I desire to try laddering a little in SM OU in my offtime, however given my unfamiliarity with the meta I wanted to see if I could get some opinions on my team, and possibly take note of points of improvement.
Greninja @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Spikes
Greninja represents a serious threat to the meta, and I wanted to take advantage of this by using it to mop the floor with teams that were sufficiently weak. As such, it represents the center of the team and I wanted to maximize its full destructive potential.
I saw no need to deviate from a standard moveset, seeing as I wanted maximum killing potential and Greninja's normal set was able to provide that. However, even this wasn't enough to get around enemies like Ferrothorn, Chansey, and Toxapex, given their high durability. To make matters worse, I couldn't simply slap on a Tapu Lele and call it a day, as they could simply switch away from Tapu Lele and remain at high health to take on Greninja again. As such, I opted for Heatran to lure in Toxapex and take him out – Ferrothorn would require a different method, however, as no sane Ferrothorn would dream of staying in on Heatran.
Heatran @ Firium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Toxic
The idea here is to lure in Toxapex and Chansey, remove their option to run away, and then take them out without having to worry about any switching trickery. This opens the door considerably for a Greninja sweep. It also does considerable damage to the Sableye that are dumb enough to stay in, assisting Medicham.
Heatran's type combination also permits it to get in on some offensive teams and start annoying them with Toxic or an attacking move, which proved quite helpful for taking on enemies like Latios. As such, even if its low speed proves unassuming for a faster team, it has proven its merit and filled holes the team had.
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 116 Def / 144 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
Although I wanted a more attack-worthy version of Landorus, I was forced to settle for a more obese version thanks to the fact that Heatran already occupied my Z-Crystal and I required a Stealth Rocker. In any case, it proved a good option against enemy Landorus-T, which could come in on Kartana or on a pivot – not to mention this Landorus-T fills the holes I had quite nicely.
Now, don't get me wrong, this fat version of Landorus-T is effective, and has proven reliable and faithful to me several times. I am content with it and happy with his reliability. Still, the lack of power in this Landorus-T is noticeable, and I tried to think of a way to work around it, albeit unsuccessfully. Although I am content with a fat Landorus-T, I happily accept any suggestions to make Landorus-T a more attack-worthy variant.
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 28 Def / 232 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
Although I didn't like this Pokémon's slowness and lack of power, its ability to come in on Pokémon such as Ferrothorn, enemy Landorus-T, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, and Kartana have all proven very helpful and is my reasoning for Celesteela being on the team, in spite of its relatively low damage output.
Being able to lure in Ferrothorn (or pressure it if the enemy suspects Flamethrower) was quite helpful, since enemies would retreat their Ferrothorn from Heatran on sight, and I needed a way to at least score some meaningful damage vs. Ferrothorn against players that would do this. It also proves as my best way to take on enemy Latios that come in on Heatran and attempt to Earthquake it – this is especially so if Heatran is required to take on the rest of the team and I can't afford to lose him.
Medicham @ Medichamite
Ability: Telepathy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Punch
- Zen Headbutt
This guy originally started as Mega Alakazam, before switching to Mega Medicham due to the need for unmitigated damage. Mega Alakazam's speed would later be covered by Scarf Kartana. For now, I just required immense damage dealt by a Pokémon, and Medicham fit quite nicely thanks to its 100 speed proving quite helpful in soft-checking Kyurem-B (a weakness I had before).
Medicham is mostly here to ensure that I don't rely solely on Heatran to take on defensive teams, although really this hasn't been a big issue and Heatran alone has proven fairly effective. However, switching Medicham out for someone like Latios has proven ineffective, as I found I needed Medicham's speed and power to take on the teams I found in ladder. Medicham proved the most useful out of all the testing I did thanks to it outspeeding and killing Kyurem-B in addition to several fat behemoths, so I just went with it.
Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Smart Strike
- Knock Off
The idea behind Kartana is to use the high speed combined with Beast Boost and high attack to both revenge kill and take down sufficiently weathered teams. Although this shares some overlap with Greninja, I didn't see that as a problem as it didn't seem to interferer with Greninja in any way, and provided an additional way to wear down teams further. If nothing else, its high speed proves useful to deal with enemies such as enemy Greninja, Lopunny, Alakazam, and Tapu Bulu (though you shouldn't overrely on Kartana for Bulu due to the potential for Superpower).
I have explained my teambuilding process as best as I could, keeping it comprehendible as much as I can. Do bear in mind I am somewhat unfamiliar with the meta, so do not be surprised if you see the odd weakness in the team now and then.
I have noticed an undesirable vulnerability to Mega Charizard Y, as I have neither an expedient ways to kill it nor a way to tank its raw damage, at least not without making a team swap that I saw as inefficient. I have also noticed that I don't have much in the way of durability against Mega Medicham or enemy Greninja, though my solution is just to employ unrelenting offense to minimize their damage, which has worked pretty well so far. It's just Charizard Y and Tapu Koko to a lesser extent that's giving me problems.
Any suggestions are welcomed with open arms.
Greninja @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Spikes
Greninja represents a serious threat to the meta, and I wanted to take advantage of this by using it to mop the floor with teams that were sufficiently weak. As such, it represents the center of the team and I wanted to maximize its full destructive potential.
I saw no need to deviate from a standard moveset, seeing as I wanted maximum killing potential and Greninja's normal set was able to provide that. However, even this wasn't enough to get around enemies like Ferrothorn, Chansey, and Toxapex, given their high durability. To make matters worse, I couldn't simply slap on a Tapu Lele and call it a day, as they could simply switch away from Tapu Lele and remain at high health to take on Greninja again. As such, I opted for Heatran to lure in Toxapex and take him out – Ferrothorn would require a different method, however, as no sane Ferrothorn would dream of staying in on Heatran.
Heatran @ Firium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Toxic
The idea here is to lure in Toxapex and Chansey, remove their option to run away, and then take them out without having to worry about any switching trickery. This opens the door considerably for a Greninja sweep. It also does considerable damage to the Sableye that are dumb enough to stay in, assisting Medicham.
Heatran's type combination also permits it to get in on some offensive teams and start annoying them with Toxic or an attacking move, which proved quite helpful for taking on enemies like Latios. As such, even if its low speed proves unassuming for a faster team, it has proven its merit and filled holes the team had.
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 116 Def / 144 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
Although I wanted a more attack-worthy version of Landorus, I was forced to settle for a more obese version thanks to the fact that Heatran already occupied my Z-Crystal and I required a Stealth Rocker. In any case, it proved a good option against enemy Landorus-T, which could come in on Kartana or on a pivot – not to mention this Landorus-T fills the holes I had quite nicely.
Now, don't get me wrong, this fat version of Landorus-T is effective, and has proven reliable and faithful to me several times. I am content with it and happy with his reliability. Still, the lack of power in this Landorus-T is noticeable, and I tried to think of a way to work around it, albeit unsuccessfully. Although I am content with a fat Landorus-T, I happily accept any suggestions to make Landorus-T a more attack-worthy variant.
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 28 Def / 232 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
Although I didn't like this Pokémon's slowness and lack of power, its ability to come in on Pokémon such as Ferrothorn, enemy Landorus-T, Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, and Kartana have all proven very helpful and is my reasoning for Celesteela being on the team, in spite of its relatively low damage output.
Being able to lure in Ferrothorn (or pressure it if the enemy suspects Flamethrower) was quite helpful, since enemies would retreat their Ferrothorn from Heatran on sight, and I needed a way to at least score some meaningful damage vs. Ferrothorn against players that would do this. It also proves as my best way to take on enemy Latios that come in on Heatran and attempt to Earthquake it – this is especially so if Heatran is required to take on the rest of the team and I can't afford to lose him.
Medicham @ Medichamite
Ability: Telepathy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Punch
- Zen Headbutt
This guy originally started as Mega Alakazam, before switching to Mega Medicham due to the need for unmitigated damage. Mega Alakazam's speed would later be covered by Scarf Kartana. For now, I just required immense damage dealt by a Pokémon, and Medicham fit quite nicely thanks to its 100 speed proving quite helpful in soft-checking Kyurem-B (a weakness I had before).
Medicham is mostly here to ensure that I don't rely solely on Heatran to take on defensive teams, although really this hasn't been a big issue and Heatran alone has proven fairly effective. However, switching Medicham out for someone like Latios has proven ineffective, as I found I needed Medicham's speed and power to take on the teams I found in ladder. Medicham proved the most useful out of all the testing I did thanks to it outspeeding and killing Kyurem-B in addition to several fat behemoths, so I just went with it.
Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Smart Strike
- Knock Off
The idea behind Kartana is to use the high speed combined with Beast Boost and high attack to both revenge kill and take down sufficiently weathered teams. Although this shares some overlap with Greninja, I didn't see that as a problem as it didn't seem to interferer with Greninja in any way, and provided an additional way to wear down teams further. If nothing else, its high speed proves useful to deal with enemies such as enemy Greninja, Lopunny, Alakazam, and Tapu Bulu (though you shouldn't overrely on Kartana for Bulu due to the potential for Superpower).
I have explained my teambuilding process as best as I could, keeping it comprehendible as much as I can. Do bear in mind I am somewhat unfamiliar with the meta, so do not be surprised if you see the odd weakness in the team now and then.
I have noticed an undesirable vulnerability to Mega Charizard Y, as I have neither an expedient ways to kill it nor a way to tank its raw damage, at least not without making a team swap that I saw as inefficient. I have also noticed that I don't have much in the way of durability against Mega Medicham or enemy Greninja, though my solution is just to employ unrelenting offense to minimize their damage, which has worked pretty well so far. It's just Charizard Y and Tapu Koko to a lesser extent that's giving me problems.
Any suggestions are welcomed with open arms.