Hello everyone! Today I am going to bring you the my first RMT of Sun/Moon. After laddering a fair bit and getting several accounts to 1400-1600 with this team, I think I have playtested enough to be confident. With that said, lets jump into this!
פרחים (Shaymin) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Synthesis
First up is the leader of the bunch, Shaymin. While I originally toyed with Serperior, Shaymin won out in the end due to its access to Earth Power, added bulk, and slightly higher starting power. This Pokemon is designed to threaten out the ever present Tapu Fini with its Seed Flare, while abusing the possible -2 SpD drop it can give to its target. Being able to deal with Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Celesteela with Hidden Power Fire after a drop, Shaymin is a hard Pokemon to truly wall. Earth Power is taken to deal neutral damage to many mons while also OHKOing Heatran, a Pokemon that the team may struggle with otherwise. Rest was removed in favor of Synthesis after Tapu Fini joined to roster.
בַּרזֶל (Metagross) @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Thunder Punch
- Bullet Punch
Megagross is armed with its primary STABs, as well as two choice moves to aid it with the team's needed coverage. Thunder Punch is taken to answer Pokemon such as Gyarados and Rain users. In addition to this, Thunder Punch will also chunk Celesteela to the point that Shaymin can beat it without an SpD drop. Bullet Punch is taken to serve as dual priority alongside Lucario's Extremespeed, and can catch many Pokemon off guard with it. After a raise from Meteor Mash, BP Megagross can threaten a game outright. Bullet Punch helps cover the team's relatively low speed tier and can deal with threats after they have been wounded.
לְהָטִיל אֵימָה (Landorus-Therian) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
Designed to pivot around defensive Pokemon and chip down offensive threats, Landorus-T is an asset to the functionality of the team. Rocky Helmet allows it to lower the enemy's attack and then deal back nearly free damage, slowly chipping away for your team's carry to break the enemy team. After setting up Stealth Rocks, it has the ability to either U-Turn or hard switch into Shaymin against Tapu Fini, threatening the enemy team further and gaining an even larger advantage. Stone Edge was taken to have a more reliable answer to Flying types than just the chip damage from Stealth Rocks.
אֵלֶגַנטִי (Tapu Fini) @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Nature's Madness
- Taunt
- Defog
Although this team plays into the idea of forcing your opponent to deal with your rocks, it is still weak to Spike stackers and various stall Pokemon. This set of Tapu Fini allows it to outrun 8 Spe EV Landorus-T as well as deal with several Stall Pokemon, such as Toxapex. While weak to Poison and Grass types, namely Venusaur, Megagross and Heatran cover its counters.
לָבָה (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 178 SpD / 82 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
At first this set may look very odd, but it has a purpose. Lava Plume is the primary SpD Heatran Fire STAB, while Toxic allows me to widdle down and beat Pokemon I may otherwise lose to. This is furthered by the most odd move here, Protect. While some may consider this a waste of a Move Slot, with the amount of Specs Greninja and Choiced Tapu Lele, this gives a safe way to check what they are using, in addition to gaining more health from Leftovers and subjecting your opponent to more Toxic damage. You can also force Pheromosa's HJK to miss, putting fear and thought into your opponent's moves from then on out. The speed investement creeps through the 210 tier, and is able to outrun most defensive or bulky Pokemon.
מְעוּדָן (Lucario) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Extreme Speed
- Swords Dance
This slot in the team was hotly contested for some time, but in the end I decided upon a rather unorthodox pick in Lucario. While it may seem a bit odd given the prevalence of Tapu Lele, the rest of the team is perfectly comfortable answering Lele, mitigating it as a threat. After the aforementioned chip damage with rocks, Extremespeed can start to bring down opponents very quickly. After a Swords Dance you can chunk an Ash-Greninja by 70-80% with Extremespeed and finish off many other setup sweepers and threats. Ice Punch was taken over Iron Tail to deal with Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Coil Zygarde, in addition to carrying general coverage for Flying types and Bulky Grounds. While Lucario may not outright sweep teams, it fits into this team in a way that no other Pokemon I tested could.
General Strategy and Purpose:
This team is designed to pivot around one of the most common Defoggers, Tapu Fini, after setting Stealth Rocks and pressuring the enemy team with Shaymin and Megagross. If the enemy opts not to remove the rocks in fear of being hit by Shaymin, the dual priority of Megagross w/Bullet Punch and Lucario w/Extremespeed can break most teams after they are chipped by Nature's Madness and Rocky Helmet. The Pokemon picked are designed to cover each others defensive weaknesses while leaving the least number of meta Pokemon unanswered. As a whole this team covers most of the A tier, yet is weak to the following Pokemon.
Weaknesses:
Megagross: While not unanswerable, no Pokemon on the team hard counters it, and therefore it must be carefully played around. Be smart about dealing with the enemy Megagross. It will oftentimes force you into a disadvantageous scenario, so be prepared to play from behind if the opponent brings it in for free.
Protean Greninja: Given the correct coverage, dealing with Protean Greninja can be hard. The matchup will usually involve getting the ninja to turn itself into a Poison Type with Tapu Fini while switching into Megagross or Lucario to try to chip it down. ESpeed+BP will KO it after LO recoil, but you will need to choose which Pokemon to sack.
Tapu Koko: This team's most reliable answer to Koko is Heatran, which is not a good answer. In general you will need to make smart plays and predictions to safely get Landorus-T in and chip Koko's HP enough to be bought down by Bullet Punch or Extremespeed. Try not to throw Megagross into it; you will be chunked too hard to quickly.
Charizard-Y: Unfortunately this team has no reliable switch in to Megazard Y. It will nuke out any Pokemon with either Focus Blast, Fire Blast, and Solar Beam, and thus you will need to try to pressure the opponent from bringing it in. Try to limit the opponent's opportunities and avoid KOing an enemy with a Pokemon that will then be fodder to it.
פרחים (Shaymin) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Synthesis
First up is the leader of the bunch, Shaymin. While I originally toyed with Serperior, Shaymin won out in the end due to its access to Earth Power, added bulk, and slightly higher starting power. This Pokemon is designed to threaten out the ever present Tapu Fini with its Seed Flare, while abusing the possible -2 SpD drop it can give to its target. Being able to deal with Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Celesteela with Hidden Power Fire after a drop, Shaymin is a hard Pokemon to truly wall. Earth Power is taken to deal neutral damage to many mons while also OHKOing Heatran, a Pokemon that the team may struggle with otherwise. Rest was removed in favor of Synthesis after Tapu Fini joined to roster.
בַּרזֶל (Metagross) @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Thunder Punch
- Bullet Punch
Megagross is armed with its primary STABs, as well as two choice moves to aid it with the team's needed coverage. Thunder Punch is taken to answer Pokemon such as Gyarados and Rain users. In addition to this, Thunder Punch will also chunk Celesteela to the point that Shaymin can beat it without an SpD drop. Bullet Punch is taken to serve as dual priority alongside Lucario's Extremespeed, and can catch many Pokemon off guard with it. After a raise from Meteor Mash, BP Megagross can threaten a game outright. Bullet Punch helps cover the team's relatively low speed tier and can deal with threats after they have been wounded.
לְהָטִיל אֵימָה (Landorus-Therian) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
Designed to pivot around defensive Pokemon and chip down offensive threats, Landorus-T is an asset to the functionality of the team. Rocky Helmet allows it to lower the enemy's attack and then deal back nearly free damage, slowly chipping away for your team's carry to break the enemy team. After setting up Stealth Rocks, it has the ability to either U-Turn or hard switch into Shaymin against Tapu Fini, threatening the enemy team further and gaining an even larger advantage. Stone Edge was taken to have a more reliable answer to Flying types than just the chip damage from Stealth Rocks.
אֵלֶגַנטִי (Tapu Fini) @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Nature's Madness
- Taunt
- Defog
Although this team plays into the idea of forcing your opponent to deal with your rocks, it is still weak to Spike stackers and various stall Pokemon. This set of Tapu Fini allows it to outrun 8 Spe EV Landorus-T as well as deal with several Stall Pokemon, such as Toxapex. While weak to Poison and Grass types, namely Venusaur, Megagross and Heatran cover its counters.
לָבָה (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 178 SpD / 82 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
At first this set may look very odd, but it has a purpose. Lava Plume is the primary SpD Heatran Fire STAB, while Toxic allows me to widdle down and beat Pokemon I may otherwise lose to. This is furthered by the most odd move here, Protect. While some may consider this a waste of a Move Slot, with the amount of Specs Greninja and Choiced Tapu Lele, this gives a safe way to check what they are using, in addition to gaining more health from Leftovers and subjecting your opponent to more Toxic damage. You can also force Pheromosa's HJK to miss, putting fear and thought into your opponent's moves from then on out. The speed investement creeps through the 210 tier, and is able to outrun most defensive or bulky Pokemon.
מְעוּדָן (Lucario) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Extreme Speed
- Swords Dance
This slot in the team was hotly contested for some time, but in the end I decided upon a rather unorthodox pick in Lucario. While it may seem a bit odd given the prevalence of Tapu Lele, the rest of the team is perfectly comfortable answering Lele, mitigating it as a threat. After the aforementioned chip damage with rocks, Extremespeed can start to bring down opponents very quickly. After a Swords Dance you can chunk an Ash-Greninja by 70-80% with Extremespeed and finish off many other setup sweepers and threats. Ice Punch was taken over Iron Tail to deal with Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Coil Zygarde, in addition to carrying general coverage for Flying types and Bulky Grounds. While Lucario may not outright sweep teams, it fits into this team in a way that no other Pokemon I tested could.
General Strategy and Purpose:
This team is designed to pivot around one of the most common Defoggers, Tapu Fini, after setting Stealth Rocks and pressuring the enemy team with Shaymin and Megagross. If the enemy opts not to remove the rocks in fear of being hit by Shaymin, the dual priority of Megagross w/Bullet Punch and Lucario w/Extremespeed can break most teams after they are chipped by Nature's Madness and Rocky Helmet. The Pokemon picked are designed to cover each others defensive weaknesses while leaving the least number of meta Pokemon unanswered. As a whole this team covers most of the A tier, yet is weak to the following Pokemon.
Weaknesses:
Megagross: While not unanswerable, no Pokemon on the team hard counters it, and therefore it must be carefully played around. Be smart about dealing with the enemy Megagross. It will oftentimes force you into a disadvantageous scenario, so be prepared to play from behind if the opponent brings it in for free.
Protean Greninja: Given the correct coverage, dealing with Protean Greninja can be hard. The matchup will usually involve getting the ninja to turn itself into a Poison Type with Tapu Fini while switching into Megagross or Lucario to try to chip it down. ESpeed+BP will KO it after LO recoil, but you will need to choose which Pokemon to sack.
Tapu Koko: This team's most reliable answer to Koko is Heatran, which is not a good answer. In general you will need to make smart plays and predictions to safely get Landorus-T in and chip Koko's HP enough to be bought down by Bullet Punch or Extremespeed. Try not to throw Megagross into it; you will be chunked too hard to quickly.
Charizard-Y: Unfortunately this team has no reliable switch in to Megazard Y. It will nuke out any Pokemon with either Focus Blast, Fire Blast, and Solar Beam, and thus you will need to try to pressure the opponent from bringing it in. Try to limit the opponent's opportunities and avoid KOing an enemy with a Pokemon that will then be fodder to it.
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