ORAS OU Serpent's Pass: Serperior in OU.

[Rocxidi]

Hello, Smogon, and welcome to my third RMT here. This time around I decided to build around Serperior, who has been receiving a lot of hate, whether it's "Emboar's HA is better," "relies too much on teammates," or "is too weak," it started to get on my nerves. So alas, I decided to build this as an attempt to make Serperior feel more comfortable in the current metagame.

Serperior @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute

A pretty standard Serperior set. Leaf Storm doubles, triples, and quadruples your Special Attack, while Giga Drain saps chunks of health from enemies. Hidden Power Fire hits a lot of Steel types such as Ferrothorn. Substitute is used over Dragon Pulse because status can really cripple Serperior.

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Earthquake

As Serperior is easily walled by Heatran and countered by Talonflame, Scarf Excadrill partners with Serperior very well as it can check both of those. Jolly Nature outspeeds things like +1 Jolly Gyarados and Adamant Scarf Lando T while still hitting back hard. I opted for the standard set with Rapid Spin because Serperior will be forced to switch alot, and Stealth Rock will chip away at its health and reduce its attacking turns due to Life Orb.

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Because Excadrill is just a check, I decided to add Rotom Wash as a pivot. The standard spread with max physical bulk is used, except for the 30 Speed IVs, which guarantee the switch initiative against opposing Rotom. Volt Switch for momentum, Hydro Pump for water STAB, Will-o-Wisp because come on, it's Rotom, and Pain Split for some recovery.

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Waterfall
- Bounce

Realizing that Serperior can still be taken down by other priority moves, I decided Gyarados would be a great teammate, as its typing allows it to resists alot of priority moves. I use the standard Sub DD with a Jolly Nature to prevent getting outsped by things like Jolly Altaria and Adamant Scarf Lando T. I also use Bounce to get really great coverage and extra Leftovers recovery.

Diancie @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast

I wanted to add Stealth Rock somewhere in my team, and I realized I still hadn't taken up my Mega slot, so I decided to go with Mega Diancie. Magic Bounce and Stealth Rocks make it a great lead, as Magic Bounce prevents opposing hazards while reflecting status for Diancie. Diancie then becomes incredibly powerful, able to start putting offensive pressure right off the bat. The standard mixed attacker set is used with Rocks over Calm Mind or Rock Polish.

Bisharp @ Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 Def / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch

Finally I decided to add Bisharp, as it fit really well in the team. It resists Steel for Diancie, screws over Defog, can weaken opposing Sucker Punch users for the team in general, and can speed creep things like Adamant Breloom and Altaria, and can easily sweep in the right situation. The set is standard.

That's it. Hopefully this team becomes great and whatnot.

Importable

Serperior @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute

Excadrill @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Earthquake

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Waterfall
- Bounce

Diancie @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast

Bisharp @ Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch

 

[Pent]

Okie!

First of all. I would run Dragon Pulse > Substitute since Serperior's only recovery being Giga Drain. This also helps you against the Lati Twins when you could need it most.

Make sure to run an EV Spread of 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe on Rotom-Wash to guarantee an out speed on Azumarill to burn it.

Not too sure bout Diancie having SR since it's kinda frail after it Mega Evolves, but if it works out for ya, okie dokie.

 

[Xaister]

Cool Team. Love seperior with contrary. Add D-pulse as Sparkl3y said in the post above to deal with the lati twins. I've never seen bounce before on Gyrados but I'd usually run earthquake instead since it has better coverage since the only thing bounce is good for is hitting bulkier grass types. Maybe a timid nature on diancie instead? Also Sparkl3y for the first turn diancie retains its normal defenses making it very capable of setting up rocks. Just to let you know. That's it for me I don't see anything else wrong. Good Luck.

 

[Pent]

Cool Team. Love seperior with contrary. Add D-pulse as Sparkl3y said in the post above to deal with the lati twins. I've never seen bounce before on Gyrados but I'd usually run earthquake instead since it has better coverage since the only thing bounce is good for is hitting bulkier grass types. Maybe a timid nature on diancie instead? Also Sparkl3y for the first turn diancie retains its normal defenses making it very capable of setting up rocks. Just to let you know. That's it for me I don't see anything else wrong. Good Luck.

Bounce is great for stab, since it isnt a mega.

 

[Rocxidi]

First of all. I would run Dragon Pulse > Substitute since Serperior's only recovery being Giga Drain. This also helps you against the Lati Twins when you could need it most.

I'm specifically running Substitute to prevent paralysis and other kinds of status. I've also got Bisharp to deal with it. The Lati's can't really take a Leaf Storm comfortably late game, meaning they either sacrifice Lati for Defog or play the rest of the game with Rocks.

Make sure to run an EV Spread of 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe on Rotom-Wash to guarantee an out speed on Azumarill to burn it.

I decided to avoid this set because BD Azu hardly sees any usage, and even if it did, it's going to have trouble setting up when everything on this team can really hurt it.

Not too sure bout Diancie having SR since it's kinda frail after it Mega Evolves, but if it works out for ya, okie dokie.

It's great, actually. Magic Bounce prevents opposing hazards, and its stats allow it to start dishing out damage immediately.

Cool Team. Love seperior with contrary. Add D-pulse as Sparkl3y said in the post above to deal with the lati twins. I've never seen bounce before on Gyrados but I'd usually run earthquake instead since it has better coverage since the only thing bounce is good for is hitting bulkier grass types. Maybe a timid nature on diancie instead? Also Sparkl3y for the first turn diancie retains its normal defenses making it very capable of setting up rocks. Just to let you know. That's it for me I don't see anything else wrong. Good Luck.

Bounce is STAB.

Naive nature allows it to deal as much damage as possible with Diamond Storm without compromising the power of Moonblast.

 

[AveMatic]

Besides the things that the others have said, I would say run adamant Bisharp, unless you want Low Kick on it. And maybe a bit of a bulkier spread on Gyarados

Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 88 HP / 192 Atk / 4 Def / 224 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce

 

[MANNAT]

Some of the descriptions are a bit sparse, so you might want to add a few lines to some of the shorter analysis's, but I'll still give it a rate.

Rates:

Serperior:

serperior

Serperior is a great new toy to use, but your set could use a few improvements. Since you are going to be whittling yourself down with LO recoil and such, I recommend going with taunt over sub on serperior so that you can cripple walls while still dodging status as well as having more survivability. Also, having glare over giga drain lets you paralyze all of the base 110 speed Pokemon and below such as all the new offensive megas. Glare is also amazing because you can paralyze Pokemon that are normally immune to paralysis such as ground types and mega sceptile. Also remember that you have to have an even number of special attack and speed IVs for hidden power fire.

Excadrill:

excadrill

That's a pretty standard set, so I don't have much to say. TBH, scarf excadrill is kind of outclassed by scarfchomp a little bit, but you kind of need rapid spin because serperior can't stay in all the time. However, if you find an extra spot for a hazard cleaner, then I recommend replacing excadrill with scarf garchomp. Aside from that, excadrill looks good.

Rotom-Wash:

rotom-w

This is a standard smogon wash set, so I think it's fine. You might want to run 44 speed so that you can outspeed max speed azu though.

Gyarados:

gyarados

I like the set! Maybe Stone edge over bounce though.

Mega Diancie:

diancie

The set seems OK, but I just don't usually see stealth rocking Diancie. You might want to run it on a different mon just so you don't waste your mega's precious turns of life. Aside from that, the set it fine.

Bisharp:

bisharp

Bisharp has a pretty good set, but I have a few tweaks. You probably want to run adamant over jolly since mach punch breloom one shots it anyways. Also, adamant bisharp nets a ton of OHKOs that were 2HKOs and the rest of the relevant tier is generally outsped with 252 adamant bar 2 or 3 mons. You might also want to run pursuit over SD to trap the Latis since you already have black glasses. Aside from that, the set is OK.

There you go! I hope that you consider some of my suggestions for your team.

 

[Sablenite]

Cool Team. Love seperior with contrary. Add D-pulse as Sparkl3y said in the post above to deal with the lati twins. I've never seen bounce before on Gyrados but I'd usually run earthquake instead since it has better coverage since the only thing bounce is good for is hitting bulkier grass types. Maybe a timid nature on diancie instead? Also Sparkl3y for the first turn diancie retains its normal defenses making it very capable of setting up rocks. Just to let you know. That's it for me I don't see anything else wrong. Good Luck.

It does Not retain its DEF. Turn order is the only thing that updates later. You get magic bounce turn 1.

 

[Moonclawz]

Hi Dircio,

This is a pretty cool offensive team here. I like how you built around Serperior and added other Pokemon that would help eliminate Superior's checks. Your team has pretty good synergy, which means I couldn't find any huge holes in your team. :]

I think one problem with your team is a weakness to strong fighting-type attackers such as Mega-Loppuny, Keldeo, Conkeldurr. For example Terrkaion can switch into Bisharp Sucker Punch or Knock Off from Bisharp and simply spam Close Combat. Although Gyarados has Intimidate and resists fighting-type attacks, it's also your only fighting-type resist which means it's going to be worn down pretty quickly.

I think another threat to your team is opposing Bisharp. Only Rotom-W can directly switch into Bisharp and Diancie can only check it once it Mega-Evolves (Bisharp outspeed and hits Diance with Iron Head otherwise. The other Pokemon on your team won't enjoy switching into Knock Off.

With this in mind, I think you should consider running Latias with Draco Meteor, Psyshock, Roost, and Healing Wish over Rotom-W. Latias gives you an important fighting-type resist and a general check to most special attackers. In addition, Latias can use Healing Wish, which is great for restoring a worn-down Serperior, allowing you to be more aggressive with spamming Leaf Storm with Serperior without being too worried about Life Orb recoil. This also allows you to run Dragon Pulse over Giga Drain on Serperior for better coverage. Draco Meteor and Psyshock are obilgatory STAB moves and although seemingly strange with Healing Wish, Roost gives Latias very useful longevity (feel free to pick a coverage move if you don't like Healing Wish + Roost).

Since having Latias over Rotom-W makes you weaker to Lando-T, I think you should change Scarf Excadrill to Scarf Landorus-T. Although Lando-T lacks key Fairy and Dragon-type resistances, it makes up for this with Intimidate and a fast U-turn. Otherwise, they function mostly in the same manner.

To help with Bisharp, I think you should try using Sub CM Keldeo with Substitute, Scald, Secret Sword, and Calm Mind over Gyarados. Keldeo gives your team an extra Dark-type resistance and is a great check to Bisharp. In addition, Keldeo can pressure fire-types such as Heatran and Charizard that would otherwise wall Serperior. Keldeo also benefits from Bisharp removing opposing Latias and Latios. Finally, Keldeo gives your team an alternate win condition in case Serperior doesn't work out.

Hope this helps!

Sets:

Hide

Keldeo @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Substitute

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Healing Wish
- Roost

 

[much professional]

A bulkier set on Gyarados would benefit you more, as mentioned by AveMatic, since Gyara relies on setting up with Subs (that hopefully don't break) to sweep. Also, Dragon Pulse would benefit you far more than Substitute in several situations, such as a way of hitting Latios/Latias as well as Talonflame (on the switch).

Also, be sure to fix your importable, since Bisharp has incorrect EVs.