SS OU Zeraora Endgame Sweep. 1700 +. Made top 500

[LudwigFrog]

I wanted to make a team around the Zeraora. Specifically the bulk up set. I feel Zeraora is one of the best late game sweepers currently, so I decided to make a team around it.

The team turned out to do really well. I got into top 500, my Elo was higher than shown in the screenshot, I just took this one initally.

TEAMBUILDING PROCESS!!!!

First off, most of if not all of Zeraoras checks are ground or Grass type. This makes Weavile the perfect teammate for Zeraora. You can deel with Zeraora's threats like Lando T, Garchomp and Tangrowth. Zeraora also deals with Weavile's checks like Tapu Fini and Corviknight. Weavile is also one of the best breakers currently so it deserves a spot on the team.


Tapu Fini has seen a rise in usage lately, specifically in the choice scarf set and for good reason too. It has STAB moves that are super effective against a lot of the faster mons like Dragapult and Weavile. It also has a lot of bulk even without EV investments. And lastly, it has trick to shut down mons like Ferrothorn, Toxapex or even the occasional Quagsire. Shutting down the walls is super important for Weavile to break and for Zeraora to sweep lategame. The breakers also hate taking status so it's the perfect teamate.


Lando fits on any team, the defensive variant atleast. It sets up stealth rock, and pivots out. It can be very annoying to switch into as you will take status in Toxic, or take a lot of damage from Earthquake, as it has a very high attack stat. Lando will just do Lando things and work.


Blissey fits a similar case to lando. It has amazing special bulk rather than physical and can take hits and check Kyurem and Volcarona, while pivotting out into the breakers. It has toxic for status and soft boiled so it can recover and keep teleporting. Blissey can work well on any team.


For the last mon of the team, I decided on Corviknight. This team needs a defoger since we have choice band Weavile on the team. Tapu Fini also dosen't really like taking rocks and spikes damage as it dosen't have leftovers. It walls Rillaboom and Kartana, which the rest of the team struggle with. It has U turn to pivot out. I was considering running body press to deal with Bisharp, but I felt Brave Bird was more useful.



Zeraora @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Bulk Up
Zeraora was obviously the main point of the team. And it is very good. This set provides insane coverage, and along with amazing speed, allows it to have not many checks besides Ground types, which the rest of the team will help with. Try to keep Zeraora for the end, because that's what you want.


Weavile @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Triple Axel
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Low Kick
Weavile has seen a huge rise in usage, and for good reason too. It is one of the best breakers in the current metagame. It has an amazing speed tier out speeding mons like Tornadus-T and all base 115s. It has priority in ice shard incase you need to finish off low hp opposing mons. It is the perfect teamate for Zeraora, as it can break all of Zeraoras checks. Zeraora also helps Weavile as Weavile is weak to Tapu Fini, and Corviknight. Zeraora can clear the path for Weavile to break.


Tapu Fini @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Moonblast
- Scald
- Trick
Tapu Fini is an important part to the team. It provides the water and fairy typing to deal with fire types dragon types etc. It also puts up terrain, and because Zeraora and Weavile hate taking Status, it helps them out a lot. The scarf set allows it to shut down walls with trick and deal large amounts of damage to opposing sweepers. It has natural bulk already so having speed and good special attack makes an amazing mon. We also need a special attacker since most the team is physical.


Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Def / 104 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Toxic
Lando is the jack of all trades. It will work in any team and do it's job well. I put the speed evs to make it so im faster than max speed Tyranitar, Bisahrp, etc. It sets up rocks and catches switchins to flying types with Toxic. U turn helps pivot out into your breakers aswell. I was originally gonna run Knock Off over Toxic, but I already have 2 Knock Off users, and Zeraora would do less damage to opposing Lando's if I remove their item with Knock. So I decided to run a 2nd Toxic user.


Blissey (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Soft-Boiled
- Teleport
Blissey is the special wall of the team. It eats hits from mons like Kyurem and Tapu Koko. It has toxic so you can put opposing mons on timer, making it rough for most mons to switch into. You have to have soft boiled of course. And teleport helps you eat hits and switch out. Make sure to recover if you're to low. Don't make the mistake of teleporting again.


Corviknight @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn
Corviknight is here to clear hazards, as Tapu Fini and especially Weavile don't like taking Stealth Rock damage. It also walls the grass types like Kartana and Rillaboom. It helps pivot into your breakers with u turn.

Threats:

One of the big three threats is Bisharp. I mentioned earlier how I was gonna run body press on Corv rather than Brave Bird. But Brave Bird is more necessary to the team as it hits Buzzwole, Rillaboom, etc. You have to manage to land a Low Kick, or Close Combat. Chipping it down with Fini is an option aswell, play smart and it won't be the worst.

Another big threat is Tapu Lele. Corviknight does have those spdef evs to take hits, but with rocks up, it can be difficult. Remember to Roost, and you can stall it out with Pressure. Play smart and you can still close out wins.

The team dosen't have a clear check to Ferrothorn. You need to chip it down from Weavile's Knock Offs, or Zeraora's Close Combats. Tricking it with Tapu Fini is also a way to deal with it. Just play smart and careful and don't get carried away.

Here is the pokepaste for easier conversion:
https://pokepast.es/be03083398c9e487

Enjoy!

 

[Cangey]

If you are using zera as a sweeper at the end and not a pivot you don't need boots imo, go for something like leftovers or magnet. boots is for zera pivot

 

[Smashburn]

If you are using zera as a sweeper at the end and not a pivot you don't need boots imo, go for something like leftovers or magnet. boots is for zera pivot

It's a decent idea with Zera, but considering its role in the team I would still go boots as it is most optimal. It allows Zeraora- as the only immediate check to most defoggers for the team- to get in safely which makes Corviknight's role less troublesome VS Magnezone, keeping in mind that Zera will enter the field more than once outside of terrain. The team's only other way to reliably cripple defoggers is with Trick from Fini, which further causes trouble for the team as they can simply swap out. Speaking of Fini, the team could use a secondary method to hit switches like Rillaboom and other offensive switches reliably even outside of terrain, making Scald a much better option than Ice Beam by a longshot.

OP's team also has a considerably hard time answering its threats by using Brave Bird Corviknight, sure it is their main coverage for Buzzwole and other grasses aside from Weavile's offensive presence, but it loses proper coverage VS "threats" to OP's team like boosted Kartana or anti-lead Tyranitar.

Additionally, there are several EV mistakes based off of sets taken from Smogon's website Dex:

1. Corviknight uses a spread of 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD

HP amounts divisible by 4 take more damage from Stealth Rock switching in, and for a defogger like Corviknight, this is undesirable.

2. Landorus uses a spread of 252 HP/ 164 Def / 92 Spe

Landorus on the other hand has an HP amount with full investment that is NOT divisible by 4, however, there is too much taken out of its bulk to give it unnecessary speed. Landorus only needs 92 Spe on an Impish nature to outspeed threats like Bisharp, and additionally this outspeeds max speed Timid Magnezone which is more common for checking Heatran reliably on teams that need the coverage.

The team already has two Knock Off users, and Knock Off is specifically reserved for mixed defensive Landorus sets or niches who's job in teams that require it is to tank hits from threats either SpA or Atk invested who rely on their items, so that Landorus can cripple them. Run Toxic on this set, it also helps VS Landorus switch-ins such as ground types and various other checks outside of terrain and other Flying type / Levitate mons as Misty Terrain only effects mons that are grounded.

The team overall has a lot of holes that need patching and the setup is sub-optimal for most situations, but if OP wants to build based off of a similar core they can try Mixed Defensive Lando with Magnezone and Weavile + Fini.

Hopefully this gives some insight, have a nice day.

 

[LudwigFrog]

It's a decent idea with Zera, but considering its role in the team I would still go boots as it is most optimal. It allows Zeraora- as the only immediate check to most defoggers for the team- to get in safely which makes Corviknight's role less troublesome VS Magnezone, keeping in mind that Zera will enter the field more than once outside of terrain. The team's only other way to reliably cripple defoggers is with Trick from Fini, which further causes trouble for the team as they can simply swap out. Speaking of Fini, the team could use a secondary method to hit switches like Rillaboom and other offensive switches reliably even outside of terrain, making Scald a much better option than Ice Beam by a longshot.

OP's team also has a considerably hard time answering its threats by using Brave Bird Corviknight, sure it is their main coverage for Buzzwole and other grasses aside from Weavile's offensive presence, but it loses proper coverage VS "threats" to OP's team like boosted Kartana or anti-lead Tyranitar.

Additionally, there are several EV mistakes based off of sets taken from Smogon's website Dex:

1. Corviknight uses a spread of 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD

HP amounts divisible by 4 take more damage from Stealth Rock switching in, and for a defogger like Corviknight, this is undesirable.

2. Landorus uses a spread of 252 HP/ 164 Def / 92 Spe

Landorus on the other hand has an HP amount with full investment that is NOT divisible by 4, however, there is too much taken out of its bulk to give it unnecessary speed. Landorus only needs 92 Spe on an Impish nature to outspeed threats like Bisharp, and additionally this outspeeds max speed Timid Magnezone which is more common for checking Heatran reliably on teams that need the coverage.

The team already has two Knock Off users, and Knock Off is specifically reserved for mixed defensive Landorus sets or niches who's job in teams that require it is to tank hits from threats either SpA or Atk invested who rely on their items, so that Landorus can cripple them. Run Toxic on this set, it also helps VS Landorus switch-ins such as ground types and various other checks outside of terrain and other Flying type / Levitate mons as Misty Terrain only effects mons that are grounded.

The team overall has a lot of holes that need patching and the setup is sub-optimal for most situations, but if OP wants to build based off of a similar core they can try Mixed Defensive Lando with Magnezone and Weavile + Fini.

Hopefully this gives some insight, have a nice day.

Thank you for the feedback. I think now that I look on it, I shouldn't really need to outspeed max speed TTar since that's not super common. Having Scald on Fini can be useful so I will consider that. Toxic on Lando is a hit or miss imo. It feels more matchup dependent as I can struggle with DD Dragapult + Fire Blast without Knock Off, and it's useful overall to remove items. But you do make good reasoning. If Zeraora is gonna be knocking off Lando's item, then maybe putting it on timer could be a better idea instead.

 

[Clone]

I feel like slowking galar > blissey would fit this team better. Since youre using blissey as a pivot and it doesn't have rocks, I feel that gking has more usefulness than blissey. First, it allows you to set up future Sight so you can break past buzzwole. On top of this, it can be EVed to always live a CB Surging Strikes from Urshifu and hit back hard with Sludge Bomb. This is important because right now, your only SS switch in is RH corv, which is still 2HKOed and the recoil doesn't quite finish urshifu off. You have fini, but without any Bulk investment all it takes is a round of SR and eating a CC and it's no longer a switch in. Gking at least gives you a CC resist and another mon that can take at least one SS in a pinch. You do become a little weaker to pult, but between fini, weavile, and zera, I think you have it handles just fine.

I'd also like to recommend a bulkier fini spread for reasons I mentioned above. I think scarf is fine, but 248 hp / 216 spe / 44 Def would probably be more beneficial. With this spread you can drop Hydro Pump, which can be replaced with either taunt, defog, Nature's Madness, or Whirlpool. Any of these could work so I'd try and play around with that moveslot a bit and see what you like. Defog might be a good option though since weavile isn't boots.

Lastly, body Press > Brave Bird on corv. Prevent heatran from coming in for free, OHKOes weavile and Bisharp, and since you now have future Sight on the team, you don't need it for buzzwole.

I'll give you the gking set below. Good luck with the team.

set

Slowking-Galar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 12 Def / 128 SpA / 120 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Sludge Bomb
- Scald
- Flamethrower