alright my return to rmt
Overall looks: Not bad, although may be too defensive. The only pivot moves you have are on choice locked offensive Pokemon, meaning it's REALLY hard to ease prediction when pivoting in strong attackers from your defensive mons. Notably, Corviknight almost always runs U-Turn simply because it can easily switch in its hard-hitting teammates without risking any damage on them. I'm also not sure about Defog + Hazards. In my experience, if you want to get rid of hazards while keeping up your own, you should use Rapid Spin mons, notably the Paradox Donphans. Ferrothorn's longevity is great, but it often can't force both Rocks and Spikes up throughout a whole game.
Alright individual mons
I'll start with the mega since you asked about it, so first, Mega Lopunny. Lopunny is no bad mega by any means, but it does have its hard matchups especially in this meta. MLop is one of the more versatile Megas, as it can function pretty well even without a lot of team support. However, Reversal and Ice Punch are quite...rare moves on modern MLop sets. Due to Lop's low bulk, you would never want to bank on it getting to low enough health for Reversal to actually be functional. Meanwhile, Lopunny's new move Triple Axel in Generation 8 found its way onto National Dex MLop sets, as it is a significant power boost to the measely 75 BP of Ice Punch.
With that being said,
Lopunny-Mega (M) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Scrappy
Happiness: 0
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Frustration
- U-turn
- Fake Out
Most notably, U-Turn and Fake Out replace Reversal and Ice Punch. Reversal's removal is obvious, as I just explained its flaws. Even though Triple Axel Lop was considered a side-grade to U-Turn in Generation 8, I think U-Turn is more valuable now in a metagame where there are many more defensive checks to MLop. Alomomola is a common example, notably unphazed by MLop's attacks.
252 Atk Lopunny-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 169-199 (31.6 - 37.2%) -- 85.6% chance to 3HKO
Mola will proceed to eat another hit, Toxic, Protect for more damage, and switch out, healing 33% thanks to Regenerator. The same goes for other walls Toxapex and Corviknight, other defensive walls that can stuff hits and hit back with either Toxic or Brave Bird / Body Press, respectively. If you anticipate a wall switching in and click U-Turn, you can switch out to your powerful attacker of choice and threaten them out, notably racking up hazard damage in the process. As for the other minor adjustments, Frustration is to prevent Ditto from doing significant damage with the copied Frustration if they have max friendship, and Close Combat is a more alternative option compard to High Jump Kick. You usually want MLop to hit its STABs, especially against problematic, Fighting-weak mons like Chansey or Ferrothron.
Notes:
- If people see Lopunny in team preview they KNOW its MLop and they KNOW it can destroy them, by no means is MLop secret. In fact, many teams I play against actually lead it thanks to an early Fake Out and U-Turn providing both damage and scouting capabilities.
- The Tera type on a Mega doesn't matter since it can't Mega and Tera; it has to Mega.
- Scrappy is its Mega ability, not its base ability. Thus, you should always immediately Mega unless...I don't know, they obviously are going to Thunder Wave and you have Limber as the pre-mega ability.
Ferrothorn -> Landorus-T: Ok, so here is my reasoning. With Mega Lopunny as the centerpiece of the team, the rest of the team must be built with it in mind. Notably, hazards can also be important in facilitating a late-game MLop cleanup. The reason why Lando is the preferable Rocks setter over Ferro is because of the additional defensive counterplay against many mons. Lando provides both a Ground and an Electric immunity, with the Ground one being the most notable thanks to Choice Scarf Lando. Intimidate helps mitigate sweeping attempts from Dragonite and Gouging Fire, both of which are receiving pretty high usage rates lately. Finally, a pivot move in U-Turn helps bring in the team's other offensive mons.
Landorus-Therian @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Tera Type: Water
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
This is, again, the default Smogon set, so I'll go over it briefly. I already explained the significance of U-Turn and Rocks, and EQ is quite self-explanatory (I know what some of you are thinking atm; I'll address it later.) Toxic is used to provide an extra level of security against the aforementioned sweepers as well as defensive walls that don't appreciate status, the most notable being Alomomola. Even though Leftovers is the default item, Rocky Helmet allows Lando to chip down the physical sweepers along with mitigating their damage via Intimidate. Finally, Tera Water allows Lando to more comfortably check weather teams, notably Barraskewda and its huge Banded attacks.
Toxapex -> Galarian Slowking: Galarian Slowking is basically Specially Defensive Toxapex but with offensive pressure. Glowking's biggest strengths are Future Sight and Chilly Reception, allowing it to partner greatly with MLop. Future Sight can cripple physical walls like Toxapex and Moltres, while MLop can threaten out physically frailer mons.
Slowking-Galar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Future Sight
- Sludge Bomb
- Chilly Reception
- Flamethrower / Ice Beam
Tera Water allows Glowking to be a better check to weather teams, especially Rain, as it usually abuses fast Swift Swimmers to overwhelm opponents. It can also stomach Zard Y's Fire Blast in a pinch. Because Lando is already Toxic, I opted to sub out Thunder Wave for Flamethrower. This notably hits Mega Scizor, who can use Glowking as setup fodder and boost past Lando's Intimidate. However, because I have little experience with Glowking, Ice Beam may be potentially better. This hits the Ground Flyings, or just Lando and Gliscor, as well as hitting other Grounds for decent damage. Glowking cannot hope to live many Ground hits, but with Tera Water and a proper reason it can use Ice Beam to finish off these threats, especially if already damaged.
Corviknight -> Samurott-Hisui: I feel like Lando and Glowking round out the team's defensive core, so Hisuian Samurott piles more on the offensive pressure. I did remove Spikes from the team by removing Ferrothorn, but Hisuian Samurott can fill that gap. Additionally, its Knock Off support can remove Rocky Helmet and Heavy Duty Boots. The former can cripple MLop and chip it away, while the latter removes a key item in defensive Pokemon's longetivity.
Samurott-Hisui @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sharpness
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Tera Type: Dark
Jolly Nature
- Ceaseless Edge
- Razor Shell
- Knock Off
- Flip Turn / Sucker Punch
Choice Scarf Flip Turn adds another fast pivoter to the team. Ceaseless Edge adds on the hazard game with Spikes. Razor Shell and CEdge both act as great STABs thanks to Sharpness. Tera Dark stacks even more damage on the spammable Ceaseless Edge. If you want, you can forgo the additional pivoting move by slotting in Sucker Punch. This is an unconventional move, but it can be a useful last ditch effort against damaged sweepers that have already set up.
Tapu Koko -> Raging Bolt: As much as I love Specs Koko, it kind of fell off as an attacker. Rather, it support teams so chock full of Future Paradox mons that one is convinced the ChatGPT invasion is inevitable. Raging Bolt has always been a reliable partner to MLop thanks to its offensive pressure with Calm Mind. With its ability to switch moves as well as its Dragon STAB, it can reliably hit Alomomola even after it Teras to Dragon, its most common Tera type.
Raging Bolt @ Dragonium Z / Leftovers
Ability: Protosynthesis
EVs: 76 HP / 48 Def / 252 SpA / 132 Spe
IVs: 20 Atk
Tera Type: Fairy
Modest Nature
- Thunderclap
- Thunderbolt
- Calm Mind
- Draco Meteor
The moves are all standard, so I'll explain the others. Firstly, Calm Mind Raging Bolt specifically adds sweeping potential to the team. Up until now, the only mon that can actually "win" a game against a sufficiently chipped team is Mega Lopunny, and that simply isn't enough. Raging Bolt is especially powerful when you consider that Mega Lopunny can chip down Special walls early game, most notably Chansey and Clodsire. However, in the case that Mega Lopunny fails to chip them down enough (or you just like using late-game Lop), Bolt has Dragonium Z to break past Chansey and especially Clodsire. If not, you can opt to use Leftovers and Tera Fairy for a more midgame threat. This may not be the best at outright winning games, but it can leverage Fairy's good defensive profile as well as Leftovers recovery to be a big nuisance to your opponent. Lastly, this EV spread outspeeds uninvested Landorus (basically all defensive variants) as well as living a +2 Superpower from Ogerpon after Rocks. Don't take that from me, Smogon said that.
Ogerpon-W OR Rillaboom: I initially was dead set on Ogerpon being the better of the two, but after some consideration, I felt that Rillaboom had potential (definitely not because I just won a game using this exact Rilla set). First, I'll go over why Rilla fits in this modified team. Despite all of MLop, Bolt, and potentially Samu packing priority, STAB Grassy Glide is still very valuable. The real kicker is Wood Hammer, as it can break through quite literally any wall that isn't named Corviknight or Heatran. I have already explained the significant of Knock Off in helping MLop, and the same applies here. U-Turn has the same value as any other pivot move in the team. In short, I feel like Rilla's strong wallbreaking power can warrant a place on the team.
H O W E V E R
Ogerpon-Wellspring @ Wellspring Mask
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Tera Type: Water
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Ivy Cudgel
- Power Whip
- Superpower / Play Rough
This classic Ogerpon set is the definition of "setup, click button, click button, click button, ggs i won shake my hand". The reason Play Rough is an option is due to Mega Lopunny already threatening a lot of mons using its Fighting STAB. However, I personally find that Ogerpon's access to Superpower allows it to threaten more mons in general. Regarding Ogerpon role on the team, it is used to threaten contact ability mons, such as Flame Body Moltres and Volcarona and Static Zapdos. These mons can severely punish Mega Lopunny, especially if it clicks U-Turn, allowing Zapdos in particular to be an annoyance for this team. Ogerpon's Ivy Cudgel bypasses these contact abilities, allowing it to threaten them without fear. Additionally, its great Speed stat allows it to switch in and sweep easily once the fast mons are dealt with via priority, the team's speedsters, or hazard damage.
(This is also what I meant at the Lando section; Rillaboom's Grassy Terrain may not be effect as it may not be on the team, meaning EQ will now be at full power)
