SM Ubers Bulky Offense HexSpam

[Shirozaru]

Shirozaru's Bulky Offense HexSpam​

Hey everyone, I'm PrimordialCrow -- also called Shirozaru on PS -- and this is my Bulky Offense team featuring the oh-so-powerful hexspam. I used to play quite a bit of Ubers back in the XY and ORAS metagame, however a lot has changed during the shift to SM and a lot of changes to Ubers have been made. As such, all my other teams were simply trashed and I decided to go ahead and start a new team for the current metagame! So without further ado, let's get to the team!

Note: Italics are changes.

Teambuilding Process​

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• First, I knew I wanted a Bulky Offense team, so I started with making a core consisting of P-Groudon as a rocks setter, and Giratina-O as my P-Groudon counter and primary special sweeper. Originally I had Zygarde-C, but decided to change it to Mega Gengar to form a nice Hex Core, especially since Zygarde-C didn't really accomplish much for the team.

• Then I needed something to support the 3 above. I needed a priority revenge-killer, a check to ghosts for Giratina-O, as well as a fairy check. So, I chose Yvelgod and Magearna.

• Lastly, originally I had Arceus-Fairy here, but it felt quite redundant with Magearna already on the team, so I decided to switch it to Arceus-Water in order to tank physical attacks more effectively, spread status, and be a soft counter to dragon types.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Analysis​

Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 160 Atk / 152 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Roar
- Precipice Blades

Primal Groudon was chosen because of his fantastic natural bulk and the fact that he makes a really good stealth rock setter in that his 4x weakness is turned into an immunity, therefor making him only weak to ground (as such, I've brought counters and immunities to support him). By setting hazards, it makes forcing switches and shuffling that much more brutal to my opponent. Toxic is there to increase the damage output of MegaGar and Giratina-O's Hex. Roar easily shuffles the enemy team while also being able to hit fairy types like Xerneas. Precipice Blades is his strongest STAB move, nuff said; Use it.

Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Toxic
- Draco Meteor
- Hex

One of the best counters to Primal Groudon in the entire Ubers metagame, and one of the best defoggers due to the fact that he's a natural spinblocker given his ghost typing and natural bulk. He clears hazards for my team that would otherwise be a nuisance for the constant switches to counter any enemy that would try to come in and check whatever I have out, and functions as a check to ground types that might threaten Primal Groudon, as well as being a counter to enemy psychic and ghosts, and immune to all normal and fighting type moves such as EKillers and the occasional Pheromosa and Mega Lucario. His typing is actually pretty useful in that it's immune to two types and resists 6. That's 8 total types that have trouble taking him down, whereas I have counters to the 5 that actually hurt him quite a bit, such as fairy and dragon, the two most popular types in Ubers). Defog clears hazards, pretty simple. Toxic cripples enemy teams and is my defense against enemy stallers and walls, as well as setting a time limit on setup sweepers. Draco Meteor is one hell of a nuke that just rips a chunk of even the bulkiest of pokemon, such as Primal Groudon. Hex for the classic hexspams, in that it doubles in power (65x2=130) if the enemy would be statused, and even moreso due to the fact that it has lolSTAB.

Sterben (Gengar) (M) @ Gengarite
Ability: Cursed Body -> Shadow Tag (Mega Evolve)
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Wave
- Hex

Mega Gengar forms an incredibly strong Hex core with Giratina-O, counters fairies fairly well (forming a backup for Magearna when it comes to that function), and can effectively nullify threats to my team that can be trapped as long as he checks them. Mega Gengar also happens to be capable of spinblocking alongside Giratina-O, in addition to being able to clear toxic spikes and neuter enemy physical threats, while still spreading the status for lolHexspam. Will-O-Wisp is basically a physical attack crippler while also dealing damage over time and doubling hex' potency for both Mega Gengar and Giratina-O, while also being an alternative status against mons immune to toxic like poison and steel types. Focus Blast handles Dark and Normal types, the former of which resists Hex and the latter is immune. Sludge Wave is for immediate high STAB damage should I feel Hex is outclassed by it in a situation, as well as for trapping and removing a fairy type pokemon such as Xerneas, Arceus-Fairy, etc. Finally, Hex is the main kicker on the set, having 4 status spreaders on the entire team to help get its potency to its climax.

Yveltal @ Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- Taunt
- Sucker Punch

Additional ground immunity should Giratina-O fall due to reckless gameplay or a surprise attack that I didn't see coming, or just the inevitable team that beats me (no team is perfect). Also functions as a wallbreaker and revenge killer with access to a very strong priority move, and hits a very nice speed tier that makes it so only godtier and scarfed pokemon for the most part can outspeed him. Covers Giratina-O's ghost coverage and is immune to psychics to boot. Dark Pulse is his strongest STAB move, boosted by his Dark Aura, easily 2HKOing Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, and other notably bulky pokemon. Oblivion Wing is his STAB recovery that deals a lot of damage to enemy fighting types and increases Yveltal's longevity. With Life Orb he heals for quite a bit against most targets. Taunt is my counter against stall teams. Suckerpunch is almost staple in that it makes him a nice revenge killer, boasting STAB Dark Aura boosted damage, and comes in handy more often than not in times where I need to kill off a Barry Allen on their team.

Magearna @ Leftovers
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Heart Swap
- Pain Split

Magearna was picked because I needed someone who could check Xerneas harder than Primal Groudon, and a check for dragon types in general. She has a neat moxie-like ability in that she gains more SpAtk every time she defeats a pokemon. She also has GODLIKE typing, in that she's only weak to fire and ground, is resistant to 8 types, 4x resistant to bug, and immune to 2 types in dragon and poison. She easily checks most dark and dragon types, although I need to be careful around Yveltal as it has a good chance of carrying focus blast or heat wave just for this thing. Fleur Cannon is STAB and incredibly powerful, able to deal a truckload of damage against dragons and dark types. Flash Cannon is also STAB and easily takes out enemy fairy types such as the immensely powerful and supercommon Xerneas. Heart Swap is for GeoSteals and other stat changes against setup sweepers that I decide don't need their stats anymore. If I see a Z-Geomancy starting I get really really giddy knowing that it's soon to be MY boost. Pain Split is for longevity and damagelulz, which, combined with her natural bulk, makes her incredibly annoying for opponents to take out.

Arceus-Water @ Splash Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 132 Def / 124 Spe
Bold Nature
- Recover
- Toxic
- Judgment
- Ice Beam

Waterceus has great physical bulk and an amazing defensive typing to allow it to support my team effectively, as well as handle some top dogs in the Ubers tier, namely PDon, Ho-Oh, and MegaMence to name a few. His typing and bulk allows him to easily spread status to help get the Hexlulz rolling and the tears flowing, while also providing a solid check to MegaMence which hits my team pretty hard otherwise. Being a toxic spreader also makes stall teams easier to handle, while also making threats like Primal Groudon easier to handle. Recover increases Waterceus' longevity and allows it to fill its role for a longer period of time, again making the endgame sweep all that much easier. Toxic is the main tool that he offers to my team, namely MegaGar and Giratina-O to allow their Hex' to double in power. Judgement offers a nice water STAB against foes like Ho-Oh and any fire types that come in front of me. Ice Beam handles the plethora of dragon types in the tier, namely MegaMence as mentioned before, who, when paired with EQ, gives the rest of my team a pretty bad time.

Conclusion​

Well, that's my team! I hope you guys enjoyed the read! I tried to make it as flavorful and easy to read as possible while also taking away any type of dryness that would make it very difficult to read. I know, the paragraphs are a bit hard to read over and over, but I feel that I needed to fully explain every pokemon's role and purpose, as stated in the rules, in order to give a clear view of what they do and what they offer for the team. All constructive criticism is welcome, and I hope you all a nice happy day!

Importables

Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Roar
- Precipice Blades

Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Toxic
- Draco Meteor
- Hex

Sterben (Gengar) (M) @ Gengarite
Ability: Cursed Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Focus Blast
- Sludge Wave
- Hex

Yveltal @ Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Taunt
- Oblivion Wing
- Dark Pulse
- Sucker Punch

Magearna @ Leftovers
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heart Swap
- Pain Split
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon

Arceus-Water @ Splash Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 132 Def / 124 Spe
Bold Nature
- Recover
- Toxic
- Judgment
- Ice Beam

And for those who want active help in getting help rating their teams, try joining the rooms on PokemonShowdown!

PokemonShowdown! Link

http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/

 

[Stevan's Sceptile]

Hello PrimordialCrow. Sweet team there and I enjoyed reading your rmt. There are a few things I’d like to address about your team.

You say it’s a hex-spam team, but I see only 2 pokémon actually spreading status (3 if you consider yveltal’s heat wave, which is also not such a reliable source of spreading status as it has only a 10% chance to burn the opponent). When I say hex-spam, I imagine at least 4 pokémon actually spreading status and another ghost type taking advantage of that and using hex to get easy kills. Having only 2 reliable sources for spreading status doesn’t form a proper hex-spam team.

Your team has problems with stall teams. The lack of a good taunt pokémon on the team can really cost you. Different Arc forms such as ice beam ekiller arceus, special groundceus, and earth power fairyceus also seem to threaten the team.

Another thing I’m really not happy with is the pdon set. Your pdon set is sort of like a mixture of defensive sr and offensive set-up sweeper, and at the end of the day, it really doesn’t accomplish much. I also don’t understand what zygarde-c does on this team. Arceus fairy and gira-o can both take physical attacks well, so it really doesn’t make sense to keep another physical tank, especially when you’re not using it to spread status for hex-spamming.

With all that said, here are my suggestions for improvement:

1. Celesteela>zygarde-c: celesteela is a pokémon which works really well to check the arc forms I have mentioned above. It is physically defensive and can take hits from ekiller, and can poison it with toxic, thus helping you to hex spam. Due to its typing, it is immune to ground judgment and ice beam normally affects it, making groundceus less threatening.

2. gengar-mega>gira-o: having 3 physically defensive pokémon doesn’t sound so well, and three ground immune pokémon is also not good. Keeping in mind that this is a hex-spam team and that you lack a mega, this change sounds good. Gengar mega is fast, has great special attack and hence a better chance of OHKOing opponents with hex.

3. arceus-water>arceus-fairy: you mentioned in the teambuilding process that “Magearna could not check most Yveltals or other dark types carrying fighting type moves.” Honestly speaking, that’s really not the case. Yveltal variants are there which carry heat wave or focus blast, but that’s not very common. Magearna can pretty much do a lot to many dark types with fleur cannon, and take special attacks really well. So I feel another fairy type on the team is not so good. I also saw that, after removing gira-o, you lack a hazard remover. Arceus water is able to tank physical attacks well and also remove hazards via defog. It also helps to spread status.

4. Go taunt>heat wave on yveltal: due to the lack of a good taunt pokémon on the team, stall teams become a threat to it. Though heat wave helps to defeat steel types such as magearna, it doesn’t OHKO it, compared to the OHKO magearna will do to it with fleur cannon. In fact, you already have pdon to take care of other steel types.

5. Change the pdon set: I have mentioned before that the set you have there is a mixture of two different sets. The pdon set is given below, along with the other changes I have made.

team changes

(Note: All changes made are in bold)

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 152 HP / 236 Atk / 44 SpD / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Precipice Blades
- Dragon Tail
- Fire punch

Gengar-Mega @ Gengarite
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Focus Blast
- Hex
- Sludge Wave

Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Toxic
- Heavy Slam
- Protect

Yveltal @ Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- Taunt
- Sucker Punch

Magearna @ Leftovers
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Heart Swap
- Pain Split

Arceus-Water @ Splash Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 132 Def / 124 Spe
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Judgment
- Toxic
- Recover

Note that I went for judgment rather than ice beam on waterceus as ho-oh may seem a bit threatening. Judgment helps to reduce that.

That’s all I’ve got to say. Gl with the team, hf playing with it and have a nice day.

 

[Shirozaru]

Hello PrimordialCrow. Sweet team there and I enjoyed reading your rmt. There are a few things I’d like to address about your team.

You say it’s a hex-spam team, but I see only 2 pokémon actually spreading status (3 if you consider yveltal’s heat wave, which is also not such a reliable source of spreading status as it has only a 10% chance to burn the opponent). When I say hex-spam, I imagine at least 4 pokémon actually spreading status and another ghost type taking advantage of that and using hex to get easy kills. Having only 2 reliable sources for spreading status doesn’t form a proper hex-spam team.

Your team has problems with stall teams. The lack of a good taunt pokémon on the team can really cost you. Different Arc forms such as ice beam ekiller arceus, special groundceus, and earth power fairyceus also seem to threaten the team.

Another thing I’m really not happy with is the pdon set. Your pdon set is sort of like a mixture of defensive sr and offensive set-up sweeper, and at the end of the day, it really doesn’t accomplish much. I also don’t understand what zygarde-c does on this team. Arceus fairy and gira-o can both take physical attacks well, so it really doesn’t make sense to keep another physical tank, especially when you’re not using it to spread status for hex-spamming.

With all that said, here are my suggestions for improvement:

1. Celesteela>zygarde-c: celesteela is a pokémon which works really well to check the arc forms I have mentioned above. It is physically defensive and can take hits from ekiller, and can poison it with toxic, thus helping you to hex spam. Due to its typing, it is immune to ground judgment and ice beam normally affects it, making groundceus less threatening.

2. gengar-mega>gira-o: having 3 physically defensive pokémon doesn’t sound so well, and three ground immune pokémon is also not good. Keeping in mind that this is a hex-spam team and that you lack a mega, this change sounds good. Gengar mega is fast, has great special attack and hence a better chance of OHKOing opponents with hex.

3. arceus-water>arceus-fairy: you mentioned in the teambuilding process that “Magearna could not check most Yveltals or other dark types carrying fighting type moves.” Honestly speaking, that’s really not the case. Yveltal variants are there which carry heat wave or focus blast, but that’s not very common. Magearna can pretty much do a lot to many dark types with fleur cannon, and take special attacks really well. So I feel another fairy type on the team is not so good. I also saw that, after removing gira-o, you lack a hazard remover. Arceus water is able to tank physical attacks well and also remove hazards via defog. It also helps to spread status.

4. Go taunt>heat wave on yveltal: due to the lack of a good taunt pokémon on the team, stall teams become a threat to it. Though heat wave helps to defeat steel types such as magearna, it doesn’t OHKO it, compared to the OHKO magearna will do to it with fleur cannon. In fact, you already have pdon to take care of other steel types.

5. Change the pdon set: I have mentioned before that the set you have there is a mixture of two different sets. The pdon set is given below, along with the other changes I have made.

team changes

(Note: All changes made are in bold)

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 152 HP / 236 Atk / 44 SpD / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Precipice Blades
- Dragon Tail
- Fire punch

Gengar-Mega @ Gengarite
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Focus Blast
- Hex
- Sludge Wave

Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Toxic
- Heavy Slam
- Protect

Yveltal @ Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- Taunt
- Sucker Punch

Magearna @ Leftovers
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Heart Swap
- Pain Split

Arceus-Water @ Splash Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 132 Def / 124 Spe
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Judgment
- Toxic
- Recover

Note that I went for judgment rather than ice beam on waterceus as ho-oh may seem a bit threatening. Judgment helps to reduce that.

That’s all I’ve got to say. Gl with the team, hf playing with it and have a nice day.

To be honest, i'm not really sure what Zygarde-C offered the team either. I should have put in a sidenote that I almost never used him. That being said, I welcome any and all changes in his place that benefits the team. Also I'm rather confused.. you said that a hexspam generally needs 4 status spreaders and 2 ghosts to take advantage of it, but the changes you offered only offer exchanging my ghost for another ghost and adding +1 status to make 3. Also, to boot, I really do appreciate Giratina's bulk and how easily it can check PDon, so I feel that I won't be putting Mega Gengar in its place. I agree with this new PDon set, even though the SD one actually helped me sweep an entire team multiple times -- though that was me getting lucky most of the time. Arceus Water seems really good here for spreading toxic so I welcome that change, and Taunt is good on Yveltal. My only thing is that I really don't want to exchange Gira for MegaGar.. What would you suggest otherwise?

 

[Stevan's Sceptile]

you said that a hexspam generally needs 4 status spreaders and 2 ghosts to take advantage of it, but the changes you offered only offer exchanging my ghost for another ghost and adding +1 status to make 3.

I mean that's how I would imagine a hex-spam team. Doesn't have to really be that way. And I never exactly mentioned 2 hex pokémon. Even one does the trick.

Also, to boot, I really do appreciate Giratina's bulk and how easily it can check PDon, so I feel that I won't be putting Mega Gengar in its place.

My only thing is that I really don't want to exchange Gira for MegaGar.. What would you suggest otherwise?

That was honestly the best I could do without making too many changes to the team. If you feel gira-o is better, then you may keep it on the team. If I think of anything good I will definitely post it in this thread. GL! :)

 

[Shirozaru]

I mean that's how I would imagine a hex-spam team. Doesn't have to really be that way. And I never exactly mentioned 2 hex pokémon. Even one does the trick.



That was honestly the best I could do without making too many changes to the team. If you feel gira-o is better, then you may keep it on the team. If I think of anything good I will definitely post it in this thread. GL! :)

I appreciate it! Also, looking over, icebeam ekiller arceus is handled fairly well by primal Groudon, Yveltal, Giratina-O, and Mega Gengar should I add him. Special Groundceus also isn't an issue due to Giratina-O being immune to ground, as is Yveltal. Earth Power Fairyceus is a bit more of an issue, but is still takeable with Primal Groudon and other bulky toxic users. Also, you stated that:

I also don’t understand what zygarde-c does on this team. Arceus fairy and gira-o can both take physical attacks well, so it really doesn’t make sense to keep another physical tank

To be honest, I don't feel like Celesteela keeps up with the momentum the rest of the team outputs. However, I do like the idea of Mega Gengar, so what do you think about me replacing Zygarde-C with MegaGar to form a strong Hex core with Gira-O? I could also replace Fire punch on PDon in place of either TWave or Toxic to shuffle pokemon and spread status like crazy, effectively adding another pokemon to spread status. So at this point I have a few options; with Giratina-O still in the team i don't have a need for defog Waterceus. So I'm thinking I can make yveltal a defensive set with foulplay which actually counters PDon harder than his current set, as Foul Play 2HKOs PDon and OHKOs after PDon uses SD. I'm also wondering if after these changes, another Arceus type other than water would be more viable, as waterceus is more of a balanced/stall mon. Thoughts on these two changes?

 

[Stevan's Sceptile]

well then if you're going for the mgar + gira-o hex-spam core, then I don't think ekiller and pdon will be such a problem. Both together can take care of ekiller easily and gira-o can do a lot to sd pdon alone.
I don't recommend the defensive foul play set for yveltal, and with the core of mgar + gira-o, lo yveltal would be necessary to take down faster ghost threats such as scarf lunala.
you could also opt for the defensive pdon set given in the smogon analysis with toxic>lava plume, rather than the set I have given you, if u do want to have toxic on pdon.
As for waterceus, I don't see how it would be a problem in a BO team. Some people do use it in their BO teams with judgment, ice beam, toxic and recover set. adding any other at form would either increase your weakness to another Pokémon or type, or you would lose a status spreading Pokémon, which I would really not want in this case. since you're keeping gira-o with defog, you can remove defog from the previous set I gave you and put ice beam there.

You could also wait and see what other raters have to say about the team. Maybe they have a better idea than mine.

 

[Shirozaru]

well then if you're going for the mgar + gira-o hex-spam core, then I don't think ekiller and pdon will be such a problem. Both together can take care of ekiller easily and gira-o can do a lot to sd pdon alone.
I don't recommend the defensive foul play set for yveltal, and with the core of mgar + gira-o, lo yveltal would be necessary to take down faster ghost threats such as scarf lunala.
you could also opt for the defensive pdon set given in the smogon analysis with toxic>lava plume, rather than the set I have given you, if u do want to have toxic on pdon.
As for waterceus, I don't see how it would be a problem in a BO team. Some people do use it in their BO teams with judgment, ice beam, toxic and recover set. adding any other at form would either increase your weakness to another Pokémon or type, or you would lose a status spreading Pokémon, which I would really not want in this case. since you're keeping gira-o with defog, you can remove defog from the previous set I gave you and put ice beam there.

You could also wait and see what other raters have to say about the team. Maybe they have a better idea than mine.

Thanks I appreciate all the help! After my 12 hour shift I'll come back and make the changes and give you a shoutout for all the help! :) Have a good one!