ORAS OU It's so fluffy I'm gonna die! (A Mega Altaria team)

[DeadlyRabbit]

Introduction​

I will use this introduction to talk about me a little, because I love talking about me.
I have started Pokémon (strategically) in 2007, with the release of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, and have grown to like the strategy very quickly. I have joined many French teams (something you guys will not understand, but basically there used to be French "teams" fighting for glory, cocaine and bitches), and have stopped with the release of the 5th Generation. I have recently started playing again, short before ORAS happened, and even then, I wasn't playing very much. But I have to come back to kick asses.
Being fairly new to ORAS, with very little experience, I have been thinking about a team that would be very easy to build while being as effective as possible. I believe that the only way to judge the worth of a Pokémon is by how many threats it checks/counters while being checked/countered by as few Pokémons as possible. Amongst so many possibilities, one seemed to outshine the rest, one seemed to be the best Pokémon there is : Mega Altaria. And this is how this team happened.
I am not claiming that this team is the best, or even that it's good, actually I post this RMT to see if there are any flaws that can be fixed. I haven't laddered much with that team yet, as I am way too lazy to do that. I have however created a new account, with which I am currently at 9 win for 1 loss, the only loss being due to massive unluck on my side. I will update this as I climb the ladder.
​

Teambuilding Process

As I said earlier, I wanted to build around Mega Altaria.
I figured I should play the Cotton Guard DD set, because it seems to be the best.
I then checked for its obvious counters & checks, and realized that
MVenu, Skarm and Ferro were the closest thing to a counter.

Tornadus is here to check MVenu & Gengar, who are annoying for Altaria.
Magnezone is here to trap all them steels. Nothing too fancy here.

This is where it got a little more complicated, I've been thinking for hours (not literally).
I realized a major weakness to MGross, that can OHKO every single Pokémon in my team
and also needed a spinner, mostly for Tornadus. Defensive Starmie seemed like the best option.
It's overall a very useful and cool pokemon to play.

I wanted a support that could check a lot of set up sweepers, that could wish,
unaware clefable was pretty obvious, I've always wanted to try her
because I didn't understand why she was S tier. I understand now.

Oohh, Heatran... I use it in every team. I don't see how I could not use it.
It checks so many things with a great offensive presence. I love it.
At this point, I was weak to Talonflame, and tried out Rotom-W (using SR on Clef).
I realized how weak I was to Sylveon/Clefable, with only Magnezone to hit them hard.
I changed for Heatran, because he just filled the role perfectly.

A closer look

Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpD / 16 Spe
Careful Nature
- Cotton Guard
- Dragon Dance
- Facade
- Roost
​

The set is pretty classic, but oh boy, so strong. Cotton Guard means that all the revenge killers won't revenge kill shit. Scizor's bullet punch ? Who gives a crap. Iron Head from Excadrill ? Nope.
And with that strong Spc Bulk, very few Special Sweepers can kill him. Sludge Wave from Gengar Life Orber does not OHKO that thing. Facade rather than return, because it makes it easier to set up on Rotom, Heatran, all the bulky waters... Aswell as giving him more damage without boost if you can get a status. Sometimes I will just Facade to weaken the counters. The spread is here to get 200 speed, more than Azumarill full speed (Belly Drummer). I can also choose not to mega evolve against Landorus-I and such, allowing me to set up more easily.

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 56 Atk / 244 SpA / 208 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
​

I needed something to deal with Gengar, MVenu, help against Lando-I, basically everything that hits special. The spread is awesome : it ohkoes Gengar after life orb and stealth rock. Other than that, everything is pretty common. U-turn to keep the momentum, etc. He's also a very strong pivot, tanking almost everything on the special side while dealing massive damage himself. He can also be a finisher if Altaria has weakened the team enough. He also works as a third check to Keldeo. Heat Wave allows him to hit ferrothorn/skarmory on the switch, but I'm considering switching to HP Ice (Magnezone handling them already).

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
​

I needed to trap the steels. Nothing more. Why scarf, you may ask ? Because it's cool. Because it outspeeds plenty of threats including Gengar, because it allows me to finish off Excadrill/Metagross, or even weaken the latter thanks to volt switch. The specs wouldnt bring anything to the table, as it already does the job against Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Scizor (although I dont need to deal with Scizor thanks to Cotton Guard on Altaria).

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 184 Def / 76 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Reflect Type
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
​

Starmie has always been one of my favorite/most hated Pokémon, especially in DPP. His ability to just wrecks every team without blissey was scary. However, it is a more defensive version that I will use here, mostly to counter MMetagross. It's a very strong spinner, and I like to keep control of the hazards, which is why I don't like defog as much. Reflect type is fairly common, allows Starmie to stall SDLess breloom and such, and keeps it from dying to pursuiter such as Bisharp. A great spinner that fits the team nicely.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Thunder Wave
​

I needed something that can basically keep set up sweepers from setting up, and sweeping, because I have no actual revenge killer. I also needed a support, and something to deal with (mostly) DD Altaria. So it occured to me that maybe, I should try Clefable. I did, and am not disappointed. Many times, I will have to sacrifice this thing to thunder wave a threat but it is worth it, because it completely keeps the enemy from sweeping me. Wish helps a lot, allowing me to switch around much more easily.

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 216 SpD / 40 Spe
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Lava Plume
- Flash Cannon
​

As I said : I absolutely love Heatran. I don't need to explain what he checks, because there are too many things. Stealth Rock is obvious, Stone Edge for TF/Volcarona, etc. I ABSOLUTELY need Flash Cannon to deal with Clefable/Sylveon, who can keep my beautiful Altaria from sweeping. Heatran's role here is to set up SR then make a very strong defensive core with Starmie/Tornadus/Altaria, aswell as weakening/tanking fairies. Pretty obvious.
Ev's to outspeed Azumarill, it may always be useful to get a burn before the Belly Drum.
Air Balloon because I need it to check Excadrill, who'd destroy my team otherwise.

Replays
~Will be updated shortly.~

Importable​

Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpD / 16 Spe
Careful Nature
- Cotton Guard
- Dragon Dance
- Facade
- Roost

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 56 Atk / 244 SpA / 208 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- Heat Wave
- U-turn

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 184 Def / 76 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Reflect Type
- Rapid Spin
- Recover

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Thunder Wave

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 216 SpD / 40 Spe
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Lava Plume
- Flash Cannon

 

[YUNG GOAT]

importable?

 

[DeadlyRabbit]

importable?

Done!
I also changed the item on Heatran.

 

[Alkov]

Hi there, really solid team you have there however I do realize that there are a few weaknesses to your team and what I'll suggest will help to patch it up a little :]

• Firstly, it would be that the team lacks a solid Bisharp switch in since nothing on the team would really appreciate a Knock Off or Iron Head, although you do have Reflect Type on Starmie and Cotton Guard on Altaria however neither of them can switch into a Bisharp's hit before having the chance to use any move. What I'll suggest to help patch up this Bisharp weakness would be to have a Keldeo in the team replacing Magnezone. The purpose of Magnezone is to help trap steels like Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Scizor and maybe help weaken Mega Metagross. However your team have a Heatran and bulky Starmie to help deal with the threats listed thus Magnezone's role in the team is the least significant apart from just providing support as a Choice Scarf user.
  
  
• Secondly, with Keldeo being in the team, it'll help to deal with Weavile which might otherwise hurt your team a lot of Clefable is weakened.
  
  
• Lastly, it might be better to run more speed on Heatran so as to outspeed things like a max speed Mega Scizor which can carry Swords Dance and Superpower to hit things like Heatran and run through your team if Magnezone/Keldeo is dead. Most Air Balloon Heatran usually run a lot more speed to prevent such situations too so yeah.
  
  
  Set for Heatran

  Heatran @ Air Balloon
  Ability: Flash Fire
  EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
  Timid Nature
  - Lava Plume
  - Stealth Rock
  - Stone Edge
  - Flash Cannon
  With the given Heatran spread, it allows you to outspeed positive nature base 70s like Breloom and Bisharp along with max speed Adamant Mega Scizor and killing them with Lava Plume. Only time to run the spread you have with Heatran is when you are holding Leftovers.
  :]

 

[DeadlyRabbit]

Hi there, really solid team you have there however I do realize that there are a few weaknesses to your team and what I'll suggest will help to patch it up a little :]

• Firstly, it would be that the team lacks a solid Bisharp switch in since nothing on the team would really appreciate a Knock Off or Iron Head, although you do have Reflect Type on Starmie and Cotton Guard on Altaria however neither of them can switch into a Bisharp's hit before having the chance to use any move. What I'll suggest to help patch up this Bisharp weakness would be to have a Keldeo in the team replacing Magnezone. The purpose of Magnezone is to help trap steels like Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Scizor and maybe help weaken Mega Metagross. However your team have a Heatran and bulky Starmie to help deal with the threats listed thus Magnezone's role in the team is the least significant apart from just providing support as a Choice Scarf user.
  
  
• Secondly, with Keldeo being in the team, it'll help to deal with Weavile which might otherwise hurt your team a lot of Clefable is weakened.
  
  
• Lastly, it might be better to run more speed on Heatran so as to outspeed things like a max speed Mega Scizor which can carry Swords Dance and Superpower to hit things like Heatran and run through your team if Magnezone/Keldeo is dead. Most Air Balloon Heatran usually run a lot more speed to prevent such situations too so yeah.
  
  
  Set for Heatran

  Heatran @ Air Balloon
  Ability: Flash Fire
  EVs: 56 HP / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
  Timid Nature
  - Lava Plume
  - Stealth Rock
  - Stone Edge
  - Flash Cannon
  With the given Heatran spread, it allows you to outspeed positive nature base 70s like Breloom and Bisharp along with max speed Adamant Mega Scizor and killing them with Lava Plume. Only time to run the spread you have with Heatran is when you are holding Leftovers.
  :]

I have made the change you suggested, I will update it later, if I feel like they fit. Thanks a lot for your suggestions. I like the idea of Keldeo though, what set should I use ? I'm currently trying out the choice specs version. Magnezone also worked as a second check to a paralyzed MPinsir/Talonflame.

 

[tcr]

Hey man, awesome team! I absolutely love the Facade Altaria. Pretty unique; at first I was skeptical seeing as it is weaker than Return, but after checking calcs after a Burn it actually does more to Rotom-W than an unburned Return, which is pretty great. From the looks of your team, you really struggle with Excadrill. Like, big time. Sand Rush Excadrill takes a giant dump on you once Heatran's Air Balloon is gone, which isn't really that hard to pop throughout a match. Landorus-I can really do a magnificent job to your team as well, 2hkoing your entire team with Stealth Rocks up. You also seem to have major trouble with stall teams with VenuTran cores, as nothing you can do can really touch them. In short, you lack a good switchin to Ground-type moves and also lack a good stallbreaker.

One thing that really seems out of place on your team is Magnezone. It really doesn't do anything except dismantle Skarmory and Ferrothorn, which Skarmory loses to 3 other members on your team and Ferrothorn loses to 2 of those. You have a solid switchin (Heatran) and a solid lure (Tornadus) theres really no need for you to also have a trapper. I suggest swapping it out for Stealth Rock Garchomp. This allows you a good answer to Excadrill, as well as a better answer to non-Ice punch M-Metagross. It also helps you to weaken the enemy for Altaria to sweep. Lastly, Garchomp allows you to weaken Landorus a bit too, as you can live a hit from it.

With this better change to stop Mega Metagross and other threats, I'm going to recommend a more standard Life Orb Starmie as this gives you a much better answer to VenuTran stall teams as well as hitting everything super hard. This gives you some offensive prescence and can really dismantle stall teams. With this change you actually OHKO Landorus (which you didn't before). Lastly, since you don't really need Stealth Rock on Heatran anymore since you have Chomp, and you also have a better answer to Talonflame with Garchomp, you can swap Stone Edge and Stealth Rock out for Taunt and Toxic. Alternatively, if you feel like Landorus is still a huge threat you can swap Toxic for Hidden Power [Ice]. Taunt allows you to demolish stall teams while Toxic does the same, and can also wear down Pokemon like Landorus and Azumarill (also a good answer to non-Heal Bell Altaria). Anyway, I hope these changes helped you out if you choose to do them! Good Luck!

TL;DR
Magnezone --> Rocky Helmet Garchomp
Reflect Type Starmie --> Life Orb Starmie
Stone Edge+Stealth Rock Heatran --> Taunt+Toxic Heatran

Sets

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Recover
- Psyshock
- Rapid Spin

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Claw

 

[DeadlyRabbit]

Hey man, awesome team! I absolutely love the Facade Altaria. Pretty unique; at first I was skeptical seeing as it is weaker than Return, but after checking calcs after a Burn it actually does more to Rotom-W than an unburned Return, which is pretty great. From the looks of your team, you really struggle with Excadrill. Like, big time. Sand Rush Excadrill takes a giant dump on you once Heatran's Air Balloon is gone, which isn't really that hard to pop throughout a match. Landorus-I can really do a magnificent job to your team as well, 2hkoing your entire team with Stealth Rocks up. You also seem to have major trouble with stall teams with VenuTran cores, as nothing you can do can really touch them. In short, you lack a good switchin to Ground-type moves and also lack a good stallbreaker.

One thing that really seems out of place on your team is Magnezone. It really doesn't do anything except dismantle Skarmory and Ferrothorn, which Skarmory loses to 3 other members on your team and Ferrothorn loses to 2 of those. You have a solid switchin (Heatran) and a solid lure (Tornadus) theres really no need for you to also have a trapper. I suggest swapping it out for Stealth Rock Garchomp. This allows you a good answer to Excadrill, as well as a better answer to non-Ice punch M-Metagross. It also helps you to weaken the enemy for Altaria to sweep. Lastly, Garchomp allows you to weaken Landorus a bit too, as you can live a hit from it.

With this better change to stop Mega Metagross and other threats, I'm going to recommend a more standard Life Orb Starmie as this gives you a much better answer to VenuTran stall teams as well as hitting everything super hard. This gives you some offensive prescence and can really dismantle stall teams. With this change you actually OHKO Landorus (which you didn't before). Lastly, since you don't really need Stealth Rock on Heatran anymore since you have Chomp, and you also have a better answer to Talonflame with Garchomp, you can swap Stone Edge and Stealth Rock out for Taunt and Toxic. Alternatively, if you feel like Landorus is still a huge threat you can swap Toxic for Hidden Power [Ice]. Taunt allows you to demolish stall teams while Toxic does the same, and can also wear down Pokemon like Landorus and Azumarill (also a good answer to non-Heal Bell Altaria). Anyway, I hope these changes helped you out if you choose to do them! Good Luck!

TL;DR
Magnezone --> Rocky Helmet Garchomp
Reflect Type Starmie --> Life Orb Starmie
Stone Edge+Stealth Rock Heatran --> Taunt+Toxic Heatran

Sets

Starmie @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Recover
- Psyshock
- Rapid Spin

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Claw

Most Metagross I've seen run Ice Punch, which is why this Starmie is just perfect. It's also a check to Excadrill, I believe Starmie is fine as it is. I will however considered the other changes, namely Garchomp > 'Zone, and toxictaunt heatran. I can also use leftovers now rather than air balloon, as I have chomp to deal with Exca.