SS OU Scarf gengar and np hydreigon

[AyanCR7]

Hey guys,So I tried to build a team around Bulk up Zeraora,since it is one of the most threatening sweepers right now .I've got fair success with this team but I feel like it can be improved. So without further ado here's the team

Zeraora @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Close Combat
- Plasma Fists
- Knock Off

Zeraora is the goat right now. It's the fastest non scarfer in the tier and it hits pretty hard once u got a couple of bulk ups off.You could use life orb but I feel like it get easily worn down.Bulk up allows Zeraora to break past bulkier team and since it's so fast it can easily sweep once its answers have been removed,mainly the toad,hippo and kommo-o.
Grass knot can be used if you are running the life orb set to deal with the toad or the rare gastrodon.

Ok,so the next member of the team is Hydreigon.

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Flash Cannon
Nasty plot + Life orb Hydreigon is an amazing breaker in the tier.It get past the monster that usually wall Zeraora,so the make a potent combination.It ohkoes toad and hippo with a boost and can easily set up nasty plot in front of them.Draco and dark pulse are the necessary stabs and flash cannon is to hit the fairies but you will need some chip on clef so that +2 flash cannon can ohko.

So,I feel like we have a pretty good offensive core,so next we need a defensive core as well.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Teleport
- Moonblast
- Protect

It is basically a necessity to run a wish pass mon this gen. Clef keeps all the mons which do not have reliable recovery healthy.Moonblast is stab and teleport helps bring in others mons to heal without them taking any damage.

I also needed a phys def mon and a stealth rocker,so I decided to use kommo.

Kommo-o @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Body Press
- Taunt

Kommo-o is slowly rising in popularity. Its defensive qualities are excellent and it also gets stealth rocks.It can check things like excadrill,bisharp etc.Body press is stab and earthquake is to mons like aegislash,zeraora etc.Taunt is prevent setup or to stop defog attempts.

After this I realized that I needed a form of hazard control as well as a fairy resist.So I chose corviknight

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
- Iron Head
- Roost
- Brave Bird
- Defog

It is the standard smogon ev spread. I chose both iron head and brave bird since I had to hit both the fairies and conkeldurr super effectively. Defog is hazard control and roost for recovery. You could also run u turn over brave bird or iron head but that teams can't either hit the fairies or conkeldurr super effectively.

Next ,I thought I needed a scarfer

Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
I swear to God the amount of people who don't scout for this mon are so many.People just send in their dragapults,expecting to scare out the gengarand gets mauled by shadow ball.Anyways thunderbolt is for the rare rain teams,shadow ball and sludge wave are stabs and focus blast is to ohko mons like hydreigon,obstagoon etc.(provided that it lands ofcourse).

Anyways,this is the team hope you all enjoyed it

 

[Tarski]

If you lead with Zeraora isn't it better to give him volt switch instead of plasma fist

 

[AyanCR7]

If you lead with Zeraora isn't it better to give him volt switch instead of plasma fist

I'm sry it's just the way I built the team I don't usually lead with Zeraora and even if I did I think it would be better to have a good electric stab instead for something like volt switch

 

[zbr]

Heyyos! Sweet squad you've got here! I had a largely similar squad that I build early post home era and I think I can come up with solutions to help you with your issues. Considering your team is build around Bulk Up Zeraora and is quite reliant on bringing in your breakers easily, I'll try to tailor my suggestions with that thought in mind.

>>>

Honestly, I don't have much in the way of suggestion but my first one is that gengar as a scarfer provides zero defensive back bone for this team. This team, being one that is balanced, means that you need a scarfer that can provide somewhat of a defensive presence and furthermore, since your team is actually still pretty weak to Fire coverage fairy types, my next suggestion is to substitute Gengar for Scarf Rotom-Heat. This change is a three-fold change. First, it gives your team a good scarfer that is able to come in safely and sponge Fire / Fairy coverages and two it gives your team the much needed momentum pivoting required on balance teams. It also gives you access to trick, which is very essential in helping you get rid of threats in the way of Hydreigon / Zeraora clearing the way. Gengar does get trick too but despite it's stellar typing, it doesn't thrive well on defensive / balance teams. This change can also lure in Mold Breaker Excadrill who think they can come in and get a free switch in before you proceed to maul them with Overheat.

I understand that Iron Head and Brave Bird are both stellar options on Corviknight, however, I feel that for your team, you need to be able gain momentum and therefore, Brave Bird should be opted out in favor of U-Turn. This is because U-turn is able to give you momentum and rack up burn damage against Conk. Also slow U-Turn is extremely important for your team to ensure that you bring in your breakers safely and threaten opposing teams. Therefore U-Turn is a lot better of an option compared to Brave Bird imo.

Next is some small changes here and there. Firstly, I think it is essential to ensure that your clef can outspeed conk so that after one round of burn damage (i.e u-turning out from Corviknight), Clef can pick up the KO on conk.

0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Conkeldurr: 276-326 (78.6 - 92.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage

, therefore I recommend changing up the EV to 252 HP / 120 SpD / 136 Spe. You will want max HP to ensure the fattest wishes are passed and with this spread, you hit 190 speed which outpaces max speed Adamant Conkeldurr.

With these changes, I changed your team up a bit to give it a bit more resilience and heightened pivoting and momentum gaining ability. It's a pretty strong team to begin with already and I hope you have fun with this team after it's changes [: /cheers/

set

Rotom-Heat @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 88 HP / 200 SpA / 4 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Trick
- Thunderbolt

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
- Iron Head
- Roost
- U-Turn
- Defog

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 120 SpD / 136 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Teleport
- Moonblast
- Protect

 

[AyanCR7]

Than

Heyyos! Sweet squad you've got here! I had a largely similar squad that I build early post home era and I think I can come up with solutions to help you with your issues. Considering your team is build around Bulk Up Zeraora and is quite reliant on bringing in your breakers easily, I'll try to tailor my suggestions with that thought in mind.

>>>

Honestly, I don't have much in the way of suggestion but my first one is that gengar as a scarfer provides zero defensive back bone for this team. This team, being one that is balanced, means that you need a scarfer that can provide somewhat of a defensive presence and furthermore, since your team is actually still pretty weak to Fire coverage fairy types, my next suggestion is to substitute Gengar for Scarf Rotom-Heat. This change is a three-fold change. First, it gives your team a good scarfer that is able to come in safely and sponge Fire / Fairy coverages and two it gives your team the much needed momentum pivoting required on balance teams. It also gives you access to trick, which is very essential in helping you get rid of threats in the way of Hydreigon / Zeraora clearing the way. Gengar does get trick too but despite it's stellar typing, it doesn't thrive well on defensive / balance teams. This change can also lure in Mold Breaker Excadrill who think they can come in and get a free switch in before you proceed to maul them with Overheat.

I understand that Iron Head and Brave Bird are both stellar options on Corviknight, however, I feel that for your team, you need to be able gain momentum and therefore, Brave Bird should be opted out in favor of U-Turn. This is because U-turn is able to give you momentum and rack up burn damage against Conk. Also slow U-Turn is extremely important for your team to ensure that you bring in your breakers safely and threaten opposing teams. Therefore U-Turn is a lot better of an option compared to Brave Bird imo.

Next is some small changes here and there. Firstly, I think it is essential to ensure that your clef can outspeed conk so that after one round of burn damage (i.e u-turning out from Corviknight), Clef can pick up the KO on conk., therefore I recommend changing up the EV to 252 HP / 120 SpD / 136 Spe. You will want max HP to ensure the fattest wishes are passed and with this spread, you hit 190 speed which outpaces max speed Adamant Conkeldurr.

With these changes, I changed your team up a bit to give it a bit more resilience and heightened pivoting and momentum gaining ability. It's a pretty strong team to begin with already and I hope you have fun with this team after it's changes [: /cheers/

set

Rotom-Heat @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 88 HP / 200 SpA / 4 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Trick
- Thunderbolt

Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
- Iron Head
- Roost
- U-Turn
- Defog

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 120 SpD / 136 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Teleport
- Moonblast
- Protect

Thanks,I will definitely try it out