SM OU 2058 peaked #2 The rise of Blacephalon with Aurora Veil

robopoke · May 29, 2018

Upon multiple changes, I present you my final version of imo the best playstyle in USM OU right now.

Landorus-Therian @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Explosion

One of the, if not the best leadchoice for HO right now. The moveset should be selfexplanory. Be careful against Damp Swampert. Rocks are Rocks, SD pressures Zapdos and defensive Landorus-T. Explosion prevents Defog. HP Ice is possible over SD.

Greninja @ Focus Sash
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Ice Beam
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Shadow Sneak

This is usually the mon I go into after losing Landorus-T. Spikes+Taunt pressures Gastrodon and Toxapex builds alot. Shadow Sneak is extremly useful to prevent Excadril Spins. You can also Shadow Sneak Mega Zams to avoid Focus Blast and do good damage. In the replay section I will specifically compile replays to showcase Shadow Sneaks' extreme usefullness.

Ninetales-Alola @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 192 HP / 64 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aurora Veil
- Freeze-Dry
- Safeguard
- Icy Wind

We all know what this thing does. I chose Safeguard and Icy Wind as my filler moves. For one Safe Guard allows me to dodge Toxic Spikes if I have those on the field for a few turns and it helps Stall matchup. Icy Wind is key to slow down mons that try to setup on me. Examples include Zard X and Mega TTar. Icy Wind also slows down Heatran so I can DD on him with Zygarde. I use a fat spread which is common for this playstyle. Hypnosis is too risky and Encore does not work against a slower target. Icy Wind is the most consistent antispeedboost strategy. The EVs OHKO defensive Landorus-T after Rocks

Zygarde @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 160 HP / 216 Atk / 28 SpD / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Coil
- Thousand Arrows
- Extreme Speed

Standard Dual Dance Zygarde. Extremly threatening with and without Veil. I probably do not have to explain this mon.

Blacephalon @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 240 HP / 16 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower

This Blacephalon is extremly dangerous against all playstyles. After a kill you will get a boost in Speed which prevents revengekilling strategies. The defensive counterplay is limited to Toxapex, Gastrodon and Tyranitar. Spikes Taunt Greninja makes sure, Gastro and Pex stay low. Ninetales can force in TTar to take hazard damage as they try to prevent Veil. This allows Blacephalon to shine. 70% of the games I win with this beast.

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
Happiness: 0
EVs: 56 HP / 200 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Glare
- Leaf Storm

This is standard SubSeed Serp with Glare over HP Fire. Serperior is a great pick on this team because I was extremly weak to Sticky Webs and Serp helped me slow down threats. Glare is extremly useful to paralyze mons like Tornadus-T. If you predict a Defog, you can also go hard Serp and enjoy the evasion Boost. +1 Evasion with Sub and Glare is HELLA NASTY. Extremly potent Set that can Leech Seed almost everything and spam Sub while recovering almost all the HP Back thus forcing a switch. Great mon, imo very underrated.

Greninja @ Focus Sash
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Ice Beam
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Shadow Sneak

Landorus-Therian @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Explosion

Ninetales-Alola @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 192 HP / 64 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aurora Veil
- Freeze-Dry
- Safeguard
- Icy Wind

Zygarde @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 160 HP / 216 Atk / 28 SpD / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Coil
- Thousand Arrows
- Extreme Speed

Blacephalon @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 240 HP / 16 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
Happiness: 0
EVs: 56 HP / 200 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Glare
- Leaf Storm

Le Val · May 30, 2018

BAN VEIL

BAN ZYGARDE

you guys know im right so dont argue.

okay so something you can try here is electrode with screens. Its fast as mega alakazam and has taunt and volt switch. No safeguard though so that sucks but still i think its better than koko or even tales.

AL QAEDA (Electrode) @ Light Clay
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid / Jolly* Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Taunt
- Volt Switch / Explosion*

* means they go together

mikekap · Jun 2, 2018

This team and one tailwind centered one posted here on smogon forums, are two of the most exciting and refreshing teams ever! Really fun to use, I prefer Ninetales than electrode posted above, cause safeguard is actually useful, and being able to snipe lando is cool. Great job there!

PuttMayn · Jun 4, 2018

I’ve actually been testing this team on a smurf, how do you deal with M-Loppuny?

robopoke · Jun 4, 2018

PuttMayn said:
I’ve actually been testing this team on a smurf, how do you deal with M-Loppuny?

Mega Lopunny was never a concern to me. Landorus-T, Sash Ice Beam Gren, Aurora Veil, Zygarde setsup on it (no Ice Punch) or Tarrows+Espeed and Serperior Glare. Almost all members can check it with either Intimidate help or Aurora Veil.

patlop2307 · Jun 5, 2018

Hey robopoke! Really nice team you have there. Aurora Veil has proven to be one of the best "cheese playstyle"s since the end of regular Sun and Moon meta thanks to the user called imsosorrylol whom I consider to be the "father" of Aurora Veil. I am mainly going to focus on what sets could be improved and bringing reasons why certain sets work better in the current metagame while also taking some of sorry's sets into account. So without further ado, let's get started!

Overview:

The team is definitely solid and the peak with it is completely justified. I also like the use of Blacephalon and Serperior on the team as they can definitely provide support for the team or act as their own sweepers. Also the aspects of an HO team are being fulfilled, the team doesn't need to be solid it's just supposed to get all the hazards and the veil up quickly and take advantage of the situation from there, so that job was also fulfilled pretty well in my eyes. The main problems I have with the team are mainly the sets. The problem might not seem huge and is easy to handle, but it costs you some games for sure. The sets I mainly have a problem with are the ones of Ninetails, Serperior, and Zygarde, but that going to be gone over more thoroughly later on.

What is your team weak to?

/

: The problem with Tyranitar is that you don't have any measures against it setting up the sand, disabling the use of Aurora Veil completely. While you could argue that certain Pokémon beat it, the main point of Tyranitar is to interrupt the Aurora Veil setting. I would consider the Mega-Tyranitar match-up worse since if it is played smart, you always have the extra time of sand in the back. Also, sets like Ice Punch for Zygarde could rip holes in your team, sometimes irreparable ones.

: This match-up heavily depends on when it is sent it, so how it is played. If sent in in the right situation though (versus Blacephalon or Greninja) it can become a real menace to your team being able to Hydro Pump and Dark Pulse through your team. The counterplay you have for it is setting up Aurora Veil but that can be outplayed by the counterpart as well, so it is a threat depending on the player's managing skills.

How can you improve the team?

Minor Changes:

Hail > Icy Wind (

): For the first change we have a relatively simple but effective one. What I was wondering all along was: "Why run Icy Wind?" It barely accomplishes anything by being weak as hell, getting outdamaged by Freeze-Dry, and having a side-effect that comes into effect in very, very few match-ups. Hail on the other hand improves the match-up versus sand teams as you can set up the hail after Tyranitar mega-evolves and is a pretty nice answer against other weather teams. Also, if we look at the teams sorry posted in his RMT, we can see a similar set. The reason why I am not going with Hypnosis here is that I do agree with your points and do think that Safeguard ghas a certain niche. The set I will be therefore going with is Freeze Dry|Hail|Aurora Veil|Safeguard.

Substitute > Extreme Speed (

): So, this is going to be the only tweak that is going to go against sorry's RMT here since everybody else right now is using Substitute Zygarde right now. The combination of Aurora Veil + Substitute and double dance has proven plenty of times that it is one of the hardest combinations to break, period. Extreme Speed, while being a useful move in some cases, doesn't come near the usefulness of Substitute and that's why I am suggesting this tweak. The set after the tweak is going to be Substitute|Coil|Dragon Dance|Thousand Arrows.

Hidden Power [Fire] > Glare/Leech Seed (

): So to start this change off I have to say: Hidden Power [Fire] is a staple on Serperior, don't ever get rid of it or you'll get punished in a lot of games because of it. You not being able to hit Ferrothorns, Mega-Scizors, Tornadus-Therians, opposing Serperiors, and many more. Additionally, the fact that you only have one 8 PP attacking move makes it an anything but reliable Pokémon to have. The change here is quite tricky and depends on the job you want it to fulfill. Do you want it to be a para-spreader? Then I'd suggest you keeping Glare. If you want it to be a nice stallbreaker, then keep Leech Seed. Now, I am assuming you want to keep Glare for defensive utilty which is why the set is going to be Leaf Storm|Substitute|Hidden Power [Fire]|Glare.

Conclusion:

The team wasn't bad at all in the first place and, as already said before, deserves its high peak. The sets mostly made sense to me, the ones that didn't I replaced with some other, more useful ones. I do still think that the speed is kind of lacking, although some Pokémon make up for it. Additionally, the team stays weak to stuff like Ash-Greninja, for instance which can, depending on the situation, come in and wreck havoc. If you have any questions or criticism concerning this rate, feel free to tell me! With that being said, I iwhs you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

Resources:

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...alified-for-olt-peaked-1-peaked-2170.3613549/

https://www.bisafans.de/pokedex/index.php|https://pokemonshowdown.com/damagecalc/|pokepast.es

robopoke · Jun 5, 2018

patlop2307 said:
Hey robopoke! Really nice team you have there. Aurora Veil has proven to be one of the best "cheese playstyle"s since the end of regular Sun and Moon meta thanks to the user called imsosorrylol whom I consider to be the "father" of Aurora Veil. I am mainly going to focus on what sets could be improved and bringing reasons why certain sets work better in the current metagame while also taking some of sorry's sets into account. So without further ado, let's get started!

Overview:

The team is definitely solid and the peak with it is completely justified. I also like the use of Blacephalon and Serperior on the team as they can definitely provide support for the team or act as their own sweepers. Also the aspects of an HO team are being fulfilled, the team doesn't need to be solid it's just supposed to get all the hazards and the veil up quickly and take advantage of the situation from there, so that job was also fulfilled pretty well in my eyes. The main problems I have with the team are mainly the sets. The problem might not seem huge and is easy to handle, but it costs you some games for sure. The sets I mainly have a problem with are the ones of Ninetails, Serperior, and Zygarde, but that going to be gone over more thoroughly later on.

What is your team weak to?

/

: The problem with Tyranitar is that you don't have any measures against it setting up the sand, disabling the use of Aurora Veil completely. While you could argue that certain Pokémon beat it, the main point of Tyranitar is to interrupt the Aurora Veil setting. I would consider the Mega-Tyranitar match-up worse since if it is played smart, you always have the extra time of sand in the back. Also, sets like Ice Punch for Zygarde could rip holes in your team, sometimes irreparable ones.

: This match-up heavily depends on when it is sent it, so how it is played. If sent in in the right situation though (versus Blacephalon or Greninja) it can become a real menace to your team being able to Hydro Pump and Dark Pulse through your team. The counterplay you have for it is setting up Aurora Veil but that can be outplayed by the counterpart as well, so it is a threat depending on the player's managing skills.

How can you improve the team?

Minor Changes:

Hail > Icy Wind (

): For the first change we have a relatively simple but effective one. What I was wondering all along was: "Why run Icy Wind?" It barely accomplishes anything by being weak as hell, getting outdamaged by Freeze-Dry, and having a side-effect that comes into effect in very, very few match-ups. Hail on the other hand improves the match-up versus sand teams as you can set up the hail after Tyranitar mega-evolves and is a pretty nice answer against other weather teams. Also, if we look at the teams sorry posted in his RMT, we can see a similar set. The reason why I am not going with Hypnosis here is that I do agree with your points and do think that Safeguard ghas a certain niche. The set I will be therefore going with is Freeze Dry|Hail|Aurora Veil|Safeguard.

Substitute > Extreme Speed (

): So, this is going to be the only tweak that is going to go against sorry's RMT here since everybody else right now is using Substitute Zygarde right now. The combination of Aurora Veil + Substitute and double dance has proven plenty of times that it is one of the hardest combinations to break, period. Extreme Speed, while being a useful move in some cases, doesn't come near the usefulness of Substitute and that's why I am suggesting this tweak. The set after the tweak is going to be Substitute|Coil|Dragon Dance|Thousand Arrows.

Hidden Power [Fire] > Glare/Leech Seed (

): So to start this change off I have to say: Hidden Power [Fire] is a staple on Serperior, don't ever get rid of it or you'll get punished in a lot of games because of it. You not being able to hit Ferrothorns, Mega-Scizors, Tornadus-Therians, opposing Serperiors, and many more. Additionally, the fact that you only have one 8 PP attacking move makes it an anything but reliable Pokémon to have. The change here is quite tricky and depends on the job you want it to fulfill. Do you want it to be a para-spreader? Then I'd suggest you keeping Glare. If you want it to be a nice stallbreaker, then keep Leech Seed. Now, I am assuming you want to keep Glare for defensive utilty which is why the set is going to be Leaf Storm|Substitute|Hidden Power [Fire]|Glare.

Conclusion:

The team wasn't bad at all in the first place and, as already said before, deserves its high peak. The sets mostly made sense to me, the ones that didn't I replaced with some other, more useful ones. I do still think that the speed is kind of lacking, although some Pokémon make up for it. Additionally, the team stays weak to stuff like Ash-Greninja, for instance which can, depending on the situation, come in and wreck havoc. If you have any questions or criticism concerning this rate, feel free to tell me! With that being said, I iwhs you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

Resources:

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...alified-for-olt-peaked-1-peaked-2170.3613549/

https://www.bisafans.de/pokedex/index.php|https://pokemonshowdown.com/damagecalc/|pokepast.es

Thanks for your rate. Tyranitar is always a problem for Veil. Let us assume I use Hail on the switch to TTar. He can then still Mega Evolve and reset the rain. If he is CB then yes, I got off my Aurora Veil.

The Set Freeze Dry, Aurora Veil, Safe Guard and Hail has the following flaw: Mega Tyranitar can switch in and DD on me and I cannot stop him. Without Hynpsis which is extremly risky, Mega Ttar can setup on me and proceed to potentially sweep my whole team. To avoid being setup bait without risking Hypnosis, I decided to use include Icy Wind. This can also help attack a Tornadus-T that is switching in, attempting to Defog my hazards+predicted Aurora Veil away. I used both and consider Icy Wind to be much better.

Against Tyranitar matchup I usually get up lots of hazards and when I expect the TTar, I double into something like Serperior.

Ash Gren is indeed very dangerous. Specs Gren however cannot revengekill Blacephalon in Veil at +1 with Water Shuriken. But if he hardswitches it can be tricky. Id say the combination of Tyranitar+ Specs Gren is very tough coz they can always lock themself into Dark Pulse, forcing me to go Ninetales and thus go to TTar.

The Serpset is just there to cripple lots of stuff with Glare. Counters like Heatran have to hit Magmas now through paralysis and I can spam Sub and annoy switchins with Glare or Seed. But yea HP Fire is def. an option

patlop2307 · Jun 5, 2018

robopoke said:
Thanks for your rate. Tyranitar is always a problem for Veil. Let us assume I use Hail on the switch to TTar. He can then still Mega Evolve and reset the rain. If he is CB then yes, I got off my Aurora Veil.

The Set Freeze Dry, Aurora Veil, Safe Guard and Hail has the following flaw: Mega Tyranitar can switch in and DD on me and I cannot stop him. Without Hynpsis which is extremly risky, Mega Ttar can setup on me and proceed to potentially sweep my whole team. To avoid being setup bait without risking Hypnosis, I decided to use include Icy Wind. This can also help attack a Tornadus-T that is switching in, attempting to Defog my hazards+predicted Aurora Veil away. I used both and consider Icy Wind to be much better.

Against Tyranitar matchup I usually get up lots of hazards and when I expect the TTar, I double into something like Serperior.

Ash Gren is indeed very dangerous. Specs Gren however cannot revengekill Blacephalon in Veil at +1 with Water Shuriken. But if he hardswitches it can be tricky. Id say the combination of Tyranitar+ Specs Gren is very tough coz they can always lock themself into Dark Pulse, forcing me to go Ninetales and thus go to TTar.

The Serpset is just there to cripple lots of stuff with Glare. Counters like Heatran have to hit Magmas now through paralysis and I can spam Sub and annoy switchins with Glare or Seed. But yea HP Fire is def. an option

1. You can Hail on the switch-in, that's the thing. Hail always lets you have a door open against Tyranitars. Yes, obviously you are going to have to predict it switching in, but it is doable nonetheless. After a Pokémon dies/gets sacked, Tyranitar can then be a problem and that is exactly when you have to have to pull the double into Serperior. Hail in that case gives you a much bigger boost in having Aurora Veil and not being forced to switch into Serperior is also nice. *Same thing with Mega Tyranitars, you can also force the mega by doubling into Serperior twice, I believe.

2. Ash-Greninja can easily get momentum on your team because certain Pokémon are just deadweight to it and thus make it easy for it to come in and get off a move for free.

3.You have a Zygarde for the Heatran. I honestly don't think making such a weird set just to fit that niche, especially when you have certain Pokémon to cover it.

Pinkacross · Aug 11, 2018

Small issue I see. You're not running as much Special Attack EVs as you could on Blacephalon. Try this instead.

Blacephalon @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 232 HP / 20 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
- Substitute

This is maximum Special Attack, and it can come in on rocks 4 times before falling. Nice team!

robopoke · Aug 11, 2018

Pinkacross said:
Small issue I see. You're not running as much Special Attack EVs as you could on Blacephalon. Try this instead.

Blacephalon @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 232 HP / 20 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
- Substitute

This is maximum Special Attack, and it can come in on rocks 4 times before falling. Nice team!

252+ Atk Hawlucha Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Blacephalon: 259-306 (84.3 - 99.6%)
252+ Atk Hawlucha Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 232 HP / 0 Def Blacephalon: 259-306 (84.9 - 100.3%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

240 can also come in 4 times before falling.
I appreciate the effort though.