New to NU, First Team Evgnar

[deathrain96]

So, I just started this competitive battling thing, and I meddled in OU for a little while, and then I wanted to try playing in NU. So, I looked at all the available pokemon, and decided to just start a team from scratch and see how it works. I'd love any and all constructive input, and much love to you all.




The Team:

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Leeeeet's get into it!

So, I started out deciding I wanted some SR in this team, because of how effective they are, and I wanted someone I could lead with, but was also fairly tanky and could deal some damage. EDIT:Lead used to be Piloswine, replaced with Golem.

Manaconda (Golem) (M) @ Custap Berry
Trait: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast

Golem is a very strong lead. I can guarantee SR, and then guarantee some heavy damage with EQ or Rock Blast and Sturdy+Custap berry. If he survives to later in the game, rock blast is very powerful against ice types and can break some powerful sub users such as Jynx, which threatens this team. Strong lead overall.


I also needed a hard hitter. Since CB/LO Dragonite was one of my favorite sets in OU, I wanted a powerful pokemon that could fill a similar role. Braviary seemed to fit the bill, and although I really liked his Sheer Force ability, there was nothing besides Rock Slide that he could use it for. Anyways, I ended up with this:

Captain America (Braviary) @ Leftovers
Trait: Defiant
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 192 SDef / 64 Spd
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Substitute
- Roost
- Bulk Up

EDIT: Changed set to Smogon's Bulk Up set, works much better. I can switch in to walls like Alomomola and sub before the toxic comes, then set up one or two bulk ups and deal big damage with BB. Leftovers is much better with this set as it keeps me alive longer from the recoil damage.


I also wanted a Special hitter that could deal some damage and I needed a water typer. I've always liked sets that ran differently than expected, as to take my opponents off guard, and so when I read that Samurott usually runs physical, I decided to switch it up:

Aquaman (Samurott) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Torrent
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 HP / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Aqua Jet
- Hidden Power [Grass]

This has been a pretty effective set, and I like it. I don't have much else to say about it, besides the fact that Aqua Jet has not been completely useful, but I don't have much revenge kill on this team, so meh.


This pokemon is one of my favorite pokemon, so once I saw it was in NU, I immediately wanted it on my team, and I took a good set from Smogon analysis and used it.

Mr. Cosby (Ampharos) (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Static
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 208 HP / 48 Spd / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt

This Specs set deals decent damage and has decent bulk. I've been able to 2HKO Golurk with HP Ice on the expected switch in, and destroy many normal sweepers with Focus Blast, even if it's unreliable.


Looking at my team, there was a prominent weakness to Ice, and I needed a good revenge killer. But, since there are few NU pokemon that are resistant to ice that can also run scarf well, I chose to run a Piloswine set, since I love the pokemon, it's very powerful, and Thick Fat provides extra resistance to dem Ice types: EDIT:Changed Liepard to Combusken, then to Piloswine

Mound of Gold (Piloswine) (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Thick Fat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Ice Shard
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Icicle Spear

Piloswine is such an underrated pokemon. Icicle Spear breaks Braviary and Exeggutor, Ice Shard provides great priority, and EdgeQuake covers like a baws. Eviolite+Thick Fat and HP Evs provide incredible bulk in addition to attacking power.

I also realized I needed a strong defender that could help my team work and maybe deal some damage as well. I started out using a Parasect, then changed to a Musharna Pivot set, and finally settled on the CM Support set for Musharna: EDIT:Changed Parasect to Musharna

Misty Wisty (Musharna) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SDef
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Signal Beam
- Psychic


CM Musharna is a monster in the metagame. With a couple Calm Minds up, it can sweep, and also is bulky and provides a perfect counter to Sawk as well as a strong counter to Ludicolo, who would wreak havoc on my team if not for Mushy.




Thanks to Ashley11, who provided great suggestions for roster changes, and Dat Bulk Though, who provided some great input. Ss I've said I'm very new, and not completely aware of the most common threats or sets in NU, so thanks anyone and everyone who helps out. Much luff!


Import/Export:

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Manaconda (Golem) (M) @ Custap Berry
Trait: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast

Captain America (Braviary) @ Leftovers
Trait: Defiant
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 192 SDef / 64 Spd
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Substitute
- Roost
- Bulk Up

Aquaman (Samurott) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Torrent
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Aqua Jet
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Mr. Cosby (Ampharos) (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Static
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 208 HP / 252 SAtk / 48 Spd
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt

Mound of Gold (Piloswine) (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Thick Fat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Ice Shard
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Icicle Spear

Misty Wisty (Musharna) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SDef
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Signal Beam
- Psychic

 

[Ashley11]

Right now im just going to point out a few minor things you could change. I will probaly give more but im laddering with your team right now to see its weaknesses.


Put on HP Grass over HP electric on Samurott, it helps you beat seismitoad and you still beat opposing water types.

As for Braviary, change its nature to careful.

I will post more later. Good luck!

 

[deathrain96]

Right now im just going to point out a few minor things you could change. I will probaly give more but im laddering with your team right now to see its weaknesses.


Put on HP Grass over HP electric on Samurott, it helps you beat seismitoad and you still beat opposing water types.

As for Braviary, change its nature to careful.

I will post more later. Good luck!

Thanks. I agree that HP Grass is a better option overall, since I have Ice Beam for flying. And I'm ont sure why I had Serious on there, must have been a misclick. I'll make these changes and check out the differences. Any suggestions for replacements for Liepard? Thanks man!

 

[Ashley11]

honestly i have been using liepard and has been doing very well. it can spread paralasis on things and sometimes use hax to its advantage XD. if you insist on changing it though, you do have a weakness to physical normal and flying types. Piloswine gets 2-hit ko'd by some strong mons like CB braviary and swellow. a good thing to use to combat it is Golem. Replace piloswine with golem as a stealth rock lead, and you can still get your offensive presence and have stealth rocks. with sturdy you can almost gurantee to get rocks up. You will be a bit ice weak though after that, so i reccomend switching liepard with a scarf mon to revenge kill things that could sweep you if they set up. The problem is that there arent any decent scarves that resist ice and dont have a stealth rock weakness, so instead use this, which is even better, speed boost combusken in place of liepard. This will still revenge kill things while also being strong against ice, and being capable of sweeping.

Golem Set:
Golem (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast

Combusken Set:
Combusken (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Spd / 4 HP / 252 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Protect
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]/Hidden Power (Ice)

use hp grass for water types, ice for altaria and easier way to get flying types.

EDIT: Oh! and if you want to switch golems item with custap berry. Custap Berry will make you move first if you are at 25% hp or less. One time use. this will be useful for getting last ditch effort to kill something by surprise or get rocks up before u die. and since you have sturdy its easy to get below 25%

Battle using these changes:
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/nu-34574501

You are also weak to CB sawk, a very common threat. to fix this i reccomend changing parasect to support musharna.

Musharna@leftovers
Synchronize
Bold
252 hp 252 def 4 spd
Heal Bell
Moonlight
Thunder Wave
Pyschic

 

[Fayde]

I just battled you, I was the guy with the Carvanha lol. Anyway on to the rate. Your team is really solid especially for an inexperienced NU player. I'm fairy new to the tier myself so I'll try to help you as much as I can.

One thing that sticks out to me is a huge weakness to rain dance Ludicolo as every poke on the team is OKOd after stealth rock except Parasect, which has a 62 percent chance to get OKOd after stealth rock and Braviary which only has a 7 percent chance to live. To me on this team Liepard is an odd man out. I suggest to change him to a LO Gardevoir because with trace he can get Ludicolo's Swift Swim in the rain and outspeed him and take him out with a little bit of prior damage. Or you can destiny bond and get the for sure kill.

This is the set that I would recommend.
Gardevoir @ Life Orb
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Signal Beam
- Destiny Bond

Next I see that your team is lacking a choice scarf user which is a good thing to have on any team. I think that Parasect is the next odd one out being the only wall on your team. I would replace Parasect with a choice scarf Tauros which is really good in this meta being able to outspeed and KO Jynx.
The set is here.
Tauros (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Double Edge
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

I hope I was able to help and good luck with your team!

 

[deathrain96]

honestly i have been using liepard and has been doing very well. it can spread paralasis on things and sometimes use hax to its advantage XD. if you insist on changing it though, you do have a weakness to physical normal and flying types. Piloswine gets 2-hit ko'd by some strong mons like CB braviary and swellow. a good thing to use to combat it is Golem. Replace piloswine with golem as a stealth rock lead, and you can still get your offensive presence and have stealth rocks. with sturdy you can almost gurantee to get rocks up. You will be a bit ice weak though after that, so i reccomend switching liepard with a scarf mon to revenge kill things that could sweep you if they set up. The problem is that there arent any decent scarves that resist ice and dont have a stealth rock weakness, so instead use this, which is even better, speed boost combusken in place of liepard. This will still revenge kill things while also being strong against ice, and being capable of sweeping.

Golem Set:
Golem (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast

Combusken Set:
Combusken (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Spd / 4 HP / 252 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Protect
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]/Hidden Power (Ice)

use hp grass for water types, ice for altaria and easier way to get flying types.

EDIT: Oh! and if you want to switch golems item with custap berry. Custap Berry will make you move first if you are at 25% hp or less. One time use. this will be useful for getting last ditch effort to kill something by surprise or get rocks up before u die. and since you have sturdy its easy to get below 25%

Battle using these changes:
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/nu-34574501

You are also weak to CB sawk, a very common threat. to fix this i reccomend changing parasect to support musharna.

Musharna@leftovers
Synchronize
Bold
252 hp 252 def 4 spd
Heal Bell
Moonlight
Thunder Wave
Pyschic

Thanks for the rate. I do enjoy the hax from Liepard, but it's too unreliable and gimmicky for me in clutch situations. I replaced it with a Drifblim set from Smogon:
Floating Treasure (Drifblim) (F) @ Flying Gem
Trait: Unburden
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 200 Spd / 252 Atk / 56 Def
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Will-O-Wisp
- Destiny Bond
- Substitute

Which, with Acrobatics and Unburden, has sweep possibility and mind games with Destiny Bond. It's been working alright, but it adds another weakness to SR on my team, which I don't like.

I'm not sure about the Golem set, as the Eviolite Piloswine has been a strong offensive presence in my games, but the Golem set looks strong as well, and the guaranteed SR is nice.

I love the Combusken set, definitely going to playtest that, I'm just a little worried about Fire Blast+Focus Blast, because misshax could ruin games for me. But, yeah, thanks a ton, totally trying that Combusken set and I'll test the golem set to see how it plays. Thanks, dude!

As for Musharna, that pokemon has been a trouble for me in laddering the NU, it is very strong. I'll certainly try that set, it definitely will wall better than Parasect, even without Spore, and I get a cleric. I may change Heal Bell though, I never really use clerics.

I just battled you, I was the guy with the Carvanha lol. Anyway on to the rate. Your team is really solid especially for an inexperienced NU player. I'm fairy new to the tier myself so I'll try to help you as much as I can.

One thing that sticks out to me is a huge weakness to rain dance Ludicolo as every poke on the team is OKOd after stealth rock except Parasect, which has a 62 percent chance to get OKOd after stealth rock and Braviary which only has a 7 percent chance to live. To me on this team Liepard is an odd man out. I suggest to change him to a LO Gardevoir because with trace he can get Ludicolo's Swift Swim in the rain and outspeed him and take him out with a little bit of prior damage. Or you can destiny bond and get the for sure kill.

This is the set that I would recommend.
Gardevoir @ Life Orb
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Signal Beam
- Destiny Bond

Next I see that your team is lacking a choice scarf user which is a good thing to have on any team. I think that Parasect is the next odd one out being the only wall on your team. I would replace Parasect with a choice scarf Tauros which is really good in this meta being able to outspeed and KO Jynx.
The set is here.
Tauros (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Double Team
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

I hope I was able to help and good luck with your team!

Thanks a ton, man.

I see the big danger from a Ludicolo, the Combusken set suggested earlier wouldn't remedy that, and the Gardevoir set looks great. I love the Destiny Bond mindgames, and I'm going to test this and see how it works with my team. I'm not sure if I want another fragile special sweeper, but I'll definitely try it out.

The Tauros set also looks strong, but if I run Gardevoir and Tauros, it's all offensive and I lose any kind of utility. I do like the power Spore offers, but I'll check out that Tauros set and see how it works. Scarfed Tauros is a force to be reckoned with.

Not sure why you would run double team on that, though, must be a mistake?

Anyways, thanks a bunch for the rates, definitely trying these out.

 

[Ashley11]

yeah double team is banned by evasion clause if im not mistaken, so i would use body slam if you use tauros. It gets the sheer force boost.

 

[Fayde]

Oh I'm sorry lol my mind was in another place I definitely meant double edge.

 

[deathrain96]

After testing it out, as much as I love Piloswine, Golem provides more consistent SR and damage. I changed the RMT to reflect these changes, and am still playtesting Combusken and Musharna. I didn't find Gardevoir to my liking, but the scarfed Tauros set is still o the table for revenge killing.

EDIT: Tested Combusken, Tauros, and Gardevoir, and I didn't really like any of them. Tauros and Gardevoir didn't help with my Ice weakness, and Combusken was just KOed by bulky switch ins too easily. So, I switched back to a similar set I used with lead Piloswine. A strong set, and it's been working well.

 

[Ashley11]

Just one last suggestion. If you are using custap berry on golem I would switch sucker punch with explosion. You can go out with a boom and it will help you beat things that are a threat to your team by either outright ko'ing them or weakening them a lot.

 

[deathrain96]

Yeah, that is a better option. Thanks so much, man. I'm going to keep playing around with that Liepard/Combusken/Piloswine movespot, but I've been winning without even using that 6th most of the time, so we'll see how long it takes me to find a good poke for the role, aha.

 

[WhiteDMist]

Welcome to Smogon! I'm strapped for time, so I'll only give you a quick rate. However you should really expand your descriptions a bit more to include stuff like WHY you chose that specific Pokemon, what the EV spread/movesets/items are for, WHY you wanted that particular role/Pokemon, etc.

I see very little reason to have Piloswine and Golem on the same team since you become extremely vulnerable to Ludicolo and other Grass and Water-types. I also don't like Ampharos on this team particularly because it doesn't provide and defensive synergy and makes your Ground weakness a bit more prominent.

If you still want a powerful Electric-type, I would suggest using Choice Specs or Expert Belt Eelektross, who still has a great deal of power, far better coverage, and Levitate. Levitate also gives Eelektross immunity to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, making it much harder to wear down alongside Giga Drain.

For your last Pokemon, there are a couple of other options that I want you to look at: Choice Scarf Jynx and Kangaskhan. CS Jynx provides your team with a much needed revenge killer, a useful Trick to cripple some of the walls and Ice-types that trouble you, and stops Carracosta from sweeping you (it sets up on Braviary and unboosted Musharna). Kangaskhan is similar in that it provides you with a revenge killer, but mostly through priority (which your team lacks). It is also much bulkier than Jynx, meaning it has a good chance of taking out the Ice-types that you seem to dislike. It also handles Misdreavus which seems to cripple half your team with Will-O-Wisp and Taunt.

Samurott could make use of a EV spread of 136 HP / 212 SAtk / 160 Spe with a Modest nature. Samurott shouldn't be trying to Speed tie with Ludicolo anyways, so taking advantage of its decent bulk is a far superior path. A Modest nature actually makes Samurott even stronger than the one you have right now, even without max investment. I also feel like Taunt is superior to Aqua Jet simply because it is so weak, and Taunt lets you stop many Stealth Rock leads from setting up.

I personally dislike Custap Golem, but especially for such a bulky team like yours. You should consider a 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spe EV spread to allow Golem to become your Flying and Normal resist. You can then place Leftovers, Rocky Helmet, Lum Berry, or even Ground Gem as its new item. For such a balanced team, Custap Golem just goes against your strategy.

 

[deathrain96]

Welcome to Smogon! I'm strapped for time, so I'll only give you a quick rate. However you should really expand your descriptions a bit more to include stuff like WHY you chose that specific Pokemon, what the EV spread/movesets/items are for, WHY you wanted that particular role/Pokemon, etc.

Yeah, I agree. I didn't know much about the metagame at all, so I wasn't really sure what to put for descriptions, but as I come to understand it more, I may elaborate on that.

I also don't like Ampharos on this team particularly because it doesn't provide and defensive synergy and makes your Ground weakness a bit more prominent.

If you still want a powerful Electric-type, I would suggest using Choice Specs or Expert Belt Eelektross, who still has a great deal of power, far better coverage, and Levitate. Levitate also gives Eelektross immunity to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, making it much harder to wear down alongside Giga Drain.

As much as I love Ampharos, I'm totally willing to give this a try. I suppose I'd probably want to run a spread like this?:

Eelektross @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 172 HP / 252 SAtk / 84 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Flamethrower
- Giga Drain
- Thunderbolt

This was on Smogon. I didn't do any speedmath, but I can always invest those speed EVs in bulk instead. Anyways, VoltBolt plus Flamethrower and Giga Drain looks like some good coverage, and I'll certainly test this out.

For your last Pokemon, there are a couple of other options that I want you to look at: Choice Scarf Jynx and Kangaskhan. CS Jynx provides your team with a much needed revenge killer, a useful Trick to cripple some of the walls and Ice-types that trouble you, and stops Carracosta from sweeping you (it sets up on Braviary and unboosted Musharna). Kangaskhan is similar in that it provides you with a revenge killer, but mostly through priority (which your team lacks). It is also much bulkier than Jynx, meaning it has a good chance of taking out the Ice-types that you seem to dislike. It also handles Misdreavus which seems to cripple half your team with Will-O-Wisp and Taunt.

I really like the idea of Kanghaskan because Misdreavus is definitely extremely crippling to this team, and Scrappy+Sucker Punch lets me hit her hard. I'll try both of these in place of Piloswine, but I'm definitely attracted to the Kangaskhan option, maybe running a set similar to this?:

Kangaskhan @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Hammer Arm
- Sucker Punch
- Earthquake
- Return

Samurott could make use of a EV spread of 136 HP / 212 SAtk / 160 Spe with a Modest nature. Samurott shouldn't be trying to Speed tie with Ludicolo anyways, so taking advantage of its decent bulk is a far superior path. A Modest nature actually makes Samurott even stronger than the one you have right now, even without max investment. I also feel like Taunt is superior to Aqua Jet simply because it is so weak, and Taunt lets you stop many Stealth Rock leads from setting up.

I personally dislike Custap Golem, but especially for such a bulky team like yours. You should consider a 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spe EV spread to allow Golem to become your Flying and Normal resist. You can then place Leftovers, Rocky Helmet, Lum Berry, or even Ground Gem as its new item. For such a balanced team, Custap Golem just goes against your strategy.

I suppose you're right about Samurott, and I'll make those changes. I plan on keeping Aqua Jet though, as his Atk stat is still formidable, and I've found that I can often take an faster 40% or lower opponent off-guard with an Aqua Jet KO.
If I'm low it's also boosted by Torrent, so I prefer that option over Taunt.

As far as Golem goes, I kind of like the Custap gimmick, because Custap+Explosion can be pretty powerful, but I'll test out the different EVs and items to see how well it works, and see if it's maybe more reliable.


Thanks a ton for the rate!

 

[WhiteDMist]

Just to let you know, Silk Scarf or Life Orb is much more effective than Choice Scarf on Kangaskhan. It needs all the power that it can get, and all your priority will render the Speed boost pointless, while locking yourself into a move is terrible for Kanga. That Eelektross set is fine though.

Kangaskhan @ Silk Scarf/Life Orb
Trait: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Sucker Punch
- Earthquake
- Double Edge

This set lets you hit Missy with a STAB Double Edge, which is even stronger than Sucker Punch on her.