Hello! This is my second RMT ever and first one for VGC so please show it some love <3 I have been wanting to make this RMT for a long long time but I really wanted to top the ladder first so finally a couple of months later, here we go! Even though it has peaked #1, I'm sure there's a lot of possibilities to improve the team and I'm really interested to hear other people's suggestions/opinions on the team so please leave comments (even the craziest of ideas). Also, enjoy my fanart! I have spent a lot of time doing those i swear :>
Peak proof:
The team:
Celesteela:
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 220 HP / 20 Def / 4 SpA / 252 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Iron Defense
- Protect
- Leech Seed
Overview:
This pokemon is one of the two main reasons i decided to create this team (The other one being eevee as this team was originally an evoboost team) and the whole team was built around to cover this pokemon's weaknesses and help it stall opposing teams. Celesteela is really important part of my team's defensive core as it's the only ground and grass immunity/resistance in my team and also an important lele counter.
In-depth analysis:
The most interesting choice here must be iron defense so I'll start with that. As boring as it sounds the original idea was to keep cele on field the whole game leech seed stalling every opponent. That's means i need to tank both special and physical attacks and that's how I ended up using iron defense. +2 cele with friend guard boost can stall pretty much any physical attacked except marowak-A. Here's some calcs:
252+ Atk Arcanine Flare Blitz vs. +2 220 HP / 20 Def Celesteela with Friend Guard: 73-87 (36.5 - 43.5%) -- 98% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Buzzwole All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. +2 220 HP / 20 Def Celesteela with Friend Guard: 67-79 (33.5 - 39.5%) -- 24.8% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Iron defense also lets me win against belly drum/curse snorlax which has been really popular lately.
But using iron defense also means i have room for only one attacking move and my choice for that is flamethrower. i ended up with it because the only pokes i can't leech seed stall are obviously grass types (most importantly kartana) and flamethrower also hits hard against opposing celesteela which is one of the hardest pokemon to deal with this team. There are times when i feel like flash cannon or air slash could work better but cele's flamthrower is pretty much my only 100% way to deal with kartana so that's why i have stuck with it.
Since Iron defense takes care of the physical bulk, EVs are made to let it take special moves. 220 HP EVs instead of 252 so leftovers give 1 more HP each turn. 12 speed is to outspeed non-invested celes since usually the faster cele wins the 1v1 stall war. Leech seed, leftovers and protect are mandatory for effective stalling and keeping celesteela alive.
Alternatives:
Celesteela is the main character of this team so it has been there since the beginning and i could never replace it. For moveset only flamethrower could be replaced as i mentioned earlier but i find flamethrower the best choice for my team.
Clefairy:
Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Follow Me
- Spotlight
- Protect
Overview:
I have used spotlight ever since the first day of VGC17 and I think it might be the best move in the format alongside with protect. Clefairy x cele is the main core of the team as the steel fairy synergy works really well with redirection. Clefairy makes many 50-50s for my opponents. For example pheromosa has hard time deciding whether it should use poison move predicting a follow me or fighting move predicting a spotlight. The main role for clefairy is a friend guard support, making opponents' calcs invalid and letting me make amazing comebacks.
In-depth review:
With this spread clefairy can take almost any non-Z move hit from any pokemon. 116 Def EVs lets it tank adamant smart strike from kartana and rest is put to special defense allowing it to take modest sludge bomb from nihilego. Although timid life orb boosted sludge bomb has a change to kill, i have three other pokemon (gigalith,celesteela and garchomp) who can handle it so that's not a problem.
252+ Atk Kartana Smart Strike vs. 252 HP / 116+ Def Eviolite Clefairy: 150-176 (84.7 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Nihilego Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 140 SpD Eviolite Clefairy: 132-156 (74.5 - 88.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Nihilego Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 140 SpD Eviolite Clefairy: 156-187 (88.1 - 105.6%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
Protect + spotlight are used to keep clefairy alive and friend guard up as long as possible. Redirecting poison moves (especially toxic) and tectonic rages into celesteela feels so good every single time. Spotlight also helps me stop evoboost teams, Shell smash cloyster and other boosting pokemon from getting their boost as spotlight completely negates the effect of follow me. It also helps my raichu to hit its electric moves and especially the Z-move without having to worry possible lightingrod switch-ins as spotlight also negates the redirection effect of that too.
Follow me is for making my opponents' prediction game as tough as possible. It also help my garchomp to set up a swords dance. Main thing for this move is to redirect those all-out pummelings away from celesteela and gigalith.
The forth move choice was really tough. I ended up with toxic after realizing that porygon 2 can outstall my team without it. It also helps dealing with things like calm mind fini (after changing the terrain with my lele) and snorlax. This team used to have three toxic users but after some pokemon changes clefairy is the only one remaining.
Alternatives:
This pokemon isn't replaceable either to be honest. I have been thinking of using clefable insstead though but since friend guard is so important in many situations, i have kept using clefairy instead. Toxic could be replaced with moves like heal pulse or even flamethrower but porygon 2 would be a huge problem without toxic as i mentioned earlier.
Tapu Lele:
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 252 SpA / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Aromatic Mist
- Moonblast
Overview:
Tapu lele is here mainly for the terrain, which gets rid of opposing electric terrain to help celesteela take electric moves from koko better, and which also helps against fake out users. Defensively it doesn't have an important role except for its nice 4x fighting resistance, but offensively it's really important pokemon for my team as it works as my garchomp destroyer.
In-depth review:
I prefer slow choice scarf users to fake the item especially if i have have another fast pokemon on my team. This EVs spread has remained from a time when i had miracle eye alakazam on the team and the idea back then was exactly to fake the item as i made my lele slower than alakazam. I haven't changed the EV spread because i feel like outspeeding salazzle (by one point) is really important. I could make it to outspeed base 120 pokemon but to be honest nobody uses pokemons like weavile or alakazam so i feel like that would be waste of EVs. Max special attack to make it hit as hard as possible and rest is just put into HP.
Psychic, Moonblast and dazzling gleam are obvious choices so i think i have no need to explain those. I used to have thunderbolt as the forth move but i really never used it and it only helps with celesteela. Aromatic mist is used instead basically as one option to deal with evoboost teams and also boost celesteela even more. Aromatic mist boost partner's special defense by one stage even through protect so it can be handy in some situations.
Alternatives:
I have been thinking of using koko instead to give raichu the surge surfer boost and also help with sleep move users but it can't handle garchomp as well as lele and the original idea of getting rid of electric terrain wouldn't be accomplished.
The rest of EVs what i have just put into HP could maybe be used in better way to let it survive some hits. I have also been thinking of changing back to thunderbolt because celesteela can be such a pain and I haven't faced any evoboost teams in ages.
I could also run speedy scarf to outspeed pheromosa which is one of the biggest problems to the team but I'm not really fan of that idea.
Raichu-Alola:
Raichu-Alola @ Aloraichium Z
Ability: Surge Surfer
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Encore
- Protect
Overview:
This slot is reserved for getting rid of celesteela and tapu fini, both of which my team hates. I think raichu fills this role perfectly as stoked sparksurfer OHKOs both of those pokemons.
In-depth review:
EVs are simple but needed. 252+ speed allows me to outspeed kartana and speed tie things like gengar. 252 special attack to give me as good change as possible to OHKO fini and cele.
252 SpA Raichu-Alola Gigavolt Havoc (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 44+ SpD Tapu Fini: 170-204 (96 - 115.2%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Raichu-Alola Gigavolt Havoc (175 BP) vs. 180 HP / 148+ SpD Celesteela: 188-224 (96.4 - 114.8%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
Psychic is chosen as the second attacking move option as it's stab and it gets boost from psychic terrain. I used to have nasty plot over encore but encore helps me to deal with calm mind fini without wasting my Z-move on possible protect.
Alternatives:
This slot was originally last resort sweeper eevee but it didn't really help with celesteela so that's why i changed it. I have also been testing many pokemons like arcanine and koko but only one other pokemon so far has worked really well besides raichu and that's salazzle which can deal with cele and fini thanks to its nice typing and stab moves.
For moves thunderbolt and protect are mandatory. Psychic could be replaced by hidden power ice but then raichu couldn't do any damage to opposing marowak-Alolas. Encore could also be replaced moves like fake out or nasty plot but i don't like using priority and psychic terrain in same team as I would always forget that it doesn't work.
Garchomp:
Garchomp @ Groundium Z
Ability: Sand Veil
Level: 50
EVs: 60 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 116 SpD / 212 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Swords Dance
- Protect
Overview:
There's only two common pokemons that can effectively get rid of celesteela and those two are arcanine and tapu koko. I needed a way to kill those things before they can touch my celesteela and I thought Z-Chomp would be perfect for that role. Garchomp can also freely spam earthquakes next to celesteela thanks to its flying typing.
In-depth review:
I believe people usually run just enough speed to outspeed speed boosting nature arcanine and lele and that was my main priority as well but I wanted to put a couple of extra EVs to outspeed togedemaru which can hit hard my celesteela with stab electric moves. 212 Attack EVs are to secure OHKO on 252 HP tapu lele.
116 Atk Garchomp Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tapu Lele: 177-208 (100 - 117.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Honestly I have no idea what the EVs on bulk do but I'm I believe I just put the rest to the bulk to make it as bulky as possible. Here's some calcs anyways :>
252 SpA Tapu Koko Twinkle Tackle (160 BP) vs. 60 HP / 116 SpD Garchomp with Friend Guard: 166-198 (86.9 - 103.6%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 60 HP / 116 SpD Garchomp with Friend Guard: 160-189 (83.7 - 98.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 60 HP / 116 SpD Garchomp: 164-194 (85.8 - 101.5%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
I'm running Z-chomp as the tectonic rage can deal with electric and fire types even inside of grassy terrain. It also kills arcanine even with -1 attack which usually comes really handy. As for coverage move I used to have rock slide but but wide guard was a big problem as well as tapu bulu so I changed it into poison jab. Swords dance is to negate intimidate users' drops and also to take advantage of obvious protects and switch-ins.
Alternatives:
I used to have Z-Gastro in this slot but garchomp work so much better especially against tapu bulu which is a big threat to my team. Poison jab as coverage move could also be changed into fire fang to make dealing with celesteela a lot easier. For ability I have thought of changing into rough skin as sand veil isn't that consistent and reliable. Avoiding ice beams every now and then is amazing though and can let me have comeback from really desperate situations.
Gigalith:
Gigalith @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 212 HP / 76 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpA / 204 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rock Slide
- Bulldoze
- Wide Guard
- Protect
Overview:
This slot works as my weather control as well as trick room dealer. It's really good partner for garchomp giving it evasion boost and sandstorm also helps with stalling by dealing little chip damage as well as breaking sash from pheromosa and smeargle.
In-depth review:
Gigalith's role is more of a support than a attacker and that's why EVs are mostly put into bulk. 212/204 allows my gigalith to eat up a Z-psychic from modest tapu lele in psychic terrain (in sandstorm) and with 12 def it can take jolly leaf blade from kartana and in both cases activating gigalith's wiki berry letting it take possible follow up move.
252+ SpA Tapu Lele Shattered Psyche (175 BP) vs. 212 HP / 204 SpD Gigalith in Sand: 157-186 (83.9 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Kartana Corkscrew Crash (140 BP) vs. 212 HP / 12 Def Gigalith: 242-288 (129.4 - 154%) -- guaranteed OHKO
With boosting nature and 76 attack EVs bulldoze OHKOs always zero bulk nihilego and the 4 leftovers are put into special attack just for memes :>
76+ Atk Gigalith Bulldoze vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Nihilego: 184-220 (100 - 119.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0- speed is for making it at least speedtie with other gigaliths in trick room.
Rock slide was chosen as the stab attacking move over stone edge for many reasons like the flinch chance and spread damage but most importantly for its accuracy. As you maybe have noticed, I don't have a single move with under 90% accuracy on my team and that's on purpose. I hate missing moves and with my luck moves like toxic hit as often as focus blast and stone edge so that's why I'm using rock slide here. Bulldoze is my only way of speed control mainly made to help garchomp outspeed faster mons like tapu koko and scarfed tapu lele. Wide guard is there because I hate hax and with wide guard I can prevent rock slide and blizzard from hitting and also avoid possible flinches/freezes that way, and of course let my garchomp use its earthquake without hurting gigalith.
Alternatives:
The only other pokemon I could think of as replacement, and I actually used to have it before gigalith, is cloud nine drampa which also worked well as TR and weather counter but with garchomp on my team I have no need for another dragon type.
-----------------------------
Threats:
Celesteela: The opposing celesteela can be a serious problem thanks for the fact that four out of my five pokemons can't deal notable damage to it. The best way is to land stoked sparksurfer on it but people usually carry lighting rod user as a partner for celesteela which makes it even harder to kill.
Pheromosa: This pokemon is just so unpredictable, I basically have to let one of my pokemons die to finad out whether it's physical or special, fightinium or poisonium-Z. Best way to deal with thing is trying to redirect its moves with clefairy and killing it with the other pokemon.
I know there's a lot more of threats but these two are the biggest ones.
Importable:
Replays:
So that's pretty much it! Please tell me what you guys think of the team (or the fanart but don't be too harsh on me :>).
Peak proof:
The team:
Celesteela:
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 220 HP / 20 Def / 4 SpA / 252 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Iron Defense
- Protect
- Leech Seed
Overview:
This pokemon is one of the two main reasons i decided to create this team (The other one being eevee as this team was originally an evoboost team) and the whole team was built around to cover this pokemon's weaknesses and help it stall opposing teams. Celesteela is really important part of my team's defensive core as it's the only ground and grass immunity/resistance in my team and also an important lele counter.
In-depth analysis:
The most interesting choice here must be iron defense so I'll start with that. As boring as it sounds the original idea was to keep cele on field the whole game leech seed stalling every opponent. That's means i need to tank both special and physical attacks and that's how I ended up using iron defense. +2 cele with friend guard boost can stall pretty much any physical attacked except marowak-A. Here's some calcs:
252+ Atk Arcanine Flare Blitz vs. +2 220 HP / 20 Def Celesteela with Friend Guard: 73-87 (36.5 - 43.5%) -- 98% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Buzzwole All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. +2 220 HP / 20 Def Celesteela with Friend Guard: 67-79 (33.5 - 39.5%) -- 24.8% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Iron defense also lets me win against belly drum/curse snorlax which has been really popular lately.
But using iron defense also means i have room for only one attacking move and my choice for that is flamethrower. i ended up with it because the only pokes i can't leech seed stall are obviously grass types (most importantly kartana) and flamethrower also hits hard against opposing celesteela which is one of the hardest pokemon to deal with this team. There are times when i feel like flash cannon or air slash could work better but cele's flamthrower is pretty much my only 100% way to deal with kartana so that's why i have stuck with it.
Since Iron defense takes care of the physical bulk, EVs are made to let it take special moves. 220 HP EVs instead of 252 so leftovers give 1 more HP each turn. 12 speed is to outspeed non-invested celes since usually the faster cele wins the 1v1 stall war. Leech seed, leftovers and protect are mandatory for effective stalling and keeping celesteela alive.
Alternatives:
Celesteela is the main character of this team so it has been there since the beginning and i could never replace it. For moveset only flamethrower could be replaced as i mentioned earlier but i find flamethrower the best choice for my team.
Clefairy:
Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Follow Me
- Spotlight
- Protect
Overview:
I have used spotlight ever since the first day of VGC17 and I think it might be the best move in the format alongside with protect. Clefairy x cele is the main core of the team as the steel fairy synergy works really well with redirection. Clefairy makes many 50-50s for my opponents. For example pheromosa has hard time deciding whether it should use poison move predicting a follow me or fighting move predicting a spotlight. The main role for clefairy is a friend guard support, making opponents' calcs invalid and letting me make amazing comebacks.
In-depth review:
With this spread clefairy can take almost any non-Z move hit from any pokemon. 116 Def EVs lets it tank adamant smart strike from kartana and rest is put to special defense allowing it to take modest sludge bomb from nihilego. Although timid life orb boosted sludge bomb has a change to kill, i have three other pokemon (gigalith,celesteela and garchomp) who can handle it so that's not a problem.
252+ Atk Kartana Smart Strike vs. 252 HP / 116+ Def Eviolite Clefairy: 150-176 (84.7 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Nihilego Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 140 SpD Eviolite Clefairy: 132-156 (74.5 - 88.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Nihilego Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 140 SpD Eviolite Clefairy: 156-187 (88.1 - 105.6%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
Protect + spotlight are used to keep clefairy alive and friend guard up as long as possible. Redirecting poison moves (especially toxic) and tectonic rages into celesteela feels so good every single time. Spotlight also helps me stop evoboost teams, Shell smash cloyster and other boosting pokemon from getting their boost as spotlight completely negates the effect of follow me. It also helps my raichu to hit its electric moves and especially the Z-move without having to worry possible lightingrod switch-ins as spotlight also negates the redirection effect of that too.
Follow me is for making my opponents' prediction game as tough as possible. It also help my garchomp to set up a swords dance. Main thing for this move is to redirect those all-out pummelings away from celesteela and gigalith.
The forth move choice was really tough. I ended up with toxic after realizing that porygon 2 can outstall my team without it. It also helps dealing with things like calm mind fini (after changing the terrain with my lele) and snorlax. This team used to have three toxic users but after some pokemon changes clefairy is the only one remaining.
Alternatives:
This pokemon isn't replaceable either to be honest. I have been thinking of using clefable insstead though but since friend guard is so important in many situations, i have kept using clefairy instead. Toxic could be replaced with moves like heal pulse or even flamethrower but porygon 2 would be a huge problem without toxic as i mentioned earlier.
Tapu Lele:
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 252 SpA / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Aromatic Mist
- Moonblast
Overview:
Tapu lele is here mainly for the terrain, which gets rid of opposing electric terrain to help celesteela take electric moves from koko better, and which also helps against fake out users. Defensively it doesn't have an important role except for its nice 4x fighting resistance, but offensively it's really important pokemon for my team as it works as my garchomp destroyer.
In-depth review:
I prefer slow choice scarf users to fake the item especially if i have have another fast pokemon on my team. This EVs spread has remained from a time when i had miracle eye alakazam on the team and the idea back then was exactly to fake the item as i made my lele slower than alakazam. I haven't changed the EV spread because i feel like outspeeding salazzle (by one point) is really important. I could make it to outspeed base 120 pokemon but to be honest nobody uses pokemons like weavile or alakazam so i feel like that would be waste of EVs. Max special attack to make it hit as hard as possible and rest is just put into HP.
Psychic, Moonblast and dazzling gleam are obvious choices so i think i have no need to explain those. I used to have thunderbolt as the forth move but i really never used it and it only helps with celesteela. Aromatic mist is used instead basically as one option to deal with evoboost teams and also boost celesteela even more. Aromatic mist boost partner's special defense by one stage even through protect so it can be handy in some situations.
Alternatives:
I have been thinking of using koko instead to give raichu the surge surfer boost and also help with sleep move users but it can't handle garchomp as well as lele and the original idea of getting rid of electric terrain wouldn't be accomplished.
The rest of EVs what i have just put into HP could maybe be used in better way to let it survive some hits. I have also been thinking of changing back to thunderbolt because celesteela can be such a pain and I haven't faced any evoboost teams in ages.
I could also run speedy scarf to outspeed pheromosa which is one of the biggest problems to the team but I'm not really fan of that idea.
Raichu-Alola:
Raichu-Alola @ Aloraichium Z
Ability: Surge Surfer
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Encore
- Protect
Overview:
This slot is reserved for getting rid of celesteela and tapu fini, both of which my team hates. I think raichu fills this role perfectly as stoked sparksurfer OHKOs both of those pokemons.
In-depth review:
EVs are simple but needed. 252+ speed allows me to outspeed kartana and speed tie things like gengar. 252 special attack to give me as good change as possible to OHKO fini and cele.
252 SpA Raichu-Alola Gigavolt Havoc (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 44+ SpD Tapu Fini: 170-204 (96 - 115.2%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Raichu-Alola Gigavolt Havoc (175 BP) vs. 180 HP / 148+ SpD Celesteela: 188-224 (96.4 - 114.8%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
Psychic is chosen as the second attacking move option as it's stab and it gets boost from psychic terrain. I used to have nasty plot over encore but encore helps me to deal with calm mind fini without wasting my Z-move on possible protect.
Alternatives:
This slot was originally last resort sweeper eevee but it didn't really help with celesteela so that's why i changed it. I have also been testing many pokemons like arcanine and koko but only one other pokemon so far has worked really well besides raichu and that's salazzle which can deal with cele and fini thanks to its nice typing and stab moves.
For moves thunderbolt and protect are mandatory. Psychic could be replaced by hidden power ice but then raichu couldn't do any damage to opposing marowak-Alolas. Encore could also be replaced moves like fake out or nasty plot but i don't like using priority and psychic terrain in same team as I would always forget that it doesn't work.
Garchomp:
Garchomp @ Groundium Z
Ability: Sand Veil
Level: 50
EVs: 60 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 116 SpD / 212 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Swords Dance
- Protect
Overview:
There's only two common pokemons that can effectively get rid of celesteela and those two are arcanine and tapu koko. I needed a way to kill those things before they can touch my celesteela and I thought Z-Chomp would be perfect for that role. Garchomp can also freely spam earthquakes next to celesteela thanks to its flying typing.
In-depth review:
I believe people usually run just enough speed to outspeed speed boosting nature arcanine and lele and that was my main priority as well but I wanted to put a couple of extra EVs to outspeed togedemaru which can hit hard my celesteela with stab electric moves. 212 Attack EVs are to secure OHKO on 252 HP tapu lele.
116 Atk Garchomp Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tapu Lele: 177-208 (100 - 117.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Honestly I have no idea what the EVs on bulk do but I'm I believe I just put the rest to the bulk to make it as bulky as possible. Here's some calcs anyways :>
252 SpA Tapu Koko Twinkle Tackle (160 BP) vs. 60 HP / 116 SpD Garchomp with Friend Guard: 166-198 (86.9 - 103.6%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 60 HP / 116 SpD Garchomp with Friend Guard: 160-189 (83.7 - 98.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 60 HP / 116 SpD Garchomp: 164-194 (85.8 - 101.5%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
I'm running Z-chomp as the tectonic rage can deal with electric and fire types even inside of grassy terrain. It also kills arcanine even with -1 attack which usually comes really handy. As for coverage move I used to have rock slide but but wide guard was a big problem as well as tapu bulu so I changed it into poison jab. Swords dance is to negate intimidate users' drops and also to take advantage of obvious protects and switch-ins.
Alternatives:
I used to have Z-Gastro in this slot but garchomp work so much better especially against tapu bulu which is a big threat to my team. Poison jab as coverage move could also be changed into fire fang to make dealing with celesteela a lot easier. For ability I have thought of changing into rough skin as sand veil isn't that consistent and reliable. Avoiding ice beams every now and then is amazing though and can let me have comeback from really desperate situations.
Gigalith:
Gigalith @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 212 HP / 76 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpA / 204 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rock Slide
- Bulldoze
- Wide Guard
- Protect
Overview:
This slot works as my weather control as well as trick room dealer. It's really good partner for garchomp giving it evasion boost and sandstorm also helps with stalling by dealing little chip damage as well as breaking sash from pheromosa and smeargle.
In-depth review:
Gigalith's role is more of a support than a attacker and that's why EVs are mostly put into bulk. 212/204 allows my gigalith to eat up a Z-psychic from modest tapu lele in psychic terrain (in sandstorm) and with 12 def it can take jolly leaf blade from kartana and in both cases activating gigalith's wiki berry letting it take possible follow up move.
252+ SpA Tapu Lele Shattered Psyche (175 BP) vs. 212 HP / 204 SpD Gigalith in Sand: 157-186 (83.9 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Kartana Corkscrew Crash (140 BP) vs. 212 HP / 12 Def Gigalith: 242-288 (129.4 - 154%) -- guaranteed OHKO
With boosting nature and 76 attack EVs bulldoze OHKOs always zero bulk nihilego and the 4 leftovers are put into special attack just for memes :>
76+ Atk Gigalith Bulldoze vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Nihilego: 184-220 (100 - 119.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0- speed is for making it at least speedtie with other gigaliths in trick room.
Rock slide was chosen as the stab attacking move over stone edge for many reasons like the flinch chance and spread damage but most importantly for its accuracy. As you maybe have noticed, I don't have a single move with under 90% accuracy on my team and that's on purpose. I hate missing moves and with my luck moves like toxic hit as often as focus blast and stone edge so that's why I'm using rock slide here. Bulldoze is my only way of speed control mainly made to help garchomp outspeed faster mons like tapu koko and scarfed tapu lele. Wide guard is there because I hate hax and with wide guard I can prevent rock slide and blizzard from hitting and also avoid possible flinches/freezes that way, and of course let my garchomp use its earthquake without hurting gigalith.
Alternatives:
The only other pokemon I could think of as replacement, and I actually used to have it before gigalith, is cloud nine drampa which also worked well as TR and weather counter but with garchomp on my team I have no need for another dragon type.
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Threats:
Celesteela: The opposing celesteela can be a serious problem thanks for the fact that four out of my five pokemons can't deal notable damage to it. The best way is to land stoked sparksurfer on it but people usually carry lighting rod user as a partner for celesteela which makes it even harder to kill.
Pheromosa: This pokemon is just so unpredictable, I basically have to let one of my pokemons die to finad out whether it's physical or special, fightinium or poisonium-Z. Best way to deal with thing is trying to redirect its moves with clefairy and killing it with the other pokemon.
I know there's a lot more of threats but these two are the biggest ones.
Importable:
Raichu-Alola @ Aloraichium Z
Ability: Surge Surfer
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Encore
- Protect
Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Follow Me
- Spotlight
- Protect
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 220 HP / 20 Def / 4 SpA / 252 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Iron Defense
- Protect
- Leech Seed
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 252 SpA / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Aromatic Mist
- Moonblast
Gigalith @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 212 HP / 76 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpA / 204 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rock Slide
- Bulldoze
- Wide Guard
- Protect
Garchomp @ Groundium Z
Ability: Sand Veil
Level: 50
EVs: 60 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 116 SpD / 212 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Swords Dance
- Protect
Ability: Surge Surfer
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Encore
- Protect
Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Follow Me
- Spotlight
- Protect
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 220 HP / 20 Def / 4 SpA / 252 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Iron Defense
- Protect
- Leech Seed
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 252 SpA / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Aromatic Mist
- Moonblast
Gigalith @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 212 HP / 76 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpA / 204 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rock Slide
- Bulldoze
- Wide Guard
- Protect
Garchomp @ Groundium Z
Ability: Sand Veil
Level: 50
EVs: 60 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 116 SpD / 212 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Swords Dance
- Protect
Replays:
Really good example of how Iron defense celesteela x clefairy works:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-564428848
My #1 battle. Nothing amazing to be honest but I still wanted to add this one:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-589237254
The most amazing comeback I have ever had! I still get chills from this one!:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-541840877
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-564428848
My #1 battle. Nothing amazing to be honest but I still wanted to add this one:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-589237254
The most amazing comeback I have ever had! I still get chills from this one!:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-541840877
So that's pretty much it! Please tell me what you guys think of the team (or the fanart but don't be too harsh on me :>).
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