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Calm Before the Storm

CedOmega

4570-7932-5223
Calm Before The Storm
241113_871070.jpg


Hello Serebiians, viewers and visitors. This is CedOmega bringing to you all yet another team I've found recent success in using when battling online. This team was formed when I realized that I had neglected the use of my favored change to B2/W2 for quite some time; Therian form Genies. In this case, I am referring to my use of Thundurus-T on my team "Not for the Weak Hearted", a very successful Heavy Offensive team I'd created during the Deoxys-D Era. That time has since passed, and I've found myself drifting away from its use... until now. That said, without further delay, I present to you "Calm Before The Storm".

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Thundurus-T (Storm) @ Life Orb
Trait: Volt Absorb
Modest nature
EVs: 4 Hp/ 252 SAtk/ 252 Spd
IVs: 31/02/30/31/31/31
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power (Ice)
- Nasty Plot
- Agility

So I'll start off with the star of the team as I commonly do when writing an RMT. Thundurus-T is by far one of the underestimated and commonly overlooked threat in the current OU Metagame, where as everyone still mourns the loss of Landorus-I to Ubers. That aside, Thundurus-T's job is to set up mid-to-late game and follow up by going fully offensive. After an Agility, Thundurus-T reaches a 602 Speed if I remember correctly. With this, he is able to outpace and counter the likes of Keldeo and Starmie with Thunderbolt, Landorus-T & Garchomp with HP (Ice). With the given support from its team, Thundurus-T rarely ever struggles setting up to sweep. If everything goes according to plan, that is. Nasty plot was added after some test runs which proved it to be very useful. After a Nasty Plot, Thundurus-T is able to run through entire teams as

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Cresselia (Stardust) @ Light Clay
Trait: Levitate
Calm nature
EVs: 252 Hp/ 200 Def/ 56 SDef
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Magic Coat
- Lunar Dance

Cresselia was added as the team's dual screener. She was an immediate addition to the team from the start due to my previous experience with her effectiveness on a team that requires support. After setting up dual screens, the team is ready for action. Once up, the dual screens allow the team to set up fairly easily and follow up with a possible sweep. Moonlight was debated over Magic Coat for a full utility support set and the demand for a recovery move that is only benefited through Sun. Because Rain, Hail and Sand are more popular than Sun, Magic Coat seemed more suitable. With the support fom Magic Coat, Cresselia is able to evade being statused on prediction and being Taunted. This helps against Sableye and Whimsicott, whom are rare but threatening when underestimated. Lunar Dance it her overall last resort move. Obviously this is because it includes the loss of Cresselia's support on the team in exchange for the switch-in becoming fully healthy.

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Terrakion (Rampage) @ Salac Berry
Trait: Justified
Jolly nature
EVs: 4 Hp/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spd
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Substitute
- Swords Dance

Terrakion is yet another veteran of my previous offensive team. I considered Sash SR Terrakion in its place to provide the team with a bit of hazard support, but found that it was a role better suited for another member of the team. That aside, SubSalac Terrakion has never ceased to be an ominous threat to the OU environment. Even in the current metagame, afer a simple SD behind a Substitute, Terrakion holds potential to 6-0 an unprepared team. Stone Edge's high chance to land a critical hit helps when needing to eliminate opponents whom have boosted their defnses or possess a Defense that can stall Terrakion(i.e. Slowbro and Skarmory). Close Combat gives Terrakion dual STAB and allows it to hit just about anything either super effectively or neutrally. Once Substitute is set up 3/4 times, Salac Berry is set into affect and allows Terrakion to match speed with those of its Choice Scarfed variants.

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Scizor (Splice) @ Iron Plate
Trait: Technician
Adamant nature
EVs: 40 Hp/ 252 Atk/ 216 Spd
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Brick Break
- Swords Dance

And here I introduce the oddity of the team. Scizor serves a purpose on the team the same as any other bulky variant Scizor; come in, scare switch the oponent if needed, set up SD and proceed to sweep if possible. The set I chose for Scizor is what makes this set seem unappealing to most whom have faced or considered using it. The EVs in Speed are needed to outpace bulky Lava Plume Heatran variants with less than 4-8 Speed EVs. 216 Spd EVs put Scizor at 220 Speed stat-wise, meaning it'll outpace the before mentioned Heatran and then some. Iron Plate was added after a suggestion by TheSuperZekrom seemed very useful. Bullet Punch is known for its deviation and doesn't exatly need to be explained. Bug Bite is a signature more for Scizor when using an SD set. Superpower's stat drop was beginning to become an annoyance, so I changed it out for Brick Break to still hit hard and break through any opposing dual screens the opponent may have set.

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Gorebyss (Siron) @ White Herb
Trait: Swift Swim
Modest nature
EVs: 4 Def/ 252 SAtk/ 252 Spd
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Shell Smash
- Baton Pass

With impeccable synergy with the rest of the team comes Gorebyss. Gorebyss replaced Vaporeon on the team's original build due to its access to Shell Smash and Baton Pass, which is a perfectly viable and capable option on the team once dual screens have been set up. Surf and Ice Beam hit everything needed either super effectively or very hard neutrally. After a Shell Smash, Gorebyss is able to follow up offensively or switch gears into being support for the team with Baton Pass. I've considered Lum Berry on its set to stop it from being statused before setting up or in being switched in to.

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Garchomp (Jaws) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Rough Skin
Jolly nature
EVs: 4 Hp/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spd
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock

Garchomp became an appealing option after being brought to my attention by Moonclawz. Though not exactly my first option as a lead, Garchomp is often my go-to option when Baton Passing, aside from Thundurus-T and Scizor. Stealth Rock provides the team with a source of hazard, while also helping Cresselia's main threats with thinking twice before switching in on her. Dragon Claw and Earthquake give Garchomp dual STABs for support and help hit hard effectively after a Swords Dance. What Garchomp can't hit hard, the others on the team can, so it honestly need not worry about the rare Skarmory or Gliscor taking avantage of it.

Conclusion

Why do I always do a conclusion? Eh, I guess it's more of a formal thing. Anyways, I enjoy this team quite a bit. My biggest fear is that without Cresselia the team will too easily fall apart. My lack of hazards is also somewhat noticeable at times, but I'm able to play around it for the most part. I've enjoyed using Thundurus-T again, as I've not used him since the bann of Deoxys-D, sadly. But since time goes on, it came time for him to shine once again. I hope everyone enjoyed reading my RMT and, to everyone, have a great day! Rates and advice appreciated. :)


Replay examples:
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/oucurrent-46547372

Storm (Thundurus-Therian) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Nasty Plot
- Agility


Stardust (Cresselia) (F) @ Light Clay
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 56 SDef / 252 HP / 200 Def
Calm Nature
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Lunar Dance
- Magic Coat


Rampage (Terrakion) @ Salac Berry
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Substitute


Splice (Scizor) @ Iron Plate
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 40 HP / 216 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Brick Break
- Swords Dance


Siron (Gorebyss) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Shell Smash
- Baton Pass


Jaws (Garchomp) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock

 
Last edited:

Moonclawz

Aura Trainer
Hi CedOmega!

Your team looks pretty good overall. I think your sweepers would benefit from Stealth Rock Support, as that will help them turn 2HKOs into 1HKOs and 3HKOs into 2HKOs. For that reason, I recommend SD Lead Garchomp over Haxorus (Lead Garchomp with Fire Blast would also be helpful). After a Swords dance, Garchomp has much of the wall breaking power of Haxorus, and also has great coverage with Outrage/Dragon Claw and Earthquake. If you prefer keeping Haxorus, I feel that Superpower or Low Kick would give you better coverage than Aqua Tail.

You would also benefit from a Scarfer, as DD Dragonite and DD Salamence can easily rip through your team as Cresselia is just set-up fodder and Vaporeon can only hope for Scald Burn. Volcarona with Giga Drain (and Venusaur) can also sweep your team under the Sun if Haxorus and Vaporeon are slightly weakened. I think you should change Terrakion into a Choice Scarf set, as this would help you check the aforementioned sweepers. With three set-up sweepers, another one is really unnecessary.

I think you should change Magic Coat on Cresselia to Ice Beam or Psychic, as Cresselia is your main defensive Pokemon and prevents it from being complete set-up fodder.

You also could consider change Protect to Roar on Vaporeon, as that allows you to phaze out dangerous set-up sweepers.

Hope this helps!
 

Eaglehawk

Banned
Ooh goody. Dual Screens Offense.

First thing that has to go is Vaporeon. As much as I hate to admit it, but on Dual Screens Offense, vaporeon loses your team waaaay to much offensive momentum and will only waste the number of turns Dual screens can be up. Ideally, the best option would to be just to go with another sweeper. I'd personally go with Cloyster. It really is and feels like such a humongous staple to Dual Screens Offense due to its sheer power after a Shell Smash.

Cloyster@King's Rock
Trait: Skill Link
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Att / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Ice Shard

Cloyster gives ridiculous mid-to-late game dominance. Once you get rid of all the Steel types, CS Keldeo/Terrakion, and some bulky waters (which shouldn't be too hard with its teammates). He basically sh!ts on everything late game. You can even use him early game to set up Shell Smash and do as much damage as possible to everything before it dies. That will blow open holes for your team to sweep.

As for Thundurus-T, you should go with a Nasty Plot/Agility set. Under Dual Screens, it has an easier time setting up both to prepare a sweep. Even though you lose coverage in the form of Focus Blast, Electric/Ice moves coming off of a +2 Thundurus beat the sh!t out of everyone.

Finally, replace Haxorus for Garchomp, Dragonite, or Salamence. Haxorus isn't as good anymore as a DD or an SD sweeper mainly because all of them perform the Boosting Dragon role better (Dragonite has ExtremeSpeed and Multiscale that guarantees 2 DDs, Salamence has a higher speed and strong ability in Moxie, and Garchomp has STAB on both Dragon and Ground). Even though it has a higher Base Attack, the benefits that Salamence, Dragonite, and Garchomp bring to the table really outweighs the benefits of Haxorus.

Even with Mold Breaker, Haxorus isn't a good Pokemon. Unlike other teams, where Haxorus may be the sweeping powerhouse, HO teams can easily remove stuff that Mold Breaker breaks through, such as Levitate and Water Absorb/Storm Drain. Besides, most of the Levitators in OU and Water Immunity abilities users in OU take more damage from Dragon Claw than either Earthquake or Aqua Tail (the special case being Levitate Bronzong, which is rarely seen in OU).

Hope this helps :)
 

Rezzuréct

Allez Les Bleus!
Hi! Your team looks pretty solid.

I agree with Eaglehawk, Vaporeon must go. You could change it to Cloyster or Starmie to spin away the hazard.

For Thundurus-T, I suggest you to put 4 EVs from HP to Defense, so it will take less stealth rock damage. I also prefered Expert Belt over Life Orb but it's just me.

For Terrakion, you might want put 4 EVs from SDef to HP, so it will take 3 subs to make the berry activated.

For Cresselia, I think you should give her an attacking move so she's not Taunt bait, even she has Magic Coat.

For Scizor, you could try the Iron Plate over Life Orb to bluff the band set. And you could also try SD Acrobatics set to bypass Jellicent, Toxicroak and the opposite Scizor.

Scizor @ Flying Gem
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Acrobatics

You could also change Haxorus to something like ScarfMence or CB Dragonite.

I hope I helped and gl with your team.
 

Eaglehawk

Banned
Hi! Your team looks pretty solid.

I agree with Eaglehawk, Vaporeon must go. You could change it to Cloyster or Starmie to spin away the hazard.

For Thundurus-T, I suggest you to put 4 EVs from HP to Defense, so it will take less stealth rock damage. I also prefered Expert Belt over Life Orb but it's just me.

For Terrakion, you might want put 4 EVs from SDef to HP, so it will take 3 subs to make the berry activated.

For Cresselia, I think you should give her an attacking move so she's not Taunt bait, even she has Magic Coat.

For Scizor, you could try the Iron Plate over Life Orb to bluff the band set. And you could also try SD Acrobatics set to bypass Jellicent, Toxicroak and the opposite Scizor.

Scizor @ Flying Gem
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Acrobatics

You could also change Haxorus to something like ScarfMence or CB Dragonite.

I hope I helped and gl with your team.

Never use Choiced pokemon on a Dual Screens team. You lose the ability to switch moves, something that is very important in maintaining offensive momentum in Dual Screens offense or Offense in general.
 

Sparkbeat

FLASH! AAAHHHAAA!
This looks like a really nice Dual Screens HO team! I really like Thundurus-T at the moment, being able to beat some of the most common cores, like Tyranitar/Keldeo, if it can set up an Agility. Now looking at your team, the first thing that just jumps out if Vaporeon. Vaporeon should NEVER be used on any offensive team, unless you're running offensive rain, but especially not on an HO team. I'd suggest replacing it with Starmie. This will give you a spinner while keeping great offensive pressure. If you think Magic Coat is enough to keep hazards away, then you can use a LO + 3 attacks set with Recover and Analytic. You keep the same same key resistances and a reliable form of recovery, but don't give up offensive presence and momentum like you do with Vaporeon. The only other change I have for this team would be to use DD Dragonite over Haxorus. You get really everything Haxorus, but Multiscale, priority, and better bulk. I highly recommend using it if you choose to run Rapid Spin on Starmie, since it is superior to Haxorus. That's all I have to say, really nice team, and love that Cress set!
 

CedOmega

4570-7932-5223
It's gonna take some time for me to test all these changes. Lol. Ok, so first off, I can't change Terrakion for the reason Eaglehawk said. With screens comes setting up, meaning it'd be a waste to have them up and be locked into a single attack.

In other news, I'm currently testing out Garchomp and Gorebyss over Haxorus and Vaporeon. Yes, Gorebyss is somewhat unforseen as a replacement l for Vaporeon, but is so far doing very well. Gorebyss has even BP'ed to Thundurus-T a couple times and successfully pulled off a sweep. That said, I will test everyone's suggestions soon enough after testing Gorebyss' potential on the team.
 

CedOmega

4570-7932-5223
Team Update

The changes thus far have proved to be very well improvements. I think I'll stick with how the team is as of now and may make necessary if needed. Thanks to those who have made suggestions thus far! :)
 

Eaglehawk

Banned
Hey, Ced. I was reading a Smog article about Underrated NU sets and one of them mentioned full-out Gorebyss set being very bad. In place of that, they suggested running a SubSmash Gorebyss in place of it.

Gorebyss @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim or Hydration
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
- Substitute
- Shell Smash
- Surf / Hydro Pump
- Signal Beam / Ice Beam

Combined with Reflect, this makes Gorebyss a pseudo-bulky water behind Reflect. This set sacrifices full-out coverage for more set-up opportunities (2 Shell Smashes lol).

For this set, or for any other Gorebyss set for that matter, I would recommend running Hydration to be able to set up on Rain team walls that try to status you (such as T-Wave Ferrothorn), but Swift Swim is nice to bully rain users.

The only oddity here is Signal Beam, which can be used to net OHKOs against Celebi if you're very desperate for getting rid of Celebi (which I can see your team running into some trouble with).

The other cool thing you could definitely try is SD + Acrobatics Scizor (which is getting pretty popular this meta).

Scizor @ Flying Gem
Trait: Technician
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Att / 252 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Bullet Punch
-SuperPower / Bug Bite

This thing counters most of Scizor's conventional counters (bulky waters and Ferrothorn/Forretress and miscellaneous fast threats). This thing feigns a Choice Band set (by Bullet Punching early game). By mid game, you can completely fool Scizor's counters (Jellicent/Tentacruel/Infernape/Keldeo/Volcarona) into switching into Bullet Punch and stomaching an Acrobatics in the face (the latter three are guaranteed to be dead). Coincedentally, these three Pokemon (5 if you count the bulky waters) give most of your team a crap-ton of problems, so having a lure like this is truly invaluable.
 
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