SM OU Utterly Bog Standard HO Electro Screens (Turbo Through Low Ladder)

[Pinkachu]

Porygon-Z Electro Screens or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Banal​

PlNK back again with an even more boring HO team than my previous two, written solely for the purpose of wanking off one mon: Porygon-Z. Read this RMT as a proof of concept rather than a whole team, because the rest of it is so goddamn standard I was VERY hesitant to write this at all. It started out as Elec-Spam and slowly devolved into very bland Screens HO, with one little spark of uniqueness: The very Porygon-Z I wrote this entire thing for in the first place.

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE (Tapu Koko) @ Light Clay
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Taunt / Roost
- U-turn

Painfully standard Koko Screens support set. Leads in, does the fast, builds the wall, turns out. Also it leaves behind Electric Terrain which half of this team is supported by and one mon strictly relies on. I'm sure you can guess who. Also I guess it taunts things. TPP you gotta work with me mate what else can I say about a Dual Screens Koko? Ugh, 248HP gives it as much bulk as an electric chicken clam shell....thing can have. Max speed lets it outspeed every lead in the tier, unless you see the exceedingly rare Aerodactyl, who it only speed ties with, or they lead Scarf Landorus-T...for some reason.

EDIT:
As per RaikouLover's suggestion (and my original moveslot choice) of Roost > Taunt, I have added it in as an option for a more resilient Koko set that can more easily set up screens multiple times throughout the match. It weakens Koko's abilities as an anti-lead in return for survivability.

Spin2Win (Excadrill) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Tomb
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin

Tacked on rocks/spin support. If this wasn't absolutely required (or if any other remotely viable mon had Rapid Spin) I would run some other setup sweeper and make this team even dumber looking. Set is what used to be a niche mixup that very quickly became standard once I started running something similar on Landorus-Therian (hmmmmmmmm...). Lead this or Koko, depending on what your opponent's team looks like, and what you could use more at the very start of the match, rocks or screens.

Normality (Porygon-Z) @ Normalium Z
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Conversion
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Nasty Plot

The Duck, the Myth, the Legend. Resurrected from the bowels of OU VR Unranked comes this monstrosity, here to eat low ladder like it probably ate all of my teams, and probably my credit card details after I saved it in Builder (RIP me and Sphealisiphy's hail TR, you will absolutely NOT be missed.). Thunderbolt in first slot ensures Z Conversion transforms it into Electric Type, giving it an unholy powerful stab boosted by Adaptability and Electric Terrain, and that's not even mentioning the +1 to SpA and Speed. Ice Beam covers just about anything that Thunderbolt doesn't hit, and what little else there is, HP Fire covers. (Editor's note: Thunderbolt hits Magnezone harder than HP Fire does. Save that for Ferrothorn.) Modest is used over Timid here because 1. Pory can actually eat the Earthquake from the very Scarfed Landorus-T that Timid is for, provided you have Reflect up, and 2. Timid hits like a wet f*cking noodle. This mon alone munches defensive cores and checks like a fat kid in a candy store (insert picture of PlNK here), and without careful switch management, will easily wear down even the heartiest stall cores eventually. Even if Porygon Z doesn't outright sweep, it does more than enough damage to leave very little threat for the rest of the team to clean up with relative ease.

EDIT:
As per Slave of Passion's suggestion of Nasty Plot > HP Fire, I have added it in as an option. While it doesn't help you break through Ferrothorn any easier, other bulky threats like Chansey and Assault Vest Magearna are more threatened by NP.

SHE DUMB THICC (Magearna) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shift Gear
- Calm Mind
- Fleur Cannon
- Thunderbolt

Okay, there's the unique bit of the team out of the way, time to try and fill a word count about the most standard Electro Screens team makeup ever. Double Dance Magearna is well known as one of the most terrifying things to see in tier, with it's bulk allowing it utterly effortless setups, further bolstered by Dual Screens. Weakness Policy is used to further magnify that ability, allowing it to eat basically any attack in the tier under Screens and get 2 SpA boosts for the trouble of doing it. Thunderbolt is used as coverage here as to further capitalize on Terrain, as well as to hit most things that resist its Nuclear Bomb of a Fleur Cannon. (See: Heatran, Celesteela, opposing Magearna, basically any steel not named Ferrothorn or Excadrill). If you want more coverage at the cost of higher reliance on Policy and Soul Heart (and looking near identical to Porygon-Z), Ice Beam, or an appropriate Hidden Power (I'd suggest Fire for Ferrothorn, Excadrill, etc), is usable in place of Calm Mind.

Bubba Gump (Gyarados) @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Taunt
- Waterfall
- Earthquake

If you're familiar with my work in RMT (I mean, why wouldn't you be), then these last two mons might look awfully familiar. I respond to that by saying that you're exactly right and I copied these wholesale from my pure HO team, Mega Gyarados Stallbreaker HO, and adapted them to fit Electric Terrain as opposed to Psychic. Shrimpy here is present because 1. I love Shrimp Mega Gyarados as a mon, 2. Because without some sort of stallbreaker this team basically gets sh*t on by anything that thinks the words "Chansey" or "Unaware", and 3. Because Mgyara has a well known synergy with Screens HO and unfortunately I can't break every stereotype that team archetypes carry. Therefore, bog standard is what we're stuck with. If you happen by a hard stall team, Gyarados is a viable counter-lead to Mega Sableye, as upon Mega Evolution, it taunts through Magic Bounce and dodges a possible Prankster Will-o-Wisp. 224+ Speed outsruns Heatran at 0, Mega Lopunny and modest Mega Alakazam at +1. (Note: Max Speed Gyarados doesn't outrun Timid Mega Alakazam at +1, anyway), rest is dumped into HP for some semblance of extra bulk. If I worried more about Grass types that aren't named Tapu Bulu, then I would run Crunch>Waterfall, but as it stands right now, grass types are hardly a problem (see: Pory-Z, Hawlucha)

Nacho Libre (Hawlucha) @ Electric Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 28 SpD / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- High Jump Kick
- Stone Edge

To end out this bland bowl of vanilla ice cream with sprinkles I call a team, here's the Vanilla God himself, Hawlucha under Dual Screens. I'm not even going to insult your intelligence by rehashing what this mon does and how it does it, other than to say Stone Edge is used here over roost for the likes of Zapdos and Rocky Helmet Tornadus-Therian. You trade lastability for better offensive coverage, and very rarely in my experience have I regretted having it.​

Importable

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE (Tapu Koko) @ Light Clay
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Taunt
- U-turn

Spin2Win (Excadrill) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Tomb
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin

Normality (Porygon-Z) @ Normalium Z
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Conversion
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]

SHE DUMB THICC (Magearna) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shift Gear
- Calm Mind
- Fleur Cannon
- Thunderbolt

Bubba Gump (Gyarados) @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Taunt
- Waterfall
- Earthquake

Nacho Libre (Hawlucha) @ Electric Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 28 SpD / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- High Jump Kick
- Stone Edge

Replays

This team falling somewhere between the completely serious Mgyara HO, a team older than most users on PS and thus having replays out the wazoo, and the completely meme Bulu Sun TR, of which I made the lack of replays into a joke, is young, and hasn't had many matches worth saving replay of. Just boring sweeps. If I remember to, or can be asked, I will update this section further once more replays are accrued. As always, feel free to post replays in the comments and I will review them, and possibly add them here, with credit given to you.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-868340055

In conclusion, this is a solidly built, if bland Electro Screens team with a just enough twists to make it interesting. While its performance in high ladder has yet to be personally tested, what I DO know it can do is absolutely rip and tear low ladder, as I found out trying to climb back up from a few hundred points of ELO decay and a couple more hundred of tilt from not having played in close to 3 months (Thanks, Smash Bros.) HO as an archetype is obviously well suited to powering up your ELO, and this does exactly that; with additional safety afforded by screens and stallbreakers, all the while looking flashy with massive stat boosts and having your mons hit like the fist of an angry god. It's an absolute blast of a team to use.

To paraphrase Fantastic_Fuego on it:
"This team is so simple and boring even a toddler could use it.

It's really good."

 

[Slave Of Passion]

That last phrase lol, Fantastic_Fuego must be a sage whose thought reaches higher leves of abstraction. But I want to talk abou Porygon-Z.

What is Poygon-Z btw?

Let's take a look to some of Porygon (the original form) Pokédex entries:
"A Pokémon that consists entirely of programming code. Capable of moving freely in cyberspace." Red
"An artificial Pokémon created due to extensive research, it can perform only what is in its program." Crystal

Then it evolves to Porygon2 thank to an upgrade:
"Further research enhanced its abilities. Sometimes, it may exhibit motions that were not programmed." Crystal

Then they wanted the new virtual creation to work in alien dimensions. But...
"Its programming was modified to enable it to travel through alien dimensions. Seems there might have been an error..."
"It began acting oddly..." 4th gen

The intesting fact is that our artificial creation can learn a move called Nasty Plot by itself. I like to think about the implications of this, but then I stop due to how disturbing the conclusions can be... Could the AI that we created, existing in multiple dimensions of reality, be our doom..?

HP Fire --> Nasty Plot
Ferrothorn can't really do much to you, while NP allows you to more easily break bulky grasses and bulky teams in general.

I recommend discretion with this: Crunch + Iron Tail
Bisharp coverage is brutal against stall. You could try it with an adamant nature since, 1) no skilled player is hard switching Koko into Gyara 2) +1 Adamant Iron Tail OHKOes Bulu from full :3

Cool brainless cheese (I just wanted to share mi fascination about Porygon-Z)

 

[Pinkachu]

The intesting fact is that our artificial creation can learn a move called Nasty Plot by itself. I like to think about the implications of this, but then I stop due to how disturbing the conclusions can be... Could the AI that we created, existing in multiple dimensions of reality, be our doom..?

HP Fire --> Nasty Plot
Ferrothorn can't really do much to you, while NP allows you to more easily break bulky grasses and bulky teams in general.


Cool brainless cheese (I just wanted to share mi fascination about Porygon-Z)

While I like the idea of NP PZ, taking HP fire off of him (it?) wouldn't really change my ability to deal with ferro, who can chip me down with leech seed, protect, and power whip. These calcs about show that there would really be no change except the number of setup turns required:
+1 252+ SpA Porygon-Z Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 232+ SpD Ferrothorn: 292-348 (82.9 - 98.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+3 252+ SpA Adaptability Porygon-Z Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 232+ SpD Ferrothorn in Electric Terrain: 273-322 (77.5 - 91.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery (Mind you Ice beam does less here. +3 252+ SpA Porygon-Z Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 232+ SpD Ferrothorn: 182-215 (51.7 - 61%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery.)

Not to say I won't give it a try, but for just ferro, that switch provides no benefit. I'll also look into the switch on Gyara, even if Iron Tail haunts my dreams with how many key misses I've had using it.

 

[RaikouLover]

Great HO team. Just wondering if there is any feasibility of a back up screener or Roost on Koko for longevity. I think the team can be served by a second run at a screen sweep. Latios might be worth the look as Heatran / aground switch in with Memento.

I also don’t like P-Z. I think Victini can do a better job and really punishes LeLe Zam teams while improving your Tapu Bulu matchup. Right now the team looks a tad too reliant on Koko and E-Terrain.

 

[Pinkachu]

Great HO team. Just wondering if there is any feasibility of a back up screener or Roost on Koko for longevity. I think the team can be served by a second run at a screen sweep. Latios might be worth the look as Heatran / aground switch in with Memento.

I also don’t like P-Z. I think Victini can do a better job and really punishes LeLe Zam teams while improving your Tapu Bulu matchup. Right now the team looks a tad too reliant on Koko and E-Terrain.

Roost was what I originally ran on Koko, but people in OU room kept nagging me about not having Taunt. This team being as beige as it is, I relented. Really though, Roost is a perfectly good option, go for it.

In regards to a backup screener, it's a nice idea in theory, but cramming it on this team would open up more holes than it would patch by having additional screening capabilities. This team, being Hyper Offense, is already a bit top heavy having two leads, adding a 3rd strictly support mon would make the offensive capabilities of the team heavily neutered. If a secondary screener was to go ANYWHERE, it would be over Excadrill, at the cost of losing Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin, or running a very jank mon with an even jankier set, needing to run Dual Screens, Rocks, AND Defog/Rapid Spin. At the end of the day, if you're using the team, do what you want with it. I just can't suggest any of the above options for running a secondary Screens setter in good faith.

In regards to Bulu, PZ ruins his day no problem.
+1 252+ SpA Adaptability Porygon-Z Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Tapu Bulu: 124-146 (36.1 - 42.5%) -- 2.8% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery and Grassy Terrain recovery
+1 252+ SpA Porygon-Z Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Tapu Bulu: 248-292 (72.3 - 85.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery and Grassy Terrain recovery
Even with Bulu switching in and jacking my terrain, Thunderbolt into Ice Beam has a good chance of killing even the bulky Bulu spread.

PZ can also eat a Banded max Attack Wood Hammer with Reflect up. (Though the Ice Beam hitting this spread is an outright kill)
252+ Atk Choice Band Tapu Bulu Wood Hammer vs. +1 0 HP / 4 Def Porygon-Z in Grassy Terrain through Reflect: 216-254 (69.4 - 81.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

 

[Sickist]

Ferrothorn can't really do much to you

0 Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (150 BP) vs. +1 0 HP / 4 Def Porygon-Z: 136-162 (43.7 - 52%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

false

Anyways, Bolt Beam should be fine alongside Nasty Plot, as long as you can chip Ferro a little before attempting to sweep with PgZ.

EDIT: mb didnt see tbolt was in the first slot.

 

[Slave Of Passion]

0 Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (150 BP) vs. +1 0 HP / 4 Def Porygon-Z: 136-162 (43.7 - 52%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

It is still normal type in this calc, you take halved damage being electric.

e: this doesn't pretend to prove a point, but is a needed correction.