Teambuilding Process
After reading Pinkacross's anti-stall post on the metagame discussion thread, I decided to revisit the stall breaker extraordinaire
in the teambuilder, and of course I added my favorite scarfer as a speed control 
. Next off I added 
, which might be seen as weird considering I've said zone is typically just dead weight with this core, but it creates a nice dragon/fairy/steel core with haxorus and lele. Next off, we have a spdef 
, whose presence should need no explanation. Than we got a toxic protect 
to help with specially offensive threats like lele and pult. Finally we got mixed defense 
to help stave off threats like weavile, urshifu, and barraskewda.
The Team
Haxorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Scale Shot
- Close Combat
- Poison Jab
The star of the team, Haxorus. The standard LO scale swords dance scale shot set. I chose adamant over jolly to syphon as much damage as possible from this nuke of a mon. Close combat absolutely batters steels, while poison jab demolishes the pink pixies of the tier. Scale Shot lets haxorus boost its speed, as well as being decent enough stab, though still a bit unreliable for my tastes at time. The 6 hp evs are something you can do in the teambuilder, so technically my haxorus has 254 evs, but it doesnt give any advantage over 4 hp evs.
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 6 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
The speed control of the team. Future sight lets lele support haxorus, melmetal, and magnezone in the deconstruction of the opponents team. Psyshock lets lele hit more specially bulky mons harder than psychic does. Moonblast for powerful fairy stab, and focus blast lets lele hit steel types on the switch. Modest is to give lele a high chance to break blissey at little sacrifice to what it'll outspeed.
Magnezone @ Chople Berry
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Body Press
- Flash Cannon
- Iron Defense
Magnezone acts as a potent trapper, as well as offensive presence for the team. It weakens corv so that haxorus doesn't have to take unnecessary chip from the metal bird. Zone also helps chip the plethora of bulky landos with flash cannon dealing atleast 30% to the flying lion. I decided to go max speed max spa and speed to maximize zone's offensive capabilities, while iron defense and body press still let zone effectively trap ferrothorn. Chople lets zone at the very least heavily chip kartana with body press, especially after the origami gets a ko.
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 22 Spe
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Defog/Stealth Rocks
- U-turn
Landorus acts a soft check to so much of the meta, while also keeping the electric from running rampant against this team. Max hp and spdef help lando tank hits as effectively as possible, while 22 speed ivs help lando get the slowturn on opposing landos, though I've been seeing slower landos recently and might lower it even further in the future. The moveset is pretty standard, though I will say the choice between rocks and defog can be kinda hard. No rocks means you lose the offensive pressure they exert, while no defog means you have to deal with hazards throughout the game.
Melmetal @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 232 SpD / 28 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Protect
The beast keeping the team from getting rolled by stuff like lele and pult. 28 speed evs to speed creep 4 speed reuniclus because why not. Max attack adamant to make melm's hits sting as much as possible, especially since it lacks two valuable coverage slots. I decided to use toxic protect of av because this melm set has more longevity over the course of a game than the av set. Outside of the speed evs, pretty standard protect toxic melm.
Toxapex @ Eject Button
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Baneful Bunker
- Haze
- Recover
- Scald
The true wincon of the team himself! On a more serious note, I love this mon a lot rn. This thing is so naturally bulky that it can afford to split its defenses to check so much of the meta. The odd move out here is baneful bunker, which lets pex spread poison against the many contact based attackers of the tier. The next three moves are standard fair, haze to not be setup fodder, recover to keep its health up high, and scald to not be entirely passive.
Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/79b89b62d9b5980e
Pokepaste with nicknames: https://pokepast.es/3083645c8fb4e8c6
Threats:
- you have to apply enough offensive pressure to keep this thing from setting up or keep lando healthy, otherwise it can easily shread through the team.
- what team doesn't this demon of a mon threaten? Basically try to make it lock into a move that zone likes, or chip it into zone bpress range. If not scarf than revenge killing with lele, or keeping up offensive pressure is needed to deal with it. Timid kartana can be especially dangerous thanks to it's speed boosting nature and added bulk.
- a well played koko can be a death sentence for this team as the easily chippable landorus is our main stop to it, though melm can help if lando goes down
/
- I'm including these two in the same slot since they basically do the same thing, be unwallable nukes. You generally have to keep up offensive pressure to keep them from getting kos.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1554950155
vs. Specs Hydreigon BO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1549827397
vs. Fat para spam
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1544587406
vs. Regi team in a room tour
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1544582226
vs. swimmerless rain
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1544574815
vs. Pinkacross grass spam
Other Teams:
Zeraora+Garchomp BO
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/zeraora-garchomp-bo.3696691/#post-9163231
Specs Torn BO
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/specs-torn-time-ft-setsustsna.3697419/#post-9123147
Haxorus+Hydreigon BO (outdated and updated since rmt)
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sd-haxorus-outrage.3695393/#post-9089199
This is the current version: https://pokepast.es/cdf48a80d0b9c3f9
Double Dragon HO (outdated and updated since rmt)
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/double-drag-ho.3693564/#post-9060610
This is the current version: https://pokepast.es/067bca9982a3ce5c
Double Dragon Offense (possibly outdated due to metagame changes)
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/double-dragon-offense-peaked-1421.3694439/
SD Lucario Team
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sd-lucario-team.3693773/#post-9043049
My first rmt Specs Keldeo HO (possibly outdated due to metagame changes, and has been updated since rmt)
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/haxorus-and-melmetal-team.3690873/
This is the current version: https://pokepast.es/cbf13712b63d6d9d
After reading Pinkacross's anti-stall post on the metagame discussion thread, I decided to revisit the stall breaker extraordinaire
in the teambuilder, and of course I added my favorite scarfer as a speed control . Next off I added , which might be seen as weird considering I've said zone is typically just dead weight with this core, but it creates a nice dragon/fairy/steel core with haxorus and lele. Next off, we have a spdef , whose presence should need no explanation. Than we got a toxic protect to help with specially offensive threats like lele and pult. Finally we got mixed defense to help stave off threats like weavile, urshifu, and barraskewda.The Team
Haxorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Scale Shot
- Close Combat
- Poison Jab
The star of the team, Haxorus. The standard LO scale swords dance scale shot set. I chose adamant over jolly to syphon as much damage as possible from this nuke of a mon. Close combat absolutely batters steels, while poison jab demolishes the pink pixies of the tier. Scale Shot lets haxorus boost its speed, as well as being decent enough stab, though still a bit unreliable for my tastes at time. The 6 hp evs are something you can do in the teambuilder, so technically my haxorus has 254 evs, but it doesnt give any advantage over 4 hp evs.
Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 6 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
The speed control of the team. Future sight lets lele support haxorus, melmetal, and magnezone in the deconstruction of the opponents team. Psyshock lets lele hit more specially bulky mons harder than psychic does. Moonblast for powerful fairy stab, and focus blast lets lele hit steel types on the switch. Modest is to give lele a high chance to break blissey at little sacrifice to what it'll outspeed.
Magnezone @ Chople Berry
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Body Press
- Flash Cannon
- Iron Defense
Magnezone acts as a potent trapper, as well as offensive presence for the team. It weakens corv so that haxorus doesn't have to take unnecessary chip from the metal bird. Zone also helps chip the plethora of bulky landos with flash cannon dealing atleast 30% to the flying lion. I decided to go max speed max spa and speed to maximize zone's offensive capabilities, while iron defense and body press still let zone effectively trap ferrothorn. Chople lets zone at the very least heavily chip kartana with body press, especially after the origami gets a ko.
Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 22 Spe
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Defog/Stealth Rocks
- U-turn
Landorus acts a soft check to so much of the meta, while also keeping the electric from running rampant against this team. Max hp and spdef help lando tank hits as effectively as possible, while 22 speed ivs help lando get the slowturn on opposing landos, though I've been seeing slower landos recently and might lower it even further in the future. The moveset is pretty standard, though I will say the choice between rocks and defog can be kinda hard. No rocks means you lose the offensive pressure they exert, while no defog means you have to deal with hazards throughout the game.
Melmetal @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 232 SpD / 28 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Protect
The beast keeping the team from getting rolled by stuff like lele and pult. 28 speed evs to speed creep 4 speed reuniclus because why not. Max attack adamant to make melm's hits sting as much as possible, especially since it lacks two valuable coverage slots. I decided to use toxic protect of av because this melm set has more longevity over the course of a game than the av set. Outside of the speed evs, pretty standard protect toxic melm.
Toxapex @ Eject Button
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Baneful Bunker
- Haze
- Recover
- Scald
The true wincon of the team himself! On a more serious note, I love this mon a lot rn. This thing is so naturally bulky that it can afford to split its defenses to check so much of the meta. The odd move out here is baneful bunker, which lets pex spread poison against the many contact based attackers of the tier. The next three moves are standard fair, haze to not be setup fodder, recover to keep its health up high, and scald to not be entirely passive.
Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/79b89b62d9b5980e
Pokepaste with nicknames: https://pokepast.es/3083645c8fb4e8c6
Threats:
- you have to apply enough offensive pressure to keep this thing from setting up or keep lando healthy, otherwise it can easily shread through the team.- what team doesn't this demon of a mon threaten? Basically try to make it lock into a move that zone likes, or chip it into zone bpress range. If not scarf than revenge killing with lele, or keeping up offensive pressure is needed to deal with it. Timid kartana can be especially dangerous thanks to it's speed boosting nature and added bulk.- a well played koko can be a death sentence for this team as the easily chippable landorus is our main stop to it, though melm can help if lando goes down/- I'm including these two in the same slot since they basically do the same thing, be unwallable nukes. You generally have to keep up offensive pressure to keep them from getting kos.Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1554950155
vs. Specs Hydreigon BO
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1549827397
vs. Fat para spam
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1544587406
vs. Regi team in a room tour
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1544582226
vs. swimmerless rain
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1544574815
vs. Pinkacross grass spam
Other Teams:
Zeraora+Garchomp BO
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/zeraora-garchomp-bo.3696691/#post-9163231
Specs Torn BO
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/specs-torn-time-ft-setsustsna.3697419/#post-9123147
Haxorus+Hydreigon BO (outdated and updated since rmt)
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sd-haxorus-outrage.3695393/#post-9089199
This is the current version: https://pokepast.es/cdf48a80d0b9c3f9
Double Dragon HO (outdated and updated since rmt)
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/double-drag-ho.3693564/#post-9060610
This is the current version: https://pokepast.es/067bca9982a3ce5c
Double Dragon Offense (possibly outdated due to metagame changes)
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/double-dragon-offense-peaked-1421.3694439/
SD Lucario Team
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sd-lucario-team.3693773/#post-9043049
My first rmt Specs Keldeo HO (possibly outdated due to metagame changes, and has been updated since rmt)
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/haxorus-and-melmetal-team.3690873/
This is the current version: https://pokepast.es/cbf13712b63d6d9d
Last edited:
