SM OU Only the Ocean (peaked #21)

Anish

luckynbad
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus


Introduction
Hey, I'm Anish, a Team Rater and a Driver on the PS! room, and I decided to make a RMT for my 100th post on Smogon. My journey over here has been quite the ride, and I can still remember how I used to use Cosmic Power Sigyliph on my first day here, and how much I've improved since that day. Anyway, Suicune has always been a personal favorite of mine, so I felt that it was fitting to use it on an RMT. However, at the same time I wanted to showcase something creative, so I decided to use a extremely unconventional set, with Z Extrasensory to lure in Toxapex and other water resists.

Proof of Peak

Ignore the GXE, since I don't usually seriously ladder on main. The peak is probably on the lower side, because I wanted to post this as fast as possible, so that I could do it when I hit 100 posts,and also because laddering alone is somewhat boring.

Teambuilding Process

Suicune + Sub CM Keld was my starting point. I enjoyed Sub CM Keld , and realized it paired very well with Suicune, since Suicune wore down bulky Water resists like Haze Toxapex, and even mons like Mega Venusaur, Amoonguss, or Tapu Fini so I decided to pair them together. This could often bluff Waterium Keld + Vincune from preview, and even if I reveal Leftovers, my opponent may believe that I was Taunt Keld, or simply Sub CM Keld + Vincune or a similar Calm Mind Suicune.

Electrics like Tapu Koko felt extremely annoying, so Ferrothorn was the obvious choice. It also provides hazards, and a good check to Pokemon like Ash Greninja. After all, theres a reason its one of the best defensive Pokemon.

Mew was added to give the team a good backbone with Ferrothorn, and also gives the team much needed Defog support, helping against Spikestacks and against Toxic Spikes

The team was lacking an Electric immunity,which meant Specs Koko could spam Volt Switch, while also lacking Speed control, so I added Scarf Lando.It also appreciates how the dual Water core wears down Vest Tangrowth, and provides a much needed Ground immunity

Psychics which resisted water such as the Lati twins were annoying, as was Mantine, while the team struggled against Psychium Volcarona and breaking down fatter teams. CB Tyranitar fit the bill perfectly, and rounds off the team

The Team


Suicune @ Psychium Z

Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Scald

Extrasensory

Calm Mind

Whirlpool/Tailwind

Suicune is the most unconvential Pokemon on the team, and its set is fairly specialized, and may feel awkward at first glance. Suicune can often catch people off guard with Psychium Z, which allows it to bypass usual checks like Toxapex, do massive damage to poisons like Mega Venusaur, and wear down Water resists like Tapu Fini in general. Normally Toxapex would be one of the largest Vincune checks, because Haze isn't affected by Pressure while Toxapex can switch in and switch out to avoid losing PP from Scald. Max Special Attack was chosen to improve the roll with Toxapex, needing only miniscule damage, which is not hard to get, while I ran Max Speed to speed tie Tapu Fini, and outspeed Pokemon like Tapu Bulu and Heatran. While Suicune is fairly weak, even with the Z Move, it has a decent bulk stat,even uninvested, which helps compensate for that. The last slot is mainly filler, with Tailwind not only aiding Suicune but also helping Pokemon like Tyranitar trap more Pokemon and increase speed control, while Whirlpool also functions well with trapping, and also wears down defensive Grass types like Tangrowth, and gains more chip on Toxapex. While the lack of Leftovers can give away this set, people usually do not pay enough attention to the lack of Leftovers, or even if they observe it, fail to realize that Suicune could get Z Extrasensory.


Keldeo @ Leftovers

Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Scald

Calm Mind

Substitute

Secret Sword

Keldeo is the second Pokemon on the team, and is generally my wincon. Sub CM Keld is something I have been enjoying right now, since it really appreciates the drop in popularity of Vest Tangrowth, and sets up upon Pokemon like Heatran and Mega Scizor, as well as traditional Scarf Keldeo checks like Mew. It appreciates support from Tyranitar and Suicune in dealing with its checks, but is extremely menacing once they've been dealt with. The set is standard, and there is nothing of the ordinary here, Substitute is pretty cool early game to ease predictions as well, and avoids Scald burns from the likes of Alomamola. Keldeo helps my team in dealing with a lot of Dark-types such as Tyranitar which would otherwise be threatening, and checks Bug Buzz Volcarona.


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers

Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
Impish Nature
Stealth Rock

Leech Seed

Power Whip

Gyro Ball/Knock Off

Ferrothorn is the teams hazard setter, and checks Pokemon such as Ash Greninja and Tapu Koko. I opted for the Mixed Defensive set as opposed to Max SpD as it allows it to be less bait for offensive LandoT, Waterium Z Gyarados, Dragionium Z Zygarde or other mons of the like, while I have secondary Greninja and Koko checks. I prefer Gyro Ball to pressure Pokemon like Mega Pinsir better, but Knock Off is an option, which also adds more pressure upon Vest Tangrowth, and can remove Toxapex's Black Sludge, as well as pressure Spikes Ferrothorn


Mew @ Leftovers

Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 156 Def / 112 Spe
Timid Nature
Ice Beam

Will-O-Wisp

Soft-Boiled

Defog

Mew acts as the team's primary check to most physical breakers, dealing with the likes of Mega Mawile, non Dragonium Z Zygarde, Mega Medicham, Mega Lopunny, Tapu Bulu and offensive Lando to an extent. It acts as a fighting resist, and helps with Scarf Keldeo, as well as a secondary check to Tapu Lele. Removal is crucial to this team, since 5 members are grounded and most dislike Spikes and Toxic Spikes, while Ice Beam is helps against most grounds. The speed is important here since otherwise Tapu Bulu would be a huge threat to my team. I decided against a faster spread because my team had a good matchup against offensive Lando-T, while bulk helped it against non Black Hole Eclipse Kartana


Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
Earthquake

U-turn

Hidden Power [Fire] / [Ice]

Stone Edge / Rock Slide / Rock Tomb


Scarf Landorus-T is the teams speed control, and also functions like a pivot. It offers extremely useful defensie traits, such as an immunity to Electric and Ground to deter Specs Koko from spamming Volt Switch, and grounds not named Zygarde from clicking Ground STAB. Stone Edge allows it to check Mega Pinsir, which would otherwise be extremely difficult to deal with. Hidden Power Fire allows Lando to pressure Kartana as well as SD Scizor, which can help the team, since I do have other offensive Lando checks such as Mew + Dual Waters, but Hidden Power Ice is useful as always. Rock Slide can also be used for its accuracy over Stone Edge, and the flinch chance can be pretty cool, while Rock Tomb can have a surprise factor and can punish switchins, and is especially useful if Suicune runs Whirlpool. Intimidate can also be useful while pivoting in, and Scarf Lando can act like a cleaner late game if the team was able to put pressure on fat Grasses and Waters, especially if CB Tar had worn pokemon like Defensive Lando down as welll.


Tyranitar @ Choice Band

Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
Pursuit

Crunch

Stone Edge

Earthquake

CB Tyranitar rounds off the team, but is probably one of the most integral Pokemon to the teams success. Tyranitar's abilility to trap Pokemon like the Lati twins, and Mega Latias, as well as exert pressure on rarer Psychics such as Slowbro, and force mindgames with Mantine is extremely important to the team. Its ability to shore up the Psychium Volcarona MU allows me to get away with Scarf Lando-T, while it also deals with the rare Specs Gengar and Alolan Marowak. It also exerts pressure upon stall teams, which would otherwise be a hassle to deal with, due to Unaware Clef's ability to deal with Suicune and Keldeo. Earthquake allows it to check Magearna and Mawile in case they had weakened their checks down. Sand can be annoying at times, giving away Leftovers to my opponent and passively chipping me down, but the same chip puts Toxapex closer to +1 Shattered Psyche Range. Max Speed and Attack not only allow it to outpace mons like Defensive Lando and AV Magearna, but they could also make it more annoying in the case of a last ditch Tailwind.

Threats
This team is far from perfect, and has some pretty glaring weaknesses. The lack of speed control is the largest of such, and makes Pokemon like Kartana and Keldeo extremely annoying. SD Kartana is extremely hard for me to deal with, as I have to rely on Mew + Scarf Lando to deal with it, while Darkinium Kartana can also beat Mew with ease.I have to play extremely aggressively around Black Hole Eclipse Kartana, aiming to wear it down into Lando range, even possibly using Iron Barbs damage, while using moves like Tailwind to somewhat help with the speed control issue, and that matchup is far from ideal. The one redeeming factor of the Kartana matchup is that it lacks any free switchins, while Lando's Intimidate can be extremely useful in dealing with it. Calm Mind Keldeo can also be extremely annoying, though luckily only a few run Fighitinium, choosing Waterium to break stall better, which Suicune has an easier time versus, with its Z Move. Specs Keldeo is also pretty annoying, and I have to switch into the right Pokemon to deal with it.

Twinkle Tackle Magearna is extremely threatening to my team, since it can kill Pokemon such as Mew, and I often can only play around it by scouting for the set by pivoting around, which allows my opponent to make some aggressive plays to catch me.

CM Clefable are extremely annoying, due to their ability to defeat my breaker and my steel. This forces me to often have to resort to Calm Mind wars, in which case getting crit for me can be terrible, or sack at least one Pokemon in order to deal with it.

The team does not have a great Flying resist, since Tyranitar gets punished by coverage carried by many of the Flying type attacker. This makes Mega Pinsir in particular pretty annoying, and I lack a switchin to it, especially if its pre-Mega, and instead have to rely on revenge killing it.

Heatran may seem less annoying, but in practice it often gains switchins onto Ferrothorn and Mew which are forced in(especially Mew if I need to Defog), and can weaken down the team. Nevertheless, it can get trapped by Tyranitar, while Suicune and Keldeo both force it out, and Lando-T can revenge kill it as well. Mega Charizard Y can also exploit the two, and I only have a one time resist in Keldeo and a way to RK it in Lando T, however it has dropped off since early WCOP, and is much less popular right now.

SD Mega Scizor has the ability to be annoying to this team, as I lack an immediate way to force it out. However, Keldeo can act as a decent check, especially if it would be able to keep Leftovers, while Suicune also outspeeds and can fish for Scald burns or Calm Mind in boosting wars if it had already been burnt, while Mew can also throw out a Wisp.



Replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-639812161
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-639833604
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-639321269

Suicune @ Psychium Z
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Extrasensory
- Calm Mind
- Whirlpool/Tailwind

Keldeo @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Secret Sword

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball/Knock Off

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 156 Def / 112 Spe
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Defog

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Fire]/[Ice]
- Stone Edge / Rock Slide / Rock Tomb

Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Qplaz
double switches
Gross Sweep
quziel
1Surgeon
Team Pokepals
Z strats
Mr. Perry
Futatsuiwa of Sado
Amoonguss
Baloor
Panther-T
Rwby
Miven^
IronBullet
A
RedzoneX
Sun
Eden.
Ahboep
MFJr King
Lgneous
Webcamparrot
3017
N01syBoy
vsomani
A Cake Wearing A Hat
The Hunters Prowl
Stevan's Sceptile

a special shoutout to doubleswitches for the amazing banner, TPP for helping with it, and Qplaz for doublechecking all my grammar.
also would like to thank A, vsomani, and MFJr King for suggesting tweaks to the team.

 
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Interesting team you have here Anish. That Suicune set is very unique. I do notice somethings that may annoy your team. Toxic Spikes are really annoying for you as they can wear down your bulky set up mons and your Mew. Another threat I noticed is Volcarona, being able to set up on mew and sweep your team. With that being said, I do have a few suggestions you could consider.

My first suggestion is for you to run Choice Scarf Greninja over Keldeo. This gives the team better speed control and a check to mons like Volcarona and Charizard y. This also means you can run hazards like Toxic Spikes giving your other teammates more support. The moveset can vary depending on what you like. As long as you have Rock Slide to hit the Volcaronas and Zard Ys.

My next suggestion is to make Suicune Sub Protect over Extrasensory Tailwind. Sub and Protect help Suicune set up Calm Minds more easily. Also, this set is very good with Tspike support from Greninja as you are able to stall down your opponent. Of course with this set, you would appreciate leftovers over Psychium Z. You are still able to beat mons like Toxapex as you can PP stall with Pressure. Of course this will take longer.

<
My third suggestion is to run Ghostium Z Gengar over Mew. This gives your team a way to absorb Toxic Spikes which is very useful for your other teammates, especially Suicune as you do not want him on a timer. Ghostium Gengar can help you break through fatter teams. Especially with taunt. You can probably just run the regular moveset of Shadow Ball / Sludge Wave / Focus Blast / Taunt.

With Mew gone, things like Zygarde become a bigger threat. I suggest you run Defensive Landorus-therian over Choice Scarf. This gives you a more reliable answer to Zygarde, offensive Landorus-therians etc. Landorus-therian has access to u-turn which can also help you get your other teammates in more easily like Gengar.

With defensive Landorus-therian being on the team you can run Stealth Rocks on him, meaning you can run Spikes over Stealth Rock on Ferrothorn. This means your team now has Stealth rocks on Lando-T, Spikes on ferrothorn and Tspikes on Greninja which really help your Gengar and Suicune as well as wearing down threats like Heatran or putting your opponent's mons on a timer.

My last suggestion would be to run Fire Punch over Earthquake on Tyranitar to help with the Scizor Issue. Also consider running more HP EVs instead of speed to help with things like Tapu Lele and eating Earth Powers from Heatrans.


Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Fire Punch
- Pursuit

Gengar @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Taunt

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Protect
- Substitute

Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Toxic Spikes

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Spikes
- Leech Seed

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Def / 32 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
 
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Anish

luckynbad
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Interesting team you have here Anish. That Suicune set is very unique. I do notice somethings that may annoy your team. Toxic Spikes are really annoying for you as they can wear down your bulky set up mons and your Mew. Another threat I noticed is Volcarona, being able to set up on mew and sweep your team. With that being said, I do have a few suggestions you could consider.

My first suggestion is for you to run Choice Scarf Greninja over Keldeo. This gives the team better speed control and a check to mons like Volcarona and Charizard y. This also means you can run hazards like Toxic Spikes giving your other teammates more support. The moveset can vary depending on what you like. As long as you have Rock Slide to hit the Volcaronas and Zard Ys.

My next suggestion is to make Suicune Sub Protect over Extrasensory Tailwind. Sub and Protect help Suicune set up Calm Minds more easily. Also, this set is very good with Tspike support from Greninja as you are able to stall down your opponent. Of course with this set, you would appreciate leftovers over Psychium Z. You are still able to beat mons like Toxapex as you can PP stall with Pressure. Of course this will take longer.

<
My third suggestion is to run Ghostium Z Gengar over Mew. This gives your team a way to absorb Toxic Spikes which is very useful for your other teammates, especially Suicune as you do not want him on a timer. Ghostium Gengar can help you break through fatter teams. Especially with taunt. You can probably just run the regular moveset of Shadow Ball / Sludge Wave / Focus Blast / Taunt.

With Mew gone, things like Zygarde become a bigger threat. I suggest you run Defensive Landorus-therian over Choice Scarf. This gives you a more reliable answer to Zygarde, offensive Landorus-therians etc. Landorus-therian has access to u-turn which can also help you get your other teammates in more easily like Gengar.

With defensive Landorus-therian being on the team you can run Stealth Rocks on him, meaning you can run Spikes over Stealth Rock on Ferrothorn. This means your team now has Stealth rocks on Lando-T, Spikes on ferrothorn and Tspikes on Greninja which really help your Gengar and Suicune as well as wearing down threats like Heatran or putting your opponent's mons on a timer.

My last suggestion would be to run Fire Punch over Earthquake on Tyranitar to help with the Scizor Issue. Also consider running more HP EVs instead of speed to help with things like Tapu Lele and eating Earth Powers from Heatrans.


Tyranitar @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Fire Punch
- Pursuit

Gengar @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Taunt

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Protect
- Substitute

Greninja @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Toxic Spikes

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Spikes
- Leech Seed

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Def / 32 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
Thanks a lot for the rate, and it was extremely helpful! You identified some of the largest threats in Psychic + Buzz Volcarona(luckily most run HP Ground) and TSpikes, especially with Dual Hazard Greninja sets running around, which means that the team often has to rely on Scarf Lando + Ferro in the offense MU, and also dealt with threats you did not mention by name, such as CM Clef so I'll be sure to give your version a try! I shall miss the gimmicky aspect of my team, but I'm sure your variation is more solid.
 
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Saw team name, saw peak, "of course Mega Swampert Rain is top 25"

Sees Ttar....

Oh?....uuh-... oooO?

Anyway looks like a solid team. Lots of mons that I love.

From what I see your team is weak to
Koko like you mentioned when you thought to add Lando. While the team may be good at tricking Choice Koko if it is Z Koko or U-Turn Koko (which is rough if you are trying to use Ttar or Lando as a switch) your going to have a problem.

It also looks like shift gear
is very strong against you. Especially if it is the fight Z variant. As it could set up on Mew, Ferro and maybe your water types (???).

Trapper
Heatran also looks like he can beat half of your team (sui, ferro, mew)

I'm wondering how you face up against these matchups.
 
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Anish

luckynbad
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Saw team name, saw peak, "of course Mega Swampert Rain is top 25"

Sees Ttar....

Oh?....uuh-... oooO?

Anyway looks like a solid team. Lots of mons that I love.

From what I see your team is weak to
Koko like you mentioned when you thought to add Lando. While the team may be good at tricking Choice Koko if it is Z Koko or U-Turn Koko (which is rough if you are trying to use Ttar or Lando as a switch) your going to have a problem.

It also looks like shift gear
is very strong against you. Especially if it is the fight Z variant. As it could set up on Mew, Ferro and maybe your water types (???).

Trapper
Heatran also looks like he can beat half of your team (sui, ferro, mew)

I'm wondering how you face up against these matchups.
hey, thanks for the comment.

Koko can be annoying if it runs HP Fire, but to be honest I think the team is pretty solid against Koko with Ferrothorn, as well as a Ground, especially since Scarf Lando outspeeds Koko. Even vs HP Fire Koko you often are able to initially go Lando if you use it on ladder, but even if he lures Ferro it's not the end of the world, Tar does a solid chunk w Pursuit.

Magearna is also a mon with potential to be annoying, however most Fightinium Z sets struggle vs Mew, while Mage also has limited set up oppurtunities (doesn't rlly wanna take a Gyro, burns are annoying for it and whittle it down), and while Fairium Z is annoying, if you encounter it on ladder you can often scout it by going Mew into Ferro, or even after it Twinkle Tackles you, you can try to force it to Fleur repeatedly by going Lando, sadly the method of dealing with it is not perfect, and more often than not your primary aim should be to deny it setup.

Tran can be pesky at times , not too sure on how it beats Cune since Scald is SE, and if you run Whirlpool you can also countertrap if you expect your opponent to play aggressively and stay in, but most of the time you have Dual Waters + BandTar helping out with it, since you can often Pursuit Tran and do a solid 60 if he switches out.
 
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