SM OU OU Team

[Hobie]

Please note I posted an earlier version of this team earlier, but have made some changes to it (some based off of past comments). If you read this before please read it again as I always want ideas to help me improve.

Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Scald
- Toxic

I built my team around these first two mons, and I really like Mantine as a Sp Def wall. It deals well with threats like Lando and Volcanrona (assuming it isn't Smack Down or Stone Edge Lando). The first two moves are fairly standard as removal is always good, and reliable recovery is needed for a wall. Scald is good for fishing for burns and dealing some damage, and toxic is good for dealing with other walls and spreading chip.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 8 Def / 244 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Knock Off
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave

Ferrothorn is the second mon that I built around, and I think it is a brilliant spreader of hazards. Spikes are good for switch heavy team, and t-wave is great for stopping fast mon. Leech seed is for some recovery and Knock off is good for removing items, but is mainly there so that Ferro isn't completely passive.

Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Extreme Speed

This may be an odd set, but it is one of my best win cons. If I can get a sub set up against a passive mon such as Toxapex or Skarmory, then it is fairly easy for me to sweep with one or two d-dances. Thousand Arrows is arguably the best move in the game, and is great to spam with d-dances. E-speed is on in order to deal with fast mons or the rare TR team.

Medicham @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch

M-Medicham is on here in order to deal w/ Toxapex, Ferrothorn, T-tar, Lando-T, and Heatran which all walled me to a certain extent before. These moves are fairly standard on M-Medicham and for a good reason, they deal with lots of threats.

Magearna @ Fairium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shift Gear
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Fleur Cannon

Magearna is a solid mon who really fits on most teams, and is a brilliant z-crystal user. For the first draft of this team I ran Z-hypnosis Xurkitree and ran into issues with that, and so I figured having fairy nukes did well. My team is very fast and as such I thought that shift gear would be nice to put tremendous pressure. Flash Cannon is good for dealing with the tapus, and T-bolt deals w/ Fini, Pex, Steela, and Skarm.

Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- U-turn
- Taunt
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

This is the spot that has most changed on my team, and the mon I am the least sure of. U-turn is for unblockable movement, and Taunt is to deal with mons that either like set up or for bulkier mons. T-bolt hits really hard, and HP Ice is for Lando, as that mon is everywhere.

 

[temp]

Hey Hobie! I see that you built the team around Ferrothorn and Mantine, so I'll try to keep those two on the rated version of the team.

OVERVIEW

Firstly, I have to say that I really like this team. It encompasses a solid defensive backbone in Mantine and Ferrothorn, while packing valuable wallbreakers in Koko and Medicham. These wallbreakers are also accompanied by a reliable win condition in Shift Gear Magearna. Something that is worth note, however, is a lack of Stealth Rock. Rocks, as I always say, are paramount for any competitive team. While Spikes are really good in the meta, the sheer utility of rocks—in that it also targets airborne Pokemon— is superior to Spikes. Mantine is also easily pressured, especially on this team. It compresses so many roles, such as being your only real Ground immunity, special wall, Defogger, Water immune and 1 of 2 Fire resists. You have quite the weakness to DD Zard-X and even 3 attacks variants to a lesser extent. Also, how exactly do you switch into Zapdos? It has super effective coverage for everything outside of Medicham and Koko, both of which do not comfortably switch into Heat Wave and Discharge respectively. Landorus-Therian of all Offensive forms can be a pain—Dual Dance cleans this team with prior damage on Ferrothorn, Flyinium Z sets punch massive holes into your entire team and Earth Plate sets do even more to Ferro (especially those who pack SD). Specs Lele is probably the most threatening Lele set, while Scarf and CM also act as minor threats. Your two steel-resists can easily be 2HKO'd by HP Fire and Psychic, given that your Magearna is offensive. Its Psychic-terrain also stymies Medicham's Fake Out, Zygarde's E Speed and Koko's terrain. Of course, it's able to be checked by your Tapu Koko, Magearna and Medicham, but as far as switching in goes, it's very tough. In battle, assuming you're going to continue using this original team at some point, try to ensure the opponent 1) doesn't keep up offensive momentum against you, and 2) they don't get Specs Lele in vs. what it's faster than (Ferro, Mantine and Zygarde). Anyways, I'll hop into what changes can be made in this rate; enjoy!

[248 HP / 136 Def / 124 SpD Calm] - 248 HP EVs allows Mantine to take 24% rather than 25% from Stealth Rock. This allows it to switch in 1 more time than if you had 252 HP. The SpDef EVs are cut down to a benchmark that allows Mantine to avoid the 2HKO from Specs Pelipper's Hurricane, while the rest is dumped into Defense to take physical hits a little better.

[252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD, Careful Nature, Stealth Rock > Spikes, Power Whip > Thunder Wave] - This Special Defense investment ensures that a Specs Ash Greninja Dark Pulse does not 2HKO, with the rest, similar to Mantine, being dumped into Defense. I personally don't like a Ferrothorn without Spikes, but for this team, it'll have to do. As aforementioned, rocks are essential for any competitive team due to how they wear down opponents, even airborne ones. Power Whip provides Ferrothorn with a solid STAB option that can target waters such as Suicune or Greninja. If I kept T wave, the 208+ SpD benchmark would be irrelevant considering you could only attack with Knock Off.

>

- I personally don't see Zygarde doing much on this original team. The change here, Heatran > Zygarde, strips you of an Electric-immunity, so I'll be sure to patch that up. I'd like to suggest a Sub Toxic set, which traps whatever usually switches in, dealing solid chip. You can always predict switches and Toxic things like incoming Keldeo or Garchomp, but it's safer to remain passive with this set. Its constant chip damage will allow (the later change) Landorus-Therian to shine, contributing to the massive snowball effect. Heatran also softens your Lele match-up, especially Specs. Specs sets do not carry HP Fire, as they prefer to run a dual Psychic-STAB to target special walls too. Focus Blast on Scarf sets still does a number, but this means Mantine and Ferrothorn, to a lesser extent, can act as blanket checks.

[Thunder Punch > Zen Headbutt] - Now, a T-Punch variant was a lot more traditional back when Medi was released, but I believe it's still viable. It pairs extremely well with Tapu Koko, hence the older "MediKoko" core, allowing it to break past usual counters such as Mega Sableye.
See: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Sableye-Mega in Electric Terrain: 168-198 (55.4 - 65.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
It also targets lesser used water such as Slowbro and Tapu Fini.

>

- Double Dance Landorus is extremely underrated, imo. A lot of teams nowadays are extremely weak to it, especially given that the EdgeQuake coverage is unresisted in OU (outside of Breloom). I wanted to keep a Ground-immunity, as basically every team needs it. You can opt for DD Zygarde as well with Dragonium Z, but I feel that Landorus functions a lot better on this team as an unexpected win condition. A majority of this set's checks lose to Lando after a bit of prior damage, which this team succeeds in with its wallbreakers, and you can easily focus on eliminating such checks like Scizor or Skarmory with Koko, Heatran or Medicham.

[

>

] - I don't like Life Orb Tapu Koko myself, as I find that it dies rather quickly with all of the stacking recoil. Specs acts a powerful nuke, breaking Scizor, Mega Sableye, Clefable, etc.. As you Volt Switch, E-terrain is up, allowing you to go Medicham in hope to break it. In the match-up of stall, I'd be best to go for the aggressive move of Thunder Punch assuming that the stall player will be safe and go Mega-Sableye, thus leaving their Sab under 50%. Specs Dazzling Gleam OHKOs Tyranitar after Stealth Rock, too.

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original team:
rated team:

Unfortunately, the Lele match-up was only one that I was able to scratch the surface of given that I wanted to keep the 2 Pokemon that you built the team around. You still beat it from a checking standpoint, but switching in will be a little less of a pain. I hope my rate helped, good luck!

 

[DKM]

Hey. Cool team, i like the core of medi + Koko.

But a certain weakness i noticed is variants of stall. So here's what i suggest

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Landorus-Therian (M) @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Smack Down
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

This set can break through stall if played well, and gives you a stealth rocker.

I understand Zygarde is a good wincon, but I think magearna is a better one, so i would suggest adding stallbreaker Lando.



A couple more things, changing the ferrothorn spread to:
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Impish Nature
This helps switch in to more physical attacks while still taking 2 greninja dark pulses.



My last suggestion is changing Mantine's spread to:
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 124 SpD
Calm Nature
For the same reason as ferrothorn.



I hope this was helpful :]