Hello! This is my first ever post on Smogon so forgive me if I did something wrong, but I'd like to ask for advice regarding my team. I built this team as a hazard spreading/clean up team that aims to weaken the opponent over a match to then let my sweepers run wild. I love both hazards and fast sweepers so this is a team style I'm extremely fond of. This is the first team I've built for a singles environment, so I'm less familiar with the format then Doubles OU, which is what I've spent most of my time playing, hence why I'm asking for advice on this team. It may seem odd, but this team first started as a snow team, with dual screens Ninetails A and assault vest Baxcaliber as a core (this was before Baxcalibur's ban). That team never got past pre-planning, but the idea of a team revolving around bulky mons wearing down the opponent until I could bring in a sweeper stuck with me, and eventually this team was born.
Attrition (Gliscor) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 244 HP / 248 Def / 16 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Spikes
- Protect
- Toxic
Gliscor is part of my team's triforce of hazard spreading, and by God is it good at it. It's a very standard Gliscor, meant to survive for a very long time and get max layers of spikes. if it succeeds in getting spikes, and it's against something that could potentially threaten my sweepers, Gliscor can stay in and chip away with Toxic and Earthquake to pave the way for a clean up late game. This is what I lead with most of the time, barring Ice types. and knock off users. A ground Type is also great for preventing electrics from threatening my main sweeper
Cupcake (Ribombee) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Shield Dust
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Moonblast
- Stun Spore
- Skill Swap
The second member of the hazard setting 3, Ribombee is meant to be set webs and then be a nuisance until I'm ready to sweep. Sticky Web is the core of it, and thanks to Sash it can almost always get it off. If ribombee can manage to get webs off, Stun Spore can spread para on anything not already toxic poisoned by Gliscor. I neglected using Psychic Noise for Skill Swap in order to steal abilities of problematic Pokemon like paradoxes, Gholdengo, Gliscor, and others that can stop my strategy. Moonblast is there for an attacking move, of course, but in a last case scenario, I can use it to fish for a Spatk drop on a threat. Tera Ghost is extremely useful to block Rapid Spin and big fighting or normal attackers, who will be Stun Spored upon me popping Tera. Shield Dust is also pretty nice to avoid a burn on a Sash breaking move since otherwise gouging fire or cinderace could kill it turn one and ruin my strat. Even with Shield Dust, Ribombee is deathly afraid of Loaded Dice or multi hit leads such as Breloom or Dual Wingbeat Salamence. Along with Gliscor this is the other man I rely on as a lead.
Does She Know? (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
Clef is meant to set Stealth Rock, and then sit there and slap the opponents items out of their hands. It's another standardly built mon, and it's function is a pretty basic bulky utility one. Moonlight and Magic Guard let it stay on for as long as possible and continue throwing hands on anything with a vaguely threatening item. It may not seem like it but Clef is essential as my third and final hazard setter, adding on to Gliscor's spikes and Ribombee's webs.
If my team is a boat, the hazard setters are one half, the sweepers are the other, and Great Tusk is Spider-Man in the middle, holding it together. Tusk wasn't originally on the team, instead being Corviknight but after a lot of testing, Corv was not cutting it. After looking through various hazard removers, I decided that Tusk was what the team needed.
Steggy :D (Great Tusk) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Spinner
- Temper Flare
- Rapid Spin
Because of just how many hazards I want to be putting on the field, Court Change is one of if not the biggest threat to the team, and without Defog or Rapid Spin I might as well not even try. As I said, I originally chose Corviknight to remove hazards, but because I had one too many losses to taunt, I switched to Rapid Spin. Tusk is a much more balanced Mon then Corv, with it much more threatening physical attacks and this is great for my team, that already has Clef and Gliscor for defensive utility and as you'll see, a lot of special attackers. It has good coverage that's meant to do good damage, but Tusk isn't focused on sweeping, instead it prefers to allow for clean up to happen by protecting the rest of the team from hazards. Tera Steel is good for more defensive use, and it also has a niche but much appreciated benefit of blocking Mortal Spin. Overall Tusk is a glue holding the team together and making sure Cinderace and other hazards aren't destroying my hazards team.
Greninja is the team's main sweeper, aiming to pick off something that's been weakened by hazards, get Battle Bond, and clean up late game
Protein (Greninja-Bond) @ Life Orb
Ability: Battle Bond
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- U-turn
- Dark Pulse
I originally gave it an Expert Belt but that wasn't super effective (pun not intended), and so I changed it to life Orb early on to better help it clean. I originally chose EB to bluff Specs but quickly after I started to play with the team did I realize that isn't something I need when I'm using a late game cleaner. It has surf and Dark pulse for stab (I don't like risking hydro pump hitting), ice beam for more coverage and freeze chances in dire situations, and u-turn to get out of sticky situations. Should one of my frailer mons go down, Greninja can switch in and revenge kill, hopefully becoming unstoppable. Overall, Greninja is the main Pokemon I want to be healthy in the back, but should I have to use it to take down a check, my next team member is there to take Greninja's place
Serperior is the last part of the team, and is sort of the backup sweeper should I come face to face with a Greninja check or something that's weak to Grass.
Logical Fallacy (Serperior) @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Tera Blast
- Glare
- Substitute
It's the basic Serperior, with Contrary leafstorm. Fire Tera Blast gives me more then just Tusk's Temper Flare, and Sub and Glare are pretty self explanatory. With Serpirior and Greninja together, I have a strong Fire, Water, and Grass attacks, which is something I really like. These two are what I aim to get onto the field once hazards and my bulky supports have worn the opponent down. With a Battle Bond proc and enough leaf storms, any MU can be a winning MU.
Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this, and thank you in advance should you give me advice on how to improve the team. I'm super happy to start team building (this is my 3rd team I've ever made, with my first two being a Torkoal Sun and Kyogre rain team for Doubles OU and Ubers respectively), and I'm even happier to have a way to get reliable advice since none of my close friends play Showdown or even really like Pokemon. Sorry for my little rant, I'll take my leave now. Have a good day/night everyone :)
Attrition (Gliscor) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 244 HP / 248 Def / 16 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Spikes
- Protect
- Toxic
Gliscor is part of my team's triforce of hazard spreading, and by God is it good at it. It's a very standard Gliscor, meant to survive for a very long time and get max layers of spikes. if it succeeds in getting spikes, and it's against something that could potentially threaten my sweepers, Gliscor can stay in and chip away with Toxic and Earthquake to pave the way for a clean up late game. This is what I lead with most of the time, barring Ice types. and knock off users. A ground Type is also great for preventing electrics from threatening my main sweeper
Cupcake (Ribombee) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Shield Dust
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Moonblast
- Stun Spore
- Skill Swap
The second member of the hazard setting 3, Ribombee is meant to be set webs and then be a nuisance until I'm ready to sweep. Sticky Web is the core of it, and thanks to Sash it can almost always get it off. If ribombee can manage to get webs off, Stun Spore can spread para on anything not already toxic poisoned by Gliscor. I neglected using Psychic Noise for Skill Swap in order to steal abilities of problematic Pokemon like paradoxes, Gholdengo, Gliscor, and others that can stop my strategy. Moonblast is there for an attacking move, of course, but in a last case scenario, I can use it to fish for a Spatk drop on a threat. Tera Ghost is extremely useful to block Rapid Spin and big fighting or normal attackers, who will be Stun Spored upon me popping Tera. Shield Dust is also pretty nice to avoid a burn on a Sash breaking move since otherwise gouging fire or cinderace could kill it turn one and ruin my strat. Even with Shield Dust, Ribombee is deathly afraid of Loaded Dice or multi hit leads such as Breloom or Dual Wingbeat Salamence. Along with Gliscor this is the other man I rely on as a lead.
Does She Know? (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
Clef is meant to set Stealth Rock, and then sit there and slap the opponents items out of their hands. It's another standardly built mon, and it's function is a pretty basic bulky utility one. Moonlight and Magic Guard let it stay on for as long as possible and continue throwing hands on anything with a vaguely threatening item. It may not seem like it but Clef is essential as my third and final hazard setter, adding on to Gliscor's spikes and Ribombee's webs.
If my team is a boat, the hazard setters are one half, the sweepers are the other, and Great Tusk is Spider-Man in the middle, holding it together. Tusk wasn't originally on the team, instead being Corviknight but after a lot of testing, Corv was not cutting it. After looking through various hazard removers, I decided that Tusk was what the team needed.
Steggy :D (Great Tusk) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Protosynthesis
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Spinner
- Temper Flare
- Rapid Spin
Because of just how many hazards I want to be putting on the field, Court Change is one of if not the biggest threat to the team, and without Defog or Rapid Spin I might as well not even try. As I said, I originally chose Corviknight to remove hazards, but because I had one too many losses to taunt, I switched to Rapid Spin. Tusk is a much more balanced Mon then Corv, with it much more threatening physical attacks and this is great for my team, that already has Clef and Gliscor for defensive utility and as you'll see, a lot of special attackers. It has good coverage that's meant to do good damage, but Tusk isn't focused on sweeping, instead it prefers to allow for clean up to happen by protecting the rest of the team from hazards. Tera Steel is good for more defensive use, and it also has a niche but much appreciated benefit of blocking Mortal Spin. Overall Tusk is a glue holding the team together and making sure Cinderace and other hazards aren't destroying my hazards team.
Greninja is the team's main sweeper, aiming to pick off something that's been weakened by hazards, get Battle Bond, and clean up late game
Protein (Greninja-Bond) @ Life Orb
Ability: Battle Bond
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- U-turn
- Dark Pulse
I originally gave it an Expert Belt but that wasn't super effective (pun not intended), and so I changed it to life Orb early on to better help it clean. I originally chose EB to bluff Specs but quickly after I started to play with the team did I realize that isn't something I need when I'm using a late game cleaner. It has surf and Dark pulse for stab (I don't like risking hydro pump hitting), ice beam for more coverage and freeze chances in dire situations, and u-turn to get out of sticky situations. Should one of my frailer mons go down, Greninja can switch in and revenge kill, hopefully becoming unstoppable. Overall, Greninja is the main Pokemon I want to be healthy in the back, but should I have to use it to take down a check, my next team member is there to take Greninja's place
Serperior is the last part of the team, and is sort of the backup sweeper should I come face to face with a Greninja check or something that's weak to Grass.
Logical Fallacy (Serperior) @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Tera Blast
- Glare
- Substitute
It's the basic Serperior, with Contrary leafstorm. Fire Tera Blast gives me more then just Tusk's Temper Flare, and Sub and Glare are pretty self explanatory. With Serpirior and Greninja together, I have a strong Fire, Water, and Grass attacks, which is something I really like. These two are what I aim to get onto the field once hazards and my bulky supports have worn the opponent down. With a Battle Bond proc and enough leaf storms, any MU can be a winning MU.
Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this, and thank you in advance should you give me advice on how to improve the team. I'm super happy to start team building (this is my 3rd team I've ever made, with my first two being a Torkoal Sun and Kyogre rain team for Doubles OU and Ubers respectively), and I'm even happier to have a way to get reliable advice since none of my close friends play Showdown or even really like Pokemon. Sorry for my little rant, I'll take my leave now. Have a good day/night everyone :)
