I'm about to type a lot of words about how Ninjask is terrible, and how sick I am of using that ugly, stupid bug. I'll probably mention how Ninjask is a gimmicky novelty, and only useful for scamming games off of scrubs; how anybody who's played any amount of time will easily foil and frustrate any fool who would ever attempt to use Ninjask in any serious way. I will speak of the frustration that is taunt, priority, and encore; of seeing the giant monster you just baton passed to get taken out by a lucky crit; of the burning, vicious hatred that Swampert has inspired in me that will remain until they day I die.
So take my advice: Choose a good lead. Choose a lead that will support your team. Choose a lead that can setup stealth rocks. Choose a lead that doesn't rely on your opponents stupidity. Choose a lead that can accomplish things without getting lucky. Choose a lead that has synergy with the rest of your team. Choose a lead that can kill your opponent's lead. Choose a lead that can do something other than struggle when taunted. Choose a lead that isn't 4x weak to stealth rock. Choose a lead you copied straight from Smogon. Choose a lead that isn't terrible...
But why would I want to do that? I chose not to choose a lead that's good. I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got speed boost?
It's because of these risks outweighing the benefits that cause people to dismiss Ninjask as a serious, competitive lead. For the most part, I would agree with them. But as I started playing around with what Ninjask was capable of, the more I realized the depth there was to designing a team around such a fragile pokemon, to augment its capabilities and covering its weaknesses. So what started as a minor distraction for fun became my most worked on and successful team, much to my surprise and dismay.
Unfortunately, for all my hard work and thought, Ninjask remains terrible. Despite that, I continued to win enough times to pad my rating up to the mid 1300's. Astonished by my skill and/or luck (or lack thereof from my opponents), I set 1400 as my goal for my team. I felt that would be a good milestone for my asinine gimmick team, and then I could devote my efforts to a real team, maybe something with Salamence or Scizor.
Now I'm here, looking at a 1402 rating. Thus, I give you my team, with which you may ridicule or perhaps admire:
probably ridicule
Ninjask
terrible lead
NARUTO @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 HP // 252 Defense // 4 Sp. Defense
-Protect
-Substitute
-Swords Dance
-Baton Pass
Our fearless leader, star of the show, and very ugly. A few things might jump out immediately about this Ninjask. First, there's no attacks. I figured that using Ninjask is a real all-or-nothing strategy to begin with, and it's been my experience so far that improving our chances of a baton pass is more worthwhile than having a poor back up plan in case they taunt us. Obviously this leaves us very, very vulnerable to Taunt, but most things that carry Taunt wouldn't care if we started firing off boosted X-Scissors anyway.
The plan is to exploit any inaction from an opposing lead and pass speed and attack to the best Pokemon depending on the situation. Now, I'll be detailing the game plan against specific leads later on, after I'm through with the rest of the team, so for now I'll keep it simple here. Use Protect to start off if you're worried about Choice Scarf (or Taunt!). Substitute, because Ninjask is faster than everything, especially with a speed boost if you did protect. Swords Dance if they did something dumb like put up rocks or spikes, or else you'll be sitting at 75% with one or two speed boosts. Usually I keep using substitute until they either spend a turn not breaking it or Liechi activates. Then I might protect to scout, then baton pass at least +1 attack and a ton of speed to something.
There's a few problems that can come up however. While the bulky EVs give this Ninjask a lot more survivability than you would expect, priority attacks still take some finesse to ensure a successful Baton Pass. Most priority moves deal less than 50% (the only exceptions are STAB Ice Shard and Bullet Punch from a banded Scizor, neither OHKOing), so if they use one while you are substituting at 100% you'll end up sitting at around 30% behind a substitute. From here you can substitute again, as their priority move will break the one you're behind, activating Liechi and you sitting behind another substitute. Baton Pass, as they waste their turn breaking your substitute. For the stronger priority moves mentioned, just using baton pass (along with protect to get more speed boosts) will leave mangled, but still alive, hopefully with liechi activating.
If you've been taunted: you're boned. Well, almost. You're guaranteed at least one speed boost with protect, and if you're feeling very lucky you can sub up while they taunt you and hope it wears off before you die. Otherwise, be happy with the 1 boost and a relatively happy Ninjask (they will set up rocks and it will no longer be happy, just so we're clear). Obviously the only way the second option will work is if they are using something that can't simply murder you immediately, so only consider it against stuff without any good attack options (mostly Gliscor, as most lack Stone Edge). Some of this also applies to encore as well, but that shit lasts forever so never think about staying in on it.
There's also Roar and Whirlwind to worry about, as they can mess you up just as much as Taunt and Encore. The trick is to immediately Swords Dance to start with, as most leads that carry these moves put up Stealth Rock first, as they have little to fear from Baton Pass. Stuff like Skarmory might let you set up more as they lay spikes, but it's not worth risking it. Protect their subsequent attempt to phaze, and Baton Pass to Octillery and feel a little silly. Ignore their scorn.
Basically, all goes according to plan and you pass +2 attack (or more!) and a lot of speed to Metagross and then he flips out and kills everyone. However, if you're facing a lead with Focus Sash, they can survive a hit from Metagross then do something to derail the rape train. To break their sash, instead Baton Pass to Tyranitar, and laugh as their Fire Blast does nothing to his rocky hide and Sandstream ensures the Earthquake or Crunch ruins them.
You will be surprised how many leads can do nothing to you. Anything that tries to trick you a scarf gets outsped after a Protect, and Substitute ensures that it fails if they try again. This lets set up all you want, though in general +2 is usually enough and only do +4 if you know you're safe to. Speaking of which, it only takes 3 turns to pass something +2 speed and attack, sometimes with a substitute. Ninjask can and will steal the game very fast if the opponent is unlucky or unprepared.
Metagross
that's no moon
Dr Manhattan @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP // 252 Attack // 252 Speed
-Earthquake
-Ice Punch
-Thunderpunch
-Zen Headbutt
This guy does all the heavy lifting. Incredibly strong and durable, Metagross can rip apart a team even with just speed passed to it. If there is attack to go along with that speed, the only comparison that comes to mind is the Death Star. But like the Death Star, it can be defeated by a lucky shot from a moisture farmer.
With +2 speed, you outpace everything slower than Scarf Latias/Gengar, leaving them and Scarf Starmie/Azelf as the only things realistically faster. Speedtying with Scarf Latias isn't the best, but even then +2 speed is a small Baton Pass to receive, relatively. At +3 Metagross outspeeds everything, because there's no way anything is surviving to stat up itself.
The moves are designed to do as much damage to as many Pokemon as possible. Earthquake is solid as always, good coverage and damage. Ice Punch makes a mockery of dragons, along with Zapdos and random grasses and grounds. Thunderpunch is mostly for waters, with only Suicune and very bulky Vaporeons surviving a +2 attack, and nothing with +3. Also the best option against Bronzong, which takes the other attacks easily.
Zen Headbutt is the final piece of the puzzle, being the best option against Rotom, which is a very popular switch-in. Almost always a 2hko (OHKoing scarf rotom with +2 attack), Zen Headbutt makes what was once a horrible matchup into a favourable one, especially with Lum Berry. Zen Headbutt also does a lot of damage neutrally, and the flinch rate has won me a few games, and you're almost always going first. Breaking Machamp in half is a fringe benefit as well.
Lum Berry is very important, as there is still a few Pokemon who might survive your attacks. Metagross' tremendous bulk helps it weather opposing assaults, but an errant T-Wave or being put to sleep stops your sweep cold. Lum Berry protects your Metagross without taking out an important moveslot, so it can afford the minor decrease in damage from not taking using Expert Belt. Probably the biggest application is preventing Will-o-Wisp from Rotom, but it comes in handy frequently, and it's always bad news for your opponent when it does.
Outside of status, there's not much that can stop Metagross once it has been passed to. Switching into a supereffective attack is dicey, but there's good chances Metagross can survive and put the hurt on. Priority attacks can wear it down, but while that happens Metagross is slaying fools left and right. Most likely to succeed is a Roar from Suicune, Vaporeon, or Swampert. There's not a terrible much you can do about this if you can't finish them off before they phaze you, so you have to suck it up. Luckily, Roar is somewhat uncommon, and you'll probably OHKO Suicune and Vaporeon. What to do if your Plan A does get disrupted will get discussed later.
Tyranitar
fucking sandstream, how does it work
Captain Useless @ Babiri Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 48 HP // 252 Attack // 208 Speed
-Crunch
-Fire Punch
-Ice Punch
-Earthquake
This guy is here for Azelf and Infernape leads. Focus Sash ensures they get at least one hit on your Baton Pass target, which was a major weakness until I hit upon this idea. Basically, they'll be hammering you with Fire Blast, and once Liechi activates you pass to Tyranitar. Fire Blast does nearly no damage to Tyranitar, and the sandstorm breaks their sash the same turn. Then you KO with Crunch or Earthquake.
Still not a foolproof plan, but against unsuspecting opponents it usually goes off without a hitch. But there are many more ways to stop Tyranitar. Priority moves is the biggest one, as Mach Punch is real bad news, along with Scizor. Now, Mach Punch seems like the bigger threat, but Scizor is much, much more prevalent, and even does more damage than Mach Punch with Choice Band. Thus, Babiri Berry. Seems gimmicky, but no lie this dude has killed more than his fair share of Scizor. Especially since Scizor is definitely coming out if you succeed in KOing something.
The EVs ensure you outspeed scarf Heatran, though Earth Power in sandstorm doesn't do a whole lot, though dodging even a resisted explosion is worthwhile. Maxed attack, for obvious reasons, and the change in HP. Crunch, Earthquake and Ice Punch are self-explanatory, and Fire Punch is to kill Scizor.
Tyranitar is not as durable as Metagross, and the lack of Clear Body really hurts as repeated switch-ins by Gyarados and Salamence erode all your hard work. It should be mentioned the reason Metagross is so much better more has to do with Metagross' unique attributes, as few things measure up as well as Tyranitar. Make no mistake, Tyranitar can do a ton of damage with speed and attack boosts, it's just that the ways to stop him are more numerous than Metagross.
Sandstorm itself doesn't do a terrible lot to your team, with only Octillery and Ninjask taking damage from it. While it is annoying if your Ninjask can still be useful, there are also minor benefits to Sandstorm as well, such as removing leftovers recovery and stopping rain if it gets setup.
Octillery
the dangers of using ninjask: using octillery
RELEASEdaKRAKEN @ Life Orb
Ability: Suction Cups
Nature: Hasty
EVs: 252 Attack // 216 Speed // 40 Sp. Attack
-Waterfall
-Seed Bomb
-Fire Blast
-Ice Beam
Yeah, this is our gameplan against Roar and Whirlwind. I've brainstormed a lot about this problem, and this seems like the best solution. As outlined earlier, basically against something like Swampert, Hippowdon and Skarmory, Ninjask Sword Dances to start as they likely set up rocks (or attack Ninjask, which isn't scary). Protect to get another speed boost, then pass to this and try not to sigh. Luckily, Octillery has decent attack stats, with the speed boosts coming in handy to help keep up with Pokemon worth using. A diverse movepool ensure that your opponent will at least respect your many-armed friend.
Waterfall for good stab boosted by the attack boosts you pass it, Seed Bomb to nail Swampert, Fire Blast to hit Skarmory and Ice Beam to inconvenience any Dragon types, maybe even killing a Salamence. EVs are here to outspeed everything not scarfed, with the necessary EVs to OHKO Hippowdon with Waterfall. Or maybe enough to OHKO Skarmory. I forget the exact details, feel free to look over the math if you think it's suboptimal. Note that neutral Waterfall will deal more damage with attack boosts than super effective Ice Beam or Fire Blast on things not named Skarmory, but most of the time stuff weak to Ice either resists or is also weak to water, so that won't come up too often.
This is by far the weakest Baton Pass target, so don't expect it to 6-0 (though it has occasionally done this for me). If something is threatening a scarfed super effective hit (T-bolt from Latias comes to mind), it's usually best to switch to Gliscor to take the hit and try to get some stat boosts to something more useful. Watch out for trick, though I'd doubt a Latias would since Octillery is not bulky at all and T-bolt will surely KO.
A quick aside: the only other realistic choices to defeat Roar and Whirlwind are Cradily and Mr. Mime. Mr. Mime doesn't even block Whirlwind so I never seriously considered him. Cradily is something I tested for awhile, but getting nailed by Bullet Punch proved way too much of a liability, even with recover. I also tested a pure physical set with Bounce and Rock Blast, and it was as bad as it sounds.
Gliscor
blah! i vant to suck!
Scizor @ Yache Berry
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 HP // 252 Speed // 4 Sp. Defense
-Agility
-Swords Dance
-Baton Pass
-Taunt
This may look like just a back up Baton Passer, but it does the job incredibly well, with just the right strengths to make sure a midgame Baton Pass setup succeeds. Bulky defensively, along with two immunities means Gliscor has many opportunities to come in. Once you agility as they switch, nothing can stop you from passing that at the least. Agility also ensures that you will outspeed the opponent so you can stop any phazing he can try. This lets you Swords Dance, and you can Baton Pass to one of your remaining sweepers to finish the match.
Yache Berry makes sure that the only thing OHKOing you is Surf (which is a real concern), giving you enough time to pass your boosts. Hyper Cutter makes the cut over Sand Veil, despite Sand Stream featured on our team. While Sand Veil might let you get a boost you didn't deserve, relying on a 20% chance to not die is suspect, at best. Basically Gliscor can take 3 hits, at most, so the infrequent but very important immunity to intimidate is more important.
There's not a terrible lot to explain about this Pokemon, it has a job that it does well. Always be aware of opportunities to bring him in if you spot the chance, and don't forget that sometimes playing it safe with taunt is more important than getting greedy with the stat boosts. The name I gave is mostly a lame joke, but I have passed it a substitute and got a baffled opponent when his Earthquake missed. Agility helps with the very flimsy disguise.
Heatran
cheese it!
ShinyMetalAss @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Naive
EVs: 4 Attack // 252 Speed // 252 Sp. Attack
-Flamethrower
-Earth Power
-Hidden Power: Electric
-Explosion
Heatran plays amazing clean up duties. A relic from when I had many more fire weaknesses, he has proved useful time and time again, revenge killing whoever managed to bring one of my monsters down and finishing off weakened teams. While the Choice Scarf is nothing unique or fancy, it complements my team very well. The fact that many of Heatrans counters will be worn down trying to stop either Metagross or Tyranitar along with the fact that this team has a lot of expendable Pokemon to sacrifice to reset the Choice Scarf means that the foe will be hard pressed to stop what is already a fearsome threat.
The only thing that sets this Heatran apart is the HP: Electric. It's fairly obvious to see a major bulky water weakness in my team, and while HP: Electric fails to hit Swampert, it can polish off a weakened Suicune or Vaporeon before they have a chance to recover. Nailing Gyarados is also important, as I have little options once it gets a Dragon Dance in. Note that ScarfTran only outspeeds +1 Gyarados who are neutral natured, so even then Gyarados can rampage if it's the rarer Jolly variant.
Threat List
Aerodactyl: Definitely groan inducing. Protect to start, as Ninjask doesn't have the ev investment to be faster without a speed boost. Which is irrelevant anyway, as he'll likely taunt. From there, Metagross will definitely take it out, but it will be very weak. Octillery can also function, but regardless one of your sweepers will be hurt, best case scenario. Try to fit in a Baton Pass later on, hopefully after Aerodactyl's dead, though after an agility Gliscor can Taunt it.
Azelf: Protect to start, as giving up a turn is worth dodging a Trick. Start substituting, and Swords Dance if you get the chance. Likely it will keep firing Flamethrowers, Psychics and maybe even Explosion at you, let Liechi activate (unless you got a Swords Dance early and would prefer a Ninjask that can survive rocks once) and pass to Tyranitar. Azelf does little damage to T-tar, and T-tar gets the easy KO with Crunch.
Bronzong: Not great. Hope it spends a turn Stealth Rock, though Reflect isn't good news. It will fire Gyro Balls at you, and eventually you'll pass to Metagross, as Octillery's Fire Blast doesn't do nearly enough (neither does Thunderpunch but oh well). Metagross probably eats it to Earthquake but sometimes you get enough attack to survive. Don't pass to T-tar as Gyro Ball will kill it despite Babiri Berry.
Dragonite: Start substituting. Either it Extremespeeds and gets you low, or it does a slower attack and leaves you at 75%. Either way you can pass at least speed to something, which can get the KO with Ice Punch.
Empoleon: Again, substitute until you get too low to dodge an Aqua Jet, pass to Metagross and likely die because of Focus Sash. Watch out for Torrented Aqua Jet. An awkward lead to play around.
Forretress: Hope it starts setting up instead of Gyro Balling you. Regardless, get speed and at least +1 attack to something, even with high speed Gyro Ball does nothing to Metagross.
Gliscor: The only lead I'd suggest maybe staying in and waiting out Taunt for. Get under a substitute, get taunted, try to wait it out because Stone Edge is very rare on lead Gliscor. 2-3 turns unless it immediately switches to something else after you get taunted, and you can always switch out if things get too hairy.
Heatran: Roar is especially rare on leadtran, so just ensure that you pass enough attack to KO with EQ through his Shuca berry. Might have to pass to T-tar if he keeps hitting you with Flamethrower (likely).
Hippowdon: Swords Dance, Protect, Baton Pass to Octillery. Flimsy plan at the best of times, but not much else you can do.
Infernape: Same plan as Azelf, though careful about getting too low on HP as he may start using Close Combat to hit your switch. Switch early if you get a Swords Dance, and consider doing it anyway once you get a few speed boosts. You can substitute at the start of this fight, as Fake Out does something like 12% and can be safely ignored.
Jirachi: Whether it's scarfed or not, this is great set up bait. Get some attack and speed to Metagross (or T-tar if it's locked into Fire Punch) and you're golden.
Machamp: Good matchup without Encore, nightmare if he has it. It's stuck using something other than DynamicPunch, so you can get speed and attack to Metagross, and KO with Zen Headbutt. If you get Encored, try to get Metagross in anyway as Zen Headbutt will do a ton of damage regardless.
Mamoswine: Substitute, since Ice Shard leaves you with enough health. Sometimes you get it up if they decide to Stealth Rock. Stat up if you can, consider passing to T-tar for Fire Punch.
Metagross: Great setup bait if you know what you're doing. Don't get low enough to die to Bullet Punch, and Swords Dance if they SR or miss a Meteor Mash.
Ninjask: Consider switching to Gliscor immediately, as Taunt will ruin his day as much as it ruins yours, perhaps even worse if they doing an even dumber Baton Pass plan.
Roserade: Protect to start in case they trick, otherwise you can setup relatively easy, as Toxic Spikes can be somewhat ignored and you can't really stop them anyway.
Skarmory: Always assume they'll Whirlwind. Same plan as Hippowdon, use Fire Blast to scare it away.
Smeargle: Protect to dodge the trick, try to set up. Consider passing to Gliscor if you get a sub up, as it's not impossible they're trying to do a Baton Pass chain.
Swampert: The reason Octillery is on your team. Swords Dance, Protect, Baton Pass. Even if they start using Ice Beam, always assume they can Roar.
Tyranitar: Focus Sash with Counter will mean that your Metagross will die. Hope he doesn't have it and try to set up.
Weavile: Protect to dodge whatever they're trying to do to you, then probably Baton Pass immediately. It can't do much to Metagross, or T-tar if it used Fake Out.
Most of these seem like bad matchups. They mostly are. But don't forget that sometimes you just win immediately and 6-0 them.
The most important thing to understand is that things will go wrong, often in the worst way. Just keep a cool head, as sometimes you get that hail mary pass from Gliscor and good things happen. Or suddenly your opponent has nothing that can take a hit from Heatran.
So take my advice: Choose a good lead. Choose a lead that will support your team. Choose a lead that can setup stealth rocks. Choose a lead that doesn't rely on your opponents stupidity. Choose a lead that can accomplish things without getting lucky. Choose a lead that has synergy with the rest of your team. Choose a lead that can kill your opponent's lead. Choose a lead that can do something other than struggle when taunted. Choose a lead that isn't 4x weak to stealth rock. Choose a lead you copied straight from Smogon. Choose a lead that isn't terrible...
But why would I want to do that? I chose not to choose a lead that's good. I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got speed boost?
Ninjask is a Terrible Lead
A Team Featuring Ninjask, Terrible Lead
look at that ugly bastard
Ninjask is obviously the focus of my team, with its unique potential to set up a massive baton pass right at the start of the game, which does a good job of setting it apart from the usual leads featured in OU. However, with this great potential comes great risks. A simple taunt or roar could put a stop to your plans, with stealth rocks usually being put up along the way, further reducing the chances of Ninjask of doing anything. And even with a successful baton pass, there are still a lot of ways to stop or disrupt the rest of the setup, as I can attest.A Team Featuring Ninjask, Terrible Lead
look at that ugly bastard
It's because of these risks outweighing the benefits that cause people to dismiss Ninjask as a serious, competitive lead. For the most part, I would agree with them. But as I started playing around with what Ninjask was capable of, the more I realized the depth there was to designing a team around such a fragile pokemon, to augment its capabilities and covering its weaknesses. So what started as a minor distraction for fun became my most worked on and successful team, much to my surprise and dismay.
Unfortunately, for all my hard work and thought, Ninjask remains terrible. Despite that, I continued to win enough times to pad my rating up to the mid 1300's. Astonished by my skill and/or luck (or lack thereof from my opponents), I set 1400 as my goal for my team. I felt that would be a good milestone for my asinine gimmick team, and then I could devote my efforts to a real team, maybe something with Salamence or Scizor.
Now I'm here, looking at a 1402 rating. Thus, I give you my team, with which you may ridicule or perhaps admire:
probably ridicule
Ninjask
terrible lead
NARUTO @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 HP // 252 Defense // 4 Sp. Defense
-Protect
-Substitute
-Swords Dance
-Baton Pass
Our fearless leader, star of the show, and very ugly. A few things might jump out immediately about this Ninjask. First, there's no attacks. I figured that using Ninjask is a real all-or-nothing strategy to begin with, and it's been my experience so far that improving our chances of a baton pass is more worthwhile than having a poor back up plan in case they taunt us. Obviously this leaves us very, very vulnerable to Taunt, but most things that carry Taunt wouldn't care if we started firing off boosted X-Scissors anyway.
The plan is to exploit any inaction from an opposing lead and pass speed and attack to the best Pokemon depending on the situation. Now, I'll be detailing the game plan against specific leads later on, after I'm through with the rest of the team, so for now I'll keep it simple here. Use Protect to start off if you're worried about Choice Scarf (or Taunt!). Substitute, because Ninjask is faster than everything, especially with a speed boost if you did protect. Swords Dance if they did something dumb like put up rocks or spikes, or else you'll be sitting at 75% with one or two speed boosts. Usually I keep using substitute until they either spend a turn not breaking it or Liechi activates. Then I might protect to scout, then baton pass at least +1 attack and a ton of speed to something.
There's a few problems that can come up however. While the bulky EVs give this Ninjask a lot more survivability than you would expect, priority attacks still take some finesse to ensure a successful Baton Pass. Most priority moves deal less than 50% (the only exceptions are STAB Ice Shard and Bullet Punch from a banded Scizor, neither OHKOing), so if they use one while you are substituting at 100% you'll end up sitting at around 30% behind a substitute. From here you can substitute again, as their priority move will break the one you're behind, activating Liechi and you sitting behind another substitute. Baton Pass, as they waste their turn breaking your substitute. For the stronger priority moves mentioned, just using baton pass (along with protect to get more speed boosts) will leave mangled, but still alive, hopefully with liechi activating.
If you've been taunted: you're boned. Well, almost. You're guaranteed at least one speed boost with protect, and if you're feeling very lucky you can sub up while they taunt you and hope it wears off before you die. Otherwise, be happy with the 1 boost and a relatively happy Ninjask (they will set up rocks and it will no longer be happy, just so we're clear). Obviously the only way the second option will work is if they are using something that can't simply murder you immediately, so only consider it against stuff without any good attack options (mostly Gliscor, as most lack Stone Edge). Some of this also applies to encore as well, but that shit lasts forever so never think about staying in on it.
There's also Roar and Whirlwind to worry about, as they can mess you up just as much as Taunt and Encore. The trick is to immediately Swords Dance to start with, as most leads that carry these moves put up Stealth Rock first, as they have little to fear from Baton Pass. Stuff like Skarmory might let you set up more as they lay spikes, but it's not worth risking it. Protect their subsequent attempt to phaze, and Baton Pass to Octillery and feel a little silly. Ignore their scorn.
Basically, all goes according to plan and you pass +2 attack (or more!) and a lot of speed to Metagross and then he flips out and kills everyone. However, if you're facing a lead with Focus Sash, they can survive a hit from Metagross then do something to derail the rape train. To break their sash, instead Baton Pass to Tyranitar, and laugh as their Fire Blast does nothing to his rocky hide and Sandstream ensures the Earthquake or Crunch ruins them.
You will be surprised how many leads can do nothing to you. Anything that tries to trick you a scarf gets outsped after a Protect, and Substitute ensures that it fails if they try again. This lets set up all you want, though in general +2 is usually enough and only do +4 if you know you're safe to. Speaking of which, it only takes 3 turns to pass something +2 speed and attack, sometimes with a substitute. Ninjask can and will steal the game very fast if the opponent is unlucky or unprepared.
Metagross
that's no moon
Dr Manhattan @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP // 252 Attack // 252 Speed
-Earthquake
-Ice Punch
-Thunderpunch
-Zen Headbutt
This guy does all the heavy lifting. Incredibly strong and durable, Metagross can rip apart a team even with just speed passed to it. If there is attack to go along with that speed, the only comparison that comes to mind is the Death Star. But like the Death Star, it can be defeated by a lucky shot from a moisture farmer.
With +2 speed, you outpace everything slower than Scarf Latias/Gengar, leaving them and Scarf Starmie/Azelf as the only things realistically faster. Speedtying with Scarf Latias isn't the best, but even then +2 speed is a small Baton Pass to receive, relatively. At +3 Metagross outspeeds everything, because there's no way anything is surviving to stat up itself.
The moves are designed to do as much damage to as many Pokemon as possible. Earthquake is solid as always, good coverage and damage. Ice Punch makes a mockery of dragons, along with Zapdos and random grasses and grounds. Thunderpunch is mostly for waters, with only Suicune and very bulky Vaporeons surviving a +2 attack, and nothing with +3. Also the best option against Bronzong, which takes the other attacks easily.
Zen Headbutt is the final piece of the puzzle, being the best option against Rotom, which is a very popular switch-in. Almost always a 2hko (OHKoing scarf rotom with +2 attack), Zen Headbutt makes what was once a horrible matchup into a favourable one, especially with Lum Berry. Zen Headbutt also does a lot of damage neutrally, and the flinch rate has won me a few games, and you're almost always going first. Breaking Machamp in half is a fringe benefit as well.
Lum Berry is very important, as there is still a few Pokemon who might survive your attacks. Metagross' tremendous bulk helps it weather opposing assaults, but an errant T-Wave or being put to sleep stops your sweep cold. Lum Berry protects your Metagross without taking out an important moveslot, so it can afford the minor decrease in damage from not taking using Expert Belt. Probably the biggest application is preventing Will-o-Wisp from Rotom, but it comes in handy frequently, and it's always bad news for your opponent when it does.
Outside of status, there's not much that can stop Metagross once it has been passed to. Switching into a supereffective attack is dicey, but there's good chances Metagross can survive and put the hurt on. Priority attacks can wear it down, but while that happens Metagross is slaying fools left and right. Most likely to succeed is a Roar from Suicune, Vaporeon, or Swampert. There's not a terrible much you can do about this if you can't finish them off before they phaze you, so you have to suck it up. Luckily, Roar is somewhat uncommon, and you'll probably OHKO Suicune and Vaporeon. What to do if your Plan A does get disrupted will get discussed later.
Tyranitar
fucking sandstream, how does it work
Captain Useless @ Babiri Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 48 HP // 252 Attack // 208 Speed
-Crunch
-Fire Punch
-Ice Punch
-Earthquake
This guy is here for Azelf and Infernape leads. Focus Sash ensures they get at least one hit on your Baton Pass target, which was a major weakness until I hit upon this idea. Basically, they'll be hammering you with Fire Blast, and once Liechi activates you pass to Tyranitar. Fire Blast does nearly no damage to Tyranitar, and the sandstorm breaks their sash the same turn. Then you KO with Crunch or Earthquake.
Still not a foolproof plan, but against unsuspecting opponents it usually goes off without a hitch. But there are many more ways to stop Tyranitar. Priority moves is the biggest one, as Mach Punch is real bad news, along with Scizor. Now, Mach Punch seems like the bigger threat, but Scizor is much, much more prevalent, and even does more damage than Mach Punch with Choice Band. Thus, Babiri Berry. Seems gimmicky, but no lie this dude has killed more than his fair share of Scizor. Especially since Scizor is definitely coming out if you succeed in KOing something.
The EVs ensure you outspeed scarf Heatran, though Earth Power in sandstorm doesn't do a whole lot, though dodging even a resisted explosion is worthwhile. Maxed attack, for obvious reasons, and the change in HP. Crunch, Earthquake and Ice Punch are self-explanatory, and Fire Punch is to kill Scizor.
Tyranitar is not as durable as Metagross, and the lack of Clear Body really hurts as repeated switch-ins by Gyarados and Salamence erode all your hard work. It should be mentioned the reason Metagross is so much better more has to do with Metagross' unique attributes, as few things measure up as well as Tyranitar. Make no mistake, Tyranitar can do a ton of damage with speed and attack boosts, it's just that the ways to stop him are more numerous than Metagross.
Sandstorm itself doesn't do a terrible lot to your team, with only Octillery and Ninjask taking damage from it. While it is annoying if your Ninjask can still be useful, there are also minor benefits to Sandstorm as well, such as removing leftovers recovery and stopping rain if it gets setup.
Octillery
the dangers of using ninjask: using octillery
RELEASEdaKRAKEN @ Life Orb
Ability: Suction Cups
Nature: Hasty
EVs: 252 Attack // 216 Speed // 40 Sp. Attack
-Waterfall
-Seed Bomb
-Fire Blast
-Ice Beam
Yeah, this is our gameplan against Roar and Whirlwind. I've brainstormed a lot about this problem, and this seems like the best solution. As outlined earlier, basically against something like Swampert, Hippowdon and Skarmory, Ninjask Sword Dances to start as they likely set up rocks (or attack Ninjask, which isn't scary). Protect to get another speed boost, then pass to this and try not to sigh. Luckily, Octillery has decent attack stats, with the speed boosts coming in handy to help keep up with Pokemon worth using. A diverse movepool ensure that your opponent will at least respect your many-armed friend.
Waterfall for good stab boosted by the attack boosts you pass it, Seed Bomb to nail Swampert, Fire Blast to hit Skarmory and Ice Beam to inconvenience any Dragon types, maybe even killing a Salamence. EVs are here to outspeed everything not scarfed, with the necessary EVs to OHKO Hippowdon with Waterfall. Or maybe enough to OHKO Skarmory. I forget the exact details, feel free to look over the math if you think it's suboptimal. Note that neutral Waterfall will deal more damage with attack boosts than super effective Ice Beam or Fire Blast on things not named Skarmory, but most of the time stuff weak to Ice either resists or is also weak to water, so that won't come up too often.
This is by far the weakest Baton Pass target, so don't expect it to 6-0 (though it has occasionally done this for me). If something is threatening a scarfed super effective hit (T-bolt from Latias comes to mind), it's usually best to switch to Gliscor to take the hit and try to get some stat boosts to something more useful. Watch out for trick, though I'd doubt a Latias would since Octillery is not bulky at all and T-bolt will surely KO.
A quick aside: the only other realistic choices to defeat Roar and Whirlwind are Cradily and Mr. Mime. Mr. Mime doesn't even block Whirlwind so I never seriously considered him. Cradily is something I tested for awhile, but getting nailed by Bullet Punch proved way too much of a liability, even with recover. I also tested a pure physical set with Bounce and Rock Blast, and it was as bad as it sounds.
Gliscor
blah! i vant to suck!
Scizor @ Yache Berry
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 HP // 252 Speed // 4 Sp. Defense
-Agility
-Swords Dance
-Baton Pass
-Taunt
This may look like just a back up Baton Passer, but it does the job incredibly well, with just the right strengths to make sure a midgame Baton Pass setup succeeds. Bulky defensively, along with two immunities means Gliscor has many opportunities to come in. Once you agility as they switch, nothing can stop you from passing that at the least. Agility also ensures that you will outspeed the opponent so you can stop any phazing he can try. This lets you Swords Dance, and you can Baton Pass to one of your remaining sweepers to finish the match.
Yache Berry makes sure that the only thing OHKOing you is Surf (which is a real concern), giving you enough time to pass your boosts. Hyper Cutter makes the cut over Sand Veil, despite Sand Stream featured on our team. While Sand Veil might let you get a boost you didn't deserve, relying on a 20% chance to not die is suspect, at best. Basically Gliscor can take 3 hits, at most, so the infrequent but very important immunity to intimidate is more important.
There's not a terrible lot to explain about this Pokemon, it has a job that it does well. Always be aware of opportunities to bring him in if you spot the chance, and don't forget that sometimes playing it safe with taunt is more important than getting greedy with the stat boosts. The name I gave is mostly a lame joke, but I have passed it a substitute and got a baffled opponent when his Earthquake missed. Agility helps with the very flimsy disguise.
Heatran
cheese it!
ShinyMetalAss @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Naive
EVs: 4 Attack // 252 Speed // 252 Sp. Attack
-Flamethrower
-Earth Power
-Hidden Power: Electric
-Explosion
Heatran plays amazing clean up duties. A relic from when I had many more fire weaknesses, he has proved useful time and time again, revenge killing whoever managed to bring one of my monsters down and finishing off weakened teams. While the Choice Scarf is nothing unique or fancy, it complements my team very well. The fact that many of Heatrans counters will be worn down trying to stop either Metagross or Tyranitar along with the fact that this team has a lot of expendable Pokemon to sacrifice to reset the Choice Scarf means that the foe will be hard pressed to stop what is already a fearsome threat.
The only thing that sets this Heatran apart is the HP: Electric. It's fairly obvious to see a major bulky water weakness in my team, and while HP: Electric fails to hit Swampert, it can polish off a weakened Suicune or Vaporeon before they have a chance to recover. Nailing Gyarados is also important, as I have little options once it gets a Dragon Dance in. Note that ScarfTran only outspeeds +1 Gyarados who are neutral natured, so even then Gyarados can rampage if it's the rarer Jolly variant.
Threat List
Aerodactyl: Definitely groan inducing. Protect to start, as Ninjask doesn't have the ev investment to be faster without a speed boost. Which is irrelevant anyway, as he'll likely taunt. From there, Metagross will definitely take it out, but it will be very weak. Octillery can also function, but regardless one of your sweepers will be hurt, best case scenario. Try to fit in a Baton Pass later on, hopefully after Aerodactyl's dead, though after an agility Gliscor can Taunt it.
Azelf: Protect to start, as giving up a turn is worth dodging a Trick. Start substituting, and Swords Dance if you get the chance. Likely it will keep firing Flamethrowers, Psychics and maybe even Explosion at you, let Liechi activate (unless you got a Swords Dance early and would prefer a Ninjask that can survive rocks once) and pass to Tyranitar. Azelf does little damage to T-tar, and T-tar gets the easy KO with Crunch.
Bronzong: Not great. Hope it spends a turn Stealth Rock, though Reflect isn't good news. It will fire Gyro Balls at you, and eventually you'll pass to Metagross, as Octillery's Fire Blast doesn't do nearly enough (neither does Thunderpunch but oh well). Metagross probably eats it to Earthquake but sometimes you get enough attack to survive. Don't pass to T-tar as Gyro Ball will kill it despite Babiri Berry.
Dragonite: Start substituting. Either it Extremespeeds and gets you low, or it does a slower attack and leaves you at 75%. Either way you can pass at least speed to something, which can get the KO with Ice Punch.
Empoleon: Again, substitute until you get too low to dodge an Aqua Jet, pass to Metagross and likely die because of Focus Sash. Watch out for Torrented Aqua Jet. An awkward lead to play around.
Forretress: Hope it starts setting up instead of Gyro Balling you. Regardless, get speed and at least +1 attack to something, even with high speed Gyro Ball does nothing to Metagross.
Gliscor: The only lead I'd suggest maybe staying in and waiting out Taunt for. Get under a substitute, get taunted, try to wait it out because Stone Edge is very rare on lead Gliscor. 2-3 turns unless it immediately switches to something else after you get taunted, and you can always switch out if things get too hairy.
Heatran: Roar is especially rare on leadtran, so just ensure that you pass enough attack to KO with EQ through his Shuca berry. Might have to pass to T-tar if he keeps hitting you with Flamethrower (likely).
Hippowdon: Swords Dance, Protect, Baton Pass to Octillery. Flimsy plan at the best of times, but not much else you can do.
Infernape: Same plan as Azelf, though careful about getting too low on HP as he may start using Close Combat to hit your switch. Switch early if you get a Swords Dance, and consider doing it anyway once you get a few speed boosts. You can substitute at the start of this fight, as Fake Out does something like 12% and can be safely ignored.
Jirachi: Whether it's scarfed or not, this is great set up bait. Get some attack and speed to Metagross (or T-tar if it's locked into Fire Punch) and you're golden.
Machamp: Good matchup without Encore, nightmare if he has it. It's stuck using something other than DynamicPunch, so you can get speed and attack to Metagross, and KO with Zen Headbutt. If you get Encored, try to get Metagross in anyway as Zen Headbutt will do a ton of damage regardless.
Mamoswine: Substitute, since Ice Shard leaves you with enough health. Sometimes you get it up if they decide to Stealth Rock. Stat up if you can, consider passing to T-tar for Fire Punch.
Metagross: Great setup bait if you know what you're doing. Don't get low enough to die to Bullet Punch, and Swords Dance if they SR or miss a Meteor Mash.
Ninjask: Consider switching to Gliscor immediately, as Taunt will ruin his day as much as it ruins yours, perhaps even worse if they doing an even dumber Baton Pass plan.
Roserade: Protect to start in case they trick, otherwise you can setup relatively easy, as Toxic Spikes can be somewhat ignored and you can't really stop them anyway.
Skarmory: Always assume they'll Whirlwind. Same plan as Hippowdon, use Fire Blast to scare it away.
Smeargle: Protect to dodge the trick, try to set up. Consider passing to Gliscor if you get a sub up, as it's not impossible they're trying to do a Baton Pass chain.
Swampert: The reason Octillery is on your team. Swords Dance, Protect, Baton Pass. Even if they start using Ice Beam, always assume they can Roar.
Tyranitar: Focus Sash with Counter will mean that your Metagross will die. Hope he doesn't have it and try to set up.
Weavile: Protect to dodge whatever they're trying to do to you, then probably Baton Pass immediately. It can't do much to Metagross, or T-tar if it used Fake Out.
Most of these seem like bad matchups. They mostly are. But don't forget that sometimes you just win immediately and 6-0 them.
The most important thing to understand is that things will go wrong, often in the worst way. Just keep a cool head, as sometimes you get that hail mary pass from Gliscor and good things happen. Or suddenly your opponent has nothing that can take a hit from Heatran.
