This is a bulky balance team, and it's my first thread on the Smogon Forums. Any and all feedback is appreciated, thanks!
Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 176 HP / 28 Def / 252 SpA / 52 Spe
Modest Nature
- Geomancy
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Thunder
Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 160 Atk / 152 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Precipice Blades
- Fire Punch
Marshadow @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Spectral Thief
- Shadow Sneak
- Rock Tomb
Ho-Oh @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Toxic
- Recover
Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Defog
Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Recover
- Judgment
- Toxic
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 176 HP / 28 Def / 252 SpA / 52 Spe
Modest Nature
- Geomancy
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Thunder
Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 160 Atk / 152 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Precipice Blades
- Fire Punch
Marshadow @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Spectral Thief
- Shadow Sneak
- Rock Tomb
Ho-Oh @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Toxic
- Recover
Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Defog
Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Recover
- Judgment
- Toxic
Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 176 HP / 28 Def / 252 SpA / 52 Spe
Modest Nature
- Geomancy
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Thunder
Xerneas is a powerful sweeper that can take out a large portion of the Pokemon in the Ubers Metagame. It can also effectively handle Lugia, Yveltal, and Kyogre which are all common Pokemon in the metagame which my team struggle against. I chose Power Herb over Z-Geomancy due to the rising prevalence of Marshadow. It works well with my Primal Groudon, which relies upon Xerneas to take out Marshadow so it can freely setup Swords Dance.
Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 160 Atk / 152 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Precipice Blades
- Fire Punch
Xerneas and Groudon are the main core of this team, and both can break through defensive cores. Groudon is able to handle many checks to Xerneas such as Lucario, Gengar, and Aegislash if need be. It also relies upon Xerneas to remove Marshadow and Kyogre. I got this set on the Smogon analysis page of Groudon. However, I replaced the Rock Type option with Fire Punch because Stone Edge or Rock Slide would be used mainly to get rid of bulky-Flying types, which Xerneas and Marshadow do perfectly fine. However, the only other Fire-type damaging move is Ho'Oh's Sacred Fire, which isn't going to do as much damage, so I wanted to put a damaging STAB move on Groudon. I don't use a defensive variant because Arceus-Fairy is a perfectly good defensive Stealth Rock setter, and Ho-Oh can fish for burns using Sacred Fire.
Marshadow @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Spectral Thief
- Shadow Sneak
- Rock Tomb
Marshadow is a great wallbreaker, and it can break through a large portion of the metagame. It can also place a lot of pressure on set-up sweepers and Ghost Types because all of these can be rendered useless. Rock Tomb is used instead of Hidden Power Ice so that I can get an unexpected KO on Ho-Oh. It can also easily take out Mega-Gengar, which is a major threat to Xerneas. Although Groudon can handle it, I would like to have another option just in case.
Ho-Oh @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Toxic
- Recover
Ho-Oh is able to effectively cripple Primal Groudon and some other bulky Pokemon. Sacred Fire has a 50% burn chance, which allows Ho-Oh to fish for burns on many Pokemon, and it functions as a good counter to most Marshadow, although it gets KO'ed by Rock Tomb variants. Additionally, it can be used as a pivot, as it has great bulk and two reliable forms of recovery in Recover and Regenerator.
Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Defog
Giratina-O or some Defog user is almost mandatory for Ho-Oh to function properly due to Ho-Oh losing 50% of its health from Stealth Rock. Although STAB on Giratina-O from Phantom Force would be nice, Earthquake seems to be a better option. This is because for the most part Giratina-O is going to be switched in immediately after Stealth Rock has been set, and almost always opposing Primal Groudon are the setters of said Stealth Rock, so Giratina-O can get more damage onto Groudon. Giratina-O also fulfills a good role as a switch in on defensive Primal Groudon due to the fact that it is completely immune to Groudon's Precipice Blades and is resistant to the odd Fire Punch.
Arceus-Fairy @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Recover
- Judgment
- Toxic
This is the most recent change. Originally I had a wallbreaker Calm Mind Kyogre, I realized I didn't need it since Kyogre already functions as a nice wallbreaker. As a result, I added a support Arceus so that I could get an additional Stealth Rock setter. Although it may seem redundant to have two Stealth Rock setters, if Arceus is killed off by a Poison or Steel type before it can set up Stealth Rock, Primal Groudon can safely force a switch in and set Stealth Rock. If Arceus gets Stealth Rock up, Primal Groudon has the freedom to play more offensively and get more damage onto opponents.
Please ask any questions you may have. Thank you!
Last edited: