SM OU M-Sceptile as a Mixed Wallbreaker

INTRODUCTION:
Hello, this is my first RMT as I've only just recently created a account with smogon. I've been playing competitive mons for a few years now. This is a team I've been working on ever since the start of S/M, and upon Sceptile's release I was able to test it and make the adjustments necessary to try and perfect the team. Let's get into it.




THE TEAM:




Sceptile-Mega @ Sceptilite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 68 Atk / 252 SpA / 188 Spe
Naive Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Fire]​

Sceptile has a lot of counters, the set is designed to bait in said counters and knock them out to support the rest of the team in their attempt to sweep. The set is designed to eliminate all of it's counters barring AV Tornadus, Tangrowth, Amoonguss, and Celebi who wall all variants of Sceptile. Going through the moves, Leaf storm is Sceptile's main nuke that, while outspeeding, OHKO's threats such as Tapu Koko, M-Mane and offensive Landorus after rocks, and just overall doing a massive amount of damage to everyone who doesn't resist. Dragon pulse is self explanatory, Earthquake is probably the most interesting move on the set, this allows sceptile to heavily weaken if not OHKO Heatran and OHKO magnezone without having to use the worst move in the game, focus blast. Hidden power fire is to beat threats such as scizor and ferrothorn which think they can wall you. The EV spread allows sceptile to outspeed all that it can/needs to in the current metagame, so the rest of the EV's go into its attack stat to help OHKO mons like Heatran and Magnezone.

Sorry for the long explanation but I felt it was needed.
tl;dr: Sceptile baits in its counters and wallbreaks and janitors for its whole team. EV spread outspeeds all it needs 2 and was stolen from MegaMogwai (thx g)




Weavile @ Choice Band
Ability: Pickpocket
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Pursuit​
Weavile is a fantastic pair for M-Sceptile as it 2 hit KO's almost everything which sceptile cannot, while dealing with all of sceptile's counters that were listed above. Other than that just a standard pursuit set as I dislike banded low kick and it seemed unnecessary.


Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword

IMO, Scarf Keldeo is a fantastic revenge killer in the current mega game that benefits heavily from the removal of mons that threaten sceptile that weavile removes, while providing a sturdy dark resist as every team needs one.​




Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Volt Switch
Magearna just a fantastic pokemon, but it was added to deal with scarf Tapu Lele and Specs Greninja, as keldeo can only switch in twice as an offensive pivot.



Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock​

Everyone's favorite OU monster. Landorus does what it is best at by checking every physical attacker in the game and getting up rocks. Acts as a defensive pivot to switch out into Sceptile, Weavile or Keldeo and get a kill. Hidden power ice to check Zygarde.


Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog
- Roost​

Latios acts as a third water resist and ground immunity. Supports in the sweep of our 3 offensive threats and providing a defogger, which I feel is needed on almost every team. HP fire over psyshock allows latios to weaken ferrothorn and Celesteela for the whole team. Unsure if I should sub out roost for psyshock, as having roost on latios for mons like specs keldeo isn't as needed as it was in ORAS.

THREAT AND ANNOYANCE LIST:
Heatran and Ferrothorn are quite obnoxious to deal with, but this is where it is important to play and predict with Sceptile correctly to 2 hit KO Ferrothorn on the switch with HP fire and bait in Heatran and earthquake. HP fire lati breaks through ferrothorn decently enough.

Mamoswime absolutely tears this team in half. Not much to be said, very difficult matchup against one.

Rain is very tough matchup. Though often times you can bait their pelliper to stay in on your sceptile and OHKO it with leafstorm. Choice scarf keldeo can outspeed adamant Swampert in rain and chunk it quite heavily for Weavile to clean it up. Playing around kingdra is hard as you have to lock him into water/dragon stab then go into Mag/Sceptile after a sack or 50/50.

Celesteela can just take a large amount of hits from the whole team and leech seed back up. Ways of beating it involves either knocking it off with weavile or weakening it with HP fire latios and revenge killing it.

Conclusion:
The team is far from perfect, as it requires a lot of prediction and outplaying in some matchups. I have had lots of success with this team and think it is relatively solid. Feedback is appreciated to maybe ease up some of the skill involved in winning some matchups.


Sorry I forgot to add some replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-588971868
I think this replay demonstrates decently enough how the team functions, pretty sure battle was done in the 1600-1700s.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-588975544
This one shows that the back half of the team are really good at weakening the enemy team enough for one of the teams 3 offensive threats to clean up.


Here the team:
https://pastebin.com/VLmZrZ9E
 
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Gross Sweep

Plan Ahead
is a CAP Contributoris a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus
hey wr0m I can tell you really put some time and effort into this team, which made this a really fun team to rate. Looking at the team I actually really like the concept of the team working around the offensive core of M-Sceptile and Weavile to apply instant pressure, however, it seems as if the team really starts to falter around bulkier mons (like Celesteela, Ferrothorn, and Heatran who you mentioned) due to an overall lack of true breaking power. This also leads to some match ups like Stall being problematic. My rate will look to keep the same central theme of the team intact, while giving you a few more options against bulkier builds.

Major Changes:

>
When I look at your team it's apparent the team is overly emphasized on the match up vs opposing offensive teams, and that playing vs bulkier builds took the back seat of priorities. The change of Manaphy>Keldeo changes that by giving the team a defined breaker who pressures fatter mons like Celesteela who you mentioned just eats hits and seed stalls the team. The Manaphy Move Set I'm suggesting is Tail Glow / Surf / Hidden Power Fire / Psychic with the EV Spread: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe Timid Nature with the item Waterium Z. Tail Glow boosts Manaphy's SpA giving it true breaking potential, coupled with great coverage that hits a large majority of the tier. Surf is just a strong stab, HP Fire is coverage for annoying steels like Celesteela and M-Scizor, and Psychic is to hit mons like Toxapex that would otherwise come in and Haze on Manaphy removing your boosts. The item choice of Waterium Z is also very beneficial to the team as it allows Manaphy to have a way to clear through mons that would otherwise barely avoid the 2hko of a regular attack, it ohko's Chansey at +6 after rocks, and ohko's M-Swampert in the rain (Manaphy also takes any one hit from M-Swampert, so you should get a chance to launch Z-Surf if you keep Manaphy relatively healthy throughout the match). Overall I feel this change will really help the team deal with a wider variety of match ups.

Minor Changes:

With the addition of Manaphy the pressure on Latios to chip mons like Ferrothorn and Celesteela has decreased dramatically, and with the loss of Keldeo the team is now in need of a new revenge killer. This has lead me to realize that Latios' set can be changed to take advantage of Manaphy, while making up for the loss of Keldeo at the same time. I'd like to change the item on Latios to Choice Scarf>Life Orb, and make the Move Set: Draco Meteor / Psyshock / Defog / Trick (keeping EV's and nature the same). Draco and Psyshock are great stabs that even without a power boosting item deal decent damage, Trick allows you to cripple bulkier mons like Celesteela and Clefable who may try switching in to Latios, and Defog is just an emergency form of Removal (yes you're locked into removal and have to switch out afterwards most likely, but trust me it's still workable removal). So, with Scarf the team regained its revenge killer, while also still weakening fatter mons through the process of tricking them a choice item which greatly limits their ability to stall you.

I actually really like Assault Vest Magearna on this team, but I feel a slight set adjustment could go a long way. I want to suggest the EV Spread: 200 Hp / 56 SpA / 252 SpDef Calm Nature. This spread allows you take on mons like Specs Gengar, Greninja, and Tapu Koko a lot better. It also lets you take on Kingdra better, which you mentioned was an issue (always avoiding the 2hko in the rain, and you still ohko back). I'd also consider changing HP Fire>Aura Sphere, which allows you to lure Ferrothorn and deal massive damage. Yes you no longer hit Ferrothorn and Heatran, but you chip Ferrothorn and M-Scizor a lot better who aren't ohko'd by M-Sceptile. While at the same time Magearna can simply Volt Switch on an incoming Heatran and M-Sceptile can proceed to ohko with Earthquake. It's an option that's worth a shot, but if you want the consistency of hitting both (which I don't feel is really needed) feel free to keep Aura Sphere.

Summary of Changes:
  • ->
  • : Aura Sphere -> HP Fire, and a bulkier spread
  • : Life Orb with HP Fire -> Scarf with Trick

I'm attaching an importable, click on this line for the link.

Anyway that's all I had on the team. My goal was to keep the central theme while helping you vs bulkier builds, and I feel this rate does that. If you have any questions or concerns about the rate let me know either in the thread or through PMs. Also before I wrap this up I have to thank vsomani who discussed the match ups with me, and bounced around ideas for a while trying to get this team as good as possible. Anyway, I hope you enjoy using the team, and have a great day!
 
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Hey there. Nice team you have got!

I'm here with some changes to your team that will hopefully make it better:

Shift Gear > Assault Vest
While AV Magearna fits your team pretty well, I feel that the lack of a set-up sweeper causes your team to not have a goal to work towards. SG Mage is an incredible set-up sweeper, being able to setup on many things with its great natural bulk and hence is capable of turning the tide around during games. Also, this change does not compromise the bulk of your team much as you are still capable of checking the many threats in the tier, just that you now lack a "safe button" when you're unsure of what special move your opponent is going to use. I chose the Z Focus Blast BoltBeam variant as it covers most of the meta by itself.

Life Orb > Choice Band; Pressure > Pickpocket
The flexibility of Life Orb would be preferred on your team so you don't easily become setup bait. Pressure is generally preferred just in case you pick up a bad item with Pickpocket.

Stone Edge > Icy Wind
Volcarona is definitely a problem. Stone Edge can help revenge kill non-charti berry variants which can save your team from a sweep.

Here are the sets:
Magearna @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Shift Gear

Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pursuit
- Knock Off
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge

Hope I helped, thanks for reading and have a nice day! n_n
 

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