SM OU Mega Altaria Offense Thingamajig

[LucarioOfLegends]

God, its been a while since I posted one of these.

Huge shoutout to Bloody Skarmory on Showdown! (didn't get his Smogon name if he has one) for helping me build this team to get me back into OU. So without further ado, let's begin.​

Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Return
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
​

The main focus of the team, Mega-Altaria is the primary physical sweeper who can break through a whole buncha things with DD, Return, and Earthquake. I generally like to mega right off the bat to try and avoid that annoying rocks damage, as well as get that dragon immunty as soon as possible. Dragon Dance and Return are pretty self explanatory; get off a Dragon dance and smash through anything that doesn't resist. I don't find too much use out of Fire Blast generally, and am actually considering swapping it out for Roost for that sweet sweet recovery. Earthquake is just a sweet coverage move that hits a lotta the steels that otherwise block my road of progression.

Excadrill (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock

Excadrill fits really nicely, as it can get hazards in and can generally threaten out the scary Fairies that otherwise can give trouble Altaria. I wierdly use rocks on a choice scarf set of all things, but it can help me get rocks in quick at one point, while also being able to break through other mons when its not optimal to set them up. No but seriously, the Choice Scarf allows me to outspeed and KO stuff like Charizard Y, which otherwise could not. The STABs are fairly obvious, as they give Excadrill poweful options against the everyday goons. Rock Slide also is nice to nail the flying types that otherwise resist the STABs, like Zapdos and Charizard. Rocks is to set up rocks to soften up foes for everyone on the team.​

Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake

Tang (and not the orange drink) is an essential Pokemon for the different coverage options this thing can bring to the table as well as its general survivability. the numerous different moves that it runs can seriously assist with hitting things that the rest of the team could not, and its incredibly tankiness is also useful for my team. Giga Drain is nice to both Heal and Deal (heh), and is generally what I end up using in most situations. Knock Off lets t break through the really bulk stuff, and pretty much gives me a much better answer to Chansey. HP Ice hasn't been to terribly useful, but it does find its uses against Zygarde and the occasional Gliscor. Earthquake is a gift from the gods in the form of a coverage move that lets me generally hit the rest of the things that I can't hit otherwise.​

Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Although seemingly an odd choice, especially with that second Choice Scarf, Lele is a truly reliable teamember who can get rid of the annoying Poison types that generally give the rest of the team trouble like Gengar, Toxapex, and Mega Venusaur while also being a generally good mon for the team. Psychic Terrian also gives me one of the best possible answers to Ash Greninja as well, who can otherwise rip through the entirely of the team under the correct circumstances. Psychic and Moonblast are STABs that I can rely on in most situations to get the job done. Focus Miss and HP Ice are pretty much for the Steel types that could wreck me hard, and each move covered a different mon.​

Volcarona @ Firium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
No Nature Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Serving as my main special sweeper and generally good Steel check, the king of the quiver Volcarona is an essential member to the team, and usually gets used plently in my battles. Pretty commonly I can get a boost and can cause some serious havoc for the opposng side with strong fire blasts and inferno overdrives. Quiver Dance is the main star of the show here, as it lets it gets some incredible power while also having the bulk to support said power specially, and the speed boost certainly helps against scarfers. Fire Blast is strong STAB, and the general power that it provides makes it more useful than Fiery Dance in my opinion. Giga Drain generally helps against the Water and Ground types that resist the power of a Stab Fire Blast, and HP Ground helps beat stuff like Heatran and Nihilego who can otherwise laugh off your other moves.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Defog

Finally, we come to the teams defoger and generally resistant mon known as Zapdos. Old Thunder Bird has been incredibly helpful to the entire team due to its bulkiness and sustainability, as well as carrying two awesome moves in Heat Wave and Discharge. Both of these moves are generally incredibly helpful to Zapdos, as they allow it to through a large number of Pokemon it walls. Defog lets me remove hazards on the field, which can seriously weaken the team. Roost gives Zapdos suprisingly good survivability, and lets it take far more hits than the rest of the team usually can.​

Conclusion​

I hope this team isn't too bad, but can still get some good criticism to help improve my bulding ability. Thank you for taking your time to read this, and thanks in advance for any critique!​

Importable

Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Return
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake

Excadrill (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock

Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake

Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Volcarona @ Firium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Defog

 

[Twilight]

Pretty good team and nice to see you getting back into OU. First off I think you should consider running Roost > Fire blast for the recovery even though it allows you to hit the likes of ferrothorn and Scizor.

If you don't find HP Ice all that useful you can try HP fire > HP Ice just to hit steel types however with most of your team packing some fire coverage I would stick with HP Ice just to stop Zygarde setting up on you or to hit opposing Landorus but be careful for the Flyinium Z set and U-turn in general.

I am not sure if that is an error but your volcarona says 'no nature'. Assuming it is just a error be sure to update it to a timid nature.

I can also see a threat like Kyurem Black being a massive threat to this team as you have a pretty big weakness to Ice. You may be forced to sack a mon in order to get your scarf users in or switch directly into volcarona which will have to keep taking chip damage. It's something you would have to play around with carefully. It's not that common anymore as stealth rock really hurts it but it is something to consider. If it does become problematic you need a bulky steel type, but ferrothorn and skarmory do take 80% from icium z freeze shock.

Other than that pretty solid team, have fun playing in the OU tier again

 

[Stoward]

Hey, had a look at your team. It’s a nice start, however I’m guessing that you’re kinda new to Sun and Moon. The badge you’ve got and the fact that the sets are mostly pretty good makes it quite clear that you definitely know what you’re doing, but there are quite a few threats that your team doesn’t seem to be prepared for. But it’s okay; I’ve made a few changes that I think might help you deal with the current metagame a little better.



Firstly, I’ve removed scarf drill. OU is a very fast paced metagame, and for the most part, offense runs scarfers over a base 100 in order to be able to revenge kill common setup sweepers such as Volcarona and Mega Charizard-X. I thought that since your team’s only switch-in to Battle Bond Greninja is Altaria, it’d be nice to give you a solid Greninja check, and also, as you said before, your team struggles with Mega Charizard-Y. So, I’ve replaced scarf Excadrill with a scarf Keldeo with the current set:

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Surf
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge


However, removing Excadrill does mean that you no longer have a rocker, and one of your hazard removal mons is gone. I know you were initially going for an offense team, but I hope you’re okay with something that’s a little bulkier. The next mon I added was Heatran, and I removed Volcarona. I know they serve two completely different roles, but Zapdos takes 25% from rocks every time it switches in to remove them, so I felt you were easily pressured by offense. Heatran not only provides you with rocks, but gives you an answer to Shift Gear Magearna and Tapu Lele, as well as just Fairies and Steel types in general.


Heatran @ Groundium-Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock


The other mon that I removed from the team was Tapu Lele. As much as I love the mon to bits, I really didn’t think it was doing much for the team. So I replaced that with a wallbreaker that is also pretty annoying to deal with and pairs well with Heatran, Choice Banded Zygarde.


Zygarde @ Choice Band

Ability: Aura Break
Evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Thousand Arrows
-Extreme Speed
-Outrage
-Toxic


Other than that, I don’t really have a problem with your team. I would maybe consider changing Zapdos to Mew, which would give you a better matchup vs Mega Medicham, and make mons like Mega Latias less of a hassle, however Zapdos is really useful for dealing with mons such as Mega Pinsir and I have to admit that spreading paralysis around can really be helpful for letting your win-conditions sweep, so that’s completely up to you. I will also note that this team struggles with Dugtrio, since Heatran puts in a lot of work vs mons that check Mega-Altaria, however if dugtrio is on the opposing team, it has to risk getting revenge killed. It's kinda tempting to put a shed shell on Heatran, however but idk how viable that is. Oh and I also made Mega Altaria Jolly, that way it's not quite as easy to revenge kill, since its speed tier isn't exactly amazing.


Anyway, just to show what the team would look like with the changes:

Importable

Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Return
- Roost/Fire Blast
- Earthquake


Tangrowth @ Assault Vest

Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earthquake


Heatran @ Groundium-Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock


Zygarde @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
Evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Thousand Arrows
-Extreme Speed
-Outrage
-Toxic


Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge


Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Defog

Anyway. I really did enjoy rating this team. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and since I'm kinda new to rating teams, I'm open to any sort of feedback. Anyway good luck with the team and I hope you have fun using it :)