SM OU Birb spam

[Dapesa]

I've always liked Staraptor since it was released in gen 4, so I decided to build a team arround it. This is a Birb spam team that uses some more offmeta pokémon. I personally have had a lot of fun with it because it usually forces a lot of prediction for both me and the enemy. This is my first RMT submission, so I hope you like it!

The Team

Staraptor @ Choice Band
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Double-Edge
- Close Combat
- U-turn
​

Staraptor is of course the star of the team. Its damage output is incredible due to both Choice Band and Reckless boosting the already high base power from Brave Bird and Double-Edge. The set is pretty standard, and I decided to use Choice Band over Choice Scarf to maximize its firepower, allowing it to effectively wallbreak for Mega Pinsir. Double Edge is especially useful because of Staraptor luring Rotom-W and Zapdos, which ends up in them either dying or losing most of their health thus making them useless. However, Staraptor will usually faint very early too.

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
​

Mega Pinsir is an obvious choice as a physical abuser of birbspam. Quick Attack somewhat makes up for the lack of speed from the team. It can sometimes wallbreak alongside Staraptor, though it usually needs to set up a Swords Dance to do so. Earthquake was chosen over Close Combat due to Staraptor already having fighting coverage. Its speed also allows the team to deal with targets that barely escape Staraptor's speed tier like Mega Medicham, which would otherwise force a 50/50 on a speed tie with Staraptor.

Magnezone @ Electrium Z
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
​

Some of the main answers to flying types are steel types, so Magnezone helps keep them in check. Subsitute was chosen to ease prediction on some matchups and to take advantage of Ferrothorn, which can annoy the team with Iron Barbs damage. Electrium Z was chosen instead of Steelium Z to weaken bulkier steel types that don't mind Hidden Power Fire so much, especially Celesteela. However, I've experienced with Steelium Z and it definitely works well as a lure to Landorus-T behind substitute. In teams without steel types it can also be useful in some matchups like Tapu Koko or Clefable, easily setting up substitute in front of them and dealing damage to the switchin. However, it will usually end up being used as a sac.

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 22 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Fleur Cannon
- Focus Blast
- Iron Head
​

Assault Vest Magearna was chosen as the deffensive pokémon because of the useful resistances like Ice and Rock that it brings, its access to Volt Switch and its sheer bulk not only allowing it to tank most threats, but also keeping the momentum from the team by not losing turns to heal. It can repeatedly switch into attacks and then use a slow Volt Switch to allow a frailer pokémon to switch in safely. 22 speed IVs are used to underspeed Celesteela, also allowing Magnezone to deal with it more reliably. Iron Head is used over Flash Cannon to ease the matchup against Calm Mind sweepers.

Hydreigon @ Metronome
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 244 SpA / 32 SpD / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Earth Power
- Defog
- Roost
​

Hydreigon was chosen as a defogger because of it beating Heatran and having reliable recovery. While Heatran doesn't get a free switch on any of the team members, Magearna can't fulfill its pivoting purpose against it. It can also relieve some pressure off Magearna by checking Ash-Greninja. Earth Power is mainly for Heatran, but it can be useful coverage against other pokémon like Tyranitar and Tapu Koko. Dark Pulse is a spammable move that can grow an insane amout of power thanks to Metronome, especially on pokémon that use Protect or Baneful Bunker, since the damage keeps racking up. It's preferred over Life orb due to the lack of recoil helping it be more consistent deffensively and Metronome's potential of growing into a wallbreaker. Hydreigon has a surprisingly good matchup agaist Trick Room, being able to threaten Cresselia and Uxie, dealing some good damage against Magearna with enough prediction and not letting most Trick Room abusers come in for free once it's set up.

I'm aware of Tapu Fini being able to fulfill a similar role as a more deffensive defogger with a better matchup against some threats like Hawlucha, but I've decided I prefered Hydreigon due to its higher damage output and reliable recovery.

Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Transform
​

The team so far clearly lacks one very importtant thing: speed. Ditto works as a very strong revenge killer able to outspeed everything and speed tie at worst. It's a good lead against teams with Landorus-T because Ditto will get intimidated before transforming. It gets a Hidden Power Ice, further improving the Landorus-T matchup. The existence of Ditto forces people to think twice before setting up with most pokémon, and between Staraptor's wallbreaking power, Hydreigon's good matchup versus some deffensive pokémon and Dittos versatility and infinite PP, it creates a strong core against more deffensive based teams. Ditto is also a huge threat against weather teams because it can reverse sweep them.

Threats​

Garchomp is fast enough to outspeed Staraptor, your main way to deal with pokémon similar to him. You might need to sacrifice 1 or 2 pokémon to deal with it between Mega Pinsir, Ditto and Hydreigon depending on the set.

While Sand Rush excadrill is an opportunity for your team to reverse sweep in the late game, Molbreaker Excadrill can be annoying to deal with because it sets Stealth Rocks reliably against the team, which is weak to them. Hydreigon outspeeds and KOes it, but you'll need to make sure Focus Sash is out of the way first.

Every time Mega Medicham comes in, it will probably pick a KO. You'll need to choose your sacs depending on what the enemy team looks like and try to deal with it with Mega Pinsir. Worst case scenario you could always try a 50/50 with Staraptor.

Mega Charizard Y is fast enough to threaten your team in a similar way as Mega Medicham. However, it doesn't fear Ditto unless it's weakened enough. The team's lack of Stealth Rocks doesn't help either, so if you get the chance to set them up with Ditto it might be a good idea.

Stored Power Mega Latias is a setup sweeper that does not fear Ditto transforming into it, it will just keep boosting and recovering any damage. Hydreigon can't really stop it either once it has started, and it's faster than the entire team. Possibly the hardest matchup.

Hawlucha is another setup sweeper that does not care about Ditto. You'll need to be very careful when using Hydreigon. If it does manage to sneak into Hydreigon, damage it as much as possible so Mega Pinsir can finish the job. You might want to keep Magearna healthy in order to tank one High Jump Kick.

Importable

Staraptor @ Choice Band
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Double-Edge
- Close Combat
- U-turn

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack

Magnezone @ Electrium Z
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 22 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Fleur Cannon
- Focus Blast
- Iron Head

Hydreigon @ Metronome
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 244 SpA / 32 SpD / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Earth Power
- Defog
- Roost

Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Transform