First (NU) Team

[sodar]

This is my first RMT and post to the Smogon forums. I really didn't put too much thought into the team (with the exception of the Yamask and Slaking core) and still struggled a little with competitive battling. With a test run of this team, I seem to have a winning percentage of a little less than .500. Please, criticize my team.

Changes are made in bold!

Piloswine @ eviolite
Ability: Thick fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Nature: Adamant
-Earthquake
-Ice Shard
-Stealth Rock
-Toxic --> Icicle Crash

This guy is almost always my lead and is , in my opinion, my favorite stealth rocker in the tier. I chose an offensive stealth rocker because of Piloswine's lackluster (although useful) defensive typing . This guy got at least one kill in every game I won, so I think he deserves to stay. Also, Toxic is there because no other pokemon on my team has toxic. I changed toxic to Icicle Crash because it's a powerful stab move and Toxic had little use.

Yamask @ eviolite
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Nature: Bold
-Calm Mind --> Nasty Plot
-Pain Split
-HP Fighting
-Shadow Ball

Yamask is quite honestly a bit of a beast. This mini-Cofaragus walls those fighting/normal types for days. His surprisingly good defenses with eviolite make him an awesome switch in for any physical attack. Pain split is there for semi-reliable healing. I am kind of unsure whether to use nasty plot over calm mind because Yamask has gotten to at least +2 SDef every game with the calm mind set. HP Fighting is too useful to pass up and Shadow Ball is there for STAB. Although Yamask isn't going to sweep any time soon, nasty plot is an unexpected surprise for many people. It can cause quite a bit of damage after it gets a couple boosts. ( Thanks to celever for the suggestion!)

Slaking @ Life orb
Ability: Traunt
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Att / 252 Spe
Nature: Adamant
-Earthquake
-Return
-Pursuit
-Sucker Punch


Slaking has great synergy with Yamask and if any (non-fighting) physical sweeper KO's Yamask, almost always they get swept by Slaking. His massive attack, decent speed, and surprising bulk make him a top tier threat (when Traunt is gone). Slaking uses pursuit because he wants that mummy ability, and most pokemon switch out when they see Slaking because they don't want to give him Mummy. This set is fairly standard except for sucker punch which does get a surprise KO once in a while.

Magmar @ Expert Belt
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Att / 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
-Belly Drum
-Fire Punch
-Thunder Punch
-Cross Chop --> Brick Break (Accuracy>Power)


With max investment in speed, Magmar reaches a great 313 speed, enough to outspeed many NU pokemon. Magmar is a fearsome sweeper once it gets a belly drum. After a belly drum, his attack reaches a massive 1156. Expert belt is there for a little extra power that always OHKO's Tangela and has a decent percentage to OHKO alomolololola (Big Luvdisc). As an added bonus, Magmar is the PERFECT switch in to Amoonguss because of Vital Spirit. Brick Break is there because apparently mach punch is illegal with belly drum on Magmar.
Belly Drum may seem a bit gimmicky but life orb + four attacks just lacks in power. (Thanks to celever for the change)

Grumpig @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SDef
Nature: Calm
-Heal Bell
-Toxic
-Taunt
-Psychic

Grumpig, the new addition to my team, is a great special wall that my team desperately needed. With thick fat, it gets two extra immunities in Fire and Ice. Heal bell is a great move on this team because no one enjoys a status condition. Taunt is one of the reasons Grumpig is on this team because with taunt, it solidifies its place on the team by stopping boosting sweepers and walls in their tracks.

Rotom-Fan @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate (lol)
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
-Substitute --> Hex
-Discharge --> Thunderbolt
-Air Slash
-Confuse Ray --> Thunder Wave



This ghost, fan... thing is probably the MVP of my team. In games that I won, he got rid of huge threats, and in games that I lost, he helped me avoid many 6-0 sweeps. His awesome typing along with respectable defenses makes him surprisingly hard to kill. Also, this ParaFlinch/Fusion set is an extremely annoying set that help me wall many potent threats. I chose Sub over Will-o-wisp and pain split because avoiding status is very nice with this set. I contemplated using Thunder Wave over Discharge, but Dat STAB. I was using a paraflich/fusion set, but an offensive set with Hex, Thunderbolt, and Thunder wave is a much more useful set that has swept people before. (Thanks again to celever for improving this set.)



Weaknesses: What seems like ANY bulky psychic type sweepers. Musharna absolutely destroys my team after 2 calm minds(unless I get REALLY lucky with my rotom). Duosion is as much of a threat as Musharna. --> Not with Grumpig however

Also, if Piloswine is down, Dragon dance Fraxture leaves a big dent in my team. (any dragon really)

Statuses are a big pain since most of my walls don't have an instant recovery move.

Too many entry hazards could potentially weaken my team beyond repair.

Trick room\weather sweepers seem to crush my team also.

SubBU Braviary with Brave Bird (not return) can be potentially threatening.

Almost forgot, any pokemon with knock off will cripple half of my team. (but I love NFE's)

Please add more threats because this is all I can remember/think of now. I would appreciate better movesets/pokemon from you geniuses. Thanks in advance!


Easy Showdown Access

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Piloswine @ Eviolite
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Stealth Rock
- Icicle Crash

Yamask @ Eviolite
Trait: Mummy
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 Def / 30 SAtk / 30 SDef / 30 Spd / 30 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Pain Split
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Shadow Ball

Grumpig @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Psychic

Slaking @ Life Orb
Trait: Truant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Return

Rotom-Fan @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Air Slash
- Hex

Magmar @ Life Orb
Trait: Vital Spirit
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Brick Break
- Mach Punch
- ThunderPunch
- Fire Punch

Old Teammates:

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Shelgon @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Att / 236 Def
Nature: Impish
-Dragon Dance
-Outrage
-Rest
-Sleep Talk

 

[WhiteDMist]

Please read the rules first, especially rules 14, 15, and 16. I suggest you stop by Battling 101 and getting mre familiar with battling and team building. Also, as fun and varied as the NU tier is, there's no reason to resort to posting teams with a gimmick like the Yamask-Slaking combo. Welcome to Smogon!

 

[Celever]

Ok, I'll give this one a go... This team implements an interesting gimmick which I'm glad you thought of, however, for a pokemon with such defense such as Slaking, you need to either:
Life orb ----> Expert belt
OR
Return ----> Slack off
With any pokemon, other than kamikazes, the damage taken from life orb can be crippling without recovery, and sometimes lose you the match. But also, with Slaking very status weak, I suggest that if you go with the life orb ---> expert belt then you should have:
Return ----> Facade to laugh in the ghosts that try to to burn you! Slaking's set:
Expert belt
Pursuit
Earthquake
Facade
Sucker punch

Now... uh.. sorry. I have to go, expect this finished in about 7 hours. Okay? :)

 

[Fotographic]

Facade over Return is not a good idea. It's way too situational to forgo a more powerful move over one that'll deal more damage when status. Slaking's attacks don't mind poison, and burn and paralysis ruin him so much that the extra power doesn't really matter.

Expert Belt generally seems like a mediocre idea roo, because Slaming's STABs aren't being boosted at all, but I'm not that good with items.

 

[Celever]

While yes, facade is fairly situational, it will help in some way. However, I thought about it for some reason today, and I thought that Slaking with leftovers would be better. The next move is up to you, either facade or double edge over return, so:
Slaking
Leftovers
Pursuit
Earthquake
Sucker punch
Facade OR Double edge

Okay, now we have the rest of your pokemon, and I'll start with yamask:
Yamask is good, I'll be honest, however... What is it? Is it a sweeper? Sweepers need maximized help in attack, so nasty plot should be over calm mind, but you had already considered that, didn't you? :D Anyway, a sweeper seems good for it, however, it has eviolite, and some alright defenses, so I think you need something over pain split. UNLESS, of course, he could be a staller, in which case you would want to keep calm mind, but get rid of hidden power fighting for will o wisp to burn the physical attackers - however, this could turn the attackers away from making contact with yamask so that slaking can't get mummy off of it because it didn't make contact. However, there is the possibility of swagger, which might actually make physical attackers come in for the attack boost, giving them mummy and making an even bigger chance that Slaking gets mummy! SO, the 2 possible yamask sets:
Sweeping Yamask (recommended):
Item: Eviolite
Shadow ball
Nasty plot
Hidden power fighting
Energy ball/ Psychic

Stalling Yamask:
Calm mind
Shadow ball
Pain split
Will - o - wisp/ Swagger (Swagger recommended)

Ok, Yamask is done! Now, onto... Shelgon!
Now, to be honest, Torkoal > Shelgon! They are both defensive, but torkoal has so many uses! It gets rid of stat boosts with clear smog, sets up rocks, rapid spins away hazards... Just SO useful. And Shelgon isn't really doing anything... Rest and sleep talk with a set-up move is rather stupid, to be honest, and Altaria does what Shelgon does - only better. He is the weakest link on your team - by far - so it completely needs replacing. I will give you 2 pokemon:
Useful torkoal:
Item: leftovers
Rapid spin
Clear smog
Stealth rock
Flamethrower

Sweeping Altaria:
Item: Persim berry
Substitute
Dragon dance
Outrage
Roost

Your choice! :D

Magmar:
Magmar is actually good... belly drum? NO. NO NO NO!!! However... uh... He doesn't have any set up moves! D: I suggest having mach punch over belly drum, and life orb. He has the power (sort of) and life orb completely ups it so you'll be fine! :D Another thing though, from personal experience the accuracy of cross chop (80) has screwed me over so many times it's not funny. I suggest brick break over cross chop!

Magmar:
Life orb
Mach punch
Brick break
Thunderpunch
Fire punch


That is 4 done! yay! Now, 2 more (this is taking me ages, research, strategy, smogon(ing), the lot)

Rotom - fan (let's just call him fan):
Fan is very good, but... Why just hand out Substitute to it when it doesn't need it? And also... Confuse ray on a non-staller is a bad idea too! D: His set is very, very random... I'll just throw it at you, live with it (but I'm no good at EVs)
Leftovers
Thunder wave
Air slash
Thunderbolt (it is discharge, only 15 more BP and no less accuracy...)
Hex (Use on thunder waved pokemon, it has 100 BP if you do so, although with no STAB you could use thunderbolt in the situations, however it is a good answer to ground pokemon)

FInally! 1 more pokemon, it is a....
Piloswine:
Piloswine is good. No lying. He has the priority, the STAB. BUT, if you replace Shelgon with Torkoal you can replace stealth rock with... well.. If I've ever seen a good ResTalk set it's this one! :D

Piloswine
Eviolite
Ice shard
Earthquake
Sleep talk
Rest

Finally... I did it! :D
I hope you can use my suggestions to success! :)

 

[sodar]

While yes, facade is fairly situational, it will help in some way. However, I thought about it for some reason today, and I thought that Slaking with leftovers would be better. The next move is up to you, either facade or double edge over return, so:
Slaking
Leftovers
Pursuit
Earthquake
Sucker punch
Facade OR Double edge

Okay, now we have the rest of your pokemon, and I'll start with yamask:
Yamask is good, I'll be honest, however... What is it? Is it a sweeper? Sweepers need maximized help in attack, so nasty plot should be over calm mind, but you had already considered that, didn't you? :D Anyway, a sweeper seems good for it, however, it has eviolite, and some alright defenses, so I think you need something over pain split. UNLESS, of course, he could be a staller, in which case you would want to keep calm mind, but get rid of hidden power fighting for will o wisp to burn the physical attackers - however, this could turn the attackers away from making contact with yamask so that slaking can't get mummy off of it because it didn't make contact. However, there is the possibility of swagger, which might actually make physical attackers come in for the attack boost, giving them mummy and making an even bigger chance that Slaking gets mummy! SO, the 2 possible yamask sets:
Sweeping Yamask (recommended):
Item: Eviolite
Shadow ball
Nasty plot
Hidden power fighting
Energy ball/ Psychic

Stalling Yamask:
Calm mind
Shadow ball
Pain split
Will - o - wisp/ Swagger (Swagger recommended)

Ok, Yamask is done! Now, onto... Shelgon!
Now, to be honest, Torkoal > Shelgon! They are both defensive, but torkoal has so many uses! It gets rid of stat boosts with clear smog, sets up rocks, rapid spins away hazards... Just SO useful. And Shelgon isn't really doing anything... Rest and sleep talk with a set-up move is rather stupid, to be honest, and Altaria does what Shelgon does - only better. He is the weakest link on your team - by far - so it completely needs replacing. I will give you 2 pokemon:
Useful torkoal:
Item: leftovers
Rapid spin
Clear smog
Stealth rock
Flamethrower

Sweeping Altaria:
Item: Persim berry
Substitute
Dragon dance
Outrage
Roost

Your choice! :D

Magmar:
Magmar is actually good... belly drum? NO. NO NO NO!!! However... uh... He doesn't have any set up moves! D: I suggest having mach punch over belly drum, and life orb. He has the power (sort of) and life orb completely ups it so you'll be fine! :D Another thing though, from personal experience the accuracy of cross chop (80) has screwed me over so many times it's not funny. I suggest brick break over cross chop!

Magmar:
Life orb
Mach punch
Brick break
Thunderpunch
Fire punch


That is 4 done! yay! Now, 2 more (this is taking me ages, research, strategy, smogon(ing), the lot)

Rotom - fan (let's just call him fan):
Fan is very good, but... Why just hand out Substitute to it when it doesn't need it? And also... Confuse ray on a non-staller is a bad idea too! D: His set is very, very random... I'll just throw it at you, live with it (but I'm no good at EVs)
Leftovers
Thunder wave
Air slash
Thunderbolt (it is discharge, only 15 more BP and no less accuracy...)
Hex (Use on thunder waved pokemon, it has 100 BP if you do so, although with no STAB you could use thunderbolt in the situations, however it is a good answer to ground pokemon)

FInally! 1 more pokemon, it is a....
Piloswine:
Piloswine is good. No lying. He has the priority, the STAB. BUT, if you replace Shelgon with Torkoal you can replace stealth rock with... well.. If I've ever seen a good ResTalk set it's this one! :D

Piloswine
Eviolite
Ice shard
Earthquake
Sleep talk
Rest

Finally... I did it! :D
I hope you can use my suggestions to success! :)

Wow, thanks for the in depth analysis, I'm going to play test with these and see how they turn out. (If I like them, then I'll change the OP).