XY NU endtroducing...

[g]

endtroducing....

introduction:
I have been on smogon for nearly two years now and even thought i started posting consistently only in like February or March i feel like i have been there for a lot, a lot more time. It might be weird to see me post a NU team as my first RMT, mostly because i am known for my contributions to the RU tier, but i am an avid NU player surprisingly enough (and i have played the tier almost as much as RU since Zoroark and Yanmega were banned) and this is the best team i have built in a while so here i am.
This team was built kinda quickly based on the core of Garbodor + Rotom hazards setting core which i feel like is one of the most effective in the metagame for bulky offensive teams like mine. This team has had quite a bit of success both on the ladder (which i don't really consider as a reliable way to verify the effectiveness of a team anyway but whatever) and in tournaments such as the NU Open in which user Tricking used it in to get to Finals (and this team won the game in finals and was generally undefeated iirc) and in PSPL in which i used it myself to get two wins (and a loss against aim, due to a misplay). I am going to skip the teambuilding process because most Pokemon really came one after the other bar the Mesprit slot which was a Camerupt and an Uxie before.

the team:

garbodor @ rocky helmet
ability: aftermath | evs: 252 hp / 160 def / 96 spe or 252 hp / 160 sdef / 96 spe | nature: impish / careful
spikes / toxic spikes / gunk shot / haze | drain punch

Garbodor is probably one of the most underrated threat in this tier. For some reason this thing doesn't even get NU usage but it is surely my favourite hazards setter to use in bulky offensive and balanced teams. Thanks to aftermath+rocky helmet+great physical bulk this thing acts as a pivot and toxic spikes+spikes can be really hard to remove with offensive pressure. gunk shot is useful because of its high base power and poison chance and for offensive teams it can be very hard to switch into. While haze is probably the best option in the last slot to prevent stuff like Gurdurr from setting up while you set up entry hazards drain punch is another good option as Pawniard is a big threat and to also hit Ferroseed (less important because spikes+volt switch+random attacks from the team really wear it down). I have also used a more specially defensive spread sometimes to set hazards better on stuff like Lilligant and Sceptile, which are quite big threats, but physically defensive fits this team way better in my opinion. Speed EVs are to outrun maximum speed base 55s such as Exeggutor.

rotom @ choice scarf
ability: levitate | evs: 4 def / 252 spa / 252 spe | nature: timid
volt switch / shadow ball / thunderbolt / trick

Rotom is another fantastic Pokemon that still doesn't get the usage it deserves in this tier and i still don't understand why. While it may not be the best volt switch user because it kinda "lacks" the ability to threaten Ground-types, Rotom can be surprisingly difficult to switch into with entry hazards support and its great typing makes it the premiere partner for Garbodor, a fantastic revenge killer for stuff like Archeops, a Trick user (which lets it spinblock Cryogonal too), and sort of pivot against Ground-types and Fighting types to some extent.

feraligatr @ lum berry
ability: torrent | evs: 184 hp / 252 atk / 72 spe | nature: adamant
swords dance / waterfall / aqua jet / return | superpower

Someone on the forums a while ago wrote in a post that Feraligatr is one of the better "strategies" to succeed in the NU meta and i can quite agree with that statement. While it is mostly prepared for in high level games, Feraligatr can still put a dent in most teams or simply clean up late game. Feraligatr finds a lot of setup opportunities on this team, for example against a Ground-type that "caught" Rotom using Volt Switch or a Rock-type that took a hit and KOed Kangaskhan and by then it can simply go on a rampage. Feraligatr is also my main check to Fire-types. I really like Superpower on this team because people just blindly switch in Ferroseed on Feraligatr but i run Return most of the time as it still hits stuff like Seismitoad and Lanturn really hard and doesn't reduce Feraligatr's bulk. Another role is in fact weakening those two for the next member of this team, Klinklang.

klinklang @ leftovers
ability: clear body | evs: 76 hp / 252 atk / 180 spe | nature: adamant
substitute / shift gear / gear grind / return

Klilnklang is a Pokemon that fits quite well on this team because of the Pokemon the rest of the team can lure and beat. Feraligatr weakens its best checks in Seismitoad and Lanturn, Mesprit and Kangaskhan lure and beat Ferroseed, and in general entry hazards are very useful to sweep with Klinklang. EVs are to outspeed Maximum Speed Modest Mesprit before the boost so that Klinklang can set up a Substitute to scout for Hidden Power Fire or simply kill off a weakened one.

kangaskhan @ silk scarf
ability: scrappy | evs: 252 atk / 4 def / 252 spe | nature: adamant
fake out / double edge / sucker punch / drain punch | fire punch

Seeing that my team was quite slow outside of Rotom and that faster Pokemon in general could be very troublesome to deal with i decided to use Kangaskhan. Kangashkan provides my team with very strong revenge killing capabilities in Fake Out(which works incredibly well with Toxic Spikes)+Sucker Punch and with surprising wallbreaking potential thanks to Double Edge that manages to 2HKO pretty much anything not resistent to it with Spikes and Toxic Spikes support making it threatening to offense and balance alike. In the last slot i bounce between Drain Punch and Fire Punch with a preference on the former. While having a stronger move to hit Ferroseed can be very good, especially early game when hazards are not up, i feel like Drain Punch is still the better option as it lets me do something to Rhydon and to guarantee the 2HKO on stuff like Probopass (and to OHKO Pawniard while recovering some hp).

mesprit @ colbur berry
ability: levitate | evs: 52 hp / 252 spa / 204 spe | nature: timid
stealth rock / psychic / hidden power fire / energy ball

At this point i needed Stealth Rock and a bit more assurance against stuff like Seismitoad which could prove to be very annoying with hazards not up or if it came in on stuff like unboosted Feraligatr or Klinklang. Having tried stuff like Uxie before i just settled on Mesprit. With Hidden Power Fire i have an additional way to pressure Ferroseed (which is one of the ways this team works) and thanks to Colbur berry i can check stuff like Cacturne/Pawniard more easily and bluff a choice set to hit Ferroseed without the need to predict. I have used Healing Wish over Energy Ball sometimes but i feel like it is not really needed on this team and i prefer Energy Ball more. EVs just outspeed Adamant Sawk as you can't outspeed Timid Mesprit anyway if you are using Hidden Power Fire.

conclusion:
This is a very fun and easy team to play with to be honest. It doesn't feature anything too fancy or innovative (you could actually say it is a bit "standard") but i just decided to share it. I am having quite a lot of fun with XY and, while with school i have a bit less time to play, with ORAS coming soon i hope i can still be as involved with this awesome community as much as i have been in the last months. Thank you for reading. :]

importable:

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Garbodor @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Haze
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Gunk Shot

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Trick

Feraligatr @ Lum Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 184 HP / 252 Atk / 72 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Swords Dance
- Return

Kangaskhan (F) @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Fake Out
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Punch

Klinklang @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 76 HP / 252 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Gear Grind
- Shift Gear
- Return
- Substitute

Mesprit @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 88 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Energy Ball

1k shoutouts:

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IRC people
Robert Alfons
biggest raging nerd on this site, lucky player and a knowledge base for anyone who wants to know about gay (and good sometimes) music and hipster movies. fren :]]]
Magnemite
another very cute user i've had the pleasure to meet, always fun to talk to you :)
Arikado
drunkarab in ireland. abusive mod. sad that you are on less time these days :/
Molk
one of my first friends on smogon, always chill and wanting to help. it's always fun to talk and joke with you :]
TRC
cool guy and pu council fren :]
Pearl.
another lucky battler that always smashes me in randbats, i haven't known you for long but you are quite cool :]
Bouffalant
nerd :]
Aladyyn
U have a bad last.fm :3
ium
ultra cute user
Cherub Agent
one of the most friendly users on this site imo, sad that you don't come on as much
Hot N Cold
spanish friend :]
atomicllamas
funnE user ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
Goddess Briyella
you are so helpful for a lot of new users and thanks to you i met a lot of cool people :]
Spirit cool user too :)
fleurdyleurse for being the best gp checker :)))
All the other people in the RU, PU, and NU community like Detective Dell WhiteDMist EonX Raseri Soulgazer Anty scorpdestroyer and a whole other bunch I obviously missed. Thank you for being so welcoming and for making smogon great :)
PS/Skype ppl
PS RU room staff
barton The Leprechaun Lyto Kushalos innovamania migzoo Swanna Caption Leer Ojoni Blizzard Montsegur Tidal Waltz aoemica xastify
so many friends here, this room and the legendary staff convo makes it the best on ps really bar kushalos, hes bad
also GlassGlaceon Sapphire. TheCanadianWifier Scene Rob.Xylen :]
Yagura is trash
Italian Community
i don't really like how much hate there is between italian people but i am friend with a lot of you and i don't care :]
Tricking Livio The Quasar Mix Test2017 Lord Elyis amber lamps Inflikted darkdevil SnowCristal! _Lord DragoMaster_ Enki trev Asuya and all the people in SS i am not really sure what their name on smogon is, you are all awesome :]
There is a lot of people i forgot to include but
I am REALLY sorry if i missed anyone :]

 

[ryan]

pretty standard bulky offense team, looks solid. only real suggestion is to try out Fake Out AV Hariyama over Kangaskan because your only fire resist is not a switch in at all, and you really don't want specs typhlosion getting a kill every time it switches in.

 

[g]

pretty standard bulky offense team, looks solid. only real suggestion is to try out Fake Out AV Hariyama over Kangaskan because your only fire resist is not a switch in at all, and you really don't want specs typhlosion getting a kill every time it switches in.

Considering that Typhlosion switches in only on Klinklang (not on shift gear because return has a chance to kill if it has taken more than 25%) , on Garbodor, and Mesprit using a move other than Psychic it isn't like it switches in too often especially if Rocks/Spikes are up. The other half of my team ouspeeds and takes it out with slight prior damage but it is true that sometimes I have to pick fodder. I think Kangashkhan is too important for this team because of his stronger wall breaking and revenge killing capabilities (also it can act as a sudo ferroseed lure with Fire Punch) that hariyama lacks because of its speed. I might try that I'm the future thought.

 

[Brawlfest]

I'm going to back up Hollywood's suggestion of Hariyama > Kangaskhan, as it really acts as a great glue mon and offers you two key resists in Fire and Dark that you currently lack. Right now, Pawniard and Liepard are massive threats as Knock Off deals quite a bit of damage all around for your team, and Sucker Punch is outright annoying for the likes of Rotom and Mesprit. Liepard is slightly less annoying however, as it loses 1v1 to most of your pokemon regardless.

I think the easiest way to go about fixing the problem would be to run 112 Speed on Feraligatr, which gives you enough speed to outspeed 252 Adamant Pawniard, allowing you to not play any mindgames when at low health.

 

[Blast]

I think Hariyama does make your team more sound defensively, but at the same time I can see why you wouldn't want to add it. The massive loss in Speed is pretty significant for beating out and checking a lot of stuff, so yeah I can see why you would be hesitant about it. If you're interested in going down that route, it's probably worth bumping up your team's Speed too with some sort of faster sweeper like SD Sneasel or something over Klinklang. This is obviously just an optional change since I think your team should function fine without either, but if you want to try out Hariyama I'd suggest that.

Another option to ~sort of~ help with Typhlosion would be to use Pawniard > Klinklang. It doesn't actually resist Fire, but its access to Sucker Punch can apply more pressure to Fire-types, which helps lessen the amount of Pokemon it can take advantage of. Access to Knock Off is also pretty useful because your team is pretty heavily physical-spam oriented, so Knock Off allows it to be more useful throughout the match. Also I agree with Brawl's suggestion of 144 HP Gatr because your team wants the most reliable Pawniard check possible.

Cool team :]

 

[Kiyo]

really like the team galbia, i had the unfortunate task of going against this team twice in round 4 of the open and it took me down when i was running an earlier version of my sheddy team, its one of the main reasons i switched Kadabra to Xatu and started running earthquake on Hariyama. I played against tricking probably a good 7 times on ladder while he was using this and i hope i can point out some usage tips.

A well played Defensive CM Xatu can give this team a bit of trouble, it's very easy to click psyshock and watch things on you team get worn down after rocks. It also deters hazards from going up as its essentially a free switch in to Mesprit and a pretty safe one against Garbodor.

Jolly CB Sawk outspeeds everything on your team bar Rotom, so checking it can be problematic if you're denied hazards as the best way to deal with it is volt switching / tbolting or fake out with Kangaskhan. I'm hesitant to suggest Jolly Kangaskhan to remedy this because you're going to have hazards up against most teams but it's something to consider nonetheless. This is one reason why I disagree with Hariyama > Kangaskhan but either will work when played well.

I'd suggest running 40 HP / 252 Atk/ 216 Spe on klinklang unless the added bulk helps you tank some hit i'm not seeing as outspeeding adamant Sawk late in the game is a huge boon (esp considering garb gets worn down so quickly)

I'd also consider running more speed on Feraligatr whether you choose 112 to outpace Pawniard or 152 to outpace garbage like jolly cacturne that could potentially end a sweep.

Again really solid team, Garb+Klink+Mesprit+Gatr is a great archetype to wear down common switch ins to physical attackers and overcome them. Congrats on building a team that had great success in the NU Open!

 

[g]

Thank you all for the rates, I very much appreciate them :)
I kinda disagree with Hariyama replacing Kanga for the reason Datblast (and kiyo too) mentioned. I rely on it to check a lot of Pokemon and having Kangashkhan in the back is always useful if I have to make some risky play.

I also agree that Xatu is a very big threat to this team and my best way of beating it is double switching to Rotom every time I bring Garbodor in (which is very safe and mindless actually) and eventually force it to take a hit with Kanga. I have also considered Thunderbolt and/or Ice Beam Mesprit because of that. Jolly CB sawk is a massive threat too yea and my only way of "beating" it is to force it to lock into something like Knock Off or Earthquake to set up with Gatr or via hazards.
Anyway I have immediately changed Feraligatr EV's (and Klinklang's) so that I can out speed pawniard after it was pointed out ad there is very little reason to use such a slow Feraligatr.
I also plan on testing Pawniard as it looks very interesting for this team to have Knock Off support for annoying Pokemon like Prinplup and some additional priority that can help against Fire-types :)

 

[Teddeh]

Hai Galbia, I've played against this team a few times on the ladder and thought I would give it a rate too considering I've noticed a few possible changes that could be made :]
For starters, more speed on feraligatr. Running enough ev's to hit 240 speed on gatr and running 72 hp may be a better option for your team as you can outspeed samurott/speed tie and also outspeed offensive base 55s running timid. I.e exeggutor (posting that from experience, it won me a game against tricking xD). Also, you struggle slightly with stally cores that have more than one counter to the likes of klingklang or gatr, for example ferroseed and toad, which are rather common. I feel you could use gatr as a lure for both of these and add SUPERPOWER over the likes of return as you do more to both of them and it takes off some of the pressure from kanga killing it with fire punch. Also, i could suggest changing mesprit's moveset by suggesting someover over energy ball such as shadow ball, healing wish or thunderbolt. Healing wish would be great for kanga, klingklang or gatr if you've already had a semi-sweep with them earlier on in the game and shadow ball/thunderbolt would be great for psychic type lures such as Musharna (which is becoming more popular and weakening it for kanga), xatu to help with your problem and you don't really struggle too much with toad or rhydon enough to really use energy ball. Also consider the surprise factor that 99% of mesprit run energy ball, you would force a switch anyway for free rocks.
As far as switch ins go, it's a great hyper offense team that does well. You don't need to change anything as far as the pokes go, although adding another special attacker may work well as you lack specially offensive moves to hit physical walls however I can't seem to think of anything to change unless you want to try samurott over feraligatr, however that sorta defeats the purpose of the 3 physically offensive core. Other than that, it's a solid team pal :]

 

[Ares]

Hey galbia nice team you got here! Grats on 1k as well a bit late but w/e!

So after playing this team a couple of times on the ladder I could think of one minor change that could help you beat me in the future lol. That is Healing Wish > HP Fire on Mesprit, this is a minor change that would greatly increase your ability to play a bit more recklessly and also would allow you to attempt two sweeps with either Kanga, Gatr, or Klingklang. Both of our matches on the ladder resulted in a 1-0 in my favor, very close games indeed, and if you had been able to re-heal a Pokemon such as Kanga I think you would of probably won. HP Fire helps you check Ferroseed better, but honestly you can just lure in Ferroseed with Superpower Gatr and defeat it early game, not to mention Ferroseed's use has been declining as of late and I dont think you need the extra check.

Good luck with the team, and I'm impressed with all the use its gotten in high level play, anyways I hope I helped! (I know its been mentioned above but its the only change that came to mind that hasnt been implemented)