Serebii confirmed that the Unova starters are getting released with their hidden abilities, which means Samurott gets Shell Armor and, more importantly, Serperior now finally gets Contrary! I imagine that will make it significantly better in NU.
Really good post buddy :] I have been using archeops however instead of steelix with this core for sometime, it gives me defog and a faster way to check certain threats, but you could add archeops to one of the last 3 mons in the team, but great core :]
Hi guys, iplaytennislol here :]. This core here goes back to the beginning of XY NU. Most everyone encountered the infamous core of Probopass, Vileplume and Hariyama some point in there laddering. This post is an updated version of that core. The only change being Mega Steelix over Probopass.
Hariyama @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts/Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 228 SpD / 28 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch/Earthquake/Fake-out
- Knock Off
- Bullet Punch
In this current meta, Hariyama continues to do what it has always done. It takes special hits well because it almost always runs the item assault vest. This allows it to take special hits well and retaliate with a strong close combat or knock off. Thick fat allows it to eat up a specs eruption from a Typhlosion as well as an ice beam from a Cryogonal making it one of the best switch ins to fire or ice spam in NU. On teams with counters to fire and ice, i recommend running guts. I have been using guts recently with ice punch to kill Vileplume. It is very unexpected and can put in a lot of work.
Vileplume @ Black Sludge
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 224 HP / 252 Def / 32 Spe
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder/Hidden Power Fire
- Synthesis
In this current meta, Vileplume is just like Hariyama in that it has done what it has always done. It takes physical hits extremely well with its unique defensive typing. Grass/Poison allows Vileplume to take banded close combats from Sawk and plus 2 ice punches from Feraligatr. Since Sawk and Feraligatr are extremely common in the current metagame, Vileplume is a huge threat. Sleep powder helps you to beat mega steelix one on one. However, if your team is weak to Ferroseed or Klinklang, hidden power fire can surprise those steel types and deal big damage.
Steelix @ Steelixite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 76 HP / 252 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge/Roar
- Stealth Rock/Fire Fang
In the current meta, mega Steelix takes over Probopass on this core for a couple reasons. It has a more offensive presence in that it can 2 hit ko Vileplume with heavy slam and outspeed most varients because of this ev spread. It also beats Kangaskhan one on one wheras Probopass fails to do so. Drain punch and earthquake decimate Probopass however those moves do only 30% max to mega Steelix. Stone edge can hit Mantine which has become more common because of mega Camerupt. I have tried fire fang and it is surprisingly useful against Ferroseed. No one sees it coming which is why it is useful.
This core is so strong because it covers each other's weaknesses. For example, Hariyama checks fire types which destroy Vileplume and Steelix. Steelix checks psychic types that would otherwise take down Vileplume and Hariyama. Lastly, Vileplume checks fighting types that would otherwise beat Hariyama and Steelix.
***Things to watch out for when using this core***
SAWK- Banded Sawk commonly carries ice punch so beware as the switch to plume is fairly obvious and ice punch easily 2 hit ko's.
FERALIGATR- The biggest thing with Feraligatr is that it beats plume unless plume is at near max hp. Constantly keep an eye on plume's hp to ensure living a plus 2 ice punch.
SWANNA- Water/Flying decimates this core. In order to check this, i recommend Lanturn to go along with the core.
***Mons that go well with the core***
LANTURN- As mentioned above, Lanturn checks Swanna which could otherwise destroy this core.
KABUTOPS- I have been using Kabutops with this core for a couple reasons. One, it is a secondary offensive fire check that can spin away hazards that would otherwise hurt the team. Kabutops also provides more priority which helps this core since it is rather slow.
MESPRIT- I have been running a bulky Mesprit set that provides momentum with u-turn and healing wish. Imo, the only reason to use Mesprit over Uxie. Healing wish allows you to bring back one of your team members that has gotten weakened in order to check your opponents threats.
???Would Rotom fit in that team as well? Kills swanna, has levitate cause all 3 mons can fall to EQ on that core, and is a decently fast mon that can will-o the mons you suggested as checks, such as sawk
Not even the overcentralizing Mega Steelix. rip :[Alright, the NU Council will be doing one more Quick Ban vote in the coming days. The Pokemon that we will be voting on are Mega Glalie, Mega Camerupt, and Pangoro.
Just like always, I'm dropping a quick update on how much I'm considering banning each pokemon. I'm pretty much on the fence on Mega Camerupt (leaning to no ban on MegaRupt though) and Pangoro and can go either way, and am basically locked in over banning Mega Glalie.Alright, the NU Council will be doing one more Quick Ban vote in the coming days. The Pokemon that we will be voting on are Mega Glalie, Mega Camerupt, and Pangoro. Later on, if we decide to retest any items and Pokemon remaining in BL3, those votes will be open to the public. Anyone and everyone is welcome to comment on these suspects itt, although I ask you to remain on topic and don't write up tl;drs rehashing information we already know in order to make your post look longer. Discuss checks and counters, talk about the metagame, post calcs that are relevant to your argument, but for the love of Zebraiken please try not to tell us that Pangoro is slow but strong with Choice Band. We want to make this as productive of a conversation as possible.
- Incredible power with Glaciate boosted Double Edge and Explosion, limits ability to beat it defensively
- Super Fang allows Mega Glalie to remove defensive threats without recovery very easily
- Methods of beating it is primarily limited to faster Pokemon with a super effective move
- Very powerful with Sheer Force boosted Fire Blasts, Flamethrowers, and Earth Powers
- Serves as an amazing pivot due to its great type and bulk
- Incredibly powerful, and can break slower teams easily
- Huge variety in viable sets
- Shuts down defensive playstyles easily
If anyone reading this does not know why we are voting on these Pokemon, just post here and I'll get Soulgazer to give you a full explanation.
Info for council members: Please DO NOT send in your vote for at least 48 hours. Use this time to think about whether you want to ban these Pokemon from NU, and make sure you contribute to this thread!
It's best set is honestly uninvested spA and max bulk, which actually lets it tank a bunch of Grass/Fire types and keep them in check like Typh, Pyroar (Specs hyper voice 2hko 30% of the time with rocks up) Plume, Lilligant and a bunch of others. It still faces the abysmal speed issue as well as it's reliance on tanking hits to deal damage, not to mention pretty much every team out there carry at least 1 Water-type that'll force it out. It's very consistent but idk, it doesn't seem like it's ban-worthy to me (Look, Mega-Camerupt is freaking strong. Its powerful. It easily 2HKOs literally everything. But in my experience, it has been underwhelming to say the least. It's not even close to as bulky as you would want it to be, especially with its meh typing, and its speed just isn't even something you want to talk about. It's also rather predictable, as its only variations are its standard Tank set or its somewhat..LOL Cro sets that make it so its a one trick pony. The abundance of Water and Ground types in the tier also makes it somewhat difficult to use. I'll admit it kills everything with Sheer Force and 145 SAtk, but I'm unsure if a ban is necessary since I've found it to be less than expected, but I can still go towards either side.
That was what I was saying lol it's straight up underwhelming and doesn't check the stuff it should be checking, it's just strong. Again IDC which way it goes.It's best set is honestly uninvested spA and max bulk, which actually lets it tank a bunch of Grass/Fire types and keep them in check like Typh, Pyroar (Specs hyper voice 2hko 30% of the time with rocks up) Plume, Lilligant and a bunch of others. It still faces the abysmal speed issue as well as it's reliance on tanking hits to deal damage, not to mention pretty much every team out there carry at least 1 Water-type that'll force it out. It's very consistent but idk, it doesn't seem like it's ban-worthy to me (RestTalk sucks).
What I was trying to say was I think you're underselling how bulky 70/100/105 is when you've invested in it. Specs Eruption only 3hko from Typh, which is about what it does to 252/0 Mantine (~4% difference) but with the bonus of lots of offensive presence and not weak to rocks. The offensive sets are honestly sub-par compared to max bulk ones, since with max bulk you actually do have defenses while still hitting hard enough. At least strong and bulky enough to check a decent number of mons like Lilligant and Typh.That was what I was saying lol it's straight up underwhelming and doesn't check the stuff it should be checking, it's just strong. Again IDC which way it goes.
While I agree with the first sentence that states that Mega Camerupt can be a bit underwhelming, I disagree with the rest of what you said and your reasons for saying it. It really doesn't have a crappy typing, it lets it switch in on a multitude of defensive walls that can't do jack shit back to it, for reference Ferroseed, Granbull (Granbull can EQ but T-wave and Playrough do nothing), Vileplume, Weezing, Xatu, Uxie, Garbodor are all mons that Mega Rupt can get a free switch in on (there are probably some more that I didn't think of off the top of my head). You shouldn't be running Mega Camerupt to check Mega Glalie lol, that just doesn't make sense, you should be running offensive variants to destroy balance / stall teams and specially defensive rest talk variants as a fire type check. Honestly the mega slot is really a w/e, there are only a few megas to choose from and not all of them fit on every team (also it gets boring using the same mega over and over again lol). So as demonstrated below, it doesn't need a life orb, Sheer Force plus the raise to its stats increases the damage output by a great deal and on top of that you don't even lose any health from a Life Orb. Next up is the chance to burn, the chance is already incredibly small on Fire Blast that if you're relying on it to get burns for you, you're doing it wrong. Lastly you are saying it needs to give up a moveslot to be able to cripple things with Will-O-Wisp, but lets be real here; Mega Camerupt only really needs Fire Blast / Flamethrower and Earth Power to be able to do its job. The last two slots are fillers depending on what you want it to do, meaning you can run Will-O-Wisp, Rock Slide, a Hidden Power, or Stealth Rock. If you already have a Stealth Rock Pokemon then you pretty much have the free slot for Will-O-Wisp.Don't have any opinion on Meglalie or THE PANDA, but I'll share my opinions on Mega Camel.
(Also, The Quasar, when you say Ice Fang, do you mean Super Fang)
While this may seem broken on paper, with sky-high attack (by NU standards), and decent bulk, honestly it can be underwhelming, with low Speed and a crappy typing, especially in a tier where some common Pokemon are those types. Some of the things people run to try to check Mega Glalie, like the hyping up Prinplup had post-Megas (I mean Bee/Drag/Puff/Tile/Lop/etc. meta), spills into Mega-Camerupt's efficiency. While Sheer Force lets it wallbreak well, it also has its downsides, such as the Mega slot (which lets you not use Glalie/Steelix in the first place) which lets it not hold LO, as well as getting rid of the burn chance, which you have to give up a moveslot for if you want to be able to cripple mons using WoW.