bigtalk
Banned deucer.
I was watching some live Showdown battles the other day and noticed someone using a Rain Dish Tentacruel in Ubers. When it was sent in against a Kyogre, it took around 25% from an Origin Pulse, but regenerated nearly all of that back due to Rain Dish + Black Sludge recovery. I thought, "Gee, well that's a neat idea. Is there any Pokémon that can do this better?" Then I remembered Ludicolo, who was a frequent sight when I forayed into the VGC19 meta a couple of months ago.
Ludicolo is notably passive, as with no special attack investment it has little offensive presence. Its primary way of wearing down opponents is through Leech Seed and fishing for Scald burns; support Arceus forms do not mind these due to their access to recovery, and Ferrothorn can block Leech Seed / take advantage of Ludicolo by setting up Spikes. So the first partner I added for Ludicolo was Gothitelle, which traps and removes these passive Pokémon.
Next, I added offensive Ho-oh to the team. This is another means of threatening passive Steel-types like Ferrothorn, and I thought it would appreciate having Ludicolo as a partner that could reliably switch into Primal Kyogre, and Gothitelle to remove support Arceus formes.
I added Diancie for its Magic Bounce support helping out Ho-oh, as well as providing rocks for the team. It checks Yveltal, which is a common switchin to Ludicolo, and prevent it from regenerating all its health back with Oblivion Wing. It also works quite well with Gothitelle according to the Smogon analysis.
Arceus-Ground added Defog support, a rock resist for Ho-oh, and a secondary check to Pdon.
Yveltal rounded off the team by adding a psychic/ghost resist, a solid Marsh check, and speed control.
An In-Depth Look
¿Qué es un Kyogre? (Ludicolo) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Scald
- Grass Knot
This is the Ludicolo set I decided on. We have max Special Defense alongside a Calm nature to stomach hits from Primal Kyogre extremely well; it's not necessary to run any Defense investment for the physical set because we naturally resist both Liquidation and Earthquake. Leech Seed is the crux of this set; due to the rarity of Grass-type Pokémon in this tier and the fat HP stats of most Pokemon, you will almost always get to heal off whatever damage Kyogre does to you. Combine this with Protect and Leftovers recovery, and it becomes very hard to take down Ludicolo unless you are doing significantly more than 50% to him each turn. Scald / Grass Knot are our dual attacking moves; Grass Knot was chosen because of its decent BP against most of the thicc metagame, and Scald fishes for burns on switchins like Yveltal and Dragon-types (be very wary of clicking this if they have a Salamence in the back, though).
Gothitelle @ Leftovers
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 156 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Confide
- Charm
- Taunt
- Rest
This is standard PP stall Gothitelle. It's my first time using this mon, but I've found that she can put in a lot of work for certain matchups. People usually rely on their support Arceus formes to check most of the threats on this team (eg. Arceus-Fairy for Yveltal, Arceus-Water for Ho-Oh/Arceus-Ground), and once they are neutralized, they typically lack switchins to Dark Pulse / Brave Bird.
Ho-Oh @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Atk / 52 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Recover
- Curse
I opted for an offensive Ho-oh set over a defensive one because I wanted to abuse Gothitelle's ability to trap support Arceus forms. I decided to use the Curse + Flyinium Z set, which is nice because it is more durable than Band/LO, has access to instant recovery and really helps with revenge killing Geo Xern which this team is quite weak to. The EVs enable us to live a +2 Thunder from Xerneas, 8 in speed to creep uninvested base 90s (ie. defensive Groudon) and the rest is put into Attack with an Adamant nature to maximize damage output.
Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 24 Atk / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
Diancie provides rocks and a method of hazard control for the team. With its high base stats and good coverage options, it can be quite hard to switch into; most people use Necrozma-DM as their switchin, which has a chance to be 2HKO'd by Earth Power if offensive. It somewhat makes up for the lack of Toxic immunities, and improves our matchup vs lead Smeargle HO / stall teams.
Arceus-Ground @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 40 SpD / 136 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Defog
Arceus-Ground just seems to be really good in this meta, capable of dealing with Pdon and with Ground/Ice coverage hitting a lot of the tier for super effective damage. It's our primary answer to Flying-types such as Salamence, which outspeed Diancie after a DD and usually carry Ground-type coverage for it. The EVs allow it to outspeed Adamant Mega Salamence, live a +2 hit from Xern (not that it's doing much back, but the chip is crucial for Ho-oh if it has expended its Z-move), and the rest are poured into defense to take hits from Groudon better.
Yveltal @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Foul Play
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- U-turn
Love this guy. He's an excellent revenge killer who's strong, fast and has very spammable dual STABs. More often than not I will lead with him turn one and click U-turn, because I have switchins to everything: Ho-oh for Xerneas, Ludicolo for Kyogre, Groundceus for Pdon, etc. Typically he is also the primary win condition, being able to clean with Dark Pulse once the opponent's Fairy-type is removed.
That's it for this RMT, hope you guys liked my team! Please let me know your thoughts and leave any feedback on what I can do to improve.
- Due to his 4x resistance to Water, neutrality to Ice/Electric, resistance to Ground, good special bulk, and his ability Rain Dish, a specially defensive Ludicolo is capable of completely and utterly walling any offensive Kyogre set, including physical and CM-based ones (the latter of which even Ferrothorn struggles to deal with).
- Passive recovery from Leech Seed + Protect also allows Ludi to take on other special threats in the tier, such as Groundceus/Waterceus/Palkia, and in an emergency it can stay in on Primal Groudon.
Ludicolo is notably passive, as with no special attack investment it has little offensive presence. Its primary way of wearing down opponents is through Leech Seed and fishing for Scald burns; support Arceus forms do not mind these due to their access to recovery, and Ferrothorn can block Leech Seed / take advantage of Ludicolo by setting up Spikes. So the first partner I added for Ludicolo was Gothitelle, which traps and removes these passive Pokémon.
Next, I added offensive Ho-oh to the team. This is another means of threatening passive Steel-types like Ferrothorn, and I thought it would appreciate having Ludicolo as a partner that could reliably switch into Primal Kyogre, and Gothitelle to remove support Arceus formes.
I added Diancie for its Magic Bounce support helping out Ho-oh, as well as providing rocks for the team. It checks Yveltal, which is a common switchin to Ludicolo, and prevent it from regenerating all its health back with Oblivion Wing. It also works quite well with Gothitelle according to the Smogon analysis.
Arceus-Ground added Defog support, a rock resist for Ho-oh, and a secondary check to Pdon.
Yveltal rounded off the team by adding a psychic/ghost resist, a solid Marsh check, and speed control.
An In-Depth Look
¿Qué es un Kyogre? (Ludicolo) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Scald
- Grass Knot
This is the Ludicolo set I decided on. We have max Special Defense alongside a Calm nature to stomach hits from Primal Kyogre extremely well; it's not necessary to run any Defense investment for the physical set because we naturally resist both Liquidation and Earthquake. Leech Seed is the crux of this set; due to the rarity of Grass-type Pokémon in this tier and the fat HP stats of most Pokemon, you will almost always get to heal off whatever damage Kyogre does to you. Combine this with Protect and Leftovers recovery, and it becomes very hard to take down Ludicolo unless you are doing significantly more than 50% to him each turn. Scald / Grass Knot are our dual attacking moves; Grass Knot was chosen because of its decent BP against most of the thicc metagame, and Scald fishes for burns on switchins like Yveltal and Dragon-types (be very wary of clicking this if they have a Salamence in the back, though).
Gothitelle @ Leftovers
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 156 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Confide
- Charm
- Taunt
- Rest
This is standard PP stall Gothitelle. It's my first time using this mon, but I've found that she can put in a lot of work for certain matchups. People usually rely on their support Arceus formes to check most of the threats on this team (eg. Arceus-Fairy for Yveltal, Arceus-Water for Ho-Oh/Arceus-Ground), and once they are neutralized, they typically lack switchins to Dark Pulse / Brave Bird.
Ho-Oh @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Atk / 52 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Recover
- Curse
I opted for an offensive Ho-oh set over a defensive one because I wanted to abuse Gothitelle's ability to trap support Arceus forms. I decided to use the Curse + Flyinium Z set, which is nice because it is more durable than Band/LO, has access to instant recovery and really helps with revenge killing Geo Xern which this team is quite weak to. The EVs enable us to live a +2 Thunder from Xerneas, 8 in speed to creep uninvested base 90s (ie. defensive Groudon) and the rest is put into Attack with an Adamant nature to maximize damage output.
Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 24 Atk / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
Diancie provides rocks and a method of hazard control for the team. With its high base stats and good coverage options, it can be quite hard to switch into; most people use Necrozma-DM as their switchin, which has a chance to be 2HKO'd by Earth Power if offensive. It somewhat makes up for the lack of Toxic immunities, and improves our matchup vs lead Smeargle HO / stall teams.
Arceus-Ground @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 40 SpD / 136 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Defog
Arceus-Ground just seems to be really good in this meta, capable of dealing with Pdon and with Ground/Ice coverage hitting a lot of the tier for super effective damage. It's our primary answer to Flying-types such as Salamence, which outspeed Diancie after a DD and usually carry Ground-type coverage for it. The EVs allow it to outspeed Adamant Mega Salamence, live a +2 hit from Xern (not that it's doing much back, but the chip is crucial for Ho-oh if it has expended its Z-move), and the rest are poured into defense to take hits from Groudon better.
Yveltal @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Foul Play
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- U-turn
Love this guy. He's an excellent revenge killer who's strong, fast and has very spammable dual STABs. More often than not I will lead with him turn one and click U-turn, because I have switchins to everything: Ho-oh for Xerneas, Ludicolo for Kyogre, Groundceus for Pdon, etc. Typically he is also the primary win condition, being able to clean with Dark Pulse once the opponent's Fairy-type is removed.
- https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ubers-871680697 - Ludicolo puts in a ton of work early game weakening Palkia/Yveltal, clearing the way for a Dark Pulse sweep
- https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ubers-871673939 - Gothitelle puts in lots of work
- https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ubers-871669329 - Ludicolo helps deal with Kyurem-W, unfortunately I sacked it because I didn't realized it was scarfed
- https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ubers-871666444 - Demonstrates the team's resilience to a lot of metagame threats
- https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ubers-871657915 - Doesn't matter how many times you double to Kyogre my friend
- https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ubers-871318913 - Gothitelle traps Arc-Fairy allowing Yveltal to sweep
- 252+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Thunder vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ludicolo: 121-143 (33.2 - 39.2%) -- 99.3% chance to 4HKO after Rain Dish recovery and Leftovers recovery
- +1 252+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Thunder vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ludicolo: 181-214 (49.7 - 58.7%) -- 20.7% chance to 2HKO after Rain Dish recovery and Leftovers recovery (note: this does not factor in Leech Seed / Protect)
- 252+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ludicolo in Heavy Rain: 93-109 (25.5 - 29.9%) -- possible 5HKO after Rain Dish recovery and Leftovers recovery
- +1 252+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ludicolo in Heavy Rain: 139-164 (38.1 - 45%) -- 56.6% chance to 3HKO after Rain Dish recovery and Leftovers recovery
- 252+ Atk Kyogre-Primal Liquidation vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ludicolo in Heavy Rain: 84-100 (23 - 27.4%) -- possible 6HKO after Rain Dish recovery and Leftovers recovery
- 252+ Atk Kyogre-Primal Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ludicolo: 88-104 (24.1 - 28.5%) -- possible 6HKO after Rain Dish recovery and Leftovers recovery
- 252 SpA Life Orb Palkia Spacial Rend vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ludicolo: 172-203 (47.2 - 55.7%) -- 17.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (does not factor in Leech Seed / Protect)
- 252 SpA Life Orb Turboblaze Kyurem-White Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ludicolo: 169-200 (46.4 - 54.9%) -- 9.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
- 252 SpA Life Orb Turboblaze Kyurem-White Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ludicolo: 243-289 (66.7 - 79.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (generally they don't want to go for this, since they get trapped by Goth if they knock you out)
- 0 SpA Ludicolo Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Kyogre-Primal: 158-188 (46.3 - 55.1%) -- 63.3% chance to 2HKO
- 0 SpA Ludicolo Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. +1 0 HP / 0 SpD Kyogre-Primal: 104-126 (30.4 - 36.9%) -- 59.1% chance to 3HKO
- 0 SpA Ludicolo Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 144 HP / 56 SpD Groudon-Primal: 121-144 (32 - 38.1%) -- 96% chance to 3HKO
- 0 SpA Ludicolo Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Palkia: 102-120 (31.7 - 37.3%) -- 84.8% chance to 3HKO
¿Qué es un Kyogre? (Ludicolo) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Scald
- Grass Knot
Gothitelle @ Leftovers
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 156 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Confide
- Charm
- Taunt
- Rest
Ho-Oh @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Atk / 52 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Recover
- Curse
Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 24 Atk / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
Arceus-Ground @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 40 SpD / 136 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Defog
Yveltal @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Foul Play
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- U-turn
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Scald
- Grass Knot
Gothitelle @ Leftovers
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 156 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Confide
- Charm
- Taunt
- Rest
Ho-Oh @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Atk / 52 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Recover
- Curse
Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 24 Atk / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
Arceus-Ground @ Earth Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 40 SpD / 136 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Defog
Yveltal @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dark Aura
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Foul Play
- Dark Pulse
- Oblivion Wing
- U-turn
That's it for this RMT, hope you guys liked my team! Please let me know your thoughts and leave any feedback on what I can do to improve.
Last edited: