Hello and welcome to Diamonds in the Rough. Though the ORAS NU metagame is still young, none can say that the updates to the metagame haven't bettered it in general. With new threats rising up and new megas to play with, NU has been given a new lease of life the past few weeks and this team thrives in the new metagame.
Teambuilding:
Now that there are megas in NU, the first thing anyone does is put one on their team. Steelix was most appealing because it has a good matchup against Glalie and Audino, the other two most prominent megas (though Camerupt is also amazing) and it balances bulk and power well, whereas Glalie and Audino focus on one or the other.
I noticed that Steelix could probably be a pretty good phaser, so I just skipped a bunch of teambuilding and added a favourite hazard stacking core of mine. Garbodor, Piloswine and Misdreavus work great together, as one of the trio usually resists another's weakness. Misdreavus also spinblocks, which is useful for the core. However, right now this team was lacking consistent offensive presence quite severely.
I added Kangaskhan because she can really rack up damage on hazards teams with her priority, and she gives me some much needed offensive pressure. At this stage I could get completely walled by good physical defense, as my specially offensive presence was really lacking.
Finally, Lanturn was added as a bit of a nuke against physical walls, and as a slow pivot to help me get hazards up over the course of the battle. Kangaskhan and Lanturn became an offensive core which I will definitely use again, as they seem to counter lots of each other's counters surprisingly well.
The Team:
Steelix @ Steelixite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roar
- Heavy Slam
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Steelix is the glue of the team. A very basic set in that of ResTalk phasing, but it's pretty useful for this meta. Heavy Slam is a useful nuke against the vast majority of the tier, even without any attack investment, and Roar is used over Dragon Tail for reliability and phasing out set up sweepers behind subs, which is something this team otherwise struggles against. There isn't much to be said about Steelix's place on the team because it is so incredibly simple, but at the same time it's a consistent win condition, and even against teams which handle Steelix well in the teambuilding aspect it can often cause chaos with its Roar shenanigans. Speed is definitely an issue here.
Garbodor @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Gunk Shot
- Pain Split
Garbodor only has one job, and that is to set up (Toxic) Spikes. Most of the time I just end up sacking this thing to something like Mega-Glalie to deal large amounts of residual damage thanks to Aftermath and the Rocky Helmet after it has completed its duty. Pain Split gives Garbodor some survivability, and Gunk Shot means that Garbodor isn't just taunt bait. It is a key Pokémon for my synergy because it is my number one counter to Fighting-Types, which otherwise cause mayhem here, as it can shrug off most hits thanks to resistance and max defense investment, and deal residual damage back to them.
Piloswine @ Eviolite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 224 HP / 252 Atk / 32 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
I am a huge fan of Piloswine. In XY it was pleasantly anti-meta, and while the shift over to ORAS hasn't been kind to it with new threats like Mega-Steelix, Pangoro and Mega-Camerupt appearing, Piloswine still does what it needs to do. It can fairly consistently set up Stealth Rock, and it has priority to finish off the battle late game with decent power when it has to. Ground- and Ice-Type moves are also both pretty handy in the NU tier for the most part, though they are less useful now thanks to people preparing for Mega-Camerupt and Mega-Glalie respectively. Still, Piloswine is a useful presence against lots of teams which don't prepare for Piloswine, and while its usefulness definitely changes depending on the team matchup, moreso than I would realistically like, it proves its worth on the team by doing what it has to do in almost every fight. Piloswine is a useful counter against Mega-Glalie, which would otherwise destroy this team. The 32 speed EVs are there to speed creep, since base 50 speed is quite a cramped speed tier, 16 EVs is the norm for speed creeping. I just decided to take it one step further.
Misdreavus @ Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Taunt
- Pain Split
This is something I'm unsure of; I keep going back and forth on whether Misdreavus or Mismagius is better with a defensive set such as this. Misdreavus has greater mixed bulk, but no Leftovers and is slower and weaker than its evolution. Nevertheless, I find Misdreavus to be more consistently useful, being able to take physical hits before burning their source, whereas Mismagius often just faints or is severely crippled. Anyway, Misdreavus' role on the team is the stall breaker, with attacks like Taunt and Pain Split to spread chaos throughout the battle. Misdreavus also acts as the anti-lead with Taunt, allowing Piloswine to run Icicle Crash over Icicle Spear for more reliable damage. Like with Piloswine, Misdreavus speed creeps here with 16 speed EVs. Misdreavus is the spin blocker on the team, which is obviously necessary for a hazard stacking team.
Kangaskhan (F) @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Sucker Punch
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
Kangaskhan is great for this team because he uses double priority, which coupled with hazards is a very powerful damage dealer, able to take out many threats in the tier late game. I use Silk Scarf here because Kangaskhan is also a glue of sorts, dealing chip Fake Out damage here and there. Double-Edge is used on this set over Return to maximize offensive presence, as your opponent is always even more wary of this thing once Double-Edge has been used. Earthquake is pretty much filler, but it does hit Rock- and Steel-Types for pretty good damage, as well as being my main answer to Probopass and Bastiodon, though neither are huge threats besides.
Lanturn @ Choice Specs
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
Lanturn is pretty much the only source of special attacking power on this team. It is a handy pivot with Volt Switch and a fairly slow speed stat, forcing the opponent to make more switches and thus take more residual damage from hazards. Scald is a reliable Water-Type STAB with the handy chance for burn, and Ice Beam is just there for coverage. Hydro Pump is barely used, but can be handy for some late game cleaning where Scald doesn't have enough power. I use Water Absorb over Volt Absorb because my team handles Electric-Type moves more than fine, whereas Water-Type attacks can be troublesome.
Threat List:
Ouch. I can get around this thing with some good switches and predictions, but later on in the game I am easily swept by Mega-Camerupt. Its dual STAB combo just covers my team very handily, but I've yet to find a counter to this thing which wouldn't mess up the synergy of my team in other ways. Right now I just rely on Lanturn to stay alive and Scald it, but this thing generally KOs 2-3 Pokémon per match.
Another prominent threat thanks to the shifts, Pangoro has another handy dual STAB combo. Knock Off even nerfs my Garbodor as an answer to it a little bit, while it destroys my other Fighting-Type counter in that of Misdreavus. Like with Mega-Camerupt, though, I've yet to find a good counter to this thing which doesn't mess up my synergy in other ways, so I just try to handle it with good switches and raw power from Lanturn and Kangaskhan.
If Pelipper and Mantine are on decent teams (a.k.a teams with Ground-Type Pokémon on them to counter their Electric-Type weakness) these two are very annoying, surviving for the whole battle generally and always keeping the threat of Defog open.
Last Thoughts:
This team can function well without hazards being down, despite being a hazard stacking team, thanks to the offensive presence given by Kangaskhan and Lanturn, and partially Piloswine and Steelix. Hazards help against most team archetypes, but against Hyper Offense I often don't have the opportunities to set up, and as such focus on what offensive presence I have as well to try and muscle my way to a victory. While this team handles more bulky opponents well, opposing teams with undying pressure can be difficult to play against, which is the main area in which the current build can improve.
So, please rate and improve my team where you can! I've had pretty great success on the ladder, though I have neither the time nor the patience to actually get a peak above 1500/1600.
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