Lower Tiers Good Cores in ORAS NU

[Pokedots]

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

Shiftry @ Black Glasses
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Leaf Blade
- Sucker Punch
or
Shiftry @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty / Naughty Nature
- Knock Off
- Leaf Storm
- Sucker Punch
- Explosion

Shiftry and Samurott have some overlapping checks in Vileplume, Weezing, and really just physically bulky Pokemon in general, and together they're very good at wearing them down; they can even handle Pokemon the other struggles with, such as Shifry beating Water-types and Samurott beating Fire-types. Double Swords Dance is pretty insane in how it can just overwhelm the opponent really quickly and gives you two very effective sweepers in their own right, while Explosion Shiftry can be used as a more dedicated form of facilitating a Samurott sweep. Typically this core should be played very aggressively; a lot of times, unless they're necessary to check or revenge kill something, you'll just SD as the opponent switches to a check, get off a big hit while being KOed in the process, and then just win with the other Pokemon later on in the game. I feel this is a prime example of an offensive core in the meta, as it is very consistent against all playstyles and can easily win games with the right support (mainly Spikes stacking).

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Mismagius @ Colbur Berry / Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Taunt
or
Mismagius @ Colbur Berry / Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
- Pain Split / Thunder Wave
- Taunt

Garbodor @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes

I'm kinda surprised this wasn't submitted already; this is just your classic Spikes stacking core. Garbodor is easily the best Spikes stacker in the metagame, and particularly now with spinners such as Hitmonchan on the rise, Mismagius is an awesome partner to protect those hazards. The Mismagius set depends on what you want for your team; stallbreaker's overall more effective and is a more reliable spinblocker while NP is cool to threaten slow teams. Beyond that, they have solid defensive synergy, with Mismagius handling Psychic-types and Garbodor beating Dark-types and other threatening physical attackers, though they both struggle quite a bit against stuff like Fire-types. Not really much else to say, this core does its job of stacking hazards and harassing teams, especially balance, really well, and it's been doing this job almost the entire generation.

 

[Louna]

offensive core:

Sawk and Aurorus are two amazing wallbreaker. With the Choice Band, sawk literally destroy all things who can wall or pressure Aurorus, like Hariyama, steel-type, fire-type, bulky water and a lot of others things, thanks to sturdy with that, sawk have an incredible offensive pressure and can easily break the check/counter of Aurorus. With the Choice Specs, Aurorus, like Sawk do for him, he can kill or pressure a lot all things who can pressure or wall Sawk, like Weezing, bulky psychic, ghost-type. This core can easily remove all check of X set up sweeper to let him clean more easily, he fit well with a lot of things like Samurott, Lilligant, Vivillon...

import

Aurorus @ Choice Specs
Ability: Refrigerate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Earth Power
- Freeze-Dry
- Psychic

Sawk @ Choice Band
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Zen Headbutt
- Stone Edge

 

[Blast]

Hide

Scyther @ Eviolite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Aerial Ace
- Baton Pass
- Roost

Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Atk / 60 Def / 60 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Mach Punch
- Stone Edge

I don't care much for Gurdurr in this meta, but this is one of the few cores I really like it on. One of the biggest issues with standard Bulk Up Gurdurr is how passive it is, since it can't do much on free turns but hit stuff with an unboosted Knock Off, which is weak as hell. But with support from BP Scyther (which is super underrated btw) it's able to become much more threatening much faster. Also, since Scyther can pass it boosts, there's less need for Bulk Up, which allows you to run Stone Edge and send Scyther (and other Flying-types but mostly Scyther) running back home. They're also both quite bulky for offensive Pokemon, making them a solid defensive backbone for teams as well, and share great offensive synergy: Gurdurr beats up on stuff like Rock-types and Klinklang while Scyther sets up on Vileplume and most variants of Audino.

 

[etern]

Offensive Core:

​

Import

Fraxure @ Eviolite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Low Kick
- Poison Jab

Klinklang @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Magnet Rise
- Shift Gear
- Gear Grind
- Return

I came across this core when I was looking for a good set up sweeper to partner up with Klinklang. These two are perfect together because of how well they cover each others checks. For example, Klinklang destroys the fairy types in Fraxures way, whilst Fraxure can get past Quagsire with its mold breaker ability. This core works well with hazard stacking, giving them an easier time to clean up and turn some 2HKO's into OHKO's.

 

[Cheryl.]

So I was looking at all the cores, and I noticed one pokemon that was missing, not one core made around it, so I decided to make it right! Here it is!

Articuno + Sawk Offensive Core
Okay c'mon guys I know that Cuno is underrated, but no cores made around it? Now that's just a crime. As we all know, Articuno usually uses it's Life Orb set to break lots of stuff with it's powerful STABs, but it has some things that stand in it's way, most notably Steel types. This is where Sawk comes in, crushing Steel and Rock types with it's Fighting STAB and also crushing a bunch more stuff thanks to it being so powerful. This helps Cuno wallbreak or even sweep more effectively, or with Cuno's help, help Sawk wallbreak and sweep more effectively. This core has a few flaws though, like a weakness to Steels if Sawk's dead, Archeops destroying it, and Ghost and Psychic types being a bit of a problem, mostly to Sawk. Also, Cuno's 4x Stealth Rock weakness means you'll need to have a Spinner or a Defogger. Some partners I've found to help patch up these weaknesses are Defog Skuntank and Rapid Spin Claydol. Overall, while this core has a few holes, it's still a very powerful core that can break many teams if used effectively.

Import

Articuno @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVS: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Ice Beam
- Roost
- Freeze-Dry

Sawk @ Choice Band
Ability: Mold Breaker / Sturdy
EVS: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Zen Headbutt
- Stone Edge

​

 

[Disjunction]

Weelix

Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Atk / 128 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Toxic

Weezing @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 Spe
Bold Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Taunt

Standard defensive core. Steelix covers Weezing's difficult Psychic-type weakness, namely Musharna. Weezing covers Steelix's weakess to Fighting- and Ground-types while providing a nice answer to Malamar. The core is weak defensively to special Water- and Fire-types so you can pair it with an effective bulky Water-type (not Mantine) like Lanturn or Prinplup.

 

[Cheryl.]

Sceptile + Rhydon
This is one of the best cores in the meta imo, as Sceptile is a huge threat with it's high attacking stats and speed, and it synergizes very well with Rhydon. Sceptile can kill Water types to help Rhydon, and can also KO Grass types if it has Acrobatics. Rhydon walls Fire, Poison, and Flying types and can also set Rocks for Sceptile to hit even harder. This core enjoys partners that can handle Fire types better than Rhydon, as most Fires has either HP Grass or Focus Blast for Rhydon. Also, look out for Air Slash Mantine, as Scald can kill Rhydon, and Air Slash hits Sceptile pretty hard. Overall, this core is a great offensive or balanced core that synergizes very well and functions effectively.

Sets

Sceptile @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Acrobatics

Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Megahorn / Swords Dance

The sets are interchangable, you can use LO Sceptile over SD and Double Dance Don over Tank.

 

[tcr]

This core is something that me and Mambo have had success with. Since Sawk is such a huge threat rn where literally nothing can switch in, its so easy to abuse, kinda like CB Terrakion in BW OU. One of the main things that is used to check Sawk is to use mons that just outspeed it. Tailwind easily fixes that, allowing Sawk to just spam his shit with impunity. While Murkrow is normally shit it happens to have the only Prankster Tailwind that isn't Volbeat. Murkrow also happens to absolutely blaster Sceptile, which can otherwise set up on Sawk and shit by spamming Sub since it outspeeds. Heavy offensive, so don't be a bitch and worry about "oh what's my Samurott switchin??" BITCH you don't need one you have a fucking sawk and you just win

flames clan representing, nothing new here

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Sawk @ Choice Band
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Zen Headbutt
- Stone Edge

Murkrow @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpD / 88 Spe
Careful Nature
- Tailwind
- Brave Bird
- Thunder Wave
- Roost

 

[Evan.]

this core is really neat-o for balanced builds because it provides a lot of utility,resistances and checks to key mons, a defensive win condition, and a bit of offensive pressure all in one. obviously you notice the dragon/fairy/steel synergy that these mons have, but its not just about that. Megadino passes wishes to steelix to keep it healthy throughout the match, while steelix beats most of the other steels and poisons that threaten CM megadino as a win condition. you can't really call it a lure at this point, but special altaria offers heal bell support for dino (which can't fit it on it's own moveset) while also dealing nice damage to steel types for it as well. if you can mix in a hazard remover as well that would be nichze for this core, but if not it functions decently well on its own.

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Altaria @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Roost
- Heal Bell

Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 132 Atk / 128 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake

Audino-Mega @ Audinite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 232 HP / 232 Def / 44 SpA
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Calm Mind
- Dazzling Gleam

 

[MrShroom]

Sets

Aurorus @ Choice Specs
Ability: Refrigerate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power
- Ancient Power/HP Fire

Rotom-Frost @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

This is an offensive core I have been using with a lot of succes lately. This core works by having Bulky specs Aurorus breaks down walls for Scarfed Rotom-Frost to clean up late-game. Not a lot of teams can stand up to the assault of Blizzards, and the few pokemon that can are either destroyed by Aurorus' Freeze-Dry of Rotom-Frost's Electric moves. The fun thing about Bulky Aurorus is that it can switch in on a lot of walls because of their relatively weak attacks, making wallbreaking even easier. This core really needs hazard removal since both pokemon are weak to Stealth Rock. Wish support is also appreciated, especially if battling bulkier teams, so Aurorus can break walls as long as possible.

 

[etern]

Offensive Core:
Sceptile + Archeops

This is a cool offensive core around Mixed LO Sceptile and Mixed Archeops. These two mons have incredible offensive synergy together, and provide great speed right off the bat, which is extremely important this meta. Sceptile is able to check the common water, rock and ground mons that give Archeops a hard time, specifically, Samurott, Rhydon, Quag, Lix, Golurk etc. In return, Archeops dismantles the most common Sceptile "checks" including Vileplume, Vivillion, Scyther as well as luring in Ferroseed and smacking it with Focus Blast. Overall, this is a really fun offensive core which is extremely hard to wall and very effective in the current meta. Something that can switch into priority attacks such as Piloswine and Abomas Ice Shard would be beneficial to this core.

sets

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

Archeops
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Acrobatics
- Roost
- Focus Blast
- Aqua Tail

 

[Oda]

I know Brandonbeast posted a more balanced core of Sceptile and Rhydon however I feel that Rhydon as a rocker has fallen out of favor in this meta for Steelix and instead Double Dance Rhydon has become a huge threat lately and forms a nice offensive core with LO Sceptile. The fact that a Jolly Rhydon at +2 outpaces Sceptile and can take hits from Non-Hp Grass Swellow means its one of the best cleaners out there and offence cant afford to let this thing get off a Rock Polish. Sceptile punches holes in walls that stop Rhydon from sweeping and allows him to clean up late game by dealing with mons that give Don trouble such as Bulky waters, Ferroseed (if Focus Blast),Grounds, Rotom and Physical walls. In return Rhydon deals with Garbodor, Non-Grass Coverage Xatu/Fire mons, Scyther,Swellow, physical Skunk, Clefairy....the list goes on. It can also Setup vs bulky mons that trouble both Sceptile and Rhydon such as Mega Audino. Ive been seeing alot of people on the ladder and in SPL and other tournies running these two together so I felt like posting it.

ScepDon

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

Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

 

[Luck O' the Irish]

+

/

Hi guys, here's a core that you've all probably seen at this point, and its gotten Shaneghoul and me a ton of easy wins throughout various NU league games and it's now even seen usage in SPL. It started off with me throwing out some potential cores to shaneghoul so we could make teams for NU league playoffs, which started with Sceptile + subbarb- the idea being to fodder Sceptile to the opponent's Weezing and then setting up and winning with barb. I didn't have time to actually build the team with shane, but he made it like 10 times better in pairing it with a memento user. Shane chose skuntank while I opted for weezing since I didn't want to make the memento too obvious in the event that my opponents had seen shane's games.

As mentioned, Substitute Barbaracle + Memento takes advantage of any passive mon the opponent has as well as the lack of answers the tier has to +2 Barbaracle-- any team without a hard-counter to Barbaracle (they exist but aren't commonly run) or a means of luring barbaracle (such as grass knot Audino) is liable to be swept, and a player using a mon that can't break its substitutes has to play on his toes the whole game or his team will be swept- it's that simple. Substitute becomes even more deadly if you memento a wall as they will likely go for a status move to prevent a sweep, which gives you a free turn.

Support for this core is pretty easy, which is pretty much to make sure you can kill/severely weaken quagsire and gourgeist (tspikes and wisp spam are nice). Sceptile also performs nicely for the two, as sub sd presents another win con that can blow through Quagsire easily and weaken teams for Barb. It also functions equally well without memento support so you can save the memento for later. Special sceptile also does well in getting off a bunch of damage on the other team which helps Barb clean.

This core is 5-0 in NU league playoffs and 3 ended in barbaracle sweeps (would have been 4, but I missed razor shell against Jarii), which demonstrates its effectiveness.

replays

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-nu-116863 - sub allows shane to play around destiny bond
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-nu-115266 - with memento, even camerupt is set-up fodder
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-nu-110374 - shane gets up both a smash and sub on a -2 mantine
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-nu-116734 - sub barb wins in spl
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-312639130 - didn't save the replay vs jarii, but here's a roomtour win with it

sets

Barbaracle @ White Herb
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Shell Smash
- Razor Shell
- Return

Skuntank @ Lum Berry
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 24 HP / 172 Atk / 60 SpA / 252 SpD
Mild Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Blast
- Poison Jab
- Memento

disclaimer

No idea what the evs on skunk do, and shane doesn't remember either lol

 

[Oda]

+

/

Hi guys, here's a core that you've all probably seen at this point, and its gotten Shaneghoul and me a ton of easy wins throughout various NU league games and it's now even seen usage in SPL. It started off with me throwing out some potential cores to shaneghoul so we could make teams for NU league playoffs, which started with Sceptile + subbarb- the idea being to fodder Sceptile to the opponent's Weezing and then setting up and winning with barb. I didn't have time to actually build the team with shane, but he made it like 10 times better in pairing it with a memento user. Shane chose skuntank while I opted for weezing since I didn't want to make the memento too obvious in the event that my opponents had seen shane's games.

As mentioned, Substitute Barbaracle + Memento takes advantage of any passive mon the opponent has as well as the lack of answers the tier has to +2 Barbaracle-- any team without a hard-counter to Barbaracle (they exist but aren't commonly run) or a means of luring barbaracle (such as grass knot Audino) is liable to be swept, and a player using a mon that can't break its substitutes has to play on his toes the whole game or his team will be swept- it's that simple. Substitute becomes even more deadly if you memento a wall as they will likely go for a status move to prevent a sweep, which gives you a free turn.

Support for this core is pretty easy, which is pretty much to make sure you can kill/severely weaken quagsire and gourgeist (tspikes and wisp spam are nice). Sceptile also performs nicely for the two, as sub sd presents another win con that can blow through Quagsire easily and weaken teams for Barb. It also functions equally well without memento support so you can save the memento for later. Special sceptile also does well in getting off a bunch of damage on the other team which helps Barb clean.

This core is 5-0 in NU league playoffs and 3 ended in barbaracle sweeps (would have been 4, but I missed razor shell against Jarii), which demonstrates its effectiveness.

replays

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-nu-116863 - sub allows shane to play around destiny bond
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-nu-115266 - with memento, even camerupt is set-up fodder
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-nu-110374 - shane gets up both a smash and sub on a -2 mantine
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-nu-116734 - sub barb wins in spl
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-312639130 - didn't save the replay vs jarii, but here's a roomtour win with it

sets

Barbaracle @ White Herb
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Shell Smash
- Razor Shell
- Return

Skuntank @ Lum Berry
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 24 HP / 172 Atk / 60 SpA / 252 SpD
Mild Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Fire Blast
- Poison Jab
- Memento

disclaimer

No idea what the evs on skunk do, and shane doesn't remember either lol

Maybe the special atk evs are to 2hko or 3hko lix or plume maybe which could stop a b arb sweep? It seems overkill to include so much spdef evs wouldn't u want some speed to guarantee memento vs certain mons?

 

[Luck O' the Irish]

Maybe the special atk evs are to 2hko or 3hko lix or plume maybe which could stop a b arb sweep? It seems overkill to include so much spdef evs wouldn't u want some speed to guarantee memento vs certain mons?

Lix is nearly ohkod by +2 razor shell anyway, but yeah that's a fair point for plume. It might be for killing ferroseed too, I'm on mobile atm otherwise I'd do the calcs. regardless I think the point is more to memento walls so you can get both a sub and smash on them, any speed creep I'd wouldn't really consider necessary

 

[PrinceLucian]

+

+

Sets:

Hide

Barbaracle @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Razor Shell
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
- Superpower

Vileplume @ Black Sludge
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Synthesis


Magmortar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs: 88 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
Mild Nature
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Earthquake

This bulky offensive core is something i thought off while teambuilding for fun yesterday, but it turned out to do really well of ladder.Core is based around Scarf Barbaracle, which works pretty decent atm , it has solid offensive stats and with given Choice Scarf it outspeeds every threat in tier not wearing scarf.It also has a really decent bulk,allowing it to check Ice/Fire/Normal/Flying pokemon for core and not take much damage on a switch, Vileplume is here to absorb Grass/Fighting moves that threatens Barbaracle , and Magmortar is here as another Fire/Ice check not to put pressure on Barbaracle, as well as absorbing wisps from Weezing and checking other Vileplumes from opposing teams.

Replays:

Hide

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-323275188
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-323417331

 

[TTFTW]

sets

Weezing @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 Spe
Bold Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Sludge Bomb
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp

Abomasnow @ Life Orb
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 40 Atk / 252 SpA / 216 Spe
Rash Nature
- Blizzard
- Giga Drain
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard

I see no cores with abomasnow so here's one I've been using quite a lot. This is a pretty neat balanced core that consists in toxic spikes + hail damage + taunt, the residual damage toxic spikes provides wears down abomasnow checks such as hariyama and magmortar, allowing aboma to break fat balance without any problems. This core funcions well to give weezing opportunities to set up tspikes too: Weezing can switch-in against most fighting types that try to revenge kill aboma (or even steelix knowing you can't KO it with blizzard if it has 128 SpD) and proceed to tspike up. And abomasnow also beats some threats to weezing like scald users or musharna since moonlight doesn't bring back as much hp in hail. For parnters I feel like a proper fire resist is needed, a fake out user is also nice if you want to take even more advantage of this tspikes + hail madness o_O

 

[nv]

+

I'm going to be the first one to post with the god of NU!!!

Sets

Sliggoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Outrage

Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 244 HP / 180 Atk / 84 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Steelix is an amazing Pokemon ever since it came to us in the shift that separating base formes from their Megas. Even uninvested, it can tank multiple physical hits and fire off powerful attacks thanks to its amazing bulk + solid Attack stat. Sadly, even invested in its Special Defense, many common threats such as Magmortar, Charizard, and Sceptile render Steelix inoperable (especially Charizard who forces Steelix to run a Rock move to even try and hit it). This is where SligGOD comes in. It not only has Sap Sipper to completely wall Sceptile, as HP Ice is only a 4HKO after Stealth Rock damage, but its typing and special bulk allows it to resist Water- and Fire-type attacks aimed at Steelix. Sliggoo also doesn't have to worry about Scald burns as it can just Rest up and be rid of the status. This core does struggle with Fighting-types so pairing it with a Pelipper or Mismagius can be really beneficial for this core's longevity and walling capabilities.

 

[nv]

Double post but I don't care because this thread needs more love :P

Sets

Omastar @ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Mismagius @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
- Pain Split / Thunder Wave

Bulky Omaster and Stallbreaker Mismagius are an amazing core. Both have amazing role synergy and defensive synergy as Omastar has amazing physical defense and Mismagius provides a Ground and Fighting immunity. Hidden Power Electric is amazing on Omastar as it doesn't allow Pelipper and Mantine to freely Defog away Omastar's hazards. Icy Wind and Ice Beam are ok options, but I prefer HP Electric. Mismagius is able to be a really good spinblocker as most of the common ones (Hitmonchan, Sandslash) are deterred by Will-O-Wisp. Thunder Wave is a really nice option to cripple a lot of faster threats that can take on this core such as Sceptile and Charizard; however, Pain Split is the main option as it gives Mismagius reliable recovery since it is forced to run Colbur Berry thanks to Dark-type moves being very common in NU.

 

[boltsandbombers]

Figured I'd share some fun cores that I've been using lately

+

Hide

i am me (Floatzel) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Taunt

i am you (Samurott) @ Rindo Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 96 SpD / 160 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall

Type spam is always been a pretty cool concept to toy around with in NU, and with Water being a very prominent offensive type, these two have excellent offensive synergy together. Floatzel has Hidden Power Electric to lure in Mantine and Pelipper, as well as Poliwrath to a lesser extent, which are generally the most common answers to Swords Dance Samurott on balanced builds. Next, Samurott is running Rindo Berry to lure in offensive Grass types which check Floatzel, which is mainly Sceptile but Shiftry as well. The given EV spread outspeeds max Speed Aurorus and has a 96% chance to live Life Orb Sceptile's Leaf Storm at full HP. You could probably consider using Focus Blast on Floatzel over Taunt, but its not like Samurott struggles a ton with Ferroseed given that +2 Megahorn does a significant amount, and its not too hard to cover Ferroseed with teammates. Floatzel also revenge kills Tauros which can generally take a +2 Aqua Jet and KO Samurott with Rock Climb given it has taken a little bit of chip damage. Lastly, this core has a pretty solid matchup versus rain teams given that Samurott lures in Ludicolo with its Rindo Berry and Floatzel revenges Kabutops and Omastar in the rain thanks to its Swift Swim; that being said you can run Water Veil but I generally don't find it to be extremely useful. This core really struggles versus Scarf Electric types, which is really just the Rotom formes, so a bulky Ground like Steelix or Camerupt help out.

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barracuda (Ludicolo) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Rain Dance

way too deep (Kabutops) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Superpower
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Stone Edge

Yes I know it's another dual water core, but this one is much less creative and I'm just posting this moreso for the sake of it being in the archive given its basically a staple on rain teams. Ludicolo is a very dangerous special sweeper, but it has a fair amount of checks such as Mantine, Hariyama, Sliggoo, and Ferroseed. Kabutops has excellent offensive synergy with Ludicolo thanks to its ability to pressure or lure in all of the aforementioned Pokemon; Mantine is dropped by a Stone Edge, Hariayama is felled by a rain-boosted Waterfall after some prior damage, and Ferroseed is lured in with Superpower given that Swords Dance is overkill on rain and Rapid Spin isn't really that beneficial. On the contrary, Ludicolo breaks past Kabutops' defensive answers such as Poliwrath and Quagsire with its STAB Giga Drain.

 

[Punchshroom]

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

Haunter @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Destiny Bond

Aurorus @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power
- Psychic

This is an absolutely hideous core to attempt to defend against, comprised of some of the most devastating special attackers in the tier.

- Sceptile leads the charge with blazing Speed and powerful Grass attacks, opting for dual STAB for both sustain and nuking power, as well as Rock Slide to keep the likes of Charizard and Scyther at bay. The last moveslot is somewhat filler, with the choices boiling down to Hidden Power Ice to exert more pressure on the bulky Grass- and Flying-types that switch into Sceptile, Earthquake to lure Skuntank and deal more damage to grounded Fire-types (particularly Combusken), or even Focus Blast if you feel like going out of your way to hit things.

- Haunter complements Sceptile very well, using its 4x Poison resistance to switch into things like Vileplume, Garbodor, and Weezing that would otherwise get in Sceptile's way, and appreciates Sceptile creating those switch-in opportunities for it, as while Haunter has less switch-ins than Sceptile, it has a harder time entering battle safely. Haunter can also use its dual STABs to hammer bulky Pokemon, such as Musharna and Mega Audino, that can tank Sceptile's hits in general. Will-O-Wisp and Destiny Bond allow Haunter to continue breaking things for Sceptile that it otherwise struggles to damage, such as Hariyama and Skuntank.

- Aurorus serves as the final holepuncher, and has Psychic to help soften up Hariyama. It can also make use of its Poison resistance to switch into some of Sceptile and Haunter's checks, such as Weezing and Skuntank, further cripple the likes of Musharna and Vileplume of their recovery, and take down some of the stragglers that the aforementioned two have trouble with, such as Sliggoo. Aurorus even has additional defensive synergy by offering protection against Specs Swellow which otherwise picks off Sceptile and Haunter with ease.

 

[Jisoo]

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Sets I use

Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Atk / 64 Def
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Bulk Up

Mismagius @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Substitute

This is a fun offensive core built around two pretty underrated sweepers. The main idea of it is the both of them having amazing synergy. Mismagius beats most of Gurdurrs checks/counters, being Vileplume, Weezing, Garbodor, Musharna, and Gourgeist (Super and Small). Substitute gives Mismagius even more chances to set up, since most of these mons are somewhat passive and can't hurt Mismagius. Gurdurr kills Mismagius' checks, being Pyroar, Liepard, Cacturne, Hariyama, and most other dark types that can give it trouble. This is a fun little core I like to use, and hopefully you guys will give it a try!
Thanks Punchshroom for the help and thanks for reading n_n

 

[Shadestep]

I have been really liking this core as of recently:

Sets

Kangaskhan @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Earthquake

Garbodor (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Toxic Spikes
- Spikes

Xatu (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Psychic
- Roost
- U-turn

Since Sawk and Gurdurr left, Xatu can actually use a different item now, most of the time.
This is a normal Kangaspikes core + Rocky Helmet Xatu! RH Xatu is a great answer to Steelix as it can almost always switch-in to Steelix barring the special LO set, which is not common at all and is less threatening to KangaSpikes anyways. Xatu takes about 45-50 from normal 128+ Atk and chips away at it with RH, also keeping Rocks of the field. Spikes + EQ + Rocky Helmet = get rid of Steelix quickly. I've used this core on the ladder for all my reqs and it has worked wonders for me.

 

[Evan.]

nobody uses charizard b/c everyone thinks that it isnt splashable fsr, so here's a bunch of cores w/ it (+1 without) to get you guys started

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Kangaskhan @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch

Charizard
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
- Swords Dance

Kang + Wispzard is cool cause Wispzard is a decent enough lix switch-in and it can bait a lot of common kang answers like bulky rocks and wear them down super easily w/ wisp. also bulky zard provides a nice fight resist for kang (even tho there aren't many fights left, this was during like week 5 of spl). also wisp zard does good vs fat shit and kang does well vs offense so you got that synergy going on.

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Charizard
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
- Swords Dance

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

Next up on the "good partners for zard" list is just your standard old defog shiftry. The synergy here is pretty obvious, shiftry breaks stuff down for zard w/ knock off and provides hazard support with defog, zard checks fighters, spreads wisp, standard zard things. the combination of the 2 really puts a shitton of offensive pressure on the opponent early, not to mention the combination of a mon that does well vs offense + bulky zard.

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Charizard
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
- Swords Dance

Mesprit @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Ice Beam
- Trick

obviously the biggest mon that zard has troubles getting by when it comes to beating fatter teams is steelix. Specs Mesprit baits in Steelix and 2HKOs it with Ice Beam, allowing zard to roam free. It also gets a lot of lanturns and rotoms because lanturn always seems to switch in expecting a more defensive set, and you can usually just bait all of those bad sub rotoms early because they stay in and click wisp / hex expecting a defensive set and cant take you out with either.

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Primeape @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Skuntank @ Lum Berry
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 Atk / 176 SpDef / 80 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Taunt
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Poison Jab

this one isn't innovative at all, but it's something i should see more. alot of teams are just running a ghost or like defensive mesprit as their fighting resist right now which makes primeape really strong imo. obviously you just U-turn out of ghosts into skunk and trap them, the concept's not difficult to understand, but i think it's really effective in the current meta and more people should use it.

ZAAAAAARRD

 

[Cheryl.]

Sets

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

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

Pretty cool NormalSpam core I've been using lately, basically it uses Chatot's insane power and Swellow's fastness to overload the opposing team, which nowadays usually only have like 1 or 2 Normal checks, so they aren't exactly prepared for an onslaught of Boombursts coming from 2 Pokemon. Swellow also helps Chatot's problem with Ghost-types thanks to Scrappy hitting them with Boomburst, letting Chatot spam it more freely. They basically have the same checks and counters, and wear them all down pretty efficiently, especially with hazard support or help from another NormalSpam member (I use Kangaskhan). Overall, with proper support this core is a major pain to switch into and can make for easy cleans late-game thanks to the power of NormalSpam. Hope you all like it n_n