♫Maybe on the flipside I could catch you again♫
Hello everyone! Bringing you an NU team that I have used with relatively great success. I took a break from NU shortly into XY because I felt as though Feraligatr and Gurdurr were two Pokemon I just could not stand being in NU, but I digress. Anyways, this team got me Reqs, and number 11 on the ladder during the suspect (I put quotes around Peaked because I just sort of stopped laddering after I got my even amount of wins, OCD is a butt). I have always been a huge fan of balanced teams in general, regardless of the tier, and this is no exception. This team has met with great success pulling a fairly good Win / Loss ratio. I wanted to get back into NU, so, as a bit of a reintroduction to NU, I wanted to see how everyone else felt about the team. Without further ado, let's get into it!
#####Team Building Process#####
So, to start this team off, I did something I don't usually do, and start with a Pokemon that isn't a mega. Simply put, I wanted to create a team centered around Liepard. Oh boy, does this cat have some claws. Simply put, this thing is an amazing pivot, who has the ability to sweep with relative ease. 10/10 would use again.
Mesprit is such an amazing Pokemon. The Choice Scarfed set, the one in which I'm using, supplies quite a bit of offensive pressure. Pressure that is much appreciated for this team. However, it does so much more than that. Due to the nature of this team, it gets worn down over time, and thanks to Healing Wish, Mesprit can also give another team member another chance to shine.
Zweilous, my how you've changed. . . This, is the obligatory Typhlosion and Helioliek "counter" (unless it's carrying Focus Blast). Your team always needs one of these, and Zweilous actually does a decent job of doing such. It also acts as a bit of a status absorber thanks to the good ol' RestTalk combination. Thanks to hustle it also hits relatively hard as well.
Mega Camerupt, I'm sorry, but how the hell is this thing NU? This is in my opinion, one of the best breakers in the NU tier. Fire Blast hits like a ton of bricks, being weighed down by a ton of bowling balls. This thing hits obnoxiously hard, and I wanted it for almost nothing more than that. Simply put, I wanted a hard hitting Pokemon, and, quite frankly, I believe I chose the hardest hitting one, that isn't MegaLix, Heliolisk, or Typhlosion. It's typing is also relatively nice too.
Oh Prinplup, I remember when people would laugh at me for using you. Truth is, thing has some damn good bulk, and you ALWAYS need to carry something for Feraligatr, or risk being swept up. It's also the defogger for when someone manages to get their hazards up on my side of the field, while also being able to set up rocks of its own. Prinplup has proven to be a very good Pokemon throughout my time of using it.
Garbador is an amazing team member. It has the ability to come in on Hariyama, a very common Pokemon right now thanks to Typhlosion, a fairly decent amount of times and pick it off with Aftermath + Rocky helmet. It is also a very nice spikes setter who doesn't have much trouble setting them up to be honest. It's poison typing also makes for a pretty decent core with Zweilous taking most hits aimed at it with ease.
#####A Closer Look#####
Ability: Prankster | EVs: 252 Spa / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe | IVs: 0 Atk | Nature: Timid
Encore / Nasty Plot / Dark Pulse / Copycat
This, so far, has easily been the most valuable player for this team. It is absolutely amazing late game. It comes in on Pokemon wanting to set up, lock them into a set up move, while also exploiting something I never thought would be so easy to do. Copying a Lilligant's Quiver dance, let's just imagine that for a second. But in all seriousness, after one nasty plot, Dark Pulse does a pretty large amount of damage to anything that doesn't resist it. The best part about it is, if you used Dark Pulse on a switch, as they bring in something faster such as Heliolisk or a Scarfed mon, Copycat now gives priority to Dark Pulse due to being a status move. I could not possibly count how many times this has won me games if I tried. Liepard is such a great Pokemon capable of sweeping with relative ease if used properly. Encore ensures Liepard's safety when the opponent goes for hazards or set up moves, giving Liepard a free turn to do as it pleases, which usually consists of setting up. Nasty Plot allows Liepard to set up to pretty hard hitting levels, giving it the chance to sweep an entire team if used properly. I've come to notice, that there is a surprisingly low amount of things that can reliably take Dark STAB, especially when it's boosted by Black Glasses, this is a feat Liepard can definitely exploit. Copycat is an amazing necessity that should always be ran on Pivoting Liepard. Not only does it allow it to gain Priority on its ever important Dark Pulse, but it also allows the user to exploit their opponent. Prankster U-Turn is always nice too. Despite being such a frail Pokemon, it really is a surprisingly good Special Sweeper. By far my favorite Pokemon on this team at the moment.
Ability: Levitate | EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe | IVs: 0 Atk | Nature: Modest
Psychic / Thunderbolt / U-turn / Healing Wish
Mesprit sort of snuck up on me. I had always known it was a good Pokemon, just from the few times I ran into it while on the ladder. However, it wasn't until I got around to using it that I realized it really is a great Pokemon. Although of most of the Mesprit I ran into, they were the offensive Stealth Rocking set, I was suggested to use the Choice Scarfed Mesprit set, and oh boy is it great. Mesprit sports some really good stats across the board, with both good offenses and good defenses sitting at 105. With that, it can fill many roles, and it fills those roles very well. Choice Scarf allows Mesprit to outspeed many of the fast Pokemon that at one point proved to be a problem for me. Psychic is for a hard hitting STAB hitting anything wanting to come in extremely hard. Not many things like STAB Modest Psychic coming off of a base 105 Special attack stat. Thunderbolt is simply for coverage. Bulky waters proved to be a bit of a problem, such as Prinplup, however certain flying types were problems as well. Thunderbolt allows me to sort of meet in the middle. U-Turn is self-explanatory, it gets me out of sticky situations and gets me into favorable match-ups. Healing Wish is where this set really comes in handy though. As stated in my Team process, this team gets worn down, over time, be it with hazards, status or just taking chip damage over time, either way it adds up. Healing Wish acts as a bit of a second chance for some of my Pokemon such as Liepard, or even Mega Camerupt if the situation ever arises. Giving max HP and removing any status that may have severely crippled my Pokemon is outright amazing,
Ability: Hustle | EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpDef | Nature: Careful
Rest / Sleep talk / Crunch / Outrage | Dragon Tail | Roar
Zweilous is the obligatory Typhlosion and Heliolisk counter (unless they carry Focus Blast). Zweilous is an amazing switch into these two Pokemon, taking roughly 30% from a max HP Eruption, and 30% from a LO boosted Hyper Voice from Heliolisk. Fearing very little Zweilous simply switches in, forces a switch out, and either hits hard with a Hustle boosted STAB move or gets off a free rest to heal itself back up to give it more opportunities to come in on the two aforementioned Pokemon. However, this Pokemon is quite simply an amazing switch in to the vast amount of special attackers plaguing NU in its current state. It scares out Xatu, tanking U-Turns with relative ease unless of course it has Dazzling Gleam, and although not the best switch in, takes 47% max from Earth Power, and Lilligant can't do much of anything at all. Rest as mentioned before allows Zweilous to heal back up, while also giving it the ability to absorb status when needed. Sleep Talk is relatively self explanatory. It needs a way of dealing damage while it's asleep for those 2 turns, otherwise it's just bait. Crunch is a damn good move when boosted by Hustle, capable of 2HKO'ing things such as Xatu with 0 attack investment. Outrage also allows it to 2HKO its common switch-ins such as Hariyama. Dragon tail can be ran for set up Pokemon, however my hatred for Hustle + 90% accurate move has prevented me from running it. It hits somewhat hard while also phasing out Pokemon where it can be very advantageous. Roar can also be ran, which allows for it to phase when a sub is up, and Dragon tail is also blocked by Fairies, all four of them in the NU tier. Granted, Zweilous should never be face to face with a fairy.
Ability: Solid Rock | EVs: 168 HP / 252 Spa / 88 Spe | IVs: 0 Atk | Nature: Modest
Will O' Wisp / Fire Blast / Earth Power / Ancient Power
Mega Camerupt, my lord. . . I will never understand how this is in NU. This Pokemon hits absurdly hard. I think Absurdly is even underselling it. Let's put it this way, not many things can reliably switch in on this thing without taking a HUGE dent, or just outright dying. Mega Camerupt naturally has been sitting in the back, waiting for Mega Steelix's shine to dim (which will hopefully be happening here pretty soon), and as such I have decided to exploit this. Although, towards the end of the suspect, people began running speed on Mega Steelix, 88 Speed allowed Mega Camerupt to outpace 0 speed MegaLix and OHKO with one of its STAB moves. However, as I stated, Mega Steelix began running speed, which proved to be a problem for Mega Camerupt towards the end of my suspect testing. Will O' Wisp proved to be really good for incoming Hariyama thinking of tanking the incoming Fire Blast only to be greatly crippled with a burn. Only problem being the few and far between Guts Hariyama that run around. However, due to Typhlosion's presence in the NU metagame, Thick Fat on Hariyama is almost a necessity, so, it's typically safe to assume it is Thick Fat. Fire Blast is obvious, thanks to Sheer Force, Fire Blast rips holes through Titanium, capable of either outright killing the Pokemon coming in to take a hit, or 2HKO'ing if given the chance. Not many things can reliably come in on a Fire Blast and live to tell the tale. However, for the few things that do, Earth Power can take them out. Earth Power is typically capable of taking out whatever decided to come in on Fire Blast, usually resulting in a Knock out. Ancient Power, although I've hardly used it, supplies a pseudo EdgeQuake combo that also gets boosted by Sheer Force. I want to note that because I am running Modest nature, I decided against using Rock Slide. Mega Camerupt is an insane Pokemon that I feel needs to see more usage.
Ability: Torrent | EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe | IVs: 0 Atk | Nature: Bold
Stealth Rock / Defog / Scald / Toxic
I used this thing early on in XY NU, and almost every match I went into, people laughed. However, I suppose they didn't realize how much of a great Pokemon Prinplup really is. Feraligatr is an insane problem in NU, especially now that it has been gifted Sheer Force and the ability to run Life Orb without having to worry about any form of recoil. The sad thing is, despite being my Pokemon dedicated to Feraligatr, it still can't take Earthquakes or crunches, and since Prinplup can't learn roost for whatever reason, it is very easily worn down over time. Regardless of such, a Gatr counter is always needed, and this is the most fitting. However, it does have uses outside of that such as setting up Stealth Rocks breaking any potential Sashes that may be ran on a Pokemon. While being able to set rocks, it's also capable of defogging Rocks if Xatu even misses the chance of bouncing rocks or if an enemy Xatu bounces your own rocks back, preventing the 12% minimum residual damage is always nice since this team has no real rock resistance. Thankfully Rock isn't an enormously common attack type in the current metagame, however, this will likely result in me changing this team up if it proves to be more of a problem. Scald is used so Prinplup isn't complete taunt bait, while also supplying a relatively decent move to spam thanks to the
Ability: Aftermath | EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 44 SpDef / 12 Spe | Nature: impish
Spikes / Gunk shot / Toxic spikes / Seed Bomb
I never thought in the beginning of BW that Garbodor would be all that great of a Pokemon, and even in NU in BW it wasn't nearly as great as it is now. I've come to notice, a lot of NU is ran because of another Pokemon. Such as Hariyama being ran because of Typhlosion, well, Garbodor is no different. Garbodor, for me at least, is used almost exclusively for Hariyama, it alone has a field day against my team if Garbodor isn't around, and that is a problem. Poison typing also allows it to essentially come in on whatever Zweilous switched out of and take it on with little to no problems. While also supplying some very helpful hazard support in Spikes and Toxic Spikes. Spikes allow for more entry hazards on top of Stealth Rocks allowing Liepard, Zweilous, and Camel to have an easier time of dealing with Pokemon, while also just absolutely being a nuisance for the opponent having to take at least 12% each turn. Gunk Shot is the necessary STAB that much like Prinplup, alleviates any worry of being absolute taunt bait, while also being a relatively hard hitting move. Toxic Spikes is also an amazing utility move capable of wearing down those annoying wally Pokemon over time, further improving my sweepers and wallbreakers ability to tear down teams. Seed Bomb as suggested by Dat Blast, allows me to break through Seismitoad and the other water types plaguing the NU tier. Rocky Helmet + Aftermath is really where this thing comes in handy however, usually putting Pokemon in a range where another Pokemon can pick off the opponent. Namely problematic Pokemon for Zweilous, Liepard, and Mega Camerupt.
#####Threats#####
What doesn't this threaten? Long story short, if it outspeeds Mega Camerupt due to speed investment, it is a pain in the ass to deal with because of its outright insane bulk.
Heliolisk, much like MegaLix, threatens damn near everything in the tier, and this team is no exception. Although Zweilous can reliably switch in on it nine times out of ten, it's a huge problem if Zweilous manages to get taken down. Liepard is the only somewhat reliable Pokemon but it has to have used Dark Pulse the turn prior, and be at +2, and we know how reliable that is. . .
Okay, NU is pretty borked right now. . . This thing has very few switch ins, and the fact that it can run special further exacerbates this point. If Prinplup goes down, and Feraligatr has managed to set up, it's essentially Good Game.
Ooh boy, this thing. . . In all honesty, gaining Flash Fire didn't exactly make Typhlosion better. Losing Blaze and a strong as all hell Fire Blast when at 25% is a big deal, but regardless of the ability. . . Typhlosion is a HUGE problem. Much like the other three Pokemon in this list, not too many things can come in on it, and once Zweilous goes down, much like Heliolisk, my only real way of dealing with it is managing to get Liepard set up, which isn't always the easiest thing to do.
There is really only one set that gives this team trouble, and that's the lead set. Thanks to Endeavor, this thing has the capability of severely crippling one of my Pokemon within 2 turns of the match. and dropping any Pokemon to 1% right off the bat, is just no good.
I will likely be adding more Pokemon to this as I progress through NU.
#####Conclusion#####
All in all this team has been extremely successful for me, and has proven to be quite the surprise. As a reintroduction to the NU tier, I see it being a relatively solid team throughout. Of course there are a few problem Pokemon, namely Pokemon that need to get out of NU, but I digress. If and when those Pokemon do get booted, this team will likely shine more, but until then, I feel as though it is perfect where it is now. But, who am I to say? That's for you guys to judge! Hope you enjoyed the read and music, and if not, I don't know what to tell you. I've enjoyed this team, and hopefully you all will too! So, until next time, ciao!
#####Importable#####
PrayerInC (Liepard) (F) @ BlackGlasses
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Encore
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Copycat
DigitalLove (Mesprit) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Healing Wish
2ndDayBack (Zweilous) (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Outrage
- Crunch
ToANewEarth (Camerupt) (M) @ Cameruptite
Ability: Solid Rock
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 168 HP / 252 SpA / 88 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Ancient Power
Elysian (Prinplup) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Torrent
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Defog
- Scald
- Toxic
DownTheRoad (Garbodor) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 44 SpD / 12 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Gunk Shot
- Toxic Spikes
- Seed Bomb
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Encore
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Copycat
DigitalLove (Mesprit) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Healing Wish
2ndDayBack (Zweilous) (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Outrage
- Crunch
ToANewEarth (Camerupt) (M) @ Cameruptite
Ability: Solid Rock
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 168 HP / 252 SpA / 88 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Ancient Power
Elysian (Prinplup) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Torrent
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Defog
- Scald
- Toxic
DownTheRoad (Garbodor) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 44 SpD / 12 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Gunk Shot
- Toxic Spikes
- Seed Bomb
#####Replays#####
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nususpecttest-213793541
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nususpecttest-213769535
I have been unable to get any awesome ones as of late because the NU ladder is dead, but will likely be adding more over time.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nususpecttest-213769535
I have been unable to get any awesome ones as of late because the NU ladder is dead, but will likely be adding more over time.
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