BW OU Divide and conquer

[Jirachee]

Divide and conquer​

I think this team is pretty well known now since I gave it to a lot of people who used it in many different tournaments. I think it's always done well, starting from my week 1 SPL game. It's a fairly standard team, but there's a couple of cool sets helping it be surprising.

I think this team is a very good representation of how BW is played at the moment, based around Spikes balance because hazard abusers are just so damn good. Hazard control is very difficult in the tier, which is why I don't really have a way to control hazards myself. Hope you enjoy the team

A little backstory:

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So before SPL I was testing random stuff with my friend BKC and noticed he kept destroying my sand offenses with Alakazam. Instead of trying to adapt I just tried my hand at an Alakazam team and thought that it worked quite well. Come SPL time, I thought it would do well against my first opponent and decided to bust it out. The first iteration of the team was Alakazam / Ferrothorn / Garchomp / Tyranitar / Slowking / Terrakion, but it had a few issues, most notably getting stomped by Scizor. After seeing how good Scarf Landorus-T was in XY I thought it'd be a great fit for the team over Terrakion. Jellicent also seemed like a good replacement for Slowking because it checked Scizor. Most of the team used standard sets at that time, but McMeghan suggested I added a few surprises here and there, and I came up with the final team.

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Alakazam @ Focus Sash *** gephyrophobia
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Encore
- Shadow Ball

Alakazam is the team's main focus. It's just so easy to support, all it needs is Spikes and then the opponent is literally put on a timer. It's just so lethal at the end of the game because of its incredible Speed and coverage. Encore is not a very common move on Alakazam, but I find it to be one of the best fillers. You can basically lock out a Jellicent or a Reuniclus into spamming their recovery, steal momentum from Stealth Rock mons, lock a Rotom or whatever into a status move, etc. which unlike other stuff, it doesn't give a fuck about. Shadow Ball is a neat move unlike the more common HP [Ice], as it hits bulky Psychic types harder than anything, and they are very common in the current metagame. Killing Starmie, Latios, Jellicent, Mew, etc. in 1 move is a godsend. I don't like Signal Beam because it's weaker and doesn't hit Jellicent. Celebi sucks too.

I've been asked "why not Reuniclus over Alakazam" and the truth is, both fit, but I really prefer Alakazam, at least on this team. Alakazam doesn't give up momentum as easily as Reuniclus and since this team is geared more towards aggression than passiveness it's very important not to let the opponent get free turns.

Garchomp @ Choice Band *** sidewinder
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Dual Chop

The star of the team, the one and only Choice Band Garchomp. I wanted something that could force pretty much any team's hand early in the match and there is absolutely nothing better than this. The first reason I chose this over an SD set or a Stealth Rock set was because CB Dual Chop can OHKO Sash Breloom leads which gives an enormous advantage against offenses like Smurf's. Otherwise, pretty much any non Skarm team will have a very hard time switching into it, allowing me to hurt a lot of stuff early. Skarm itself doesn't like switching into a Fire Fang and stops it from Spiking at least.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers *** hang em high
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Def / 148 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Spikes

Ferro is just so good right now. The first thing I wanted after picking Zammer was Spikes, and there isn't much better at Spiking than Ferrothorn. Not only that, but Iron Barbs can be useful to wear down a Scarf Jirachi and punishes Dual Chop Scarf Chomper really hard. A SpDef spread is what I prefer on Ferrothorn usually, because its typing is just so appropriate for fighting off common Special threats, like Latios and Starmie. You can just get early layers on them easily. The given spread always takes 2 Life Orb Ice Beams from Kyurem-B. Skarmory can't really handle all of those Special threats well, which is why I chose Ferrothorn as my Spiker of choice.

Ferrothorn is one of the two things on the team without much of an offensive presence, but it's not really an issue. It's still very active because the earlier you get Spikes up, the better your chances to win are.

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

Landorus is like an all-in-one package as a scarfer. Not only does it generate a lot of momentum, but it also poses a significant threat to offensive teams and can check a lot of dangerous things through typing. Unlike Jirachi it's not weak at all, and most importantly, isn't worn down by Spikes. Because of that it's very good at patching holes and greatly improves the team's match up against offenses. I decided to put the Ice type move on Landorus rather than Alakazam simply because it has more free space on its moveset.

Having 2 Ground types might seem counter intuitive but they really are the best fit for the team. Not only that, but Garchomp can usually put a big dent in Ground resists which then makes Landorus a very large threat.

Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers *** chill out
Ability: Water Absorb
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Recover

The only good Spinblocker in the tier. Jellicent really just shuts down bulky Starmie. Offensive ones are harder to block, but not as important since generally they are only seen on offenses that have a harder time with Alakazam and Landorus anyway. Jellicent's typing is godly and because of that, it's not rare that you'll see entire teams struggle to force it out without getting something important burned. Being immune to both of Keldeo's STABs helps a lot, especially since it could otherwise get free turns from Tyranitar and then just start firing off attacks as my other Water resist is Fighting weak. It's also what holds the team together against stuff like Roost Scizor that could be very dangerous otherwise.

also for the love of jesus PLEASE don't use female jellicent it looks so stupid

Tyranitar @ Expert Belt *** blood gulch
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 144 Atk / 156 SpA / 208 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Stealth Rock

Bit of the biggest surprise on the team. MixTar is very unexpected in BW, and it's very effective. Not having Pursuit kinda blows since it's such a good move, but it can't really be fit on that set. Getting a Fire Blast off on a Breloom or Skarmory after setting up your rocks just gives you an incredible advantage. Superpower is a pretty clutch move, since it can bring a Heatran down to Focus Blast range for Alakazam, or just catch a Tyranitar off guard, making Jellicent's life easier. I see a lot of people using Chople now which is a nice set that checks a lot of things, but I hate it for a few reasons. First, I don't think Tyranitar can pull off both Pursuit and Stealth Rock while being good at both of them, so I'd rather focus on just one. Second, since that set gives up on coverage and Speed to be able to check stuff, it's way easier to take advantage of it. This set aims to give the opponent as little breathing room as possible, and if they think they can take advantage of it, they'll have to pay a price.

importable

Alakazam @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Encore
- Shadow Ball

Garchomp @ Choice Band
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Dual Chop

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Def / 148 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Spikes

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

Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Recover

Tyranitar @ Expert Belt
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 144 Atk / 156 SpA / 208 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Stealth Rock

so yeah, that's the team. hope you like it and that I didn't bore you with all the text I wrote. I'd like to thank everyone who helped me build this! I wouldn't have made it without you guys.