Horizon
Introduction
Quick ORAS ramble I guess, but with this RMT it's really as simple as this: it's been a couple years since my last ORAS RMT, the meta has changed a lot in that time frame, and I stumbled into a team I really really liked. I touched on this a bit in my set dump post, but I somewhat begrudgingly played ORAS in UUPL and ultimately it ended up being really enjoyable. I wasn't particularly expecting this since the ORAS meta had seemingly been devolving more and more ever since it was originally freed from Conkeldurr. I don't mean that banning Conk made the tier worse by any means. It was just a natural progression for the tier to go from being so free with Conk gone to eventually stabilizing again. It was a matter of time for this to happen, but the tier seemed to be really heading in a bleak direction especially around the time of UU snake 3. Less people were actively building than ever and a lot of that tour devolved into a matchup-y cheese fest. Slurpuff was banned afterward and I can confidently say I won't ever miss that thing. Overall I would say this is the most fun I had with the meta itself in many years, obviously aside from immediately after Conk was first banned and so much more became viable. Still, that was due more to the new toy syndrome more than anything. Even around the time of last UUPL, the tier was already starting to annoy me again. I even said on multiple occasions that while Conk was 1000x more broken than Mienshao was (it wasn't), Shao had a valid case to be even more infuriating to deal with, given how immortal it is and how braindead a lot of its usual interactions can be. The tier has since adapted to Mienshao quite well. I really don't consider anything right now problematic in the slightest and that hasn't been the case very often in the tier's history.
As for the team itself, I feel like it puts some recent-ish trends in perspective. If there are two things I have gassed up maybe more than anything else recently, it has to be Wisp and Virizion. I've posted about both in my thread in the past, but I think it's swung even further since back then. Florges and clerics in general are much much less prevalent in the faster, more upbeat meta. There are a good amount of active players that won't go near Florges or bulky Fairies in general. I have used one Florges myself across the last two UUPLs. That wasn't particularly planned; I just think it's harder than ever to risk being passive with how aggressive the meta has progressed to become. This naturally makes Wisp all the better, as ORAS burns are super busted and there is much less common counterplay as a result. Virizion has seen a huge rise this tournament especially. Its development has honestly been hilarious as someone who's played the tier for many many years. In the old days it was like "yeah this thing is pretty bad but it checks the right boxes on occasion" and pretty much everyone saw it that way. These days however, its unique blend of Speed tier, sweeping potential, incredible defensive utility as an offensive mon, etc. have really pushed it into the spotlight. I have gone as far as to say its surpassed Roserade as the best Grass type right now and don't think that's incredibly far fetched anymore. But anyway, when I built this team, I was facing my good friend Wunka, who is the driver of the 'Florges Bad' bandwagon, so naturally I put as many burn mons on a team as possible and it went about as well as I could have hoped. I ended up liking the team itself a lot and felt compelled to write a kajillion words about it.
In-Depth
Absol-Mega @ Absolite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 248 Atk / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Overview - This set might look pretty dumb to those who haven't seen much of the tier in recent years, but this has essentially become The Absol set. Through the years and especially when Conk and Florges were much more prevalent, Mega Absol was basically non existent. It was almost exclusively something like an SD sweeper set or Pursuit in more niche settings. I really was never a fan of either one due in large part to its horrific bulk and general lack of utility outside of those desired roles. ORAS has always been a very restricted tier, so trying to fit a super frail one-dimensional mon was always a tall task. It wasn't until I realized how good Wisp was as a move that I really gave Absol much thought beyond the traditional sets. Then I just did some theorizing and was like oh, this thing actually is annoying as shit if you combine Wisp + Tect to really mess with hazard setters and also mitigate the awful ORAS mega Speed mechanics. Another huge benefit of this mon is how well it deters mons like Mienshao early. That in particular was such a huge struggle at times in the immediate post-Conk meta. The rise in Shao and general decline of bulky Fairies really made the stars align in this things favor, and it really is a great mon in the new metagame. It also was a great option into the Froslass HO teams that plagued the meta prior to the Slurpuff ban.
Interactions - While I always liked this set a lot in a vacuum, I basically never loved any of teams with it. Despite this set's added utility by virtue of deterring rockers and Mienshao, it's still a frail mono-Dark type. It's always going to be a bit of a challenge to find the right blend around it that does what you need defensively while also actively taking advantage of what it offers. The most obvious synergy this thing has is of course with Moltres, who generally has a very hard time finding spots on teams too due to its crippling rock weakness. The disparity in viability between the tier's rockers and removers is pretty obscene, but Absol goes a very long way in bridging that gap since Magic Bounce is broken as shit. Even mons like Mega Aggron and Seismitoad that threaten Absol have to think twice before mindlessly mashing rocks and also do not enjoy Wisps by any means. Aside from supporting Moltres, Absol is just great here in getting some momentum rolling in the team's favor, preventing rocks, burning everything, and throwing out incredibly powerful STAB Knock Offs. It isn't expected to do more than it should be on this 6 and generally fits in very well.
Moltres @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Overview - I think Moltres is genuinely an incredible option in this tier, but it has a very clear drawback in its rocks weakness which naturally makes it much harder to throw on teams. I have experimented with it more and more in the last couple years, especially once things got less restricted with Conk gone. Very much of the 1200 times I've gassed up Wisp as a move so far directly apply to Moltres as well. It quite possibly is the best Wisper of them all when it really gets going. The main set I had been messing up with had been a bulky Defog set, often paired with another remover to establish a real lock down type of playstyle. I do think those teams are still pretty solid, but as a whole, bulkier teams are bound to be more matchup dependent than more upbeat ones, especially in this tier. Also it really fucking sucks that this gen Defog + Flame Body is illegal. I originally had bulky Defog on this 6 when I built the team, then was like yo, Talonflame has literally flipped gen 9 on its head just through Flame Body burns. I got Absol and Emp, why not give it a shot? There isn't much in this tier that can actually punish Mienshao actively spamming U-turns and Regenerating off damage. Flame Body Moltres might be the single best at it available. In general the team enjoyed the additional offensive punch, and this thing is scary as hell if rocks aren't digging into it and there aren't any clerics on the other side.
Interactions - This completes the main Burn spam core with Absol. As noted, Mega Absol deterring rockers goes a long way in keeping Moltres healthy and effective without needing to spam Roost over and over. However, it can skew some of Absol's favorable matchups even more. Think Absol leading into Mega Aggron. Absol Protects on turn 1 as they're forced to attack. Turn 2, Wisp is a very viable play, so they can't really afford to mash rocks into a possible a Magic Bounce. They attack again and you can just hard Molt for a possible Flame Body burn or at worst a very favorable matchup. There are a lot of mini interactions like this that are so favorable for the user purely because of how ridiculous ORAS burns are, especially in the current metagame with the decrease in clerics. Aside from general burn shenanigans, its speed tier is actually really incredible for this metagame, doing a great job of deterring middling speed breakers like Mamoswine, Heracross, Nidoking, etc, that can really put in work versus usual balances or bulky offenses. The matchups into a couple of those are why I really favor a more offensive set here aside from damage purposes and progress making. Fire Blast is very much preferred over Flamethrower for those reasons. You only ever click a Fire move for the damage here, since a lot of the time you're only clicking Wisp anyway.
Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
Overview - Alright we're getting to the part where these mons are a bit more self explanatory. Everyone knows what Doublade does. It sets up, it offensively checks things, and it has generally very solid utility in one slot. One of the main knocks on Slurpuff was its centralization, essentially forcing Mega Aggron, Doublade, or bulky Metagross on many teams just so they would not immediately lose to it. I feel like this somehow became an issue I had with it in my head, but I have used it basically more than ever as of late. As the tier has sped up, it has done a lot less of mashing into fat balance cores and making no progress, and has done a lot more sweeping instead. It 'offensively' checks mons like Mega Aero, Shao, and others, and it has really taken advantage of the uptick in Slowking and Jellicent as teams' bulky water. Doublade goes a long way here in giving the team some of the defensive utility it needed to round out while also giving it a clear gameplan to play towards as a sweeper.
Interactions - Doublade is an invaluable partner for Moltres. The bird is an incredible offensive check to basically all Fighters and Steels that don't have Rock coverage. However, this is also applies to rocks being up as a whole, so you naturally need some sort of other defensive relief against these mons. Doublade handles or soft checks basically all of them, but especially opposing Virizion, Cobalion, Heracross, and Metagross. It also checks Mega Aero pretty well in tandem with Seismitoad. This team is relatively slow, so loading up on two strong defensive checks goes a long way. Aside from giving some much needed overlap defensively, Doublade really gives the team something clear to play towards other than just trying to burn everything possible. As a sweeper, the burns dished out by Absol, Molt, and the Scalders chip down its main checks in the tier's Waters and Darks, giving it a much easier time later. An interaction that really stands out to me is that a burned Mandibuzz doesn't check Doublade at all anymore once it gets going.
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Overview - Seismitoad is Seismitoad. You're basically always going to have Scald, Rocks, and Defense investment and it'll do roughly the same thing. In any case, it will basically always be one of the most reliable hazard setters in the tier, provide an invaluable Scald immunity, and check prominent meta threats like Aero or whatever else. There are a bunch of viable moves for the last two slots, and on this specific team, it was a really rare combination. I opted for Refresh and Grass Knot in the last two slots; two moves I barely use in general, let alone together. This team is fine overall into Waters, but between Moltres and Doublade and a non Lum Viriz, I needed that glue option that could throw itself into all of them. This will obviously beat any opposing Seismitoad very easily one-on-one, since Grass Knot is exceptionally rare, and it does not even have to fear being crippled by Toxic over time. In short it's just a good catch all that really tied the team together in some very common interactions. I would not say it is close to the best set in most situations, but it fills an invaluable niche in these lineup of mons specifically. Toxic is rightfully the standard set, but with all the burns flying around, it did not seem particularly important here especially.
Interactions - Speaking of, the main appeal of this set is how well it pairs with Mega Absol. If Absol leads into an opposing Seismitoad, sure it can Knock or Wisp and chip it down, but that is not always the ideal line, even if it does benefit Doublade long term. Having the option to Protect then hard to my own Toad is a very very strong option, as they'll likely not feel particularly threatened and try to stay in. As mentioned this shuts out any other Seismitoad in the mirror and can go a long way in playing safer around other toads and ultimately shutting the opponent out of the hazard war. One Grass Knot landed on it and thats a Doublade check very chipped and Empoleon has a much easier time keeping them off later if it comes down to it. It basically does the same thing into Slowking once it is inevitably burned by Moltres. Sure Absol can hard into a predicted Toxic, but Seismitoad will perma wall most Slowking just with Refresh, and Grass Knot + burn does more than enough to pressure it. Aside from shutting out other Waters, it just does the defensive stuff you always want Seismitoad to do, and you can't really go wrong throwing it onto teams.
Virizion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Overview - I talked about it above, but Virizion has seen a huge rise as of late. It took me and a lot of others a while to realize just how much role compression this thing can fit into one slot. The speed, typing, and stat distribution is super clutch and it is much more versatile than it may seem at a glance. The two STAB moves are a given, but beyond that, it can basically use any combination of Synthesis, SD, Stone Edge, and Zen. In this context, I opted for a pretty unusual set, being Life Orb STABS, Zen, Synthesis. Basically, the premise is that there is not much of a need for it to sweep itself here. In this context, It seemed more important to apply more immediate pressure while also still fulfilling its usual defensive responsibilities. There are surprisingly few mons that can come into this combination of moves safely, especially with the LO boost that makes it not weak as piss. I generally hate Life Orb as an item, but Synthesis mitigates the recoil drawback and remain a more consistent offensive check to things like Hydreigon over time.
Interactions - Virizion is usually very relied upon to provide burn counterplay for its teams. The most obvious example is switching into Scald users, but it is usually to check to things like Wisp Jellicent as well. However, the combination of Absol, Moltres, and Refresh Seismitoad really diminish the need for it in that role. Life Orb 3 atk is a really fucking strong set, even without setup. LO Zen in particular pressures the shit out of Crobat on the switch, clean OHKOs Roserade from full most of the time, picks off slightly weakened Hera or Nidos, etc. Shit is goes a long long way in really limiting the opportunities of those middling speed kind of breakers and simply applying more pressure than you would generally expect from a Virizion. Overall it just gives the team some much needed offensive pressure, Speed, and a way of immediately threatening out Mienshao, Waters, and a bunch of other stuff. Sick mon and I loved this set in particular way more than I expected going in. Sure you miss SD sometimes, but once you double this thing into enough Roses and they die immediately, you start to forget about it.
Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Overview - I guess I need to figure out how to write 2 paragraphs about this thing despite it being the least glamorous mon on this team by a wide margin. As I've said a few times recently, if I had to do my ORAS VR today, I would have a hard time not putting Empoleon at least top 3. It has done loosely the same thing since the beginning of this tier, but it has only gotten better and better as the metagame has evolved. So many of these 'faster paced' teams flying around are only possible because this thing jams so much utility into one slot. Removal in this tier is absolutely horrendous for the most part, but not only is it the only good one, it is incredibly useful defensively. Beyond that, it is quite literally the best enabler in the tier of all the other strong stuff and it is not close, plus Emp has a million viable utility moves that all have a place depending on what you need. You basically always want Scald and Defog, but from there it is very flexible. Here I opted for Ice Beam primarily to threaten things like Dragons and Rose, and Roar was almost exclusively there to prevent Suicune from straight sweeping if it burns Virizion. Seismitoad can force a Rest and it becomes 1000x more manageable. Roar is also just the safest default, mitigating the threat of a lot of other bullshit like Sub Gyara or whatever else.
Interactions - I've used this term a lot to this point, but more than anything, Empoleon glues this whole thing together. It provides reliable removal alongside Moltres and gives a much needed catch-all check to special attackers. It absolutely loves the rest of the team burning everything in sight, as not much can switch into it as is hilariously enough, but even more so if its answers are on a timer as is. It is not uncommon for opposing Seismitoad to eat a Wisp or a Grass Knot then Emp has a much easier time dealing with it if needed. Also, one of the more common mons people use to pressure Empoleon is Mienshao, which will probably just get burned by Molt as it Knocks of U-turns out. Doublade counters other Virizion if Molt doesn't also actively abuse that, so Emp's life really is about as easy as it can be in this setting. Not much else to say. Empoleon does its job and does it well on any team, and provides invaluable utility to make the overarching goal of the team all the more feasible.
Threat List
Replays
UUPL 2023 Week 5, Pak vs Wanka - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6uu-682542
UUFPL 2023 Week 4, Sylvi vs Scald - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6uu-688052
Conclusion
Overall, this is my favorite kind of team. When I was building it, it honestly seemed dumb as shit at first. I mean, there are literally 5 ways to burn shit across 4 different mons. Before posting it in my team chat I was like "alright I've either solved the metagame or shit on a sidewalk idk which". For the most part I don't think my teams are ever super cracked out, but coming up with a new concept like Molt Absol wisp spam in this case always gets me really excited. The more I tested and theorized the more I was like damn this actually does have a lot of redundant (good) defensive synergy versus most of the relevant metagame, especially once I tacked on all the dumb techs. I was very very happy with how it turned out and it is honestly one of my favorite teams I have built in a long time.
I probably won't be playing much Pokemon at all for the foreseeable future. This UUPL was mostly enjoyable but the ending was pretty frustrating for a multitude of reasons. Mostly, I felt like I was sinking too much time into this game again by the end. Still, it makes me happy to say that ORAS is like genuinely a good tier again and hopefully more people will pick it up moving forward. It's night and day compared to what it was however many years ago.
Import (spreads are not what I actually use)
Absol-Mega @ Absolite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 248 Atk / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Play Rough
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Moltres @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Air Slash
- Roost
- Will-O-Wisp
Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Grass Knot
- Stealth Rock
- Refresh
Virizion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Leaf Blade
- Zen Headbutt
- Synthesis
Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Defog
- Roar
Ability: Justified
EVs: 248 Atk / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Play Rough
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Moltres @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Air Slash
- Roost
- Will-O-Wisp
Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Grass Knot
- Stealth Rock
- Refresh
Virizion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Leaf Blade
- Zen Headbutt
- Synthesis
Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Defog
- Roar
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