SM OU Hera-Land OU team

[Thesimmonez]

The Hera-Land Coalition of Chaos

Introduction

I've been playing Pokemon in the OU meta for the last 2 years now, but I have mostly been trying other peoples teams, so I decided to make my own offence based team taking my favourite Pokemon from the current meta, and making a team from it.

The idea started from the core of Mega Heracross and Landorus-T, a combination I'm not seeing being used too much, however it works perfectly for the offensive team I was aiming for. Mega Heracross' ability to deal massive amounts of damage after Swords Dance boost mixed with his ability Skill Link make him a powerful threat that shouldn't be messed with. Landorus-T on the other hand is used to set up traps and counter the threats to Mega Heracross and vice versa.

The rest of the team were built around the remaining issues with the team, which I will go over briefly before covering in more depth in each Mon's individual section. Greninja is used to deal with fire types that will bother Heracross, along with dealing with other threats. Jirachi is used as well as a solid Choice Scarf user that also in an emergency is able to use healing wish to support the team. Celesteela is powerful special attacker that after an Autotomize will make him a speedy and surprisingly light powerhouse. Finally Hoopa-U is used to take down walls that appear in the tier, and demolishing the final opponents that could appear.

Now that I have gone through a "brief" summary of my team, let's get into the details of the team!

The Team

Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252Atk / 128Hp / 128Spe
Nature - Adamant
- Swords Dance
- Pin Missile
- Close Combat
- Return

So, here he is, the meat of the team, the complete powerhouse. After mega evolving and using Swords Dance in his first turn out, his attack reaches incredibly high levels that are able of either OHKO or denting anything that doesn't resist his attacks. Due to Skill Link, Pin Missile will have a whopping power of 125 if it hits. This allows it to completely destroy Psychic types in the tier such as Mew and Alakazam. Close Combat is an incredibly powerful attack, even though it does cause both defences to fall, it is still worth it due to its immense power that will be feared by opponents. Finally, I chose Return over Rock Blast due to the widespread neutral damage it'll do, which is always appreciated for any Pokemon. The pre mega ability isn't too important, but Moxie is used to gain potential extra boosts before evolving. I decided for my EV's that Attack needed to be full, but there should be an equal balance between Hp and Speed, as it should still be quick enough to outspend many Pokemon, but also bulky enough to take a couple of stronger hits.

Landorus-Therian@ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252Hp / 252Spe / 4Atk
Nature - Adamant
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power (Electric)

Landorus, the other core in the team and the best way to start fighting. Stealth Rock is a vital trap on any team, causing pressure on teams to avoid switching. Due to this, Landorus should be the first Pokemon you send out, and that should be the first move used to start the chaos immediately. Due to its deterrence towards flying type Pokemon, it assists Heracross very well, stopping them from coming at him straight away. U-turn is very important for adding momentum towards the game, allowing for quick switches and forcing the opponents to try and figure out who's gonna be sent in next. Additionally, as a bug type move, it deals 4x damage to Hoopa-U, one of the biggest threats in the current meta game. Earthquake is a very spamable move, dealing large amounts of damage to everything that doesn't resist it. Additionally it deals super effective damage to Tapu Koko, a frequently seen Pokemon currently. Finally, Hidden Power is used to deal super effective damage to bulky water and flying types such as Keldeo and Charizard Y. Rocky Helmet is my preferred item for Landorus, as it stops Pokemon from using any physical damage against it. Max EV's in both Health and Speed is used to ensure it is able to take hits and quickly jump in and attack. The final 4 are used in attack to just boost damage the extra little bit. An adamant nature allows for the final vital boost in attack to turn it into the major threat that it is.

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability:Protean
EVs: 252Spe / 156SpA / 100SpD
Nature - Naive
- Hydro Pump
- Shadow Sneak
- Extrasensory
- U-turn

For confusing your opponents or revenge killing, Greninja is the perfect choice. Protean is a fantastic ability, allowing for STAB on every attack. Hydro Pump is a very powerful water type move that can take on threats such as Heatran and Landorus-T. Shadow Sneak is a very useful priority move, letting Greninja revenge kill opponents on low life. Extrasensory is a strong Psychic move that allows for him to destroy opposing bulky water-types Toxepex and Keldeo. Finally, U-turn is yet again used for momentum, and it creates a separate U-turn core within the team allowing for quick and spamable changes. Life Orb is the preferred item for Greninja, as it gives him an extra boost of power whilst allowing him to change his moves unlike the choice band. Full EV's in speed allow him to be one of the quickest threats in the tier, allowing him to out speed Landorus-T and anything below him. 156 EV's in SpA allow for an easier time taking out opponents at higher healths, whilst the 100 Ev's in SpD allow him to take a couple more hits than usual. Finally, the Naive nature further boosts Greninja's speed to even higher levels, making him one of the quickest threats to opponents.

Jirachi (Shiny) @ Choice Scarf
Ability:Serene Grace
EVs: 252Spe / 132SpA / 124Atk
Nature - Hasty
- Iron Head
- Moonblast
- Healing Wish
- Psychic

Jirachi is a great Choice Scarf user, and Serene Grace allows her spamable moves to have an even greater impact, with a 60% flinch chance on Iron Head. The move is able to deal large amounts of damage to Fairy types in the tier such as the Tapu's. Moonblast on the other hand is an incredibly powerful Fairy type move that destroys Dragon types such as Garchomp and Zygarde. Healing Wish should be used as a suicide move when low on health, as it can fully heal another fighter (preferably one of the cores), making Jirachi act also as a cleric. Finally, Psychic is used to take out poison and fighting types in the tier, making it perfect at taking out the bulky water types Toxepex and Keldeo. The 252Spe Ev's allow for Jirachi to overtake many Pokemon in speed and to get the first move in, whilst the 132SpA and 124Atk Ev's are used to boost her attack power, with more in SpA due to the move set. Finally, a Hasty nature further boosts her speed to even higher levels.

Celesteela @ Steelium Z
Ability:Beast Boost
EVs: 252SpA / 200HP / 56SpD
Nature - Modest
- Autotomize
- Flash Cannon
- Giga Drain
- Air Slash

Celesteela is a fantastic and powerful threat that after an Autotomize boost, is a fast threat that opponents will need to think about twice. Flash Cannon is a strong steel type move that destroys Fairy's with massive amounts of damage. Giga Drain is a vital form of recovery for Celesteela, and it deals super effective damage against Tyranitar and all Water Pokemon in the tier. Air Slash is a very strong STAB move for Celesteela that is a very powerful neutral coverage move that can hit hard. Steelium Z allows for a very strong Corkscrew Crash with a base power of 160. 252 EV's in SpA allow for even stronger attacks from Celesteela, whilst the 200HP EV's allow for even more bulk whilst the 56SpD EV's allow for further defence. Finally, a modest nature allows for an even larger boost in SpA, making it a powerful and dominant special sweeper.

Hoopa-U @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252HP / 252Atk / 4SpA
Nature: Lonely
- Hyperspace Fury
- Psychic
- Fire Punch
- Knock Off

The final card, my Band wallbreaker. Hoopa-U is an incredible Pokemon, and another great offensive threat. Hyperspace Fury is a stupidly powerful move that punishes protect users and causes massive amounts of damage to anything that doesn't resist it. Psychic is used here to take out pesky poison types such as Scolipede and Gengar. Fire Punch is a vital grass type repellant, taking out Pokemon such as Mega Venasaur with a 2HKO. Finally, Knock Off is used to remove items from the opposing team, destroying walls such as Chansey and taking away Leftovers from Pokemon such as Mew. Choice Band is the preferred item here to allow for continuous spam that will create fear within the opponents. 252HP EV's allow for extra bulk on Hoopa-U, whilst 252Atk and 4SpA EV's allow for even extra damage to be given towards targets. Finally, a Lonely nature is chosen to raise Atk for Hoopa-U, at the expense of a final bit of defence.

Conclusion

As you can see, this offensive team is a powerful threat to any team, and it can take a few hits whilst dealing out even more damage. I have tested the team and I have won the majority of battles with it, only real threat is mass entry hazard spam, although this isn't too problematic. Please leave comments and stuff below, I will read and reply to all. Thank you for the help :)

 

[Slakinglike]

I got excited when I saw M Hera, it's a non too used Pokemon and I think it has great potential. There are just a few things I don't understand about your team or I think would benefit you if you changed. I think you've got a good team here. Here are some changes, I don't like changing Pokemon btw, just sets. Let's start small with..

Hoopa-U: 4 SpA EVs +Psychic --> Zen Headbutt + 4 Def or SpD EVs

Your 4 SpA EVs and Psychic is a waste of EVs and a moveslot that could be used for a PHYSICAL attack on a BANDED Pokemon. Zen Headbutt fulfills the same purpose as Psychic but hits wayyyy harder.

Lando-T: 252 Speed EVs and Hidden Power Electric --> 252 Def EVs and Rock Slide/Stone Edge

These changes will turn your Lando into a better physical wall, capable of taking hits from physical attackers such as Banded Zygarde, M Hera, M Pinsir, M Medicham, Offensive Tapu Bulu, and other non super effective heavy hitters. It also allows you to deal more damage to flying types like Offensive Zapdos especially. Hidden Power Electric isn't that great on a Lando, Not doing as much damage on switch ins and it doesn't take advantage of Lando's monstrous attack stat. It gives better coverage against flying types bar Celesteela and Skarmory, which you can take out with Fire Punch on Hoopa and maybe an additon of an electric type coverage move, maybe Thunder Punch on Jirachi, or Hidden Power Electric on Greninja (I've seen it. It's different, but it works.)

Another change in EVs up ahead

Greninja: 100 SpD-> 252 SpA and 4 Atk EVs

I really don't understand the 100 SpD EVs, Greninja doesn't have to take hits if it has enough EVs to OHKO most mons. And if it is in danger, just switch it out. Switch into your newly defensive Lando, or a bulky enough Celesteela, Greninja is too much of a monster for you to waste EVs on defense. It's not going to be a bulky Pokemon, no matter what you do to it. Also Shadow Sneak confuses me, I think Ice Beam would be a direly needed improvement, seeing as you don't have ice type moves for Zygarde, Tangrowth, Lando T and others. But I think your other coverage moves make up for it.

Here's an importable for the changes

Changes

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Fire Punch
- Hyperspace Fury
- Zen Headbutt
- Knock Off

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Hydro Pump
- Extrasensory
- U-turn

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock

I really hope my changes helped you, if you do use these changes, please create an importable, I would love to use your team.

8/10 Sceptiles

-Slakinglike. AKA MrHoenn

 

[Metal Sonic]

Metal Sonic's School of SunMoon Battling (Rating Sector)

Who am I?

Hide

I am a veteran Battling 101 Tutor who wants to help newcomers feel more acquainted with Smogon and more confident about their battling skills. Having personally experienced the joy and inspiration of being guided by an experienced member when I was a newbie in another forum, I wish to extend the same helping hand to the newcomers of Smogon, who may be struggling to learn how to battle proficiently. As tutoring slots for Battling 101 are limited and only available to a lucky few, a majority of newcomers lack the help and support they need to break through the glass ceiling and learning curve of competitive Pokemon battling. My vision is to extend my knowledge and expertise to a larger number of newcomers, in order to inspire a future generation of potential contributors to Smogon.

Team being rated: The Hera-Land Coalition of Chaos by Thesimmonez
​

Tier: SM OU
Peak: N/A
Team Archetype: Offensive / Defensive

Summary:​

What is the goal of the team?

• 
  Mega-Heracross sweeps once all slower threats have been eliminated
  
• 
  Automomize Celesteela cleans once all opponent's Pokemon are weakened and can be eliminated

How do the teammates support this goal?

• Landorus-T functions as Stealth Rock support to provide extra damage, and to deter the Flying-types that would threaten Mega-Heracross

Suggestions:​

• 
  Hidden Power Electric -> Smack Down Hidden Power, with its 60 Base Power, is useless and will deal very little damage coming from Landorus-T with his very low Special Attack. If you are worried about Flying-types, you can just use Smack Down, which is somewhat like 50 Damage but from a higher Attack stat, and then use your "spammable" Earthquake to defeat your opponents.
• 
  ->
  
  Greninja -> Specially Defensive Rotom-W Mega Heracross needs more support to protect itself from Flying-type attacks, and Rotom-W is able to do it with only a weakness to Grass-type attacks, resisting the Fire-, Ground-, Flying-, Steel-, Ice-, and more things that would threaten your team. With Volt Switch, it is helpful to pivot into Mega Heracross to give it more chances to deal damage. It can also Will-O-Wisp physical attackers so they will deal even less damage to Mega Heracross, allowing Mega Heracross to revenge them back and deal major damage to the opponent.
  
• 
  ->
  
  Scarf Jirachi -> Scarf Keldeo Keldeo is a more offensive option that can take down the bulky Ground- types that may give Mega Heracross issues. Also, having double Fighting offensive coverage on the same team helps to weaken down the checks and counters of Fighting-type attacks; Mega Heracross from the physical side, and Keldeo from the special side, allowing either one of them to clean up the team in the end. It's also very fast allowing you to get the first move in, even before Scarf Jirachi.
  
• 
  Zen Headbutt -> Psychic So that you can take advantage of the Choice Band's extra power. 252 HP EVs -> 252 Speed EVs So that you can get the hit in first.

Here, I made an importable of the fixed team for you because I feel like in a good mood today. I fixed a bunch of EVs and stuff too.

Importable of your fixed team

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite 
Ability: Skill Link 
EVs: 180 HP / 252 Atk / 76 Spe 
Adamant Nature 
- Swords Dance 
- Pin Missile 
- Close Combat 
- Return 

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet 
Ability: Intimidate 
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Atk / 132 Spe 
Adamant Nature 
- Stealth Rock 
- U-turn 
- Smack Down 
- Earthquake 

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers 
Ability: Levitate 
EVs: 252 HP / 188 SpD / 68 Spe 
Calm Nature 
IVs: 0 Atk 
- Hydro Pump 
- Volt Switch 
- Will-O-Wisp 
- Pain Split 

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf 
Ability: Justified 
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe 
Timid Nature 
IVs: 0 Atk 
- Hydro Pump 
- Scald 
- Secret Sword 
- Icy Wind 

Celesteela @ Steelium Z 
Ability: Beast Boost 
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe 
Timid Nature 
IVs: 0 Atk 
- Autotomize 
- Flash Cannon 
- Air Slash 
- Giga Drain 

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band 
Ability: Magician 
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe 
Jolly Nature 
- Hyperspace Fury 
- Zen Headbutt 
- Fire Punch 
- Gunk Shot

Hope you find it handy and learn how to build better teams.

 

[Slakinglike]

Metal Sonic's School of SunMoon Battling (Rating Sector)

Who am I?

Hide

I am a veteran Battling 101 Tutor who wants to help newcomers feel more acquainted with Smogon and more confident about their battling skills. Having personally experienced the joy and inspiration of being guided by an experienced member when I was a newbie in another forum, I wish to extend the same helping hand to the newcomers of Smogon, who may be struggling to learn how to battle proficiently. As tutoring slots for Battling 101 are limited and only available to a lucky few, a majority of newcomers lack the help and support they need to break through the glass ceiling and learning curve of competitive Pokemon battling. My vision is to extend my knowledge and expertise to a larger number of newcomers, in order to inspire a future generation of potential contributors to Smogon.

Team being rated: The Hera-Land Coalition of Chaos by Thesimmonez
​

Tier: SM OU
Peak: N/A
Team Archetype: Offensive / Defensive

Summary:​

What is the goal of the team?

• 
  Mega-Heracross sweeps once all slower threats have been eliminated
  
• 
  Automomize Celesteela cleans once all opponent's Pokemon are weakened and can be eliminated

How do the teammates support this goal?

• Landorus-T functions as Stealth Rock support to provide extra damage, and to deter the Flying-types that would threaten Mega-Heracross

Personal Rate:

About Team Effectiveness

Hide

2/10
I don't see much team synergy here, all I can see are your favourite pokemon being thrown together. There seems to be no thought or consideration to use your team members to support Mega Heracross at all. Your explanations on your RMT do not tell me anything I don't know - it seems like they are just copying the Smogon Analyses page and telling me what the moves do, but they don't tell me why you put them on the Pokemon.

Most of your sets are non-standard or sub-optimal sets, which hinders your Pokemon from achieving their full potential. Your team has clearly not followed the good teambuilding practices and principles that tutors will teach in Battling 101.

Offensive Potential

Hide

4/10
The choice of sweepers and the goals of the team, fortunately, are solid enough to give you a winning chance against weaker opponents. Swords Dance Mega Heracross, can, in theory, break through everything that is slower than it. Meanwhile, Automomize Celesteela can take down weakened opponents.

However, that is all that is going for your team. The rest of the Pokemon on your team are completely underwhelming and they do not seem to serve a useful purpose. They don't seem to be helping Mega-Heracross to do its job; they are just doing their own job. This is not how a team works!

Defensive Potential

Hide

2/10
You have few defensive Pokemon; only Landorus-T is able to withstand high powered attacks, and only from certain opponents.

Understandably, Mega Heracross is a powerful tank, but without reliable recovery, it will die in 2-3 strong hits too.

Your team is weak to anything that can set up on it, such as Volcarona, opponent's Automomize Celesteela, et cetera.

Strong wallbreakers like Mega Charizard Y, Tapu Koko, Mega Swampert in Rain, anything powerful with Choice Band or Choice Specs gives huge problems to your team.

Your team loses to pretty much any offensive team.

About the RMT

Hide

2/10
The author did not even post his RMT in the correct format, or leave an importable, which is already against the rules. Also the RMT is not well written with many English errors, which makes it annoying to read. I don't gain any insight from him describing his moves to the obvious, like "Close Combat is an incredibly powerful attack", which is pretty duh!
I am personally very confused how he has won a "majority of battles" with this team, I would love to see his peak on the ladder to show its effectiveness.

In all, there seems to be minimal effort to decorate his RMT and make it pleasant for readers and raters to comment on his team.

Suggestions:​

• 
  Hidden Power Electric -> Smack Down Hidden Power, with its 60 Base Power, is useless and will deal very little damage coming from Landorus-T with his very low Special Attack. If you are worried about Flying-types, you can just use Smack Down, which is somewhat like 50 Damage but from a higher Attack stat, and then use your "spammable" Earthquake to defeat your opponents.
• 
  ->
  
  Greninja -> Specially Defensive Rotom-W Mega Heracross needs more support to protect itself from Flying-type attacks, and Rotom-W is able to do it with only a weakness to Grass-type attacks, resisting the Fire-, Ground-, Flying-, Steel-, Ice-, and more things that would threaten your team. With Volt Switch, it is helpful to pivot into Mega Heracross to give it more chances to deal damage. It can also Will-O-Wisp physical attackers so they will deal even less damage to Mega Heracross, allowing Mega Heracross to revenge them back and deal major damage to the opponent.
  
• 
  ->
  
  Scarf Jirachi -> Scarf Keldeo Keldeo is a more offensive option that can take down the bulky Ground- types that may give Mega Heracross issues. Also, having double Fighting offensive coverage on the same team helps to weaken down the checks and counters of Fighting-type attacks; Mega Heracross from the physical side, and Keldeo from the special side, allowing either one of them to clean up the team in the end. It's also very fast allowing you to get the first move in, even before Scarf Jirachi.
  
• 
  Zen Headbutt -> Psychic So that you can take advantage of the Choice Band's extra power. 252 HP EVs -> 252 Speed EVs So that you can get the hit in first.

Here, I made an importable of the fixed team for you because I feel like in a good mood today. I fixed a bunch of EVs and stuff too.

Importable of your fixed team

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 180 HP / 252 Atk / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Pin Missile
- Close Combat
- Return

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Atk / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Smack Down
- Earthquake

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 188 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind

Celesteela @ Steelium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Autotomize
- Flash Cannon
- Air Slash
- Giga Drain

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Zen Headbutt
- Fire Punch
- Gunk Shot

Hope you find it handy and learn how to build better teams.

Lol thanks for doing what I did but way better! I'm actually laughing right now, how long did that take you? Oh my god, that's crazy. So indepth. Please rate my next RMT like this!

 

[Thesimmonez]

I got excited when I saw M Hera, it's a non too used Pokemon and I think it has great potential. There are just a few things I don't understand about your team or I think would benefit you if you changed. I think you've got a good team here. Here are some changes, I don't like changing Pokemon btw, just sets. Let's start small with..

Hoopa-U: 4 SpA EVs +Psychic --> Zen Headbutt + 4 Def or SpD EVs

Your 4 SpA EVs and Psychic is a waste of EVs and a moveslot that could be used for a PHYSICAL attack on a BANDED Pokemon. Zen Headbutt fulfills the same purpose as Psychic but hits wayyyy harder.

Lando-T: 252 Speed EVs and Hidden Power Electric --> 252 Def EVs and Rock Slide/Stone Edge

These changes will turn your Lando into a better physical wall, capable of taking hits from physical attackers such as Banded Zygarde, M Hera, M Pinsir, M Medicham, Offensive Tapu Bulu, and other non super effective heavy hitters. It also allows you to deal more damage to flying types like Offensive Zapdos especially. Hidden Power Electric isn't that great on a Lando, Not doing as much damage on switch ins and it doesn't take advantage of Lando's monstrous attack stat. It gives better coverage against flying types bar Celesteela and Skarmory, which you can take out with Fire Punch on Hoopa and maybe an additon of an electric type coverage move, maybe Thunder Punch on Jirachi, or Hidden Power Electric on Greninja (I've seen it. It's different, but it works.)

Another change in EVs up ahead

Greninja: 100 SpD-> 252 SpA and 4 Atk EVs

I really don't understand the 100 SpD EVs, Greninja doesn't have to take hits if it has enough EVs to OHKO most mons. And if it is in danger, just switch it out. Switch into your newly defensive Lando, or a bulky enough Celesteela, Greninja is too much of a monster for you to waste EVs on defense. It's not going to be a bulky Pokemon, no matter what you do to it. Also Shadow Sneak confuses me, I think Ice Beam would be a direly needed improvement, seeing as you don't have ice type moves for Zygarde, Tangrowth, Lando T and others. But I think your other coverage moves make up for it.

Here's an importable for the changes

Changes

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Fire Punch
- Hyperspace Fury
- Zen Headbutt
- Knock Off

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Hydro Pump
- Extrasensory
- U-turn

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock

I really hope my changes helped you, if you do use these changes, please create an importable, I would love to use your team.

8/10 Sceptiles

-Slakinglike. AKA MrHoenn

Hiya, thank you so much for your massive in depth reply, it really means a lot. This is my first team I have decided to post on here, and your feedback was very useful. I followed the changes you suggested, additionally I changed Jirachi's Psychic move to Thunderbolt for the much needed Electric coverage move. I'll leave an importable cover below, if you decide on any further changes please do let me know, it's always great for some constructive critisism.

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Swords Dance
- Return

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Shadow Sneak
- Extrasensory
- U-turn

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 124 Atk / 132 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Iron Head
- Moonblast
- Healing Wish
- Thunderbolt

Celesteela @ Steelium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 200 HP / 252 SpA / 56 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Autotomize
- Flash Cannon
- Giga Drain
- Air Slash

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Zen Headbutt
- Fire Punch
- Knock Off


Thanks again for the kind support

Thesimmonez

 

[Slakinglike]

Hiya, thank you so much for your massive in depth reply, it really means a lot. This is my first team I have decided to post on here, and your feedback was very useful. I followed the changes you suggested, additionally I changed Jirachi's Psychic move to Thunderbolt for the much needed Electric coverage move. I'll leave an importable cover below, if you decide on any further changes please do let me know, it's always great for some constructive critisism.

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Swords Dance
- Return

Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Shadow Sneak
- Extrasensory
- U-turn

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 124 Atk / 132 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Iron Head
- Moonblast
- Healing Wish
- Thunderbolt

Celesteela @ Steelium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 200 HP / 252 SpA / 56 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Autotomize
- Flash Cannon
- Giga Drain
- Air Slash

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Zen Headbutt
- Fire Punch
- Knock Off


Thanks again for the kind support

Thesimmonez

Ooh one more thing, Return is kinda useless if your Pokemon isn't a normal type, so Rock Blast would be better. Thanks for the importable.

 

[Thesimmonez]

Metal Sonic's School of SunMoon Battling (Rating Sector)

Who am I?

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I am a veteran Battling 101 Tutor who wants to help newcomers feel more acquainted with Smogon and more confident about their battling skills. Having personally experienced the joy and inspiration of being guided by an experienced member when I was a newbie in another forum, I wish to extend the same helping hand to the newcomers of Smogon, who may be struggling to learn how to battle proficiently. As tutoring slots for Battling 101 are limited and only available to a lucky few, a majority of newcomers lack the help and support they need to break through the glass ceiling and learning curve of competitive Pokemon battling. My vision is to extend my knowledge and expertise to a larger number of newcomers, in order to inspire a future generation of potential contributors to Smogon.

Team being rated: The Hera-Land Coalition of Chaos by Thesimmonez
​

Tier: SM OU
Peak: N/A
Team Archetype: Offensive / Defensive

Summary:​

What is the goal of the team?

• 
  Mega-Heracross sweeps once all slower threats have been eliminated
  
• 
  Automomize Celesteela cleans once all opponent's Pokemon are weakened and can be eliminated

How do the teammates support this goal?

• Landorus-T functions as Stealth Rock support to provide extra damage, and to deter the Flying-types that would threaten Mega-Heracross

Personal Rate:

About Team Effectiveness

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2/10
I don't see much team synergy here, all I can see are your favourite pokemon being thrown together. There seems to be no thought or consideration to use your team members to support Mega Heracross at all. Your explanations on your RMT do not tell me anything I don't know - it seems like they are just copying the Smogon Analyses page and telling me what the moves do, but they don't tell me why you put them on the Pokemon.

Most of your sets are non-standard or sub-optimal sets, which hinders your Pokemon from achieving their full potential. Your team has clearly not followed the good teambuilding practices and principles that tutors will teach in Battling 101.

Offensive Potential

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4/10
The choice of sweepers and the goals of the team, fortunately, are solid enough to give you a winning chance against weaker opponents. Swords Dance Mega Heracross, can, in theory, break through everything that is slower than it. Meanwhile, Automomize Celesteela can take down weakened opponents.

However, that is all that is going for your team. The rest of the Pokemon on your team are completely underwhelming and they do not seem to serve a useful purpose. They don't seem to be helping Mega-Heracross to do its job; they are just doing their own job. This is not how a team works!

Defensive Potential

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2/10
You have few defensive Pokemon; only Landorus-T is able to withstand high powered attacks, and only from certain opponents.

Understandably, Mega Heracross is a powerful tank, but without reliable recovery, it will die in 2-3 strong hits too.

Your team is weak to anything that can set up on it, such as Volcarona, opponent's Automomize Celesteela, et cetera.

Strong wallbreakers like Mega Charizard Y, Tapu Koko, Mega Swampert in Rain, anything powerful with Choice Band or Choice Specs gives huge problems to your team.

Your team loses to pretty much any offensive team.

About the RMT

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2/10
The author did not even post his RMT in the correct format, or leave an importable, which is already against the rules. Also the RMT is not well written with many English errors, which makes it annoying to read. I don't gain any insight from him describing his moves to the obvious, like "Close Combat is an incredibly powerful attack", which is pretty duh!
I am personally very confused how he has won a "majority of battles" with this team, I would love to see his peak on the ladder to show its effectiveness.

In all, there seems to be minimal effort to decorate his RMT and make it pleasant for readers and raters to comment on his team.

Suggestions:​

• 
  Hidden Power Electric -> Smack Down Hidden Power, with its 60 Base Power, is useless and will deal very little damage coming from Landorus-T with his very low Special Attack. If you are worried about Flying-types, you can just use Smack Down, which is somewhat like 50 Damage but from a higher Attack stat, and then use your "spammable" Earthquake to defeat your opponents.
• 
  ->
  
  Greninja -> Specially Defensive Rotom-W Mega Heracross needs more support to protect itself from Flying-type attacks, and Rotom-W is able to do it with only a weakness to Grass-type attacks, resisting the Fire-, Ground-, Flying-, Steel-, Ice-, and more things that would threaten your team. With Volt Switch, it is helpful to pivot into Mega Heracross to give it more chances to deal damage. It can also Will-O-Wisp physical attackers so they will deal even less damage to Mega Heracross, allowing Mega Heracross to revenge them back and deal major damage to the opponent.
  
• 
  ->
  
  Scarf Jirachi -> Scarf Keldeo Keldeo is a more offensive option that can take down the bulky Ground- types that may give Mega Heracross issues. Also, having double Fighting offensive coverage on the same team helps to weaken down the checks and counters of Fighting-type attacks; Mega Heracross from the physical side, and Keldeo from the special side, allowing either one of them to clean up the team in the end. It's also very fast allowing you to get the first move in, even before Scarf Jirachi.
  
• 
  Zen Headbutt -> Psychic So that you can take advantage of the Choice Band's extra power. 252 HP EVs -> 252 Speed EVs So that you can get the hit in first.

Here, I made an importable of the fixed team for you because I feel like in a good mood today. I fixed a bunch of EVs and stuff too.

Importable of your fixed team

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite 
Ability: Skill Link 
EVs: 180 HP / 252 Atk / 76 Spe 
Adamant Nature 
- Swords Dance 
- Pin Missile 
- Close Combat 
- Return 

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Rocky Helmet 
Ability: Intimidate 
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Atk / 132 Spe 
Adamant Nature 
- Stealth Rock 
- U-turn 
- Smack Down 
- Earthquake 

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers 
Ability: Levitate 
EVs: 252 HP / 188 SpD / 68 Spe 
Calm Nature 
IVs: 0 Atk 
- Hydro Pump 
- Volt Switch 
- Will-O-Wisp 
- Pain Split 

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf 
Ability: Justified 
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe 
Timid Nature 
IVs: 0 Atk 
- Hydro Pump 
- Scald 
- Secret Sword 
- Icy Wind 

Celesteela @ Steelium Z 
Ability: Beast Boost 
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe 
Timid Nature 
IVs: 0 Atk 
- Autotomize 
- Flash Cannon 
- Air Slash 
- Giga Drain 

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band 
Ability: Magician 
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe 
Jolly Nature 
- Hyperspace Fury 
- Zen Headbutt 
- Fire Punch 
- Gunk Shot

Hope you find it handy and learn how to build better teams.

Hi Metal Sonic

I apologise that this wasn't up to your standards.
This was my first attempt at making a team here and putting it towards RMT, and I tried to make it as unique as I could, although you didn't seem too happy with it.
Firstly, I didn't know how fair this review necessarily was. Although as I said I would love some kind of criticism, and constructive criticism is always helpful, but some of it just felt unfair. I know I made a few mistakes (Sorry for the importable copy, completely forgot, I did this over 1 day and then finished in the next morning and rushed a little bit!) but as I said, this is my first team I have posted and I was unsure on how to properly make it eye catching, so I did the best that I could do with my beginner abilities. Additionally, I included none of my favourite Pokemon in the team sadly (God damn Mega Gallade, where are you?), so I felt it was a bit unfair that I was being blamed for randomly chucking Pokemon together. I spent a large amount of time thinking about what to put where, but hey, beginners luck and all that.
Secondly, all the scores seem really low. I don't know whether it's just how you rate most teams (If it is ignore the rest), but it all just seemed so low. You didn't mention my Jirachi and Hoopa-U, idk whether that was just because they were awful (probably) or you forgot or something, but I would love to hear more about where they went wrong.
Final thing, considering I've been tinkering with this set for just above a week, and even then it's only been about 2-4 hours a day (A-level summer work, woop woop), I have been happy with my wins. They haven't been many battles, but it's still been a majority.
Sorry if that went aggressive, I'm kinda tired. I am honestly really grateful with your feedback, and for my next team I'll defiantly take all your words of wisdom into consideration, maybe even put that favourite Pokemon in the team just for you ;)
Thank you so much, it means a lot

TheSimmonez

 

[Thesimmonez]

Ooh one more thing, Return is kinda useless if your Pokemon isn't a normal type, so Rock Blast would be better. Thanks for the importable.

Don't worry, just thinking the same thing ;)

TheSimmonez

 

[Metal Sonic]

Hi Metal Sonic

I apologise that this wasn't up to your standards.
This was my first attempt at making a team here and putting it towards RMT, and I tried to make it as unique as I could, although you didn't seem too happy with it.
Firstly, I didn't know how fair this review necessarily was. Although as I said I would love some kind of criticism, and constructive criticism is always helpful, but some of it just felt unfair. I know I made a few mistakes (Sorry for the importable copy, completely forgot, I did this over 1 day and then finished in the next morning and rushed a little bit!) but as I said, this is my first team I have posted and I was unsure on how to properly make it eye catching, so I did the best that I could do with my beginner abilities. Additionally, I included none of my favourite Pokemon in the team sadly (God damn Mega Gallade, where are you?), so I felt it was a bit unfair that I was being blamed for randomly chucking Pokemon together. I spent a large amount of time thinking about what to put where, but hey, beginners luck and all that.
Secondly, all the scores seem really low. I don't know whether it's just how you rate most teams (If it is ignore the rest), but it all just seemed so low. You didn't mention my Jirachi and Hoopa-U, idk whether that was just because they were awful (probably) or you forgot or something, but I would love to hear more about where they went wrong.
Final thing, considering I've been tinkering with this set for just above a week, and even then it's only been about 2-4 hours a day (A-level summer work, woop woop), I have been happy with my wins. They haven't been many battles, but it's still been a majority.
Sorry if that went aggressive, I'm kinda tired. I am honestly really grateful with your feedback, and for my next team I'll defiantly take all your words of wisdom into consideration, maybe even put that favourite Pokemon in the team just for you ;)
Thank you so much, it means a lot

TheSimmonez

Dear Thesimmonez,

My rates are going to be honest and straightforward, and I intend to do so for the rest of my rates for this program. When it comes to learning and improvement, I don't sugarcoat. I understand if you're disappointed or upset, but please don't take it personally.
Teams should have a focus to support their main core/goal. Your team has no synergy and no teamwork to help Mega Heracross sweep the opponent. Your RMT did not state a purpose why Jirachi was on the team, nor what Greninja can set up on, take advantage of, help the team, etc. Hoopa-U was alright, it's a decent pokemon overall, but not gonna lie, the Choice Scarf Jirachi set is awful. In general, don't use mixed attackers in Pokemon (don't split their Attack and Special Attack stats), otherwise they are going to be weak at both jobs. Also, as Slakinglike and myself have pointed out, you should not put a special attack on a Choice Banded Pokemon, unless you have a good reason to.

Good luck for your A levels. I've already completed mine recently. But, like how you submit an essay to your teacher and get a low score back, this is the same. Especially when it's your first essay/team. Don't despair, take the constructive comments and use it for self-improvement, and in a while you'll become a better essay writer, teambuilder, and player.

Metal Sonic

PS: Return is OK if you're running an SD set, I guess. I can at least see some merit in it, so I didn't want to change too much; the team already had to do enough changing as it is. But Rock Blast is a fine option, yes.

 

[Webcamparrot]

TEAM OVERVIEW: This team has a huge number of unconventional/unviable sets and it's extremely weak to a lot of common ou pokemon and archetypes. On it's list of problems is a complete weakness to Volcarona, Mega Medicham, Tapu koko, Greninja, Magearna, Rain teams, Mega Tyranitar and major weaknesses to Stall, Zygarde, and common webs teams. Normally I wouldn't rate a team with problems that were this glaring but the ineptitude of a certain rate has bothered me so i'm going to put the time in to show you how a real rate should work. You'll have to bare with me however as it's going to take a lot of changes to make this team functional in the current meta but i'll try to keep the original ideals of Lando+Heracross going. In order to achieve this I am going to recommend 3 major changes (1,2,3) and 3 minor changes (a, b, c) to the team.


a) Your Hoopa set is very strange. Band Hoopa (personally i prefer mixed lifeorb these days but band is fine) is something that is used to break down fatter teams because of it's fantastic coverage and sky high attack stat. Knock off doesn't hit anything relevant considering that you already have Hyperspace Fury. It also needs Gunk Shot to break past things like Clefable that otherwise wall it. With a proper set you should have an easier time vs stall. It should have a set that looks something like this.

importable

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Fire Punch

b) Again the Heracross set is a tad non-sensical. You don't need return you want Rock Blast to hit things like Landorus Zapdos and Clefable for relevant damage. The spread is a tad off as well. The Hp invested set runs 224 HP / 136 Atk / 148 Spe and an adamant nature so it can out speed Landorus T with as much as 16 ev points in speed (which is out of date but still very common) but still take some hits.


1) Scarf Jirachi does have a use on some teams but it is incredibly niche and not really worth using in the current meta game. For this reason I am going to recommend that you swap out Jirachi for scarf Keldeo. Scarf Keldeo improves the rain matchup drastically as it out speeds Mega Swampert in rain always, it can switch into non-extrasensory Greninja varients and threaten it out with secret sword/hydro pump and most importantly it's capable of effectively revenge killing Volcarona and Mega Tyranitar at +1. (Also yes Keldeo does need to be hasty if you want it to ohko Volcarona with stone edge).

importable

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge

2) Auto Celesteela is great but it doesn't really line up with the rest of the team and it's just a luxury you can't really afford honestly. I recommend Mew here instead. It has access to defog which will help with Sticky Webs, it can deal with Zygarde, Medicham and non-cm Magearna varients. Under the correct circumstances it can also help with Tapu Koko, Mega Mawile and Tapu Lele.

importable

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 140 SpD / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Defog

c) Now that you have your z move freed up you are open to run the monster that is offensive Lando. Landorus has virtually no safe switchins and can topple practically any team given the opportunity. It's great at punching through slower teams with sd and can reliably get rocks against most match ups. It also helps with things like Pinsir and Zygarde and can set up on Dugtrio after it traps Hoopa.

importable

Landorus-Therian @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

3) Greninja is a great mon but I recommend running AV Magearna here instead. It can take on things like Greninja, Lele, Setup Magearna, Kingdra and Koko with little fuss and also provides a nice boost against stall thanks to volt switch and fairy coverage.

importable

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 200 HP / 56 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power Fire
- Volt Switch

Here is an importable of the full team for convenience:

importable

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 224 HP / 136 Atk / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Swords Dance
- Rock Blast

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Fire Punch

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 200 HP / 56 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Volt Switch

Landorus-Therian @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 140 SpD / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Defog

I wouldn't listen to this Metal Sonic guy if I were you at all he seems to have absolutely garbage tier knowledge (spdef rotom?????). Also the x/10 thing is rude and asinine either a team is viable or it's not. You don't outline a bunch of problems in a team and then not give any direction on how to fix them. You also shouldn't recommend changes if you can't accurately describe what those changes do for a team. I can see that you tried to make an effective and viable team TheSimmonez it just needed some tweaking to get it to work. You shouldn't be made to feel bad about showing other people a team that you worked on, the whole point of RMT is to look at teams like that. There's nothing overtly wrong with the way you submitted your team to rmt you just need to include an importable next time. It's fairly simple, just do this to add clean importables: https://gyazo.com/05229034cab2eefa4c8481545771f4e7 (this is just a screenshot I can't show you directly obviously because it would just post it which doesn't help anyone).

 

[Slakinglike]

TEAM OVERVIEW: This team has a huge number of unconventional/unviable sets and it's extremely weak to a lot of common ou pokemon and archetypes. On it's list of problems is a complete weakness to Volcarona, Mega Medicham, Tapu koko, Greninja, Magearna, Rain teams, Mega Tyranitar and major weaknesses to Stall, Zygarde, and common webs teams. Normally I wouldn't rate a team with problems that were this glaring but the ineptitude of a certain rate has bothered me so i'm going to put the time in to show you how a real rate should work. You'll have to bare with me however as it's going to take a lot of changes to make this team functional in the current meta but i'll try to keep the original ideals of Lando+Heracross going. In order to achieve this I am going to recommend 3 major changes (1,2,3) and 3 minor changes (a, b, c) to the team.


a) Your Hoopa set is very strange. Band Hoopa (personally i prefer mixed lifeorb these days but band is fine) is something that is used to break down fatter teams because of it's fantastic coverage and sky high attack stat. Knock off doesn't hit anything relevant considering that you already have Hyperspace Fury. It also needs Gunk Shot to break past things like Clefable that otherwise wall it. With a proper set you should have an easier time vs stall. It should have a set that looks something like this.

importable

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Fire Punch

b) Again the Heracross set is a tad non-sensical. You don't need return you want Rock Blast to hit things like Landorus Zapdos and Clefable for relevant damage. The spread is a tad off as well. The Hp invested set runs 224 HP / 136 Atk / 148 Spe and an adamant nature so it can out speed Landorus T with as much as 16 ev points in speed (which is out of date but still very common) but still take some hits.


1) Scarf Jirachi does have a use on some teams but it is incredibly niche and not really worth using in the current meta game. For this reason I am going to recommend that you swap out Jirachi for scarf Keldeo. Scarf Keldeo improves the rain matchup drastically as it out speeds Mega Swampert in rain always, it can switch into non-extrasensory Greninja varients and threaten it out with secret sword/hydro pump and most importantly it's capable of effectively revenge killing Volcarona and Mega Tyranitar at +1. (Also yes Keldeo does need to be hasty if you want it to ohko Volcarona with stone edge).

importable

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge

2) Auto Celesteela is great but it doesn't really line up with the rest of the team and it's just a luxury you can't really afford honestly. I recommend Mew here instead. It has access to defog which will help with Sticky Webs, it can deal with Zygarde, Medicham and non-cm Magearna varients. Under the correct circumstances it can also help with Tapu Koko, Mega Mawile and Tapu Lele.

importable

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 140 SpD / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Defog

c) Now that you have your z move freed up you are open to run the monster that is offensive Lando. Landorus has virtually no safe switchins and can topple practically any team given the opportunity. It's great at punching through slower teams with sd and can reliably get rocks against most match ups. It also helps with things like Pinsir and Zygarde and can set up on Dugtrio after it traps Hoopa.

importable

Landorus-Therian @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

3) Greninja is a great mon but I recommend running AV Magearna here instead. It can take on things like Greninja, Lele, Setup Magearna, Kingdra and Koko with little fuss and also provides a nice boost against stall thanks to volt switch and fairy coverage.

importable

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 200 HP / 56 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power Fire
- Volt Switch

Here is an importable of the full team for convenience:

importable

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 224 HP / 136 Atk / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Swords Dance
- Rock Blast

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Fire Punch

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 200 HP / 56 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Volt Switch

Landorus-Therian @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 140 SpD / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Defog

I wouldn't listen to this Metal Sonic guy if I were you at all he seems to have absolutely garbage tier knowledge (spdef rotom?????). Also the x/10 thing is rude and asinine either a team is viable or it's not. You don't outline a bunch of problems in a team and then not give any direction on how to fix them. You also shouldn't recommend changes if you can't accurately describe what those changes do for a team. I can see that you tried to make an effective and viable team TheSimmonez it just needed some tweaking to get it to work. You shouldn't be made to feel bad about showing other people a team that you worked on, the whole point of RMT is to look at teams like that. There's nothing overtly wrong with the way you submitted your team to rmt you just need to include an importable next time. It's fairly simple, just do this to add clean importables: https://gyazo.com/05229034cab2eefa4c8481545771f4e7 (this is just a screenshot I can't show you directly obviously because it would just post it which doesn't help anyone).

TEAM OVERVIEW: This team has a huge number of unconventional/unviable sets and it's extremely weak to a lot of common ou pokemon and archetypes. On it's list of problems is a complete weakness to Volcarona, Mega Medicham, Tapu koko, Greninja, Magearna, Rain teams, Mega Tyranitar and major weaknesses to Stall, Zygarde, and common webs teams. Normally I wouldn't rate a team with problems that were this glaring but the ineptitude of a certain rate has bothered me so i'm going to put the time in to show you how a real rate should work. You'll have to bare with me however as it's going to take a lot of changes to make this team functional in the current meta but i'll try to keep the original ideals of Lando+Heracross going. In order to achieve this I am going to recommend 3 major changes (1,2,3) and 3 minor changes (a, b, c) to the team.


a) Your Hoopa set is very strange. Band Hoopa (personally i prefer mixed lifeorb these days but band is fine) is something that is used to break down fatter teams because of it's fantastic coverage and sky high attack stat. Knock off doesn't hit anything relevant considering that you already have Hyperspace Fury. It also needs Gunk Shot to break past things like Clefable that otherwise wall it. With a proper set you should have an easier time vs stall. It should have a set that looks something like this.

importable

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Fire Punch

b) Again the Heracross set is a tad non-sensical. You don't need return you want Rock Blast to hit things like Landorus Zapdos and Clefable for relevant damage. The spread is a tad off as well. The Hp invested set runs 224 HP / 136 Atk / 148 Spe and an adamant nature so it can out speed Landorus T with as much as 16 ev points in speed (which is out of date but still very common) but still take some hits.


1) Scarf Jirachi does have a use on some teams but it is incredibly niche and not really worth using in the current meta game. For this reason I am going to recommend that you swap out Jirachi for scarf Keldeo. Scarf Keldeo improves the rain matchup drastically as it out speeds Mega Swampert in rain always, it can switch into non-extrasensory Greninja varients and threaten it out with secret sword/hydro pump and most importantly it's capable of effectively revenge killing Volcarona and Mega Tyranitar at +1. (Also yes Keldeo does need to be hasty if you want it to ohko Volcarona with stone edge).

importable

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge

2) Auto Celesteela is great but it doesn't really line up with the rest of the team and it's just a luxury you can't really afford honestly. I recommend Mew here instead. It has access to defog which will help with Sticky Webs, it can deal with Zygarde, Medicham and non-cm Magearna varients. Under the correct circumstances it can also help with Tapu Koko, Mega Mawile and Tapu Lele.

importable

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 140 SpD / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Defog

c) Now that you have your z move freed up you are open to run the monster that is offensive Lando. Landorus has virtually no safe switchins and can topple practically any team given the opportunity. It's great at punching through slower teams with sd and can reliably get rocks against most match ups. It also helps with things like Pinsir and Zygarde and can set up on Dugtrio after it traps Hoopa.

importable

Landorus-Therian @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

3) Greninja is a great mon but I recommend running AV Magearna here instead. It can take on things like Greninja, Lele, Setup Magearna, Kingdra and Koko with little fuss and also provides a nice boost against stall thanks to volt switch and fairy coverage.

importable

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 200 HP / 56 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power Fire
- Volt Switch

Here is an importable of the full team for convenience:

importable

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 224 HP / 136 Atk / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Swords Dance
- Rock Blast

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Fire Punch

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 200 HP / 56 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Volt Switch

Landorus-Therian @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 140 SpD / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Defog

I wouldn't listen to this Metal Sonic guy if I were you at all he seems to have absolutely garbage tier knowledge (spdef rotom?????). Also the x/10 thing is rude and asinine either a team is viable or it's not. You don't outline a bunch of problems in a team and then not give any direction on how to fix them. You also shouldn't recommend changes if you can't accurately describe what those changes do for a team. I can see that you tried to make an effective and viable team TheSimmonez it just needed some tweaking to get it to work. You shouldn't be made to feel bad about showing other people a team that you worked on, the whole point of RMT is to look at teams like that. There's nothing overtly wrong with the way you submitted your team to rmt you just need to include an importable next time. It's fairly simple, just do this to add clean importables: https://gyazo.com/05229034cab2eefa4c8481545771f4e7 (this is just a screenshot I can't show you directly obviously because it would just post it which doesn't help anyone).

Okay, so I'll be neutral here...

Both of you are great raters, I wish people would rate my teams like this :(

Anyway, I find both of what you two pointed out viable, sure Metal Sonic was harsh, but he did have viable rates that applied to the OU metagame and made sense. So did you Webcamparrot. Spdef Rotom is not garbage, and it fits in pretty well where applied. Both of your rates were great, Metal Sonic was harsh, but the rates were viable and correct. The x/10 seemed kinda helpful and he did state the problems and fixed the in the team. Webcamparrot's rates were on point and viable, but changed 4 members of the team. Both of you made a better team for thesimmonez, so play nice. Because a feud in this reply box would not be so great.

 

[Webcamparrot]

Uh this is why I stopped rating teams. Look Slakinglike I can get into the details of exactly how bad Metal Sonics rate was if you really want me to but I figured i'd be nice enough to leave the specifics out. Furthermore Spdef Rotom is not a viable set. Phys def Rotom is barely usable right now let alone Spdef sets that weren't even good in ORAS.

The x/10 seemed kinda helpful and he did state the problems and fixed the in the team.

How come he's already edited that all out of his rate then lol. "So play nice". Firstly you damn well don't get to tell me what to do, secondly no I will not tolerate someone that is not only giving out bad advice but is also being rude about it in any community I am a part of.

 

[Slakinglike]

Uh this is why I stopped rating teams. Look Slakinglike I can get into the details of exactly how bad Metal Sonics rate was if you really want me to but I figured i'd be nice enough to leave the specifics out. Furthermore Spdef Rotom is not a viable set. Phys def Rotom is barely usable right now let alone Spdef sets that weren't even good in ORAS.



How come he's already edited that all out of his rate then lol. "So play nice". Firstly you damn well don't get to tell me what to do, secondly no I will not tolerate someone that is not only giving out bad advice but is also being rude about it in any community I am a part of.

I didn't quite expect that. Okay, sure I won't tell you what to do. I love the smogon community, and I for one have given out bad rates before. This is a mistake, I love this community but I don't understand why you have gone to the point of saying that he has absolutely garbage tier knowledge. Sure, some of it was unviable but I don't like the toxicity in your statement. I love the community and I definetely see why you say he is being rude and giving out bad advice.
Btw you should keep rating because you're really danm good.

:)

 

[Metal Sonic]

Webcamparrot, thank you for your feedback regarding my rate. After some reflection, I've decided to change my scoring system for future rates, such that it would be more encouraging and would hurt the feelings of the team's owner less. I will continue the style of rating, but will keep in mind to focus on areas of improvement so that I will be able to maintain the delicate balance between highlighting the team's weaknesses while not being excessively harsh on them.

I would appreciate it if you retract your very own rude comment that I have "absolute garbage tier knowledge" though. SpDef Rotom is very well viable; it's B+ in the OU Viability rankings and has a (PhysDef) analysis itself on the smogon dex:

I would also like to point out that you suggested the same change that I did: Choice Scarf Jirachi to Choice Scarf Keldeo. I find it regrettable that you have to resort to flaming and insulting another user simply because you do not agree with them.

Nevertheless, your feedback is valuable and will help to improve my future rates!

I would just like to justify the minimalist-style changes described in my rate; I was trying to keep the core of bulky Mega Heracross, Landorus-T, and Celesteela on his team, as they were his favourite pokemon that he had wanted to use. There were more changes made to the team, but since they were so numerous to describe, I made an entire importable for thesimmonez which had contained a full working team with all my recommended changes. You may feel free to dissect it and rate that very own team if you would so wish.

This conforms with the rating guidelines stated on the stickied thread circa. 2009:

while the information in this thread is excellent and completely true in every way, I think that most of the people who need to be reading it will misconstrue the content. I think to fix this, you should put more emphasis on the purpose of the team. Recently, I have noticed that most of the rates, from badged and nonbadged members alike, have given little thought to the purpose of the team. People are replacing 3+ pokemon just to deal with threats and this is not ok. while changing maybe one mon to fix a terrifying weakness is acceptable, changing half the team just to deal with stuff is unacceptable, and for this reason: we are talking about the "rate my team" forum, not the "build me a new team" forum. when you change 3+ mons, most of the time the purpose of the team is completely lost. If, somehow, the team retains its purpose after changing 3 pokemon, then chances are the poster of the thread has not put enough thought into the team and doesnt deserve effort and thought of a teamrater. There are too many rates that disregard the purpose of the team completely and just change pokemon to fix threats. This promotes what I call "passive teambuilding," where one simply tries to build a team that deals with every threat, rather than having a purpose of its own, which is not a good thing.

I hope you understand where I'm coming from and hope to see you around in the RMT forum!

 

[Webcamparrot]

Why would you post a screenshot of Rotom W on the viability rankings and then admit that's it's obviously up there for it's Phys def variant? You've debunked your own point. If you look through some of the earlier sections of the very same VR you can see the discussion that was had about Spdef rotom and the verdict that they came to was that it was trash. I feel like if I have to actually explain why Spdef rotom is bad to you I have no reason to retract my very true comment about your tier knowledge. Spdef rotom is not effective because the only thing it really checks is Greninja (and it doesn't even do that very well). It has a tiny niche of being able to Willo wisp but since it has no Phys def investment it has no way to threaten physical attackers anyway so this part of it's set is not utilised. Meanwhile we have pokemon like Magearna just sitting there that hit harder, have better coverage, check a wider array of threats and provide important boons to a teams stall matchup. Hell even stallbreaker Koko is a better "spdef pivot" than rotom because it at least has the pressure of taunt+nm.

I don't have a problem with a rater making a small number of changes to try and keep the original intention of the team (it's something I strive to do in most cases myself). What I do have a problem with is the few changes that you did make. For instance we both recommended scarf keldeo. Want to know the difference here though? My keldeo actually checks volcarona because I gave it stone edge and a hasty nature. Which is the main reason that scarf keldeo became popular in sumo in the first place. You just decided that leaving the team completely vulnerable to Volcarona was fine because you needed that icy wind for some reason. Spdef rotom is terrible as I explained already. The landorus spread/set you posted makes absolutely no sense. It's an offensive rocky helmet smack down lando without a z move or sd and it's only running half speed investment for some reason. You provided absolutely no explanation for this wack ass set at all it just sits there like bread at the bakery that nobody wanted. In fact you didn't really include much explanation for any of the sets in your rate at all. And that's all without even mentioning the giant holes you've left in the team, like how it gets completely rekt by koko. If you genuinely want my advice here it is: My dude learn the tier before you try to rate it. Or at least stop acting like you are the big shot rater, you aren't even close. For the sake of the sanity of everyone in this thread I'm going to shut up now. Pm me if you have further beef.

 

[Thesimmonez]

Dear Thesimmonez,

My rates are going to be honest and straightforward, and I intend to do so for the rest of my rates for this program. When it comes to learning and improvement, I don't sugarcoat. I understand if you're disappointed or upset, but please don't take it personally.
Teams should have a focus to support their main core/goal. Your team has no synergy and no teamwork to help Mega Heracross sweep the opponent. Your RMT did not state a purpose why Jirachi was on the team, nor what Greninja can set up on, take advantage of, help the team, etc. Hoopa-U was alright, it's a decent pokemon overall, but not gonna lie, the Choice Scarf Jirachi set is awful. In general, don't use mixed attackers in Pokemon (don't split their Attack and Special Attack stats), otherwise they are going to be weak at both jobs. Also, as Slakinglike and myself have pointed out, you should not put a special attack on a Choice Banded Pokemon, unless you have a good reason to.

Good luck for your A levels. I've already completed mine recently. But, like how you submit an essay to your teacher and get a low score back, this is the same. Especially when it's your first essay/team. Don't despair, take the constructive comments and use it for self-improvement, and in a while you'll become a better essay writer, teambuilder, and player.

Metal Sonic

PS: Return is OK if you're running an SD set, I guess. I can at least see some merit in it, so I didn't want to change too much; the team already had to do enough changing as it is. But Rock Blast is a fine option, yes.

Hiya MetalSonic

Didn't really expect a reply from you, it actually means a lot to me. Slept a bit now, so way more rational ;)
All of the comments have been taken into consideration, and for my next team (Featuring that favourite Pokemon ;) ) I'm gonna study battling 101 to make sure that it's all perfect. Please feel free to rate that one, and even compare it, I don't know what all the crazy kids do these days, but it'll be interesting to see how much I change.

Thanks for all the help, and hope you A-levels went okay

TheSimmonez

 

[Thesimmonez]

TEAM OVERVIEW: This team has a huge number of unconventional/unviable sets and it's extremely weak to a lot of common ou pokemon and archetypes. On it's list of problems is a complete weakness to Volcarona, Mega Medicham, Tapu koko, Greninja, Magearna, Rain teams, Mega Tyranitar and major weaknesses to Stall, Zygarde, and common webs teams. Normally I wouldn't rate a team with problems that were this glaring but the ineptitude of a certain rate has bothered me so i'm going to put the time in to show you how a real rate should work. You'll have to bare with me however as it's going to take a lot of changes to make this team functional in the current meta but i'll try to keep the original ideals of Lando+Heracross going. In order to achieve this I am going to recommend 3 major changes (1,2,3) and 3 minor changes (a, b, c) to the team.


a) Your Hoopa set is very strange. Band Hoopa (personally i prefer mixed lifeorb these days but band is fine) is something that is used to break down fatter teams because of it's fantastic coverage and sky high attack stat. Knock off doesn't hit anything relevant considering that you already have Hyperspace Fury. It also needs Gunk Shot to break past things like Clefable that otherwise wall it. With a proper set you should have an easier time vs stall. It should have a set that looks something like this.

importable

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Fire Punch

b) Again the Heracross set is a tad non-sensical. You don't need return you want Rock Blast to hit things like Landorus Zapdos and Clefable for relevant damage. The spread is a tad off as well. The Hp invested set runs 224 HP / 136 Atk / 148 Spe and an adamant nature so it can out speed Landorus T with as much as 16 ev points in speed (which is out of date but still very common) but still take some hits.


1) Scarf Jirachi does have a use on some teams but it is incredibly niche and not really worth using in the current meta game. For this reason I am going to recommend that you swap out Jirachi for scarf Keldeo. Scarf Keldeo improves the rain matchup drastically as it out speeds Mega Swampert in rain always, it can switch into non-extrasensory Greninja varients and threaten it out with secret sword/hydro pump and most importantly it's capable of effectively revenge killing Volcarona and Mega Tyranitar at +1. (Also yes Keldeo does need to be hasty if you want it to ohko Volcarona with stone edge).

importable

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge

2) Auto Celesteela is great but it doesn't really line up with the rest of the team and it's just a luxury you can't really afford honestly. I recommend Mew here instead. It has access to defog which will help with Sticky Webs, it can deal with Zygarde, Medicham and non-cm Magearna varients. Under the correct circumstances it can also help with Tapu Koko, Mega Mawile and Tapu Lele.

importable

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 140 SpD / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Defog

c) Now that you have your z move freed up you are open to run the monster that is offensive Lando. Landorus has virtually no safe switchins and can topple practically any team given the opportunity. It's great at punching through slower teams with sd and can reliably get rocks against most match ups. It also helps with things like Pinsir and Zygarde and can set up on Dugtrio after it traps Hoopa.

importable

Landorus-Therian @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

3) Greninja is a great mon but I recommend running AV Magearna here instead. It can take on things like Greninja, Lele, Setup Magearna, Kingdra and Koko with little fuss and also provides a nice boost against stall thanks to volt switch and fairy coverage.

importable

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 200 HP / 56 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power Fire
- Volt Switch

Here is an importable of the full team for convenience:

importable

Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 224 HP / 136 Atk / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Pin Missile
- Swords Dance
- Rock Blast

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Band
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Fire Punch

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 200 HP / 56 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Volt Switch

Landorus-Therian @ Rockium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 140 SpD / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
- Ice Beam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Defog

I wouldn't listen to this Metal Sonic guy if I were you at all he seems to have absolutely garbage tier knowledge (spdef rotom?????). Also the x/10 thing is rude and asinine either a team is viable or it's not. You don't outline a bunch of problems in a team and then not give any direction on how to fix them. You also shouldn't recommend changes if you can't accurately describe what those changes do for a team. I can see that you tried to make an effective and viable team TheSimmonez it just needed some tweaking to get it to work. You shouldn't be made to feel bad about showing other people a team that you worked on, the whole point of RMT is to look at teams like that. There's nothing overtly wrong with the way you submitted your team to rmt you just need to include an importable next time. It's fairly simple, just do this to add clean importables: https://gyazo.com/05229034cab2eefa4c8481545771f4e7 (this is just a screenshot I can't show you directly obviously because it would just post it which doesn't help anyone).

Heya WebcamParrot

Thank you as well for all the changes for the team, currently remaking the team in 3 different ways to fit with what everyone said. Enjoying them all and already seeing massive improvements, so thank you very much.
I agree and disagree with you about MetalSonic. Although I am not a big fan of the x/10 system, I can see why he uses it, and for some people they may find it helpful, just unfortunately I didn't get a great score first time round (Will all be fixed by the next team, which I hope to see you rate as well, it'll mean a lot to me!)
Thank you for all the tweaks. I actually don't mind that you changed the team around like that, it's honestly not an issue, you kept the cores and that is all that's important.
Thank you so much for the assistance, I hope to see all the 3 commenters on my next team, I'll even base it around the little "feud" between you two, but all in good banta.

TheSimmonez