SS OU Garbage player makes Garbage team, please help

[Mega-Pokebattlerz]

It's been a while since I've done a RMT, huh? Well, with the new gen upon us and half the Dex either snapped or stuck in DLC limbo, I figure I would give it a shot. I dabbled in the SSOU meta during the Dynamax suspect, but this is probably my first time building a serious team for the meta instead of stealing samples.

Teambuilding Process

I wanted to build a team around CB Dracovish because it's super stupid strong. I was debating putting it on a Webs team, but apparently Webs isn't too good this generation... IDK, I just looked at the VR and the only two Webs setters on it were in the C ranks. So I scrapped the Webs aspect and decided to just build a decent team around Vish.

Rotom-C was chosen to check the Water-immune Pokemon that stop Vish in its tracks, and provide pivoting with Volt Switch.

But now Ferrothorn completely cockblocks us, so Cinderace was added as a hard counter to the metal fruit. It also provides hazard control and forms a VoltTurn core with Rotom which is nice.

Hydreigon acts as a secondary check to Seismitoad, Ferrothorn, and all the other problematic mons.

I added Clefable to give my team a defensive backbone and act as a cleric.

Lastly, Ferrothorn gives the team more of a defensive presence and provides Thunder Wave support for Vish. I originally had this on Rotom and later Clefable, but putting it on Ferrothorn allowed them to run more useful moves.

The team was solid on paper, but in practice it just wasn't holding up. Cinderace was too frail to consistently provide utility, Ferrothorn was too slow to handle most faster threats even with Thunder Wave, and Hydreigon wasn't exactly doing much. So I replaced Cinderace with Corviknight and changed the moves around a bit, and the team should be a bit better now.

The Team in Depth:


fair and balanced (Dracovish) @ Choice Band
Ability: Strong Jaw
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fishious Rend
- Crunch
- Psychic Fangs
- Outrage

Dracovish does Dracovish things. It's an absolutely terrifying wallbreaker only held back by its average speed and bulk... and the fact that virtually every team carries a Seismitoad or Gastrodon. It's usually saved for late game once Rotom has spread around enough of its yellow magic.


cuttin it up (Rotom-Mow) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Leaf Storm
- Trick
- Thunder Wave

Rotom is the fastest Pokemon on my team, a paralysis spreader and my main check to Water Absorb users. It also completely cockblocks stall with Choice Scarf Trick, and when all else fails it can pivot out with Volt Switch. I originally had Thunderbolt on this instead of Thunder Wave, but it was just kinda useless. The problem is whenever I switch in on a Water Absorb user, they always predict the incoming Leaf Storm and switch out... but when I go for another move expecting them to switch, they stay in and take it. It gets annoying after a while.

I told you I sucked at this game.


cacaw motherfucker (Corviknight) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 136 SpD / 88 Spe
- Iron Head
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn

Corviknight replaced Cinderace as my hazard remover and half of my VoltTurrn core with Rotom. He's not quite as good at stopping setup or killing shit, but he's a lot bulkier and actually provides me with a proper Fairy check. He also isn't reliant on Clefable's Wish to heal himself, which is nice. While he isn't a straight-up counter to Ferrothorn like Cinderace was, he can PP stall the metal fruit and blow away its Rocks.


Ghidora (Hydreigon) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast

With Cinderace gone, Hydreigon steps up as my primary Ferrothorn check. He's not quite as good as Cinderace was in this regard, but his Fire Blast is still nothing to scoff at. He also works well as a secondary wallbreaker in case Vish dies, and he appreciates Clefable's Wish support as well as Rotom and Corviknight's pivoting skills. I tend to find that he gets worn down a bit too quickly, though.


Pink Plague (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy

Clefable is the glue that holds this team together. None of the members of my team appreciate being worn down or statused, so Clefable's clerical prowess is a godsend for them. She's also a surprisingly good Dragapult check, being bulky enough to not be 2HKO'd by Specs Shadow Ball and taking little else from the ghost dragon's other moves.


cant touch this (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Knock Off
- Power Whip

Ferrothorn takes hits that Clefable can't, chips away at physical attackers with Iron Barbs, and sets up rocks. In other words, it's Ferrothorn. Leech Seed has come in handy multiple times since Ferrothorn lacks recovery, and Knock Off is great for removing leftovers or eviolites or what have you. Power Whip is also great against Gastrodon and Seismitoad so I'm not completely walled by them if Rotom bites the dust.

Removed members

Bugs Bunny (Cinderace) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Court Change
- Pyro Ball
- Taunt
- U-turn

Cinderace, the stall killer. This guy was mostly on my team to check Ferrothorn and remove hazards, but Taunt and Court Change coupled with his high Speed meant he provided a surprising amount of utility: not only could he remove hazards and prevent them from being set back up, but he also stopped offensive mons from setting up and defensive mons from healing themselves. His high attack coupled with STAB Pyro Ball meant he was a surprisingly good cleaner as well. However, when I decided to go for a more bulky build, Cinderace's frailty just wasn't going to cut it. Perhaps I'll build another team with him some day.

This team handles stall pretty well in general, but offense is a completely different ball game. I have nothing to deal with setup sweepers, faster Pokemon in general run though my team once Ferrothorn and Clefable are gone, and Grimmsnarl is kind of a dick. If anyone has any improvements, please let me know.

 

[chimp]

First thing, don't be discouraged from using a certain strategy just because the Pokemon who it requires are ranked low on the viability rankings. Being in 'C' tier does not mean they're bad, it simply means they require a little more team support to be effective. The only way to improve is to keep playing, so using strategies and playstyles that are unfamiliar can be a great way to learn.

With that said, one major change I'd recommend for your team is to swap Cinderace with Toxapex. That might seem odd considering Cinderace's presence to pressure Ferrothorn, though I've always found that it gets too worn down in that role. Hydreigon is a capable check to Ferrothorn thanks to Fire Blast, and can be much more threatening with help from Ro-Mow's pivoting than Cinderace can. Toxapex gives your team some more leeway against Offense because Toxapex is so damn bulky and can force mind games with Baneful Bunker or pressure with T-Spikes. Or just flat-out remove boosts with Haze.


Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze
- Toxic Spikes / Baneful Bunker

If Toxapex is unappealing, you can also run Corviknight, since without Court Change your team has no means of removing hazards. (I'm not a huge fan of Court Change to remove hazards in the first place, though). Corviknight can help bring in Dracovish with U-turn, too, and can pressure Fairies, who are a big problem without Cinderace. Thanks to Pressure, Corviknight can attempt to PP Stall Ferrothorn as well.


Hope this helps!

 

[Mega-Pokebattlerz]

First thing, don't be discouraged from using a certain strategy just because the Pokemon who it requires are ranked low on the viability rankings. Being in 'C' tier does not mean they're bad, it simply means they require a little more team support to be effective. The only way to improve is to keep playing, so using strategies and playstyles that are unfamiliar can be a great way to learn.

With that said, one major change I'd recommend for your team is to swap Cinderace with Toxapex. That might seem odd considering Cinderace's presence to pressure Ferrothorn, though I've always found that it gets too worn down in that role. Hydreigon is a capable check to Ferrothorn thanks to Fire Blast, and can be much more threatening with help from Ro-Mow's pivoting than Cinderace can. Toxapex gives your team some more leeway against Offense because Toxapex is so damn bulky and can force mind games with Baneful Bunker or pressure with T-Spikes. Or just flat-out remove boosts with Haze.


Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze
- Toxic Spikes / Baneful Bunker

If Toxapex is unappealing, you can also run Corviknight, since without Court Change your team has no means of removing hazards. (I'm not a huge fan of Court Change to remove hazards in the first place, though). Corviknight can help bring in Dracovish with U-turn, too, and can pressure Fairies, who are a big problem without Cinderace. Thanks to Pressure, Corviknight can attempt to PP Stall Ferrothorn as well.


Hope this helps!

I was hoping this thread would get a bit more traction, but since I'm here I might as well reply.

To be honest, replacing Cinderace never once crossed my mind when I was using this team. I found it to be one of the members I used the most purely because of the role compression it provides. That being said, I'm still open to other options in order to improve the team.

Unfortunately, Toxapex is not what I'm looking for here. Yes it provides me with a better check to setup sweepers, but I lose out on my only form of hazard control as well as half of my VoltTurn core. I've also never found Cinderace to get too worn down as a Ferrothorn check, since Taunt and Pyro Ball can easily shut down the metal fruit. Plus if it does get too worn down, I can always go into Clefable and Wish it back to full health.

That being said, I'm willing to try out your Corviknight suggestion. Truth be told, I'm going to miss trolling my opponent with Court Change, but removing hazards and screens outright is probably the better option anyways. A slower U-turn also means I can bring in Dracovish, Hydreigon or Clefable more safely, which is always a plus.

One last thing: I'm currently not running Fire Blast on Hydreigon. Instead I have Flash Cannon to kill Fairies, but with Corviknight handling those I'll definitely have to replace it.

tl;dr No to Toxapex, Considering Cinderace -> Corviknight and Flash Cannon -> Fire Blast on Hydreigon.

 

[aqualad33]

One think really sticks out to me and it's that your team looks really weak to fast stuff, particularly dragon dance sweepers, set up komo o, dracapult, and fast scarfers. Pex can deal with the set up sweepers, thunder wave on ferro is too slow but could be much better on scarf rotom. You can drop thunderbolt for it since volt switch covers electric stab. You may want to consider something with priority like conk or thunder wave prankster grimsnarl

 

[Legendary Latios]

The main thing I get from this team is weird fit. This team feels like an amalgamation of HO and bulky offense. You have heavy hitters (vish and hyd) and good pivots (rotom and ace) that can keep up offensive momentum and hit hard. Meanwhile, clefable and ferro feel like they choke up the flow. If you want to be more HO, you might not want to wait on court change to get hazards up, or if you want bulky offense, does ace provide the longevity to check and keep hazards off.

Essentially, it boils down to play style. If you want HO, I'd recommend using a more offensive clefable set (maybe the LO or calm mind) and run drill for initial hazards instead of ferro, as it can put more pressure on teams. If you want more bulky offense, I'd say try to find another hazard remover who can take hits (corvo) or a bulky priority user (conk or bisharp maybe) instead of cinderace, as he doesn't have the longevity for those types of battles. Sorry I couldn't really give movesets, but I wasn't sure what type of team you were going with to give more of an in depth view of it.

Final note, this is just personal preference when team building, I find it helpful to first determine what type of team I will be using (stall, balanced, HO) and then use a core designed more for that. I find that easier than just building around one pokemon as I have a general idea of what I want to do and cores make building easier, as it centralizes your team around 2-3 pokemon versus just one.

 

[Mega-Pokebattlerz]

Thanks to all three of you that suggested changes, I've made some noteworthy edits to the team.

->

Corviknight

cacaw motherfucker (Corviknight) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 136 SpD / 88 Spe
- Iron Head
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn

First off, since two people have suggested Corviknight and it worked well for me in testing, Corviknight has officially replaced Cinderace on the team. I was kind leaning towards bulky offense with this team anyways, and swapping Ace out for Corviknight gives me a bulkier hazard remover and a Fairy check.

Flash Cannon -> Fire Blast
With Cinderace gone, Hydreigon is now the primary Ferrothorn check on the team. I could have left Flash Cannon as is, but Corviknight already deals with Fairies and Fire Blast actually gives me something to hit opposing Steels, now that I don't have Cinderace's deceptively powerful STAB Pyro Ball to work with. Seriously, is it just me or is Cinderace actually a pretty powerful physical attacker?

Thunderbolt -> Thunder Wave
Yeah, Thunderbolt was kinda pointless on Rotom anyway. Yes it hits Corviknight and Toxapex harder, but why bother when you could just Volt Switch out to Hydreigon and set up for a sweep? Volt Switch does enough damage to these anyway.

Thunder Wave -> Power Whip
With Rotom once again packing Thunder Wave, Ferrothorn is free to run Power Whip in order to act as a secondary Seismitoad/Gastrodon check (since Rotom hasn't really done much for me in that role). Before Ferrothorn would just kinda sit there and chip away at foes with Iron Barbs and Leech Seed, but Power Whip finally lets it do some actual damage. It's still not going to be doing much sweeping, but the option is still there.

Will update the OP later because I'm lazy.

 

[lepton]

To me it seems like you struggle against bisharp and webs, so I would suggest body press > iron head on corv.

 

[Mega-Pokebattlerz]

bump