GSC OU Hercules

Hi I wanted to use Curse Heracross without needing to blow up Lax so here goes

Zapdos @ Leftovers
- Thunder
- Hidden Power Ice
- Rest
- Thunder Wave

This thing's great. Paralyze opposing lead Zapdos from turn 1, which makes Hera's life much easier. If it isn't Zapdos, this thing paralyzes Raikou, which makes it a lot easier for Gengar to blow up on it & pave the way for Zapdos Thunder shenanigans.


Heracross @ Leftovers
- Megahorn
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

If all you have for this is a paralyzed Zapdos it's scary as hell. Of course there's also other stops like Fire Nido/Gengar and Steelix and of course SKARM. If I see a Skarm I instantly just relegate Hera to defensive duties and focus more on the Spikes game / blow-up-on-Raikou game. As for Steelix, he gets worn down by Spikes and is slower than +1 Hera so Megahorn damage isn't too pitiful. As for Fire Nido / Gengar, idk, those are pretty rare though. Heracross is a pretty solid defensive mon too; standard Nido can't get past it, and standard Gengar needs to blow up, and Marowaks can struggle with it a bit, as can Machamps.


Snorlax @ Leftovers
- Double-Edge
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Team anchor. With Hera already being my sleep talker you'd think I'd be a little more ambitious with Lax's set, but honestly Jynx can pretty much 6-0 me if I don't use ST on Lax lol. But for real it's also handy because Steelix is the only other thing on the team that can take a Thunder and it needs to blow up to be able to do anything to Zapdos, so yeah.


Cloyster @ Leftovers
- Surf
- Toxic
- Explosion
- Spikes

The main thing standing between Steelix and 6-0ing my team lol. Steelix can be scary if I don't manage to chip it enough with Zapdos / Gengar because Cloyster is very often the first mon to die. Cloyster is also the main reason I have an offensive plan if Skarm shows up; Gengar + Zapdos is nice, but I need the Spikes to get in a good enough position for that to work, plus Zapdos kinda needs Spikes to really stick it to Lax.


Gengar @ Leftovers
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Explosion
- Hypnosis

Gengar spinblocks and backs me up against Fire Lax and can sleep scary things in a pinch and can blow up on Raikou to free Zapdos and can go for the freeze on random things and really sticks it to Miltank who can otherwise make Hera's life hard with Growl and Heal Bell to erase paralysis and makes opposing Cloyster a billion times easier to deal with and outspeeds otherwise scary Pokes such as Charizard and Tentacruel and +2 Snorlax and can deal with Vap in a pinch and can flat-out win a surprising number of games pretty handily with Normal/Fighting/Toxic immunities and non-STAB BoltBeam coverage. Gengar is just so good for this team I couldn't not use it.


Steelix @ Leftovers
- Earthquake
- Curse
- Roar
- Explosion

Steelix's main role is to Roar Snorlaxes and Missys and BPers. It's also able to handle things in a tight late game thanks to Explosion; in particular, Explosion means it beats last-Poke Lax and can kill Zapdos in a pinch (although again, you want to wait for the late game to sac your Lax counter). Lets Cloy in like none other, but Gengar helps with the Cloy problem.


So yeah like it or loathe it?

 

Seems pretty good, although Skarm is annoying and giving up Sleep Talk on Zap makes it more so.

 

Yes the team definitely leans on Heracross and pivots around it a fair bit. That's kinda cool as Hera really isn't an easy poke to find a place for with skarm being such a key player in GSC.

You are weak to tri element Gengars, and Gengar generally could gain pace here with some well timed predictions: I'm guessing your switch ins would be Hera and Steelix? Not sure of the longevity there with spikes down and no spinner? Starmie hurts a lot here, Alakazam with encore, psychic, fire punch/hp water could have fun too. If you set up with Steelix to detonate on skarm you could cause some real malace. Against a drumfable/ drum quake lax you're pretty much forced to explode which would trouble me a little; if your opponent figures that out it makes it easier for them to switch in something to resist explosion.

Pretty cool altogether, though i'd imagine it's a team that could punish sloppy playing quite heavily.