XY OU Balanced - Bisharp Mega-Medicham Core (Help me break 1500!!)

killingj0k3

killingj0k3

Hello All,

This is my second try at competitive team building, not a lot of experience so I kind of go by what makes sense to me. so all suggestions and criticism are most welcome:

The Team At a Glance:

medicham-mega.gif
bisharp.gif
talonflame.gif
rotom-wash.gif
sylveon.gif
latios.gif


Team Building process:

I start off with Mega-Medicham:

medicham-mega.gif

Medicham @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
Nature: Jolly
EVS: 252 ATK / 252 SPE / 6 SDEF
  • Hi Jump Kick
  • Ice Punch
  • Zen Headbutt
  • Fake Out
I really like the fact that there is so much things that he can OHKO and I love his wall breaking capabilities, he has proven again and again in WIFI battles to be a great wall breaker and always cause switches and will always guarantee a few KOs

On top of this my opponents have a really hard time switching into his attacks once he is in and set up. His moveset give a lot of coverage, and Fake out allows him to protect himself on the turn he mega evolves and occasionally breaks the sash. Zen headbutt is there for Megavenusaur and ice punch gives the middle finger to a lot of would be checks. Hi jump kick is a complete wrecking ball and will destroy a lot of things in front of it, but I must be very mindful of ghosts and the odd protect here and there.

I know that he has several drawbacks however:

  • he is frail and weak to entry hazards
  • his speed is not that amazing
  • weakness to ghost, fairy and flying (common types in today's meta-game.)
  • once afflicted with status, he has no staying power.
  • Completely walled by Aegislash. (seriously, there's just no way around it)
So to cover some of Medicham's weaknesses I include the next member in the team:

Bisharp:

bisharp.gif

Bisharp @ Lifeorb
Ability: Defiant
Nature: Jolly
EVS: 252 ATK / 252 SPE / 6 HP
  • Knock Off/Pursuit/Stealth Rock
  • Sucker Punch
  • Iron Head
  • Psycho Cut

He covers a Medicham's ghost weakness, kills fairies (soft counter but I love him), also has a lot of handy resistance that covers Medicham's and have a fantastic offensive presence on the field and a great ability in defiant that takes advantage of intimidate users, and Sticky web basically gives this thing a free SD and allows him to sweep, not to mention he semi counters Aegislash because he is not afraid of Kings shield and most of the time I will hit before the opposing Aegislash's sacred sword with knock off which OHKO most of the time.

I slashed Pursuit and Stealth rock here because I am still testing which move fits in best, at the moment I really liked the idea of pursuit trapping but usually it is just a one time thing and with the new team lacking a SR setter (bye bye Excadrill) I'm trying out SR as well.

He does have weakness's though:

  • Weakness to Ground, fire and a 4x weakness to fighting (thanks to Someones suggestion on show down, I now have Psycho-cut to give some of the fighting switch ins and poison Type a Run for their money, Thank You!!)
  • Suck punch provides good mind game opportunities but it can back fire (i.e. gives chance for set up)
  • very susceptible to will o wisp and other status conditions.

Which brings us to the Pivot of the team:

Rotom-W:

rotom-wash.gif


Rotom-W@ leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Calm
EVS: 252HP / 252: SDEF / 6 DEF

  • Pain Split
  • Volt switch
  • Hydropump
  • Will o Wisp
The pivot of my team needs to cover my cores type weakness, allow for flexibility in slow Volt switch to protect me sweepers entry and exist from the field as well as potentially cripple or out right KO some troublesome Pokemon that can harass my sweepers.

I believe Rotom-W to be the perfect candidate, a specially defensive EV spread as well as great typing allows my Bisharp or Mega-Medicham to switch out into something that can take a hit or cripple in return, or take a hit and volt switch them in.

Will o Wisp give Rotom-w an opportunity to cripple some physical threats like Garchomp and T-Tar, hydropump also hits very hard while Volt switch has the potential to KO some troublesome flying and water types while maintaining momentum.

Now that I have a relatively solid core, I'll need some mission specific Pokemon, this brings us to our revenge killer/sweeper.

Talonflame:
talonflame.gif

Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale wings
Nature: Adamant
EVS: 252 SPE / 252 ATK / 6 SPD

  • Brave Bird
  • U-Turn / Nature gift
  • Tailwind
  • Flare Blitz
I know Talonflame is very very common, I love its design and it really adds a lot of offensive presence to my team. on top of this, if I see an obvious will o wisp I can simply switch into Talonflame and watch her wreck things. Very standard set here, I can't decide on keeping momentum with U-Turn or the extra coverage a leichi berry Nature Gift offers. Otherwise very standard tried and true Talonflame set.

These are the Weakness that concerns me:
  • Weak to Stealth Rock
  • common weakness in Rock, Lightning and Water types
  • Glass Cannon
Speaking of Stealth Rock, an officer and Gentleman (or Lady) by the name of Rafael offered some fantastic suggestions!! now Subbing for Excadrill.

Meet Latios:

latios.gif



Latios @ Life Orb
EVS: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Ability: Levitate
Timid Nature
IV: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor
- HP Fighting / Fire

Your team still needs a dedicated Special Attacker, which Excadrill does not provide, yes you lose SR (for now) but you gain a more reliable form of removal in Defog (Rapid Spin can be Spin Blocked) while also possessing some outright raw power to put a hurting on a ton of mons.

I slashed HP Fire Here

Thanks To Rafael, I also have a great Specially Defensive pivot in the form of Sylveon who replaced Thundurus:

sylveon.gif


Sylveon @ Leftovers
EVS: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 SpA
Ability: Pixilate
Calm Nature
IV: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Hyper Voice
- Heal Bell

Basically a more offensively inclined version of Chansey/Blissey. Acts as a Cleric, (heals burns that MegaCham and Bisharp might incur), restores HP and tanks Special Attacks like a champ. With her and Rotom-W; you now have a base to fall back on if you need your core needs to be maintenance midway through a battle.


I welcome all suggestions and even out right changes as all i can do is learn at this point, right?

Replays (will post more as time goes by):

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-116764851
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-116805292 (some really bad decision making on my part)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-116808057 (slightly better this time, but I can improve)

New Team Test:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-117790592 (very weird Battle but the guy was a troll I think)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-117799929 (also interesting, I think Sylveon really showed its value here)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-118117009 (Latios Really shows his value here despite losing a speed tie to his sister, Sylveon also showed how she acted as a solid core here, really happy with how this battle shaped up)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-118140204 (interesting match vs a trapper - finally at 1500, hopefully I keep climbing)
On the Bench

Thundurus-I
thundurus.gif


Thundurus @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Nature: Timid
EVS: 252 SPE / 252 SPATK / 6 SDEF

  • Hidden Power - Ice
  • Thunderbolt
  • Thunderwave
  • Taunt
Priority Taunt has saved me on several occasions and I can not stress how important this is for this team, Thunder wave allows me to potentially cripple a lot of threats that may threaten my other Pokemons. He also has a fantastic offensive presence that allows him to net in some kills early in the game, I find that I use him as a lead 90% of the time simply because he puts a stop to so many set up attempts.

Hidden power Ice hits a lot of would be setup dragon sweepers hard and weaken them enough for Talonflame to eliminate, and thunderbolt is powerful enough to eliminate most un-sashed leads after a taunt.

but there are a few things that are his down sides:

  • Ice beam, Rock Slide mess him up
  • most of the time he is a one hit pony
  • once again, he is incredibly frail
  • if he misses a OHKO, he will die


excadrill.gif


Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Jolly
EVS: 252 SPE / 252 ATK / 6 SDEF

  • Rapid Spin
  • Earth Quake
  • Rock Slide/Iron head
  • Stealth Rock
This pokemon filled quite a lot of gaps for this team, I need something that can switch into Lightning moves as well as immune to Thunder wave. He also threatens some of the would be spin blockers like Gengar as well as Talonflame's counter Rotom-w, he also allows for some very strategic hazard placing, at this point I need to stress that he is not a lead, but he does allow me to stack the favor for my late game sweeps and spins away hazards on my side and also have a decent offensive pressure.

Air Balloon takes away his ground weakness and allows him to switch into a lot of his would be checks and KO, Earth quake deals a great amount of damage and KO Aegislash if Bisharp wasn't enough, rockslide offers great coverage as well as potentially OHKO charizard and other flying types switching into him, or I can opt for Iron head which allows him to kill fairies.

There is a few things that concerns me about him that is not necessary covered by his teammates:

  • His speed is not that great
  • He is weak to fighting and fire (which Rotom-w Semi covers)
  • I find myself sacrificing him a lot to keep momentum.
 
Last edited:
Hey killingj0k3, Nice team you have here.

Here are my thoughts:

1. Lack of a defensive base: Your Physical Attack presence is astounding; however, after that, your team seems to lack a fall back plan of sorts. It almost feels like we are looking at HO without the pressure being applied. To remedy this, I would suggest the following:

Rotom-W @ Chesto Berry
EVS: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Ability: Levitate
Bold Nature
IV: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Volt switch
- Hydropump
- Will-o-Wisp

Status Absorbtion through ChestoRest. Spreads status thanks to WoW. Tanks Talonflame (who wrecks Medicham's life) and immune to EQ (one of Bisharp's banes). Physically defensive is overall, more suited to handle the checks/counters of your MegaCham-Bisharp Core. You still might feel that special attacks could hurt you... that's where this comes in:

Sylveon @ Leftovers
EVS: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 SpA
Ability: Pixilate
Calm Nature
IV: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Hyper Voice
- Heal Bell

Basically a more offensively inclined version of Chansey/Blissey. Acts as a Cleric, (heals burns that MegaCham and Bisharp might incur), restores HP and tanks Special Attacks like a champ. With her and Rotom-W; you now have a base to fall back on if you need your core needs to be maintenance midway through a battle.

2. Hazard Control: You REALLY need something to remove SR more effectively; especially since Talonflame can act as a makeshift endgame cleaner. With that being said I would replace Excadrill with:

Latios @ Life Orb
EVS: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Ability: Levitate
Timid Nature
IV: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor
- HP Fighting

Your team still needs a dedicated Special Attacker, which Excadrill does not provide, yes you lose SR (for now) but you gain a more reliable form of removal in Defog (Rapid Spin can be Spin Blocked) while also possessing some outright raw power to put a hurting on a ton of mons.

The additions would replace Thundurus and Excadrill; also, you could explore changing Bisharp's set.

Bisharp @ Life Orb
EVS: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Ability: Defiant
Jolly Nature
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Iron Head

Stealth Rock makes Bisharp less of dead weight after he is hit with a WoW, not to mention the surprise factor involved in this, while also having Pursuit to ruin any Ghost or Psychic type you happen to catch in your web.

Hope I have helped your team. Good Luck to breaking 1600 and beyond ^_^
 
Hello Rafael, Thank you so much for your suggestions, I love the idea of a defensive core and will certainly give it a try right away. if you don't mind me asking some questions about the Latios and the new Bisharp:

Latios @ Life Orb
EVS: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Ability: Levitate
Timid Nature
IV: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor
- HP Fighting

Your team still needs a dedicated Special Attacker, which Excadrill does not provide, yes you lose SR (for now) but you gain a more reliable form of removal in Defog (Rapid Spin can be Spin Blocked) while also possessing some outright raw power to put a hurting on a ton of mons.

This set looks fantastic, I have not tired a Latios set yet but I would like to know what threats does HP Fighting cover?



Bisharp @ Life Orb
EVS: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Ability: Defiant
Jolly Nature
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Iron Head

Stealth Rock makes Bisharp less of dead weight after he is hit with a WoW, not to mention the surprise factor involved in this, while also having Pursuit to ruin any Ghost or Psychic type you happen to catch in your web.

Also a Great Set and I love the Surprise factor in Stealth Rock/Pursuit but wouldn't I lose out on some sweeping opportunities if I don't have Sucker Punch?
 
killingj0k3 said:
Hello Rafael, Thank you so much for your suggestions, I love the idea of a defensive core and will certainly give it a try right away. if you don't mind me asking some questions about the Latios and the new Bisharp:

Latios @ Life Orb
EVS: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Ability: Levitate
Timid Nature
IV: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor
- HP Fighting

Your team still needs a dedicated Special Attacker, which Excadrill does not provide, yes you lose SR (for now) but you gain a more reliable form of removal in Defog (Rapid Spin can be Spin Blocked) while also possessing some outright raw power to put a hurting on a ton of mons.

This set looks fantastic, I have not tired a Latios set yet but I would like to know what threats does HP Fighting cover?



Bisharp @ Life Orb
EVS: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Ability: Defiant
Jolly Nature
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Iron Head

Stealth Rock makes Bisharp less of dead weight after he is hit with a WoW, not to mention the surprise factor involved in this, while also having Pursuit to ruin any Ghost or Psychic type you happen to catch in your web.

Also a Great Set and I love the Surprise factor in Stealth Rock/Pursuit but wouldn't I lose out on some sweeping opportunities if I don't have Sucker Punch?
Click to expand...
Hey killingj0k3,

For Latios, HP Fighting OHKOs Bisharp who would try to Pursuit Trap you. Also, LOL for everytime I've been asked what HP Fighting covers on Latios ^_^

For Bisharp, that decision is up to you. The set is pretty unconventional in that you are using the "possibility" of Sucker Punch to force switches and afford you the opportunity to set up either with SR or Pursuit Trap, especially if the opponent is weak enough to net a KO. Sucker Punch is very powerful, don't get me wrong, however, I've seen people be too reliant on Sucker Punch at times and fizzling out cause either the opponent A) Switched Out or B) used a non-attacking move. Pursuit/Stealth Rock take advantage of the switch and if you opponent uses a non-attacking move like Will-O-Wisp then your attack gets cut and you lose out a turn for possible damage output.

Hope these responses bring some clarity and good luck once again on your climb up the ladder.
 
Hello Rafael,

So I've tested the changes a bit and here are some of my thoughts:

Latios: Oh my god why haven't I tried this before, so good, definitely here to stay.

Chesto Rotom - The one use Rest Chesto combo is quite good but sometimes the single use full recovery can hurt it a little.

Sylveon: Awesome cleric, decent potential on the field and has the ability to hyper voice pass subs. want to test it further.

Bisharp, Really really misses the Sucker-punch, stealth rock is an interesting option but I find that after I stealth rock or Pursuit, the opponent usually knows whats up and will play around him.

I will update team roster later.
 
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