Tales from Battle Spot Singles blog #2 — Double steel Pheromosa & Lele in "God's Plan"
This month's post provides a brief overview of a Pheromosa team that has been around since at least season 7 (late 2017) and still sees play in some forms:
QR code: https://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/rentalteam/usum/BT-09FF-4711
Relevant blogs: http://parabako.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-279.html ;
http://parabako.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-273.html
Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/83b74805e6240996
1) Team overview:
Please refer to the pokepaste above for a full sample team.
Pheromosa:
As far as glass cannon gameplay is concerned, Pheromosa has to be among the worst offenders. Even so, it requires a degree of finesse to pilot successfully and is definitely not for everyone.
Special mention needs to be made about the importance of Stealth Rock for some of Life Orb Pheromosa's damage ranges. Hitting Drill Run on things like Blaziken (75% chance to OHKO, OHKO after rocks) and 252 HP Aegislash (guaranteed 2HKO after rocks) on the switch is made more palatable, not to mention making some heads up matchups like Tapu Koko (87% chance to OHKO, OHKO after rocks) and bulky Gengar (18% chance to OHKO, OHKO after rocks) more consistent if Stealth Rock is on the field. Toxapex also goes from a 3HKO to a 25% 2HKO.
There is also the matter of lead matchups. Pheromosa's U-turn is a powerful tool to break Focus Sashes on things like suicide lead Landorus and Breloom, as well as providing a means of escape from disadvantageous lead matchups.
But it is lead Greninja in particular, against which good reads need to be made: Mixed Scarf Greninja outright OHKOs with Gunk Shot and needs a 6% chance high roll to do the same with 4 SpAtt Ice Beam but needs to assume that Pheromosa isn't Focus Sash in doing so; Life Orb Water Shuriken needs 4 Hits to OHKO 81% of the time while surviving U-turn thanks to Protean, but—like Sash Greninja—needs to be wary of a hard switch into Psychic Terrain; finally, any kind of Z-move/Torrent Greninja is forced to switch out turn 1.
Tapu Lele:
Tapu Lele is Pheromosa's Psychic Terrain synergy against the Shadow Sneaks, Bullet-and-Sucker Punches and Water Shurikens of the world. Timid Scarf hits 241, which, like Pheromosa, is faster than +1 Gyarados, but, unlike Pheromosa, can actually damage it outside of mega form. Lele also creeps past non-speed natured +1 Charizard Y/X and is able outspeed and severely dent +1 Porygon Z (60%+ on both Psychic and Psyshock), neutral Volcarona (43% OHKO Psyshock against 0 bulk variants) and Adamant Scarf Landorus (6% chance to OHKO with Psychic).
Heatran:
The Pheromosa-Tapu Lele core is rounded out by Heatran, which not only shores up the defensive side of things against otherwise problematic pokemon such as Aegislash, but also provides mandatory anti-jank tech through Stealth Rock+Roar and the Flash Fire/Steel typing helps against Charizard (Y but especially X), which is *highly* annoying for this entire team to deal with.
As alluded to above, Stealth Rock is also essential for both Pheromosa and Tapu Lele to reach for KOs they would normally not get.
Obviously, the dream matchup for Heatran is any kind of committed stall that lets you lead and get a free Substitute and Stealth Rock down without being seriously offensively pressured. As always, Lava Plume is an option over Flamethower for the higher burn chance. And as an intersting curiosity, if Heatran's attack IV is above 7, Porygon2's Foul Play is guaranteed to break Substitute in two hits, which would otherwise be a roll—as if the barrier to entry for playing on cart wasn't already high enough...
Salamence:
Mimikyu's +252 Snuggle does between 72-86%, so Roosting above that when it comes to revenge kill lets you survive a hit, and a Return/Frustration from +1 kills any bulky Mimikyu up to 196HP / 148Def after Disguise is down, while +0 still kills defensively uninvested Mimikyu 75% of the time. Metagross' unintimidated Ice Punch, normally a OHKO on 252 attack & speed Salamence spreads, while still a 75% chance to OHKO from full, is a roll that can be factored into gameplay.
On the special side, Timid Charizard Y's HP Ice is a straight 50/50 to kill from full. Physically defensive Tapu Fini still gets 2HKO'd by +1 Salamence while Moonblast from even +252 Fini is still survivable—barely.
The Salamence/Heatran pairing is a sleeper core that lets you make up for the lack of straight offensive power with Stealth Rock chip and free Substitutes against Salamence's big hard counters Porygon2 and Cresselia.
Ferrothorn:
In principle, Ferrothorn is a serious threat to the likes of Primarina, Tapu Fini, Swampert, Gyarados and Metagross. In practice, however, bringing Ferrothorn is easier said than done. For one, it can represent an enormous momentum loss when Stealth Rock is not a factor, not to mention the fact that with compositions like Heatran+Ferrothorn you occasionally get blown out by things like HP Fire Tapu Fini.
The way to mitigate this shortcoming is of course by using Ferrothorn to double-switch, which, again, requires a far more complex decision-making tree than you would get by simply playing an autopilot aggro lineup.
Also worth noting is the management of Ferrothorn's health. For some notable physical damage ranges, Ferrothorn goes from full to berry range from +2 252+ Breloom Mach Punch and +2 Ghostium Mimikyu (+2 Snuggle does 50-60%, meaning you can't even switch in on a Swords Dance if Disguise is intact and not get OHKO'd by it—outside of a Protect mindgame on the Z-move—after it goes up to +4 on the following turn when its Disguise is busted).
Thundurus-T
The source material describes Thundurus as being dead last in terms of pick rate. In my games I found two main uses for Thundurus: first, against stall; and, second, as a backline revenge kill that functions in much the same way as bulky Mimikyu. This is borne out in the calcs: This set has enough bulk to live a hit from Metagross Ice Punch as well as +1 from Salamence and Ice Fang Gyarados. On the special side, Thundurus lives Modest Specs Tapu Lele's Psychic, while having a more than 90% chance to OHKO with Z-Thunderbolt against non-bulky variants.
On paper, Hippowdon and Ferrothorn are tempting Taunt targets, but getting any chip damage on Thundurus severly limits its usability in the revenge kill role and it would need its Z-move to at least trade into something for value. Speed EVs also let Thundurus Taunt-creep past Adamant Breloom's Spore and bulky Mimikyu's Swords Dance.
2) Notes based on 80+ games on cart:
Everything you see below should be prefaced with the fact that I only climbed as far as the low 1800s before resigning this team.
Usual team composition:
Pheromosa / Tapu Lele / Heatran
Draft (rate/member, descending)
1. Pheromosa
2. Tapu Lele
3. Heatran
4. Salamence
5. Ferrothorn
6. Thundurus
How to draft against...
Format:
- "Archetype"
- Draft
- Brief explanation
"Kabamanda"
Salamence/Hippowdon/Aegislash/Tapu Koko
Pheromosa-Salamence-Heatran
Pheromosa is decent against everything sans Aegislash. The goal is to not let opposing Salamence to get momentum since the only answer you have is your own Salamence, unless the opponent is mono-attacking Substitute/Roost, in which case Heatran can Roar it. Thundurus lead finds some viability here if a more passive playstyle is chosen and the opponent's likely secondary mega isn't too prohibitive (read: Charizard).
"suropoke / Mimigassa"
Mimikyu/Breloom/Mawile/Porygon2 Trick Room
Pheromosa-Heatran-Ferrothorn
This is a good matchup on paper, making it more likely that they bring their flex team members instead. U-turn on turn 1 breaks Disguise/Sash into Ferrothorn. Heatran usually has an easy time to put up Substitute, and outside of Curse on Mimikyu, doesn't fear much from the cookie-cutter lineup since Mawile seldom runs anything that can seriously bruise it other than Knock Off.
Dedicated stall
Chansey/Toxapex/Sableye/Celesteela/Slowbro/Skarmory/Venusaur/Shedinja/Gliscor etc...
Pheromosa-Heatran-Thundurus
You mostly end up using U-turn into Substitute/Stealth Rock or Taunt/Nasty Plot and having Pheromosa clean up eventually.
Dedicated Baton Pass
Pheromosa-Heatran-Tapu Lele/Thundurus
Heatran has Roar, but if Blaziken is the one doing the Baton Passing, you are forced into bringing Salamence. Tapu Lele can have a place in clicking whichever Psychic-type move hits the defensive side that doesn't have Screens up. Thundurus' Taunt and Ferrothorn's Leech Seed merit some consideration, but are ultimately inferior to Roar in most cases. Thundurus' Z-move hits through evasion which might also be relevant occasionally.
Landorus momentum / "NagaScizor" variant
Suicide lead Landorus, Salamence, Gyarados, Naganadel, Charizard, Blaziken+Celesteela etc...
Tapu Lele/Pheromosa-Salamence-Heatran
These teams set up Stealth Rock, or Rock Tomb your lead if they are slower, and explode on turn 2/3, giving their sweeper of choice massive momentum, and without Mimikyu and its Disguise-based Snuggle nuke in the back, your answers are limited. Leading Lele lets you win the heads up unless they explode turn 1. Leading Pheromosa, you can Ice Beam to proc Sash, and if they Stealth Rock instead of Rock Tombing, you have the option of U-turning or hard switching into your own Intimidate after Landorus is down. In any case, this should be an unfavorable matchup a majority of the time.
"Lizzagross / Kabarizza"
Charizard/Metagross & Hippowdon and Greninja
Salamence-Ferrothorn-Heatran
Lele is not the best idea whenever Metagross is out and about, and that in turn reduces the effectiveness of Pheromosa, since it is now in danger of both Bullet Punch and Water Shuriken. That being said, Charizard X is probably the single most frightening thing you could ever face while piloting this team, so the team creator's blogs do recommend bringing the basic Pheromosa-Tapu Lele-Heatran lineup as an alternative, though, with options like Salamence-Heatran-Ferrothorn/Tapu Lele also given if Greninja is absent.
In Conclusion:
Overall, for a team that runs only one pokemon from the top10 usage list, Salamence, this was an enjoyable experience. Every game I brought a Pheromosa composition was a knife's edge situation—whether to sacrifice Pheromosa to put something into rocks range later or to try to chip at stuff for a Pheromosa sweep, without losing momentum to an opposing Blaziken, Salamence or Charizard.
It was also interesting to see people either overpredict or misplay out of bad read against Heatran and Ferrothorn, not to mention the satisfaction of running into Glalie as Sub/Rocks/Roar Heatran.
The obnoxiousness of Charizard can't be stressed enough. Whenever lopsided defeats were handed out, they were almost invariably the doing of Earthquake Charizard—yes, even from Charizard Y.
- Tox
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tox.146/
