Ever since joining the OU tier (aka, ever since I started OU in January), I've been in love with Latios. I love it's design, it's typing allowing for good offensive pressure, and the power behind a specs boosted draco meteor. I built this team a few weeks ago, and have been laddering with it, peaking around mid-1500s, and consistently teetering around the mid 1400s.
First and most obviously, I started with Latios. He is not only the star of the team, but also the designated special attacker.
As most know, not having an urshifu switch-in is bad, and not having a fairy type to counter other dragons is a potential disaster. Clefable was the perfect fit, as it also switches in nicely into landorus.
From between Latios and Clef, I had no melmetal switch-in, as well as no way of consistently checking Tapu Fini, or safely offensively checking Shifu. Zapdos was my choice to fulfill this, and I will get into its set later in order to show why.
I absolutely needed a heatran switch-in (as small as that pool of pokemon is) and because of my zapdos' set, I need a defogger. This used to be hydreigon; however Hydreigon is heavily hampered by the likes of AV magearna, and most fairies. I'll get into how dragonite is able to do this better than Hydreigon later in the post.
I needed an absolute fairy buster, so I put on melmetal. I put on an assault vest so that he could cushion hits from aura-sphere variants of magearna pinch, as well as things such as mystical fire from careless latios, and the rare flamethrower/fire blast clefable
Last but definitely not least, I thought that a way to nail slowbro, while also not stacking another special threat to hamper my latios' effectiveness, was needed, as well as a way to counter bulkier teams. Bulk Up Urshifu seemed adequate, and has actually be doing very well so far.
THE SQUAD
Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Mystical Fire
- Draco Meteor
- Trick
Very standard specs Latios set, with max SpAtk and Speed to maximize it's capabilities as a special attacker. Psyshock was chosen over Psychic, as it eases the burden of prediction against Blissey, as well as does a lot more to the increasingly-common Slowking-G. Mystical Fire is there to hamper special threats, as well as hitting magearna on the switch, as well as having something to clean it up with, though one must be careful when using it against Heatran. It also has the added benefit of absolutely mauling ferrothorn. Trick is there to assist with defensive pokemon who do not enjoy their leftovers, Heavy-Duty Boots, Rocky Helmet, etc. being swapped for Latios' trusty spectacles.
Clefable @ Flame Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Trick
Ever-Reliable Clefable is on this team as my stealth rocker of choice, dragon/Urshifu pivot, and physical sponge. Soft-boiled is there to shrug off hits, Moonblast is evidently there as its fairy-stab, with the added benefit of the change of a special attack drop, and Rocks are there because, well... they're rocks. Through testing, there are physical threats that can overwhelm Clefable very easily, especially if forced to switch into an attack, such as a boosted Garchomp, Excadrill, or Rillaboom, . I put trick with Flame Orb onto my Clefable, as being able to switch in at an opportune time and give a physical threat a burn, as well as stealing their item, is a great way to keep them in check for the long-game. One thing to note with said strategy is to be careful around tricking Choice Users, as giving yourself a choice band is not great; however, this can be circumvented by tricking your choice band back to an opponent later in the game. Ferrothorn also loves to switch into ferrothorn, and does not appreciate losing its helmet or leftovers in exchange for a burn. Max HP, Defense, and a Bold Nature lets it eat the hits it's meant to take for the most amount of time
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
EVs: 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Heat Wave
- Hurricane
- Roost
Zapdos is here due to its grass-resistance, strong stab options, and stellar ability allowing it to make things such as Melmetal, and in a pinch Triple-Axel Pheromosa, think twice before clicking their multi-hit options. Discharge was put in over Volt Switch due to its higher base power, paralysis chance to cripple fast threats, and overall consistency when facing off against threats such as tapu fini. Hurricane allows Zapdos to nail ground types for a hefty chunk on the switch hoping to soak up electric moves, such as hippowdown, garchomp, and landorus. I opted out of Defog and put Heat Wave in to be able to threaten burns in a pinch, increase zapdos' ability attacking prowess, and hit ferrothorn. Roost is there for longevity, as Zapdos will want to be around to offensively check its threats for the team as long as possible. 232 Speed with a Timid Nature allows Zappy here to outspeed Jolly Urshifu, and the rest was used to max out its special attack, and 24 HP for whatever bulk it can get.
Dragonite @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Defog
I'm sure there are people who clicked on this post just for the prospect of this title, so here he is: Specially Defensive Dragonite, acting in as my team's defogger and Heatran-counter, as well as a general blanket check to special threats. In reality, this thing has surprised me more times than it hasn't, as it can eat special hits like a champ, and retain its multiscale with roost. Speaking of which, roost is on this set to ensure that Dragonite can live a long while, and maintain its multiscale. Earthquake lets Dragonite hit the likes of Heatran, Excadrill, Tyranitar, and Magearna. Toxic is there for mons such as Landorus, Unaware Clefable, Hippowdown, and Buzzwole switching into Dragonite expecting a Dragon Dance set. Defog is there as it frees up my Zapdos from the job of doing so itself,as well as maintaining the hazards that can hamper latios', as well as my other teammates', effectiveness. Max HP and Max SpDef with a careful nature are used to stomach special hits and do ludicrous things such as stalling specs latios to death with only roost, and taking a grand maximum of 10% from Max SpAtk Modest Heatran Magma Storm.
Melmetal @ Assault Vest
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 208 SpD / 48 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- Earthquake
- Thunder Punch
- Ice Punch
My designated fairy crusher, special tank, and pseudo-wallbreaker is Melmetal. Melmetal hits so many things in the meta for super effective damage, but struggles with it's poor Special Bulk. As such, an assault vest was given to him in order to eat up the blows of the special threats in the meta like spectrier and magearna, as well as fairies like clefable, the Tapus, and the afformentioned magearna. Double Iron Bash is self-explanatorily there to nail fairies, and does a high amount of damage even when not boosted by a choice band. Earthquake allows Melmetal to hit magearna and ferrothorn for good chip, as well as potential heatran on the switch. Thunder Punch and Ice Punch give him bolt beam coverage boosted by Iron Fist, allowing him to hit nearly everything in the metagame for super effective damage, alongsidethe other two moves of choice. 48 Speed allows you to outspeed Reuniclus, as well as toxapex.
Urshifu @ Protective Pads
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Wicked Blow
- Drain Punch
- Poison Jab
Lastly, I have Bulk Up Urshifu-S. This set doubles as a setup Pokemon to hurt bulkier, slower teams, as well as still pack a punch due to Urshifu's strong stab options. Though Protective Pads seem redundant on Urshifu due to his ability, I simply could not allow a pokemon that is as strong him fall prey to rocky helmet chip, as well as the contact abilities of the Gen 1 birds: Moltres' Flame Body, and Zapdos' Static. Bulk Up and Wicked Blow are standard, allowing him to setup and crush things that try to set up on him through boosts, such as Iron Defense Corviknight. Drain Punch was opted over Close Combat, to allow him to maintain his longevity. Additionally, with the ability to setup comes with the ability to reach the power of Close Combat, with the added benefits of not lowering his defenses and giving Urshifu health. Poison Jab is in the last slot, in order to hit clefable on the switch, as well as fishing for poison on pivots such as Slowbro and Buzzwole. Max Attack and Speed with a Jolly Nature allow him to hit fast and hard, just like I've chosen him to do
Any amount of help would be appreciated. I'm still not the best at teambuilding, so any changes would be amazingly appreciated, as well as something other threats not mentioned!
Pokepaste Link: https://pokepast.es/e65e43b60f2c558a
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