SM OU HO - Scarf Bulu, Substitute Kartana + Volcarona

Altervisi · Nov 4, 2018

Any and all feedback is appreciated unless it's terrible.

Teambuilding Process

Excadrill is my favourite Suicide Lead, due to Mold Breaker against Sableye, strong Earthquake, and it's simple reliablity in getting up Rocks and fairly consistently keeping them off.

Volcarona is a fantstic sweeper very much capable of entirely sweeping unprepared teams, it is very matchup based but it fits well with Excadrill as a lead.

I added Hawlucha simply because it is extremely fast without requiring a set up turn, it can beat Scarfers that could revenge kill Volcarona.

I chose Tapu Bulu for Grassy Terrain support to active Hawlucha's ability and support Volcarona with heath restoration.

I added Weavile for priority and to have an instant impact of damage to offset Hawlucha requiring Swords Dance.

I chose Kartana to benefit from Grassy Terrain and as a stallbreaker that also has a good matchup against more offensive teams.

The Team

Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Tomb
- Rapid Spin

Standard Suicide Lead Excadrill, which will lead 99% of games. I chose Rock Tomb to hit Tornadus and Zapdos, to ensure Stealth Rock stay up. Rapid Spin is a huge help for the team, obviously Volcarona. This set struggles against Rocky Helmet Landorus, due to hazards not being removed if I die from contact damage while using Rapid Spin. Fake Out leads that can KO Excadrill, like Mega-Lopunny and Mega-Medicham is in general the only struggle in getting up hazards.

Volcarona @ Buginium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Hidden Power [Ground]

I chose the Bugium Z variant as Kartana loves to set up on Toxapex, the main draw is its ability to switch in to Mawile and deal with Zygarde at +1. Hidden Power [Ground] is for Heatran but can also come in handy against miscellaneous Fire- and Rockl-types. At +2 you can win nearly any game, however Excadrill is the only method of hazard removal on this team, and Volcarona struggles immesley against prioroty if faced with hazards.

Tapu Bulu @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
- Megahorn

The first 'fun' pick for the team. Tapu Bulu was initially introduced to handle Ash-Greninja, I initially had Scarf Lele in this slot, but I really wanted the boost for Kartana's Leaf Blade (due to the set to follow), but the passive healing and weakening of Earthquake are also appreciated by Volcarona, allowing it to setup on Landorus (non-Fly Z). Scarf Bulu hits surprisingly hard and can surprise a lot of switch ins by outspeeding, notably Tornadus-T and Tapu Koko, Bulu can also weaken Zapdos for Hawlucha. Lastly, Tapu Bulu is a huge assest against Rain teams.

Hawlucha @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 36 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Roost

Hawlucha is an amazing all-round cleaner, working very well with fantastic neutral coverage (I did a article on Hawlucha you can check out here). It works great to deal with Grass-types that Bulu and Kartana struggle with, as well as beating many Speed-booting setup sweepers and Scarfers after chip. Hawlucha is very well-known, but like Volcarona it can totally sweep many teams.

Weavile @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Pursuit
- Knock Off

Weavile has a great STAB combination with amazing utility in Ice Shard, which can provide reliability in revenge killing and provide chil against threatening sweepers and Scarfers that other team members may struggle with, KO-ing them or, allowing Hawlucha to sweep. Knock Off is great utility that is immensely strong and can ease the entire team's matchup against Stall and defensively orientated opponents. Lastly, Pursuit is great for ensuring the revenge kill and for dealing with Psychic-types that Hawlucha could potentially struggle against.

Kartana @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 19 Atk
- Substitute
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance

Substitute Kartana with Volcarona and Hawlucha is a great combination that I used with my first successful team, this time however I went with Timid Speed-boosting Kartana this time. This was to easy the stall matchup and prevent this set from being easily revenge killed. With the support of Grassy Terrain Leaf Blade still deals great damage, and being able to set up on Toxapex and Ferrothorn with Swords Dance can allow many games to be cleaned.

Conclusion
There are a number of matchups that this teams struggles against, the first one that pops into my mind is Para-spam, while of course a play-style that annoys any team, this team relies alot on outspeeding the opponent as well as requiring often a setup turn, and while Zygarde is handled pretty well, Serperior can really damage this team if Volcarona is Paralysed. Steel-types that aren't weak to Fighting, such as Celesteela and particularly Magearna can run the game if Volcarona is limited by switch-ins, hazards or threatening revenge-killers, especially the strong, snowballing Magearna sets, such as Shift Gear and Trick Room. Speaking of which, Trick Room is a difficult matchup as this team lacks Taunt.

pokepast.es:

Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Tomb
- Rapid Spin

Volcarona @ Buginium Z
Ability: Flame Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Tapu Bulu @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
- Megahorn

Hawlucha @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Unburden
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 36 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Roost

Weavile @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Pursuit
- Knock Off

Kartana @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 19 Atk
- Substitute
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance

SM OU HO - Scarf Bulu, Substitute Kartana + Volcarona

Altervisi

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