Introduction
Hello, my name is faded love, faded for short. This is my first RMT. I am normally known as an extremely mediocre UU player with a tendency for shit talk perhaps a little larger than it should be, but since SS UU quickly devolved into a nigh unplayable mishmash of clicker offense and passive balance, I decided to try my hand at National Dex. As someone who loves to build teams that are outside the box, National Dex having as many options as it did was something that was very intriguing. After messing around for a couple weeks on ladder with a horrendous Zard X team, I decided to get down to business and build with a mon that summed up what in my mind that oozed the quintessential idea of National Dex, Gen 7 with Gen 8 addition: Heavy Duty Boots Volcarona.
The Team
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Volcarona is the main “wincon” of the team. With decent defensive typing and bulk, recovery, and ability to setup and win if you play correctly, it has all the tools you want out of a cornerstone of a team. Maximum Speed and HP investment are chosen to have as much bulk as possible while still outspeeding threats like Hydreigon and Galarian Darmanitan. STABs here hit the most threats, and Fiery Dance is opted here over Flamethrower to have better odds versus CM Clef. Swarm is an option here, but fishing for burns with Flame Body is generally more useful. Heavy Duty Boots are obviously mandatory to dodge Volcarona’s weakness to hazards.
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature / Naive Nature
Mega Latios is the ideal complement to Volcarona, pressuring all of its non-Chansey answers like Heatran and Toxapex, and Volcarona gets free setup on traditional Mega Latios answers like Mega Scizor and Clefable. Thunderbolt is chosen here over Psychic to better pressure threats like Corviknight, Tapu Fini, and Mega Blastoise, threats that would be nigh unmanageable otherwise. Hasty or Naive is up to your personal preference, but I prefer the former to switch in to Magma Storm better, especially if you catch a Toxic.
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 200 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
To me, Ferrothorn is one of the most underrated picks in the metagame right now. It’s able to pivot into a plethora of dangerous breakers like Mega Blastoise, Mega Metagross, Dracovish, and others while still providing hazard support and Knock Off. This EV spread puts enough EVs to hit a jump point in Defense, helping with certain physical breakers. with the rest in SpD to deal with Psychic- and Water-type hits from the likes of Ash-Greninja and Tapu Lele better
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 76 SpD / 8 Spe
Ability: Magic Guard
Clefable is nearly obligatory on bulky offense teams, compressing Fairy-type, Stealth Rock, and an immense amount of utility out of the fourth slot, no matter what you choose. Here, Thunder Wave + Fairium Z is used to punish neutral setup sweepers like SD Landorus-T and Mega Blastoise with a strong hit or paralysis, so they can easily be picked off by one of your revenge killers. 76 SpD lets you always live a +2 Mega Blastoise Water Pulse from full, but you can run the standard max Defense spread if you want a stronger Zygarde matchup.
EVs: 208 Atk / 68 Def / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
Ability: Intimidate
Choice Scarf Landorus-T is another underrated pick, that found itself on this team as the obligatory speed control, emergency removal, and revenge killer of threats like Ash-Greninja and pivot into physical threats like Zygarde. I used Hidden Power Ice for most of my laddering session, but recently have come to prefer Explosion to better handle the Rotom formes and hit Mega Blastoise as hard as possible. 68 Defense lets you live +2 Hawlucha Acrobatics, and 232 Jolly is to outspeed +1 Speed Excadrill.
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 48 SpD / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
Ability: Sand Stream
Tyranitar is the main breaker on this team, often winning games singlehandedly due to how lacking the tier is of switchins, especially on defensive teams. The EVs are standard from SM OU, letting it offensively check +1 Volcarona from full. STABs are self explanatory, and Fire Punch is mandatory here so Tyranitar can offensively check Mega Scizor. Pursuit is a really broken move and lets this team more reliably handle Tornadus-T, but Aqua Tail is also a great option to 2HKO Hippowdon after Stealth Rock, as Hippowdon + Mega Sableye + Chansey is a core this team really struggles to break.
Conclusion and Shoutouts
And there it is! I had a lot of fun building and playing with this team. As much as people like to bash on it, National Dex is probably the most fun tier I’ve ever played, and I highly recommend it to anyone, new player or veteran alike. I want to shoutout Funbot28, SputnikGT, and Chazm for making learning this tier so easy
- Mega Blastoise is a pain in the ass and the single greatest threat to this team. You have counterplay, but you have to win a bunch of 50/50s and position perfectly, and think ahead, and even then it might still have enough health to setup and win.
- Mega Scizor is another pain, especially if it’s Knock Off. Tyranitar can check, but only if Scizor is unboosted and Tyranitar is at a high HP. My advice is to keep rocks up, double to your heart’s content to force Stealth Rock chip onto it, and only click Thunderbolt with Mega Latios.
- Because Latios lacks Psychic, Rotom Heat is actually a massive nuisance. Play aggressively with Volcarona (as it can beat Rotom-H one-on-one) and Tyranitar, try to knock it off early with Ferrothorn if it has Boots, and keep hazards up. Landorus-T can also use Explosion in a pinch if its really that dire. 
- There’s a whole litany of setup sweepers, common and uncommon, that can be extremely threatening under the right conditions due to the passivity of some of the pokemon on this team, but they’re all playable matchups that just require some thought and care with positioning.
- Similar to the last point, there’s also a ton of breakers that can pummel their way through this team if you’re not careful. Use your common sense when thinking about counterplay. Make the midground move if you’re forced to predict, play aggressively so as to not let them in, punish them if they lock into something, etc.
- Rain is a rare but big annoyance for this team. Use Clef and Ferrothorn wisely, and try to extend the game into the 20 turn range by any means necessary. At that point, usually at least one rain sweeper is dead and the other chipped, so Volcarona can clean up nicely. 
- Steel-types are a big annoyance depending on their set and coverage moves. However, you generally have enough counterplay to effectively handle them if you play at least somewhat smart.FREE SMOKE (Volcarona) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Fiery Dance
- Roost
PASSIONFRUIT (Latios-Mega) @ Latiosite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature / Naive Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
GYALCHESTER (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 200 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Knock Off
- Power Whip
FAKE LOVE (Clefable) @ Fairium Z
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 76 SpD / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
PORTLAND (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 208 Atk / 68 Def / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Explosion / Hidden Power [Ice]
- Defog
SACRIFICES (Tyranitar) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 48 SpD / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Fire Punch
- Pursuit / Aqua Tail
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Fiery Dance
- Roost
PASSIONFRUIT (Latios-Mega) @ Latiosite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature / Naive Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
GYALCHESTER (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 200 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Knock Off
- Power Whip
FAKE LOVE (Clefable) @ Fairium Z
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 76 SpD / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
PORTLAND (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 208 Atk / 68 Def / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Explosion / Hidden Power [Ice]
- Defog
SACRIFICES (Tyranitar) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 48 SpD / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Fire Punch
- Pursuit / Aqua Tail
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