RMT: a noob's NU team edition.

[cagedWINGS]

Hello all. My name is James and I'm a Pokeholic. I am also new to the Smogon forum. I'm ALSO quite new to competitive battling, my friends are too busy shooting stuff on CoD to be interested in Pokemon, and I have only just recently, within the past three or four months, descovered Pokemon Online.

I would say my success in the metagame has been mixed since starting on Pokemon Online. In the past I've basically just thrown a random team of EV trained Pokemon together (mixed tier) without much thought into the detailed structure of said team. But today is the day that I put an end to this and start finally getting the basics down.

I've put together an NU team. Why NU you may ask? Well, we all know the metagame is super competitive and the rule is not to just pick favourites, but the NU team does have some of my favourites! I don't see any harm in building a team consisting of some Pokemon I cherish that (hopefully) actually works, right?

I've spent a lot time reading up on different aspects of the metagame. And my results are listed below.

Before I list the team however, I'll add that I HAVE taken this team out into the big bad world of Pokemon Online. The results have been sortof 50-50. I'm not sure whether that is due to my inexperience or whether its down to having a crappy/average team. Also due to my inexperience I'm a little unsure as to where and how to improve things. It might be a case that the team is fine but I just need to practice more, or you might be screaming at me to give up making teams :D. Well, anyhoo, my team:

Carracosta with Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 248HP, 252Atk, 8Def
Nature: Adamant
-Stealth Rock
-Stone Edge
-Waterfall
-Earthquake

Pinsir with Choice Scarf
Ability: Mould Breaker
EVs: 252Atk, 252Spe, 4Def
Nature: Adamant
-X-Scissor
-Brick Break
-Swords Dance
-Stone Edge

Mandibuzz with Leftovers
Ability: Big Pecks
EVs: 248HP, 148Def, 112Spe
Nature: Bold
-Roost
-Foul Play
-Toxic
-Mean Look

Torkoal with White Herb
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 4Def, 252SpA, 252Spe
Nature: Timid
-Rapid Spin
-Shell Smash
-Hidden Power Grass
-Flamethrower

Girafarig with Life Orb
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 4HP, 252SpA, 252Spe
Nature: Timid
-Calm Mind
-Baton Pass
-Psychic
-Thunderbolt

Pachirisu with Flame Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 156HP, 56SpA, 44SD, 252Spe
Nature: Timid
-Fling
-Covet
-Volt Switch
-Grass Knot

Team explain:

As I said before, this is my first time trying to build a proper structure to a team (although you might think I'm making it up as I go along judging by my choices?). I've come to understand that all teams feature a core that consists of two or three Pokemon that compliment eachother. The core of this team is Carracosta and Pinsir.

Carracosta is my lead, but I wouldn't say he was a suicide lead. He's my Stealth Rock guy, i.e he comes in first and sets up Stealth Rock, stays in if he needs to, switches out if not. The standard fare really, I'm not sure if he needs too much explaining.

Pinsir is my mid-late game physical sweeper. In my head in the past Pinsir has always been a bit of a sortof 'pseudo-Fighting type' without actually being a Fighting type, if that makes any sense whatsoever. After he's hopefully had the chance to set up with Swords Dance, he should be okay to go to town on the opponent.

I've tried to make it so that they cover eachother; Pinsir covering Carracosta against Grass types while Carracosta guards Pinsir against Fire and Flying types. The only chink in the chain is Carracosta's weakness to Electric. However with Earthquake and it's Solid Rock ability, Carracosta should be able to handle things. If all else fails I can always switch out. Sorry to state the obvious but I'm not sure how else to describe a core/coverage type scenario without being like "Earthquake is a Ground type move, derp".

What I like to call the 'extension to the core' is Girafarig. He's basically there to smash any big scary Fighting types that rear their ugly heads and he's immune to Ghost types which is really cool and handy. Girafarig also serves another purpose in that he is a support role too. He can Calm Mind/Baton Pass to Torkoal.

Now for the rest of the team that I don't feel belong to the core.

Torkoal is my uber bulky wall that can also special sweep. As previously mentioned Girafarig can Calm Mind/Baton Pass and make Torkoal a demon. He can set up by himself too if he doesn't have Girafarig supporting him. Torkoal is also my spinner.

Mandibuzz is the staller of the team. She holds a Pokemon there, taking hits with her bulk whilst healing with Roost, poisoning with Toxic and pummelling the opponent with its own attack stat using Foul Play.

My idea behind using Mandibuzz is to switch up my type of play on the opponent by completely slowing whatever momentum they might have. This is where we start getting into the '50-50' territory in terms of my success on Pokemon Online. With Mandibuzz, sometimes I have success in tricking and trapping an opponent. Other times it fails miserably. Again this might be due to me not quite using her to her potential just yet, but I definitely feel the tactic is a valid one.

My last Pokemon is really a wildcard. I got talking about Pachirisu with a friend recently and it got me intrigued about how he'd fair competitively. He is basically an annoyer. He enters when he has the freedom to do so, and chucks his flame orb at a physical-based Pokemon (or any Pokemon), burning it. It then steals the opponent's item, and Volt Switches the hell outa there. It has Grass Knot for the often heavy Ground types. Earthquake is sometimes an issue from Pokemon that are non-Ground, but I justify it like so; If Pachirisu is able to break a Pokemon's ability to sweep then he has served his purpose.

The main hole I can see in the team is the potential threat of Dragon types as I have no Ice types or moves. I've been sortof banking on Torkoal, Carracosta and Girafarig being able to set up to take care of them. Plus I've not been coming across many Dragon types really.

So, that's my NU team. There's probably some howlers that I haven't noticed which is the reason I'm not winning as much as I like. Any advice would be great.

Cheers,

James.

 

[Brawlfest]

Your Carracosta want's Aqua Jet over Earthquake, being able to get past opposing lead's custaps after waterfall.

Your pinsir is downright stupid. It has a choice scarf, so why do you have swords dance. You essentially get locked in. Why would you do that.If you want Choice Scarf, have X-Scissor / Stone Edge / Close Combat / Earthquake for full coverage. You getting locked into a setup move is suicide fodder.

Mean Look on Mandibuzz is also useless. Forcing switches is natural. Let it happen. You aren't going to be trapping anything useful. Run Substitute, Swagger, or Taunt over it. Taunt means that nothing can set up in your face, which is awesome. Swagger doubles the power of your Foul Play. And a Mandibuzz's substitute is very hard to break.

If you want SmashKoal. Then No Rapid Spin. It's a waste of a moveslot on a sweeper. I know smogon advises it, but its so stupid. Give it Clear Smog or Eruption, to break through Opponent's setups, or if the opponent hasn't touched you, get off a 150 base power STAB Attack.

Your Girafarig is a SAP SIPPER. BatonPassing Calm Minder isn't bad, but you aren't using your Sap Sipper. There isn't much to change, but it's ok.

Pachirisu is downright Terrible. If you want to give the opponent status, fling a light ball. So at least you wont be burning yourself if you don't. Rather than that stupid pokemon, use Raichu or Electabuzz.

 

[cagedWINGS]

Thanks for the advise.

I completely missed the Choice Scarf with Pinsir! I just checked my Pinsir out on Pokemon Online and it doesn't even carry that item. So I've done a bit of a typo there. He actually holds a Life Orb.

I see what you mean with Torkoal, but I need a spinner really because I don't want to get hammered by entry hazards. I made him a special sweeper to give me the best of both worlds. I'll definitely swap Flamethrower for Eruption though. My reason for taking Flamethrower initially was the stat lowering after each use with Eruption, but after Shell Smash or Girafarig's Calm Mind/Baton Pass I don't see it as that much of an issue.

Speaking of Girafarig, do you think it'd be a good idea to give it the Early Bird ability with Rest instead of Thunderbolt?

Pachirisu is so fuzzily and wuzzily! I know that he isn't the best, but I dunno, I just wanted to try him really. I like the idea of trying Pokemon that people may not be expecting, but I think it's early days yet for me and I should stick to less experimental Pokemon. After a while I'll probably switch him for Raichu or Electabuzz like you said, or even swap him for an Ice type. I will however use a Light Orb instead.

I'll edit my team and give it a try.

Thanks!

 

[Blast]

Not a full rate, but I'ma go over Brawlfest 's changes.

Since Pinsir is LO, change the set to: SD / X-Scissor / Earthquake / Quick Attack. Earthquake provides excellent coverage with X-Scissor, freeing Pinsir up to use a priority move (in this case Quick Attack) in the last slot. Quick Attack might sound dumb, but after an SD boost it hits surprisingly hard, KOing several offensive threats after a boost or 2. While you're at it, I'd give the ability Moxie a try, and while it might seem redundant with SD, it's really useful as with an SD boost and a Moxie boost, you can OHKO Charizard and Primeape after SR with Quick Attack.

Mean Look is pretty useless on Mandibuzz because of what Brawlfest said. Agreeing you should change it to probably Taunt.

Keep Rapid Spin on Torkoal. I know it's not /that/ easy to get a spin off and it disrupts a sweep, but you NEED Rapid Spin. Main reason is that if you don't have Spin, you don't have any reason to use it over other Shell Smashers such as Gorebyss. Also, do NOT use Eruption. Torkoal is just worn down far too quickly for Eruption to work. If you really want a stronger Fire-type move, use Fire Blast.

Sap Sipper on Girafarig is more useful than you think: if you manage to get a SS boost, you can Baton Pass ATTACK boosts too along with CM. Not gonna really go into detail b/c I really don't like Girafarig in general, but you get the gist of it.

Pachirisu sucks.

Wow, this post was a lot longer than I thought it would be, but w/e.

 

[cagedWINGS]

Thanks a bunch for your help.

It's promising that I only have to make a few tweaks to my team and it isn't all just a complete mess that I need to scrap and start over. It shows I'm getting the gist of this whole team building business :D!

I know you all might think I'm nuts but I'm not going to drop Pachirisu just yet. On Pokemon Online I get a lot of laughs and comments about Pachirisu as he's just such a rare Pokemon on the competitive circuit, although admittedly it might be for a good reason.

I'm determined to figure out how to use him properly. It's not just for the sake of giving Pachirisu some love either. In a way I'm trying to teach myself how to incorporate strange Pokemon effectively into a team. That's why I'm sortof making it my mission to add at least one bit of quirk with each team that I build. If after a while it just doesn't work I'll gladly change him.

Dat Blast do you think Girafarig with Early Bird + Rest would be a decent idea?

Also, is having nothing to counter Dragon types completely suicidal? The RU tier doesn't seem to feature many Dragon types so I've kinda concentrated my efforts elsewhere.

 

[scorpdestroyer]

There is absolutely no reason why you should be using Pachirisu. It sucks, flat out. Look at its stats, what do you think it can do well? I understand that you're trying to fit in uncommon Pokemon, but please don't use a Pokemon that sucks at the same time. I guess you can chuck your item, steal the opponent's, and switch out, but that's it...? Ok so you burn your opponent and remove its item. Once. Why even bother taking up a teamslot with Pachirisu, when you can easily do the same thing multiple times? If you want to spread burns, you could always go with Misdreavus, Drifblim, Frillish, etc, and if you want to get rid of items, you could always use Gurdurr. And if you want momentum, there are countless amounts of Pokemon that can do it better than Pachirisu, which is not going to be tanking/dishing out powerful hits.

Also, you definitely should not try to tank special hits, especially super effective ones, with Carracosta

 

[cagedWINGS]

It's not that I'm trying to spread burns with Pachirisu. That is really just an added bonus to his key role.

Pachirisu's main function in the games is to ferry items to different Pokemon in your team during double battles. I'm adapting that function into a more offensive context in single battles, and just seeing if it is at all possible.

Pachirisu's stats are terrible, yes, apart from the one vital stat that aids my tactic; his speed. He isn't designed to be a sweeper or a wall. He's what I like to think of as a 'glass supporter' or 'glass annoyer'.

Being able to screw over a physical sweeper by burning or paralysing it, and then stealing said sweeper's Life Orb or Choice item from it, essentially shutting it down, is Pachirisu's purpose.

Pachirisu could then proceed to come out against a wall, throw the previously stolen Life Orb or Choice item and then steal the wall's Leftovers.

He has Volt Switch to get out quick as possible as I know that hit and run tactics work best for such a fragile critter.

Lastly he has Volt Absorb. It makes him able to come in if I predict an Electric type is going to get my Carracosta. Admittedly most of the time he'd have to wait until one of my team to be KO'ed for it to be safe to switch in.

Like I say, it's a theory that in practice has had some success, some failure, but I don't think Pachirisu is totally bad if used in the context I intend for it.

I'll also let you all in on a little secret; Pachirisu and this particular tactic is the initial idea for the team. The reason this team exists is because I'm curious about the usefulness of the little fella.

After reading up about 'cores' in teams I realised he wouldn't cut it as a core Pokemon so it lead me to come up with the addition of Carracosta and Pinsir, then I added the rest.

Now you can understand my unwillingness to drop him :P.

 

[cagedWINGS]

So after taking everyone's advice onboard this is how my team stands:

Carracosta with Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 248HP, 252Atk, 8Def
Nature: Adamant
-Stealth Rock
-Stone Edge
-Waterfall
-Aqua Jet

Pinsir with Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252Atk, 252Spe, 4Def
Nature: Adamant
-X-Scissor
-Brick Break
-Swords Dance
-Stone Edge

Mandibuzz with Leftovers
Ability: Big Pecks
EVs: 248HP, 148Def, 112Spe
Nature: Bold
-Roost
-Foul Play
-Toxic
-Taunt

Torkoal with White Herb
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 4Def, 252SpA, 252Spe
Nature: Timid
-Rapid Spin
-Shell Smash
-Hidden Power Grass
-Flamethrower

Girafarig with Life Orb
Ability: Early Bird
EVs: 4HP, 252SpA, 252Spe
Nature: Timid
-Calm Mind
-Baton Pass
-Psychic
-Rest

Pachirisu with Light Ball
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 156HP, 56SpA, 44SD, 252Spe
Nature: Timid
-Fling
-Covet
-Volt Switch
-Grass Knot

 

[AlexArthur]

Pachirisu is just horrible, there are much better Electric types you could use. Pikachu, Emogla , Raichu , Electabuzz , Rotom-F,Rotom-S and Ampharos all come to mind.

Pikachu is a glass cannon but with Lightball does get pretty strong.
Emogla is pretty weak but with Motor Drive, Baton Pass and Taunt could fit nicely.
Raichu is a better Pikachu, not limited to using Lightball for strength, has access to Encore and Nasty Plot for some nice set-up.
Eviolte Buzz is a good bulky pivot.

 

[Qualna]

Pikachu sucks too! At least it's better than Pachirisu, but let's get to my suggestions.


First, why is Torkoal holding a White Herb, I don't get why people use White Herb with Shell Smash, I mean, do you use your defenses when you go on an "all out" sweeping mode? Use damage boosting item like Flame Plate or even Life Orb. Sure, it makes it less suspectible to priority attacks and still faster enemies but achieving OHKO is much better, since you won't be forced to take a hit. "Prevention is better than cure" isn't it?

Second, Girafarig should have Sap Sipper, the grass immunity is really useful on a tier filled with Grass types. A Rest + Early Bird set isn't very good because Girafarig is so frail to do such tactic and the fact that most sleep moves are grass types is another reason to use Sap Sipper.

Third, Pinsir can run Jolly Nature, it's up to you, it only outspeeds uncommon pokémons but it can mess up the oppenents game plan.

And last, Pachirisu is a pretty useless pokémon, even the niche you say isn't enough to make it good. Just use a pokémon that can learn Knock Off or Trick if you want to get rid of items. You know, something like Jynx. I can see that you made this team for Pachirisu but you put teams on the RMT to make it better so say goodbye to the little fella.

I hope my suggestions will help your team. :) :3