Overview:
Ok, I know this is more of a "please help me with my team" area, but after watching the quality of RMTs decline over the past few years on this site, I decided to include a successful team along with my teambuilding notes in order to provide an example. This is due to a huge influx of players new to the competitive scene because of the release of new generations, and whilst it may be presumptuous and arrogant of me to try to challenge this, I believe I have enough experience and results to help in providing a decent example. With that said, on with the team.
Teambuilding:
To begin with, I took advantage of the new Gen 7 feature known as Z-Moves, in addition to an idea I had seen commonly on the ladder previously. This combined the raw power of a single use Z-Move to facilitate the activation of a snowball ability, such as Moxie/Soul Heart (see this for reference) in addition to ridding your sweeper of a check. To this end, I began with Salamence.
Due to its incredible stat spread, boosting move in the form of Dragon Dance (DD), and powerful offensive coverage in the form of dual STAB and Earthquake, Salamence generally only needs a single boost before it can start dismantling teams. I decided upon using Flyinium-Z as my Z-Crystal due to Flying being an incredible offensive typing, and with the coverage provided by Dragon Claw and Earthquake, only Skarmory and Celesteela resisted all Salamence's moves. After a DD boost, even typically "safe" walls such as Tapu Fini will fold to a Supersonic Skystrike at +1. However, I needed a mon to deal with the aforementioned Steel Types...
Magnezone is proving to be an excellent OU Pokemon, especially in Pre-Bank. Its Steel typing allows it to combat the influx of new fairies this generation, whilst the Magnet Pull ability and Electric typing allows it to eliminate threats like Celesteela and Skarmory for Salamence to reign unchecked. Thunderbolt and Flash Cannon are good reliable STAB moves, Volt Switch allows me to gain offensive momentum, and I chose Hidden Power Ground in the last slot in order to combat opposing Magnezones, as I happen to run Assault Vest on this Pokemon, and HP Ground can also hurt incoming Alolan-Marowak, who is a standard answer to this. Furthermore, the lack of Ferrothorn in Pre-Bank allows me to get away with not running HP Fire, and I can always Volt Switch out of Scizors. Speaking of which...
Ah, Mega Scizor. An old favourite of mine from XY, and it held its own in ORAS too. Basically I wanted a pseudo-check to a bunch of offensive threats in Pre-Bank, including Tapu Bulu, Tapu Koko, Mega Metagross and more besides. The Specially Defensive set of old worked wonders for me in the past, and to my pleasant surprise, it still does. Naturally strong Defence with invested HP and SpD, with access to Roost causes Mega Sciz to set up in front of powerhouses like Kartana and Buzzwole with minimal effort. Swords Dance means I can easily threaten to take out teams with this alone. Bullet Punch is standard for priority and STAB/Technician boosts, and I used Brutal Swing to compensate for Pre-Banks lack of Knock Off. It also allows me to wipe out Alolan Marowak, which this is EV'd to outspeed. Roost for obvious reasons; that being recovery.
Sadly the sprite site I was using wasn't updated to Gen 7, hence these look a bit different. Anyway, these two came as a package deal, having seen plenty of use on my other teams (albeit usually alongside Marowak. More on that later). Celesteela runs a defensive Leech Seed/Protect set, one for a form of recovery/chip damage and the other to scout typically Choiced mons (Tapu Lele springs to mind). Heavy Slam gives a surprisingly powerful STAB option for a wall, whilst Flamethrower allows me to damage Metagross/Scizor/Kartana, amongst others. Tapu Fini can take on the Fire types it doesn't want to, as well as letting me clear away hazards with Defog, prevent other walls recovering up with Taunt, and provide offensive pressure with Dual STAB (Moonblast/Scald).
Leftovers are on the pair for additional recovery, as they lack any true recovery moves. They do however share an Electric weakness, which is certainly a threat to the team, covered in more detail later.
Yep, not an Electric resist/immunity. Surprise! I needed a Stealth Rocker, and unfortunately Garchomp doesn't get Rocks Pre-Bank. This is also the matter for Alolan-Marowak, which I alluded to as part of a defensive core earlier. In which case the most obvious solution is Mamoswine. However, the most common hazard removal is Tapu Fini, who can sit and Defog against Mamo all day. Whilst not getting up Rocks at the expense of the opponents Tapu Fini sounds great, I specifically wanted a Rocks user who could scare Tapu Fini into keeping them up, in order for Rocks to break any Focus Sashes that want to interrupt Mence/Sciz from sweeping. Nihilego accomplishes this with STAB Sludge Wave and it's own Sash, functioning not only as a suicide Stealth Rock lead, but also as an emergency special attacker. Power Gem gives a second STAB, and Hidden Power Fire serves to weaken the Steel types that seek to get a free switch in.
Flaws:
No Pokemon team is perfect, and that rings true here too. As previously stated, the lack of a true Electric switch-in is the teams main downfall. The main perpetrators are Magnezone, Tapu Koko and Xurkitree. Sadly, dealing with them usually means I have to sack a mon to them in order to bring in a check unmolested. This is a secondary reason Nihilego has a Sash, to function as death fodder throughout the match. Magnezone can trap half of this team, and if a HP Fire variant it can deal out crippling blows. To combat this, my Magnezone runs HP Ground, an Assault Vest and more Speed Ev's than is usual in order to counter-trap the threat. Tapu Koko is generally checked by Sciz, who can Roost off Thunderbolts until Electric Terrain runs out, allowing it to set up. Xurkitree are dealt with dependent on set. If Scarfed, Magnezone can take it on (or Scizor if HP Ground Scarf), if not, Salamence can usually defeat it by merely outspeeding and KOing with Earthquake.
The Fire weakness is also somewhat apparent, but Pre-Bank lacks any good Fire users outside of non-STAB users, which can easily been taken care of by Mence/Fini.
The Team:
Salamence @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fly
Magnezone @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 48 HP / 252 SpA / 208 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Flash Cannon
Ev's outspeed Max Speed Jolly Marowak in case you can kill it with prior damage.
Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 156 SpD / 88 Spe
Careful Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Brutal Swing
- Roost
ORAS spread with 88 Speed to once again beat Alolan Marowak if it comes in on an SD.
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 148 Def / 112 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Leech Seed
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower
- Protect
Mixed Wall spead specifically designed to live 2 Tapu Lele Psychics after Rocks (non Specs).
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Defog
- Taunt
8 Spe generally allows me to Speed creep other Fini's and Taunt before they Defog.
Nihilego @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
Miscellaneous:
Make no mistake, due to Pokebank coming out relatively soon, this team will be invalidated due to a number of threats incoming that weren't in the Pre-Bank meta. However to validate my claims of effectiveness, I'll leave a couple of replays and my current ladder rank (as of the 10th of January 2017)
PS rank
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-511615688
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-512139380
My name is Runemark on PS (meant to change it here but never got around to it). I'm sure Mew/Mike can corroborate if they're still active, along with some other older users.
I hope this guide has been somewhat informative and helpful, and wish you every success in your teambuilding adventure.
Runemark~
