(NU) ♔ june '09

[ium]

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this is the second team that i am posting, featuring an offensive core of seismitoad and sawsbuck. these two sport great abilities and decent offensive prowess, but have always been overlooked—if you look at any given usage statistics for NU, you can see that both are fairly low. however, both pokemon have become better with the last tier shifts, not having to fear amoonguss, emboar, and cinccino anymore. they have their distinct checks, and they need a little bit of support to handle such things, but playing to their strengths can really display how great they are in this current metagame.

this team isn't the most amazing thing ever, and it does have a few gaping flaws (although it requires some good plays by the opponent to take advantage of them), but it is perhaps one of the most fun teams i have ever tried out. for anyone interested, i have laddered with this team on costello music, crystal castles, and a few other testing alts.

there isn't much behind the teambuilding process (not like i think through it anyways). every member on my team is important for certain reasons, so i've stuck with them for the most part. i've only been going back and forth between skuntank and haunter. both carry distinct advantages, but i find myself more comfortable using skuntank here, for reasons outlined later on. so without further ado, here is june '09:

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sad sams: sawsbuck @ life orb
ability: sap sipper | evs: 252 atk / 4 def / 252 spe | nature: jolly
swords dance / double-edge / horn leech / nature power

in short, this pokemon can bust through many teams. the amazing thing about sawsbuck is that it is exclusively an offensive pokemon, but it has so many opportunities to switch in and threaten the opponent thanks to an immunity to ghost- and grass-type attacks. it basically just wrecks offensive pokemon slower than it (like sawk or samurott), or it can set up against more defensive pokemon. everything is standard about this sawsbuck set; normal and grass is amazing neutral coverage, while nature power rounds it off by hitting steel-types and bypassing skuntank's sucker punch. having sawsbuck in conjunction with seismitoad is great since the former lures in so many grass-type attacks that sawsbuck can gain a boost from.

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ektelon: seismitoad @ leftovers
ability: water absorb | evs: 252 spa / 4 spd / 252 spe | nature: timid
substitute / hydro pump / earth power / toxic

while swift swim seismitoad is pretty cool, i find that there is hardly a reason to give up water absorb on seismitoad when it means having an awesome check to carracosta, samurott, and a handful of other water-types in the tier. the typing and ability is the key here; with seismitoad able to force out so many pokemon, setting up a substitute is almost no problem at all. seismitoad acts as one of my primary switches into electric-types trying to volt switch, while substitute in conjunction with water absorb allows seismitoad to set up on stuff like alomomola and some variants of wartortle and mantine. toxic wears down such pokemon while also nailing specially bulky things like ludicolo, lickilicky and audino. despite not being that powerful, seismitoad can still deal enough damage to many pokemon between hydro pump and earth power.

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L: golem @ custap berry
ability: sturdy | evs: 200 hp / 252 atk / 56 spe | nature: adamant
stealth rock / rock blast / earthquake / explosion

so many people are familiar with this golem set; it's basically the standard set, except without sucker punch. aside from carrying stealth rock, golem acts as a primary check to normal- and flying-types that are choiced or lack some coverage move against it. i chose this over other rock-types because rock blast is handy to deal with pokemon trying to set up substitute, while STAB earthquake is always a powerful attacking option when backed by golem's stellar attack stat. however, one of the bigger reasons to use this rock is explosion and custap berry. explosion is a great last-ditch move to dent anything that loves to switch in or try to set up on golem. with custap berry, i can nab an emergency KO or set stealth rock in a pinch if i need to.

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talamak: musharna @ leftovers
ability: synchronize | evs: 240 hp / 252 def / 16 spe | nature: bold
calm mind / moonlight / psychic / thunder wave or signal beam

musharna carries the important role of disallowing fighting-types from having an easy time against this team. gurdurr's mach punch can be devastating to many members of this team, while choice band sawk is extremely powerful that it requires solid checks to handle. musharna stops both of them cold. however, it also acts as a secondary check to the weaker normal-types, such as kangaskhan, who may be carrying a coverage move to hit golem. aside from that, musharna can act as an alternative win condition for my team if necessary. all the team members facilitate musharna's ability to set up since they all heavily damage and/or threaten out pokemon such as skuntank or golurk. once those are cleared out, musharna can set up rather easily since not many things in the tier are strong enough or can take a hit.

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warm frames: rotom-frost @ choice scarf
ability: levitate | evs: 4 def / 252 spa / 252 spe | nature: timid
volt switch / thunderbolt / hidden power ice / trick

rotom-f is one of those rather useful pokemon that my team really appreciates. it handles water-types that can get past seismitoad, such as gorebyss or special samurott. volt switch is really handy for momentum, while hidden power ice is a 100% accurate ice-type move that works well coverage-wise. the STAB electric and ice coverage is one reason that i have chosen rotom-f as my choice scarf electric-type. however, the bigger reason is because my team lacks a switch-in to offensive articuno, so having a resistance to both ice beam and hurricane is necessary to lessen my weakness to it. as much as i would love rotom-s for an additional fighting-type resistance, i had to use this forme. other than that, it's no different than rotom-s; trick is especially useful as a second way to stop the likes of musharna if skuntank is played around well enough.

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dead pontoon: skuntank @ leftovers
ability: aftermath | evs: 252 atk / 4 def / 252 spe | nature: adamant
poison jab / taunt / pursuit / sucker punch

so yea, this was the slot that used to belong to destiny bond haunter. i found it really difficult to not get annoyed by kadabra and certain psychic- and ghost-types. in addition, since i am using a rather frail team without any other priority, having to face pokemon faster than my sawsbuck was quite a nuisance. skuntank fit best here because it fulfilled so many roles in checking those psychic-types and providing priority to pick off faster, frailer pokemon. however, the cool thing about skuntank is that it is probably one of the best grounded poison-types that NU has to offer, so it can check grass-types that threaten seismitoad while absorbing any toxic spikes that pokemon, such as roselia, may be setting on the field. even though skuntank is not the most effective combatant against all the versatile psychic-types in NU, it is absolutely important for its utility role and typing.

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i guess threats would include all the major ice-types, which are articuno, glaceon, and regice. the second most threatening would be weather teams, which is why i like to keep golem with sturdy in-tact for a last-ditch explosion or stealth rock. well-played sawk and ludicolo can be troubling, but the former is checked while the latter cannot set up rain dance so easily. i find that a combination of hard-hitting pokemon that exceed 95 speed (pokemon that outspeed sawsbuck) are particularly annoying for me to handle, because then i will have to rely on golem and musharna to take hits before i can retaliate. however, the opponent will still need to play well since i carry enough checks.

importable

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dead pontoon (Skuntank) @ Leftovers
Trait: Aftermath
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Poison Jab
- Taunt
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch

talamak (Musharna) @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spd
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Psychic
- Signal Beam

L (Golem) @ Custap Berry
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Explosion

sad sams (Sawsbuck) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Double-Edge
- Horn Leech
- Nature Power

ektelon (Seismitoad) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Hydro Pump
- Earth Power
- Toxic

warm frames (Rotom-Frost) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Trick

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jacob is cute.

[FLCL]

running a bulkier variant of skuntank can help you tank hits better from the threats you listed (you probably won't be switching directly into them but you could probably beat them one on one). your team doesn't really need skuntank's speed anyways since there's nothing you need to outrun and poison jab. it will also take care of gardevoir and musharna a lot better than the offensive set. other than that theres not much to change; great team


Skuntank @ Leftovers
Trait: Aftermath
EVs: 216 HP / 252 Atk / 40 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Taunt
- Poison Jab
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch

[JirachiCelebiMew]

Costello Music....So it was you? Anyways, this is really a great team, having battled it on the ladder twice. I think Return > Double-Edge would be better because the recoil from LO and Double-Edge builds up quite quickly, and Sawsbuck will die much earlier.

P.S: I was Wormadam-Trash, the guy who had TWave Musharna vs your Skunk. 1 vs 1, and you killed me. I also previously forfeited vs your team, due to having two battles at the same time.

[WhiteDMist]

I've tested your team for a while, and I've yet to find anything that can easily be replaced to help you with your weaknesses. Truthfully, the special defensive Skuntank is enough for your team as is. Rotom-F also misses the power that Blizzard provided, but that is up to you since its so inaccurate. Musharna can also afford to move those Speed EVs to Special Defense, unless you want to Speed tie with other 16 Spe Musharna.

Great team ium!

[ium]

yea, as i posted this rmt, i was contemplating about a bulkier skuntank, so i think moving most of the speed to hp or special defense would be helpful to add a little more bulk that my team wants.

i prefer using double-edge on sawsbuck, because return doesn't do damage that i'm quite satisfied with—people tend to switch in stuff that get worn down more easily by double-edge, like weezing. i'm also pretty sure that double-edge secures some KOs like 252/0 roselia after stealth rock? i'm pretty sure there's some i can't think of off the top of my head, but yea i just prefer the power.

also, blizzard has a really shaky accuracy and this team is really sensitive to any unfortunate luck, so i don't know about switching over to that, but i could try it out. however, i don't recall many situations where i absolutely needed it. as for musharna, i actually use more speed than given for those who also like to run a lot of speed on their musharna and duosion.

thank you for the suggestions.