SM OU DD Zard X Offense

Martin

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Hi, not posting to show off a team or anything. I'm having a bit lot of trouble trying to get mileage out of this and I'm looking for some feedback on it. I'm on my tablet so sorry in advance if there are any formatting issues/typos anywhere.


Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

This is what I built around. The team aims to try and weaken the opposing team inti range for a Zard X sweep. I originally had Roost+3 Attacks because that's the set in this meta, but I ended up changing it for DD because the team lacked a consistent way of cleaning up vs offense, I often found myself in situations where I desparately wished I had DD, and the remainder of the team seemed to support a DD Zard sweep pretty well on paper anyway so I just rolled with it. EQ is used over Roost due to the team lacking a Heatran lure, meaning that Zard needs a way to remove it itself, and I decided that the longevity wasn't that big an issue with Latias' HWish in the back,


Ferrothorn @ Occa Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Def / 164 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Spikes

Ferro is just there to stack Spikes vs stuff while providing a Dragon and Fairy resist. Occa Berry seems weird at a glance, but it serves a few purposes that this team really benefits from. Alongside the listed EVs, Ferro is able to avoid the 2HKO from LO Kyurem-B's Ice Beam after SR while still retaining enough physical bulk to soft check stuff like Lando-T, Chomper etc. Occa allows it to take Kyu-B's HP Fire very comfortbly (avoiding IB 2HKO is important here because it forces it to use HP Fire, which deals less than Beam to Occa Ferro), which makes up for the team's inability to really take it on if it comes in vs Toxapex or whatever. Beyond this it is helpful for the Latios and Lele matchups, among other things, because it means that it can tank a HP Fire from either and retalliate back with Gyro Ball, which is important because they are also pretty awkward matchups especially in the cases of stuff like Odd Incense+HP Fire Lele, Soul Dew+HP Fire Latios, HP Fire MDiancie etc. which can otherwise hit with a STAB on switch-in, bluff the choice (in the case of Lele/Lati) and KO with HP Fire on the following turn, leaving me without defensive responses to them which is problematic when they take advantage of teammates. Needless to say, it's come in useful a lot.


Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head

Bisharp was added because, without the Lati+Bisharp combo, this team lacks any consistent counterplay to Victini... well, at all. It provides me with a secondary wincon or even early-game wallbreaker, which is very useful because it leaves me with more flexibility when it comes to game plan, and it gives me a secondary soft check to Lati/choiced Lele for when Ferrothorn is under a lot of pressure checking other stuff.


Latias @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Healing Wish
- Defog
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor

Running Latias over Latios because I feel that HWish is important for this build; Latias is nice for role compression because it compresses speed control, Defog utility, and speed control into one slot, although the lack of ability to switch moves blows at times, and between this and Toxapex I have no issues dealing with Volcarona due to the two covering both common Volca variants when used in conjunction.


Garchomp @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Outrage

Garchomp is my SR user of choice because it is capable of helping to weaken Lando-T for Zard X and because it gives me a non-Scarfer that sits above the unboosted 100 benchmark. Its ability to soft check Specs Koko is useful for taking pressure off of Ferrothorn to keep it in check without passive Lefties recovery (esp. useful for Kyu-B+Koko teams, where I absolutely need to retain Ferro's health to leave Kyub as a non-issue).


Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze

If I'm honest, Toxapex feels like the weak link on this team, but I can't seem to figure out wth it'd be changed to. My logic when picking it was to ensure that I had any common Volca variant covered defensively, and it was also nice because it provides TSpikes (was particularly good for an older variant which used SubTectDD Zygarde) while absorbing them so that they don't give Zard X a headache if its mega'd early. More often than not though it feels like it doesn't really do anything, which probably compounds a few of this teams issues, and it just kinda invites Psychics in for free etc.

Anyway, yeah if anyone has any suggestions that'd be grand. Some key issues that I can tell from my playtime include stuff like a reliance on Ferro to handle Fairies/Psychics, and there are a few other things that I can't remember off of the top of my head too. If you wanna use an import to test I've put it below. Thanks in advance!
Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Ferrothorn @ Occa Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Def / 164 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Spikes

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head

Latias @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Healing Wish
- Defog
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor

Garchomp @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Outrage

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze
 
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Deleted User 400951

Banned deucer.
I can tell right now, Koko is nasty for this team. Specs koko in particular is just super nasty. Diancie-Mega is also super harsh.
If you need a better answer to these fairies, then I'd run Venu Mega over Pex, standard set (I am short on time and am on mobile so I can't provide one here). With that, you would need a new booster, so I'd say DD zygarde. And with that, you are super weak to ice so run sp def Tran with rocks/e power/lava plume or magma storm/toxic. Also go psychic over psyshock on Latias, your team would much rather appreciate the special attack.
If triple steels worries you then you could use clef to check a ton of speed boosting sweepers alongside Latias.
Yeah, sorry this is rushed, really short on time lol.
 
sup bro, nice attempt at making zard x work. it's definitely one of the most unique yet sensible builds i've seen thus far. for starters though, you have a spot of trouble with a lot of 'mons. zygarde and lando-t can be super brutal to face since you don't have any sturdy ground immunity or resist. specs koko is annoying (but it isn't that hard to combat), mega pinsir (and by extension auto steela), and even sd kartana are massively overbearing to face.

>

i understand your desire to implement a way to weaken incoming landorus-t to make sweeping for dd zard easier, but a sturdier ground immunity other than latias is integral here. defensive lando-t > sd chomp is an easy switch that brings a massive amount of defensive utility to the table you previously lacked. u-turn is also a great addition to your team seeing as how vanilla defensive lando-t baits in plenty of grasses such as mega venu, tang, and bulu for charizard to snack on. while this change seems to be the best way to solidify your defensive backbone, you do lose the precious speed garchomp offered so an according change to account for this loss is necessary.
Landorus-T @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 240 HP / 216 Def / 52 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power Ice

>

this change seems to be another easy one. by running ash-greninja > bisharp you regain a huge source of speed that can potentially revenge kill specs koko, kartana, mega pinsir, and boosted lando-t when it comes down to it. water shuriken is just that great of a boon and is fundamental to keeping a lot under control. you also retain some semblance of a way to inhibit victini from ravaging you alongside latias. you do lose a secondary sweeper, but in all honesty, bisharp's in a bad spot right now and would only be an exceptional early game wallbreaker, which ash-greninja can also do. you're already running spikes so you can dedicate ash-ninja to an AoA Choice Specs set with the final slot being flexible to what you want. ice beam is what's usually ran to threaten amoonguss, tangrowth, and tapu bulu, however, you could try out surf as a tertiary water stab attack as it's accurate, pretty strong, and is just a decent alternative for safer revenge killing when dark pulse isn't going to cut it.
Greninja @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- Ice Beam / Surf

>

as for the last slot, there were quite a few mons that could actually fill the void with slight alterations to the team. the most consistent of which was physical z-koko > toxapex. stall was an exasperating matchup even with zard's ability to threaten it, there wasn't a flying resist, and an additional fast 'mon further alleviated issues this team had with its inherent weaknesses by offering another method of checking through the virtue of speed. toxapex presented itself mostly as a momentum sink for such an offensive team, but it did check some dangerous 'mons such as mega diancie, ash-greninja, and protean greninja. however, offensive pressure is key now to prevent having a hard time against them.
Tapu Koko @ Electrium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Wild Charge
- Hidden Power Ice
- U-turn
- Taunt

the team is geared towards supporting a zard-x sweep with a powerful wallbreaker in ash-greninja and the virtue that is spikes. healing wish support is great here so you can play recklessly early on which is excellent considering most teams aren't truly able to handle zard-x or even ash-greninja twice. landorus-t + ferrothorn is your defensive backbone to fall onto with tapu koko as a supporting catalyst to keep defensive backbones low and threaten stall alongside the two primary offensive members. also, i'd move 4 evs from defense to special defense on ferrothorn to hit a jump point.

really hope these help you out bro
 
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I would suggest you to replace gyro ball and rum thunderwave on Ferrothorn, to cripple things like Latios, Greninja ,which can even run a scarf and Zard at +1 speed can not outspeed them.
 

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