Everyone who plays competitive Pokémon has come into contact with this legendary quote from Johto Elite 4 member Karen. A rallying cry for new players. A humorous meme for serious players. A troll comment to throw out when you get sigilyph in randbats and your opponent's best Pokémon is muk.
I myself usually threw this comment out as a troll and memed about it, thinking little of it. However, I had an encounter that forced a total paradigm shift for me.
I had begun streaming on Twitch recently. I had been struggling to crack top 100 and been frustrated from repeated failed attempts and felt constricted teambuilding. I received a team from a player with 6 Pokémon, none of which were OU, none of which had viable sets. I looked up the players showdown account. The player was 1137 elo, probably new to the game. Instead of changing the entire team, I had a fun time optimizing the Pokémon on it. I subsequently brought it to an OU room tour as a joke. I kept winning and winning against solid players and felt thrilled, more fun than anything else I've had with Pokémon in years.
I decided to use the team on the ladder with my main because why not. That is the team that cracked the top 100 for me. I was completely blown away.
Was Karen right? Does it actually not matter which Pokémon you use? Is running your favorite Pokémon actually viable in OU despite what the indexes and meta players will tell you?
Without further yapping, I will display a team put together with 0 thought to viability. 0 thought to synergy. 0 care about meta. Just 6 of my top 10 favorite Pokémon. That just so happen to comprise a top 10 team in SV OU.
Literally Me
Of course I love him, he's me!
Literally Me (Volcanion) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 72 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Will-O-Wisp
Volcanion was not a favorite of mine until I got into competitive Pokémon. But when I started, he became a swift favorite. However not from OU. I really began getting into competitive Pokémon in gen 7 not in OU, but in monotype. I was exposed to other metagames through roomtours in which we did almost any ability monotype. I quickly realized that this was the most broken Pokémon in the game. Swift Swim volcanion, chlorophyll volcanion, the two least skilled archetypes (my favorite) and he was the goat of them both. I got more into Oms and volcanion was and still is completely busted in aaa with either ability. This gen has been Volcanion's pinnacle in OU as well since gen 6 or maybe overall, I wasn't around back then. With the death of pex (rip bozo), serious fire and water resists on the special side are lacking and limited.
This is my spirit Pokémon. An absolute middle finger to dainty gen 9 pussy footing around, endlessly positioning boots Pokémon to do 35% to ting lu in 6 turns. Nah Volcanion comes in, stares the opponent in the eye, and shouts "The God of the Volcano demands a sacrifice!" I come in I am clicking steam eruption or fire blast you cannot stop me. Resists? Don't care. You're taking 50% and getting burned. Volcanion's superior bulk allows it to trade into even strong pokemon who hit it super effictively such as great tusk (whom this team is massively weak to and you definitely would want to trade with).
Volcanion is good. That simple, I don't believe this is a controversial take. Tera water volcanion is walled by virtually nothing. It's bulky, it erupts on foes like pompeii in 79.
Earth power is there as a bit of a neutral move and hits clod se though I've never seen a water absorb clod might as well have it. You are Erupting or fire blasting 95% of the time anyway.
Specs wisp is solely for gambit and is used sometimes despite looking very very stupid. This team is quite weak to Gambit.
Hp is necessary to live hits from ground types which are hugely annoying for this team to deal with otherwise. I could be persuaded to lower the speed if anyone has a relevant number for volcanion to hit.
A few calcs to show his monstrous damage
252+ SpA Choice Specs Volcanion Steam Eruption vs. 252 HP / 240+ SpD Slowking-Galar: 202-238 (51.2 - 60.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Water Volcanion Steam Eruption vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Slowking-Galar: 196-232 (49.7 - 58.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage
252+ SpA Choice Specs Volcanion Steam Eruption vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Alomomola: 274-323 (51.3 - 60.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
IVAN THE TORTERRABLE
Ivan (Torterra) @ Miracle Seed
Ability: Overgrow
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Headlong Rush
- Stone Edge
- Wood Hammer
The star of the show, Ivan the Torterrable.
Torterra has been a favorite of since the start of my Pokémon journey. He was always by my side in the first Pokémon game I ever played, Pokemon platinum. Not only was he by my side, he was the only one by my side for the entire game. I beat Cynthia with a lv 100 torterra and an under leveled Girantina. It had rock climb, rock smash, strength, and earthquake. If you asked 8 or 10 year old me who the toughest trainer in the game was, the answer would have been Aaron. I believe everyone's first starter occupies a special place in their heart. There is no way I could leave my green walking mountain behind on my quest to conquer OU with my favorite Pokémon.
In many ways this team could be derided as 5 viable Pokémon + a torterra to make it cool. While the others are probably on the viability list somewhere, he definitely is not, yet torterra is no deadweight. Torterra is bulky enough to live many hits and smack the opponents back hard with stab wood hammer and headlong. Stone edge makes for an excellent coverage move. The only pokemon not too bothered by this set in all of OU is an increasingly rare corviknight.
Torterra's role in games varies wildly. In some he is pack one pick one to be sacked immediately. In other games he does major damage with after shell smashing up on landorus or ogerpon and usually claiming two kills. In a bizarre amount of games, he is the absolute difference between winning and losing due to being completely underestimated by my opponent. Too many times have my masterful meta player opponents left kingambit in on Torterra without teraing in situations where a max health kingambit would make quick work of my team in the endgame, only to be swiftly smacked by a headlong for 80% of its hp making it lightwork for the team to clean up. Sinistcha is EXTREMELY difficult to take on with this team, yet Torterra has consistently saved me from the menace somehow. One tera poisoned and beat every remaining pokemon on the team except for torterra whom they proceeded to stay in on, got swiftly outsped and Ohkod. Another I shell smashed on Oger and wood hammer killed it then wood hammered, did 80%, killed myself on recoil preventing the strength sap, and refused to elaborate.
Max speed ada is necessary to barely outspeed pult at +2 and outspeed ada max speed gambit. And to do as much damage as turtly possible.
252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 5 allies fainted Kingambit Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Torterra: 186-220 (56.1 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Torterra Headlong Rush vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Kingambit: 324-384 (95 - 112.6%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Miracle Seed Torterra Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Landorus-Therian: 372-438 (97.3 - 114.6%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Miracle Seed Overgrow Torterra Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 160+ Def Sinistcha: 255-300 (73.6 - 86.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Puff The Magic Dragon
Puff (Dragonite) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Ice Spinner
- Extreme Speed
Lovable o'l dragonite. My top 1 favorite here he is. My right hand, my go to, my OU.
Loved him in Heartgold Soul Silver. Lance was an epic final boss with 3 Dragonites as aces, so baller. His backsprite in that game was adorable look at his little smirk. Bro is just having the time of his life in every image of him. Total noob killer all in my experience battling people Irl with teams, he is awesome. Luv me dragonite, Luv me Lance, ate ice types simple as.
One of the best sweepers in OU, this set is tried and true. Fantastic coverage. Hard hitting. Multiscale means he gets a free dd off almost every time. Tera normal espeed. Yadda Yadda. Even a cursory level of playing experience would tell you what dragonite does and why he is so good.
I opted for a bulkier spread, because dragonite absolutely must hold. This team is as slow as a torterra. If something sets up, dragonite at full hp must live a hit and hit it back. This team was not built with a magnifying glass over OU going about which mons I need to prepare for, whether in a late game situation I can stop +1 atk booster roaring moon. This team is my 6 favorite pokemon, it is the pride of the fleet of a shitty irrelevant country with a ceremonial navy, such as denmark, and a crowd voted name of smiley mcsmiley face. Except it has been forced into action for world war and is somehow holding its' own against meta builds like the USA. Dragonite is the Titanium, impenetrable, hull of the otherwise meme ship, whilst simultaneously doing the most damage launching torpedoes. What I mean by this is if something breaks through dragonite...
I save multiscale on dragonite consistently, despite it being the only immunity to ground and only real way to not get blown up by a ground move. If dragonite has to come out vs ogerpon or rillaboom I reluctantly send it out.
But here's the thing. It just works. Dragonite can handle the weight of world on his back. Torterra and Volcanion punch massive holes in opposing teams whilst Gambit and chomp chip things down. Dragonite has won many many games. And has been the sole reason I did not immediately lose to a setup Pokémon by smacking the pokemon with a tera normal espeed. When evaluating Tera matchups, dragonite must be on your mind. Dragonite's speed is deftly woven to outspeed base 100s at +1
Literally Me
Ryan Gosling (Kingambit) @ Leftovers
Ability: Supreme Overlord
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Kowtow Cleave
- Sucker Punch
Unfortunately, the game does not allow me to give two Pokémon the same nickname. Even tough they are both literally me. As many of my fellow DID sufferers (enjoyers) are aware people ask you which version of yourself you identify with the most. After many sleepless nights of hallucinating, I decided that Volcanion was more literally me so I reluctantly relegated Kingambit to the closest synonym there is.
Bisharp had always been a top 3 favorite pokemon of mine. Which teenage boy didn't think the sinister dark blade man Pokémon was the coolest thing ever since its debut in gen 5. Playing competitive, I had always liked using bisharp, and thought it was a good and fun pick in every generation, reinforcing my favoritism of the pokemon. I used to joke about evolution into queengambit and give it 130 speed. Could you imagine that? Gamefreak giving an already powerful pokemon with a fantastic typing a massive stat boost from an evolution?
Then it got an evolution. I was like "No way, this will be the most broken pokemon in day one OU." When I heard of it. I had dreams of running both bisharp and Kingambit for the first few days when one of them got banned, or both.
Then SV OU dropped. And my initial assumption was half correct. They took away knock off from both, which made me drop the bisharp dream immediately, and tusk became a staple. Instead of taking bisharp's role as a possible sweeper with outrageous immediate power and just upgrading the bulk and power even further like I had expected, Kingambit became a late game sweeper, whom you protected at a lot of cost. I felt a little bit awkward about it, and sometimes a bit frustrated. But over time, I have come to really appreciate the King. I believe full stop that literally I am not only the best OU pokemon, but I am also the coolest.
My vibe is completely distinct from bisharp. Instead of the edgelord serial killer/ assassin vibe, destroying the skilless losers playing fat balance by coming in on a defog, Kingambit is more of an anime hero. Supreme Overlord is the coolest ability ever. I actually gets stronger to avenge his friends. And I am naturally the most powerful guy in the show (OU). Can't make this up.
Enough glazing. Kingambit has to have the heartiness to switch into things, especially gholdengo. Do not play this gambit like a lot of players. As a prissy engorged noble letting the peasants die on the frontline, always saving him for the endgame. This team has no real defensive core and gambit has to lead by example in his role of pivoting and switching into things.
Kingambit triumphs frequently late game by swords dancing and sucker punching through an opposing team battered by 2 turtles and 2 dragons. Kingambit's typing is a godsend. This team has no other steel and no ghost resist. Frankly without my royal presence, I believe the team crumbles just as fast as it would without dragonite.
I experimented with low kick but despite this team being weak to opposing gambit's it was rarely used. Mainly because a lot of enemy gambits are already low kick and it would be a fools errand to run max speed jolly on one of my best defensive Pokémon.
A wise man once said: Slow and steady wins the race
A jester once said: I like my base 50 speed pokemon like I like my pills, full of speed.
(you don't need calcs to know what Kingambit does) (also would appreciate help coming to a speed tier to hit that is important as long as it isnt to high fr fr on jah)
Cat
Cat (Sylveon) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pixilate
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Draining Kiss
- Hyper Voice
- Tera Blast
- Shadow Ball
Yup Sylveon is a top 10 favorite Pokémon of mine. I am a straight man and I like Sylveon and I'm not afraid to say it. If you're a guy and you are too embarrassed or egotistical or prideful to admit you like cute animals I feel sorry for you. How many puppies has your pride prevented you from snuggling? How many kittens were you forced to ignore rubbing against your leg? What a sad life. I like sylveon and if you cannot admit you like cute things you are not a man, you are a 12 year old buy trying to look cool in middle school or bitchmade.
The cutest Pokémon is a tough decision. For me, it is a tossup between clefairy and sylveon. I have already proved clefairy's utility in a previous RMT. Furthermore, clafable is hideous. 5 badass cool guys and one cute cat that looks completely out of place and looks like a total troll? Sign me up.
Sylveon definitely pulls her weight. Her attacks especially hyper voice boosted from Pixilate pack a fluffy punch. She loudly yells at cm valiant and raging bolt and sends them to the edgy boy time out chair. Sylveon is probably the only pokemon that has much real synergy with the rest of the team, which makes sense considering she looks like she would try to use friendships to solve problems while the others would prefer the alternative option of drinking blood from the throats of their enemies. Sylveon has great synergy with fellow quadraped, volcanion. Sometimes the threat of going sylveon allows me to stay in on dragon types such as pult because they are scared to give the fearsome fluffy feline a free turn. Few pokemon actually wall sylveon, but two common ones that do are gholdengo (kinda) and slowking galar, both of whom allow me to double to ryan gosling quite easily.
252+ SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. +1 0 HP / 4 SpD Iron Valiant: 348-410 (120.4 - 141.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. +1 0 HP / 4 SpD Tera Ghost Iron Valiant: 174-205 (60.2 - 70.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 SpA Quark Drive Tera Ghost Iron Valiant Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Sylveon: 153-180 (38.8 - 45.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 252+ SpA Protosynthesis Raging Bolt Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Sylveon: 175-207 (44.4 - 52.5%) -- 19.9% chance to 2HKO
252+ SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. +1 0 HP / 0 SpD Raging Bolt: 254-300 (64.9 - 76.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Dankchomp
Dankchomp (Garchomp) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
Aw hell yeah! Dragon shark! Now that's cinema right there! The final boss of my first pokemon game. The ace of the champion of Sinnoh. The undisputed king of gen 4. It's him it's the guy from victory road. Every gen they count him out and he's right back in it. It's garchomp baby.
If you don't think garchomp is cool, pullup on dms and I'll crush you into land shark bait.
Now is garchomp's ideal item a choice scarf? Absolutely not. But look at the rest of the team. Somehow they rounded out to a decent typing coverage, but the speed. It is nauseatingly abysmal. Scarf chomp is an absolute must. But not only has it been a must. I'd say it has been pretty good. Outrage is excellent damage especially with ada allowing him to hit 394 to eviscerate and mutilate opponents and do good damage even to resists. Fairy types have significantly fallen off in this gen. Enamorous is scared to switch into anything. Clef is still OU but is terrible as always. Primarina... is a pokemon. Arguably defensive primarina against a Volcanion team might as well be a 5v6 match. Draco cuts deep into Great Tusk's hide before garchomp makes a strategic withdrawal. Earthquake shakes the ground like he shakes enamourous' bloodied long dead corpse after hitting it with an iron head (after chip from sylveon).
Garchomp is the only pokemon to have a dedicated role and that is revenge killer. Opposing dd dragonites, raging bolts, gholdengos, dragapults, an sded up ogerpon, whatever. Chances are that few pokemon live garchomp's strongest attack into dragonite espeed/ gambit sucker punch.
252+ Atk Garchomp Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Enamorus: 258-304 (89.2 - 105.1%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO (need sylveon to get a hit off first or just predict on switchin)
252+ Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 374-444 (118.7 - 140.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Garchomp Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Great Tusk: 193-228 (44.4 - 52.5%) -- 18.4% chance to 2HKO
Weaknesses.
Great tusk- as I said these pokemon are my favorite not the most meta useful or anything. This is the worst example of this coming back to bite me. Whole team gets wrecked by tusk. Beat it however you can. I tera volcanion quite a bit in exchange for killing a tusk. I also sometimes trade garchomp for significant chip on it. Sometimes gambit wins if tusk is ruined early. look out for those opprotunities and don't be afraid.
Raging bolt- would not be an issue except that it is paired with valiant an obnoxious amount of times. Sylveon cannot reallly handle both of them in the same battle despite having na good matchup vs 1 of them. Garchomp is at least faster even if webs are up
Hazards- win the game before they start going up. Go fast and go hard. Make your opponent have to chose between getting rocks up or losing a pokemon
Overall strategy.
Karen is right you can win with your favorites, but you have to be in control and make plays. This team has super powerful breakers in volcanion and torterra. Your mission is to punch as many holes in your opponents as possible while holding onto the wincon. Dragonite and Kingambit are uber powerful sweepers, usually you have to position the game so one of them wins. This team does not even have hazards. You should not need them with this team. Do not be afraid to sack pokemon. Be ultra aggressive with this team. going for 30% chip is usually a misplay. You have to be doing more damage then you're taking and with the frail defense of this team you'll be taking a lot of damage fast. But if you can get it to work it is absolutely phenomenal. I went 12-0 in my first 12 games with this team.
Tera tactically. I will be honest dragonite kingambit and volcanion are the only mons I've terad. Torterra received it once vs a dragonite. They simply use tera to the most benefit of the team.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2265702516?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2264389517?p2 (torterra saves the day)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2264383908 (fairy + volcanion mindgames)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2263194796?p2
I hope I inspire you all to build teams with your favorite Pokémon and have fun with teambuilding!
Here is the pokepaste https://pokepast.es/ead28e2a56536be4
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