Never Underestimated: My First NU Team(s)

[STABX4]

I am currently in the process of setting up my own youtube channel to do commentary on the variety battles I have recorded. Im sure all of you are pretty tired of watching 100s of people post tons of overdone OU battles, I know I am. To remedy this I plan to post a battle from a different tier every day. Along with the major metas such as OU UU NU RU I also plan to upload random battles such as mixed tier, Draft, Grab bag, and 1 V. 1. The only two tiers I have yet to establish a team for a NU (the rate for this thread) and RU (coming later) , I know very little about the lower tiers so any help you can provide is awesome. I actually have 2 possible NU teams so Ill combine them into one RMT.

without further delay:

Team 1


At A Glance:

I aiming for a more offensive team with Regirock serving a support role as the main wall. That being said, I can probably replace Lickilicky with maybe a mixed or special attacker but im not sure who to use.

In Depth Analysis:
*Changes In RED*

King Kobra [Arbok] @ Black Sludge

Intimidate

4 HP/252 Atk/252 Speed

Jolly

Coil

Gunk Shot

Aqua Tail

Sucker Punch

I havent decided on a lead yet so the order of the pokemon doesnt matter. Ive always felt Poison is an under represented type offensively and the lacking of Steel types in the NU tier allows me to safely use Arbok. Arbok has access to one of the best boosting moves in Coil and with full attack investment makes it a very dangerous sweeper. Gunk Shot is a powerful STAB and hits almost anything in the tier hard. Aqua tail provides a check against ground types while Sucker Punch grants Arbok a priority move that helps midigate its average speed.

Apollo Creed [Gurdurr]@Evolite

Guts

252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def

Adamant

Bulk Up

Drain Punch

Mach Punch

Payback

Made the switch to Gurdurr to provide a better check to Steel Types. Evolite provides enough bulk for me to easily set up. Drain Punch serves as main STAB while allowing me to self heal. Mach Punch provides a way to check faster foes while maintaining a secondary STAB. Lastly Payback checks Misdrievus and other ghost who would wall this set otherwise.

FSU [Exeggutor] @ Choice Specs

Chlorophyll

132 HP/252 SpA/124 Speed

Modest

Leaf Storm

Psychic

Sleep Powder

Hidden Power [Ice]

Choice Specs Exeggutor is able to be a major offensive threat even without sun. Leaf Storm is the main STAB as it at the very least 2HKOs nearly everything in NU. Psychic is a decent backup STAB and handles Villplume. Sleep Powder cripples Exeggutor's faster threats. Hidden Power Ice murders Altaria and other Exeggutor

Berlin [Regirock]@ Leftovers

Clear Body

240 HP/252 Atk/16 Speed

Impish

Stealth Rock

Stone Edge

Drain Punch

Curse



Regirock serves as my wall, stealth rock, and general support mon. Stealth Rock provides extra entry hazard damage and with Regirock's bulk it is guaranteed if needed. I switched around the EVs and nature to give it a more offensive presence. Drain Punch provides nearly the same coverage as Earthquake while providing recovery. Curse is to boost and eliminate Braviary who is actually a decent threat to this team.

House M.D. [Audino]@ Leftovers

Regenerator

252 HP/4 Def/252 SpD

Careful

Wish

Heal Bell

Protect

Double-Edge
Audino is the team cleric. It gives the most powerful wishes in NU and can even heal itself when accompanied with Protect. Heal Bell keeps status off my team while Double Edge prevents Lickylicky from becoming Taunt bait. Due to the offensive nature of my team, I replaced Lickylicky with a more team oriented supporter.

Smog [Charizard]@ Choice Scarf

Blaze

4 Def/252 SpA/252 Speed

Timid

Fire Blast

Flamethrower

Focus Blast

Air Slash

Choice Scarf Charizard serves as my late game cleaner. I carry two fire moves one serving to take out tough foes in a sweeping mode (Fire Blast) while the other cleans up already weakened opponents (Flamethrower). Focus Blast allows me to hit Golem and other pokemon I wouldnt be able to touch otherwise. Air Slash destroys Ludicolo.

Former Team Members:
Zangoose
Lickylicky
Haunter

 

[Dell]

Hello there.

I think that the main problem with this team is that it seems a bit too focused on luring in threats with your offensive Pokemon, which conflicts with the synergy of your team somewhat. For example, as this team is built around supporting Arbok for a sweep, I'm quite concerned on how this team does at matching up with most Steel-types, particularly the likes of Metang or Klang. Both don't really have a problem taking on the majority of the team and setting up on you in their ways, and while you can certainly wear them down with some of your offensive threats, this team doesn't perform a good job of threatening them enough to efficiently deal with them. You also seem to have a notable weakness to Carracosta as well, who is able to set up on Arbok, Lickilicky, or Haunter in a locked move, and clean up your team with boosted hits (even getting past Choice Scarf Haunter with a boosted Aqua Jet). I feel that Gurdurr is a better option over Zangoose towards handling Steels and Carracosta, as it's able to switch into all of them and either attack for significant damage or use Bulk Up to set up on them. It can also provide extra priority for faster threats and take advantage of some threats that bother Arbok, such as Misdreavus, thanks to Guts.

It should be noted that the Gurdurr suggestion will make you more vulnerable to Weezing, who resists Drain Punch and can wear it down with repeated hits and Will-O-Wisp. The rest of your team is also troubled by Weezing because none of them can really switch into it without being crippled in some manner, allowing it to gain momentum against your team. With this, I think that a good suggestion would be to try Choice Scarf Charizard over Haunter. Charizard not only can switch into most of what Weezing does, but it also in particular sports better overall synergy for the team as a revenge killer, as its STAB options are more suited to deal with Weezing and more important threats like the aforementioned Steel-types, for instance. Charizard also provides a good offensive answer to all variants of Jynx, a vital asset to any offensive team, and can perform impressive late-game sweeps with the help of Blaze triggering if it switches in on Stealth Rock twice.

I think that your EV spread on Regirock could use some tweaking, as going specially defensive isn't really going to help you all that much against powerful Special attackers such as Samurott, Jynx, or Serperior. The lacking of good damage output won't provide you much help against most offensive threats that aren't weak to Stone Edge. A more efficient option for Regirock would be an EV spread of 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe with an Impish nature, which focuses on helping Regirock tank hits and dish attacks out hard, as well as outpacing Modest Shell Smash Torkoal. I also would suggest that Curse be the 4th option over Thunder Wave because, as this team does have a pretty notable weakness to Bulk Up Braviary; with Curse, this gives you the option to set up alongside Braviary and beat it 1v1. It also provides yet another win condition for the team. I also suggest that you try Drain Punch over Earthquake on Regirock also, as it provides mostly the same coverage as Earthquake does, with the added ability to heal.

Hope I helped.

Suggested changes:
Regirock: Curse > Thunder Wave; Drain Punch > Earthquake; 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe spread over this

Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Payback / Ice Punch

Charizard @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Flamethrower
- Focus Blast
- Air Slash / Hidden Power Grass

 

[Ashley11]

I agree with all of the changes Ranger Dell said. I just have one little addition to add to it. I reccomend replacing LickyLicky with Audino. Audino has about the same bulk im pretty sure, and access to the great ability regenerator, which makes it more useful than Lickylicky for this team. You can still end up having the exact same set just with it as audino with return instead of body slam. This will help you stay in the game longer as a special pivot.

 

[Moose V]

I agree with all of the changes Ranger Dell said. I just have one little addition to add to it. I reccomend replacing LickyLicky with Audino. Audino has about the same bulk im pretty sure, and access to the great ability regenerator, which makes it more useful than Lickylicky for this team. You can still end up having the exact same set just with it as audino with return instead of body slam. This will help you stay in the game longer as a special pivot.

There's really no reason to use audino over lickilicky on this team. Lickilicky has better Hp, defense, special defense and attack. Thus it can take hits significantly better, turning 3HKOs into 2HKOs, deal more damage and pass higher hp wishes.




Also @op zangoose is based of a mongoose, not a cat. (I'm talking about your nickname)

 

[Lasagne]

There's really no reason to use audino over lickilicky on this team. Lickilicky has better Hp, defense, special defense and attack. Thus it can take hits significantly better, turning 3HKOs into 2HKOs, deal more damage and pass higher hp wishes

Audino is a much more reliable Wish passer, since it doesn't need to use the Wish to heal itself because of Regenerator, which heals it by 30% on switching out. It therefore is a much more reliable Wish passer, and can fully heal up a lot of Pokemon while healing itself. This is better for the team because of the lack of the reliable recovery avaliable across the team. Might add more later cos i gtg

 

[JCM.]

I disagree: On this team, I feel as if Lickilicky fits in better because it actually is a special wall, while Audino is more of a special pivot. It doesn't really need to heal itself in the process; only its teammates. Audino works better in stall tbh.

 

[WhiteDMist]

Actually, for an offensive team like this one, Audino fits better. Lickilicky is a wall like you said, so it prefers to keep its HP high. Audino on the other hand has Regenerator to recover its own HP, so it can focus on actually passing its large Wishes to its teammates. This makes it work decently on offensive teamms as a pivot, since they usually don't appreciate walls that slow down their offensive momentum.

 

[STABX4]

Thanks for all the help guys! My second team should be posted later tonight

 

[STABX4]

Team 2


At A Glance:

My second team is a little more balanced than the one above with a slower end game and a pretty unique finisher.

In Depth Analysis:

Guarder[Serperior] @ Leftovers

Overgrow

252 HP/4 Def/252 Speed

Timid

Glare

Taunt

Giga Drain

Leech Seed

This Serperior set is based on the Subseed set with a few twists. Serperior's decent bulk and great speed allow me to either use taunt to stop opponent's use of substitute or their own taunt to protect from leech seed damage, or support the team by paralyzing a faster foe seeing as my team is rather slow overall. Leech seed is the crux of this set as it allows me to rack up damage while regaining health. Giga Drain is the main attacking move as it provides STAB and extra healing.

W0000[Beheeyem]@ Choice Specs

Analytic

252 HP/4 Def/252 SpA

IV 3 Speed

Psychic

Thunderbolt

Signal Beam

HP Ground

Beheeyem serves as the team wallbreaker allowing me to smash through bulkier threats such as Regirock. Choice Specs boosts the special attack to sky high levels. Pyschic is the main attacking move on this set as it tears through many of the main special walls in NU. Thunderbolt guarantees that no bulky water is safe while Signal Beam takes out enemy Psychics such as Exeggcutor. Lastly HP Ground covers steels and Skuntank. Analytic is a great ability for Beheeyem as its lack of speed means the stat boost almost always occurs.

Mr. Splinter[Samurott]@ Lum Berry

Torrent

200 HP/252 Atk/56 Speed

Adamant

Swords Dance

Razor Shell

Aqua Jet

Megahorn

Samurott's amazing bulk allow for it to become a very effective set up sweeper capable of muscling through Physical walls. Swords Dance boosts the attack stat to very dangerous levels. Razor Shell serves as the main STAB and comes with a nice defense drop chance. Samurott only has average speed so having a STAB priority move in Aqua Jet helps handle faster threats. Megahorn is Samurott's most powerful coverage move and gives it the best chance to hit bulky Grass types hard.

GO AWAY..[Marowak]@ Thick Club

Rock Head

4 HP/252 Atk/252 Speed

Adamant

Stealth Rock

Bonemerang

Double Edge

Stone Edge

Marowak is my one of my possible leads thanks to its ability to counter common stealth rock leads and set up hazards of its own. Bonemerang hits twice each turn making any attempt to counter with sturdy, substitute, or a focus sash futile. Stone Edge nails flying types who cant be touched with the perviously mentioned Bonemerang. Thanks to Rock Head, Double-Edge is Marowak's strongest neutral attack hitting almost everything in the tier hard while avoiding recoil damage.

Mama K[Kangaskhan]@ Leftovers

Scrappy

40 HP/252 Atk/216 Speed

Adamant

Substitute

Focus Punch

Sucker Punch

Return

Kangaskhan's monster attack and decent bulk allow it to very easily slide into the role of Sub Puncher. Substitute protects from status while its readying a punch. Sucker Punch works well with subs as they usually force the opponent to attack, it also hits faster foes hard. Return is there for STAB, rounds out coverage, and is actually stronger than Focus Punch. Kangaskhan's ability, Scrappy allows it to do something other sub Punchers cant do, it hits the frail Ghost types of NU extremely hard while often being immune to their attacks.

Diddy Kong [Monferno]@ Choice Band

Iron Fist

4 HP/252 Atk/252 Speed

Adamant

Mach Punch

Flare Blitz

Close Combat

U-Turn

I was looking for a decent fire type to complete my team because.. well I'm partial to them. So I went down the list Charizard (weak to rocks) Camerupt (slow and pretty bad overall)... then I realized something, barried in the realm of NFE was Monferno. At first it looked like this was possibly the dumbest idea I ever had, then I looked at the move pool. I saw that it had all the makings for the Lead Infernape set but was legal in NU. Only potential problems were 1. It could be too slow. 2. It might not hit hard enough to be viable. Fix one? Invest in speed give it STAB Priority Mach Punch and power it up with Iron Fist. Fix two? Slap a Choice Band on it and it becomes a wrecking ball. Flare Blitz is amazing with a Choice Band boost and grants dual STABs. Close Combat maims Rock and Ground types who can withstand a Mach Punch also being good for when I dont need to worry about Monferno being outsped. Lastly U-turn makes it a viable lead allowing me to bail out of an unfavorable matchup.