SM OU RU Spooky?

[teachable]

Introduction​

Hiya everyone, RU has Entei and Mienshao rn so I took a hiatus and I'm here again with another OU RMT with more random ass anti-meta Pokemon. Seeing all the Lucha/Kartana/Medicham/Bulu/Pinsir spam I really wanted to try and make Doublade work in OU, since my friend EviGaro told me she had used it on her last OU team. Already made a post over in the OU core thread, but Mega Sableye paired way too well with it for me to not try and make something work.

Teambuilding Process​

The intro already spoiled this as the start to my team. Sableye helps keep spikes off the field, helping Doublade stay healthy, serves as a pretty good knock switch in assuming your name isn't Mega Mawile, and checks Celesteela which is really annoying to deal with otherwise. Doublade is here for the Pokemon listed above.

Bulu gives my team a nice form of passive recovery, weakens EQs for Doublade letting it get a toxic off on Lando easier, and helps check a lot of stuff more reliably like Zygarde/Keldeo/Greninja/Koko. V much appreciates Doublade for the Flying resist + Mega Sableye for handling Celesteela so they pair very well.

I messed around with a lot of rockers, but ultimately decided on A-Marowak (w/ Lightning Rod) since my team is pretty weak to Magearna (although this is a shaky Mag check) + I refuse to build a team without an electric immunity with Koko in the tier. It works nicely seeing as I already have a nice Knock switch in, and Sableye helps keeps rocks off the field so my A-Marowak can actually stay healthy. Additionally, A-Marowak kinda shreds most stall builds, as long as I play it smartly.

My team is absolutely slow as shit at this point and I was well aware of it, so I opted to band-aid fix it with some Scarf Speed Control from Latias. I tried out Latios, but honestly Healing Wish with this team was too useful for me to pass up and has won me a lot of games being able to revive Doublade/Marowak after they spent multiple Pokemon wearing them down for Koko or Lucha to sweep or if I played poorly vs Stall.

Here comes the difficult part: My team works together well, and I've recognized some stuff I'm weak to so what goes in this last slot? I'm kind of weak to Zard-Y if it has EQ and very Zard X weak. I also don't have a great way to answer Heatran, which is one of the most common OU pokemon so this team was straight garbage if I couldn't fix that, at the minimum; I tried out Phys Def Perish Trap Azumarill and it worked OK as it also gave me another Knock switch in, but I didn't run into the Pokemon enough on the ladder for me to stick with this version + my team was once again slow as shit. At this point, there's effectively 3 versions of my team w/ the only difference being the last Pokemon and I've come to accept that I have to choose what I lose to.

I had a Z Crystal available and I wanted something faster, and seeing as I had Zapdos handled pretty well with Marowak-A I wanted to try out Flyinium Z Gyarados and it worked pretty well; lots of ladder teams are unprepared for it. It sets up pretty freely on Heatran/Mamo which I've seen a lot of on ladder, but having Gyra on my team left me obnoxiously weak to Bisharp and Ash Greninja assuming they had anything else that pressures Bulu so I opted to make another change despite Gyarados putting in a crap ton of work on the ladder; Gyarados will probably be my next mon to build around.

Waterium Taunt + CM Keldeo is probably the best Bisharp (and an OK Scizor check) check in the tier and gives me a really speedy Pokemon on my team, and it really loves Healing Wish support (another knock switch in also); I'm really dark weak, so honestly I'm thinking Keldeo fits best in this slot (since I can very easily lose to ash gren if they have anything else that pressures bulu) but it does leave me in a very awkward spot with trying to handle Zard X but I've accepted that'll be a problematic Pokemon for me at this point and Keldeo can at least tank 1 hit and threaten it with Hydro Vortex; I run into way too many Bisharp on the ladder to not have a solid check to it on a team this Dark weak.

Breakdown

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Moves: Toxic | Swords Dance | Sacred Sword | Shadow Sneak​

Talked about it a crap ton already, but Doublade is here to check some popular Pokemon in the meta currently, namely Kartana/Lucha/Medicham/Bulu/Pinsir. The set I'm using is effectively the same Doublade set I use with it in RU; Toxic is here to not lose to Bulk Up Lucha/Bulu and additionally nails Lando/Rotom-W on the switch since you aren't doing anything to them anyways. Sacred Sword lets us actually beat Kartana while and is my desperate attempt at making us less Bisharp weak by letting it only set up infront of 2 Pokemon. Sneak/Swords Dance let Doublade sweep against a lot of weakened teams making sure its not completely dead weight, and it surprisingly gets a lot of opportunities to setup with its absurd defense. Sword Dance also lets us actually beat Scizor, as otherwise we'd just sit in front of it and do nothing.

Sableye @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
Nature: Careful
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Moves: Knock Off | Will-O-Wisp | Recover | Protect​

The other star of the team, I swear this isn't mono ghost. Sableye is my main form of hazard control, probably the best Knock Off switch in the tier, and a status "sponge". This is a really standard set, Knock Off + Wisp let it beat Steela effectively or annoy teams by taking items/burning stuff. Protect is for scouting, mainly against stuff like Lele or Koko, but additionally guarantees we get a Mega Evolution off, helps us get some extra damage with Wisp/Toxic, and lets us PP stall moves like Hydro Pump/Magma Storm. I tried Foul Play over Protect on a previous build to help w/ Zard X but I missed having Protect far more than I ran into Zard X so here we are.

Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP / 56 Atk / 60 SpD / 144 Spe
Moves: Horn Leech | Wood Hammer | Superpower | Nature's Madness​

Another really standard set, AV Bulu checks its usual crap like Zygarde/Lando-T/Greninja but has the added synergy of weakening EQs for my relatively Ground weak team. Bulu also lets me not auto lose to Scarf Lele at team preview, but Specs/CM variants still absolutely blow my team out of the water so I'm considering changing this to AV Tangrowth w/ Sludge Bomb despite the good synergy with my team. Lele hasn't been popular enough for me to immediately make the change since Grassy Terrain is really useful for the team, so I want some feedback on overall synergy of Tangrowth w/ this team hopefully.

Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Moves: Shadow Bone | Fire Punch | Stealth Rock | Bonemerang
​

Alolan Marowak is my Electric immunity and rocker + primary way to beat stall. After losing a game by getting outsped by Toxapex, I immediately changed my spread from Brave/0 Speed IVs to what it is currently. Without Rock Head, I ran Fire Punch to avoid too much recoil since Marowak has to stay healthy against most teams and my Fire STAB is usually the most spammable one in games where Marowak will be putting in the most work, stall.

Latias @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moves: Draco Meteor | Psyshock | Healing Wish | Defog​

Since I don't want to lose to Volcarona at team preview and my team is slow as shit, here's the mandatory over 100 Speed Scarfer. My team absolutely loves the Healing Wish support from Latias, which obviously would be the only reason to use it over Latios. Latias is my main Zard Y check and my way to revenge kill Zard X assuming it gets a DD off and my Keldeo loses the roll. Honestly, Latias contributes the least to the team itself but does its job as a Scarfer fine and Healing Wish has been too good for me to pass up. Last spot is basically filler, but is currently Defog in the off chance I need to use it; I've probably used it like 3 or 4 times total, but I can't imagine what else I'd be using other than potentially Earthquake.

Keldeo @ Waterium Z
Ability: Justified
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moves: Taunt | Calm Mind | Hydro Pump | Sacred Sword​

With 3 Pokemon on my team weak to Dark, I'm obnoxiously Dark weak which isn't helped by the fact that Bisharp kills my other Dark resist. Keldeo gives what I need in terms of a Dark resistance and gives the team something speedy + a Heatran switch in. With Keldeos most common check being used right now being Bulu, it really loves having a Doublade on my team which gets to come in on it for free. Keldeo also gives me another way to beat stall assuming I play absolutely awfully with Marowak or the stall build can handle Marowak (they'd need like Spdef unaware clef + a pursuit trapper to handle both, I haven't seen a build like this) while also not exclusively functioning as a stall breaker since it does a good job sweeping offensive teams. I'm also very happy to have a Pokemon that can revenge kill Kyurem-B without having to lock itself into Draco. Otherwise, again a really really standard Keldeo set which doesn't need a lot of explanation itself.

Threat List​

Breakers are obviously a problem for this team given its slow as shit, but a special mention to Lele since its actually speedy which means it can very literally 6-0 me as opposed to stuff like Hoopa/Kyurem-B which will usually just claim a single kill followed by me attempting to revenge kill them.

Z Celebrate Victini is incredibly annoying to deal with, and sets up on most of the team so its really terrifying to see this Pokemon at team preview and I have to pray its Scarf, and at that point I still have to guess to not like Pokemon.

Replays​

A lot of my replays have random 6th Pokemon added, so I tried to select some that highlighted the other 5 doing something significant.

replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-733513716 - Marowak destroys stall, even though I almost throw.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-733510036 - Doublade 1v1s Bulk Up Tapu Bulu, Latias prevents me from losing to Pinsir.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-733319987 - A team with 3 Pokemon that Doublade checks, it does its thing.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-733296738 - Doublade beats Bulk Up Hawlucha
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-733293081 - Doublade almost sweeps after setting up on a Bulk Up Hawlucha but is stopped by a Mawile crit ft. Sucke Punch mindgames

Shoutouts/Conclusion​

As usual, shout outs to EviGaro and the rest of the RU squad/Discord for looking at my trash teams even when they're OU ones and giving me something that 6-0s me. Anyways, I peaked at around 1650-ish with the team but the large majority of my losses were from me being Garbage at OU so I'm confident the team has potential. Pls someone else take this team and peak with it so I can feel accomplished <3. Also, ignore the bad colors I couldn't think of a combo that looked good and matched the theme so here we are w/ just Purple.

Importable

X (Doublade) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Toxic
- Swords Dance
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak

>< (Tapu Bulu) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 56 Atk / 60 SpD / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Wood Hammer
- Superpower
- Nature's Madness

\oo/ (Sableye) (F) @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Protect

>:v (Marowak-Alola) (F) @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Bone
- Fire Punch
- Stealth Rock
- Bonemerang

cute (Keldeo) @ Waterium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Taunt

girl (Latias) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Healing Wish
- Defog

 

[Dirkhann]

cool team I don't usually like fat teams but it has marowak, the only threats i can think of rn are opposing marowaks especially under TR and maybe gunk shot ash gren if anybody uses that lol m-venusaur can be a bit annoying also specs blacephalon 2hko's everything but other than that looks p. solid will try it out

 

[Simia]

Hello, interesting team you've got there. The two Psychic-Types you brought up are indeed threatening, as for the first one your Steel type has a poor SpD. If Victini finds a good situation to setup itself, then even Latias can't stop it. Moreover, I feel like Pokemon like Celesteela and Tornadus-T are quite annoying for your team, as your answers to them lack any sort of recovery. Celesteela annoys both Keldeo and Marowak, while Tornadus-T can pretty much spam its STAB for free as Doublade can get pressured with hazards and other things. Anyway, I'd like to make some suggestions to somewhat improve your team.

Major Changes

>

I'm replacing your SR Setter by another SR setter, which in my opinion does the job better than Marowak. First, it gives you a second Steel-Type, and so a great check to non-Focus Blast sets of Tapu Lele, as it takes relatively well its STABs. Heatran also helps checking Celesteela and Tornadus-T as well as forcing them out. It still provides you a check to threats Marowak was already an answer to, like Magearna, and loves the support given by Tapu Bulu's Grassy Terrain as well since the extra recovery makes it even better in term of longevity. By the way, I'd run the FrenchTran spread which has both SpD and Spe investments.

>

With the above change, I actually removed your Electric immunity, something mandatory on a team. That's why I looked for some Ground-Type that could work in your team and I think Gastrodon over Keldeo seems cool here. This change gives you a counter to Z Celebrate Victini, which was a big threat to your team I guess. But it mostly provides you a Ground-Type, and so an Eletric immunity as well as still helping against the likes of Heatran.

(Note: I think you could also try some other variantes like Scarf Lando-T > Latias and keep your Keldeo, that might be worth giving it a shot. )

Minor Changes

With the addition of Gastrodon in your team, I think you don't need that Assault Vest on Bulu anymore as Gastrodon takes on both Tapu Koko and Ash Greninja well. So, I'd try out a SD + 3 attacks set in order to pressure fat things like Tangrowth and to help against Stall teams in general. With this change, you'd obviously run a more offensive spread with an Adamant nature. The Z Move choice is up to you, Rockium Z helps vs Zapdos while Grassium Z transforms Wood Hammer into a powerful hit that almost nothing resists.

You said Char X is quite threatening so I'd consider running a full Def spread with Foul Play over Protect. That set might help you against it as well as other physical attackers like Zygarde, Kartana, M-Scizor, M-Medicham, etc.

~~

Team

X (Doublade) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Toxic
- Swords Dance
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak

Tapu Bulu @ Rockium Z / Grassium Z
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Stone Edge / Wood Hammer

\oo/ (Sableye-Mega) (F) @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD OR 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Protect / Foul Play

>:v (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 100 SpD / 156 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock

Gastrodon-East (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 240 HP / 248 SpD / 20 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Recover

girl (Latias) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Healing Wish
- Defog

This is all, hope the changes will work out and good luck.

 

[teachable]

Hello, interesting team you've got there. The two Psychic-Types you brought up are indeed threatening, as for the first one your Steel type has a poor SpD. If Victini finds a good situation to setup itself, then even Latias can't stop it. Moreover, I feel like Pokemon like Celesteela and Tornadus-T are quite annoying for your team, as your answers to them lack any sort of recovery. Celesteela annoys both Keldeo and Marowak, while Tornadus-T can pretty much spam its STAB for free as Doublade can get pressured with hazards and other things. Anyway, I'd like to make some suggestions to somewhat improve your team.

Major Changes

>

I'm replacing your SR Setter by another SR setter, which in my opinion does the job better than Marowak. First, it gives you a second Steel-Type, and so a great check to non-Focus Blast sets of Tapu Lele, as it takes relatively well its STABs. Heatran also helps checking Celesteela and Tornadus-T as well as forcing them out. It still provides you a check to threats Marowak was already an answer to, like Magearna, and loves the support given by Tapu Bulu's Grassy Terrain as well since the extra recovery makes it even better in term of longevity. By the way, I'd run the FrenchTran spread which has both SpD and Spe investments.

>

With the above change, I actually removed your Electric immunity, something mandatory on a team. That's why I looked for some Ground-Type that could work in your team and I think Gastrodon over Keldeo seems cool here. This change gives you a counter to Z Celebrate Victini, which was a big threat to your team I guess. But it mostly provides you a Ground-Type, and so an Eletric immunity as well as still helping against the likes of Heatran.

(Note: I think you could also try some other variantes like Scarf Lando-T > Latias and keep your Keldeo, that might be worth giving it a shot. )

Minor Changes

With the addition of Gastrodon in your team, I think you don't need that Assault Vest on Bulu anymore as Gastrodon takes on both Tapu Koko and Ash Greninja well. So, I'd try out a SD + 3 attacks set in order to pressure fat things like Tangrowth and to help against Stall teams in general. With this change, you'd obviously run a more offensive spread with an Adamant nature. The Z Move choice is up to you, Rockium Z helps vs Zapdos while Grassium Z transforms Wood Hammer into a powerful hit that almost nothing resists.

You said Char X is quite threatening so I'd consider running a full Def spread with Foul Play over Protect. That set might help you against it as well as other physical attackers like Zygarde, Kartana, M-Scizor, M-Medicham, etc.

~~

Team

X (Doublade) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Toxic
- Swords Dance
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak

Tapu Bulu @ Rockium Z / Grassium Z
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Stone Edge / Wood Hammer

\oo/ (Sableye-Mega) (F) @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD OR 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Protect / Foul Play

>:v (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 100 SpD / 156 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Taunt
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock

Gastrodon-East (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 240 HP / 248 SpD / 20 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Recover

girl (Latias) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Healing Wish
- Defog

This is all, hope the changes will work out and good luck.

Tysm, very much appreciated and I'll give this a test!