XY OU Teambuilding Aid: Building a solid Mega Pinsir team (In-Depth)

[Scy]

NOTE: My RMT is apparently "too long to post", so I split it up into 2 separate posts.

EDIT: I read Harsha's pinned post about posting in-depth guides. Apparently people had been posting short guides and inappropriately throwing the "in-depth" title in them. And now, guides cannot be posted anymore. That's really sad imo, for people who genuinely want to help out the community. Having put more than a whole week's effort into making this particular RMT, idk how I feel about this. We're a community, helping and sharing should be encouraged, not dissuaded. I dedicated a post below to express my thoughts about this, feel free to read it.

A huge thank you to RMT Co-Leader Jirachee for posting a message on the original post. You can now post guides upon approval!

Teambuilding - Mega Pinsir​

"Wassup MegaVenu Heatran core?"

​

Introduction:

With a crippling x4 weakness to Stealth Rock, Mega Pinsir has always failed to obtain a spot on most of my OU teams. The pressure to constantly keep hazards off my side of the field is too much for me, and I always end up using Mega Mawile as my mega of choice. It is not until Mega Venusaur becomes too much of a hassle to take down that I finally resorted to using Mega Pinsir; and that's when I truly experienced the sheer power that Mega Pinsir has to offer.

With a new favorite mega under my belt, I began building teams after teams based around Mega Pinsir, and eventually laddered all the way to top 11 in OU (1900+ rating) on my totallynotme alt.

The ability to click Return / Frustration and watch something die is so satisfying, and I'm here to share the love of Mega Pinsir with everyone. These are my personal guidelines to building a team around Mega Pinsir, and hopefully y'all will benefit from this post :]



Teambuilding (Balanced Offense):

Mega Pinsir works extremely well on 2 kinds of teams - Hyper Offense and Balanced Offense. I've always been a fan of balanced offense, and so I'll touch on that first. Mega Pinsir fulfills 2 primary roles on balanced offensive teams; a physical wallbreaker early game, and a sweeper late game. There are other roles to be fulfilled by its team mates to fully utilise mega pinsir, and here are those key members:

• Slot 1: The Main Member
  Mega Pinsir

  

  Mega Pinsir is arguably one of the best Megas available; its ability to break through even some obnoxious physical walls (Eg. Gliscor) makes it a very potent threat to deal with. On balanced offensive teams, MPinsir does an excellent job handling Mega Venusaur, a pokemon that would otherwise be extremely hard to take down. With such an excellent physical wallbreaker to work with, balanced offensive teams found their new MVP, and it is in Gen VI that Pinsir finally gets to shine.
• Slot 2: Special Wallbreaker
  Hard Hitting Special Attacker

  A special wallbreaker / hard hitter is extremely important on any MPinsir teams. MPinsir basically covers the physical powerhouse for the team, and a special wallbreaker is needed to take care of physically bulky mons that would otherwise give MPinsir troubles. Here are some options:
  
  

  

  Keldeo
  Keldeo actually works exceptionally well alongside Mega Pinsir, making for a really synergized offensive core. Keldeo can easily OHKO Landorus-T, Gliscor, Skarmory and any physical boundaries that MPinsir might have trouble facing. Aside that, Keldeo alone stands out as an excellent wallbreaker. With Keldeo beating SkarmBliss and MPinsir beating VenuTran, defensive cores would have a hard time against your solid offensive core, making Keldeo a great candidate for this role.
  
  

  

  Thundurus
  Like Keldeo, the SkarmBliss core simply cowers in the face of a mixed Thundurus with Superpower. Similarly, this will provide great synergy with Mega Pinsir as Pinsir can easily get rid of the VenuTran core for Thundurus. Thundurus also has a really great asset in priority Thunder Wave, providing crucial aid for MPinsir (crippling fast mons like Greninja, Lati@s, Etc). Thundurus also acts as a set-up insurance with TWave crippling, so it will definitely be an invaluable player to the team.
  Note: If you choose not to use Thundy however, there are still ways to deal with offensive set up mons. Read "Slot X - Setup Insurance" further below for more details.
  
  

  

  Trick Specs Analytic Starmie
  Possibly one of my personal favorite mons to pair with Mega Pinsir. With both Psyshock and Hydro/Scald, Starmie targets both sides of the defensive spectrum, and a specs Analytic hit is definitely nothing to be scoffed at. The reason why I love Starmie is the fact that it also provides Rapid Spin support for MPinsir, and the ability to Trick and make something potential setup fodder for Mega Pinsir is simply amazing. Even though Starmie has fallen in the face of Greninja this gen, its access to Rapid Spin and the ability to Trick cripple makes Starmie a superior option for a MPinsir team mate.
  
  

  

  Specs Latios
  Latios has always been such an excellent offensive pokemon since the day it made the competitive scene, to the point where it was sent to Ubers in the 3rd and 4th generations. However, with Latios back in OU now, it can be used to couple with MPinsir to form a deadly offensive core. Synergy wise, its really self explanatory. A really hard hitting special attacker + a really hard hitting physical attacker, and that's basically it. Similarly to Starmie, the ability to Trick and make an opposing pokemon potential set up fodder for MPinsir is really beneficial, and Defog can also be used (sacrificing a coverage move) to act as a secondary hazards remover. Overall, Latios is an excellent team mate alongside MPinsir with it's great offensive presence.
• Slot 3: Defogger or Rapid Spinner
  Hazards Control

  Needless to say, since our main member is x4 weak to rocks, a Defogger or Rapid Spinner is needed to get rid of them. A Defogger is generally better since it removes hazards more reliably, but that'd also mean that you'd remove your own hazards as well. Nonetheless, you still need a pokemon to control the hazards on the field, and here are some options:
  
  

  

  

  Lati@s
  The Lati twins might arguably be the best defoggers to couple with Mega Pinsir. Their ability to deal with Rotom-W (one of MPinsir's most reliable counters) is invaluable, and the fact that Latios can double as a secondary special wallbreaker alongside MPinsir while Latias can act as a pseudo-healer (Healing Wish) make them that much more suited for the role as a Defogger alongside MPinsir. Both can also run a Trick Specs set to make an opposing pokemon potential set-up fodder for Mega Pinsir, and they're both really reliable Defoggers in general (free Defogs on threats like Keldeo, Char Y, Rotom-W, Mega Venusaur, Etc.)
  
  

  

  Excadrill
  Excadrill in general is just a great option, as it is undoubtedly the best Rapid Spinner in the current metagame. Mold Breaker + EQ takes care of Rotom-W for MPinsir. If you're running a scarfed set, Excadrill also checks Talonflame, another one of MPinsir's good checks. Scarf Drill can also check Thundurus with Rock Slide, and the ability to spam scarf Mold Breaker Earthquakes to dent teams is also invaluable to aid MPinsir in pulling off a late-game sweep.
  
  

  

  Zapdos
  Ahh the good'ol Zapdos. Zapdos partners exceptionally well with MPinsir due to its ability to handle Skarmory with ease. Zapdos basically switches into Skarm for free, and has the ability to defog away any forms of hazards that Skarm might be setting up, making it an extremely reliable rocks remover against an opposing Skarmory. With Skarmory being one of MPinsir's hardest counters, Zapdos is undoubtedly one of the best candidate for this role.
  
  

  

  Skarmory
  Skamory is also another great Defogger alongside Mega Pinsir as it can control hazards all on its own with both Stealth Rocks and Defog under its belt. Skarmory is also, like mentioned before, MPinsir's best counter. That'd mean that you can easily switch Skarm into an opposing Ditto that might happen to copy your MPinsir. You can feel at ease when setting up with your own MPinsir, as Skarm can still easily handle MPinsir even at +4 Attack.
  
  

  

  Trick Specs Analytic Starmie
  I've already said this before; Starmie is extremely underrated when used as a Mega Pinsir team mate. Greninja has always been the superior option, dropping Starmie down to UU. However Starmie has the ability to Trick Cripple (aiding MPinsir in setting up) and also has access to the invaluable Rapid Spin, so Starmie is a better MPinsir team mate overall. Lastly, Starmie has the ability to get off a huge hit with an Analytic Specs Psyshock on special walls that likes to come in on it (like Sylveon, Blissey, Etc), which Greninja fails to do so. Definitely try out TrickSpecs Analytic Starmie, I promise that it will not disappoint.
• Slot 4: Fighting Type
  Bisharp Check

  With a Defogger comes the deadly Bisharp to readily get a free +2 with Defiant. Because of that, you always need to pack a reliable fighting type on the team to check Bisharp. A fighting type also ensures that you've a reliable answer to the pink blobs and Tyranitar (which is really important to check especially if you're using the Lati twins as your Defogger). This Fighting type should either be faster than Bisharp and can take a +2 Sucker Punch, or a Fighting type that has Mach Punch as a priority move. Some options include:
  
  

  

  Keldeo
  Resisting both of Bisharp's STAB moves, Keldeo can arguably be considered a Bisharp counter. Keldeo is also one of the only special attackers in the meta that has absolutely no troubles with the pink blobs, making Keldeo an excellent wallbreaker outside of a Bisharp check. Overall Keldeo, like mentioned before, has great offensive synergy with MPinsir and is one of the best Fighting types in OU to fill this role as a Bisharp check.
  
  

  

  Conkeldurr
  Conkeldurr is also another great option to be the Bisharp check for the team. With its priority Mach Punch, Bisharp is basically forced to use Sucker Punch, and Conkeldurr can easily take that even at +2. With an Assault Vest equipped, Conkeldurr becomes even better as a MPinsir team mate due to its ability to handle Rotom-W. With Guts, Conkeldurr can also act as a status-absorber for the team; it can easily come in on any potential Will-O-Wisp, Scald and Lava Plume, making it a great status sponge for any opposing mons that are trying to get a status on Mega Pinsir.
  
  

  

  Jolly Max Speed Breloom
  Breloom is just so frail that a +2 Life Orb Sucker Punch from Bisharp has a chance to kill Breloom after rocks, even though its resisted. Because of that, you cannot afford to lose a speed tie against an Adamant max speed Bisharp when trying to kill it with a Mach Punch, so running Jolly is the preferred option. Jolly is overall generally better on Breloom anyways, as it allows Breloom to outspeed stuff like Adamant Dragonite and Adamant Mamoswine, allowing it to spore the former and kill the latter with Bullet Seed (even through Sash). Breloom not only acts as a Bisharp check, but a Rotom-W check as well, making it a good team mate alongside MPinsir.

  Damage Calc of Bisharp vs Breloom

  +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Breloom: 218-257 (83.5 - 98.4%)
  -- 29.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
  -- 56.4% chance to OHKO after Life Orb
• Slot 5: Bulky Flying Resist
  Talonfame Check

  A flying resist is an absolute must on any Mega Pinsir teams, especially with Talonflame (one of MPinsir's best checks) running rampant in the current metagame. A flying resist allows a reliable answer to Talon, as well as a reliable switch-in to a Ditto's Quick Attack. With a flying resist, you do not need to worry about opposing Dittos and can set up as you wish, as even a +4 Quick Attack will not be enough to 2HKO common flying resistant mons like Zapdos and Heatran. Some options include:
  
  

  

  Heatran
  Heatran functions excellently as a bulky flying resistant for a MPinsir team, especially with its useful typing. Talonflame gets completely shut down by Heatran, and Heatran also takes on Zapdos really well. It could easily win a Defog / Stealth Rock war with Zapdos and the Lati twins (barring Surf / EQ Latios) by utilizing Toxic, making it a really reliable hazard setter. Lastly, it deals with Skarmory, handling yet another reliable counter to MPinsir.
  
  

  

  Zapdos
  Zapdos is also an excellent flying resist alongside MPinsir. Its ability to provide Defog support is invaluable, but like mentioned before, the main attraction of Zapdos is it's ability to handle Skarmory exceptionally well. Skarmory is basically a free switch-in for Zapdos, and it can Defog all the hazards set up by Skarm away afterwards. The ability to put pressure on Skarm and keep hazards clear on the field makes Zapdos an excellent candidate for a MPinsir team.
  
  

  

  Rotom-W
  Rotom-W acts as an extremely reliable counter to Talonflame and Mega Pinsir, making it one of the best bulky flying resist available. Alongside MPinsir, Rotom-W acts as an insurance to oppposing Dittos, as it can easily sponge any Quick Attacks. Gaining momentum is also really important, as it can give MPinsir free switch-ins. The most enticing part about Rotom-W is simply the synergy between him and MPinsir. Rotom-W easily baits in bulky grass mons like Mega Venusaur, which you can then volt switch into MPinsir to deal with it. Other mons that Rotom-W baits in are stuff like AV Conk, which MPinsir also easily handles.
• Slot 6: Electric Immunity
  Volt Switch Stopper / Thundurus Check

  Electric immunity is important to stop volt switches and stop momentum gaining on your opponent's end. However in this case, it is used for another crucial role on the team. Thundurus is a main concern for Mega Pinsir, and a fast electric immunity with a super effective attack (like Stone Edge) can easily check Thundurus, due to an immunity to its priority Thunder Wave. The electric immunity role is fulfilled by either a bulky ground type that could take on Thundurus / Zapdos, or a fast Ground type that also functions as the team's choice scarfer. Examples:
  
  

  

  Scarf Garchomp
  Garchomp works well with MPinsir for many reasons. It checks choice scarf Tyranitar (MPinsir's check) and DD Tyranitar at +1 Speed, potentially getting rid of 2 barriers for Pinsir. With its ability Rough Skin, you can also wreck up a lot of recoil on Talonflame, and getting rid of Talon opens up a huge passageway for MPinsir. With an access to a 120 base power Outrage, Garchomp could also help dent teams for MPinsir by spamming scarfed Outrages, which will greatly aid MPinsir in pulling off a late-game sweep. And lastly, Fire Blast can be used to surprise Skarmory and Ferrothorn, weakening them to the point where MPinsir can easily come in and revenge kill.
  
  

  

  Scarf Landorus-T
  Scarf Landorus-T has always been one of my favorite mons to use since Pokebank was released. In early XY OU, Char X was just so hard to deal with, and that's when I found out that Landorus-T is a great Char X check. Seeing as how most Char X run Adamant, Landorus-T can easily pick them off with a faster Scarf Earthquake even at +1 Speed. With Intimidate + U-Turn, Landorus can weaken the attacks of opposing mons, making them easy targets for MPinsir to set up on. Scarf Landorus also helps to check Greninja, an otherwise really annoying pokemon to deal with. If your opponent does not see the Scarf coming, Knock Off can be used to net surprise kills on the Lati twins, clearing up yet another obstacle for MPinsir.
  
  

  

  Scarf Excadrill
  Scarfed Excadrill will always be a good option on any kinds of teams; its just good in general. Even though Choice Scarf + Rapid Spin might sound weird, the extra speed can allow Excadrill to get the jump on threats like Gengar, the Lati twins, Mega Pinsir, Talonflame and Adamant Char X at +1 speed. The ability to provide Rapid Spin support and check Talonflame is enough to allow Excadrill to get the job for this role, but on top of all of that, the ability to once again, spam Mold Breaker EQs to dent teams is also a huge plus for Exca. In general, Excadrill is just a great utility mon and revenge killer.
• Slot X: Additional Roles
  2 in 1 Roles

  To fulfill every role that a balanced offensive MPinsir team needs, it is virtually impossible (and unwise) to have one Pokemon to fulfill only one role. Hence 2 or more roles needs to be fulfilled by one Pokemon.
  
  Rotom-W Check: Even though I'd always run Mold Breaker Pinsir to hit Rotom-W on switch in, a more reliable check to Rotom-W is needed. This role can be fulfilled by one of the 5 members on the team (not counting MPinsir). Examples:
  

  

  

  Lati@s
  Roles: Defogger + Rotom-W Check
  

  

  AV Conkeldurr
  Roles: Fighting Type Bisharp / TTar Check + Rotom-W Check
  
  
  Stealth Rock Setter: Rocks are important despite having a potential Defogger on the team. It breaks potential Sashes (Eg. Breloom) and can turn 2HKOs into OHKOs. This role is again, to be fulfilled by one of the 5 members of the team. Examples:
  

  Damage Calculation vs Standard Greninja

  +2 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Quick Attack vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 270-318 (94.4 - 111.1%) -- Guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

  

  Heatran
  Roles: Flying Resist (Talon Check) + Rocks Setter
  

  

  Scarf Garchomp
  Roles: Electric Immunity (Thundurus Check) + Rocks Setter
  
  
  Reliable Defensive Core: We already have a reliable offensive core in Mega Pinsir + a special wallbreaker. We now need a reliable defensive core to cater for a more balanced team. This is to be fulfilled by 2 or more members of the team. Examples:
  

  

  

  PhyDef Zapdos + SpDef Heatran
  Roles: Wallcore (Zapdos+Heatran), Defog (Zapdos), Flying Resist (Zapdos+Heatran), Rocks Setter (Heatran)
  

  

  

  

  Scarf Landorus-T + SpDef Heatran + Lati@s
  Roles: Wallcore (Landorus+Lati@s+Heatran), Electric Immunity + Thundurus Check (Landorus-T), Defogger + Rotom-W Check (Lati@s), Flying Resist + Rocks Setter (Heatran)
  
  
  Setup Insurance: A big problem that most teams face are setup Pokemon. There are two types of setup sweeprs; Bulky and Offensive. Always have an insurance to both. Bulky Setup Sweepers are harder to deal with since they could easily outstall you (Eg. CM Clefable). You need an insurance to bulky setup sweepers, and this role is to be fulfilled by one or more members of the team. You either need a pokemon with the ability to use Trick and cripple any bulky setup users, a pokemon with Taunt, or a pokemon with a phazing move. Examples:
  

  

  Trick Specs Analytic Starmie
  Roles: Rapid Spinner + Trick Crippling + Special Wallbreaker
  

  

  Roar Heatran
  Roles: Flying Resist + Rocks Setter + Phazer
  
  
  Offensive Setup Sweepers can also be very potent. There are no specific ways to handle offensive set up mons, only specific pokemon that could check specific setup users. Regardless, you still need to prepare for OU's biggest threats. This role is to be once again fulfilled by members of the team. Examples:
  

  

  Scarf Landorus-T
  Roles: Electric Immunity (Thundurus Check) + DD Zard X Check + SD Mega Pinsir Check
  

  

  PhyDef Zapdos
  Roles: Defog + Flying Resist + SD MPinsir Check + BellyJet Azumarill Check + DD Mega Gyara Check
  

  

  Heatran
  Roles: Flying Resist + Rocks Setter + Phazer + Mega Mawile Check (barring Focus Punch) + SD Scizor Check (barring fast Superpower variants)
  

  

  Keldeo
  Roles: Fighting Type + Special Wallbreaker + SD Bisharp Check + SD Mega Mawile Check (note that a check isn't a counter) + SD Scizor Check

Mega Pinsir Team - Balanced Offense

​

Explanation:

This is the team that I've used the most while laddering in OU. This is the final product of constant polishing and replacing, until I finally made a team that I feel extremely comfortable using. The basis of this team is basically what is written in the above guidelines. MPinsir is the main man, being the physical wallbreaker and setup sweeper of the team. Keldeo is my special wallbreaker, Latias is my Defogger of choice, and this team also features the extremely reliable ClefTran wallcore. Landorus-Therian is the final member, functioning as the choice scarfer and momentum-gainer of the team.

~ In-Depth Analysis ~

Mega Pinsir

Pinsir (M) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Swords Dance
​

Mega Pinsir is the main member of my team, as I (clearly) built this team around him. Mega Pinsir functions primarily as the physical wallbreaker and powerhouse for the team, breaking through even obnoxious wallcores like the MegaVenusaur + Heatran core. Not many Pokemon can take 2 hits from Mega Pinsir, as even Gliscor can get potentially 2HKOed.

Damage Calc vs Gliscor

252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 184+ Def Gliscor: 160-190 (45.1 - 53.6%)

Usually, Pinsir comes in, clicks Frustration, and something will get knocked out. There are obvious counters and checks to Mega Pinsir, with Zapdos, Rotom-W and Skarmory being the best ones. I run Mold Breaker instead of Moxie specifically for Rotom-W switch ins. A Mold Breaker regular Earthquake does around 50+ percent to physically defensive Rotom-W, a solid 2HKO. Frustration is used over Return for Dittos. Dittos on showdown have max (255) happiness by default. Because of that, their Frustration will literally do only 1 damage, so this team only needs to have a reliable switch-in to Quick Attack (in Heatran). Mega Pinsir is also my answer to Mega Heracross, a very underrated pokemon and a huge threat if not handled properly. Lasty, Mega Pinsir is my priority user on the team with its STAB Aerialate Quick Attacks.

Clefable

Clefable (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 236 HP / 232 Def / 40 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Flamethrower
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
​

Initially, I had a scarfed Magnezone over Clefable on this slot (you can read up on Magnezone under the "Honorable Mentions" section further below), but after further testing, I replaced Zone with Clefable. Clefable is basically the missing puzzle piece, as not only does it form a solid core with Heatran, it also helps the team better handle Conkeldurr, Dragonite, Kyurem-Black, Mega Gyarados, Mega Medicham, Thundurus and Greninja (Clefable walls both Thundurus and Greninja after one CM), all of which I had problems facing before. On top of that, Clefable synergizes perfectly with my offensive core (Keldeo + Mega Pinsir). Mega Pinsir takes care of threats like Mega Venusaur, whereas Keldeo checks stuff like Scizor, Excadrill, Mega Mawile (note that a check isn't a counter) and Bisharp, all of which are Clefable's best answers. With all these threats taken care of by my offensive core, CM Clefable usually finds itself sweeping through a weakened team. Clefable is also my status sponge for the team as with its ability Magic Guard, it is mostly unaffected by status. Lastly, Clefable is there to prevent Outrage-Spam, and is a really reliable dragon check.

Landorus-T

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide
​

Landorus-T fulfills quite a few roles on this team. Firstly, it is the team's choice scarfer and revenge killer. If the opponent fails to see a choice scarf coming, Landorus will usually be able to net a few surprise kills on mons like Greninja and the Lati Twins. Obviously on the high ladder this will rarely happen; good players can easily tell that Lando is pretty much the only potential scarfer on the team aside Keldeo, and that Keldeo is usually Choice Specs. Regardless, it still makes for a good revenge killer and momentum gainer. Landorus-T is also the team's way of dealing with Mega Charizard X. If an opponent sends a Charizard into Heatran, I'd almost always go out into my Landorus-T on the following turn. Its pretty obvious at that point that his Charizard is either packing EQ (Char X) or Focus Blast (Char Y) to hit Heatran with, and Landorus-T can take both, making it a great partner alongside Heatran. Scarf Rock Slide can then OHKO Char Y, whereas EQ takes care of Char X. Rock Slide is used over Stone Edge for the higher accuracy, since Rock Slide OHKOs MPinsir, Talonflame, Char Y and Thundurus (after rocks) anyway, so I'd really appreciate the higher accuracy. Lastly, Landorus-T is a pseudo physical wall of the team, handling common physical threats like Terrakion, Mawile and Garchomp.

Keldeo

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Swords Dance
​

Say hello to the second half of the offensive core. Keldeo + Mega Pinsir works wonders together, as Keldeo handles physical walls like Gliscor / Landorus-T / Skarmory with ease, whereas Mega Pinsir takes care of bulky grass mons like Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss for Keldeo. With Clefable, the entire offensive core becomes extremely solid, as Clefable takes care of the Lati twins for both Keldeo and MPinsir. Keldeo is the special powerhouse for the team, and mostly, I just click Scald and get off a huge specs hit on anything on the opposing team. Hydro Pump is Keldeo's secondary water STAB as it could nail OHKOs that Scald otherwise couldn't (Mawile, Charizard X, Manectric, Mega Medicham, Etc). With a Defogger (in Latias) on the squad, Keldeo is also the fighting type to check opposing Bisharps that like to come in on Latias. Because of Keldeo's fighting typing, it is also a Mega Mawile check, since Mawile fails to OHKO Keldeo with a +2 resisted Sucker Punch whereas Keldeo could OHKO back with a specs Hydro. The last moveslot is Hp Electric. Hp Flying is not needed, since Pinsir helps to handle Mega Venusaur anyway. Clefable on the other hand handles the Lati Twins, so Icy Wind is not needed as well. Hp Electric is the optimal option, since it gets off a huge hit on Azumarill and Gyarados. BellyJet Azumarill can be handled by a combination of Hp Electric + Pinsir's Quick Attack. Read up on the "Threats List" section below for more details.

Heatran

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Protect
​

Heatran is my special wall of the team, and it pairs up extremely well with Clefable to form a solid core. To be honest, Fairy + Steel will always make a good core due to their type coverages, so this is to be expected. However the other members play a part in completing the defensive synergy too. Heatran + Clefable + Landorus-T + Latias essentially handles every threat in the entire metagame (Latias takes care of special threats that Heatran cannot handle like Rotom-W, Landorus-T takes care of physical threats that Clefable cannot handle like Mawile and Charizard X, and the the ClefTran core handles everything else). It is an extremely solid defensive group, and it is backed up with an excellent offensive core too. Anyways, Heatran is there to sponge Shadow Balls from the likes of Aegislash, set up hazards, and it is also the Talonflame counter of the team. Heatran is also the only pokemon on the squad with a status move (Toxic) so it is also a pseudo stallbreaker for the team. Lastly, Heatran is the only member on the team that could OHKO Ferrothorn, so it is the Ferrothorn killer of the team to aid Mega Pinsir in sweeping.

Utility Latias

Latias @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Healing Wish
- Trick
- Draco Meteor
​

After weeks of experimenting, polishing and messing around with the team, I ended up coming up with the Latias set above. It is a mono-attacking utility Latias, and I'd have to say; I'm extremely proud of this set. The amount of roles that this one Pokemon fulfills is insane, as it can function as an offensive powerhouse, a utility aid and also as a pseudo cleric. The main concept behind this set is for Latias to be as useful as possible. Whenever I am using a Specs Latios, I found out that Draco Meteor is the move that I was using the most, and that's when it struck me; a mono attacking specs set can in fact be viable. So out came this Latias, a hard hitting mono attacker, a Trick crippler, a Defogger, and also a pseudo cleric (in Healing Wish). Early game, Latias is a secondary special powerhouse, as it'd be dropping specs Dracos all over the opponent's team. If I was stuck in a sticky situation like being set-up on by a CM Clefable, I'd send Latias in to Trick it a choice specs and essentially crippling it. If a team mate is low on HP and Latias is no longer needed, I'd pass a healing wish over, and this is extremely useful seeing as how MPinsir is x4 weak to rocks and will be worn down really easily. Most importantly, Latias is the Defogger of the team, aiding MPinsir in removing hazards. Latias is an excellent lead too, as it could easily Trick lead Deoxys-Defense with a Choice Specs, and Defog away the rocks straight after. Smeargle and lead Brelooms are victims of this too. Lastly, Latias is also the team's switch-in to Keldeo, Charizard Y and Rotom-W, so Latias is undoubtedly the most crucial member on the squad.

Threats List:​

Threats to this team

Greninja
Unless you've the pink blobs or Sylveon on deck, Greninja will always be a problem with its excellent speed, coverage, and the ability Protean; even Ferrothorns aren't safe from a potential Hp Fire. A healthy Clefable is the way to deal with Greninja on this team, and also scarf Landorus-T makes for a good check. MPinsir at +2 OHKOs Greninja guaranteed after one Life Orb hit, and you can simply Swords Dance w/o mega evolving (to take a neutral Ice Beam and force LO recoil) and kill with Quick Attack after. Do note that Clefable after a CM basically walls Greninja. Even though you've answers to Greninja, you don't really have a reliable switch-in, so it is still a threat to watch out for.

Opposing Mega Pinsir
Two Pokemon on this team deals with Pinsir; Scarf Lando and Latias. Latias can take a +2 Quick Attack and OHKO back with a specs Draco, while Landorus-T makes for an excellent check with Rock Slide + Intimidate. However, let your Latias and Landorus-T get weakened and you'd be in deep trouble. Remember to always keep them both healthy when you see an opposing MPinsir.

BellyJet Azumarill
Keldeo's HP Electric + MPinsir's Quick Attack takes care of a +6 Azumarill. However that'd mean that you'd have to choose either one to sack. Losing one mon from your offensive core can be really annoying, so BellyJet Azumarill is one big threat to this team. Another option is to simply Trick it a Choice Specs with Latias and lock it into BellyDrum, that way you'd have a way easier time dealing with it.

Life Orb Mamowsine
Even though LO Mamoswine is not as common as back in 5th Gen, it can really take a toll on this team with it's deadly dual STAB combination. If you recklessly play around Mamoswine, this single pokemon could easily cost you the game. There are a few ways to deal with Mamo on this team. Keldeo makes for an excellent check, resisting Ice Shard and has the ability to OHKO back with Hydro, Scald or Secret Sword, making it the team's most reliable answer to Mamo. Getting a free switch-in can be done by predicting an Ice move from Mamo and switching into Keldy. Latias can also take a super effective Ice Shard and OHKO back with a specs Draco, whereas Clefable is once again so bulky that it won't die off to a Life Orb EQ from even an Adamant max attack Mamo. Although most Mamos nowadays are lead SR variants and can be taken care of really early with Keldeo, you still have to watch out for the occasional Life Orb Mamoswine.

Weakness Policy Dragonite
Clefable is the answer to Dragonite, but Weakness Policy can easily turn DNite into a big problem. Surprisingly, Clefable is just so bulky that even a +4 EQ from an Adamant Max Attack DNite fails to OHKO, so you're basically guaranteed 2 Moonblast hits. However if Clefable gets weakened, your only other option is to play Intimidate games with Landorus-T to beat DNite.

Damage Calc vs Clefable

+4 252+ Atk Dragonite Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 322-379 (81.7 - 96.1%) -- Guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Mega Medicham
My name is no Switch-Ins! And yeap. Basically, there are no reliable switch-ins in OU to Mega Medicham aside Aegislash (barring Fire Punch). Clefable and Landorus-T are the only 2 answers to Mega Medi on the team, but Clefable will still take a ton from Zen Headbutt / Psycho Cut and Landorus-T gets straight up OHKOed by an Ice Punch. Be weary of Mega Medicham, it is undoubtedly a huge threat.

Baton Pass
Mega Pinsir is a huge threat to BP teams simply because it deals with Scolipede. You also have a Trick Latias on deck to deal with BP.... However, BP is still a huge problem, even after the nerf. No real explanation is needed actually, Bp is simply broken. Bp definitely needs to be nerfed further imo (limiting to max 2 would be the ideal solution), and I'm definitely not going to run some Haze gimmick on this team to deal with Bp. So, be careful.

Baton Pass has now been officially nerfed to only 1 per team! BP was limiting teambuilding to such a huge extent before, with people running stuff like Haze Greninja specifically for BP teams, so I'm glad that it's finally gone. With such a broken play style out of the competitive scene, we'll hopefully see more competitive teams on the high ladder, and also more variety. Most importantly, this team will thrive even better with the loss of BP.

Importable:​

Import / Export

Clefable (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 236 HP / 232 Def / 40 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Flamethrower
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Protect

Pinsir (M) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Swords Dance

Latias @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Healing Wish
- Trick
- Draco Meteor

NOTE: The export below is a variant of the above team for the Aegi suspect ladder. With Aegi gone, Heatran is no longer needed. I've modified the team and added Scarf Zone (to better deal with Fly-Spam and for trapping Skarm). If Aegi gets the boot, I'll make a detailed RMT of this team variant :]

Aegi Suspect MPinsirTeam Variant

Bird (Pinsir) (M) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Frustration
- Quick Attack

G6 (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Defog

:D (Clefable) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 236 HP / 232 Def / 40 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled

Horse (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Zone'd (Magnezone) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Cat (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide

End of Part 1. Part 2 is below.

 

[Scy]

NOTE: This post is part of the RMT. Part 2 starts below.

Teambuilding (Hyper Offense):​

Having covered the basis of a MPinsir balanced team, I'll now touch on Hyper Offense. Mega Pinsir works wonders on 2 kinds of Hyper Offensive teams; Lead Hazards Offense and TTar Exca Sand Offense. Once again, MPinsir fulfills the same role of a physical wallbreaker early game and a sweeper late game. The slot options for both Lead Hazards Offense and Sand Offense slightly differ on the last slot (Slot 6), so do take note. Without further ado, here are the key roles to a MPinsir HO team:

• Slot 1: The Main Member
  Mega Pinsir

  

  We've already seen how well MPinsir performs on a balanced team, now we shall experience his power on offensive teams. Arguably, MPinsir performs even better on Hyper Offensive teams. With hazards support and offensive synergy, MPinsir will undoubtedly be a huge threat to basically any types of teams. With its other team mates breaking Mega Pinsir's checks and counters, MPinsir will usually find itself cleaning and sweeping through a dented and weakened team. Even without support, MPinsir itself can singlehandedly massacre teams. Now with hazards + offensive backup? It is literally unstoppable.
• Slot 2: Hazards Lead
  Suicide Hazards Setter

  A hazards suicide lead is basically a must for HO teams. Hazards are really important as not only do they provide offensive pressure to your opponent, they can also turn crucial 3HKOs into 2HKOs, 2HKOs into OHKOs, etc. The role of this suicide hazards lead is to simply set up hazards and act as a pivot switch for the next incoming pokemon. This hazards lead can do more than merely just setting up hazards; it could also provide other utility purposes as well (Eg. Terrakion taunts potential set up mons, Tyranitar provides Sand support, Etc.) Here are some options:
  
  

  

  Deoxys-Defense
  Deoxys-Defense and Deoxys-Speed are the 2 best hazards setter atm, and it's really self explanatory. Deoxys-D can stack hazards with ease due to its massive Defense stats, and Red Card forces out any unwanted leads (breaking Sashes in the process). Red Card also beats lead Aegislash that tries to prevent more than 1 hazards on your end with the Shadow Ball + Shadow Sneak combination, making Deoxys-Defense a great hazards lead in general due to its reliability.
  

  

  Deoxys-Speed
  Unlike Deoxys-Defense, Deoxys-Speed cannot deal well with lead Aegislash that basically only allows one hazard on your end with the Shadow Ball + Shadow Sneak combination. However, Deoxys-Speed does a better job Taunting fast pokemon that either likes to set up hazards or set up in general. Deoxys-Speed also has the ability to outspeed and Taunt fast Defoggers like the Lati twins, a job that Deoxys-Defense cannot pull off. Both Deo-S and Deo-D has their own niches, so use whichever one you prefer better.
  
  Note: The Deoxys Bros are now banned. I've included other alternatives below.
  
  

  

  Sash Hazards Lead Smeargle
  With the banning of Deoxys-Defense back in Gen 5, lead hazards Smeargle has since been replacing Deo-D as the hazard stacker for every team. In this gen, I feel that it is no exception. Do note that lead hazards Scolipede (spikes / tspikes / endeavor) is also a great option, but rocks are generally more important so I did not include it. Just bear in mind that Scoli is a great hazards lead too if you're ever in need of a lead spiker. Anyway, Smeargle has the ability to run Spore / Dark Void, essentially crippling one pokemon on your opponent's side of the field. It is in my opinion, the best (if not only) mon that could still act as a reliable Spikes + SR lead. Magic Coat can be used to deter off faster lead Taunters, and also to bounce off potential hazards. This is really important since MPinsir does not appreciate rocks. Gen VI also included a really useful form of hazard in Sticky Web, so Smeargle could run that over Spikes on a sticky web team (Shuckle can be used as well). Overall, I feel that Smeargle is the best alternative to Deoxys for Spikes + SR stacking.
  
  

  

  Sash Lead Stealth Rock Terrakion
  Possibly the best other alternative aside Smeargle. Terrakion not only reliably gets up Stealth Rock, it also has the ability to get of a really fast Taunt, essentially performing its job as a pseudo-DeoxysSpeed. Obviously, using Terrakion only allows you one form of hazards (in Stealth Rock), so the offensive pressure of Spikes is lacking. You can make up for this however, by having team mates to contribute for more offensive pressure (read up on "Slot 6: Secondary Hard Hitter" section further below for more details), and eliminating the need for a spin blocker. Terrakion also acts as an extremely reliable Lead Killer, killing off potential hazards lead like Heatran, TTar and Ferrothorn. The ability to provide offensive presence with its Dual STAB while still functioning as an extremely reliable hazards lead makes Terrakion a great option for this role.
  
  

  

  Shuckle
  Shuckle is another great option for a hazard lead. However, this team is based around hazard stacking, not Sticky Web. Hence, Smeargle is still preferred for Spikes + SR and Lead Terrakion is also generally better with a fast Taunt under its belt. However, if your special wallbreaker and/or secondary hard hitter is slow, you could use Shuckle as your hazards lead instead for Web support. Do note that without Magic Coat (Smeargle) and Taunt (Terrakion), more pressure will be put onto your spinner to spin should your opponent get up rocks. Anyway, the import for Shuckle is below. The usual Stealth Rock / Sticky Web / Encore / Infestation or Knock Off set is what you'll need. Mental Herb is used for faster Taunters. The EV spread is also provided. Import:

  Shuckle

  Shuckle (M) @ Mental Herb
  Ability: Sturdy
  EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 SpD
  Calm Nature
  IVs: 0 Atk
  - Stealth Rock
  - Sticky Web
  - Encore
  - Infestation

  

  Sash Lead Tyranitar
  This option is dedicated to the Exca Sand Offense team variant. Lead Tyranitar is great as not only does it reliably gets up rocks, it also has the ability to be a lead killer. Pokemon like Heatran cannot get up hazards in the face of lead hazards Tyranitar as it'd simply die to an Earthquake. Lead Bisharps also cower in the face of TTar due to a potential EQ / Superpower. Jolly TTar outspeeds Adamant Bisharp, and Sucker Punch is resisted, making TTar a semi check to Bisharp. At the end of the day, Tyranitar is used to also provide Sand support for Excadrill, and Exca under Sand is just a complete monster.
• Slot 3: Rapid Spinner or Fast Taunter
  Hazards Control

  Defog is definitely not an option for HO teams, since it basically renders your suicide hazards lead's efforts useless. However, a Rapid Spinner or a fast Taunt user (to prevent hazards) is still needed since MPinsir is x4 weak to rocks. Magic Bounce is also an option. Here are some good candidates for this role:
  
  

  

  Excadrill
  Excadrill is basically the only good option to be used on a sand offense team, as not only does it provide rapid spin support, but also readily abuses the sand with Sand Rush. On a Deoxys Hazard Offense team, scarfed Excadrill is also an excellent candidate for your team, providing both a fast mon to spam Mold Breaker Earthquakes and a crucial ground immunity.
  
  

  

  Trick Specs Analytic Starmie
  Once again, Starmie is a great option to be the spinner for the team. I've already said this several times before, Starmie has the ability to Trick Cripple (making something potential set-up fodder for MPinsir), get off huge hits with its specs Analytic hits, and has the invaluable Rapid Spin, making it one of my favorite mons to use alongside Mega Pinsir. Starmie can also double as a secondary special wallbreaker for the team, providing more offensive pressure.
  
  

  

  Espeon
  With good predictions, Magic Bounce can easily get rid of any unwanted hazards on your side of the field. Espeon is a really good pokemon for this role as it also provides really great utility support. A dual screens Light Clay set can be used to aid MPinsir in setting up, or an offensive LO Hp Fire variant can be used to take care of the annoying Ferrothorn and also Skarmory. A Calm Mind Baton Pass set can also be utilized, to aid your special wallbreaker to further dent your opponent's team.
  
  

  

  Sableye
  With priority Taunt, Sableye becomes one of the fastest Taunters available. Because Sableye can easily come in on a lot of defensive mons, Taunt can prevent any of them from potentially setting up rocks. Also, priority Taunt will prevent any potential Defoggers, and Sableye is also a spin blocker at that, making Sableye a really great pokemon to prevent hazards from going away. Lastly, Will-O-Wisp can be used to cripple fast physical threats (which can be problematic for HO teams), and priority Taunt can also be used to better deal with Baton Pass teams.
  
  

  

  Offensive Deoxys-Speed
  3 Attacks + Taunt Life Orb Deoxys-Speed is definitely a great option for being the fast Taunter for your team. Obviously this option is only available to the Sand Offense team variant, since you'd be breaking species clause if you use it with another Deoxys. Its insane speed allows it to outspeed even some scarfers (Scarf Chomp and below), and its excellent coverage moves in Psycho Boost / Ice Beam / Superpower + Taunt basically allows Deoxys-Speed to Taunt common rocks setter like TTar, Landorus, Heatran, Skarmory, Ferrothorn while still having a move to hit them hard. Knock Off can be used (instead of Ice Beam) to hit Aegislash, whereas Fire Punch or Hp Fire can be used (instead of Superpower) to hit Ferrothorn harder (hits Aegislash too).
• Slot 4: Special Wallbreaker / Sweeper
  Hard Hitting Special Attacker

  Once again a special hard hitter / wallbreaker is needed to couple with Mega Pinsir. With Mega Pinsir being the physical powerhouse for the team, your special powerhouse needs to be one that has great offensive synergy with MPinsir. The main objective of hyper offense is to break for one another, so it'd be great if MPinsir can break for your special wallbreaker too. Here are some options:
  
  

  

  Keldeo
  Like I mentioned before, Keldeo has great offensive synergy with Mega Pinsir, as they simply break for each other. Keldeo easily handles the SkarmBliss core, while Mega Pinsir handles the VenuTran core, 2 of the most obnoxious cores in the current meta. With good answers to both, you are less likely to find yourself walled, and can wreck up damage like what Hyper Offensive teams are meant to do. And if your opponent lets his only answer to Keldeo (like Mega Venusaur) die to your Pinsir, Keldeo will easily run through his team.
  
  

  

  Thundurus
  Prioriy Thunder Wave made Thundurus the best mon to use on an offensive team in my opinion, as it acts as a really reliable set up insurance. A certain other set can also be used instead on Thundurus - the Defiant set. With hazards up, Defiant Thundurus can easily come in and abuse Defog on common defoggers like the Lati Twins or Mandibuzz/Skarmory, getting a free +2 and killing them off with Knock Off and Wild Charge respectively. However Defiant Thundurus will obviously be a physical attacker, so you'd have to run another special wallbreaker alongside him. You can also run Knock Off / Superpower / TBolt / Hp Ice to make Thundurus a very dangerous mixed attacker, along with the Defiant ability of course to abuse Defog.
  
  

  

  Specs Analytic Starmie
  Welp, we meet once again Starmie. I shall keep this short since I've already said this many times. Roles of Starmie: Spinner, Trick Crippling, Hard Hitter, Fast Revenge Killer. Works extremely well alongside Mega Pinsir, its definitely worth a slot. However if you already have a spinner on deck, you can use Greninja instead of Starmie. Both has their own niches, so choose whichever one that fits better on your team.
  
  

  

  Hp Fire Greninja
  Not necessarily a wallbreaker, but more of an insanely fast hard-hitting special attacker (Protean + LO is nothing to laugh at) with near-perfect coverage. Similarly to Keldeo and Starmie, Greninja can easily break through all common physical walls like Skarm, Lando-T and Gliscor. Greninja can also get off a huge hit on Zapdos with a STAB Life Orb Ice Beam. Hidden Power Fire is the preferred coverage move for the final slot as it works well alongside Mega Pinsir. Hp Fire takes care of physically defensive Ferrothorn and bulky Mega Scizor, clearing up 2 potential hindrance for Mega Pinsir. With its great speed and coverage, Greninja will form a really synergized core with MPinsir, making it a great option for your special hard hitter.
• Slot 5: Talonflame Check
  Flying Resist

  Talonflame is once again a problem for Mega Pinsir. On a Hyper Offensive team, you do not need a counter to Talon, but rather a check that could also put on offensive pressure on your opponent. Your check to Talon is basically a pokemon that resists Brave Bird, is faster than Talon, and can threaten it by a hard hitting (or super effective) hit. Here are some options:
  
  

  

  Thundurus
  Thundurus is hands down the best offensive pokemon on a hyper offensive team. HO teams tend to not deal with offensive setup sweepers well, and Thundurus gets rid of this problem by crippling any potential set up mons. Thundurus is one of the best options to deal with Talonflame, as TWave support is invaluable to MPinsir against fast threats like Greninja.
  
  

  

  Choice Scarf Excadrill
  Excadrill is an excellent pokemon on a hyper offensive MPinsir team. Not only does it provide Rapid Support as mentioned above, it also checks Talonflame and provides a well-needed ground immunity for the team. Scarf drill also checks Thundurus, one of MPinsir's best checks.
  
  

  

  Assault Vest Raikou
  AV Raikou is an extremely good pokemon on HO teams to deal with stuff like Greninja and Rotom-W. It also checks Talonflame, which is basically what we need to fulfilll this role. AV Raikou also deals with all of MPinsir's counters in Skarm, Rotom-W, Thundurus and Zapdos. For more details on AV Raikou, read up on the "Honorable Mentions" section below.
  
  

  

  Choice Scarf Magnezone
  Scarfed Magnezone is arguably MPinsir's best possible team mate for one particular reason - the ability to trap Skarmory. Scarf is the preferred option, as it allows Zone to outspeed Talonflame and MPinsir, which makes it an automatic check. With an x4 resistance to Flying, you can safely switch Magnezone into a banded Brave Bird or even a +2 Return from Mega Pinsir. The ability to trap physically defensive Ferrothorns is also a niche that Magnezone has. For more details on Zone, read up on the "Honorable Mentions" section below.
• Slot 6 (Hazards Offense): Spin Blocker
  Ghost type

  With all the hard work (and sacrifice) that your lead hazard setter made to lay hazards to your opponent's side of the field, you'd wanna prevent them from going away as much as you can. Defog is really hard to stop unless you're running multiple Taunt users on your team, so you're left with dealing with Rapid Spinners by spinblocking with Ghost types. There are various Ghost types to fill this role, and here are some good options:
  
  Note: The Deoxys Bros are now banned. If you're using Smeargle with > 1 form of hazards, continue to carry a spin blocker. Otherwise, this is optional and you can fill this slot with the Sand Offense slot option (a secondary hard hitter), or the "Priority - Additional Role" option further below.
  
  
  

  

  Air Balloon Aegislash
  With Excadrill being the most common Rapid Spinner, Air Balloon is basically a must for Aegislash. Outside of Excadrill, balloon Aegislash also wall the infamous SubToxicProtect Gliscor, and also deal well with other threats like Garchomp, Mamoswine, Landorus and Dragonite with it's balloon intact. Aegislash is also great to spam powerful STAB Shadow Balls to weaken your opponent's team, making it a great semi-offensive spin blocker.
  
  

  

  Sableye
  Sableye not only functions as a spin blocker, but is also there to get off priority Will-O-Wisps to cripple offensive set up sweepers (which HO teams tend to have trouble facing). On top of that, it has the ability to get off priority Taunts, making it a great pokemon to stop hazards and preventing Defog. Priority Taunt also means that Sableye is a good mon to deal with BP teams, so its definitely a great candidate for this spin blocking role.
• Slot 6 (Sand Offense): Secondary Setup Sweeper / Hard Hitter
  Offensive Presence

  A spin blocker is not necessary for a Sand Offense team, since rocks will probably be the only hazard you'll be getting up. However, due to the lack of spikes offensive pressure, you've to make up for it in this final slot by adding a secondary sweeper / hard hitter alongside your MPinsir + Special Wallbreaker offensive core. Here are some options:
  
  

  

  Banded Talonflame
  With MPinsir + Talonflame on the same team, your team will become the very definition of Fly-Spam. Brave Bird spam is a really great strategy for offensive teams, and spamming CB Brave Birds will most likely dent teams to the point where either your special wallbreaker or MPinsir cleans up afterwards. Talon basically takes care of all the fast threats for your offensive core (Greninja, Latios, Etc.) Just be wary of stealth rocks while using both Talon and MPinsir on the same team.
  
  

  

  Calm Mind Magic Guard Clefable
  Clefable is an excellent pokemon to be used on a sand team due to its ability Magic Guard, which basically eliminates the residual sandstorm damage. Clefable also acts as a fighting hits sponge for your sand team, and it also handles Conkeldurr extremely well. If you are using a Keldeo/MPinsir offensive core, Clefable synergizes excellently with the core (like mentioned previously), forming a really powerful 3-way offensive threat squad. Overall it is an excellent candidate for the final slot.
  
  

  

  Azumarill
  BellyJet Azumarill or CB Azumarill can also be used for the final slot. There is really nothing much to explain here; BellyJet Azu can singlehandedly massacre teams, so it is inevitable that it'd make a good offensive team mate. Azumarill also helps the team handle Keldeo, which sand teams tend to have problems facing. With Azumarill having such great offensive presence, it is definitely a viable option for the last slot.
  
  
• Slot X: Priority (Additional Role)
  Fast Offensive Threats Insurance

  On a Hyper Offensive team, you have significantly less roles to fulfill as compared to a balanced team. However, some pokemon still need to fulfill more than one role to cater for a more solid team. Unlike a balanced team, where you basically try to prepare for both offensive and defensive threats, HO teams do not prepare for everything. This is because the basis for hyper offense is to have great offensive synergy; simply put, to break mons for one another. Identify your win condition, break for that win condition, and secure a victory. However with all the 6 roles mentioned above, we're still lacking one very crucial role - fast offensive threats insurance. Fast offensive pokemon (that either sets up or can hit really hard E.g. Latios, Greninja, DD Char X, Etc.) can be a huge problem for HO teams. A really good way to deal with this is having priority on the team. If you've an open slot (E.g. If Keldeo fulfills both the Fighting Type and Special Wallbreaker Roles, you'll be left with one open slot), this will be filled by a mon with useful priority. If all slots are taken though, try to make room for this priority slot. However if you really cannot get yourself an empty slot, it is fine. MPinsir already has priority in Quick Attack, so it should be okay. Anyways, here are some good options if you can get yourself an open slot for Priority:
  
  

  

  Thundurus
  I've already said this multiple times, priority TWave is invaluable to any Hyper Offensive teams. A fast threat that you cannot handle? Click TWave. A mon that sets up? Click TWave. A pokemon thats faster than MPinsir and needs to be slowed down? Click TWave. This one move makes Thundurus an excellent utility pokemon, and with its amazing offensive prowess, it can function as both a utility and an offensive threat.
  
  

  

  Banded Talonflame
  Gale Wings Priority Brave Bird is one of the best (and deadliest) priority you can get access to in the current metagame. With a Choice Band equipped, Talonflame becomes a monstrous hard hitting and fast attacker. Like previously mentioned, CB Talon Brave Bird spam can dent teams for your offensive core, and CB Brave Bird also takes care of fast threats like Greninja that'd otherwise be problematic for your team.
  
  

  

  Bisharp
  Bisharp is extremely deadly and for many reasons. Used very frequently on Deoxys Offense teams, it is the very origin of DeoSharp. Priority STAB Sucker Punch + Knock Off is one of the deadliest combination this gen especially with the Steel nerf, making Bisharp a big threat. On top of that, Bisharp can also readily abuse Defog with Defiant, and can carry Pursuit to trap mons (like the Lati Twins) to aid either your special wallbreaker or MPinsir in sweeping, so its definitely an invaluable member.

Mega Pinsir Team - Hyper Offense

​

Explanation:

Of all the Hazards HO teams I've built while I was laddering in OU, I'd say this is the best one I've came out with and my personal favorite. The offensive synergy is great on this team; pokemon on this team simply just "breaks for each other", and I usually win games by breaking mons for my win condition. It is actually a pretty standard and cookie-cutter team, with Deoxys-Defense Smeargle as my hazards setter, Balloon Aegi to spinblock, Defiant Thundurus to abuse Defog, Scarf Excadrill to provide Rapid Support and of course, the MPinsir/Keldeo offensive core. Below are the details.

~ In-Depth Analysis ~

Deoxys-Defense

Deoxys-Defense @ Red Card
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
​

Deoxys-Defense is really self-explanatory. It functions as the hazard-setter of the team and I used it over Deoxys-Speed for its ability to better deal with Tyranitar (Sand + Crunch beats Sash Deo-S) and Aegislash (Shadow Ball + Shadow Sneak also beats Deo-S). Even though this will mean that I lack a fast lead Taunter, Thunder Wave is there to slow fast threats down (like the Lati Twins) to aid my other team mates to better handle the opponent's team. Taunt / Stealth Rocks / Spikes are pretty much your basic moves to run on Deoxys, basically Taunt any potential hazard setter and lay up your own. Bisharp is a main concern for Deoxys as it could potentially OHKO with a Knock Off. You could easily lead Keldeo predicting a Bisharp lead and double into Deoxys-Defense predicting a switch out (thats what I always do), which would basically ensure you at least 2 layers of hazards. Alternatively, you could also run Superpower instead of TWave on the last slot to surprise Bisharp leads (no one expects SPower on a Deo-D, so the surprise element is present). The spread would be 32 Attack / 224 Hp / 252 Speed with a Jolly nature, if you choose to run SPower on the last slot.

Replaced By Smeargle:

Smeargle

Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Magic Coat
​

With Deoxys-Defense gone, Smeargle is basically the only good alternative to Spikes + Stealth Rock stacking. Other lead hazards mons include Spikes/TSPikes/Endeavor Sash Scolipede, and also Sticky Web Shuckle. However, none of those mons could provide both SR + Spikes for the team, so Smeargle is still preferred. With Cutsab unreleased, Sturdy lead mons like Skarm and Forry are also unavailable, leaving Smeargle to be the only one remaining. Spore is used for its reliable accuracy. You can also choose to run Dark Void instead to surprise grass mons like Ferrothorn who are immune to spore and might want to abuse that to set up hazards of their own. Stealth Rock and Spikes are basically your cookie-cutter moves, whereas Magic Coat helps deter faster Taunters and it also helps prevent hazards from faster hazards setter (Eg. Opposing lead hazards Terrakion). Magic Coat can also help to bounce Ferro's hazards away, seeing as how it is immune to spore and is a reliable answer to Smeargle.

Mega Pinsir

Pinsir (M) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Swords Dance
​

Once again, Mega Pinsir is the main member of the team, functioning as the physical powerhouse and a late-game sweeper. This time howver, he has a bunch of hazards support to back him up, making it even easier for MPinsir to run through the opposing team. Greninja and other threats are now easily OHKOed by a +2 Quick Attack without the need to take prior Life Orb recoil due to the damage taken from hazards, and Volcorona will also be killed at 50% by a stock Quick Attack. Undoubtedly, Mega Pinsir is better and fiercer than before with the introduction of hazards. Anyway, MPinsir acts as the Conkeldurr and Mega Venusaur killer of the team, effectively breaking for its other team mates. Similarly to the balanced offense team, Keldeo is also on the squad. Mega Pinsir once again breaks through the VenuTran core for both Keldeo and Thundurus, and the offensive synergy is still as good (if not better) as the one before. Like before, Frustration is used over Return for potential imposter Dittos, and Mold Breaker is used over Moxie for hitting Rotom-W on switch in with Earthquake (regular Mold Breaker EQ 2HKOs Rotom-W). Lastly, Mega Pinsir acts as the priority user for the team, as it can hit extremely hard with a +2 STAB Aerialiate Quick Attack.

Thundurus

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunder Punch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Knock Off
- Superpower
​

Defiant Thundurus is the Defog abuser and surprise killer of the team. Thundurus can easily come in on common Defoggers like Skarmory, Mandibuzz, Latios and Latias, and hit them back with a +2 Thunder Punch or Knock Off. Thunder Punch is used over Wild Charge because Wild Charge + Life Orb wrecks up too much recoil. Seeing as how I need Thundurus to check Talonflame and Pinsir, getting it weakened by its own recoil is the last thing I'd want. A lot of people do not expect a physical Thundurus, hence it can usually get off a few surprise kills on the Lati Twins with Knock Off, getting rid of a potential hindrance to Mega Pinsir. Even though I'm running a Defiant physical Thundurus, I still run Hp Ice for Gliscors and Landorus. Hp Ice can also be used to bluff a special Thundurus, giving your opponent a false sense of security and baiting him to bring in the Lati twins into Thundurus. Lastly, Thundurus is the Talonflame and Mega Pinsir answer for the team (alongside Scarf Excadrill), so keeping it at a healthy range is key when facing against a Talon or Pinsir.

Excadrill

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

Excadrill is the scarfer of the team, and it also provides the much needed Rapid Support for Mega Pinsir. With a Choice Scarf equipped, Excadrill pretty much outspeeds everything. Coupled with its ability Mold Breaker, it could easily spam Earthquakes and weaken teams for Mega Pinsir, aiding it in pulling off a late game sweep (E.g. The Lati Twins after an Earthquake gets killed by Mega Pinsir's Quick Attack). Alongside Thundurus, Scarf Exca also acts as a secondary Talonflame and Mega Pinsir check (Brave Bird / Quick Attack is resisted, and it could OHKO them back with Rock Slide). Really importantly, Adamant Mega Charizard X at +1 fails to outspeed Jolly Scarf Excadrill, so Excadrill could easily revenge kill it with an EQ. Clefables that likes to set up Calm Minds can also be quite problematic for the team, so Excadrill does an excellent job getting a huge hit off on CM Clefables to the point where MPinsir could come in and revenge kill it. Last but not least, with opposing Thundurus being such a huge problem for MPinsir, Scarf Exca acts as a Thundurus check since its immune to its priority TWave and could hit it back with a super effective Rock Slide.

Keldeo

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Electric]
​

Once again, Keldeo is the second half of the team's offensive core alongside Mega Pinsir, functioning as the team's special wallbreaker. Like previously mentioned, Keldeo + Mega Pinsir works wonders together, as Keldeo handles physical walls like Gliscor / Landorus-T / Skarmory with ease, whereas Mega Pinsir takes care of bulky grass mons like Mega Venusaur and Amoonguss for Keldeo. Hydro Pump is once again used as Keldeo's secondary water STAB because it could nail OHKOs that Scald otherwise couldn't (Mawile, Charizard X, Manectric, Mega Medicham, Etc). The last slot option is dedicated to Hp Electric. With Mega Pinsir handling Mega Venusaur and Aegislash handling the Lati twins, Hp Flying and Icy Wind is pretty redundant. Seeing as how Azumarill is a huge problem for the team, Hp Electric is used to nail them on switch-in. For Belly Drum variants, Keldeo's Hp Electric + Mega Pinsir's Quick Attack handles them, but some sacrifice is needed (read the "Threats List" section below for further details). Hp Electric can also be used for Gyarados, who might want to use Keldeo as set up fodder by not mega evolving and setting up DDances. You can then surprise them with a specs x4 Super Effective Hidden Power Electric.

Aegislash

Aegislash @ Air Balloon
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Atk / 200 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- King's Shield
​

Aegislash is really important, as it functions primarily as the Spin Blocker of the team. Like mentioned before, since Excadrill is the most common rapid spinner at the moment, Air Balloon is used to make Aegislash an extremely reliable spin blocker even against opposing Excadrills. With an Air Balloon, Aegislash also deals well with Dragonite, Mamoswine, Landorus, Garchomp and the really annoying SubToxic Gliscor. Aegislash does an excellent job switching into a choice banded Dragonite with its balloon intact, since its immune to ESpeed and EQ, while resisting Outrage. Aegislash is also there as an offensive pivot, and is also a really important Dragon resist for the team. If threats like a DD Mega Charizard X chooses to lock itself into Outrage, Aegislash can easily come in to get off huge hits with Shadow Balls (or lower its Attack with King's Shield). Being resistant to Dragon, Aegislash is also the team's switch-in to the Lati Twins, and could then hit something on the opposing team with a really strong STAB Shadow Ball. Lastly, Aegislash is also the Fighting immunity for the team, easily taking care of choiced pokemon that chooses to lock themselves into a Fighting type move.

Threats List:​

Threats to this team

Greninja
Greninja has always been (and always will be) a pokemon that Hyper Offense teams have trouble facing. Without defensive backup, Greninja's excellent speed, coverage, and the ability Protean made it a pokemon with literally no switch-ins for HO teams (barring mons like AV Raikou, read the "Honorable Mentions" section below for futher details). Once again, MPinsir's Quick Attack is guaranteed to kill at +2 after one LO recoil, so like before, simply SD w/o mega evolving, take a neutral Ice Beam (wrecking up one LO recoil in the process), and kill with Quick Attack after. Other options include Scarf Drill revenging with EQ. Aegi can also take one hit, but a potential Dark Pulse flinch makes it a relatively unreliable answer to Greninja.

Charizard X
Charizard X after it sets up is a huge problem for the team. Jolly Scarf Excadrill can outspeed and kill an Adamant Char X at +1 Speed, but thats only provided if they're Adamant. Your other options include forcing an Outrage and getting huge hits off with Aegislash after. If its a Char X with DClaw and Jolly (thus both forcing an Outrage and revenging with Exca is not an option), Keldeo can take a Jolly +1 DClaw and OHKO back with a specs Hydro Pump. After 2 dragon dances though, it'd probably be game. Defiant Thundy can be swapped for a Prankster TWave variant to act as insurance, but losing Defiant Thundurus to abuse defog and net surprise kills on Lati@s can be big, so I'd personally stick to using Defiant Thundy.

Damage Calculations

Jolly +1 Char X DClaw vs Keldeo
+1 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Dragon Claw vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Keldeo: 282-333 (87.3 - 103%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs Standard Char X
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard X: 306-361 (103 - 121.5%) -- Guaranteed OHKO

Charizard Y
This team has no switch-ins to Charizard Y, but thats to be expected from a HO team. Checks include Thundurus, Mega Pinsir, Scarf Drill, and Keldeo after Char Y has taken some prior damage beforehand. With all these checks, you might be wondering why Char Y is still a problem. The answer is simple - Drought. With the sun up, Keldeo's fire power will be severely weakened. Seeing as how Keldeo is the special powerhouse for the team, weakening it significantly might be very troublesome for the offensive synergy of the entire team. Always remember to get Rocks up to prevent Char Y from constantly coming back in and getting the Sun up.

BellyJet Azumarill
Once again, BellyJet Azumarill proves itself to be a huge problem for the team. Similarly to the balanced team, Keldeo's HP Electric + MPinsir's Quick Attack takes care of a +6 Azumarill. And again, you'd have to choose either your special powerhouse (Keldeo) or physical powerhouse (MPinsir) to sack, which will inevitably break the offensive synergy of the team. You can prevent this by Taunting Azumarill early with Deoxys-D, or simply put offensive pressure on your opponent to eliminate any chances for him to set up. Nonetheless, be weary of this dangerous bunny.

Baton Pass
I'm basically gonna re-state what I mentioned previously on the Balanced Team Threats List. Mega Pinsir is a huge threat to BP teams simply because it deals with Scolipede. However, BP is still a huge problem, even after the nerf. No real explanation is needed actually, Bp is simply broken. Bp definitely needs to be nerfed further imo (limiting to max 2 would be the ideal solution), and I'm definitely not going to run some Haze gimmick on this team to deal with Bp. So, be careful.

Baton Pass has now been officially nerfed to only 1 per team! BP was limiting teambuilding to such a huge extent before, with people running stuff like Haze Greninja specifically for BP teams, so I'm glad that it's finally gone. With such a broken play style out of the competitive scene, we'll hopefully see more competitive teams on the high ladder, and also more variety. Most importantly, this team will thrive even better with the loss of BP.

Importable:​

Import / Export

Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Magic Coat

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunder Punch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Knock Off
- Superpower

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

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Pinsir (M) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Frustration
- Quick Attack

Aegislash (M) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Atk / 200 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- King's Shield

End of Teambuilding Guide. Further Examples are shown below.

Further Examples (Balanced Offense)

​

Explanation:

I'll now show you some further examples of MPinsir teams you can build using the guidelines provided. This team is another balanced offensive MPinsir team, and it is actually extremely solid. Similarly to the Clefable Latias balanced team I shown before, this also fulfill the same guidelines. MPinsir being the main member, Starmie being the Special Wallbreaker + Trick Crippler + Spinner, Zapdos being the Defogger, AV Conk being the fighting type Bisharp check (also Rotom-W), Heatran for rocks and Talon, and Landorus-Therian is the choice scarfer and ground immunity for the team. Even though this team lacks Healing Wish support from Latias, with both Rapid Spin + Defog, this team actually removes hazards more reliably then the one shown before. Therefore with rocks being less of a problem, MPinsir is less likely to get worn down and this makes up for the lack of HWish support. Trick Specs Analytic Starmie really shines on this team. With both Psyshock and Scald (Hydro Pump can also be used instead for more power), Starmie covers both sides of the defensive spectrum. Also, a specs analytic hit is nothing to be scoffed at. Lastly, its ability to Trick its specs away and cripple something on the opposing team to aid MPinsir in setting up is very crucial. Aside the ability to Trick, Rapid Spin is also another invaluable asset that Starmie has over Greninja. However if you've problems against BP teams, Haze Greninja can be used over Starmie. Losing a Keldeo switch in and a secondary hazard remover is big though, so I'd still recommend using Starmie.

Importable:​

Import / Export

Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide

Starmie @ Choice Specs
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Trick
- Rapid Spin

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Protect

Pinsir (M) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Swords Dance

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 240 HP / 216 Def / 52 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 Spe
- Discharge
- Defog
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost

Further Examples (Sand Offense)

​

Explanation:

The previous example showcased another balanced team you can build base around MPinsir, and I've also done an in-depth analysis on a Hazards Offense team. Now I'll touch on the final team variant - TTar Exca Sand Offense. Mega Pinsir works well on sand offense too, as Excadrill provides Rapid Spin support as well as being a Talonflame check under sand (alongside Tyranitar). Similarly to the Deoxys-D hyper offensive team, the guidelines here are pretty much the same. Focus Sash Tyranitar is now the lead hazard setter for the team, and it also provides sand support for Excadrill. Like the Hazards Offense team, Excadrill still remains. The only difference is that it's no longer scarfed; its now Sand Rush Air Balloon. This offensive team is basically the combination of Tyranitar/Excadrill + the Keldeo/Pinsir/Clefable offensive core. The last slot is dedicated to Thundurus. Lacking a scarfer and only relying on Sand Rush Exca for speed can be very risky, hence TWave supports rounds up the synergy for the entire team. Despite having both TTar and Sand Rush Drill to deal with Talonflame, TTar is basically suicide fodder 90% of the time, and Exca cannot outspeed Talon when the sand runs out. Thundurus thus patches up this hole by being the 3rd member on the squad to deal with Talonflame. HP Electric on Keldeo is used once again for Azumarill, and is also there to check both Bisharp and Mawile. As for TTar, Ice Punch is used to hit Landorus and Gliscor, Pursuit is there to trap the Lati twins (which aids Keldeo), and Earthquake is there to hit Bisharps (used over Superpower for coverage purposes). Jolly max speed TTar does outspeed Adamant max speed Bisharp, and Sucker Punch is resisted, making TTar a semi check to Sharp.

Importable:​

Import / Export

Tyranitar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 28 Atk / 228 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Superpower

Pinsir (M) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Frustration
- Quick Attack
- Swords Dance

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide

Clefable (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Flamethrower
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled

~ Honorable Mentions ~

Scarfed Magnezone

Magnezone @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon
​

Magnezone is arguably one of the best pokemon to partner with Mega Pinsir due to one simple aid it provides - the ability to trap Skarmory. Skarmory is hands down Mega Pinsir's best counter, with the ability to take even a +6 Return and being able to retaliate with either Counter, Brave Bird, or Whirlwind. Trapping and eliminating Skarmory from your opponent's team opens up a huge passageway for MPinsir to run through the opposing team; especially if Skarmory is your opponent's only answer to MPinsir. Magnezone was my initial member on the first Balanced Offensive team I featured (I had Zone instead of Clefable). In the end, I opt for Clefable due to the excellent synergy with the team, and it also eliminates the fact that the team has too many choiced users. However if another open slot is available, Zone will definitely be my No1 option. Magnezone also readily traps physically defensive Ferrothorns, which would otherwise be annoying for MPinsir to face. A scarfed set is the preferred option, as it acts as a Talonflame check, opposing MPinsir check, as well as allowing Magnezone to outpace Charizard Y and Excadrill. Outspeeding Excadrill is key, as it allows Magnezone to revenge kill a weakened Drill with HP Fire. Scarfed Excadrill is also a good check to Mega Pinsir, which Magnezone can easily come in on a choiced Rock Slide / Iron Head, revenge kill it, and clear up yet another obstacle for MPinsir.

​

CM Clefable

Clefable (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Flamethrower
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
​

As mentioned before, Clefable synegizes almost perfectly with the MPinsir / Keldeo offensive core. MPinsir takes care of defensive threats like Mega Venusaur, while Keldeo handles Bisharp, Scizor, Heatran and Excadrill; all of which are CM Clefable's biggest obstacles. In turn, Clefable takes care of the Lati twins, which would otherwise hinder both Keldeo and MPinsir. It also handles Thundurus after a CM, potentially eliminating a threat for MPinsir. Like previously mentioned, I replaced Zone with Clefable on my team. Having Clefable allowed me to have a better answer to Dragonite, Conkeldurr, Thundurus, Mega Gyarados, Mega Medicham, Kyurem-Black and Greninja (Scarf Zone still does not outspeed max speed Greninja. Read "Additional Notes" below for an alternate option). Overall, it is an invaluable team member to any MPinsir teams.

Utility Latias

Latias @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Healing Wish
- Trick
- Draco Meteor
​

With Mega Pinsir having such a crippling weakness to Stealth Rock, it is going to get worn down really quickly. Without an access to a recovery move, it is almost impossible to get MPinsir back to a healthy range after it switches into rocks even once. This is where Latias comes into play. Latias is an excellent pokemon to fit on any Mega Pinsir team, and for good reasons. It's ability to provide Defog support and check Rotom-W is enough to gain it a spot on the team, however, that is not all Latias has to offer. Its access to the move Healing Wish is the reason why I run it over Latios most of the time, and it is also the reason why Latias is such a great member alongside MPinsir. Healing Wish provides an excellent pseudo recovery for Mega Pinsir, and it actually activates before hazards; meaning that you can still use Healing Wish on MPinsir even though it is gonna die to hazards. With the above utility set, Latias provides even more utility purposes for the team. Like I said before, this is the set that I'm extremely proud of, because it basically turns Latias into a really great utility team mate. Trick allows it to cripple an opposing pokemon, potentially making it setup fodder for MPinsir. It also turns Latias into an excellent lead, giving it the ability to trick a specs to opposing Deoxys-D's and then Defog afterwards. Overall, it is the best Defogger on a MPinsir team imo, and it definitely will not disappoint.

Assault Vest Raikou

Raikou @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
​

Hardly seen in OU, a forgotten piece of the past, and a pokemon that doesn't run Assault Vest that often. However, it is extremely good; it just doesn't get much love with the superior Thundurus dominating the scene and the fact that people just doesn't know how insanely good AV Raikou is. AV Raikou in OU is an extremely underrated pokemon in my honest opinion, and it actually fits perfectly well on a Mega Pinsir team. I'm now gonna list a few things that AV Raikou handles in the current OU metagame... AV Raikous deals with Rotom-W, Thundurus, Greninja, Gengar, Talonflame, Mega Pinsir, Keldeo, Charizard Y, Lati@s, Togekiss. That is plain insane. With an AV equipped, Raikou becomes one of the few pokemon that can actually take 2 hits from Greninja, and possibly the only offensive pokemon that counters Greninja. It is also the only few offensive electric types that counters Rotom-W, and can still check Talonflame / MPinsir well. On top of that, it is also one of the only few pokemon that can switch into Gengar with ease, and immediately threaten it with a Shadow Ball afterwards. The reason why Raikou works well with MPinsir is because it handles Rotom-W, Thundurus (immunity to TWave), Skarmory and Zapdos which are well.... ALL of MPinsir's counters. It also deals really well against Greninja, a pokemon that has basically 0 switch-ins on hyper offensive teams. Definitely give AV Raikou a spin, it is extremely underrated and definitely deserves more than what it is currently getting.

​

In conclusion, there are 2 primary types of teams that Mega Pinsir can strive extremely well in; Balanced and Hyper Offense. I've showcased a total of 4 teams, 2 of which I've gone in-depth and analysed. Using the guidelines provided, many other possible teams can arise with the same formula (either Hyper Offensive or Balanced), and you can easily build yourself a solid MPinsir team. Of course, like any other team, theory-monning isn't going to get you far; so be sure to always test out teams against players to realise the flaws and advantages of your team. I've provided imports of all the teams showcased in this thread, and you can simply start by modifying one of the teams to suit your own preference. To all of you that read till this point, thank you for your time, and may this post bring the love of MPinsir to everyone. Cheers! -Scyfrost

Additional Notes​

Notes

• Magneton is actually faster than Magnezone. Although its quite gimmicky, a scarfed Magneton can be used instead to outspeed Greninja and other threats like a non max speed Gyarados at +1 Speed.
  
  
• I might get around to doing a detailed RMT for both the Starmie Balanced team and the Exca Sand Offense team, but the idea of both teams are pretty much in the guidelines provided.
  
  
• For all of y'all that are here to rate teams, feel free to give a rate to both the in-depth teams I've showcased. I might have missed out some flaws, so some insight will be invaluable.

Credits and Shoutouts​

Credits

• Guideline layout is inspired by Valentine's "Force of Nature" RMT thread.
• All XY Sprites are taken from Pokemon Showdown's sprite directory.
• All Pokemon icons are taken from Serebii.net.
• Calcs are calculated with Pokemon Showdown's Damage Calculator.
• The "Conclusion" gif is taken from here.
• This RMT was initially too long to post and I divided into 2 threads. Its now split into 2 posts instead.
  A big thank you to Harsha for suggesting the idea :]
• These people contributed to the RMT
  - amprettybad: Balanced Offense Team Threat List - Mamoswine.
  - Kazuma Yato: Notified me about the banning of Deoxys-S and Deoxys-D.
  - FlameBot: Hazards Lead Hyper Offense - Shuckle.
  - Dalleren: Balanced Team - Clefable EV Spread.
  Thank you everyone for your contributions!

 

[Scy]

Baton Pass has officially been nerfed to only 1 per team! Because of that, I've updated the Threats List. Rest in peace BP.

I've also updated the "Additional Notes" section for aspiring raters.

P.S. Thank you to everyone that sent me PMs. This is still an RMT thread so you can still rate, so don't worry about it :]

 

[pj]

Hi,
Great team and I would suggest giving hidden power fire to keldeo or any other pokemon since you dont have any fire pokemon it may cause you problem in your Mega Pinsir Team - Hyper Offense team

 

[henry]

Yoooo I played against your first team, haha. Cool team but I ended up winning :)

The team is really solid but had trouble against my lando-i with knock off.

If I were in your position, I might give Heatran Air Balloon instead of leftovers. I know air balloon can seem useless in some situations as opposed to leftovers which is usually beneficial in every position but it can really ruin a person's momentum if their plan was to kill Heatran with EQ/EP only to find it ballooned. My LO Mamoswine can power through your entire team, ohkoing anything that ohkos back on the switch, and in regards to Clef:

252+ Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 207-243 (52.5 - 61.6%) -- 98.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery




Latias is really important to the general makeup of your team, and although trick might be useful, in my opinion you might have won the match if you were carrying a different latias set. Two big problems I see to your team( like most teams) is being able to switch into landorus and deal with keldeo. This set should increase the longevity of Latias thereby making these threats less of a problem

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

This set allows you to check problems to your team multiple times over while still giving some offensive pressure

Psyshock can be substituted for surf, and LO can be substituted with leftovers.

 

[Scy]

Hi,
Great team and I would suggest giving hidden power fire to keldeo or any other pokemon since you dont have any fire pokemon it may cause you problem in your Mega Pinsir Team - Hyper Offense team

Thank you for your feedback praj! Regarding a Fire move, stuff like Scizor and Skarm can be handled by Keldeo, so I can see Ferrothorn being the problematic one. My usual approach to this would be denting it with a max attack Superpower from Thundurus, and MPinsir or Keldeo could kill after. Alternatively, you could also run Talonflame over Thundurus. Thundurus also get access to Incinerate, essentially a Hp Fire, so you can opt to run that also. However, I do feel that SPower is generally better to hit Heatran and TTar (while also hitting Ferro). I wouldn't remove Hp Electric on Keldeo for Hp Fire though (Fire is a pretty redundant coverage move on Keldeo), since Hp Electric deals with Azumarill, a huge threat for the team. Once again, thank you so much for the rate :]

Yoooo I played against your first team, haha. Cool team but I ended up winning :)

The team is really solid but had trouble against my lando-i with knock off.

If I were in your position, I might give Heatran Air Balloon instead of leftovers. I know air balloon can seem useless in some situations as opposed to leftovers which is usually beneficial in every position but it can really ruin a person's momentum if their plan was to kill Heatran with EQ/EP only to find it ballooned. My LO Mamoswine can power through your entire team, ohkoing anything that ohkos back on the switch, and in regards to Clef:

252+ Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 207-243 (52.5 - 61.6%) -- 98.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery




Latias is really important to the general makeup of your team, and although trick might be useful, in my opinion you might have won the match if you were carrying a different latias set. Two big problems I see to your team( like most teams) is being able to switch into landorus and deal with keldeo. This set should increase the longevity of Latias thereby making these threats less of a problem

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

This set allows you to check problems to your team multiple times over while still giving some offensive pressure

Psyshock can be substituted for surf, and LO can be substituted with leftovers.

I really appreciate the detailed feedback amprettybad, thank you! I have not been playing on PS for quite a while now, so the opponent probably wasn't me haha. Anyways Latias is basically my switch-in to Landorus-I and Keldeo (I don't see how the team has troubles with Keldeo though, Latias deals with Keldy. For Icy Wind variants, Clefable or my own Keldeo can come in right after to take the choiced Icy Wind, since a specs Icy Wind from Keldeo fails to OHKO Latias). Latias resist Focus Blast and Psychic, whereas its immune to Earth Power, so its generally a good check / counter to Lando-I. However yeah, Knock Off Lando-I could easily screw Latias over. Had not been facing Knock Off Lando-I's at all though (they're not that common as compared to CM or RPolish variants), so that didn't cross my mind. Thank you for the insight :] Still, I do believe that Knock Off Lando-I wouldn't tend to run Sludge Wave (correct me if I'm wrong), so Clefable after a CM should handle Lando. However I still do not have a reliable switch-in unless I predict well, so its still a threat. About the Mamoswine. Most Mamoswines I face on the ladder are lead variants with Sash + Rocks. I usually get rid of it really early with Keldeo so it is usually not problematic for me. LO Mamoswines are a pain though, Keldeo is basically the team's only Mamo check, so it is a hindrance to the team. Will add Mamo to the Threats List later :] Lastly, Latias and its Healing Wish support is too precious for me to forgo, since MPinsir would really appreciate the recovery. Also, this team kinda gets screwed over by bulky set up mons if I give up on Trick, so I think I'll be keeping Latias the way it is. Once again, I'd like to thank you for the rate :] It really helped.

EDIT: After messing around a bit more with the team, Lando-I doesn't prove to be that big of a problem. 90% run the usual CM/RPolish + Focus Blast + EP + Psychic set, which Latias walls. Knock Off variants are rare, but those can be handled by Clefable or Landorus-T (if they happen to carry both Sludge Wave + Knock Off). However Mamoswine can be a problem, so I'd still include it in the threats list. Thank you to everyone that helped!

 

[WideTomato]

Hi, nice team, I was just wondering why you do not have moxie as the default ability on pinsir in the importable? What does mold breaker do over moxie before going mega?

 

[dice]

im a fan of swords dance 5 move specs keldeo too!!

joking aside, hi

i'm going to rate your first team as it's the first one presented and least boring

your team is pretty cool and it's built pretty well, so there isn't much to talk about; however, there are still a few nagging weaknesses and adjustments i'd like to make to your team. first off, you have a pretty huge aegislash weaknesses in particular. if aegi gets a check switch in, you're going to be in a world of hurt as nothing wants to take a shadow ball by any means. i think this is the most major problem of the team. and lacking a solid aegi check is unacceptable on pretty much every team. you're going to lose a lot of consistency, and thus become less likely to peak the ladder any higher or do whatever. secondly, you're actually rather weak to mega pinsir itself which is rather ironic. landorus-t is a pretty shaky check itself, and you give opposing mega pinsir a wide array of set up opportunities from clefable to choice keldeo to heatran being forced out. this is kinda scary. a few minor threats include opposing cm clefable -- it can set up on heatran and only pinsir can outpower it if it starts cm'ing before your own clefable. also, rotom-w kinda dicks you if it plays well just given your team composition-- the burns are annoying and it can constantly maintain momentum vs your squad. overall though, it's a pretty good build.

so, to fix these weaknesses:

firstly, i recommend using a bisharp instead of clefable. bisharp is one of /THE BEST/ mega pinsir teammates around and i am shocked that it isn't even on your deo-d HO team alongside pinsir. why? pursuit. pursuit bisharp can own aegislash which allows pinsir to use a moveset having close combat instead of earthquake. this is pretty huge as now you don't have to rely on not not mega evolving to lure in rotom-w, but instead can fire off a +2 cc which ohkos spdef variants after stealth rock and does a shitload to regular rotom, so if it has just some residual damage it's going to die.

+2 252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Rotom-W: 281-331 (92.7 - 109.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 216+ Def Rotom-W: 210-248 (69.3 - 81.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

not only that, but you now have a solid move that 2hkos skarmory

+2 252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Skarmory: 171-202 (51.1 - 60.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

it also provides a definitely ohko on phys def ferrothorn which return cannot boast

+2 252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 188+ Def Ferrothorn: 372-438 (105.6 - 124.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 188+ Def Ferrothorn: 309-364 (87.7 - 103.4%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

so: bisharp both fixes your major weakness to aegislash and provides a great partner to your main sweeper. not only that, but it similarly gives you a better answer to all out attacking deoxys-s which could be a nuisance, gives your team more priority to have more offensive prowess, and can even act as a lure for opposing landorus-t if they are in desperate need of checking bisharp. knock off cripples walls that also typically switch into mega pinsir, and overall gives it a much more easy time late game which is the goal of your team. bisharp acts in the way clefable did of also helping check opposing dragons like lati@s, so you still retain that ability. i highly recommend trying this out. a set of iron head / pursuit / sucker punch / knock off @ blackglasses with max atk / spe should suffice.

now, for a few fixes that i still recommend, but change the composition of your team slightly:

as i said earlier, you are pretty weak to opposing mega pinsir. given the multitude of set up opportunities it has against your team. a scarfer with intimidate and no resistance is hardly a pinsir check at the end of the day, and will be worn out rather quickly. so: i recommend using a talonflame instead of heatran and making landorus-t physically defensive. with the introduction of bisharp, you now have a steel type which can also check lati@s effectively, so you can afford to give up heatran for talonflame. with talonflame, your team becomes a lot of up tempo and you now have a much stronger offensive core. not only that, but talonflame can help check pokemon with the gained fighting resistance that clefable used to, e.g. mega medicham. it similarly checks opposing scizor much like heatran, so you still retain that ability as well. a banded talonflame should work fine here, standard set and ev's. if you want to try something else, swords dance could be fine too.

making landorus-t physically defensive gives you a stealth rock'r that can still maintain momentum for the team. it also is a good pivot and i'm pretty sure you know what it does. with a physically defensive set, it can beat opposing talonflame much like heatran used to do, so you don't lose much in that respect. just the standard set (sr / eq / uturn / SE) and ev's of your choosing (physically defensive with some speed benchmark) should work fine.

i believe these changes will both improve your team offensively and defensively and you should have a far more consistent end product.

good luck.

 

[Scy]

Hi, nice team, I was just wondering why you do not have moxie as the default ability on pinsir in the importable? What does mold breaker do over moxie before going mega?

Thanks WideTomato! Mold Breaker allows Pinsir to hit Rotom-W on switch in with a super effective Earthquake (without Mega Evolving). This would potentially weaken them to the point where a Mega Frustration kills after. If Rotom-W is your opponent's only answer to MPinsir, weakening it will be really crucial. Alternatively Moxie could be used instead to pick off weaker kills and get free attack boosts, however I do find hitting Rotom-W more important. Its really up to personal preference at the end of the day :]

im a fan of swords dance 5 move specs keldeo too!!

joking aside, hi

i'm going to rate your first team as it's the first one presented and least boring

your team is pretty cool and it's built pretty well, so there isn't much to talk about; however, there are still a few nagging weaknesses and adjustments i'd like to make to your team. first off, you have a pretty huge aegislash weaknesses in particular. if aegi gets a check switch in, you're going to be in a world of hurt as nothing wants to take a shadow ball by any means. i think this is the most major problem of the team. and lacking a solid aegi check is unacceptable on pretty much every team. you're going to lose a lot of consistency, and thus become less likely to peak the ladder any higher or do whatever. secondly, you're actually rather weak to mega pinsir itself which is rather ironic. landorus-t is a pretty shaky check itself, and you give opposing mega pinsir a wide array of set up opportunities from clefable to choice keldeo to heatran being forced out. this is kinda scary. a few minor threats include opposing cm clefable -- it can set up on heatran and only pinsir can outpower it if it starts cm'ing before your own clefable. also, rotom-w kinda dicks you if it plays well just given your team composition-- the burns are annoying and it can constantly maintain momentum vs your squad. overall though, it's a pretty good build.

so, to fix these weaknesses:

firstly, i recommend using a bisharp instead of clefable. bisharp is one of /THE BEST/ mega pinsir teammates around and i am shocked that it isn't even on your deo-d HO team alongside pinsir. why? pursuit. pursuit bisharp can own aegislash which allows pinsir to use a moveset having close combat instead of earthquake. this is pretty huge as now you don't have to rely on not not mega evolving to lure in rotom-w, but instead can fire off a +2 cc which ohkos spdef variants after stealth rock and does a shitload to regular rotom, so if it has just some residual damage it's going to die.
+2 252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Rotom-W: 281-331 (92.7 - 109.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 216+ Def Rotom-W: 210-248 (69.3 - 81.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

not only that, but you now have a solid move that 2hkos skarmory
+2 252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Skarmory: 171-202 (51.1 - 60.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

it also provides a definitely ohko on phys def ferrothorn which return cannot boast
+2 252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 188+ Def Ferrothorn: 372-438 (105.6 - 124.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 188+ Def Ferrothorn: 309-364 (87.7 - 103.4%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

so: bisharp both fixes your major weakness to aegislash and provides a great partner to your main sweeper. not only that, but it similarly gives you a better answer to all out attacking deoxys-s which could be a nuisance, gives your team more priority to have more offensive prowess, and can even act as a lure for opposing landorus-t if they are in desperate need of checking bisharp. knock off cripples walls that also typically switch into mega pinsir, and overall gives it a much more easy time late game which is the goal of your team. bisharp acts in the way clefable did of also helping check opposing dragons like lati@s, so you still retain that ability. i highly recommend trying this out. a set of iron head / pursuit / sucker punch / knock off @ blackglasses with max atk / spe should suffice.

now, for a few fixes that i still recommend, but change the composition of your team slightly:

as i said earlier, you are pretty weak to opposing mega pinsir. given the multitude of set up opportunities it has against your team. a scarfer with intimidate and no resistance is hardly a pinsir check at the end of the day, and will be worn out rather quickly. so: i recommend using a talonflame instead of heatran and making landorus-t physically defensive. with the introduction of bisharp, you now have a steel type which can also check lati@s effectively, so you can afford to give up heatran for talonflame. with talonflame, your team becomes a lot of up tempo and you now have a much stronger offensive core. not only that, but talonflame can help check pokemon with the gained fighting resistance that clefable used to, e.g. mega medicham. it similarly checks opposing scizor much like heatran, so you still retain that ability as well. a banded talonflame should work fine here, standard set and ev's. if you want to try something else, swords dance could be fine too.

making landorus-t physically defensive gives you a stealth rock'r that can still maintain momentum for the team. it also is a good pivot and i'm pretty sure you know what it does. with a physically defensive set, it can beat opposing talonflame much like heatran used to do, so you don't lose much in that respect. just the standard set (sr / eq / uturn / SE) and ev's of your choosing (physically defensive with some speed benchmark) should work fine.

i believe these changes will both improve your team offensively and defensively and you should have a far more consistent end product.

good luck.

I cannot thank you enough for the suggestions you made Dice! Simply by reading, I can already see the whole team working together with the inclusion of Bisharp and Talon. Anyways taking in your suggestion I made the changes to the team, and started to experiment on PS for a little bit. I'm really surprised by the synergy between Pursuit Bisharp + CC MPinsir. EQ is usually run to OHKO Aegislash at +2, but with Aegi taken care of by Bisharp, CC MPinsir really gets to shine. Like you said, CC allows me to hit Skarm and Rotom-W, so thats really helpful. The only problem is that Skarm's Counter still deals with MPinsir regardless of CC, and I need +6 in order to OHKO with CC.

Calc vs Skarm

+6 252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 338-398 (101.1 - 119.1%) -- Guaranteed OHKO

With the loss of Heatran and Clefable, I find the team struggling more with Skarmory as even Talonflame did not help me with Skarm much (usually I'd find myself locked into BB revenge killing, Skarm comes in get up free rocks and I have no reliable way of dealing with it. With Keldeo gone, Skarm would become an even bigger problem). About the Bisharp, I'm really loving him. The ability to Pursuit trap the Lati twins helps MPinsir a lot of the times. With both Bish + Talon + MPinsir, this team has a lot of priority, so that's really neat. Now to answer to a few other issues you brought up... Latias is the team's way of dealing with Rotom-W, and Clefable also deals with Rotom-W too. I do not mind if Latias gets weakened by residual burn, as I'd be using it to HWish pass later on in the game, so it really won't matter much. Despite the possibility of a Sacred Sword, Heatran is usually my reliable way of switching into Aegi. The ability to easily take one Shadow Ball and threaten with Lava Plume after makes it quite a reliable Aegislash answer, and I usually take this chance to set up SR. Also, a lot more Aegislash are running Flash Cannon / Iron Head instead of Sacred Sword now, making Heatran an even more reliable answer. CM Clefable (or any other bulky set up mons) are usually crippled by my Latias with TrickSpecs, so that isnt an issue either. By locking CM Clefable, Heatran can come in after to deal with it. Landorus-Therian with a Choice Scarf is actually a good check, as with Intimidate + it being faster than MPinsir, the opponent is forced to use Quick Attack, which will not be OHKO-ing anytime soon. Talonflame is also a check (phyically Defensive Landorus-Therian takes minimum 75% from a +1 Return, +1 cause SD + Intimidate, so it is definitely not a good answer. Calc is below), but I do agree that Talon is more reliable (SR is a big issue however).

Calc vs MPinsir

+1 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Landorus-T: 286-337 (75 - 88.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

With 2 members x4 weak to rocks, more pressure is put on Latias to Defog also. And after Talon dies to recoil or if I fail to get rocks out of the way, MPinsir will become a bigger problem to my team than before. At the end of the day, I definitely like the idea of Bisharp, and the inclusion of Talonflame. I find advantanges and flaws in both my old and new team (the one you suggested), and I can't really say which one I like more though. I'm trying to squeeze a scarfed Magnezone into the Bisharp team you recommended, as it deals woth both MPinsir and traps Skarm, but removing one mon would break the synergy for the whole team, so I don't know where Zone would fit on the team. Anyways, I feel like doing an "Other Options" section for the balanced team on the RMT, featuring the new Bisharp and Talon as options. Will see what I can do later. If I do add the section on the RMT, I'll be leaving you in the Credits! Thank you so much once again Dice, your help is really appreciated!

 

[Limetka]

Now that Deo-S+D were finaly banished from OU play, is "Sand" the way to go?

 

[Scy]

Now that Deo-S+D were finaly banished from OU play, is "Sand" the way to go?

Spore Sash Hazards Lead Smeargle is the other (and best) solution. Sash Taunt Lead Stealth Rock Terrakion can be used also. Other options include sash rocks Garchomp and Mamoswine, but I generally prefer Terrak (cause Taunt) and Smeargle (cause spore + > 1 form of Hazards). Kinda blows that the Deo bros are gone, but I guess its for the better :] Will update the RMT

 

[Scy]

With the removal of the Deoxys bros, I've yet again made some changes to this RMT (some major ones at that). Deoxys-Defense is now replaced by Smeargle, but the main idea of the whole team is basically still present. I've also included other options for lead hazard setters. The "Credits" section has been updated as well.

Once again, thank you to everyone that contributed!

 

[Flamebot]

What about shuckle as a hazard setter? it does the job well too.

 

[Scy]

What about shuckle as a hazard setter? it does the job well too.

Hi FlameBot! I actually did mention Shuckle, but only vaguely. Anyway, the HO team guidelines is made more around hazard stacking rather than Sticky Web support, so I did not feel the need to include it at first. However if your special wallbreaker (or anyone on the team) is in need for Web support, Shuckle could be a great hazards lead too. Only downside though is without Magic Coat or Taunt, rocks will be hard to prevent. But I do feel that Shuckle is still a great lead and I ended up including it in the hazards lead option.

I've also credited you under the Credits section. Thank you for suggesting! :]

 

[WideTomato]

Hi, about the heatran. I really don't see how it can win a sr/defog war w zapdos, as zapdos can heal itself with roost, as well as doing a fair amount of damage with tbolt.

 

[Scy]

Hi, about the heatran. I really don't see how it can win a sr/defog war w zapdos, as zapdos can heal itself with roost, as well as doing a fair amount of damage with tbolt.

Hello WideTomato! Toxic + Protect can easily beat Zapdos, and Lava Plume can be used on a Defog to force a Roost on the following turn, while you get up your rocks again. Repeat the cycle and Zapdos will go down (or be forced to switch out and come back in taking 25% from SR). Also, specially defensive Heatran does not take > 25% from TBolt, while you wreck up damage really quickly with Lava Plume and Toxic residual. If the opponent use a turn to Defog, he is basically wrecking up another turn of Toxic damage. Anyway, here is the calc for standard Zapdos TBolt vs SpDef Heatran:

Damage Calc

0 SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 82-97 (21.2 - 25.1%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery

Cheers and thank you for the response! :]

 

[WideTomato]

Hello WideTomato! Toxic + Protect can easily beat Zapdos, and Lava Plume can be used on a Defog to force a Roost on the following turn, while you get up your rocks again. Repeat the cycle and Zapdos will go down (or be forced to switch out and come back in taking 25% from SR). Also, specially defensive Heatran does not take > 25% from TBolt, while you wreck up damage really quickly with Lava Plume and Toxic residual. If the opponent use a turn to Defog, he is basically wrecking up another turn of Toxic damage. Anyway, here is the calc for standard Zapdos TBolt vs SpDef Heatran:

Damage Calc

0 SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 82-97 (21.2 - 25.1%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery

Cheers and thank you for the response! :]

That's true... I apparently forget that heatran caries toxic -.-

 

[Dallaren]

Just a small suggestion, use 20 spdef on Clef to prevent being 2hkoed by hydropump after 1 CM.

 

[Scy]

Just a small suggestion, use 20 spdef on Clef to prevent being 2hkoed by hydropump after 1 CM.

Hi Dallaren, thank you for the response! I've made changes to Clefable. I gave it 40 SpDef investment to better take on Greninja, Rotom-W, and Thunudurs (after a CM). I've included you in the credits section :]

 

[Scy]

Had been away from this forum for quite some time, and came back seeing a pinned post asking users to stop making in-depth guides. Since I can't reply there, might as well say my piece here. Please take a moment to read through this.

Firstly, I do agree with the post, and I feel it should be a concern. Posting a "Slapped together in 5 minutes" guide and titling it "in-depth" can be really misleading, so yes, people should stop posting short guides and inserting misleading titles.

However, that shouldn't mean that "in-depth guides" should be disallowed as a whole. Like the post suggested, in-depth guides are not allowed anymore. Because of this, people who genuinely want to post guides to share their knowledge will be dissuaded to do so (I personally will never want to spend days making an RMT and risk a possible infraction in the end). The purpose of an RMT thread is for teams to be rated, and for players to know the flaws of the team, so they could make better teams in the future. In a nutshell, teambuilding is a fundamental essence in competitive battling, and an RMT thread helps players in that particular area. Teambuilding guides can also greatly aid players in teambuilding; they help players gain a clearer view of the teambuilding aspect of competitive as a whole, going into the specific roles to be fulfilled by each member. Because of that, I do feel that "In-Depth Guides" will benefit the community overall.

Like I mentioned before, short guides with misleading titles should be disallowed (obviously). However I do not think that because of a few RMTs that presented themselves badly, all "In-Depth Guides" should be refrained from posting. Having a general rule for guides (like for example, you need at least 4 lines of words to describe each role, otherwise your post will be removed) would be a better way to resolve this situation, rather than disallowing guides completely.

Having spent more than a week to make this particular RMT, I've a strong feeling towards this. Guides help share the knowledge around, and this will in turn help players in teambuilding. We are a community, helping and sharing should be encouraged, not dissuaded. That's all I have to say, thank you for your time.

Tagging Harsha for this

EDIT: A huge thank you to RMT Co-Leader Jirachee for posting a message on the original post. You can now post guides upon approval!

 

[Heliosan]

Thanks for this guide, Scy!

Just a note, in light of the Aegislash ban, how do you think that overall affects Mega Pinsir in the OU metagame going forward?

Also, thoughts on Feint Mega Pinsir? I have seen them popping up around in the OU ladder and curious what you think of it.

Thanks again for this guide! great job :)