OU SM OU - Teambuilding Competition : October 2023 Revival (Week 1: Seismitoad on post #290)

[zinnias]

With the voting stage over, there is a winner decided by the votes. With three votes, Maktyum has won this week with their creative usage of Seismitoad to facilitate the bulky setup threats on their team, Mega Scizor and Reuniclus. I will add you to the hall of fame post. Thank you to those who have posted teams or voted.


I'm aware Seismitoad wasn't the most easy thing to build with, so this week I would like to really open things up. Instead of a Pokemon, Ability or Item, this week will be about a concept. The subject of week 2 will be...

Week 2: Lure

Now, I expect a lot of those reading this to know exactly what a lure is. Regardless, I will define it with a common example. Ash Greninja is known for its powerful Water and Dark stab, already warping the tier around it to some extent. Pokemon who can deal with its moves with their typing are valued immensely, such as Tapu Fini, Tapu Bulu, and Assault Vest Magearna. Looking at how Ash Greninja draws these three in, a set was developed that took advantage of this. It uses the ability Protean with Gunk Shot to heavily punish Tapu Fini and Tapu Bulu, and it uses Dig with Groundium Z to snipe Assault Vest Magearna. This is exactly the type of idea I am referring to when I say "Lure". Your task for this week is to create or utilise a set that takes advantage of a Pokemon's common answers. I am happy to clarify further if this explanation was not sufficient.

Submissions will close on 11:59pm GMT-5, on Friday, 10th of November.​

 

[zinnias]

Psychium Volcarona + Banded Weavile Offense

​

So, after looking through the mountains of cool lures in this tier, like the tricky Tornadus-Therian, and the colourful Kommo-o's, I landed on a Pokemon that was already one of my favourites. Anyone who has watched me ladder or play in tournaments knows I'm a dishonest Volcarona spammer. I originally had the idea of using another lure to snipe Toxapex for a standard Volcarona to sweep, but after some testing, I came to the conclusion that I preferred my independent Volcarona.

The main character of this team, using the broken Quiver Dance to flatten unprepared teams. 184 Speed with a Timid nature allows it to outspeed choice scarfed max speed Landorus-Therian after a Quiver Dance. 128 SpA is the minimum needed to guarantee an OHKO with +1 Shattered Psyche vs Toxapex, with the added bonus of being able to OHKO Mega Diancie and choice scarfed Landorus-Therian too. The HP and Defense investment allows Volcarona to live two choice-banded Smart Strikes from Kartana, who is already shitting itself at Flame Body. The HP also helps Volc set up on standard Rotom Wash variants if you don't get haxed. It eats FerroPex or CelePex for breakfast, using the steel type for entry and luring in Toxapex to its demise. Removing Toxapex helps out Weavile and Lopunny a lot, as they are two sometimes undercooked physical attackers who struggle to break it from full.

In an earlier version of the team, Weavile was an SD Groundium variant which was able to remove steel types. However, I just couldn't stand using a Weavile that has no priority, and NO PURSUIT. Pursuit is an amazing, fun, and rewarding move to click. Screw SS for removing it. Weavile removes items, and helps with Psychic types like Mega Latias and Reuniclus that embarrassingly, I wouldn't be able to break otherwise due to the lack of Bug Buzz on Volcarona. Ice Shard is more useful priority to stack with Mega Lopunny. I truly believe that one cannot get enough priority, considering how much HO is being spammed. For the more offensively inclined, such as myself, you can also use Pursuit on some unlikely targets like Choice Scarf Landorus-Therian that is fearing Ice Shard.

Those familiar with the tier know the importance of a defensive steel-type. I opted to go for the standard EV spread, but with a pinch berry because I don't imagine anything about this team being long term, meaning I'm getting more healing out of it than leftovers most of the time. It helps out against things like Tapu Koko which I would have to do the Lando dance against otherwise. It can set rocks against one of the many Pokemon in the tier that hit it like a butter knife hits a well done steak.

I feel like scarf Landorus-Therian is similar to Mega Lopunny, in the way that it is defending from the front, using offense to check things. I was going to use this defensive scarf Lando spread I made, but I lost it down the side of my couch. Luckily, there is enough priority on this team for me to not need to worry about something like a Mega Charizard X, as it would just knock itself into priority range pretty quickly. Scarfed Defog isn't ideal, but I found it to be comforting that if my Fini ever dies, I can still remove rocks, albeit in a clunky way. Explosion is something I think is simply optimal for Scarf Lando, as it gives it a way to bow out when its no longer needed and give me momentum.

Tapu Fini is here because I love its typing and utility, along with the Misty Terrain it brings. It's a pretty good defogger, and also is elite at checking Ash-Greninja. I hope I don't face someone testing their team for this competition, as it can get sniped by Gunk Shot from Protean. If this is especially a worry, then it's possible to use Ferrothorn for scouting. Misty Terrain allows Volcarona to ignore the threat of Thunder Wave or Toxic from Pokemon it is setting up on. It also helps with the mammoth task of rain, which is an added bonus. I don't know if this spread is something I made or has been done before, but the Speed is to outspeed speedcreep SpD Heatran/Mega Tyranitar. The physical bulk is to live a +2 Hawlucha Acrobatics after Stealth Rock (This allows you to sacrifice something into Fini, and not rely on the leftovers recovery after rocks to live). The Special Attack investment allows you to OHKO Hawlucha after Stealth Rock with Moonblast. The rest is pooled into special defense for Ash Gren.

I love using Lopunny on the ladder because of how well it can keep pretty much any attacker in check using its speed and consistent priority combo. I thought about running Ice Punch over quick attack since Defensive Landorus-T is so annoying, but that Pokemon has to take Rocks and Frustration each time, usually not healing, so it's doable. It's another Pokemon that hates Toxapex, and pairs well with Weavile to give me triple priority, so I thought it rounded off my offense perfectly.

Lures are great for bo1 games such as laddering, as this team isn't nearly as effective if the opponent knows what's coming. This is just a bit of fun, and I enjoyed building this one too. I hope you all like it, and good luck to other teambuilders!

 

[Cdijk16]

Z-Dig Gren Psyspam

Pokepaste: Z Dig Gren Psyspam (pokepast.es)
Descriptions TBA

 

[CM Reuniclus]

Boom Cloyster Hyper Offense

​

- Cloyster has some really interesting tools for hyper offense; spikes, toxic spikes, rapid spin, shell smash and explosion. With toxic spikes and explosion it acts as a way weaken or outright remove pokemon that we struggle against. Shell smash and icicle spear are standard moves for cloyster that allow it to be a bit of a threat but toxic spikes can hinder the likes of slowbro, tapu fini, unaware clefable, tangrowth, tyranitar, hippowdon and even chansey to let magearna beat it easier while explosion removes or takes a giant chunk out of a good amount of pokemon.

Explosion calcs

+2 252 Atk Normal Gem Cloyster Explosion vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 384-452 (97.7 - 115%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Normal Gem Cloyster Explosion vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Toxapex: 394-464 (129.6 - 152.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Normal Gem Cloyster Explosion vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-Wash: 391-460 (128.6 - 151.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Normal Gem Cloyster Explosion vs. 248 HP / 16 Def Tapu Fini: 498-586 (145.1 - 170.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Normal Gem Cloyster Explosion vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 250-295 (63.4 - 74.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Normal Gem Cloyster Explosion vs. 248 HP / 28 Def Magearna: 246-290 (67.7 - 79.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Normal Gem Cloyster Explosion vs. 248 HP / 16+ Def Scizor-Mega: 191-225 (55.6 - 65.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Normal Gem Cloyster Explosion vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 271-319 (70.2 - 82.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Normal Gem Cloyster Explosion vs. 92 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 235-276 (89 - 104.5%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

If I'm honest, clicking explosion is just plain fun, even if cloyster itself isn't that great.

- This is the main lure of the team, although I think you could change the set to be a different lure Z-move or just standard taunt kommonium-Z and it would work too. Dragon dance kommo-o might seem worse than the standard offensive set but its ability to lure in and successfully remove some of its checks is invaluable to hyper offense teams. Groundium-Z allows it to remove magearna, toxapex, volcarona and mega-mawile while also being a generally powerful button that lets you have the coverage to be able to hit as many pokemon as possible. It chunks other fairies like tapu fini and non-unaware clefable as well as other checks and counters DD kommo-o shares with charizard-X, allowing one of the two to win. Cloyster also helps with this by either crippling something like slowbro or tapu fini when it comes in against kommo-o or charizard with toxic spikes or just removing them with explosion itself.

- Charizard-X is a brilliant breaker and sweeper for HO teams, with few safe answers that can't be worn down. 3 attacks is best to try and kill as much as possible before dying itself, and not be walled by mega-latias if you don't have dragon claw or heatran if you don't run earthquake. Since both charizard and kommo-o share lots of checks, they can wear them down for each other to allow one to hope to sweep later.

- Mew is a great HO lead thanks to its decent speed, typing and movepool that has all the tools we want: stealth rocks, taunt thunder wave and ice beam. The spread used is bulky to let us use mental herb to shake off taunt and taunt an opposing lead, get rocks up or thunder wave something. It also lets mew live things like dark pulse from greninja and kartana knock off from full without having to rely on focus sash which allows it to have a positive match up into most other suicide leads, even mega-diancie since synchronize paralyzes diance when it is bounced back. 216 speed outruns base 95s like tapu lele and kyurem-black.

- A sort of glue pokemon for hyper offense allowing stealth rock weak pokemon like charizard-X, dragonite and volcarona to actually work because of defog and taunt. Glare is a broken move that can allow other pokemon more set up opportunities or just mean we can revenge kill a threat we couldn't without paralyzing it first. It is also here to improve our match up against rain, with the HP and defense meaning it lives a rain boosted waterfall into ice punch from full HP.

- What would a HO team be without a magearna to keep it from falling apart. Bulky calm mind 3 attacks gives the team a somewhat solid answer to tapu lele and mega-alakazam while still having a threatening attacker that can get out of control against teams that don't have a good answer. Iapapa berry gives magearna a way of healing if it gets too low and means it isn't as punished by staying in to ohko a landorus or mega-medicham if it's what you need to do. Focus blast is used over aura sphere to do more to ferrothorn and heatran and also lets you beat non-thunder wave or confide chansey if you hit after a few calm minds. I am using fleur cannon instead of ice beam because it lets you hit harder against things you hit neutrally like tapu lele and clefable while still killing landorus-therian and garchomp and even gliscor after a CM.

Shout out to every hyper offense ever for just being the same team with one pokemon different. I hope you enjoy collecting your free ladder wins with another charizard-X hyper offense.
Also post some more teams, it really isn't that hard.

 

[clematis]

Z-Glaciate Victini!

​

Thought I'd go ahead and show something that I've been playing around with recently - Icium Z-Glaciate Mixed Victini, and the accompanying team I've been using. :D


The main point of building this team. Victini is one of those mons with a movepool that nobody really looks into, I feel, so when I found this old XY post and noticed Glaciate Victini on there, I knew it would be fun, especially with the addition of Z-Moves in USM actually giving it a fighting chance of being vaguely decent. The first three moves are completely standard for Victini - V-Create hits insanely hard even when not at max Attack, Bolt Strike provides some much-needed coverage, and U-Turn I hope is obvious. Glaciate is the real standout here, though. Boosted by Icium Z, it reaches a respectible 120 BP, which is just about enough to score the KOs it needs to secure. The main targets for this are Landorus-Therian and Gliscor, along with Kommo-O. All three of them are decent enough answers to Victini, especially Scarf Landorus, who can switch in to tank a V-Create with Intimidate, and hit hard back with STAB Earthquakes. However, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition surprise Icium Z-Glaciate! 64 SpA is the most you realistically need, as this allows you to secure the KO onto the odd 252 SpD Gliscor.

Relevant Calcs

64 SpA Victini Subzero Slammer (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 444-524 (116.2 - 137.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO against standard defensive Landorus-T
64 SpA Victini Subzero Slammer (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 444-524 (139.1 - 164.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO against Choice Scarf Landorus-T
64 SpA Victini Subzero Slammer (120 BP) vs. 244 HP / 244 SpD Gliscor: 352-416 (100 - 118.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO against standard SD Gliscor (you technically only need 60 SpA for this, but you need 64 SpA to hit 64 SpA Victini Subzero Slammer (120 BP) vs. 244 HP / 252 SpD Gliscor: 352-416 (100 - 118.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO the one person in the world who runs 244/252 Glisc lol

An alternative option is 164 SpA, this hits obviously all the benchmarks above, but has the added benefit of killing that 244/252 Glisc if it has for example a Careful (+SpD -SpA) nature. Nobody runs that though, because Modest Heatran is too important to creep. Thus, I stick with 64 SpA.


My next thought was was "what other mons want Z-Glaciate Victini to remove their answers?" and the answer to that question was, obviously, Mega Mawile! Landorus and Gliscor are both stumbling blocks for this utter monster, because it really doesn't like facing down STAB Earthquakes from either of those two, and Victini removing one or both makes it much easier to sweep here. Mawile also appreciates Victini's ability to deal with stuff like Celesteela, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory, especially if you run into that dastardly Skarmory set Aurella did however many years ago. Mawile itself is completely bog-standard, I was running Thunder Punch but ended up dropping it in favour of the standard Knock Off. Not much else to say here, other than that Fire Fang is a decent option to catch Ferrothorn, who can otherwise be an issue if you've lost Victini.


Tornadus and Fini came as a pair, considering that I figured they'd synergise pretty well with what I had. Tornadus bought more pivoting via U-Turn, meaning I was able to get Victini and Mawile in that much more easily, along with Defog support to clear away any entry hazards pointing at the team. Hurricane is standard, and so is Knock Off, though I'm considering dumping it in favour of Taunt - either are fine options, and really down to personal preference and playstyle.

Tapu Fini I judged would be a good option too, Mawile really appreciates Misty Terrain removing any Scald burns or random Thunder Waves being tossed around, and Fini here is also running the Whirlpool / Nature's Madness / Moonblast / Taunt set, which is one that I've been enjoying more and more recently, due to its ability to consistently deal with Toxapex - one of the only mons not already covered by the team that can somewhat answer Victini and Mawile. I was originally running Haze over Moonblast as a way to answer Volcarona (which is still a monster, btw. Do not give any free turns!!!), but Toxapex ended up being more of an issue, given that Victini can't guarantee the 2HKO with Bolt Strike. If it even hits. Other than that, nothing else much to say here. A reasonably solid defensive core to back up Victini and Mawile.


Next, I took a step back to look at the team and what I was missing. A Ground-type and Stealth Rock were the obvious answers, so Gliscor was a pretty natural fit. Not only does it give me another pseudo-status absorber if Misty Terrain isn't up, but I get a second Flying-type, an Electric immunity, Ground STAB, and Stealth Rock. Roost is a given, and Toxic came afterwards to punish things that think they can set up on this. Also Zapdos. Gliscor, ironically enough, tends to invite in opposing Gliscor, especially when they deduce I'm mono-attacking, so it's a good way to bring in Victini and click Z.


This is the final member, and the part I'm least confident in. At this point in the build, I wanted to complete the Fire/Water/Grass core that was going on, and I originally had Amoonguss here. However, a friend tipped me that the Spore / Misty Terrain interaction could be an issue, and the mon itself is a little too passive for my liking anyway. Choice Scarf Serperior was what I chose here instead, mainly because of one absolutely terrifying combination:

Rain was basically the antithesis to this team at this point, considering Swampert outspeeds and OHKOs everything except Tapu Fini, who can't do anything meaningful back. Thus, a consistent way to deal with Mega Swampert was necessary; along with Ash-Greninja, who sweeps the team if Fini is weakened enough. Scarfed Serperior consistently answers both of these, being able to switch in from full vs either, and OHKO back with STAB Leaf Storm. It also offers Glare support, which isn't the best with Misty Terrain, but still can be useful against things beginning to get out of control (you heroically outspeed +2 Magearna and can cripple it with Glare), and a second (or third, depending on the Tornadus set) Knock Off option. Finally, it's a second Defogger, which has come in handy a couple of times. The only other thing of note here is that I'm running 4 HP as well as 4 SpD. This was a deliberate choice, as it improves Serperior's matchup vs Ash-Greninja quite significantly - the chance of dying to Stealth Rock + Dark Pulse is reduced from 43.8% to 37.5%.

Relevant Calcs

248 SpA Serperior Leaf Storm vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Swampert-Mega: 540-640 (158.3 - 187.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO Serperior outspeeds Jolly Swampert by 11 points in the rain, and instakills it back, often leading to a full sweep.
252 Atk Swampert-Mega Ice Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Serperior: 192-226 (65.7 - 77.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock it ain't killing you.
248 SpA Serperior Leaf Storm vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Greninja-Ash: 390-458 (136.8 - 160.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO outspeeds and consistently kills Ash-Greninja. Or you can Glare it, I guess.
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Dark Pulse vs. 4 HP / 4 SpD Serperior: 229-271 (78.4 - 92.8%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock Pray for the low roll! This did actually happen to me in a game, but I didn't save it unfortunately.

That one Stealth Rock + Dark Pulse interaction

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Serperior: 229-271 (78.6 - 93.1%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Dark Pulse vs. 4 HP / 4 SpD Serperior: 229-271 (78.4 - 92.8%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
Not the biggest difference in the world, but I'll take it. You can also run 8 SpD if you really want to, but 4 HP gives you exactly the same result and slightly better PhysDef bulk, so I opted for that.

I do have a single replay to submit to the council, where I show how beneficial Icium Z-Glaciate can be. I do make a crucial misplay on Turn 10, losing Mawile to Kommo-O's Flamethrower, but a couple of turns later, I can predict my opponent's Ferrothorn staying in against Gliscor, and switch out into Victini. This forces them out again, and I'm free to click Z-Glaciate into Landorus, completely OHKOing it on the switch. Even without Stealth Rocks, it would be dead anyway. Glaciate then puts in a ton of work, enabling me to defeat Kommo-O without issue after it Clangorous Soulblazes into Victini. Without the two Glaciates there, I would have certainly lost, but Fini is able to outspeed the -1 dragon and kill. As it turns out, I do end up losing the game in the end anyway because of the Mawile misplay, but it's a good enough demonstration of how good the Victini set is, and the surprise factor it brings.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-1986274782-aspwrgqlu9vtlfd8t9bqqgq632ch56fpw

Well, there's the team! I hope it's been an enjoyable read, and I promise it's worth your while to test out Z-Glaciate - you won't regret it.
Thanks for reading! :D

Importable

https://pokepast.es/395071422c4dcfe7

EDIT: First update to this. I swapped to Final Gambit over Bolt Strike on Victini as I never really found myself clicking it, and needed a slightly better way to shut down Volcarona, which Final Gambit Vic gives me - if you do decide this, then run 132 HP, which takes you to 374 (one above max HP Volc's 373). It might sound really specific, but the situation has occured in a couple of games where I've been able to get Victini in vs the moth as it Quiver Dances, and in both of those I would have been able to win if I had Final Gambit.

EDIT 2: Update two to this! I've been rocking around more with it, and you really want to be running 164 SpA - turns out that Careful Gliscor is somewhat common, and being able to slam that is quite important. With Final Gambit, the EV spread should be as follows: 132 HP / 164 SpA / 212+ Speed - this gives you the ability to slam Gliscor instantly, while still allowing you to outspeed positive-natured Base 95s (the Tapu Lele matchup is very important here) and dumping the rest into HP for Final Gambit. You can always drop it back down to 92 HP, which then allows the full 252+ Spe if maxing it is important enough for your preferences.

New Importable

https://pokepast.es/05fc2b6b1a2db33a

 

[Alexdevi]

I'm glad this segment is back, we hope it can last a while.
The Clefable Life Orb can work as a good lure, so I was able to check with this team.​

• 

  Stealth Rock is great on M-Tyranitar because it can force a lot of switches thanks to its sheer power. Pursuit provides invaluable support for Kartana and Clefable, taking out Tornadus-T, M-Lati Duo, and Heatran.​
• 

  Swords Dance Kartana is a dangerous wallbreaker, Stallbreaker and Sweeper. Giga Impact is the main pearl of this set; when boosted by Normalium Z, it allows Kartana to crush his responses like Tornadus-T and M-Latios on the switch or Zapdos and M-Venusaur at +2.​
• 

  Life Orb Clefable, hits like a truck and Magic Guard nullifies Life Orb's knockback. The 180 Spe EVs allow Clefable to outperform M-Mawile, fire blast allows you to KO most steel types or weaken them enough so that kartana can sweep. A reliable recovery in Soft-Boiled is necessary to act as a sturdy Dark resist and be able to wallbreak for more time.​
• 

  Amoongus lightly checks Magearna, Mega Mawile, Tapu Bulu, Kartana and still acts as a water resist to check Ash Greninja, relieving some of Clefable's pressure. Spore and Stun Spore provide great support to Kartana, paralyzing things like Tornadus-Therian or putting things like Scarf Landorus to sleep.​
• 

  Rotom-W fills three very important niches, it gives immunity to the ground, it gives a Defogger and finally a defensive pivot to easily bring in Clefable and Kartana.​
• 

  Lastly, a Steel type is needed on each team; otherwise, Tapu Lele, Magearna, and Mega Alakazam are a big threat. Jirachi Choice Scarf fits well as a speed control and secondary pivot. Healing Wish is a very welcome addition, as it helps Jirachi's companions stay healthy.
  ​

 

[zinnias]

With these 5 submissions, this week has come to a close. It is now time to vote for your favourite team of this week. The way that you can vote is by making a comment in this thread including the team number you want to vote for. The choices are:

Team 1 by AcneAutist


Team 2 by Cdijk16



Team 3 by CM Reuniclus



Team 4 by EdDaBoss



Team 5 by Alexdevi



Thank you to all who posted teams for this week. It is now time to vote for the winner of this week's competition. Voting will close on 11:59 PM GMT-5 on Tuesday, 14th of November. Good luck!

 

[clematis]

Team 3

 

[Kustavan]

3

 

[Cdijk16]

Team 3

 

[Alexdevi]

Team 1

 

[Autistic Soviet]

3 cloy is heat

 

[Captain Funk]

Team 3

 

[Proftreez]

T3 for inflicting psychic damage

 

[Uber45]

Team 2 (team.1 is very cool too)

 

[zinnias]

With quite a landslide of votes, CM Reuniclus is the winner of this week's contest, using a Groundium Z Kommo-O in order to lure in steel-types and Toxapex to allow Cloyster to go wild. I will add you to the Hall of Fame as soon as possible. Some found the concept of a lure hard to define, so this week I will be sure that the concept has an objective definition. Week 3 of the teambuilding competition will be about...

Week 3: Resist Berry

So, before you think "not this again" allow me to define a resist berry in the clearest possible way. A resist berry is one of the berries that grant a one time resistance to a super effective type, such as Shuca berry giving a resistance to a Ground-type move when it is eaten. The list

List of resist berries

Occa berry (fire), Passho berry (water), Rindo berry (grass), Wacan berry (electric), Yache berry (ice), Kebia berry (poison), Chople berry (fighting), Shuca berry (ground), Coba berry (flying), Payapa berry (psychic), Charti berry (rock), Tanga berry (bug), Kasib berry (ghost), Haban berry (dragon), Colbur berry (dark), Chilan berry (normal), Babiri berry (steel), and Roseli berry (fairy)

In order for your team to be counted, it must contain at least one Pokemon holding one of these berries. Some berries may be easier to use than others, but I encourage you to think creatively about how to use these berries to the fullest. You have until 11:59 GMT-5 on Wednesday, 22th of November to post your teams. Good luck and have fun!​

 

[clematis]

Thought I'd chip in with my two cents. You said we had to use Resist Berries, so I figured...

NATURAL GIFT NATURAL GIFT NATURAL GIFT!!!11!!!!!11!!1! (also Yache Berry Garchomp)

It took me a while to decide what to use a resist berry for, until I remembered about Natural Gift. Garchomp seemed like a good choice - Yache Berry would already be useful to improve the MU vs things like the Latis, Landorus, etc etc, and Natural Gift is a surprise factor that turns into a base 70 Ice-type physical attack.
-1 252 Atk Yache Berry Garchomp Natural Gift (Ice) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Landorus-Therian: 256-304 (80.2 - 95.2%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
This is an almost ludicrous amount of damage, so we're gonna run the normal Swords Dance set but with the addition of Natural Gift and Yache Berry over Stealth Rock and Rockium Z. Otherwise, entirely standard. Yache + NG is a funny surprise factor against stuff like the aforementioned Landorus, and Stone Edge still finds its usefullness against stuff like Zapdos (which, incidentally, this Garchomp set can do really quite well against, thanks to Yache enabling it to take the Hidden Power Ice that much better). It's also good versus random things with Ice coverage such as (but not limited to) Heatran, Ferrothorn, Magearna, Lopunny, Gliscor, and Jirachi, all of which I ran into while playtesting this. The only other thing of note here is that we have to run Sand Veil in order to be able to take Natural Gift, which sucks. I did honestly consider turning this into a sand team with Mega Tyranitar and Excadrill but decided against it owing to how much sand teams rely on sand to work.


Greninja works well with Chomper owing to their ability to overwhelm their shared checks, and also because I needed a special attacker. As I'm sure you're aware, Ash-Gren is an utter monster right now, cleanly sweeping a lot of teams without at least one and a half answers to it. The set is totally standard, though I did test out U-Turn as I never really found myself clicking Spikes that much. However, a couple games I ended up losing owing to a lack of chip, so it's back on there! :D


Magearna I thought worked well - Scarf Lele rinsed the pair I already had, so I decided to take a variation on the normal Pain Split / Heart Swap set; choosing to dump the latter move for Thunder Wave. This much improves the matchup versus the aforementioned Lele, which becomes much less of a threat when it's not outspeeding Greninja or Lopunny, along with an assortment of other things which are awful to deal with when they're faster than everything else.
I hate Mega Alakazam I hate Mega Alakazam I hate Mega Alakazam I hate Mega Alakazam I hate Mega Alakazam I hate Mega Alakazam
Pain Split is almost necessary, it's a very bulky set and really needs some recovery, while Volt Switch forms a pivot core with Tornadus and Flash Cannon acts as a decently powerful STAB move for general coverage, and dealing with the aforementioned Fairies.


Bird. It does bird things, very standard. However, Ferrothorn was causing some issues, so was Mega Scizor, so I figured to take Heat Wave over Knock Off. I also thought I'd need a Z-Move user too, and Firium Z is a cool tech considering how many times people bring in Ferro for free against this.
0 SpA Tornadus-Therian Inferno Overdrive (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 232+ SpD Ferrothorn: 360-428 (102.2 - 121.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Tornadus-Therian Inferno Overdrive (175 BP) vs. 248 HP / 244 SpD Scizor-Mega: 432-512 (125.9 - 149.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Bit of a monster, especially when Ferrothorn is the opponent's only answer to Ash-Greninja. Inferno Overdrive also smacks stuff like Magearna if it's too weak, and I'm finding it quite easy to chip opponents down into ranges for my own mons. I feel like these descriptions should be longer, but a lot of this stuff is self-explanatory lol.


I needed Stealth Rock, and I needed a secondary answer to Ash-Greninja. Behold. It's a Ferrothorn, it does Ferrothorn things, it sits and it wobbles around and it chips things down with Leech Seed. However, I did choose to dump Gyro Ball in place of Knock Off, as I find it to be more useful currently owing to Ferro not being here for damage anyway. The utility of removing Eviolites, Leftovers, Black Sludges, etc, is just so good. People seem to forget this can get Knock. Other than that, Ferrothorn is a good general defensive wall for the team, being almost unreasonably bulky and a general catch-all to a lot of things.


I needed a Mega, and I thought that Lopunny might fit. It's fast, it hits hard, and it just provides more general offensive power to the team. Ice Punch was dropped here cause I didn't want to detract from Yache Chomp, and instead I chose Quick Attack, which combo-stacks with Fake Out to instakill most things below 40% HP or so, also with Shuriken from Ash-Greninja. Frustration is something I've been liking more and more recently, owing to Imposter Ditto shenanigans. Nobody seems to be running 0 happiness on that thing, so you have a much easier time vs it when it's doing sub-50% to Tornadus.

There's the team. It's not the best thing I've ever built, but it is a lot of fun to use, especially when you can absolutely SLAM things with the potent combination of Lopunny, Greninja, and Garchomp.

Importable

https://pokepast.es/2537186d13d195de

Enjoy!

 

[Skypenguin]

I also have a natural gift yache chomp team lol

Garchomp @ Yache Berry
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Natural Gift

The key difference here is that I'm running dclaw to hit the latis; this functions as both a yache lure to help zard-y win, as well as a funny way to snipe lando/gliscor. It is annoying being walled by zapdos, but it's typically fine since zard, tran, and koko ease the matchup.

Lando/fini/tran just fill some utility roles well for sun, and then I have koko in the last slot to help with breaking. I originally tried Z wood hammer bulu as it pairs nicely offensively with zard-y, but koko helps with speed while providing a lucha answer. It can also catch people off guard since the chomp is SD without a z move

 

[zinnias]

Colbur Slowbro + Banded Kartana Balance


There are many flashy ways for you to use a resist berry in order to live an attack that would otherwise OHKO and then hit back, such as the two (!) natural gift Garchomp sets we have seen already. Colbur Slowbro is a different approach to the concept, using the berry to be even more of a defensive menace. When I thought about what Colbur Slowbro is for, I instantly thought of Greninja. It takes around half from a choice specs Dark Pulse, and is able to paralyse in return.

The Colbur berry that Slowbro holds is what this team is built around. The sample set gives enough special defense to live a specs Dark Pulse from Greninja, but since I have a Colbur berry I am free to invest fully phys def which feels so much better. Thunder Wave allows me to surprise Gren/Weavile by eating their hit up with Colbur and taking away their speed (kinda like 90% of their offensive pressure). Counter is more for the Weavile/HoopaU/Tyranitar side, but it has countless applications practically.

Choice Banded Kartana is known to be a demon to switch in. I chose to go for the standard set, instead of Return or anything more heat. I appreciate Slowbro paralysing Gren so that it can't revenge kill, making it much more of a demon vs xtra/german style offenses where it has to rely on Gren and Hawlucha (also packed up by Slowbro) to revenge Kart.

Magnezone is here to facilitate my offensive threats in CB Kart, Mega Latios and SD Flyinium Lando. Ferrothorn annoys the hell out of Latios, and Skarmory sits on Kart and Lando. I opt for a scarf set to help with the opposing Kartana matchup, but also it's nice to be able to outspeed Serperior. I could have gone with a Z-Move set to better take care of Celesteela but even scarf can chunk it and I value the threat of volt switch tbh (I usually like to go Kart on a predicted ground type to block volt, which is where CB Kart shines).

I think Mega Latios is another great beneficiary of a paralysed Greninja, being able to outspeed and OHKO with a Draco Meteor. This is even more of the case against Weavile, as once Weavile is paralysed it is no longer able to trap Mega Latios even from full because it is also OHKO'd by Draco Meteor! Draco Meteor just picks up very useful KO's ig, this also extends to the pest known as Medicham. Psychic is here to hit Pex and be a good spammable STAB, and Earthquake hits Heatran, Tyranitar, Magearna, etc. (anything that doesn't mind taking a Draco or Psychic pretty much).

This team isn't in desperate need of a defogger, but I figured it was important for the spikes matchup (or something moronic like webs if I decided to ladder with this) so I fit it onto my Lando, which is fine imo. Once Magnezone gets its job done, the combination of Ground + Flying stab from an incredible attack stat looks really threatening. It also can be saved as a Hawlucha answer if that's what is required of it. Even with an Adamant nature, intimidate is a broken ability and it can come in on physical threats in the early-midgame and help out.

Chansey is a Pokemon that I usually see paired with Magnezone, and after prior versions without Chansey, I can see why. Magnezone teams inherently lack defensive utility because they have a steel type that has the much sought after defensive quality of being a steel type that doesn't answer anything a steel type is supposed to answer. I do indeed have two steel types that cannot switch into psychic types, and although Chansey can't take the most ridiculous special moves in the game like Specs Lele Psyshock, it can handle a vast amount of special attackers. It has Stealth Rock to help against Zapdos/Torn and it has Toxic so that it can force progress (especially against the special attackers with recovery like Zapdos, Rotom, Zard-Y or Volcarona.

I liked seeing the way that the trickery of a resist berry could open up cheap Thunder Wave tactics, and this team was fun to create. Good luck to the other teambuilders!

​

 

[CM Reuniclus]

I Love Clicking Explosion.

​

- With its great speed tier, coverage and strength, Alakazam means the team can revenge kill most fast and frail pokemon that don't have a Choice Scarf. The coverage means we can force progress against more offensive teams that don't have a really solid check, or just the presence of it on the field can mean you can double to another pokemon to help make progress in the game.

- Hydreigon is an cool pokemon which here acts as both our defogger and a check to Heatran and non-Ice Beam Greninja-Ash. Darkinium-Z give it a way to get a big hit off so it is a bit less passive.

- Banded Kartana is a brilliant progress maker, especially into offense teams when given the opportunity through U-turn or Volt Switch or even Eject Button. Along side Alakazam, we can break down most defensive cores due to the powerful attacks that they can throw out.

- I stole this set idea after seeing it on a post by Proftreez and felt like using it here. Mostly it is just normal rocks defensive Landorus, however, explosion can catch pokemon like Latias-Mega and Zapdos off guard and remove them for Kartana to have an easier time breaking. The spread outspeeds adamant Hoopa-Unbound and always OHKOs Hawlucha even without rocks in case Slowbro still has its eject button.

- Magearna is here for psychic attackers and with Thunder Wave, helps Kartana and Alakazam to make progress while also having volt switch to pivot into them. Shuca Berry is the resist berry I chose for the week, and with Ice Beam, can eat Earthquakes from the likes or Landorus-Therian, Garchomp or Gliscor and OHKO them back. I stole the spread from the Next Best Thing competition because it looked like it did the things I wanted of it.

- Although it is a somewhat passive pokemon, through the use of eject button, it can gain the team valuable momentum due the being able to take damage and heal it off with Regenerator while also being able to go into another pokemon. Futute Sight means that pokemon like Toxapex are not safe pivots into Kartana to see what its locking into. The special defense means it lives modest Choice Specs Tapu Lele Moonblast after rocks.

Enjoy the team!

 

[zinnias]

With these 4 submissions, this week has come to a close. It is now time to vote for your favourite team of this week. The way that you can vote is by making a comment in this thread including the team number you want to vote for. The choices are:

Team 1 by EdDaBoss


Team 2 by Skypenguin


Team 3 by AcneAutist



Team 4 by CM Reuniclus


Thank you to those that have posted teams. You have until 11:59 pm GMT-5 on Friday, 24th of November to vote for the winner of this week. Good luck!

 

[Cdijk16]

Team 1

 

[clematis]

Team 3 even tho it beat my ass more times than I care to count

 

[Kustavan]

2

 

[A Welcome Guest]

4