I'm a big fan of building around lesser-used mons in the attempt to make them work in the tier, and I figured that Mienshao would be a pretty fun mon to use because of its absurd and underrated firepower. The team is centered around a Mienshao-Garchomp-Magneton (I'll try explaining why I'm using it over zone) core, who all have great synergy toghether as mienshao + FS can easily overwhelm defensive cores so that Garchomp can clean late game. Without further ado, let's get to the team:
THE TEAM
Mienshao @ Choice Band
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 24 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Poison Jab
- Knock Off
- U-turn
The key pillar for the team. Reckless Mienshao is an absurdly good mon capable of 2HKOing every mon, with no exceptions, in the tier when paired with future sight. The two main niches it has over Urshifu-R are the higher speed tier (allowing it to outspeed full invested base 102s, namely garchomp) and access to knock off, making the Dragapult
matchup considerably easier and allowing it to break the slowtwins after minor chip. I'm using Poison Jab over Stone Edge as Clefable 
is a big nuiscance to the team, and I'm only losing out on Zapdos 
that can always get knocked off as every other bird still doesn't appreciate switching into an HJK. 252 Atk Choice Band Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 248+ Def Hippowdon: 238-282 (56.6 - 67.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 211-249 (63.1 - 74.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I'm aware that max def Hippo isn't really a thing and I already have other ways of dealing with Skarm but the purpose of these calcs is to showcase Mienshao's incredible damage output.
Slowbro @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpA
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Future Sight
- Slack Off
- Teleport
Slowbro is my physical wall and pivot, having great synergy with Mienshao
as Future Sight helps it break Toxapex 
and Teleport can give it a free switch. I'm using Ice Beam paired with 84 SpA EVs because the Garchomp 
matchup for this team isn't great, and with this spread I'm able to KO it after an Ice Beam and a Life Orb round while still being able of living a +2 EQ. Kasib Berry is another valid option to lure Dragapult which is otherwise quite throublesome to the team if well-played, but I found myself much preferring using HDB 
for the constintency.Magneton @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 16 HP / 252 SpA / 12 SpD / 228 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Steel Beam
Quite an unorthodox pick, Scarf Magneton provides decent speed control (+1 228 EVs let it creep Jolly Weavile
by one point and Tornadus-T 
, while still outspeeding Modest Heatran 
after getting knocked off) and still does Zone's job decently at taking out steel types such as Corviknight 
, Skarmory 
, Kartana 
and weakened Melmetal 
). I'm using it over Zone for the extra base speed that lets it hit 384 Spe as opposed to scarf Zone's 360. 16 HP + 12 SpD lets it always live a Modest Specs Lele 
Psychic from full health. Steel Beam is a fun nuke that lets it take out kart pretty much everytime but I did consider using Toxic or Teleport in its place instead. Tyranitar @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 216 SpD / 40 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rock Blast
- Lash Out
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
Tyranitar is an excellent special wall, capable of setting up sand for Garchomp
and can be a great Volcarona 
and Dragapult check. The dark typing also gives the team a much needed psychic immunity, as otherwise Tapu Lele is simply free to spam Psychic and get a kill pretty much every time it comes in. 40 Spe EVs let it outspeed defensive Scizor 
and the rare max speed melmetal , Rock Blast is quite useful against sub users such as Kyurem 
, Zapdos and Moltres 
and can reliably take down the aforementioned Volc. Lash Out does ok damage to Lando-T 
and has 5 less BP than crunch so it's not that big of a difference. Garchomp @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Scale Shot
Sub Garchomp is a great wincon and benefits a lot from the work done by Mienshao
and Magneton 
. Considering it is supposed to clean up late game once the opposing team is crippled, I opted for Leftovers 
as its item instead of Life Orb 
. Similarly, the fact that Corviknight and Skarmory will be trapped by Magneton allowed me run Substitute as its 4th move which is particularly good in conjuction with Sand Veil as it lets me fish for misses because of the evasion boost. If Sand Veil does get banned (and it should), switching to Rough Skin won't affect this set greatly. Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Def / 168 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Defog
- U-turn
Torn-T is the glue that keeps this team together. Rillaboom
was incredibly throublesome to the team and I wanted a knock off user that could also learn defog so I opted for Torn because of its decent offenses, good speed tier and access to Regenerator, which allows me to run all the moves I need without wasting a slot for Roost. 168 Speed EVs let me outspeed Kartana and base 110s in general such as Latios 
and Gengar 
and the remaining EVs are dumped into HP and Defense to better check Rillaboom. MAJOR WEAKNESSES
and 
If played correctly, they both get a kill every time they come in. Switching TTar into a Moonblast-Focus Blast spells doom for the team and forces me to play very aggressively in order to not give them free turns. Whenever I face them my only defensive counterplay to them is getting rocks up and getting all the 50/50s right
Not as big of a threat as the other two because of Torn, but as stated earlier it can overwhelm it with rocks and from there banded Grassy Glade absolutely shreds me
Another "gets a kill every time it gets in" mon. The fact that my main counterplay is surprise killing it with magneton really speaks for itself. I was considering running Colbur Berry Counter Slowbro to lure it in and kill it but I'm not exactly sure how to fit it in my team.
All-around I'm having a lot of fun with the team but I'd really appreciate some feedback, thanks to all of you in advance! Here is the pokepaste in case anyone needs it
