Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- Proof of Peak
- Roles + Paste
- How to Use
- Threatlist
- Replays
- Acknowledgements
A couple days ago, I was laddering with the new sample team by Separation, playing some games in 1900s, as well as completing a suspect reqs run with it. While playing, some things I noticed were that
and 
just felt absurdly strong while playing against them. In addition, the red card 
on the team, as well as the offensive 
with rocky helmet felt very strong to use. As a result, I decided to build a team with an offensive as well as boots Dragon Dance , and later added helmet offensive with red card to help give my team some more defensive capabilities. I laddered this team up on an old alt I had, bob982374, which just had a few games in gen 9, and was in the 1000s. I ended up 62-12 initially, probably actually a few less wins and losses during the time using this team since there were a few games on the alt previously. The gxe of 86.5% was way higher than anything I usually achieve, with my gxe typically not going much higher than 80%, except during suspect tests. I'm actually the second highest gxe person on ladder with my elo or higher, which is crazy since whenever I'm high elo it's usually with one of the lowest gxe's of that part of ladder. I am really happy with this result, and I believe the team has pretty good resources against most matchups. I do find it extremely funny that my two most successful post-home teams by far have both had 
, this thing the goat frfr. I am still laddering with this team, and may update peak in the future. edit: reached 2088 with 87.7 gxe.Proof of peak:
Roles:
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 88 HP / 168 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Volt Switch
- Roost
I started teambuilding by adding offensive
, because it just felt very strong being able to spam hurricanes against 
, one of the only two real spdef ground types, the other being clodsire, which admittedly does deal with zap better. Being able to Volt Switch out against other things such as 
to get in one of the teams physical attackers, such as , allows to be very effective in many matchups. In addition, despite the offensive ev spread, static along with the typing allows for useful defensive play, such as dealing naturally with non Stone Edge Landorus, Great Tusk, and also pivot into resisted physical attacks such as a 
+2 Close Combat, to give multiple chances for a static para, shout outs static the most powerful ability ever designed. One thing that you can do with is to Volt Switch against lead 
into helmet , since if they ceaseless and die into helmet, spikes don't go up. The 88 hp here is to guaranteed live a specs timid 
Draco Meteor, as well as essentially guaranteed live 2 scarf 
Shadow Balls. I don't think I've gone for Tera Flying a single time while using this team, but the idea was essentially that it just boosts the power of Hurricane against something like , and lets you roost while avoiding earthquake. However, it isn't really possible to tera flying and have confidence that you won't just miss cane and achieve nothing. A defensive tera might be better, but I'm not entirely sure.252 SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Draco Meteor vs. 88 HP / 4 SpD Zapdos: 288-340 (83.9 - 99.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 88 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 145-172 (42.2 - 50.1%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
168 SpA Zapdos Volt Switch vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Samurott-Hisui: 300-354 (93.4 - 110.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+1 252 Atk Protosynthesis Tera Flying Roaring Moon Crunch vs. 88 HP / 0 Def Zapdos: 306-361 (89.2 - 105.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 88 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 145-172 (42.2 - 50.1%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
168 SpA Zapdos Volt Switch vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Samurott-Hisui: 300-354 (93.4 - 110.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+1 252 Atk Protosynthesis Tera Flying Roaring Moon Crunch vs. 88 HP / 0 Def Zapdos: 306-361 (89.2 - 105.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 208 SpD / 48 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock/Protect
- Taunt
I added
next, as I am just generally a big fan of how useful tran is as a spdef check to ghosts like and , as well as being effective against stall with taunt. Here, I initially ran Protect, with rocks on , but later changed it to Stealth Rocks, with Knock Off on . I think protect is still very useful, so you could totally just run rocks on instead, especially if you face a lot of sun, as protect is super useful in scouting choiced moves, and beating 
with tera grass.. The speed here is to hit 202, basically just creeping a few extra points against jolly gambits that hit 200 speed, perhaps theres a world where a jolly 
hits 201 to outspeed 200 speed gambit, not sure, just seemed useful in general, and you outspeed 0 speed of course. Grass tera is perhaps no longer as useful without 
, and I rarely clicked it except sometimes against Earth Power 
, so you could certainly try out some different tera if you wished.
Baxcalibur @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Thermal Exchange
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Icicle Crash
- Glaive Rush
- Earthquake
Baxcalibur has felt like the scariest offensive pokemon in the meta in my experience, perhaps borderline broken. I elected to go for a Dragon Dance set, as opposed to Swords Dance, so that it would have a little more cleaning potential against faster teams, but I haven't tested Swords Dance, and it could be good as well. Fairy tera is an all around good defensive typing, allowing you to tera against
and potentially get multiple free setups as they Draco Meteor, and resists sucker punch. Oftentimes this pokemon can just cheese past physdef 
with rocks up by just flinching it down, as they do not do too much damage back anyways. Note that fairy tera leaves you still weak to steel type moves, but it is probably still the best defensive tera imo.+1 252 Atk Baxcalibur Icicle Crash vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 157-186 (39.3 - 46.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Def Corviknight Body Press vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Baxcalibur: 178-210 (47.9 - 56.6%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO
0 Atk Corviknight Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Baxcalibur: 124-147 (33.4 - 39.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Def Corviknight Body Press vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Baxcalibur: 178-210 (47.9 - 56.6%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO
0 Atk Corviknight Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Baxcalibur: 124-147 (33.4 - 39.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Amoonguss @ Red Card
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Foul Play
This set is taken from Separation's Enamorus Volcanion Hazard Stack sample team, so I'm not entirely sure what the ev spread is designed for, but it does look like after tera water, it almost always lives +2 Tera Flying
Acrobatics. However, being heavily physdef invested has generally been very nice in dealing with stuff like Swords Dance 
, as well as being able to tera and phase out at +1. Acting as an emergency check to many HO mons, especially booster energy threats, is great with red card, and it also allows you to get off a spore against a random opposing pokemon if they hit into your red card. Clear smog is great for dealing with pokemon after you spore them, ensuring that you can deal with them even if they wake up quickly.+2 252+ Atk Tera Flying Sneasler Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 248 HP / 220+ Def Tera Water Amoonguss: 366-432 (84.9 - 100.2%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
+1 252 Atk Protosynthesis Tera Flying Roaring Moon Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 220+ Def Tera Water Amoonguss: 342-403 (79.1 - 93.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 Atk Protosynthesis Tera Flying Roaring Moon Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 220+ Def Tera Water Amoonguss: 342-403 (79.1 - 93.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Great Tusk @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off/Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Ice Spinner
This is another set taken from the Separation team, and I have found it to be an extremely useful both defensive and offensive piece. Again, this can opt to run rocks if Heatran is running protect. Rocky helmet is super useful for chipping down opposing pokemon going for U-Turn, as well as
going for ceaseless edge, and just getting some needed chip in general. Ice spinner with max atk investment allows you to do much more damage than expected against 
and :Enamorus-Incarnate:. This is our main form of hazard removal, as well as making progress by either setting rocks or knocking off. Max speed also usefully outspeeds non-scarf , which is very nice as well. Tera steel allows you to survive moonblast in a pinch, and spin into ice spinner knocks out :Enamorus-Incarnate:, allowing to go on some late game sweeps. In addition, steel allows you to take 1 hit from dragon dance Acrobatics 
, which can be useful.252 Atk Great Tusk Rapid Spin vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Enamorus: 74-88 (25.6 - 30.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Great Tusk Ice Spinner vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Enamorus: 236-278 (81.6 - 96.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Great Tusk Ice Spinner vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Enamorus: 236-278 (81.6 - 96.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Maushold @ Wide Lens
Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Tidy Up
- Population Bomb
- Bite
- Encore
This maushold set is the same as the one I previously used on my Basculegion team, and again I have been extremely pleased with its performance, particularly against HO teams. Along with doing well against HO, since
isn't exactly foolproff hazard removal, Tidy Up can serve as emergency hazard removal, which is super useful. Population Bomb is able to do incredible damage against many HO threats, OHKO'ing most offensive pokemon that do not resist it. For example, at neutral, you are able to OHKO essentially 100% of the time, and that has 115 92 bulk. Encore along with tera ghost allows for this to set up on pokemon such as or 
, especially with the hero form not resisting Normal. However, do be aware of terrain seed , which can KO you with tera flying Acrobatics unboosted, and tera ghost will also obviously avoid Population Bomb entirely. Encore is also great for locking up advantageous endgames against , where if you have sacks to spare, Encore can ensure that the cannot sucker punch, and then pokemon such as or can pick it off. One interesting interaction is that I faced a sub 
, which was able to dispose of through sub, after a little chip. This is also able to trade para for a ko against max hp , tho not physdef variants. Also note, against screens, when this hits 10 times, you have a 35% chance to crit at least 1 of them, leading to even more damage.252 Atk Technician Maushold Population Bomb (10 hits) vs. +1 40 HP / 0 Def Tera Flying Sneasler: 340-420 (109.3 - 135%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Technician Maushold Population Bomb (10 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Baxcalibur: 370-450 (99.7 - 121.2%) -- approx. 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Technician Maushold Population Bomb (10 hits) vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Hatterene: 270-330 (84.9 - 103.7%) -- approx. 6.3% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Technician Maushold Bite vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 144-170 (45.7 - 53.9%) -- 93.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Maushold: 252-297 (87.1 - 102.7%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
+1 252 Atk Technician Maushold Population Bomb (10 hits) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 180-210 (45.1 - 52.6%) -- approx. 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Technician Maushold Population Bomb (10 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Baxcalibur: 370-450 (99.7 - 121.2%) -- approx. 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Technician Maushold Population Bomb (10 hits) vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Hatterene: 270-330 (84.9 - 103.7%) -- approx. 6.3% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Technician Maushold Bite vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 144-170 (45.7 - 53.9%) -- 93.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Gholdengo Make It Rain vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Maushold: 252-297 (87.1 - 102.7%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
+1 252 Atk Technician Maushold Population Bomb (10 hits) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Corviknight: 180-210 (45.1 - 52.6%) -- approx. 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Paste:
Bax Maus BO
Some Gameplan Advice:
Here I'll just briefly cover some gameplan ideas against some common archetypes.
- Against HO, either lead and Volt Switch into , to stop spikes, or lead and just Population Bomb, depending on if you expect a Helmet mon on the opposing team. Beware of the rare Choice Scarf if you are leading . Utilize red card and spore to neutralize fast opposing threats, and set up for a potential endgame, or perhaps a Dragon Dance endgame.
- Against stall, utilize taunt , along with knock off if using that variant. After a helmet has been knocked, may force a ghost tera on something like
, and can also provide longevity against stall in general. - Against opposing BO, try to limit the opponent's chances with particularly, and try to break through with your own and , if a helmet is removed. If the is rocky helmet, then can break through it easier, and if it's leftovers, then may be able to break through.
- Against the rare Psyspam, generally provides pretty good resources, with Population Bomb and Tera Ghost being very useful against many of the offensive threats. Heatran also deals with
pretty well. - Against sun, Tera Grass can trap and defeat it if it locks into Hydro Steam, but this works much better if you are running protect , so if you run into a lot of sun, you can opt for protect.
This thing is definitely a big threat. If it dragon dances in front of something like
, that is a big issue. You can Tera Water to live a hit and phase it out or spore it. Tera Steel can also work if it is already chipped. You can also Tera your own . Essentially, pick a mon to defensively tera and hope it bails you out.
This is probably not as big of a threat, but with an offensive
set, it certainly gets chipped down quite quickly by iron heads. In endgames, encore can lock it down, generally try to chip it down throughout the midgame with rocky helmet and finish it off with something like a Tera Fairy Earthquake.
With Dragon Dance, this threatens everything on the team except
with a OHKO with Tera Flying Acrobatics, and that can die to a crunch. You may have to either pick a defensive Tera, or pivot into on an Acrobatics to fish twice for para.
With Choice Band and Future Sight support, this essentially guarantees 1 KO when it gets in. Essentially try to win the sack war and win with one of the setup sweepers in
or , possibly utilizing the defensive tera against with Fairy on , before your entire team dies to CC + Future Sight.Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1887589331-f3dge1kwv6fwpggxfdr6bhqlrlc37l7pw newer peak game to 2060, against an opposing BO team.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1886959944-lb3tqar5vgf0ct2ut7jgb76ps548duqpw Peak game against CB Zama + future sight
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1886920943-mvnhk5eb0dkzqjcnixgiw55ha1h80lypw Vs. Screens HO, with maushold beating sub hatt.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1886930571 Vs some interesting BO team
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1886957427 Baxcalibur breaks for maushold
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1885712187-5qf8dfcga65zk7ii383ossa28y1fw5npw Vs. psyspam
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1886916650 Loss against balance, but still shows how effect
can be, interesting game.Acknowledgements:
Shoutouts Separation because two of the mons and sets came from their sample team.
Shoutouts TrainerAid discord for just being a cool place to discuss mons in general, and for suggesting knock on tusk rocks on tran as an option.
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