SM OU ZyguardiaN - Protector of the Ladder [Peaked 1890+, still climbing!]

ZyguardiaN - Protector of the Ladder
Edit: Entered Top 100 with this team (Peaked 1908 ELO)
Edit #2:




I started playing Gen 7 OU through my university’s draft league. In this draft league, Pokemon were tiered by how useful they were in a draft environment, and assigned points based on their perceived usefulness to an overall team composition. Mew and Landorus, for example, were S+ tier and cost 100 points to draft. Something linear and unreliable, like Typhlosion, for example, was B- tier and cost only 50 points to draft.
Zygarde was A- tier.
The next season, Zygarde got moved up to A+ tier. It eventually got the second most knockouts in the league, behind Xurkitree.
It’s now in S- tier, very deservedly.

So even though I’ve only talked about Zygarde so far, I didn’t even start with it.
I started with Blacephalon and Koko. I wanted a dual specs wallbreaker core, that could theoretically 2HKO the entire meta game, sans Chansey. Koko and Blacephalon share very similar checks - Tyranitar, Heatran, Landorus, etc. So similar to how a type-spam core would work, Blacephalon and Koko end up wearing down the opponent’s defensive core until Zygarde could sweep.
One of the first things I learned at my school’s draft league was that Suicune + Toxic Spikes was a winning combination. But Suicune was not exactly in the meta right now. Zygarde was. Zygarde could similarly abuse Substitute + Protect to wear down an enemy with passive toxic spikes damage. Zygarde could also set up with just one move and abuse a great STAB typing with near-perfect coverage to sweep through entire teams late game. Zygarde could also set up substitutes for days against passive mons like Celesteela and Chansey. All in all, Zygarde was the perfect fit for the team. Toxapex was added for toxic spikes, and for it’s synergy with…
my boy Scizor-M. Toxapex and Scizor-M have near perfect type synergy. Toxapex dies to Psychic moves, but Scizor eats those up for days. Scizor despises fire-types like the Charizard twins and Victini, but Toxapex’s mere presence in OU had been enough to shut down Charizard-M-Y usage in the last couple months. Scizor also provides Defog support for Blacephalon, since it hates Stealth Rocks and Toxic Spikes.
oh then I added lando-t cos I realized I didn’t have it yet on my team lul.



Blacephalitis (Blacephalon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Hidden Power [Grass]

This thing is ridiculous. When Nagadel first came out everyone was shitting themselves over how threatening it was as a sweeper, and I think that people overlooked this Pennywise-looking-motherfucker. Choice Specs boosted STAB Fire Blasts and Shadow Balls simply 2HKO the majority of the tier, including standard (not spdef) Toxapex, Stakataka, AV Magearna, Heatran etc. While that might not be the biggest of deals, since strong wallbreakers are a-plenty in OU (see: Banded Bulu, which OHKOs Bisharp), what separates Blacephalon from the rest of the pack is it’s exemplary Speed stat. 107 base speed is absolutely amazing in OU, allowing it to outpace common threats such as Tapu Lele, Mimikyu, Landorus-T, Salamence, Pinsir-M, Garchomp and both Mega Charizards. This, combined with it’s amazing Special Attack stat, allows it to punch holes through the entire tier while outpacing plenty of threats. Combined with Tapu Koko, there’s not many defensive cores that can stand up to the sheer power of Specsephalon. Hidden Power Ground is used over Hidden Power Grass or something since it has the added benefit of absolutely sending Heatran to the shadow realm, and I have a hard switch-in to Greninja anyways.

Edit: Changed it to Scarf. While this does totally screws with the theme of the team being dual specs wallbreakers, Scarf Blacephalon means that I don't instantly lose to archetypes like Psychic Spam and Rain (read: i can deal with Megazam and Megapert now).

252 SpA Blacephalon Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Celesteela: 354-416 (88.9 - 104.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Blacephalon Fire Blast vs. 200 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Magearna: 176-210 (50.1 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Blacephalon Hidden Power Grass vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Swampert-Mega: 272-320 (67.3 - 79.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

EVs are simple - max Special Attack to hit stuff harder and max Speed to hit stuff quicker. A Timid nature helps with that.


Best Tapu (Tapu Koko) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

My first semi-successful team was built alongside my friend KuraiTenshi26, and we abused DD Charizard-M-X and Choice Specs Tapu Koko to a respectable 12th on the OU Suspect Ladder. At that time, Specs Koko was relatively new, and the sheer power that Specs Koko offered was something that I could never imagine coming from a measly base 95 Special Attack. I was so wrong.
Specs Koko is a monster! Outside of being able to OHKO both Toxapex and Celesteela, two of the most annoying mons in the tier right now, it’s also able to easily dispatch of threats like Garchomp, Landorus-T, Lati@s, M-Sableye, Kartana, etc. Volt Switch gives so much momentum if I predict switches correctly, and can easily allow me to bring in Blacephalon or Zygarde if needed. Furthermore, even after Specs Koko has been meta for a couple months, people still underestimate the ability for Koko to OHKO Lead Landorus-T’s without Yache Berry or Focus Sash.
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex in Electric Terrain: 300-354 (98.6 - 116.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Celesteela in Electric Terrain: 468-552 (117.5 - 138.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Kartana in Electric Terrain: 321-378 (123.9 - 145.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Like Blacephalon, EVs are simple - hit hard and hit fast. Koko’s speed tier is great as it allows me to revenge kill stuff like non scarfed Kartana, normal Greninja, Lati@s, etc.


Pebble Genie (Landorus-Therian) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Def / 148 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

Ahh yes, the big daddy of OU. I’ve never seen this thing not be #1 in usage, and I’ve been playing since the end of Generation 5. Landorus-T’s surprisingly decent physical bulk, combined with it’s amazing ability in Intimidate and access to the most over centralizing move in the game - Sneaky Pebbles - makes it easy to see why it’s consistently been the best mon in the tier for so long. U-Turn is a great momentum grabber and allows me an escape out of unsavoury matchups like Celesteela, Skarmory, etc. Earthquake is mandatory STAB that has the secondary effect of still dealing with mons like Alola!wak and Magearna, since Landorus does have an exemplary base 145 Attack stat. Hidden Power Ice is there for opposing Landorus, Garchomp and Zygarde. But mostly opposing Landorus, which is a near guaranteed 2HKO.
Defensively: 0- SpA Landorus-Therian Hidden Power Ice vs. 248 HP / 148 SpD Landorus-Therian: 164-196 (43 - 51.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Offensively: 0- SpA Landorus-Therian Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Landorus-Therian: 192-228 (50.2 - 59.6%) -- 78.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

EVs are edited. 148 SpDef EVs ensure that I always survive a Choice Specs HP Ice from Tapu Koko, which works as a fairly decent lure set, especially if they lead Koko vs me. Cuts into the physical bulk a little bit, but it usually isn't that big of a deal. No Speed EVs means that I don't outspeed Adamant Tyranitar anymore, but when there's a Zygarde AND a Scizor-M on the team, this usually isn't that much of a problem. The extra SpDef investment also means that opposing Landorus-T's don't 2HKO with THEIR HP Ice anymore, which is nice. I hate Lando-T get this overcentralizing garbage out of here.


ZyguardiaN (Zygarde) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 188 HP / 140 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Protect

Ah, Zygarde. Remember when everyone thought you were trash at the start of the gen? Good times. Everything in the team is built around facilitating a Zygarde sweep - Koko and Blacephalon soften up cores so that Zygarde can clean up with a boost or two under it’s belt, Toxapex’s Toxic Spikes allow for Zygarde to beat it’s would be counters like Tangrowth and Tapu Bulu, Scizor-M makes sure that Zygarde can’t be beaten by opposing Toxic Spikes and Landorus-T… well, it’s just there. Realistically, Thousand Arrows is unresisted STAB in the OU metagame - two, maybe three relevant mons aren’t hit at least neutrally by the attack, and those that are not are easily dispatched of via Toxic Spikes. Substitute combined with Zygarde’s amazing natural bulk allows it to find set up opportunities on would be counters, and 188 HP EVs hit the infamous 101 Subs benchmark, allowing for free setup on the two pink blobs. Protect is an all-around great move to allow for Zygarde to scout for coverage moves as well as some HP recovery via Leftovers. It also has the added benefit of hard denying HJK Medicham and Lopunny, which is nice, I guess.
+1 140+ Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Greninja: 253-298 (88.7 - 104.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 140+ Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios: 220-261 (73 - 86.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 140+ Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Magearna: 326-386 (92.8 - 109.9%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 140+ Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados-Mega: 171-202 (51.6 - 61%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 140+ Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Lele: 232-274 (82.5 - 97.5%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

188 HP EVs allow Zygarde to hit the fabled 101HP substitutes, while 180 Speed EVs allow for it to outspeed Timid Koko and Mega Lopunny at +1. The rest are dumped into Attack, coupled with an Adamant nature to hit stuff as hard as possible. I’ve considered moving a couple more EVs to outspeed Timid Heatran as well, but realistically there’s not much Heatran can do to me anyways, and most players aren’t crazy enough to let their Heatran stay in against a 4x weakness.


Scizandor (Scizor-Mega) @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Def / 124 SpD / 68 Spe
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn

I, as a player, despise playing against hazards. There is nothing I hate more than switching my Blacephalon in and watching it instantly lose 25% of it’s health to Stealth Rocks. As a result, it’s become a habit of mine to put some form of hazard removal on every single team that I build, no matter how in vain or anti-synergistic it might seem at first. Scizor-M is simply the best hazard remover ‘mon in the tier right now. It has amazing type synergy with Toxapex and Landorus, covering for my team’s two 4x Ice weaknesses to a certain extent, single-handedly shuts down Aurora Veil thanks to Bullet Punch (thank fuck for that, Aurora Veil might be the only thing I hate more in this game than hazards), has longevity throughout the game thanks to Roost, and basically serves as the “glue” to the team. Scizor-M also brings a nice slow U-Turn to the table, allowing for me to scout my opponents for switches and send in the appropriate wall or breaker mon. And as I’ve already explained before, Defog is integral to satisfy my near-OCD level of hatred towards those Sneaky Pebbles.
0 Atk Technician Scizor-Mega Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lopunny-Mega: 97-115 (35.7 - 42.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Technician Scizor-Mega Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Medicham-Mega: 105-124 (40.2 - 47.5%)

Due to the lack of scarfers on my team, I find myself relying on Scizor a great deal to emergency check fast threats like Lopunny-M. It’s also my de-facto switch into Lele, usually to scout for whatever move it goes for and see whether it’s a Choice set or not. Outside of Choice Scarf, Lele isn’t too much of a threat to my team since Blacephalon always revenge kills it and Scizor can slow U-Turn into Blacephalon to facilitate said revenge-killing. Scarf Lele, however, is a pain, but I can usually Roost-stall it and make some clever switches with Toxapex and Blacephalon to answer it. It’s been a while since I’ve even seen Lele on the ladder though, so I’m not too sure how relevant that is.

EVs are also edited. 68 Speed EVs lets me outspeed AV Magnezone, and 124 SpDef EVs lets me take Psychics from Lele better, which is a huge pain in the ass to deal with for this team. The rest goes into physical bulk. This spread isn't as physically bulky as some other variants BUT does help with the fact that I don't instalose anymore to Magnezone + Lele team compositions.


Toxicapex (Toxapex) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Haze
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes

Toxapex was a mistake. While I hate playing vs hazards myself, nothing quite makes me happier than getting two layers of toxic spikes up against the enemy and watching their switch ins die one by one by one, a slow and very painful death.

Why does this thing exist again? It walls half the tier and is such a great answer to setup sweepers like Volcarona, Magearna and the like. Outside of the rare +1 Psychium Z Volcarona, not even something like Gigavolt Havoc Magearna can OHKO this boy from full.
252 SpA Magearna Gigavolt Havoc (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 214-254 (70.3 - 83.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Volcarona Shattered Psyche (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Toxapex: 220-260 (72.3 - 85.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Threats like Choice Scarf Keldeo and Choice Specs Greninja just absolutely cannot break through this defensive behemoth. Toxapex is about as surefire a switch-in to Ash-Greninja as they get, and even though it’s been at least half a year since I’ve seen one on the ladder, I’m willing to bet that LO Protean Greninja doesn’t even 2HKO this mon. Scald is integral to the set, since it allows for Toxapex to be able to rack up passive damage on stuff like Magearna and Keldeo through status, while Haze is equally important to deny Calm Minds and Quiver Dances. I’ve been able to win more than one game just by repeatedly pressing Haze vs a setup sweeper like Mimikyu and watching them try to boost up in futility while their health slowly ticks away due to Toxic Spikes. And speaking of those, Toxic Spikes are just as integral to the team, as they are what allow Zygarde to break through its would-be Grass-type counters. Recover is just a straight up necessity, as it allows Toxapex to stay healthy in all scenarios, leading to the most fun gameplay possible!

EVs are as straightforward as they get - much like how Scizor-M maximizes in the physical defences, Toxapex dabbles in the special defence side of things, allowing for it to reliably check Ash-Greninja and Magearna

Psychic Spam: Lele does 60%+ to nonmega Scizor with not very effective Psychic. :bhinking:
Mega Gyarados: If it sets up then it's a problem. Actually, come to think of it, regular Gyarados is more of a problem since it doesn't have a weakness to Scizor's U-Turn. Mega Gyarados is a problem too, especially if it has Earthquake. Just a problem mon in general to deal with.
Scarf Lele - mentioned it above but Scarf Lele tears this team a new one, especially if it bluffs something else. Psychic Terrain (the ever-balanced creation) nullifies Scizor’s only STAB, so it’s not a very reliable revenge killer, and I have to watch out for Hidden Power Fire as well. Non-Scarf Lele bends over to Blacephalon though, and Shadow Ball cannot miss, so it’s not that much of a threat in this specific scenario.
Hidden Power Fire Latios-M - Because I don't expect it LOL.
Stall - I just fucking hate stall. Also a competent stall player can fuck me up if they respect the ability for Blacephalon to trick Chansey. Chansey normally isn't a problem because I can set up on it with Zygarde, but stall's ability to remove Toxic Spikes and Chansey's ability to induce feelings of suicidal rage within me combine for not a good time for anyone.

Replays: I’ll add more as I remember to save them, but:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-667227437 - Zygarde puts in work vs Scarf Landorus. No Toxic Spikes were required.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-667158766 - vs Ho3nConfirm3d and his strange-ass LO Special Garchomp. Showcases how stupid Toxapex is, as it manages to straight up beat a Magearna 1v1 under Trick Room.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-667435778- vs a Manectric-M. Toxapex actually 1v1s a Manectric. It also eats a crit-boosted Volt Switch. Toxapex is stupid.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-667427631 - vs Tangrowth. Zygarde actually 1v1s a dedicated hard counter. Disgusting.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-667441881vs Celesteela and Quagsire. Scizor and Toxapex eventually make this man want to commit suicide so hard he tilts off the face of the earth and misclicks. This is the pinnacle of competitive Pokemon.

Alakazam-M: s c i z o r exists. otherwise it's a surprisingly big threat, especially if paired with lele. zygarde is a good answer too.
Bisharp: *laughs in scizor-m*
Blacephalon: Toxapex takes like 4% from any of it's STABs, and +1 Never Ending Nightmare never OHKOs the P E X.
Celesteela: Half the reason I put Specs Koko and Blacephalon on this team is because I hate this mon.
Chansey: Trick away its Eviolite, or set up on it with Zygarde. Failing that, cry and call the opponent mean names.
CharizardX: landorus exists omegalul
CharizardY: toxapex exists omegalul
Clefable: If it's the 252/252+ Bold set then it pretty much just fucking dies to either one of my Specs users.
Diancie-M: Scizor revenges it unless Lele is on their team. In which case, Koko revenges it.
Dragonite: h a z e, although if it sets up too much I just straight up lose. Try to get rocks up as early as possible.
Excadrill: if its suicide lead, then I let it get rocks up and just kill it, then defog later. If it’s not suicide lead, then l a n d o r u s exists.
Ferrothorn: absolute zygarde setup fodder, 2hko’d by +2 thousand arrows
Garchomp: Blacephalon revenges non-Scarfed sets, Landorus-T exists to make scarfed sets completely irrelevant
Gengar: t o x a p e x exists. If it’s electrium z then I laugh because at the end of the day, it’s electric z gengar which in itself is pretty omegaLUL
Greninja: scarfed variants do no damage to toxapex. Suicide leads are annoying but they can’t scratch my defogger unless they have hidden power fire, in which case I immediately begin contemplating suicide.
Greninja-A: t o x a p e x
Hawlucha: koko eats a +2 acrobatics and then it just fucking dies
Heatran: zygarde is a safe switch in most of the time. If I’m a fucking real player though I go for the specs hidden power ground on the heatran switch in.
Kartana: if Scizor-M is dead then it can easily sweep me, but only if it’s scarfed. Otherwise Koko revenges.
Keldeo: t o x a p e x and k o k o. If it’s CM + HP Electric then I spam haze becuase no taunt omegalul, if it’s CM + Taunt then I spam scald and wait for burns, or just revenge it with koko LOL.
Kingdra: t o x a p e x.
Kyurem-B: click x and complain about how broken it is (for real though, specsephalon, stealth rocks and specs koko take turns eating this thing for breakfast).
Landorus-T: click hidden power ice first turn on my specs koko and send this boi to the shadow realm. my own landorus answers other landoruses pretty well too.
Latios: scizor. If it’s hidden power fire then congratulations, you need to start playing gen 7 xd
Latios-M: scizor as well, even better because I’ve yet to see a hidden power fire latios-m.
Lopunny-M: Scizor. If Scizor is dead then I just lose LOL.
Magearna: Toxapex can 1v1 this thing. Did I just write that sentence?
Magnezone: No steel types to trap on my team :thinking:
Manaphy: t o x a p e x. If it’s psychium z, k o k o.
Marowak-A: Landorus exists. It gets 2hko’d by flare blitz though. No switch ins to this thing, but thankfully its slow as shit so I can revenge kill it with like half my roster.
Mawile-M: L a n d o r u s.
Medicham: revenge or make fire plays by going hard blacephalon on the hjk (I’ve done it once before and it was super cool)
Mew: omegaLUL
Mimikyu: spam haze with toxapex because nothing will come close to 2hkoing you. Alternatively, scizor’s bullet punch.
Ninetales-A: b u l l e t p u n c h
Pelipper: v o l t s w i t c h (rain is a bitch to deal with though)
Pinsir-M: koko
Sableye-M: let them knock my koko off then proceed to get the easiest momentum of my life with volt switches and super effective dazzling gleams.
Skarmory: see Celesteela
Stakataka: you won’t be OU for long xd
Swampert-M: Surprisingly difficult to deal with, but I usually just try to outstall the rain turns with Intimidate and Protect then revenge it with Blacephalon, or chip damage with toxic spikes and smart dazzling gleam predictions on the switch ins.
Tangrowth: zygarde can 1v1 it omegalul. Blacephalon just roasts it alive too.
Tapu Bulu: Grassy Terrain does not weaken thousand arrows, fun fact. Oh and blacephalon.
Tapu Fini: lol
Tapu Koko: It’s all about denying Thunderbolts with my two ground types and playing around the Hidden Power Ice. Difficult to deal with, sure, but I have the tools available to scout vs it.
Tapu Lele: Scarf set merks me, non-scarf set is not a problem because blacephalon is on my team.
Toxapex: koko
Tyranitar: landorus-t, zygarde, toxapex, scizor and koko can get momentum on it with volt switch
Tyranitar-M: see above
Venusaur-M: pretty sure specsephalon ohkos this boi even after it megas
Victini: Landorus-T answers band sets, z-celebrate sets make me cry however.
Volcarona: h a z e. Unless it’s psychium z at +1, then I lose
Zapdos: koko nearly ohkos this man. R I P Zapikins.
Zygarde: G L E A M. If it sets up then I spam intimidate and try to haze off the boosts with pex.

Shoutouts: don’t know anyone on this site yet omegaLUL since I never post on the forums but I’d like to shout out the good people of my university’s draft league for always pushing me to improve at this game (no seriously if it wasn’t for you guys I would’ve quit this garbage ass game a long time ago LUL) I don’t think a lot of them are on this website but I’ll tag the two I know, KuraiTenshi26 and waszap.

Also my friend who plays Random Battles with me (Kabukixd) you’re the GOAT.

12/5/17 - edited according to "weirdo faye" and "hquaze"'s suggestions. Thanks guys :)
 
Last edited:

Breezy

formerly Quaze
is a Top Tiering Contributoris a Tutor Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
yo dondyxd rlly cool team u’ve built
but as you noticed by urself u are a lot weak to fast threats, and that’s becuz u lack of speed.
have you ever tried scarf blacepheleon? it helps against faster mons and it still hits like a truck. in case you go for it switch fire blast for flamethrower since they do the same kills. wil-o-wisp is another cool option cuz it punishes physical sweepers such as zygarde, mawile and bisharp. last thing wud be changing landorus to offensive with earthquaze | gravity | knock off | stealth rocks; item: earth plate. this improves stall the match-up a lot being able to put up the hazards almost everytime.
Blacephalitis (Blacephalon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Wil-O-Wisp/ Hidden Power [Ground]

Best Tapu (Tapu Koko) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

ZyguardiaN (Zygarde) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 188 HP / 140 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Protect

Scizandor (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost

Toxicapex (Toxapex) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Haze
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes

Landorus-Therian @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Gravity
- Stealth Rock
hope i helped, bless up
 
yo dondyxd rlly cool team u’ve built
but as you noticed by urself u are a lot weak to fast threats, and that’s becuz u lack of speed.
have you ever tried scarf blacepheleon? it helps against faster mons and it still hits like a truck. in case you go for it switch fire blast for flamethrower since they do the same kills. wil-o-wisp is another cool option cuz it punishes physical sweepers such as zygarde, mawile and bisharp. last thing wud be changing landorus to offensive with earthquaze | gravity | knock off | stealth rocks; item: earth plate. this improves stall the match-up a lot being able to put up the hazards almost everytime.
Blacephalitis (Blacephalon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Wil-O-Wisp/ Hidden Power [Ground]

Best Tapu (Tapu Koko) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

ZyguardiaN (Zygarde) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 188 HP / 140 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Protect

Scizandor (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost

Toxicapex (Toxapex) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Haze
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes

Landorus-Therian @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Gravity
- Stealth Rock
hope i helped, bless up
Hey, I actually gave what you suggested a try and it's working out really well, Blacephalon has a stupid base 151 SpAtk to hit off of anyways and offensive Landorus is ridiculous. Leaves the team a bit weak to Dragonite however but really patches up my weakness to Mega Alakazam and Tapu Lele.
Just wanted to say thanks because I feel like this version of the team is actually quite a bit better than my version.
Haven't played with it on my main account yet but I made an alt and went on a 26-game winstreak, so I think it's relatively safe to assume that the team is good :)
 

hamiltonion

Nostalgic
is a Contributor to Smogonis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Nice team. Used it a bit to acquaint myself with USUM. I had quite a bit of trouble handling Tapu Koko though. A well played Tapu Koko can wreck this team and the mons cant even scare it off with an RK. Not sure how to fix this though as I'm really rusty.
 
Hi, I'm going to rate this team.

I've got 2 versions of the team, 1st one is just a very simple ev change to the lando-t set and some small tweaks in the sets of the other mons. The 2nd one involves 1-2 mon changes.

Gonna start with the 1st.

You probably know your team has a huge tapu koko weakness, regardless of it's set. You can use a different lando-t set with more spd investment so that hp ice from specs koko doesnt ohko from full. This set isn't my idea, it is a set from swaqfeq and his rmt, so he needs to be given the credit. Hp ice does a maximum of 99.7% with these evs which helps with specs koko users leading koko turn 1 expecting to ohko lando-t. You could also experiment with other filler moves on it such as protect to scout out what specs koko locks itself into and toxic to cripple zapdos.

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Def / 148 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

As mentioned by hquaze, speed control is a must so switch this to scarf.

Blacephalitis (Blacephalon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Fire Blast

You should run some speed and spd on scizor to avoid getting trapped by av magnezone because you are devastated by scarf lele if trapped by magnezone and to better take psychics from tapu lele. It cuts into scizor's physical bulk but with a defensive lando-t, I think this is fine.

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Def / 124 SpD / 68 Spe
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn

This should help with with speed control, alleviate a bit of your huge tapu koko and lele weaknesses. It's still going to be very frustrating to get predicted by lele users though and hp fired on with your scizor switch.

Blacephalitis (Blacephalon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Fire Blast

Best Tapu (Tapu Koko) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Def / 148 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

ZyguardiaN (Zygarde) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 188 HP / 140 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Protect

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Def / 124 SpD / 68 Spe
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn

Toxicapex (Toxapex) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Haze
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes
 
Last edited:
Hi again, so this is the 2nd version of the team.

I actually went to get a couple of a games to make sure that this team would work and I got my decayed alt back up to 1880 so I think it should be fine.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-668930120 - being impatient and bad but winning because blacephalon is pretty good
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-668933496 - why you should always run some speed on your scizor


->
I'm going to suggest you change toxapex with assault vest bulu. This patches up the lele + koko weakness in 1 slot. While you do lose tspikes, I have a change in the zygarde set which can fix this. This bulu set also helps a ton with rain.

Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 56 SpD / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Wood Hammer
- Superpower
- Nature's Madness

I definitely think you should still run some speed on scizor to outrun av magnezone, also since you now get grassy terrain from bulu, this will help with lopunny too, compensating for slightly less bulk.

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 68 Spe
Impish Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost

Now here's a really interesting part. Since you don't have tspikes anymore, run toxic on zygarde. This set looks hella weird, but toxic can wear down stuff like lando-t, bulu, tangrowth etc. (which are the main targets of the tspikes) over the course of a match. Lefties + grassy terrain makes zygarde a rather good heatran switchin too for bulu + scizor, so even if zygarde doesn't get to do much except firing toxic off, it can be used for that which is nice because heatran is extremely annoying to deal with for a lot of teams.

Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 188 HP / 140 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Toxic

Now with lando-t's set, you can use the fly z set. I personally prefer sd over smack down/gravity because it's true that lando-t supposedly irritates stall with that set, but you'll probably get more out of sd because most of the team you face on the ladder won't be stall teams. Instead they'll likely have their lando-t, which is bait for a +2 skystrike to eliminate them which benefits blacephalon a ton. +2 skystrike also kinda gives you free kills if the opponent doesn't have zapdos / celesteela. You lose a physical wall but with the combination of bulu + scizor, this should be fine.

Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fly
- Swords Dance

With tapu koko, you can try using a choice scarf over it and retaining specs blacephalon because I'm a huge fan of powerful attackers as well. if you are worried about volcarona, which I have rarely seen on the ladder since usm, you can opt to fit brave bird in somewhere. If you get rid of your opponent's ground type, mostly lando-t, which sd fly z lando-t is extremely good at doing, this can volt switch around and bring in specs blacephalon for you to wreak havoc easily.

Tapu Koko @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Dazzling Gleam
- U-turn

My tweaks made it so celesteela is more annoying without pex, but answers are still present for it with blacephalon + koko. Scarf + z-move magnezone teams are gonna give you problems, so if you do face teams like that, be more careful about it, although I've rarely seen those sets on the ladder. Havn't actually rated teams in a while so thanks for taking the time to read this.

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 68 Spe
Impish Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost

Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 188 HP / 140 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Toxic

Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 56 SpD / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Wood Hammer
- Superpower
- Nature's Madness

Blacephalon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fly
- Swords Dance

Tapu Koko @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Dazzling Gleam
- U-turn
 
Hi again, so this is the 2nd version of the team.

I actually went to get a couple of a games to make sure that this team would work and I got my decayed alt back up to 1880 so I think it should be fine.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-668930120 - being impatient and bad but winning because blacephalon is pretty good
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-668933496 - why you should always run some speed on your scizor


->
I'm going to suggest you change toxapex with assault vest bulu. This patches up the lele + koko weakness in 1 slot. While you do lose tspikes, I have a change in the zygarde set which can fix this. This bulu set also helps a ton with rain.

Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 56 SpD / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Wood Hammer
- Superpower
- Nature's Madness

I definitely think you should still run some speed on scizor to outrun av magnezone, also since you now get grassy terrain from bulu, this will help with lopunny too, compensating for slightly less bulk.

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 68 Spe
Impish Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost

Now here's a really interesting part. Since you don't have tspikes anymore, run toxic on zygarde. This set looks hella weird, but toxic can wear down stuff like lando-t, bulu, tangrowth etc. (which are the main targets of the tspikes) over the course of a match. Lefties + grassy terrain makes zygarde a rather good heatran switchin too for bulu + scizor, so even if zygarde doesn't get to do much except firing toxic off, it can be used for that which is nice because heatran is extremely annoying to deal with for a lot of teams.

Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 188 HP / 140 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Toxic

Now with lando-t's set, you can use the fly z set. I personally prefer sd over smack down/gravity because it's true that lando-t supposedly irritates stall with that set, but you'll probably get more out of sd because most of the team you face on the ladder won't be stall teams. Instead they'll likely have their lando-t, which is bait for a +2 skystrike to eliminate them which benefits blacephalon a ton. +2 skystrike also kinda gives you free kills if the opponent doesn't have zapdos / celesteela. You lose a physical wall but with the combination of bulu + scizor, this should be fine.

Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fly
- Swords Dance

With tapu koko, you can try using a choice scarf over it and retaining specs blacephalon because I'm a huge fan of powerful attackers as well. if you are worried about volcarona, which I have rarely seen on the ladder since usm, you can opt to fit brave bird in somewhere. If you get rid of your opponent's ground type, mostly lando-t, which sd fly z lando-t is extremely good at doing, this can volt switch around and bring in specs blacephalon for you to wreak havoc easily.

Tapu Koko @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Dazzling Gleam
- U-turn

My tweaks made it so celesteela is more annoying without pex, but answers are still present for it with blacephalon + koko. Scarf + z-move magnezone teams are gonna give you problems, so if you do face teams like that, be more careful about it, although I've rarely seen those sets on the ladder. Havn't actually rated teams in a while so thanks for taking the time to read this.

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 68 Spe
Impish Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost

Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 188 HP / 140 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Toxic

Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 56 SpD / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Wood Hammer
- Superpower
- Nature's Madness

Blacephalon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fly
- Swords Dance

Tapu Koko @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Dazzling Gleam
- U-turn
Hey, thanks for the rate, really appreciate it. I tried out both variants of the team a little bit on the ladder, and I have to say I really like the first version with Scarf Blacephalon and mixed speedy Scizor. Like you said, Magnezone is a huge nuisance for the team, and I had to play around it by making aggressive doubles way too often, which was not only unnecessarily risky but also often led to me being forced to sack Landorus or Toxapex just to find what move Magnezone had locked itself into (and that was assuming it was Specs too! The AV set was even harder for me to play vs). The Landorus set looked pretty gimmicky as well at first but it's really been working out, no one ever expects that kind of SpDef investment on Landorus and it's a good way to get rid of the biggest threat to my team almost immediately.

I'm still not too sold on the second variant, however. I played a couple of game with it at the ~1700ELO range and I found myself struggling hard against common Pokemon like Landorus. While I understand the idea behind Scarfed Koko, it doesn't really fit my playstyle and I sorely miss being able to click HP Ice first turn and getting rid of my opponent's Landorus turn 1. Toxic Zygarde is cool though, and my friend actually suggested that very change (-Toxapex +AV Bulu, -Protect +Toxic on Zygarde), idk though, I just don't think it fits my playstyle. Stuff like Swampert-M and other rain threats can usually be dealt with by a combination of Toxic Spikes, Scizor-M and Intimidate. I'm a big fan of spamming sub/protect though for recovery, and if Grassy Terrain isn't up it just feels so bad to lose 25% of your health for scouting.

Thanks for the rate though, like I said I really appreciate it. I'll update the RMT to reflect the changes ASAP :)
 

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