SM OU No Complaints - Balanced Offense (Peaked 1700+)





Hey all, Hobo here with my first RMT in over 2 years. I used to play a lot during XY, and dabbled a little into the ORAS meta but was no where as serious about playing as i once was. A week ago today i got back into playing again, and after learning the new meta, was able to craft a team that "peaked" just over 1700 on the OU ladder.




I set out to make a team that i could use to learn the meta while successfully building up a decent enough ranking to face good opponents. My initial thought process when i started building was to add a duo who could bust open most of the meta as well as be overwhelming during the late game.


Not only are Greninja and Magearna two of the best mons in the current meta, they also perfectly matched what i was looking for. Magearna can be used to bust teams wide open in the beginning of a match or sweep late game, while Greninja is a speedy revenge killer who can outspeed many threats to Magearna or pick off weakened targets.


The combination or Greninja and Magearna may be great at punching holes into teams, however they struggle to deal with certain steel types, bulky grass types such as Tangrowth, etc. Charizard-Y is able to spam Flamethrower/Fire Blast pretty freely on almost anything and is also able to switch into ground mons for Magearna


Tangrowth was originally used in this spot, until i realized Amoonguss is basically the same pokemon except it isn't forced to run AV and is able to use moves like Clear Smog to stop set up sweepers. It is a great pivot and major glue to the team.


The last two spots on the team went through several changes before i finally settled on Tapu Fini and Landorus-T. Tapu Fini is able to defog for Charizard-Y as well as being able check Dragons and stop hazard setting/setup mons with Taunt. Landorus-T is able to shut down certain mons like Pinsir due to its great typing/plus intimidate and sets up Stealth Rocks.



Magearna @ Electrium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shift Gear
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Aura Sphere/Focus Blast


I chose Shift Gear+3 Attack Magearna due to its ability to easily setup on a large portion of the meta and sweep/severely cripple teams. Originally this set was Fightinium Z to help with the Chansey matchup as well as blast through Heatran, Ferrothorn, Excadrill, etc. After extensive testing i found that it was much more beneficial to use Electrium Z to break through Toxapex/Celesteela cores. Aura Sphere is there for accuracy while sweeping, alternatively Focus Miss Blast can be used for extra power.​




Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Gunk Shot
- Rock Slide

I definitely prefer Scarf Greninja>Ash Greninja, as the near unlimited type coverage and ability to outspeed nearly everything including Volcarona at +1 is huge for this team. Gunk Shot OHKOs Tapu Koko as well as Tapu Bulu, and does good damage to Clefable and Chansey. Rock Slide allows Greninja to revenge kill Charizard-Y and Volcarona. 252 Attack EVs get the most out of Gunk Shot, Rock Slide, and U-Turn, as Ice Beam OHKOs everything it needs to with no investment thanks to Protean.


Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Roost

Mega Evolve. Click Flamethrower. It's basically that simple with Zard-Y. Pokemon weak to it will die and resists will be chunked. Hidden Power Ground helps with Heartran and the rare Nihilego. I already had enough answers to Tyranitar but i was having a hard time against Heatran.

252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 288-340 (89.1 - 105.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Hidden Power Ground vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 292-344 (90.4 - 106.5%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

They do about the same amount of damage but you don't have to worry about missing.




Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Clear Smog

Amoonguss is here to wall Tapu Bulu, Mega Diancie, Keldeo, non-BB Tapu Koko, and as a way to shut down D-Dance Zygarde, Calm Mind/Cosmic Power Clefable, SD Mega Scizor, and more. Clear Smog is definitely recommended over Stun Spore as Clear Smog stops setup sweepers and is able to be used thru Misty Terrain, unlike Stun Spore.

252 SpA Diancie-Mega Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 72+ SpD Amoonguss: 115-136 (26.6 - 31.4%) -- 19.4% chance to 4HKO after Black Sludge recovery

252 SpA Diancie-Mega Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 72+ SpD Amoonguss: 154-182 (35.6 - 42.1%) -- 87.4% chance to 3HKO after Black Sludge recover

0 Atk Diancie-Mega Diamond Storm vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 172-204 (39.8 - 47.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery

0 SpA Amoonguss Giga Drain vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Diancie-Mega: 132-156 (54.7 - 64.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO




Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Nature's Madness/Hydro Pump
- Defog
- Taunt

While setting up Misty Terrain does counteract Amoonguss's Spore, Tapu Fini more than makes up for it with its ability to check dragons, wall Ash-Greninja and Keldeo, and get off speedy Taunts/Defogs. Nature's madness is also a good move for Chunking mons like Chansey and Ferrothorn on a switch. A water move like Surf or Hydro Pump may also be used in this slot if you are worried about Mega Camerupt.




Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fly
- Knock Off/Stone Edge

Landorus-T is able to neuter physical attackers with Intimidate as well as set up hazards, which the team at this point was lacking. Supersonic Skystrike is able to lure and kill Tangrowth which is important vs teams with Toxapex and/or Chansey. It is also able to surprise Volcarona in certain situations. Knock Off is used to hit Latis switching in on an EQ, Mew, Chansey, and Celesteela.

Zapdos - Against 3 attacks Zapdos you will need to play around it until you whittle it down enough for Greninja to revenge kill or eat a Discharge with Charizard-Y or a Heat-Wave with Magearna. Its not pretty

Latios - Calm Mind Bolt/Beam Mega Latios is a huge problem for the team, while Life Orb Latios is a threat but can be played around with Tapu Fini, Greninja, and Magearna.

Mega Camperupt - Not that common but a real threat the few times I've matched it. Drought from Charizard does nothing but help Camerupt in this matchup, and he is the main reason i began testing Surf on Tapu Fini.

Autotomize Celesteela - Swept me once in the late game and is also not that common, although I've been seeing it a lot the last couple of days. Really only a threat when Charizard and Magearna are already KOd or severely damaged, but worthy of a note.

Rain - Certain rain teams with mons like Kyurem, Tapu Koko, Mega Mantric and Latios who force Zard-Y to continuously switch are troublesome as Pelipper is continuously able to change the weather. Really depends on the matchup



Conclusion-

I firmly believe that this team can go even higher up on the ladder with a more skilled patient player, but with the current changes to the meta like Offensive Celes, the prevalence of Zapdos, and the introduction of the twin Mega Latis, i had begun to get frustrated with the matchups i was having and am ready to build something new. I highly recommend this team for anyone between 1000-1700, although without higher ladder testing i cannot guarantee it will be successful above 1700. That being said, the team did its job well and i have "no complaints."

Any testing and/or recommendations are very appreciated, as its quite possible that a few changes here or there could hugely benefit the team. Thanks for taking the time to read my RMT!


Magearna @ Electrium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shift Gear
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Aura Sphere

Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Gunk Shot
- Rock Slide

Charizard-Mega-Y @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Roost

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Clear Smog

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Nature's Madness
- Defog
- Taunt

Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fly
- Knock Off


 
Last edited:
Hi there, your team looks really solid and I also have no complaints. Just letting you know that you can run max attack with your Greninja, you seem to be forgetting to add in Protean to the damage calc.
0- SpA Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Landorus-Therian: 420-496 (109.9 - 129.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
You could actually run Jolly and achieve the same result in netting a KO on Lando-T
 
Nice team you have here. But you really don't need the Special Attack EVs. You might have calc the Ice Beam damage without changing Greninja's type to Ice. You can change the EVs to attack to better handle Charti Berry Volcarona (Even though they're pretty rare now)


Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Gunk Shot

Also you can try to use this set rather for your Magearna.


Magearna @ Electrium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Shift Gear

All it really does is switch out Focus Blast / Aura Sphere for Flash Cannon. A STAB move will be better for opposing Fairies and Mega Diance which can do a number to your team. If the Lati twins are causing you problems you can opt for Icium Z rather instead.

Hope these chances helped you a bit with your Lati@s problem.​
 
Nice team you have here. But you really don't need the Special Attack EVs. You might have calc the Ice Beam damage without changing Greninja's type to Ice. You can change the EVs to attack to better handle Charti Berry Volcarona (Even though they're pretty rare now)


Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Gunk Shot

Also you can try to use this set rather for your Magearna.


Magearna @ Electrium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Shift Gear

All it really does is switch out Focus Blast / Aura Sphere for Flash Cannon. A STAB move will be better for opposing Fairies and Mega Diance which can do a number to your team. If the Lati twins are causing you problems you can opt for Icium Z rather instead.

Hope these chances helped you a bit with your Lati@s problem.​
Appreciate you both pointing out the EV calc on Greninja, can't believe i never noticed i was calcing without protean lol. As for Magearna, I'm definitely interested in both Flash Cannon and Icium Z, and will be testing both to see if they work better than Electrium Z. Thanks for the rate!
 
Last edited:
Hi.

Your team is pretty solid but still weak to several big threats in the tier. Band Zyg kinda has a field day against you, since you have no resists, and your Lando-T is an offensive variant too.

In this rate I'll be focusing on the defensive backbone of your team so as to make it more solid and make it more reliable for you to fall back on it when need be.

Here are some suggestions:

>

Tangrowth is rather important for your defensive backbone due to it resisting ground type moves, allowing you to switch into Band Zyg very consistently. Besides, Tangrowth is better for scouting sets of mons like Latios and Gren as your Amoonguss isn't max spdef.

>

I dislike using Fini as a defogger in general, especially for a mon that's 4x weak to Rocks as it doesn't have reliable recovery and is then more susceptible to being worn down, especially if it has to switch into hazards a lot. Mew has reliable recovery in Soft-Boiled and is able of defeating many Rockers, even offensive variants of Lando-T which is extremely valuable.

Jolly > Adamant; Smack Down as last move
A Jolly nature is useful to outspeed things like Band Zyg. I don't think you lose out on kills anyway. Smack Down is really nice to hit non-grounded mons on the switch so you can pretty much get a free EQ off.

Here are the sets:
Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power Ice
- Earthquake

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 Spe
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Defog

Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Fly
- Smack Down
- Stealth Rock

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

Your team is pretty solid but still weak to several big threats in the tier. Band Zyg kinda has a field day against you, since you have no resists, and your Lando-T is an offensive variant too.

In this rate I'll be focusing on the defensive backbone of your team so as to make it more solid and make it more reliable for you to fall back on it when need be.

Here are some suggestions:

>

Tangrowth is rather important for your defensive backbone due to it resisting ground type moves, allowing you to switch into Band Zyg very consistently. Besides, Tangrowth is better for scouting sets of mons like Latios and Gren as your Amoonguss isn't max spdef.

>

I dislike using Fini as a defogger in general, especially for a mon that's 4x weak to Rocks as it doesn't have reliable recovery and is then more susceptible to being worn down, especially if it has to switch into hazards a lot. Mew has reliable recovery in Soft-Boiled and is able of defeating many Rockers, even offensive variants of Lando-T which is extremely valuable.

Jolly > Adamant; Smack Down as last move
A Jolly nature is useful to outspeed things like Band Zyg. I don't think you lose out on kills anyway. Smack Down is really nice to hit non-grounded mons on the switch so you can pretty much get a free EQ off.

Here are the sets:
Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power Ice
- Earthquake

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 Spe
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Defog

Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Fly
- Smack Down
- Stealth Rock

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

Tangrowth>Amoonguss is a change i will have to test, as its main job for the team was walling Tapu Bulu and being able to shut down set up up sweepers with Clear Smog plus hp Fire and Spore are useful moves to have in a lot of situations. The ability to scout the Latis as well as deal with banded Zygarde is very appealing, however.

Since using the team, I've fallen in love with tapu fini as a defogger with its ability to beat the Latis, Ash Greninja, and Keldeo. Taunt has been an awesome move as well stopping hazard setters, defogers, and stally mons trying to recover. Taunt can be ran on Mew as well instead of Willow tho so i could still have that utility. Also not sure if it was a mistype but Fini isn't 4x weak to rocks.

Jolly>Adamant Landorus is a great suggestion to outspeed Zygarde, as previously i ran Adamant so i could at least outspeed Timid Heatran and fire off Supersonic Skytrikes for a ton of damage. Smack Down is a no brainer and i don't know why i wasn't running it previously, helping to deal with opposing Landos and Celesteela.

Thanks again
 

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