Slow But Dangerous
This is my very first successful RMT I've posted in the recent weeks: A Choice Band Escavalier team! Well, looks like my creativity really got to me this time! (Not saying it's a bad thing). This Escavalier moveset can punch some holes in the metagame, since Choice Band Escavalier's Megahorn OHKOs Ash-Greninja (Though it'll be most likely dead before it gets to do so) and Mega Alakazam. And CB Drill Run 2HKOs Toxapex after Black Sludge recovery! Of course, keep reading if you want to read the full set details, and if you want to build your own Escavalier team, some Escavalier moveset suggestions/recommendations can be found here:
https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/pokemon/escavalier/
Sir Lancelot (Escavalier) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 125 HP / 252 Atk / 131 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Drill Run
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
I chose Escavalier as the "Ace" of this team because I needed a Steel -Type that wasn't weak to some of the top types in OverUsed and one that could punch some holes in opposing teams. It can handle some faster threats that normally eat my team for lunch. Drill Run is needed to 2HKO Toxapex, which can be a HUGE threat to my team, since it can stall out my teammates and chip them down with Toxic. Megahorn is Escavalier's main STAB move, which can destroy some of the top threats here, such as Ash-Greninja and Mega Alakazam, both of which are huge threats in the meta as it is now. Ash-Greninja's strong offensive stats makes it risky for most of my teammates to come in safely. Iron Head is Escavalier's secondary STAB move. While it's theoretically a weaker Megahorn, the added flinch chance in addition to not missing provides valuable STAB coverage. Knock Off can mess up pokemon that rely on Leftovers such as opposing Rotom-W, Defensive Mew, Mantine, Specially Defensive Kommo-O, Defensive Lando-T, CM Keldeo, Alomomola, Clefable, Ferrothorn, Gastrodon, Pyukumuku, Reuniclus, Skarmory, Suicune, Physically Defensive Tangrowth, Defensive Zapdos, Buzzwhole, and Hippowdon, or Assault Vest from the likes of Tangrowth, Tyranitar, and Amoongus. 131 Speed EVs allows it to outspeed base 30's such as Slowbro (and its Mega Form) and hit them up with Megahorn before they have a chance to retaliate back. Maximum attack investment combined with Choice Band allows it to hit as hard as possible.
Mars (Volcarona) (M) @ Psychium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 61 SpD / 195 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Psychic
- Quiver Dance
I chose Volcarona due to its ability to threaten Toxapex, which has picked up in usage quite recently, and its ability to be a sweeper that can tank some hits. This team has MegaZardX for opposing Heatran so there's really no need for HP Ground. Anyways, Psychium Z on par with Psychic is quite powerful after Quiver Dance boosts and can OHKO Toxapex if Psychic was used beforehand. Fire Blast is Volcarona's main STAB move and plows through many pokemon that normally try to exploit its low physical defense such as Mega Scizor, Mega Pinsir, Mega Heracross, and many more. Bug Buzz is used to KO pokemon that normally would KO it in return such as Tyranitar, Ash-Greninja, and Mega Alakazam after a Quiver Dance boost. Quiver Dance is used as Volcarona's boosting move to net KOs on bulky pokemon such as Toxapex. Flame Body is used to cripple physical sweepers if Fire Blast doesn't kill them. A great speed tier allows it to outspeed a good portion of the tier, excluding naturally faster pokemon and some Choice Scarf users.
Hazard Washer (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Defog
Both Escavalier and Volcarona have problems with entry hazards chipping them down, so of course, every team needs a good Defogger. I chose this over Torn-T due to the fact that it's not weak to Stealth Rock. Defog provides valuable team support and allows pokemon such as MegaZardX and Volcarona to come in safely since none of them are running recovery moves. Hydro Pump is Rotom-W's main STAB move, and it hits stuff such as Heatran, opposing Volcarona, Tyranitar and Mega Tyranitar, Gliscor, and Excadrill for super effective damage. Will-O-Wisp is used to cripple physical attackers such as Mega Scizor, Mega Pinsir, Mega Tyranitar, Kyurem-B, Mega Lopunny, Mega Swampert, and Mega Mawile (Assuming there isn't a pokemon with Heal Bell on the team). Volt Switch is used to pivot out of bad matchups (Assuming you're not facing Ground-Types, but they are already hit fairly hard by Hydro Pump.) and allow a teammate that can stomach a hit from the enemy and hit them back super effectively to come in safely.
Magma Steel (Heatran) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Taunt
I chose this as my hazard setter because of its great bulk and ability to pressure entry hazard removers well. Stealth Rock is a must on every Heatran set, chipping down entry hazard removers such as Tornadus-T and Zapdos. Magma Storm is Heatran's main STAB, and the added trapping effect allows it to chip down more passive pokemon that normally beat it, such as Chansey, Toxapex, and Alomomola. However, a shaky 75% accuracy means that it will miss quite often, which can be really bad in certain matchups. Earth Power is super useful to have on Heatran, since it will be able to hit stuff such as Toxapex, Tyranitar (and Mega Tyranitar), and even opposing Heatran. Taunt allows it to completely shut down Chansey, Mantine, and Gastrodon, since their recovery moves can be annoying to deal with unless you have Taunt. Solar Beam is also a good option if you're looking to hit bulky-waters such as Tapu Fini, Gastrodon, and Quagsire, and combining that with Grassium Z, expect Bulky-Waters such as Tapu Fini and offensive waters such as Mega Swampert to swiftly and surely crumble. However, this requires sun support from the likes of MegaZardY, and it also requires a turn to charge and as a result, this can allow some of the aforementioned water-types to heavily dent, if not KO Heatran before it gets a chance to activate Solar Beam. Lava Plume can be used instead of Magma Storm due to its accuracy, reliability, and ability to cripple physical attackers such as Mega Scizor. However, Magma Storm's residual damage is generally more useful in most cases.
Venom (Greninja-Ash) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Water Shuriken
- Dark Pulse
- Spikes
I chose this as my offensive Spiker because of its monstrous mixed offensive capabilities (most sets run special) and speed tier, allowing it to pressure and rip apart offensive teams without much difficulty. Hydro Pump is Ash-Greninja's main STAB, hitting stuff such as Heatran and Lando-T for super effective damage. However, 80% accuracy isn't really good, so do expect it to miss, which can cost certain matchups depending on the situation. Water Shuriken is what makes Ash-Greninja what it is. In addition to being a priority move with STAB, it also hits super hard in tandem with Battle Bond and Choice Specs. In addition, it can break Substitutes due to being a multi-hit move. Dark Pulse is Ash-Greninja's secondary STAB, allowing it to net KOs on Mega Alakazam and Reuniclus. The added flinch rate as well when using Dark Pulse is nice as well to punish pokemon such as Keldeo and Mega Lopunny. Spikes provides MASSIVE support for my team, being able to chip down bulky pokemon that my team would not normally be able to break or have a hard time doing so, such as Chansey.
Draco (Charizard-Mega-X) (M) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Flare Blitz
I chose this for my mega slot due to being an absurdly powerful wallbreaker that can offensively pressure some of the best pokemon in OverUsed, such as Ferrothorn, Magearna, and Celesteela. Its great offensive typing and powerful coverage boosted by Tough Claws means that it can blow through the majority of the metagame without much difficulty. You might be asking, "Why does this thing have special moves? Isn't it supposed to be physical?". You are right. It's supposed to be physically-oriented. However, there are certain instances where special attacks might be useful. For example, you're going to want to use special attacks to defeat Ferrothorn due to Iron Barbs activating if you use, say, Flare Blitz. Anyways, onto the set. Fire Blast allows it to hit Ferrothorn super effectively scot-free due to not activating Iron Barbs. Dragon Pulse is Mega Charizard's tertiary STAB move, hitting everything that's not a Fairy-Type for neutral damage. Earthquake is needed to deal with Toxapex, since none of its other moves do enough damage to put it in range of a KO. Flare Blitz is its strongest STAB, and its high power coupled with MegaZardX's great physical attack stat and Tough Claws (Flare Blitz is, after all, a contact move), allows it to hit many things in the metagame hard. Flare Blitz's added recoil, however, doesn't help, considering this set doesn't have recovery, despite learning Roost.
Other options:
Escavalier: Assault Vest could be run to better survive special hits such as Mega Charizard Y's Fire Blast, but that packs a lot less immediate power and allows threats such as Mega Charizard X to exploit its lower physical bulk with moves such as Flare Blitz. Leftovers can be run to give Escavalier recovery, however, this just makes Escavalier much more vulnerable to Knock Off. Swarm can be run to power up Escavalier's STAB move, Megahorn, though Overcoat is generally more useful to block Snow Warning or Sand Stream's effects.
Volcarona: Charti Berry can be run to neutralize Rock-Type coverage such as Mega Heracross's Rock Blast and Tyranitar and Mega Tyranitar's Stone Edge. However, without Psychium Z, Volcarona isn't able to OHKO Toxapex. Giga Drain can be run to hit Ash-Greninja harder while providing recovery, however, it is already hit hard by Bug Buzz. Giga Drain also isn't a reliable form of recovery, since the HP healed is largely dependent on how much damage Giga Drain does. Fiery Dance can be used over Fire Blast due to its accuracy and higher PP, however, it packs less immediate power, so it's not going to be able to KO as much threats as you would with Fire Blast.
Rotom-W: Choice Scarf can add some additional speed to Rotom-W, however, being locked into a single move greatly reduces Rotom-W's utility, and this is done better by standard Greninja, Serperior, Victini, and Blacephon, since their higher offensive presences allows them to dish out more damage.
Ash-Greninja: Despite having some interesting moves at its disposal, almost all of them are either inferior to what's already laid out on the set or are better in some ways but generally outclassed by its main moves. Surf is a more accurate variant of Hydro Pump, however, it packs less immediate power so it's not able to KO much. Gunk Shot can hit fairies hard, but fails to hit stuff such as Magearna. It also doesn't get the Choice Specs boost, and it can miss, so generally, this is a bad move to be locked into unless running CB Ash-Greninja or Poisonium Z.
Mega Charizard X: Hidden Power Grass can be used to hit bulky water such as Suicune and can hit stuff such as Tyranitar hard. However, this means that it's not able to hit Toxapex as hard as you would with Earthquake. Flame Charge can be used over Flare Blitz to boost speed, however, Flame Charge packs less power and does not hit as hard as Flare Blitz.
Threats:
Toxapex: It has a solid matchup against this team due to its HUGE natural bulk means that it will always survive Mega Charizard X's Earthquake, Volcarona's Psychic, and CB Escavalier's Drill Run and retaliate back with Scald, which can cripple the latter and deal super effective damage to Volcarona. It can also wear down most of my team members with Scald or Liquidation, though the former is generally preferred. However, it does not want to take super effective damage on the switch, and a boosted Shattered Psyche from Volcarona can OHKO if Toxapex has taken prior damage.
Ash-Greninja: Despite not being able to come in safely against Escavalier's Megahorn, it has a solid matchup against this team since most sets run Choice Specs, which in tandem with its monstrous special attack stat makes it dangerous to switch into, since its absurd speed tier means that it will always be able to land some powerful hits on whatever's in front of it.
Mega Alakazam: While it must watch out for Ash-Greninja's Dark Pulse and Escavalier's Megahorn, it can take on this team quite well due to its speed tier in tandem with its absurd special attack stat allowing it to take on the majority of this team, so keep that in mind when facing Mega Alakazam.
Some replays of this team in practice:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-863214649 - Escavalier eats a Sand team
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-863267184 - Escavalier forces a forfeit
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-863289038 - Escavalier destroys a Sticky Webs team
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-863452247 - Escavalier eats a TR team
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-863454225 - Escavalier slays a livestreamer
Full Importable:
https://pokepast.es/9664d9c9c1ba78c1
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