In my opinion, a team doesn't want to strive to outright win a large swathe of matchups - this will, invariably, lead to you losing hard in other areas, ultimately failing to make a consistent team which can hold its weight against the metagame, rather forming a polarizing match up fish that is both frustrating to pilot due to this polarity, and lose against due to knowing that the team is incredibly flawed. No, a team would much rather match up neutrally into everything, a much more feasible goal, as although you aren't winning in a vacuum, the lack of holes present in your build makes it difficult to overcome for the opposition. This philosophy of trying to make a team with a very balanced match-up spread dictated the thought process behind both the finishing touches of my original double unaware balance and this new updated version of it.
Now, I'm going to be transparent here, this team has no impressive peak, largely due to my lack of want to play ladder (or climb with a balance team over the far quicker and more painless psyspam), but who cares about pussy shit like backing up claims with evidence, amirite? This team has still served me well, giving me a fighting chance in basically every matchup I've used it in.
To truly understand the process of building the team, you need to understand the original - except nobody is really interested in the building of an old ass team so instead I will leave it in this convenient little box:
https://pokepast.es/2f5d85c9c9da1f99
Just before tera ground volcarona started doing the rounds on ladder, I decided I wanted to make a double unaware team with skeledirge and clodsire, and when it came to partners at least one of them seemed obvious: great tusk. So with two mons in my builder and a third basically set in stone, I decided on what my breaker was going to be: specs dragapult, but not just any specs pult, this one would have hex over flamethrower in it's third attacking slot - in order to abuse the toxic and will-o-wisps being thrown out all the time. After deciding on an offensive tusk, as my team already had plenty longevity, I elected to use rotom-wash, it's volt switch and will-o-wisp support would be amazing for not only boosting dragapult's hexes but also for getting it in in the first place. The last slot was a contentious one, originally going to choice banded scizor, however I found myself constantly strapped for options against opposing water moves and even moreso garganacl, and so with a little help from sufys12 I decided on my last mon just in time for the smogon charity bowl: spD gholdengo.
I got to round 3 in the tourney before being knocked out by surfys, falling just shy of becoming part of the qualified playerbase - oh well, at least I managed to get myself on stream with a dominant performance against vtmagno.
Soon after that, walking wake was released onto OU in full force, and the team fell out of favour due to the aforementioned water weakness.
Just before tera ground volcarona started doing the rounds on ladder, I decided I wanted to make a double unaware team with skeledirge and clodsire, and when it came to partners at least one of them seemed obvious: great tusk. So with two mons in my builder and a third basically set in stone, I decided on what my breaker was going to be: specs dragapult, but not just any specs pult, this one would have hex over flamethrower in it's third attacking slot - in order to abuse the toxic and will-o-wisps being thrown out all the time. After deciding on an offensive tusk, as my team already had plenty longevity, I elected to use rotom-wash, it's volt switch and will-o-wisp support would be amazing for not only boosting dragapult's hexes but also for getting it in in the first place. The last slot was a contentious one, originally going to choice banded scizor, however I found myself constantly strapped for options against opposing water moves and even moreso garganacl, and so with a little help from sufys12 I decided on my last mon just in time for the smogon charity bowl: spD gholdengo.
I got to round 3 in the tourney before being knocked out by surfys, falling just shy of becoming part of the qualified playerbase - oh well, at least I managed to get myself on stream with a dominant performance against vtmagno.
Soon after that, walking wake was released onto OU in full force, and the team fell out of favour due to the aforementioned water weakness.
With a team to update I had 2 goals in mind:
-Find a way to beat walking wake
-Maintain my strong matchup spread against the rest of the tier
To solve that first issue I did something I was rather reluctant to do, running water absorb on clodsire rather than unaware - closing the previous gap of wake and opening a very glaring new one: gholdengo.
To solve the gholdengo issue I'd need to change some mons around entirely - I removed rotom-wash as it was no longer needed and also removed gholdengo as it was now contributing to the holes in my team rather than helping to fix them.
There were a few threats that I'd need to cover when it came to this team now, rather large ones at that in nasty plot gholdengo and garganacl - and after much deliberation I was forced to settle on something I thought would entirely fail me, being too poor at it's regular job with this new set to function outside of the gholdengo and garganacl mu, however it ended up being the star of the show: covert cloak spD dondozo.
For the last slot I used hydreigon, elected specifically for it's ability to resist the stabs of both meowscarada and armarouge, while also functioning as a strong offensive presence in the same vein as the gholdengo which it replaced, leading to the finished team.
The Team
I've put it off for long enough now, lets talk about the actual sets in the team itself.
Brain Power (Skeledirge) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Def / 8 SpA / 24 Spe
Bold Nature
- Torch Song
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
- Slack Off
Skeledirge, the unspoken top tier of SV OU, this was one of the 2 mons that the team was initially built around, and using that original team helped me develop a love for this thing. Skeledirge, on this team, is the tera abuser, it will basically always be the one to use it - and for good reason. Fairy is an exceptional typing for a physical wall and it has the threat level so that it doesn't just sit there: will-o-wisp is good passive damage, however it really gets good with the attacking moves. Torch song allows skeledirge to boost it's already strong spA stat so it can do some breaking of it's own, and hex allows it to get through walls that would otherwise just get out of a confrontation alive. In all seriousness, though, the value of skeledirge as an attacker rather than a wall is mostly seen in endgame scenarios, where the entire enemy team is left in a state where they can't break through the croc and it cleans up. Speed evs are to creep kingambit to get off a wisp before iron head can flinch.
/
Tribute (Clodsire) @ Leftovers / Black Sludge
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Recover
Clodsire is a special wall with good passive damage. This fact alone justified its spot on the team, and if I could leave the rest of this description blank I probably would: the sire is not a particularly complex mon in its application, being a special wall that can catch basically everything that god can throw at it with a shit-eating grin on its face. Tera water was elected as an all around strong defensive typing that isn't weak to tera ground volcarona, a choice that matters immensely as that set specifically doesn't run recovery, allowing you to throw off a toxic and, while you don't wall it due to the lack of unaware, it can help the rest of your team get around it (though if you're forced to tera dondozo to get around a threat that does mean you can't tera skeledirge, which may ultimately lead to a loss regardless).
Blood Money (Dragapult) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Ball
- Hex
- U-turn
Dragapult is a physical attacker which gamefreak forgot to make a physical attacker, instead giving it all the tools needed to succeed with a full special moveset. It's used here for a multitude of reasons: it's strong as fuck (between stab draco meteor, hex on mons which are statused by one of it's teammates, and most notably sball fishing, dragapult faces little issue in breaking down walls, giving this team much needed offensive presence), it's fast as fuck (fast enough to run modest and still be the most naturally speedy mon in the tier), u-turn (a valuable tool that lets dragapult capitalise off of forced switches).
Bohemian Rhapsody (Great Tusk) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Headlong Rush
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
This is about as vanilla as great tusk sets get, the all out attacker - eschewing the ability to win certain games on the spot with bulk up for an improved ability to get through things for its team. Great tusk is the mon that normally goes down first - often a headache, as special threats and opposing great tusk become far more difficult to check with spikes down - and in that way I suppose busk is a better choice (and a set you should look into if you're looking to ladder with this yourself wink wink nudge nudge), however the longevity isn't really needed, and fighting coverage is nice for mons like ting-lu and rotom-wash. Something worth noting here is that even without def investment, great tusk is so naturally physically bulky that it is still a great check for opposing kingambit, always being able to tank it if it's healthy.
(no covert cloak sprite lmao)/Crosstown Traffic (Dondozo) @ Covert Cloak / Heavy Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Steel / Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Waterfall
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Don't worry, this is as specialised as the mons will get on this team. Covert cloak spD dondozo was, as mentionned above, elected as a way to take on gholdengo and garganacl - not being insane against the former due to an unfortunate vulnerability to hazards, one that is genuinely required as you lose the game on the spot to garganacl if you don't have cloak (something that can still get knocked off, garg balanced btw :) ). Also as mentionned above, spD dondozo ended up being the fucking gigachad of this team, setting up and taking victory in many of the games, ending up sweeping my opponent. Especially notable is that, due to the spD investment, it only takes around 25% from slowking's future sight, allowing it to set up even against that. Tera steel was elected for it's ability to resist grass, but more importantly psychic type moves - and as such tera dark is also a decent option here - as otherwise you would be fucked six ways till Sunday against polteageist.
Voodoo Child (Hydreigon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Substitute
Rounding off this team is sub np hydreigon, a pokemon with an incredible mu against stall. Outside of this, it is - of course - extremely strong (stab draco meteor seems to have that effect, yknow). Hydreigon can abuse the opportunities it gets to switch in to get up a substitute or nasty plot and blast a large hole into the opposition- not even kingambit, who can resist both moves this set runs is safe from the onslaught:
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Draco Meteor over 2 turns vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Kingambit: 616-726 (152.4 - 179.7%) -- guaranteed KO in 2 turns
Hydreigon wouldn't be on the team however if it weren't for its unique defensive benefits, levitate is an ability that can help the team as a whole pivot around ground moves - exploiting choice locked great tusk, baxcalibur, as well as mono ground attacking mons like clodsire - and as well as this, it's substitutes aren't broken in a single salt cure, helping to dance around garganacl if dondozo eats a knock off, though the lack of roost this gen means that it isn't a surefire strat at victory as you can easily get worn down past the ability to sub up again if it is fairy garg. It also resists the stab combination of meowscarada and armarouge, making choiced sets and psyspam easier to dance around, respectively.
Replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1824792275 - Just to clear things up, this replay is not mine, however the person is using my team, and although he did forfeit this replay does still demonstrate hydreigon's incredible mu vs stall
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1824368970 - A game that demonstrates the team's staying power, and in particular the strength of spD dondozo
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1824520778 - A game that demonstrates how potentially devastating garganacl is, and also a good display of how the team doesn't need to take things slow, being able to use what offensive presence it does have to adhere to the opponent's rules and play fast. Unsure why he forfeited though.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1824761255 - A game that demonstrates how dondozo can easily spiral out of control for the opponent
I'm rather proud of this team, I believe it's extremely strong and I'd quite like to hear from you what you think of it, I'd also quite like to gather replays and put a potential high ladder peak into the title of this thread for some good clickbait - even if I'm not the one getting the peak.
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