SS OU Get Bewitched

[Red Raven]

This team is one that I made about a month ago and Finchinator and glava222 helped me out with it. Outside of my sand teams, I just use this because it's the most consistent one. Since the bunnies were banned, I changed it a bit, replacing only one mon but still kept the main ones. I wanted to get this rated so I can get some more advice and to see how it fits the current meta as I'm not that updated. I'm just laddering at around 1300-1500 because there is no way I'm gonna try hard to high ladder. If I can somehow reach it, great, if not, as long as I don't drop my elo that much

First off, the teambuilding process. Since I wanted this to use two of my favorite mons in ou, I started with



After that, I wanted to have an answer to switch in to Cinderace



As such, Zapdos was added to the team because with max hp and def, it shrugs off pyro ball and punishes u turn and hjks



I still needed a stealth rocker on the team. Ferrothorn was great at waving its spikes but that would only leave the team vulnerable to Volcarona because fuck boots. I decided to add in Heatran as a defensive counter while Garchomp offensively checks it



I added Tangrowth next because offensive grass types were still a pain in the ass. Tangrowth can reliably handle them and get me a couple turns if it can aim its sleep. It also serves as a check to opposing Garchomps and you can never have to many of those since Garchomp can easily rip apart teams



Lastly, I wanted speed control. From the time I played the previous generation, scarf Lando was always the one I choose for this job. It was a simple set and a reliable one too



After getting some advice from Finch, I replaced Lando with Clefable and it was a good fit, getting me decent results. Of course, the bunny bans happened so I stopped using this team because there was simply too many non existent mons cheesing their way to ou and my sand teams were the only one that prevented those nonsense mons. However, I tried this team again and it still worked since most of the non existent mons are back to their non existence and as such, I changed it a bit



I've always praised Tornadus' utility set and now, it's actually more effective than when I used it in previous gens, or maybe that's just me playing longer but whatever

So with that in mind, here's the full team

Rough Skin
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Scale Shot
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
​

One of, if not, the most dangerous setup sweeper in the entire game. This was the mon and set that I wanted the team built around. This mon serves as an early wall breaker or late game sweeper, depending on what is more appropriate. I was gonna use fire fang over stone edge but I keep running into some stupid rocky helmet users so I decided to just give up on that and focus on stone edge

Infiltrator
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hex
- Substitute
- Draco meteor
- Thunder Wave
​

This is my favorite mon that ever came from swsh. It has a creepy design and I love creepy stuff. During the early days, I thought this mon was trash and I'm not even kidding about that. Aside from its ridiculous speed, this mon was almost completely outclassed by Spectrier but since ghost horse is banned, I guess mini Giratina takes over. I chose a set of sub status hex because it fits my style perfectly. Using sub when the opponent switches or uses a non damaging move is devastating and when paired with paralysis chance, it gets nasty. Draco meteor is basically the last resort move when all else fails. Wisp was originally my status move of choice but I keep running into Heatrans and you can't burn that thing. While it was kinda annoying to using twave instead, it became for the better as I can use it to give speed control for Garchomp because scale shot sucks

Flash Fire
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Toxic
- Protect
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
​

I chose this mon to be the stealth rocker. I've always considered Heatran as a reliable rocker and it's pretty good at it. Toxic ensures that nothing switches into it safely while protect just ruins obvious choice users. Now, I didn't go for a magma trapper set because magma storm accuracy is trash and I need toxic because otherwise Volcarona will eventually just power thru. Toxic allows me to put opposing mons on a timer, which also benefits Hexapult and ensures that opposing mons don't come in for free. Lava plume is just a random stab that further spreads status to aid Dragapult

Regenerator
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder
​

As mentioned earlier, this was picked specifically for the offensive grass types. Giga drain is an obvious stab just for the fun of it. Focus blast and sludge bomb are on the set because there is no point walling Kartana and Rillaboom if I can't kill them in return. Sleep powder is the last move of choice because it allows for free subs on Dragapult and if I get lucky and the opponent doesn't wake up by the time sub is up, more hexes

Magic Guard
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Soft Boiled
- Flamethrower
​

I'm not too proud of this mon. I have a hatred of many gen one mons because of gamefreak's fetish for them and Clefable is among those I hate. Finch was the one that suggested this set so I gave it a try and it worked surprisingly well. I would use Tapu Fini on this slot but I have two dragons. This was also the set Finch suggested but after trying it a bit, I replaced thunderbolt with flamethrower because I get walled by Ferrothorn. This does have the trade off of being walled by Heatran but I have Garchomp and I can use Clef to bait in Heatran and double switch into Garchomp. It also has the benefit of surprising Ferrothorn who thinks it has a free switch. While I hate Clef, at least it pulls its weight

Regenerator
248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Taunt
- U turn
- Hurricane
​

As mentioned earlier, Zapdos used to have this slot specifically for Cinderace but since Cinderace is now gone, I decided to experiment with the most reliable bird I ever used. This bird used to have knock off over taunt but when I replaced it with taunt, I just used it nearly every single time. This mon reveals the set opposing Lando uses by preventing rocks, it is not dead weight if boots ever get knocked off, and instantly kills Rillaboom if it can aim. U turn is the last move because it's just such a fun move. Also, being able to taunt a Blissey means I can just free switch to Dragapult for subs and it becomes a matter of who loses his / her patience first. Taunt has just made this mon that much more valuable as I hate Ferrothorn and it can reliably defog as well


Threatlist

and if these two are specs, they are legit able to grab at least one kill if I don't predict properly. Heatran somewhat ruins that but then again, it can't mindlessly switch in so I have to make risky predictions. Tapu Lele might also eventually be able to power thru Heatran because specs psychic really hurts. Although, revenge killing them is rather easy since they both instantly die to Garchomp

I legit hate this mon. This mon should go back to its state of non existence. While I do have Garchomp, it's not a safe switch in and without sd boost, I cannot one shot it in shield form. I've lost a couple times all because of this stupid mon. At least I don't run into it that often but it's still a pain in the ass

killing it is one thing, switching into it is another. This is another really annoying mon but at least I can instantly remove it from the game and Tornadus can somewhat kill it I guess if it can aim its hurricane but it's still a massive threat


Now, this isn't exactly a full rate my team but more along the lines of how can the scale shot Garchomp + Hexapult be updated to fit how the meta plays right now. As I said earlier, I'm not that updated on the current meta because the rng is really discouraging me from playing this game on a consistent basis so I wanna how my most reliable non sand team can be optimzed for the current meta

 

[Smashburn]

Interesting team, although I recommend using Specs Pult. The team no longer uses its top synergy with Zapdos, and you have a core that needs more of an offensive threat. Plus, it offers another U-Turn momentum to give more synergy to the dual Regen core, and let into Clefable to maximize the threat.

As for Heatran, its role is to trap threats to teammates and kill. Without a trapper, the team has trouble dealing with stuff like Toxapex because of its sponging of hits, Ferrothorn because of its bulk + recovery + utility, and CM Clef because CM Clef (as long as it is isn't running Focus Blast).

Speaking of which, Focus Blast is an excellent option for Clefable in this team. The team hates running into opposing Heatran, and having coverage for it by running FB also helps in dealing with Blissey. There isn't very much defensively against Blissey that doesn't hate a +2 Focus Blast to the face with coverage and recovery, hence why I love using it so much in team that support it.

Tornadus is very useful for its momentum into other mons of the team, but the team lacks any Knock Off, an extremely important utility of any team. You may hate running into Ferro, but as long as you have the capability to trap it and chip at switches using Heatran, you have the issue covered. Plus, you are running Defog, nothing much else to say about it.

As for Garchomp, it doesn't really matter but 4 Def is a better investment for Rough Skin over SpD.

Overall there are a number of changes that should / could be made to the team for the changes suggested, as the previous point of the team was to synergize with Hex Pult, and with the change over from Zapdos to Tornadus the team focuses more offensively rather than defensively.

 

[Red Raven]

The part of Heatran not being a trapper and the taunt for Ferrothorn is the reason why I'm using Hexapult in the first place. Toxapex has to break thru paralysis to hit and if it's already statused by something like lava plume burn, it's in trouble. Blissey cannot touch Dragapult but I guess I can't touch it either so its a stalemate and I have a lot of pp between subs and twave to waste if I really need to

That's thing about Tornadus. This set also stops Lando from setting up rocks but u turn and hurricane were too crucial to pass up

I also explained why I'm using this Heatran set. If I use magma trapper, it loses to Volcarona as I will need taunt to be a trapper and I can't kill Pex nor Blissey with magma storm alone, they also both die to Garchomp after swords dance

I'm not too sure about focus blast on Clef as it's more reliable to simply use Garchomp to kill Heatran and Blissey rather than risk a miss and losing the duel

Lastly, Zapdos was merely chosen for Cinderace and nothing more. It can barely paralyze anything else as nearly everything else it walls has knock off, which is what Tangrowth is for

 

[Smashburn]

The part of Heatran not being a trapper and the taunt for Ferrothorn is the reason why I'm using Hexapult in the first place. Toxapex has to break thru paralysis to hit and if it's already statused by something like lava plume burn, it's in trouble. Blissey cannot touch Dragapult but I guess I can't touch it either so its a stalemate and I have a lot of pp between subs and twave to waste if I really need to

That's thing about Tornadus. This set also stops Lando from setting up rocks but u turn and hurricane were too crucial to pass up

I also explained why I'm using this Heatran set. If I use magma trapper, it loses to Volcarona as I will need taunt to be a trapper and I can't kill Pex nor Blissey with magma storm alone, they also both die to Garchomp after swords dance

I'm not too sure about focus blast on Clef as it's more reliable to simply use Garchomp to kill Heatran and Blissey rather than risk a miss and losing the duel

Lastly, Zapdos was merely chosen for Cinderace and nothing more. It can barely paralyze anything else as nearly everything else it walls has knock off, which is what Tangrowth is for

Ah, there is a part I missed when looking at the team. My bad, allow me to explain.

Heatran trapper over status plume protect is a lot more defensively sound in this team. As stated, it patches holes in the team that call for the methods of dealing with threats this team uses in the first place that cause niches and issues for it. Not even to mention that the change frees up Tornadus, and allows the team's Heatran to deal with trapper Heatran as it walls it with Flash Fire, and then sets up for free.

Garchomp HATES coming into Magma, and giving Heatran a free turn of setup is a bit of a downside as well if the team cannot punish, speaking of which-

It seems as stated that Zapdos is useful in Paralyzing ANYTHING that hits it, not just Cinderace. It's coverage extends beyond the Greninja ripoff, you know. Even as you have Tangrowth or Tornadus for Knock Off, both hate not having their items for punishment or coverage of their weaknesses, especially Tornadus as it needs to come in and deal with hazards. What's more on the previous statement with Garchomp, if the opponent has Rilla for Garchomp you are immediately screwed if they are also running Heatran, as you can do nothing against it without punishment for the pair and you lose footing.

*cough*Why Plume, Protect, Toxic is worse than Magma, Taunt, Earth Power, even in unmentioned situations with this variant of Finch's team*cough*

^ Of course, barring certain changes to make the team more structurally sound. ^

I won't say much else, Focus Blast is a suggestion for the weaknesses of the team. Any team needs more than one answer to a threat unless the opponent's team is built like a bent giraffe neck.

You do you, if you have any other comments or if you need me to be more specific just ask.

 

[Red Raven]

Trapper Heatran might be more sound but the problem is Volcarona. That was the second reason why I chose Heatran in the first place as this is now actually a legit threat because of boots. If I use magma trap Heatran, it would need to go taunt, earth power, magma storm and stealth rock, none of which can deal with Volcarona

That's true. To be honest, I actually use Tornadus to eat the magma storm before u turning into Garchomp. At least this way if Heatran has toxic it won't bother Tornadus that much due to regenerator. Hexapult is also very annoying for Rilla and Heatran due to the status hex. That's actually my main method since Tornadus can foce out Rilla and I can bring in Dragapult for free. Heatran can barely touch Dragapult unless it's an offensive set, which is very rare in my current laddering

I might have explained that wrong. The issue with Zapdos is that it hates losing its boots to knock off, which Kartana and Rillaboom almost always carry. If they didn't have knock off then Slowbro would be on Tangrowth's spot but since they have, I needed a knock off sponge that can also take those two on

 

[Smashburn]

Trapper Heatran might be more sound but the problem is Volcarona. That was the second reason why I chose Heatran in the first place as this is now actually a legit threat because of boots. If I use magma trap Heatran, it would need to go taunt, earth power, magma storm and stealth rock, none of which can deal with Volcarona

That's true. To be honest, I actually use Tornadus to eat the magma storm before u turning into Garchomp. At least this way if Heatran has toxic it won't bother Tornadus that much due to regenerator. Hexapult is also very annoying for Rilla and Heatran due to the status hex. That's actually my main method since Tornadus can foce out Rilla and I can bring in Dragapult for free. Heatran can barely touch Dragapult unless it's an offensive set, which is very rare in my current laddering

I might have explained that wrong. The issue with Zapdos is that it hates losing its boots to knock off, which Kartana and Rillaboom almost always carry. If they didn't have knock off then Slowbro would be on Tangrowth's spot but since they have, I needed a knock off sponge that can also take those two on

I certainly agree with Volcarona being an issue, having Toxic rather than Taunt as a middle ground when I tested the team helped very much vs bigger MU but is again, niche. Granted, I decided to use Zapdos over Nadus, but I think the team can definitely use the sub for regen. I think the issue in the team comes down to Clef, really without it running a utility set of some kind the team struggles as its main threats need more support to work without powerful steel mons for coverage. I would definitely say the middle ground of both holds two sub-optimal changes that "sorta" work, but really the original team seems to be the only one that works without niche. Otherwise, similar yet more offensive teams outperform this one.

Either way have fun, thanks the explanations

 

[TailGlowVM]

I like this team, but I think you might have made a mistake: is there any reason why your Tangrowth is Relaxed instead of Bold when you run no physical attacks on it? Using a Bold nature would allow you to outspeed Hippowdon and opposing Relaxed Tangrowth.

 

[Smashburn]

I like this team, but I think you might have made a mistake: is there any reason why your Tangrowth is Relaxed instead of Bold when you run no physical attacks on it? Using a Bold nature would allow you to outspeed Hippowdon and opposing Relaxed Tangrowth.

Ah, that's something I had a thought about as well when I used the team. It was a small mistake I noticed and corrected but no big enough for me to mention. Go ahead and run bold on it.

 

[Red Raven]

TailGlowVM Tangrowth actually had knock off when I first made this team but then I realized I couldn't kill Kartana so I replaced it with focus blast. I never changed it since then I just copied this and pasted it whenever I needed it. I just forgot about it since it always did its job anyway

Smashburn what utility set do you suggest? Same evs with knock off over one of its moves?

 

[Smashburn]

TailGlowVM Tangrowth actually had knock off when I first made this team but then I realized I couldn't kill Kartana so I replaced it with focus blast. I never changed it since then I just copied this and pasted it whenever I needed it. I just forgot about it since it always did its job anyway

Smashburn what utility set do you suggest? Same evs with knock off over one of its moves?

I'd say so, it patches the Knock Off user and fills some hig holes.