Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock
- Encore
- Rock Tomb
Shuckle imo is the best webs setter in the tier right now. The main reason for this is it's versatility in battle. With mental herb and sturdy, at least one hazard will be set on turn one. My opponent will normally be attempting counter measures and normally take advantage of shuckles passivity. But with the move encore, It enables me to take control of the game and make sure I get the best out of the first turns. The last move is whatever. I've chosen rock tomb so if shuckle is undamaged, he can act as a last ditch lucha check. Using shuckle as opposed to other webs users is rather different. With pokemon like smeargle and lead puff being other common setters, having enough bulk to set hazard more than once is really helpfull against balance teams with a reliable defogger. Although I have defog checks, it's nice having a back up plan.
Thundurus @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 8 HP / 248 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wild Charge
- Fly
- Superpower
- Bulk Up
The first pokemon I wanted to add to the team was defiant bulk up thundurus. Thundurus was my defiant user of choice for a few reasons. It has a pretty good match up against most defog users like Scizor, Fini, Mew , Gliscor, Mantine landorus-T and the list goes on. Thundurus, at least imo, has a better match-up vs defoggers than bish rn
I found these calcs pretty surprising considering it's max defence.
+2 252 Atk Thundurus Supersonic Skystrike (175 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Scizor-Mega: 297-351 (86.5 - 102.3%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Thundurus Supersonic Skystrike (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mew: 376-444 (93 - 109.9%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery
(These aren't really sets, but prove thundy packs a punch)
Thundurus also has a really good speed, allowing it to outspeed even offensive defoggers like kart and lati.
Wild charge is a very strong stab move that heavily pressures opposing flying types. Fly is another stab move that allows thundurus to use Supersonic Skystrike and destroy anything. Supepower allows thundurus to heavily damage steels and act as a semi lure to the likes of ferrothorn. Bulk up allows thundurus to act as a sweeper/breaker if using it as a defog check isn't needed or necessary.
Tapu Lele @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Next I needed something that abused the webs. I needed a wall breaker that, under webs, would cause a lot of teams to crumble. Tapu Lele sprang to mind. With a choice specs, psychic would be boosted 1.5 times by terrain, stab and specs. This amount of power, while being faster that the opposing team, meant that going against more balanced builds would be much easier. Psychic and Psyshock are the main moves I use with psyshock being only used against spdef walls like chansey and av magearna. HP fire is for scizor and ferrothorn. Focus blast could be used but I have enough tran checks anyway.
Zygarde @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 188 HP / 140 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Extreme Speed
Next is sub DD zygarde. Zygarde is everywhere right now so why can't I use it? Sub allows me to set up in the face of passive walls like pex. DD TA and ES are all self explanatory so I won't go over them. I'm not running coil because I feel sub gives me more set up opportunities. The spread was taken from smogon, but it seems to be doing it;s job so I'll leave it be.
Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Taunt
- Waterfall
- Crunch
Gyarados I'm not too sure about just yet. It just doesn't seem to be pulling it's weight. Standard dd crunch waterfall set, Taunt can prevent defog and eases set up. I have thought about changing this slot to Char X or Pinsir but for now it's gyara.
Magearna @ Leftovers
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shift Gear
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
Last but not least is magearna. Dual Dance Mag is mainly here for the offence match-up. With shift gear, calm mind and soul heart boosts magearna can easily find itself sweeping frailer teams late game. Max speed timid is required to outspeed mons before shift gear with webs up and max special attack to help sweep.
So that's the team. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks in advanced!
(I also have another rmt that I did a while ago that has had no replies yet. It would be greatly appreciated if I could have some feedback for that team aswell. Heres the link: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/standard-usum-balance.3635701/ )
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