ORAS OU Cryptic

[Ragnarock]

Music to jam to while reading. :]

Number 1 Ranked Proof

Introduction

What up Smogon. If you don't know me already, my name is Zamrock. I am an OU tournament player here on Smogon and I'm feeling generous enough to pass you guys a team I made for the suspect OU ladder that is currently testing Aegislash. The team got reqs, if it wasn't obvious in the title, and apparently number 1 which was nice. I wanted to vote to keep Aegislash, but after laddering to get the voting requirements, I actually changed my mind and want the damn thing gone. It's fuckin broken as shit, don't know why I wanted it back, lol. I passed a few people this team already to help them require reqs and the team has been spreading about so I figured I'd just RMT it. So without further adieu, let's get into it.

In-Depth

Team Building Process

Considering that I was going to ladder for voting requirements, I wanted to use a core that I felt would get me wins quickly and effective by creating a bulky offensive team. Since this suspect ladder involves the use of Aegislash, I'm obviously going to spam it. When creating the core, I know right off the bat that if I'm going to use this mosnter successfully, I need something that is fast that can handle threats that Aegislash can't outspeed or needs to be weakened to switch-in. I decided on Mega Lopunny, as it's fast, it's strong, kills opposing offense, and can pretty much safely mega on anything with it's priority Fake Out. This is such an incredible core to since both of these mons compliment each other offensively and having almost nothing wanting to switch-in to either of these two. Aegislash covers the Fairy and Fighting weaknesses for Lopunny and Lopunny help fights off the Dark and Ghost types for Aegislash.

I needed something to switch-into Bisharp and Opposing Lopunny. My Lopunny I guess is a "switch-in" to Bisharp AFTER it mega-evolves, but it is never usually worth risking unless you absolutely have to make a prediction. I also needed rocks so I felt like Rocky Helmet Garchomp fitted here perfectly. It is also nice to have something to switch-in to stuff like Fire types and Physical Ground Types that annoy the ShieldBunny core.

Looking at the squad, I know I was weak as hell to Landorus-Incarnate and Keldeo so I needed something to switch-in on them both and not give a fuck about getting burned by Scald. I decided on Tornadus-Therian as it has the capability to do just that while also being able to give me momentun with U-Turn to bring in Aegislash of Lopunny for free or needing to scout.

As the teambuilding progresses, I see a bit of weakness on shit like Bulky Scizor, Mega Pinsir, and needed some sort of Insurance to Talonflame in case Helmet Chomp goes done. I also needed another ground resist in case Tornadus-T falls. I figured Rotom-Wash would work here to provide a bit more momentum by passing out a Volt Switch, giving me a solid VoltTrun core that happens to work out with Rotom and Tornadus while also having a switch-in to the threats mentioned eariler. It also happens to be a back-up Keldeo check and Azumaril answer.

For the last member, looking at it. I have nothing that could OHKO an opposing Aegislash in 1 shot and I was also pretty weak to Quagsire stall. I wanted something to lure in Quagsire and to kill off Aegislash at the same time so that Lopunny or Aegislash can have an easier time cleaning teams. Grass Knot LO Bisharp was the answer to both of my problems and that is where the team was born.

Now onto the sets
​

Aegislash (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant OR Jolly Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword / Head Smash
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance

I wanted to use something different that doesn't involve standard 3-Mix Attack King Shield or SubToxic Aegislash. I decided to use something out the ordinary that me and my friend albynes created together: SD Life Orb 3 Atk Physical Aegislash. We thought about giving it Shadow Sneak for priority, Iron Head for the fairies, and tied between Head Smash and Secret Sword for extra coverage. I prefer Secret Sword because of the enjoyment I get for predicting Bisharps, Heatrans, and Opposing Lopunnies on the switch, but running Head Smash is fine if you wanna kill Mandibuzz. This is my answer to Clefable, Gardevior, Latis, Tor-T if rotom gets too weakened, Breloom, and plenty others. Evs are pretty basic, just max max, nothing special. You can run Jolly if you want to surprise the Adamant Bisharps and Standard Rotom-Wash, I just like running Adamant to abuse it's power.

Calcs

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 291-346 (89.8 - 106.7%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Iron Head vs. 88 HP / 4 Def Azumarill: 497-585 (136.9 - 161.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Sacred Sword vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 419-494 (119 - 140.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 144+ Def Hippowdon: 290-343 (69 - 81.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

-1 252+ Atk Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 24 Def Landorus-T: 148-175 (46.3 - 54.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock - scarf lando btw

Lopunny (M) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Frustration
- Healing Wish / Encore

Using 3 Atk LO Aegislash means that it can get worn down pretty easily, and I know I'm going to being running the standard Fake Out, HJK, and Frustration (I use Frustration over Return always mainly for Ditto, but who the fuck runs that anymore) on Mega Lopunny. I figured it's filler would be Healing Wish so that way if I needed Aegi to switch-in on something to either weaken or kill a threat, I can just revive it back if Aegi can late-game sweep later on in the match. This would give it a chance to go back to full HP to get a safer SD up on something. Lopunny is one of the fastest revenge-killers in terms of speed in the metagame right now, also being able to check stuff like Bisharp, Gengar, Sableye, 2hkoing shit like Lando-I, Starmie, Gardevior, Tor-T w/ rocks up, etc. I've heard people like running Encore over HW and says it helps help lock mons in on a recovery move for a free switch to something. It seems like it works for people, so I'll just slash it in.

Garchomp (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance / Endure / Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail / Outrage / Dragon Claw

The rock setter and king of giving residual damage to opposing physical mons. This is the lopunny check, so do me a favor and don't let this die if you see one, k thx. With that being said, it is also a backup check to Bisharp, Heatran, Landorus-T, Sand Rush Excadrill, and other threats that Lopunny and Aegislash don't appreciate. Rocky Helmet + Rough Skin is so nice on chomp, making physical atkers pay the price when striking this beast. Evs is to maximize it's potential to take hits while also running enough speed to beat Jolly Bisharp. The moveset depends on your preference. I run the SD Dtail set to help me stop set-up bulky mons and keep the offensive momentum going for me if need be. You can run Endure if you wish if you want to tell Lopunny to go fuck itself. Fire Blast is only there for Ferrothorn, Skarmory, and Scizor if you want to run Head Smash on Aegislash (the team might be better with that now that I think about it). If you don't care about phazing set-up fat mons, you can always smash them with Outrage or Dragon Claw instead.

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 104 HP / 56 Atk / 100 SpA / 248 Spe OR 136 HP / 120 SpA / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Superpower / Heat Wave / Hidden Power Ice
- Knock Off / Heat Wave / Hidden Power Ice
- U-turn

BIC BIRD! I think this is one of the best mons to use right now in this Meta, Aegislash or no Aegislash meta. This is my switch-in to Lando-I, Gengar, Keldeo, Latis (only if you need to keep Aegi or Sharp healthy), Celebi, Starmie, Serperior, and other SpAing mons. The first EV spread is my own custum spread. It's fast enough to outpace Dugtrio and Regular Alakazam as I feel like that's important. The Atk Evs is to OHKO ScarfTar with Superpower which is nice. The 100 Evds in SpA is still killing Keldeo with Hurricane after rocks, as it's also a roll chance in your favor of killing it, and the rest is thrown in HP to maintain it's bulk.

100 SpA Tornadus-T Hurricane vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 306-362 (94.7 - 112%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO - If rocks are up, it's dead basically

The movepool again is depending on your preference. If you feel like Heat Wave or HP Ice is the way to go (the team hates Gliscor, so HP Ice is a great option if you want to use it, or Icy Wind for that matter), just use the other EV spread given to be a bit more SpAing base and bulkier while still maintaining it's Speed. Heat Wave again is for Ferros and Scizor if you wanna spam Head Smash Aegislash. Knock Off is nice for stall although it's not needed, I just like it cuz it removes Leftovers from fat mons like Hippo, Quags, Clefs, and Slowbro so they are worn down for Lopunny/Aegi/Bisharp to finish them off if possible. U-turn to help scouting to get a threat like Aegislash, Bisharp, or Lopunny in safely.

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 212 Def / 48 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Just washin away these scrubs.. xd. I actually had a different spread on Rotom-W, but for the sake of a friend, I'm not going to reveal the spread, however this spread is just as good. It's just standard Rotom-Wash, yet still effective as always. It's a great switch-in for Talonflame, Pinsir, Sand Rush Excadrill, Lando-T, etc. It helps me burn Garchomp leads, Outspeeds Jolly Belly Drum Azumaril (btw if you see one, please don't sack this, appreciate it), and a great pivot mon with the help of Volt Switch for momentum. If you want to make it another switch-in to Keldeo or have it come in on a Lando-I for whatever reason, take some evs out of it's defense into sp def, that'd be fine.

Bisharp (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty OR Jolly Nature
- Grass Knot / Pursuit
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

The black power ranger. I love Bisharp in ORAS man, so many people are just so unprepared to fight away Dark Spamming mons. Knock Off, Iron Head, and Sucker Punch shouldn't have to be explained so I won't waste my time talking about them. I prefer Hasty because I'm not trying to get smashed by a Jolly Aegislash, so there is that. Grass Knot I only have to Quagsires, or else I wouldn't use it at all. I guess you can use it for Hippo as well, but you got a Rotom-W to beat it and you know damn sure Bisharp isn't a Hippo check lol. This is great to switch-in to defogers as it just murders pretty much everything at +2 if given that chance. It is also the backup check/switch-ins to shit like Clefable, Latis, Celebi, Jirachi, and Aegislash. If you're not flying with Grass Knot, standard trapping sharp works too.

Couple Replays

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-228411139 - An example why you always need a Bisharp check

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-ubers-55571 - Good Game vs Dekzeh

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-227347964 - A ladder game where I was trapped in a corner but came back, which was nice

This team is very fun to use. If you wanna test it out, feel free, however do keep in mind the threats that this squad has if you wish to be successful with it.​

Threatlist:

MAJOR

- Yeah, this thing is an issue to take down, especially the SD versions since my only check to it is Rotom-Wash. This is the only reason why you can run HP Ice on Tornadus-T. I haven't lost to it mainly because I was facing inexperienced players on the ladder, however if the hands of a good player making the right plays, it can 6-0 the team.

- Do your best to keep Garchomp alive. Tornadus-T and Rotom-W can take a hit and fire back a hurricane or Will-o-Wisp respectively. Weaken it enough to wear it can be knocked out by either Tornadus-T or Priority, and you should be able to beat it.

- No Switch-ins. Chomp can live an HP Ice if you wanna get damage on it. Use your priority to kill it. If you play well against it, you shouldn't lose to it.

(hazard stacking) - Yeah, anything more than Stealth Rocks when it comes to hazards is annoying as hell. It is offense, so, do your best to pressure these kinds of teams with SD Aegi, Lopunny, etc.

MINOR

- Quag Stall is pretty homo. Weaken it with anything and try to get Bisharp in safely on its recover or lure in this shitbag on the switch.

- Bulky or Fast Scizor is annoying. Chomp can phaze it with Dtail or weaken it. If no Knock Off, Aegislash just Sets-up on it. Give Chomp or Tornadus a Fire Move if you don't wanna deal with it.

- Do. Not. Sack. Rotom-Wash. If. Belly Drum... Also Priority and Chomper can weaken it/kill it.

- Chomp is the Switch-In. If you get Lopunny to Mega, it just murders it.

- A lot of people kept telling me this is a threat, and I don't know why. You get rocks up, force it to defog on ur on-coming Bisharp switch for a free +2, afterwards it's 2hko'd with Iron Head... Rotom-w also beats it, but I'll just put it on the threat list to amuse people.

- Aegislash is the main Switch-in, Tor-T can switch into it as well if it has to. This just loses to priority and revenged from lopunny if weakened enough.

I haven't lost to this using this team. Bisharp fucks it. Aegi has a chance to kill it in it's shield form at +2. If you got balls or just don't give flying fucks about King Shield 50/50s, Lopunny OHKOs w/ HJK.

- This thing is rare in Aegi meta, but still worth noting. Keep Chomper and Rotom alive.

Conclusion
I don't think there is anything else worth noting, so I'm going to post a crispy shoutout list to everyone and everything. If you wanna spam this team or give it a clean rate, both are encouraged. :] Hope to see y'all in the world cup.

Shoutouts

Shoutouts to my peeps I love talking to like The DragonKnight ben gay Reverb habajiga daftmau5 xtra$hine Emvee Prankster. and plenty others. <3 you homies

Shoutouts to BlackBloodz, pork chop man, and whoever the fuck that used my team to get reqs. You're Welcome

Shoutouts to BOF. You're all my boys (and girls - lil manaphy jaja!)

Shoutouts to the Alpha Ruiners. Hope to play with y'all again.

Shoutouts to the Brawling Bagons. The team winning OUPL this season. Bop.

Shoutouts to IMP. Kland is gay.

Shoutouts to PO. Why the fuck are you dying....

Shoutouts to haunter. I want owner in BOF...

Shoutouts to my REAL friends, no fake friends. Thank you for sticking with me all the way and putting up with my shit.

Shoutouts to the ladder people I cursed out for haxing me. Sorry bros, please don't take my shit too seriously. <3

Shoutouts to my haters. Suck my dick.

If any of my frens that wanna be tagged, hmu, I gotchu

Importable

Aegislash (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance

Lopunny (M) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Frustration
- Healing Wish

Garchomp (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 212 Def / 48 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 104 HP / 56 Atk / 100 SpA / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Bisharp (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Grass Knot
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

 

[BlackBloodz]

So after using that team for reqs I can't say anything but, such an awesome team. Well done.

It's a team I enjoyed every single moment using it, it had great match up against most teams I've seen on the ladder but yeah, I have struggled with every single Gliscor I've faced there. Mega Manectric is just a Pokemon that this team have a hard time switching in, but on the bright side, it can't OHKO any Pokemon on the team which gives an opportunity or two to rack up some damage on it. Also, it forced me to make few "manly plays" like going for Pursuit with Bisharp on it (Dropped GK for that and I'll get into that later). As for Lopunny, it wasn't as much as a threat to this team compared to Gliscor and Mega Manectric and could be handled if played smart.

Another thing I had few troubles with was Spikes Stack team since this team lacks hazard control, it doesn't care much about hazard per se, but nonetheless, they're annoying and weaken the Pokemon relatively fast.


Few minor changes I made felt more or less better for this team even though it won't make any difference if Aegislash doesn't stay:

Pursuit > Grass Knot on Bisharp, I know the reason it's there is for Quagsires, but we both know Quagsire isn't the most common thing you will see. I prefer trapping Aegislashes (Which you mentioned as minor threats to this team) and even as mentioned above, going for manly plays and clicking Pursuit on things like Mega Mane which might not seem the optimal play but yeah, you're risking probably the most reliable way for this team of killing Mane using Sucker Punch. In general, trapping things > Grass Knot for Quagsires.

Encore > Healing Wish on Lopunny, in the first 10 games or so I had with this team, I haven't used Healing Wish even once, there were few situations where it could help but I found Encore way more useful especially with Pokemon like Aegislash and Gliscor if I managed to Encore them into Roost or something. It was better in general beating things.


In general, it was a really solid team and it made my laddering much more easier and fun.


Proof of the peak I got using the team.

Hide

42-9

 

[Ragnarock]

So after using that team for reqs I can't say anything but, such an awesome team. Well done.

It's a team I enjoyed every single moment using it, it had great match up against most teams I've seen on the ladder but yeah, I have struggled with every single Gliscor I've faced there. Mega Manectric is just a Pokemon that this team have a hard time switching in, but on the bright side, it can't OHKO any Pokemon on the team which gives an opportunity or two to rack up some damage on it. Also, it forced me to make few "manly plays" like going for Pursuit with Bisharp on it (Dropped GK for that and I'll get into that later). As for Lopunny, it wasn't as much as a threat to this team compared to Gliscor and Mega Manectric and could be handled if played smart.

Another thing I had few troubles with was Spikes Stack team since this team lacks hazard control, it doesn't care much about hazard per se, but nonetheless, they're annoying and weaken the Pokemon relatively fast.


Few minor changes I made felt more or less better for this team even though it won't make any difference if Aegislash doesn't stay:

Pursuit > Grass Knot on Bisharp, I know the reason it's there is for Quagsires, but we both know Quagsire isn't the most common thing you will see. I prefer trapping Aegislashes (Which you mentioned as minor threats to this team) and even as mentioned above, going for manly plays and clicking Pursuit on things like Mega Mane which might not seem the optimal play but yeah, you're risking probably the most reliable way for this team of killing Mane using Sucker Punch. In general, trapping things > Grass Knot for Quagsires.

Encore > Healing Wish on Lopunny, in the first 10 games or so I had with this team, I haven't used Healing Wish even once, there were few situations where it could help but I found Encore way more useful especially with Pokemon like Aegislash and Gliscor if I managed to Encore them into Roost or something. It was better in general beating things.


In general, it was a really solid team and it made my laddering much more easier and fun.


Proof of the peak I got using the team.

Hide

42-9

Yeah, Pursuit Sharp is another way to go, and trapping shit like aegi and latis also helps usually, I'll go ahead and slash that in. Encore is good too, it's just that I usually like keeping the momentum going by switching on their recovery move rather than wasting a turn w/ encore from it. They will be forced to switch out, obviously, while you try to switch-out into the threat that you want and this leads to them going into a mon you don't want to see that could put you in a bad spot. I.E. I encore a clef on it's boil, switch to Aegi, and they end up bringing in Mandibuzz or some shit. But if it works for you, i'll slash that in too. Glad you made reqs bud :]

 

[YUNG GOAT]

I faced this team on the ladder at around 1600 i think and i got my salad tossed by that grass knot which destroyed my hippo on the switch in. After this i decided to use a team with the same pokes but standard wallbreaker aegi instead and it got me to around the 150 mark before i tilted a bit.

really solid team and glad to see you voted to ban aegi :]]]

 

[albynes]

Zam made an rmt ..omai! Grats on the peak bby..i'm 25-2 with this Aegi set for my stall breaker on this team.
My feelings easily get hurt and i fear getting called homophobic slurs for using grass knot sharp so...

Aegislash (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 48 SpA / 208 Spe
Brave Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Ball
- Swords Dance

quag/skarm never comes in on a aegi until u reveal SD, so free shadow ball on either quag or skarm on their obv switch in as you do.2hko on both.