Hello Fellow Humans of Smogon. Today is the day many of you have been awaiting, the release of my main laddering team! A meta shift will be happening quite soon with the release of ORAS. so In that case I'm quite Happy to allow you all to experience some of the enjoyment I had In the Current Meta with this team :).
When I first created this team the spreads were completely different and it consisted of a range of different Pokemon to begin with such as heatran as the rock setter for one. As the meta had slight changes and I had been put in tight spots against different spreads and sets I also made slight adjustments to my current spreads and pokemon I had at the time to create some of the most obscure spreads on showdown.
The current spreads have worked quite well for the past few months and have remained unchanged...
Several Peaks of 2050+ ELO Have been witnessed with this team.
#1 Can be a breeze once you understand how this team works together to bring success!
So let's Dive right in and dissect the team!
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
Ahh, Good old landorus-t what isn't to love here? Pretty much self explanatory right? Well maybe not the 220 speed and the strange move that happens to be of the name EXPLOSION in the fourth move slot. Allow me to explain myself... So with Jolly and 220 speed EVs Landorus-t hits 300 speed which puts it up to 450 with the Aid of choice scarf Allowing it to outspeed Adamant Base 100 speeds at +1 such a DD charizard X and Jolly landorus-t is capable of out speeding the Odd Mega Alakazam You may see. Unlikely however. With Choice scarf Landorus-t is able to threaten a broad range of the Meta and attain Momentum to allow Pinsir to freely switch in or to get -1 On your opponent to provide a safe entrance for empoleon as rock setter/destroyer. Explosion fits well for late game play if keldeo checks such as conkeldurr and azumarill Can't afford to be switched in Or whatever pokemon may be threatening the team big time. Explosion Also Guarentees a safe switch into Pinsir! Yeah, Landorus Really is one of the Keys to this team and is absolutely necessary for checking many threats to the team such as mega pinsir, talonflame, thundurus, Mega-manectric and so on. The 220 speed EVs also serves another purpose being that it "Negative" speed creeps other scarf Landorus-t's to allow the momentum to be yours! Momentum is the Most Important Factor if this team is to be successful in battle!
Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 56 HP / 252 Atk / 200 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Mach Punch
- Stone Edge
Conkeldurr! This Bad-ass Clown Never gets the love he deserves, Conkeldurr May have a Big nose But I need you all to see beyond this! some of you viewing this probably have big noses too! I don't see you checking Half of the OU metagame with ease! Anyway Onto the point! 200 sp.def with AV Allows Conkeldurr to avoid being 2HKOed by LO thundurus! Whilst the 56 HP allows it to take physical hits better whilst already checking everything necessary with 200 sp.def EVs invested. Conkeldurr alone deals with Bisharp, Rotom-w, Mew, kyurem black, Charizard (both megas) , Greninja, excadrill, gengar, heatran, Keldeo, magnezone, mamoswine, chansey, terrakion, Tyranitar. Stone edge may be the only strange move standing out that seems to be out of the ordinary. However, With stone edge Conkeldurr can catch Charizard and Pinsir on the switch resulting in an OHKO whilst also being able to deal with zapdos if handled correctly! Conkeldurr is simply an irreplaceable asset to the team!
Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 72 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Well Well Well What do we have here? Magnezone! This thing Hits like a truck with choice specs! OHKOing slowbro, alomomola with volt switch! 2HKOing Mega venusaur with flash cannon. Taking a huge chunk of life out of Lando-t if caught with a flash cannon on the switchin! OHKOing clefable, OHKOing Ferrothorn, scisor, skarm. The OHKO on ferro does wonders as it Gets Stealth rocks out of the opponents hands making the match a great deal easier! A lot of people like to make fun of me for using specs zone over scarf zone but really Keldeo already has two checks in the team and mega pinsir can be worked around with landorus-t. I mean Choice scarf is still quite a viable option on this team but from experience I feel specs fits the team better. 180 speed EVs allows magnezone to outspeed: sp.def heatran, defensive togekiss, skarmory, Most mega scisors and adamant 252speed Azu by 1 speed point. Anymore speed investment would be quite pointless on a specs set. You're better off making the most out of your bulky side! Another thing that Sticks out about specs magnezone is that it is able to get momentum for pinsir with volt switch without forcing the opponent to actually switch as being slower can sometimes be advantageous against things such as stallbreaker mew and rotom-w just to name a couple. Overall Magnezone's Main purpose is to clear whatever walls that may be standing in Mega pinsir's way and allow Him to unleash his full fury!
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Def / 104 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Brick Break/Facade
I love this little Blue Potato to Bits. I love him even more when He is wearing a choice band! For a Potato, this thing sure can pack a punch. It checks quite broad range of Pokemon and can Dish out OHKOs to many mons that don't resist its stabs. Brick break helps beat Batton pass and 2HKOs ferrothorn on switchin. Play rough OHKOs gyarados, aqua jet OHKOs excadrill and OHKOs lando-I after SR damage. As you may of guessed Banded Azu Puts in a huge amount of work against sand offense. 32HP/100def/104sp.def allows azumarill to always survive CB BB from adamant talonflame after taking SR damage and allows it to always live T-bolt from LO latios. and gives it a great chance of surviving T-bolt even after SR damage. With 104 sp.def azu can also always live a volt switch from mega manectric if it ever needs to take a hit (which it shouldn't But I thought I'd mention it).20 speed is to out speed opposing AV azus and hit them up with a play rough! You can give facade a go over brick break if you aren't one for luck being on your side and are expecting to receive scald burns. Azumarill Serves as a Bulky offensive priority user which works in sync great with the other pokemon on this team!
Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Return
- Flail
- Earthquake
Here we go, The Pokemon that made this team famous. Flail pinsir! At max power, Flail has 390 base power after STAB and Aerilate and OHKOs Quagsire and Chansey after rocks, Thundurus, Clefable, etc. Mew and several other things are setup fodder, and it's not that hard to force a switch versus offense either, plus Substitute is pretty unexpected. Return is used because Flail is unreliable. Earthquake is used mainly for Heatran, but in the post-Aegislash meta Close Combat is the preferred option. There's really no room for Swords Dance or priority, but this set is meant to be more of a wallbreaker, of course. Also, Mega Pinsir in general has the perk of beating Heracross, Gardevoir, and Medicham. EVs are for rocks and for subbing down to get Flail to 200 base power. Adamant's not as good on this set because you don't have priority and Flail is strong enough anyway.(Thank You #MattL for condensing this information for me)
Here are some demonstrations of the raw power this monster owns:
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Flail (200 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Thundurus: 322-379 (107.6 - 126.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Flail (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 424-501 (107.6 - 127.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Flail (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 387-456 (98.2 - 115.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Flail (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 640-754 (90.9 - 107.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
-1 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Flail (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Landorus-T: 249-294 (65.1 - 76.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
As you Can see Flail absolutely Destroys anything stall like.
Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Scald
Last But not least the greatest rock setter in OU, EMPOLEON! Pingu Is capable of beating nearly every rock setter in OU 1v1. with 248hp/200def bold It is able to be put in torrent range and retaliate with an OHKO on Lando-t nearly everytime. It also beats gliscor, heatran, donphan, talonflame and is a great switchin to azumarill! Not many of those actually exist other than ferrothorn and I don't see ferrothorn being capable of both setting rocks up and getting rid of them as well as resisting them on switchin. I mean it as capable of a few of those things But Not all! Pingu works better when lando throws some -1s at your opponent too so It can laugh at super effective hits and retaliate with some burns to cripple your opponent! 56 sp.d allows empoleon to always live Mega manectric's t bolt after SR damage if in a tight spot and roar stops many monstrosities such as Crocune, CM clefable, DD char, DD gyarados (yes it can take an EQ at +1 that's how great it is). This beautiful penguin fills the role best in clearing the battlefield for pinsir whilst still being quite the pain to deal with.
Enjoy!
When I first created this team the spreads were completely different and it consisted of a range of different Pokemon to begin with such as heatran as the rock setter for one. As the meta had slight changes and I had been put in tight spots against different spreads and sets I also made slight adjustments to my current spreads and pokemon I had at the time to create some of the most obscure spreads on showdown.
The current spreads have worked quite well for the past few months and have remained unchanged...
Several Peaks of 2050+ ELO Have been witnessed with this team.
#1 Can be a breeze once you understand how this team works together to bring success!
So let's Dive right in and dissect the team!
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
Ahh, Good old landorus-t what isn't to love here? Pretty much self explanatory right? Well maybe not the 220 speed and the strange move that happens to be of the name EXPLOSION in the fourth move slot. Allow me to explain myself... So with Jolly and 220 speed EVs Landorus-t hits 300 speed which puts it up to 450 with the Aid of choice scarf Allowing it to outspeed Adamant Base 100 speeds at +1 such a DD charizard X and Jolly landorus-t is capable of out speeding the Odd Mega Alakazam You may see. Unlikely however. With Choice scarf Landorus-t is able to threaten a broad range of the Meta and attain Momentum to allow Pinsir to freely switch in or to get -1 On your opponent to provide a safe entrance for empoleon as rock setter/destroyer. Explosion fits well for late game play if keldeo checks such as conkeldurr and azumarill Can't afford to be switched in Or whatever pokemon may be threatening the team big time. Explosion Also Guarentees a safe switch into Pinsir! Yeah, Landorus Really is one of the Keys to this team and is absolutely necessary for checking many threats to the team such as mega pinsir, talonflame, thundurus, Mega-manectric and so on. The 220 speed EVs also serves another purpose being that it "Negative" speed creeps other scarf Landorus-t's to allow the momentum to be yours! Momentum is the Most Important Factor if this team is to be successful in battle!
Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 56 HP / 252 Atk / 200 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Mach Punch
- Stone Edge
Conkeldurr! This Bad-ass Clown Never gets the love he deserves, Conkeldurr May have a Big nose But I need you all to see beyond this! some of you viewing this probably have big noses too! I don't see you checking Half of the OU metagame with ease! Anyway Onto the point! 200 sp.def with AV Allows Conkeldurr to avoid being 2HKOed by LO thundurus! Whilst the 56 HP allows it to take physical hits better whilst already checking everything necessary with 200 sp.def EVs invested. Conkeldurr alone deals with Bisharp, Rotom-w, Mew, kyurem black, Charizard (both megas) , Greninja, excadrill, gengar, heatran, Keldeo, magnezone, mamoswine, chansey, terrakion, Tyranitar. Stone edge may be the only strange move standing out that seems to be out of the ordinary. However, With stone edge Conkeldurr can catch Charizard and Pinsir on the switch resulting in an OHKO whilst also being able to deal with zapdos if handled correctly! Conkeldurr is simply an irreplaceable asset to the team!
Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 72 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Well Well Well What do we have here? Magnezone! This thing Hits like a truck with choice specs! OHKOing slowbro, alomomola with volt switch! 2HKOing Mega venusaur with flash cannon. Taking a huge chunk of life out of Lando-t if caught with a flash cannon on the switchin! OHKOing clefable, OHKOing Ferrothorn, scisor, skarm. The OHKO on ferro does wonders as it Gets Stealth rocks out of the opponents hands making the match a great deal easier! A lot of people like to make fun of me for using specs zone over scarf zone but really Keldeo already has two checks in the team and mega pinsir can be worked around with landorus-t. I mean Choice scarf is still quite a viable option on this team but from experience I feel specs fits the team better. 180 speed EVs allows magnezone to outspeed: sp.def heatran, defensive togekiss, skarmory, Most mega scisors and adamant 252speed Azu by 1 speed point. Anymore speed investment would be quite pointless on a specs set. You're better off making the most out of your bulky side! Another thing that Sticks out about specs magnezone is that it is able to get momentum for pinsir with volt switch without forcing the opponent to actually switch as being slower can sometimes be advantageous against things such as stallbreaker mew and rotom-w just to name a couple. Overall Magnezone's Main purpose is to clear whatever walls that may be standing in Mega pinsir's way and allow Him to unleash his full fury!
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Def / 104 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Brick Break/Facade
I love this little Blue Potato to Bits. I love him even more when He is wearing a choice band! For a Potato, this thing sure can pack a punch. It checks quite broad range of Pokemon and can Dish out OHKOs to many mons that don't resist its stabs. Brick break helps beat Batton pass and 2HKOs ferrothorn on switchin. Play rough OHKOs gyarados, aqua jet OHKOs excadrill and OHKOs lando-I after SR damage. As you may of guessed Banded Azu Puts in a huge amount of work against sand offense. 32HP/100def/104sp.def allows azumarill to always survive CB BB from adamant talonflame after taking SR damage and allows it to always live T-bolt from LO latios. and gives it a great chance of surviving T-bolt even after SR damage. With 104 sp.def azu can also always live a volt switch from mega manectric if it ever needs to take a hit (which it shouldn't But I thought I'd mention it).20 speed is to out speed opposing AV azus and hit them up with a play rough! You can give facade a go over brick break if you aren't one for luck being on your side and are expecting to receive scald burns. Azumarill Serves as a Bulky offensive priority user which works in sync great with the other pokemon on this team!
Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Return
- Flail
- Earthquake
Here we go, The Pokemon that made this team famous. Flail pinsir! At max power, Flail has 390 base power after STAB and Aerilate and OHKOs Quagsire and Chansey after rocks, Thundurus, Clefable, etc. Mew and several other things are setup fodder, and it's not that hard to force a switch versus offense either, plus Substitute is pretty unexpected. Return is used because Flail is unreliable. Earthquake is used mainly for Heatran, but in the post-Aegislash meta Close Combat is the preferred option. There's really no room for Swords Dance or priority, but this set is meant to be more of a wallbreaker, of course. Also, Mega Pinsir in general has the perk of beating Heracross, Gardevoir, and Medicham. EVs are for rocks and for subbing down to get Flail to 200 base power. Adamant's not as good on this set because you don't have priority and Flail is strong enough anyway.(Thank You #MattL for condensing this information for me)
Here are some demonstrations of the raw power this monster owns:
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Flail (200 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Thundurus: 322-379 (107.6 - 126.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Flail (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 424-501 (107.6 - 127.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Flail (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 387-456 (98.2 - 115.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Flail (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 640-754 (90.9 - 107.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
-1 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Flail (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Landorus-T: 249-294 (65.1 - 76.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
As you Can see Flail absolutely Destroys anything stall like.
Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Scald
Last But not least the greatest rock setter in OU, EMPOLEON! Pingu Is capable of beating nearly every rock setter in OU 1v1. with 248hp/200def bold It is able to be put in torrent range and retaliate with an OHKO on Lando-t nearly everytime. It also beats gliscor, heatran, donphan, talonflame and is a great switchin to azumarill! Not many of those actually exist other than ferrothorn and I don't see ferrothorn being capable of both setting rocks up and getting rid of them as well as resisting them on switchin. I mean it as capable of a few of those things But Not all! Pingu works better when lando throws some -1s at your opponent too so It can laugh at super effective hits and retaliate with some burns to cripple your opponent! 56 sp.d allows empoleon to always live Mega manectric's t bolt after SR damage if in a tight spot and roar stops many monstrosities such as Crocune, CM clefable, DD char, DD gyarados (yes it can take an EQ at +1 that's how great it is). This beautiful penguin fills the role best in clearing the battlefield for pinsir whilst still being quite the pain to deal with.
Enjoy!
