ORAS OU Singles: Latios/Keldeo Bulky Offense

Question

Hi again! I've gone around and built another VoltTurn bulky offense, centered around an offensive core of Latios and Keldeo. You can give feedback on the sets and team synergy but please make sure that this team is not terribly weak to a prominent Pokemon as I was too lazy to do this. Without further ado, let's have a look at the team!

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Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
I originally went for Scarf but the team already has good Speed control with Latios and Tornadus-T, so I decided to use Specs instead. Icy Wind is cool for 2HKOing the Lati twins, but doesn't do much else. Plus, this team already has answers for the Lati twins in Scizor and Clefable, so maybe the last spot is better delegated to something else.

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Defog
Life Orb Latios. Pretty standard. I almost always choose Recover over extra coverage because I like the added longevity. I've been considering replacing Psyshock for either Surf or Hidden Power Fire, as the team has answers to Chansey, Clefable, Amoonguss and Mega Venusaur, which is what it's mainly used for.

Tornadus-Therian @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 76 Atk / 180 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- U-turn
With its high Speed and Regenerator, Tornadus-T is the glue of the team. The added bulk of AV Tornadus-T isn't needed so I decided to go with the Life Orb set instead. U-Turn and Knock Off have good utility while Superpower hits most Flying type resistant Pokemon hard.

Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Atk / 16 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
Scizor serves as an offensive check to Fairy and Dragon types as well as a late game cleaner when its checks have been weakened or eliminated. I chose the Bulky Swords Dance set as opposed to the offensive variant becuase it is a more reliable check to said Pokemon and I already have enough offense in Keldeo, Latios and Tornadus-T.

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
I needed a Stealth Rock user and something physically defensive, and Landorus-T was the obvious choice. I've been considering replacing Knock Off with Stone Edge for extra coverage as I already have Knock Off on Tornadus-T.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave
- Heal Bell
And finally, Clefable, serving as the main check to special attackers. I've decided to forego the Calm Mind + Magic Guard set for Heal Bell as status is everywhere in OU right now. Thunder Wave is Thunder Wave.

Answer 1

Good team. However, I've spotted a big flaw. You're weak to fast Electric-type Pokémon.
Fixes I suggest:

1. Keldeo: Hidden Power Ghost > Icy Wind

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252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hidden Power Ghost vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Slowbro: 228-270 (57.8 - 68.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hidden Power Ghost vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Latios: 180-214 (60.2 - 71.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Use of smart predictions and Hidden Power Ghost will net you, in one single moveslot, a nice lure to common answers to Keldeo such as Slowbro and Latios. While Latios will be faster, it's still taking a lot of damage. With Hidden Power Ghost, you're getting at least neutral damage on every single Pokémon in the game.

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2. Latios: Hidden Power Fire > Psyshock

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In this team, you have good answers to Venusaur-mega, Chansey and Amoonguss. Hidden Power Fire acts as a lure to Ferrothorn and Scizor, and it is noteworthy that Dragon/Fire has great neutral coverage. However, Azumarill could become problematic, in which case Thunderbolt becomes an interesting, albeit specialist option.

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3. Clefable: Stealth Rock > Heal Bell
4. Landorus-Therian: Scarf set

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These two changes will allow you to keep Stealth Rock in the team, while making use of Landorus as a scarfed revenge killer and answer to fast Electric-type Pokémon. You'll lose the defensive Ground-type you needed but Intimidate and the relatively good natural bulk Landorus sports may make up for this loss partially. You'll lose on Heal Bell's advantage of curing you from nasty statuses but you can count on Clefable to absorb Toxic, Will-O-Wisp and on Landorus to block Thunder Wave. You may need to fodder someone for Spore but you can counterplay around it.

>These changes will make your team slightly more offensive and less bulky, so you may want to reconsider what you wanted in the first place; for me, the weakness to the Manectric-mega + Bisharp core was too glaring to ignore, and so I believe with these fixes the team could perform better, but different.

Change Log
Scroll down to see the changes.

MyLittleNuke (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpD
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power Ghost

Flight 204 (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Defog

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

FearMeMortals (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock

Comments

Thanks! I never really considered the team weak to fast Electric types (Mega Manetric and Raikou) as both of these cannot 2HKO Clefable, even Choice Specs Raikou, although the Mega Manetric/Bisharp core is scary for this team. I'll give the changes a try and see how they do.

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sure! don't forget. Clefable can probably take hits from them but she cannot deal much damage since you're not using TankFable. And nothing would prevent them from using Volt Switch onto their Steel-/Poison-type.

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I just realized that this team is also really weak to Band T-Tar/Charizard Y core, as my only switch-in for Charizard Y is Lati.