Garrett
Banned deucer.
CAPPL's ORAS adventure is over for the year. Before I figure out if I get the CA, I'll pay a tribute to my favorite team of the year I had the privilege of building and dedicating to Binacle Pinnacle . Thank you to SHSP and Wulfanator for drafting me! This is the ORAS CAP version of the ultra-reliable birdspam pioneered by xtrashine. Credit to the team structure goes to him.
Team: https://pokepast.es/adf49282bcd62227
Margaret Thatcher (Tomohawk) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Memento
- Yawn
The most important change for this team compared to classic birdspam is possessing a suicide lead that has priority Taunt (effectively more speed), more bulk, and more options so as to facilitate setup for your sweepers. Max SpDef is optimal to maximize your odds vs. lead Clefable's, and a handful mons such as Manaphy that might go for a turn 1 or 2 freeze. You also live a Psychic from Mega-Zam from full! The downside to running only 4 Speed EVs is you want to always be faster than opposing Tomohawk in a mirror match of HO's, so I absolutely could see bulk being dropped to get that particular leg up on your opponent.
All of these moves are necessary. Taunt and Stealth Rock are no brainers for the lead. Yawn + Memento is required to prevent a lead spinner from spamming Rapid Spin indefinitely.
BinPinsiraccle (Pinsir) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Close Combat
Standard Mega-Pinsir set with the original Adamant nature favored. Not much to say besides how BinPin's strength transcends the plane which spans our measly existence. Mold Breaker + Earthquake set enjoyers such as Lasen are monsters.
Cardinal (Talonflame) @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Sleep Talk
I've been preferring Sleep Talk over Steel Wing or Will-O-Wisp (funny tech I failed to make work in my head) because it makes the synergy with Kerfluffle a little more justified. Amoonguss otherwise switches in on the Moonblast every time and you'd need to awkwardly pick a sleep sac. If you pick Yawn on Kerfluffle, you might be able to justify Steel Wing on Talonflame far more as Yawn on Amoonguss switches allows you to Parting Shot afterward and force them to choose between a momentum loss and putting the shroom to sleep... which amounts to same thing.
Otherwise, this is the standard-enough CB Talonflame.
Parz Yao (Kerfluffle) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Rock] / Yawn / Encore
- Parting Shot
I wanted something that could take a desperate hit from Weavile, preserve momentum, and be a potential sweeper in its own right. Fortunately, we find ourselves in ORAS CAP. Moonblast and Focus Blast hit the vast majority like a truck (>50% to non-resists), while HP Rock handles a few more switch-ins that might try to grab momentum back (the main one being Talonflame). Yawn/Encore are options to increase your options for future setup, but have clear drawbacks.
Crue911#6239 (Excadrill) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Tomb
- Rapid Spin
Standard Scarf Drill necessary on this sort of tier. Adamant is hilariously useful because a lot of standard Scizor-Mega spreads actually die to HP Fire Syc + Rapid Spin only if Drill is Adamant (I am largely exaggerating)! One of the replays features that specific interaction. I prefer Rock Tomb over some of the other flex options in Toxic and Rock Slide for better denying reverse setup in Dragonite and the like.
SteeBurner7 (Syclant) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mountaineer
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Tail Glow
- Ice Beam
- Bug Buzz
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Having no boosting item means we often miss crucial OHKO's at +3 against mons like certain Clefable and bulky Manaphy. This often comes into play, so it's important to determine the best time to send this mon out.
I hope to add more replays to this in the future. Featuring my favorite 3 CAPs in ORAS CAP (with Crucibelle at a close 4th), this is maybe the only exception of "a team with more than 2 CAPs that actually is functionally better than a team with less than 2 CAPs." Maybe not.