Howdy everyone, to mark my first post, I made this team that looks like the embodiment of my wardrobe: cobbled together from what I have available. I tried to do something different than the stall or TR that I tend to stray to, and, lo and behold, I made an HO team.
I started off the team with a Scarf Lele/LO Phero core, as someone praised it on another thread and wanted to test it out.
After that, I added Tsareena to go with the feminine theme, as well as being a utility pivot with U-Turn and Aromatherapy.
My team needed a couple of good fire counters due to my glaring weakness. I tried a bulky Arcanine set for a while, but when that didn't really fit, I turned to Flash Fire Chandelure.
To round out my special bias and add yet another Fire counter, I added M-Sharpedo to check A-Marowak sets that can live a Shadow Ball and also serve as the Water coverage that I lacked.
I added AV Celesteela as a final member to round out the bunch, providing another Fairy resist along with Chandelure and providing a bulky pivot that can also dish out hits.
The Sets:
RuPaul (Pheromosa) @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 184 Atk / 252 SpA / 72 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Ice Beam
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
First off, we have Pheromosa, undoubtedly the fastest 'Mon on my team who can still hit like a truck. The reason I went for it (besides the opportunities to name it after a drag queen) was the sweeping potential it had. I went for the standard mixed set, with Bug Buzz and HJK for STABS, Ice Beam for coverage, and U-Turn to provide a pseudo-VoltTurn with Tsareena. The nature and 36 points in Speed allow for it to win Speed ties (but with what?), and all the other points went into the offenses.
Sahara (Tapu Lele) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
I wasn't really expecting to run Tapu Lele on this team and be successful, but boy howdy, was I wrong. As part of a hyper-offense core with Phero, this not-Crucibelle thing outspeeds mostly everything and hits every 'mon not named Marowak or Celesteela hard. The increasingly rarer Scizor gets blown back by HP Fire (if it's not in rain), and not much appreciates taking a Focus Blast to the face with a base 295 SpA. Psyshock and Moonblast are there to break Toxapex and other threats.
Kimchi (Tsareena) @ Leftovers
Ability: Queenly Majesty
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Trop Kick
- Aromatherapy
- Rapid Spin
To put it plainly, I absolutely love Pheromosa, and when I found out that it got mild competitive use, I was overjoyed. I went for a bulky-ish pivot set that maximized the support it gave to the core of the team, while still maintaining offensive presence with U-Turn and Trop Kick. Aromatherapy, although increasingly rare in use, has helped me out in a number of tight spots, and acts as a cleric of sorts for the team. Rapid Spin's there too, because why wouldn't you run it on a utility 'mon who gets it?
Latrice (Celesteela) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 200 Atk / 54 Def / 200 SpA / 54 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
- Giga Drain
- Earthquake
Tall Skarmory here has slowly but surely become one of my absolute favorite Pokemon to use due to its sheer versatility with its sets. I opted for Mixed AV here to increase Special bulk without limiting my coverage options that benefit the HO playstyle of the team. Heavy Slam is a near-must if the opposing side doesn't have something like Mudsdale or Metagross, neither of which I've seen a lot of. My other Physical coverage move is Earthquake to deal with Koko and other Electrics. Flamethrower and Giga Drain appreciate the Beast Boost buff to SpAtk, and provide with both coverage and recovery in Giga Drain's case.
Sharon (Chandelure) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Psychic
You may have noticed the glaring weaknesses to Fire that my team has by now, with 3/4 of the established lineup sharing an avoidance to Fire. To remedy this, I used LO Chandelure, which hits less hard than specs, but still does the job right. Instead of Trick plus the three standard attacks (Fire Blast, Shadow Ball, and Energy Ball, respectively), I went all-out and added Psychic as another coverage move.
Violet (Sharpedo-Mega) (F) @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Strong Jaw
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Psychic Fangs
- Waterfall
- Protect
With the newly-patched Mega-evo effects taking place right away, Sharpedo gained prominence, at least in my mind. When I found that I needed Water coverage and an Alakazam check, Sharpedo was the fastest and most offensively-biased thing that came to mind. What's more, it got a more accurate, Strong Jaw-boosted alternative to Zen Headbutt in the form of Psychic Fangs, which seemed like a must for a Mega build. I had Aqua Jet for easy revenges for a while, but then, being the idiot I was, I failed to realize that it did not fit with the Psychic Terrain dynamic that my team benefitted from. All was remedied, however, after i switched it for Waterfall and had Crunch for hard-hitting STAB and Protect for filler.
Well, that's about it. Apologies in advance if this team seems bad, and suggestions are always welcome.
I started off the team with a Scarf Lele/LO Phero core, as someone praised it on another thread and wanted to test it out.
After that, I added Tsareena to go with the feminine theme, as well as being a utility pivot with U-Turn and Aromatherapy.
My team needed a couple of good fire counters due to my glaring weakness. I tried a bulky Arcanine set for a while, but when that didn't really fit, I turned to Flash Fire Chandelure.
To round out my special bias and add yet another Fire counter, I added M-Sharpedo to check A-Marowak sets that can live a Shadow Ball and also serve as the Water coverage that I lacked.
I added AV Celesteela as a final member to round out the bunch, providing another Fairy resist along with Chandelure and providing a bulky pivot that can also dish out hits.
The Sets:
RuPaul (Pheromosa) @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 184 Atk / 252 SpA / 72 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Ice Beam
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
First off, we have Pheromosa, undoubtedly the fastest 'Mon on my team who can still hit like a truck. The reason I went for it (besides the opportunities to name it after a drag queen) was the sweeping potential it had. I went for the standard mixed set, with Bug Buzz and HJK for STABS, Ice Beam for coverage, and U-Turn to provide a pseudo-VoltTurn with Tsareena. The nature and 36 points in Speed allow for it to win Speed ties (but with what?), and all the other points went into the offenses.
Sahara (Tapu Lele) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
I wasn't really expecting to run Tapu Lele on this team and be successful, but boy howdy, was I wrong. As part of a hyper-offense core with Phero, this not-Crucibelle thing outspeeds mostly everything and hits every 'mon not named Marowak or Celesteela hard. The increasingly rarer Scizor gets blown back by HP Fire (if it's not in rain), and not much appreciates taking a Focus Blast to the face with a base 295 SpA. Psyshock and Moonblast are there to break Toxapex and other threats.
Kimchi (Tsareena) @ Leftovers
Ability: Queenly Majesty
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Trop Kick
- Aromatherapy
- Rapid Spin
To put it plainly, I absolutely love Pheromosa, and when I found out that it got mild competitive use, I was overjoyed. I went for a bulky-ish pivot set that maximized the support it gave to the core of the team, while still maintaining offensive presence with U-Turn and Trop Kick. Aromatherapy, although increasingly rare in use, has helped me out in a number of tight spots, and acts as a cleric of sorts for the team. Rapid Spin's there too, because why wouldn't you run it on a utility 'mon who gets it?
Latrice (Celesteela) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 200 Atk / 54 Def / 200 SpA / 54 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
- Giga Drain
- Earthquake
Tall Skarmory here has slowly but surely become one of my absolute favorite Pokemon to use due to its sheer versatility with its sets. I opted for Mixed AV here to increase Special bulk without limiting my coverage options that benefit the HO playstyle of the team. Heavy Slam is a near-must if the opposing side doesn't have something like Mudsdale or Metagross, neither of which I've seen a lot of. My other Physical coverage move is Earthquake to deal with Koko and other Electrics. Flamethrower and Giga Drain appreciate the Beast Boost buff to SpAtk, and provide with both coverage and recovery in Giga Drain's case.
Sharon (Chandelure) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Psychic
You may have noticed the glaring weaknesses to Fire that my team has by now, with 3/4 of the established lineup sharing an avoidance to Fire. To remedy this, I used LO Chandelure, which hits less hard than specs, but still does the job right. Instead of Trick plus the three standard attacks (Fire Blast, Shadow Ball, and Energy Ball, respectively), I went all-out and added Psychic as another coverage move.
Violet (Sharpedo-Mega) (F) @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Strong Jaw
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Psychic Fangs
- Waterfall
- Protect
With the newly-patched Mega-evo effects taking place right away, Sharpedo gained prominence, at least in my mind. When I found that I needed Water coverage and an Alakazam check, Sharpedo was the fastest and most offensively-biased thing that came to mind. What's more, it got a more accurate, Strong Jaw-boosted alternative to Zen Headbutt in the form of Psychic Fangs, which seemed like a must for a Mega build. I had Aqua Jet for easy revenges for a while, but then, being the idiot I was, I failed to realize that it did not fit with the Psychic Terrain dynamic that my team benefitted from. All was remedied, however, after i switched it for Waterfall and had Crunch for hard-hitting STAB and Protect for filler.
Well, that's about it. Apologies in advance if this team seems bad, and suggestions are always welcome.
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