RU Rampage

[PTJon7]

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I've always been really interested by RU, I feel like you can be much more creative with your​

teams in the lower tiers. I play RU very little, but seeing that a suspect test was going on drove me to try and get back into the tier. I've used 2/3 of the pokemon on this team to great success in UU already, so I figured that they would work even better in RU. I'd say this team's biggest weakness is Electric typing, if Golurk is gone then Electric types can hit half my team super-effectively and force me to rely on Escavalier to take them out. As I'm posting this I'm currently #13 on the Suspect ladder, with a record of 29-5. I feel like a lot of my games were just easy wins against poor players, I'm pretty sure most high level RU players would beat me. So that's why I'm here, I'd love any input, advice, or criticism I can get, I want to make this team as good as possible. Thanks!​

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The Team​

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Crustle​

Crustle @ Custap Berry
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Lonely Nature
- X-Scissor
- Rock Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes

Custap Crustle is my favorite suicide lead in both RU and UU thanks to it's good offensive presence, access to both Stealth Rock and Spikes, and the fact that it isn't entirely dependent on speed to set up it's hazards. Crustle is also a great answer to any Snovers that may be leading in a battle, as Rock Blast can 2-shot any Snover with a Focus Sash. X-Scissor lets Crustle hit a lot of things neutrally and do some decent damage to Slowking or Uxie. The EV spread is to minimize Crustle's bulk and make sure that he gets knocked down to Custap range.

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Crawdaunt​

Crawdaunt @ Choice Band
Trait: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 HP / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Superpower
- Endeavor

Choice Band Crawdaunt is the team wall breaker, boasting an attack stat of 744 after factoring in Adaptability and Choice Band. Waterfall and Crunch are literally the only moves I have ever used on Crawdaunt, Superpower is there just because it's an attack and Endeavor is there because I can't think of anything else better to put there. I think CB Crawdaunt is just really cool and effective but I'm willing to bet there may be better wallbreakers out there. I'd be willing to try out pretty much anything that gets suggested.

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Braviary​

Braviary @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Return
- Superpower
- U-turn

Braviary is one of my favorite 5th Gen pokemon, I think it just looks absolutely awesome. Flying is a pretty powerful offensive typing in RU, and Braviary can abuse this to it's full extent by spamming STAB Brave Birds. Return is for solid secondary STAB coverage on things that may resist Brave Bird, Super Power is mainly for revenging Steel types, and U-Turn is to grab the team some momentum. Defiant is pretty sitational but can be really useful in certain situations, especially against Qwilfish.

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Slowking​

Slowking @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
- Surf
- Psyshock
- Nasty Plot
- Trick Room

Nasty-Room Slowking is a pretty awesome threat in RU. I Nasty Plot with it very little but it sets up Trick Room at least once a game usually. Being one of the two members of the team with actual bulk I rely on it quite often to take a hit, but thanks to it's great bulk and access to Regenerator that usually isn't a problem. Trick Room is one of my favorite offensive strategies just because it can screw up opposing offensive teams so much. I mainly use Escavalier to sweep under Trick Room but it really just comes down to match ups and what works best for each game.

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Escavalier​

Escavalier @ Leftovers
Trait: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Substitute
- Swords Dance

I saw Sub-Swords Dance Escavalier posted somewhere on the RU forums and I figured I might as well try it out. Escavalier is my premier offensive Hail counter thanks to it's resistance to Ice, immunity to Hail damage, and access to very powerful STAB attacks. Its very rare for me to actually set up a Swords Dance with Escavalier, I often wonder if I'm better off doing something like Sub-3 Attacks or just going with a CB set instead. Setting up a Sub is pretty easy a lot of the time thanks to Escavalier's awesome bulk.

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Golurk​

Golurk @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 124 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Punch
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Drain Punch

Golurk is the team's spin blocker, Fighting counter, and all around good tank. 124 Speed EVs lets it outspeed uninvested base 70's, but I'm not really sure if that much speed is that necessary. I've also used 252 Speed before which can sometimes be nice but I feel like the team could use some more bulk. Golurk's attacks give it great coverage, with 3/4 of them getting boosted by Golurk's ability Iron Fist. Golurk is my go-to guy whenever I'm up against a Fighting type, as most lack any good ways to deal with him.

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[Scotti]

Hey PTJon this is not much of a rate, but i think you could put X-Scissor instead of Endeavor on Crawdaunt it will just give you more coverage, but it seems like more help than Endeavor. Great team though.

 

[atomicllamas]

Hi PTJon7, this is a pretty good looking RU team, but I think that there are some better choices for Crawdaunt. Choice Band Emboar not only has pretty good synergy with your team (arguably better than Crawdaunt), and also has better defenses than a piece of wet paper.

Emboar @Choice Band
80 HP/252 Atk/176 Spe
Adamant nature
-Wild Charge
-Superpower
-Flare Blitz
-Sleep Talk

This gives you something to absorb sleep while still having huge wallbreaking potential. This also lures in things like Qwilfish, which Braviary will appreciate the removal of. The speed EVs give you 210 speed, one point higher than Crawdaunts current speed, allowing you to attack Crawdaunt/Omastar before they set up. Also Crawdaunt is kinda bad in the current meta tbh...

Escavalier should probably run something other than sub/swords dance as it is huge Moltres/Emboar bait, and neither of your attacking moves really hurt them that bad.

Good Luck with the rest of your RUing! I hope you get reqs!

 

[PTJon7]

Thanks man, I'll be sure to try out Emboar in Crawduant's place. CB Crawdaunt just seemed like a fun idea, I was expecting/hoping that someone would be able to recommend a good replacement for it.

 

[Mack the Knife]

Toxic is a better filler move than Endeavor. Also, it's better to be locked in on toxic than Endeavor.

 

[mkizzy]

I agree with atomicllamas' change from Crawdaunt -> Emboar, although you can also change it to DD Crawdaunt:

Crawdaunt @ Lefties | Adaptability
Jolly | 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Substitute | Dragon Dance | Waterfall | Crunch

(using sub > superpower because your team doesn't seem too weak to steel types, although you could run superpower > sub and lum > lefties to still have protection from status)
I think this has a bit more synergy with your team than band. Also, since you mentioned not setting up with Escavalier's Swords Dance often I would definitely recommend slapping a Choice Band on that baby (or even Occa Berry if HP Fire Lilligant is giving you troubles but by the look of your team it isn't.) I'd use this:

Escavalier @ Choice Band | Overcoat
Adamant | 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spd
Megahorn | Iron Head | Pursuit | Sleep Talk

It's really nice to have a Sleep absorber, especially in RU with things like Amoonguss, Lilligant, and Smeargle running amok. The Speed EVs are for outspeed Slowking, which is nice to get out of the way so you can wreck with a Slowking of your own. You could also run 124 Speed EVs for Spiritomb if you're having trouble with that, only it significantly reduces the bulk of Escavalier so that's dependent on the rest of your team really. Another small change would be running Fire Punch > Ice Punch on Golurk, Ice Punch is only hitting Druddigon and Braviary harder, and the latter is pretty rare. Fire Punch hits a lot of mons in RU for SE damage, most notable Escavalier, Durant, and all the Grass types that give Golurk trouble like Tangrowth and Lilligant. You could also run Choice Band on Golurk for that extra power since you aren't running Stealth Rock on it, but Lefties is fine too since you already have a few Choiced Pokemon. I also think that 108 speed EVs is fine for Golurk, speed creeping Lanturn and other things that want to speed creep Lanturn (You could run just 100 to outspeed Lanturn, 108 is just my personal preference). You could alocate the rest to HP or Sp.Def, as the other Speed EVs you have now are only helping outspeed (unless I'm forgetting more) Sp.Def Magneton.

Summary (please read the above stuff anyways n_n!):
Crawdaunt:
- CB Crawdaunt -> Sub DD Crawdaunt
Escavalier:
- Sub SD Escavalier -> Choice Band Escavalier (or Occa Berry if you have trouble with HP Fire Lilli, which I find it to be a pain sometimes)
- 4 Speed EVs -> 84 Speed EVs or 124 Speed EVs
Golurk:
- Ice Punch -> Fire Punch
- Leftovers -> Choice Band (optional, personally I'd keep Lefties)
- 124 Speed EVs -> 108 Speed EVs

Really cool team though, looks solid =)
hope you liked my rate

 

[saxtonhale]

Howdy.
I like the team! Glad to see Crustle getting love, he's a crazy good lead.
Replace his Lonely nature with Adamant. That way, his Attack isn't needlessly lowered should he need to attack.

Hope this helped!
-saxton

 

[Warb]

I agree with atomicllamas' change from Crawdaunt -> Emboar, although you can also change it to DD Crawdaunt: (using sub > superpower because your team doesn't seem too weak to steel types, although you could run superpower > sub and lum > lefties to still have protection from status)
I think this has a bit more synergy with your team than band. Also, since you mentioned not setting up with Escavalier's Swords Dance often I would definitely recommend slapping a Choice Band on that baby (or even Occa Berry if HP Fire Lilligant is giving you troubles but by the look of your team it isn't.) I'd use this:

It's really nice to have a Sleep absorber, especially in RU with things like Amoonguss, Lilligant, and Smeargle running amok. The Speed EVs are for outspeed Slowking, which is nice to get out of the way so you can wreck with a Slowking of your own. You could also run 124 Speed EVs for Spiritomb if you're having trouble with that, only it significantly reduces the bulk of Escavalier so that's dependent on the rest of your team really. Another small change would be running Fire Punch > Ice Punch on Golurk, Ice Punch is only hitting Druddigon and Braviary harder, and the latter is pretty rare. Fire Punch hits a lot of mons in RU for SE damage, most notable Escavalier, Durant, and all the Grass types that give Golurk trouble like Tangrowth and Lilligant. You could also run Choice Band on Golurk for that extra power since you aren't running Stealth Rock on it, but Lefties is fine too since you already have a few Choiced Pokemon. I also think that 108 speed EVs is fine for Golurk, speed creeping Lanturn and other things that want to speed creep Lanturn (You could run just 100 to outspeed Lanturn, 108 is just my personal preference). You could alocate the rest to HP or Sp.Def, as the other Speed EVs you have now are only helping outspeed (unless I'm forgetting more) Sp.Def Magneton.

Summary (please read the above stuff anyways n_n!):
Crawdaunt:
- CB Crawdaunt -> Sub DD Crawdaunt
Escavalier:
- Sub SD Escavalier -> Choice Band Escavalier (or Occa Berry if you have trouble with HP Fire Lilli, which I find it to be a pain sometimes)
- 4 Speed EVs -> 84 Speed EVs or 124 Speed EVs
Golurk:
- Ice Punch -> Fire Punch
- Leftovers -> Choice Band (optional, personally I'd keep Lefties)
- 124 Speed EVs -> 108 Speed EVs

Really cool team though, looks solid =)
hope you liked my rate

If you want to run Sub DD Crawdaunt, I recommend using a Lum Berry instead of Lefties. Crawdaunt doesn't want to take hits ever anyways, so Lefties will only help you getting one additional sub in certain rare scenarios. A Lum Berry can let you set up early on things like lead Smeargle and the likes. Still, Crawdaunt doesn't hit hard enough after +1 to OHKO Amoongus or Tangrowth, which means that you'd be wasting up to 2 turns and 1 item to set up to a stage where you'd still be weaker than your CB counterpart. Disregarding the fact that DD Crawdaunt isn't what this team actually needs anyways, DD Crawdaunt is a terrible sweeper because it needs up to 3 [THREE] DDs to sweep.

Sub SD Escavalier is super duper overkill and most often than not, you won't have the luxury to get up both a Sub and a SD, so I'd recommend Sub 3 atks (Return / Pursuit / Sleep Talk? ... I dunno, Escavalier's movepool is super shallow but SD doesn't do it any good either).
Also, regardless of your item of choice, if you want to speed creep against base 30 speed Pokes, I recommend at least 88 Speed EVs instead of 84. It is something I used to do in UU with Escavalier because UU is has some really powerful base 30 Pokes (Slowbro, Snorlax, Cofagrigus) and offensive variants of Slowbro (for example Specs) tend to run 4 Speed EVs to creep against opposing base 30s. Now, I haven't payed as much attention to the RU metagame so I don't really know whether or not that particular speed tier is relevant at all, but if it is in any way (aka 4 Spe Slowking), that UU logic of mine can be applied here as well.

Howdy.
I like the team! Glad to see Crustle getting love, he's a crazy good lead.
Replace his Lonely nature with Adamant. That way, his Attack isn't needlessly lowered should he need to attack.

Hope this helped!
-saxton

A Lonely nature will still boost Atk but lower Def which helps Crustle to get into Custap Range.

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If you have trouble with sleep inducers in general, I can vouch for Sub SD Bouffalant as being the greatest PIMP you can ever hope to find. But seeing as you have a Normal type already, maybe a sleep talker may be better suited. You decide in the end anyways.

 

[mkizzy]

If you want to run Sub DD Crawdaunt, I recommend using a Lum Berry instead of Lefties. Crawdaunt doesn't want to take hits ever anyways, so Lefties will only help you getting one additional sub in certain rare scenarios. A Lum Berry can let you set up early on things like lead Smeargle and the likes. Still, Crawdaunt doesn't hit hard enough after +1 to OHKO Amoongus or Tangrowth, which means that you'd be wasting up to 2 turns and 1 item to set up to a stage where you'd still be weaker than your CB counterpart. Disregarding the fact that DD Crawdaunt isn't what this team actually needs anyways, DD Crawdaunt is a terrible sweeper because it needs up to 3 [THREE] DDs to sweep.

Sub SD Escavalier is super duper overkill and most often than not, you won't have the luxury to get up both a Sub and a SD, so I'd recommend Sub 3 atks (Return / Pursuit / Sleep Talk? ... I dunno, Escavalier's movepool is super shallow but SD doesn't do it any good either).
Also, regardless of your item of choice, if you want to speed creep against base 30 speed Pokes, I recommend at least 88 Speed EVs instead of 84. It is something I used to do in UU with Escavalier because UU is has some really powerful base 30 Pokes (Slowbro, Snorlax, Cofagrigus) and offensive variants of Slowbro (for example Specs) tend to run 4 Speed EVs to creep against opposing base 30s. Now, I haven't payed as much attention to the RU metagame so I don't really know whether or not that particular speed tier is relevant at all, but if it is in any way (aka 4 Spe Slowking), that UU logic of mine can be applied here as well.



A Lonely nature will still boost Atk but lower Def which helps Crustle to get into Custap Range.

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If you have trouble with sleep inducers in general, I can vouch for Sub SD Bouffalant as being the greatest PIMP you can ever hope to find. But seeing as you have a Normal type already, maybe a sleep talker may be better suited. You decide in the end anyways.

Running Lum + Substitute is kinda redundant considering Sub stops status. Also, lead Smeargle will be Whirlwinding you out anyways if you try to set up on it. And the +3 Crawdaunt thing is just untrue, +1 is fine vs defensive teams and +2 vs offensive teams. For example, +2 Crawdaunt outspeeds Rotom-C and +1 Lilligant, which is a really cool benchmark to hit. +2 Crawdaunt is also not being walled by much, only a few mons like Ferroseed (although this needs seed bomb/bullet seed to beat the crab) and Poliwrath (I'm pretty sure this wins no matter what set you're running). So yeah, DD Crawdaunt is certainly NOT a terrible sweeper. Also your Escavalier not running Megahorn is kinda silly don't you think :v (unless i misunderstood you meant other options or something?) and if he's running sleep talk on it he doesn't need a sleep absorber. The rest is cool though =)

 

[Warb]

The thing with Substitute on many Pokes is the fact that they are usually fast enough to set up a Sub before an opposing wall or support Poke can status it, ultimately getting a free Sub. Crawdaunt's problem is its 55 base speed which leaves much to be desired and lets it getting outsped by things like Smeargle and Sigilyph.
Also I feel like against a non-defensive team, you really need that +3 otherwise you will be outsped by positive natured Scarfed 90's (that includes Lilligant)

In the end it's just a preference, but we're arguing about a reduntant point because DD Crawdaunt doesn't work as a wallbreaker.


With Escavalier I meant Sub + Megahorn + Iron Head + Filler :x

 

[PTJon7]

After testing Emboar I think its probably a worthy replacement for Crawdaunt. I feel like Sub-3 Attacks with Pursuit as the 3rd attack is probably the way to go for Escavalier, and I've also made those changes for Golurk. Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[DiscoDucky]

Hey PTJon! This is a pretty solid team. Most of the issues have been covered by the posts above, so I'll be a tad nitpicky about the Crustle.

As a suicide lead, I prefer to run 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpDef IVs to allow Custap to go off more successfully.