RU Lead Metagame

[ShakeItUp]

Hello. As most of you may (should) know, RU has a lead metagame in place. Even with Team Preview, a lot of teams have dedicated leads that can give them an early edge in the battle. These leads have even caused stuff like Lum Berry Kabutops to appear (defeats Smeargle); they are truly a part of the metagame. There are even leads with moves to defeat their common counters, making them truly unique. In this thread, discuss the best leads in the metagame, what counter them, and even post some creative lead sets if you wish. You can also post counters / weaknesses of the sets the people above you post.

I'll start.


Accelgor @ Focus Sash
Trait: Sticky Hold
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Spikes
- Bug Buzz
- Hidden Power [Water]
- Focus Blast

Yes, this is from the CCAT. This Pokemon is unique in that it can has HP Water, which can stop enemy Nidoqueen, which lead against Accelgor almost all of the time. HP Water also annihilates Rhydon, and can do a large amount of damage to Sandslash, making it a solid choice. Cryogonal can be hit hard by Focus Blast, as can Kabutops, making this Accelgor a very good lead. Its Speed allows it to set up Spikes easily as well. However, Smeargle leads completely destroy Accelgor, as they can use live Focus Blast with Focus Sash, Spore Accelgor, and then proceed to set up their own hazards. This mean's the user of this set has to have a Pokemon to stop Smeargle as well, such as Lum Berry Kabutops. Overall, HP Water Accelgor is a very potent lead in the current metagame.

[august]

A lot of times, I like to lead with

Rotom-C @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

Rotom-c makes an excellent scout lead, especially in conjunction with something that has a Lum Berry or Sleep Talk. It is faster than lead Accelgor, meaning it can Volt Switch out to break the Focus Sash, and then proceed to contain it to 1 layer of Spikes. Lead Smeargle? Volt Switch out to something that can take a Spore. Uxie? Trick it a Choice Scarf and then Volt Switch out as it switches, or if it stays in, you can even bring in Kabutops. If you use Rotom-c on a Smeargle team, you can use Rotom-c as a lead to beat all the anti Smeargle leads, like Lum Berry Kabutops and Lum Berry Uxie. Rotom-c also doesn't have to be a dedicated lead, it merely leads when it sees it fit.

Another one:

Uxie @ Lum Berry
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- U-turn
- Psychic
- Stealth Rock

I love this thing. Lum Berry Uxie easily beats up on Smeargle and Lum Berry Kabutops / any Kabutops in general that think they can come in and Rapid Spin. In my experience, this Uxie is probably the most consistent Stealth Rock setter i have ever used, and I think that many people who have used it can verify. You can easily run Thunder Wave over Giga Drain if you see it fit, as Psychic will 2HKO Kabutops with the Special Attack investment anyway. U-turn helps keep momentum as they switch, and in general is a great move (i love leads that utilize U-turn/Volt Switch). Mesprit can fufill a similar role with less bulk and more power

Also note that both of these leads go awesome with Specs Gothitelle thanks to their respective switching moves that ease prediction x)

[wildeb33zt]

Seeing that I play Trick Room almost exclusively, I have a couple of dedicated TR-leads.

Molk's Smeargle:

Smeargle (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs:
Hardy Nature
- Trick Room
- Endeavor
- Dragon Rage
- Spore

Lvl 1, of course. First turn TR, then, if the opponent hit you, you should have 1 HP. Toss Spore at him - Endeavor - Dragon Rage = Profit. If the opponent didn't hit you first turn, just skip the Spore, and Spore the next thing that comes in. A lovely set.

At the moment I am using a Banette lead, though.

Banette (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Insomnia
EVs: 252 Atk
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Trick Room
- Destiny Bond
- Shadow Claw
- Taunt

IVs: 0 in everything except attack (and Special Attack, but that doesn't make any difference)

It works similarly to the Smeargle lead, but can also kill stuff with Shadow Claw, and Taunt opposing Smeargles. I'm not really sure whether I like it as much as the Smeargle yet, but at times it's brilliant. A lot of hit and miss with these kinds of "gimmicky" leads, of course, but their main job of putting up Trick Room are generally successful. Taunt shuts it down, of course, but both pokemon packs a good punch if you can predict the taunt, or (worst case) find yourself taunted without Trick Room up.

[ShakeItUp]

That is a very interesting Uxie set august. Seems especially useful considering how many people will try to Rapid Spin with Kabutops on Uxie. Seems cool. That Banette set is interesting too wildeb; I might try that out sometime just to see how it does lol.

Another set:


Aerodactyl (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

The classic Aerodactyl lead set since Gen 4. This set might just be good again just because it destroys common Smeargle leads while setting up Stealth Rock; this alone is a huge bane for offensive teams. It also destroys Cryogonal; however, Kabutops beats this set, even though Aerodactyl can deal massive damage to it with Earthquake. It also annihilates other leads such as Scolipede and Accelgor. Any thoughts on whether this set is a good lead or not in the current RU metagame?

[Pkrs]

Steelix (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SDef
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Gyro Ball
- Roar

one of the best walls, depending easy thanks to its ability to endure and put rocks, its extremely powerful gyro ball is causing great harm to most of the RU and finally Eq powerful STAB attack

[Hot N Cold]

Crustle (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 12 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Rock Blast
- X-Scissor

An underrated pokemon, this thing can use Stealth Rock and Spikes this is just great. Rock Blast is the first STAB and is very useful to beat things like: Smeargle, Aerodactyl or Accelgor. X-Scissor is the second STAB and coverage. Sturdy is a pseudo-focus sash is great to take super effective attacks. Lum Berry is the item easy to beat Smeargle with this, T-wave are very annoying too.

Crustle should be more used, imo.

[Pocket]

Uxie @ Light Clay
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Yawn / U-turn

Uxie's the best screener in RU atm. Has nice bulk & Speed to set up SR and Screens quickly. RU is filled with many dangerous set-up sweepers that will be hard to take down with screens up.

Yawn is nice to provide set-up sweeper a free switch-in. It's a blind switch, but a safe one, with Team Preview to let you bring in the best Sweeper of choice. U-turn can work but your sweeper may be vulnerable to being crippled if the U-turn is fast. U-turn is certainly nice to break Sash of Aerodactyl for Kabutops to kill with Aqua Jet, thus preventing Rocks from going up.

[wildeb33zt]

That Crustle is the lead-'mon I like the least to face. Or, at least seeing a Crustle in the team-preview makes me want to switch around leads, which again is annoying when carrying a suicide lead. Anti-smeargle-leads in general is perfect for this metagame.

[SpecsX]

Well, speaking of Smeargle leads, here is a set I find useful.

Smeargle@Focus Sash
252 HP/4 SpD/252 Spe
Timid; Own Tempo
-Spore
-Stealth Rock
-Spikes
-Magic Coat

This is pretty standard,until you get to Magic Coat, which is incredibly useful. You can bounce back Taunt, opposing mons' hazards, or even other Smeargles' Spores, giving you an early advantage.

[TooWycked]

Omastar @ Leftovers
252 HP/252 Def/4 Spd
Bold - Swift Swim/ Shell Armor

-Stealth Rock
-Spikes
-Scald
-Ice Beam

My favorite lead in all of pokemon - I use this thing on 90% of my teams. The amount of hits this guy can take is just amazing.

[complete legitimacy]

Rhydon (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Lightningrod
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 84 SDef / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Megahorn

This was a great set that I used a while back, and it was a very effective lead. It could set up Stealth Rock pretty reliably, and beat all other common leads, especially those holding a Focus Sash or using Sturdy. It's ridiculously bulky, so things like Scolipede and Aerodactyl can't touch it, even if they use Earthquake. Rock Blast allows it to limit most hazard setters to one layer (fuck Smeargle), hitting most of them super effectively, such as Scolipede, Accelgor, Aerodactyl, and Crustle. Megahorn is also a wonderful move in the lead matchup, 2HKOing the ever-present Uxie and OHKOing Mesprit most of the time, while Rhydon easily takes an Ice Beam. Even Steelix is an inferior lead to Rhydon in my opinion, since while Steelix sets up Stealth Rock with 100% reliability thanks to Sturdy, Rhydon can beat most other hazard-setting leads while Steelix can't boast that at all.

[DittoCrow]

Mesprit @ Leftovers / Lum Berry
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 28 HP / 252 SAtk / 228 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn / Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock

Mesprit is great at providing momentum for the team. It's main perk is that it can lure in Rapid Spinners and take them out: Sandslash has a chance to be OHKOed by Ice Beam, Cryogonal gets OHKOed by Psyshock, and Kabutops gets OHKOed by Thunderbolt. Mesprit can also serve as a good check to Nidoqueen, as well as a pivot/scout with U-turn. The EVs maximize Mesprit's Special Attack, allow it to outspeed 24 Speed Cryogonal by one point, and have a little bit of bulk. One can argue that Mesprit is outclasses by Uxie, but if you need something to hit hard and provide momentum by weakening the opposing team and taking out spinners, then Mesprit is the way to go.

[Hot N Cold]

I thought it would be good idea, i'm using now Mesprit lead with Fire Gem + Hidden Power Fire, good coverage and work really well against steel types mainly Escavalier, who can trap with Pursuit or just kill with Megahorn.

[Bigblue]

Moltres @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Substitute

This isn't a lead per say but it happense to be probably the best anti lead for smeargle in meta because of substitute. I have dented some huge walls early game just because moltres can free sub on any smeargle and then throw out hurricanes and flamethrowers to it's hearts content. Not much more to say other than it can kind of shutdown other leads like whimsicott, and rotom-c can do much if you just roost on the voltswitch.

[HuntSaboteur]

Primeape @ Focus Sash
-Counter
-Close Combat
-U-turn
-Earthquake

The Sash Counter element of this set takes a lot of people by surprise. (This is my 3rd RU sash counterer after Alakazam and Krookodile both got banned). It gets practically any physical attacker (has anyone heard of a physically offensive RU ghost? Not me.) and doubles as an ordinary Primeape, with Close Combat and the ubiquitous lead U-turn.

[shnen]

Originally Posted by Fat HuntSaboteur

(has anyone heard of a physically offensive RU ghost? Not me.)

Spiritomb.
Aside from that, interesting set

[Bigblue]

Originally Posted by Fat HuntSaboteur

Primeape @ Focus Sash
-Counter
-Close Combat
-U-turn
-Earthquake

The Sash Counter element of this set takes a lot of people by surprise. (This is my 3rd RU sash counterer after Alakazam and Krookodile both got banned). It gets practically any physical attacker (has anyone heard of a physically offensive RU ghost? Not me.) and doubles as an ordinary Primeape, with Close Combat and the ubiquitous lead U-turn.

If you want to do a suicide lead that can deal a bunch of damage primeape is not the way to go. It would be a lot more efficient to pick something like final gambit accelgor because it can OHKO almost every lead and can still encore, spike, u-turn, bug buzz, HP rock the enemy team depending on your set.

Originally Posted by Fat HuntSaboteur

(has anyone heard of a physically offensive RU ghost? Not me.)

And about this comment..... I hope you were joking because, spiritomb, cofagrigus, misdreavus, rotom(To some extent) wall this thing to hell.