SM OU The Savage Flames of War. 1582 ELO ATM

[Flame from Heaven]

Hello everyone, Shadowtex1 here, (BladeofFriendship at Pokemon Showdown), for my 100th post, my first Rate My Team! Since I'm not an amazing player, I have been pretty happy with the results so far. My team could definitely use work though. So, without further Ado, here is my team!


The team at a Glance.

Team Building Process

I started building around Volcarona, as it is my favorite fire type and is one one of the most powerful threats in the metagame.

Latios was the next teammate, as I needed a defogger and Latios is one of the best options for that department. I also needed a revenge killer, which Latios also does well. It can also check Scarf Keldeo.

Next, I added the Lando Ferrothorn core, as it can check a lot of threats for my team such as Tapu Koko, Landorus Therian, Zygarde, and (Ash) Greninja. They also provide entry hazards for my team.

Then I added Mega Mawile, as I needed a wallbreaker, stallbreaker, and a Heatran Lure, as my Volcarona does not have HP ground.

Finally, I added Keldeo for a more consistent steel check, a backup Ash Greninja check, and a Heatran switch in.

Savage Flame (Volcarona) @ Psychium Z

Ability: Flame Body

EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Fire Blast

- Bug Buzz

- Psychic

- Quiver Dance

Volcarona is the Pokemon this team is built around. I chose to use the Psychium Z set as at this time and age, you do not want to be walled by Toxapex. Bug Buzz is used to hit Latios and Tyranitar. Fire Blast and Quiver Dance are self explanatory.

Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Levitate

EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Draco Meteor

- Psyshock

- Defog

- Grass Knot

Latios is my main revenge killer and Defogger. He also checks Keldeo that try to Revenge Kill Volcarona. Defog is crucial to eliminate entry hazards, and Grass knot is used to revenge kill Mega Swampert, a big threat to my team. Psyshock is used over Psychic to revenge kill CM Keldeo and Volcarona.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers

Ability: Intimidate

EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe

Impish Nature

- Earthquake

- U-turn

- Stealth Rock

- Hidden Power [Ice]

Landorus Therian is my Stealth Rock Setter and part of my defensive core that I use to check threats for my team. U-turn is useful as Landorus Therian can sometimes lure Pokemon Volcarona can use as set up bait, like Tangrowth. The Speed Evs is to speed creep opposing defensive Landorus Therian.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers

Ability: Iron Barbs

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD

Sassy Nature

IVs: 0 Spe

- Gyro Ball

- Power Whip

- Spikes

- Leech Seed

Ferrothorn completes my defensive core, and it is the bulky steel type for my team. Spikes are very useful for Volcarona to gain crucial KOs, and Leech seed is for semi reliable recovery. I chose a more specially defensive spread to check threats like Tapu Koko and Magearna better.

Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite

Ability: Hyper Cutter

EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe

Adamant Nature

- Play Rough

- Sucker Punch

- Focus Punch

- Thunder Punch

I chose Mawile as my Mega evolution for its abilities to wall break for Volcarona, as well as 6 v 0 stall, which Volcarona struggles to do much against because of Chansey. Focus Punch is used to lure and OHKO Heatran, a hard counter to non HP ground Volcarona sets. The speed evs are to outspeed Alolan Marowak and 2HKO it after Stealth Rocks.

War (Keldeo) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]

A rather unconventional Keldeo set, Keldeo is my primary fire resist, and acts as a more consistent Steel type answer. Choice Specs is used as I already had a scarfer and a Z move. HP electric is used to lure Mantine, another hard counter to Volcarona. One thing I noticed is that Offense has almost nothing to switch into Specs Keldeo, thus, Keldeo has done a lot of work so far. Psychium Z Volcarona works great with this set to lure and OHKO Toxapex, allowing Keldeo to freely wall break.



I have been having a lot of fun with this Team, and this site in general. I am looking to improve, So feel more than free to critique.

 

[Indigo Plateau]

Hey Shadowtex1! This looks a lot like a standard balance team that you would get when building around Volcarona (especially in Gen 6). You have a lot of surprising options to help Volcarona sweep, such as Grass Knot Latios, HP Electric Keldeo, and Focus Punch Mawile. Hopefully, I'll be able to help you out in improving your team.


Threats

Your team lacks a solid switch-in vs Tapu Lele, as one right prediction vs Ferrothorn and then this nabs a kill every time it comes in. Ferrothorn's full SpDef spread doesn't help either, as specs HP Fire is still doing 72 and then Psychic has a good chance to kill next time it comes in. Psychic is also doing a ton to Mawile and Latios can't do anything back to Lele.

You have Focus Punch Mawile to lure Heatran, but Heatran still comes in vs anything not named Keldeo, which doesn't appreciate Magma Storm. Heatran is a huge nuisance for the rest of your team to break as only Lando's EQ (outsped), Mawile's Sucker (outsped), and Keldeo are actually doing some sort of damage to it.

Mega Diancie, especially CM, has the ability to easily clean up vs this team if Lando is weakened. Only Latios is outspeeding, and after Latios goes down and Lando takes a bit of prior damage, Diancie proceeds to OHKO every single member of the team.

Because Latios doesn't have recovery, any Keldeo set poses a huge threat to the team. Tyranitar is something that you often see alongside Keldeo, and if TTar catches your Latios and Pursuit traps it, then Keldeo's job is made much easier. If Latios were to go down, then you're relying on your Specs Keldeo to speed tie because if not, its dual stab hit everything for a ton of damage on your team.

Opposing Volcarona are a huge threat for your team, especially since you have to play around predicting whether its SubSwarm or Z Move. At +1, you really only have Latios to deal damage and then Lando to take a hit because everything else proceeds to die.

Kartana is able to get a free switch off vs Ferrothorn whenever it wants to, and you're forced to play aggressively around this. If it gets up an SD, then you basically have to let something die, especially if you go Lando when they Sub. Latios being your only answer (again) and risking a speed tie with Keldeo is a bit shaky.

Scizor + Toxapex forces you to keep your Volcarona healthy in order to deal with these two, which are seen together quite a lot. On paper, it's easier to plan for this, since realistically you'll be dealing with TSpikes and probably Rocks while trying to use a scarf Latios as your only form of hazard removal. If you waste your Z move on something not named Toxapex (or if your Volc goes down for whatever reason), then these two will find it increasingly easy to wall your team due to no Fire Fang Weavile.

Tapu Koko naturally draws Lando and Ferro in, and after clicking U-Turn, Kyurem-B comes in and is a huge threat for the team with Z-Ice. This is a pretty self explanatory core and their roles are straightforward, but make sure you keep Latios healthy if you come across these.


Suggestions

I'm going to give suggestions and build two different teams: one where I keep most of your members, and another one where I take a different approach to a balance squad, but they will both hopefully help Volcarona put in work more frequently and make your team more solid overall.

>

The first change that I would make for this team is Mega Diancie > Mega Mawile. Diancie has great offensive synergy with Volcarona, and this way you also don't have to run Focus Punch Mawile when you can simply run Earth Power on Diancie for Heatran. I would personally run either CM + 3 atks here, since you could choose to forego HP Fire for the likes of attempting to setup on opposing Ferro with Volc and also to pose a bigger threat to opposing Toxapex. Diancie also helps with the likes of SD Kartana, Kyu-B, Lele, and non-scarf Keldeo as you can easily outspeed and pick them off which Mawile can't do. You mention that Mawile was your pick because it can 6-0 stall, but stall isn't seen very often and CM Diancie annoys stall as well.

>

The second change would be replacing Keldeo's Choice Specs with Choice Scarf. Off the top of my head, Keldeo can revenge kill mostly everything that Latios can for your team. The loss of power is noticeable, but Toxapex being everywhere (even if you do predict the switch correctly and hit it with an HP Electric which it recovers after switching either way) isn't helping, especially cuz HP Electric sucks being locked into. I primarily wanted to make this change so you can fit Defog + Recovery on Latios, which you cannot let get pressured and weakened as easily as your current set does because it's your only form of hazard removal. I would run Stone Edge here to reliably revenge kill Volcarona. This change also helps in revenging things like Diancie which are threatening for the team and Swampert (like you mentioned) without having to run Grass Knot on Latios.

/

>

& Roost > Grass Knot
I would opt to replace Latios's Choice Scarf with either Soul Dew or Life Orb (I prefer Soul Dew, your choice, but if you run LO make sure you give Latios 29 HP IV's) now that Keldeo is your scarfer. I explained this before, but you can't afford having a choice locked Latios without recovery on this team as you struggle switching into opposing Keldeo and other previously mentioned threats. You also rely on Latios to clear hazards for Volcarona, but without recovery, Latios proceeds to get worn down very quickly. I know that Swampert is a threat, but you handle it relatively well already with both Ferrothorn and Keldeo, so I don't really think Grass Know is that useful and this is better support overall for your team.

--> Optional:

>

This is an optional change, but if you feel like Latios is getting worn down too quickly, you can always choose to go with Latias > Latios for the extra bulk in clearing hazards. Latias has Healing Wish as well, which could be a cool alternative to bring back one of your breakers.

Current EV's --> Standard Spread
You noted that you run max SpDef on Ferro to help with Ash-Ninja, but the standard spread of 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD with a Sassy nature does still avoids the 2hko by Dark Pulse while giving you some type of PhysDef investement. It might seem minimal, but it decreases the chances of Kyu-B annihilating you with Subzero Slammer, for example, and maybe give you the chance to hit it with a Gyro Ball. You're also going to be Defogging hazards quite often, so if you feel that you can't reliably keep your Spikes up, you can also opt to run TWave or something over Spikes - not completely necessary though, obviously.

New Team:

Importable

Diancie @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power

Volcarona @ Psychium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Psychic

Latios @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Defog

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

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball

Conclusions

I tested out the new team (forgot to save replays, sadly) and I definitely think it worked smoothly compared to your last one, even if the changes weren't anything huge. There aren't a ton of new threats from the ones before due to changes, since I kept most of the team the same. Make sure you keep Ferro healthy for opposing Scarf Latios, as it outspeeds everything on your team and you can't speed tie vs it with Latios anymore.
Dropping Mawile makes you dual steels on the team, which can be sometimes problematic in the case of something like Scarf Kartana or Scarf Lele, but thankfully you should be able to play around it with Lando/Ferro and possibly setup vs it with Volc (plus you don't see those sets as much anymore). You also lose priority from Sucker Punch, but gain a ton of speed to outspeed key threats to your team. If you have any questions or need help building another team around Volc with something like Mantine (which I enjoy doing and I think overall are more reliable, plus I didn't want to change your team much), feel free to message me! I hope the changes helped & gl with the team