SS OU Dragapult + obstagoon hex status spam balance

[Ran D. Savage]

https://pokepast.es/400f968da181fb78


Melmetal @ Assault Vest
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 244 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Thunder Punch

Melmetal's purpose for the team is to abuse the future sight set up by Slowking as well as be a glue type mon for fairy and dragon type attacks, but Tapu koko was the mon I had in mind for melmetal since this team would find its matchup vs LO/specs koko a lot more problematic otherwise. I decided to give Melmetal max attack since even with max sp def and a careful nature Melmetal doesn't get much more sp def(249 vs 227 iirc) than the spread above so I decided more attack would be more beneficial.

Slowking @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 152 Def / 108 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Teleport
- Future Sight
- Slack Off
- Scald

Slowking's role on the team is offensive pressure in future sight, pivoting with teleport, as well as a good switch in to tapu lele as well as nidoking. Slowking can also contribute to the hex sweep endgame by getting a burn with scald if need be. The EVs allow slowking to be guaranteed to survive 2 choice banded liquidations in the rain from barraskewda.

Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Defog
- Roost
- Hurricane

The team needed a defoger as well as a ground type immunity, plus something to comfortably switch into rillaboom or kartana as well as being able to spread status via static as well as provide momentum for the team, so naturally Zapdos was the best option, I thought about Moltres but being 4x weak to stealth rocks if the heavy duty boots got knocked off was not a trade off I was happy with.

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Hex
- Shadow Ball
- Thunder Wave

Dragapult is the most important member of the team as the team centers around hex and status. But besides that pult's phenomenal speed tier was also greatly needed for this team as it is very slow without it. Thunder wave is there for when you force a switch and want to capitalize on that, but also contribute towards the endgame. Shadow ball is there to improve my mu with offensive archetypes such as rain where I may not be able inflict status upon the opposing team due to offensive pressure, draco meteor and hex are obvious as they are phenomenal moves that hit like a truck if the right conditions are met or if the opponent does not have a solid switch in.


Obstagoon @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Facade
- Close Combat
- Switcheroo

Obstagoon came to mind because I was looking for a mon that could provide immense offensive pressure as well as inflict status for hex at the same time. I'm running adamant nature on goon because adamant will net 2hkos on mons like toxapex and dang near one shot anything that doesn't resist facade or have amazing physical bulk. Goon can also abuse future sight pretty well if needed. One other thing I really liked about goon was the fact that it provided an immunity to future sight as well as ghost type moves, which this team doesn't handle too well otherwise.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 68 Spe
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

I chose landorus because I needed a hazard setter, as well as an electric immunity. At first I thought of hippowdon but landorus was much more practical since it can do everything hippo can do in being immune to electric type attacks, spreading hazards, spreading status and tanking attacks PLUS being able to maintain momentum if need be. With that in mind lando was an easy pick.

Any suggestions for refinement would be greatly appreciated!

 

[glava222]

the general idea seems pretty cool, I would however change the set on dragapult from specs to boots/leftovers. specs is just very clunky since you can status something, and then what? you basically have to switch, not to mention you dont wanna always hex if the opponent isn't currently statused.
so something like

Dragapult @ Leftovers
Timid Nature
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Hex
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Thunder Wave

heat wave instead of hurricane might be considered on zapdos, since it has better accuracy, still kills kartana, and has a slight burn chance.

 

[Ran D. Savage]

Thank you!! I'll definitely try those suggestions out :)

 

[Abhi]

Hey there ,
Cool team although, I have some suggestions that can help your team perform better in the current metagame.
I'll be listing my changes and then any threats that you might have to look out for.


->

Set

Melmetal @ Protective Pads
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 104 SpD / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- Thunder Punch
- Superpower
- Thunder Wave

Assault Vest Melmetal has fallen off in the recent metagame trends and just isn't that great anymore. That's why I recommend utilising a Protective Pads set instead since it performs better in the current metagame. It negates chip from the likes of Ferrothorn or defensive Garchomp which can attempt to switch into its Double Iron Bash and force it out, this gives it more freedom to spam moves without much forethought and makes Melmetal a lot harder to wear down. This set is pretty interesting in its own right as it allows it to bypass common switch ins like Skarmory by paralysing them and then flinching them to death using Double Iron Bash, the same would apply to Corviknight however it usually utilises Pressure making this ineffective, however Thunder Punch is used for that reason. Superpower is there to hit targets like Heatran and Ferrothorn that can attempt to switch into its DIB.


->

Set

Dragapult @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hex
- U-turn
- Thunder Wave

Dragapult fits well on this team, as it can provide good speed control, plus it benefits from Melmetals ability to force out utility Clefable and Blissey, however your current set is rather suboptimal as not only is it not able to utilise Hex well, running Thunder Wave on a Choice Specs set is a bad idea. Thats why I recommend running the standard Hex set instead as its able to pivot more freely while still threatening the opposing team with status and providing speed control. I went with Thunder Wave over Will-O-Wisp as it makes your matchup against Volcarona better, as you do struggle against it otherwise.

->

Set

Victini @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- U-turn
- Glaciate

Obstagoon is rather unviable right now, and has been following the Spectrier ban. That is why I suggest replacing it with a Victini, this Victini set pairs exceptionally well with Melmetal as it's able to bait in Ground-types like Landorus-T and defensive Garchomp and then 2HKO them with Glaciate, making life a lot easier for both it and Melmetal, allowing them to spam their signature moves rather freely. Even bulky Water-types like Toxapex get taken care of with Bolt Strike, further making it a good partner for Melmetal. It also acts as a pretty good pivot which Obstagoon cannot.

->

Set

Mandibuzz (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Def / 152 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Foul Play
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn

Zapdos is a good Defog user, however since your team lacks a Dragapult check and a Ghost-resist in general I recommend swapping it out for a Mandibuzz. Mandibuzz can also perform better here as its able threaten to set up sweepers like Rillaboom, Kartana and the occasional Dragon Dance Dragapult with Foul Play. It's slow pivoting can also be very useful to bring in Melmetal safely.

Threat List
Strong Special attackers, namely Choice Specs Kyurem, Nasty Plot Tornadus-Therian, and Tapu Koko can be a menace to reliably switch in with this team although none of them can completely ravage the team and they can be played around with careful plays and enough offensive pressure. Just remember to play carefully around these threats as they can easily ravage you otherwise.


Well that's all I have to say, you can find the team by clicking the sprites.
Bye!

 

[Ran D. Savage]

Thank you!! I'll definitely try the new team out and let you know how it performs! :)