Return of the Jackal (OU)

Chaos Jackal

Legend of the Past
Member
RETURN OF THE JACKAL
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With Genesect's U-Turn into OU over and the Insectinator back in Ubers the VoltTurn teams built by me and Uralya (see Rise of the Jackal, Hundred Round Clip) are now just reminders of former glorious days. While the loss of Genesect has spelled doom for Rise of the Jackal and its evolution, Revenge of the Jackal (never posted), by no means has it ended me. As a newbie, I tried Hyper Offense and Drizzle, later Hyper Offense and Sand, recently, before Genesect's ban, VoltTurn. With more than two years of experience now, and after testing a variety of teams, I finally felt ready to play with a team that isn't full of Jolly/Timid Pokemon with 252 Speed EVs. Return of the Jackal comes in the form of Bulky Offense, an interesting style with unique perks. It's the slowest team I've ever used by far, but I dare say it's also the best. Allow me to show you that Genesect's ban hasn't hindered me at all.​

[animate]heatran[/animate][animate]thundurus-t[/animate][animate]latias[/animate][animate]charizard[/animate][animate]rotom-w[/animate][animate]jirachi[/animate]

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Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature
Hidden Power [Ice]
Earth Power
Fire Blast
Stealth Rock
Hetran is a great example of bulky offense. With its good defense, excellent typing and great Special Attack, it can survive many hits and retaliate with its own powerful blows. Air Balloon neutralizes its primary weakness, Ground-type moves, and allows Heatran to successfully switch in the likes of Excadrill and Landorus-T, which it can KO. This bulk in addition to the switches it forces also give Heatran the opportunity to set up Stealth Rock, something that no other team member can do. With Fire Blast and Earth power granting great coverage and Hidden Power Ice topping it for things like Dragonite, Gliscor and Landorus, Heatran is war machine one should always be afraid of.

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Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 128 HP / 252 SAtk / 128 Spd
Modest Nature
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power [Ice]
Agility
Nasty Plot
You know, I don't get it. Sure, Thundurus-I had Prankster, high Special Attack and 111 Speed. Sure, it was Uber. But how on earth does this make Thundurus-T bad? It always seemed neglected to me. People apparently forgot that Volt Absorb might not be as good as Prankster, but it's still a formidable ability. They also forget that 101 Speed might not be godlike, but it's still 1 point above the overcrowded 100 tier. And of course, they forget that its Special Attack is the highest in OU, Mega Evolutions aside. This set is surprisingly bulky and at the same time unbelievably powerful. With a great resistance in Fighting and immunity to Electric, types that only Latias in my team can really face with ease, Thundurus-T scares out quite a lot of Pokemon, which allows it to easily set up. The element of surprise works to its favor, since the majority of people believe Thundurus to be Scarfed or Specced, only to realize that the Pokemon they sent out against it is now outsped, that the Special Attack of this monster is doubled, or that their Gliscor, Landorus, Salamence, Dragonite etc. just received a Hidden Power Ice in the face. Double Dance is a risky, but also very rewarding set, and Thundurus-T uses it to perfection, achieving almost perfect coverage with only two moves and just pummel through the unwary competition.

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Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Timid Nature
Dragon Pulse
Wish
Healing Wish
Defog
Latias is the team support. Taken from Uralya, this set is truly magnificent. With more than respectable special bulk, resistance to Fighting, Electric and Fire and immunity to Ground, Latias is here to cover for all of her teammates. Dragon Pulse gives her an attack option so that Taunt won't put such big of a dent in her reputation, Wish allows for recovery for both herself and the team and Defog ruins the hard work of any Fortress or Deoxys. On top of that, there's Healing Wish. In a team with slow Pokemon designed to take some hits, Healing Wish is a nasty surprise for everyone, allowing Latias to show off her devotion by sacrificing herself and bringing back the crippled and tired attackers of the team for another round of mayhem. Truly, Latias' elegance and self-sacrifice is unmatched.

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Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
Flare Blitz
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Dragon Dance
Charizard fills the team's Mega slot. With its great power and respectable bulk, even uninvested, Charizard is a powerful, solid physical sweeper built to destroy. I normally don't like Charizard, but this guy fits in the team perfectly. Annoying stuff like Heatran or Ferrothorn that my team despises are handled by the Dragon. With its two powerful STAB moves and Tough Claws, it can take care of the rest. Dragon Dance makes it almost unstoppable, since it also resists Bullet Punch, tanks Mach Punch and isn't vulnerable to Aqua Jet. As long as Latias can keep Stealth Rocks away from my field, all's good for Charizard and me. Charizard is something of a compromise to the rest of the team's archetype-while naturally bulky, at least on the physical side, it's also the only Pokemon apart from Latias with 252 Spd, although Adamant was preferred over Jolly due to Dragon Dance.

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Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Spd / 168 Def / 80 SAtk
Bold Nature
Hydro Pump
Thunderbolt
Will-O-Wisp
Pain Split
A staple in half the OU teams that were, are and will be, Rotom-W is a most versatile Pokemon. With its great bulk and decent Special Attack, Rotom can go either physically defensive, specially defensive, bulky attacker or Choice; what makes it that good is that your opponent won't know what to expect. My Rotom takes the physically defensive Route, easily tanking Physical attacks and crippling the opposing Pokemon with Will-o-Wisp. Pain Split is a kinda unreliable, but still quite annoying move that extends Rotom's lifespan while also bringing down the opposing HP (you should see how much damage the pink blobs take... huehuehue). Hydro Pump and ThunderBolt are Rotom's offensive options. ThunderBolt is unusual, but I find that it's way more usable than Volt Switch in this specific team, since I lack U-Turn and I appreciate the extra power (for all its fame, Volt Switch still has only 70 BP). Finally, the EV spread is customized to allow Rotom to hit harder with its attacks instead of relying too much on W-o-W, while the 8 Speed EVs ensure that I outspeed the majority of non-scarfed Rotom.

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Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 224 HP / 32 Spd
Modest Nature
Psyshock
Flash Cannon
Substitute
Calm Mind
Jirachi is another one of these Pokemon I find are neglected. Jirachi was actually quite famous in Gen V, seeing play even in the Ubers ladder. Its paraflinch strategy is notorious, but this Gen hasn't been particularly good to it. Jirachi has lost its permaRain, meaning that Fire attacks are back to damaging it super effectively, and with Steel's nerf its Psychic typing now hinders it more than before, as Dark and Ghost moves now hit it super effectively. Jirachi has been cast aside... and that's where I come in. Most people tend to think that the few Jirachi still around are gonna be paraflinchers, resulting in a good amount of Thunder Waves, Leech Seeds, Will-o'-Wisps and Spores landing harmlessly on top of a Substitute, followed by a couple Calm Mind that make Jirachi absolutely relentless. While its coverage isn't great, if you get rid of things like Heatran, Aegislash or Bisharp, Jirachi is very hard to stop. Even stuff like Chansey, Blissey and Goodra can't do much, finding themselves at a tough spot thanks to Psyshock attacking their weaker Defense. Jirachi is fun to use and unpredictably strong if underestimated.


The team isn't without flaws. Mega Charizard X in particular is a lot of trouble, as there's not much my team can do after a Dragon Dance. Fighting types are also a pain, especially Mega Medicham and to a lesser extent, Conkeldurr. Apart from these, there aren't many threats to the team, the biggest one being a fear of other bulky attackers or mixed walls, as sometimes my team seems to be lacking in power. Chansey and Blissey are a pain if Charizard is down, as the only thing that can hit them is Psyshock, and Jirachi falls 7 HP short of making 101 Substitutes.

Heatran @ Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
- Stealth Rock

Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 128 HP / 252 SAtk / 128 Spd
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Agility
- Nasty Plot

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Wish
- Healing Wish
- Defog

Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Spd / 168 Def / 80 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 224 HP / 32 Spd
Modest Nature
- Psyshock
- Flash Cannon
- Substitute
- Calm Mind

Go ahead, rate and suggest. Any feedback is appreciated.​
 
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