Proof of peak
Importable https://pokepast.es/6d0241947567a10a
I was watching SPL replays from this season and saw that mind gaming used the combination of Sub/Iron Defense Melmetal with Bulk Up Zeraora. I thought this was a cool idea and decided to try and build a team myself around the core of those two mons to use in OST. With this team I was able to climb the highest on the ladder I've ever been (I usually hover around 1700-1750).
OLEG (Melmetal) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 220 HP / 252 Def / 36 Spe
Impish Nature
- Substitute
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Double Iron Bash
This set is cool because it takes advantage of a few of the usual Melmetal switch-ins like Ferrothorn and Corviknight. If you can get safely in on Ferrothorn, you can substitute up on Knock Off, Leech Seed, or Rocks/Spikes. With the surprise value of Substitute, Ferrothorns usually go for these. Body Press still won't break the sub unless it's a max physdef Ferrothorn, and even then it's a roll. You can also set up on Landorus, as non-offensive Lando EQ won't break your sub after an iron defense. Melmetal being physically defensive also allows you to survive hits from mons like Urshifu and Garchomp in a pinch, with body press at -1 defense from close combat and bash respectively doing a good chunk back. 36 speed is to speed creep opposing Melmetals, Toxapex, and Reuniclus ev'd to outrun Pex. The evs are taken out of HP rather than Def for stronger Body Presses.
JOHNNY GAT (Zeraora) @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Bulk Up
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
The second part of mind gaming's offensive core that I copied, Zeraora is an immensely potent win condition once you deal with the opponent's Landorus or Garchomp. This is part of the synergy between Zeraora and Melmetal, as Mel is able to live hits from and wear down both of these mons, since neither have reliable recovery. It's often possible to knock off the opposing Lando's leftovers on the switch early in the game, and from there the combination of rocks, Toxic from my own Lando, and Melmetal are able to wear it down to facilitate a sweep. Zeraora is also able to set up on Zapdos, which gives this Melmetal set a hard time.
KINZIE KENSINGTON (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 104 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 27 Spe
- Toxic
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
Landorus does the usual Landorus things, it's the face of OU for a reason. It provides the offensive core with hazards and a pivot to get them in safely. I'm often able to u-turn into Melmetal on a Ferrothorn switch, or Zeraora on a Tapu Fini. Since my team has a Zeraora, it's almost always worth trading Toxic with the opposing Landorus, unless the other team has something like a Garchomp or Hippo as well as a Landorus. I also try to toxic Slowbros with Lando, even risking eating a Scald, because Melmetal can set up and eventually force progress against a Toxic'd Slowbro. The EV spread is copied from Storm Zone, with 27 speed IVS to underspeed opposing Landorus and get a slow U-Turn. I'm actually unsure about if I should be underspeeding other Landorus on a team built around Zeraora though - if I don't do this, I could get more reliable Toxics off before they U-Turn out.
ZIMOS (Slowking) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Teleport
- Slack Off
- Scald
- Future Sight
Slowking fulfills a couple of roles. I generally struggle with building teams that don't immediately lose to Tapu Lele, making Slowking a very splashable pick. I also like the Teleport to safely bring in Melmetal or Zeraora in the same way as Lando's U-Turn. Another fun thing about Teleport is that if I keep rocks off the field, against more passive teams I can repeatedly Teleport into Landorus or Zeraora just for the free leftovers recovery, before switching back out again. It also helps to keep Tornadus healthy by guaranteed coming in on it. It's also nice to be able to go hard Slowking on Toxapex, where if I accept losing my boots to its knock off, I can always come in and gain momentum against it. Lastly, Future Sight + teleporting into Zeraora is nice to force things like Landorus and Garchomp to take damage. Similarly, Urshifu enjoys taking advantage of Future Sight.
ANGELO (Tornadus-Therian) (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 8 SpA / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Defog
I needed Defog and a Kartana answer that can recover unlike Melmetal, so Tornadus felt like a good pick. You can frequently knock off opposing Landorus leftovers to help out Zeraora. Similarly, I often find myself risking the static to knock off opposing Zapdos boots, making it easier to wear down for Melmetal to win. Torn forms a nice (if weak to Weavile) regenerator core alongside Slowking. It's also another momentum-grabber alongside Landorus, Slowking, and Urshifu. I also tend to try and knock off opposing Toxapex rocky helmets, allowing me to U-Turn much more freely with Urshifu.
SHAUNDI (Urshifu-Rapid-Strike) @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Surging Strikes
- Close Combat
- Aqua Jet
This was originally a Garchomp, but that made my team tragically weak to Weavile. I decided to replace Chomp with something that still has a good offensive presence, but can at least somewhat switch into Weavile, before regaining momentum with a U-Turn. What's also fun is that on a high damage roll, you can tell if the opposing Weavile is adamant. If it's adamant, you can then always U-Turn on it with Tornadus, as (at least on the ladder) nobody ever realises you know they're adamant now. The dual stab is just stupidly powerful, but I find myself U-Turning with Urshifu more often than not because of the prevalence of Tapu Fini, Slowbro, Toxapex, Dragonite, and other such answers. Urshifu also loves Future Sight support from Slowking, allowing it to break through Toxapex. Aqua Jet is nice insurance against threats like a random runaway Blacephalon.
Weaknesses:
Urshifu and Melmetal both switch into Weavile for a bit, but after Mel's leftovers are knocked off neither has recovery. However, Zeraora can always revenge Weavile and as long as Urshifu is healthy enough I can always regain momentum against Weavile with it. Weavile with spikes is especially hard to deal with.
Toxapex is annoying to break, I have no way of OHKOing it so I need to wear it down. It can also haze Melmetal to ruin its day. It does at least let Slowking in to Future Sight and Teleport out, and against a Pex that wants to stay in I can keep U-Turning/Teleporting between my Regenerator core to get them back to full health.
I have no switch-in to offensive Zapdos in rain.
With no Ghost resist, Dragapult and Blacephalon are obviously a bit of an issue. Zeraora is at least able to outspeed and knock it off. Dragon Dance Pult isn't too big of a problem as Melmetal tanks anything it wants to do including Flamethrower, but specs Pult can be scary late game. It's also annoying because it can ignore Melmetal's substitutes with Infiltrator. Lando can come in once or twice, otherwise I try to get it worn down with rocks, knock it off with Zera or Torn, and otherwise win before it beats me. Slowking also lives a hit, but doesn't threaten it back very much. Blacephalon can force a lot of progress but shouldn't beat me as I can keep Urshifu intact to Aqua Jet it.
Calm Mind Tapu Fini gets very hairy very quickly, especially with Taunt to prevent Slowking from allowing a safe Zeraora switch-in. The way to beat it is to force chip however possible (knock/u turn with Torn, sacking Melmetal to bash it, or sacking Lando to EQ it) to get it into range of Zeraora.
Thank you if you've read this far, I'd love to hear any feedback or suggestions anybody has.
Importable https://pokepast.es/6d0241947567a10a
I was watching SPL replays from this season and saw that mind gaming used the combination of Sub/Iron Defense Melmetal with Bulk Up Zeraora. I thought this was a cool idea and decided to try and build a team myself around the core of those two mons to use in OST. With this team I was able to climb the highest on the ladder I've ever been (I usually hover around 1700-1750).
OLEG (Melmetal) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 220 HP / 252 Def / 36 Spe
Impish Nature
- Substitute
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Double Iron Bash
This set is cool because it takes advantage of a few of the usual Melmetal switch-ins like Ferrothorn and Corviknight. If you can get safely in on Ferrothorn, you can substitute up on Knock Off, Leech Seed, or Rocks/Spikes. With the surprise value of Substitute, Ferrothorns usually go for these. Body Press still won't break the sub unless it's a max physdef Ferrothorn, and even then it's a roll. You can also set up on Landorus, as non-offensive Lando EQ won't break your sub after an iron defense. Melmetal being physically defensive also allows you to survive hits from mons like Urshifu and Garchomp in a pinch, with body press at -1 defense from close combat and bash respectively doing a good chunk back. 36 speed is to speed creep opposing Melmetals, Toxapex, and Reuniclus ev'd to outrun Pex. The evs are taken out of HP rather than Def for stronger Body Presses.
JOHNNY GAT (Zeraora) @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Bulk Up
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
The second part of mind gaming's offensive core that I copied, Zeraora is an immensely potent win condition once you deal with the opponent's Landorus or Garchomp. This is part of the synergy between Zeraora and Melmetal, as Mel is able to live hits from and wear down both of these mons, since neither have reliable recovery. It's often possible to knock off the opposing Lando's leftovers on the switch early in the game, and from there the combination of rocks, Toxic from my own Lando, and Melmetal are able to wear it down to facilitate a sweep. Zeraora is also able to set up on Zapdos, which gives this Melmetal set a hard time.
KINZIE KENSINGTON (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 104 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 27 Spe
- Toxic
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
Landorus does the usual Landorus things, it's the face of OU for a reason. It provides the offensive core with hazards and a pivot to get them in safely. I'm often able to u-turn into Melmetal on a Ferrothorn switch, or Zeraora on a Tapu Fini. Since my team has a Zeraora, it's almost always worth trading Toxic with the opposing Landorus, unless the other team has something like a Garchomp or Hippo as well as a Landorus. I also try to toxic Slowbros with Lando, even risking eating a Scald, because Melmetal can set up and eventually force progress against a Toxic'd Slowbro. The EV spread is copied from Storm Zone, with 27 speed IVS to underspeed opposing Landorus and get a slow U-Turn. I'm actually unsure about if I should be underspeeding other Landorus on a team built around Zeraora though - if I don't do this, I could get more reliable Toxics off before they U-Turn out.
ZIMOS (Slowking) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Teleport
- Slack Off
- Scald
- Future Sight
Slowking fulfills a couple of roles. I generally struggle with building teams that don't immediately lose to Tapu Lele, making Slowking a very splashable pick. I also like the Teleport to safely bring in Melmetal or Zeraora in the same way as Lando's U-Turn. Another fun thing about Teleport is that if I keep rocks off the field, against more passive teams I can repeatedly Teleport into Landorus or Zeraora just for the free leftovers recovery, before switching back out again. It also helps to keep Tornadus healthy by guaranteed coming in on it. It's also nice to be able to go hard Slowking on Toxapex, where if I accept losing my boots to its knock off, I can always come in and gain momentum against it. Lastly, Future Sight + teleporting into Zeraora is nice to force things like Landorus and Garchomp to take damage. Similarly, Urshifu enjoys taking advantage of Future Sight.
ANGELO (Tornadus-Therian) (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 8 SpA / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Hurricane
- Defog
I needed Defog and a Kartana answer that can recover unlike Melmetal, so Tornadus felt like a good pick. You can frequently knock off opposing Landorus leftovers to help out Zeraora. Similarly, I often find myself risking the static to knock off opposing Zapdos boots, making it easier to wear down for Melmetal to win. Torn forms a nice (if weak to Weavile) regenerator core alongside Slowking. It's also another momentum-grabber alongside Landorus, Slowking, and Urshifu. I also tend to try and knock off opposing Toxapex rocky helmets, allowing me to U-Turn much more freely with Urshifu.
SHAUNDI (Urshifu-Rapid-Strike) @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Surging Strikes
- Close Combat
- Aqua Jet
This was originally a Garchomp, but that made my team tragically weak to Weavile. I decided to replace Chomp with something that still has a good offensive presence, but can at least somewhat switch into Weavile, before regaining momentum with a U-Turn. What's also fun is that on a high damage roll, you can tell if the opposing Weavile is adamant. If it's adamant, you can then always U-Turn on it with Tornadus, as (at least on the ladder) nobody ever realises you know they're adamant now. The dual stab is just stupidly powerful, but I find myself U-Turning with Urshifu more often than not because of the prevalence of Tapu Fini, Slowbro, Toxapex, Dragonite, and other such answers. Urshifu also loves Future Sight support from Slowking, allowing it to break through Toxapex. Aqua Jet is nice insurance against threats like a random runaway Blacephalon.
Weaknesses:
Urshifu and Melmetal both switch into Weavile for a bit, but after Mel's leftovers are knocked off neither has recovery. However, Zeraora can always revenge Weavile and as long as Urshifu is healthy enough I can always regain momentum against Weavile with it. Weavile with spikes is especially hard to deal with.
Toxapex is annoying to break, I have no way of OHKOing it so I need to wear it down. It can also haze Melmetal to ruin its day. It does at least let Slowking in to Future Sight and Teleport out, and against a Pex that wants to stay in I can keep U-Turning/Teleporting between my Regenerator core to get them back to full health.
I have no switch-in to offensive Zapdos in rain.
With no Ghost resist, Dragapult and Blacephalon are obviously a bit of an issue. Zeraora is at least able to outspeed and knock it off. Dragon Dance Pult isn't too big of a problem as Melmetal tanks anything it wants to do including Flamethrower, but specs Pult can be scary late game. It's also annoying because it can ignore Melmetal's substitutes with Infiltrator. Lando can come in once or twice, otherwise I try to get it worn down with rocks, knock it off with Zera or Torn, and otherwise win before it beats me. Slowking also lives a hit, but doesn't threaten it back very much. Blacephalon can force a lot of progress but shouldn't beat me as I can keep Urshifu intact to Aqua Jet it.
Calm Mind Tapu Fini gets very hairy very quickly, especially with Taunt to prevent Slowking from allowing a safe Zeraora switch-in. The way to beat it is to force chip however possible (knock/u turn with Torn, sacking Melmetal to bash it, or sacking Lando to EQ it) to get it into range of Zeraora.
Thank you if you've read this far, I'd love to hear any feedback or suggestions anybody has.
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