SM OU Greed Island

[metal box]

Introduction
I first had the idea for this team a couple months ago (give or take) when i was laddering with stall and got absolutely destroyed- after I had almost won, I thought- by a Taunt Tornadus + Tangrowth core that I was unable to stall out. The final team ended up not even coming close to that, but the idea of a double-regenerator core giving solid defensive backbone to an otherwise offensive team stuck with me. I put the idea on the backburner while i took a few weeks off from pokemon, until recently I was thinking about the inherent synergy between Mega Mawile and Ash Greninja, where both pokemon pressure a ton of immediate damage to weaken most of the exact pokemon that deal with the other's counters, opening up room for them to sweep. Ash-Gren pressures Heatran, Mawile pressure Chansey, Mawile pressures Tapu Fini, Ash-Gren pressures Landorus, etc. These two ideas came together in the form of this team, which uses a combination of pokemon that can present strong offensive pressure, while having the bulk and typing to offer a resilient defensive backbone.

In-Depth Analysis

Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Thunder Punch​

The triple breaker core of Mega Mawile/Ash Gren/Kommo-o was my starting point for this team. As explained above, each of these pokemon pressure a bunch of immediate daamge that give the other one room to set up a sweep. This is actually the first time I've used fast SD MegaMaw on a serious team- the last time I used a serious Mega Mawile was back in mid-2018 when 4 attacks was, imo, way better- but right now Mega Mawile takes advantage of so many passive pokemon to set up fairly easily. The EVs are pretty standard, letting you outspeed Clef, Pex, etc and giving you some bulk. I opted for Thunder Punch because this team is REALLY weak to Celepex, both together and individually. SD generally successfully lures Pex, letting you TPunch it at +2, which Kommo-o and Ash-Gren pretty much need in order to do any real damage. Intimidate and Mawile's bulk and amazing typing also let it come into weaker resisted attacks, which you shouldn't be afraid to do if it means Mawile opens up a hole in the opposing team for its teammates to clean. Trading a Mawile for a Magearna or a Clefable can be instrumental to getting an Ash Gren or Kommo-o sweep. I should note that if Cele/pex drop in usage (such as with a Zygarde unban), dropping Thunder Punch for Focus Punch/Brick Break to lure and take out Heatran is recommended: this set gives Heatran free switch-ins to Mawile, and unless its super weakened you don't really have a way to punish them for it, meaning that you lose a lot of momentum trying to switch into Heatran and threaten it out. It's especially rough with FWG cores but I'll get there later.

Greninja-Ash (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Spikes
​

I'm honestly not sure what I can say about Ash Greninja that hasn't been said already by people who are way better at this game than I am. Gren threatens a bunch of damage, luring in special walls like Chansey and SpDef pex that get preyed on by Mega Mawile. Spikes pressures balance teams that rely on Pex/Tang/Fini/Ferro/whatever other defensive mon repeatedly to switch into your offensive threats. I have considered swapping Hydro Pump for Surf since I think inaccurate moves are bad where they can be avoided, but the immediate chip damage that that +20 power gives is so important, especially against teams whose best switchin to Ash-Gren is AV Magearna. Other than that though, there's really nothing to say about this set, given that you've probably seen it like 100 times in the past week.

Kommo-o @ Kommonium Z
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Clanging Scales
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
​

This Kommo-o set is fairly standard, but I've done a lot of tinkering with it. I think that the pokemon best poised to take advantage of the current gen 7 OU metagame are pokemon that have the typing and bulk to deal with offensive teams, but aren't so passive that they turn your team into bait for Volcarona/Latias/Gliscor/etc. Pokemon like Gliscor, Landorus, Magearna, Garchomp, Tapu Bulu, Tapu Koko, etc. Kommo-o is a pokemon like this, but is painfully underexplored, given how relatively recently it was 'discovered'. It has three great sets that fit onto a bunch of teams: SpDef, Z-Clanger, and DD (Yes i know SubSalac exists and is great but its niche is on HO so it doesn't apply here). SpDef takes advantage of Kommo-o's great defensive typing and movepool to act as a check to strong special attackers like Ash-Gren and Heatran. Z-Clanger and DD on the other hand use Kommo-o's defensive typing to find plenty of opportunities to set up, and using its coverage to sweep. So you've got this Kommo-o set that can pivot in, but is fairly passive, and these other two sets that can pivot in to sweep, but have to put their EVs into attacking stats so that Kommo-o can actually do damage, limiting their ability to come in. I experimented with a few sets, and this is what I think is best for this team, but there's plenty of room for a Kommo-o set to be developed that takes full advantage of both its pivoting and sweeping abilities. This set swaps Close Combat for Earthquake to do more damage to Magearna, which is otherwise an extremely safe switchin to Kommo-o. I tried to fit Drain Punch on this set but it's really that or Rocks, and Kommo-o was the only Rocker that could fit. EQ does make you slightly more vulnerable to Bulu + SpDefHeatran given the Grassy Terrain is up, since Grassy Terrain means Heatran can live an EQ and toxic Kommo-o, and suddenly you're forced to predict Poison Jab into Bulu or EQ into Tran. More on this later though. Soundproof is the other thing I put on this Kommo-o, I'm honestly surprised it's not more common. It lets you 1v1 opposing Kommo-o that rely on Clanging Scales/Z-Clanger. The tradeoff afaik is you have a much worse matchup against Mega Venusaur & Blacephalon, since losing Bulletproof means Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball can hit you. Those pokemon are decently uncommon though, and Blace especially is a nonissue for this team full of Ditto/Water Shuriken/Sucker Punch/AV Reuniclus. Genuinely idk I might be forgetting some super common pokemon that Kommo-o needs the Bulletproof immunity to but having your Kommo-o be able to switch in on 1v1 theirs is seriously great.

Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
Hidden Power: Ground
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Transform
​

So once I had the triple breaker core of Mega Mawile/Ash-Gren/Kommo-o, I needed to start giving this team some more solid defensive backbone. I actually tossed Ditto on this team purely out of curiousity, I hadn't played with it at all and had hardly seen it on the ladder, but was hearing great things about it, so I wanted to try it out. I figured that it'd be a solid defensive mon with all the regen and Lando/Mage in the tier, and it overperformed far beyond that. Ditto immediately blanks almost every setup sweeper in the tier bar Volcarona, MegaZam and Mega Latias. Being able to copy a +2 Zard X/Kartana/Gliscor and threaten a reverse sweep is itself great, but tearing that kind of hole in a team hugely helps MMaw/Kommo-o/Gren later on. Ditto also helps scout opposing sets, which is really important for a team like this one thats generally relying on making smart doubles to keep up momentum. Ditto, alongside Torn-T and Reuniclus, form a solid defensive core that can pivot around the opposing team pretty freely, especially once Ditto's scouted their sets. Ditto is overall an extremely solid pokemon that plays really well as both an offensive cleaner/breaker, and a defensive pivot. I also want to note that while HP Ground is so youre not dead against Heatran if they don't have Earth Power, HP Ice for Landorus is also worth considering since most Heatran are running EP rn.

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Defog
- U-turn
​

With the three breakers and Ditto, it was clear that in addition to a non-passive defensive mon, I really needed a Defogger. This Torn set is super standard, but hasn't ever really failed me. Helmet punishes excessive Fake Outs/U-Turns, racking up chip damage to bring opposing pokemon into range of being KO'd by the offensive mons. Heat Wave is here to check Kartana, Mega Scizor and Skarmory, all three of whom would shit all over the team otherwise. Torn-T suffers from the same problem as MMaw in that its a total freebie for Heatran to come in, and while U-Turn mitigates that, it can create some rough turns where you're likely going to take a momentum loss to keep Heatran from coming in for free. You could swap Heat Wave for Superpower, since that lets you keep the Kartana check, but I wouldn't do that without adjusting the team to deal with MScizor better first. Torn-T is also essential for punishing Tangrowth, which is really important for facilitating a sweep with Kommo-o or Greninja later. Not much else to say about Torn-T tbh, set is super basic but super solid.

Reuniclus @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SpD
Calm Nature
- Psychic
- Knock Off
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
​

Finally, we get to my Reuniclus, which has honestly been the MVP of this team. With the other 5 I was struggling because, while I like what I had, my last pokemon had a bunch of criteria it needed to fullfill: it needed to be bulky, have good defensive typing, have good recovery, and not be too passive. Most importantly, it needed to be something that kept me from getting absolutely destroyed by Tapu Lele and Tapu Koko, who both currently 6-0'd my team with their specs sets. I considered a bunch of stuff: Chansey (too passive), SpDef Excadrill (bad recovery), Figy Berry Jirachi (too inconsistent), Mew (couldn't threaten damage back), Seismitoad (not bulky enough). Eventually I settled on this Reuniclus set. Assault Vest effectively gives Reuniclus near-Chansey levels of Special Bulk. 160 SpD with a Calm Nature makes it so that Specs Lele Moonblast can't 2HKO after Rocks. 252 HP is to maximize Regenerator recovery, and the rest is poured into Defense to help deal with Specs Psyshock (which only 2HKOs after Rocks 22.3% of the time). This doesn't leave Reuniclus with EVs for Special Attack, which means Shadow Ball only does 44.1%-51.9% to Lele. However, this safely puts Lele into range of Gren or Torn-T to outspeed and KO it. Specs Lele isn't that common, but this Reuniclus set acts as a blanket special wall, able to lure and deal with most of the threatening special attackers in the tier. The huge HP stat also lets you pivot into weaker physical attacks like Scarf Kartana Smart Strike, but you shouldn't overestimate this set's Physical Walling ability: its not a Medicham counter, for example. It can usually shrug off a stronger physical attack like Banded Kartana Leaf Blade and try to do damage back, but it can't really pivot into these- that's Torn-T's job. The moveset is pretty simple: Psychic is a blanket stab move, Knock Off is mainly for luring Chansey and making it easier for Gren/Kommo-o to pressure, but is just generally useful, Focus Blast hits Kartana and Magearna, and Shadow Ball is to 1v1 Lele. Energy Ball is an option against rain, being able to OHKO Mega Swampert after you live a Waterfall/EQ, but the only thing you can really cut for it is Knock Off, and you're not really struggling against rain when you have Torn/Gren/Ditto already.

wall of calcs

252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 96 Def Reuniclus in Psychic Terrain: 165-195 (38.9 - 45.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 160+ SpD Assault Vest Reuniclus: 91-108 (21.4 - 25.4%) -- 0.2% chance to 4HKO
252 SpA Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 160+ SpD Assault Vest Reuniclus in Electric Terrain: 103-123 (24.2 - 29%) -- 99.4% chance to 4HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 160+ SpD Assault Vest Reuniclus: 194-230 (45.7 - 54.2%) -- 50% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 160+ SpD Assault Vest Reuniclus: 135-159 (31.8 - 37.5%) -- 88.4% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Blacephalon Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 160+ SpD Assault Vest Reuniclus: 254-302 (59.9 - 71.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
20 SpA Blacephalon Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 160+ SpD Assault Vest Reuniclus: 146-174 (34.4 - 41%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
20 SpA Blacephalon Never-Ending Nightmare (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 160+ SpD Assault Vest Reuniclus: 290-344 (68.3 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Magearna Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 160+ SpD Assault Vest Reuniclus: 58-69 (13.6 - 16.2%) -- possible 7HKO
0 SpA Magearna Fleur Cannon vs. 252 HP / 160+ SpD Assault Vest Reuniclus: 102-121 (24 - 28.5%) -- 97.6% chance to 4HKO
252+ SpA Heatran Magma Storm vs. 252 HP / 160+ SpD Assault Vest Reuniclus: 105-124 (24.7 - 29.2%) -- 99.8% chance to 3HKO after trapping damage
252+ SpA Heatran Inferno Overdrive (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 160+ SpD Assault Vest Reuniclus: 189-223 (44.5 - 52.5%) -- 23.8% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Kartana Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 96 Def Reuniclus: 306-360 (72.1 - 84.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
52 Atk Kartana Leaf Blade vs. 252 HP / 96 Def Reuniclus: 211-250 (49.7 - 58.9%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO
12 SpA Tapu Fini Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 160+ SpD Assault Vest Reuniclus: 58-70 (13.6 - 16.5%) -- possible 7HKO
252 Atk Swampert Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 96 Def Reuniclus in Rain: 198-234 (46.6 - 55.1%) -- 69.1% chance to 2HKO

Threats & Matchups​

Volt-Turn teams: These are the roughest matchup for this team. This team relies heavily on keeping up momentum to put the opponent in positions where they are forced to take damage, opening up room for Kommo-o/Gren/Mawile/Ditto to sweep. Voltturn teams flip this: because of the frailty of my team, I have only two real pivots into common voltturners: Reuniclus and Torn-T. Torn-T is off the table because of its weakness to Volt Switch, and Reuniclus is still more passive than I'd like, so this team struggles to maintain momentum when its constantly being forced into bad positions. Your best bet versus voltturn is to have a good lead off the bat that forces them into a bad position, and hoping they can't punish Reuniclus's passivity. If their strongest mon is something like Kyurem-B or Medicham it won't be the end of the world, but bulkier VoltTurn cores that use Ferrothorn or Gliscor will be really hard to deal with.

Stall: Stall can rough, depending on the build. Shedinja stall is pretty much an autoloss if your opponent is good, since Shed forces out Mega Mawile 100% of the time, which is what you're really relying on in this matchup. Barring Shedinja, the double regen core, Ditto, and Mega Mawile actually do a decent job at breaking stall. Ditto gives you infinite PP, and can pivot in and out with the regen mons to force them to burn PP. This falls apart if they're a Pex/Tang stall, however, since they can also just pivot around infinitely. The big key to the stall matchup is making really smart doubles, and eliminating whatever is stopping Gren or Mawile from sweeping through their team. That's unfortunately easier said than done, especially given the fact that Mawile and Gren have 0 recovery, and Hydro Pump has 8 PP. It's a shakey matchup overall, but you can win if you play perfectly (or your opponent plays horribly). If Duggy ever gets unbanned its an autoloss m/u though.

Offense: Offense is one of this team's best matchups. Your plan is generally one of attrition, where you force them into trades that leave you advantaged. Kommo-o is especially great in this matchup, Z can get a KO on a weakened (or weak) mon and then you'll have the bulk where your opponents struggle to revenge kill you. Ash Gren is a constant threat, since Water Shuriken can revenge almost anything (except Gyarados) for free post-transformation, and pretty much nothing (except Gyarados) switches into Specs Hydro Pumps. Mega Mawile Sucker Punch also represents a ton of damage against weakened or frail mons. The biggest thing though is Ditto, which takes whatever broken sweeper they just got set up, and reverse sweeps them. Sub Gyarados is a huge problem in that respect though, since Ditto can't copy it. You generally want to preserve Torn-T and/or Kommo-o for the possibility that it's sub, while also being aware of Z-Fly being able to eat Kommo-o. A healthy Reuniclus also 1v1s Hawlucha (unless its SpDef boosting), so if they have that, keep it alive.

Balance: Balance can be matchup fishy, but is generally not too bad. Generally your balance matchup revolves around using Torn-T, Ditto and Reuniclus to scout sets while chipping down the opposing team to the range where your breakers can come in and finish things off. FWG cores, especially ones using Tapu Bulu, make it a lot harder to pressure the opposing team since they both threaten damage, and force you into positions where you have to make the right predict when youre making an offensive play. All three of your breakers ask you to make hard reads in these matchups: Hydro Pump into Bulu, or Spikes on Heatran? Earthquake into Tangrowth, or Poison Jab into Heatran? Play Rough into Magearna, or Thunder Punch into Pex? A wrong answer can be extremely punishing. However, Balance's more passive pokemon can be taken advantage of to get in your offensive threats, and force your opponent into a similar situation. Balance is generally a fine matchup, but you need to play it well and be willing to make hard reads to win it.

Semistall: I haven't played against a ton of Semistall but the passive recovery on those teams is really tough to deal with. You NEED to make aggressive reads here because they will easily switch into your Hydro Pumps and Z-Clangers and recover off the damage. Mega Mawile at +2 can tear through most semistalls, which means your priority is getting rid of whatever is stopping Mawile from setting up and sweeping. With that said, your gameplan is similar to balance: use your regen mons and ditto to scout sets and pivot around until you can get a sweep off. CM Mega Latias 6-0s without Mega Mawile, and if they've already set up it'll 6-0 despite it, so you need to be constantly ready for that.

Rain: Rain, like offense, is a pretty solid matchup because of your ability to trade favorably and reverse sweep them. The big thing to worry about is Ferrothorn, who walls most of the team. Torn-T Hurricane can chip it down in the rain, but you're risking a Thunder Wave, so be aware of that. Ditto and Greninja are your biggest assets in this matchup, with the former being able to copy and outspeed Swampert/Manaphy, and the latter being an absolute beast in the rain. Manaphy can be problematic bc of its ability to OHKO your entire team and shrug off all your hits, but Ditto can copy and beat it. I assume the sand matchup is similar vis a vis Ditto copying Excadrill, but I literally haven't played against Sand at all so I have no idea.

​

Importable

Kommo-o @ Kommonium Z
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Clanging Scales
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab

Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Thunder Punch

Greninja-Ash (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Spikes

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Defog
- U-turn

Reuniclus @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SpD
Calm Nature
- Psychic
- Knock Off
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball

Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
Hidden Power: Ground
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Transform

​

​