XY OU M-Sableye and other flashy friends

[papertank487]

EDIT: Seems I've forgot to include the ORAS tag. Apologies.

This is my Mega Sableye team that I've been tweaking quite a bit. It's had some success but I'm very open to any and all suggestions.


Sableye-Mega (M) @ Sablenite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Calm Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
- Snarl

This is the best set I've come up with for M-Sableye. He deals with both special and physical attackers very well, burning the physical ones as well as making use of his added physical bulk, while snarling and recovering against special attackers. By including both snarl and shadow ball he doesn't have any of the annoying hindrances that come with having either only a dark or only a ghost move. I usually mega evolve pretty quickly, as soon as I see a pokemon that potentially has a move that could be bounced back. Bouncing back has great success as they are not sure whether or not to suspect the Sableye mega as I also have Metagross and Diancie in the team. The goal is to keep M-Sableye alive as long as is needed to take out everything that can cause status or hazard problems, and bounce back as much as possible. When Sableye faces one of his counters, I switch him out for one of his friends below.


Talonflame (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance

Standard SD Talonflame is made particularly dangerous here, with hardly any rocks ever hitting the team thanks to Sableye. This also makes u-turn all the more viable for him. Swords Dance comes easily when opponents switch out while expecting a brave bird.

Dragonite (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 188 HP / 164 Atk / 156 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage

My dragonite is a great switch in for the odds and ends and random pokemon I face, as opposed to being good at neutralizing any particular threat. Extreme Speed, multi scale and pretty good neutral typing contribute to that. She also functions as a deadly sweeper should she get in a dragon dance. Outrage can obviously be stopped by fairies, but the extra damage has come in handy more than once by choosing it over dragon claw. Earthquake serves a very clear purpose of taking out Heatran.

Diancie @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Atk / 128 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock

This Diancie is extremely functional for my team, walling Talonflame, M Lopunny and most dragons like nobody's business. The 4x weakness to steel hurts, but its as simple as switching him out for pretty much anyone else on the team to tank those hits. It works great offensively as well, with a very useful mixed offense powered by two fantastic moves. I don't end up using toxic or rocks very much, as Sableye usually causes enough status/hazards on his own, so I am open to replacing these two moves.

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Standard Greninja set here, covering the type vulnerabilities my team faces. I've been toying back and forth with the hidden power and have settled on grass for now- hits Gastrodon and Rotom-W pretty well among others. Hydro Pump over scald since Sableye is doing a lot of burning. Like talonflame, u-turn is extremely viable since I hardly ever get hazards on my side.

Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Hammer Arm
- Zen Headbutt
- ThunderPunch

The icing on the cake for my team is this behemoth. With a monstrous attack stat boosted by choice band, every hit is a punishing blow. Bullet punch destroys any fairies that are giving Sableye trouble. The others provide great coverage for a variety of types that my team doesn't cover otherwise, as well as Zen Headbutt getting some nice STAB. The choice band is a hindrance occasionally as it always is, but Metagross' power more than makes up for the occasional suboptimal switchout.

Known weaknesses:
Mega Charizard Y- With solarbeam it takes out diancie and no one else really has an answer. Dragonite hopefully takes care of it.
Heatran- can be a stubborn pokemon if Dragonite is not able to earthquake it out. Lava plume burns hurt.


That's pretty much it. The team is based around keeping Sableye alive by switching him out when needed and countering, and allowing the others to thrive in an almost always hazard and status-less environment. Am open to any and all suggestions.

 

[Pent]

Hi! Welcome to Smogon, a good place to make new rivals and friends. I have a couple of problems with this team and how it's set up.

This team is rather good, but needs some changes.

First of all, MSableye shouldn't be running Snarl, instead use Dark Pulse.
I would run Sharp Beak > Leftovers on Talonflame, and replace U-turn with Roost.
Dragonite should run Lum Berry.
Diancie isn't viable in OU without it's mega. Instead try something like Tentacruel since you have nothing with Defog or Rapid Spin for Talonflame.

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp Def / 4 Sp Atk
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Acid Spray

Next is Greninja. Hidden Power Grass isn't viable on Greninja at all. Instead replace this with Gunk Shot and make the EVs 252 Spe / 216 Sp Atk / 40 Atk with a Naive nature to guarantee an OHKO on Azumarill. But, if you have your heart set on a Grass move, use Grass Knot.
Metagross should run Meteor Mash over Thunder Punch.

Hope it helps.

 

[papertank487]

Hi! Welcome to Smogon, a good place to make new rivals and friends. I have a couple of problems with this team and how it's set up.

This team is rather good, but needs some changes.

First of all, MSableye shouldn't be running Snarl, instead use Dark Pulse.
I would run Sharp Beak > Leftovers on Talonflame, and replace U-turn with Roost.
Dragonite should run Lum Berry.
Diancie isn't viable in OU without it's mega. Instead try something like Tentacruel since you have nothing with Defog or Rapid Spin for Talonflame.

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp Def / 4 Sp Atk
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Acid Spray

Next is Greninja. Hidden Power Grass isn't viable on Greninja at all. Instead replace this with Gunk Shot and make the EVs 252 Spe / 216 Sp Atk / 40 Atk with a Naive nature to guarantee an OHKO on Azumarill. But, if you have your heart set on a Grass move, use Grass Knot.
Metagross should run Meteor Mash over Thunder Punch.

Hope it helps.

Hey thanks for your response!
Just to respond to your individual points.

I run snarl over dark pulse because it gives the very important bonus of 100% chance of lowering special attack, which drastically hinders special attackers facing Sableye. I think that makes up for the lack of power compared to dark pulse.

I've been thinking about Dragonite's item a lot. Lum berry is definitely a good choice because it gets rid of the chance of burns and paralysis for him, but one good thing about this team is that I usually am able to curb most status moves with Sableye. This is why I like leftovers because it gives him a chance to regain multi scale after taking a hit. Is there a specific threat you think Lum berry is good for stopping?

For Diancie, I know he's UU but he serves a good niche in my team. He works great as unpredictable mixed attacker and has two type coverages that no other team member can over. I do lack a remover of hazards but with M-Sableye hazards are not a problem. Even so, I try to get talon out as quickly as possible to avoid rocks if I do end up getting them. The tentacruel you suggested wouldn't really add anything to my team(besides rapid spin), as I have a great burner in Sableye, a great water STAB with Ninja, and stealth rock on Diancie.

As far as Greninja goes, that's a good suggestion swap out HP for grass knot. I don't think Gunk Shot is necessary because I can u-turn to metagross, diancie or talon to take care of fairies. And for Metagross, Thunderpunch is very useful to take out various flying threats as well as the Azumarill threat you mentioned.

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[yogadhan]

Hello there,I have some suggestion for your team:I found that ESpeed DD Dragonite is quite redundant,but if you like to keep it that's fine.your Greninja,how about Hasty nature and change HP Grass with Gunk Shot,and give him 40 atk/216 Spa/252 spe.