Rate my Gen 8 OU Team

Question

Recently, I've been experimenting with some HyperOffense-ish OU teams, and I've run into some trouble. I figured I should ask here for help.

Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Smart Strike
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Knock Off

Kartana, one of the best revenge killers and sweepers in the game thanks to its 181 base attack and access to Beast Boost. Maximum Speed plus Choice Scarf allows it to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame except Timid Regieleki. Smart Strike and Leaf Blade are strong STABs, Sacred Sword is for Heatran and other Steels, and Knock Off deals with switchins fairly nicely.

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power

Heatran, my stallbreaker and hazard setter. Magma Storm traps foes and chips away at thier health, Taunt prevents stallers like Chansey to do their things, Stealth Rock is Stealth Rock, and Earth Power covers opposing Fires or otherwise that wouldn't be that bothered by Magma Storm.

Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Volt Switch
- Heat Wave
- Roost

This team's Defogger: a classic PhysDef set with Static to wall some Cinderace sets. Volt Switch gains momentum and pivots nicely, Heat Wave hits Scizor and Ferrothorn supereffectively, Roost restores Health, and Defog gets rid of hazards.

Magearna @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Calm Mind
- Shift Gear
- Draining Kiss

Magearna is my special setup sweeper. This set probably needs some work. I didn't use Max Speed so now it doesn't outspeed many major threats after a boost, but if it gets off two Shift Gears the opponent could be in trouble.

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Close Combat
- Surging Strikes
- U-turn

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike is my main pivoter; the main point is to switch in on a weakened foe and then U-turn and gain momentum for some of my other teammates.

Dragapult @ Leftovers
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Darts
- Phantom Force
- Substitute

Dragapult, my physical setup sweeper. Substitute on a stall 'mon can be useful, Dragon Dance is awesome and allows it to outspeed the entire unboosted metagame after a dance, and Dragon Darts and Phantom Force are STAB.

Now, the main problem I have when using this team is against bulky Landorus-T or Garchomp. My Landorus-T main check / counter (depending if they're Scarf or have something crazy like Fly) is Urshifu-Rapid-Strike. But against Bulky Helmet sets, Urshifu has to take 51% damage from helmet after Surging Strikes. Garchomp is also a big problem. After a Swords Dance and Scale Shot boost it outspeeds everything on my team and kills. Dragapult is my usual check, but it doesn't work after a Scale Shot.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Comments

From the way you built your team, it seems you want a hyper offense type of team. If that's the case, you should probably drop Zapdos and Heatran and replace them with suicide lead Landorus Therian and Regileki. Regi will allow you to maintain Zapdos' hazard removal with rapid spin while setting up screens, which is crucial as without a boost, that Magearna set is fragile af. Suicide lead Landorus Therian would also allow you to bring in a pokemon safely to start setting up and killing. Here are the sets for both of them

Regileki @ Light Clay
Ability: Transistor
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe or 252 Atk / 4 def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Reflect
- Explosion
- Volt Switch
- Light Screen

Landorus-Therian @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Explosion
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

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Okay, but are entry hazards now going to be a problem after I have no Defogger? You said Regieleki has spin but the set doesn't have it on.

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Oh lol I didn't notice that. Just replace volt switch with rapid spin since ground types are always gonna switch into Regieleki anyway

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Okay. I’ll test it to see if it works better, basically the only problem I have is that if Heatran is removed, Stall gets a lot harder to fight.

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Is stall actually that common atm? I've never really run into them and unless they're running Skarmory, Magearna just pretty much brute forces its way past them even thru the resisted hits

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Stall, you shud, ig, always be prepared against.
Bliss / Pex / Skarm / Quag / and more I rlly dunno are kind of common on stall, and Heatran can remove Blissey + Skarm, and it also takes less damage from Scald Pex (0 SpA Toxapex Scald vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 72-86 (18.6 - 22.2%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery) so Heat can atleast Taunt it, Magma, and then EPower.

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If you do run into stall that often then I guess you should keep Heatran but I still say keep Regileki over Zapdos as Magearna really needs the screens. It almost instantly dies to Garchomp without screens and the shark is a very very common sight

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Then what about Defog? Mag and Heat would hate taking Rocks and Spikes..

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I tried the modified version of this team and made some changes, including swapping Eleki for Grimmsnarl for Taunt to break stall, and swapping Urshifu-Rapid-Strike with Galarian Zapdos to deal with any possible Defoggers. I also changed Landorus to a bulky set with Rocky Helmet to punish physical attackers. Any suggestions from here?

Answer 1

the teams good and all but for magerna its a but off i suggest this
Magearna-Original @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Grass Knot
- Dazzling Gleam
- Flash Cannon
- Calm Mind

Comments

Any explanation for why you believe this set is better?

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Grass Knot ain't really good..

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Do you even realize that this Magearna set completely contradicts the point of weakness policy in the first place? You will get destroyed by Garchomp or any ground types even with weakness policy and no shift gear. Second, flash cannon is not a good choice. It barely hits anything noteworthy in the tier. The only one you're gonna hit is Clefable and that already doesn't wanna eat any Magearna move. Third, never use grass knot on Magearna. If you want a move that's strong against ground types, use ice beam. It will hit regular ground types nearly as hard as grass knot and instantly kills both Garchomp and Landorus Therian

Also, isn't this guy's username against the rules? I believe pokemaster himself specifically stated that you cannot have 'pokemaster' in your username

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well the names legall

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flash cannon for THOS MON DONT HV ANY STAB FOR STEEL TYPES. you were the one who said megearna will get walled with mons like garchomp so whats the point in setting up. no shift gear for it boosts the wrong stat atak ya stord power works but. fine i made a mistake grassknot is bad change it for ice beam. and for most mons magearna defenses if very good no way it gets one shot

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SG boosts Speed, and after a Soul-Heart boost, the SpA is also raised.
All in all, it's good

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Why do you even recommend Dazzling Gleam over Fleur Cannon? And as Demon Hunter told it really doesn't need a steel STAB. Stored Power's a good choice there too.

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*facepalm

Did you look at the mons used in ou? If you did, tell me, which pokemon gets hit by flash cannon that doesn't mind a fleur cannon? Second, did you read what I said? I said Garchomp destroys the set you suggested not get walled by the shark. Garchomp is never gonna switch into Magearna safely but it is naturally faster than it and has a super effective stab earthquake. Third, do you even know why Magearna uses weakness policy? It's because it's difficult to set up both calm mind and shift gear at the same time and a smart opponent will only let you setup one unless you managed to get yourself in a very good position. Shift gear Magearna set is only ever used for sweeping because after a shift gear, you outspeed everything up to +1 speed Garchomp. That's why shift gear weakness policy is almost always used with dual screens as the screens will allow you to survive most super effective hits, boost up with shift gear and activate the policy at the same time