Introduction
I decided to play some Gen 6 OU while I was thinking about changes I could make to my SV OU team, and immediately went back to my tried and tested Mega Heracross team that I had great success with during it's original run to top 10 on the ladder back in Gen 6, arguably being the best team I have ever constructed. While some changes have been made in the meta since then, the team still performs as well as it did back then, with minor changes.
Team Building Process
So we start off with Mega Heracross, a terrifying Wallbreaker with decent enough bulk to shrug off medium powered neutral hits. Most walls fall in two hits to this thing, while then cannot usually OHKO it in return.
Gyarados is yet another powerful physical sweeper than compliments Heracross nicely. Heracross can remove said checks to Gyarados such as Rotom-W and other such bulky waters as well as Ferrothorn, Gyarados' immortal enemy. While Gyarados threatens the bulky ground types such as Landorus-T and Gliscor that make Mega Heracross' life difficult.
Bisharp rounds off the trio of powerful physical sweepers. Bisharp deals with fast threats such as Latios and Latias, whilst also taking on the bulky fairies such as Clefable that Heracross can struggle with. The three of them together prove to be an effective offensive core, denting everything enough that one of them can sweep at anytime.
Heatran is such a great supporter of Heracross. From providing hazards to facilitate easier sweeps to providing a great check to Talonflame. Mega Heracross likewise deals effectively with bulky waters and tanks the Fighting and Ground attacks that Heatran hates.
Originally I had Cresselia in Thundurus' slot back in Gen 6 , due to it's ability to tank numerous hits on both sides of the spectrum to provide speed control with Thunder Wave. However as the meta has shifted a lot since then, I opted for Thundurus as it provides not only more reliable means of threatening Gliscor, Skarmory and Landorus-T, Prankster Thunder Wave can save games against faster pokemon which Cresselia couldn't if it was sufficiently weakened. Having a fast special sweeping option was also appreciated.
Last but not least is Landorus-T. Provides an additional secondary check to Talonflame and also acts as a decent revenge killer for the team.
The Team In Detail
Heracross (SOLO)@Heracronite
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Moxie
EV's: 20HP/252 Atk/236 Speed
Moves:
Close Combat
Pin Missile
Rock Blast
Bullet Seed
One of the best wallbreaker in Gen 6, being able to combat many of the typical defensive cores on its own, Mega Heracross strikes fear into many powerful defensive pokemon's hearts. Close Combat is a deadly STAB move, OHKO'ing physically defensive Ferrothorn without boosts, which is an impressive feat. Pin Missile is a reliable option that OHKO's Tyranitar and Bisharp without defensive stat drops, while also providing 2HKO's on defensive Mega Venasaur, Amoongus and also a sacrificial switching in Ferrothorn that plans on using it's Iron Barb and potentially Rocky Helmet damage to put Heracross in range of a KO from another pokemon. Rock Blast is amazing, destroying Charizard, Talonflame, Dragonite, Pinsir and Zapdos'. A lot of people believe Bullet Seed to be somewhat of an inferior option to Sub, but being able to facilitate the OHKO on Azumarill, Swampert and Quagsire, while reliably 2HKO'ing Suicune, physically defensive Hippowdon is really solid. Also having the OHKO option against things like Rotom-W after small chip damage is something that often cannot be ignored if in 1v1 situations. The given spread allows you to outspeed Jolly max speed T-Tar, defensive Zapdos and 32 Speed base 100's such as Jirachi. Max attack allows as much chance as possible for Mega Heracross to OHKO the likes of Physically defensive Zapdos and Rotom-W (31.3% for Zapdos and 43.8-53.8% on Rotom-W depending on whether it's 248 Def/204 Def that outruns defensive Landorus-T). Also as Substitute is kind of the expected move, clever Rotom-W players would simply attack to break the newly generated sub instead of Will-O-Wisping, which then typically forces Mega Heracross out.
Gyarados (GARRADOR)@Leftovers
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Intimidate
EV's: 220HP/88 Atk/4 Def/196 Speed
Moves:
Waterfall
Bounce
Dragon Dance
Substitute
I know what you're all thinking. This is the recommend Smogon EV's for Bulky Gyara Sub DD, but reversed. And you'd be correct. The additional bulk allows Gyarados easier setup against would be checks after substitute. The given HP EV's allow Gyarados' sub to always survive 2 Scalds from Slowbro and also have a roughly 50% chance of the sub not breaking from Tangrowth's uninvested Giga Drain. Gyarados's sub also has a reasonable chance of surviving Manaphy Ice Beam and Energy Balls, allowing additional opportunities to setup. Jolly 196 speed ensures that Mega Lopunny is always outsped at +1. Waterfall and Bounce offer almost unresisted coverage, while Dragon Dance provides Gyarados with the ability to become a terrifying sweeper, especially those unprepared against Substitute. Intimidate also compliments it's bulk when switching into physical attackers very nicely.
Bisharp (SHARPIE)@Life Orb
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Defiant
EV's: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Speed
Moves:
Knock Off
Sucker Punch
Swords Dance
Iron Head
Completing the physical sweeping trio is Bisharp. Bisharp is able to punish Intimidate users and Defog attempts to get rid of Stealth Rock due to it's ability Defiant, gaining a 2 stage attack boost. For example, Choice Scarf Landorus-T has a little over a coin flips chance of being OHKO'd by Sucker Punch due to the +1 boost Bisharp gains after Intimidate/Defiant, making for a certain OHKO after SR. Not only that, Bisharp is a reliable dispatcher of the likes of Latios and Latias due to priority Sucker Punch, as well as being able to able to eliminate Clefable and Slowbro for Heracross and Gyarados respectively. Swords Dance's puts pressure on Pokemon switching into it as Knock Off is such an amazing utility move, removing key items that could change the outcome of the game. Iron Head eliminates Fairy types as well as the likes of Tyranitar.
Heatran (T-90)@Leftovers
Nature: Calm
Ability: Flash Fire
EV's: 248HP/16 Atk/244 Sp Def
Moves:
Lava Plume
Stealth Rock
Stone Edge
Roar
Specially defensive Heatran is still a thing, even if most builds have switched to faster utility/stallbreaker builds. This Heatran is designed to eliminate Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame alike. Lava Plume is generic STAB that can cripple many physical attackers with Burn. Stealth Rock provides hazards which allow Mega Heracross to score guaranteed OHKO's on the likes of Rotom-W and Defensive Zapdos. Stone Edge destroys offensive Talonflame, while still offering a 31.3% OHKO chance on Bulky variations with 16 Atk EV's, as well as almost certainly OHKO'ing Mega Charizard Y (93.8%). Roar is a great utility move to phaze out setup sweepers as well as racking up Stealth Rock damage, further degrading the opponents capacity to take hits.
Thundurus(BLITZKRIEG)@Life Orb
Nature: Timid
Ability: Prankster
IV's: 0 Atk
EV's: 252 Sp Atk/4 Sp Def/252 Speed
Moves:
Thunder Wave
Thunderbolt
HP Ice
Focus Blast
As I stated in the team building process, Thundurus-I was originally Cresselia. And while Cresselia still did an amazing job of being able to tank hits to spread paralysis to aid Mega Heracross, given the prevalence of the likes of Tyranitar, Scizor, Bisharp, Tornadus-T, Gliscor and Landorus-T and Volt-Turn cores with Rotom-W and Lando-T, I needed something less passive and Thundurus was the answer. Prankster Thunder wave is amazingly good as it can nail the likes of Tornadus-T before it can U-Turn out, as well as cripple faster threats it cannot one shot itself, clearing the path for another attacker to break through. HP Ice removes Gliscor and Landorus-T, as well as bulky Garchomp's that can make Mera Heracross' attempt to wallbreaker harder. Thunderbolt offers consistent powerful STAB and Focus Blast to deal heavy damage to the likes of Tyranitar, Heatran, Kyurem-B.
Landorus-T(CALRISSIAN)@Choice Scarf
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Intimidate
EV's: 24 HP/252Atk/232 Speed
Moves:
Earthquake
Explosion
Stone Edge
U-Turn
So popular it has it's own music video, it's no surprise Landorus-T makes waves in any meta it's in. Choice Scarf Landorus is an excellent revenge killer due to it's high attack and decent speed tier. 252 Attack maximises Lando-T's attacking power, 232 Speed EV's outspeeds Choice Scarf Excadrill and the likes of Mega Alakazam, which I personally think is sufficient as the only reasonable threat that isn't something that will naturally outspeed Lando-T with a Scarf of it's own is another 252 Speed Scarf Explosion Lando-T, and given Knock Off and Superpower are the two more common attacks, the extra speed EV's do not worry me that much, so the remainder goes into HP for a tiny amount of additional bulk. Earthquake and Stone Edge revenge kill a lot of common offensive pokemon. U-Turn to gain momentum when Landorus-T either makes the opponent switch, or when Lando cannot sufficiently threaten the opponents current pokemon. I like Explosion better than Knock Off or Superpower due to Bisharp already having Knock Off capability with STAB, and Superpower reducing Lando's attack and defence, which can be compounded when other Intimidate users such as opposing Lando-T can switch in. Explosion could dent Mega Heracross' would be checks in opposing Lando-T and Gliscor sufficiently enough where it can come in and finish the job itself.
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