Introduction
Hi 'yall! I have had this post looming over me for a while now, and I haven't managed to come up with any good ideas as to what to do for my 1.5k. I eventually got sick of having to preserve this post, so I just decided to take Typhlito's advice and do a generic RMT. I was going to do an actually successful team that I used (a Shedinja stall team), but when looking over after writing about 3/4 of what would have been its RMT it suddenly occurred to me that it had ended up being literally identical to a team made by someone else ;;;;;. Therefore, as I wanted to include something from the new E rank, I just decided to write about a Swellow VoltTurn team that I threw together in 5-10 minutes about a month ago and got good results with (basically good enough to warrant being posted as a notable post RMT). I would post its peak ladder rating if I hadn't changed alts and forgot the name of the one I used, but I did so screw that, and I have no replays of it in action for the same reason combined with the fact that I can't be f*cked to get any now (sowwy :[). Anyway, onto the RMT!
Team Song
When I thought of Swellow, the first playstyle that crossed my mind was VoltTurn, and I have always imagined VoltTurn teams as dancing around the opponent. And what better song for dancing than DJ Casper's Cha-Cha Slide!
Teambuilding Process
I didn't really put that much into this team. Due to this, there isn't much in the way of cores besides VoltTurning cores. I may have happened to end up with some, but that is purely out of coincidence. Anyway, here was my thought process when building the team:
Swellow is the star of the show here. Basically, it is a substitute for Talonflame and Staraptor that is capable of acting as a status absorber for VoltTurn teams (and no, Talonflame's ability to absorb Will-O-Wisp courtesy of its typing does not count). Most notably, its Toxic Orb makes it the only fast, offensive (and, by extention, non-choiced) Pokémon on hyper offensive VoltTurn teams that is capable of absorbing all of Glare, Will-O-Wisp and Toxic. That is the basic role identification here.
Here, I was just adding VoltTurning partners for Swellow. These were to enable Swellow to come in on a slow/semi-slow U-Turn in order to enable the possibility of Swellow activating its Toxic Orb without taking any damage. Not too much else to say here as these are pretty standard, so I'll move on.
I chose Serperior next because I wanted a stallbreaker of some kind (cause wynaut) and (the main reason I wanted it) something that was capable of cleaning late game due to how unreliable a cleaner Swellow is hand how "un-fast" the rest of my team was. So, I thought "What is fast and can snowball in order to both stallbreak and clean?" and this is what I came up with. Anything else I could say here is not worth saying until the team analysis, so I'll just move on.
I just wanted a fourth VoltTurn 'mon and something that was fast. This is literally the main reason I decided to use ScarfRachi, and Healing Wish was nice due to how quickly this team gets worn down atm. Let's just move on because that's all I have to say about Jirachi.
Just by looking at it, I can tell that this team REALLY struggles v.s. powerful special attackers and Mega Metagross once Scizoris gone, so I need something to cover those. I like having something with Regen on VoltTurning teams, so I was left with three options: AV Tornadus-T, AV Slowbro and AV Slowking (no Alomomola or Amoonguss because this isn't stall and no Tangrowth because I didn't want another pure Grass-type). Tornadus-T is a no despite having U-Turn because it gets oblitterated by Mega Metagross (seriously Meteor Mash is a guaranteed OHKO after rocks before factoring the possible boost from said move), and Slowbro can go due to it not handling special attackers as well as Slowking and the fact that I haven't had a chance to really use Slowking much yet. It also gives me a more reliable way of dealing with Skarmory, Ferrothorn and Garchomp than if I had either Ice Punch or Fire Punch on Jirachi due to skin/barbs/helmet and a choice item. I thought that was the team, but (as you can see) there was a change still to come...
This team gets f*cked over by Skarmory and Ferrothorn. Seriously, aside from Slowking, this team does jack-shit to them if Serperior can't get onto the field before or with them, and for the latter to occur I will usually need to deal with barbs or helmet due to the huge amount of U-Turn on this team, and if I used Fire Punch on Jirachi I'd lose out on a valuable move in its moveset (namely if I used it over Ice Punch, which would open this team up to be abused by RockyChomp), and I liked HP Ice and Stealth Rock too much on Landorus to sacrifice either for Smack Down. Therefore, I scrapped the idea of even using Jirachi and just used Magneton as a fast VoltTurner and gave Serperior HPIce Ground. And boy did it pay off! This team no longer struggles with fat steels (making me less reliant on Slowking), and it also now has a backup method of beating RockyChomp if I can't use Slowking's Ice Beam or Landorus is not on the field a reliable way of luring and KOing opposing Heatran and Bisharp due to HP Ice Ground on Serperior! This is the final version of the team.
Nicknaming Scheme
I literally nicknamed my team just now, and they are just lines from Cha-Cha Slide. Nothing fancy!
The Team
Cha-Cha Real Smooth (Swellow) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Quick Attack
With it being the reason this team exists, Swellow is a neat 'mon. Like I said earlier in the RMT, its ability to absorb such a wide range of status is the main reason to ever use it, although its high speed compared to Staraptor and high power compared to Talonflame (seriously, Facade outdamages Reckless scarf Staraptor and is almost as powerful as band if you forgot to give Staraptor Reckless) are also draws to using it. Facade is the main STAB that it uses due to a lack of recoil etc. Brave Bird provides a secondary STAB and coverage on anything it hits super effectively, although the recoil eats into Swellow's already lacking longevity. U-turn allows it to U-turn out into something else (and is part of the reason this ended up being a VoltTurn team) and also allows it to get a hit off before it takes any poison damage in some scenarios. The last move is basically where Swellow's options are running out and it needs a filler option. I personally use Quick Attack on this team as it allows you to take out weakened Pokemon and outpace priority users like Mega Pinsir to get a hit off before it takes you out with its own Quick Attack (although you do still lose to Feint variants). It also allows you to force a speed tie with Ice Shard Weavile, which could potentially save your skin in a number of scenarios.
However, if Quick Attack isn't your cup of tea, there is one other move Swellow can use over it if you decide it should. Pursuit is the only option you should consider on this team for its ability to catch Pokémon which Swellow forces out, such as Celebi, Alakazam after its sash is broken and non-Choice Scarf Gengar, as they switch out of you - allowing you aleviate how threatening they are late-game. While Protect sounds nice as an option to scout and ensure Toxic Orb activates, I wouldn't recommend its use in OU due to the fact that the slow VoltTurns do the former for you already, and the ability to scout is downplayed by how much utility is lost, your high speed and the free poison damage on Swellow - making any scenario where you would use Protect result in it being outclassed by Quick Attack or Pursuit.
The EVs are very standard, just maximising your power and speed (ensuring you can tie with Weavile) while minimising SR and poison damage with an odd HP number.
Now turn it out (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Defog
This is just here to provide a slow U-Turn in order to a: allow me to regain lost momentum, and b: net Swellow a free Toxic Orb activation. I chose the bulky Defog set in order to maximise my ability to take on stuff like Mega Metagross (HP Fire variants of M-Meta aren't worth mentioning here because they SUCK) and non-HP Fire Mega Gardevoir while also providing the hazard removal that VoltTurn teams love so much. Not much else to say here, as it is pretty boring tbh.
Criss cross! (Landorus-T) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs:72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe 248 HP / 216 Def / 36 SpA / 8 SpD
Naive Relaxed Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Stealth Rock
- U-Turn
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power
This was originally offensive, but after FalseHopes' suggestion, I have changed it to a defensive set with Rocky Helmet. Landorus-T is there to lay Stealth Rock, take on physical attackers and utilise a slow U-turn. HP Ice is used for its ability to lure out Chomper, Gliscor and opposing Lando-T, although the drawback is that it needs to be used with Relaxed if it wants to break through SpD Gliscor and Chomper switch-ins and it leaves me with an imperfect IV in my attack and defense stats. The IVs give me Hidden Power Ice with as few dropped IVs as possible. The EV spread guarantees the 2HKO v.s. the standard TankChomp spread after Stealth Rock, and Rocky Helmet allows me to punish physical attackers and somewhat alleviate the issues surrounding Bisharp a little (as this team gets shredded by it otherwise). An alternate option over HP Ice is to run Knock Off with no reduced IVs in order to remove Rocky Helmets from stuff like Skarmory and Chomp.
Reverse! (Serperior) @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP /0 Atk / 30 Def 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power
- Glare
Serperior is there as my reliable cleaner and semi-stallbreaker. I chose Glare over Taunt as I never really end up using Taunt on this team and Glare allows Serperior to retain momentum v.s. its switch-ins due to having HPIce Ground over HP Fire, meaning it can't deal with Steel-type switch-ins anymore. While its main purpose is handling RockyChomp Heatran and Bisharp, a big perk of having HP Ice Ground over HP Fire is that it allows me to outpace opposing Serperior as opposed to simply tying with them due to that pesky imperfect IV not being present. There is not much else to say as the set is completely standard outside the Hidden Power type, so I'll just say that the IVs give it HP Ice Ground while minimising Life Orb recoil and the damage taken from Foul Play and confusion.
Reverse (Magneton) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power
- Flash Cannon
I needed a backup answer to Ferrothorn and Skarmory, and a magnet fits the bill nicely due to the fact that this is a VoltTurn team. Magneton was used over Magnezone as I needed my steel trapper to be as fast as possible to fill the void left by replacing Scarfrachi, and it does its job well. The moveset is literally the most standard thing you could ever invent with anything, and a timid nature with maximum investment allows me to tie with timid Starmie after factoring in the 30 speed IV for Hidden Power. The IVs give me HP Fire while minimising my attack stat for Foul Play and confusion damage.
Charlie Brown (Slowking) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
Slowking is SOOO useful its insane. It acts as my reliable answer to special attackers (completely walling Zard-Y in every way possible, for example) and as a backup answer to Mega Metagross and Mega Gardevoir if I lose Scizor or Gardevoir carrys HP Fire ('cause HP Fire Gardevoir is dope and HP Fire Metagross SUCKS). Fire Blast and Ice Beam give me a second way of handling chomper andTHE_IRON_...KENYAN? the iron bird and thorn, and Future Sight lets me shit on more offensively oriented teams. Nothing spectacular here either tbh. The IVs minimise Foul Play and confusion damage, the EVs are dead simple yada yada yada. I'm bored, so I'll move on.
Importable
Threatlist
It has been a while since I've used this team properly, so I'll just go off of some of the very basics that the team struggles with:
Possible Variations
The first possible variation is to use offensive Smack Down Landorus-T+Healing Wish Scarfrachi>HP Ice Lando-T+Magneton. This trades a reliable way of dealing with the Steel-type walls (notably Ferrothorn) for increased longevity with Healing Wish. In this case, Landorus should be adamant in order to ensure that it can KO Skarmory with the combination of Smack Down and Earthquake ('cause its not even guaranteed with rocks if you run jolly). Here are the sets you should use:
The other possible variation is to use Specs Keldeo+Mixed Wall Hippowdon>Landorus-T+Slowking. This takes a more offensive approach and lets the team better handle Bisharp at the cost of the ability to reliably take on Grass Knot M-Metagross and special attackers. Hippowdon also lets the team better handle Zard-X and Manectric/Raikou in addition to being a secondary Bisharp check. Not much else to say here, so here is the variation:
Conclusion
So this was the team! I hope you liked my 1.5k RMT, and if you happen to try out the team and get any replays, feel free to post them in the thread and I'll put them in the OP and credit you :) Anyway, a notable postcount post isn't complete without shoutouts, so here we go!
Shoutouts
The following users are the people on-site who I socialise with on a regular basis or am in a social convo with (I've just got the one now XD) according to the list - regardless if they have left it or not (the convo participants list doesn't update when people leave for whatever reason) or if they are still active on-site or not - unless I never communicated with said user in said convo. In addition, anyone who I will happily chat with over wallposts, have at some point been in a hilarious "wallthread" with or have been friends at a point in my memory will recive shoutouts. If I have a particular respect for you as a player, you may recieve a shoutout as well. I may have missed a few people, so if you socialise with me and did not recieve a shoutout, don't be offended. I simply can't remember everyone off of the top of my head, and I may miss some people as a result.
Hi 'yall! I have had this post looming over me for a while now, and I haven't managed to come up with any good ideas as to what to do for my 1.5k. I eventually got sick of having to preserve this post, so I just decided to take Typhlito's advice and do a generic RMT. I was going to do an actually successful team that I used (a Shedinja stall team), but when looking over after writing about 3/4 of what would have been its RMT it suddenly occurred to me that it had ended up being literally identical to a team made by someone else ;;;;;. Therefore, as I wanted to include something from the new E rank, I just decided to write about a Swellow VoltTurn team that I threw together in 5-10 minutes about a month ago and got good results with (basically good enough to warrant being posted as a notable post RMT). I would post its peak ladder rating if I hadn't changed alts and forgot the name of the one I used, but I did so screw that, and I have no replays of it in action for the same reason combined with the fact that I can't be f*cked to get any now (sowwy :[). Anyway, onto the RMT!
Team Song
When I thought of Swellow, the first playstyle that crossed my mind was VoltTurn, and I have always imagined VoltTurn teams as dancing around the opponent. And what better song for dancing than DJ Casper's Cha-Cha Slide!
Teambuilding Process
I didn't really put that much into this team. Due to this, there isn't much in the way of cores besides VoltTurning cores. I may have happened to end up with some, but that is purely out of coincidence. Anyway, here was my thought process when building the team:
Swellow is the star of the show here. Basically, it is a substitute for Talonflame and Staraptor that is capable of acting as a status absorber for VoltTurn teams (and no, Talonflame's ability to absorb Will-O-Wisp courtesy of its typing does not count). Most notably, its Toxic Orb makes it the only fast, offensive (and, by extention, non-choiced) Pokémon on hyper offensive VoltTurn teams that is capable of absorbing all of Glare, Will-O-Wisp and Toxic. That is the basic role identification here.
Here, I was just adding VoltTurning partners for Swellow. These were to enable Swellow to come in on a slow/semi-slow U-Turn in order to enable the possibility of Swellow activating its Toxic Orb without taking any damage. Not too much else to say here as these are pretty standard, so I'll move on.
I chose Serperior next because I wanted a stallbreaker of some kind (cause wynaut) and (the main reason I wanted it) something that was capable of cleaning late game due to how unreliable a cleaner Swellow is hand how "un-fast" the rest of my team was. So, I thought "What is fast and can snowball in order to both stallbreak and clean?" and this is what I came up with. Anything else I could say here is not worth saying until the team analysis, so I'll just move on.
I just wanted a fourth VoltTurn 'mon and something that was fast. This is literally the main reason I decided to use ScarfRachi, and Healing Wish was nice due to how quickly this team gets worn down atm. Let's just move on because that's all I have to say about Jirachi.
Just by looking at it, I can tell that this team REALLY struggles v.s. powerful special attackers and Mega Metagross once Scizoris gone, so I need something to cover those. I like having something with Regen on VoltTurning teams, so I was left with three options: AV Tornadus-T, AV Slowbro and AV Slowking (no Alomomola or Amoonguss because this isn't stall and no Tangrowth because I didn't want another pure Grass-type). Tornadus-T is a no despite having U-Turn because it gets oblitterated by Mega Metagross (seriously Meteor Mash is a guaranteed OHKO after rocks before factoring the possible boost from said move), and Slowbro can go due to it not handling special attackers as well as Slowking and the fact that I haven't had a chance to really use Slowking much yet. It also gives me a more reliable way of dealing with Skarmory, Ferrothorn and Garchomp than if I had either Ice Punch or Fire Punch on Jirachi due to skin/barbs/helmet and a choice item. I thought that was the team, but (as you can see) there was a change still to come...
This team gets f*cked over by Skarmory and Ferrothorn. Seriously, aside from Slowking, this team does jack-shit to them if Serperior can't get onto the field before or with them, and for the latter to occur I will usually need to deal with barbs or helmet due to the huge amount of U-Turn on this team, and if I used Fire Punch on Jirachi I'd lose out on a valuable move in its moveset (namely if I used it over Ice Punch, which would open this team up to be abused by RockyChomp), and I liked HP Ice and Stealth Rock too much on Landorus to sacrifice either for Smack Down. Therefore, I scrapped the idea of even using Jirachi and just used Magneton as a fast VoltTurner and gave Serperior HP
Nicknaming Scheme
I literally nicknamed my team just now, and they are just lines from Cha-Cha Slide. Nothing fancy!
- Swellow: Cha-Cha Real Smooth
- Scizor: Now turn it out
- Landorus: Criss Cross!
- Serperior: Reverse!*
- Magneton: Reverse*
- Slowking: Charlie Brown
The Team
Cha-Cha Real Smooth (Swellow) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Quick Attack
With it being the reason this team exists, Swellow is a neat 'mon. Like I said earlier in the RMT, its ability to absorb such a wide range of status is the main reason to ever use it, although its high speed compared to Staraptor and high power compared to Talonflame (seriously, Facade outdamages Reckless scarf Staraptor and is almost as powerful as band if you forgot to give Staraptor Reckless) are also draws to using it. Facade is the main STAB that it uses due to a lack of recoil etc. Brave Bird provides a secondary STAB and coverage on anything it hits super effectively, although the recoil eats into Swellow's already lacking longevity. U-turn allows it to U-turn out into something else (and is part of the reason this ended up being a VoltTurn team) and also allows it to get a hit off before it takes any poison damage in some scenarios. The last move is basically where Swellow's options are running out and it needs a filler option. I personally use Quick Attack on this team as it allows you to take out weakened Pokemon and outpace priority users like Mega Pinsir to get a hit off before it takes you out with its own Quick Attack (although you do still lose to Feint variants). It also allows you to force a speed tie with Ice Shard Weavile, which could potentially save your skin in a number of scenarios.
However, if Quick Attack isn't your cup of tea, there is one other move Swellow can use over it if you decide it should. Pursuit is the only option you should consider on this team for its ability to catch Pokémon which Swellow forces out, such as Celebi, Alakazam after its sash is broken and non-Choice Scarf Gengar, as they switch out of you - allowing you aleviate how threatening they are late-game. While Protect sounds nice as an option to scout and ensure Toxic Orb activates, I wouldn't recommend its use in OU due to the fact that the slow VoltTurns do the former for you already, and the ability to scout is downplayed by how much utility is lost, your high speed and the free poison damage on Swellow - making any scenario where you would use Protect result in it being outclassed by Quick Attack or Pursuit.
The EVs are very standard, just maximising your power and speed (ensuring you can tie with Weavile) while minimising SR and poison damage with an odd HP number.
Now turn it out (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Defog
This is just here to provide a slow U-Turn in order to a: allow me to regain lost momentum, and b: net Swellow a free Toxic Orb activation. I chose the bulky Defog set in order to maximise my ability to take on stuff like Mega Metagross (HP Fire variants of M-Meta aren't worth mentioning here because they SUCK) and non-HP Fire Mega Gardevoir while also providing the hazard removal that VoltTurn teams love so much. Not much else to say here, as it is pretty boring tbh.
Criss cross! (Landorus-T) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs:
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Stealth Rock
- U-Turn
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power
This was originally offensive, but after FalseHopes' suggestion, I have changed it to a defensive set with Rocky Helmet. Landorus-T is there to lay Stealth Rock, take on physical attackers and utilise a slow U-turn. HP Ice is used for its ability to lure out Chomper, Gliscor and opposing Lando-T, although the drawback is that it needs to be used with Relaxed if it wants to break through SpD Gliscor and Chomper switch-ins and it leaves me with an imperfect IV in my attack and defense stats. The IVs give me Hidden Power Ice with as few dropped IVs as possible. The EV spread guarantees the 2HKO v.s. the standard TankChomp spread after Stealth Rock, and Rocky Helmet allows me to punish physical attackers and somewhat alleviate the issues surrounding Bisharp a little (as this team gets shredded by it otherwise). An alternate option over HP Ice is to run Knock Off with no reduced IVs in order to remove Rocky Helmets from stuff like Skarmory and Chomp.
Reverse! (Serperior) @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP /
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power
- Glare
Serperior is there as my reliable cleaner and semi-stallbreaker. I chose Glare over Taunt as I never really end up using Taunt on this team and Glare allows Serperior to retain momentum v.s. its switch-ins due to having HP
Reverse (Magneton) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power
- Flash Cannon
I needed a backup answer to Ferrothorn and Skarmory, and a magnet fits the bill nicely due to the fact that this is a VoltTurn team. Magneton was used over Magnezone as I needed my steel trapper to be as fast as possible to fill the void left by replacing Scarfrachi, and it does its job well. The moveset is literally the most standard thing you could ever invent with anything, and a timid nature with maximum investment allows me to tie with timid Starmie after factoring in the 30 speed IV for Hidden Power. The IVs give me HP Fire while minimising my attack stat for Foul Play and confusion damage.
Charlie Brown (Slowking) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
Slowking is SOOO useful its insane. It acts as my reliable answer to special attackers (completely walling Zard-Y in every way possible, for example) and as a backup answer to Mega Metagross and Mega Gardevoir if I lose Scizor or Gardevoir carrys HP Fire ('cause HP Fire Gardevoir is dope and HP Fire Metagross SUCKS). Fire Blast and Ice Beam give me a second way of handling chomper and
Importable
Cha Cha Real Smooth (Swellow) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Quick Attack
Now turn it out (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Defog
Criss cross (Landorus-Therian) @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Hidden Power
Reverse! (Serperior) @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 SpA / 30 SpD
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power
- Glare
Reverse (Magneton) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power
- Flash Cannon
Charlie Brown (Slowking) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Quick Attack
Now turn it out (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Defog
Criss cross (Landorus-Therian) @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Hidden Power
Reverse! (Serperior) @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 SpA / 30 SpD
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power
- Glare
Reverse (Magneton) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power
- Flash Cannon
Charlie Brown (Slowking) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
Threatlist
It has been a while since I've used this team properly, so I'll just go off of some of the very basics that the team struggles with:
- TankChomp - This is kinda self explanitory considering that Garchomp is the biggest threat to VoltTurn and why the meta has shifted more towards balance and away from the birdspam- and VoltTurn-infested metagame of XY. Why do you think I prepared for him so insanely?
- Rocky Helmet/Iron Barbs - all VoltTurn teams struggle with these. They seriously f*ck with the team by giving them big recoil just for using U-Turn. This is why Skarm and Ferro worried me when teambuilding XD
- Steel-types - OK. I know I've got Magneton and Slowking, but they are still troublesome because they resist U-turn and flat out wall Swellow etc. They are problematic.
- Landorus-T: Intimidate weakens half my team, and an immunity to Volt Switch allows Shed Shell variants of what Magneton aims to trap turn Magneton into setup fodder for Sub, SD or RP.
- Bisharp: Bisharp kinda steamrolls this team. Not much else to say here, as it is self evident.
- Mega Lopunny: *sigh* The problem with forgoing Talonflame is that it means the team gets shredded by Ice Punch variants of Mega Lopunny. This is because it outpaces the entire team and is capable of taking a chunk out of the entirity of the team with its various attacks.
Possible Variations
The first possible variation is to use offensive Smack Down Landorus-T+Healing Wish Scarfrachi>HP Ice Lando-T+Magneton. This trades a reliable way of dealing with the Steel-type walls (notably Ferrothorn) for increased longevity with Healing Wish. In this case, Landorus should be adamant in order to ensure that it can KO Skarmory with the combination of Smack Down and Earthquake ('cause its not even guaranteed with rocks if you run jolly). Here are the sets you should use:
Cha Cha Real Smooth (Swellow) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Quick Attack
Now turn it out (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Defog
Criss cross (Landorus-Therian) @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Smack Down
Reverse! (Serperior) @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 SpA / 30 SpD
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power
- Glare
One hop this time (Jirachi) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch
- Healing Wish
Charlie Brown (Slowking) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Quick Attack
Now turn it out (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Defog
Criss cross (Landorus-Therian) @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Smack Down
Reverse! (Serperior) @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 SpA / 30 SpD
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power
- Glare
One hop this time (Jirachi) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch
- Healing Wish
Charlie Brown (Slowking) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam
The other possible variation is to use Specs Keldeo+Mixed Wall Hippowdon>Landorus-T+Slowking. This takes a more offensive approach and lets the team better handle Bisharp at the cost of the ability to reliably take on Grass Knot M-Metagross and special attackers. Hippowdon also lets the team better handle Zard-X and Manectric/Raikou in addition to being a secondary Bisharp check. Not much else to say here, so here is the variation:
Cha Cha Real Smooth (Swellow) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Quick Attack
Now turn it out (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Defog
Charlie Brown (Hippowdon) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 176 HP / 232 Def / 100 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Fang
Reverse! (Serperior) @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 SpA / 30 SpD
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power
- Glare
Reverse (Magneton) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power
- Flash Cannon
Let's go to work! (Keldeo) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind
- Scald
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Quick Attack
Now turn it out (Scizor) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Defog
Charlie Brown (Hippowdon) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 176 HP / 232 Def / 100 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Fang
Reverse! (Serperior) @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 SpA / 30 SpD
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power
- Glare
Reverse (Magneton) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power
- Flash Cannon
Let's go to work! (Keldeo) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind
- Scald
Conclusion
So this was the team! I hope you liked my 1.5k RMT, and if you happen to try out the team and get any replays, feel free to post them in the thread and I'll put them in the OP and credit you :) Anyway, a notable postcount post isn't complete without shoutouts, so here we go!
Shoutouts
The following users are the people on-site who I socialise with on a regular basis or am in a social convo with (I've just got the one now XD) according to the list - regardless if they have left it or not (the convo participants list doesn't update when people leave for whatever reason) or if they are still active on-site or not - unless I never communicated with said user in said convo. In addition, anyone who I will happily chat with over wallposts, have at some point been in a hilarious "wallthread" with or have been friends at a point in my memory will recive shoutouts. If I have a particular respect for you as a player, you may recieve a shoutout as well. I may have missed a few people, so if you socialise with me and did not recieve a shoutout, don't be offended. I simply can't remember everyone off of the top of my head, and I may miss some people as a result.
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