I decided to start playing again after leaving competitive pokemon at the end of gen 5. Took me a while to relearn type interactions, but I managed to throw together a cookie-cutter almost-decent team that sort of works. It definitely plays like Semi-Stall where I absorb hits and try to get Ho-Oh into play safely to clean up or break walls.
Here's where I'm at on the ladder right now
I think I could get to 1750 at least, maybe 1800 if I stop lagging so hard and actually cancel misclicks.
It's not awful imo but I feel the team itself could use some improvement
Chicago (Aegislash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- King's Shield
- Shadow Sneak
- Shadow Ball
This used to be Mega-Metagross with Meteor Mash, Bullet Punch, Earthquake, and Rock Slide, but I eventually changed it to Aegislash in order to deal with Bulk-Up Mewtwo-X better. However, its primary role is as a Xerneas check - max special defense allows me to tank 2 Moonblasts after Stealth Rock damage and deal heavy damage back.
EVs maximize special bulk so I can tank as many Moonblasts from Xerneas as possible.
Gyro Ball is good for Xerneas, Diancie, and other Fairies, as well as general fast mons that don't resist it. King's Shield is good for scouting, as well as stalling to recover some HP from Lefties. Shadow Sneak is priority for Sash users, as well as Mewtwo-Y and Deoxys S/A. I originally had Sacred Sword over Shadow Ball to hit Normal-type Ekiller as well as Ferrothorn and Heatran, but I don't have that much trouble with either anymore so Shadow Ball hits Physical Mewtwo-X harder.
Boston (Yveltal) @ Black Glasses
Ability: Dark Aura
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Roost
- Toxic
- Dark Pulse
Physical tank that deals with Extremekiller Arceus as well as most DDance Rayquaza. Originally, I had a Charti Berry to deal with Stone Edge, but not having Black Glasses noticeably cuts into my damage, and I haven't seen a Stone Edge Arceus yet anyways. Also deals with Arceus-Ghost, which is uncommon but can be dangerous to my team if left unchecked. Generally, keep this guy pretty healthy until their Arceus is revealed.
EVs are to maximize physical defense to deal with physical sweepers that aren't named Lucario.
Foul Play deals with Swords Dance Groudon, Rayquaza, and Arceus as well as DDance Salamence. It generally OHKOs anything with +2 Attack, and also hits Ho-Oh pretty hard. Roost is for recovery as well as Toxic stalling. Toxic is for hitting Xerneas on the switch to shorten his lifespan, as well as for defensive Ho-Oh and most other Arceus forms. Dark Pulse hits Aegislash-Shield harder than Foul Play, as well as Gengar and special variants of Giratina.
Pittsburgh (Diancie-Mega) @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
This used to be a physically defensive Xerneas with Aromatherapy, Thunder Wave, Moonblast, and Roar, before I eventually decided to try Diancie. Once I removed Metagross, it became pretty difficult to kill Ho-Oh. In addition to checking most Ho-Oh, Diancie is also pretty good against Darkrai, able to bounce back Dark Void, resist Dark Pulse, and only take neutral hits from Sludge Bomb (while Xerneas was often OHKO'd after hazards). However, the lack of lefties recovery absolutely fucking blows, and I often have to take huge risks to pass Wish if the game goes too long. On the bright side, Diancie has become my go-to lead against most teams.
EVs are to maximize physical defense because Diancie's primary job is to tank Ho-Oh.
Protect scouts for moves and other Mega formes, and allows me to Mega evolve safely on turn one. Since non-mega Diancie doesn't get Magic Bounce and hits like a wet noodle, I highly advise you try to get Diancie out as soon as possible, preferably on turn 1. Heal Bell is for removing burns from Arceus, Yveltal, and Aegislash so they can hit things at full power. If Yveltal gets burned and they haven't revealed their Arceus yet, I'd highly advise you to look for next possible opportunity to get a Heal Bell off, even at the cost of losing Diancie. This team gets absolutely destroyed by Extremekiller if Yveltal can't kill it. Diamond Storm for hitting Primal Groudon on the switch for more damage than Moonblast as well as obviously Ho-Oh. Moonblast for dragons and Blaziken.
Los Angeles (Latias) @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 56 SpD / 204 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Psyshock
- Defog
Latias is still pretty good against Kyogre, and hazard removal is a must for a team with both Ho-Oh and Yveltal. She is generally a fairly safe switch against Primal Groudon as well as some specially-based Arceus variants. Beware of Gengar though - the lack of instant recovery means that getting revenge killed or getting locked in on your Protect turn is pretty likely.
204 speed outspeeds Timid Kyogre, rest I dumped in special bulk to tank Kyogre and Groudon's Lava Plumes a little better.
Wish provides support for Diancie, who lacks any form of recovery. Protect allows Wish to heal you a little more effectively, as well as scouts moves from choice users. Psyshock hits Kyogre fairly hard, especially Calm Mind variants. It also deals with Calm Mind Arceus-Fighting, in the event that you are playing someone who still thinks it's 2014, and hits Blaziken. Defog removes hazards and screens so Yveltal and Ho-Oh can last longer than 10 seconds.
Dallas (Ho-Oh) @ Choice Band
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sleep Talk
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Earthquake
The wrecking ball of the team, Ho-Oh offers a secondary check to Xerneas and Darkrai, is my primary check to Kyurem-W and absolutely plows through weakened teams and walls. If you can keep the Stealth Rocks off the field, banded Ho-Oh is a massive threat at every stage of the game.
Obviously I maxed attack to hit as hard as possible. I also maxed bulk because I'm probably not outspeeding too much, and it's nice to be able to take some hits from Deoxys, Kyurem-W, and other special attackers once in a while.
Sleep Talk is my check to Darkrai in the event I have to eat a Dark Void. It's mostly a relic of the time I had a support Xerneas instead of Mega Diancie, but Ho-Oh's movepool isn't that great when you take away the support moves. Sacred Fire, Brave Bird, and Earthquake are my attacking moves to get decent coverage on most of the Ubers metagame. I wouldn't advise leading with Ho-Oh against Deoxys-A - if Sacred Fire misses, you're already down to 4 PP after 2 attacks, and if it misses and doesn't burn, you're down to just 2 nukes. On the other hand, you're really going to be hurting if he uses Psycho Boost and you use Brave Bird, and if you use Earthquake, you're locked into Earthquake, which is pretty terrible with all the fliers in the meta. I've found that I rarely use Earthquake at all since Brave Bird hits almost as hard and is much less prediction dependent. If you Brave Bird a Lugia instead of a Groudon then he might want to recover next turn, but if you use Earthquake, someone is eating a status move. I might get rid of it entirely to minimize my bad luck with Sleep Talk.
New York City (Arceus-Ground) @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 88 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
Modest Nature
- Judgment
- Ice Beam
- Stone Edge
- Recover
If Ho-Oh is a wrecking ball, Arceus-Ground is a sniper rifle, picking off threats to the team whenever it can. Most people don't expect a 3 attacks + recovery set and underestimate its raw power. Arceus OHKO-2HKOs Primal Groudon, 2HKOs most Yveltal, can 2HKO Xerneas on the switch if the latter has taken any damage, and has a chance of 2HKOing Giratina-O. Additionally, Stone Edge OHKOs Ho-Oh if it has eaten an Ice Beam, even with a Modest nature.
168 speed outspeeds all unboosted base 90s like Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Dialga. Max special attack with a Modest nature maximizes my chances of KOing support Groudon (attacking Groudon gets OHKO'd). Rest is dumped in HP so I can tank a couple hits from Zekrom or whatever surprise pops up in team preview.
Judgment is my STAB move that OHKOs offensive Groudon and does upwards of 80% to max sdef Groudon. Ice Beam hits Dragons, Yveltal, and weakened Lugia. Stone Edge does 80-90% to Ho-Oh - if it takes an Ice Beam on the switch, you can generally KO it. Recover is to stay in play to remain a threat as long as possible.
By far the biggest threats to my team are:
Dialga: None of my pokemon can really safely switch into the Specs variant, but I can easily get rid of it with chip damage from Yveltal, or straight kill it with Ho-Oh or Arceus. It's just getting these pokemon in that's tricky.
I played against Life Orb Palkia and only won because I got 3 perfect switches off in a row to kill it with Life Orb recoil. Life Orb or Lustrous Orb Palkia is an absolute nightmare to deal with, especially with the high crit rate of Spacial Rend, and the fact that it's fairly quick and can go mixed. Fortunately I have only fought 1 or 2, but they were pretty scary.
I lose to this thing unless i double switch Ho-Oh in safely
Pain in the ass when alongside Normal Extremekiller or Ho-Oh. Earthquake hits Diancie too hard.
Looking for a few suggestions but mostly I wanted to feel like I did something this generation lul
will post some replays after i eat something
here's a recent game
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-453396334
Here's where I'm at on the ladder right now
I think I could get to 1750 at least, maybe 1800 if I stop lagging so hard and actually cancel misclicks.
It's not awful imo but I feel the team itself could use some improvement
Chicago (Aegislash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- King's Shield
- Shadow Sneak
- Shadow Ball
This used to be Mega-Metagross with Meteor Mash, Bullet Punch, Earthquake, and Rock Slide, but I eventually changed it to Aegislash in order to deal with Bulk-Up Mewtwo-X better. However, its primary role is as a Xerneas check - max special defense allows me to tank 2 Moonblasts after Stealth Rock damage and deal heavy damage back.
EVs maximize special bulk so I can tank as many Moonblasts from Xerneas as possible.
Gyro Ball is good for Xerneas, Diancie, and other Fairies, as well as general fast mons that don't resist it. King's Shield is good for scouting, as well as stalling to recover some HP from Lefties. Shadow Sneak is priority for Sash users, as well as Mewtwo-Y and Deoxys S/A. I originally had Sacred Sword over Shadow Ball to hit Normal-type Ekiller as well as Ferrothorn and Heatran, but I don't have that much trouble with either anymore so Shadow Ball hits Physical Mewtwo-X harder.
Boston (Yveltal) @ Black Glasses
Ability: Dark Aura
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Roost
- Toxic
- Dark Pulse
Physical tank that deals with Extremekiller Arceus as well as most DDance Rayquaza. Originally, I had a Charti Berry to deal with Stone Edge, but not having Black Glasses noticeably cuts into my damage, and I haven't seen a Stone Edge Arceus yet anyways. Also deals with Arceus-Ghost, which is uncommon but can be dangerous to my team if left unchecked. Generally, keep this guy pretty healthy until their Arceus is revealed.
EVs are to maximize physical defense to deal with physical sweepers that aren't named Lucario.
Foul Play deals with Swords Dance Groudon, Rayquaza, and Arceus as well as DDance Salamence. It generally OHKOs anything with +2 Attack, and also hits Ho-Oh pretty hard. Roost is for recovery as well as Toxic stalling. Toxic is for hitting Xerneas on the switch to shorten his lifespan, as well as for defensive Ho-Oh and most other Arceus forms. Dark Pulse hits Aegislash-Shield harder than Foul Play, as well as Gengar and special variants of Giratina.
Pittsburgh (Diancie-Mega) @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
This used to be a physically defensive Xerneas with Aromatherapy, Thunder Wave, Moonblast, and Roar, before I eventually decided to try Diancie. Once I removed Metagross, it became pretty difficult to kill Ho-Oh. In addition to checking most Ho-Oh, Diancie is also pretty good against Darkrai, able to bounce back Dark Void, resist Dark Pulse, and only take neutral hits from Sludge Bomb (while Xerneas was often OHKO'd after hazards). However, the lack of lefties recovery absolutely fucking blows, and I often have to take huge risks to pass Wish if the game goes too long. On the bright side, Diancie has become my go-to lead against most teams.
EVs are to maximize physical defense because Diancie's primary job is to tank Ho-Oh.
Protect scouts for moves and other Mega formes, and allows me to Mega evolve safely on turn one. Since non-mega Diancie doesn't get Magic Bounce and hits like a wet noodle, I highly advise you try to get Diancie out as soon as possible, preferably on turn 1. Heal Bell is for removing burns from Arceus, Yveltal, and Aegislash so they can hit things at full power. If Yveltal gets burned and they haven't revealed their Arceus yet, I'd highly advise you to look for next possible opportunity to get a Heal Bell off, even at the cost of losing Diancie. This team gets absolutely destroyed by Extremekiller if Yveltal can't kill it. Diamond Storm for hitting Primal Groudon on the switch for more damage than Moonblast as well as obviously Ho-Oh. Moonblast for dragons and Blaziken.
Los Angeles (Latias) @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 56 SpD / 204 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Psyshock
- Defog
Latias is still pretty good against Kyogre, and hazard removal is a must for a team with both Ho-Oh and Yveltal. She is generally a fairly safe switch against Primal Groudon as well as some specially-based Arceus variants. Beware of Gengar though - the lack of instant recovery means that getting revenge killed or getting locked in on your Protect turn is pretty likely.
204 speed outspeeds Timid Kyogre, rest I dumped in special bulk to tank Kyogre and Groudon's Lava Plumes a little better.
Wish provides support for Diancie, who lacks any form of recovery. Protect allows Wish to heal you a little more effectively, as well as scouts moves from choice users. Psyshock hits Kyogre fairly hard, especially Calm Mind variants. It also deals with Calm Mind Arceus-Fighting, in the event that you are playing someone who still thinks it's 2014, and hits Blaziken. Defog removes hazards and screens so Yveltal and Ho-Oh can last longer than 10 seconds.
Dallas (Ho-Oh) @ Choice Band
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sleep Talk
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Earthquake
The wrecking ball of the team, Ho-Oh offers a secondary check to Xerneas and Darkrai, is my primary check to Kyurem-W and absolutely plows through weakened teams and walls. If you can keep the Stealth Rocks off the field, banded Ho-Oh is a massive threat at every stage of the game.
Obviously I maxed attack to hit as hard as possible. I also maxed bulk because I'm probably not outspeeding too much, and it's nice to be able to take some hits from Deoxys, Kyurem-W, and other special attackers once in a while.
Sleep Talk is my check to Darkrai in the event I have to eat a Dark Void. It's mostly a relic of the time I had a support Xerneas instead of Mega Diancie, but Ho-Oh's movepool isn't that great when you take away the support moves. Sacred Fire, Brave Bird, and Earthquake are my attacking moves to get decent coverage on most of the Ubers metagame. I wouldn't advise leading with Ho-Oh against Deoxys-A - if Sacred Fire misses, you're already down to 4 PP after 2 attacks, and if it misses and doesn't burn, you're down to just 2 nukes. On the other hand, you're really going to be hurting if he uses Psycho Boost and you use Brave Bird, and if you use Earthquake, you're locked into Earthquake, which is pretty terrible with all the fliers in the meta. I've found that I rarely use Earthquake at all since Brave Bird hits almost as hard and is much less prediction dependent. If you Brave Bird a Lugia instead of a Groudon then he might want to recover next turn, but if you use Earthquake, someone is eating a status move. I might get rid of it entirely to minimize my bad luck with Sleep Talk.
New York City (Arceus-Ground) @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 88 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
Modest Nature
- Judgment
- Ice Beam
- Stone Edge
- Recover
If Ho-Oh is a wrecking ball, Arceus-Ground is a sniper rifle, picking off threats to the team whenever it can. Most people don't expect a 3 attacks + recovery set and underestimate its raw power. Arceus OHKO-2HKOs Primal Groudon, 2HKOs most Yveltal, can 2HKO Xerneas on the switch if the latter has taken any damage, and has a chance of 2HKOing Giratina-O. Additionally, Stone Edge OHKOs Ho-Oh if it has eaten an Ice Beam, even with a Modest nature.
168 speed outspeeds all unboosted base 90s like Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Dialga. Max special attack with a Modest nature maximizes my chances of KOing support Groudon (attacking Groudon gets OHKO'd). Rest is dumped in HP so I can tank a couple hits from Zekrom or whatever surprise pops up in team preview.
Judgment is my STAB move that OHKOs offensive Groudon and does upwards of 80% to max sdef Groudon. Ice Beam hits Dragons, Yveltal, and weakened Lugia. Stone Edge does 80-90% to Ho-Oh - if it takes an Ice Beam on the switch, you can generally KO it. Recover is to stay in play to remain a threat as long as possible.
By far the biggest threats to my team are:
Dialga: None of my pokemon can really safely switch into the Specs variant, but I can easily get rid of it with chip damage from Yveltal, or straight kill it with Ho-Oh or Arceus. It's just getting these pokemon in that's tricky.
I played against Life Orb Palkia and only won because I got 3 perfect switches off in a row to kill it with Life Orb recoil. Life Orb or Lustrous Orb Palkia is an absolute nightmare to deal with, especially with the high crit rate of Spacial Rend, and the fact that it's fairly quick and can go mixed. Fortunately I have only fought 1 or 2, but they were pretty scary.
I lose to this thing unless i double switch Ho-Oh in safely
Pain in the ass when alongside Normal Extremekiller or Ho-Oh. Earthquake hits Diancie too hard.
Looking for a few suggestions but mostly I wanted to feel like I did something this generation lul
will post some replays after i eat something
here's a recent game
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ubers-453396334
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