SM OU Feel Like This

[FlamingVictini]

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Feel Like This is one of my most favorite builds of all time that I initially built just to try out Azumarill, ended up using vs Tricking in Week 9 of SPL (where it won convincingly), and have been spamming since. Feel Like This is super fun to use, easily wins good matchups, and is also extremely durable against difficult ones, which in my opinion is the mark of an extremely good team. With the recent Pheromosa ban this team is no longer playable, but every member is so integral to this build that I simply didn't try to rework it, and I felt it was fitting to retire this team with an RMT.

Azumarill was the key starting point of this build because I noticed many teams were extremely weak to a belly drum set. Z-Belly Drum has numerous advantages over Sitrus Berry that in short allow Azumarill to set up consistently, making its sweep one step easier to achive. I realized that spikes support would be immensely helpful in supporting an Azumarill sweep because it forces damage on extremely bulky pokemon that can live a +6 aqua jet when extremely healthy (such as Mega Metagross), and it also helps punish Intimidate shuffling.

Greninja ended up being my choice as I wanted to take an offensive approach with multiple win conditions, and Greninja was the only fitting spiker. Greninja itself is an extremely malleable mon whose set I developed completely after deciding every member of this team. At this stage of the building, spikes was the only crucial element. I also felt like I needed an extremely apt method to deal with Tapu Lele, which could simply set up Psychic Terrain and block aqua jet, cutting off the key move Azumarill needs to sweep. For this, I both needed something to force in Tapu Lele, as well as something to trap and remove it.

This part was probably the trickest part to get down, but eventually I settled on Mega Mawile + Alolan Muk. Mawile is a fearsome sweeper in itself that forms a wonderful tag team with Azumarill. After Azumarill or Mawile sets up Tapu Lele is often quickly forced in, allowing Muk to do its job. If the opponent elects to switch out immediately pursuit + 2 Stealth Rocks switchins isn't enough to elinate Lele, so again spikes are often useful to ensuring Tapu Lele cannot set up Psychic Terrain more than once. Maw is what I call a "squishy steel" in that it doesn't completely handle stuff like Alakam or Lele by itself (Magnezone, for example, is a very squishy steel, whereas Scizor is quite durable), but Muk covers mawile's weaker defenses quite nicely, and his poison typing is also extremely vital vs Toxapex teams so that TSpikes do not force me to rely mostly on Mawile.

I'll admit Lando and Phero were honestly lazy additions since I kind of just figured they would fit well and they are pretty splashable mons, but after playing with the team I honestly think nothing else would complete the team better. Everyone already knows what Lando does and there's really no need to elaborate too much on it. The key thing that's really helpful is intimidate is a huge boon that can let you create a lot of interesting plays, and helmet is sometimes quite important to get that key chip that enables a sweep. Phero is a top notch revenge killer, and in games without a clearly easy way to win, I often need her to pull off a lategame sweep with HJK. Phero is also great to just lead off the game and mount some early pressure to gain control over of the flow of the game, and Spin also offers me some extra breathing room against teams focused on hazards.

Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Adamant Nature
Knock Off | Play Rough | Aqua Jet | Belly Drum
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Azu had largely been ignored with the release of SM because of Tapu Fini and Primarina, who together outclass almost everything Azu offers. Still, Azumarill was unique in its sweeping potential with Belly Drum and Aqua Jet, and since it is such an underlooked threat, many teams are simply unprepared to take it on, or their natural countermeasures are just very easy to get past. Z-Belly Drum may seem worse than sitrus because you can't with more than 50% health like u can with sitrus, but what's so powerful about it is how easy and consistent it is to pull off a belly drum. Since BD becomes a Z-move it will ignore effects like taunt or encore, which can be incredibly useful. If Azu is facing anything faster than it that cannot ohko it, that belly drum will almost always be succesful. Even a Thunder Punch Mega Metagross cannot stop a full health Azumarill from Z-Belly Drumming (unless it gets a crit or para full para). This also means that if its needed, you can take some prior damage to check something in the middle of the game, as long as you stay healthy enough to BD on something later. In some matchups, like against stall, you can even use regular belly drum, deal some damage, switch out, and then come back in later to Z-BD. Furthermore, since Belly Drum will fail if you are at max atk, using BD followed by Z-BD will simply fully restore your health (assuming you stay at max atk). Z-BD just makes everything about Azu incredibly consistent and easy to pull off, which means all you have to do is create the right conditions for a sweep, which isn't that hard. Knock Off is the best 4th move because of its excellent coverage that can allow you to remove mons like toxapex or ferrothorn once you're at +6. The HP EVs guarantee Azu will live a max satk neutral moonblast from Tapu Fini, meaning almost every fini you face won't be able to properly check Azu. The Speed still outruns neutral base 70s like Skarmory with plenty of creep, but you can definitely bump it up for things like Mega Scizor if you want.

Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Hydro Pump / Ice Beam | Extrasensory | Hidden Power [Fire] | Spikes
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This Greninja is the other anti-metagame component of this team that really facilitates Azumarill's sweep, and can deal some massive damage itself. Really the crux of this set is the item choice: Expert Belt, instead of the standard LO. The key reason behind this choice is the staying power it gives greninja, allowing it to be much more durable and deal damage for a much longer stretch in the game. While the extra power of LO is nice for situations like OHKO'ing ferrothorn or KO'ing Mega Metagross with an ESens + HP Fire, the extra power isn't always needed, and the costs of LO can be great. By not losing 10% of your health every turn, you can play ninja to keep on coming in on doubles to just fire off attacks and nab kills without having to be concerned about the constant recoil you'll be taking as your opponent tries to pivot around. This staying power can turn greninja into a monster threat for defensively inclined teams, such as the recently popular Toxapex balance, which often features mons such as Defog Mega Scizor, Heatran, Tangrowth or Tapu Bulu, and grounds like Lando, Chomp, and Zygarde. Extrasensory and HP Fire are the key coverage moves of choice and are irreplaceable on this team. Extrasensory is simply needed for the team to launch direct pressure on pokemon such as Toxapex and Mega Venusaur, and is in general a very flexible coverage move you can still use to get solid chip on mons like Rotom or Tapu Fini. HP Fire is a necessary coverage option to nail pesky steels like Ferrothorn, Mega Scizor, and Mega Metagross, and also allows you to dance around grasses like Tangrowth or Tapu Bulu with more ease. Hydro Pump is the main move I use in the last attacking slot to cover stuff Heatran and Volc while still hitting the main grounds hard, and it is in general Ninja's strongest attack, which helps to force out a poisoned Mega Sableye so you can spike up. Ice Beam is still really solid since it also hits pesky mons like Zapdos and Torn significantly harder (it is especially useful for spiking up vs stall teams forgoing M-Sab and instead using Double Defog with Zapdos and Skarmory) and also nailing Zygarde and Chomp, while still covering the main ground in Lando, all with perfect accuracy. Still it will be more troublesome to play around Scizor and BP Mega Meta, and the aforementioned targets + other stuff like Mamoswine could cause some headaches, so it really is up to personal preference. Spikes is the last key move that is in general quite nice to have since it punishes switches quite well and creates some needed pressure against defensive teams, but is again also often incredibly useful to make an Azumarill sweep much easier.

Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 168 HP / 164 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
Play Rough | Sucker Punch | Thunder Punch | Swords Dance
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Mawile is the second key sweeper of this team who often work in tandem with Azu. While every team should be prepared for SD Maw on the surface, it is quite difficult to withstand her +2 Sucker Punch assault and also get past Azu and Mosa, and with an SD or two under her belt, Mawile can shred through practically any defensive mon without even needing coverage like Knock Off. Mawile is especially dangerous against Stall with SD Thunderpunch, which was mainly chosen to immediately pressure targets like Skarmory, Celesteela, and Toxapex. Even though you miss out on the neutral coverage Knock Off provides for targets like Ferrothorn, TPunch is just the more necessary coverage overall that still had good general use, and Mawile can still rip through with resisted Play Rough's if its needed (just grab some SDs and go to town). The EV spead on Maw focuses on bulk because Maw's defensive typing is really great and it is naturally bulky enough that with enough investment you can live hits like -1 Thousand Arrows from CB Zyg, EQ from Dug, HP Fire from protean ninja, and Pump from regular specs Ninja. This can be very useful when sweeping and setting up but is also just generically great for checking mons or even just making use of Mawile's pre-mega intimidate to create set-up opportunities for itself or Azu. The loss of attack makes a difference but its a really tiny one and most of the time Maw will be grabbing huge overkills after an SD, so it rarely if ever matters. The Speed hits a similar benchmark to Azu for outrunning base 70s like skarm with a bit of creep.

Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 224 HP / 216 Atk / 48 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
Knock Off | Poison Jab | Pursuit | Rock Slide
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Muk is the key glue mon on this team that in many games does nothing (not because it's bad, just becaues it doesn't need to) but is still irreplaceable on this team. Muk's amazing typing allows you to have another option against tspikes while still covering dangerous ghost and psychic types like Gengar, Z-Convers Sball PZ, Tapu Lele, and Alakazam. The key move is pursuit since removing Tapu Lele is often a major goal right from team preview, since it frees up Azu/Maw to sweep with prio, and frees up Mosa to clean with HJK. In general pursuit is also necessary for stuff like Zam + Gar so that they can't just switch out and break Muk later, since Muk lacks any form of recovery. The other nice thing about pursuit is you can really push for grabbing poisons with poison touch even when the opponent is careful and tries to switch out (you can often do this on mons like Sableye and Zapdos). Knock Off is obvously great for scouting out Z-Moves and removing items, and PJab is used over gunk shot for the ~51% poison chance and perfect accuracy. Muk honestly has a lot of neat options for the last slot, but many of them are cut off because AV is such a necessary item (it gives Muk some absolutely needed bulk that allows you to invest in attack so you can deal some good damage). Rock Slide was my choice to hit Zard-Y and provide a good out vs Volcarona that is more consitent than Sucker + AJet, especially if the volc is a bulky variant. The EVs are for living a +1 z-fireblast after rocks damage while reducing Stealth Rocks damage in the process, and also adding a little speed creep while maintaining most of Muk's attack.

Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 28 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
Stealth Rock | Earthquake | Hidden Power [Ice] | U-turn
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The lando set is as standard as you can get for defensive lando, rocks eq and uturn are staples, and since rock coverage is rarely needed in the current meta, hp ice is instead used to hit zygarde and other lando. Coil Zygarde in particular can get out of hand if it can take out mosa with a move like ESpeed and Lando goes down, and this is also the only real switchin to CB, who will likely get worn down quite quickly. One thing to keep in mind is that you shouldn't be afraid to click HP Ice before you set up rocks: especially if the opponent's switch out of Zygarde can't stop rocks from going up then there isn't too much cost, and a lot of CB Zygarde try to be aggressive with a second arrows on the rocks switch (at this point you should probably u-turn on the switch out). Furthermore, if rocks aren't hugely important compared to damaging an opposing lando for mawile, don't be afraid to go straight for the hp ice, especially if you lost the momentum early game and they got up rocks first (that being said, make an effort to be the first one to get rocks). It really can be a huge benefit when facing offensive teams to get the optimal positioning with lando in the early game sooner than the opponent, and pheromosa/greninja are often useful leads to try to create this positioning so that you can get the most out of lando. Be careful when choosing to sack lando because its intimidate on a sack can be extremely useful in creating a set-up opportunity especially for Azumarill. The EVs allow lando to live a LO HP Ice from Koko (granted not many koko are LO nowadays) and by extension live a LO Draco from Latios, although neither are super likely to be relevant so more speed creep is fine and helps in the lando mirror. Rocks are often important in winning the game but if the opponent has some strong hazard removal for defensive lando like zapdos or mantine, try to make use of muk to create position where the opponent has to choose between roosting or defogging on a switch out after setting up rocks.

Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
U-turn | High Jump Kick | Ice Beam | Rapid Spin
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Scarf Phero patches up the team with insane speed and revenge killing, another physically-based wincon, a huge source of momentum with her ability to force out mons and click U-Turn, and also the extra hazard removal offered by Rapid Spin. This set is basically as standard as you can get, running bulk on Pheromosa can be hugely valuable with just a few EVs and is quite underrated but I wanted to have max speed so I could still have the option of tying other +1 neutral Mosas, and then in order to maintain an Attack beast boost I could only relegate a few EVs to defenses, so I didn't bother. The reason for going physical instead of special on this team is because of the way Azu and Maw face up vs teams, if they don't win themselves they often create a position in which HJK can clean. For example, Maw can often force damage on Lando or some other Physdef mon, and Azumarill can heavily dent/remove stuff like Rotom-W or Tapu Fini. Muk too can be great for trapping Gengar and Tapu Lele, all of which just makes hjk more spammable for an endgame clean. I've suffered many HJK misses however which can sometimes cost the game, so it is best to try to win without having to use Mosa to clean up too often.

Damage Calculations:​

Incoming Wall of Numbers

+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 331-391 (92.4 - 109.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Metagross-Mega: 222-262 (73.7 - 87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios: 191-225 (63.8 - 75.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 116+ Def Scizor-Mega: 222-261 (64.7 - 76%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 248 HP / 116+ Def Scizor-Mega: 198-234 (57.7 - 68.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+5 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 92 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 229-271 (86.7 - 102.6%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zygarde: 270-318 (75.6 - 89%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 220-259 (77.1 - 90.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Keldeo: 173-204 (53.5 - 63.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 212+ Def Tangrowth: 453-534 (112.4 - 132.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Tangrowth: 422-497 (104.4 - 123%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Tapu Bulu: 140-165 (49.8 - 58.7%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
+6 252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Toxapex: 277-327 (91.1 - 107.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Tapu Fini Moonblast vs. 72 HP / 0 SpD Azumarill: 151-178 (42 - 49.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 72 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 280-330 (77.9 - 91.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Meteor Mash vs. 72 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 250-295 (69.6 - 82.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Zen Headbutt vs. 72 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 222-262 (61.8 - 72.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 72 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 196-232 (54.5 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 72 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 243-286 (67.6 - 79.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 72 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 178-211 (49.5 - 58.7%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO

252 SpA Expert Belt Protean Greninja Extrasensory vs. 252 HP / 104+ SpD Toxapex: 166-197 (54.6 - 64.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 SpA Expert Belt Protean Greninja Extrasensory vs. 232 HP / 80 SpD Venusaur-Mega: 216-254 (60.1 - 70.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Expert Belt Protean Greninja Extrasensory vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Keldeo: 290-346 (89.7 - 107.1%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Protean Greninja Extrasensory vs. 248 HP / 16 SpD Tapu Fini: 88-105 (25.6 - 30.6%) -- 1.6% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Protean Greninja Extrasensory vs. 248 HP / 20 SpD Rotom-Wash: 103-123 (33.9 - 40.5%) -- 49% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Expert Belt Protean Greninja Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 128 SpD Scizor-Mega: 360-422 (104.9 - 123%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Expert Belt Protean Greninja Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 307-365 (87.2 - 103.6%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Expert Belt Protean Greninja Hidden Power Fire vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Metagross-Mega: 187-223 (62.1 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Expert Belt Protean Greninja Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 144-173 (36.1 - 43.4%) -- 97.3% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Expert Belt Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 348-413 (107.7 - 127.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Expert Belt Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 348-413 (90.3 - 107.2%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 100+ SpD Sableye-Mega: 114-135 (37.5 - 44.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 168-198 (43.8 - 51.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Zygarde: 160-189 (44.8 - 52.9%) -- 25.4% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Expert Belt Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 326-389 (85.1 - 101.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

+2 164+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 306-362 (100.6 - 119%) -- guaranteed OHKO
164+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Celesteela: 280-330 (70.3 - 82.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 164+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 326-384 (97.6 - 114.9%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
+2 164+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 248 HP / 116+ Def Scizor-Mega: 179-211 (52.1 - 61.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 164+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 248 HP / 116+ Def Scizor-Mega: 167-197 (48.6 - 57.4%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO
+2 164+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pheromosa: 286-337 (101 - 119%) -- guaranteed OHKO
164+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Metagross-Mega: 188-222 (62.4 - 73.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 164+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 216+ Def Landorus-Therian: 159-188 (41.6 - 49.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+6 164+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 345-407 (98 - 115.6%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
+2 164+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 244+ Def Zapdos: 415-490 (108.3 - 127.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 168 HP / 0 SpD Mawile-Mega: 238-282 (84 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Hidden Power Fire vs. 168 HP / 0 SpD Mawile-Mega: 229-273 (80.9 - 96.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 168 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 224-266 (79.1 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 168 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 222-264 (78.4 - 93.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 168 HP / 0 SpD Mawile-Mega in Psychic Terrain: 116-137 (40.9 - 48.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
-1 252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 168 HP / 0 Def Mawile-Mega: 216-254 (76.3 - 89.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

216+ Atk Muk-Alola Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 428-508 (137.6 - 163.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
216+ Atk Muk-Alola Rock Slide vs. 248 HP / 252 Def Volcarona: 312-368 (83.6 - 98.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
216+ Atk Muk-Alola Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 368-436 (123.9 - 146.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
216+ Atk Muk-Alola Pursuit vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Tapu Lele: 76-91 (27 - 32.3%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
216+ Atk Muk-Alola Pursuit (80 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Tapu Lele: 153-180 (54.4 - 64%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
216+ Atk Muk-Alola Pursuit vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Gengar: 182-216 (69.7 - 82.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
216+ Atk Muk-Alola Pursuit vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Alakazam-Mega: 170-204 (67.7 - 81.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+1 252 SpA Volcarona Inferno Overdrive (185 BP) vs. 224 HP / 48 SpD Assault Vest Muk-Alola: 297-349 (72.9 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 0 SpA Volcarona Flamethrower vs. 224 HP / 48 SpD Assault Vest Muk-Alola: 120-142 (29.4 - 34.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 224+ SpA Pheromosa All-Out Pummeling (190 BP) vs. 224 HP / 48 SpD Assault Vest Muk-Alola: 331-390 (81.3 - 95.8%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 224+ SpA Pheromosa Breakneck Blitz (200 BP) vs. 224 HP / 48 SpD Assault Vest Muk-Alola: 232-274 (57 - 67.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 224 HP / 48 SpD Assault Vest Muk-Alola: 162-192 (39.8 - 47.1%) -- 40.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Gengar Focus Blast vs. 224 HP / 48 SpD Assault Vest Muk-Alola: 124-147 (30.4 - 36.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Focus Blast vs. 224 HP / 48 SpD Assault Vest Muk-Alola: 104-123 (25.5 - 30.2%) -- 4.9% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 224 HP / 48 SpD Assault Vest Muk-Alola: 145-172 (35.6 - 42.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Flamethrower vs. 224 HP / 48 SpD Assault Vest Muk-Alola in Sun: 163-193 (40 - 47.4%) -- 48% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

0 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Metagross-Mega: 210-248 (69.7 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0- SpA Landorus-Therian Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Landorus-Therian: 192-228 (50.2 - 59.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Hidden Power Ice vs. 248 HP / 28 SpD Landorus-Therian: 322-380 (84.5 - 99.7%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Draco Meteor vs. 248 HP / 28 SpD Landorus-Therian: 321-380 (84.2 - 99.7%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Rotom-Wash Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 28 SpD Landorus-Therian: 288-338 (75.5 - 88.7%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252+ Atk Pheromosa High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 32 Def Pheromosa: 242-285 (85.5 - 100.7%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Pheromosa High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pheromosa: 260-306 (91.8 - 108.1%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Pheromosa High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Metagross-Mega: 169-201 (56.1 - 66.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Pheromosa High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Metagross-Mega: 255-301 (84.7 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Pheromosa High Jump Kick vs. 248 HP / 124+ Def Scizor: 195-231 (56.8 - 67.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Zygarde Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pheromosa: 256-302 (90.4 - 106.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 Atk Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pheromosa: 174-205 (61.4 - 72.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pheromosa: 198-234 (69.9 - 82.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Threatlist:

Mega Venusaur

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Mega Venusaur is quite dangerous as it can 1v1 everything on the team except greninja or mawile depending on the set, and nothing really wants to switch into it. If you see a venu you almost always have to lead with Greninja and try to force it out and lay up a ton of spikes. Once you have spikes down its much easier to pressure Venu, and you generally want Mawile to do the second part of the breaking with SD + Play Rough if you don't still have ninja to force it out to take more hazard damage. If Venu is able to bring itself in a tricky position for you, you can try to use muk to damage it and force a synth even if you lose the 1v1. Just be warned that if they predict a switch to greninja and giga drain, you will probably lose. Worst case scenario you'll have to regular belly drum with Azu to minimize Giga Drain recovery and hope aqua jet can chunk it enough to become manageable. Venu teams are certainly manageable, but autopiloting against them will generally lead to a loss.

Webs

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Webs is naturally annoying for offense because it puts a lot of pressure and has natural answers to the threats on this team. This is honestly a matchup to practice (I practiced it before playing in SPL), but generally you want to use phero to sack muk to sleep fodder (its setup fodder for bisharp and generally only helps with celesteela/thund/p-z depending on the variation) and then bring in ninja before webs go up (alternatively you can threaten spin kill on smeargle with mosa and try to break mimikyu's disguise with mosa's uturn). From there just try to minimize the switching needed on your end and trade kills as much as possible. Save lando for zygarde and mawile for Pinsir, get Bish in range of Azu's Ajet or try to beat it with gren (you are faster under webs unless he is jolly), and basically just keep a really clear gameplan and don't autopilot and you can win.

Mamoswine

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Mamoswine is just annoying really, since the team has lando and several slower end mons like Muk and Mawile that are prone to giving mamoswine an opportunity to dish out hits. Depending on rolls sash mamo can knock out gren with EQ + Shard, and U-Turn from Mosa rarely 2hkos so that's annoying. It helps to have pump on gren for LO mamo cuz those tend to run Thick Fat, but you can still generally scare them out if needed. The lead situation will be awkward but play it based on what you need to keep for the rest of his team and if mamo switches out, play the game in a way that limits the free turns mamo gets.

Replays:​

SPL 8 vs Tricking: Straightforward match where I use Lando and Gren to soften his team, and use Phero for positioning so that BD Azu can set-up on Zygarde and sweep once his bulu has taken damage.
Smogon Tour vs Alexander: I prioritize hazards to weaken his team for the Azu sweep, but Greninja and Lando are both effectively able to nab a kill as well. Then Azu sets up on scarfchomp and creates a position for pheromosa/mawile to win if it doesn't win itself.
Smogon Tour vs Luigi: I lead Phero to get better positioning, and end up catching Tapu Lele on a U-Turn allowing me to ensure its removal with muk. I play aggressive with Gren to set up a spike and pressure his team, and am able to catch his scizor who was predicting an ice beam, meaning azumarill can just set-up on lando and win the game.
Smogon Tour vs Bad Ass: I played this game poorly so its a good match to learn from. Azumarill could basically sweep if I can force enough damage on Metagross. Two spikes make it possible but ideally 3 spikes would nearly guarantee it. I didn't have Hydro Pump on greninja so I was afraid to go to it on Mamoswine, but that was basically the only situation where I can attempt to spike on a switch, which was the only way Greninja was getting up 3 spikes, so I should have gone for that. Then Azu could set up pretty easily and win. Also once I SD'd with Maw I saw U-Turn damage on Torn so there was no need for a second SD, I Mawile could have just won if I played it right vs his Mamo. I played poorly against the pheromosa as I thought it was scarf but didn't account well for spin.
OU Circuit vs Metalgro$$: My opponent had Mawile, Magnezone, and Keldeo, Sand, and Helmet Lando, all of which could help take down Azu. I focused on pressuring him with gren and setting up 3 spikes, and used muk to remove lando's helmet and soften it Mosa and Maw. Afterwards I simply set up with Azu and won the game.
Blunder vs ABR: Blunders strong predictions in the early game net him spikes, a kill on ABR's scarf keldeo, and important damage on Metagross and Zygarde. Blunder can't sweep with Azu as long as CB Zygarde is alive so he chooses to soften ABRs team with Mawile, but thanks to paralysis isn't able to do as much as he likes. Blunder continuously pressures in the Zygarde however and builds up more hazards, and by this time ABRs answers to Muk are dwindling. Once Zygarde is down blunder decides to not risk a crit from Lando and instead plays with paralysis, but eventually clefable is removed by +6 Azu.
Blunder vs Ben Gay (Finals of a Smogon Tour): This was another loss that is good to learn from. Note that if Blunder had creeped his Azumarill for Scizor (since ben had been spamming the same team all of tour) it would have been an easier win. Fire blast Muk would have also helped. Regardless this was a strong mu that was somewhat misplayed. The core idea is to set up hazards with Greninja and Lando and then do a one-two punch with Mawile and Azu to remove 2 of Ben's 3 tools to beat the two once they set up (Helmet, Shuriken, BP). Blunder sets up Spikes and Rocks and brings in Mawile to set up on Scizor after an Intimidate comfortably (Clefable has Encore, Skarm has WW, Toxapex can scald burn, Dug and Gren hit too hard). Ben only gets two water shuriken hits so even with Rocky Helmet damage Scizor is unable to KO Mawile, meaning a +2 Tpunch to weaken it would have won the game. Blunder misclicked sucker punch so this didn't happen, but we can consider this akin to ben KO'ing with BP, and the game is still quite winnable, because Azu has a trick up its sleeve. What Azumarill can do is go for a regular belly drum on Scizor's roost (if Ben BP's on a Z-BD he loses), and then live the BP and go for a z-BD, healing up to full health and winning the game. This combination is not expected and while it is somewhat of a prediction, Accurate doubles with hazards to pressure would create the optimal situation to pull this off. Blunder likely didn't realize he could do this so instead BD'd on Clef (even if he tried the same thing on clef, encore would likely screw blunder over, and he took two rocks switchins before BD'ing). The game was reasonably winnable however if he used z-Belly Drum to its full potential.

Conclusion:
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Even though this team is no longer legal, it still remains special to me, and I hope it effectively illustrates how some underrated threats can be integrated with metagame staples to tear up the competition. I encourage everyone to come up with their own ideas and just keep on building with them. No matter how unusual an idea may be, if the reasoning behind it is thoughtful and realistic, some combination of mons out there will make it work. Nothing is more satisfying than that mental click when everything comes together.

[importable] [teambuilding video]​