Gen 6 Good Cores: ORAS Ubers Edition

[Halcyon.]

Good Cores: ORAS Ubers
approved by Fireburn

Building a successful team is much easier when starting with a successful core. Well that's exactly the point of this thread! Here you can post (or borrow) excellent cores you've used in your team building. So what constitutes a good core? Two-three Pokemon that work very well together in terms of synergy or goal orientation. Basically any two or more Pokemon you've used to accomplish any goal for your team, be it defensive or offensive in nature. I will be recording the truly excellent cores in the spaces bellow, so if you're new and want something interesting to start building a team around, perhaps this is the thread for you!
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Offensive Cores​

Mewtwo X + Primal Kyogre

Mewtwo X and Primal Kyogre actually make a pretty good offensive pair in my experience. Mewtwo X is able to 2HKO max HP Primal Groudon with Low Kick after Stealth Rock, dealing enough damage so that a +1 Blizzard from Primal Kyogre can KO even fully SDef versions of Groudon. And since people will often switch in their Groudon in on Mewtwo because SDef is usually a full on counter to other Mewtwo formes, it is pretty easy to make this happen in an actual battle. But Mewtwo X can also lure in Kyogre's other biggest checks, the Lati twins. With Ice Punch, it can score a solid 2HKO on both of them (OHKOing Latios after SR damage). And after an Ice Punch from Mewtwo, neither Latios nor Latias will be able to switch in on even an unboosted Blizzard from Kyogre, let alone one at +1. Weaknesses to the core include Xerneas and Giratina-O, both switch in on Mewtwo X pretty easily, and Kyogre can't switch in on either. Solid defensive partners like Primal Groudon, Arceus Rock, Klefki, Giratina-O etc. work well with this pair. Give it a shot next time you want to use Primal Kyogre.

sets

Mewtwo @ Mewtwonite X
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Low Kick
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide / Zen Headbutt
- Taunt

Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 60 HP / 252 SpA / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
- Origin Pulse
- Blizzard
- Thunder
- Calm Mind

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Ho-Oh+Xerneas

This core features CB Ho-Oh and standard GeoXern. Most of GeoXern's checks, like aegislash and scizor, are mons that Ho-Oh can easily force out. CB Ho-Oh is a really good wallbreaker, and sacred fire helps it burn everything in sight, which causes lots of residual damage, that can also stack with potential hazards like stealth rocks and spikes. All of this residual damage makes Xerneas's job of sweeping even easier, because when lots of stuff has been weakened, it can easily set up a geomancy and proceed to wreck house by spamming moonblast. Ho-Oh + Xerneas is a very threatening offensive core, and both mons hit extremely hard. SR support and possibly spikes is really nice, because it lets Ho-Oh abuse the huge amount of switches that it forces, which makes cleaning really easy. However, this core is pretty weak to E-Killer and opposing Ho-Oh, so good switch ins to those are appreciated.
Sets: (The sets and EVs are pretty standard since I copy pasted them off of the smogon analyses)

Hide

Ho-Oh @ Choice Band
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 208 Atk / 52 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Earthquake
- Sleep Talk

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 104 HP / 32 Def / 252 SpA / 120 Spe
Modest Nature
- Geomancy
- Moonblast
- Thunder
- Focus Blast / Hidden power [Fire] / Psyshock

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Mega Gengar+Primal Groudon

Mega gengar and PDon work quite well together, which isn't surprising seeing that they are both very good pokemon.The goal of this core is to use Mega Gengar to trap and kill checks to PDon like Lugia,Lati@s,Skarmory,Arceus-Ground,Bronzong :] and others. After Mega Gengar eliminates all of PDon's checks and counters on the opposing team all you need to do is find a good set up opportunity and sweep the opposing team, this core also fits very well on pretty much every offensive team since these pokemon pair very well with almost every pokemon used in offense.There really isn't much else to it, easy and effective.

Sets

Groudon @ Red Orb
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Precipice Blades
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Claw
Gengar @ Gengarite
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Destiny Bond
- Sludge Wave
- Shadow Ball / Focus Blast

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Defensive Cores

Hide

None yet!

Balance Cores
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Giratina-O+Heatran+Clefable

This is a core which i believe to be good. It has a problem with Primal Kyogre, but I did lots of theorysing with it, added Dialga and removed it cos of redundancy. After talking with ApplepieFTW i admitted that this is a good core due to how he explained a good core.

These 3 take care of each others weaknesses(still weak to Primal Kyogre) very well, and are good mons individually as well. Heatran is only 2HKO'd by +2 Focus Blast from GeoXern, so it can come in on the turn of set up and phaze it away, while Giratina-o can take the ground, fighting, and unboosted water attacks. Unaware Clefable takes on CM Arceus formes, while Heatran can on any super effective attacks aimed at Clefable. The fact that Kyogre isn't as good in this meta as before is what makes this core good. The sets are standard except Clefable, who's specially defensive.

Ik this core has issues(which can be fixed by addition of one member, depending on the threat) but cos it cos i actually like it and building around it seems easy to me, also cos i thought this is something i thought not many would come up with.

Hide

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Roar

Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 248 Def / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Defog
- Shadow Sneak
- Dragon Tail
- Will-O-Wisp

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Moonblast

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[Halcyon.]

I'll start off with a core I built around last week that I had pretty great success with.

Mewtwo X and Primal Kyogre actually make a pretty good offensive pair in my experience. Mewtwo X is able to 2HKO max HP Primal Groudon with Low Kick after Stealth Rock, dealing enough damage so that a +1 Blizzard from Primal Kyogre can KO even fully SDef versions of Groudon. And since people will often switch in their Groudon in on Mewtwo because SDef is usually a full on counter to other Mewtwo formes, it is pretty easy to make this happen in an actual battle. But Mewtwo X can also lure in Kyogre's other biggest checks, the Lati twins. With Ice Punch, it can score a solid 2HKO on both of them (OHKOing Latios after SR damage). And after an Ice Punch from Mewtwo, neither Latios nor Latias will be able to switch in on even an unboosted Blizzard from Kyogre, let alone one at +1. Weaknesses to the core include Xerneas and Giratina-O, both switch in on Mewtwo X pretty easily, and Kyogre can't switch in on either. Solid defensive partners like Primal Groudon, Arceus Rock, Klefki, Giratina-O etc. work well with this pair. Give it a shot next time you want to use Primal Kyogre.

sets

Mewtwo @ Mewtwonite X
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Low Kick
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide / Zen Headbutt
- Taunt

Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 60 HP / 252 SpA / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
- Origin Pulse
- Blizzard
- Thunder
- Calm Mind

 

[PISTOLERO]

I'll write up Salamence + Rayquaza for you Halcyon, this is a placeholder~

 

[ApplepieFTW]

hello, may I recommendrock slide on mm2x? zen headbutt hits next to nothing, whereas rock slide can lure in ho-oh very nicely. it's not a super big thing, but zen headbutt just isnt a good option. the only thing it really does for you is hit things that low kick doesnt, but these things are limited to fairies and ghosteus. even if you run zh, these still beat you so the move is practically useless. cool thread btw :]

e: oops forgot geoxern, I'd still slash it though

 

[dice]

zen headbutt hits xerneas and still kills ho-oh after sr which is pretty significant. also, it can hit opposing mmx

 

[PoweredByRevenge]

Reserving Primal Groudon + Mega Gengar.

 

[SparksBlade]

reserving heatran+giro

 

[firehusky]

Ho-Oh + Xerneas

This core features CB Ho-Oh and standard GeoXern. Most of GeoXern's checks, like aegislash and scizor, are mons that Ho-Oh can easily force out. CB Ho-Oh is a really good wallbreaker, and sacred fire helps it burn everything in sight, which causes lots of residual damage, that can also stack with potential hazards like stealth rocks and spikes. All of this residual damage makes Xerneas's job of sweeping even easier, because when lots of stuff has been weakened, it can easily set up a geomancy and proceed to wreck house by spamming moonblast. Ho-Oh + Xerneas is a very threatening offensive core, and both mons hit extremely hard. SR support and possibly spikes is really nice, because it lets Ho-Oh abuse the huge amount of switches that it forces, which makes cleaning really easy. However, this core is pretty weak to E-Killer and opposing Ho-Oh, so good switch ins to those are appreciated.
Sets: (The sets and EVs are pretty standard since I copy pasted them off of the smogon analyses)

Hide

Ho-Oh @ Choice Band
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 208 Atk / 52 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Earthquake
- Sleep Talk

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 104 HP / 32 Def / 252 SpA / 120 Spe
Modest Nature
- Geomancy
- Moonblast
- Thunder
- Focus Blast / Hidden power [Fire] / Psyshock

EDIT: Lol just realized I forgot Xerneas's nature, it's obviously fairy aura.
EDIT: 2 lels I meant ability

 

[SparksBlade]

can i change mine, i'd like giro+heatran+dialga if possible

 

[Halcyon.]

can i change mine, i'd like giro+heatran+dialga if possible

Yeah, that's fine. This thread isn't really super formal, just hoping to get some good cores to help people get started with teams in the new tier.

 

[PoweredByRevenge]

EDIT: Lol just realized I forgot Xerneas's nature, it's obviously fairy aura.

firehusky i believe you meant the ability just a little nitpick because it's not on the importable :].

 

[SparksBlade]

This is a core which i believe to be good. It has a problem with Primal Kyogre, but I did lots of theorysing with it, added Dialga and removed it cos of redundancy. After talking with ApplepieFTW i admitted that this is a good core due to how he explained a good core.

These 3 take care of each others weaknesses(still weak to Primal Kyogre) very well, and are good mons individually as well. Heatran is only 2HKO'd by +2 Focus Blast from GeoXern, so it can come in on the turn of set up and phaze it away, while Giratina-o can take the ground, fighting, and unboosted water attacks. Unaware Clefable takes on CM Arceus formes, while Heatran can on any super effective attacks aimed at Clefable. The fact that Kyogre isn't as good in this meta as before is what makes this core good. The sets are standard except Clefable, who's specially defensive.

Ik this core has issues(which can be fixed by addition of one member, depending on the threat) but cos it cos i actually like it and building around it seems easy to me, also cos i thought this is something i thought not many would come up with.

Hide

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Roar

Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 248 Def / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Defog
- Shadow Sneak
- Dragon Tail
- Will-O-Wisp

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Moonblast

e: clefable also helps with yveltal forgot to mention

 

[PoweredByRevenge]

Mega gengar and PDon work quite well together, which isn't surprising seeing that they are both very good pokemon.The goal of this core is to use Mega Gengar to trap and kill checks to PDon like Lugia,Lati@s,Skarmory,Arceus-Ground,Bronzong :] and others. After Mega Gengar eliminates all of PDon's checks and counters on the opposing team all you need to do is find a good set up opportunity and sweep the opposing team, this core also fits very well on pretty much every offensive team since these pokemon pair very well with almost every pokemon used in offense.There really isn't much else to it, easy and effective.

Sets

Groudon @ Red Orb
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Precipice Blades
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Claw

Gengar @ Gengarite
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Destiny Bond
- Sludge Wave
- Shadow Ball / Focus Blast

 

[iampie]

<3

 

[Sebberball]

I have a kind of (bad) defensive core, clefable and deo-d ofc, I let clefable set up cosmic powers (yes you may kill me now) and stall/stored power sweep, if I lose clefable, I send out deo-d to take hits and out last most ubers sweepers

 

[PoweredByRevenge]

So this is a defensive core that i have used before myself and it works quite nicely. These pokemon when put together can check a big amount of the threats in this tier as well as having a pretty good synergy between them. Defensive Yveltal is used here to check things like Ekiller, Mewtwo, Giratina and others, PDon is always great to have on almost every team and it also provides the role of the best Stealth Rocker in the tier as well as checking things like Kyogre, Xerneas, many Arceus forms, Genesect, Zekrom, Palkia and others. Finally the last member of the core offers a great defog user which is very nice as well as a backup check to Kyogre which is great and it also checks Groudon. This core is pretty simple to fill in with other members so it should be easy to use.

Sets

Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Lava Plume / Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Roar / Thunder Wave

Yveltal @ Black Glasses
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Foul Play
- Sucker Punch
- Taunt
- Roost

Latias (F) @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 212 HP / 120 SpA / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Defog
- Roost

 

[Disaster Area]

giratina-O + diancie + primal groudon
primal don is a check to geoxern and kyogre
giratina-o is a check to primal groudon and kyogre and ekiller and mega blaze
diancie is an answer to ho-oh and yveltal

weak to cm ground arc, needs additional checks to some mons, etc. but okay little core imo that i just came up with but has pprobably been used already

 

[SparksBlade]

giratina-O + diancie + primal groudon
primal don is a check to geoxern and kyogre
giratina-o is a check to primal groudon and kyogre and ekiller and mega blaze
diancie is an answer to ho-oh and yveltal

weak to cm ground arc, needs additional checks to some mons, etc. but okay little core imo that i just came up with but has pprobably been used already

how does giro check pdon and pogre and ekiller and mblaze all at once? what kind of spread would that be?

 

[ApplepieFTW]

how does giro check pdon and pogre and ekiller and mblaze all at once? what kind of spread would that be?

rash draco meteor max def hit a jump point in spatk rest in hp and run some creep if you want to. it doesnt check pogre well though

 

[SparksBlade]

It's important to note that Groudon is the least crucial member of the core. It was simply chosen for role compression as a Xerneas/Kyogre check

Potentially even something like Palkia could be run in Groudon's place.

how does that work? palkia cant take on ogre unless it's specially defensive, and not so good at anything else(it might be able to take on groundceus, but cm groundceus escapes the 2hko, so it could just cm and recover over and over again). And it cant replace pdon at checking xern.

 

[Disaster Area]

It's worth noting that giratina-O is a decent replacement for regular salamence on most teams, I mean both have some small element of suprise factor (relevant but not the main point), and they check very similar things, unless I'm mistaken. Or did something new introduced in ORAS that I missed, or just the meta shift, such that defensive mence is now viable? Me/edgar/shrang at least had all tested various types of defensive and fat salamence, and the general consensus was that whilst it was sorta cool, it didn't have enough of an edge over giratina-O to be worth having an analysis for it lol.. also the consensus on mence in the analysis was why use wish when you have roost. I guess diancie and groudon change that. Just saying it's worth comparing those comments to be sure that mence is worth it and making it clear. I have read your post but I've also been awake >20 hours (idk when I got up, but I need to be up for a few more hours for irl reasons)

 

[SparksBlade]

mence is there to pass wishes(if possible) to other 2 since both lack recovery, and imo that's the only thing it has over giro(GIRO Y U NO ROOST!!!)

 

[SparksBlade]

i just dont like how you first mention pdon's purpose being xern/pogre counter, and later say that palkia could replace to do half of that work. Your core now is very fairy weak as well, so imo either remove palkia or explain well enough how it's a good replacement to pdon and being fairy weak is ok.

 

[haxiom]

So here's a core I've seen used a lot for most balanced builds in ORAS. It's pretty solid.

Basically it's sort of like the Lando-T / Palkia / Klefki cores in XY which checked a lot of stuff and was easy to build with because it gave you a fair amount of freedom with other teammates. The build tends to check a lot of the metagame pretty well: Groudon handles stuff like Kyogre and Xerneas, with the help of both Klefki and Latias relieving pressure. It also checks stuff like Zekrom, Palkia sort of; Latias can help, Blaziken, Mewtwo to some extent, and so on. It's just a great blanket check. Klefki provides Spikes to compliment Groudon's rocks, and as previously mentioned, it can help take pressure off of Groudon. It also can emergency stop some threats and check Salamence with Thunder Wave, or Toxic a Calm Mind Arceus or something. It is also a great check to many Dark-types such as Yveltal, and sort of Arceus-Dark and Darkrai (in the case of Arceus-Dark, it needs a bit of Thunder Wave luck and Darkrai needs to sleep something first). Latias checks Ground-types which otherwise trouble the core, as well as helping with Kyogre.

In terms of teammates, you have a lot of freedom, as the core gives you checks to a lot of the meta, and keeps the Arceus and Mega slots free. Things you need include checks to Ho-Oh and Extreme Killer Arceus most notably, as they threaten the core more than anything else. Defensive Yveltal can be used to help against both of these. In terms of an Arceus forme, Arceus-Dark is pretty nice with this core, as is Arceus-Ground which can make a nice Ground spam duo with Groudon. Basically, you have a lot of room to explore with. A stallbreaker can be useful since the core is not too great against it.

Some variations on this core might include running Giratina-O over Latias and sourcing the secondary Kyogre check elsewhere.

You have a few options with the sets. Firstly, Groudon could plausibly run an offensive Stealth Rock setter or a Support set. Latias can run a Defog set, or a Calm Mind set. Here are some sample sets.

Hide

Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Toxic
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Play Rough

Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 224 HP / 232 Atk / 32 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Precipice Blades
- Dragon Tail
- Stone Edge

Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 56 Def / 204 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Roar

Latias (F) @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 212 HP / 120 SpA / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Defog
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock

Latias (F) @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Calm Mind
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock

To conclude, this core is a pretty nice balanced core which checks a lot of the metagame and offers a lot of flexibility with the remaining members of the team.​

 

[Prinz]

I wanted to post a core here that I used lately and that gave me good results in ladder:

Ho-Oh @ Choice Band
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 208 Atk / 52 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Earthquake
- Sleep Talk

Diancie @ Diancite
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Moon Blast
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power
- Protect

That's clearly an offensive one, I think that I haven't to say much about that core since it speaks by itself, but Ill introduce it a bit. One of Ho-Oh's biggest flaws as you guys already know is the huge weakness to Stealth Rock and Mega Diancie with Magic Bounce mitigates it a bit. Ho-Oh helps Diancie too as it forces out Scizor and other Steel-type mons which threatnens Diancie, that is cool because it can 2HKO Pdon with Earth Power even if it's running a SDef set so Ho-Oh can spam its STAB fire more easily. Also Ho-Oh covers the weakness to ground that Diancie has, while the latter can switch-in on some Rock-type attacks (don't forget that it hasn't a really good bulk, though). Another niche that Diancie has is that it can revenge-kill SD Rayquaza if it can live an +2 ES, which is always nice as Rayquaza becomes a more dangerous pokèmon in ORAS. The core has obviously problems with strong Water-type attackers like Primal Kyogre and CM Arceus Water, therefore probably the best teammate for it are Primal Groudon to have a safe switch-in on strong Water-type attacks and one Lati Twin to act as a defogger in case Diancie can't prevent Stealth Rock and as well as another check to Primal Kyogre and other Water-type mons. I forget to say that you can run another move instead of Protect on Diancie even if it's probably the best one in Ubers as it's difficult to mega-evolve in a safe way Diancie, but you can always try options like Calm Mind which help you against fat n bulky teams. However, I would always run Protect for the reason I explained before and I'll use a mon that can help against bulkier playstyles. Thats all I guess, thanks for reading and have fun using this core! :]