(NU) Skunks and Badgers (Peaked #1)

**FLCL** · May 23rd, 2012, 11:32:52 PM

SKUNKS AND BADGERS

Introduction

NU is considered by many to be one of the most balanced and fun tiers. New threats are constantly discovered and old threats are being reinvented. For an offense player like me, this can be a double edged blade; there are additional Pokemon that my team needs to check and counter but at the same time, I can use creative sets and Pokemon to help combat these threats, which makes the game more enjoyable.

I set out to create an offense team to combat every playstyle and prevail over every threat in the tier. After teambuilding, I couldn't think of one threat that can overpower my team. However, after a few hundred battles, I found out that supressing every single threat was not possible without perfect prediction and an excessive amount of luck. Even so, this team has been my most successful to date, reaching a person best 1497 points on the alt "fooly cooly". What's more important is that it has been extremely fun playing with this team every single match.

Although every member on the team is EV'ed offensively as most teams are offensive teams are; most of the damage is done through type coverage. Four members are choiced, so heavy prediction and a lot of smart switching is needed to play this team effectively. Although the team might seem sloppy defensively with every member having a weakness to a common attacking type (water, ground, fire, ice, etc..), two Scarfers and three priority users pick up the slack by acting as my main defense against powerful sweepers. By utilizing speed and power, I can usually put enough pressure on offensive and balanced teams to win the match. Against stall teams, who are designed to take on offensive pressure, I have two Trick/Switcheroo users who can cripple walls important walls, usually opening up holes for one of my Pokemon to break through.

The team is not based around setting up a single Pokemon for a sweep; every member has the potential to do that. The structure of the team revolves around two main cores; a psychic/fighting/dark core formed by Exeggutor, Emboar, and Skuntank and the fast revenge killing duo of Rotom-S and Linoone. They weaken each other's counters allowing another to sweep. If I were to name one Pokemon that I usually end the game with it would be Linoone. After the opposing Pokemon have been weakened by attacks, Linoone can come in and deal solid damage to most Pokemon in the tier with a Banded ExtremeSpeed.

Screenshot taken on 21/05/2012

In-Depth

Golem (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Stealth Rock
Rock Blast
Earthquake
Sucker Punch

It's no surprise that Golem is one of the most popular Pokemon in the tier; it is so effective at setting up Stealth Rocks. For an offensive team, the momentum it often brings through Sturdy and Sucker Punch is invaluable. Even with dedicated counters running around such as Bullet Seed Torterra and Air Balloon Probopass, Golem is still extremely effective at what it does. Against less experienced players, I can often take down two or three members of their team thanks to Golem's great attack, coverage, and Sturdy.

If I do not see a normal, flying, or electric type attacker on the opponent's team I will usually play Golem very recklessly. As long as Rocks are already up, I will often stay in on things like Haunter and Ludicolo in an attempt to rack up damage with my attacks. If they get cocky and try to set up, they will often end up dead or severely hurt. With that being said, I rarely lead with Golem since so many people are prepared for it. It is a great pivot to many common attacks and makes VoltTurn teams think twice about blindly clicking Volt Switch. Preventing Golem's Sturdy from being broken has saved me many times against things such as Linoone or Samurott.

The EV's are standard except a bit more speed is used to outrun other Golem. The HP investment gives Golem a surprising amount of bulk, allowing it to switch into many physical attackers, especially flying and normal types. Max attack allows me to hit extremely hard, 2HKOing most offensive threats in the tier with either Rock Blast or Earthquake followed by Sucker Punch.

Emboar (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

Earthquake / Grass Knot
Flare Blitz
Superpower
Head Smash

Before anyone bashes me for using the underwhelming Scarf set I would like to mention that Emboar is probably the weakest link on my team. I wanted a bulkyish fighting type that could threaten the abundance of normal types in the tier. I needed a switch-in to ice type attacks. I also needed a switch-in to Will-o-wisp so I can get Skuntank in safely against Misdeavus and Bulky Gardevoir. On top of that Emboar acts as another threat to Tangela, whom I consider to be the most annoying Pokemon in the tier, and generally intimidates the opponent due to its huge potential power. There is only a handful of obscure safe switch-ins to Emboar. If anyone can suggest a Pokemon that could fit the above roles I would gladly test it over Emboar.

At first I had a Flame Charge set so I could bluff a Choice Band and KO incoming Golems, but I realized that faster normal types such as Tauros, Kangaskhan and Cinccino gave me hard times. Emboar couldn't pull off a Flame Charge quick enough in some cases and ended up being KOed. Choice Scarf allows me to surprise the threats mentioned before and gives me another relatively fast Pokemon that can clean up late-game. The downsides include a noticeable lack of power and being locked into Superpower. I never keep Emboar in for more than two turns so the latter is usually not a problem.

The moveset may seem a little strange due to the lack of Wild Charge, but it really doesn't matter since the only time I'm going to use is against water types; Scarf Wild Charge does piss damage to most bulky waters anyways. Earthquake gives me a good move to use against Fire and Poison types, although it is also rather situational. Head Smash, on the other hand, allows me to smash Altaria and usually puts me into Blaze range, allowing me to destroy with a Blaze-boosted Flare Blitz.

Grass Knot, suggested by col49, gives me an additional option to hit Quagsire with and can KO Golem on the switch without lowering my stats.

Exeggutor (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

Leaf Storm
Hidden Power [Ice]
Psychic
Sleep Powder

Originally I had Duosion in the spot because I hated hazards and I hated being walled by stall. However, Duosion was extremely underwhelming and at the time stall was almost non-existent. While looking for a creative option to fill Duosion's spot, I stumbled upon this Exeggutor set posted by user sandshrewz in the 'NU' and Creative Movesets thread. I was intrigued by it and wanted to test it out. Exeggutor allowed me to retain my psychic/fighting/dark core while patching up my huge Quagsire weakness. After using it for about a week and surprising many victims on the ladder, I concluded that it was a great set, but not suitable for my team. I was weaker to stall and weaker to hazards. Substitute took a toll on Eggy's HP and if it got Toxiced by something like Quagsire, it would die quickly. With Leftovers, Exeggutor could not hit hard enough and I found myself being walled by the likes of Miltank and Lickilicky. By switching to a Choice Specs set, I removed the latter weakness to stall since now Exeggutor could KO most members of a common stall team.

Although Exeggutor is usually the main culprit for momentum-loss on my team, I find myself leading with it a lot. Since Golem is the first Pokemon the opponent sees in the team preview, they tend to send in grass or water types. Most of them, victims such as Tangela, Wartortle, Vileplume, Torterra, and Alomomola, are completely destroyed by Exeggutor. Exeggutor could also KO common hazard users such as Regirock, Garbador, and fast Air-Balloon Probopass. For the ones that it can't KO, Eggy can use Sleep Powder for a decent chance at preventing hazards.

Speaking of KOing, Specs Exeggutor tends to do a lot of that. If you do not have a quadruple resistance to Leaf Storm or a resistance to Psychic you are going to take a buttload of damage. Physically defensive Tangela takes a minimum of seventy four percent from Leaf Storm, meaning it is 2HKOed if it doesn't switch out. Usually if I don't see a dark type on the opponent's team, I will just spam Psychic to rack up over fifty percent damage on just about everything that doesn't resist it. Even the premier special wall in the tier, Lickilicky, can be overpowered if it does not Wish the first turn or if a SpD drop occurs. Exeggutor still helps out the team a lot early-game by messing up the opponent's walls.

The biggest threat to Exeggutor's rampage is bulkier variants of Skuntank. It can come in on anything but Sleep Powder and proceed to trap and kill Exeggutor. With some investment, it can avoid the 2HKO from Leaf Storm. Luckily, Skuntank does not pose a threat to the rest of my team and can be handled by Golem or Emboar.

Skuntank (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Aftermath
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Taunt
Poison Jab
Pursuit
Sucker Punch

This is the standard Skuntank set with 184 speed Ev's to outrun Absol and Samurott. Leftovers is used over Life Orb because Skuntank is too good to be wasted away by recoil residual damage. This allows it to switch in on resisted hits much easier and perform its job as a psychic/ghost trapper. Other additional Pokemon that Skuntank can trap with proper prediction include Flareon and Cryogonal.

Without Skuntank, this team would function significantly worse. Skuntank performs so many roles for the team and is most likely the MVP. First of all, it can Taunt to prevent most Pokemon in the tier from setting up hazards. If I caught a Golem or Regirock with Taunt, I can usually switch in Exeggutor with little fear and KO them, effectively preventing Rocks from being set up. Taunt is also useful for beating a large number of defensive Pokemon such as Tangela and Lickilicky. If I can manage to get a poison status from Poison Jab, I can even beat defensive behemoths such as Alomomola and Miltank thanks to Taunt preventing recovery. Along with Linoone and Golem, Skuntank acts as a safety net against fast sweepers with a powerful priority attack. If all fails, Skuntank can strip an additional quarter of the opponent's HP with Aftermath, if they decide to use a contact move. This is extremely helpful when it comes to dealing with Linoone.

Skuntank's bulk is another one of its selling points; with only 72 EVs in HP, it can survive a Scarf Sawk Earthquake. This allows it to get in multiple hits on weaker attackers such as Raichu, securing their demise. Its handy resistances allows me to switch in on Absol, Cacturne, Haunter, and psychic types with ease. Skuntank is the glue Pokemon on my team, patching up weaknesses and acting as a failsafe for the rest of the members.

Rotom-S @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

Air Slash
Volt Switch
Trick
Hidden Power [Ice]

Probably the most uninteresting member of the team, but it does its job extremely well. Although its base speed is not as magical as it was before, it can still perform as a great scarfer. The advantages it has over other electric type scarfers include a flying typing (although it doesn't even need it because it has Levitate), greater bulk, and Trick. These qualities allow me to switch into Sawk and Gurdurr more easily and threaten them with a STAB Air Slash. I can also put another dagger into stall teams by crippling a wall with Trick. I can have even more fun by messing around and swapping Eviolites with Leftovers. Rotom's bulk allows me to do this several times against stall teams, although I have to be wary because the opponent could switch in their wall that was crippled with Choice Scarf.

Without Rotom, a whole plethora of Pokemon would give me trouble. The Fan gives Gorebyss, Butterfree, and other powerful sweepers a hard time. A quick Volt Switch can help retain momentum, which is extremely important for this team. Air Slash has a nice flinch rate, which has come in handy many times against Quagsire and such. I chose Hidden Power Ice over the other options because my team is weak to dragons. It still 2HKOs Golems and Torterras looking to absorb a Volt Switch and provides coverage against opposing Rotom-S.

Stealth Rocks are a huge thorn in Rotom's side and is the main reason why I try to keep it off the field by Taunting against Golems with Skuntank and leading with Exeggutor. If I cannot limit the times Rotom-S switches into Rocks, then Samurott, Swellow, and Drifblim will give me problems. Lightningrod Pokemon also give me problems since I can no longer catch them on the switch with Hidden Power. If a Raichu switches in on me, I will most likely switch to Emboar in anticipation of the oncoming Hidden Power Ice. If Zebstrika comes in, I will stay in as it will either Volt Switch out to another Pokemon, giving me the chance to deliver a slower Volt Switch, or it will try to catch me switching into Golem and use Hidden Power Grass, which allows me to switch to Skuntank and Pursuit it for huge damage.

Linoone (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Pickup
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Def / 44 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

Switcheroo
Shadow Claw
Seed Bomb
ExtremeSpeed

Wasted potential is probably the first thought that comes to mind when you see Choice Band Linoone. Why would anyone forgo such sweeping potential for a Choice User with the same amount of attack as Dusclops? The answer is: ExtremeSpeed. It's arguably the best priority attack in the game and with it, Linoone can bypass all priority except Fake-Out and deal over fifty percent to most offensive threats in the tier. So many threats that teams usually sweat over can be easily checked by Linoone after some damage is sustained (usually when they are setting up). Instead of spending two or three teamslots on defensive Pokemon that kill off momentum, I can simply slap on Linoone and most of the time I'll be fine. The opponent will never switch out due to fear of Belly Drum, so I am almost guaranteed a revenge kill if they are within ExtremeSpeed KO range. Here are example of what Linoone can do against the most dangerous threats in the tier:

...

Ninety percent of the time I will be using ExtremeSpeed to deal constant reliable damage to the team. The only instances where I will be using the coverage moves are against Ghosts or Pokemon with a quadruple weakness to grass. Switcheroo is yet another annoyance to stall teams; it disrupts them even more than Choice Scarf since a lot of Pokemon in stall have no business with an attack boost.

Linoone is the most irreplaceable team member since removing it would force me to add in two or three other Pokemon. It does some amazing things sometimes, such as living a Magmortar Fire Blast and other powerful attacks. I've been saved countless times by a clutch ExtremeSpeed when it seems like all hope was lost. There have been moments where I thought "man I really wish I had Belly Drum right now" and I have even tried Belly Drum Linoone in this set's place. However, without the ability to revenge just about everything, my team began to fall apart. There was an instance where I lost a match because I couldn't KO a Swellow at seventy five percent at the end...

The EV's were suggested again by col49 and provide better bulk than the spread of 252 HP / 252 Atk which I was previously running.

Threats

HAZARDS - Ever since the end of Duosion's short stint with the team, I've had huge problems with all forms of hazards. Only one Pokemon on my team is weak to Rocks, but at the same time, I only have one resistance. Five Pokemon are hit hard by Spikes and nobody on the team has reliable recovery. If you have full hazards up and I haven't knocked you down to around two Pokemon left, you probably have the game won already. Toxic Spikes are easy to hand with Skuntank around but once he's gone, they are even more dangerous than normal Spikes. I have no room for a spinner on this team, so the best I can do is keep up the pressure and Taunt/Sleep Powder the hazards setters.

Conclusion

I'm retiring this team because I'm too lazy to get it up to a high ranking after the ladder reset. More and more people are becoming aware of this team and I have even seen some Band Linoones used against me (this team is actually weak to Band Linoone!). Offense is definitely my favourite playstyle in NU and I believe this team exemplifies it very well. Below is the importable so feel free to try it out. Also, thanks for reading and if you haven't gotten around to trying out NU, I suggest you do it right now!!

Importable

PsYch071c · May 23rd, 2012, 11:51:30 PM

Dang, it seems like every single week I see a new NU RMT with a #1 peak. Really awesome team, that CB Linoone has swept me quite a few times.

Ewil · May 24th, 2012, 5:31:05 AM

WOAH FLCL ! This is a very nice and solid team ! I love that linoone and i love your anime nickname XD

The only suggestion that i can give to you is to try Combusken over Emboar.
He have all the things that you mentioned except a good bulk, but you can even try an eviolite set with SD/Flare Blitz/Sky Uppercut/Protect for more bulk. This is the only pokes that comes in my mind that reaches your needs.

**FLCL** · May 24th, 2012, 6:41:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat PsYch071c

Dang, it seems like every single week I see a new NU RMT with a #1 peak. Really awesome team, that CB Linoone has swept me quite a few times.

Thanks for the compliment! There are a lot of good players in NU so it's not surprising that great teams are created weekly

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Ewil

WOAH FLCL ! This is a very nice and solid team ! I love that linoone and i love your anime nickname XD

The only suggestion that i can give to you is to try Combusken over Emboar.
He have all the things that you mentioned except a good bulk, but you can even try an eviolite set with SD/Flare Blitz/Sky Uppercut/Protect for more bulk. This is the only pokes that comes in my mind that reaches your needs.

Combusken is an interesting option which I didn't even consider during teambuilding. What I'm worried about is that it has to choose between hitting hard and having some bulk since it has to pick either Life Orb or Eviolite. Even then I'll definitely test it out; thanks for the suggestion!

col49 · May 24th, 2012, 7:11:04 PM

Really cool team, CB Linoone looks pretty legit. Anywho, just some minor suggestions, because I'm not exactly the best at this sort of thing. For one, perhaps you could look into Grass Knot over Earthquake on Emboar? As stated prior, Earthquake isn't really doing all too much for you atm, whereas Grass Knot cleanly OHKO's the standard Golem without any SpA investment, as well as 2HKOing any given Quagsire, who looks like he could present a serious issue to your team if played conservatively. More so, though this is very situational, a spread of 168 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Def / 44 Def is slightly bulkier than your current spread on Linoone. It isn't a huge deal, but free bulk is good bulk, no? Can't say I can think of anything to remedy your issues with entry hazards without totally losing all the wonderful synergies this team has, so sorry there :/ Conclusively, cool team, cool Linoone, congrats on the peak, luvdisc'ed, etc., etc.

**FLCL** · May 24th, 2012, 7:49:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat col49

Really cool team, CB Linoone looks pretty legit. Anywho, just some minor suggestions, because I'm not exactly the best at this sort of thing. For one, perhaps you could look into Grass Knot over Earthquake on Emboar? As stated prior, Earthquake isn't really doing all too much for you atm, whereas Grass Knot cleanly OHKO's the standard Golem without any SpA investment, as well as 2HKOing any given Quagsire, who looks like he could present a serious issue to your team if played conservatively. More so, though this is very situational, a spread of 168 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Def / 44 Def is slightly bulkier than your current spread on Linoone. It isn't a huge deal, but free bulk is good bulk, no? Can't say I can think of anything to remedy your issues with entry hazards without totally losing all the wonderful synergies this team has, so sorry there :/ Conclusively, cool team, cool Linoone, congrats on the peak, luvdisc'ed, etc., etc.

Thanks for rating! I see no reason to reject your suggestions; I'll edit them into the OP right now.

col49 · May 25th, 2012, 10:08:13 AM

Oh man, sorry, I meant 176 HP / 252 Atk / 40 Def / 40 SDef, must've plugged in some number wrong :/ Nice catch, and again, very sorry, can't imagine how I go about missing that.

Barbeller · May 27th, 2012, 3:57:50 AM

Actually, I believe the best spread is 168 HP/252 Atk/44 Def/40 SDef.

Anyway, having both won and lost to this team, I have to say it is very strong. That band Linoone caught me out the first time, and made me lose, which was annoying. the team is very well made, congratulations on your peak and good luck with it in the future.

rlyn99 · May 27th, 2012, 4:56:31 AM

Im seeing a pretty big weakness to entry hazards there

**FLCL** · May 27th, 2012, 11:36:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Barbeller

Actually, I believe the best spread is 168 HP/252 Atk/44 Def/40 SDef.

Anyway, having both won and lost to this team, I have to say it is very strong. That band Linoone caught me out the first time, and made me lose, which was annoying. the team is very well made, congratulations on your peak and good luck with it in the future.

Thanks a lot Barbeller! Your team is pretty awesome as well :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat rlyn99

Im seeing a pretty big weakness to entry hazards there

Yeah, any decent player with a hazards abusing team will wreck me if I don't predict and play perfectly. Luckily for me most teams only carry Stealth Rock so it's managable at the moment.

JCM · Jun 2nd, 2012, 10:08:44 PM

Love this team, I've used a band linoone several times myself! Anyways, could you explain why you use skuntank? I tried it, and I find it inferior to absol as a trapper. Is it the bulk, typing, movepool, or what?

**FLCL** · Jun 3rd, 2012, 8:16:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat JCM

Love this team, I've used a band linoone several times myself! Anyways, could you explain why you use skuntank? I tried it, and I find it inferior to absol as a trapper. Is it the bulk, typing, movepool, or what?

Just as you said, I really need the utilities that come with Skuntank's bulk, typing, and to an extent, movepool. Without it's huge HP and Poison typing, Skuntank would have a hard time switching into the likes of Musharna, Gardevoir, Kadabra, and Duosion. It's poison typing also gives it the ability to beat Tangela, who can be a pest to the team. Aftermath doesn't hurt either and is much more reliable than Super Luck.

May 23rd, 2012, 11:51:30 PM	#2
PsYch071c Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 311	Dang, it seems like every single week I see a new NU RMT with a #1 peak. Really awesome team, that CB Linoone has swept me quite a few times. __________________ Some good Hip Hop: "Never Too Late"-SoulChef "Problems"-Az "Where I'm From"-Trace Blam

May 24th, 2012, 7:11:04 PM	#5
col49 somewhat unorthodox Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 757 planet fickle	Really cool team, CB Linoone looks pretty legit. Anywho, just some minor suggestions, because I'm not exactly the best at this sort of thing. For one, perhaps you could look into Grass Knot over Earthquake on Emboar? As stated prior, Earthquake isn't really doing all too much for you atm, whereas Grass Knot cleanly OHKO's the standard Golem without any SpA investment, as well as 2HKOing any given Quagsire, who looks like he could present a serious issue to your team if played conservatively. More so, though this is very situational, a spread of 168 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Def / 44 Def is slightly bulkier than your current spread on Linoone. It isn't a huge deal, but free bulk is good bulk, no? Can't say I can think of anything to remedy your issues with entry hazards without totally losing all the wonderful synergies this team has, so sorry there :/ Conclusively, cool team, cool Linoone, congrats on the peak, luvdisc'ed, etc., etc. __________________

May 25th, 2012, 10:08:13 AM	#7
col49 somewhat unorthodox Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 757 planet fickle	Oh man, sorry, I meant 176 HP / 252 Atk / 40 Def / 40 SDef, must've plugged in some number wrong :/ Nice catch, and again, very sorry, can't imagine how I go about missing that. __________________

May 27th, 2012, 4:56:31 AM	#9
rlyn99 Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 64 LEEDLEEE	Im seeing a pretty big weakness to entry hazards there __________________ Ladder peaks: balancedhackmons: 1834 (GXE:91) (W:2/L:0/T:0)(43) Wifi UU: uu: 1761 (GXE:75) (W:14/L:5/T:0)(36) Used to be #43 on PO beta but decay :/

Jun 2nd, 2012, 10:08:44 PM	#11
JCM Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 27 LinooneVille	Love this team, I've used a band linoone several times myself! Anyways, could you explain why you use skuntank? I tried it, and I find it inferior to absol as a trapper. Is it the bulk, typing, movepool, or what? __________________ Pet a Linoone.

May 23rd, 2012, 11:32:52 PM	#1
FLCL Moderator Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 969	Skunks and Badgers (Peaked #1) SKUNKS AND BADGERS Introduction NU is considered by many to be one of the most balanced and fun tiers. New threats are constantly discovered and old threats are being reinvented. For an offense player like me, this can be a double edged blade; there are additional Pokemon that my team needs to check and counter but at the same time, I can use creative sets and Pokemon to help combat these threats, which makes the game more enjoyable. I set out to create an offense team to combat every playstyle and prevail over every threat in the tier. After teambuilding, I couldn't think of one threat that can overpower my team. However, after a few hundred battles, I found out that supressing every single threat was not possible without perfect prediction and an excessive amount of luck. Even so, this team has been my most successful to date, reaching a person best 1497 points on the alt "fooly cooly". What's more important is that it has been extremely fun playing with this team every single match. Although every member on the team is EV'ed offensively as most teams are offensive teams are; most of the damage is done through type coverage. Four members are choiced, so heavy prediction and a lot of smart switching is needed to play this team effectively. Although the team might seem sloppy defensively with every member having a weakness to a common attacking type (water, ground, fire, ice, etc..), two Scarfers and three priority users pick up the slack by acting as my main defense against powerful sweepers. By utilizing speed and power, I can usually put enough pressure on offensive and balanced teams to win the match. Against stall teams, who are designed to take on offensive pressure, I have two Trick/Switcheroo users who can cripple walls important walls, usually opening up holes for one of my Pokemon to break through. The team is not based around setting up a single Pokemon for a sweep; every member has the potential to do that. The structure of the team revolves around two main cores; a psychic/fighting/dark core formed by Exeggutor, Emboar, and Skuntank and the fast revenge killing duo of Rotom-S and Linoone. They weaken each other's counters allowing another to sweep. If I were to name one Pokemon that I usually end the game with it would be Linoone. After the opposing Pokemon have been weakened by attacks, Linoone can come in and deal solid damage to most Pokemon in the tier with a Banded ExtremeSpeed. Screenshot taken on 21/05/2012 In-Depth Golem (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sturdy EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) Stealth Rock Rock Blast Earthquake Sucker Punch It's no surprise that Golem is one of the most popular Pokemon in the tier; it is so effective at setting up Stealth Rocks. For an offensive team, the momentum it often brings through Sturdy and Sucker Punch is invaluable. Even with dedicated counters running around such as Bullet Seed Torterra and Air Balloon Probopass, Golem is still extremely effective at what it does. Against less experienced players, I can often take down two or three members of their team thanks to Golem's great attack, coverage, and Sturdy. If I do not see a normal, flying, or electric type attacker on the opponent's team I will usually play Golem very recklessly. As long as Rocks are already up, I will often stay in on things like Haunter and Ludicolo in an attempt to rack up damage with my attacks. If they get cocky and try to set up, they will often end up dead or severely hurt. With that being said, I rarely lead with Golem since so many people are prepared for it. It is a great pivot to many common attacks and makes VoltTurn teams think twice about blindly clicking Volt Switch. Preventing Golem's Sturdy from being broken has saved me many times against things such as Linoone or Samurott. The EV's are standard except a bit more speed is used to outrun other Golem. The HP investment gives Golem a surprising amount of bulk, allowing it to switch into many physical attackers, especially flying and normal types. Max attack allows me to hit extremely hard, 2HKOing most offensive threats in the tier with either Rock Blast or Earthquake followed by Sucker Punch. Emboar (M) @ Choice Scarf Trait: Blaze EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) Earthquake / Grass Knot Flare Blitz Superpower Head Smash Before anyone bashes me for using the underwhelming Scarf set I would like to mention that Emboar is probably the weakest link on my team. I wanted a bulkyish fighting type that could threaten the abundance of normal types in the tier. I needed a switch-in to ice type attacks. I also needed a switch-in to Will-o-wisp so I can get Skuntank in safely against Misdeavus and Bulky Gardevoir. On top of that Emboar acts as another threat to Tangela, whom I consider to be the most annoying Pokemon in the tier, and generally intimidates the opponent due to its huge potential power. There is only a handful of obscure safe switch-ins to Emboar. If anyone can suggest a Pokemon that could fit the above roles I would gladly test it over Emboar. At first I had a Flame Charge set so I could bluff a Choice Band and KO incoming Golems, but I realized that faster normal types such as Tauros, Kangaskhan and Cinccino gave me hard times. Emboar couldn't pull off a Flame Charge quick enough in some cases and ended up being KOed. Choice Scarf allows me to surprise the threats mentioned before and gives me another relatively fast Pokemon that can clean up late-game. The downsides include a noticeable lack of power and being locked into Superpower. I never keep Emboar in for more than two turns so the latter is usually not a problem. The moveset may seem a little strange due to the lack of Wild Charge, but it really doesn't matter since the only time I'm going to use is against water types; Scarf Wild Charge does piss damage to most bulky waters anyways. Earthquake gives me a good move to use against Fire and Poison types, although it is also rather situational. Head Smash, on the other hand, allows me to smash Altaria and usually puts me into Blaze range, allowing me to destroy with a Blaze-boosted Flare Blitz. Grass Knot, suggested by col49, gives me an additional option to hit Quagsire with and can KO Golem on the switch without lowering my stats. Exeggutor (M) @ Choice Specs Trait: Chlorophyll EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) Leaf Storm Hidden Power [Ice] Psychic Sleep Powder Originally I had Duosion in the spot because I hated hazards and I hated being walled by stall. However, Duosion was extremely underwhelming and at the time stall was almost non-existent. While looking for a creative option to fill Duosion's spot, I stumbled upon this Exeggutor set posted by user sandshrewz in the 'NU' and Creative Movesets thread. I was intrigued by it and wanted to test it out. Exeggutor allowed me to retain my psychic/fighting/dark core while patching up my huge Quagsire weakness. After using it for about a week and surprising many victims on the ladder, I concluded that it was a great set, but not suitable for my team. I was weaker to stall and weaker to hazards. Substitute took a toll on Eggy's HP and if it got Toxiced by something like Quagsire, it would die quickly. With Leftovers, Exeggutor could not hit hard enough and I found myself being walled by the likes of Miltank and Lickilicky. By switching to a Choice Specs set, I removed the latter weakness to stall since now Exeggutor could KO most members of a common stall team. Although Exeggutor is usually the main culprit for momentum-loss on my team, I find myself leading with it a lot. Since Golem is the first Pokemon the opponent sees in the team preview, they tend to send in grass or water types. Most of them, victims such as Tangela, Wartortle, Vileplume, Torterra, and Alomomola, are completely destroyed by Exeggutor. Exeggutor could also KO common hazard users such as Regirock, Garbador, and fast Air-Balloon Probopass. For the ones that it can't KO, Eggy can use Sleep Powder for a decent chance at preventing hazards. Speaking of KOing, Specs Exeggutor tends to do a lot of that. If you do not have a quadruple resistance to Leaf Storm or a resistance to Psychic you are going to take a buttload of damage. Physically defensive Tangela takes a minimum of seventy four percent from Leaf Storm, meaning it is 2HKOed if it doesn't switch out. Usually if I don't see a dark type on the opponent's team, I will just spam Psychic to rack up over fifty percent damage on just about everything that doesn't resist it. Even the premier special wall in the tier, Lickilicky, can be overpowered if it does not Wish the first turn or if a SpD drop occurs. Exeggutor still helps out the team a lot early-game by messing up the opponent's walls. The biggest threat to Exeggutor's rampage is bulkier variants of Skuntank. It can come in on anything but Sleep Powder and proceed to trap and kill Exeggutor. With some investment, it can avoid the 2HKO from Leaf Storm. Luckily, Skuntank does not pose a threat to the rest of my team and can be handled by Golem or Emboar. Skuntank (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Aftermath EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) Taunt Poison Jab Pursuit Sucker Punch This is the standard Skuntank set with 184 speed Ev's to outrun Absol and Samurott. Leftovers is used over Life Orb because Skuntank is too good to be wasted away by recoil residual damage. This allows it to switch in on resisted hits much easier and perform its job as a psychic/ghost trapper. Other additional Pokemon that Skuntank can trap with proper prediction include Flareon and Cryogonal. Without Skuntank, this team would function significantly worse. Skuntank performs so many roles for the team and is most likely the MVP. First of all, it can Taunt to prevent most Pokemon in the tier from setting up hazards. If I caught a Golem or Regirock with Taunt, I can usually switch in Exeggutor with little fear and KO them, effectively preventing Rocks from being set up. Taunt is also useful for beating a large number of defensive Pokemon such as Tangela and Lickilicky. If I can manage to get a poison status from Poison Jab, I can even beat defensive behemoths such as Alomomola and Miltank thanks to Taunt preventing recovery. Along with Linoone and Golem, Skuntank acts as a safety net against fast sweepers with a powerful priority attack. If all fails, Skuntank can strip an additional quarter of the opponent's HP with Aftermath, if they decide to use a contact move. This is extremely helpful when it comes to dealing with Linoone. Skuntank's bulk is another one of its selling points; with only 72 EVs in HP, it can survive a Scarf Sawk Earthquake. This allows it to get in multiple hits on weaker attackers such as Raichu, securing their demise. Its handy resistances allows me to switch in on Absol, Cacturne, Haunter, and psychic types with ease. Skuntank is the glue Pokemon on my team, patching up weaknesses and acting as a failsafe for the rest of the members. Rotom-S @ Choice Scarf Trait: Levitate EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) Air Slash Volt Switch Trick Hidden Power [Ice] Probably the most uninteresting member of the team, but it does its job extremely well. Although its base speed is not as magical as it was before, it can still perform as a great scarfer. The advantages it has over other electric type scarfers include a flying typing (although it doesn't even need it because it has Levitate), greater bulk, and Trick. These qualities allow me to switch into Sawk and Gurdurr more easily and threaten them with a STAB Air Slash. I can also put another dagger into stall teams by crippling a wall with Trick. I can have even more fun by messing around and swapping Eviolites with Leftovers. Rotom's bulk allows me to do this several times against stall teams, although I have to be wary because the opponent could switch in their wall that was crippled with Choice Scarf. Without Rotom, a whole plethora of Pokemon would give me trouble. The Fan gives Gorebyss, Butterfree, and other powerful sweepers a hard time. A quick Volt Switch can help retain momentum, which is extremely important for this team. Air Slash has a nice flinch rate, which has come in handy many times against Quagsire and such. I chose Hidden Power Ice over the other options because my team is weak to dragons. It still 2HKOs Golems and Torterras looking to absorb a Volt Switch and provides coverage against opposing Rotom-S. Stealth Rocks are a huge thorn in Rotom's side and is the main reason why I try to keep it off the field by Taunting against Golems with Skuntank and leading with Exeggutor. If I cannot limit the times Rotom-S switches into Rocks, then Samurott, Swellow, and Drifblim will give me problems. Lightningrod Pokemon also give me problems since I can no longer catch them on the switch with Hidden Power. If a Raichu switches in on me, I will most likely switch to Emboar in anticipation of the oncoming Hidden Power Ice. If Zebstrika comes in, I will stay in as it will either Volt Switch out to another Pokemon, giving me the chance to deliver a slower Volt Switch, or it will try to catch me switching into Golem and use Hidden Power Grass, which allows me to switch to Skuntank and Pursuit it for huge damage. Linoone (F) @ Choice Band Trait: Pickup EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Def / 44 SDef Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) Switcheroo Shadow Claw Seed Bomb ExtremeSpeed Wasted potential is probably the first thought that comes to mind when you see Choice Band Linoone. Why would anyone forgo such sweeping potential for a Choice User with the same amount of attack as Dusclops? The answer is: ExtremeSpeed. It's arguably the best priority attack in the game and with it, Linoone can bypass all priority except Fake-Out and deal over fifty percent to most offensive threats in the tier. So many threats that teams usually sweat over can be easily checked by Linoone after some damage is sustained (usually when they are setting up). Instead of spending two or three teamslots on defensive Pokemon that kill off momentum, I can simply slap on Linoone and most of the time I'll be fine. The opponent will never switch out due to fear of Belly Drum, so I am almost guaranteed a revenge kill if they are within ExtremeSpeed KO range. Here are example of what Linoone can do against the most dangerous threats in the tier: ... 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 4 HP/0 Def Absol: 79.78% - 94.12% 2 hits to KO 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 0 HP/4 Def Braviary: 53.08% - 62.76% 2 hits to KO 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 0 HP/4 Def Charizard: 58.92% - 69.7% 2 hits to KO 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 4 HP/0 Def Cinccino: 74.32% - 87.67% 2 hits to KO 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 160 HP/0 Def Emboar: 50.87% - 60.1% 2 hits to KO 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 4 HP/0 Def Exeggutor: 49.7% - 58.73% 2-3 hits to KO 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 0 HP/4 Def Gorebyss: 54.18% - 64.54% 2 hits to KO 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 0 HP/4 Def Kangaskhan: 49% - 58.12% 2-3 hits to KO 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 0 HP/4 Def Ludicolo: 63.79% - 75.08% 2 hits to KO 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 0 HP/4 Def Magmortar: 68.04% - 80.41% 2 hits to KO 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 0 HP/4 Def Rotom-S: 56.02% - 66.39% 2 hits to KO 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 0 HP/4 Def Samurott: 49.24% - 58.31% 2-3 hits to KO 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 0 HP/4 Def Sawk: 62.2% - 73.54% 2 hits to KO 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 0 HP/4 Def Sawsbuck: 63.79% - 75.08% 2 hits to KO 252 Atk Choice Band Linoone (+Atk) ExtremeSpeed vs 0 HP/4 Def Swellow: 82.76% - 97.7% 2 hits to KO Ninety percent of the time I will be using ExtremeSpeed to deal constant reliable damage to the team. The only instances where I will be using the coverage moves are against Ghosts or Pokemon with a quadruple weakness to grass. Switcheroo is yet another annoyance to stall teams; it disrupts them even more than Choice Scarf since a lot of Pokemon in stall have no business with an attack boost. Linoone is the most irreplaceable team member since removing it would force me to add in two or three other Pokemon. It does some amazing things sometimes, such as living a Magmortar Fire Blast and other powerful attacks. I've been saved countless times by a clutch ExtremeSpeed when it seems like all hope was lost. There have been moments where I thought "man I really wish I had Belly Drum right now" and I have even tried Belly Drum Linoone in this set's place. However, without the ability to revenge just about everything, my team began to fall apart. There was an instance where I lost a match because I couldn't KO a Swellow at seventy five percent at the end... The EV's were suggested again by col49 and provide better bulk than the spread of 252 HP / 252 Atk which I was previously running. Threats HAZARDS - Ever since the end of Duosion's short stint with the team, I've had huge problems with all forms of hazards. Only one Pokemon on my team is weak to Rocks, but at the same time, I only have one resistance. Five Pokemon are hit hard by Spikes and nobody on the team has reliable recovery. If you have full hazards up and I haven't knocked you down to around two Pokemon left, you probably have the game won already. Toxic Spikes are easy to hand with Skuntank around but once he's gone, they are even more dangerous than normal Spikes. I have no room for a spinner on this team, so the best I can do is keep up the pressure and Taunt/Sleep Powder the hazards setters. Conclusion I'm retiring this team because I'm too lazy to get it up to a high ranking after the ladder reset. More and more people are becoming aware of this team and I have even seen some Band Linoones used against me (this team is actually weak to Band Linoone!). Offense is definitely my favourite playstyle in NU and I believe this team exemplifies it very well. Below is the importable so feel free to try it out. Also, thanks for reading and if you haven't gotten around to trying out NU, I suggest you do it right now!! Importable Golem (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Sturdy EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Stealth Rock - Rock Blast - Earthquake - Sucker Punch Linoone (F) @ Choice Band Trait: Pickup EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Def / 44 SDef Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Switcheroo - Shadow Claw - Seed Bomb - ExtremeSpeed Rotom-S @ Choice Scarf Trait: Levitate EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Air Slash - Volt Switch - Trick - Hidden Power [Ice] Skuntank (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Aftermath EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Taunt - Poison Jab - Pursuit - Sucker Punch Emboar (M) @ Choice Scarf Trait: Blaze EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Earthquake - Flare Blitz - Superpower - Head Smash Exeggutor (M) @ Choice Specs Trait: Chlorophyll EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) - Leaf Storm - Hidden Power [Ice] - Psychic - Sleep Powder Last edited by FLCL; May 25th, 2012 at 9:32:17 AM.

May 24th, 2012, 5:31:05 AM	#3
Ewil Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 427 Italy	WOAH FLCL ! This is a very nice and solid team ! I love that linoone and i love your anime nickname XD The only suggestion that i can give to you is to try Combusken over Emboar. He have all the things that you mentioned except a good bulk, but you can even try an eviolite set with SD/Flare Blitz/Sky Uppercut/Protect for more bulk. This is the only pokes that comes in my mind that reaches your needs.

May 27th, 2012, 3:57:50 AM	#8
Barbeller Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 32	Actually, I believe the best spread is 168 HP/252 Atk/44 Def/40 SDef. Anyway, having both won and lost to this team, I have to say it is very strong. That band Linoone caught me out the first time, and made me lose, which was annoying. the team is very well made, congratulations on your peak and good luck with it in the future.