SS OU Hello Sharky

[Red Raven]

I've been testing out Garchomp's new toy in scale shot and its hella fun. With life orb, even unboosted attacks hurt. Granted, I'm only 1200 elo atm and I only want to reach maybe 1300 or 1400 because honestly, I get so tilted if the game drags on if me and my opponent just do nothing but wait for the other guy to make the first move. My hand even hurts real bad from slamming the table because of the rng so I don't really wanna reach that high on the ladder because I might do something worse than slamming the table if I lose because my attack missed





Garchomp (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fire Fang
- Scale Shot
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

The reason I'm even playing gen 8, or planning to buy a switch for that matter. I chose fire fang over stone edge because I'm done with stone miss. I lost three battles all because that move refused to hit. The only real enemy is the rng because for some reason scale shot and fire fang doesn't have 100 accuracy because logic. Just don't replace this one since this is the one I wanted to play with the most. Yeah I'm one of those that plays the game because of one pokemon. It's basically just it's old gen six set except with scale shot over dragon claw. I chose life orb as its item to provide it with the firepower needed if swords dance is not an option. But the main plan is swords dance first, scale shot after and pray to Arceus it doesn't miss





Zapdos-Galar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Blaze Kick
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat

I just used the old sprite because there isn't any available sprite for Galarian Zapdos. It's just a straightforward set, nuke things and get free boosts if someone uses intimidate. It's basically a better Staraptor because it isn't weak to rocks and it has stab close combat. I mainly chose it as my physical wall breaker and revenge cleaner if Garchomp's checks are still alive. U-turn to maintain momentum and the stabs are obvious because they hit hard. I just chose blaze kick as my coverage move because I honestly have no idea what last move to give it





Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- U-turn
- Sucker Punch
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Ball

My special wall breaker of choice. It's fast and speaking of fast, I went with timid because Blaziken is still a massive pest and I don't wanna get swept by a bloody chicken. Honestly wishing it gets banned again this time. U-turn is for scouting and minor damage and meteor with shadow ball for stabs. I gave sucker punch as the random move to destroy that annoying ghost horse that spams shadow balls like nothing matters in the world






Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 184 Def / 76 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Body Press
- Stealth Rock

An old reliable friend. It's my main physical wall along with hazard setter. Since Garchomp takes the role of the main sweeper, I decided to have Ferrothorn do all the hazard duties. It has both spikes and stealth rock because why not and leech seed is basically Ferrothorn's only real recovery outside of leftovers. Body press is so it won't be taunt bait. A physical thorn also seems to be much more convenient because of body press. Ev spread is a bit weird but I don't want it to get one shotted by a neutral special move






Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Knock Off

Another old reliable friend that came with the dlc. Heavy duty boots for the item because it's main role is to scout and spam knock off as much as possible. It's basically just the old gen seven set with a different item. I just use it to scout pokemon that I suspect to be choice locked so I can react accordingly, which is what its best use for me is anyway. It also serves as my hazard remover if I get the chance and there is no Galarian Zapdos on the enemy team, in which cause I would just use knock off and removes its item on the switch





Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Def / 192 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Recover
- Haze
- Scald


Good old Toxapex, serving as another hazard placer and boost remover. Since I made Ferrothorn the physical one because of body press, I made Pex the special one. It's just an old gen seven set because it didn't really change that much. Along with Ferrothorn, I only gave it 248 hp evs so it will have an odd number of hp to reduce rocks damage. The ev spread is also a near reverse of Ferrothorn's because earthquakes are still annoying for it

While I do enjoy playing this game competitively, my main goal is just to enjoy my favorite pokemon. And while Garchomp is my favorite, it doesn't mean that it's the only one I'll ever play. I'll do other teams once the meta settles down but for now, I just wanna have fun with it. I just made this team as close to a gen seven one since I'm more familiar with how to play on it than on gen eight since I literally just started two days ago and this is my most reliable team thus far

 

[M4RK5M4N]

Ok, so I just want to start off with saying, Dragon Gem or Dragon Fang are both good on Garchomp because Life Orb wears you down really quickly.
I would also say that Jolly is better on Garchomp to outspeed one huge threat, Hydreigon.

Second, I like you Zapdos set, it isn't bad. Some changes I would make to it are make it Choice Band and get rid of Blaze Kick for Stomping Tantrum.
Here's a quick calc:
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Dragapult: 403-475 (127.1 - 149.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
With Band, if Zapdos lives a hit from Pult, it can OHKO it with STAB Brave Bird.

You are ALSO using Timid Dragapult which is your speed control, so you Choice Scarf Zapdos is just a waste. Brave Bird also does an insane amount to Landorus-T, a huge threat in the current metagame.

Your Dragapult set is good, and I can't find anything wrong with it. It fits your team really well as your WinCon and you just don't want to lose it.

Next, Ferrothorn has 4MSS, 4 Move Slot Syndrome. I also realized that you have no counter to Clefable, which is a problem to your team. People who run Max SpA Clefable will completely destroy your team because they use Flamethrower, Moonblast, Soft-boiled, and Thunderbolt (in some cases). The Clefable I just named has a counter to EVERY SINGLE Pokemon on your team. My feedback is get rid of Fire Fang on Garchomp and give it Stealth Rock. Then get rid of Stealth Rock on Ferrothorn and give it Gyro Ball.

Another thing, Hurricane on Tornadus with Hurricane is very risky. It has a high miss rate and I would suggest Heat Wave OVER Hurricane so that you have another counter to like Melmetal and Ferrothorn.

I like your RegenCore, it's just that you have 3 Pokemon that get destroyed by Specs Magnezone and also Moonblast + Flamethrower Clefable.
The Toxapex set looks fine, I just want to say that if you are running Haze to destroy set-up sweepers, I would reccommend Mantine. Like this thing is a beast.

Set:
Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 120 SpD / 136 Spe
Calm Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Scald
- Haze

This thing walls Volcarona completely and Aqua Jet from Azumarill is completely against this because of Water Absorb. I think this has enough speed to outspeed Azumarilll which has Max HP and Max Atk, but if this set doesn't (This is the basic Smogon set) just give it enough EVs to outspeed Azumarill and Haze it so that it's attacks do nothing.

 

[Red Raven]

Yeah. Life orb does easily wear down Garchomp but it's actually my win con pokemon considering it is the only one with boosting moves. Before I do replace fire fang, I'll have to wait until Genesect gets banned because it is a massive pest right now. Chomp is my only wait to deal with it by getting scale shot boost then killing it with fire fang. It only works when that bug is scarfed though. Just when I thought it's scarfed it just mauls my team with a very balanced banded extremespeed

Again, I'll have to wait until the bans happen. Scarf Zapdos is a very good check to another giant pest, Pheromosa and so far, it has served as a fantastic revenge killer. If Landorus Therian does stay in ou, which I think it will, then I'll have a free temporary choice band along with choice scarf

I'm just that obsessed with speed and I don't really wanna lose because I risked a speed tie with another Dragapult. Besides, it's specsed so it's still gonna hurt, a lot

I have to ask though, how does specs Magnezone destroy Ferrothorn now that hidden power is no longer a thing? It resists both it stabs and even with body press, it won't do that much since Ferrothorn is physically defensive and would probably die sooner provided leech seed doesn't miss

Oh yeah I completely forgot Mantine existed and it also walls another pest in the form of Blaziken, which is why I chose Toxapex in the first place, and it would allow me to use something else in place of Tornadus

I will say this though, before I make that many drastic changes, I'll have to wait until the bans happen because honestly, Genesect is a pain in the ass along with Pheromosa and Blaziken