So I've been doing a bit of testing with some different, over-looked Pokemon in the metagame. There's a few Pokemon that you might not be thinking of, but I believe really thrive off of the threats that have arisen during this testing phase. I'll start out with an Aurumoth defensive core I've been testing, and then later on I'll post some more unique Pokemon that can shake up your teams a bit:
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EV's: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
IV's: 0 Spe
Nature: Sassy
Moveset:
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Toxic
Bronzong is one of those Pokemon that can take just about any hit from any Pokemon in the game, almost all neutral attacks and even some Super Effective attacks. What makes Bronzong so valuable in the Aurumoth testing phase, though, is its ability to reliably wedge itself between Aurumoth + Salamence/Dragonite cores. Bronzong is often knocked for not having an offensive presence (and is thus the lesser option under Jirachi), but what Bronzong has over Jirachi (no EQ weakness, higher overall defenses, a strong Gyro Ball) actually makes itself very useful when tackling some of the biggest problems in the metagame. Dragon Dancers like Salamence and Dragonite, very common here, have a difficult time trying to break through Bronzong, since their best option is either a Fire move (if they're running one over Roost, something that Dragonite usually favors) or...well, not much at all. Likewise, +1 Aurumoth fails to 2HKO Bronzong around 85% of the time (with a Life Orb), while Bronzong is guaranteed to 2HKO Aurumoth thanks to that +1 Spe boost of Quiver Dance (or Dragon Dance, but is 2HKO'd by a +1 Megahorn). The Special Defensive spread may seem like an odd choice, given that I've mentioned how Bronzong is designed to be up against a lot of Dragons, but the fact that Bronzong can take a lot of neutral Special attacks well helps itself overall while switching into common threats in the metagame, like Landorus-I. Bronzong is definitely more useful in this metagame than in the current OU metagame, so I'd say give him a shot if you're looking for a sturdy defensive check that can take advantage of the multiple Scarf users and Speed boosters in the metagame while having the defenses to put up multiple Stealth Rock layers (if needed against a Spin-heavy team). A good pair to Bronzong is:
Aurumoth @ Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EV's: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Nature: Careful / Sassy
Moveset:
- Will-O-Wisp
- Wish
- Megahorn
- Protect / Zen Headbutt / Focus Blast
A very useful support-oriented set for Aurumoth, this set is designed to take advantage of Aurumoth's excellent 110 HP / 99 Def stats while also giving it ample opportunities to utilize Wish to heal itself or teammates. An HP pool of 424 after EV investment makes it a very valuable Wish passer, and its ability to completely shut down most Physical threats is very helpful for most teams. 100% accurate WoW effectively cuts opponents' Attack in half, making Aurumoth nearly impossible to kill Physically thanks to recovery. Megahorn is the obligatory Taunt-safe option, as it is STAB, has perfect accuracy and a high BP. The last move is personal preference and depends on what your team needs: Protect works well if you're playing Aurumoth very defensively or with Toxic Spikes support (like myself), effectively guaranteeing recovery while your opponent attempts to whittle away at your impressive Defense. Zen Headbutt gets STAB, loses its imperfect accuracy and hits Pokemon that can wall this set, like (ironically) Conkeldurr and Machamp, plus things like Terrakion, Tentacruel, and a slew of other Pokemon. Focus Blast is another option which hits Heatran hard on the switch for a potential OHKO after SR and a layer of Spikes or some residual damage, plus some decent hits on Magnezone, Ferrothorn, Lucario,
Skarmory, Forretress and Scizor (although most don't like WoW anyway). If you choose Focus Blast, run Sassy as a nature. -Spe might seem like it would hurt, but according to common sets, this only affects match-ups against Specially Defensive Rotom-W and Bulk Up Toxicroak, one of which is handled well by Bronzong and the other one isn't terribly common in this metagame (although you'll lose unless you run Zen Headbutt).
As a defensive core, these two are unorthodox, but work very well with both each other and for the team. I know what you're thinking: "DarkSlay, you silly goose, these two are weak to Fire!". To that, I say...yeah, you're right. They are. However, the other four spots on your team are still open, so if you have the right Pokemon to take advantage of this and patch up this weakness, this core works well. Besides that, Bronzong soaks up most Bug (neutral), Dark (neutral), Rock (resist), Dragon (resist), Steel (resist) and Flying (resist) attacks with ease, which is very, very useful for Aurumoth. This helps against things like Terrakion, Tornadus-T, and the Dragons especially. It's a bit harder to switch Aurumoth into Bronzong's spot, but if you predict a neutral Physical attack or a Fighting attack, Aurumoth usually gets a free turn. More importantly, though, Wish benefits Bronzong greatly thanks to the multitude of attacks it can switch into from Aurumoth, prolonging the usefulness of Bronzong. Due to this, SR is almost guaranteed to be up for most of the match regardless of Spinners. It's great, and I'd definitely recommend that you give it a try.