SM OU Cloyster: Shatter Me (Peak 1858 ELO, #15)

The Goomy · Mar 9, 2017

(^^I'm clickable!^^)

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Proof of Peak: http://i.imgur.com/Jh6kXOg.png
Peak Replay: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-543390370

Shoutouts iplaytennislol for being a horse. :]

Note: This team was built in the Pre-Beedrill and Mawile meta, so that is why they are not mentioned in this RMT.

Hello everyone, Steven here. And today, I'm going to bring you guys my first Sun and Moon RMT! Early on in the metagame there was definitely a lot of flux with huge threats like Genesect running around. However, since the meta is becoming more stable, I was able to build a pretty successful and unique team. I wanted to build with Cloyster due to the potential I saw for it to break stall. Ultimately, I only lost against stall one or two times on my climb with this team due to the excellent matchup that Cloyster and the rest of the team presents, so I feel I achieved my goal at making a team good at beating stall.

Let's get on to the team!

As I said in the introduction, I wanted to utilize Cloyster in the SM OU metagame because I felt like it had potential to break stall. The set that I ultimately came up with was Substitute + King's Rock Cloyster. This allows many opportunities for Cloyster to break through Unaware walls and just win against stall.

Next I wanted some Pokémon that helped the team to deal will common meta threats that also threaten Cloyster. Scarf Tapu Bulu is an amazing answer to threats like Tapu Koko and Ash Greninja that threaten Cloyster as well as an excellent revenge killer in general. Landorus-T is always helpful and can help to check Magearna and other threatening steel types that can punish Cloyster. In addition it gives me access to Stealth Rock.

Gengar was chosen due to its ability to spin block, to be an offensive Pheromosa check, and as a check to Mega Metagross. I opted to run dual scarfers on this team because the metagame is very fast and normally lacks ghost resists not named Greninja (which I have Tapu Bulu for). Trick also helps with the stall matchup as Toxapex is normally the initial switch in to Gengar which helps Cloyster.

Choice Banded Zygarde is an absolute menace in this metagame. It was chosen because it gives the team a reliable fire resist, another offensive check to Pheromosa, and a wall breaker to facilitate the two choice scarf team members' sweep.

Finally, Celesteela was chosen as it patched a lot of the team's holes in terms of type synergy. Giving me steel, psychic, and flying resists in particular. Autotomize z-move Celesteela was chosen due to the offensive nature of the team, as well as the surprise factor that can help against a variety of teams.

Cloyster @

| Skill Link
Jolly | 80 HP / 252 Atk / 172 Spe / 4 SpDef
Shell Smash
Icicle Spear
Rock Blast
Substitute

Cloyster is actually better than I anticipated in this metagame. It performs extremely well against stall and balance and can sometimes be useful against more offensive teams. As mentioned in the introduction, King's Rock was chosen as it gives Cloyster an amazing chance to put in work against stall. With five hit moves, such as Icicle Spear and Rock Blast, Cloyster has a 41% chance to flinch on any given attacking turn. This is more than high enough to be able to beat Quagsire and Clefable with Substitute.

The EVs on Cloyster are pretty unique, as they actually help Cloyster to beat both offense and stall. With 172 Speed EVs and a Jolly nature, Cloyster is able to outpace Choice Scarf Tapu Lele after a Shell Smash, which is very valuable as a lot of offensive teams choose Lele as a scarfer. In addition, the HP number allows for four substitutes to be made as well as the following against Quagsire.

0 SpA Quagsire Scald vs. 80 HP / 4 SpD Cloyster: 56-66 (21.4 - 25.2%) -- 0.3% chance to 4HKO
0 Atk Quagsire Earthquake vs. 80 HP / 0 Def Cloyster: 57-67 (21.8 - 25.6%) -- 1.1% chance to 4HKO

Due to Quagsire's Unaware ability, it will ignore your defense drops from Shell Smash and you can very reliably set up a Substitute in its face and win by getting flinches.

I actually really enjoyed using Cloyster as it made most stall matchups very easy to win and was not dead weight in other games.

Tapu Bulu @

| Grassy Surge
Jolly | 252 Atk / 252 Spe/ 4 SpDef
Wood Hammer
Horn Leech
Stone Edge
Superpower

Scarf Tapu Bulu is definitely an underrated and underused Pokémon in the metagame. It is able to switch in on and subsequently check a lot of huge threats such as Keldeo, Hoopa-U, Greninja, and Tapu Koko which is phenomenal for offensive teams like this one.

Jolly nature is necessary as it allows you to out speed everything up to neutral nature Pheromosa. The moveset and spread are very standard as the goal is to get off hard hits fast and be a good pivot for the team. Wood Hammer and Horn Leech were chosen as dual grass type moves because it gives the flexibility to try to nuke something versus keeping up the longevity of Tapu Bulu throughout the game. I definitely find myself clicking Horn Leech a lot more often than Wood Hammer with this team since Bulu is such a valuable pivot. Finally, Stone Edge and Superpower were chosen to hit targets like Charizard/Torn-T that don't expect you to outspeed and Ferrothorn respectively.

Landorus-Therian @

| Levitate
Impish | 252 HP / 216 Def / 24 SpDef / 16 Spe
Earthquake
Stealth Rock
Hidden Power [Ice]
U-turn

This is a standard Rocky Helmet Landorus-T. It helps the team to check physical threats like opposing Landorus-T, Zygarde, Garchomp, Excadrill, etc. Its main role on the team is to consistently set Stealth Rock and give momentum with U-turn. Hidden Power Ice is good as it allows it to chunk opposing Landorus-T for Zygarde as well as act as another check to opposing Zygarde in case Tapu Bulu has other roles it needs to fill. I have considered changing U-turn to Stone Edge to prevent Pinsir from setting up on this.

Gengar @

| Cursed Body
Modest | 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe / 4 SpDef
Shadow Ball
Sludge Wave
Focus Blast
Trick

Gengar is super good. I opted for Modest on this Scarf Gengar because I have answers to faster scarfers like Garchomp and Keldeo, I have answers to set up sweepers like Charizard-X, Zygarde, and Volcarona, and I enjoy the extra power that Modest provides while still being able to out speed even +Speed nature Pheromosa and Timid Scarf Tapu Lele. Gengar acts as a check to a lot of things including Pheromosa, Metagross, and Tapu Lele.

The move set is fairly standard here. Trick was chosen because it can cripple Toxapex to help Cloyster.

Here are some calcs that justify Modest Gengar on this team:
252+ SpA Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Metagross-Mega: 266-314 (88.3 - 104.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Lele: 254-302 (90.3 - 107.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 136-162 (42.1 - 50.1%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Zygarde-50% @

| Aura Break
Adamant | 16 HP / 252 Atk / 236 Spe / 4 SpDef
Thousand Arrows
Outrage
Extreme Speed
Toxic

Choice Band Zygarde has definitely come into popularity recently and for good reason. It really is an effective wall breaker than can also do well against offense due to its powerful Extreme Speed. Zygarde is better suited to this role than Dragonite due to its resistance to Stealth Rock and its spammable STAB in Thousand Arrows that hits everything. Adamant Nature was chosen because it guarentees the OHKO on Pheromosa after Stealth Rock unless the 32 Def set is run, in which case it is an 81% chance.

Zygarde works really well on this team as it helps to pound annoying stall teams and gets plenty of double switch opportunities into Toxapex due to Cloyster being on the team. In addition, the fire resistance is crucial as Zygarde can switch in on Heatran as well as check Charizard-Y and Volcarona. The speed EVs let you outpace +Speed nature Hoopa-U naturally.

Celesteela @

| Beast Boost
Modest | 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe / 4 SpDef
Air Slash
Flash Cannon
Flamethrower
Autotomize

Celesteela is the final member of the team. As stated in the team building section it helps to fill a lot of holes in the team, granting steel, psychic, and flying resists. The set is a standard offensive Autotomize spread, which allows you to outspeed +Speed nature Pheromosa at +2.

The moves were chosen to give the best coverage possible for the team. Flash Cannon helps to hit the many fairies that are running around, while Flamethrower helps me to check Scizor (which is a menace to the team). Finally, Flyinium Z Air Slash is a nuke that not many teams expect or are prepared for. It definitely helps against stall as you can Flash Cannon Sableye turn one and then kill it turn two with the Z move (or the Sab is left weak enough that Lando-T can get rocks). Celesteela is the glue to the team that helps patch a lot of the holes that would otherwise haunt it. The main checks to Celesteela are handled by Zygarde.

Mega-Scizor:

Is a great answer to almost every team member, and is normally paired with Heatran (which walls Celesteela). Considered changing up a couple things to alleviate this such as HP Fire Gengar > Trick.

HP Ice Zapdos:

Zapdos really checks a lot of my team and can punish Zygarde (my main answer) if it carries HP Ice. Normally try to trick it with Gengar and play from there. Not sure how to fix this.

SD Tapu Bulu:

Punishes everything, especially if it is the Fighting Z move set.

Thunder Punch + Ice Punch Mega Metagross:

Uncommon, but threatens the whole team.

Trick Room Magearna:

Just kinda wins if it gets in on certain team members and has the right coverage.

This team is really fun, but somewhat difficult to use. I hope that this team gives people inspiration on new and creative ways to build in Sun and Moon and I always welcome constructive criticism. I look forward to your comments down below!

As always, thanks for reading and I'll see you next time~

Importable: https://hastebin.com/afahimatac.diff

Cloyster @ King's Rock
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 172 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Substitute

Tapu Bulu @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Horn Leech
- Stone Edge
- Superpower

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn

Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Trick

Zygarde @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 16 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Toxic

Celesteela @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Flash Cannon
- Flamethrower
- Autotomize

SM OU Cloyster: Shatter Me (Peak 1858 ELO, #15)

The Goomy

Whitest Mexican Alive