The Grass is Always Greener

Majestic Electric

Majestic Electric

The Grass is Always Greener!​


Hello Smogon! What I have for you today is my very first RMT! I've joined only recently, so I apologize for my noobness. ​

First, some boring backstory. I normally play OU, but now I find it boring with all the weather and VoltTurn teams running amok. So, a few months ago, I tried out UU. It was fun, but it wasn't my cup of tea. After this, I decided to try out NU just for the hell of it and have loved it ever since! I love how weather teams are almost non-existent and how diverse the tier itself is! ​

Anyway, this team is based around one of my favorite Pokemon, Serperior. It has been doing okay, but not great, so I would like to get some help from the experts! :) That said, let's go straight to the team! ​

Team Building Process:​
I started with Serperior for obvious reasons.​

​

With all the Ice-types roaming around in NU, I put in Magmortar to patch this up. I added Lapras for this reason, too. However, Lapras would also help out Magmortar by taking the water attacks that he is weak to. ​

​

Looking at my team so far, I already saw a big weakness to rock. Plus, I needed a Rock-type of my own to wall the numerous Flying-types in the tier. I originally had Golem, but it only made my team synergy worse. After careful consideration, I went with Metang because he has great typing, could take hits from Flying and Rock-types, and could provide team support by setting up Stealth Rock, just like Golem.​

​

With that settled, I knew I needed a Poison-type to get rid of Toxic Spikes, something Serperior can't stand! I went with Garbodor because it solved this problem and could set up more hazards to support the team.​

​

I noticed that now I had a big weakness to Ground! Plus, I knew I would have trouble with Fighting-types. Not good. However, Braviary fixed up these problems easily and earned a spot on my team.​

​


...And with that, my team was finished! :)​


The Team​


Metang @Eviolite
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpD
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
-Stealth Rock
-Toxic
-Meteor Mash
-Earthquake​

Metang serves a very important role in my team. Not only is he my physical wall, but he also sets up Stealth Rock. Metang's awesome typing means he can come in safely on most pokes in the tier. He is also my answer to both Rock and Flying-types, who otherwise cause problems for my team. Speaking of Flying-types, Stealth Rock severely limits the amount of times one can come in, giving me the advantage. Meteor Mash and Earthquake provides decent coverage, too.​


Serperior (M) @Life Orb
Trait: Overgrow
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Substitute
-Calm Mind
-Giga Drain
-Hidden Power (Rock) ​

And here he is. The powerhouse. The beast. The Pokemon this entire team was focused around. SubCM Serperior is so underrated in this meta and should really be used more often! He can be difficult to bring in safely, but it is definitely worth the effort! After a few Calm Mind boosts, Serperior, with a Life Orb, has the potential to even OHKO Magmortar! He also has good enough bulk to take a few hits if need be, but that's where Giga Drain comes into play! STAB Giga Drain restores Serperior's health greatly and is necessary on this set because of Life Orb recoil. In addition, Hidden Power Rock is all the coverage he needs to deal with his counters and then some.​


Lapras (F) @Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP/8 SpA/252 SpD
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt
-Surf
-Heal Bell​

Whereas Metang serves as my team's physical wall, Lapras is the special wall. Her typing is a mixed bag to say the least, but is pretty useful under the right conditions. Like Magmortar, Lapras can take Ice-type attacks for Serperior and does so really well! Being 4x resistant to Ice is great, especially because there are so many in NU! In addition, Lapras can take the Water-type attacks aimed at Magmortar, laughing at the failed attempt to damage it. WRONG! With Water Absorb, Lapras makes all water attacks completely useless and can use it to get some health back. Surf provides secondary STAB along with Ice Beam and Heal Bell cures the team's status.​


Magmortar (M) @Choice Specs
Trait: Vital Spirit
EVs: 24 HP/252 SpA/232 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Fire Blast
-Thunderbolt
-Focus Blast
-Hidden Power (Ice) ​

I see these things practically everywhere and it is easy to see why! Simply put, Magmortar is just that good! With a Choice Specs, Magmortar becomes a very dangerous special sweeper, and has near-perfect coverage on top of that! STAB Fire Blast can crack even the hardest nut, plus he can damage Water and Rock-types on the switch with Thunderbolt and Focus Blast respectively. I chose Hidden Power Ice instead of Grass because Altaria walls him to no end without it, and Serperior can scare away Quagsire.​


Garbodor (M) @Air Balloon
Trait: Stench
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpD
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
-Toxic Spikes
-Spikes
-Clear Smog
-Rock Blast ​

Garbodor supports the team by ridding the field of Toxic Spikes. It also helps that he can set up his own Toxic Spikes. Because my team is pretty Ground weak, I put an Air Balloon on Garbodor to somewhat fix the issue, though I'm considering Leftovers to replace it. I decided to give him Clear Smog and Rock Blast because they are both pretty useful in their own way. Clear Fog removes any stat boosts gained by the opponent, while Rock Blast provides better coverage. Rock Blast also deals with Cryogonal and breaks Substitutes, once again preventing setup sweepers from setting up.​


Braviary (M) @Choice Scarf
Trait: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
-Return
-Brave Bird
-Superpower
-U-turn​

BRAVE BIRD EVERYTHING!!! In all seriousness though, Braviary helps patch up my weakness to Ground and can take care of the Fighting-types roaming around the tier. Braviary is pretty slow, but Choice Scarf is the perfect solution! With an Adamant Nature, Braviary can hit hard while outspeeding most threats. Unlike his Flying-type brethren, Braviary has access to Superpower! This helps catch some of his counters, such as Probopass, on the switch and can usually 2HKO them. Return provides decent coverage with Brave Bird and U-turn is for scouting the opponent's team.​


Importable:
Metang @Eviolite Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpD
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
-Stealth Rock
-Toxic
-Meteor Mash
-Earthquake
Serperior (M) @Life Orb
Trait: Overgrow
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Substitute
-Clear Mind
-Giga Drain
-Hidden Power (Rock)
Lapras (F) @Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP/8 SpA/252 SpD
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt
-Roar
-Heal Bell
Magmortar (M) @Choice Specs
Trait: Vital Spirit
EVs: 24 HP/252 SpA/232 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Fire Blast
-Thunderbolt
-Focus Blast
-Hidden Power (Ice)
Garbodor (M) @Air Balloon
Trait: Stench
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpD
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
-Toxic Spikes
-Spikes
-Clear Smog
-Rock Blast
Braviary (M) @Choice Scarf
Trait: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
-Return
-Brave Bird
-Superpower
-U-turn


Any help is appreciated. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! :)








 

MMF

Give me the strength to part this sea
Hey there welcome to Smogon! You have a pretty cool team going here and I just have a few small changes that I think will help you out!

First off Im going to suggest a Probopass over Metang. Metang is generally one of more useless SR setters you can have and Probopass does the same things as Metang but can actually hurt things. The set I'm gonna suggest is as follows:

Probopass (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power

A fast Probopass may look weird but it outspeeds Golem and smacks him with a super effective Flash Cannon which allows you take out most teams Ground type attacker. This allows you to take out one of your biggest weaknesses. Also with Air Balloon ground type attacks won't hit it until they break your balloon with another attack. And even without leftovers it can still check birds!

On to the next one! From what I can see from your team you are hit very hard by things like Sawk and Emboar as you really have no good switch in to either since without Leftovers Garbodor can be worn down. So I'm gonna suggest that you use Leftovers on Garbodor instead of Air Balloon. With Air Balloon you can't absorb Toxic Spikes as you are levitating above them and Leftovers helps tremendously by giving you some recovery so you can switch in on things like Sawk more.

Thirdly I would like to suggest a Samurott over Lapras. Really the only thing Lapras has over Samurott is that has a weakness to Fighting. With Swords Dance Samurott allows you to bring more offense to your team while also retaining the resistance to Ice and Water that you are looking for. It also gives you some much needed priority and another sweeper! The combination of SR+Spikes and Samurott+Serperior is very strong. Here's the set:

Samurott (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Megahorn


Good luck and hope I helped!!
 
Majestic Electric

Majestic Electric

MMF said:
First off I'm going to suggest a Probopass over Metang. Metang is generally one of more useless SR setters you can have and Probopass does the same things as Metang but can actually hurt things. The set I'm gonna suggest is as follows:

Probopass (M) @Air Balloon
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power
Click to expand...
Thank you for your comments! :) I've actually seen that set before on the forums. I'll try this out for sure!

MMF said:
With Air Balloon you can't absorb Toxic Spikes as you are levitating above them and Leftovers helps tremendously by giving you some recovery so you can switch in on things like Sawk more.
Click to expand...
Oh wow, I can't believe I forgot about that! XD Okay, I'll get rid of the Air Balloon.

MMF said:
Thirdly, I would like to suggest a Samurott over Lapras. Really the only thing Lapras has over Samurott is that has a weakness to Fighting. With Swords Dance, Samurott allows you to bring more offense to your team while also retaining the resistance to Ice and Water that you are looking for. It also gives you some much needed priority and another sweeper! The combination of SR+Spikes and Samurott+Serperior is very strong. Here's the set:

Samurott (M) @Lum Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Megahorn
Click to expand...
Sounds good, but not having a special wall kind of worries me. I've found Lapras to be pretty helpful with walling special attacks.
 
spuds4ever

spuds4ever

If you want lapras as a special wall, I would highly reccomend running something like Rain Dance/Surf/Thunder/Rest with hydration. It will greatly increase lapras' longevity and gives you a status absorber too. Having used probopass and metang before, I would say probopass is generally better. Metang's only advantage is that it can deal with gardevoir and other psychic types carrying HP fighting or focus blast better.
 
WhiteDMist

WhiteDMist

Path>Goal
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Welcome to Smogon! It's late, so I'm not going to give you a full rate, but I've noticed that Rotom-A and other Scarfed Electric-types can give you a bit of trouble by wearing down most of your team. The change from Metang to Probopass is definitely a good one simply because outside of Trick, none of these Electric-types can really do much to it outside of the inaccurate Focus Blast. Bastiodon is also a decent, albeit less offensive, option. Having Roar also lets you abuse your hazards better, and you have the option of an offensive attack or Magic Coat to avoid Taunt. MMF made great points, so it's not easy to say anything else that's helpful.

The real problem is the fact that the amazingly common Banded Emboar and Braviary (and to a lesser extent, Banded Sawk) can all break through your team, even despite the changes. Unfortunately, it is hard to help you with that without disrupting your team synergy. That's why I would recommend Bastiodon, and giving it Protect. It may not be as offensive as you like, but it provides good synergy with your team and also prevents set-up sweepers from terrorizing you. Hope I at least brought something to your attention! :)
 
Majestic Electric

Majestic Electric

@WhiteDMist I'm not so sure about Bastiodon. I've tested out Probopass and it has done great! Bastiodon doesn't provide the offensive pressure I'm enjoying atm, so I think I'll stick to Probopass. However, you are right about Emboar and Sawk. They tend to cause major problems for the team. I was considering adding a mixed wall Musharna to replace Lapras. The idea is that it can come in safely on Emboar and Sawk and can also handle special sweepers with some investment in SpD. Here's what I'm thinking:

Musharna @Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP/220 Def/36 SpD
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
-Psychic
-Moonlight
-Toxic
-Hidden Power (Bug)

Would this help somewhat?
 
WhiteDMist

WhiteDMist

Path>Goal
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
Musharna seems to be a decent counter to both of those Pokes if it can switch in on a Fighting move. It actually is pretty decent at walling special sweepers with just the HP investments alone. However, I will have to point out that you will always need to keep Probopass alive if you see Skuntank on the opposing team, since it can now check half of your team, and can Sucker Punch both of your Choiced Pokes as well.
 

MMF

Give me the strength to part this sea
If you do use Musharna I would recommend using the standard CM set instead of the set you propose with Toxic. With CM not only can you start a sweep at anytime but you still also have plenty of bulk to sponge things like Sawk. Emboar is still a problem but really no team has a "safe" switch in to it so I think its just a matter of wearing it down.
 
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