SM OU Alolan-Raichu Redcard - Mimikyu Hyper Offense

Hello person who's decided to click on this thread, this is my second rmt ever.

My intention for this team was to build around alolan raichu+koko for a nice electric spam core that can use koko as a pivot and raichu to clean a team or set up on a passive pokemon to full on sweep.


The star of the show starts with alolan raichu, a discount hawlucha that can clean offense teams and do very nice damage to walls in electric terrain. This is often a wincon, and its speed is so high in terrain that I can afford modest. I've thought about speed creeping hawlucha or benchmarking myself at 310 for lando, but I decided outspeeding lele in its own terrain and destroying it at +2 was too good to give up. This outspeeds all rain threats in terrain, and can even use rain's own koko's terrain to sweep them.

Raichu-Alola @ Life Orb
Ability: Surge Surfer
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Nasty Plot
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 377-447 (124 - 147%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Psyshock vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 398-469 (56.6 - 66.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 216+ Def Landorus-Therian: 239-282 (62.5 - 73.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 28 Def Tangrowth: 242-286 (59.9 - 70.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (HP fire bops phis def)
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 220+ SpD Heatran in Electric Terrain: 359-422 (93.2 - 109.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Thunderbolt vs. 212 HP / 0 SpD Heatran in Electric Terrain: 484-569 (128.7 - 151.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO (sub tran calcs)
252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 234-276 (66.4 - 78.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
These calcs show that this mon is no joke, lifeorb is the best item in my opinion.


Next comes the only reason that the star is usable, tapu koko.
Tapu Koko @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Defog

Terrain extender is actually a really nice way to extend my raichu wincon window, and can catch opponents of guard and helps raichu beat rain if it can get to +2 on something like pelipper. While this koko loses out in power, I've found that it works very well as offensive support, and doing what koko does best. Be a nuisance and gain momentum.
Uturn gives me momentum, defog helps me vs webs and greedy ferrothorns/grens.

Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Toxic

I decided that a 2 mon electric spam like this would work best on hyper offense, so I picked one of my favorite leads. This can wear down lando, who will often try to kill this mon or defog away my hazards. This mon is pretty self explanatory, gets up rocks, spins away for possible other suicide leads, toxics walls.

Mimikyu-Totem @ Red Card
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Play Rough
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance

Red card Mimikyu can work very well on hyper offense, allowing me to not loose to setup mons, and can help me against scarf lando by phasing it out and setting up an sd. I went jolly because specs lele can be annoying for my team and out-speeding it can be very useful. This is a very useful wincon for me, but I often use it to wear out walls for raichu/koko/victini/mawile's sucker punch to clean.

Victini @ Normalium Z
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Celebrate
- Searing Shot
- Stored Power
- Focus Blast

Z tini helps me vs thorn and gives me another solid wincon. As much as I hate focus miss, it's the best option to beat heatran and greninja in one move. This pokemon is proven to work well on hyper offense, and it's worked out for me nicely. Searing shot is basically scald but it makes sense, so if I miss out on a ko it can often burn, which makes it so much better than L-Create and Fire-Miss. Stored power turns to 120 basepower, and while it's annoying to only be useful with a z move, it gets kos that this mon would otherwise miss out on.

click x stall (Mawile-Mega) @ Mawilite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Swords Dance

For my last mon, I needed a good mega and something that could help me beat stall. My original mega was mega medicham, but it didn't do what I needed it to. I changed it to mega latias, but I didn't like it's susceptibility to being statused. I decided to use mega mawile, a mon with patented 0 switch-in technology. I use swordsdance to beat stall, check out some clean calcs. Thunder punch beats toxapex, and while suckerpunch can cause 50/50s that I hate, its so crucial for giving me a great wincon and more priority. Playrough, while being annoying in accuracy, is this mon's best stab move, hitting neutral coverage on many mons. Hyper cutter helps me vs a lando switch in, I felt my team is too fast paced for intimidate.
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 222-262 (56.3 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Huge Power burned Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Sableye: 348-411 (114.8 - 135.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Huge Power burned Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Sableye-Mega: 228-268 (75.2 - 88.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(these calcs are burned because that is sableye's best answer to this thing)
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 176-208 (52.8 - 62.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 212+ Def Tangrowth: 177-208 (43.9 - 51.6%) -- 10.5% chance to 2HKO


Overall, this team has been working out well for me (1300s-1500s ladder, I use a few alts to test how this will work on different ladder areas).
Weaknesses I have are scarf lando, I've tried to fit in immunities on my team such as mega latias but I've struggled with other playstyles. My best bet is to toxic in with excadrill and revenge kill it with my alolan raichu. Trick room magerna is an issue for my team (I can beat shiftgear if I keep raichu healthy and koko alive), especially if it catches me off guard (being used on a non TR team). I struggle with mega lopunny (I can outspeed and kill with raichu in terrain, but fake out does like 50 and I can't bring raichu in on any attack but highjump kick/powerup punch). Opposing koko gives me trouble, especially specs set.
Thing I've considered to fix these issues: Sash Lead Lando-T. This gives me an immunity to earthquake spam, can toxic walls, hp ice opposing landos, and be a lure for special kokos who can oko defensive sets. I've also tried several other mega pokemon, but to beat stall I went with mega mawile.

This is my second rmt, so my introduction and formatting is pretty awkward. I like advice completely uncut, I hope I've given ample explanation on my team. Thank you for reading, and if you test my team, I hope it works out well for you. :)
 
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Hello person who's decided to click on this thread, this is my second rmt ever.

My intention for this team was to build around alolan raichu+koko for a nice electric spam core that can use koko as a pivot and raichu to clean a team or set up on a passive pokemon to full on sweep.


The star of the show starts with alolan raichu, a discount hawlucha that can clean offense teams and do very nice damage to walls in electric terrain. This is often a wincon, and its speed is so high in terrain that I can afford modest. I've thought about speed creeping hawlucha or benchmarking myself at 310 for lando, but I decided outspeeding lele in its own terrain and destroying it at +2 was too good to give up. This outspeeds all rain threats in terrain, and can even use rain's own koko's terrain to sweep them.

Raichu-Alola @ Life Orb
Ability: Surge Surfer
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Nasty Plot
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 377-447 (124 - 147%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Psyshock vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 398-469 (56.6 - 66.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 216+ Def Landorus-Therian: 239-282 (62.5 - 73.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 28 Def Tangrowth: 242-286 (59.9 - 70.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (HP fire bops phis def)
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 220+ SpD Heatran in Electric Terrain: 359-422 (93.2 - 109.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Thunderbolt vs. 212 HP / 0 SpD Heatran in Electric Terrain: 484-569 (128.7 - 151.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO (sub tran calcs)
252+ SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 234-276 (66.4 - 78.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
These calcs show that this mon is no joke, lifeorb is the best item in my opinion.


Next comes the only reason that the star is usable, tapu koko.
Tapu Koko @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Defog

Terrain extender is actually a really nice way to extend my raichu wincon window, and can catch opponents of guard and helps raichu beat rain if it can get to +2 on something like pelipper. While this koko loses out in power, I've found that it works very well as offensive support, and doing what koko does best. Be a nuisance and gain momentum.
Uturn gives me momentum, defog helps me vs webs and greedy ferrothorns/grens.

Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Toxic

I decided that a 2 mon electric spam like this would work best on hyper offense, so I picked one of my favorite leads. This can wear down lando, who will often try to kill this mon or defog away my hazards. This mon is pretty self explanatory, gets up rocks, spins away for possible other suicide leads, toxics walls.

Mimikyu-Totem @ Red Card
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Play Rough
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance

Red card Mimikyu can work very well on hyper offense, allowing me to not loose to setup mons, and can help me against scarf lando by phasing it out and setting up an sd. I went jolly because specs lele can be annoying for my team and out-speeding it can be very useful. This is a very useful wincon for me, but I often use it to wear out walls for raichu/koko/victini/mawile's sucker punch to clean.

Victini @ Normalium Z
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Celebrate
- Searing Shot
- Stored Power
- Focus Blast

Z tini helps me vs thorn and gives me another solid wincon. As much as I hate focus miss, it's the best option to beat heatran and greninja in one move. This pokemon is proven to work well on hyper offense, and it's worked out for me nicely. Searing shot is basically scald but it makes sense, so if I miss out on a ko it can often burn, which makes it so much better than L-Create and Fire-Miss. Stored power turns to 120 basepower, and while it's annoying to only be useful with a z move, it gets kos that this mon would otherwise miss out on.

click x stall (Mawile-Mega) @ Mawilite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Swords Dance

For my last mon, I needed a good mega and something that could help me beat stall. My original mega was mega medicham, but it didn't do what I needed it to. I changed it to mega latias, but I didn't like it's susceptibility to being statused. I decided to use mega mawile, a mon with patented 0 switch-in technology. I use swordsdance to beat stall, check out some clean calcs. Thunder punch beats toxapex, and while suckerpunch can cause 50/50s that I hate, its so crucial for giving me a great wincon and more priority. Playrough, while being annoying in accuracy, is this mon's best stab move, hitting neutral coverage on many mons. Hyper cutter helps me vs a lando switch in, I felt my team is too fast paced for intimidate.
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 222-262 (56.3 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Huge Power burned Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Sableye: 348-411 (114.8 - 135.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Huge Power burned Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Sableye-Mega: 228-268 (75.2 - 88.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(these calcs are burned because that is sableye's best answer to this thing)
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 176-208 (52.8 - 62.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 212+ Def Tangrowth: 177-208 (43.9 - 51.6%) -- 10.5% chance to 2HKO


Overall, this team has been working out well for me (1300s-1500s ladder, I use a few alts to test how this will work on different ladder areas).
Weaknesses I have are scarf lando, I've tried to fit in immunities on my team such as mega latias but I've struggled with other playstyles. My best bet is to toxic in with excadrill and revenge kill it with my alolan raichu. Trick room magerna is an issue for my team (I can beat shiftgear if I keep raichu healthy and koko alive), especially if it catches me off guard (being used on a non TR team). I struggle with mega lopunny (I can outspeed and kill with raichu in terrain, but fake out does like 50 and I can't bring raichu in on any attack but highjump kick/powerup punch). Opposing koko gives me trouble, especially specs set.
Thing I've considered to fix these issues: Sash Lead Lando-T. This gives me an immunity to earthquake spam, can toxic walls, hp ice opposing landos, and be a lure for special kokos who can oko defensive sets. I've also tried several other mega pokemon, but to beat stall I went with mega mawile.

This is my second rmt, so my introduction and formatting is pretty awkward. I like advice completely uncut, I hope I've given ample explanation on my team. Thank you for reading, and if you test my team, I hope it works out well for you. :)
Definitely extremely weak to ground lol, make mega maw into tapu bulu imo.also, since u have defog koko u can replace drill for defensive lando for a ground immunity or mega pinsir.since ur team is p weak to blace mega ttar is also a great option, and probs the one i would tun, with dd stone edge fire punch crunch. Probs wouldnt use a raichu but since he is the basis of this rmt i cant change u further lol
 
Thanks for the rate bro, I'll try out sub bulu to keep a stallbreaker. Drill to defensive lando d is a good idea, as is ttar. I'll test these ideas out. Thanks for your time :]
 

temp

legacy
is a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
Hey SeniorGibus! Really nice use of the gimmicky Alolan Raichu. I personally feel Hawlucha is a far better abuser of Electric Terrain with Electric Seed + Unburden, but I won't change it to keep the charm of your team. However, please do consider it, as it provides a Ground immunity while being a far more stable win condition.

OVERVIEW



Defensively, this team struggles heavily against powerful Water- and Ground-types, as you have no resist to these types. A lot of teams don't pack a Ghost-resist considering how uncommon they are, so I won't focus on dealing with Gengar and Mimikyu defensively thanks to your own Mimikyu. I think a very nice place to look to for a Excadrill HO build is the SM OU Sample Teams thread. Thanks to Gyarados, they pack a Flying-type, being immune to Ground and a Water-type, being resistant to opposing Waters. Of course, as I edit this, I must ensure that Tapu Koko & Alolan Raichu remain on the team. I feel Exca and Mimikyu are also pretty necessary for this HO build. Anyways, Stakataka gives this team massive trouble thanks to Gyro Ball hitting your faster Pokemon under Trick Room or on the switch and potential Z-moves & super effective coverage options in EQ and Superpower. While I do agree with the above rate from legend slayer that Blacephalon is threatening to an extent, but I feel you have several revenge killers to ruin it: Sash Exca, Disguise Mimikyu, Tapu Koko, Sucker Punch Mega Mawile and E-terrain Raichu. Switching in is clearly a pain, as I believe that was the point, so I still feel the above suggestion of Gyarados still heavily benefits you. Trick Room is extremely annoying for you to face, as you don't have Spikes, Toxic Spikes to cripple the abusers or any Substitute users to punish a leading Uxie. Crawdaunt obliterates you alongside Stakataka, thanks to the latter removing Mimikyu, Mawile, Alolan Raichu and Tapu Koko. As you mentioned, OTR Magearna gives you trouble. Obviously, this is due to how fast your Pokemon are on this team and due to the aforementioned lack of ways to punish TR abusers and setters. Anyways, the speed isn't an issue to the team itself by any means, but it does mean your weakness is more established against Trick Room. Anyways, I'll try to address these weaknesses and more in this rate!

TEAM CHANGES

[Focus Blast > Hidden Power Fire] - This change is far more practical, allowing you to hit Tyranitar, Heatran outside of the terrain, Stakataka, etc. It still hits Ferrothorn at +2, and a Thunderbolt still does great damage to Scizor—especially when in terrain.

[
>
] - Choice Specs Tapu Koko will act as an amazing wallbreaker. It weakens Raichu's similar checks with Volt Switch and Thunderbolt, and still wrecks Zygarde or Landorus with Dazzling Gleam and HP Ice. These are two Ground-types that otherwise ate an HP Ice from full and retaliated with a rather free Earthquake or Thousand Arrows. While Terrain Extender is solid for a team dedicated to help Raichu win, I feel that a lot of the time, your Koko will appreciate the additional power that can weaken the checks and do more damage to Stakataka.
Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch

>
- SubSD Kartana will act as a stellar answer to stall builds and sets up Subs on Stakataka that are forced out, and still outspeeds Blacephalon. You'll get somewhat of a Water-resist, but it's not great on the Special side by any means of course. Kart will help punish Trick Room Uxie, too, as it can't Memento the Substitute. Crawdaunt's 252+ Life Orb Aqua Jet fails at breaking your Sub, and Cresselia's Ice Beam does 49% maximum. While it does break the Sub, a +2 Leaf Blade is a 2HKO. A +2 Leaf Blade also 2HKOs Alolan Marowak. Fightinium Z wrecks Steels like Ferrothorn, which helps Specs Koko break with Thunderbolt.
Kartana @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 8 HP / 188 Atk / 60 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword

>
- I mentioned Gyara several times in the Overview, discussing how solid it is for this team. It's no surprise that I'm adding it here. A Dragon Dance is really nice thanks to Tapu Koko wearing down opponents. Taunt will prevent Haze from Toxapex and recovery options, but Koko and Raichu do a solid enough job at beating Pex. Mega Gyarados also acts as a side win condition along SubSD Kart and Alolan Raichu.
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Waterfall
- Taunt


---

Obviously, Hawlucha (
) would likely be more solid in the place of Raichu. So, to anyone who would like to use the rated variant or the original, consider Hawlucha too. But, Alolan Raichu staying on the team ensures I don't change his team completely and that it stays as HIS. Hawlucha makes cleaning a lot smoother thanks to the +1 Defense and great offensive typing and adds an additional Ground immunity on top of Gyarados.

---

IMPORTABLE



How you're using this rated team: Excadrill, majority of the time, is the lead. You can Toxic Mega Sableyes and Landorus-Therians especially. If you find Sash Drills revenge killing capabilities to be useful during that match, mix up your lead or at least how you risk getting the sash broken. Specs Tapu Koko, thanks to the Arena Trap ban, can fire off nearly risk-free Thunderbolts and Volt Switches, but don't let that stop you from Dazzling Gleaming incoming Garchomps or Zygardes. This will heavily benefit Alolan Raichu and SubSD Kartana. Speaking of Raichu, due to its Modest nature, it's best to bring this in as a cleaner in terrain. How it plays, as I'm sure you're familiar with, SeniorGibus, is somewhat similar to Hawlucha. However, you're much less relying on the +1 Defense from Electric Seed that Hawlucha gets and the ability to immediately force switches with its LO Thunderbolt and other menacing coverage options. Don't set up Nasty Plots unless you're confident you eat the hits and can sweep or if you're sure you force a switch, such as vs. a Mantine or other bulky Water. The latter aforementioned Pokemon, Kartana will mainly be used to dent holes in bulkier builds and Trick Room variants. It namely ruins stall in conjunction with Tapu Koko's Specs Volt Switches and Mega Gyarados' Mold Breaker. Don't attempt to set up Subs and an SD when the opponent has a full HP Mega Scizor that can eat the Z-move and U-turn. Making such a misplay will result in a loss of your Sub and thus the ability to be outsped and KO'd / forced out by a Battle Bond Greninja for example. Most of the time, you'd like to lead Kart vs. an obvious Uxie to Sub and cause problems. This will burn TR turns if they accidentally Memento or attempt to break your Substitute with Marowak for example. Again, your Sub tanks a Jet from Crawdaunt and you threaten Stakataka. Next, Mimikyu will primarily be a spinblocker and revenge killer. Its Red Card, as you like to use, will act as a last minute ability to punish set up Pokemon by forcing them out. Chip damage from Mimikyu is nice, but don't mindlessly bring it in Turn 1 expecting to sweep. Even if the reward is 1-3 Pokemon damaged/KO'd, you'll lose out on Disguise + Red Card and thus a last ditch effort to annoy set up sweepers like a Shift Gear Magearna or revenge kill threats like a Zygarde. Lastly, Mega Gyarados will appreciate Excadrill's Rapid Spin to improve on its ability to set up on the opponent. You want to take use of the fact that this is your only Flying immunity and your key Water resist, so don't allow it to constantly get weakened by a Specs Greninja Hydro Pump when you can make aggressive plays such as doubling to Koko or Mimikyu to punish. Don't DD when Tapu Fini, Tangrowth, and its other checks are on the field and healthy. Rather, utilize Tapu Koko's pivotal abilities and wallbreaking power to punch holes in such mons, while your Toxic Excadrill can cripple it or your SD Kart can weaken it with +2 All out Pummeling. Some notable threats include powerful special wallbreakers (Specs Lele, Gren) and even some physical ones (Bulu, DD Zygarde). The Pokemon of these categories can get out of hand quickly, but this is HO. Of course it's weak defensively, so it's paramount that you pivot with Volt Switch Koko and threaten such wallbreakers with your revenge killing Mimikyu and speedy Raichu in terrain.

---

Anyways, I hope I helped! Nice team; I love seeing unique Pokemon being used to success. Good luck, fren, and I hope you enjoyed the rate! :pimp:
 
Hey SeniorGibus! Really nice use of the gimmicky Alolan Raichu. I personally feel Hawlucha is a far better abuser of Electric Terrain with Electric Seed + Unburden, but I won't change it to keep the charm of your team. However, please do consider it, as it provides a Ground immunity while being a far more stable win condition.

OVERVIEW


Defensively, this team struggles heavily against powerful Water- and Ground-types, as you have no resist to these types. A lot of teams don't pack a Ghost-resist considering how uncommon they are, so I won't focus on dealing with Gengar and Mimikyu defensively thanks to your own Mimikyu. I think a very nice place to look to for a Excadrill HO build is the SM OU Sample Teams thread. Thanks to Gyarados, they pack a Flying-type, being immune to Ground and a Water-type, being resistant to opposing Waters. Of course, as I edit this, I must ensure that Tapu Koko & Alolan Raichu remain on the team. I feel Exca and Mimikyu are also pretty necessary for this HO build. Anyways, Stakataka gives this team massive trouble thanks to Gyro Ball hitting your faster Pokemon under Trick Room or on the switch and potential Z-moves & super effective coverage options in EQ and Superpower. While I do agree with the above rate from legend slayer that Blacephalon is threatening to an extent, but I feel you have several revenge killers to ruin it: Sash Exca, Disguise Mimikyu, Tapu Koko, Sucker Punch Mega Mawile and E-terrain Raichu. Switching in is clearly a pain, as I believe that was the point, so I still feel the above suggestion of Gyarados still heavily benefits you. Trick Room is extremely annoying for you to face, as you don't have Spikes, Toxic Spikes to cripple the abusers or any Substitute users to punish a leading Uxie. Crawdaunt obliterates you alongside Stakataka, thanks to the latter removing Mimikyu, Mawile, Alolan Raichu and Tapu Koko. As you mentioned, OTR Magearna gives you trouble. Obviously, this is due to how fast your Pokemon are on this team and due to the aforementioned lack of ways to punish TR abusers and setters. Anyways, the speed isn't an issue to the team itself by any means, but it does mean your weakness is more established against Trick Room. Anyways, I'll try to address these weaknesses and more in this rate!

TEAM CHANGES

[Focus Blast > Hidden Power Fire] - This change is far more practical, allowing you to hit Tyranitar, Heatran outside of the terrain, Stakataka, etc. It still hits Ferrothorn at +2, and a Thunderbolt still does great damage to Scizor—especially when in terrain.

[
>
] - Choice Specs Tapu Koko will act as an amazing wallbreaker. It weakens Raichu's similar checks with Volt Switch and Thunderbolt, and still wrecks Zygarde or Landorus with Dazzling Gleam and HP Ice. These are two Ground-types that otherwise ate an HP Ice from full and retaliated with a rather free Earthquake or Thousand Arrows. While Terrain Extender is solid for a team dedicated to help Raichu win, I feel that a lot of the time, your Koko will appreciate the additional power that can weaken the checks and do more damage to Stakataka.
Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch

>
- SubSD Kartana will act as a stellar answer to stall builds and sets up Subs on Stakataka that are forced out, and still outspeeds Blacephalon. You'll get somewhat of a Water-resist, but it's not great on the Special side by any means of course. Kart will help punish Trick Room Uxie, too, as it can't Memento the Substitute. Crawdaunt's 252+ Life Orb Aqua Jet fails at breaking your Sub, and Cresselia's Ice Beam does 49% maximum. While it does break the Sub, a +2 Leaf Blade is a 2HKO. A +2 Leaf Blade also 2HKOs Alolan Marowak. Fightinium Z wrecks Steels like Ferrothorn, which helps Specs Koko break with Thunderbolt.
Kartana @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 8 HP / 188 Atk / 60 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword

>
- I mentioned Gyara several times in the Overview, discussing how solid it is for this team. It's no surprise that I'm adding it here. A Dragon Dance is really nice thanks to Tapu Koko wearing down opponents. Taunt will prevent Haze from Toxapex and recovery options, but Koko and Raichu do a solid enough job at beating Pex. Mega Gyarados also acts as a side win condition along SubSD Kart and Alolan Raichu.
Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Waterfall
- Taunt


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Obviously, Hawlucha (
) would likely be more solid in the place of Raichu. So, to anyone who would like to use the rated variant or the original, consider Hawlucha too. But, Alolan Raichu staying on the team ensures I don't change his team completely and that it stays as HIS. Hawlucha makes cleaning a lot smoother thanks to the +1 Defense and great offensive typing and adds an additional Ground immunity on top of Gyarados.

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IMPORTABLE



How you're using this rated team: Excadrill, majority of the time, is the lead. You can Toxic Mega Sableyes and Landorus-Therians especially. If you find Sash Drills revenge killing capabilities to be useful during that match, mix up your lead or at least how you risk getting the sash broken. Specs Tapu Koko, thanks to the Arena Trap ban, can fire off nearly risk-free Thunderbolts and Volt Switches, but don't let that stop you from Dazzling Gleaming incoming Garchomps or Zygardes. This will heavily benefit Alolan Raichu and SubSD Kartana. Speaking of Raichu, due to its Modest nature, it's best to bring this in as a cleaner in terrain. How it plays, as I'm sure you're familiar with, SeniorGibus, is somewhat similar to Hawlucha. However, you're much less relying on the +1 Defense from Electric Seed that Hawlucha gets and the ability to immediately force switches with its LO Thunderbolt and other menacing coverage options. Don't set up Nasty Plots unless you're confident you eat the hits and can sweep or if you're sure you force a switch, such as vs. a Mantine or other bulky Water. The latter aforementioned Pokemon, Kartana will mainly be used to dent holes in bulkier builds and Trick Room variants. It namely ruins stall in conjunction with Tapu Koko's Specs Volt Switches and Mega Gyarados' Mold Breaker. Don't attempt to set up Subs and an SD when the opponent has a full HP Mega Scizor that can eat the Z-move and U-turn. Making such a misplay will result in a loss of your Sub and thus the ability to be outsped and KO'd / forced out by a Battle Bond Greninja for example. Most of the time, you'd like to lead Kart vs. an obvious Uxie to Sub and cause problems. This will burn TR turns if they accidentally Memento or attempt to break your Substitute with Marowak for example. Again, your Sub tanks a Jet from Crawdaunt and you threaten Stakataka. Next, Mimikyu will primarily be a spinblocker and revenge killer. Its Red Card, as you like to use, will act as a last minute ability to punish set up Pokemon by forcing them out. Chip damage from Mimikyu is nice, but don't mindlessly bring it in Turn 1 expecting to sweep. Even if the reward is 1-3 Pokemon damaged/KO'd, you'll lose out on Disguise + Red Card and thus a last ditch effort to annoy set up sweepers like a Shift Gear Magearna or revenge kill threats like a Zygarde. Lastly, Mega Gyarados will appreciate Excadrill's Rapid Spin to improve on its ability to set up on the opponent. You want to take use of the fact that this is your only Flying immunity and your key Water resist, so don't allow it to constantly get weakened by a Specs Greninja Hydro Pump when you can make aggressive plays such as doubling to Koko or Mimikyu to punish. Don't DD when Tapu Fini, Tangrowth, and its other checks are on the field and healthy. Rather, utilize Tapu Koko's pivotal abilities and wallbreaking power to punch holes in such mons, while your Toxic Excadrill can cripple it or your SD Kart can weaken it with +2 All out Pummeling. Some notable threats include powerful special wallbreakers (Specs Lele, Gren) and even some physical ones (Bulu, DD Zygarde). The Pokemon of these categories can get out of hand quickly, but this is HO. Of course it's weak defensively, so it's paramount that you pivot with Volt Switch Koko and threaten such wallbreakers with your revenge killing Mimikyu and speedy Raichu in terrain.

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Anyways, I hope I helped! Nice team; I love seeing unique Pokemon being used to success. Good luck, fren, and I hope you enjoyed the rate! :pimp:
Ay, thanks for the great rate. I don't mind major changes to my team, and I've used this version to much success on the ladder. Obviously raichu can be switched out for hawlucha, but my intent was to use a mon that makes my team unique. I love using mega gyrados, and I like how it doesn't force sucker-fail 50/50s and sets up on stall quickly. Of course, nobody likes using focus miss, but Raichu is weak when not boosted (same base spatk as koko, which is only good cause of terrain/specs etc.) so having a more powerful and versatile move helps it. The added power on koko has helped a lot, my team is so much more solid now. Thank you :]
 

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