LATIAS OFFENSE (click for pokepaste)
Wassup smogon, made this squad a few days ago and I think it really highlights zama's brokenness through the use of a rarely seen latias set (inspired by the goat format oras ou). In oras there's a lot of status flying around; clef twave, serp glare, keld scald, cofa wisp - an adaptation that oras players use is healing wish offensive latias, which is a special breaker with defensive utility and crucially hwish to fully heal your breaker and cure their status. In SV, however, latias differentiates itself from other hwish users (like enam) as it is immune to spikes whilst being neutral to rocks. Also in SV is a strong setup sweeper zamazenta who just so happens to hate status (moltres flame body, wisp pult, zapdos static) and is somewhat overwhelmed by a core of physical sweepers. Latias' hwish patches up these issues, and therefore I can run a lefties zama team without removal.
This team is pretty standard so it wasn't hard to think up, but it still performed really well on ladder, lmk in the comments if the squad works well.
Peak elo (HOODBYGLARE):
My first drafts had rilla to give zama double lefties. However, zama still struggles vs random status and rilla is kinda bad ngl.
I scrapped that idea and decided to start with these 3. Tera dark zama is still weak to fairy so I added 2 fairy checks and a poison type was mandatory since I wasn't running removal for tspike. Zama beats offensive teams, ghold and glowking beat fat.
Lando was added to check phys mons zama can't, e.g. roaring moon. Scarf samu was another automatic addition to synergise with ghold and lure pult.
Here is where I wanted to add enam, but then I realised that no enam set really fit on this team. Double scarf wasn't needed and I couldn't run specs or ebelt because I wanted to make use of hwish for zama. Latias was the conclusion I came up with, + it checks waters better.
This team is pretty standard so it wasn't hard to think up, but it still performed really well on ladder, lmk in the comments if the squad works well.
Peak elo (HOODBYGLARE):
My first drafts had rilla to give zama double lefties. However, zama still struggles vs random status and rilla is kinda bad ngl.
I scrapped that idea and decided to start with these 3. Tera dark zama is still weak to fairy so I added 2 fairy checks and a poison type was mandatory since I wasn't running removal for tspike. Zama beats offensive teams, ghold and glowking beat fat.
Lando was added to check phys mons zama can't, e.g. roaring moon. Scarf samu was another automatic addition to synergise with ghold and lure pult.
Here is where I wanted to add enam, but then I realised that no enam set really fit on this team. Double scarf wasn't needed and I couldn't run specs or ebelt because I wanted to make use of hwish for zama. Latias was the conclusion I came up with, + it checks waters better.
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Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 188 HP / 216 Def / 104 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Crunch
- Substitute
Role: I was always a zama hater. This mon is tasked to beat several mons + can run into random MUs where it is completely useless. However, I was interested to make a zama team to highlight its broken, MU-fishy aspects and minimise his weaknesses. Anyways, zama is the most important piece of this team, and 90% of games you tera this and probably also heal it with lati. Checks opposing zama if they tera dark vs ghold.
Set Details: Enough speed for cinderace and roaring moon, the rest is placed into bulk and enough defense to favourably OHKO ival at +5 (2 iron defenses and dauntless shield proc) after spikes (an interaction that is important if val switches out, losing booster). The defense investment is kind of arbitrary, but having extra defense also makes zama harder to beat. Sub is because tera garg is an annoying MU and it also helps vs toxic gliscor.
Tera: Best tera on zama imo, allows you to beat ghosts. Tank pult's wisp to tera dark crunch and heal it up in the endgame.
Other Options: Stone edge over sub is an option, then you could replace lando's stone edge with something else. Other teras are probably good too.
Ability: Dauntless Shield
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 188 HP / 216 Def / 104 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Crunch
- Substitute
Role: I was always a zama hater. This mon is tasked to beat several mons + can run into random MUs where it is completely useless. However, I was interested to make a zama team to highlight its broken, MU-fishy aspects and minimise his weaknesses. Anyways, zama is the most important piece of this team, and 90% of games you tera this and probably also heal it with lati. Checks opposing zama if they tera dark vs ghold.
Set Details: Enough speed for cinderace and roaring moon, the rest is placed into bulk and enough defense to favourably OHKO ival at +5 (2 iron defenses and dauntless shield proc) after spikes (an interaction that is important if val switches out, losing booster). The defense investment is kind of arbitrary, but having extra defense also makes zama harder to beat. Sub is because tera garg is an annoying MU and it also helps vs toxic gliscor.
Tera: Best tera on zama imo, allows you to beat ghosts. Tank pult's wisp to tera dark crunch and heal it up in the endgame.
Other Options: Stone edge over sub is an option, then you could replace lando's stone edge with something else. Other teras are probably good too.
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Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 240 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Sludge Bomb
- Psychic Noise
- Ice Beam
- Chilly Reception
Role: Tspikes bother zama a lot, so a grounded poison was mandatory. This mon gives the team longevity which helps most vs balance and stall, since zama is notoriously good into offenses.
Set Details: Future sight is not needed since our other attackers don't necessarily benefit from it. Zama + fsight seems good on paper but you would need to body press raw to get it on the same turn as fsight comes out so it isn't great. Instead I have psychic noise for tera garg, stall, and iron moth. Ice beam is mostly for pult.
Tera: Kyurem check.
Other Options: Psychic noise can be replaced with grass knot (hits tera water garg), ice beam can be replaced with shadow ball (hits ghold + pult in 1 slot).
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Ice
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 240 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Sludge Bomb
- Psychic Noise
- Ice Beam
- Chilly Reception
Role: Tspikes bother zama a lot, so a grounded poison was mandatory. This mon gives the team longevity which helps most vs balance and stall, since zama is notoriously good into offenses.
Set Details: Future sight is not needed since our other attackers don't necessarily benefit from it. Zama + fsight seems good on paper but you would need to body press raw to get it on the same turn as fsight comes out so it isn't great. Instead I have psychic noise for tera garg, stall, and iron moth. Ice beam is mostly for pult.
Tera: Kyurem check.
Other Options: Psychic noise can be replaced with grass knot (hits tera water garg), ice beam can be replaced with shadow ball (hits ghold + pult in 1 slot).
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Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 32 HP / 252 SpA / 224 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Make It Rain
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
Role: Stall cteam. Blocks defog since our rocker and spiker lose to corv. Additional check to fairies and kyurem.
Set Details: Enough speed for adamant dnite (and generally enough for gliscor), the rest is maxed out spa modest which obliterates "gholdengo checks" so you can forgo unserious moves like psyshock and instead run recover. Psyshock would be really bad on this team since latias psyshock baits the tera dark blissey anyways.
+2 252+ SpA Metal Coat Tera Steel Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 4 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey: 408-482 (62.5 - 73.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (CM loses the 1v1 usually, you can guarantee the 1v1 with glowking's psychic noise)
+2 252+ SpA Metal Coat Tera Steel Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Vessel of Ruin Ting-Lu: 436-514 (84.8 - 100%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after 1 layer of Spikes (gone)
+2 252+ SpA Metal Coat Tera Steel Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Kingambit: 401-472 (99.2 - 116.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO (demolished)
252+ SpA Metal Coat Tera Steel Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Clodsire: 252-298 (54.4 - 64.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (unaware helps you here, watch out for PP tho)
+2 252+ SpA Metal Coat Tera Steel Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 252 HP / 204+ SpD Tera Water Garganacl: 283-333 (70 - 82.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (easy to chip down through hazards or glowking. Curse is a harder MU since you have to play more proactive)
Tera: Read above calcs, since zama sucks vs fat teams this is your dedicated tera instead usually.
Other Options: Specs seems decent but imo this set outclasses specs (seriously this ghold set is very strong).
Ability: Good as Gold
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 32 HP / 252 SpA / 224 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Make It Rain
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
Role: Stall cteam. Blocks defog since our rocker and spiker lose to corv. Additional check to fairies and kyurem.
Set Details: Enough speed for adamant dnite (and generally enough for gliscor), the rest is maxed out spa modest which obliterates "gholdengo checks" so you can forgo unserious moves like psyshock and instead run recover. Psyshock would be really bad on this team since latias psyshock baits the tera dark blissey anyways.
+2 252+ SpA Metal Coat Tera Steel Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 4 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey: 408-482 (62.5 - 73.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (CM loses the 1v1 usually, you can guarantee the 1v1 with glowking's psychic noise)
+2 252+ SpA Metal Coat Tera Steel Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Vessel of Ruin Ting-Lu: 436-514 (84.8 - 100%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after 1 layer of Spikes (gone)
+2 252+ SpA Metal Coat Tera Steel Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Kingambit: 401-472 (99.2 - 116.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO (demolished)
252+ SpA Metal Coat Tera Steel Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Clodsire: 252-298 (54.4 - 64.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (unaware helps you here, watch out for PP tho)
+2 252+ SpA Metal Coat Tera Steel Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 252 HP / 204+ SpD Tera Water Garganacl: 283-333 (70 - 82.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (easy to chip down through hazards or glowking. Curse is a harder MU since you have to play more proactive)
Tera: Read above calcs, since zama sucks vs fat teams this is your dedicated tera instead usually.
Other Options: Specs seems decent but imo this set outclasses specs (seriously this ghold set is very strong).
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Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 24 Atk / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
Role: Checks things zama can't. If lando isn't needed much defensively in a MU it still gets up rocks and can actually do well offensively since they may fear u-turn into lati. This clicks EQ surprisingly often on this squad. Checks bolt.
Set Details: Faster than drill, atk investment since lando's defensive merits aren't as useful on this team. Stone edge or else we get 6-0d by the stupid bird .
Tera: For dd mixed kyurem, in case they tera elec vs ghold. We don't need tera water to beat sun/rain since they struggle to switch into latias anyways.
Other Options: Earth plate offensive was considered, but keep it mind it makes you weaker into roaring moon.
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 24 Atk / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
Role: Checks things zama can't. If lando isn't needed much defensively in a MU it still gets up rocks and can actually do well offensively since they may fear u-turn into lati. This clicks EQ surprisingly often on this squad. Checks bolt.
Set Details: Faster than drill, atk investment since lando's defensive merits aren't as useful on this team. Stone edge or else we get 6-0d by the stupid bird .
Tera: For dd mixed kyurem, in case they tera elec vs ghold. We don't need tera water to beat sun/rain since they struggle to switch into latias anyways.
Other Options: Earth plate offensive was considered, but keep it mind it makes you weaker into roaring moon.
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Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ceaseless Edge
- Aqua Cutter
- Knock Off
- Flip Turn
Role: The way this team beats ghosts is through tera dark zama, and you can heal off pult's burn or dengo's twave with hwish. However, I still wanted a ghost-resist just because of how weak zama is to ghosts, even with tera. This was the only spiker that resisted ghost and unlike ting-lu it can also run speed control through scarf or priority. Also, it helps me fit knock onto this team which is mandatory on hstack.
Set Details: Flip turn was chosen as the last move over sacred sword since this team doesn't struggle vs gambit/moon as much.
Tera: Allows you to clean easier, also lures a weakened zapdos
Other Options: Sacred sword is still an option over flip turn. Sucker or jet are also options
Ability: Sharpness
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ceaseless Edge
- Aqua Cutter
- Knock Off
- Flip Turn
Role: The way this team beats ghosts is through tera dark zama, and you can heal off pult's burn or dengo's twave with hwish. However, I still wanted a ghost-resist just because of how weak zama is to ghosts, even with tera. This was the only spiker that resisted ghost and unlike ting-lu it can also run speed control through scarf or priority. Also, it helps me fit knock onto this team which is mandatory on hstack.
Set Details: Flip turn was chosen as the last move over sacred sword since this team doesn't struggle vs gambit/moon as much.
Tera: Allows you to clean easier, also lures a weakened zapdos
Other Options: Sacred sword is still an option over flip turn. Sucker or jet are also options
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Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Healing Wish
Role: LO Lati@s is the OG wallbreaker, this mon been dropping dracos and healing its friends since gen 4. SV latias started off using some screens WP pussy shit, but I got inspired by using latios a bunch in SV to run LO latias. Latias' biggest Ls are its weak spatk stat and lack of psychic noise, so it is running psyshock here for fat teams and modest to squeeze out its damage output. With that being said, its spikes immunity and great coverage make this mon very hard to switch into for many teams, and its high spdef allows it to check iron moth pretty well, even if it teras. The only teams that don't care about switching into latias are rest ting-lu teams, AV crown teams, as well as tera'd mons like tera water garg. The premise is you use zama early game, chip down its checks, then you break with latias, hwish zama back up and win. Obviously this exact gameplan differs depending on MU, but latias gives you so much flexibility in how you use za.
Set Details: Psyshock lures tera out of stall and allows ghold to win. Surf is a great midground and draco is your strongest move. Hwish differentiates it from latios so it's mandatory,
Tera: Checks tusk better, makes surf very strong (2hkos ghold).
Other Options: Tbolt for corv and tera water garg would be the only coverage that could be justified over surf, you don't need shadow ball or aura sphere since zama will probably chip ghold into surf range, and zama also helps vs gambit.
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Healing Wish
Role: LO Lati@s is the OG wallbreaker, this mon been dropping dracos and healing its friends since gen 4. SV latias started off using some screens WP pussy shit, but I got inspired by using latios a bunch in SV to run LO latias. Latias' biggest Ls are its weak spatk stat and lack of psychic noise, so it is running psyshock here for fat teams and modest to squeeze out its damage output. With that being said, its spikes immunity and great coverage make this mon very hard to switch into for many teams, and its high spdef allows it to check iron moth pretty well, even if it teras. The only teams that don't care about switching into latias are rest ting-lu teams, AV crown teams, as well as tera'd mons like tera water garg. The premise is you use zama early game, chip down its checks, then you break with latias, hwish zama back up and win. Obviously this exact gameplan differs depending on MU, but latias gives you so much flexibility in how you use za.
Set Details: Psyshock lures tera out of stall and allows ghold to win. Surf is a great midground and draco is your strongest move. Hwish differentiates it from latios so it's mandatory,
Tera: Checks tusk better, makes surf very strong (2hkos ghold).
Other Options: Tbolt for corv and tera water garg would be the only coverage that could be justified over surf, you don't need shadow ball or aura sphere since zama will probably chip ghold into surf range, and zama also helps vs gambit.
Since this team is built around zama, the bad MUs come down to how prepared they are vs this zama set.
is a pain to switch into, but you can sometimes go hard samu to pressure w ceaseless, or use glowking as a pivot. Tera poison doesn't matter since we have psyshock lati
these guys invalidate zama so you'll have to use latias as your main progressmaker
webs is a tough MU but latias is great into webs.
specific bad MUs:
tera water curse 1v1s zama if you don't crit and can't lose to latias. Try not to get it to +2, but counterplay usually devolves into saccing mons to chip it down into +2 tera gholdengo make it rain.
booster crown is a pain for this team, ghold can beat it but if it tera's you have to sac ghold + tera zama.
tera ghost is very annoying for this team, pivot glowking into scarf samu to beat this, but if you're facing webs it's a lot harder.
tera ghost/poison + booster speed Bulk up is very annoying for this team, you can tera latias but that usually puts you behind so it's still a bad MU.
tera steel seems like a really bad MU, didn't run into it nor do I know if it's ran a lot but it kinda just 6-0s.
is a pain to switch into, but you can sometimes go hard samu to pressure w ceaseless, or use glowking as a pivot. Tera poison doesn't matter since we have psyshock lati
these guys invalidate zama so you'll have to use latias as your main progressmaker
webs is a tough MU but latias is great into webs.
specific bad MUs:
tera water curse 1v1s zama if you don't crit and can't lose to latias. Try not to get it to +2, but counterplay usually devolves into saccing mons to chip it down into +2 tera gholdengo make it rain.
booster crown is a pain for this team, ghold can beat it but if it tera's you have to sac ghold + tera zama.
tera ghost is very annoying for this team, pivot glowking into scarf samu to beat this, but if you're facing webs it's a lot harder.
tera ghost/poison + booster speed Bulk up is very annoying for this team, you can tera latias but that usually puts you behind so it's still a bad MU.
tera steel seems like a really bad MU, didn't run into it nor do I know if it's ran a lot but it kinda just 6-0s.