The Best Pokemon in NU

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Hey guys! Discussion here has been dwindling as of late, and a topic that seems to come up often on IRC is "What is the best Pokemon in the tier?"

I'm not completely sure where I want this to go, so at first we will be focusing clearly on the best Pokemon, since gold is all that counts.

The definition of "best" isnt truly known, and thats something else that can be discussed in your nominations.


The way I'd like to see this go is as follows:

  1. Step One: Nominations. Each nomination has to be backed with evidence. You should also discuss other peoples nominations. Also, don't post something that has already been nominated unless you have more to add, if you are just saying "musharna is the best" please just don't post, if you are adding something about what it can do that the original poster missed, go ahead!
  2. Step Two: Voting. Just like nominations, you will have add some substance to your post other than a vote, explain why you are voting the way you are.



That is essentially the jist of it, i plan on keeping the nominations open for a few days so there is time for discussion about which candidates are serious, and which are just pretenders.


So to start things off there will be a simple nomination stage. Where you post the Pokemon that you think is the best in the tier.

So let the nominations begin!


This is a Sweet Potato approved thread
 


OK, my nomination goes to Gurdurr. For a more in-depth look at Gurdurr's amazing attributes, I've created a Discussion Thread on this Pokemon. But just to be clear, I'll post here too.

Gurdurr is an insanely good Pokemon. It's both bulky and powerful, has no crippling weaknesses, has powerful priority, has excellent coverage; coverage so god that he can afford to run two STAB moves: Drain Punch, which is powerful and provides Gurdurr with reliable recovery, and Mach Punch, which allows him to bypass his bad Speed and pick off faster threats at leisure. His best coverage move is generally Ice Punch, as it nails practically everything that resists his STAB moves either super effectively or neutrally. Examples are Golurk, Amoonguss, Rotom-S, Exeggutor, Haunter, etc. Then Golurk has the option to run a support move. My favourite and the most common move to run is Bulk Up, as it turns Gurdurr into a very powerful and difficult to penetrate slow and bulky sweeper, which has ample opportunities to find a moment to set up. Another, more colorful option is Knock Off. Many Pokemon in NU loathe being stripped of their items (and using Knock Off actually means that Gurdurr defeats one of its previous counters, SubDisable Haunter). Not only is Gurdurr a highly effective offenive Pokemon, it's an awesome counter/check to some of the most vicious Pokemon in the tier. Absol is hard walled and OHKOd by Gurdurr, Cinccino and Zangoose are unable to OHKO it and fall to Drain Punch. After some residual damage Gurdurr doesn't even have to take a hit by using Drain Punch; after CC's Defense drop Mach Punch OHKOs Zangoose and with a wee bit of recoil (LO or SR) it can also snipe down Cinccino. Gurdurr's STAB is also super effective against other excellent Pokemon such as Sawsbuck, Kangaskhan, Klang and Tauros.

I've really been singing Gurdurr's praises here, but it's not unbeatable. Flying- and Psychic- types are abundant in NU, with massive threats such as Braviary, Swellow and Rotom-S roaming the skies, and Psychic powerhouses such as Musharna, Exeggutor and Gardevoir make Gurdurr uneasy. Not to fear, however! Gurdurr may be the best Pokemon in NU (in my opinion) but he doesn't have to do everything himself. Pursuit users such as Skuntank and Absol pair beautifully with Gurdurr, as they can cheerfully eliminate the Psychic- and Ghost-types that trouble Trollface. The Flying-types can be nailed with a well-predicted Ice Punch, and all can be worn down with Stealth Rock. You can also use Klang to set up on basically any move aimed at Gurdurr, as it set up all over choice locked Flying-type moves and Pokemon such as Musharna and Exeggutor.

Oh and of course, Gurdurr's biggest nemesis, Gothitelle, is no longer with us. So yeah.
 

Django

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Holy shit this thing is good and it baffles me why its so low in usage. I think we all know what it does after the suspect discussion on it, and the fact it was actually close to being banned is just an indicator of how good it is. Toxic Boost Facade is stupid powerful, and it gets Night Slash and Close Combat to beat anything Facade cannot. Quick Attack gets around priority + revenge killing, as well as helping to activate Toxic Orb by finishing off weak Pokemon. It also gets Swords Dance if you want to OHKO Alomomola, but missing out on Close Combat or Night Slash is irritating, even if it can be worked around with teambuilding. A good Speed tier to top it off means that almost nothing is safe switching into Zangoose, provided the user predicts right. The users prediction is almost the only thing hlding Zangoose back. Checks do exist like Substitute Haunter, stuff with Intimidate and Rock types that won't be OHKOed by Close Combat (Regirock) but the fact is they still take a huge risk while getting in, and if they come in after something else has died then Zangoose has done its job. It's and incredible wallbreaker and late game sweeper, and should definitely be in the top 5 usage wise.
 

McMeghan

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I hesisated between submitting Braviary and this one (I originally wanted to nominate Zangoose but Mad Dingor ninja'd me).

I feel like starting with that fact : Ludicolo -under Rain- at least 3KO the whole NU metagame bar Mantine, the only support needed is the weather. I know there is just some kind of random fact that doesn't mean everything, but it just shows how great Ludicolo is when it comes down to blasting teams. Ludicolo is amazing at what it does, it will open hole with its amazing power or finish team when they're weakened.

Not only powerful, this thing outspeeds everything bar priorities once you're under Rain and Giga Drain will help to stay alive as long as it's needed. It's really standard but, like Terrakion or Dragonite in OU, that doesn't mean Ludicolo will not hit hard, it's just too good.

It functions against every kind of team, as it will force Stall team to switch a lot and get their wall dented (plus it's not that hard to set up hazards and keep them on the field in NU) and it will outspeed and threaten everything for the OHKO against offensive team.

So basically, I love Ludicolo in NU, it works against every kind of team and will do any sweeping job you want (opening holes/finishing team) according to how the game turns out.
 

Sweet Jesus

Neal and Jack and me, absent lovers...



Gardevoir is another monster in the NU metagame and unlike the previously listed pokemon, gardevoir is extremly versatile making it much harder to predict. Psychic, Focus blast and shadow ball is the standard coverage and is one of the best coverage available in NU. Stab psychic coming from gardevoir's huge special attack stat will hit hard anything that doesn't resist it. Focus blast doesn't only cover dark types (other than skuntank), it also threatens lickiilicky and other normal pokes that are often used as special walls (because focus blast is so rare in NU). Shadow ball will take down other psychic types and ghost types such as misdreavus who could hit gardevoir pretty hard otherwise (signal beam and hp ground will grant some good coverage too and destroy skunk, but you'll miss the power of focus blast against lickliicky). The list of gardevoir's great assets extends way further than her wallbreaking capacities, she also has access to a plethora of useful utility moves. Trick is probably the most common one because gardevoir takes both choice scarf and choice specs very well, but gardevoir also has access to taunt, encore, destiny bond, hypnosis, will-o-wisp, thunder wave, dual screens, memento, heal bell, wish and even the rare healing wish. (trick room too, though you're better off with musharna)

Other than choice and LO, gardevoir can set up with calm mind or run a utility set with many of the previously listed moves (some of those sets are outclassed by other psychic types, but not all). Gardevoir's other stats are also pretty good, 80 speed is decent for a wallbreaker, and uninvested 115 sp.d on her psychic typing will help her wall many weak special attackers since dark pulse and bug buzz are near unexistant in NU and ghost types are usualy slower and hit by her own shadow ball.

As if that wasn't enough, gardevoir also has access to a great ability. Trace is very helpful when facing pokemon with ability's such as sap sipper, water absorb, lightningrod and others since the pokemon with these abilty's usauly stab those attack types. Countering zebstrika's volt switch is a good example of this. Trace also let's gardevoir outspeed many swift swimmers and chlorophyll users that have under 80 speed. Even though gardevoir won't OHKO stuff like ludicolo, getting in a powerful psychic should ruin it's sweep when added to LO, SR and maybe other damage he took when setting up rain. If not, he should be easy to revenge kill with priority.
 
I don't think there is a definitive "best Pokemon in NU"—each Pokemon in NU excels at different things. For example, Zangoose is an excellent sweeper and wallbreaker, although it cannot wall special attackers as well as its Normal-type brethren Lickilicky. Nonetheless, the best Pokemon in NU in my opinion is Samurott, although all of the Pokemon who've been nominated so far are fantastic, and are worthy of the position of best Pokemon in NU. Samurott is an excellent offensive Pokemon that often makes its way onto most of my teams. Although its movepool isn't the best, it can preform well at two different things—sweeping physically, or sweeping specially.


Samurott @ Life Orb / Lum Berry / Leftovers / Other
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd / Other, more effective spread
Adamant / Jolly Nature
  • Swords Dance
  • Aqua Jet
  • Waterfall
  • Megahorn

Samurott @ Life Orb / Lum Berry / Leftovers / Other
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 4 SDef / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / Other, more effective spread
Modest / Jolly Nature
  • Hydro Pump
  • Ice Beam
  • Hidden Power [Grass]
  • Megahorn

Samurott has everything; excellent stats, a set-up move in Swords Dance, priority, power and Water typing. Between shredding everything with boosted Aqua Jets and Megahorns, or high-powered Hydro Pumps, there's little that can wall Samurott.

Samurott's physical set is probably my favourite, even now with Amoonguss everywhere. Swords Dance bolsters its already solid Attack stat sky-high. Even its mediocre Speed can be mitigated by its priority move, Aqua Jet. Nailing frail, speedier targets, such as Cinccino, and various Choice Scarf users, such as Rotom-S. Megahorn is such an excellent coverage move, nailing Grass-types super effectively. Even the sturdiest Grass-type in the tier - Tangela cannot withstand a +2 Megahorn.

Samurott's special set is just as good however; its Special Attack is just as good as its Attack stat. Its movepool is standard for an offensive Water-type. However Megahorn is useful for nailing Ludicolo - a common nemesis for Water-types such as itself and others like Gorebyss and Simipour.

Samurott literally works with any Pokemon and on any team, it's super easy to find a spot for Samurott on any of your teams.
 


Amoonguss

There is not a single team in NU that doesn't appreciate the support of a Sleep inducer, and Amoonguss more than provides it. It has considerable bulk, the capability to spread more than sleep, the ability to regenerate a third of your health on switch in, and the ability to stop set-up sweepers cold. The physically defensive sets (the most common one) can take come in on Choiced physical attacks, only to take paltry damage from them (Ice Punch from ScarfSawk will never 2HKO!). Even without 252 Special Defense (you don't have much reason not to use 252 HP), it can tank a hit from special threats Ludicolo and Gardevoir at full health, where you would then cripple them for the rest of the match. Even if you end up at low health, you could simply switch in and out a couple times to get a good amount of health back--Amoonguss is the type of mon to force switches, so it will have the opportunity to switch in and out often. Amoonguss laughs at "fearsome" set-up sweepers such as Gurrdurr and Vigoroth, since they have little chance against it due to Clear Smog. Amoonguss isn't just left to wall after it incapitates something, either; it has Stun Spore at its disposal, so that everything (except Natu) will be afraid of getting crippled. At the end of the day, Amoonguss does more than putting something to sleep, as if that wasn't a good enough feat to accomplish. All of the extra utilities it can be used for, besides putting things to sleep, makes it the best NU mon in my book.​
 


Braviary is an amazing offensive threat. This mighty bird is capable of 2HKOing almost everything in the NU tier with its powerful CB set. With great STABs in Normal and Flying and an amazing coverage move in the form of Superpower, not much can handle this monster. Not even most rock-types can handle Braviary as their Stone Edges get PP stalled by the Substitute Bulk Up Roost set while it can set up with Bulk Up afterwards. Electric types won't like taking boosted Brave Birds either as Rotom-S gets OHKOd by a +3 Brave Bird after Stealth Rock while Braviary can tank a Volt Switch with some health to spare. Braviary also has the option to run Return over Brave Bird to hit Electric-type Pokemon such as Eelektross and Luxray harder. Braviary can also be a formidable revenge killer with a Choice Scarf attached as it can still deal good damage with its high base power moves and outspeed many threats such as Sawsbuck and Cinccino. It's access to U-turn makes it a tremendous scout while weakening its checks/counters to a point where Braviary can OHKO it with a move of its choice. Braviary can even run a LO+Roost set to be able to switch moves while still battering the opposition with hard-hitting attacks. The fact that Braviary can run a set that 2HKOs the majority of the metagame and a set that takes advantage of its best checks, Rock-types, while also setting up on most teams makes Braviary the very threatening pokemon that it is now.

(Also, Braviary's number in the pokedex is #628 which is my birthday so it is obviously the best.)
 
Like Keiran said, this tier is so diverse with many of different roles, there is no definitive Pokemon that is the best in NU. In a tier who's top threats include various Psychic and Ghost types such as Gardevoir, Musharna, and Haunter, there is one Pokemon in particular who counters them very well and in my mind is the best for the job:



Skuntank@ Leftovers/Black Sludge
Trait: Aftermath
20 HP / 252 Atk / 236 Spe
Nature: Adamant

-Sucker Punch
-Pursuit
-Poison Jab
-Taunt / Crunch

Our favorite skunk excels at trapping and killing opposing psychic types. His nifty dark typing and STAB Sucker Punch and Pursuit lets him come in on a predicted Psychic attack, take no damage, and hit back for super effective damage. He counters ghost types nicely as well resisting their STAB attacks and being able to KO back. Though, you must watch out for Misdreavus' Will-O-Wisp because Crunch doesn't OHKO at full health. Because of his ability to do his job, some Pokemon have started to run Hidden Power ground just to deal with him. His access to Sucker Punch also makes him a potent revenge killer of weakened, fast sweepers such as Cinccino and Swellow. The EV spread lets him outspeed Timid/Jolly Ludicolo and Samurott which is indeed very for nice for the reasons that Ebeast stated a few posts down.

He has a few perks that make him a more effective trapper than the other dark types in the tier. First, he has only one weakness; Ground, unlike his Dark type friends. Unlike Absol, he is neutral to two common attack types that Absol is weak two, those being Fighting and Bug. His superior bulk allows him to tank more hits and his poison typing allows him to remove Toxic Spikes from the field. While he may not be considered the best Pokemon in Nu, he is certainly a threat and a boon to any Psychic or Ghost mon. What can i say? He is excellent at his job and is one my favorite mons to use in the tier.
 

ebeast

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musharna is the best




Backing up the nomination of Ludicolo, McMeghan did a good job outlining Ludicolo's qualities but I want to take it to the specifics. Ludicolo has an excellent typing, Water/Grass that not only gives it great resists but also an excellent offensive typing. Courtesy of Ludicolo's typing it becomes an excellent switch into the ever so common Water-types of NU such as the increasingly popular Special Samurott, powerful Gorebyss, and bulky Alomomola.

Like said before Ludicolo's typing isn't just good defensively, in fact it is possibly even better offensively. Water and Grass STABs are are an amazing asset to have as it makes sure no bulky Water-type can take Ludicolo's coverage move unscathed unlike a Samurott or Gorebyss's much weaker Hidden Power Grass. Since Ludicolo has awesome coverage by just using Hydro Pump, Giga Drain, and Ice Beam it can afford to use Rain Dance as its last slot. Rain Dance can be considered Ludicolo's version of a Shift Gear, doubling Ludicolo's speed and increasing the power of Ludicolo's most feared attack. A Hydro Pump in the rain is no laughing matter and will straight out OHKO most Pokemon it hits just neutrally. Even bulky Pokemon such as Braviary, Musharna, and Gurdurr will be devastated by a Rain boosted Hydro Pump while resists won't be capable of standing up to Ludicolo's Giga Drain or Ice Beam. Gurdurr and Braviary get OHKOed by Hydro Pump while Musharna is hard pressed to beat Ludicolo, with Hydro Pump doing 71% minimum and Rain gimping Musharna's recovery in Moonlight.

  • 252 SpAtk Life Orb Ludicolo Hydro Pump vs 240 HP/0 SpDef Musharna: 71.59% - 84.53% (2 hits to KO)
  • 252 SpAtk Life Orb Ludicolo Hydro Pump vs 252 HP/0 SpDef Eviolite Gurdurr: 91.44% - 107.75% (50% chance to OHKO)
  • 252 SpAtk Life Orb Ludicolo Hydro Pump vs 0 HP/0 SpDef Braviary: 110.26% - 130.21% (Guaranteed OHKO)

Straight up counters to Ludicolo are extremely scarce and aren't being used much at all, while most teams use their own Ludicolos to switch into it looking for a window to sent out a real check. Pokemon like Regice, Mantine, and Snover are the only real counters to Ludicolo's standard special sets, but share a common flaw in that they're all weak to Stealth Rock. With just Stealth Rock up the main counters to Ludicolo can't keep constantly switching into it. While uncommon Ludicolo can actually beat its counters with a simple, but effective Swords Dance set. However with Stealth Rock and Spikes up even the special sets can break though Regice and Snover, whose team is hard pressed to use a spinner as Torkoal and Armaldo compound to the team's Rock- and Water-type weakness. While Ludicolo counters are hard pressed, Ludicolo does have checks everywhere. Ranging from Pokemon such as Haunter to Rotom-S, Ludicolo has a somewhat easy time getting revenge killed just like any other Pokemon in NU. However this is where Ludicolo's ability Swift Swim and freedom to run Rain Dance come in play yet again. In Rain and with a Timid nature, there is literally nothing used commonly that can outspeed Ludicolo outside of Scarf Trace Gardevoir. To outspeed a Ludicolo in the Rain requires a positive natured base 110 Speed Pokemon with a Choice Scarf. The only Pokemon in the 110 speed tier that have been known to carry Choice Scarf, Tauros, doesn't normally use Jolly as an Adamant nature is enough to outspeed base 95 Speed Scarf users. With a Rain Dance up Ludicolo is almost impossible to revenge kill and hard to counter, which in my opinion is enough to rank it as one of the best, if not the best Pokemon in the tier at the moment.
 
I really like the way this is going right now! I know that there isn't a great definition for the best pokemon, and thats kind of the point for this. It seems pretty clear that offensive Pokemon are among the best, as they've been dominating the nominations so far.

One of my personal favourite nominations so far is ludicolo, Ludicolo really runs over the metagame right now. As weather is nearly non-existent it can easily set it up and outrun nearly everything! Hydro Pump under rain is absolutely incredible, devastating most of the metagame.

I've always been a huge fan of Ludicolo, but right now its just amazing.

There are a few Pokemon that I'm surprised haven't shown up yet, like Emboar and Exeggutor. Remember, you can do more than post your own nomination, discuss other peoples to try and figure out what is truly the best Pokemon in NU!
 

This thing. Right here. The bulk of Arceus himself (that's an overstatement, but seriously this thing is stupidly bulky), powerful attacks, great movepool... what more do you need?

To look more in-depth, Musharna is a perfect check to pretty much every fighting type in the tier, including Sawk, Gurdurr, Throh, and Machoke. As far as I'm aware, the only Fighting type in the tier that doesn't fear Musharna is the rare Scraggy, but even he takes decent damage from Hidden Power Fighting.

Musharna's stats are great: huge base 116/85/95 defenses make the Psychic Tapir a powerful defensive force. Couple that with semi-reliable recovery in Moonlight and you have one tough cookie to take down. Musharna can use Dual Screens to boost this further, or to support his frailer team-mates. A great ability in Synchronise can pass status on to his opponents, or this can be done more reliably with Toxic or Thunder Wave. He also has Heal Bell to keep himself healthy.

A great base 107 Special Attack means Musharna is no slouch offensively, either. True, it’s offensive movepool is nothing special (Psychic, Signal Beam, Hidden Power, Charge Beam) but it’s good enough. It also makes musharna an ideal Calm Mind user, boosting his already great special defense, making him near impossible to take down, but also his special attack, meaning few pokemon will be able to survive his onslaught. Just be sure to take out Absol and Skuntank first, and he won’t let you down!
 

tennisace

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If you answer anything other than Braviary I'm pretty sure you're wrong. I've been around NU a long time. I've been here for a lot of "top mons" (Hail teams, Jynx, Magmortar, Cryogonal, Gorebyss, Golem, to name a few). The only ones that can truly hold a candle to Braviary right now are Jynx and Cryogonal.

Why am I comparing Braviary to those two and not something like Magmortar which was undeniably king of NU for a while? Simple. Braviary doesn't have one entirely dominant set, like Cryogonal (and to a lesser extent Jynx), but the fact that it has at least 3 good to excellent sets it can run, all with almost entirely different checks, makes it the best Pokemon in the tier. Braviary can run one of the most devastating Choice Band sets in the tier, with excellent coverage in Brave Bird/Superpower, a coverage move of its choice (Return or Rock Slide), and U-turn for momentum. It can run a Choice Scarf set, which outspeeds the majority of "fast mons" in the tier and wrecks them. Finally, it can run a sneaky good SubBU set, with excellent STAB in Brave Bird, and reliable recovery in Roost. 100 hp/75 def/75 spdef is absolutely nothing to scoff at, compared to other sweepers in the tier.

I'm not denying that Rock- and Electric-types are very common in this metagame, but depending on the set, Braviary can either play around them or just U-turn out to a partner that can force them out (calling all Amoonguss).

tl;dr Braviary is a can of whoop-ass and a can opener all in one
 


Cinccino isnt only one of the most cutest mons in the tier Never Used. This thing is for sure one of the best physical sweepers in this tier. Really without hard counters and generally dont work in any team like Misdreavus and Cinccino has U-turn and this is very useful in these situations. With Choice Band is a great wallbreaker, Life Orb is very good like cleaner and with the Choice Scarf is a excelent revenge killer can outrun ALL things in this tier like Ludicolo with Swift Swim + Rain Dance. In addition, Cinccino LOVES Spikes and Stealth Rock support. The biggest problem for Cinccino are: weak to priority attack, spam defensive walls are really annoying for Cinccino with Rocky Helmet and attacks without 100% accuracy then can miss. Definitely is a top mon in NU, with the right support and prediction can sweep easily any team.
 

ebeast

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@Incon Skuntank is great but I would personally submit this set for it:


Skuntank@ Leftovers
Trait: Aftermath
20 HP / 252 Atk / 236 Spe
Nature: Adamant

-Sucker Punch
-Pursuit
-Poison Jab
-Taunt / Crunch

With 236 Spe Skuntank has enough to outspeed Timid/Jolly Ludicolo and Samurott, which I feel is very important in this metagame. Even though Skuntank has access to Sucker Punch against a Samurott you are risking it going for Substitute being a SubSalac set or it going for Swords Dance, while against a Ludicolo your Sucker Punch can be played around by Ran Dance which would allow Ludicolo to then survive the Sucker Punch and take down Skuntank and possible a big portion of your remaining team. What's nice about Skuntank is that the remaining 36 HP it gets after investing into Spe are just enough to give it a neat Leftovers number at 352.

@tennis Braviary is top tier for sure. I posted my personal top 5 a while back with Braviary at #1 due to its sheer versitility and excellence of all of its sets. I was finding a hard time deciding whether I preferred Braviary or Ludicolo, but decided to post Ludicolo because Annoyer had already done a good job at pointing out the specifics of Braviary and I wanted to make a lengthy description of the Pokemon I wanted to nominate

In the end I feel that when we start the voting process it will mainly be a war between Braviary, Ludicolo, Gurdurr, Zangoose, and Musharna. (Maybe Haunter too if that gets listed on here)
 

watashi

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@ebeast the skuntank spread is 236 speed 20 hp

if 36 hp is really a leftovers number then you should probably run 36 HP / 236 Spd / 236 Atk
 

ebeast

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@ebeast the skuntank spread is 236 speed 20 hp

if 36 hp is really a leftovers number then you should probably run 36 HP / 236 Spd / 236 Atk
Ah sorry, I thought I had the spread memorized >_> (Actually looking at it I just switched the first 2 numbers with the last two)

The correct spread is indeed 20 HP / 252 Atk / 236 Spe, my bad. With 20HP it gives you the lefties number from the 352 HP value
 
I agree with Hot N Cold, that Cincinno IMO is a top mon. It literally outspeeds nearly everything, and can two hit KO about anything. After getting a threat or two out of the way, Cincinno is almost guaranteed a sweep. I reccomend life orb on cinccino because it gives it more of a sweeping ability making it easier to hit things that are strong against tail slap but weak against bullet seed, or something in that matter.

Cincinno is a great Pokemon, with amazing speed, above average attack, and a great ability to put it all together. That is definitely great characteristics for a physical attacking poke, also considering the great coverage it has and ability to break subs in one hit.
 
Alright I'm going to end nominations now and let voting commence.


The pool of Pokemon: Gurdurr, Zangoose, Ludicolo, Gardevoir, Samurott, Amoonguss, Braviary, Skuntank, Musharna, Cinccino


The rules are as follows:
  • Post your reasoning behind your vote, feel free to discuss why you picked your choice over another one
  • Feel free to discuss other peoples choices, let this be a civil debate about which Pokemon is the most dominant

I'll keep this going until it starts to die down, so make sure you vote early!
 

Django

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Zangoose

Look at my nomination post :) It just performs with such regularity and has 0 counters in NU, something no other nomination bar Braviary (and maybe Samurott if you want to take 8 move 2 EV set Samurott into account) can boast. It is also a mongoose
 

watashi

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Ludicolo

Ludicolo is extremely hard to stop and can break through offense and stall alike if played well. It's awesome coverage and ability to power up with Rain Dance allows it to put pressure on the opponent at all times. Ludicolo only has to use one set to accomplish this, which makes it easy to fit on most teams. It acts as a pseudo FWG core when paired up with another Fire-type, resisting common elemental attacks. This can save a valuable team slot, and is especially useful on offensive teams where you don't need the thorough coverage of a three Pokemon FWG core.
 
tough decision, but i think i'll go with braviary.
choice band and scarf have their merits. choice band is obviously way too powerful and even something like alomomola needs to be at full health and be free of hazards in order to take hits, but substitute and bulk up puts braviary over the top. choice scarf is less potent because many scarfers fall around the base 85-86 tier, but u-turn and strong attacks make braviary threatening to frail things that don't normally run scarf such as cinccino, zangoose, and sawsbuck. sub bu braviary's bulk also allows it to set up on weak attackers and not just walls if need be.

one of the main reasons for braviary's greatness has already been outlined, but to reiterate: there's the unpredictability in the set that it may be running. choice band and sub bu have their distinct checks that makes it really difficult for the opponent to know what to switch in. people switch their alomomola or stone edge-using rock types into braviary expecting a choice band brave bird or something, but they only get set up on. likewise, one could switch in an electric type or other resist if they're expecting the sub bu set, but they risk a 2hko if it's choice band.

braviary can either be a great wallbreaker, late-game sweeper, or can just entirely screw stall over. this versatility with its stats (both offense and bulk) makes it potent in nu.

 

ebeast

she's probably sexting nprtprt
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Ludicolo

Look at my nomination post :) Ludicolo has the combination of a excellent STABs, great defensive typing, and abusable ability that lets it wreak havoc on teams. In the Rain nothing common can manage to outspeed Ludicolo while it blasts everything to oblivion with Hydro Pump. Its typing is really cool as well, and like Furi said pairs nicely with Fire-type Pokemon such as Torkoal.
 

tennisace

not quite too old for this, apparently
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It just performs with such regularity and has 0 counters in NU, something no other nomination bar Braviary
Yep there we go. But, Zangoose will always have Toxic Orb and Swords Dance and Facade and Close Combat. Braviary can be holding at least 3 different items and the only move that is constant among all its sets is Brave Bird.

edit: #neverused is telling me that sometimes Zangoose doesn't have SD but a) I don't buy it and b) see my previous post for more BRAVIARY
 
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