XY OU Ideal Viability / GardeSharp Domination

[Aragorn the King]

My thoughts on the OU viability thread. Obviously completely unofficial. Also please don't comment here. + and - for mons I think could go up or down.

S Rank:

A+ Rank

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A Rank

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A- Rank

(- eventually)

(- eventually)

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B+ Rank

(+)

(+)

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B Rank

(++++ eventually)

B- Rank

(+)

(-)

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C+ Rank

(+)

(+)

(- eventually)

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C Rank

(+)

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C- Rank

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D Rank

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Unranked:

 

[The Shellder Smuggler]

This is a good team. Though there are somethings you should change.

- Why does Gyarados have Ice Fang? It was agreed that bounce was better due to the paralyzing chance and covering grass and fighting types. Though Ice Fang does cover most dragons, it's not as worth as the better coverage you get from Bounce.
- Bisharp with three dark attacks isn't really that useful, especially since you can't boost any of the moves. Keep Sucker Punch and Knock Off. Pursuit is great and all, but you may want to replace it with Swords Dance or Brick Break.
- Heatran should replace Lava Plume for Fire Blast. Lava Plume should only be used on defensive sets due to the burn chance. And when you're going to be offensive, the burn chance really only scares iron fist conkeldurr.
- I don't know why you would use Ancient Power, except for the incredibly small chance for a stat boost. You should use HP Ice instead.


That's it. I can't find anything else. This is a good team :]

 

[Aragorn the King]

For my 600th post, I decided to share one of my favorite teams that I've created: GardeSharp.

Roles:

Gardevoir (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Trick
I still maintain that Mega Gardevoir is my favorite Mega, and its set in the archive is one of my favorite sets to use, ever. However, my team greatly struggled with Keldeo, Terrakion, and Mega Tyranitar. With this set, the extremely underrated Gardevoir is able to revenge kill all of them, including +1 Tyranitar, with its ultra powerful Moonblasts and Focus Blasts. Psyshock is also very useful for being able to handle Mega Venusaur, Infernape, and Conkeldurr. Lastly, trick is a very good move so that Pokemon that think they're safe from Gardevoir, like Chansey, end up with a Choice Scarf. Gardevoir's ability, Trace, is situational, but it does have good uses. Whenever Manectric comes in on Mandibuzz, thinking it can have a free Volt Switch, Gardevoir can switch, copy Lightningrod before Manectric Mega Evolves, and possibly sweep. Other nice abilities it can copy are: Intimidate, Flash Fire, Protean, Sheer Force, Adaptability, Magic Guard, Water Absorb, and more.

Bisharp (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Pursuit
Bisharp is also one of my favorite Pokemon this generation. While all of the dark moves may seem redundant, they most certainly are not. They all serve a purpose and allow Bisharp to work amazingly. Sucker Punch is there for priority. It's useful for picking off slow and dangerous Pokemon that only run attacking moves. Knock Off is there to hit extremely hard against almost all Pokemon, as well as severely cripple them by removing their item. This move is invaluable to making Chansey deadweight on a team. Iron Head is immensely useful for hitting Clefable and Sylveon extremely hard, as they both walk over Kyurem-B, and no other teammate has Poison or Steel moves. Lastly, Pursuit is a great move that allows Bisharp to safely remove Pokemon, most notably Latios, from the game.

Gyarados (F) @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 40 Def / 216 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Taunt
There cannot be a Pokemon that has better defensive and offensive synergy with Bisharp. Bisharp is weak to Ground, Fire, and Fighting, and Gyarados happens to be immune to or resistant to all three. Gyarados is weak to Rock and Electric, and unfortunately Bisharp only resists rock. But still, my team has other means of handling Electric Types, a.k.a Kyurem-B. With Dragon Dance, Gyarados becomes a formidable sweeper. At +1, Gyarados reaches 673 Attack, plus enough speed to outspeed Greninja. The rest of the EV's are thrown into Defense, which allows it to tank a couple more physical hits. Gyarados can switch to its Mega forme when the situation calls for it, and is very different when it does so. Its defensive typing totally changes, and it loses some synergy with Bisharp. However, it loses its rock weakness and its 4x weakness to electric changes to 2x, meaning that Electric moves no longer spell death. Mold Breaker Earthquake allows it to handle Rotom-W and Latios well, and Waterfall is there for obvious STAB. Taunt is a very useful more that prevents Gyarados from being phazed or statused by the likes of Skarmory and Rotom-W so that it can continue boosting until it wins.

Kyurem-Black @ Leftovers
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 56 HP / 200 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Substitute
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
Rotom-W, Landorus-T, Gliscor, Mega Venusaur, Heatran are all among the most annoying Pokemon to face. Substitute mixed Kyurem-B defeats all of them easily, and therefore was an easy choice for a team slot. With Substitute, it's able to block itself from slow status users, such as Togekiss, Mega Venusaur, Rotom-W, Ferrothorn, etc. Ice Beam serves obvious STAB that easily handles Landorus-T and Gliscor, and thanks to Kyurem-Black's ability Teravolt, Mega Venusaur. Fusion Bolt has fantastic coverage with Ice Beam, and hits very hard against Special walls, thanks to Kyurem-Black's Attack still being higher than its Special Attack. Earth Power rounds out the coverage, and is extremely useful for hitting Rotom-W and Heatran super effectively.

Heatran (F) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SAtk / 8 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
- Ancient Power
Bisharp really enjoys having hazards on the opposing side, as it puts pressure on the other team to Defog. Therefore, I decided I needed a Stealth Rock setter. I also saw that my team had no way to hit Skarmory Super Effective Specially, so I decided on Heatran. Offensive Heatran with Stealth thus has provided to be very important to the team. Air Balloon allows it to check Mega-Charizard X and Y, as well as Garchomp, Haxorus, Landorus-T, Gliscor, and more. From there, it can set up Rocks, or if a) feeling bold, b) Rocks are already up, or c) all of the above, can attack the above threats and more with its insane 394 Special Attack. This Heatran is also able to easily handle Talonflame, and make it a liability on the opposing team.

Mandibuzz (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Foul Play
- Toxic
Upon looking at the team, I realized that it despised hazards. Gyarados and Kyurem-Black are both weak to Stealth Rocks, and Mega Gardevoir is a Pokemon that I find to switch into a lot of attacks. It has fair bulk, but gets worn down quickly taking 12.5% of damage per switch in. I also noticed that it lacked a Talonflame, Garchomp, Mega Pinsir, Breloom, and Infernape counter. Thus, Mandibuzz was an obvious choice for the team. With Defog, it's able to remove hazards from the field so that Gardevoir, Kyurem-Black, and Gardevoir can do their repeated switching. Roost is for reliable recovery, Foul Play for Dark STAB that doesn't require any Attack investment, and Toxic for passive damage on walls. I chose Rocky Helmet as the item so that Physical Attackers, like Talonflame, Infernape, and Scizor, are worn down rather quickly.

Importable

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Trick

Bisharp @ Life Orb

Ability: Defiant

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd

Adamant Nature

- Sucker Punch

- Knock Off

- Iron Head

- Pursuit

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite

Ability: Intimidate

EVs: 252 Atk / 40 Def / 216 Spd

Adamant Nature

- Dragon Dance

- Waterfall

- Earthquake

- Taunt

Kyurem-Black @ Leftovers

Ability: Teravolt

EVs: 56 HP / 200 SAtk / 252 Spd

Hasty Nature

- Substitute

- Fusion Bolt

- Ice Beam

- Earth Power

Heatran @ Air Balloon

Ability: Flash Fire

EVs: 248 HP / 252 SAtk / 8 Spd

Modest Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Stealth Rock

- Earth Power

- Fire Blast

- Ancient Power

Mandibuzz (F) @ Rocky Helmet

Ability: Overcoat

EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef

Bold Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Defog

- Roost

- Foul Play

- Toxic

Threatlist S to B-

WILL CHANGE LATER

Note: Pokemon that aren't issues aren't mentioned

Charizard (Mega-Y): Hard to beat due to its unpredictability. Gyarados can check it, Bisharp OHKO's it if it has prior damage, Kyurem-B can take any hit and KO it, but none can switch in. Heatran can switch in if it predicts a Fire Blast, but otherwise it gets destroyed by EQ or FB.

Charizard (Mega-X): Like Y, hard to beat due to its unpredictability. Mandibuzz handles it, given it's not at +2, and Gyarados checks it thanks to intimidate, as long as it already hasn't boosted. But both must be wary of Will-o-Wisp. Heatran is a one-time counter, as long as Char-X doesn't go for Dragon Claw on the switch it's all good.

Thundurus-I: Shaky shaky shaky. Bisharp seriously dents it with Sucker Punch, but must be wary of Thunder Wave on the predicted Sucker Punch. Heatran can take a Focus Blast, but it cannot switch in. Gardevoir can take a hit and seriously hurt it, but should only switch in if Focus Blast is predicted.

Greninja: Same as above. Bisharp dents it with Sucker Punch, but at least this time doesn't have to be wary of any status moves. It does have to worry about Greninja being Dark type, but this can be avoided by proper switching. Kyurem-Black can take anything, but can only hit it super effectively if it's water type, which won't happen. Gardevoir breaks through it easy, but shouldn't switch in.

Keldeo: Gardevoir is a perfect check, but the team struggles to counter it. Gyarados can, provided it isn't running Scald, but otherwise, its a problem for the team.

Tyranitar (Mega): At +1, it's hard to stop. Its reliance on Stone Miss is a good thing though, as luck usually will end up on my side. Gyarados can sacrifice itself while pulling off an Intimidate, but even after that it's difficult. But again, that 80% accuracy, plus Bisharp + Gyarados' defensive synergy (Stone Edge vs. Earthquake) sometimes allow for it to be stopped. At +0, it's easy, but otherwise, huge threat.

Terrakion: Life Orb sets would be hard to defeat, but thankfully they're rare. Gardevoir + Mandibuzz + Gyarados tank Close Combats while getting destroyed by Stone Edges, while Bisharp and Heatran tank Stone Edges while collapsing to Close Combat. And Kyurem-Black dies to both. Obviously a huge threat if unchoiced, but that is very unlikely, and as such it isn't too hard to deal with,

Staraptor: It 2HKO's everything on my team. However, it often dies in the process, is Stealth Rock weak, and is usually choiced in some way, and therefore can usually be beaten.

Archive

Gardevoir (F) @ Gardevoirite

Ability: Trace

EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Hyper Voice

- Psyshock

- Taunt

- Will-O-Wisp

Mega Gardevoir is bar none my favorite Mega. This set is the reason why; as with it, it becomes a superb Stall Breaker and Wall Breaker. Hyper Voice is there as an obvious nuke; a 117 BP move coming off 165 Special Attack is bound to hit hard. 2HKO's pretty much every neutral Pokemon that doesn't invest in Special Defense, and can even 2HKO resistant Pokemon! Psyshock is there for obvious dual STAB, and it hits Poison Types that resist Fairy super effectively, as well as Assault Vest Conkeldurr harder. Taunt is certainly the odd man out of the set set, but it is extremely important. It prevents defensive Steel Types, such as Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, from setting up hazards on you, as well as overall bulky Pokemon, such as Togekiss and Chansey from statusing you. It's quintessential for beating Chansey, who otherwise could paralyze Gardevoir and Wish + Protect all day. Will-O-Wisp is also a very important more for hitting Scizor on the switch, as well as slow offensive Pokemon, such as Gyarados, Bisharp, and Dragonite who often stay in to set up. Also worth noting is Gardevoir's ability before Mega Evolving, Trace. This ability allows it to switch into, checking or countering, Gyarados, Manectric, Landorus-T, Heatran, Rotom-W, Sableye, Shedinja and more and benefit severely.

Gyarados (F) @ Life Orb

Ability: Intimidate

EVs: 252 Atk / 40 Def / 216 Spd

Adamant Nature

- Dragon Dance

- Waterfall

- Earthquake

- Ice Fang

There cannot be a Pokemon that has better defensive and offensive synergy with Bisharp. Bisharp is weak to Ground, Fire, and Fighting, and Gyarados happens to be immune to or resistant to all three. Gyarados is weak to Rock and Electric, and unfortunately Bisharp only resists rock. But still, my team has other means of handling Electric Types, a.k.a Kyurem-B. With Dragon Dance, Gyarados becomes a formidable sweeper. At +1, Gyarados reaches 746 Attack, plus enough speed to outspeed Greninja. The rest of the EV's are thrown into Defense, which allows it to tank a couple more physical hits. The moves are obvious: Waterfall for STAB, Earthquake for coverage against Ferrothorn, Mega Charizard-X, Aegislash, and more, and Ice Fang for Garchomp, Latios, and Gliscor.

Overall: I hope you enjoyed my first RMT. I wanted to share a team that has been extremely effective for me, however I am 100% open to criticisms. If you could, please help me handle the threats, especially the red ones, that I've listed, as well as identify any other common ones. I don't really want to change entire Pokemon, but if it would without a doubt make the team better I'm not entirely opposed to the idea. However, I'd love EV, Item, and moveset changes that would improve the team. I'm especially wondering if my EV's, moves, and item on Mandibuzz are ideal for what I need.
Thanks for reading my RMT!

~Finn

 

[LightningLuxray]

Firstly your Heatran should be Timid. Losing to shit like Breloom sucks.

Stone Edge is much better than Ancient Power V Charizard-Y and Volcarona, while still hitting Talonflame hard.

4- Atk Heatran Stone Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard Y: 292-348 (97.9 - 116.7%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
4- Atk Heatran Stone Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 340-400 (108.9 - 128.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Heatran Ancient Power vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 236-280 (79.1 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Heatran Ancient Power vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Volcarona: 252-300 (80.7 - 96.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

4- Atk Heatran Stone Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 316-376 (106 - 126.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

I might also want to consider Defog Zapdos instead of Defog Mandibuzz, since Mega Pinsir does work once Heatran's lost its Air Balloon.


Other then that looks solid, I actually have a very similar team.

 

[Aragorn the King]

Firstly your Heatran should be Timid. Losing to shit like Breloom sucks.

Stone Edge is much better than Ancient Power V Charizard-Y and Volcarona, while still hitting Talonflame hard.

4- Atk Heatran Stone Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard Y: 292-348 (97.9 - 116.7%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
4- Atk Heatran Stone Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 340-400 (108.9 - 128.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Heatran Ancient Power vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 236-280 (79.1 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Heatran Ancient Power vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Volcarona: 252-300 (80.7 - 96.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

4- Atk Heatran Stone Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 316-376 (106 - 126.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

I might also want to consider Defog Zapdos instead of Defog Mandibuzz, since Mega Pinsir does work once Heatran's lost its Air Balloon.


Other then that looks solid, I actually have a very similar team.

Thanks for the suggestions!
1. Ancient Power is stronger against neutral targets, but since Volcarona and Charizard-Y are specially defensive, Stone Edge will do more. Thanks! Would you still recommend a -Attack nature, or would a defense dropping one be better to ensure the KO on Charizard?
2. By switching to Timid, I assume you also mean going to max speed. My problem with this is that I doubt I'd be able to take Focus Blasts from charizard with 0 HP.
3. My problem with switching Mandibuzz to Zapdos is that I lose a reliable way to counter ScarfChomp, Ape, and Talonflame. But I may try it out.

Thanks!

 

[LightningLuxray]

Thanks for the suggestions!
1. Ancient Power is stronger against neutral targets, but since Volcarona and Charizard-Y are specially defensive, Stone Edge will do more. Thanks! Would you still recommend a -Attack nature, or would a defense dropping one be better to ensure the KO on Charizard?
2. By switching to Timid, I assume you also mean going to max speed. My problem with this is that I doubt I'd be able to take Focus Blasts from charizard with 0 HP.
3. My problem with switching Mandibuzz to Zapdos is that I lose a reliable way to counter ScarfChomp, Ape, and Talonflame. But I may try it out.

Thanks!

Just keep it Modest/Timid, there's no reason to lose your bulk, especially if you're going max HP.

 

[Aragorn the King]

Just keep it Modest/Timid, there's no reason to lose your bulk, especially if you're going max HP.

So timid, but max HP? Won't Mr. Mushroom still outspeed? 200 Speed EV's when timid are necessary to beat Jolly Breloom. Plus, with only 56 HP EV's, Focus Blast KO's after rocks.

To be honest I don't think Breloom is necessary to outspeed, as Mandy laughs at everything it can do. 116 speed EV's are necessary for Adamant Bisharp. Maybe I'll do that.

 

[LightningLuxray]

So timid, but max HP? Won't Mr. Mushroom still outspeed? 200 Speed EV's when timid are necessary to beat Jolly Breloom. Plus, with only 56 HP EV's, Focus Blast KO's after rocks.

To be honest I don't think Breloom is necessary to outspeed, as Mandy laughs at everything it can do. 116 speed EV's are necessary for Adamant Bisharp. Maybe I'll do that.

Oh no, I meant if you're going to keep it max HP, just keep it Modest since there's no reason to lose bulk. Even if you do go max Speed keep Timid, the bulk is very helpful.