Metagame np: Stage 2 - You Spin Me Round (Like a Shellfish)

[Kiyo]

So anyways, I've been playing around with not a niche set, but more or less a niche Pokemon in its entirety:

Yanma @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Giga Drain

I know it's very hard to justify any use for a D rank Pokemon in the lowest of all tiers (especially when it dies to fucking tackle, 4x weak to rocks, and isn't that strong), but honestly, I've actually had some success playing with this set. It is the only Pokemon with offensive presence and Speed Boost in NU, and it is probably one of my favorite usable cleaners in the entire tier. My common, and best said only, playstyle is hazard stacking, and this set is just amazing at doing that. After a bunch of rounds of hazard damage and general weakening of the opponents, I like to use this little bug late-game to clean up. After a Speed Boost, Yanma is actually really fast (like omg) and with maximum Special Attack investment with a LO, it packs just enough power to get rid of weakened opponents. Giga Drain + Bug Buzz + Air Slash can great coverage, beating common things like Seismitoad and Mesprit. I've personally used this set to revenge kill and just clean. It seems underwhelming, but try it, because it actually is somewhat effective.

really effective if ur opp is retarded and has no priority on their team.

but in all seriousness i tried this as a joke and paired it with nasty pass togetic, worked pretty well and would've swept AquajetBreloom if not for an invested av magmortar :[ gr8 coverage and in a tier where speed is hard to come by speed boost helps a ton

 

[Zenza]

So anyways, I've been playing around with not a niche set, but more or less a niche Pokemon in its entirety:

Yanma @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Giga Drain

I know it's very hard to justify any use for a D rank Pokemon in the lowest of all tiers (especially when it dies to fucking tackle, 4x weak to rocks, and isn't that strong), but honestly, I've actually had some success playing with this set. It is the only Pokemon with offensive presence and Speed Boost in NU, and it is probably one of my favorite usable cleaners in the entire tier. My common, and best said only, playstyle is hazard stacking, and this set is just amazing at doing that. After a bunch of rounds of hazard damage and general weakening of the opponents, I like to use this little bug late-game to clean up. After a Speed Boost, Yanma is actually really fast (like omg) and with maximum Special Attack investment with a LO, it packs just enough power to get rid of weakened opponents. Giga Drain + Bug Buzz + Air Slash can great coverage, beating common things like Seismitoad and Mesprit. I've personally used this set to revenge kill and just clean. It seems underwhelming, but try it, because it actually is somewhat effective.

Carvanha kind of rivals yanma as a frail NFE speed booster, by Carvanha has more attacking prowess, similarly great coverage, access to destiny bond iirc, and can even flinch people to death with waterfall like how yanma flinches to death with air slash. Not to mention Carvanha gets a stab priority move in aqua jet, something yanma lacks as well. Carvanha also has better typing for it's job, as while it is weak to Mach punch, it resists more common priority moves such as hariyama's bullet punch and gatrs aqua jet, something yanma would dream for. The only thing I really see yanma having over Carvanha is it having slightly more bulk, but in reality, because neither choose to run eviolite nor Carvanha or yanma are living shit lol

 

[Punchshroom]

I've been liking these bulky Grass-type tanks / stallbreakers lately. I find both of them to be very comparable; both are hard-hitting Grass-types with low speed, have good / decent defensive utility but have several bad weaknesses.

Vileplume @ Life Orb
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 112 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 140 Spe
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power Ground / Fire
- Moonlight

Vileplume is immune to Toxic, has good bulk, has reliable recovery, and can hit hard, all of which are traits that can be problematic for defensive teams, which is certainly not helped by Sludge Bomb's power and poison chance. Audino and Lanturn certainly won't be trying to Heal Bell comfortably in Vileplume's face. Hidden Power Ground makes Vileplume an excellent Dragalge lure and thrashes Probopass, in case your team has trouble with them; HP Fire can take care of Ferroseed, though Ferroseed can usually be handled with Xatu or a Probopass of your own. This Vileplume takes advantage of the fact that less and less Fighting-types are using Ice Punch anymore, meaning that even an offensive Vileplume can put the likes of Hariyama and Gurdurr on the backfoot, while using its powerful offensive presence to deter would-be switchins to Grass-types, such as Magmortar, Xatu, and other Vileplume :/. Being weak to Fire and Psychic in this meta is a huge bummer though, so keep that in mind.

Exeggutor @ Choice Specs
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Psyshock
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Fire / Ancientpower

As far as Grass-type nukes go, nothing in NU rivals Exeggutor. Specs Leaf Storm is very nightmarish for opponents that lack a good Grass resist, but adding Psyshock into the mix complicates things further, meaning only a select few Pokemon in the tier can claim to switch into Exeggutor with relative safety. Indeed, Exeggutor's power is quite insane, but it can run out of steam rather quickly and be easy fodder for the opponent's faster attackers / setup sweepers, and there's the fact there are only so many opponents that give Eggy the turns it needs to wreck house. Ancientpower is for Xatu btw.

These Grass-types have served me well, punching large holes into the opponent's team whenever they get the chance (mainly against slower mons); while their numerous weaknesses are pretty bad, their resistances are just enough to keep them relevant in this more offensive metagame.

 

[Ares]

I've got to say that I really enjoy playing with specs eggy. It hits like a truck and everyone expects it to be a sub seed set which can work out to your advantage. Decent coverage between its two STABs, the only thing I find really lacking is its speed. I mean it can outpace the slower metagame fully invested, its just the other half of the meta is so fast that it is going to be taking a ton of damage if it cant outpace the opponent.

Plume has been on the up and up, for a while there it dropped off in usage and as of late I've seen more and more. Its still does its job reasonably well wether its an offensive set or a defensive set, I just think that it wont be as great as it used to be back in its hayday as the meta has adapted to it.

 

[Punchshroom]

Plume was great during the start of NU where it countered offensive Grass-types Shiftry and Virizion reasonably well; it is only when the two left that Plume started to face real competition from other Grass-types when it comes to walling Water-types such as Feraligatr and Ludicolo, and especially newcomer Kabutops. The fact that Fire-, Flying- and Psychic-types are becoming the meta dominant threats is not helping it either.

Plume's remaining niches are that the defensive set can wall any Fighting-type in the tier that lacks Ice Punch, while the offensive set can harass bulkier teams. I expect that Ice Punch Fighting-types are a trend that comes and goes, since Plume is the reason why they would even consider it, while the popularity of bulkier teams are more meta dependent. Plume is still good at what it does, but how good it is would be influenced by the meta, meaning its usage will likely fluctuate.

 

[ryan]

ftr LO eggy wrecks too. really strong Pokemon, and nothing walls giga/psyshock/leaf storm/hp fire well. only problem if you lose sleep powder if you run four attacks, but I think it's generally worth it.

 

[Choice Banned]

I can agree with these posts, Specs Eggy is a great wallbreaker, not much really wants to switch into specs leaf storm, upon testing the set.

 

[Ares]

Short revival post :D

So this is a moveset that has been on the rise in popularity and it is Bulkops, Brawlfest recently suggested it and its a pretty fantastic check to various pokes in particular Fire-types.

Archeops
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 248 HP / 32 Atk / 228 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Roost
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake

Archeops has access to Taunt which lets it act as a stall breaker, Roost for recovery so that Archeops stays out of Defeatist range, Acrobatics for power, Earthquake for anything that resists Acrobatics and doesn't have levitate. Nifty set and you ppl should give it a whirl if you haven't tried it out already.

 

[nu nu X]

Best shellfish is Clamperl. Been wrecking souls with it :D

 

[Choice Banned]

Best shellfish is Clamperl. Been wrecking souls with it :D

Clamperl is rly meh. There are multiple smashers all better than Clamperl. Carracosta can do mixed wallbreaking and WP sets well, Gorebyss is a reliable Smash Passer, hell even Barbaracle has a niche in its coverage. Also being the best shellfish doesn't really matter; most NU ones are NFEs that are unviable anyway.

 

[Davon]

Fraxure @ Eviolite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 244 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Superpower / Iron Tail
- Taunt
- Dragon Dance

Something I've been experimenting with. It's really good because you can setup a dragon dance on typhlosions locked into fire blast and taunt ferroseeds that like to switch in which turns them into setup fodder. The ev spread is to outspeed jolly archeops after 1 dragon dance. Obviously when teambuilding you'll want something to take on Fairys or steel types depending if you pick superpower or iron tail as a coverage move. I also like to include a normal type when teambuilding for scarf rotoms in case if don't get 2 dd's up.

Some fun on the ladder:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-184276928
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-184283698

 

[CanadianWifier]

It also gets Poison Jab, so no need for 75 acc Iron Tail (unless that 2hkos something specific that pj doesnt)

taunt dd frax is something that kicked ass last gen, too :]

 

[Davon]

It also gets Poison Jab, so no need for 75 acc Iron Tail (unless that 2hkos something specific that pj doesnt)

taunt dd frax is something that kicked ass last gen, too :]

Iron tail 2hkos defensive granbull at neutral (dragon dancing on the switch). Poison jab is a 3hko. Fraxure survives defensive granbull's play rough. Other than this scenario I don't see iron tail being more useful than poison jab.

 

[Kiyo]

oh god you shared the replay... i hate you Davon:[ but Fraxure is definitely cool and its something i'll be building around in the future :]

 

[Choice Banned]

It also gets Poison Jab, so no need for 75 acc Iron Tail (unless that 2hkos something specific that pj doesnt)

taunt dd frax is something that kicked ass last gen, too :]

Is (Set-up move) + Taunt really viable on anything else other than Fraxure?

 

[boltsandbombers]

Is (Set-up move) + Taunt really viable on anything else other than Fraxure?

Yeah, Taunt + SD Pangoro is a really effective wallbreaker that I've seen put in some good work before.

 

[Swagalge]

I used to use scraggy with DD and taunt when spiritomb was around

 

[Karane]

It also gets Poison Jab, so no need for 75 acc Iron Tail (unless that 2hkos something specific that pj doesnt)

taunt dd frax is something that kicked ass last gen, too :]

Iron tail does better against piloswines as well. Overall a great set Davon.

 

[jake]

Welcome to the start of a new era: ORAS NU! RIP, XY NU.

(New np: thread coming in a few.)