My breakout team, easily my favorite squad I’ve ever made and one of my most successful by far. With Gen 8 coming to a close, I figured I would use this thread to archive my favorite team I made during the generation. So here it is
This team is a bulky offense squad, designed to support an NDM sweep.
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HEAVY METAL (Necrozma-Dusk-Mane) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Prism Armor
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 116 Spe
Impish Nature
- Morning Sun
- Dragon Dance
- Sunsteel Strike
- Psychic Fangs
This set is my pride and joy, in the smogon BSS community, I was one of the first players to truly use this set to its full potential, and eventually, it became my calling card. The EV spread is designed to outspeed up to base 100s (Yveltal and Zapdos mainly) after a Dragon Dance, while the bulk guarantees it to live 2 Close Combats from jolly Zacian, and it is favored to live 2 as well from adamant (75.some%). With this bulk, weakness policy is a natural choice for item, as the instant NDM gets hit by one of the many super effective moves commonly aimed at it, it’s ready to go. After the obligatory Dragon Dance and Sunsteel Strike, I chose to forgo any kind of coverage as once boosted, NDM’s STAB attacks are more than capable of getting the job done, and ideally, you shouldn’t be trying to sweep a team from the word go, unless you have an extraordinarily favorable matchup.
—
L O D (Yveltal) @ Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Oblivion Wing
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt
- Heat Wave
A natural partner for NDM, as it and Yveltal are easily capable of dismantling almost any core you can imagine. There’s nothing really special about this set, it’s just the standard special attacker, though I did opt for taunt and heat wave over sucker punch, as this allows Yveltal to better shut down defensive cores, especially ones that include ferrothorn, in addition to this, life orb max flare has great odds to kill Zacian, and easily finishes it off after just a bit of chip damage. This puts immense pressure on Zacian as it is generally relied on to handle Yveltal for offensive squads, and this forces it to stay away, allowing Yveltal to leverage its great matchups against many common Zacian partners to clear a path for Necrozma.
—
PIXIE DUST (Tapu Fini) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Moonblast
- Ice Beam
- Trick
Tapu Fini serves 2 important roles on this team. Firstly, its speed from choice scarf allows it to outrun potential threats to my main core, like Dragapult, and take care of them before they can get too out of hand. Additionally, its ability, Misty Surge, in tandem with Trick + Choice Scarf allows it to potentially give Necrozma setup opportunities it might not otherwise be able to take advantage of by blocking status and/or crippling something that would otherwise give it issues. Timid is taken over modest specifically to outspeed Dragapult, ensuring it gets one screen at most and denying the setup variants an opportunity to get anything going.
—
FANTASY (Umbreon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Yawn
- Wish
- Protect
- Foul Play
As you may have surmised, Calyrex gives most of this team some issues. Hence, Umbreon is here. Umbreon is, in my opinion, the best stop to Calyrex that isn’t a restricted Pokémon. While not as easy to use as Tyranitar, Umbreon makes up for its lack of offensive presence by being a utility monster. Wish and Yawn are incredible support moves. Forcing switches and/or sleep while being able to keep itself and its teammates healthy via wish. Foul Play OHKOs Calyrex S thanks to the quad weakness, and puts immense pressure on almost any physical attacker that might try to use Umbreon as entry. Even Zacian doesn’t enjoy taking it. Umbreon’s ability to handle one of the scariest mons in the format while being such an excellent team player makes it an indispensable part of the squad. With proper play it can open pathways like nothing else can.
—
KILLER QUEEN (Pheromosa) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Triple Axel
- Poison Jab
Ferrothorn + Tyranitar is one of the few cores that gives my offensive mons serious trouble. In light of this, I thought very, very hard, and slapped Pheromosa on this team. In all seriousness, Pheromosa is an excellent wallbreaker, the abundance of steel and dark types that are used to handle the premier legendaries means that once Mosa hits the field, it’s very likely to smack something REALLY hard, if not outright grab a kill. An Adamant nature sacrifices outspeeding Calyrex to give Pheromosa the potential to snowball and possibly sweep once it manages to grab that first KO. It’s prime role, however, is to open holes for NDM and Yveltal, and with ferrotar being such a common core, regardless of which one goes down, something is opened up.
—
WADDLE DEE (Chansey) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Seismic Toss
Obligatory anti Kyogre/Zapdos mon. While it’s not 100% foolproof against ogre (modest variants can potentially break it, and calm mind sets are not the easiest to beat either), the ability to set rocks for my sweepers and the extra physical resilience provided by eviolite make chansey a very valuable and consistent performer. Well worth the team slot.
That’s all, I honestly consider this team to be my Magnum Opus at the moment. It’s such a blast to use, and it’s one of my best teams in terms of functionality as well. If you managed to read this entire thing, thank you for taking the time, and thank you to the smogon BSS community for making Gen 8 such a blast for me. Until next time :)
This team is a bulky offense squad, designed to support an NDM sweep.
—
HEAVY METAL (Necrozma-Dusk-Mane) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Prism Armor
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 116 Spe
Impish Nature
- Morning Sun
- Dragon Dance
- Sunsteel Strike
- Psychic Fangs
This set is my pride and joy, in the smogon BSS community, I was one of the first players to truly use this set to its full potential, and eventually, it became my calling card. The EV spread is designed to outspeed up to base 100s (Yveltal and Zapdos mainly) after a Dragon Dance, while the bulk guarantees it to live 2 Close Combats from jolly Zacian, and it is favored to live 2 as well from adamant (75.some%). With this bulk, weakness policy is a natural choice for item, as the instant NDM gets hit by one of the many super effective moves commonly aimed at it, it’s ready to go. After the obligatory Dragon Dance and Sunsteel Strike, I chose to forgo any kind of coverage as once boosted, NDM’s STAB attacks are more than capable of getting the job done, and ideally, you shouldn’t be trying to sweep a team from the word go, unless you have an extraordinarily favorable matchup.
—
L O D (Yveltal) @ Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Oblivion Wing
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt
- Heat Wave
A natural partner for NDM, as it and Yveltal are easily capable of dismantling almost any core you can imagine. There’s nothing really special about this set, it’s just the standard special attacker, though I did opt for taunt and heat wave over sucker punch, as this allows Yveltal to better shut down defensive cores, especially ones that include ferrothorn, in addition to this, life orb max flare has great odds to kill Zacian, and easily finishes it off after just a bit of chip damage. This puts immense pressure on Zacian as it is generally relied on to handle Yveltal for offensive squads, and this forces it to stay away, allowing Yveltal to leverage its great matchups against many common Zacian partners to clear a path for Necrozma.
—
PIXIE DUST (Tapu Fini) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Moonblast
- Ice Beam
- Trick
Tapu Fini serves 2 important roles on this team. Firstly, its speed from choice scarf allows it to outrun potential threats to my main core, like Dragapult, and take care of them before they can get too out of hand. Additionally, its ability, Misty Surge, in tandem with Trick + Choice Scarf allows it to potentially give Necrozma setup opportunities it might not otherwise be able to take advantage of by blocking status and/or crippling something that would otherwise give it issues. Timid is taken over modest specifically to outspeed Dragapult, ensuring it gets one screen at most and denying the setup variants an opportunity to get anything going.
—
FANTASY (Umbreon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Yawn
- Wish
- Protect
- Foul Play
As you may have surmised, Calyrex gives most of this team some issues. Hence, Umbreon is here. Umbreon is, in my opinion, the best stop to Calyrex that isn’t a restricted Pokémon. While not as easy to use as Tyranitar, Umbreon makes up for its lack of offensive presence by being a utility monster. Wish and Yawn are incredible support moves. Forcing switches and/or sleep while being able to keep itself and its teammates healthy via wish. Foul Play OHKOs Calyrex S thanks to the quad weakness, and puts immense pressure on almost any physical attacker that might try to use Umbreon as entry. Even Zacian doesn’t enjoy taking it. Umbreon’s ability to handle one of the scariest mons in the format while being such an excellent team player makes it an indispensable part of the squad. With proper play it can open pathways like nothing else can.
—
KILLER QUEEN (Pheromosa) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Triple Axel
- Poison Jab
Ferrothorn + Tyranitar is one of the few cores that gives my offensive mons serious trouble. In light of this, I thought very, very hard, and slapped Pheromosa on this team. In all seriousness, Pheromosa is an excellent wallbreaker, the abundance of steel and dark types that are used to handle the premier legendaries means that once Mosa hits the field, it’s very likely to smack something REALLY hard, if not outright grab a kill. An Adamant nature sacrifices outspeeding Calyrex to give Pheromosa the potential to snowball and possibly sweep once it manages to grab that first KO. It’s prime role, however, is to open holes for NDM and Yveltal, and with ferrotar being such a common core, regardless of which one goes down, something is opened up.
—
WADDLE DEE (Chansey) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Seismic Toss
Obligatory anti Kyogre/Zapdos mon. While it’s not 100% foolproof against ogre (modest variants can potentially break it, and calm mind sets are not the easiest to beat either), the ability to set rocks for my sweepers and the extra physical resilience provided by eviolite make chansey a very valuable and consistent performer. Well worth the team slot.
That’s all, I honestly consider this team to be my Magnum Opus at the moment. It’s such a blast to use, and it’s one of my best teams in terms of functionality as well. If you managed to read this entire thing, thank you for taking the time, and thank you to the smogon BSS community for making Gen 8 such a blast for me. Until next time :)
