SM OU Psychic Overload [peaked 1978]

ElStefano · Jul 14, 2019

Psychic Overload

Warning: Reading about this team may affect your mental health and cause serious headache. Read at your own risk!

"If you encounter this team on the ladder, forfeit immediately! You won't be able to beat it anyway, so better preserve your mental health and don't try to play it!" - SaveMeJebus

"The colors of the mons used in this team seem unnatural. Looking at the team alone gave me a headache..." -
RaikouLover

"Genius and madness are close together!" -
Groubon For OU

"Using this team should be forbidden! Sure, it comes with fast and easy wins, but it that worth risking the sanity of unsuspecting opponents?" -
DrPumpkinz

"This team must never be posted on smogon. I can't think of the madness that will arise on the ladder if more people will start using this team..." -
baldur

"The rumors about this teams are fake news! I played it multiple times, and it did not affect my sanitiy at all! " -
TheRealDonaldTrump

(It might very well be that these quotes are all made up)

Introduction

This is a team build around Z-Celebrate Victini, which many teams are underprepared for. Although it can only boost a single time, Z-Tini is an amazing mon that threatens Balance and Offense alike. Revenge killing Victini isn't easy, because it's not just about outspeeding, but also about bringing enough power to KO it, since its defenses are respectable after the Z-boost. The best counters to Z-Tini are:
- Priority (Sucker Punch, Water Shuriken...)
- Weather sweepers (i.e. Excadrill in Sand or Kingdra in Rain)
- Chansey
- Fat Psychic Types, e.g. Latias
This team is built to overcome matchups that are hard for Z-Tini to win and overload defensive answers to tiny Tini by using a total of three strong special Psychic Types that break for each other. "Psychic Spam" doesn't do justice to this team, this is "Psychic Overload!", not only for the opposing mons, but also for the poor trainer who has to fight this team! ;)

Teambuilding Process

Tapu-Lele is the perfect partner for Victini. The Terrain strengthens Tini's Stored Power (e.g. to OHKO Clef) and protects it from priority attacks. Lele is also very usefull against Stall, which Tini struggles to beat. Alakazam is used to beat weather teams. After tracing Swift Swim/Sand Rush, it is guaranteed to be the fasted mon on the field. It also profits immensely from Lele's Terrain. Although typewise it seems a bit redundant to use these three together, they all beat different playstyles.

At first, I tried to combine my offensive core with a defensive core that could set up hazards. This however didn't provide enough momentum.

So I decided to use a suicide setter and pair it with two additional sweepers. I tried different options like Custap Ferro and Sash Omastar two set up multiple layers. Using Lucha helped with opposing speed boosting setup sweepers and having another mon profiting from Terrain justified the use of Terrain Extender on Lele. In the last slot, I experimented with lots of different Sweepers, e.g. Magearna, Scarf Kart or even Minior. The team felt better than the previous one, but was too weak to Koko and stuff like Scarf Kartana.

The Koko weakness made me switch to excadrill. Spin is necessary to bring Tiny on the field healthy. I felt like I needed a grass type in the last slot to have a switchin to Ash-Gren, and after experimenting with Tangrowth as a defensive glue for a while, I finally settled with Scarf Serp (although shiny Tangrowth looked heat).

The Team

Spinning Head (Excadrill) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moves: Earthquake | Rapid Spin | Stealth Rock | Rock Tomb

I wasn't always insane. It started with feeling dizzy from time to time, even if I had no actual reasons...

Excadrill is the suicide setter that gets up rocks for me and keeps them aways from my side. I choose Rock Tomb over Toxic to deal with Lead Tornadus, which my team doesn't like to lead against otherwise. Otherwise standard moves and spread. It also helps with electric types. When playing against Tapu Koko, it is often a good idea to preserve excadrill to stop Volt Switches, especially if the Koko is scarfed! It also beats most Webs setters and Lead Diancie.

Twisted Thoughts (Tapu Lele) @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Psychic Surge
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moves: Moonblast | Hidden Power [Fire] | Psyshock | Taunt

It seemed like she was surrounded by an aura of pure madness. When she was nearby, I couldn't even think straight...

Lele is mostly on the team to set up the Terrain. Since 3-4 members of my team can take good use of Psychic Terrain, i use a Terrain Extender. The set is also very standard, on the last slot I used to run Calm Mind to pressure Stall even more, but I figured that Taunt helps just as well (by denying recovery) and also denys Setup, Hazards and Status. Ususally, it is a good idea to preserve Lele so it can set up terrain multiple times, especially if there are Tapus on the opposing team. If the opponent has a Fake-out user like Mega-Medicham or Mega-Lopunny, it is often a good idea to lead Lele, which lives one hit and kills in return.

Crazy Eyes (Serperior) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Contrary
Nature: Hasty
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moves: Leaf Storm | Knock Off | Defog | Glare

The scariest thing about him were his eyes. Those crazy, crazy eyes...

Scarf Serperior helps with the weather matchup and acts as a glue that can fulfill many different roles. Knock Off helps to pressure Stuff like Chansey and AV Mag, but also helps to get rid of other Scarfers so Zam and Victini outspeed everything. Scarf Glare is my second emergency stop to speed boosting sweepers. Defog is not used too often, but saved me some games, e.g. vs well played webs. Scarf Leaf Storm acts as a WinCon once all Steels are low enough. Serp checks Ash-Gren and is my switchin to ground type attacks if Lucha has to be preserved.

Brainf*ck (Victini) @ Normalium Z
Ability: Victory Star
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moves: Celebrate | Stored Power | Searing Shot | Focus Blast

My mind simply couldn't comprehend what this thing was doing. I only realized my failure when it was much too late....

Victini is the star-pokemon of this team =) It sets up on steels that like to switch into my other Psychic types like Ferro, Magearna, Scizor or Celesteela. The set is again pretty standard, Focus Blast on the last slot to hit Heatran/Tyranitar/Greninja/Mega Gyara with an accuracy of 77% (factoring in Tini's ability). If you are sure you will win with Z-Tiny, it often is a good idea to sacrifice Lele/Zam to taunt e.g. a Ferro to guarantee a status free setup. Remember that Tini outspeeds and OHKOs adamant Swampert in Rain after a boost, so it singlehandedly beats rain without Kingdra if it hast enough Terrain Turns to prevent Shuriken.

Deep Mind (Alakazam-Mega) @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
Moves: Psychic | Focus Blast | Shadow Ball | Taunt

His presence was overwhelming. I felt like he knew everything and could foresee my every move...

Alakazam is used to deal with weather based abilities and also shines against many balance teams. I use Modest over Timid since the team is already very fast and has other ways to deal with the few mons that timid outspeeds (like +1 Gyara). With it's Trace Ability, it also acts as a switchin to Heatran. Psychic is a given, Focus Blast for Coverage and Shadow Ball is needed to damage fat Psychics for Victini that somehow like to switch in on Zam. Although I would love to have Recover in the last slot, I have to use Taunt, since I need another option than Lele to chip Chansey for Tini (and deny recovery). It also helps to beat setup sweepers like Calm Mind Reuniclus, Shift Gear Mag etc. On top of that, it can be used to guarantee a save setup for Tini (e.g. against Thunder Wave Ferrothorn).

Mental Breakdown (Hawlucha) @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Unburden
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moves: Acrobatics | High Jump Kick | Swords Dance | Substitute

I never really stood a chance. I fought bravely for so long, but at this point, I simply couldn't take it anymore...

Hawlucha is another WinCon for the team, as well as one of my insurances against speed boosting or scarfed sweepers. Max Speed to beat opposing Luchas, which is vital for the team! Swords Dance, Acrobatics and High Jump Kick are a given. Substitute on the last slot lets it beat Z-Fly Lando/Salamance or guarantees a turn of setup vs things that try to toxic it. Lucha is also stopped by fat Psychic Types like Latias, which it is often able to damage to the point where they are too low to check Victini.

Conclusion

The team is a lot of fun to play. Finding the best wincon, weakening everything that potentially stops a sweep and creating an opportunity to setup is the key to victory. Many teams lack answers to Z-Tini, so oftentimes, the game is mostly about weakening Tini's checks and finding the best turn to set up and sweep from there. Since many sweepers share the same checks (e.g. AV Magearna for Lele, Zam, Serp and Lucha), it's rather easy to wear them down, loosing one or two mons in the process to create an opening for another one to sweep. It has to be noted that the lack of switchins to most attacks makes the lead choice rather important. Good luck while testing this team, and don't let the madness fully overwhelm you...

Mental Breakdown (Hawlucha) @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Unburden
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- High Jump Kick
- Swords Dance
- Substitute

Crazy Eyes (Serperior) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Contrary
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Knock Off
- Defog
- Glare

Brainf*ck (Victini) @ Normalium Z
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Celebrate
- Stored Power
- Searing Shot
- Focus Blast

Deep Mind (Alakazam-Mega) @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Taunt

Spinning Head (Excadrill) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Tomb

Twisted Thoughts (Tapu Lele) @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Psychic Surge
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psyshock
- Taunt

I used this team on two alts, ElStefano & ElStefanoTest and climbed the ladder about a month ago. Unfortunately, I didn't take screenshots with the higher alt, so 1978 is the highest rank that I can proove with a replay:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-935179649

And here's a screenshot from the peak with the main alt:

I even managed to break past 2000 with this team, but unfortunately I don't have a screenshot to prove this...

This is Madness! - This... Is... Psychic Overload!

Sayuze · Jul 14, 2019

Why is your serperior Hasty nature? I feel like you are gaining virtually nothing except like maybe some extra damage on Blacephalon, and you are loosing so much more, as scarf serperior might need to hard switch into things like kartana (the defense is so much more needed). ur also missing 4 EVs on zam

also, you said in your threats section that "- Fat Psychic Types, e.g. Latias" was a threat to victini. isn't latias the only psychic that beats victini in ou?

DrPumpkinz · Jul 14, 2019

I like the team, and I'm flattered you chose me for one of your quotes, but I don't appreciate being quoted for something I never actually said.

ElStefano · Jul 15, 2019

Sayuze said:
Why is your serperior Hasty nature? I feel like you are gaining virtually nothing except like maybe some extra damage on Blacephalon, and you are loosing so much more, as scarf serperior might need to hard switch into things like kartana (the defense is so much more needed). ur also missing 4 EVs on zam

also, you said in your threats section that "- Fat Psychic Types, e.g. Latias" was a threat to victini. isn't latias the only psychic that beats victini in ou?

Nature on Serperior: The nature is indeed for the extra damage on Blacephalon. I changed it after I lost to a team with Scarfed Blacephalon because Serp wasn't able to knock it out after rocks. The little extra damage from Kartana, U-turns or Earthquakes doesn't matter, since Serp isn't supposed to take damage multiple times. Maybe I should even shift some EVs to attack to guarantee the OHKO after rocks?

(252 Atk Kartana Smart Strike vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Serperior: 171-202 (58.7 - 69.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO)
0 Atk Serperior Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Blacephalon: 182-216 (73.6 - 87.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0- Atk Serperior Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Blacephalon: 164-194 (66.3 - 78.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

4 EVs on Zam: Thanks for pointing that out! While it won't be game changing in most cases, they should be invested into Special Defense. I have added them in the importable version.
Fat Psychics that beat Victini: There are Mew, (Mega) Lati@s, Slowbro, Hoopa-U.
Opposing Victinis can also wear down Victini, I didn't mention it above, because there are a few other mons that can take an attack from Victini and do heavy damage in return, but don't beat it on their own, e.g. full health Garchomp. Also defensive Lando can be annoying, since Intimidate reduces the BP of Stored Power. It's a good idea to weaken the opposing team before setting up with Tini!

DrPumpkinz said:
I like the team, and I'm flattered you chose me for one of your quotes, but I don't appreciate being quoted for something I never actually said.

Thanks =) This is a side effect of this crazy team, after using it for a while, I couldn't tell what's real and what's made up... I guess all these quotes are just a product of my imagination, but who knows, maybe Trump really said that in an alternate universe or something...

Tapu Kodi · Jul 15, 2019

Preface: I'm extremely drunk and made an account just to post this. I love your teams man, I'm so happy to see them everytime I load up this page. They are unique and awesome and i love playing them. Keep them coming please!

Dragon1277 · Jul 15, 2019

This team is actually so much fun to play and works really well, just broke into top 500 with it

noaue25 · Jul 16, 2019

Oh hey. I created this account just to tell you that your team is awesome! I used to play alot of competitive pokemon on the X/Y metagame but havent played ever since. After about 100 games trying things out I stumbled into your team that seemed to fit with my playstyle and god was I right! I coudn't break into 1500 but with your team I easily made into 1682. I dont think I can get any higher than that thought, need a few more hundred or so games.

I tried to change excadrill for a Torkoal ( can ocasionally boost victini damage even more, has steal rock + rapid spin ) but he is too slow and the team seems to lack a suicide lead. Pretty impresive overall, I lost some games because of my faulty unupdated mechanics like not knowing unburden buff was lost over switch, didn't understand why hawlucha got prioritied even thought I had terrain up, stupid things like that

proof below ( if it matters anyway )

@edit how do you win against trick room teams?

ElStefano · Jul 16, 2019

Tapu Kodi said:
Preface: I'm extremely drunk and made an account just to post this. I love your teams man, I'm so happy to see them everytime I load up this page. They are unique and awesome and i love playing them. Keep them coming please!

Dragon1277 said:
This team is actually so much fun to play and works really well, just broke into top 500 with it

noaue25 said:
Oh hey. I created this account just to tell you that your team is awesome! I used to play alot of competitive pokemon on the X/Y metagame but havent played ever since. After about 100 games trying things out I stumbled into your team that seemed to fit with my playstyle and god was I right! I coudn't break into 1500 but with your team I easily made into 1682. I dont think I can get any higher than that thought, need a few more hundred or so games.

Thanks for the positive Feedback =) I put a lot of effort into those teams and it fills my heart with joy to see that you guys like the teams as much as I do =) And I feel really honored that two of you created an account just because of this team... Congratz on your respective Peaks!

noaue25 said:
I tried to change excadrill for a Torkoal ( can ocasionally boost victini damage even more, has steal rock + rapid spin ) but he is too slow and the team seems to lack a suicide lead. Pretty impresive overall, I lost some games because of my faulty unupdated mechanics like not knowing unburden buff was lost over switch, didn't understand why hawlucha got prioritied even thought I had terrain up, stupid things like that

@edit how do you win against trick room teams?

Torkoal is a nice idea I have never thought of, if you give it a sash, the speed probably doesn't matter that much… It synergizes nicely with Victini. However, it doesn't set Rocks as realiably and Scarfed Koko is a thread that Torkoal cannot take care of =/

Trickroom Teams are a hard matchup. Try to make good use of Taunt on Lele and Zam to stop the Trickroom from going up whenever possible. Sash Excadrill can get a guaranteed hit off on something if the Sash is intact. Lucha's Substitutes can be used to stall out Trickroom turns. If you manage to whittle Magearna down, Zam will oneshot most Mons on Trickroom once the Trickroom fades. There are definetely some outs, but nevertheless, Trickroom is a very unfavourable matchup.

Dragon1277 · Jul 16, 2019

I totally forgot to ask but how do you decide who to lead? half the games are decided by the leadmatch-up

Lord Cacturne · Jul 16, 2019

Yo, nice team. I had built a very similar team a little over a year ago with sash lead lando and scarf gren over serp. At the time, the lando helped with the zyg matchup and was better than drill tho in this meta i think drill is better. I also considered running mixed on tini with brick break over blast just bc a 2hko u know ur gonna get can be appealing over a 2hko that u have a 49% chance of getting; what are your thoughts on this? Also the use of taunt on zam and lele are excellent choices for the rough triple steel matchups.

Jaajgko · Jul 17, 2019

I don't like the idea of Scarf Serp when you already have Zam and Hawlucha for the speed control, especially when it is such a weak scarfer. Instead if you want something that helps versus Sand, Rain, Ash Gren and Ground types Rotom-Wash does the Job. It gives you a much needed flying and fire resist, a reliable way of dealing with Celesteela and Gliscor and doesn't lose you momentum. Also, it fits well with Victini as it will weaken Latias while inviting in Grass types that let Victini setup on them.

The set :
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 200 SpD / 56 Spe
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

airfare · Jul 17, 2019

Dragon1277 said:
I totally forgot to ask but how do you decide who to lead? half the games are decided by the leadmatch-up

always lead excadrill, get up rocks, keep opponent's rocks off the field, and then die
that's why it's called a "suicide lead"

ElStefano · Jul 17, 2019

Dragon1277 said:
I totally forgot to ask but how do you decide who to lead? half the games are decided by the leadmatch-up

freecustap said:
always lead excadrill, get up rocks, keep opponent's rocks off the field, and then die
that's why it's called a "suicide lead"

Correct =) Usually you click Rocks and then proceed to spin. If the opponents leads a fast Taunt user like Tornadus, attack it with Rock Tomb, this is a 2HKO and u move first after the first speed drop. Vs Scarf Koko, it is sometimes a good idea to preserve Exca and lead with something else. Another exception are Fakeout-users (Mega-Medicham and -Lopunny) which would just kill Excadrill; if you see those, lead Lele.

Lord Cacturne said:
Yo, nice team. I had built a very similar team a little over a year ago with sash lead lando and scarf gren over serp. At the time, the lando helped with the zyg matchup and was better than drill tho in this meta i think drill is better. I also considered running mixed on tini with brick break over blast just bc a 2hko u know ur gonna get can be appealing over a 2hko that u have a 49% chance of getting; what are your thoughts on this? Also the use of taunt on zam and lele are excellent choices for the rough triple steel matchups.

Thx =)
While the accuracy of Focus Blast isn't optimal, the Base Power of Brick Break is simply too low to kill the intended targets:
+1 252 SpA Victini Focus Blast vs. 40 HP / 48 SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 416-492 (118.5 - 140.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 0- Atk Victini Brick Break vs. 40 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 272-320 (77.4 - 91.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Even if you give up the -Atk Nature and lower Def instead (which is suboptimal), the damage is just not enough:
+1 0 Atk Victini Brick Break vs. 40 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 300-356 (85.4 - 101.4%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
+1 0 Atk Victini Brick Break vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 154-182 (39.8 - 47.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 0 Atk Victini Brick Break vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Greninja-Ash: 224-264 (78.5 - 92.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Gren and Tar can OHKO in return, Tran can afflict too much damage if it has 3 turns. So not killing them means they stop your sweep for sure, while with Focus Blast, they only have a little chance to stop you.

Jaajgko said:
I don't like the idea of Scarf Serp when you already have Zam and Hawlucha for the speed control, especially when it is such a weak scarfer. Instead if you want something that helps versus Sand, Rain, Ash Gren and Ground types Rotom-Wash does the Job. It gives you a much needed flying and fire resist, a reliable way of dealing with Celesteela and Gliscor and doesn't lose you momentum. Also, it fits well with Victini as it will weaken Latias while inviting in Grass types that let Victini setup on them.

The set :
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 200 SpD / 56 Spe
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Thanks for the input, I see that you really thought about how to improve the team! =)
On paper, Rotom-W looks a lot better than Serp, and I thought I should replace it immediately. But after playtesting it for a bit, I gotta say I like Serp better:

While Zam seems very fast, it's still outsped by most Scarfers (and many Dragon Dancers at +1). I don't like having Lucha as my only real form of speed control, since can only consume its seed once and then it becomes useless. This means if the opponent has a Scarfer AND a Lucha check, something like Scarf Kartana + Zapdos, Lucha can try to stop Kartana ONCE, and if the opponent is clever enough to preserve it (and switch to e.g. Zapdos), Kartana would afterwards be free to destroy my team. That means I'm in need for another type of speed control. Other than the additional speed control:
- Maybe the second most important reason on this team: Serp is a wincon on its own. Rotom can pivot in and out, but it doesn't win games.
- The team is indeed a little weak to Scarf Kartana, which Serp mitigates.
- Serp can get of a guaranteed Defog even vs fast taunters, which Rotom can't.
- Serp can help to overwhelm Chansey.
- I personally don't like Rotom-W too much :P

So i will stick with Serp, but of course, it's up to personal preference ;)

SM OU Psychic Overload [peaked 1978]

ElStefano

Sayuze

Banned deucer.

DrPumpkinz

ElStefano

Tapu Kodi

Dragon1277

noaue25

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ElStefano

Dragon1277

Lord Cacturne

Jaajgko

I will disband the soccer club

airfare

ElStefano

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