SM OU Using Kommo-o Because Why Not

This is one of my best/favorite teams I've ever made. I've peaked at close to 1600 with it, but I generally reside around the mid 1500s (as I write this post, I'm at 1552). I really enjoy using this team as is, but I was hoping someone might take a look at it and tell me if there are any things I could make better on it. Suggestions are welcome as long as they don't involve removing Kommo-o.

The team on paper
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Individual sets + explanations
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kommorikiri (Kommo-o) (M) @ Groundium Z
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 Atk / 12 SpD / 244 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Close Combat
- Poison Jab
- Earthquake

Okay, I know it might seem weird to have a Kommo-o on an OU team in 2018, especially without its signature Z-Crystal. I get it. But I wanted to run a full physical Kommo-o, partially because USUM gave it a new toy to play with in the form of STAB Close Combat, and partially because I hate Chansey, and full physical Kommo-o would be a more effective Chansey killer than special or mixed since I can invest fully into Attack to take advantage of its low Defense. The purpose of Dragon Dance is obvious; boost Attack power and Speed to become a more potent sweeper. Close Combat is Kommo-o's strongest physical STAB move outside of Outrage, but I decided to go with Fighting STAB so that I can avoid being effectively walled by Ferrothorn and hit Celesteela for at least decent damage. Poison Jab is in place for the ever present Fairy-type Tapus that would otherwise prevent Kommo-o from sweeping pretty effortlessly, getting either a guaranteed OHKO or a roll that favors an OHKO on all of them except Fini. Lastly, Earthquake is on the set to take a good chunk out of Toxapex, another Pokémon that would otherwise be a fantastic switch in, as well as hitting Magearna for more damage than Close Combat. With the addition of Groundium-Z, a +1 Tectonic Rage has a 75% chance to OHKO Toxapex, further helping Kommo-o to remove some of its threats. The EVs on the set are fairly basic: 244 speed with a Jolly Nature guarantees that Kommo-o will outspeed Mega Alakazam at +1, max Attack allows for higher damage output, and the rest goes into Special Defense because it's Kommo-o's lower defense stat.

(Also, if you understand this nickname I have some immediate respect for you).


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coldboi (Kyurem-Black) @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
- Roost

While the Kommo-o set has some pretty good coverage, it just so happens that the best Pokémon in the entire tier walls it completely. Landorus is by far the biggest problem for the set, as the auto attack drop in combination with nothing to hit it for even neutral damage means that it can be sent in almost unconditionally (the only case where it wouldn't work is if it'll die to Stealth Rock on switchin). That's why Kyurem is here: to have an offensive answer for Landorus as well as a good offensive threat in general. The set itself is nothing out of the ordinary; Roost + three attacks -- those three attacks being Ice Beam, Fusion Bolt, and Earth Power -- with Life Orb for a bit more damage.


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Foster (Tapu Koko) @ Magnet
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Defog

Tapu Koko is mostly here to serve its typical purpose as a fast offensive threat, especially useful in putting pressure on pre-transformation Ash Greninja. Like most of the Pokémon on here, it's a fairly standard set: Thunderbolt for ridiculously strong STAB when boosted by Electric Terrain and the Magnet, HP Ice for any Ground-types that may want to switch in (if not to kill them then at least to take a chunk), and U-turn for a form of momentum that nothing is immune to. The least common move to see on Koko here is Defog, which is in place solely because I saw the opportunity for it.


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El Toro (Tapu Bulu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Atk / 44 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Horn Leech
- Substitute
- Focus Punch

At this point in the team building, I was realizing two things. First, Landorus was still a bit of a pain to deal with (surprise, surprise). And second, a boosted Zygarde actually swept the entire team as it was. So I decided to include Bulu, since it's a pretty reliable solution to both of those problems, provided that the first problem doesn't have Z-Fly or the second Iron Tail. As for the set...well, it's certainly an odd one. Horn Leech is a given on all Bulu sets, and Substitute isn't too out of the ordinary. The oddness starts to arise with the last two moves. Bulk Up, while it doesn't provide the same immediate power as Swords Dance might, also adds to physical bulk, allowing Bulu to beat Pokémon like Lopunny and even Medicham (with enough boosts) more effectively while giving even less of a shit about Zygarde. While creating the team, I was stuck with those three moves, unsure what to put in the last slot. Then I noticed that Bulu picked up Focus Punch from USUM tutors, and I couldn't resist having it on the set. Although -- in the cases where I've actually clicked it -- it's usually been an unprotected Focus Punch on a predicted switch (I've picked off at least two Kartana with it), it is generally much more useful when used behind a Substitute.


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Arwing head (Heatran) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

Just a standard specially defensive Heatran set. Not much to see here; I really just needed a special wall, more specifically a check to Magearna and Tapu Lele.

Also, as an interesting little note, if both this and the Kommo-o are alive it provides some interesting play around the new threat known as Blacephalon. Blacephalon will always have to be more careful of spamming Fire moves with a Heatran around, so they might go for Shadow Ball instead to predict its switch. If a choice-locked Blacephalon (which is by far the most common option) knocks out Heatran with a Shadow Ball, Kommo-o comes in and gets a Dragon Dance up for free. Or two, if the opponent doesn't already know/guess that its ability is Bulletproof. A bit specific, but it's happened to me at least twice.

or alternatively i can just kill it with earthquake


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Scetti (Tangrowth) (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 212 Def / 48 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power [Ice]

When I got to the last Pokémon on the team, I decided that I needed something with good physical bulk. Zygarde still seemed too problematic for the team even with Bulu there, and there are plenty of other scary physical attackers running around in OU (also see: Kartana), so I wanted something to take hits from them better than any unboosted Bulu ever could. Another standard set, with the bonus of being able to run Sleep Powder due to a lack of Assault Vest.

This is also generally my way of finding out what Landorus set someone is running. I send this in against it and then double out to Heatran immediately to check for Z-Fly. If it goes for U-turn, it probably has no way of killing the Tangrowth. Alternatively, if I switched this in to replace Heatran and the Landorus goes for Earthquake, I can check how much that does to me (offensive does 15.3%-18.1%, while defensive only does 11.6%-13.8%) and go from there.


Threats/problems
These are the five Pokémon that I'm most concerned about when using this team. As is the case with almost every other team in existence, of course, these Pokémon are only an issue if certain other Pokémon are gone.

Pokémon: Tapu Lele
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Needed check(s): Heatran
I have no Psychic resistances outside of Heatran, so if I lose it, Scarf Lele runs train on the whole team.

Pokémon: Kyurem-B
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Needed check(s): Kyurem-B
It seems a little weird to me to have one of the biggest problems for a team be a Pokémon ON that team, but you don't have to look hard to see how effective of an answer Kyurem is. A combination of Ice Beam and Earth Power will OHKO everything on the team barring my own Kyurem even without a Life Orb, and I'll still need two hits from Life Orb Ice Beam to kill. If I lose my own Kyurem, I have to find an opportunity to set up with Kommo-o and hope to God it's not Scarfed.

Pokémon: Mega Scizor
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Needed check(s): Heatran, Tapu Koko
Heatran will always be one of the best answers to Scizor there is. Any Scizor without Superpower is almost hard walled by every standard Heatran in existence, including specially defensive. However, without Heatran the utility set becomes very problematic very quickly. Kyurem drops to a couple Bullet Punches while doing almost nothing back, no move a +1 Kommo-o can throw at it is a guaranteed 2HKO (even Tectonic Rage), and my usual physical attacker checks of Bulu and Tangrowth are weak to Steel and Bug respectively. I can sometimes beat it with Koko, but I'll always need two Thunderbolts to kill from full HP, in which time Scizor can do between 75.4% and 89.6% with Bullet Punch.

Pokémon: Ferrothorn
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Needed check(s): Heatran, Kommo-o
In case you hadn't noticed, Heatran is a very important Pokémon to this team. Like Scizor, Ferrothorn gets demolished by Heatran. Unlike Scizor, no standard Ferrothorn set can ever 1v1 a Heatran. Basically, Heatran is by far the best answer to Ferrothorn on the team. Failing that, Kommo-o is also a pretty good answer. Ferrothorn can be used as setup fodder for it, since an immunity to Gyro Ball makes Leech Seed its only decent damage output. The only thing to watch out for with Kommo-o would be the occasional Thunder Wave, which would severely hinder my chances of sweeping. Without those two, Ferrothorn is ridiculously annoying to fight, especially since I have HP Ice on my Tangrowth over HP Fire (with the latter I would actually be able to 1v1 it). My best option would be to Bulk Up with Bulu and SubPunch combo it to the next dimension, but that also requires a good bit of setup to do, and I might not have the time or space to do it in.

Pokémon: Blacephalon
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Needed check(s): Kommo-o, Tapu Koko, Heatran
Surprisingly, Kommo-o is actually a great answer to Blacephalon. Heatran can take at least two Shadow Balls from even the Specs set (taking them a whole lot better with Grassy Terrain up) and is completely immune to Fire moves, but it can't do much back outside of Toxic. Besides, Smogon's overview for this Pokémon is right when it says that Shadow Ball is much more spammable for Blacephalon than a Fire move, and it'll be more likely to use that if Heatran is still around. Kommo-o is immune to Shadow Ball while still resisting the deadly Fire STAB moves, although it'll still take some considerable damage from them even without the Beast Boost. I could also use that "interesting play" I mentioned earlier to send in Kommo-o and get off an Earthquake for the kill if they stay in (and if the temptation to set up in its face isn't too strong). If I lose Kommo-o, Koko can outspeed and kill Blacephalon with prior damage. Unless it's Scarfed; then we run into some issues.


Replays
Unfortunately, I don't have many good replays of the team, so I'm posting the two best ones here and hoping that will suffice.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-681241184 (the "interesting play" works on Scarf Gengar too)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-681028538 (not really a great showcase of the team but I included it to prove that I've caught Kartana with Focus Punch on switchin before :] )



So, that's it! As I said, any suggestions other than "get rid of Kommo-o" are welcomed, and I'll absolutely take them into consideration.
 

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