SM OU First Time Playing Competitive Pokemon, Help Needed (Mega Gallade + Tapu Lele)

[Retrospective]

So, I'm brand new to competitive Pokemon, my friends have really been pushing me to try it out, however, so I figured that I'd give it a shot. I'm sure this team kinda sucks on more than one level, I'm not exactly sure what I am doing entirely, I'm just throwing some things together and hoping for the best really. I'll try and explain what my thought process is for each member that I chose as well. Any and all advice as to how to change or tweek this team would be fantastic.

The Team


Gallade-Mega @ Galladite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt
- Knock Off


Tapu Lele @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Psyshock

So, these first two I figured would be appropriate to cover together, as this was my initial idea of some sort of a core. Mega Gallade immediately came to mind for a Pokemon who I wanted to use. It hits like an absolute truck after a Swords Dance backed by its massive attack stat and powerful STAB moves, and the goal that came in mind was built around getting Gallade to punch a massive dent into an enemy's team. To really help achieve this, I wanted to pair him with Tapu Lele, who provides some incredible support. Not only does Lele also hit very hard with the Specs set, but it also provides the team with Psychic Terrain from it's ability, making Gallade not only hit harder with Zen Headbutt, but also prevent priority revenge killing as well. Despite this fantastic synergy, these two seemed to have similar struggles with specific Pokemon, so the next three Pokemon were chosen to help aid with this goal in mind.


Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

First, I did a little research, and found that both Gallade and Lele appreciate slow U-Turns and Volt Switches to bring them in very safely. Landorus Therian happened to be a teammate that could work well for both of these two teammates, especially Lele, as it checks several aggressive threats that would want to cause harm to it. Combining Intimidate with the ability to hit steel types that hive Lele so much trouble hard with an Earthquake made this pick a no brainer, especially because I had yet to obtain a hazard setter for this team.


Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

One important thing I had yet to properly check to cover for my core was Celesteela, who doesn't really care much about Gallade, and absolutely terrifies Lele. Furthermore, Gallade has a horrible match up vs Tornadus Therian, and we needed a solid check for both. Rotom Wash fulfills this job quite nicely, thanks to its ability to not just hit it super effectively, but also use another slow Volt Switch to bring in our more dangerous threats. Thanks to Will-o-Wisp, we can now easily handle physical threats that would threaten the main duo, between Landorus and Rotom, of course, and we had two massive threats in some degree of check with our STAB Volt Switch, status, sustain, and natural resistances. However, there was another looming threat that I wanted to cross off my list of worries.


Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 224 SpD / 36 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Volt Switch
- Fleur Cannon
- Focus Blast
- Iron Head

Enter, Assault Vest Magearna. With this team's main duo primarily focusing on abusing Psychic Terrain to prevent foes from having a very good time dealing with Gallade, we needed a check to other Psychic types that could easily turn this strategy against us, primarily Mega Alakazam and other Tapu Lele, specifically Scarf Lele. This variant of Magearna handles both of these threats nicely. Furthermore, this also adds on to our slow U-Turn and Volt Switch theme so far as well, and also handles other annoying problems well, such as Clefable and common Calm Mind users.


Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Smart Strike
- Defog

Finally, I wanted to have a powerful Pokemon who could both abuse Psychic Terrain to some extent, while also providing this team with some nice revenge killing and late game cleaning potential, so Kartana managed to fit the bill for what we were looking for. I'm using the Choice Scarf variant to maximize Kartana's abuse of the removal of priority from Psychic Terrain, making it potentially awkward to switch into, but also gives it the legitimate speed this team rather lacks overall. Furthermore, Kartana was also chosen for the fact that I was struggling to figure out what I should do about hazard control, and Kartana seemed to be a reasonable choice if we were under massive hazard pressure. It's far from ideal, but at least we have the ability to handle a potentially massive problem.

Anyways, that's what I have to share with you all for today. I wanted to take this moment to thank you all for taking the time to read this, I'm sure most of you guys here expect to see fantastically built teams done by the best of the best here, but I simply am not that sort of person, at least, not yet. I know that I still have a long way to go with not just team building, but battling as well, so hopefully this is a step in the right direction for my own personal improvement. Don't be shy with advice you have for me on this team, any and all suggestions would be fantastic.​

 

[sprkl]

I would pun defog over pain split for rotom, and give kartana knock off. or psycho cut to abuse terrain . also, rotom doesn't exactly scare celesteela, as it takes at least 4 turns to kill, and steela has leech seed and protect, and can just switch out. other than that, cool team :)

 

[ScalchopFren]

Isn't this someone else's team?

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7ou-442075

Looks identical to HSA's team in this replay, other than you swapping out Z-Fly on Lando with HP Ice and Lefties. Maybe it's just sheer coincidence, but it really doesn't seem like you were just "throwing some things together" as you said in your intro.

 

[Retrospective]

Isn't this someone else's team?

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7ou-442075

Looks identical to HSA's team in this replay, other than you swapping out Z-Fly on Lando with HP Ice and Lefties. Maybe it's just sheer coincidence, but it really doesn't seem like you were just "throwing some things together" as you said in your intro.

This wasn't the intention, I wouldn't want to steal someone else's team. Quite literally, I grabbed the first two Pokemon, Gallede and Lele, from the Ultra Core thread, and then took these four Pokemon based off of the set recommendation pages from the smogon dex. If you want to take the time to confirm that, go on ahead. Either way, if I was stealing someone elses team, why would I make a post about it? That seems kind of stupid. I wanted to make an original feeling team, and if someone is already having success with it, then perhaps I should find something else to try and use instead.

 

[ScalchopFren]

This wasn't the intention, I wouldn't want to steal someone else's team. Quite literally, I grabbed the first two Pokemon, Gallede and Lele, from the Ultra Core thread, and then took these four Pokemon based off of the set recommendation pages from the smogon dex. If you want to take the time to confirm that, go on ahead. Either way, if I was stealing someone elses team, why would I make a post about it? That seems kind of stupid. I wanted to make an original feeling team, and if someone is already having success with it, then perhaps I should find something else to try and use instead.

Glad we agree it would be stupid to post about it. I just thought it was weird how suspiciously similar it looked to the other team. If it is actually your work, then no harm done :]

 

[Amullai]

Nice team, personally i would make kartana adamant since timid misses out on some neutral KOs(i can't remember which thou) it also has a nice speed normally so it's not a huge issue being outsped apart from Hawlucha which i think still outspeeds if it's max.

Actually thinking about it your team is kinda weak to koko lucha if lucha can get an sd.

 

[ScalchopFren]

Nice team, personally i would make kartana adamant since timid misses out on some neutral KOs(i can't remember which thou) it also has a nice speed normally so it's not a huge issue being outsped apart from Hawlucha which i think still outspeeds if it's max.

Actually thinking about it your team is kinda weak to koko lucha if lucha can get an sd.

Well first of all, the Kart isn't Timid, it's Jolly. Second, Scarf Kart should always run Jolly to maximize its sweeping potential. The only things that outspeed Jolly Scarf Kart without a Speed boost are faster Scarfers, and the only common Scarfers that outspeed it are Serp and Gren (Koko too, but that's pretty rare). Plus, Adamant would make you speed tie or get outsped by other Scarfers that you would otherwise beat with a higher Speed stat, like Lele and Jirachi.

 

[Amullai]

Nice team, personally i would make kartana adamant since timid misses out on some neutral KOs(i can't remember which thou) it also has a nice speed normally so it's not a huge issue being outsped apart from Hawlucha which i think still outspeeds if it's max.

Actually thinking about it your team is kinda weak to koko lucha if lucha can get an sd.

Well first of all, the Kart isn't Timid, it's Jolly. Second, Scarf Kart should always run Jolly to maximize its sweeping potential. The only things that outspeed Jolly Scarf Kart without a Speed boost are faster Scarfers, and the only common Scarfers that outspeed it are Serp and Gren (Koko too, but that's pretty rare). Plus, Adamant would make you speed tie or get outsped by other Scarfers that you would otherwise beat with a higher Speed stat, like Lele and Jirachi.

I did mean jolly correct im stupid tired rn. What can a scarf lele even do to this team. Mag just walls it, he has his own specs lele that will demolish it. Jirachi also seems pretty walled by members of the team depending upon the set.

Idk maybe you're right but i feel like the jolly kart is just too weak without a boost.

 

[ElStefano]

Hey there!
I think for someone being new to competitive pokemon, you have an excellent understanding of teambuilding =) The pokemon you chose fit together really well, I guess thats also shown by the fact that a similar team was used in a tour. Well eine, I hope you keep playing competitive pokemon!

Let me give you a few tipps to try to improve the team:

1. Z-Moves are freaking good, always try to have one on your team! In this team, the main options are Tapu Lele and Landorus, but i like Specs Lele a lot with Volt-turn support, so I'd suggest Z-Fly on Lando (over Hp Ice), like HSA did. This helps with Hawlucha (if it doesn't have sub) and let's you beat Tornadus, which helps Gallade.

2. Stray from the smogon analysis sets by changing details, e.g. single moves, to surprise the opponent. Or even invent your own sets ;) Here, I would add Ice beam on Magearna (over Focus Blast). This kills Ground types that try to switch in and block your volt switch, like opposing Landorus. This helps Gallade, which now can no longer be intimitated.

3. Hazard control should be optimized. Kartana won't defog more than once, so better put it on Rotom like the first comment suggested and run knock off on Kartana.

However, these were just nitpicks (some of which were allrdy mentioned), the main intention of my post was to tell you you did a good job! Btw, I think Mega Gallade isn't a fantastic mega to build around, in my opinion it's outclassed by Mega-Medicham. Looking forward to seeing more from you!

 

[DrPumpkinz]

I'd set Gallade's ability to Justified, because right now, the pre-mega ability defaults to Steadfast. I'd much rather get an Attack boost from switching into a Knock Off over having to stay in regular form and predict your opponent to try and flinch a mega that's immune to flinches.