SS OU Roserade BO ( An iteration of this team peaked @ 1670 last week or so)

[SoKlose]

Hello smogon! Haven't played much since XY and this is my first time posting here. So, I've been playing around with Roserade in gen 8. I have found it to have a pretty decent niche. With toxic spikes and sleep powder, it can really get the ball rolling early game/neutralize many threats mid 2 late game. I try to abuse t-spikes as much as possible to rack up damage and kinda but not really stall out some dangerous mons. So here goes nothing! Got to top 500 a week ago (peaked around 1670ish elo), but I found my team pretty boring (games were too long and really stally) and swapped some mons around, although the team is more fun to pilot, it isn't as effective as it used to be. I could always use some help! Forgive me 4 any spelling mistakes, it is pretty late here and english isn't my first language :p.

The Squad

Roserade @ Focus Sash
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb​

I built around Roserade bc I like using it. It can beat the water absorb spam mons in the meta rn (I don't use Vish but I have the feeling that another Roserade set can be a great partner) . There also are a bunch of fairy types on ladder that don't enjoy sludge bomb. Sash allows it to get of something out of the turn most of the time. I tried out LO but although it hit like a truck, I found it more effective with Sash. Mons it doesn't like are mandibuzz (overcoat + defog) and Ferro since it can't touch it. I miss HP fire :(. Natural cure is just there, hasn't come in handy many times but it is the best ability for this set.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- King's Shield
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon​

Great team member. Once T-spikes are up this set is a menace. It stalls out most physical mons once they are statused. Kings Shield+ Sub racks up the damage suprisingly fast. Shadow ball and Flash cannon seem as the best moves to use rn. I tried both shuca and air ballon, (Shuca with CC was really good tbh) But in this iteration of the team Avalugg can fend off EQ from most mons with little to no problem. So lefty's recovery is amazing.

Rotom-Heat @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Overheat
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt​

Has great synergies with Roserade and Sylveon, It switches into Mandibuzz and Ferro with no problem. I have questions about what is the best set for this mon. Like NP can eat teams, but "eating" teams isn't really what this team is geared for. I'll give it to this set though, it can rip open many holes in stall builds, especially with wish support. I used Scarf + trick for a while to cripple many common answers such as Toad on the switch in, and volt switch keeps momentum going which can be really important for this team sometimes. I have been swapping around both sets a lot, but Boots is such a great item, I don't really know what set is best for the team so I could really use some help here.

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Mystical Fire
- Wish
- Protect​

Probably the best preforming mon on the team. Walls Hydreigon and specs/disable dragapult like no other mon. Wish passing helps the team recover from momentum swings pretty well. And protect can scout out Choice users and also racks up the dmg from t-spikes. Mystical fire has helped me in so many situations due to the SpA drop, great mon all around. Have had a blast using this thing. Also compliments the defensive synergy of the Rotom-heat/Roserade core.

Hatterene (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Mystical Fire
- Psychic
- Giga Drain
- Rest​

Been playing around with this one for a bit. I tried TR + Arctovish (due to water absorb + freeze dry smacking dracovish) but didn't find much success. This is my main way of beating ferro+pex cores. Rest is there as a fill in slot haven't used it mch thb. This mon used to be the only hazard stopper in the team, but I realized it lacks the recovery for it, getting wilted down suprisingly fast. What set would you reccomend for the Hat?

Avalugg @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Avalanche
- Body Press​

The newest member, Garm gets checked pretty well by this mon (+1 252 Atk Darmanitan-Galar Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg: 192-226 (48.7 - 57.3%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO) (Thats as good as it gets for checking Garm LOL) and knocks it out with body press. Can't wait for sturdy, I think it will really help this mon out. As you can see I don't run so SR because I couldn't fit them in + another reason that will be covered in the threats section. Not sure how I feel about the table tbh, the results with it are very inconsistent but I can't find a better mon for it's spinnng role. Avalanche is also really strong STAB it can eat 1 rend from scarf vish and dent it with avalnche allowing for sash roserade to kill it. Not the bst game plan, but hey, thats why I'm here.

Threats:

Dracovish: Scary ass mon. Choice scarf eats my team, Sash roserade sleep powder is my only "real" answer LOL. Band also does the same but it is slightly more manageable. Used to have Arctovish which worked really well but exposed my team up to too many other threats. Rain is also annoying but Barraskewda gets walled by the table, so it isn't hell. (Unless Vish is there, ofc)

Cinderace: Court change is annoying but manageable. Before the table was added to the team it just staright 6-0d me. This is the reason I didn't use SR in this build tbh. This thing will be btoken once its HA is released. How can I deal with this thing better? I'm never sure if the thing carries U-turn or sucker. Would really appreciate some advice on how to deal with this thing.

LO Clefable: Requires a lot of correct predictions to manage, but I enjoy playing against it because it is fun to predict.

SD Mold breaker sash Excardill wins if it flinches down the table. Have to be really careful around this beast. Sleeping it is also a way to beat it but it is risky (as it should be) but gambling can be fun sometimes :)

GARM: Enough said. Just kidding, this team can maneuver around this mon pretty well. T-spikes + Blitz recoil destroy this thing. Kings shield and swtich to table is always an option. God help me if its Zen Garm... Sash Sleep powder it is I guess... Unless it is Belly drum + sub + salac. Then its game. Im not too worried about it because come january it will likely get suspect tested and prolly banned.

Stall: I think I could maybe pull of some good wins, but I just do not have the time to play 50 minute games, I play pokemon to enjoy myself and not really that competitevly but maybe someone has an idea that can smash stall in. NP rotom can do the job, don't get me wrong but if anyone has an idea to improve my team, i'd really appreciate it!


Thanks 4 reading! And further thanks for any and all suggestions.

 

[chimp]

Hey mate.
You've pretty much listed all of the biggest threats, so I'll try my best cover them with my recommendations.
The first major change I would suggest would be swapping Hatterene with Seismitoad. Seismitoad helps out with the first two threats you mentioned: Dracovish and Cinderace. Toad's presence prevents Dracovish from spamming Fishious Rend, and Cinderace struggles to muster past it. This also gives you a Stealth Rocker and a source of Toxic, which is always nice. Just be careful not to let it get too worn down. The standard set should fit well enough:

Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Toxic

I did, however, feel that this change made your team a little more susceptible to Toxapex. The reason I suggest putting Toad over Hatterene is because Rotom-Heat is equally as good at dismantling FerroPex cores, but it doesn't want to switch in against Toxapex. Seismitoad can pressure Toxapex but it really does not want to be crippled by Toxic. Therefore, my next suggestion would be to switch Sylveon with Clefable. I was wary to suggest this, because you said Sylveon has so far been the star of your team, but I do think it will help out more in the long run. I personally think Roserade + Clefable is a bit of a better core than Roserade + Aegislash, since the former is a little bit better at wearing down each other's checks than the later. Roserade especially HATES Ferro/Pex... and Mandibuzz.... and Corviknight..... which Clefable isn't so bad at dealing with. Clefable can still manage to be a capable check to Dragapult and Hydreigon, so I don't feel as if its a terrible trade-off. Again, the standard LO set should work fine here:

Clefable @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 196 HP / 252 SpA / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Moonlight

Lastly, I was worried the team was now lacking a specially defensive wall, so my final major change would be to swap Aegislash with Mandibuzz. Mandibuzz can somewhat make up for the blurred area between what you lose giving up Sylveon but don't pick up with Clefable, such as Choice Spec Dragapult's Shadow Ball and Sub Hydreigon. It also gives you a bit of an edge against Excadrill and Knock Off can be useful for crippling certain Stall-oriented sets, like Corsola-G. I would consider the following set:

Mandibuzz @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Roost
- U-turn
- Taunt


I hope this helps! I know it ended up being quite a few changes, but I am confident they can help your team's structure a bit. Another alternative to consider would be a specially defensive Wishpasser Clefable. It functions incredibly similar to Sylveon, but is also immune to Toxic. In this case I would run T-bolt over Flamethrower, since you have Rotom-Heat to cover for Ferrothorn. Let me know if you want to explore that option a little more.

 

[Jediment]

Hiya! First I want to say that I love that you included Roserade, I always love seeing it. I took a look at Chimp's post and I think they suggested all solid changes, but I wanted to take a slightly different direction since you said you really liked having Sylveon on the team.

The things you listed as main threats are symptoms of a common issue, which is a lack of speed control. Your team has no way to check generic fast threats, so you'll find that stuff like Hawlucha can give you trouble as well. I think your team can address this problem without sacrificing its bulky nature.

1. Hatterene --> Conkeldurr
Conkeldurr @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Mach Punch
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Earthquake

2. New Aegislash set
Aegislash @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- King's Shield
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head
- Close Combat

These two sets together form a very powerful priority spam duo. Priority is great right now as most fast mons die easily to it, plus it gimps the damage you take from Dracovish, especially scarf variants. Conkeldurr also gives you some much appreciated physical offensive presence, and particularly dumps on Toxapex, who can't status it or Haze it. Both Conk and Aegi are prone to being worn down from the burn/LO damage, which is where Sylveon really shines, keeping them healthy throughout the match so you aren't prone to late game sweeps by stuff like Hawlucha and non-sucker punch Dragapult.

I hope this feedback was helpful, and thanks for sharing your team!

 

[SoKlose]

Thanks for the replies guys!
Will be testing out both suggerstions :)