yo yo, been wanting to make a post like this for a while since there seems to be a resurgence in interest of oras ou (myself included) so i just wanted to talk about some games i liked and some teams/meta trends ive been keeping up with in the meta. i guess this is just a place to throw down some thoughts but i didn't wanna make a video on it, I figured a post would be better. im not trying to analyze each game very in depth so i apologize if any of what i wrote comes off as "wow this was very interesting to me," honestly just wanna get some discussion poppin since theres no oras thread or anything like that so please leave some thoughts / opinions as well.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-339406
znain vs gtm from week 1, a replay i really liked watching at the time. gtm's team is pretty similar to what you'd see in spl currently, in fact i used a very similar team twice and i believe he reused almost the same but had amoongus over latios or smth. anyways, i liked this replay because znain brought a pretty old looking oras team featuring thundurus but he played really well and it also did a lot of work, but mainly i wanted to highlight how i do not think builds like znains are optimal anymore. they follow the old oras core of sciz clef keld latios for tanking everything but nowadays with the insane usage of metagross (pursuit) + specs keldeo i feel like teams like this just cant keep up anymore. they definitely ran the meta at one point like back in spl7 i only spammed these types of builds but now with shit like hydreigon on the rise and people using real breakers its getting tough to get away with teams like this. game was good though and it was a v dominating win by znain, i feel like this is the first game that really highlighted how hard it is to take on pursuit + specs keldeo since once the latios got trapped, the keld was taking lives left and right.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-342018
liked the uniqueness in teams from this battle a lot. the battle itself was cool but id be lying if i didnt say axel10 outplayed 10 turns straight and sealed the game that fast. still it was cool to see shit like megazam + crawdaunt and offensive sd talon + mega sceptile on both teams. i think mega sceptile is definitely decent depending on how u wanna play your focus blast luck lol but now that most clefs opt for a bold 252/252 spread, its really tough for teams to switch into leaf storm unless you got a av tang or something like that. i think talonflame running an offensive set is a really weak meta pick but i think wisp sd is def underexplored and ill talk about that later when i get to kanto vs tdk later on in the season.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-340301
was a huge fan of xrays team here, gtms was cosines old flagship from like 2015 which he brought to stour finals and won with. xrays i was a big fan of because it ran untraditional breakers like gallade as well as specs latios (which i guess isn't super uncommon but is definitely something I feel like people dont opt for as much anymore thanks to the rise in metagross.) nonetheless i was very impressed with this game as xray picked up momentum fast and even gallade was able to do a decent amount of work vs a team of diancie / lando / talon which was cool. this battle actually made me have second thoughts about av tang in oras as im usually a huge tang hater and still am since that thing cannot beat keldeo with sr up which is so frustrating for a grass type and makes me wanna never stray from amoonguss, but knock off as well as the ability to tank shit like non specs latios etc is really nice imo. anyways i liked that xray was able to utilize the old looking build of fat jira offense and get a dominating win off it.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-342160
very cool team by kanto here using specs volcanion, abr tested this team vs me a few times and beat my ass and i was pretty unsure at preview when i saw this team since it had sand rush drill + tar which is a core i really hate... BUT i think most can agree that sand rush drill is one of the few consistent methods of hazard removal which is really strong on a team like kantos. the game itself was a little sloppy but this team was refreshing and imo brought a resurgence in scarf tar who made many more appearances in the following weeks. i also liked the way this team played around keldeo as with amoonguss + volcanion it becomes very hard to pick the right move each time since if you scald into volcanion while attempting to burn amoongus you're forced to pick something to switch into specs steam eruption and more often than not peoples backup water resist is a grass type or latios, the first which gets owned by fire move and the latter which is getting owned by sciz/scarftar, anyways awesome team and good playin from kanto
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-340455
I GOTTA TALK ABOUT THIS GAME!!!! the game itself was obv a blast for me to see since cbb had a dominating win but really i just liked his team a lot. i was a huge jellicent hater when i first saw this team but thats because i didn't want people finding measures to take on broken keldeo. anyways i love cbbs team here and i used it last two weeks in oras because i am so confident in its ability to take on most matchups in oras. in my experience the only real nuisance is running into fat gliscor spikes since the team lacks defog + a reliable way of taking on gliscor as nothing besides keldeo can ohko it which is really fucked since once sr goes up, gliscor fat is usually going to win. anyways, this was the intro to jelli in the tier which i love since it can take on keld/clef but honestly i don't gotta explain that too much, people know its qualities of what makes it so good in oras. although even with colbur this thing barely beats pursuit + keld lmao since tar just stone edges for like 75 and then u literally get trapped if they double on you which sucks, but on the bright side you do deal with weavile which i like. anyways yeah this team is probably my favorite oras team in the last 2 years since it fits my playstyle and is just a really nice bulky offense team.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-343314
love mounts team here, honestly the game itself is pretty decent despite the unfortunate hjk miss which basically lost mounts a game that he should have 100% won. anyways this game is basically what made me start liking gliscor again as even vs ice punch metagross + weavile + keld, gliscor was able to remain such a huge threat to where tdk was scared to switch into it. this game is what made me hate medicham though, honestly look back at oras games this season and look at medichams hjk hit rate, its stupid low, it missed in so many games starting with hiye vs gingy earlier this season, obv that sounds like superstition but im so tired of relying on this mon nowadays when you can run metagross for similar results + defensive utility. oh this game also highlights why i think zapdos sucks in oras, oh my god shit loses to every sr mon besides ferrothorn and gets trapped by weavile + tar and takes sr weakness smh this mon is so bad when it plays a defensive role and i seriously feel like its 5v6 when someone brings this. that being said i believe offensive 3 atk zapdos has utility in oras - first time i saw this was shake vs livio in wcop but damn if you look at both teams it really has the ability to be annoying.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-344183
this was a nice bulky off vs bulky off game this spl that i feel went under the radar a little. both played really well and it was a strong 90 turn game that in the beginning i was sure kanto was going to win but nintendi really switched the initiative courtesy of broken gliscor. i really liked both teams here and it was funny to see double slowbro which is cool since thats one of the few mons that is able to decently take on meta + keld. anyways awesome game that really highlighted how important being patient is and both played great.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-345499
nintendi's team here is my favorite oras team currently alongside cbbs hydreigon team. i really really love this team and used it myself week 6 vs ricardo. nintendi had protect tran which i really liked since its always super hard to fit tect on tran, but when you can it always does so much more work since you rack up toxic damage, scout pursuits from cb tar, and it also comes in handy vs shit like medicham as we saw here since nintendi was able to play big mindgames with his tran to damage the drill. this game also sort of inspired me to start playing more aggressive with balance teams as nintendi made some big ass plays in the first few turns especially turn 1 which let him instantly get gliscors toxic orb poppin and thus he never had to give af about torn again. weavile in the back to pursuit trap medicham and then the best part of this team is that literally no clef can beat a team consisting of gliscor + amoongus + heatran + sciz. anyways awesome team really love this one. as for the battle itself this one was pretty dominating but ye
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-345183
a diff take on jellicent, this time using it on a bulkier spikes focused team which i thought was very cool. in fact i debated on bringing kantos team vs cbb week 8 but realized it wasn't the style i wanted. nevertheless i really like this team and it reminds me heavily of omfugas old olt 3 build which was defensive lando-t / lopp / twave spin starmie / spikes ferro / cb tar / cm flame clef. this team def seemed like a more updated version of that by utilizing sd gliscor + pursuit which is such a hard combo to deal with and kanto made some really great plays this game which cemented him the win. again, this game highlights why i absolutely hate zapdos as this thing is so bad at getting rid of hazards without gettin punished. anyways big turns here was turn 25 when kanto put up sr on keldeo which was a savage play that ended up working out and then turn 36 when he won the weavile mindgame which let jelli 6-0. anyways cool game that highlights how annoying jellicent + ferrothorn can be to some teams, especially with people forgoing hammer arm on metagross recently in favor of eq.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-345726
this is the game that made me so scared of volc since on paper empos team is just basic good shit, clef meta keld etc and yet znain just had to play patient enough to get his volc in at the right time and just end the game. imo volc should always run qd fire blast / buzz / hp ground since its very easy to chip keldeo and the only other thing you need drain for is jelli and gastro, the first which gets trapped by ttar, and the second which is gonna lose to buzz anyways. anyways znains team is cool as hell and reminds me heavily of mencemeats old flagship which i spammed a lot in tour which was cbtar/talon/lando/starmie/sciz/serp. anyways i dont have much to say for the game since volc btfod this team but damn is volc scary.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-346308
2 retro lookin builds, especially axel10s which i swear i used to farm wins in smogon tour spring season 2016. xray really dominated in the first 10 turns and basically won himself the game p quickly. again pursuit + keldeo shows just how risky it is to run something like latios as your main water resist and xray is able to come up with keldeo and win the game.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-348733
damn this game was pretty weird honestly, but wanted to highlight it since it's the only stall that was used in oras this spl i believe. i think stalls terrible w/o dug and i'd rather just use a balance w win con sd sciz/gliscor similar to the GOAT team nintendi created. hiye def got the luckier end of the stick here with ttars 200% crunch defense drop + zard y but regardless this game was gonna be tough for xray once hiye got the chansey trap right and hiye def played patient enough to get the chances he wanted and the crunch defense drops just expedited the process. stall without trapping is really weak imo and the lack of weavile/tar on xrays team hurt him more than it helped. p curious to see what people think of in this coming tour season since there is definitely going to be some attempts at oras stall.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-348927
two very creative teams, especially kantos so i wanted to highlight this game. this game showed how annoying gliscor can b with taunt although sd ice fang or something similar would have had the same effect late game, but taunt came in handy for destroying skarm + clef and basically made tdk lose from early on. i believe the talonflame on this team is also phys def which lets it wall cb weavile which is really really cool for a balance that lacks sciz. i think sr drill sucks but i guess he needs hazard removal with such a spikes weak balance + talonflame so it makes sense that its on here.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-350507
liked both teams a good amount here, especially poeks that team is hella aesthetically pleasing. this team made use of subtoxic volcanion which i think is a very strong pick since volcanion forces out a lot of shit and can sub up on annoying mons like sr clef and then punish switchins like jellicent or keldeo or whatever, with scarftar in the back to get rid of latios. this game also featured the worlds bulkiest zard x which i definitely wanna know more about so
Hiye i'd appreciate if you could tell me why you picked that specific set for this battle. i really do not like zard x as of late but i have always liked wisp roost, i just haven't ever seen non max speed so curious to know what this walls and your experiences with it. feel like at preview poek should have really owned this matchup but hiye def made some aggresive plays and picked up an early advantage but once gliscor was able to heal it was a wrap, cool game altogether.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-351278
cool team by kanto since it features some mons i have not seen in a while, specifically mega gyara and scarf magnezone. i talked with abr recently about cool stuff he likes in oras and he was telling me about how scarf magnezone is a strong pick since it's able to get guranteed chip on metagross which is hella nice. cm psyshock clef was a cool pick here and basically saved his ass vs suicune, although i assume shock was for opposing clef or smth? anyways the gyara on this team is like max hp max speed and man that shit takes no damage, i was playing vs abr and unevolved gyara took 22 from clef moonblast so this is definitely something i think is viable, it just sucks since its mono attack gyara and also bc gyara is weak as hell w no invest. anyways battle wise kanto outplayed to hell n back and sealed this shit even w/ hax, really nicely played game.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-349935
the team from nintendi has been around for like 2 years as the classic keld + medi/meta + torn rotom voltturn shit and at one point this style was soooo good.... UNTIL U RUN INTO THE ONE ROOST ZARD X. seriously my one fear with teams like this is running into volc or zard x and lo and behold this man had to run into the one dd roost zard x. i know cbb was thinking about using zard x vs me and i think it's a strong pick in the current meta IF you play patient enough, feel like often times people just throw out flare blitz with zard since its strong enough to do some decent breaking but then its at like 45 and it just gets sacked to get off 60-70% and doesn't really play the role of sweeper which is what people are looking for with this mon.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-352755
mounts w classic monoblue ho from 2015 featuring latios azumarill and thundurus and helm chomp damn what a throwback. anyways i think this was like the second bisharp used? bish has always been a strong pick in oras and mounts couldn't have come up on a better matchup for it. bd azu in the back too which is a mon i really like currently as its hard to prep for lategame and all traditional answers get rocked after some sr chip.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-354644
alright this game itself was pretty ass espec after turn 1 which basically sealed xrays chances since if he got up sr, skarm is getting trapped by mag, if he knocks kyurem is know walled, and if he twaves kyurem is now walled so the turn 1 really fucked him up. i liked kantos team a lot at preview since it looks creative af but after lookin at it for a few mins i realized it loses to so much, like vinccune, sd sciz, magnezone medi etc and i just really dont think dual steel is that strong of a core in current meta. xrays team was def a bit interesting since he had his fat set up mons and then late game broken bisharp but unfortunately for him his slowbro couldn't do it since skarm had tech tox altho it shoulda been trapped :{|}
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6ou-355042
hiyes team is a way nicer team to support kyurem imo, double uturn core + shit like serp as a late game win con. i have started to like starmie less and less lately as a spinner but it fits here and somehow also finessed a 1v1 vs weavile. sorry im gettin tired now so not much to write about this, just really like hiyes team.
apologies bc i know some of this became rambling, but honestly like i said i just wanna see some oras discussion lemme know what you think and please if you have any opinions at all post!!! thanks for reading