Intro/Bull-shit Section:
Hi friends :) I'm Mellowslinky and this is my first RMT. Some stuff on me, I'm mostly a casual ladder player on and off since ORAS. Haven't really built a ton myself in the past, usually just lurk on the forums and pull teams from here or from Joey or Blunder or whoever I'm watching. A few nights ago I was on my way to bed thinking about the meaning of life, the origin of the cosmo's, and how to break USUM OU. In a moment of sudden clarity I built this team and have been having a ton of fun with it since. This is the highest ELO I've sat at playing one of my own teams so thought it would be a good time to do my first RMT and share it with you all
Preview:
Teambuilding Process:
This team started with me wanting to build around PhysDef roost + 3 attacks Zapdos. It feels like this mon is super well positioned vs a lot of the teams I've been facing around this part of the ladder. On the defensive side, it has a great typing that allows it to check many potent physical threats such as M-Pinsir, Kartana and Hawlucha. It also puts a lot of pressure on common cores like Pex + Steela, or Pex + Ferrothorn.
Although Zapdos has decent defensive stats, it's definitely possible for offensive teams to wear it down with repeated attacks. As such I wanted to add further bulk to make sure that we can keep Zapdos healthy so it can check what it needs to. To do this I added AV Bulu and SpDef Heatran.
Bulu acts as a secondary check for other physical attackers such as Zygarde, Lando-T without Flyinium, and M-Medicham (and obviously Ash-Gren as well). In turn, Bulu appreciates Zapdos' ability to pressure common mons that wall the AV set such as Steela and Ferrothorn.
Heatran has really solid synergy with these two mons and rounds off the defensive core nicely. Zapdos and Bulu check ground type attacks for Heatran, and Grassy Terrain provides additional recovery to greatly extend Heatran's longevity. Heatran also checks strong special attackers that could otherwise break through these mons such as Blacephalon and Tapu Lele.
At this point I feel like I had the beginnings of a solid Balance/Bulky-Offensive build so I went through some of the common things I look for when trying to round out a team. With these three mons I was missing hazzard control, pivotting, speed control/a revenge killer, a breaker, a setup mon, my mega, and a Landorus-Therian. Looking at that list I figured I could cross out quite a few of those with a Landorus-Therian....
Okay joking aside scarf Lando-T with defog did make a lot of sense to me in this slot. Normally I'm so-so on the scarf set because it isn't great against opposing defensive lando-T and gets outspeed by a lot of common scarfers. However with this much bulk and two good checks to defensive lando-T I felt that wasn't as big of an issue here.
With the addition of Lando-T I was still missing a breaker, a setup mon and my mega from that list of common things I check for. I was already thinking of Kyurem-B as a potential breaker, and then I remembered the Kyurem-B/M-Gyarados offensive core that I had seen running around. Not only are these two mons potent physical breakers, but they round out my team composition nicely by giving me a Fire-Water-Grass and Fairy-Steel-Dragon setup. I'm also a big fan of the bulk these two bring; since it meant that the whole team was hella fat and could synergize nicely with grassy terrain
Sets:
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt / Discharge
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost
Although Zapdos lacks some natural bulk compared to other defensive mons in the tier; its typing does it a lot of favors when checking offensive threats and threatening common defensive cores. First lets look at some calcs vs common defensive mons
Offensive Calc's:
0 SpA Zapdos Discharge vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Celesteela: 186-218 (46.7 - 54.7%) -- 10.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Celesteela: 206-246 (51.7 - 61.8%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Discharge vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Toxapex: 150-176 (49.3 - 57.8%) -- 95.3% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Toxapex: 168-198 (55.2 - 65.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Zapdos Heat Wave vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 252-300 (71.5 - 85.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Landorus-Therian: 248-292 (64.9 - 76.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
While Discharge is nice for the paralysis chance; you do miss out on the power of Thunderbolt for a few key KO's so imo this is usually the better option. Heat Wave threatens Ferrothorn/Scizor with massive damage, and HP Ice cripples defensive Lando-T. The speed investment is for neutral natured base70 speed mons such as Bisharp, and 16EV Defensive Lando-T. Roost is ran in the last slot over defog since we need to keep it healthy to reliably check offensive threats.
Defensive Calc's:
+2 252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Return vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 183-216 (47.7 - 56.3%) -- 34.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Pinsir-Mega: 258-306 (95.2 - 112.9%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Kartana Corkscrew Crash (140 BP) vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 237-279 (61.8 - 72.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Heat Wave vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Kartana: 792-936 (305.7 - 361.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Hawlucha High Jump Kick vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 148-175 (38.6 - 45.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 104 HP / 0 SpD Hawlucha: 342-404 (105.8 - 125%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Ice Punch vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 222-262 (57.9 - 68.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Medicham-Mega: 135-159 (51.7 - 60.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 225-265 (58.7 - 69.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Heat Wave vs. 40 HP / 0 SpD Mawile-Mega: 172-204 (68.5 - 81.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
As you can see from these calcs Zapdos can check many of the most powerful physical attackers in the tier, but only if you play smart and make sure that you are keeping it healthy throughout the match. It's also really important that you try to pressure out their hazzard setters since the 25% from SR really hamper what you can reliably check. If your opponent doesn't have one of these really strong threats however you can be much more aggressive in pressuring their defensive mons. Against other bulky builds or stall Zapdos' ability, Pressure, gives you a lot of play by running out their recovery options.
Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 84 Def / 56 SpD / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Nature's Madness
- Wood Hammer / Stone Edge
The second mon making up the defensive back-bone of this team; AV Tapu Bulu excels at checking powerful water types such as Ash-Greninja, Keldeo, and M-Swampert. The EV's are a slightly edited version of the recommended set; I've moved 84EV's from Spe into Defense to help in checking M-Swampert while being faster than 40EV SpDef Heatran.
252+ Atk Swampert-Mega Ice Punch vs. 248 HP / 84 Def Tapu Bulu: 166-196 (48.3 - 57.1%) -- 46.9% chance to 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
252+ Atk Swampert-Mega Ice Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tapu Bulu: 178-210 (51.8 - 61.2%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
As you can see, for a pretty minor dip in speed we can make it much more likely that we live two ice punches if the opponent predicts the switch. Also I think that the 144Spe only really gets Bulu faster than a few things such as Banded Tyranitar. 60Atk EV's allow us to knock-out Clefable on the switch with Nature's Madness into Wood Hammer, but Stone Edge provides coverage for Volcarona and Charizard-Y. I haven't seen much of these two on the ladder recently with Toxapex usage being so high, so Wood Hammer gets the nod for the raw power. Remaining EV's go into HP and SpDef to make it as bulky as possible
The moves are fairly standard for AV Bulu. Horn leech in grassy terrain hits incredibly hard and greatly supplements Bulu's longevity. Superpower offers coverage for a lot of common grass resists and Nature's Madness allows us to chip mons that would otherwise have nothing to fear from AV Bulu such as Celesteela (plus the aforementioned way of KO-ing Clefable).
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect / Earth Power
The last mon rounding out the defensive back-bone of the team; Heatran has incredible synergy with both Tapu Bulu and Zapdos. Heatran greatly appreciates the other two mon's for checking powerful water, earth, and fighting type attacks. In return, Heatran checks potent special attackers that would otherwise break through these two.
252+ SpA Blacephalon Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 111-132 (28.7 - 34.1%) -- 98.8% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran in Psychic Terrain: 114-135 (29.5 - 34.9%) -- 100% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Hoopa-Unbound Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 166-196 (43 - 50.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Many of these mons would normally rely on Focus Blast to damage Heatran, which AV Tapu Bulu can easily sponge. We run Toxic + Protect to threaten these mons in return; since we don't want to compromise bulk to run additional SpA. This also synergizes well with Grassy Terrain to allow us to get significant chip on threats we would normally have a difficult time dealing with. Stealth Rock is another high impact move that threatens a lot of damage over the course of a match - and with Heatran's bulk there are many mons we can safely get them up on. Finally, Lava Plume gets the nod over Magma Storm for the hit chance and 30% burn chance which can completely cripple physical attackers on the switch.
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Rock Slide / Hidden Power Ice / Knock Off
- Defog
First off shoutout to NJNP and Gary for the vid. I'm going to be completely honest here; I do not like the Scarf set in a vacuum. I think it's a bit gimmicky and loses a lot of its power once the opponent knows the set. However, it offers a ton of role compression for this team as it provides momentum, some speed control, and hazard removal on top of respectable bulk for no investment. Intimidate is also super useful in helping Zapdos check setup mons; as many of it's calcs become significantly easier with the opponent at +0/+1 instead of +2.
Even though EQ gets neutered by our own terrain we're kind of priced into running it because it's the only reliable stab for the scarf set. U-turn generates momentum and aids significantly in bringing in our breakers. Defog checks hazzard stacking teams, and because Lando-T isn't effected by Sticky Web is super useful in maintaining speed control for Kyurem and M-Gyarados. The third moveslot is where we have a lot of options; none of which I am completely satisfied with. Rock Slide checks Zard-Y which otherwise can run rampant through our team if it has coverage for Heatran. HP Ice helps pressure opposing Lando-T, but more importantly DD Zygarde and Dragonite which threaten to OHKO Zapdos with Devastating Drake at +1. Finally, Knock Off adds a ton of utility and really helps against other bulky builds or stall. Any suggestions for what to do with this slot would be much obliged.
Kyurem-Black @ Icium Z
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Freeze Shock
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
Icium Z Kyurem-Black exists for one purpose, breaking walls. This monster threatens knock outs on so many of the bulkiest things in the tier and is incredibly hard to switch into for Stall. To give some examples:
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Subzero Slammer (200 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 529-624 (75.2 - 88.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Fusion Bolt vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 177-209 (25.1 - 29.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Subzero Slammer (200 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Sableye-Mega: 328-387 (108.2 - 127.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Subzero Slammer (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 268-316 (76.1 - 89.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
4 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-Black Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 87-103 (24.7 - 29.2%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Fusion Bolt vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Celesteela: 210-248 (52.7 - 62.3%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Fusion Bolt vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Toxapex: 148-176 (48.6 - 57.8%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Subzero Slammer (200 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 228-268 (68.4 - 80.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
4 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-Black Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Skarmory: 151-178 (45.3 - 53.4%) -- 35.2% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Subzero Slammer (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 321-378 (81.4 - 95.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Freeze Shock gives the highest power Subzero Slammer, Fusion Bolt provides coverage for water types that would want to switch in to resist the Z-move, and Earth Power threatens Heatran which otherwise isn't threatened by the set. Ice beam in the last slot provides an ice type stab after using the Z-move which still threatens significant damage on 4x weak mons such as Lando-T and Zygarde. We run max speed over additional bulk to help against offense as there are some key threats at 95 Spd which we outspeed or tie with (e.g. - Adamant CB Zygarde or Modest Specs Lele). This spread also outspeeds base 100 Spd mons with a neutral nature, such as Adamant M-Medicham which could otherwise freely break the teams defensive mons.
Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake / Ice Fang
- Crunch / Ice Fang
- Dragon Dance
The last mon on our team and the second part of our breaking/cleaning core; M-Gyarados synergizes incredibly well with Kyurem-B and takes advantage of the bulky Zapdos/Bulu/Heatran core chipping away at common mons that would check it. I've been running Adamant because the high usage of Pex/Steela/Ferrothorn is suppressing a lot of the fast threats that we would want to run more speed for. However Jolly is an option to guarentee we outspeed Tapu Koko and M-Lopunny after a Dragon Dance. This mon is another physical monster, and with a boost threatens huge damage on many of the mons that would want to check it:
+1 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Toxapex: 226-268 (74.3 - 88.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Celesteela: 192-226 (48.2 - 56.7%) -- 36.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Waterfall vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 198-234 (51.6 - 61%) -- 94.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Crunch vs. 248 HP / 88 Def Venusaur-Mega: 190-225 (52.3 - 61.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Waterfall is our primary choice for a stab move to avoid the miss chance on Aqua Tail. For the next two attacks we generally want some combination of Earthquake, Crunch and Ice Fang. EQ is important for Toxapex coverage, Crunch offers good neutral damage on targets that would resist Waterfall and Ice Fang offers good damage on Tapu Bulu which otherwise comfortably walls this set even at +1. Dragon Dance is a must in the last slot to increase our breaking power and threaten a sweep. I've been running with EQ + Crunch recently as we have a pretty solid answer to Bulu in Zapdos and haven't really found myself missing the coverage so far.
One thing that I've found from playing with this mon is that its deceptively bulky on the SpDef side even with no investment. 95HP, 109Def, and 135SpDef on a water type is actually fairly difficult for a number of mons to break through. For example:
+1 252 SpA Volcarona Giga Drain vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 202-238 (61 - 71.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Venusaur-Mega Giga Drain vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 152-182 (45.9 - 54.9%) -- 62.1% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Solar Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 242-286 (73.1 - 86.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 260-308 (78.5 - 93%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados-Mega: 258-306 (77.9 - 92.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 284-336 (85.8 - 101.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Magearna Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 208-246 (62.8 - 74.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Swampert-Mega Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados-Mega: 186-219 (56.1 - 66.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Some of these calcs really blew me away when I started to look into them - who would have thought that you can live a specs T-bolt from Tapu Koko almost always outside of electric terrain? This typing also completely walls Ash-Gren and helps check Protean-Gren which could be an issue for this team if it had Gunk-Shot.
Threatlist
Dragonium-Z dragonite can OHKO Zapdos at +1 and basically sweeps the entire team. Without Ice Fang on Gyarados I don't have a reliable way of revenge killing it and even with Ice Fang the roll is not in my favor to live a +1 Outrage. Getting rocks up against this mon is absolutely a necessity to have a chance and even then it does not feel good to see this in team preview.
Offensive Lando-T can OHKO either of the two bulky mons you want to switch into it if it has the right Z-crystal. Zapdos gets OHKO'd by a continental crush and Bulu by Z-Fly close to 90% of the time even before factoring SD into account.
Opposing Kyurem-B, and specifically the life orb set, has an incredibly match-up against this team. If it's running dragon coverage it threatens a 2HKO on every mon in the team and outspeeds almost everything except our Lando-T and speed tying with our own Kyurem-B.
Although usage for these two have dropped, they both threaten this team immensely. Volcarona can basically 6-0 with some prior damage on Heatran if it packing Bug-Buzz, and Zard-Y basically claims a kill everytime it switches in. Getting up rocks is incredibly important for dealing with these two; but since Heatran is our rocker its really easy for it to get overwhelmed
Importable
Closing:
Thanks for taking the time to check out my RMT. Feedback and suggestions are always welcome, and definitely let me know if you have fun using this team as well :)
Hi friends :) I'm Mellowslinky and this is my first RMT. Some stuff on me, I'm mostly a casual ladder player on and off since ORAS. Haven't really built a ton myself in the past, usually just lurk on the forums and pull teams from here or from Joey or Blunder or whoever I'm watching. A few nights ago I was on my way to bed thinking about the meaning of life, the origin of the cosmo's, and how to break USUM OU. In a moment of sudden clarity I built this team and have been having a ton of fun with it since. This is the highest ELO I've sat at playing one of my own teams so thought it would be a good time to do my first RMT and share it with you all
Preview:
Teambuilding Process:
This team started with me wanting to build around PhysDef roost + 3 attacks Zapdos. It feels like this mon is super well positioned vs a lot of the teams I've been facing around this part of the ladder. On the defensive side, it has a great typing that allows it to check many potent physical threats such as M-Pinsir, Kartana and Hawlucha. It also puts a lot of pressure on common cores like Pex + Steela, or Pex + Ferrothorn.
Although Zapdos has decent defensive stats, it's definitely possible for offensive teams to wear it down with repeated attacks. As such I wanted to add further bulk to make sure that we can keep Zapdos healthy so it can check what it needs to. To do this I added AV Bulu and SpDef Heatran.
Bulu acts as a secondary check for other physical attackers such as Zygarde, Lando-T without Flyinium, and M-Medicham (and obviously Ash-Gren as well). In turn, Bulu appreciates Zapdos' ability to pressure common mons that wall the AV set such as Steela and Ferrothorn.
Heatran has really solid synergy with these two mons and rounds off the defensive core nicely. Zapdos and Bulu check ground type attacks for Heatran, and Grassy Terrain provides additional recovery to greatly extend Heatran's longevity. Heatran also checks strong special attackers that could otherwise break through these mons such as Blacephalon and Tapu Lele.
At this point I feel like I had the beginnings of a solid Balance/Bulky-Offensive build so I went through some of the common things I look for when trying to round out a team. With these three mons I was missing hazzard control, pivotting, speed control/a revenge killer, a breaker, a setup mon, my mega, and a Landorus-Therian. Looking at that list I figured I could cross out quite a few of those with a Landorus-Therian....
Okay joking aside scarf Lando-T with defog did make a lot of sense to me in this slot. Normally I'm so-so on the scarf set because it isn't great against opposing defensive lando-T and gets outspeed by a lot of common scarfers. However with this much bulk and two good checks to defensive lando-T I felt that wasn't as big of an issue here.
With the addition of Lando-T I was still missing a breaker, a setup mon and my mega from that list of common things I check for. I was already thinking of Kyurem-B as a potential breaker, and then I remembered the Kyurem-B/M-Gyarados offensive core that I had seen running around. Not only are these two mons potent physical breakers, but they round out my team composition nicely by giving me a Fire-Water-Grass and Fairy-Steel-Dragon setup. I'm also a big fan of the bulk these two bring; since it meant that the whole team was hella fat and could synergize nicely with grassy terrain
Sets:
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt / Discharge
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost
Although Zapdos lacks some natural bulk compared to other defensive mons in the tier; its typing does it a lot of favors when checking offensive threats and threatening common defensive cores. First lets look at some calcs vs common defensive mons
Offensive Calc's:
0 SpA Zapdos Discharge vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Celesteela: 186-218 (46.7 - 54.7%) -- 10.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Celesteela: 206-246 (51.7 - 61.8%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Discharge vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Toxapex: 150-176 (49.3 - 57.8%) -- 95.3% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Toxapex: 168-198 (55.2 - 65.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Zapdos Heat Wave vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 252-300 (71.5 - 85.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Landorus-Therian: 248-292 (64.9 - 76.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
While Discharge is nice for the paralysis chance; you do miss out on the power of Thunderbolt for a few key KO's so imo this is usually the better option. Heat Wave threatens Ferrothorn/Scizor with massive damage, and HP Ice cripples defensive Lando-T. The speed investment is for neutral natured base70 speed mons such as Bisharp, and 16EV Defensive Lando-T. Roost is ran in the last slot over defog since we need to keep it healthy to reliably check offensive threats.
Defensive Calc's:
+2 252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Return vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 183-216 (47.7 - 56.3%) -- 34.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Pinsir-Mega: 258-306 (95.2 - 112.9%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
+2 252 Atk Kartana Corkscrew Crash (140 BP) vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 237-279 (61.8 - 72.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Heat Wave vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Kartana: 792-936 (305.7 - 361.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Hawlucha High Jump Kick vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 148-175 (38.6 - 45.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 104 HP / 0 SpD Hawlucha: 342-404 (105.8 - 125%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Ice Punch vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 222-262 (57.9 - 68.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Medicham-Mega: 135-159 (51.7 - 60.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mawile-Mega Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 225-265 (58.7 - 69.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Zapdos Heat Wave vs. 40 HP / 0 SpD Mawile-Mega: 172-204 (68.5 - 81.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
As you can see from these calcs Zapdos can check many of the most powerful physical attackers in the tier, but only if you play smart and make sure that you are keeping it healthy throughout the match. It's also really important that you try to pressure out their hazzard setters since the 25% from SR really hamper what you can reliably check. If your opponent doesn't have one of these really strong threats however you can be much more aggressive in pressuring their defensive mons. Against other bulky builds or stall Zapdos' ability, Pressure, gives you a lot of play by running out their recovery options.
Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 84 Def / 56 SpD / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Nature's Madness
- Wood Hammer / Stone Edge
The second mon making up the defensive back-bone of this team; AV Tapu Bulu excels at checking powerful water types such as Ash-Greninja, Keldeo, and M-Swampert. The EV's are a slightly edited version of the recommended set; I've moved 84EV's from Spe into Defense to help in checking M-Swampert while being faster than 40EV SpDef Heatran.
252+ Atk Swampert-Mega Ice Punch vs. 248 HP / 84 Def Tapu Bulu: 166-196 (48.3 - 57.1%) -- 46.9% chance to 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
252+ Atk Swampert-Mega Ice Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Tapu Bulu: 178-210 (51.8 - 61.2%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
As you can see, for a pretty minor dip in speed we can make it much more likely that we live two ice punches if the opponent predicts the switch. Also I think that the 144Spe only really gets Bulu faster than a few things such as Banded Tyranitar. 60Atk EV's allow us to knock-out Clefable on the switch with Nature's Madness into Wood Hammer, but Stone Edge provides coverage for Volcarona and Charizard-Y. I haven't seen much of these two on the ladder recently with Toxapex usage being so high, so Wood Hammer gets the nod for the raw power. Remaining EV's go into HP and SpDef to make it as bulky as possible
The moves are fairly standard for AV Bulu. Horn leech in grassy terrain hits incredibly hard and greatly supplements Bulu's longevity. Superpower offers coverage for a lot of common grass resists and Nature's Madness allows us to chip mons that would otherwise have nothing to fear from AV Bulu such as Celesteela (plus the aforementioned way of KO-ing Clefable).
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect / Earth Power
The last mon rounding out the defensive back-bone of the team; Heatran has incredible synergy with both Tapu Bulu and Zapdos. Heatran greatly appreciates the other two mon's for checking powerful water, earth, and fighting type attacks. In return, Heatran checks potent special attackers that would otherwise break through these two.
252+ SpA Blacephalon Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 111-132 (28.7 - 34.1%) -- 98.8% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran in Psychic Terrain: 114-135 (29.5 - 34.9%) -- 100% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Hoopa-Unbound Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Heatran: 166-196 (43 - 50.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Many of these mons would normally rely on Focus Blast to damage Heatran, which AV Tapu Bulu can easily sponge. We run Toxic + Protect to threaten these mons in return; since we don't want to compromise bulk to run additional SpA. This also synergizes well with Grassy Terrain to allow us to get significant chip on threats we would normally have a difficult time dealing with. Stealth Rock is another high impact move that threatens a lot of damage over the course of a match - and with Heatran's bulk there are many mons we can safely get them up on. Finally, Lava Plume gets the nod over Magma Storm for the hit chance and 30% burn chance which can completely cripple physical attackers on the switch.
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Rock Slide / Hidden Power Ice / Knock Off
- Defog
First off shoutout to NJNP and Gary for the vid. I'm going to be completely honest here; I do not like the Scarf set in a vacuum. I think it's a bit gimmicky and loses a lot of its power once the opponent knows the set. However, it offers a ton of role compression for this team as it provides momentum, some speed control, and hazard removal on top of respectable bulk for no investment. Intimidate is also super useful in helping Zapdos check setup mons; as many of it's calcs become significantly easier with the opponent at +0/+1 instead of +2.
Even though EQ gets neutered by our own terrain we're kind of priced into running it because it's the only reliable stab for the scarf set. U-turn generates momentum and aids significantly in bringing in our breakers. Defog checks hazzard stacking teams, and because Lando-T isn't effected by Sticky Web is super useful in maintaining speed control for Kyurem and M-Gyarados. The third moveslot is where we have a lot of options; none of which I am completely satisfied with. Rock Slide checks Zard-Y which otherwise can run rampant through our team if it has coverage for Heatran. HP Ice helps pressure opposing Lando-T, but more importantly DD Zygarde and Dragonite which threaten to OHKO Zapdos with Devastating Drake at +1. Finally, Knock Off adds a ton of utility and really helps against other bulky builds or stall. Any suggestions for what to do with this slot would be much obliged.
Kyurem-Black @ Icium Z
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Freeze Shock
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
Icium Z Kyurem-Black exists for one purpose, breaking walls. This monster threatens knock outs on so many of the bulkiest things in the tier and is incredibly hard to switch into for Stall. To give some examples:
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Subzero Slammer (200 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 529-624 (75.2 - 88.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Fusion Bolt vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 177-209 (25.1 - 29.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Subzero Slammer (200 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Sableye-Mega: 328-387 (108.2 - 127.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Subzero Slammer (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 268-316 (76.1 - 89.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
4 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-Black Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn: 87-103 (24.7 - 29.2%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Fusion Bolt vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Celesteela: 210-248 (52.7 - 62.3%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Fusion Bolt vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Toxapex: 148-176 (48.6 - 57.8%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Subzero Slammer (200 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 228-268 (68.4 - 80.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
4 SpA Teravolt Kyurem-Black Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Skarmory: 151-178 (45.3 - 53.4%) -- 35.2% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Teravolt Kyurem-Black Subzero Slammer (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 321-378 (81.4 - 95.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Freeze Shock gives the highest power Subzero Slammer, Fusion Bolt provides coverage for water types that would want to switch in to resist the Z-move, and Earth Power threatens Heatran which otherwise isn't threatened by the set. Ice beam in the last slot provides an ice type stab after using the Z-move which still threatens significant damage on 4x weak mons such as Lando-T and Zygarde. We run max speed over additional bulk to help against offense as there are some key threats at 95 Spd which we outspeed or tie with (e.g. - Adamant CB Zygarde or Modest Specs Lele). This spread also outspeeds base 100 Spd mons with a neutral nature, such as Adamant M-Medicham which could otherwise freely break the teams defensive mons.
Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake / Ice Fang
- Crunch / Ice Fang
- Dragon Dance
The last mon on our team and the second part of our breaking/cleaning core; M-Gyarados synergizes incredibly well with Kyurem-B and takes advantage of the bulky Zapdos/Bulu/Heatran core chipping away at common mons that would check it. I've been running Adamant because the high usage of Pex/Steela/Ferrothorn is suppressing a lot of the fast threats that we would want to run more speed for. However Jolly is an option to guarentee we outspeed Tapu Koko and M-Lopunny after a Dragon Dance. This mon is another physical monster, and with a boost threatens huge damage on many of the mons that would want to check it:
+1 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Toxapex: 226-268 (74.3 - 88.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Celesteela: 192-226 (48.2 - 56.7%) -- 36.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Waterfall vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 198-234 (51.6 - 61%) -- 94.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Gyarados-Mega Crunch vs. 248 HP / 88 Def Venusaur-Mega: 190-225 (52.3 - 61.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Waterfall is our primary choice for a stab move to avoid the miss chance on Aqua Tail. For the next two attacks we generally want some combination of Earthquake, Crunch and Ice Fang. EQ is important for Toxapex coverage, Crunch offers good neutral damage on targets that would resist Waterfall and Ice Fang offers good damage on Tapu Bulu which otherwise comfortably walls this set even at +1. Dragon Dance is a must in the last slot to increase our breaking power and threaten a sweep. I've been running with EQ + Crunch recently as we have a pretty solid answer to Bulu in Zapdos and haven't really found myself missing the coverage so far.
One thing that I've found from playing with this mon is that its deceptively bulky on the SpDef side even with no investment. 95HP, 109Def, and 135SpDef on a water type is actually fairly difficult for a number of mons to break through. For example:
+1 252 SpA Volcarona Giga Drain vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 202-238 (61 - 71.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Venusaur-Mega Giga Drain vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 152-182 (45.9 - 54.9%) -- 62.1% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Solar Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 242-286 (73.1 - 86.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 260-308 (78.5 - 93%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Keldeo Secret Sword vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados-Mega: 258-306 (77.9 - 92.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 284-336 (85.8 - 101.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Magearna Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados-Mega: 208-246 (62.8 - 74.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Swampert-Mega Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados-Mega: 186-219 (56.1 - 66.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Some of these calcs really blew me away when I started to look into them - who would have thought that you can live a specs T-bolt from Tapu Koko almost always outside of electric terrain? This typing also completely walls Ash-Gren and helps check Protean-Gren which could be an issue for this team if it had Gunk-Shot.
Threatlist
Dragonium-Z dragonite can OHKO Zapdos at +1 and basically sweeps the entire team. Without Ice Fang on Gyarados I don't have a reliable way of revenge killing it and even with Ice Fang the roll is not in my favor to live a +1 Outrage. Getting rocks up against this mon is absolutely a necessity to have a chance and even then it does not feel good to see this in team preview.
Offensive Lando-T can OHKO either of the two bulky mons you want to switch into it if it has the right Z-crystal. Zapdos gets OHKO'd by a continental crush and Bulu by Z-Fly close to 90% of the time even before factoring SD into account.
Opposing Kyurem-B, and specifically the life orb set, has an incredibly match-up against this team. If it's running dragon coverage it threatens a 2HKO on every mon in the team and outspeeds almost everything except our Lando-T and speed tying with our own Kyurem-B.
Although usage for these two have dropped, they both threaten this team immensely. Volcarona can basically 6-0 with some prior damage on Heatran if it packing Bug-Buzz, and Zard-Y basically claims a kill everytime it switches in. Getting up rocks is incredibly important for dealing with these two; but since Heatran is our rocker its really easy for it to get overwhelmed
Importable
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost
Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 84 Def / 56 SpD / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Nature's Madness
- Wood Hammer
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Rock Slide
- Defog
Kyurem-Black @ Icium Z
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Freeze Shock
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost
Tapu Bulu @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Atk / 84 Def / 56 SpD / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Nature's Madness
- Wood Hammer
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Rock Slide
- Defog
Kyurem-Black @ Icium Z
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Freeze Shock
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
Closing:
Thanks for taking the time to check out my RMT. Feedback and suggestions are always welcome, and definitely let me know if you have fun using this team as well :)