Featured Team and Battle Analysis: Torrential Deathfall

Torrential Deathfall by KratosMana

This team was built when Greninja wasn't yet banned from the OU metagame. It's the team I used in the first week of SPL and for the Greninja suspect ladder. The team itself might appear pretty standard when you look at the Pokémon on it, but it has some tricks up its sleeve that come into play in a ton of games. One of them is the infamous Heal Block Latios, which I will talk about later. Thanks to Henry for the RMT nick.

With the release of ORAS, Greninja was blessed with multiple new coverage moves, which made a huge impact on the metagame. Balanced teams were forced to run at least three theoretical checks to it to cover all the possibly coverage options it had, unless you resorted to Chansey or Porygon2, which are otherwise mediocre Pokémon. Stall, on the other hand, had a lot of trouble dealing with Spikes versions due to Greninja beating most removers of entry hazards. These are the reasons I decided to make an offensive team and abuse Greninja myself. The first version of the team was Keldeo / Greninja / Landorus-I / Manectric / Latios / Klefki. However, the team was too based on special attackers, and after some games of testing, I noticed Klefki being useless, considering Greninja can set Spikes while being much more threatening in general. The only reason Klefki would still stay is its priority Thunder Wave that can save me from losing to setup sweepers, such as Dragon Dance Mega Charizard X. After some pondering, I came up with a solution to this case: I swapped Manectric and Klefki for Thundurus and Mega Metagross. It worked like a charm. Metagross had amazing synergy with Choice Scarf Keldeo, being able to Pursuit-trap Latios and Latias, as well as destroying other Pokémon the little pony struggles to beat, such as Mega Altaria. The team has proven to be successful, helping me get a 43-12 record on the suspect test and getting a crucial win in SPL.

Greninja @ Life Orb

Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Spikes
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power Fire
- Grass Knot

Greninja was so stupid for the metagame, it was awful. It can be mixed, get up Spikes or Toxic Spikes, or even be Scarfed to get some nice free KOs on Pokémon such as Scarf Landorus-T ready to U-Turn on it. For this team, I wanted a Pokémon that could keep up offensive pressure while still getting hazards up, so Greninja was the obvious answer.

The moves chosen for this moveset might look weird, but they're all my team needed. I never liked the idea of using Hydro Pump on Greninja after ORAS came out, because it was such an obvious move that no one would switch a Fire-type into it. In my opinion, Ice Beam was always a mandatory move so it could revenge kill Lati@s, Landorus, Altaria, and so on. I decided to go with HP Fire due to few of my Pokémon hitting Ferrothorn decently enough to kill it, so having that move as a surprise factor could be key. Grass Knot was added because of how the team could struggle with a possible Gastrodon or Quagsire, as well as making Greninja a Pokémon that is not setup fodder for bulky Water-types such as Mega Slowbro and Suicune.

Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb

Ability: Prankster
EVs: 96 Atk / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power Ice
- Thunder Wave

One of the most threatening Pokémon in the meta due to its gigantic movepool, great Speed, and the ability to neutralize threats with ease, Thundurus is here to save me from a bunch of set-up sweepers as well as just hitting the opponent hard. For this kind of team, it had to be chosen over Raikou due to my weakness to Dragon Dance Mega Altaria, Charizard-X, Talonflame, rain teams, and several others.

The set it's running is pretty simple. Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, and HP Ice are pretty much a no-brainer, being able to get almost perfect synergy with the famous "BoltBeam" combo, as well as neutralizing threats so Landorus-I can come in and revenge kill them. Knock Off, on the other hand, is here so I can catch stuff like Lati@s off guard. Pursuit Mega Metagross was pretty much my main way of dealing with them, so I wanted something else just in case something unexpected happened. It also helps out against stall a lot considering they run Mega Sableye over Mega Venusaur nowadays; Thundurus can possibly get a Knock Off of on a Pokémon such as Chansey, which in turn can possibly win me the match. I also don't really need Focus Blast or Superpower in this situation because my team already has enough ways to deal with Pokémon such as Ferrothorn or even Tyranitar. The EVs in Attack are there so I can OHKO Latios after Stealth Rock damage (96 Attack Life Orb Thundurus's Knock Off [97.5 BP] vs. 0 HP / 0 Defense Latios: does 268-317 [89.6 - 106%]—a guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock).

Landorus @ Life Orb

Ability: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power Ice
- Stealth Rock
- Focus Blast

Landorus comes back from BW Ubers to continue being the massive threat that it is. In this case, I wanted something that could check Landorus-T, hit balance and stall teams really hard, and get Stealth Rock up to make Spikes even more threatening. Landorus was the best option.

Stealth Rock and Earth Power are self-explanatory. Hidden Power Ice was chosen due to the hype of Gliscor at the time, as well as for its ability to hit the eon brothers for a big amount of damage. Focus Blast is there to make it a complete wallbreaker, hitting the likes of Skarmory, Chansey, Blissey, Ferrothorn, and Mandibuzz for a ton of damage and leaving Pokémon such as Mega Metagross with a lot more leeway to smash through teams. Max Speed helps me in case I need to go for a Landorus Speed tie, as well as making it faster than base 100 Speed Pokémon.

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Hidden Power Electric

Choice Scarf Keldeo was almost a must on any offensive team, as it was the best Greninja check due to most of them lack Extransensory, meaning it could at least tank one move and OHKO it. It's also here to help me beat other offensive teams, as well as deal with annoying Choice Scarf users such as Landorus-T. Another great thing about it is that it checks Bisharp, which can be a really annoying Pokémon to deal with, especially on offensive teams.

The moves are pretty much straightforward. Having two Water-type moves can be really important because any competitive player knows that it sucks to rely on low accuracy moves to hit all the time; it's better to be able to choose whether to Hydro Pump or Scald once I see the situation I'm in. Scald is chosen over Surf due to its amazing burn chance, while Surf only has 10 more BP. HP Electric saves me from a lot of Mega Gyarados sweeps, just in case Thundurus gets knocked out.

Metagross @ Metagrossite

Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Pursuit
- Hammer Arm
- Zen Headbutt

Mega Metagross was just suspect tested and escaped the Ubers bandwagon by a slim margin, and it's for good reason. The amount of strength and speed it has, coupled with a great ability and typing, makes it a big threat to almost any team.

On this team, it's gonna be my main way of beating Psychic-types in general. With Pursuit on its moveset, I can get rid of Celebi and Lati@s and proceed to spam moves with my Keldeo. It also, funnily enough, helps me out against other Mega Metagross due to the lack of Earthquake, as the opponent is probably going to want to save its HP for other Pokémon such as Latios, meaning I can Pursuit it and do a great chunk of damage. Meteor Mash and Zen Headbutt are self-explanatory, while Hammer Arm is pretty much just the best move other than Earthquake in this metagame. The Speed EVs let me take advantage of its great base 110 Speed to the max.

Latios (M) @ Life Orb

Ability: Levitate
EVs: 56 HP / 200 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Roost
- Psyshock
- Heal Block

Latios is my way of checking Keldeo, Charizard Y, Breloom, Landorus-I, and VoltTurners such as Mega Manectric, Rotom-Wash and Raikou, and is just a great Pokémon in general.

Draco Meteor and Psyshock are just strong STAB moves that, coupled with Life Orb, will hurt almost any Pokémon. Who has never heard the famous phrase "fire off a Draco"? Roost, coupled with the HP EVs, makes Latios's job of dealing with VoltTurners and Keldeo way easier, letting the eon have greater longevity. Finally, we have Heal Block. The move is pretty much unseen in competitive play, except for maybe Ubers (with Heal Block Klefki, that is), but it's pretty much the move that glues the team together. It helps me beat Mega Slowbro, Suicune, Mew, the famous blobs (Blissey and Chansey), Clefable, Celebi, Ferrothorn, Jirachi ... the list goes on. I first thought of it just so I could beat Mega Slowbro, since it was being a real bitch to this team, especially due to the fact that it could set up on Mega Metagross anytime it wanted. In the end, it's just a great, underrated move that helps this team a lot.

Battle Analysis by pokeaimMD

A heated match between two new players to SPL: Henry, an ORAS OU player from the Scooters who had begun to make a name for himself for his performance in OLT, vs KratosMana from the Classiest, a newbie to SPL, but not to Smogon tournaments, as he had performed very well in the World Cup of Pokémon IX and various other tours. With Greninja not banned for Week 1 of SPL 6, both players decided to use it. Henry used Greninja, Slowbro, Ferrothorn, Latias, Gliscor and Landorus-T while KratosMana, otherwise known as Anti, had Greninja, Landorus, Thundurus, Latios, Keldeo and Metagross. This would be a tough match for both teams, as neither had any solid switch-ins to Greninja, as if there are any in ORAS.

Henry decided to lead off with Landorus-T, possibly his safest lead, as it was most likely Choice Scarf and could outspeed the entirety of Anti's team. Anti decided to be a bit more aggressive and lead with the now-Uber frog. Anti, calling Henry's Choice Scarf and also not wanting to risk his Greninja, switched into his only Ground, Landorus, as Henry ended up going for U-turn, confirming Anti's suspicion of Choice Scarf Landorus-T as well as allowing a free switch into the plague of OU at the time, Greninja. Greninja was inside and could freely fire off any attack. Henry opted for the safer play, being Ice Beam, catching Anti's Keldeo on the switch. This was screaming Choice Scarf Keldeo to Henry who, not wanting to lose his Greninja, decided to bring out his Slowbro. Anti, on the other hand, figured that Henry would also call his Choice Scarf and pulled a double-switch into his Metagross, trying to most likely catch Henry's Latias on the switch in so he could Pursuit.

This match-up was definitely not in Anti's favor so he had to pull out and send out his Latios to combat Slowbro. Slowbro took the free switch as an opportunity to punish something with Scald, and it did, as Latios was burned upon switching in. Anti, expecting a switch to Henry's Steel-type, figured that he wouldn't risk his Slowbro getting Thunderbolted and decided to pull a double-switch into his Greninja, revealing to the viewer that he was running Hidden Power Fire. Henry actually stayed in that turn and went for Slack Off, knowing that he could take a Draco Meteor from the Latios and recover it off. This still was not a favorable match-up for Henry, as Greninja threatened Slowbro with the possibility of Grass Knot or Dark Pulse. Deciding to switch out, Henry brought in Ferrothorn as Anti ended up going for his first layer of Spikes. This was possibly a way of scouting for Thunder Wave from Slowbro as well as a way to pressure Henry's Latias to come in and Defog, if it had it.

Henry's Ferrothron, being punished for not catching why Greninja came in in the first place, was critted by Hidden Power Fire, knocking out the ugly weed and paving the way for Anti's Latios. Landorus-T now had a free switch-in and, being able to force Greninja out, threw a Stone Edge, catching Anti's Landorus switch-in for a solid 2HKO due to earlier damage from U-turn. Not wanting his Landorus to go down to Stone Edge, Anti decided to double-switch into his Metagross as Henry predicted that very nicely, pulling a double into his Slowbro and putting him in a great position. Anti pulled back into his Latios as the dreaded Slowbro Mega Evolved and revealed Calm Mind, spouting trouble for Anti's team. With enough boosts, Slowbro can beat any offense, especially because it cannot be critted. Wanting to scout the damage, Latios dropped a Draco as Slowbro easily recovered all of it off, making Latios take even more damage from Life Orb and burn.

Anti, being forced to withdraw, sent back out Greninja as Mega Slowbro set up another Calm Mind. Greninja revealed Grass Knot, but alas, it was not enough! Slowbro was easily able to Slack Off the damage. Anti knew that he could be Life Orb stalled as he could not crit, so he decided to send out his Thundurus to combat this behemoth, catching Slowbro on another Slack Off. It seemed like it was over for Anti, as Slowbro, with another Slack Off, could switch out with enough HP and take on the majority of Anti's team. Thundurus went for Thunderbolt as, surprisingly enough, Henry chose to knock out the Thundurus with Scald, letting his Slowbro get low enough for Greninja to come in and threaten it out with Grass Knot and 2HKO the incoming Gliscor with that and Ice Beam.

It was 5-4 Anti as Henry brought back out the Choice Scarf Landorus-T, nailing a KO on Anti's incoming Landorus with Stone Edge. This trade allowed Anti to bring out his Metagross for free, which Mega Evolved and, unfortunately for Henry, nabbed a crit on the incoming Greninja, knocking it out. Henry sent out Latias and, realizing that Henry would reveal Healing Wish if he had it and bring back the Slowbro, Anti decided to switch out to Latios, not wanting Slowbro to set up for free again on his Metagross. This turned out to be the correct play, as Latias did end up sacrificing itself for its friend and Slowbro came back in at near full health due to the Spikes.

Anti then revealed his trap card: Heal Block! Stopping the Slowbro from using Slack Off that turn and smacking it with a Draco Meteor in the next, Latios did a hell of a lot before going down to Scald. Greninja was then sent out and, being that Henry only had this 3% Slowbro and a Landorus-T in the back, Henry was forced to sack the bro before sending out his Landorus-T and revenge killing Greninja with Earthquake. For a second it looked like Landorus-T might sweep depending on damage rolls against Mega Metagross, as Keldeo had already taken enough damage to go down to Earthquake. Anti, putting end to all hope of a mini Landorus-T sweep, sent out Keldeo and revealed the Choice Scarf, knocking out Landorus-T with Scald and securing the 2-0 victory in his favor, as well as his first SPL win.

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