ORAS OU Blinding Brilliance: A Mega Diancie Balance Team (21W-1L 73.6% GXE)

[Millionsunz]

Blinding Brilliance: A Mega Diancie Balance Team
What's up everyone! I've been playing around in OU a lot lately, and I decided to share one of my favorite teams that I've built from the ground up. As the Generation VI metagame slowly comes to an end with Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon right around the corner, I thought I'd share of the teams that I enjoyed using most in the Generation VI OU metagame. Going 21-1 (I played until 1 Loss because I'm lazy), the team is very strong on it's own and is good for quick laddering. Without further ado, let's dive into the team :)

Teambuilding Process

I first wanted to start out with arguably one of the best Mega Evolutions that arose in the Generation VI metagame, Mega Diancie. Boasting strong offensive stats and a great ability in Magic Guard, Mega Diancie is one of the most prominent Pokemon in the OU tier, and for good reason.

Creating a balanced core, Ferrothorn is a must on any Mega Diancie team imo. Ferrothorn checks all of Diancie's checks, like Scarf Landorus-T, Azumarill, and Manaphy. I also love to use hazard-stacking teams, so that's also a plus with this defensive monster.

To create a more offensive presence on the team, I added one of the most terrifying set-up sweepers in the tier: Volcarona. Volcarona is able to abuse Quiver Dance and strong STAB moves to completely demolish any unprepared team. While it is 4x weak to Stealth Rocks, Diancie uses it's ability to bounce them back to the other side. It can also use Giga Drain to recover HP which can mitigate the Stealth Rock weakness.

Next Thundurus-T was added to the team to counteract the growing Water-Type weakness the team has. With threats like Azumarill, Keldeo, and Manaphy running around, Thundurus provides well needed Electric support, and can also spread paralysis with Thunder Wave. Thundurus is also able to deal with strong Ground-Types like Garchomp and Landorus-T, hitting them hard with an HP Ice.

SD Sash Garchomp was probably my favorite Pokemon to use in the Generation VI metagame, mostly because of how good it is. Being able to set up on a surprising number of Pokemon and be able to take out Pokemon meant to revenge kill it, holding on to it's Sash, Chomp was the final offensive threat the team needed.

The team needed a bulky pivot besides Ferrothorn, and a defensive answer to multiple threats. Defensive Slowbro is the blanket to those threats, such as Azumarill, Landorus-T, Scarf Jirachi, Mega Lopunny, and Talonflame. Slowbro is able to pivot in and then switch out, or set up a CM or two if it has the chance. CM Slowbro is able to add a more offensive presence to the team, and also prevents the loss of momentum.

In Depth​

Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 8 Atk / 248 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power

A pretty standard offensive Mega Diancie set, focusing on her amazing special movepool with heavy investment in Special Attack. 8 Attack EVs are run to guarantee the OHKO on Mega Charizard X and the Maximum Speed investment allows Mega Diancie to reach its amazing Speed tier of 350. Protect is run to get off the Mega Evolution safely, and can even scout Choiced Pokemon. Moonblast and Diamond Storm are strong and necessary STAB attacks, while Earth Power can hit Pokemon like Excadrill and Heatran - hard.​

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Spikes

One of the two defensive Pokemon of the team, Ferrothorn is great at it's specific role: setting up hazards for Mega Diancie and other threats to have an easier time sweeping. Leech Seed provides recovery outside of Leftovers, and Gyro Ball punished Pokemon that think they can set up on it, like Dragonite and Mega Charizard X. The EV spread is pretty standard, allowing Ferrothorn to survive 2 Ice Beams from a +3 Manaphy, while also have enough Physical bulk to handle threats like Azumarill.​

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Thundurus is one of the coolest Pokemon in the OU tier, and fills a very specific role on the team as a Water-Type and faster attacker check. Being able to hit Water Types like Azumarill, Manaphy, and Keldeo hard with a Thunderbolt is amazing on the team. With Thunder Wave, Thundurus can check multiple threats, like a boosted Charizard X, Weavile, and Scarf Keldeo. Sludge Wave is a nice little attack that can hit Clefable surprisingly hard, as Thutndurus can lure it in sometimes. HP Ice allows Thundurus to hit Ground-Types as well.​

​

Garchomp @ Focus Sash
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge ​

Swords Dance and Focus Sash Garchomp is probably one of the most fun Pokemon to use, being able to set up Sword Dance and get at least one KO. Being able to hold onto it's sash and take a Draco Meteor from Latios or an Outrage from Mega-Charizard X is amazing. Maximum Speed and Attack investment make sure that Garchomp outspeeds all base 100s and reach a nice attack stat of 359, which goes up to 718 after an SD.​

Volcarona @ Passho Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 72 HP / 252 SpA / 184 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Flamethrower
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain

Volcarona is one of the most terrifying set-up sweepers to face, without a doubt. With it's great Special Attack and decent Speed stat being boosted all in one turn, many teams have found themselves destroyed by our resident bug. Volcarona also has great STAB attacks in Flamethrower and Bug Buzz, which can hit most of the metagame very hard. Giga Drain hits Water and Ground-Types for SuperEffective damage, and can even heal off damage taken from hazards. With a Passho Berry equipped, Volcarona can take a CB Aqua Jet from Azumarill and +3 Scald from Timid Manaphy. ​

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 24 SpD / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Slack Off
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Psyshock

The final addition to the team is one of my favorite defensive pivots to use, Slowbro. Slowbro is able to use and abuse Regenerator to switch in, take a hit, then heal it off switching out. The EV spread allows it to avoid the 2HKO from Specs Keldeo's Hydro Pump after SR, outspeed other Slowbro and Amoonguss, and maximize it's physical bulk as best we can with the left-over EVS. Slack Off, Scald, and Psyshock are mandatory on Slowbro, and Calm Mind is used to make it more of an offensive presence, and not kill any momentum generated.

​

Threathlist​

Stealth Rocks: With Mega Diancie's Magic Bounce as the only form of prevent Stealth Rocks from being set up, the 2 Stealth Rock-weak Pokemon don't appreciate the hazards up, but they don't trouble them as much as you would think. They also break Garchomp's sash which is not the best but it can be worked around.

BoltBeam Mega Metagross: With a Bullet Punch being able to OHKO Mega Diancie, Mega Metagross can trouble one of the main offensive threats. With BoltBeam coverage, it can break through Slowbro and Garchomp, and can hit Ferrothorn with a Hammer Arm. It outspeeds Volcarona before setting up a QD and can easily switch out of a SuperEffective Flamethrower.

Weavile: Weavile is able to easily break through the team, hitting Thundurus, Ferrothorn, Garchomp, and Slowbro fro strong, SuperEffective attacks. Diancie is the only real way to deal with it (although Thundurus T Wave can be used as well) and it doesn't appreciate an Icicle Crash.​

Importable

Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 8 Atk / 248 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Spikes

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Stone Edge

Volcarona @ Passho Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 72 HP / 252 SpA / 184 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Flamethrower
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 24 SpD / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Slack Off
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Psyshock

​

Enjoy the team and thank you for reading!
Awesome banner made by myself lol​

 

[Hookah Doncic]

I would do two mon changes to help the team out and spread change

Defog latios over Slowbro.
Lando over chomp you can use def with SD with you still want power. Also gives you a soild sand check.
You can use bulky moth to check weavile and Zor and gives

 

[playerW17]

Hello Millionsunz,


I’m glad to see an example of a Volcarona (pretty cool mon) being used well, but I think there are some issues that could be fixed up with your team.


I think the most glaring issue is that you have no hazard removal with a Volcarona and a Thundurus, which is less than ideal, in my opinion. Weavile and Mega Metagross are also immense issues as you have already stated: I don’t think Thundurus is a good enough check for these offensive threats. Clefable also looks like a bit of an issue, as it can break its way past most of your checks, through Flamethrower on Ferrothorn, at which point CM basically beats your team.


To fix these issues, I would try a specially defensive Skarmory over your Ferrothorn, as it compresses the roles of hazard removal and as a bulky steel for troublesome pokemon such as Clefable and Latios. This also helps you against your entire threat list, e.g Weavile and (non Thunder-Punch Mega Metagross are both countered by Skarmory. This does shift your team into more of a balance role, but I don’t think this is a bad thing, necessarily. With this change, I feel you have sufficient counterplay against even Thunder Punch Mega Metagross, as you can pivot into Flame Body burns and generally play round Metagross’s attacks.


On Mega Diancie, I’d utilise a max attack set with HP fire, as this retains coverage on Heatran (max attack Diamond Storm does this: ((252 Atk Mega Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 181-214 (46.8 - 55.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery)) while luring Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn for your Slowbro to act as a secondary wincon. Earth Power’s targets such as Excadrill and Jirachi are well handled by this team, so I don’t think it is necessary for your specific team. Max attack also notably lures calm Clefable, which helps this team have adequate counterplay for CLefable.


Your Garchomp definitely needs to be the TankChomp set in my opinion, as with my change you would no longer have access to Stealth Rocks on Ferrothorn, while the ability to switch into threats like Bisharp and Banded Tyranitar is definitely really nice for your team. I’ve opted for Toxic here, as crippling fat pokemon such as Hippowdon and Lando-T helps Thundurus punch holes in the enemy team, while crippling fat waters such as the rare AV Azumarill can help out Volcarona’s sweep. Of note also is this set’s ability to cripple Rotom-Wash, which appears to be a bit of an issue for the team. All of Fire Blast’s targets are already handled well by this team, in my opinion.


A small change is to change Volcarona’s fire move to Fiery Dance, as this retains the longetivity in PP, while also giving the possible Special Attack boost, offering much more utility compared to Flamethrower (the 15 BP difference does not achieve any notable KO’s to my knowledge).


Thundurus can run Focus Blast to threaten Heatran/Excadrill, but I do recognise the lure potential of Sludge Wave to help deal with Clefable, so consider this just something to think about.


Have fun with your new team, and I hope my changes have helped.

My version of your team

Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Hidden Power Fire



Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Iron Head
- Defog
- Roost
- Whirlwind

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Wave / Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]



Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 240 HP / 176 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Toxic

Volcarona @ Passho Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 72 HP / 252 SpA / 184 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fiery Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 24 SpD / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Slack Off
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Psyshock

 

[Atrainevochamp]

Hello Millionsunz,


I’m glad to see an example of a Volcarona (pretty cool mon) being used well, but I think there are some issues that could be fixed up with your team.


I think the most glaring issue is that you have no hazard removal with a Volcarona and a Thundurus, which is less than ideal, in my opinion. Weavile and Mega Metagross are also immense issues as you have already stated: I don’t think Thundurus is a good enough check for these offensive threats. Clefable also looks like a bit of an issue, as it can break its way past most of your checks, through Flamethrower on Ferrothorn, at which point CM basically beats your team.


To fix these issues, I would try a specially defensive Skarmory over your Ferrothorn, as it compresses the roles of hazard removal and as a bulky steel for troublesome pokemon such as Clefable and Latios. This also helps you against your entire threat list, e.g Weavile and (non Thunder-Punch Mega Metagross are both countered by Skarmory. This does shift your team into more of a balance role, but I don’t think this is a bad thing, necessarily. With this change, I feel you have sufficient counterplay against even Thunder Punch Mega Metagross, as you can pivot into Flame Body burns and generally play round Metagross’s attacks.


On Mega Diancie, I’d utilise a max attack set with HP fire, as this retains coverage on Heatran (max attack Diamond Storm does this: ((252 Atk Mega Diancie Diamond Storm vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 181-214 (46.8 - 55.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery)) while luring Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn for your Slowbro to act as a secondary wincon. Earth Power’s targets such as Excadrill and Jirachi are well handled by this team, so I don’t think it is necessary for your specific team. Max attack also notably lures calm Clefable, which helps this team have adequate counterplay for CLefable.


Your Garchomp definitely needs to be the TankChomp set in my opinion, as with my change you would no longer have access to Stealth Rocks on Ferrothorn, while the ability to switch into threats like Bisharp and Banded Tyranitar is definitely really nice for your team. I’ve opted for Toxic here, as crippling fat pokemon such as Hippowdon and Lando-T helps Thundurus punch holes in the enemy team, while crippling fat waters such as the rare AV Azumarill can help out Volcarona’s sweep. Of note also is this set’s ability to cripple Rotom-Wash, which appears to be a bit of an issue for the team. All of Fire Blast’s targets are already handled well by this team, in my opinion.


A small change is to change Volcarona’s fire move to Fiery Dance, as this retains the longetivity in PP, while also giving the possible Special Attack boost, offering much more utility compared to Flamethrower (the 15 BP difference does not achieve any notable KO’s to my knowledge).


Thundurus can run Focus Blast to threaten Heatran/Excadrill, but I do recognise the lure potential of Sludge Wave to help deal with Clefable, so consider this just something to think about.


Have fun with your new team, and I hope my changes have helped.

My version of your team

Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Hidden Power Fire



Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Iron Head
- Defog
- Roost
- Whirlwind

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]



Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 240 HP / 176 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Toxic

Volcarona @ Passho Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 72 HP / 252 SpA / 184 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fiery Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain

Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 24 SpD / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Slack Off
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Psyshock

I just played a few games with your version of the team and Ive noticed a lack of strong physical attacks outside of Garchomp. Maybe Im playing him wrong because ive had him die and then struggle vs chansey for the win.
I guess I should focus on using him as a wall breaker first before I go for a play on a double.

 

[Sylveon.]

Hey man, pretty nice team, I love that you are using volcarona though but as most of other guys pointed out, there are some glaring issues for this team.
So, I will go one by one for each mon and see if there is anything to be changed.

1) Diancie is no doubt one of the best mons right now but max attack set is just so much better in today's meta. It 2 shots most of the switch-ins on balanced teams pretty easily like amoongus, cleafable and as well as 2Hkoing chansey after rocks, pretty nice huh. Earth power is no more necessary on diancie as it 2 hkoes heatran using d-storm anyways and you don't lose any significant KOes using moonblast.
Diancie @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 Atk / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Hidden Power Fire
- Protect

2) Ferro doesn't fit this team that well imo, I think for a steel mon your team will appreciate something like choice scarf jirachi to revenge stuff and tbh you never know how many matches will flinches win you. It even gets healing wish to support your fire bug.
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Fire Punch/Heart Stamp
- Healing Wish

3) Thundy is fine but tbh sludge wave is a poor coverage as it'll rather have focus blast to nail ttar. Another option though its not very used is to use a mixed thundy or purely physical one so that your team has at least one physical mon, it defeats chansey, knocks off latis etc. but its more situational.
Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power Ice
- Focus Blast

OR

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 68 Atk / 188 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Knock Off
- Superpower
- Hidden Power Ice

4) Now you are charizard-x weak, I mean like a lot so a simple way to avoid this is to just add a landorus-therian to help against this. It gives you rocks, improves your sand match-up and even chips away on standard attackers like lopunny.
Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 8 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

5) Always remember to run fire blast on volcarona for offensive sets as only fire blast has a guaranteed chance to 1Hko lando at +1, so despite having low PP its worth it.

6) And lastly you absolutely need hazard control so I suggest you use latios with earthquake to lure heatran to make your volcarona sweep much easier.
Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Recover/Earthquake
- Defog

Well, that's the team by my changes, yeah you lose the spikes but still you gain more important 2hkoes as well as a sure way to revenge stuff like weavile consistently.
Note : You can also use choice scarf keldeo over jirachi to do almost same stuff, but then I advise you to change latios to latias with healing wish and surf.

Anyways, best of luck :).

 

[playerW17]

I just played a few games with your version of the team and Ive noticed a lack of strong physical attacks outside of Garchomp. Maybe Im playing him wrong because ive had him die and then struggle vs chansey for the win.
I guess I should focus on using him as a wall breaker first before I go for a play on a double.

Knock Off > Sludge Wave on Thundurus is an easy fix to help deal with Chansey, if you are finding that an issue.

 

[Millionsunz]

Thank you everyone for your replies :)

I would do two mon changes to help the team out and spread change

Defog latios over Slowbro.
Lando over chomp you can use def with SD with you still want power. Also gives you a soild sand check.
You can use bulky moth to check weavile and Zor and gives

Latios doesn't have the the nice bulk or ability to pivot almost constantly like Slowbro does, the but idea isn't the worst. I have a pretty solid sand check in Slowbro, and Ferrothorn is able to hold up quite well. Bulky moth just doesn't really have the power that I like in Volc, and it relies on burning with Flame Body, which I don't really like.

To fix these issues, I would try a specially defensive Skarmory over your Ferrothorn, as it compresses the roles of hazard removal and as a bulky steel for troublesome pokemon such as Clefable and Latios.

On Mega Diancie, I’d utilise a max attack set with HP fire, as this retains coverage on Heatran.

Your Garchomp definitely needs to be the TankChomp set in my opinion, as with my change you would no longer have access to Stealth Rocks on Ferrothorn, while the ability to switch into threats like Bisharp and Banded Tyranitar is definitely really nice for your team.

A small change is to change Volcarona’s fire move to Fiery Dance, as this retains the longetivity in PP, while also giving the possible Special Attack boost, offering much more utility compared to Flamethrower (the 15 BP difference does not achieve any notable KO’s to my knowledge).

Thundurus can run Focus Blast to threaten Heatran/Excadrill, but I do recognise the lure potential of Sludge Wave to help deal with Clefable, so consider this just something to think about.

SpDef Skarm or Phys Skarm acutally isn't a bad idea, as it alleviates the need for Ferrothorn on the team, while compressing hazards and hazard removal on the team. The only issue with that is that when I click Defog, all hazards are removed, including previously set up Spikes and SR on my opponent's side. Its a little counterproductive lol. Max Attack Diancie does not retain coverage on Heatran. Although Diamond Storm 2HKOs, Flash Cannon can OHKO and Earth Power from Heatran can do 99.7%. 248 SpA Earth Power OHKOs Heatran. Should I change Ferro to Skarm I'll think about TankChomp, but Phys Def Skarm can handle both Bisharp and Banded Tyranitar. Fiery Dance is a cool idea that I'll have to try out. I thought about Focus Blast on Thundy, but I already have things to deal with Excadrill and Heatran, and luring Clefable is so much better than hitting those, at least on this team :)

Thanks for your comments though!

I just played a few games with your version of the team and Ive noticed a lack of strong physical attacks outside of Garchomp. Maybe Im playing him wrong because ive had him die and then struggle vs chansey for the win.
I guess I should focus on using him as a wall breaker first before I go for a play on a double.

The team does have a lot of Special Attackers, and the "strategy" behind it is "offensive repetition" or something like that. Its defined as a team with a lot of attackers on one side of the spectrum that overpower walls with their respective Physical or Special Attackers. SD Garchomp also beats Chansey 1v1 pretty much, being able to OHKO after 2 SDs.

Hey man, pretty nice team, I love that you are using volcarona though but as most of other guys pointed out, there are some glaring issues for this team.
So, I will go one by one for each mon and see if there is anything to be changed.

1) Diancie is no doubt one of the best mons right now but max attack set is just so much better in today's meta.

2) Ferro doesn't fit this team that well imo, I think for a steel mon your team will appreciate something like choice scarf jirachi to revenge stuff and tbh you never know how many matches will flinches win you. It even gets healing wish to support your fire bug.

3) Thundy is fine but tbh sludge wave is a poor coverage as it'll rather have focus blast to nail ttar. Another option though its not very used is to use a mixed thundy or purely physical one so that your team has at least one physical mon

4) Now you are charizard-x weak, I mean like a lot so a simple way to avoid this is to just add a landorus-therian to help against this.

5) Always remember to run fire blast on volcarona for offensive sets as only fire blast has a guaranteed chance to 1Hko lando at +1, so despite having low PP its worth it.

6) And lastly you absolutely need hazard control so I suggest you use latios with earthquake to lure heatran to make your volcarona sweep much easier.

I addressed the Max Atk Diancie in the little section above if you want to check it out :). Scarfrachi takes away from the defensiveness of the team, and inclines it more towards offense, and doesn't provide the defensive capabilities that Ferrothron does, which I don't really like. On Thundy, Sludge Wave is the lure Clefable and guarantee a 2HKO on it. Slowbro is the zard-x counter on the team, and sash Garchomp can deal with it as well. Fire Blast has a chance to miss which I don't really like, but its something I'll consider. Latios makes more sense on the team here, but you didn't specify which Pokemon would be replaced by it. If you give me a suggestion on which mon to replace I'll try it and then get back to you.

Thanks for your reply! :)

 

[Sylveon.]

Thank you everyone for your replies :)



Latios doesn't have the the nice bulk or ability to pivot almost constantly like Slowbro does, the but idea isn't the worst. I have a pretty solid sand check in Slowbro, and Ferrothorn is able to hold up quite well. Bulky moth just doesn't really have the power that I like in Volc, and it relies on burning with Flame Body, which I don't really like.



SpDef Skarm or Phys Skarm acutally isn't a bad idea, as it alleviates the need for Ferrothorn on the team, while compressing hazards and hazard removal on the team. The only issue with that is that when I click Defog, all hazards are removed, including previously set up Spikes and SR on my opponent's side. Its a little counterproductive lol. Max Attack Diancie does not retain coverage on Heatran. Although Diamond Storm 2HKOs, Flash Cannon can OHKO and Earth Power from Heatran can do 99.7%. 248 SpA Earth Power OHKOs Heatran. Should I change Ferro to Skarm I'll think about TankChomp, but Phys Def Skarm can handle both Bisharp and Banded Tyranitar. Fiery Dance is a cool idea that I'll have to try out. I thought about Focus Blast on Thundy, but I already have things to deal with Excadrill and Heatran, and luring Clefable is so much better than hitting those, at least on this team :)

Thanks for your comments though!



The team does have a lot of Special Attackers, and the "strategy" behind it is "offensive repetition" or something like that. Its defined as a team with a lot of attackers on one side of the spectrum that overpower walls with their respective Physical or Special Attackers. SD Garchomp also beats Chansey 1v1 pretty much, being able to OHKO after 2 SDs.



I addressed the Max Atk Diancie in the little section above if you want to check it out :). Scarfrachi takes away from the defensiveness of the team, and inclines it more towards offense, and doesn't provide the defensive capabilities that Ferrothron does, which I don't really like. On Thundy, Sludge Wave is the lure Clefable and guarantee a 2HKO on it. Slowbro is the zard-x counter on the team, and sash Garchomp can deal with it as well. Fire Blast has a chance to miss which I don't really like, but its something I'll consider. Latios makes more sense on the team here, but you didn't specify which Pokemon would be replaced by it. If you give me a suggestion on which mon to replace I'll try it and then get back to you.

Thanks for your reply! :)

Well as far as max attack diancie is considered, your reasoning is not exactly the best one imo, as diancie should not stay in on heatran in a team with bulky water, earlier you needed it to stay in to prevent rocks but now that you have hazard removal there is no need to keep it on heatran as specially defensive ones even have a good chance to live an earth power. It is useful as it gets rid of common nuisances like amoongus and clefable.

Also, non thunder-wave slowbro is not a char-x counter + since you had no hazard control up until now garchomp will rarely have its sash intact late game, which is when char-x usually wants to start its sweep.

Now, coming to hazard removal, I earlier wanted to make this team bit offensive so sorry about that, so if you replace ferro with skarm you get a phaser as well as spiker, and you can replace slowbro with defensive starmie which provides rapid spin and a solid keldeo counter. So this way you keep your hazards up too. You can even give it reflect type to evade ttar.

Now, to have a actual char-x check, imo you can run lando-t as it generally deals with it quite aptly just beware of defensive ones but those are beaten by diancie anyways.
Hope I helped!