National Dex Specs Zeraora & ShedSkin Scrafty

Before anything is said, let me put a PokePaste of my team here. https://pokepast.es/27302cff0bb63fea
Now let's get into this team! :)
I wanted to build a bulky-offense team, with a pivot to stall if needed at any point and ended up with :Scrafty: :Deoxys-Defense: :Landorus-Therian: :Scizor-Mega: :Tapu Fini: :Zeraora:

1666472320033.png

:Zeraora:
Zeraora @ Choice Specs
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Focus Blast
- Grass Knot

This team originally started with Specs Zeraora (Because Dragapult was banned) hence why it's special. It's main purpose was to dish out as much, thus why it has Thunder & Focus Punch rather than their lesser damage counter parts like Discharge & Aura Sphere. It is really well at revenge killing a lot of Pokemon with it's high speed and OHKO potential on a lot of mons. I also gave it Grass Knot to deal with Ground type Pokemon that might try and pivot in to my Zeraora, especially Gastrodon. Lastly it was give Hidden Power Fire to deal with Steel types that might try and pivot in to Zeraora like Ferrothorn, or setup in front of Zeraora like Scizor.


1666472586344.png

:Scrafty:
Scrafty @ Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Atk / 164 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Rest
- Knock Off

I wanted to incorporate Scrafty into this team as well somehow and ended up with a Shed Skin rest moveset. The gimmick of this Pokemon is Rest + Shedskin, which when statused, at the end of each turn there is a 33% chance to be cured, which cures rest if lucky enough. Though some RNG is in play, it's naturally specially defensive, and sets up with Bulk Up, making it just as physically defensive as well. And it's 2 remaining moves are Knock Off, a really good utility move, and great for Scrafty because it also gets stab, but Drain Punch, to keep it healthy, and not needing to rely on Rest RNG as much. Scrafty is meant to sweep / at least be a pivot to any psychic moves coming your way, and be able to fire back with setting up or knock off.


1666472929772.png

:Landorus-Therian:
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 136 HP / 196 Def / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- U-turn
- Rock Tomb

I next decided that I need a Stealth Rocks user, and landed with the standard Landorus-Therian set. Essentially place rocks on the field with Stealth Rock, U-Turn to pivot into other Pokemon, Toxic every Pokemon it comes across with, Intimidate most physical Pokemon when you are in dire need, and finally Rock Tomb any Volcarona's that try and set up. The reason I gave Landorus-Therian Rock Tomb instead of Earthquake is mainly because in testing, I noticed my team was especially weak to Volcarona variants with Giga Drain, and kept losing to them after they set up once. The EV's of Landorus allows it to outspeed most Pokemon, and base 80 Spd Pokemon with max speed, which came in use quite a lot of times.


1666473335680.png

:Tapu Fini:
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Def / 92 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Defog
- Grass Knot

Next on the list is Tapu Fini. Since my goal was a bulky-offense team, I needed some bulky Pokemon to switch into, thus Tapu Fini. I made Fini into a physical wall, giving it basic moves like Scald, to burn any physical Pokemon that might be a problem, and Moonblast for overall damage and to deal extra to dragon types. I also made Fini my defogger of this team, getting rid of any potentially dangerous hazards in the field, and for the last move, I still felt uneasy with Ground types / Water types used commonly in rain teams (Like Swampert / Seismitoad), so I gave it Grass Knot to deal with them. Something really important to this Pokemon I found was Leftovers, to passively heal HP. I found this more useful than Heavy-Duty-Boots, as Fini has no viable recover moves, and can find itself on Low Hp over time without it. One last thing about Tapu Fini is that is has the Misty Surge ability, blocking any status moves like Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave from having any affect till it's over, which does wonders since 2/3rds of the team cripples from status moves.


1666473730586.png

:Scizor-Mega:
Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 192 HP / 100 Atk / 216 SpD
Careful Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Swords Dance
- Roost

After Fini, the physically defensive wall on this team, I decided to add a specially defensive wall as well, and ended up choosing Mega-Scizor. Mega-Scizor is naturally bulky, so I didn't need to invest all the EV's on SpD or HP, and could add some to Atk as well boosting it's damage. I found that the casual Scizor set worked really well with Roost healing you if you ever get low, Swords Dance to raise your attack, Bug Bite to take advantage of Technician and deal lots of damage, and Bullet Punch for priority + Technician. Overall, Scizor-Mega plays pretty well as a specially defensive wall, and is great at sweeping late game once it sets up with Swords Dance.


1666473970250.png

:Deoxys-Defense:
Deoxys-Defense @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Cosmic Power
- Night Shade
- Recover

Lastly, I decided the best Pokemon to wrap up this team was a stall Pokemon, and I came across Deoxys-Defense. Now I don't normally use or see Deoxys-Defense in competitive games, but it is very broken. It has high natural Spd and Def, as well as standard HP for stall Pokemon similar to Deoxys-Defense. This Pokemon is great at absorbing any blow, even super-effective ones once it performs a cosmic power. It has a great way to recover HP with Recover, and can deal back damage with Night Shade. One last cherry on top on why this Pokemon is very underrated is it's overall high speed (in regards of it being a stall Pokemon). This allows it to taunt other stall Pokemon who may try to toxic /paralyze it, or to just prevent it from stalling at all. Pairing this Pokemon with Tapu-Fini as well is great at blocking any status moves that'll shut down this gimmick, and letting it sweep entire teams, or perform it's job at stalling. Deoxys also comes with the Pressure ability, allowing it to realistically draining the PP of threatening Pokemon, making them not a threat at all.
Overall, this team has done me wonders in the tier, and gotten me pretty high in the ladder, but I am curious if this team could be improved at all, and how other people may change this team up with their own ideas.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 1)

Top