https://pokepast.es/c1cc4b453272cf90
I've been laddering up with a lot of unique teams as of lately and I felt it would be a good idea to do my first ever RMT. The meta is going through a lot of changes with threats like Blacephalon and Tapu Lele on the rise.
It struck me that there is no ideal check to Tapu Lele since traditional switch-ins like Scizor and Corviknight have their own problems switching in, mainly due to Scizor being vulnerable to chip and Corviknight being very weak to specs thunderbolt. Then i remembered the standard Aegislash set from the uu tier, that can be pretty deadly if gets behind a sub. I immediately decided to build a fat balance team centered around this particular Aegislash set.
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Substitute
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Close Combat
This set was adapted from the sub-toxic tech used commonly in the underused tier, but decided it could be deadly if it was slightly adapted for the Overused tier. I initially started off with toxic but with the abundance of steel types in the metagame right now, i decided it wouldn't be worth it. The addition of close combat lets Aegislash deal with dark and steel types it wouldn't otherwise be able to touch, and besides with all the Blisseys floating around, close combat wouldn't be a bad idea at all. The traditional tanky spread with maximum investment in Special defense makes it so much better of a wall, effortlessly switching into Tapu Lele every single time. It also lives a scarf flamethrower from Blacephalon and lives a Specs Shadow ball from Dragapult and is able to KO them back if they're not careful. This set can be too passive at times and i'm considering dropping king's shield for another move/strategy like metal sound or swords dance.
Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 232 HP / 168 Def / 108 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
The classic cleric for any team, being able to shut down a variety of physical threats while at the same time keeping itself and its teammates healthy. While Aegislash is a fantastic wall, it can get chipped if we're not playing too careful and would no longer be able into switch in many threats. With Umbreon's wish support, Aegislash has better longevity and becomes all the more deadlier. Foul play helps shut down physical threats like Mamoswine and Dragon Dance Dragapult while heal bell comes in handy for curing any status conditions on Aegislash. The general presence of Umbreon deters many common threats from sweeping with Shadow Ball.
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Defog
Next up we have one of my favorite mons in the the Overused tier, Dragonite. This mon has so much utility in every kind of team, as a win-con, cleric, defogger and a general wall that sponges a variety of hits from all kinds of pokemon, in addition to being a check to sun and rain teams. Ice beam is to hit the common Landorus switch-in and can punish Garchomp if they get too greedy, Ice beam is also able to hit Venusaur and Shiftry which can be pretty devastating if they get going and also to clean up Rillaboom and Kartana since Dragonite cannot be defeated if its health is preserved. Earthquake is a great coverage move and is able to punish Heatran and Bisharp.
Magnezone @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Def / 96 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Body Press
- Iron Defense
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
I spent some time in the builder assessing the combo of three Pokemon I had already chosen and discovered that pesky steels like Ferrothorn and Corviknight are a major threat, being to able to set hazards and knock off items, and exerting pressure respectively. The addition of Magnezone provides a sure-fire way to trap and defeat these pesky mons and make the combo all the more devastating to deal with. Toxic helps to derail Landorus since flash cannon without investment doesn't damage it to a great extent and leftovers would heal it back up.
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Flip Turn
- Earthquake
- Toxic
Next, I needed a bulky rocks setter and I chose Swampert, given its access to flip turn, giving the team momentum and also hitting Landorus for super-effective damage. The addition of Swampert also provided me with the crucial ground immunity. Torrent could also be replaced for damp if explosion is a problem. Having toxic helps Swampert keep rocks up versus bulky defoggers like Tornadus and Zapdos while also taking hurricanes with ease. Swampert also serves as a secondary check to Heatran and is easily wished back up if it gets weakened.
Toxapex @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Knock Off
- Recover
- Haze
- Poison Jab
Lastly I needed a bulky water type to improve my rain match-up. I chose Toxapex because it is a fantastic wall for many rain abusers like Barraskweda and Urshifu-R. Knock off creates progress, while haze and recover are staple moves to improve its utility, poison jab is for Tapu Fini and Unaware Clefable. The presence of Toxapex in general also prevents Weavile, and Rillaboom from harming the team.
Replays:
I only managed to save two replays, one on an alt, but they should be a good indication of how the team works
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1430739328-5p5kjvcsx6x8ry0zsn5p2tetxgmv44vpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1430865385-2vw15cktgx07xng1479dsyebsmo7nf4pw
Conclusion:
My ladder run with this team has been going pretty well, I have made some major changes to it since my initial draft and I'm confident it could reach higher up the ladder with some optimizations. Some difficult match-ups are specs Blacephalon and nasty plot Tornadus. But apart from this, the team has been performing pretty well and I'm open to hearing any suggestions.
Cheers!
I've been laddering up with a lot of unique teams as of lately and I felt it would be a good idea to do my first ever RMT. The meta is going through a lot of changes with threats like Blacephalon and Tapu Lele on the rise.
It struck me that there is no ideal check to Tapu Lele since traditional switch-ins like Scizor and Corviknight have their own problems switching in, mainly due to Scizor being vulnerable to chip and Corviknight being very weak to specs thunderbolt. Then i remembered the standard Aegislash set from the uu tier, that can be pretty deadly if gets behind a sub. I immediately decided to build a fat balance team centered around this particular Aegislash set.
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Substitute
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Close Combat
This set was adapted from the sub-toxic tech used commonly in the underused tier, but decided it could be deadly if it was slightly adapted for the Overused tier. I initially started off with toxic but with the abundance of steel types in the metagame right now, i decided it wouldn't be worth it. The addition of close combat lets Aegislash deal with dark and steel types it wouldn't otherwise be able to touch, and besides with all the Blisseys floating around, close combat wouldn't be a bad idea at all. The traditional tanky spread with maximum investment in Special defense makes it so much better of a wall, effortlessly switching into Tapu Lele every single time. It also lives a scarf flamethrower from Blacephalon and lives a Specs Shadow ball from Dragapult and is able to KO them back if they're not careful. This set can be too passive at times and i'm considering dropping king's shield for another move/strategy like metal sound or swords dance.
Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 232 HP / 168 Def / 108 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
The classic cleric for any team, being able to shut down a variety of physical threats while at the same time keeping itself and its teammates healthy. While Aegislash is a fantastic wall, it can get chipped if we're not playing too careful and would no longer be able into switch in many threats. With Umbreon's wish support, Aegislash has better longevity and becomes all the more deadlier. Foul play helps shut down physical threats like Mamoswine and Dragon Dance Dragapult while heal bell comes in handy for curing any status conditions on Aegislash. The general presence of Umbreon deters many common threats from sweeping with Shadow Ball.
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Defog
Next up we have one of my favorite mons in the the Overused tier, Dragonite. This mon has so much utility in every kind of team, as a win-con, cleric, defogger and a general wall that sponges a variety of hits from all kinds of pokemon, in addition to being a check to sun and rain teams. Ice beam is to hit the common Landorus switch-in and can punish Garchomp if they get too greedy, Ice beam is also able to hit Venusaur and Shiftry which can be pretty devastating if they get going and also to clean up Rillaboom and Kartana since Dragonite cannot be defeated if its health is preserved. Earthquake is a great coverage move and is able to punish Heatran and Bisharp.
Magnezone @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Def / 96 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Body Press
- Iron Defense
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
I spent some time in the builder assessing the combo of three Pokemon I had already chosen and discovered that pesky steels like Ferrothorn and Corviknight are a major threat, being to able to set hazards and knock off items, and exerting pressure respectively. The addition of Magnezone provides a sure-fire way to trap and defeat these pesky mons and make the combo all the more devastating to deal with. Toxic helps to derail Landorus since flash cannon without investment doesn't damage it to a great extent and leftovers would heal it back up.
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Flip Turn
- Earthquake
- Toxic
Next, I needed a bulky rocks setter and I chose Swampert, given its access to flip turn, giving the team momentum and also hitting Landorus for super-effective damage. The addition of Swampert also provided me with the crucial ground immunity. Torrent could also be replaced for damp if explosion is a problem. Having toxic helps Swampert keep rocks up versus bulky defoggers like Tornadus and Zapdos while also taking hurricanes with ease. Swampert also serves as a secondary check to Heatran and is easily wished back up if it gets weakened.
Toxapex @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Knock Off
- Recover
- Haze
- Poison Jab
Lastly I needed a bulky water type to improve my rain match-up. I chose Toxapex because it is a fantastic wall for many rain abusers like Barraskweda and Urshifu-R. Knock off creates progress, while haze and recover are staple moves to improve its utility, poison jab is for Tapu Fini and Unaware Clefable. The presence of Toxapex in general also prevents Weavile, and Rillaboom from harming the team.
Replays:
I only managed to save two replays, one on an alt, but they should be a good indication of how the team works
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1430739328-5p5kjvcsx6x8ry0zsn5p2tetxgmv44vpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1430865385-2vw15cktgx07xng1479dsyebsmo7nf4pw
Conclusion:
My ladder run with this team has been going pretty well, I have made some major changes to it since my initial draft and I'm confident it could reach higher up the ladder with some optimizations. Some difficult match-ups are specs Blacephalon and nasty plot Tornadus. But apart from this, the team has been performing pretty well and I'm open to hearing any suggestions.
Cheers!
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