Creative / Underrated Sets Thread (Read the thread, NO SHITTY GIMMICKS)

Calm Mind Espeon

This is my favorite set for Espeon

Calm Mind Espeon
Espeon @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpD
Bold Nature

Calm Mind
Morning Sun
Psyshock
Hidden power fire

To support this set their either needs to be sun or no weather. This is the main issue to fit this set into most teams, since it really either requires ninetales or a random pokemon with sunny day. However, it works wonders for those who support it.

The defensive EVs and access to healing give espeon a way to stay in-game, something that is important for teams that utilize pokemon which are weak to entry hazards, such as volcarona.

But the main goal of this is to set up and sweep. It is great to switch into hazard inducers like ferrothorn and forretress to boost. After a boost or two, espeon can take most special attacks that come his way, even Gengar's shadowball. Espeon can use its special defense to continue to boost itself and gain power. The psyshock, hidden power fire coverage is great for sweeping. Once boosted, pokemon that resist both, like latios, will fall. People often make the mistake of switching to scizor, not expecting the hidden power fire.

I've been using this set since near the start of the generation and it has been devastating since. It does have a number of checks, though. The best checks to it are physical attackers that are faster. Espeon doesn't take physical attacks well, since it only gets up to 240 def. It always loses to Tyranitar, who neutralizes its healing method with sand, is immune to psyshock, lol's at hidden power fire, and prevents switch out with pursuit. Threats to it, especially tyranitar, should be dealt with before trying to sweep with this espeon. Though, often enough, people do not realize the checks to it until several of their pokemon have fainted.

Starmie @ Life Orb
Trait: Analytic
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunder(bolt) / Psyshock
- Rapid Spin

analytic starmie is a monster. yes, analytic may seem like an odd ability to use on a fast pokémon, but keep in mind that it activates when something switches in. natural cure obviously has its benefits, but on an all-out offensive set like this, status isn't so much of an issue when all starmie needs to do is keep hazards away from your side of the field. analytic is superior in this case, allowing you to do huge damage to anything that switches in - with life orb + analytic boosts, you essentially get slightly more power than choice specs without having to lock yourself into a move. good luck trying to spin block this starmie - all of the ghosts usable in ou will be ohko'd/2hko'd by the appropriate move on the switch-in. the power boosts allows you to do more cool things like ohko latios and 2hko sdef celebi with ice beam, and 2hko blissey with psyshock after stealth rock. the choice between thunder(bolt) and psyshock is your call really; i personally prefer thunder(bolt) because it murders jellicent and other bulky waters, but psyshock gives you coverage against things like gastrodon, lanturn and the pink blobs.

Magnezone

This is a set I run a lot of the time and its very effective.

Magnezone

Choice specs

Analytic

252 spa 252 hp 4 def 0 Ivs in speed

Quiet nature

Thunder
Hp ice
Flash cannon
Volt switch

Now this set is never used and i get that you may think that the magnet pull variants are better and while they might be it would be wrong to underestimate
This. The objective of this entire set is to comin on rain and spam the single most powerful attack in ou. This things thunder one shots so much that's it's actually quite funny how people react. The other moves are for coverage such as hp ice to hit ground and dragon types hard while flash cannon is stab and volt switch is to bring offensive momentum. One of the best parts of this set is coming in on a choice locked scizor and them thinking there trapped only to start getting thunder spammed for there entire team

How is Thunder the most powerful attack in OU? That honor I presume goes to CB 252 Adamant Kyu-B Outrage?

252+ SpA Choice Specs Analytic Magnezone Thunder vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 420-495 (123.16 - 145.16%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Kyurem-B Outrage vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 394-465 (115.54 - 136.36%) -- guaranteed OHKO

There's your answer.

Hydreigon @ Life Orb/Expert Belt
Levitate
Modest/Rash/Mild 252 SAtk / 4 HP / 252 Spe
-Fire Blast
-Focus Blast/Superpower
-Draco Meteor
-Tailwind

This is actually an extremely underrated set for wallbreaking as well as sweeping while supporting the team when it goes down thanks to tailwind lasting for 4 turns. Its coverage provides a number of options so the exact moveset can change according to your team. Life Orb's boost on all moves is preferred but e-belt gives you a surprise factor and boosts super effective moves. you could move 4 EV's to attack and run superpower/earthquake to deal with blissey or CM Rachi who try to stop it. Once tailwind is up pretty much the only pokemon who can completely deal with it is Techniloom so it is advised to run a breloom check such as celebi or a trapper such as gothitelle to deal with it.

Cschollen1 said:

This is a set I run a lot of the time and its very effective.

Magnezone

Choice specs

Analytic

252 spa 252 hp 4 def 0 Ivs in speed

Quiet nature

Thunder
Hp ice
Flash cannon
Volt switch

Now this set is never used and i get that you may think that the magnet pull variants are better and while they might be it would be wrong to underestimate
This. The objective of this entire set is to comin on rain and spam the single most powerful attack in ou. This things thunder one shots so much that's it's actually quite funny how people react. The other moves are for coverage such as hp ice to hit ground and dragon types hard while flash cannon is stab and volt switch is to bring offensive momentum. One of the best parts of this set is coming in on a choice locked scizor and them thinking there trapped only to start getting thunder spammed for there entire team

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I find this easily walled and Magnezone just lost his main niche in OU. Not to mention its very easy to revenge kill.


Anyway a set featuring Tornadus I

Tornadus @ Life Orb
Naive Nature
Defiant
EVs: 8 Atk/252 SpA/248 Spe
-Hurricane/Air Slash
-Heat Wave/Crunch/Dark Pulse
-Superpower/Brick Break
-Icy Wind

You know how Tornadus' Offensive checks are basically things that outspeed it? Well the goal is to hit things like Starmie and Alakazam on the switch with Icy Wind, dropping their speed. Then I can give them a personal invitation to the grave with LO boosted Hurricane.

The EVs are somewhat explanatory. 252 in SpA for max hurricane, icy wind and heat wave power, 248 Spe EVs because the goal is to outspeed base 110s. 352>350. 8 Atk EVs are for superpower having more power.

Air slash is for accuracy, but hurricane is for power. Heat Wave is for mauling fire weak mons. Crunch/Dark Pulse could be used for hitting Gengar hard without relyin on Hurricane's lame accuracy issues. Brick Break is for reliability over power, but minimum damage 2 superpowers is stronger than max damage 2 brick breaks, even after Superpower's stat drop.

Defiant is so u can switch in on intimidates and other stat droppers.

victinivcreate1 said:

I find this easily walled and Magnezone just lost his main niche in OU. Not to mention its very easy to revenge kill.


Anyway a set featuring Tornadus I

Tornadus @ Life Orb
Naive Nature
Defiant
EVs: 8 Atk/252 SpA/248 Spe
-Hurricane/Air Slash
-Heat Wave/Crunch/Dark Pulse
-Superpower/Brick Break
-Icy Wind

You know how Tornadus' Offensive checks are basically things that outspeed it? Well the goal is to hit things like Starmie and Alakazam on the switch with Icy Wind, dropping their speed. Then I can give them a personal invitation to the grave with LO boosted Hurricane.

The EVs are somewhat explanatory. 252 in SpA for max hurricane, icy wind and heat wave power, 248 Spe EVs because the goal is to outspeed base 110s. 352>350. 8 Atk EVs are for superpower having more power.

Air slash is for accuracy, but hurricane is for power. Heat Wave is for mauling fire weak mons. Crunch/Dark Pulse could be used for hitting Gengar hard without relyin on Hurricane's lame accuracy issues. Brick Break is for reliability over power, but minimum damage 2 superpowers is stronger than max damage 2 brick breaks, even after Superpower's stat drop.

Defiant is so u can switch in on intimidates and other stat droppers.

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Why would you use icy wind "on the switch" when you can just kill something with Hurricane. Furthermore, Alakazam, starmie, dugtrio, or anything faster than Tornadus is not switching in on it because of how strong it is. Superpower also isn't that great on Torn-I, because Focus Blast is just stupid strong and still kills stuff like Ttar and Heatran, stuff Torn-T couldn't kill because of its lowered spA. I can't even fathom why your slashing crunch and dark pulse, I mean come on dude, what competitive value do they have.

victinivcreate1 said:

I find this easily walled and Magnezone just lost his main niche in OU. Not to mention its very easy to revenge kill.


Anyway a set featuring Tornadus I

Tornadus @ Life Orb
Naive Nature
Defiant
EVs: 8 Atk/252 SpA/248 Spe
-Hurricane/Air Slash
-Heat Wave/Crunch/Dark Pulse
-Superpower/Brick Break
-Icy Wind

You know how Tornadus' Offensive checks are basically things that outspeed it? Well the goal is to hit things like Starmie and Alakazam on the switch with Icy Wind, dropping their speed. Then I can give them a personal invitation to the grave with LO boosted Hurricane.

The EVs are somewhat explanatory. 252 in SpA for max hurricane, icy wind and heat wave power, 248 Spe EVs because the goal is to outspeed base 110s. 352>350. 8 Atk EVs are for superpower having more power.

Air slash is for accuracy, but hurricane is for power. Heat Wave is for mauling fire weak mons. Crunch/Dark Pulse could be used for hitting Gengar hard without relyin on Hurricane's lame accuracy issues. Brick Break is for reliability over power, but minimum damage 2 superpowers is stronger than max damage 2 brick breaks, even after Superpower's stat drop.

Defiant is so u can switch in on intimidates and other stat droppers.

Click to expand...

Ps still says that the switch may be cancelled, magnet pull or not, so when laddering (or even in tournaments) the effect would be the same

The faults with your set were explained above already

Good to see some love for analytic, particularly on Starmie. That set is just so strong. I remember to begin with I used rapid spin too, but in the end, almost every time I switched starmie in I could kill something. Unless your team is really hazards weak, the kill is usually better, and so I eventually dropped spin for both Thunder and Psyshock.

Specs Analytic magnezone is a decent set, but running a minimum speed iv is a terrible idea. Getting in an extra attack is virtually always better than a 30% boost (you have to attack three times while slower, not including switches!). The main boost from analytic is still on the switch. I would suggest running speed evs, even.

Cschollen1 said:

This is a set I run a lot of the time and its very effective.

Magnezone

Choice specs

Analytic

252 spa 252 hp 4 def 0 Ivs in speed

Quiet nature

Thunder
Hp ice
Flash cannon
Volt switch

Now this set is never used and i get that you may think that the magnet pull variants are better and while they might be it would be wrong to underestimate
This. The objective of this entire set is to comin on rain and spam the single most powerful attack in ou. This things thunder one shots so much that's it's actually quite funny how people react. The other moves are for coverage such as hp ice to hit ground and dragon types hard while flash cannon is stab and volt switch is to bring offensive momentum. One of the best parts of this set is coming in on a choice locked scizor and them thinking there trapped only to start getting thunder spammed for there entire team

Click to expand...

The problem with this set is Magnezone is just too damn slow, it barely outspeeds anything barring defensive mons which won't stay in on you regardless. This set seems pointless tbh.

JaggedShards said:

The problem with this set is Magnezone is just too damn slow, it barely outspeeds anything barring defensive mons which won't stay in on you regardless. This set seems pointless tbh.

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The whole point of the set is to be slow so that you get the boost from Analytic and Choice Specs, making Mangezone extremely powerful. The only thing I would say about the set is that you should at least run enough speed to out-speed Banded Scizor, since you're not going to want to take a Superpower to the face. Other than that, I like it.

jc104 said:

Good to see some love for analytic, particularly on Starmie. That set is just so strong. I remember to begin with I used rapid spin too, but in the end, almost every time I switched starmie in I could kill something. Unless your team is really hazards weak, the kill is usually better, and so I eventually dropped spin for both Thunder and Psyshock.

Specs Analytic magnezone is a decent set, but running a minimum speed iv is a terrible idea. Getting in an extra attack is virtually always better than a 30% boost (you have to attack three times while slower, not including switches!). The main boost from analytic is still on the switch. I would suggest running speed evs, even.

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yeah i could see a 4 attacks set being cool, starmie has the advantage over keldeo of not being walled by jellicent/amoonguss/lati@s etc and also has speed on its side. i personally like how it beats all spin blockers though - at least analytic is better than natural cure on the offensive spinner sets. maybe even 3 attacks + recover could be interesting.

today i tried out modest specs analytic starmie for fun, check out the results

252+ SpA Choice Specs Analytic Starmie Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 168 SpD Ferrothorn in rain: 199-234 (56.53 - 66.47%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

that's almost as strong as victini's v-create in sun, fyi

Masterclass said:

252+ SpA Choice Specs Analytic Magnezone Thunder vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 420-495 (123.16 - 145.16%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Kyurem-B Outrage vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 394-465 (115.54 - 136.36%) -- guaranteed OHKO

There's your answer.

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252+ SpA Choice Specs Octillery Water Spout in rain vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 519-612 (152.2 - 179.47%) -- guaranteed OHKO

LudwiG said:

252+ SpA Choice Specs Octillery Water Spout in rain vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 519-612 (152.2 - 179.47%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Click to expand...

252+ SpA Choice Specs Chandelure Overheat vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew in sun: 612-720 (179.47 - 211.14%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Am I allowed to troll too?

252+ SpA Choice Specs Solar Power Charizard Overheat vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew in sun: 745-877 (218.47 - 257.18%) -- guaranteed OHKO

On a more serious note, how is this for an anti-lead set?



Dragonite @ Life Orb
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk/252 SpAtk/4 HP
Quiet Nature (+SAtk,-Spe)
- Draco Meteor
- Superpower
- Fire Blast
- ExtremeSpeed

Surprise factor is the reason to use this thing. Lead against Terrakion, it Taunts you thinking you're trying to set up, while you 2HKO with Superpower+ESpeed, along with no SR and Nite has a Draco Meteor to follow up with (and you do the same to tyranitar). Politoed and Ninetales are dealt with by Draco meteor+ESpeed, even physically defensive Hippo falls to the same combination (it has to be specially defensive to stomach a Draco Meteor). For Custap Skarmory, Fire Blast+ESpeed and you limit it to one layer of hazards.
I've used this set in Ubers, and seriously, this thing is quite a troll - not many people expect MixNite these days, and certainly not one in lead position.

@leftovers
252hp 252def 4sdef
Bold Nature
-Calm mind
-ice beam/psychic
-sleep talk
-rest

Crazy amount of defence. stops any non boosted dragons (and even some a +1) and threatens to OHKO with ice beam. Psychic is an option for stab and to take out pokemon such as keldeo and breloom. because of Cresselias amazing mixed defence and high investment on the physical side, it is nearly impossible to take down without a combanation of stab and super effective.

MrEon said:

Am I allowed to troll too?

252+ SpA Choice Specs Solar Power Charizard Overheat vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew in sun: 745-877 (218.47 - 257.18%) -- guaranteed OHKO

On a more serious note, how is this for an anti-lead set?

Dragonite @ Life Orb
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk/252 SpAtk/4 HP
Quiet Nature (+SAtk,-Spe)
- Draco Meteor
- Superpower
- Fire Blast
- ExtremeSpeed

Surprise factor is the reason to use this thing. Lead against Terrakion, it Taunts you thinking you're trying to set up, while you 2HKO with Superpower+ESpeed, along with no SR and Nite has a Draco Meteor to follow up with (and you do the same to tyranitar). Politoed and Ninetales are dealt with by Draco meteor+ESpeed, even physically defensive Hippo falls to the same combination (it has to be specially defensive to stomach a Draco Meteor). For Custap Skarmory, Fire Blast+ESpeed and you limit it to one layer of hazards.
I've used this set in Ubers, and seriously, this thing is quite a troll - not many people expect MixNite these days, and certainly not one in lead position.

Click to expand...

i am so gonna test this thanks :D

Here is a set of my own, specifically designed for a rain team:


Salamence (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP/8 SpA/252 SpD
Nature: Calm
-Dragon Pulse
-Roost
-Hydro Pump
-Tailwind

This set may look really weird (and it is), but it lets Salamence survive attacks from physical and special attackers rather well, including most HP Ices being thrown around. Roost is used for recovery and helps to compensate for the Stealth Rock weakness. Tailwind can be used to support a teammate such as Choice Specs Thundurus-T, or to make Salamence itself faster (idea source: another user's Tailwind Whimsicott + LO Kyurem-B combo). Dragon Pulse is the STAB, because Hydro Pump gets a boost in rain, so it is best not to go mixed, given that this is a defensive set. I suppose the attacks could be Dragon Claw/Aqua Tail if you wanted a physical Salamence, but Hydro Pump in rain does a lot even with very little investment.

The EVs let Salamence tank special attacks optimally with a Stealth Rock number.

One application of this moveset is here, in my most recent RMT:

http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4707536#post4707536

Here's an awesome underrated pokemon for Rain Stall teams:

Hazy Shade of Winter (Alomomola) @ Leftovers
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Toxic
- Scald
- Rest

With an awesome base 165 HP, Alomomola can pass large wishes to other team members. I use it over Blissey or Chansey, because of its ability, Hydration. Not only can it easily absorb statuses, but with the combination of Hydration+Rest, Alomomola can heal its full health in one move, and not be asleep next turn. It also can easily beat other bulky waters, as it won't remain Toxic'd. The final two moveslots are reserved for Toxic and Scald, as they both help to wear down the opponent.

victinivcreate1 said:

I find this easily walled and Magnezone just lost his main niche in OU. Not to mention its very easy to revenge kill.


Anyway a set featuring Tornadus I

Tornadus @ Life Orb
Naive Nature
Defiant
EVs: 8 Atk/252 SpA/248 Spe
-Hurricane/Air Slash
-Heat Wave/Crunch/Dark Pulse
-Superpower/Brick Break
-Icy Wind

You know how Tornadus' Offensive checks are basically things that outspeed it? Well the goal is to hit things like Starmie and Alakazam on the switch with Icy Wind, dropping their speed. Then I can give them a personal invitation to the grave with LO boosted Hurricane.

The EVs are somewhat explanatory. 252 in SpA for max hurricane, icy wind and heat wave power, 248 Spe EVs because the goal is to outspeed base 110s. 352>350. 8 Atk EVs are for superpower having more power.

Air slash is for accuracy, but hurricane is for power. Heat Wave is for mauling fire weak mons. Crunch/Dark Pulse could be used for hitting Gengar hard without relyin on Hurricane's lame accuracy issues. Brick Break is for reliability over power, but minimum damage 2 superpowers is stronger than max damage 2 brick breaks, even after Superpower's stat drop.

Defiant is so u can switch in on intimidates and other stat droppers.

Click to expand...

Crunch/Dark Pulse doesn't hit enough Pokemon hard enough to be worth considering. Use U-Turn instead. I plan on testing a variation on a rain team with Hurricane/Superpower/U-Turn/Icy Wind and seeing how it goes.

Yuttt said:

Here's an awesome underrated pokemon for Rain Stall teams:

Hazy Shade of Winter (Alomomola) @ Leftovers
Trait: Hydration
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Toxic
- Scald
- Rest

With an awesome base 165 HP, Alomomola can pass large wishes to other team members. I use it over Blissey or Chansey, because of its ability, Hydration. Not only can it easily absorb statuses, but with the combination of Hydration+Rest, Alomomola can heal its full health in one move, and not be asleep next turn. It also can easily beat other bulky waters, as it won't remain Toxic'd. The final two moveslots are reserved for Toxic and Scald, as they both help to wear down the opponent.

Click to expand...

Alomomola is completely outclassed by Vaporeon in OU - which learns all the same moves, has the same ability, has slightly less physical bulk, but a lot more special bulk and has actually has a usable SAtk stat (40 vs 110!!).

I've been derping around on the ladder recently because I haven't been in the mood to actually do a semi-serious run. This naturally led me to explore newer, more obscure sets and see how they fare, which is always fun. Anyways, here's a set I've had a ton of fun using recently.

Froslass @ Focus Sash | Cursed Body *** Beyond
Timid | 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe | IVs: 0 Atk
Spikes | Taunt | Destiny Bond | Ice Beam

Yes, I know this is just the standard Froslass, but still, the thread title is Creative / Underrated Sets Thread, and yes, this set is extremely underrated. It works like any other dedicated lead out there: set up the given hazard (Spikes in this case) until you die. This is the mentality assumed against most common leads. However, what makes Froslass so special is that it's faster than Terrakion, one of the most common dedicated leads nowadays. Thanks to that, Froslass can play mind games with Terrakion. Froslass can stop Terrakion's Taunt with its own Taunt, and it can exploit Terrakion's compulsive use of Stone Edge with its Focus Sash and Destiny Bond, bringing Terrakion down with it. If you play your cards right, Froslass can set up at least two layers of Spikes and bring down at least one crucial member of the opponent's team. Froslass can also prevent early-game set-up mons like Volcarona and Dragonite from setting up on it thanks to Taunt, Destiny Bond, and Ice Beam, in the case of the latter.

Regarding teammates, strong offensive Pokemon such as Breloom, Cloyster, and Terrakion form a most excellent alliance with it. Since this Froslass lacks a means of setting up Stealth Rock, a bulky SR setter like Landorus-T is extremely helpful to have. In addition to setting up SR, Landorus-T also takes care of Scizor, a menace to all Froslass everywhere, quite easily. Terrakion is also not an issue for Landorus-T to deal with. Another spinblocker like Gengar cold also be a good teammate, especially considering Froslass's frailty, but you'll be doubling up on weaknesses, so keep that in mind.

Latios
Timid Nature
Item: Salac Berry
EVs: 252 Sp. Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Sp Defense
IVs: 30 HP

Substitute
Calm Mind
Dragon Pulse
Surf / Hidden Power [Fire / Fighting]

This is one of my favorite sweeping sets for Latios. Most Calm Mind sets end up being too slow, and are easily revenge killed, while Scarf sets lack power. This set tries to eliminate both flaws, using both Calm Mind and a Salac Berry. With Latios' nice resistances, it doesn't have a problem finding times to switch in, and it can easily set up a Calm Mind, Sub, and whittle its HP down to Salac Berry levels, where it can sweep.
The moves are basic. Dragon Pulse is STAB, while a choice of Surf, HP Fire, or HP Fighting provide coverage. Surf and HP Fire provide more effective coverage on some things, such as Heatran and Ferrothorn, respectively, while HP Fighting is more of a general coverage move that hits everything for neutral coverage in tandem with Dragon Pulse. A 30 HP IV means that Latios will activate the Salac Berry on the third Substitute, while the EVs are standard sweeping fare.
This set is fairly difficult to handle if set up properly. The fastest things that run Scarves are usually other Scarf Latios, meaning that after a boost, Latios outspeeds most of the tier. Meanwhile, the Substitute protects Latios from priority attacks from the likes of Mamoswine, while also defending it from status. Lastly, Calm Mind makes Latios a pain to take down, as it can hit and take hits after a boost or two.
Obviously, this set wants some prior damage from entry hazards and the like. It also enjoys weather support in the form of rain or sun, in order to keep sandstorm or hail from damaging Latios at such low health, not to mention boosting the power of its coverage moves.

DarkBlazeR said:

Alomomola is completely outclassed by Vaporeon in OU - which learns all the same moves, has the same ability, has slightly less physical bulk, but a lot more special bulk and has actually has a usable SAtk stat (40 vs 110!!).

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The reason why I used Alomomola over Vaporeon is because of the bulkier wish passes, as it has 165 HP over 130. The loss of SpA hurts, that's the biggest drawback.