a pretty spammable move. Sucker Punch makes up for its middling speed, and is the only form of priority on the team. Thunder Punch + Fire Fang rounds out the coverage by hitting Celesteela, Toxapex, and Skarmory with TPunch, and Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Magearna with Fire Fang. The speed EVs allow it to outspeed min speed Magearna outside of Trick Room.

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Rock Slide
- Dual Chop
Scarfchomp rounds out the team by providing the team with a form of speed and a fire resist. It makes sure I can revenge kill Volcarona, Zard Y, and Salamence thanks to its neat speed tier. EQ hits pretty hard despite having no Life Orb to back it up because of Garchomp's great attack. Outrage is its hardest hitting move, and can potentially clean late game. Rock Slide allows me to revenge kill Volcarona better. It also lets it hit Zapdos decently hard. Dual Chop was chosen over Dragon Claw because it gives me a ~56% chance to OHKO lead Smeargle through it's sash (Thanks to AnishSomani for recommending that). While the 90% accuracy can be bad, I believe it is the better option because it does the same damage as DClaw while giving me the benefit to potentially kill Smeargle through Sash before it gets webs up. Overall a great way to round out the team.

Threatlist

By far the biggest threat to the team. It outspeeds 4/6 of my mons, and the ones that do outspeed cannot kill before some prior damage (Chomp can kill with outrage, but its about a ~12% chance). Tang can take one hit, but cannot kill in return. I usually need to sack 1-2 mons just to deal with this monster.

Although this is currently being suspect tested, this team was made before the test, so I'm deciding to put it here on the threatlist. My team doesn't have a steel resist (Gren doesn't count). It also outspeeds 4/6 of my mons. Gren can scare it out, and Chomp can rkill with some prior damage.

Opposing Magearna can be a big problem due to the lack of a solid steel resist. Opposing OTR Magearna's can easily sweep if my AV Tang get weakened a bit. Tang is my only answer to this.

Although uncommon, SD Scizor dominates my team. Lando can hit this thing hard and potentially force it out, but it can roost of that damage. HP Fire Magearna is a decent lure for this though.

My team lacks solid switch ins to this. It is easier to deal with because it is easily revenge killed by Lando/Chomp/Gren.

Strong Ghost types are hard to deal with due to the teams lack of a solid ghost resist. Marowak can be easily worn down, and Magearna can take a hit from Gengar.
Replays
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-561720602
(Magearna cleans up this team)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-561761831
(I played terribly, but Magearna saves me)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-561808364
(Mage 6-0ing gyarados BO)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-561503279
(destroying tang stall. yes, I know I had dclaw over dual chop on chomp, but this replay was before it was recommended to me. dual chop would have done the same thing)
Ladder Peak

Miscellaneous Things

Importable

Magearna @ Fairium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Fleur Cannon
- Trick Room
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Landorus-Therian @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Smack Down
- Swords Dance

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Extrasensory
- Spikes
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump

Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake

Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 124 HP / 252 Atk / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Fire Fang

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Rock Slide
- Dual Chop

The Video Pokeaim used the Team in

Conclusion/Shoutouts
Well, that's all for the team! I'd love any sort of feedback that you'd have to offer. It's much appreciated. Huge shoutouts to aim for using this team in a video. It made my day seeing that! Also, shoutout to AnishSomani for helping me out with a few things. It overall improved the team a lot. Once again, I hope you like the team guys! Enjoy :]






​

 

[false]

yo RIDDIKULUS442,

cool team. semi room is one of my favourite archetypes because its pretty versatile while also being fun to use because there can be a lot of variation from game to game depending on how you need to utilize trick room best to beat the opposing team.

->| change greninja to ash-greninja | ash-greninja allows you to actually revenge kill a number of pokemon that your team finds troubling. double dance landorus-t, mega metagross (once you reveal to be protean, its usually pretty safe to stay in with mega metagross as long as its out of range of a potential hp fire), and gengar amongst others. ash-greninja also gives you an additional method to revenge kill some threats even when under trick room, which can be really useful since you rely heavily on your two fairies to do all of the heavy lifting when trick room is up. you can still run spikes on ash-greninja, it fits fine in the 4th slot and serves much of the same purpose.

other tweaks/comments​

• 
  | change magearna to thunderbolt + focus blast | running hp fire to lure mega scizor is ok, but i don't think it's worth it when it comes at the cost of losing the ability to do any damage to the main roadblock to both of ur main trick room threats. you desperately need the ability to threaten heatan specifically, because otherwise you're setting up trick room just to be immediately forced out by a pokemon that you somewhat struggle to switch into. magearna cannot pave the way for mawile if it cannot touch heatran, so you'll basically just spend the game biding time until the opponent's heatran dies (i don't think a good player would sack heatran to one of your ground-types knowing how important it is in this sort of matchup). thunderbolt can be used to hit toxapex since missing out on being able to hit it really sucks since it will consistently force you out, (again, an experience player shouldn't sack toxapex when facing this team since it can be important). toxapex can be especially threatening if it catches either of your ground-types with a scald burn (which is definitely possible since it can sit in on magearna and tangrowth pretty freely). you should definitely change to at least focus blast imo, but changing to thunderbolt is more based on personal preference. i'll explain the choice of z-move in the importable.
• 
  | change mega mawile to brave | if you're using the double fairy trick room core, you might as well utilize mega mawile with trick room in mind. outspeeding stuff like defensive celesteela and magearna won't be that pivotal outside of trick room in most cases since you have pokemon like assault vest tangrowth which you can pivot through in those situations. max hp is generally useful bulk, for example it lets you take an earthquake from choice scarf garchomp or defensive landorus-t (with stealth rock) most of the time, as well as other stuff like avoiding being ko'd from tapu lele's psyshock + hp fire.
• 
  | change garchomp to dragon claw | i really don't think dual chop on garchomp really makes as much of a difference as you paint it to, its a roll to even kill smeargle in the first place combined with the fact that it has a chance to miss. even without all that in mind, your team has two intentionally slow trick room users, a defensive pokemon that does not care about webs, and your main non trick room breaker is off of the ground. the consistency of dragon claw honestly seems more useful here just so that you don't get into those situations where u need a 1 turn dragon attack to hit something like latios and you end up missing dual chop, costing you the game.
• | change landorus-t to gravity | smack down vs gravity is another thing i'm not sold on. while smack down does break skarmory's sturdy, it also lets it switch out into something like tangrowth, zapdos, alomomola etc, letting skarmory straight back in so that you have to smack it down again. plus with gravity you can just grav + eq and you don't even have to sd to break skarmory. basically, i think gravity is just more consistent in actually breaking skarmory beside the fact that it won't break sturdy on the first turn (but you can do that just by clicking gravity on the skarmory switch, and then stealth rock as it whirlwinds or hard switches out so that sturdy is broken next time it comes in). gravity can even be used to support garchomp sometimes, and can also help you vs medicham (gravity stops hjk).

importable

 

[Riddikulusness]

yo RIDDIKULUS442,

cool team. semi room is one of my favourite archetypes because its pretty versatile while also being fun to use because there can be a lot of variation from game to game depending on how you need to utilize trick room best to beat the opposing team.

->| change greninja to ash-greninja | ash-greninja allows you to actually revenge kill a number of pokemon that your team finds troubling. double dance landorus-t, mega metagross (once you reveal to be protean, its usually pretty safe to stay in with mega metagross as long as its out of range of a potential hp fire), and gengar amongst others. ash-greninja also gives you an additional method to revenge kill some threats even when under trick room, which can be really useful since you rely heavily on your two fairies to do all of the heavy lifting when trick room is up. you can still run spikes on ash-greninja, it fits fine in the 4th slot and serves much of the same purpose.

other tweaks/comments​

• 
  | change magearna to thunderbolt + focus blast | running hp fire to lure mega scizor is ok, but i don't think it's worth it when it comes at the cost of losing the ability to do any damage to the main roadblock to both of ur main trick room threats. you desperately need the ability to threaten heatan specifically, because otherwise you're setting up trick room just to be immediately forced out by a pokemon that you somewhat struggle to switch into. magearna cannot pave the way for mawile if it cannot touch heatran, so you'll basically just spend the game biding time until the opponent's heatran dies (i don't think a good player would sack heatran to one of your ground-types knowing how important it is in this sort of matchup). thunderbolt can be used to hit toxapex since missing out on being able to hit it really sucks since it will consistently force you out, (again, an experience player shouldn't sack toxapex when facing this team since it can be important). toxapex can be especially threatening if it catches either of your ground-types with a scald burn (which is definitely possible since it can sit in on magearna and tangrowth pretty freely). you should definitely change to at least focus blast imo, but changing to thunderbolt is more based on personal preference. i'll explain the choice of z-move in the importable.
• 
  | change mega mawile to brave | if you're using the double fairy trick room core, you might as well utilize mega mawile with trick room in mind. outspeeding stuff like defensive celesteela and magearna won't be that pivotal outside of trick room in most cases since you have pokemon like assault vest tangrowth which you can pivot through in those situations. max hp is generally useful bulk, for example it lets you take an earthquake from choice scarf garchomp or defensive landorus-t (with stealth rock) most of the time, as well as other stuff like avoiding being ko'd from tapu lele's psyshock + hp fire.
• 
  | change garchomp to dragon claw | i really don't think dual chop on garchomp really makes as much of a difference as you paint it to, its a roll to even kill smeargle in the first place combined with the fact that it has a chance to miss. even without all that in mind, your team has two intentionally slow trick room users, a defensive pokemon that does not care about webs, and your main non trick room breaker is off of the ground. the consistency of dragon claw honestly seems more useful here just so that you don't get into those situations where u need a 1 turn dragon attack to hit something like latios and you end up missing dual chop, costing you the game.
• | change landorus-t to gravity | smack down vs gravity is another thing i'm not sold on. while smack down does break skarmory's sturdy, it also lets it switch out into something like tangrowth, zapdos, alomomola etc, letting skarmory straight back in so that you have to smack it down again. plus with gravity you can just grav + eq and you don't even have to sd to break skarmory. basically, i think gravity is just more consistent in actually breaking skarmory beside the fact that it won't break sturdy on the first turn (but you can do that just by clicking gravity on the skarmory switch, and then stealth rock as it whirlwinds or hard switches out so that sturdy is broken next time it comes in). gravity can even be used to support garchomp sometimes, and can also help you vs medicham (gravity stops hjk).

importable

I appreciate the help False. ! All of your points make a ton of sense. I've considered Ash-Gren before, but never actually tested it. The Magearna change is something that will benefit me greatly. I'm not sure which Z-Move I'll use, but I'll just test it out. Gravity > Smack Down definitely looks better on Lando. The speed on Mawile never ended up mattering too much, so changing it to Brave makes a ton of sense. Dclaw > Dual Chop also is probably better, as it is more reliable than dual chop. Overall, I love the changes. Thanks again!