Project NU Archetype Cores: Discuss Your Experiences! (HIATUS)

[erisia]

defensive synergy? what's that

Crustle @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Shell Smash
- Rock Blast

Haunter @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Will-O-Wisp
- Destiny Bond
- Hex

Swellow @ Choice Specs
Ability: Scrappy
4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Boomburst
- Heat Wave
- Brave Bird
- U-turn

Hyper offense strikes back. Crustle is an extremely annoying hazard lead that is almost guaranteed to get SR and at least one layer of Spikes up before it dies. Haunter acts as an aggressive spinblocker that can spread status around the opponent's team and break holes in defensive cores with powerful STABs like Sludge Bomb and Hex, not to mention Destiny Bond. This all clears the way for Swellow to clean up in the end-game with a scary Boomburst and its fantastic Base 125 Speed stat. The core should be paired with setup sweepers that can take advantage of the holes blown in teams by Haunter and Swellow with hazard support, such as Ludicolo and Barbaracle. Haunter and Swellow also provide useful immunities to Normal and Ghost type attacks respectively, letting hyper offense deal with things like Tauros and Mismagius a bit more easily.

Also happy 1000th post erisia! Shoutout to the NU room for being very awesome and willing to put up with my blabbering, and to bolts and the rest of the QC team for letting me help out and helping me get back into the swing of things with contributing. I lied about the RMT :p

 

[nv]

+

+

Sets

Aurorus @ Choice Specs
Ability: Refrigerate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Earth Power
- Freeze-Dry
- Flash Cannon

Vileplume @ Black Sludge
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Moonlight
- Stun Spore

Xatu @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Heat Wave

Pretty simple core. Aurorus is an amazing wallbreaker, being able to neutralize a lot of powerful threats in the tier. Flash Cannon gives Aurorus to 2HKO Piloswine, which heavily threatens Xatu and Vileplume. Vileplume adds amazing synergy as it can take on most Fighting-types that tend to revenge Aurorus or switch-in in the case of Assault Vest Hariyama. Vileplume also provides amazing utility thanks to Stun Spore, which can cripple a lot of faster threats on the field, making Aurorus' wallbreaking job even easier. Xatu gives this core semi-reliable hazard control while also providing a solid win condition that appreciates Aurorus' wallbreaking. Heat Wave is specifically there as this core is a bit walled by Steel-types; however, Signal Beam is nice for opposing Psychic-types. This core is pretty susceptible to Magmortar though, meaning an answer for it is needed. Other than that, this is a really solid core that is really good on offensively inclined balance teams.

 

[Cheryl.]

Sets

Carracosta @ Life Orb
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 28 Atk / 228 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Shell Smash
- Hydro Pump
- Stone Edge
- Ice Beam

Vileplume @ Black Sludge
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Moonlight
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power Fire

Swellow @ Choice Specs
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Boomburst
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
- Tailwind

This is a pretty cool core that I've been using on a balanced team made around Mixed Shell Smash Carracosta. This core uses Carracosta as a great wallbreaker or late-game cleaner that can set up on a lot of things, like Swellow locked into Boomburst or Heat Wave. Vileplume provides a nice check to Grass-types for Costa, and also lures in Flying types for Carracosta to set up on. Swellow can use Carracosta's wallbreaking to clean easier, and provides Tailwind for other teammates to potentially sweep. This core likes Fire-types to weaken Steel types as this core are rather weak to them, and also likes hazard support for the sweepers to sweep easier. Overall, this is a pretty cool core and I hope you like it!

 

[Machineae]

Swellow and Rampardos are formidable wall breakers and excellent at cleaning up a team- they also share similar checks and counters. Namely rocks and steels. This is somewhat alleviated by Heat Wave and Superpower, if you hammer a wall enough eventually it will crack. Garbodor helps aid in this challenge by providing entry hazard support. It's not much, but every little bit helps. Rampardos is an offensive juggernaut that is a bit slow, even with a scarf. Swellow is extremely fast, strong but not always strong enough. Together they can do work and destroy unprepared teams. I've got two sets, a more generic probably better bunch of sets and then the ones I've been using on my team which I enjoy more but require more work to make effective but it's more enjoyable. Garbodor set is pretty generic lure set. Can go for defensive if you want a less offensive team but I'm running this core on a fast paced offensive team. You'll probably want a spinblocker, lord Rotom works nicely here considering we have two mons with a big ground weakness and we don't want our spikes gone. Also spreading burns helps if the enemy has priority.

sets

Swellow @ Choice Specs
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Boomburst
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Rampardos @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Head Smash
- Rock Slide
- Zen Headbutt
- Superpower

Garbodor @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Spikes

sets for hard ass mfers

Requires a lot more pivot support but I enjoy not being locked in to one move. Lose a bit of power on Swellow but helps you maneuver throughout the game more. Bluffing choiced sets is also prety dope. I've been running Tailwind on a few different mons lately that can afford to run it and it's pretty nice. Pairing it with some of the somewhat slower wallbreakers like Magmortar and Samurott makes sweeping teams that rely on handling them offensively a breeze.


Swellow @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Boomburst
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
- Tailwind

Rampardos @ Stone Plate / Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Head Smash
- Rock Slide
- Zen Headbutt
- Superpower

 

[Oda]

More of a balanced core with a solid defensive backbone of Cradily + Weezing. Cradily takes on strong special attackers, has a useful water immunity and can switch into Psychic attackers aimed at Weezing while Weezing deals with Steel/Fighting/Bug types along with Physical mons that may threaten or setup on Cradily. Weezing can also set up Toxic Spikes to help Cradily beat mons through Toxic + Recover stalling. People may say Cradily sucks in this meta due to Lix however you can Epower on the switch for a 3hko and outspeed it and survive a Heavy Slam in case Weezing went down. This core looked really weak to Ice Types and CM Psychics so I threw on a Taunt Archeops to revenge things like Aurorus/Jynx and prevent things like Mush from setting up. You can run Focus Blast to guarantee kill on Aurorus and dent Lix if you want. Also Chople on Cradily is to lure Mag's who run Focus Blast and Im running Taunt Fast Weezing for Malamar.

Top Secret Information

Cradily @ Chople Berry
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Recover
- Earth Power
- Rock Slide

Weezing @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 140 Def / 120 Spe
Bold Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Toxic Spikes/Pain Split

Archeops
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly/Naive Nature
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake/Focus Blast
- Taunt
- Roost

 

[Rapture]

+

+

Sets

Altaria @ Choice Specs
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Sleep Talk

Skuntank @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Defog

Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 192 HP / 216 Atk / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock

A bulky offense core based around specs Altaria. Draco Meteor and Dragon pulse are our stab moves of choice with Fire Blast to hit steels looking for an easy switch in. Sleep Talk takes advantage of sleep moves and lets Altaria drop dracos even while incapacitated. Shuca Berry Skuntank is the defogger of choice and can act as a solid lure to things like Steelix and Rhydon that think they threaten Skuntank out with stab earthquake. Can also act as a check to sceptile in a pinch if need be. SD rocks Rhydon rounds out our core and can be annoying to switch into even without a boost due to its hard hitting stab moves. Swords dance helps to break through bulky mons like Audino. The speed on Rhydon is to outpace base 50's iirc.

 

[Winter's Howl]

Alright, voting is now live. Just want to say that you all did such a great job on this! Pick your 2 favorites. Voting will close on Monday, the 8th. Good luck guys.

shadestep

Dr Ciel

quziel

erisia

NV

BrandonBeast

Machineae

Oda

Rapture.

 

[Shadestep]

NV
Rapture.

 

[BigHairyPenguin]

Oda(anyone who uses cradily has my vote)
NV

 

[Cheryl.]

Shadestep
NV

 

[erisia]

Shadestep (Barb + Skunk was literally the reason for this week's theme lol)
Dr Ciel

 

[nv]

Shadestep
Rapture.

 

[etern]

Erisia
NV

 

[poh]

Dr Ciel
Oda

 

[GyRro]

Shandestep
NV

 

[Terch]

NV
Shadestep

 

[Take Azelfie]

NV
Shadestep

 

[Winter's Howl]

Voting will now close. Your winners for this week are shadestep and NV. Congratulations! Thank you to everyone who participated as well. This week we are going to be visiting the most renowned of all archetype cores. I'm talking about

cores. As if there wasn't enough variety on this one already, February tier shifts brought us Omastar and Charizard. I can't wait to see what you guys come up with! The submission period will end on Friday, the 12th. Good luck to all.

 

[poh]

sets

Sceptile @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 30 Atk / 30 Def
- Leaf Storm
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Giga Drain

Samurott @ Lum Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet
- Megahorn

Pyroar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Hyper Voice
- Flamethrower

With this core you can never go wrong.

Sceptile shits on every mon, fast as hell and can tear apart teams easily. You can run Rock Slide over EQ since it hits Flying-, Bug-, Ice and Fire-types. Pretty standard set otherwise.

I chose Pyroar over Magmortar and Zard because Pyroar can bypass substitutes, has that strong dual stab and is immune to ghosts. Just the standard Specs set btw.

Finally Samurott! Just the SD-Lum set. Since everyone is busy with using the Smashers nowadays i wanted to put in Samurott.

 

[Jisoo]

Omastar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 252 SpA / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes

Combusken @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpA
Mild Nature
- Fire Blast
- Low Kick
- Baton Pass
- Protect

Sceptile @ Life Orb
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Fire]
This is an offensive core I LOVE to use. The first members job, Omastar, is to set up hazards. I put HP Electric on this since my team sort of struggles with Mantine and I have not much to hit it. Next up is Combusken. Combusken is a really nice wallbreaker atm with access to Speed Boost and strong STABs. And last, we have Sceptile. Sceptile is formidable to any team with its wide coverage moves and two viable sets. Rock Slide is to hit zard and mantine, and the rest is standard.
Thanks!

 

[Aladyyn]

sets

Charizard @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Air Slash
- Focus Blast
- Flamethrower

Roselia @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis

Kabutops @ Splash Plate
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Rapid Spin
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet

Charizard-Roselia is an old favorite and we're bringing it back right here. The basic idea is to wear the opposing team down via hazards so that Scarf Zard can clean up late-game. Kabutops is a pretty obvious partner to Charizard with decent typing synergy and the ever-important Rapid Spin. A Defog user would obviously be contradictory to goals of the team. I decided to run Assault Vest Splash Plate as my item to give Tops' priority that extra oomph without unnecessary LO recoil while spinning. Other than that I feel the sets are pretty standard and don't require much of an explanation.

 

[GyRro]

reserving camerupt - ludicolo - shiftry

Sets

Camerupt @ Leftovers
Ability: Magma Armor
EVs: 116 HP / 252 SpA / 140 Spe
Modest Nature
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
- Earth Power

Ludicolo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Surf

Shiftry @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Leaf Storm
- Defog

This is a really cool core that I've been testing out. Camerupt is an awesome rotom check, provides rocks, and give an electric immunity. The ev's are to allow it to outspeed Gourgeist-Super which is the best it can do really. I've been a bit cheeky using Ludicolo since its both water and grass, but I wanted to bring attention to how good this set seems since the drops especially. Courtesy of Ren-Chon making me aware of it's power. It obviously allows it to outspeed zard and kill it with Hydro, along with outspeeding Sceptile and Swellow. The mix of stabs make it a real trouble to deal with when paired with the extra speed from scarf. Shiftry provides the hazard removal for the core and also priority.

 

[Machineae]

A super offensive core that aims to bend and break the enemy by repeatedly hammering them with strong special attacks with excellent coverage. Ninetales easily breaks common balance builds which are still pretty popular, stuff like Yama/Weezing/Peli/Lix are hit super hard. Oma/Scept act as soft water checks and pressure ground/rock types pretty well. Most special/mixed Scept sets will work fine with this build, I prefer the standard one. Having two fire switchins is pretty nice, there's not really any fire type that will outspeed you unless scarfed (scarfed Mag&Pyroar do sometimes make appearances) so having two checks to make pivoting out easier is nice and will make the enemy question whether or not going for the fire type move is the correct choice or if they try to predict w/ hp grass to hit Oma they might mispredict and you'd have switch into Ninetales. Realistically you're looking to wallbreak with Scept&Ninetales to make way for an Omastar sweep but it all depends on team preview and what plays you can force out. As previously stated Ninetales wrecks balance and Sceptile does work against offense.

sets

Ninetales @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Omastar @ White Herb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Shell Smash
- Earth Power
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam

Sceptile @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Giga Drain
- Leaf Storm
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]

calcs

252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Hariyama: 250-294 (58.2 - 68.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Psyshock vs. 104 HP / 0 Def Magmortar: 116-136 (36.5 - 42.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Psyshock vs. 104 HP / 0 Def Magmortar: 229-270 (72.2 - 85.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0- Atk Magmortar Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Ninetales: 158-186 (55 - 64.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Hidden Power Electric vs. 248 HP / 16+ SpD Mantine: 172-203 (51.6 - 60.9%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Hidden Power Electric vs. 248 HP / 16+ SpD Mantine: 333-395 (100 - 118.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Fire Blast vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Weezing: 230-270 (69 - 81%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Fire Blast vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Weezing: 456-538 (136.9 - 161.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Hidden Power Electric vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Pelipper: 333-395 (103 - 122.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO


252 SpA Life Orb Sceptile Leaf Storm vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Pelipper: 320-376 (99 - 116.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Xatu: 230-270 (68.8 - 80.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[Dr Ciel]

Well, since no one else did it...Lilligant - Samurott - Pyroar, please.

This is a pretty nice core for Hyper Offensive teams that has the goal of facilitating a sweep with Quiver Dance Lilligant with support from two fearsome wallbreakrs. Lilligant has two huge positives about her. The first is access to one of the best boosting moves in the game in Quiver Dance, which boosts her Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed all in one turn, making it extremely dangerous. Couple this with access to Sleep Powder, and she can sweep through unprepared teams with relative ease. Samurott is an excellent partner to Lilligant as it handles Fire types that Lilligant loathes, including Magmortar, Pyroar, and Ninetales. Finally, Pyroar itself is a solid partner partner to the core as it eliminates Ice types for Lilligant and takes care of Grass types for Samurott.

Sets

Lilligant @ Life Orb / Miracle Seed
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ice
- Sleep Powder

Samurott @ Life Orb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Aqua Jet
- Megahorn / Taunt

Pyroar @ Life Orb
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Hyper Voice
- Hidden Power Grass
- Will-O-Wisp

 

[Rapture]

+

+

Sets

Jumpluff
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Sleep Powder
- Memento
- U-turn

Charizard @ Salac Berry
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
- Substitute

Samurott @ Wave Incense
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Megahorn

This core is all offense and is not recommended for the faint of heart. Jumpluff is a nifty little mon because of how fast its sleep powder is, the real zinger here is memento which paves the way for one our sweepers to clean up the opponents team. Belly Drum Charizard is the realest set you can run on this behemoth and if you can manage to get up a substitute up then it's gg for whoever you're playing. Laugh in enjoyment as a plus six zard takes those hard earned ladder points from your opponent. Sd Samurott is a tried and true set that can also put in work with or without a memento from Jumpluff since it can be brought in on a lot of the mons that try to wall it. Add a dependable way to remove hazards + hazard support and presto you're in business.