Project Neverused Teambuilding Competition V2 - General Discussion

[Blast]

Approved by Raseri and taken over from Lord Alphose (original thread here). OP partially stolen from Superpowerdude in the LC version.

Neverused Teambuilding Competition​

Hello and welcome to the second edition of the Neverused Teambuilding Competition! The goal of this project is to observe and better understand how experienced NU players go about building their teams around a particular core. It's also a great way to improve and refine your own teambuilding skills, or just simply learn how others do it! Anyone is free to participate and I encourage as much discussion as possible; however, I'd like to point out that you do not have to post a team to contribute to this thread. Contant feedback is allowed and actually preferred in this thread, so if you have comments or concerns about someone's team, don't be afraid to post it! The process is as follows:

Each round, I will choose a core of two Pokemon. It is then up to you to build a team around it, designing sets, teammates, roles, and everything in between. Identifying weaknesses, strategies, and so forth are key parts of teambuilding and I'm quite interested to see how that carries through in this thread. I also hope to emphasize a lot of creativity with this as well—new gems and underrated Pokemon and cores are popping up all the time, and hopefully this thread can bring about a lot of new discoveries about the metagame! After the submission period is over (which will be after around give or take a week) I will announce the voting period, where you will get a couple of days to vote on what you think is the best team. By the end of the voting period, the votes will be tallied and team with the most votes will be pastebinned and archived in the Hall of Fame I will be posting below, and the process will start again with a new core.

Some ground rules:

• Make the post presentable, use XY sprites and have the team in importable format so it can be used and tested by voters.
• Make sure you have a paragraph describing how your team functions and how it supports the core.
• Don't insult users if their teams aren't up to standard, feel free to question why people are running certain things. In fact, I highly encourage discussion but don't be rude about it. Basically, just don't be a jerk.
• Use hide tags when posting your team, otherwise we will all hate you.
• You can only have one of the following Pokemon on your team: Feraligatr, Mesprit, Crustle, or Kangaskhan. I want to emphasize creativity in this thread so this helps prevent the same stuff from being posted every round.
  
• I will post when you have a day left to get your teams posted. Don't procrastinate. It will only go badly.
• You are allowed to edit your teams with testing and / or feedback from other people, however be sure to make note of these edits in the original post (i.e. keep an edit log or something in your post). Once the voting period begins however, you cannot edit your teams anymore.

Okay with that said this week's core is going to be...

+

Flareon and Lilligant go together to make an interesting offensive core. Flareon, particularly offensive variants, serves as a powerful wallbreaker that can just generally whack away at many defensive cores to pave the way for a Lilligant sweep. It's far from flawless however—in particular, it heavily struggles with bulky Water- and Rock-types which Lilligant easily checks, while in return Flareon hard-checks various Ice-, Grass-, and Steel-types that can trouble Lilligant. Lilligant can even potentially opt to run Healing Wish to give Flareon a second lease of life, which Flareon loves due to its reliance on Flare Blitz as well as SR weakness.

The winner will also be rewarded with a voice on the NU PS! room as long as you remain active and helpful, and consistent, quality discussion will be also be logged for the Community Contributor badge everyone wants

 

[Blast]

Hall of Fame

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Round 1: http://pastebin.com/bUn2eQMJ by FLCL

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Round 2: http://pastebin.com/ZFy65kGb by Soulgazer

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Round 3: http://pastebin.com/uTQyZtZt by scorpdestroyer

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Round 4: http://pastebin.com/3YCVmU03 by Shuckleking87 and http://pastebin.com/kqqnskcq by Kiyo

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Round 5: http://pastebin.com/8jbgR70S by Hollywood

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Round 6: http://pastebin.com/fmbECDus by New Breed

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Round 7: http://pastebin.com/S2J8us0G by FLCL

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Round 8: http://pastebin.com/iX8PTe14 by Hollywood and http://pastebin.com/ETFUxK9N by Can-Eh-Dian

Round 9: http://pastebin.com/KGT1ugct by Exeggutor

 

[soulgazer]

Importable

Rampardos @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Endeavor
- Earthquake / Fire Punch

Mismagius @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Taunt
- Destiny Bond / Nasty Plot

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

Mesprit @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Zen Headbutt
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Healing Wish

Flareon @ Choice Band
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Quick Attack
- Baton Pass

Lilligant (F) @ Life Orb / Lum Berry
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Quiver Dance
- Sleep Powder

The team is pretty straighforward: Set up Stealth Rock with Rampardos, prevent entry hazards with Mismagius, and get a sweep with Lilligant or clean with Choice Scarf Mesprit.

If you are wondering why I run Rampardos instead of using Crustle: it's to beat all those Crustle HO teams running around in NU. Rampardos outspeeds Crustle and OHKO it through Sturdy with Stone Edge, has Stealth Rock on its own, and also has Endeavor to wear down slower Pokemon that brought Rampardos to its Focus Sash. Crustle still works on this team, but Rampardos is funny

Mismagius and Kangaskhan are pretty standard for me on these kinds of teams. I went with a Taunt + Destiny Bond variant of Mismagius as the goal of this team is a Lilligant sweep, and since Mismagius shares similar counters, it will easily be able to lure these 'counters' and remove them. Nasty Plot also works I guess to punch holes if you prefer it. As for Kangaskhan, it is just the standard set. Fake Out + Sucker Punch makes it an amazing revenge killer and Adamant Silk Scarf Double-Edge hits everything that doesn't resist it like a truck. Jolly could be used on it if you want it to outspeed Jolly base 85s and Adamant base 90s.

Then we got Choice Scarf Healing Wish Mesprit, one of my favorite set right now. Adamant with a Choice Scarf lets Mesprit outspeed Swellow and everything slower, letting it revenge kill a lot of things. It has U-Turn to grab momentum, Knock Off to revenge kill annoying Ghost- and Psychic-types while being able to remove items, Zen Headbutt as its STAB and to flinch down stuff :'), and Healing Wish to give a second life to one of its teammate (amazing with Choice Band Flareon).

Finally, we have Flareon and Lilligant. Dat Blast already explained what they both do so I don't really feel like repeating lol. I went with Choice Band on Flareon as it allow Flareon to 2HKO a lot of things, even resists. For Lilligant, I went with the Hidden Power Ice variant as it has Flareon to deal with the pesky Steel-types that would otherwise wall it, and with Hidden Power Ice Lilligant can deal with Dragalge and Altaria, among other things. Not much else to say besides that these two Pokemon are cute.

Dat Blast don't hurt me for posting lead + ghost + kanga again pls

 

[ryan]

import

Mesprit @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
- Healing Wish

Flareon @ Choice Band
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Quick Attack
- Baton Pass

Kricketune @ Focus Sash
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- X-Scissor
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Sticky Web

Kabutops @ Lum Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Rapid Spin
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet

Lilligant (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder
- Quiver Dance

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Trick

This is a variation of my first RMT that was built in Spiritomb meta and had Spiritomb > Rotom and Sandslash > Kabutops. With the recent tier changes, the team got much better, and I made some more tweaks to it to make it more friendly for this metagame. Basically, the team utilizes Sticky Web alongside Choice Band Flareon to plow through the opposing team. Mesprit offers Stealth Rock and Healing Wish support for the team, and I'm running Ice Beam for coverage. The choice of Ice Beam over Energy Ball or HP Fire was a metagame decision. Xatu has become ridiculously common on the ladder lately, and having Ice Beam to hit it is really important, especially for a Sticky Web team. Meanwhile, common checks to Flareon (physically defensive Seismitoad, Rhydon, etc.) still don't appreciate Psychic or Ice Beam. Flareon is standard Choice Band with Baton Pass to make handling its checks much easier. Kricketune is standard and is used over Leavanny because it is a much better Pokemon. Kabutops offers Spin support for Flareon, priority, and a soft check to Kangaskhan. Timid Life Orb Lilligant is fast and strong enough to dish out some immediate damage when it needs to (which is pretty often because it is my primary check to bulky Water- and Rock-types). HP Fire hits Ferroseed because my only great answer to it is Flareon, and that's not a reliable answer because it can just switch out of Flareon. Scarf Rotom is standard catch-all revenge killer, and it's my primary answer for fast Flying-types that would kind of shit on my team without Rotom here.

 

[Gr3gory]

This is quite a fun HO team I made recently. Flareon was a simple Toxic Guts sweeper that I used in early XY NU thanks to Flare Blitz being added to its movepool. Lilligant(I prefer leafeon) was more of a question what hidden power I put on it. I chose Ice since Flareon can deal with Ferroseed and I needed some help checking dragons. A fire type and a chlorophyll grass kind of made a sun team so who else to add like regirock, since he works as a great weather setter. Even though Regi has SR, I add Accelgor for some spike-stacking fun. I needed two things now: a win condition, and a wall-breaker. My win-con was BD slurpuff since I don't need to explain how much a +6 Play Rough hurts. My wall-breaker was Rampardos. He was terrifying to face with a scarf bought from Wal-Mart and mold breaker helps it deal with Weezing. Hope you like the team!

Hide

Flareon (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Facade
- Protect
- Quick Attack

Lilligant (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Healing Wish

Regirock @ Heat Rock
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Sunny Day
- Thunder Wave
- Drain Punch
- Stealth Rock

Accelgor @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Spikes
- Bug Buzz
- Knock Off
- Sludge Bomb

Slurpuff @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough
-

Rampardos @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Spe / 252 Atk
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt
- Fire Punch

 

[Brawlfest]

Although the "LilliFlare" core is incredibly offensive, I've decided to incorporate it into a slightly bulkier team, and something that I am ultimately more comfortable with. The team is pretty straightforward once you take a look though, and is also formed around somewhat of a VoltTurn core.
Xatu is the main sweeper of the team, but also helps to keep crippling Rocks and Toxic Spikes off the field for the VoltTurning action as well as for Flareon. Bulky Calm Mind Xatu is honestly one of the coolest pokemon in the metagame at the moment and is near impossible for any stall team to take out due to its solid physical bulk as well as an immunity to Status and Phazing, making it nearly the ultimate stallbreaker. It also acts as a status absorber for my team, and as a bulky pivot into fighting types. Defensive Rotom is something that I keep hyping and I honestly feel is one of the better sets in the current state of the metagame. It checks so much stuff and spreads burns incredibly quickly, while having access to Volt Switch to get out safely. It is the team's primary check to many flying and fighting types, and acts as the glue that makes this team successful.
For my LilliFlare core, I've chosen not to go with the Choice Band Flareon + Quiver Dance Lilligant. Instead I've chosen their two other more underrated sets in both Offensive Will-O-Wisp Flareon and Choice Scarf Lilligant. Offensive Will-O-Wisp Flareon is not exactly the "norm", but it can outpace threats that it cannot really touch such as Swords Dance Feraligatr or Shell Smash Carracosta and lob a burn on them quickly to nullify them as a threat, while baiting physical walls such as Weezing out so that I can burn them early on and start wearing them down. Outside of that its a pretty normal set, and Baton Pass is really cool for momentum. Choice Scarf Lilligant is awesome, and is hands down one of my favorite sets to use. It supports the team with incredibly fast and undisrupted Healing Wishes, quick Sleep Powders to fuck with setup sweepers, and a strong Petal Dance which makes it the optimal revenge killer and late game cleaner. Outright a cool freaking pokemon.
Pivot Pangoro is a neat pokemon that I chose to check the Dark and Ghost types that troubled me, easily smashing either with its cool dual STAB coverage. Its a really underrated but effective mon and can tank a lot of hits, and it makes an exceptional core alongside Xatu, using Parting Shot to finish off my VoltTurn core, but also give Xatu setup opportunities. IMO Rhydon is the most reliable SR user in NU bar maybe Seismitoad, so I just chose it. It helps me consistently switch into Flying and Fire types without risking Flareon or Rotom too early, and is just a great mon that pressures other hazard setters with its outstanding bulk and respectable power.

Soulgazer where is the spikes + lilli -1

Xatu @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 176 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Calm Mind
- Heat Wave
- Roost

Rotom @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Def / 208 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Flareon @ Flame Plate
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Will-O-Wisp
- Superpower
- Baton Pass / Quick Attack

Lilligant (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Petal Dance
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Healing Wish

Pangoro @ Leftovers
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 192 HP / 252 Atk / 64 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Storm Throw
- Crunch
- Parting Shot
- Taunt

Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightningrod
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rock Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake

 

[Blast]

Wow this thread is so dead :(

Anyway submissions close in approximately 24 hours and then voting starts. Also just a reminder that you don't have to post a team to contribute, feel free to ask questions or leave feedback on teams already posted as always

 

[soulgazer]

Brawlfest Your Xatu speed ties with Adamant base 85s such as Sawk, so running 176 Spe on Xatu to hit 270 might be worth it :) really like the little momentum core that you have too with Flareon and Pangoro. I prefer Psyshock + Dazzling Gleam on my CM Xatu too, but I guess thats up to preference.

Gr3gory I like your concept of building a Sun team from this core, but I feel like without abusing Victreebel and some of the more common Sun abusers your team is just a bit underwhelming. Your Accelgor set is also kinda weird (I am guessing Knock Off is to hit Rotom and Mismagius, but tbh it should be doing more important stuff than trying to hit those) and your Slurpuff lacks 2 other moves.
Hollywood nice sticky web team

Also I am surprised that there's only one balance team with this core at the moment, it is probably the playstyle where this core shines the most >:(

 

[Brawlfest]

Brawlfest Your Xatu speed ties with Adamant base 85s such as Sawk, so running 176 Spe on Xatu to hit 270 might be worth it :) really like the little momentum core that you have too with Flareon and Pangoro. I prefer Psyshock + Dazzling Gleam on my CM Xatu too, but I guess thats up to preference.

Gr3gory I like your concept of building a Sun team from this core, but I feel like without abusing Victreebel and some of the more common Sun abusers your team is just a bit underwhelming. Your Accelgor set is also kinda weird (I am guessing Knock Off is to hit Rotom and Mismagius, but tbh it should be doing more important stuff than trying to hit those) and your Slurpuff lacks 2 other moves.
Hollywood nice sticky web team

Also I am surprised that there's only one balance team with this core at the moment, it is probably the playstyle where this core shines the most >:(

I typed 176 i guess misclick >:(

 

[Swagalge]

This team is built around Flareon with his sumptuous attack. Masquerain sets up webs and can go kamikaze attacking or maybe be preserved for a later intimidate. I am using sun support Lilligant to provide a nice boost for the two fire types on the team. Lilli has Synthesis and Aromatherapy to keep itself nice and healthy, and also to wake up Torkoal and Flareon. Flareon is the crux of the team, and has a Toxic Orb with Flare Blitz, Facade and Superpower as attacking options, and Rest to increase its longevity. Torkoal offers Rapid Spin support, and also packs Fire Blast and Solarbeam which hurt coming off its Life Orb. Again Rest helps to ensure Torkoal stays alive. Specs Electrode is a decent late game cleaner and with Life Orb Sheer Force Tauros the world is your China Shop.

Doesn't look amazing but is actually ok, and pretty fun to play with.

Hide

Flareon @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 244 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rest
- Facade
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower

Lilligant (F) @ Heat Rock
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 80 HP / 176 Def / 176 SpD / 76 Spe
Serious Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Aromatherapy
- Sunny Day
- SolarBeam
- Synthesis

Masquerain @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Bug Buzz
- Quiver Dance
- Ice Beam

Electrode @ Choice Specs
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 140 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SpA
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Foul Play
- Signal Beam

Torkoal @ Life Orb
Ability: White Smoke
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Rest
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Rapid Spin

Tauros (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Rock Climb
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

 

[Blast]

Okay voting is now open n_n

Here are links to all the eligible teams:

Soulgazer's team
Hollywood's team
Gr3gory's team
Brawlfest's team
Swagalge's team

A line or two explaining why you voted for who you did is preferred but most of you probably won't do that anyway

 

[CanadianWifier]

Voting for SoulGayzer's squad for multiple reasons. For starters, I have a personal vendetta against people who use spike-stack - I just find it super frustrating to play against, and lead Rampardos basically shits all over Crustle's dreams (at least 80% of the time b_b). Also, he's taught me the way of Scarf Adamant Mesprit, and I now live by the rule that every NU team needs one of those, else it's inferior to a similar team that yields one. Banded Flareon + Healing wish support is also pretty cute. Colbur Magius is a super solid mon, which not only pseudo-spinblocks the rocks that Ramp sets up, can also tear through weakened teams late game on speed and coverage alone. Speaking of tearing though teams, HP Ice Lilligant can eat most teams for breakfast if given even one free turn, which isn't hard to gain with multiple momentum-moves on this team (U-turn Mesp, B-Pass Flareon).
Kanga + Ghost + Fighting Resist 2 + hazard setter may be the "Soulgazer Standard", but he uses it for a reason - it works, and it's good :]


There, happy Dat Blast? More explanation than everyone else will give combined :]

 

[Davon]

Soulgazer because lead rampardos is really good. I also got to like 6 or 7 on the ladder with his team so it's quality-tested :]

 

[soulgazer]

Brawlfest because I don't think I can vote for myself ;] and because CM XATU is fun.

and because he has 2 fighting resist, a sr user, a grass, a fire check, and a panda.

 

[g]

Brawlfest because wisp is the best move in the game

 

[Swagalge]

I vote for Gr3gory, as the team looks fun and Flareon and lilli rek in da sun

 

[Brawlfest]

I vote for Gr3gory, as the team looks fun and Flareon and lilli rek in da sun

Sadly that Flareon is has 252 Special Attack similarly to his Regirock.

Btw voting Hollywood because its basically a lordsquad.

 

[Swagalge]

Sadly that Flareon is has 252 Special Attack similarly to his Regirock.

Btw voting Hollywood because its basically a lordsquad.

Lol didn't even notice, I assume that was an accident and will keep my vote

 

[Gr3gory]

Lol didn't even notice, I assume that was an accident and will keep my vote

Thanks and I meant attack on flareon and regirock. And my vote goes to Hollywood because it utilizes the newly introduced Kabutops

 

[Blast]

Okay voting is now closed. The votes are tied between Soulgazer, Hollywood, and Brawlfest's teams, and since I'm definitely not doing that lol I'm voting as well to break the tie.

It was a difficult choice (I was debating this like all day), but I decided to give this round to Hollywood. I think his team ~just~ outdoes the others in terms of structure, with Sticky Web being able to mitigate Flareon's low Speed and subsequently being able to keep up momentum with a strong offensive core. The other two were also quite good but I think Hollywood edges them out by just a bit.

With that said the next core is going to be...

+

Sand is a pretty overlooked strategy in this meta, but these two are easily its key components. Hippopotas sets up sand upon switch-in, allowing Stoutland to start smashing its way through opposing teams with the extra Speed gained from Sand Rush and powerful Returns. Hippo can also serve as a semi-reliable Stealth Rock setter with its decent physical bulk, further supporting Stoutland and its team, as well as having an interesting choice of items between Smooth Rock and Eviolite--the former being better on more offensively-minded teams and Eviolite being more conservative. I think sand should be pretty interesting to experiment with in this thread given that it's a relatively unexplored playstyle, so hopefully it'll spark a lot of creativity in teambuilding this round :) Gl to all and as always remember to post as much feedback as you can to keep this thread alive!

 

[Ares]

Looking forward to seeing some cool sand teams. One of the hardest parts is accounting for the grass / water weakness, will be interesting to see those answers.

Also last time I made a sand team I had sigi with magic guard RIP

 

[Gr3gory]

Ah, what a odd team. Stoutland is a monster in the sand due to sand rush making him insanely fast. And I gave him a AV so he takes special hits 1.5x better. Hippo is the sand man with a eviolite and slack off so he can support stout for a while. Now we have overcoat leavanny. Why overcoat? So sash did not get destroyed by the sand. Carracosta is a WP user so bye-bye walls. Mesprit is a team effort person so he wrecks at good health and support after death. Btw, he's safety goggles so sand won't hurt. Last we have Snoozerupt, a set I wanted to try. You can sleep on the job and still hurt. Hope you enjoy the team.

Hide

Stoutland @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Play Rough
- Wild Charge
- Crunch

Hippopotas @ Eviolite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
- Return

Leavanny @ Focus Sash
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- X-Scissor
- Leaf Blade
- Swords Dance
- Sticky Web

Carracosta @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Stone Edge
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet

Mesprit @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Ice Beam
- Dazzling Gleam
- Healing Wish

Camerupt @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

 

[New Breed]

I have a bit of time so I might as well throw down a challenge to Soulgazer ,,

Okay so as with all weather in NU the best way to go by far is HO, just to minimize the turns you waste. With that being said I opted to use Smooth Rock Hippopotas as I felt 5 turns of Sand just simply isn't enough time to make a significant impact on games, not to mention that a well played Hippopotas without Eviolite can still easily give you 16-24 turns of sand throughout the match.

There is really only two choices with Stoutland and that is Life Orb or Choice Band, I went with LO since it's more consistant early game, Retaliate is an interesting option especially late game coming in to revenge something and just seemed like a better overall choice than something like Wild Charge with that nasty recoil.

The rest of the team was basically tailored to support a Stoutland sweep with offensive synergy, Focus Sash Qwilfish gives you early game momentum with Taunt, the option of Toxic Spikes and Spikes are really nice as Toxic really wears down common Rock type Pokemon such as Rhydon quickly and Spikes of course is doing a number on Steel types.

Specs Rotom and SD Pawniard not only form an effective hazard preserving core but also have great synergy with Stoutland, Pawniard can potentially Knock Off common physical walls such as Seismitoad or Vileplume and Rotom again pressures Rhydon + Seismitoad all of which could check Stoutland. Feraligatr just patches up the Fire weakness and as you all know does extremely well when paired with Spikes, second form of priority is also crisp.

Pretty standard but effective.. dash.

Import

Qwilfish @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Explosion
- Taunt

Hippopotas @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Whirlwind

Stoutland @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Superpower
- Pursuit
- Retaliate

Rotom @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Volt Switch
- Trick

Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 136 HP / 252 Atk / 120 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch

Feraligatr @ Lum Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 64 HP / 252 Atk / 192 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Ice Punch

 

[Davon]

Importable

Stoutland @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Superpower
- Crunch
- Sleep Talk

Hippopotas @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off

Samurott @ Life Orb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Taunt

Swellow @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Pursuit

Probopass @ Air Balloon
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 200 HP / 252 SpA / 56 Spe
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Flash Cannon / Taunt
- Volt Switch

Slurpuff @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Return
- Belly Drum
- Protect

The new meta has arrived. Choice band Stoutland and pursuit Swellow, dafuq is happening right now. I'm gonna have to agree w/ New Breed and say that offense is definitely the way to go when dealing with sand because defensive teams tend to waste too many turns for sand's limited turns to be effective. Alrighty, we have here an offensive team based around normal spam and Samurott as the main offensive core. Samurott checks the rock types that switch into Swellow's u-turn, putting the opponent in a pretty bad position because not much can switch into Samurott. Call me crazy, but pursuit on swellow is fucking genius and pure innovation. Pursuit allows Swellow to trap Mismagius and scarfed Rotoms locked into shadow ball, doing this is very important so that Stoutland doesnt have to predict and can just kill everything with Frustration. Now, looking at the team it looks like it can really struggle breaking Ferroseed, which is where Probopass comes into play. Pretty much my whole team gets stopped by Ferroseed so it's really easy to just sac the least of the least useful one and trap Ferroseed with Probopass free of leech seed. Or you can just switch Probopass into Ferroseed, but leech seed is pretty dumb. I'm gonna slash taunt on Probopass because flash cannon isnt really all necessary since you have a reliable check to slurpuff called choice band Stoutland in sand. Lastly on this team we have belly drum Slurpuff who also takes advantage of Probopass's ability to trap steels. Slurpuff is my reliable switch in to fighting types, Stoutland does not appreciate a mach punch from gurdurr and i don't want Hariyamaka to get free fake outs to stall out the sand. Regarding Hippopotas, I chose to give it a smooth rock instead of an eviolite because i feel like Stoutland really benefits from he extra turns of sand late game. Ok, theres the team! I hope you all try choice band Stoutland because it freaking OHKO's gatr after rocks ffs.

 

[Blast]

Okay only one day left till submissions close, in the meantime just gonna note some stuff about the current teams:

New Breed Really solid team, a little weak to physical Waters and certain Grasses but otherwise I don't see any glaring weaknesses. Only thing is that I think Stoutland kinda wants Crunch somewhere so you have something more reliable against Ghosts so I'd consider it over Retaliate since it seems more filler than anything

Davon I like the team's concept but I think the execution could be improved upon, I feel like some of your members aren't supported well enough on a purely offensive team, Swellow in particular seems like a pretty weak link because it can't do anything about SR and that combined with Toxic and even sand really wears it down. Samurott also kinda seems a bit out of place on such a fast-paced team since it leaves you open to faster hole-punchers like Sawk, but that might be just me.

Gr3gory I already VMed you about this but please change your Leavanny set as it's illegal and will be disqualified if you don't before the deadline. I'd also recommend to actually test that team since there are a lot of signs you didn't