SM OU Turn-Turn Medicham (Currently #24 on Ladder)

[UltraBallz]

Introduction​

With the introduction of my favorite mega pokemon (outside of the semi-worthless Mega-Ampharos), I was looking to find the best way to abuse Medicham in the OU tier. This team currently has me at #24 on the OU ladder with an ELO of 1829. If I continue to climb I will update my progress, but I really wanted to use this team as my first RMT since this is also my first time hitting the top 25 of the ladder.

Teambuilding Process​

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As I mentioned, I love Mega Medicham. Mostly for the reason that I hate fat mons and this thing obliterates balance/stall builds. High Jump Kick still has next to no switch ins; the breaking power of this mon is unmatched.

I decided to pair Medicham with Koko since the electric terrain boosts Medicham's tpunch allowing it to break through a common counter to Medicham, Mega Sableye. In addition, Koko gives Medicham a lot of free switches by U-turning on common fat mons like AV Tangrowth and Ferrothorn which allows Medicham to fire off high jump kicks. Between these two mons, the stall matchup becomes relatively easy as the only mon on standard stall that likes to switch in to Koko is Chansey, which obviously gets obliterated by Medicham

The next pokemon I decided on adding to the squad was Ash-Greninja, which acts as the main wincon for the team. Koko and Ash-Gren share a lot of the same checks in fat grasses, so I am able to put a lot of pressure on these mons. Also, Tapu Koko helps Ash-Gren by removing the bulky water types that can check it such as Tapu Fini and Spdef Toxapex. Just like Koko, Greninja also forces a lot of switches allowing you to U-turn into Medicham to break through your opponent. After Battle Bond and breaking from Medicham cleaning with this mon is very easy by clicking Water Shuriken

After finishing my offensive core, I needed to find Pokemon to glue this team together and take hits. I decided first on Ferrothorn because for one, it can switch in to opposing Ash-Gren and Tapu Koko, which my offensive core is very weak to. The main selling point to this mon over something like AV Tangrowth is spikes. All three of my above mons love spike support and make their jobs much easier. Also, I have no hazard control of my own so spikes allows me to pressure my opponent into defogging. In addition, this is a great check to Metagross that don't carry hammer arm.

So why did I decide to use Landorus Therian Formation? Well tbh I couldn't tell you the last team I built without this mon. The role compression is so valuable on an offensive team like this. It gives me momentum into my heavy hitters with U-turn, is my rocks setter, and gives me switch ins to Zygarde and opposing offensive Lando that I was otherwise lacking with HP Ice. Lando is a great defensive partner to ferrothorn allowing you to scout Metagross for Hammer Arm as well as hazard stack. Edit: See comments or below in set analysis as to why this was changed to Fly Z.

The last mon I needed was a scarfer to revenge kill offensive threats. Nihilego was the perfect fit as it revenges +1 Volcarona, +1 Charizard X, +1 Flyinium Gyrados, and the Tapus. Being able to switch in to Zard Y multiple times was another selling point as the rest of my team gets completely roasted by that mon. This also works as a great late game wincon due to beast boost after the opponents steels have been removed/weakened which is relatively easy with Medi and Koko. It is also able to absorb toxic spikes which is important for a team lacking hazard control.

Turn-Turn Medicham​

Medicham-Mega @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Bullet Punch
- Ice Punch
- Thunder Punch
​

An adamant nature was used for maximum breaking power. Most of the mons under the 100 speed tier also run attack boosting natures so I don't think adamant hurts Medicham too much. Examples of this include Tapu Lele, Band Zygarde, and Offensive Landorus-T. If these mons begin running speed boosting natures then I definitely would switch this thing to Jolly. 90% of the time you just click High Jump Kick and watch things drop. Ice punch is for defensive Landorus-T, which dies after an HJK, as well as Zygarde. Thunder Punch is another nuke with electric terrain support allowing you to 2HKO Mega-Sableye and destroy fat waters like Toxapex, Tapu Fini, and Slowbro. The final slot keeps switching between Bullet Punch and Fake Out. Fake out is nice to insure KO's on Fat Mons by chipping them before clicking HJK, while Bullet Punch is better for finishing off faster mons that can switch into one resisted HJK like Latios, Tornadus-T, and Tapu Koko. I'm running Bullet Punch now but feel free to make this change.

Tapu Koko @ Magnet
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Taunt
​

The electric terrain support for Medicham's Tpunch and to a lesser extent Nihilego's Thunderbolt is amazing. Magnet is used to avoid residual life orb damage while still hitting like a truck under terrain. HP ice to dent common 4x weak like Lando, Chomper, and Zygarde. U-turn is used over volt switch in an easy decision to avoid being trapped by Duggy. The final slot of taunt is pretty much mandatory on this team as it gives you something to counter Smeargle Sticky Web teams which are extremely threatening to this team. Also, taunt helps a lot in the stall matchup giving you a way to stop things like Chansey from healing.

Greninja @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Water Shuriken
- Dark Pulse
- Hydro Pump
- U-turn
​

This is pretty standard so I don't think I have to go into too much detail. U-turn in the last slot over something like spikes/ice beam is very nice for momentum into either Medicham or Tapu Koko. Specs is needed to nuke everything after battle bond transformation.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip
​

The spread for this ferrothorn is standard except for the nature, which is impish over the usual relaxed because I am not using Gyro Ball and I potentially can outspeed fatter mons after crippling them with T wave. Speaking of twave this is very nice for hitting common faster switch-ins to further support breaking by Medicham. This includes Tornadus-T, Both Zard Forms, and most importantly Volcarona, preventing Ferro from becoming setup bait. Power Whip is used for the attacking move to hit Tapu Fini and Ash-Greninja super effectively. Leech Seed is staple for recovery and chipping the opponent. Spikes supports the offensive members of this team amazingly.

Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 24 SpD / 36 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Fly
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This is about as standard as standard gets. The speed IV's are to speed creep other defensive Landorus-T's allowing me to hit them with HP Ice first. The one difference is using leftovers over the more common rocky helmet. This may be a personal preference but since Lando is expected to switch in to so many physical attackers, the longevity is verrrrrry nice. Especially for something like Zygarde, since this is the only good switch in the team has to that mon and helmet doesn't do anything to Zygarde. Because of this, I prefer the ability to switch in an extra time or two depending on how the battle plays out.

Edit: Leftovers and U-turn were change for Flyinium Z as was suggested below in the comments. This is very good to nuke fat grasses like M-Venusuar, Amoongus, and Tangrowth which open things up for Ash Gren and Koko. In addition is does over 50 to pretty much every non-resist so it helps pick up unexpected KO's on a lot of fat mons and really compliments the team a lot more than the original set did.

Nihilego @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
​

Nihilego is my scarfer running max speed to outspeed speedboosting sweepers such as Volcarona, Zard X and Gyarados after a QD/DD. Power Gem is the most spammable move and is great for revenging the previously listed Mons as well as Zard Y. Sludge Wave to kill the Tapus, most notably Lele which this team struggles with. HP fire is used to hit steels on the switch like Scizor and Ferro. Thunderbolt is used over Thunder in the last slot mostly due to Electric Terrain support. The 100% accurate move is much more desirable for this team especially since under terrain it is stronger than an unboosted thunder. It kills Ninja under terrain and always after rocks outside of terrain. It also always 2HKO's toxapex under terrain.

THREAT LIST​

#1: Tapu Lele. The only thing that resists both stabs is Ferro, which gets blown away by the super common HP Fire. That being said Nihilego can always revenge and can switch in if you feel very confident they aren't going for the Psychic move (ferro or greninja are in for example)

#2: Ash Greninja: Protean isn't as bad as you can pivot around to get in your koko or nihilego on an Hp Fire for example to threaten it. If Ash Gren gets off the battle bond tho you are in trouble. Goal should be to get your transformation off before they do which should give you a huge advantage in the battle.

#3: Smeargle/Sticky Webs: If your opponent gets up webs you are most likely losing. That is why taunt is so important on Koko. Lead it if you see a sticky web user and pressure your opponent so they don't get a free double back into smeargle. Tbh I played a couple shuckle teams on the ladder and those were actually much harder/impossible to deal with because it runs mental herb so the best strategy may be clicking X or flinching multiple times with Dark Pulse.

#4: Opposing Mega-Medicham: Well this should be pretty obvious that offensive teams have no switch ins to Medicham. That being said you can easily pressure your opponent to prevent them from getting free switch ins since you have a lot of fast hard hiting mons that can provide momentum with u-turn. If the Medicham comes in tho on one of your slower mons like Ferro expect to lose something. Best way to play this is to click whip or twave when Ferro is in to punish them from trying to hard into Medicham.

#5: SD Scizor: I am ranking this number 5 because tbh it isn't that common anymore seeing that Scizor is one of the only good Defoggers in the tier. If it is SD tho you have to immediately pressure it with Greninja/Koko/Medicham and don't let it set up. They can all live a +2 Bullet Punch and can dent scizor good enough to put it in priority range.

This being an offensive team it clearly is going to have weaknesses/limited switch ins to a lot of mons. That being said, your goal is to beat your opponent through momentum and agressive plays, not by trying to find switch ins to hard hitters. If you play passive with this team you are probably going to lose a decent amount. Having offensive checks are more important than defensive ones and I feel for the most part this team does have that.

CONCLUSION​

This is a very fun Medicham offense that rewards agressive plays and can destroy fat stuff/stall. It has obviously worked well for me as this is the highest I have peaked on the ladder. I'd love to hear your guys opinions on what you would change to help with the above threats. And as I said, I'll throw an edit in here if I end up peaking higher up than what I currently am. Thanks in advance for the help!

Importable

Medicham-Mega @ Medichamite
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Bullet Punch
- Ice Punch
- Thunder Punch

Tapu Koko @ Magnet
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
- Taunt

Greninja @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Water Shuriken
- Dark Pulse
- Hydro Pump
- U-turn

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Thunder Wave
- Power Whip

Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 24 SpD / 36 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Fly

Nihilego @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt

 

[GhostscoperHD]

Honestly, love the team. I've been looking for a M-Medi team with Gren and Scarf Nihil in it, and this is great. however, since that nihil is scarfed, you should consider Thunder > Thunderbolt. Though the miss is a huge drag, thunger. Thunder hits mons significantly stronger. It just means you a 70% chance of killing that mon.

252 SpA Nihilego Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Toxapex: 140-166 (46 - 54.6%) -- 5.9% chance to 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 SpA Nihilego Thunder vs. 252 HP / 24 SpD Toxapex: 172-204 (56.5 - 67.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery.

252 SpA Nihilego Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 170 SpD Celesteela: 164-194 (41.2 - 48.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Nihilego Thunder vs. 252 HP / 170 SpD Celesteela: 200-236 (50.2 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Nihilego Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Greninja-Ash: 256-302 (89.8 - 105.9%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Nihilego Thunder vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Greninja-Ash: 314-370 (110.1 - 129.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

It can revenge kill stuff like greninja, give that it hits. Remember, 70% chance to kill is much bigger than a 37.5 chance to not kill.

 

[UltraBallz]

Hello and thank you for the reply and happy to hear you like the team! The reason for tbolt on Nihilego was because of the electric terrain support. Tbolt picks up all the same OHKOs and 2HKOs thunder does when the terrain is up. That being said, you won't always have terrain so there is definitely still some merit to Thunder and is something I will test with a little more. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[Marigold]

Hi, I love the team sooooo much, but bulky grasses like mega venusaur, amoonguss, and tangrowth look like a pain as they wall everything bar medicham. Have you considered adding a z-fly on your defensive lando-t? Something like this...

Landorus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 28 SpD / 28 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Fly
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Calcs:

0 Atk Landorus-Therian Supersonic Skystrike (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Tangrowth: 426-504 (105.4 - 124.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 Atk Landorus-Therian Supersonic Skystrike (175 BP) vs. 248 HP / 44 Def Amoonguss: 656-774 (152.2 - 179.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 Atk Landorus-Therian Supersonic Skystrike (175 BP) vs. 232 HP / 180+ Def Venusaur-Mega: 342-404 (95.2 - 112.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Also catches this threat that could shred stuff for free if it gets in, though I get you have koko AND nihilego for it. Just an extra tidbit:

0 Atk Landorus-Therian Supersonic Skystrike (175 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 318-375 (107 - 126.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

It can also heavily wear down ferrothorn or mega scizor, which could be useful for a late game koko-ninja sweep:

0 Atk Landorus-Therian Supersonic Skystrike (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Ferrothorn: 175-207 (49.7 - 58.8%)
0 Atk Landorus-Therian Supersonic Skystrike (175 BP) vs. 248 HP / 116+ Def Scizor-Mega: 162-192 (47.2 - 55.9%)

Also helps you break speedpass (seeing how it does 50-60% through protect), which I could see being difficult to deal with. Once again, love the team and congrats on your ladder placements!

 

[Chokepic]

Hey, cool team you have here. I agree with the coment of z-fly lando. You have a koko for skarmory and teela, and a medi with t-punch, so you do not need rockium for those mons. Maybe with this change you should do rocky helmet> lefties on ferro.

Congratulations and good luck with the team

 

[UltraBallz]

Yeah I'm for sure testing this out! It sounds like a great idea. From what I realized I was having trouble with certain fat stuff like ferro, chansey, etc. if I lost my Medi. And as you said the team is already weak to venusaur so this should work wonders.

Plus its also nice to have a defensive lando that could actually beat M-Pinsir. that gets really annoying

Edit: Another thing to point out with fly Lando is EQ into Z-Fly always kills Mega Sableye with the mixed spread of like 252 HP 112 Def which is huge seeing as Sab loves to switch into Lando to prevent rocks and if you bop it with sky strike the battle is literally autowin with medi. So this suggestion is for sure the way to go. after playing with it later i'll update the RMT and importable to account for this change. thanks for your help guys :]