Introduction
At the beginning of the month I saw the description of Ability Unity and thought it sounded like a lot of fun. The moment I read about it I thought "Protean Porygon-Z would be a lot of fun." The only remaining pokemon from that original team are zapdos and porygon. The rest came from me seeing something similar to them and thinking that it was a cool concept. This team is pretty fun to play to me because I really like using volt turn cores and trolling with unaware.
The Team
Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Rest
- Toxic
I really like this set because I is really unexpected from most people. I don't think I have seen another defensive manaphy on this ladder. The main purpose of manaphy on this team is to shut down the blaring sun weakness of the rest of the team. Manaphy is a great switch into drought entei and typhlosion. It also tanks physical hits in general pretty well and can set up against some teams.
Porygon-Z @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Spa / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power Fire
Protean Porygon-Z is a revenge killer that also hits like a truck. I started with it being specs, but often the team would get run over something faster than specs but also resisted brave bird so I needed porygon to be fast. STAB bolt beam is really strong coverage while dark pulse deals with cress and mews while HP fire is good at revenge killing adaptability cobalion who gives the team a little bit of trouble.
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Def / 4 SpD
Calm
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
Sylveon is kind of the glue that holds the whole team together. It can basically wall any set up sweeper lacking steel or poison moves. Its wishes keep everything healthy while heal bell is very helpful in this stall meta as well as for waking up manaphy in a pinch.
There are 2 reasons that I choose to use sylveon over florges. It takes physical hits slightly better (florges takes special hits slightly better), and it has more HP against the very prevalent seismic toss. Since switching from florges to sylveon I have never run into a situation where being faster would help me.
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156
Calm
- Volt Switch
- Roost
- Defog
- Heatwave
Most people in this tier seem to use prankster zapdos but I find volt absorb to be really helpful vs other zapdos and in general making it a good check to other volt turn cores. Zapdos' main role in the team is to defog the hazards and counter brave birds, but it is also a great counter to the rare scizor and raikou that are running around.
Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful
IVs: 0 Spe
- Roost
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- U-Turn
Magic bounce mew is really strong in this meta. It's fat, it's annoying, and it's a great scout. The 0 speed IVs are for the slow u turn. Being slower than the opponent means mew can tank the hit (or bounce it back) and then bring out the right pokemon for the job (often staraptor). Also, Taunt is really strong in the meta right now shutting down so many pokemon.
Pokemon @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat
- U-Turn
- Frustration
Staraptor has one job; hit like a truck. Staraptor is a great revenge killer and wall breaker in one. Its brave bird is a force to be reckoned with, especially with gale wings. The only reason that I run staraptor over braviary is because staraptor outspeeds opposing braviary which if zapdos is dead gives this team a lot of issues. Raptor does a good job of breaking fat normal types with close combat which can be pretty hard for the rest of the team to shut down.
Threats
Lightning rod Crocune is near unkillable for this team and can set up on most of it. often has to be withered away by some mix of toxic, taunt, and frustration from staraptor. Not lightning rod variants are a lot easier to deal with because porygon and zapdos get to hit it too.
Contrary snorlax is very similar to crocune. Just doesn't die and can set up on most of my team. if it gets more than two boosts before I can get staraptor in on it there is a problem, and its boosts can't be taunted.
If staraptor is fainted for whatever reason then the only way to bring it down is usually to toxic away its heal bells with manaphy.
Mold breaker hippowdon is both a great counter to staraptor and really hard for mew to deal with because it ignores magic bounce. Manaphy and porygon can deal with it, but it is usually paired with a bulky grass and/or chansey (one team I've seen puts it with roserade and is particularly scary).
Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Scald
- Toxic
Porygon-Z @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Roost
- Defog
- Heat Wave
Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Roost
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
Staraptor @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Frustration
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Scald
- Toxic
Porygon-Z @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Roost
- Defog
- Heat Wave
Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Roost
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
Staraptor @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Frustration
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