ORAS OU The Boyzoners: A Hoopa-U Sand Offense Team (peaked 1300)

[ClockworkLad]

The Boyzoners

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With the recent arrival of Hoopa-Unbound in the metagame, I decided I wanted to base a team around it. It utilizes some Sand Offense while also being able to break 3 styles of play. So let's see the team in practice.

Teambuilding Process

Teambuilding Process

Again, I decided I wanted to start off with Hoopa-Unbound. Initially, it struck me as more Ubers material. However, it's actually a pretty fun pokemon. I decided I wanted to use the Assault Vest varient because it struck me as more bulk to this monster, and while most other Hoopa-U are Speed, it can take a few hits

+

After that, I wanted to try something else new for me: Sand. I'm pretty pround of what these 2 have done for me. Of course, Excadrill has to join with Hippowdon. In this set, I'm running Sand Rush with max ATK and SPE with an Adament nature, as I'll be outspeeding most scarfed things anyway.

+

Mega Lopunny does so much. While the team didn't have many glaring weaknesses, I found Mega Sableye and normal Sableye to be a huge issue. While I could weaken it with a Hippowdon-powered EQ, I'd usually get WoW'd. Fake Out is nice for my team, and if I don't make the kill, then I can PuP, or in the case of Normal Sableye, switch into Manaphy and Rain Dance it off.

+

Honestly, if you told me in Gen 5 that Lopunny would be one of the best Offense breakers, I would've LMFAO'd so hard. But she does. So Gengar breaks Balance, thats cool. Gengar doesn't need much to kill things. I selected the Hex set so I could have something to combat stall say Manaphy dies. Will-O-Wisp is so helpful. Gengar can live a 252 Knock Off from Lando-T while it's burned and OHKO with Hex afterwards (not surprising, because burn). Overall, I had a pretty solid team that could destroy Balance and Offense. Leave it to obviousness to tell you what my last mon was.

+

If you've been on Showdown for a while, you'll know that Stall hates Manaphy, and Manaphy completes this core of Mega Bunny and Gengar. The thing that makes Manaphy such a pain to deal with is the fact that it has access to Tail Glow and Rain Dance along with the ability Hydration. The passive damage from any weather condition and status condition are suddenly gone after a Rain Dance. Then after even 1 Tail Glow, your SPAtk is multiplied by 2.5x, so you'll be OHKOing things in the rain with Scald. Add another and there's nothing a Stall Team can do but cry.

The Team

Goro (Hoopa-Unbound) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 184 HP / 252 Atk / 72 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot
- Hidden Power [Ice]​

Here is the pokemon that sparked the idea for this team, Hoopa-Unbound. This is the Wallbreaker set as you'd expect but it features HP Ice, but we'll get to that in a sec. The Assault Vest makes Goro a living and breathing tank to Serperior Leaf Storms, Clefable Moonblasts, etc. It works a lot better shiny too. The EV Spread is to maximize its special bulk, not really for any move in specific. When calcing, this was simply the set that worked the most consistantly. Hyperspace Fury is a given for Hoopa-U. While I was thinking Knock Off to avoid the defense drop, I eventually decided against it because I wanted to be hitting megas better. Drain Ppunch for recovering damage off of stray mons because Wynaut, and this thing needs some way to deal with Bisharp. Gunk Shot is just amazing for Hoopa-U. It slams into Serperior, Clefable, Sylveon... IF you're grass and / or fairy type this thing will hit you hard. Now HP Ice is something I don't see very often, especially with a Quiet Nature. This allows me to punch holes in Altaria, Tankchomp, and Dragonite. That is an amazing advantage from my usage of it.

10th Plague (Hippowdon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Stone Edge
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As my lead, 10th Plague, or Hippowdon, usually engages in whatever. As far as the set, as well as most of these sets, aren't really special. Of course, Hippowdon takes hit really well. With an impish nature Ferrothorn's Gyro Ball does nothing as well as his Power Whip. Of course she has the moves you'd expect. Earthquake is a necessity to any thing with a ground-typing. It hits things pretty hard if I do say so myself, although nothing OHKOing. Stealth Rocks are amazing for this team, as she can lay down rocks and fear out Talonflame, Zard, Kyurem-B, and anything weak in general. Slack Off to increase her longetivity because holy crap this thing takes hits. Stone Edge is really nothing to special, as it hits TF and Zard hard. It YZard sets up sun on my sand, I can easily tank a Fire Blast and OHKO with Stone Edge

Calcs:
0 Atk Hippowdon Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard Y: 388-460 (130.6 - 154.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 112 SpD Hippowdon in Sun: 357-420 (85 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 112 SpD Hippowdon: 346-408 (82.3 - 97.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Boyzoner (Excadrill) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
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The Boyzoners owe it to the Boyzoner itself because without Excadrill I wouldn't be where I'm at. Obviously, this set isn't very special. With an Air Balloon, in sand Excadrill can switch in on Mega Diancie, Lando-T, etc. If they do a setup move, Rock Polish is one they both share, then Excadrill wins because without EQ they have to break the balloon. If they do Rock Polish, Then they might outspeed Excadrill. I doubt it. On to the set, I have max attack, so I can max the attack damage. With Sand Rush Excadrill can outspeed quite a few Scarfers, notably Lando-T, Jirachi, and in some cases Keldeo. EQ is the main STAB, being able to dish out quite a lot of damage. Rapid Spin isn't needed, but since I like to switch to catch moves and gain advantages, hazards are a problem. Rock Slide because for some reason Excadrill can't learn Stone Edge. Also flinching. Iron Head is a nice extra STAB if something has an air balloon.

Lola (Lopunny) (F) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber --> Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- High Jump Kick
- Fake Out
- Power-Up Punch
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When I send out Lola, my opponents shiver at this thing. With unresisted STAB, I can at least 2HKO most walls (Unaware Quagsire...). In this set, I carry 2 weaker moves in BP and 2 moves with higher BP. Fake Out so I can come in safely. PuP is awesome on Lola, because after only one I almost break 500 for my ATK stat. combine that with being extremely fast, if something doesn't have a speed boosting nature, then Lola kills. Return and High Jump Kick are staples for Mega Bunny, as again, at plus one, you'll be killing things.

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Calcs:
+1 252 Atk Mega Lopunny High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 144+ Def Hippowdon: 229-271 (54.5 - 64.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 Atk Mega Lopunny High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 440-522 (125 - 148.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO (as opposed to being a 2HKO otherwise)

Unbalance (Gengar) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hex
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sludge Wave
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The Hex set is ridiculously good. When you have a Burned mon being hit with a 130 BP STAB move off a 359 SpA, you'll be doing significant damage, especially against Washtom. With 252 SpA, I now have a small chance to OHKO Skarmory. Black Sludge is amazing for trickers, as they'll be taking damage for that 1 turn. With Taunt, stall now has 2 problems on this team, especially Chansey, as Toxic and Seismic Toss do nothing to Unbalance. While Hex does nothing in return, Sludge Wave can do some damage, then burn. When something is burned, they can hardly hurt Gengar. Again, A Lando-T Knock Off only does around 66% and while it's burned, it gets Hex'd. Hex set destroys balance, hense the name "Unbalance" as the defensive mons are taunted and Hex'd, and the offensive portion get their power down (if they're physical, but Hippo can take hits otherwise) and hex'd. Have I mentioned this set is great?

Majin (Manaphy) @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Timid Nature
- Tail Glow
- Rain Dance
- Scald
- Psychic
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Manaphy feels like it belongs in Ubers more that OU. For starters, Tail Glow + Rain Dance is probably the best set Manaphy could have been blessed with. Manaphy completes this core of Mega Bunny and Gengar by being able to 6-0 Stall. For starters, Rain Dance + Hydration makes Manaphy almost immune to status. Hydration cure any status at the end of the turn if rain is active. This in combination with Tail Glow, arguably the best boosting move, makes Manaphy a pain to deal with as a counter lead to Sableye, as WoW does nothing, and the only set that can be significant is the Calm Mind - Snarl / Dark Pulse set. Of course Scald is on Manaphy because it's the most reliable STAB move because Hydro Miss always seems to miss when it counts the most. Psychic is a more out of nowhere option, but it'd mainly for luring in Mega Venusaur, which has a 75% chance of OHKOing after one Tail Glow, which is a pretty good chance. Majin is good, because it goes Majin on my opponents.

Import this Team

Goro (Hoopa-Unbound) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 184 HP / 252 Atk
Quiet Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot
- Hidden Power [Ice]

10th Plague (Hippowdon) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Stone Edge

Boyzoner (Excadrill) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head

Lola (Lopunny) (F) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- High Jump Kick
- Fake Out
- Power-Up Punch

Unbalance (Gengar) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hex
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sludge Wave

Majin (Manaphy) @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Timid Nature
- Tail Glow
- Rain Dance
- Scald
- Psychic

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[Perennial]

weaknesses I notice:

Mega Scizor - bulky variants can SD on something like Hoopa-U or Hippowdon since you're lacking Whirlwind and proceed to sweep. you have to rely on a Scald burn from Manaphy to stop a +2 Mega Scizor.

Serperior - every time this comes in on Hippowdon or Manaphy you will likely lose a pokémon. Hoopa-U is your most reliable switch-in but even then it's taking 27.9 - 32.8% from an initial LO Leaf Storm followed by 55.3 - 65.4% at +2. factor in sand/SR and there's a chance you will die. you can check Serperior with speed via Excadrill and Lopunny. however, since it's so threatening to your team the player with Serperior will likely switch and bring the thing back later.

Charizard-Y - you underestimate how threatening this is for your team. sun removes your weather and after coming in safely on something like Excadrill or Gengar, something is dying to Fire Blast. the calcs in your Hippowdon description also ignore the possibility of Modest, which is a common choice of nature on Charizard-Y. these variants do 92.8 - 109.5% to Hippowdon with Fire Blast, a good chance to kill.

Keldeo - the majority of your team is faster or can threaten Keldeo so the weakness is manageable. however, it does have a few opportunities to come in and fire its STABs. nothing on your team takes Scald and Secret Sword too well so it's still something to be careful around.

suggestions:

SpD Talonflame over Gengar - this provides a reliably check to all of the pokémon mentioned before, including Keldeo because of priority Brave Bird. like Gengar, Talonflame checks fairies and performs well against balanced/stall teams because of Taunt and Will-O-Wisp. this means you retain many of the things Gengar could deal with, such as Mega Venusaur, and gain more coverage over troublesome threats.

Rotom-W over Manaphy - Talonflame adds another water weakness. this makes Azumarill, Slowbro and others more problematic. additionally, with the possibility of Excadrill failing to remove SR there's a chance Talonflame will be too pressured to reliably check things like Scizor. Rotom-W helps alleviate these two problems by providing a more durable answer to water types and back up Scizor check. Volt Switch also flows well with your team to bring in your hard hitters. losing Manaphy's balance breaking power isn't too worrying because Talonflame + Hoopa-U + Lopunny do that nicely.

Toxic over Stone Edge on Hippowdon - Stone Edge is a bit redundant with Talonflame and Rotom-W on the team. being able to poison many of the bulky waters who enjoy switching in on Hippowdon, like Rotom-W, will go a long way in helping you deal with them. crippling pokémon like Slowbro, Landorus-T and opposing Hippowdon helps your Lopunny and Excadrill break through them better too.

Life Orb on Excadrill: replacing Manaphy and Gengar removes some of the firepower your team had. giving Excadrill a Life Orb helps provide the team with more of a punch. Air Balloon also becomes less necessary with Rotom-W there to take EQs from the likes of Landorus-T and other Excadrill.

Hide

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 216 SpD / 44 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

my final suggestion is to change Hoopa-U's spread to 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe with a Lonely nature. there's little reason to have a - speed nature over a - defense nature. you need Hoopa-U to be faster than things like Rotom-W and Azumarill since you're a little weak to them. also, since you are mostly using physical attacks a +Atk nature is preferable over +SpA.

 

[ClockworkLad]

weaknesses I notice:

Mega Scizor - bulky variants can SD on something like Hoopa-U or Hippowdon since you're lacking Whirlwind and proceed to sweep. you have to rely on a Scald burn from Manaphy to stop a +2 Mega Scizor.

Serperior - every time this comes in on Hippowdon or Manaphy you will likely lose a pokémon. Hoopa-U is your most reliable switch-in but even then it's taking 27.9 - 32.8% from an initial LO Leaf Storm followed by 55.3 - 65.4% at +2. factor in sand/SR and there's a chance you will die. you can check Serperior with speed via Excadrill and Lopunny. however, since it's so threatening to your team the player with Serperior will likely switch and bring the thing back later.

Charizard-Y - you underestimate how threatening this is for your team. sun removes your weather and after coming in safely on something like Excadrill or Gengar, something is dying to Fire Blast. the calcs in your Hippowdon description also ignore the possibility of Modest, which is a common choice of nature on Charizard-Y. these variants do 92.8 - 109.5% to Hippowdon with Fire Blast, a good chance to kill.

Keldeo - the majority of your team is faster or can threaten Keldeo so the weakness is manageable. however, it does have a few opportunities to come in and fire its STABs. nothing on your team takes Scald and Secret Sword too well so it's still something to be careful around.

suggestions:

SpD Talonflame over Gengar - this provides a reliably check to all of the pokémon mentioned before, including Keldeo because of priority Brave Bird. like Gengar, Talonflame checks fairies and performs well against balanced/stall teams because of Taunt and Will-O-Wisp. this means you retain many of the things Gengar could deal with, such as Mega Venusaur, and gain more coverage over troublesome threats.

Rotom-W over Manaphy - Talonflame adds another water weakness. this makes Azumarill, Slowbro and others more problematic. additionally, with the possibility of Excadrill failing to remove SR there's a chance Talonflame will be too pressured to reliably check things like Scizor. Rotom-W helps alleviate these two problems by providing a more durable answer to water types and back up Scizor check. Volt Switch also flows well with your team to bring in your hard hitters. losing Manaphy's balance breaking power isn't too worrying because Talonflame + Hoopa-U + Lopunny do that nicely.

Toxic over Stone Edge on Hippowdon - Stone Edge is a bit redundant with Talonflame and Rotom-W on the team. being able to poison many of the bulky waters who enjoy switching in on Hippowdon, like Rotom-W, will go a long way in helping you deal with them. crippling pokémon like Slowbro, Landorus-T and opposing Hippowdon helps your Lopunny and Excadrill break through them better too.

Life Orb on Excadrill: replacing Manaphy and Gengar removes some of the firepower your team had. giving Excadrill a Life Orb helps provide the team with more of a punch. Air Balloon also becomes less necessary with Rotom-W there to take EQs from the likes of Landorus-T and other Excadrill.

Hide

Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 216 SpD / 44 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

my final suggestion is to change Hoopa-U's spread to 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe with a Lonely nature. there's little reason to have a - speed nature over a - defense nature. you need Hoopa-U to be faster than things like Rotom-W and Azumarill since you're a little weak to them. also, since you are mostly using physical attacks a +Atk nature is preferable over +SpA.

Thanks for the rate! I'll definately be trying these out, however I have a +SpA nature because I wanna be able to hit Tankchomps harder.

Still do tanks.

 

[Haaku.]

As said before, Serperior could come in and sweep at certain oportunities, so you'll need a check for it at least.

I recomend replacing something with Talonflame, it fits the idea of your team and is a good check for most of your weaknesses.