Other Metagames (Gifts of the Gods) For Ho-Oh The Bells Toll

[Vengeance417]

Salutations. I'm here to show everyone what is perhaps my favorite team of all time. I never would have imagined that I could get anything remotely like this to work competitively, but thanks to the mechanics of Gifts of the Gods, I managed to do extremely well with this team so far. As you can see, this is a Mono-Johto theme GotG team revolving around the legendary bird Ho-Oh and its three children: Entei, Raikou and Suicune with help from Celebi, The Voice of the Forest and Mega Scizor, one of my favorite Pokemon of all time.

Team Building Process

We start off with the legendary core I wanted to build around. This is easily my favorite trio of Legendaries of all time and I wanted to try something fun for a change when it came to the teambuilding process. However, with any team, I have to attempt to patch as many holes as possible to make it usable. For example, our core of Pokemon here is extremely weak to Keldeo (whether it's physical or special attacking) and the many powerful water type attackers in the tier. Suicune may resist their attacks bar Keldeo's fighting STABs, but it can't do much back, and Raikou cannot switch in due to its subpar bulk while using a Choice Specs. While Suicune is running a Rest set, Scald is still a very annoying move to come in on as well as status moves in general.

Naturally, Celebi is the answer to all of the above problems while still retaining its Johto-only status. It is a great switchin to the likes of Keldeo and the many water and fighting types in the tier (just need to watch for Knock Off) and is the team's status absorber thanks to Natural Cure. Support-wise, Celebi also grants a Stealth Rock user to the team and provides Heal Bell support that not only removes status conditions the team might have been inflicted with, but also goes with the theme of the team overall regarding Bells and stuff. However, given that we have Ho-Oh and Entei, we have no means of hazard-removal.

Defog Mega Scizor is the last team member I needed, and completes the VoltTurn core of Mega Scizor and Raikou. Mega Scizor's presence not only gives me a way to reliably remove hazards, but it also gives me a solid Knock Off switchin, as Knock Offs do absolutely nothing to it, even when it's in base form. So now that we have our team members, we have to re-arrange them properly.

Mega Scizor gets the HP, Entei gets the Attack, Raikou gets Defense, Suicune gets Special Attack, Celebi gets Special Defense and Ho-Oh watches over her children.

The Team:

(Base 106 HP)

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn

Our HP recipient is Mega Scizor. Originally, it had a base 70 HP and while it could still tank hits thanks to its fantastic defensive stats, there's room for improvement. So, to maximize its overall bulk, Mega Scizor gets a massive buff to its HP stat to tank hits from both sides of the attacking spectrum much more easily. I've seen this Mega Scizor stomach HP Fires and Fire Punches like its nothing.

Defog clears away the Stealth Rocks and Sticky Web hazards that are common in Gifts of the Gods. Roost provides reliable recovery. Bullet Punch hurts Xerneas, Mega Diancie and the many other Fairies for good damage and U-Turn provides momentum while slamming Serperior and the other Bug-weaks in the tier.

(Base 130 Attack)

Entei @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Extreme Speed
- Stone Edge
- Bulldoze

The Fire that consumed The Tower.

You'd think this small amount of extra Attack wouldn't make much of a difference, but let me tell you. This buff has made Entei my most reliable late-game Pokemon for this team. Banded Extreme Speed coming from base 130 attack is no joke, much better than when it only had 115 attack.

Normally, Banded Entei runs two Fire STABs since Sacred Fire has low PP. However, I'm also running Ho-Oh on the team who has Sacred Fire as well, so whenever I need a Fire type at any given moment, I usually use Ho-Oh first. This allows Entei to run an extra coverage move. Stone Edge hurts opposing Ho-Oh which can prove to, ironically, be a bit troublesome to this team while Bulldoze hits Primal Groudon super effectively.

(Base 90 Defense)

Raikou @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball

The Lightning that struck The Tower.

The team's fastest member (unfortunately, but that's covered later) and hardest-hitting Special Attacker right off the bat. You know what Specs Raikou does, so there's not much to really discuss on it. Raikou has a pretty low Defense stat of 75, so while having a base 90 Defense now doesn't make too much of a difference, it's still a difference regardless and this was the best slot to put it in anyways.

Volt Switch provides momentum, Thunderbolt is the stronger electric STAB when I don't have to Volt Switch out, HP Ice hurts Rayquaza and Salamence while Shadow Ball is good neutral coverage.

(Base 110 Special Attack)

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Toxic
- Scald/Ice Beam

The rain that washed the flames off the Tower.

My set-up sweeper of the team, and the team member I sorta need the most help with. Once again, the stat buff, while not making a huge difference, is still nice as it gives Suicune more offensive presence.

Calm Mind buffs my SpA and SpDef as per usual, Rest puts me to sleep while healing my HP back to 100%. Toxic is the oddball on this set. With Primal Groudon in the tier, Suicune has a tough time. Toxic on Suicune works similarly to Toxic Arceus-Water where it lures it in and badly poisons it, whittling it down to be revenged later or simply stalled out by Suicune. The last move is kinda up for debate, but I have Scald for the time being, and everyone knows what Scald does.

Here's the thing. My team so far is really weak to Rayquaza and Mega Salamence. While I want to use Scald since it's a great spammable STAB, I feel Ice Beam could also help the team out in not only damaging Primal Groudon more along with Toxic but hitting the aforementioned Dragon/Flying types. I have HP Ice on Raikou, but it doesn't switch in to either of them at all and +1 Rayquaza and Mega Salamence in general outspeeds and kills anyway.

(Base 154 Special Defense)

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Stealth Rock
- Recover
- Heal Bell

Now here's the mon that I feel benefits the most out of one of Ho-Oh's stat buffs. Physically Defensive Celebi with a base 154 Special Defense turns it into a phenomenal mixed wall capable of switching in to the threats that both the normal physically and specially defensive Celebi sets come in on. Even with no investment, Celebi's SpDef hits a whopping 344, with the physdef hitting 325 with a bold nature. You're looking at 100/100/154 bulk on a mon with physical defense investment.

Giga Drain is the standard STAB choice, Stealth Rock is...Stealth Rock. Recover keeps Celebi healthy and Heal Bell removes status conditions that the team might have. This is especially helpful for Suicune since it's not running Sleep Talk (they help each other out just like in the 4th movie :D)

(The God)

Ho-Oh @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 196 Atk / 52 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Earthquake
- Brave Bird
- Thunder Wave

The God that molds the team together. Ho-Oh is so good. Regenerator makes it a great pivot vs the likes of Serperior, Volcarona and Xerneas as well as the many other Pokemon it resists.

I chose to run 3 attacks and Thunder Wave for a reason. This team is pretty slow minus the forms of priority I have, and Thunder Wave slows down the many base 130 speed recipients of the tier. It also completely shuts down GeoXern. Sacred Fire and Brave Bird are standard STABs and Earthquake hits Primal Groudon.

Threatlist:

Really tough to switch in to. Hopefully, Sacred Fire burns it or I can get a Toxic off (when not running Ice Beam on Suicune). If statused, you'll have to pivot around it and then pick it off with priority.

Also really tough to come in on. Again, statusing it and pivoting around is really the only way atm.

Dark types:

I don't have a dark resist for the team, but Mega Scizor can come in on most bar Yveltal, and Ho-Oh and Entei can deal with most of them as well, especially Mega Sableye.

Importable

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn

Entei @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Extreme Speed
- Stone Edge
- Bulldoze

Raikou @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Toxic
- Scald

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Stealth Rock
- Recover
- Heal Bell

Ho-Oh @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 196 Atk / 52 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Earthquake
- Brave Bird
- Thunder Wave

 

[iLlama]

Hey Vengeance417, that's an awesome team concept you've got. I'll give you a rate and won't try to mess with your core build too much. Just a fair warning, I'll only be working with 2 Pokemon (Mega Scizor and Celebi) so I will only be trying to help with essential weak spots.

I noticed a few things at first glance when looking over your team. The first of which is how your build is insanely weak to 150+ Atk threats (Smeargle, Pikachu, Linoone) and to EKiller Arceus. There's also a noticeable problem that could arise from Speed stat-boosted threats and even a glaring weakness to Set-Up sweepers. In fact, Smeargle could potentially just 6-0 your team. Because of this, I would recommend changing Celebi > Rhyperior in your Special Defense spot. This may seem a tad strange as these are two completely different Pokemon, however their rolls are similar. Celebi is really weak Pokemon in this meta, simply because of threats like Mega Heracross, Mega Pinsir, Nidoking/queen, Smeargle, Swellow, Volcarona, etc. Rhyperior in turn can work wonders for this team as a Physical and Special Tank as well as Stealth Rock setter. It can switch in on Ho-oh, Mega Pinsir, Pikachu, Smeargle, Swellow, and many other major threats in the meta that could have a field day with your team. Here is the set that I would run for it:

Importable

Rhyperior @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch

Now comes the tricky part of this rate. While Mega Scizor is an amazingly diverse Pokemon and has so much hidden potential in this tier, it doesn't exactly fit with this team build. Keeping this in mind, this team still needs hazard control but it also needs a check/counter to set-up Pokemon as well as its Mega Evolution. Because of all these needs in such a small space, I decided to forego hazard removal and give you speedy option to handle other weaknesses to your team. With that, I recommend swapping Mega Scizor -> Mega Diancie as a hazard/status check in Magic Bounce as well as a nice, hard-hitting addition to your team. As for what to run, a relatively standard spread with the exception of running Calm Mind over Protect to put pressure on Stall based teams and Shuckle abusers should get the job done.

Importable

Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Ancient Power

My last suggestion is a pretty simple one. On Ho-oh, I'd suggest changing Earthquake -> Recover. Ho-oh is really an anchor for this team as it counters Serperior and checks Nido, so you can't afford to take too much damage, especially if Rocks happen to be up. Also, Earthquake doesn't provide to many more options that Sacred Fire and BB can't cover.


I really didn't want to mess with your core Pokemon too much, but I think these changes could help you out a bit. Good luck!

 

[Vengeance417]

Hey Vengeance417, that's an awesome team concept you've got. I'll give you a rate and won't try to mess with your core build too much. Just a fair warning, I'll only be working with 2 Pokemon (Mega Scizor and Celebi) so I will only be trying to help with essential weak spots.

I noticed a few things at first glance when looking over your team. The first of which is how your build is insanely weak to 150+ Atk threats (Smeargle, Pikachu, Linoone) and to EKiller Arceus. There's also a noticeable problem that could arise from Speed stat-boosted threats and even a glaring weakness to Set-Up sweepers. In fact, Smeargle could potentially just 6-0 your team. Because of this, I would recommend changing Celebi > Rhyperior in your Special Defense spot. This may seem a tad strange as these are two completely different Pokemon, however their rolls are similar. Celebi is really weak Pokemon in this meta, simply because of threats like Mega Heracross, Mega Pinsir, Nidoking/queen, Smeargle, Swellow, Volcarona, etc. Rhyperior in turn can work wonders for this team as a Physical and Special Tank as well as Stealth Rock setter. It can switch in on Ho-oh, Mega Pinsir, Pikachu, Smeargle, Swellow, and many other major threats in the meta that could have a field day with your team. Here is the set that I would run for it:

Importable

Rhyperior @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch

Now comes the tricky part of this rate. While Mega Scizor is an amazingly diverse Pokemon and has so much hidden potential in this tier, it doesn't exactly fit with this team build. Keeping this in mind, this team still needs hazard control but it also needs a check/counter to set-up Pokemon as well as its Mega Evolution. Because of all these needs in such a small space, I decided to forego hazard removal and give you speedy option to handle other weaknesses to your team. With that, I recommend swapping Mega Scizor -> Mega Diancie as a hazard/status check in Magic Bounce as well as a nice, hard-hitting addition to your team. As for what to run, a relatively standard spread with the exception of running Calm Mind over Protect to put pressure on Stall based teams and Shuckle abusers should get the job done.

Importable

Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Ancient Power

My last suggestion is a pretty simple one. On Ho-oh, I'd suggest changing Earthquake -> Recover. Ho-oh is really an anchor for this team as it counters Serperior and checks Nido, so you can't afford to take too much damage, especially if Rocks happen to be up. Also, Earthquake doesn't provide to many more options that Sacred Fire and BB can't cover.


I really didn't want to mess with your core Pokemon too much, but I think these changes could help you out a bit. Good luck!

My biggest issue with these two suggestions is that once I remove Celebi from the team and add two more rock types, I lack a solid switchin to Keldeo and many of the other waters in the tier and end up with a whopping total of 4 water weaks on my team.

I'm also not too much of a fan of Mega Diancie (it's a great mon, not gonna lie) being my sole answer to hazards because it's not as much of a guarantee to keep Diancie alive compared to Scizor, who has a much better defensive typing and the ability to heal itself as well as actually being able to rid of hazards.