Team Preview:
Description:
Salutations! This will be my final 6th gen RMT until S&M comes out and I wanted to use a core of Pokemon that I feel is underrated and fun to use: Iceceus and Mega Salamence. These two compliment each other very well. Iceceus naturally outpaces standard opposing Mega Salamence, Rayquaza and the Latis while it, with its very nice Ice STAB, hits bulkier mons like Lugia, opposing Giratina-O, Yveltal and Groundceus very hard. All of these mons give Mega Salamence trouble in some way, shape or form. Meanwhile, my physically bulky Mega Mence checks Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh and Mega Kangaskhan, three mons that trouble Iceceus.
This is the starting core that I wanted to build a team around. As said earlier, these two work together really well, dealing with each other's checks to help either one sweep.
Both of these Pokemon are Stealth Rock weak and having a phaser is also nice for mons like Ekiller and SD Groudon. Giratina-O comes in to Defog hazards away while also giving me a priority user to revenge mons like the Mewtwos, Deo-A, Latis, ect. Having an immunity to Toxic Spikes to Defog safely and an immunity to Extreme Speed and the Fighting type coverage moves that scare Iceceus is nice, too.
Obviously, Xerneas and Mega Diancie are huge problems to the first three mons, so I needed checks to those as well as some hazards. Klefki is my 1st responder to GeoXern as well as many other special attackers such as Deoxys-A, the Mewtwos, Darkrai if I already have a sleep fodder, ect. Meanwhile, with any serious Ubers team, I needed Primal Groudon as a secondary answer to Xerneas and a check to Primal Kyogre and opposing Klefki.
Lastly, I had to fix a few problems that my current 5 mons would be dealing with. Firstly, my team's a bit slow despite Iceceus being positive max speed and Shadow Sneak on Gira-O. Also, Mega Salamence is EV'd to outpace base 100s post-mega without any boosts. Second, Darkrai was tricky to handle even with Klefki, because while it's a resist, Darkrai then takes advantage of Dark Void and can switch out to an appropriate response, and I'd rather not lose momentum. Third, with Klefki down, mons like LO Deo-A as well as Darkrai ravage this team. To solve all of these issues, I decided on Scarf Sleep Talk Xerneas as my cleaner, which is capable of revenging all of these and giving my team some much needed natural speed.
Bulky steels such as Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor started to become an issue for the team due to me not running any Fire coverage on Groudon, but I still needed a sleep absorber for Darkrai. I decided that, thanks to Californium's rate, I needed to swap Xerneas out for Ho-Oh to not only have a sleep absorber but a way to melt bulky Steels.
The Team:
Arceus-Ice @ Icicle Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 112 HP / 144 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Judgment
- Thunder
The star of the show. I feel Iceceus is truly an underrated threat. Icicle Plate-boosted Ice STAB is surprisingly strong in Ubers despite the prominent Steel types that reside in the metagame. It super effectively hits Lugia, most of the Dragons, Groundceus, Yveltal and hits weakened Primal Groudons for good damage. Iceceus, when paired with Primal Groudon, also serves as a nice resisted switchin to Primal Kyogre's Ice Beam, where I just start setting up Calm Minds in front of its face.
Judgment is for the powerful Ice STAB, Thunder is for the BoltBeam coverage that hits Waterceus, Primal Kyogre and Ho-Oh for super effective damage. Recover is for reliable recovery (obv) and Calm Mind is Calm Mind.
Max Speed EVs allow me to tie with max speed Mega Salamence and opposing Arceus formes, 144 SpA ensures I OHKO standard Ho-Oh with +1 Thunder after Stealth Rock and the rest goes to HP for some clutch bulk.
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 216 HP / 156 Atk / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Facade
The second part of the core is my Mega Salamence. Mons that my Iceceus is scared of, such as Ho-Oh and Primal Groudon, are handled by this monster of a Mega Evolution, which I feel is the best one in the tier next to Mega Gengar. Intimidate support pre-mega is phenomenal for dealing with the aforementioned Fire types as well as Ekiller Arceus.
Dragon Dance and Roost are here for set-up and recovery, respectively. Double-Edge is the offensive move I use when I'm not burned, while I switch over to Facade to still put offensive pressure on the opponent and not lose momentum for myself when I am burned.
Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 Atk / 252 Def / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Defog
- Dragon Tail
- Shadow Sneak
- Earthquake
My first two mons are Stealth Rock-weak and needs those removed, so I needed a Defogger, but I used up my Arceus forme already, so I decided on Giratina-O. It's immune to the many Fighting type coverage moves seen in Ubers that give Iceceus trouble and is a check to the Mewtwos and Gengar after a small amount of prior damage. Having a defogger be immune to Toxic Spikes is also really nice, and Gira-O handles suicude leads like the Deoxys formes really well.
Defog removes hazards, Dragon Tail phases set-up sweepers, Shadow Sneak is a strong priority move and Earthquake hits mons like Primal Groudon and Mega Diancie. I'm actually considering to swap Earthquake out for Shadow Force to give Gira-O a strong hit and maximize offensive presence, but I'm concerned about giving Ekiller a free switchin. I'm also considering Will-o-Wisp to burn the likes of Ekiller and Mega Lucario, but don't know what move to replace it with.
EVs are a small edit to its standard set. 252 Def, where it was 248 before, guarantees that I survive a +2 Iron Tail from Mega Lucario at full health. I still have enough speed to outpace Diancie pre-mega, and Sand Rush Excadrill still dies to EQ after Life Orb recoil.
Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Toxic
- Thunder Wave
- Flash Cannon
As you can probably tell, Mega Diancie as well as Xerneas give the first three mons considerable amounts of trouble, so I needed two mons that could handle them, one of them being Klefki. Everyone here knows what Klefki does and its role doesn't change in this team; paralyze Xerneas and other fast sweepers and Toxic Primal Groudon and other bulky walls like Lugia, which this mon completely counters.
Flash Cannon OHKOs Mega Diancie, and spikes give me a second form of hazards that put pressure on Stealth Rock resists. Max SpDef enables me to take on Xerneas and Mega Diancie.
Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 152 HP / 128 Atk / 72 Def / 44 SpD / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Precipice Blades
- Stone Edge
As expected, a Primal Groudon resides on this team. This is my secondary Xerneas check as well as my answer to Primal Kyogre and opposing Klefki. Since I have SpDef Klefki already, I opted for an SD Rocks set for my Pdon to have something hit harder for the team, breaking down walls for Iceceus, Mega Mence and Scarf Xerneas. There's not really much else to say about The King of ORAS Ubers, so I might as well explain the set. I opted for Stone Edge over a Fire move to have a backup answer to Ho-Oh if Mence is down as well as a way to hi the Latis, Lugia and Gira-O for better damage, especially after a boost.
152 HP and 44 SpDef avoids the OHKO from +2 Xerneas's Focus Blast, the 72 Def avoids the OHKO from Jolly Pdon's Precipice Blades while the 128 Attack from an Adamant nature OHKOs no-bulk Pdon and 112 speed outpaces Jolly Tyranitar before it megas or if it's Banded.
Ho-Oh @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 228 Atk / 40 Def / 240 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Earthquake
- Sleep Talk
Lastly, I needed an answer to Darkrai as well as a way to dent Steels. I originally had a Scarf Xerneas here, but my Ferrothorn and Scizor matchup was pretty poor, so Life Orb Sleep Talk Ho-Oh is here as a replacement.
An offensive set is chosen thanks to me already having a SpDef Klefki and Primal Groudon on the team, so there's no need to run too much bulk on this Ho-Oh. 240 speed outpaces Jolly Excadrill outside of Sand while 40 Def allows me to live any hit from +2 Mega Lucario other than Stone Edge. Sacred Fire and Brave Bird are standard STABs while EQ hits Diancie and Pdon for super effective damage.
Threatlist:
Can be annoying to take down if Primal Groudon or Ho-Oh is dead. Iceceus can chunk it, too, but has a tough time with Gyro Ball.
Ghostceus, whether it's SD or CM, is a tough mon to fight. I don't have a good Shadow Force or Ghost-type Judgment switchin, so my best bet is bringing it down to enough HP to where Giratina-O revenges it with Shadow Sneak.
Sand Rush Excadrill in particular can be a nuisance to this team. My best bet is preserving my Groudon to remove the sand and kill T-Tar and luckily Ho-Oh outspeeds it and OHKOs with Sacred Fire.
It's not a common mon, by any means, but it's scary as hell, especially Ice Punch variants. I'm sort of at a loss with this thing.
My Scarfer (Xerneas) can't OHKO this thing, but it can at least 2HKO no-bulk variants after Rocks. My best way of handling it is keeping Giratina-O healthy to revenge with Shadow Sneak.
Arceus-Ice @ Icicle Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 112 HP / 144 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Judgment
- Thunder
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 216 HP / Atk Def / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Facade
Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 Atk / 252 Def / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Defog
- Dragon Tail
- Shadow Sneak
- Earthquake
Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magnet Rise
- Toxic
- Thunder Wave
- Flash Cannon
Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 152 HP / 128 Atk / 72 Def / 44 SpD / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Precipice Blades
- Stone Edge
Ho-Oh @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 228 Atk / 40 Def / 240 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Earthquake
- Sleep Talk
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 112 HP / 144 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Judgment
- Thunder
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 216 HP / Atk Def / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Facade
Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 Atk / 252 Def / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Defog
- Dragon Tail
- Shadow Sneak
- Earthquake
Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magnet Rise
- Toxic
- Thunder Wave
- Flash Cannon
Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 152 HP / 128 Atk / 72 Def / 44 SpD / 112 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Swords Dance
- Precipice Blades
- Stone Edge
Ho-Oh @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 228 Atk / 40 Def / 240 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Earthquake
- Sleep Talk
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