BW RU Save The World - Peaked at #2.

Pearl

Romance は風のまま
is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis the 7th Grand Slam Winneris a Past SPL Champion


~~~

The team at a glance:

.
.
.
.
.
.
.​
Hey there, people from Smogon! I'm about to present you the best RU team I've made (so far). Before that, I'll introduce myself, since I'm still a random person to most of you. I'm Pearl, and I'm a moderator on the official Pokemon Online server. However, lately, I've started to visit Smogon more, since the Pokemon Online server is starting to lose its fun. Maybe because coyotte508 made lots of mistakes there and decided to ruin the Dream World tier, after making it official, and because Smogon's OU tier is much more balanced at the moment. Also, because of the server's name, it usually lures lots of retarded people. Don't get me wrong, though. There are amazing people on that server, and that's the reason why I still go there. Whatever. About the team: It's a Spikes stacking offensive team centered around Moltres. It peaked at #2 on the RU ladder, as you can see above, and helped me winning in the finals of the RU tournament hosted by Foster (when everyone was predicting me to lose). I usually only go to the ladder so I can test the teams I make, and I don't consider myself good because I get high on them. However, this team makes me feel proud of myself as a competitive player, because it's effective, creative and fits my playstyle almost perfectly. I'm retiring it, though, since there's too much awesome stuff down in RU to test, and I feel it's wrong to keep using the same team. However, I don't consider it easy to use, since it requires a lot of prediction and double switching to be effective, and a single missplay may lead to defeat. Without further ado, there is the team:

~~~

The team's defensive synergy:​


~~~

It's time to give the team a closer look:


@
( Life Orb )
Trait - Pressure
EVs - 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid (+ Spe, - Atk)
  • Fire Blast
  • Air Slash
  • Hidden Power ( Grass )
  • Roost

When you ask stuff such as "what is the strongest Pokemon in RU?" to a group of people, the answer will most likely vary from person to person. In my opinion, Moltres is the strongest one in the tier, and that's why I chose it as my main sweeper. Against certain teams, I'll end up using it to lure bulky Water-, Ground- and Rock-type Pokemon, so Drapion can sweep during late game. However, it'll almost always sweep by itself, flinching its way past Slowking and Clefable with Air Slash, like Excadrill does to Skarmory and Gliscor in OU. Most of you already know how strong Moltres is from Gen 4 UU (the best tier ever), and why. For those who don't, there it is: Moltres is strong because of its ability to OHKO / 2HKO the entire tier after the residual damage caused by Stealth Rock and Spikes, and even when they're not up, Fire Blast still packs a punch. Roost is a filler, and it's awesome, for when Claydol fails to Rapid Spin, and even if it manages to, it's still helpful to heal recoil from Life Orb and PP stall stuff such as Clefable out (paralysis from Thunder Wave isn't a problem because I'm using Heal Bell Lanturn) thanks to Pressure, in case I'm unable to Air Slash it to death.

~~~


@
( Leftovers )
Trait - Levitate
EVs - 240 HP / 224 Def / 44 Spe
Bold (+ Def, - Atk)
  • Rapid Spin
  • Stealth Rock
  • Earth Power
  • Ice Beam

It's obvious a team with Moltres as the main sweeper needs a Pokemon with Rapid Spin to support it. I decided to use Claydol over Sandslash because, thanks to Levitate and its secondary Psychic typing, it gives me a better answer against Ground- and Fighting-type Pokemon such as Golem or Medicham, which would do over 60% damage to Sandslash before getting nailed by Earthquake. Its higher Special Defense is also helpful, since, even when uninvested, it can tank a hit from a powerhouse like Porygon-Z or Alakazam in a last resort, while Sandslash would just be OHKOd. Beside spinning, it's this team's Pokemon who lays Stealth Rock down, the most important factor of this game at the moment, since many threatening Pokemon, such as Scyther, Charizard and Moltres are weak to it. The EV spread may look weird at first, but it's very simple. I invested 240 EVs on HP, so Claydol hits a Leftovers number without sacrificing too much bulk. 44 Speed EVs allow me to outrun Pokemon with base 80 Speed that don't invest any EV in it, such as Mandibuzz, and the rest goes to Defense for obvious reasons. Earth Power and Ice Beam are my offensive moves of choice because they complement each other well.

~~~


@
( Choice Scarf )
Trait - Sniper
EVs - 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Jolly (+ Spe, - SpA)
  • Pursuit
  • Crunch
  • Earthquake
  • Ice Fang

This is probably the weirdest thing I've ever used in my entire life, but I had to do it, or this team would be smashed (yes, it's a pun, deal with it) by Shell Smash Omastar and other stuff that boost Speed. First, when I made this team, my goal was to abuse Substitute + Roost Moltres, so, I was using it to set up Toxic Spikes. However, since I can't play with a team that has little to no offensive presence, and fast Pokemon would eat the team at breakfast, I started to change stuff. However, Drapion was still needed beside its acess to Toxic Spikes, since I wanted something able to absorb them and give me a cool Psychic-type immunity at the same time, and the only thing that could do that beside Drapion was Skuntank, and even though it's Project NU's mascot, you have to admit it's lame as hell. The EVs allow Drapion to outrun Choice Scarf Rotom and hit as hard as possible. I know those extra HP EVs may not help me at all, but for me, wasting them is a crime. Like I commented above, it usually cleans stuff Moltres wasn't strong enough to KO with Crunch. It helps the team by trapping Ghost-type Pokemon such as Rotom, which means Claydol will be able to spin away entry hazards 90% of the time.


~~~


@
( Leftovers )
Trait - Volt Absorb
EVs - 40 HP / 188 Def / 252 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm (+ SpD, - Atk)
  • Scald
  • Volt Switch
  • Ice Beam
  • Heal Bell

Why the hell is this NU? I know it doesn't hit as hard as Omastar, and it also doesn't take hits like Slowking, even though it has a very huge HP, but it has an awesome typing, acess to Volt Switch and, most importantly, Heal Bell, a move that is very underrated, and makes games more quick by allowing me to take risks against stuff with Will-O-Wisp or Toxic, like Sableye. Another good thing about it is its ability to lure Ground-type, which means Moltres and Claydol, the two most important Pokemon of the team, have an easier time switching. Scald has, as you all know, a cool change of burning the opponent, but unlike other Pokemon using Scald, I rarely rely on it to win games. The EVs are, once again, more simple than what they look. I decided to use 40 HP EVs so Lanturn hits a Leftovers number. 28 Speed EVs help Lanturn outrunning Pokemon with base 70 Speed that don't invest on it. The rest was put on both defenses so it can take hits as well as possible. It's my counter to stuff such as Manectric, Rotom and Moltres, but like Claydol, it can take a hit from something threatening like Porygon-Z if needed. It's the most underrated Pokemon in the tier at the moment, in my opinion.

~~~


@
( Eviolite )
Trait - Iron Barbs
EVs - 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy (+ SpD, - Spe)
  • Spikes
  • Protect
  • Leech Seed
  • Gyro Ball

I really hate Eviolite, because it means you won't have that awesome Leftovers recovery on your defensive Pokemon, and maybe that's the reason why I play Ferroseed like something such as Accelgor or Scolipede, along with the fact Lanturn already gives me a cool answer against Water-type Pokemon and such. Protect + Leech Seed is a good form of HP recovering, since there isn't really anything better than that. However, Rest probably is a cool option for a long run, since Lanturn has Heal Bell. Gyro Ball will cause high damage to most stuff, even coming from Ferroseed's average Attack, because of its very low Speed. It plays a huge role on most Moltres sweeps, due to the Spikes support and its ability to lure Fire- and Fighting-type moves for it to come in. It checks the same stuff as Lanturn and giving me a very cool resist to the Dark- and Ghost-type moves Claydol and Dusknoir lure as well. Beside that, it does pretty much nothing else, but the fact it has awesome synergy with the rest of the team and Spikes are a must means I'm unable to replace it at all, not even by stuff like Roselia or Cacturne, due to its much better typing.

~~~


@
( Leftovers )
Trait - Pressure
EVs - 128 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature (+ Atk, - SpA)
  • Shadow Sneak
  • Substitute
  • Focus Punch
  • Pain Split

Last, but not least, there's Dusknoir. Ok, maybe it's least, and if Golurk was RU this team would work much better. Whatever. Every team with Spikes needs a Pokemon to block Rapid Spin, and since this one was very weak to Clefable, I decided to go with Substitute + Focus Punch Dusknoir instead of Rotom or Sableye to solve that problem. It's cool to lure Dark- and Ghost-type moves for Ferroseed, so he can easily set up Spikes, and it makes good use of them as well, since it'll most likely force switches. Pain Split works well in tandem with Substitute for obvious reasons. Also, Dusknoir has a very low HP as well, which makes it an even better option. Shadow Sneak is a STAB move and gets priority, meaning Dusknoir can revenge kill dangerous stuff like Moltres in case it's needed. I admit that this time, the EVs are quite complex. First, I maxed Dusknoir's Attack out, so it can hit as hard as possible. Then, I made sure it could outrun Clefable, so 124 Speed EVs went to Speed. Then, I wanted to make sure Porygon-Z wouldn't get a Special Attack boost thanks to Download, so I gave Dusknoir's Special Defense 4 EVs. The rest goes to HP, because they'd do nothing for me if I put them on Defense or on Special Attack instead.

~~~

The team's importable:

Moltres @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Air Slash
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Roost

Claydol @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 224 Def / 44 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam

Drapion (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sniper
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail

Lanturn (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 40 HP / 188 Def / 252 SDef / 28 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Ice Beam
- Heal Bell

Ferroseed (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball

Dusknoir (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 132 Atk / 4 SDef / 124 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Shadow Sneak
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Pain Split


~~~

Let's give the team a last look:

.
.
.
.
.
.
.​

I really hope you've enjoyed the reading and the format of the RMT. English isn't my first language, so I've probably made a mistake or two while writing, but that's irrelevant. I think more people should start playing RU, because now that Yanmega and Venomoth are banished from the tier, it actually requires skill to win a battle. Rate it, steal it, and if you've liked it, then you know what to do, right? Luvdisc it! If you didn't like it, then you are mean and you can die. Just kidding, of course.
 
I lost against this team yesterday, it was so hard to face those pokemon together, but I think you could have some problems with stall teams with sableye as their antispinner if they use them well.
I don't have much to say, so nice team :P I'm from PO also with the nick "Tragatela" xD
Edit:
CM Cofagrigus could be a problem, hoping a paralyze from Lanturn and using Crunch with Drapion could face it, unless Cofagrigus was a MixWall with WoW, but anyways, the team cover the actual RU ambient very well.
 
Hey there Pearl, that's a great team you got there :) My only advice for your team would be to put the speed EVs on your Dusknoir in HP since Clefable can't do much except toxic you anyways and the bulk would be better against most opponents anyways.

Also, both my username and my alt (SuperUltima) are on your screenshot. Yay!
 
This really is a great team, no surprise that it won the RU Tournament. What I liked most about it are your EV spreads; I can tell that you tested this team for a very long time until you found the exact EV spreads for each pokemon.

There really isn't much to be fixed, though I have some suggestions. First, I honestly don't really see what Ice Beam is doing on Lanturn, with no investment and no stab, it really isn't doing much damage even against super effective pokes. Have you tried out thunder wave over it? Your team is quite slow overall and a paralysis abuser really seems like it would work well. For example, I can see a sub lo Alakazam hurting your team a lot. If drapion switches in while it subs up, focus blast will ko it with very little prior damage or hazards up. Thunder Wave could be a nice last ditch move.

Also, this may sound weird, but have you considered using toxic spikes over ice fang on drapion? I don't see how useful ice fang is on drapion or how often you actually use it, but your team seems like it would love toxic spikes, especially with 2 pressure users. Though you would get locked into it, I can see it being a good last ditch effort if you don't need drapion anymore, or if you see that the opposing team is very weak to toxic spikes in team preview.

Just some things for you to try out, great team and congrats again on your win
 

Pearl

Romance は風のまま
is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis the 7th Grand Slam Winneris a Past SPL Champion
I lost against this team yesterday, it was so hard to face those pokemon together, but I think you could have some problems with stall teams with sableye as their antispinner if they use them well.
I don't have much to say, so nice team :P I'm from PO also with the nick "Tragatela" xD
Edit:
CM Cofagrigus could be a problem, hoping a paralyze from Lanturn and using Crunch with Drapion could face it, unless Cofagrigus was a MixWall with WoW, but anyways, the team cover the actual RU ambient very well.
No, it's not a problem. Moltres can 2HKO it with a Fire Blast even after a Calm Mind (IIRC) and like you said, Drapion can finish it off after some residual damage.


Hey there Pearl, that's a great team you got there :) My only advice for your team would be to put the speed EVs on your Dusknoir in HP since Clefable can't do much except toxic you anyways and the bulk would be better against most opponents anyways.

Also, both my username and my alt (SuperUltima) are on your screenshot. Yay!
I predicted that someone would ask or suggest me that. Well, as you know, Heal Bell has only 8 PP, so I had to make sure I could limit the number of times I'd need to use it, and letting Dusknoir absorb a Toxic if I can avoid such situation is pointless.


This really is a great team, no surprise that it won the RU Tournament. What I liked most about it are your EV spreads; I can tell that you tested this team for a very long time until you found the exact EV spreads for each pokemon.

There really isn't much to be fixed, though I have some suggestions. First, I honestly don't really see what Ice Beam is doing on Lanturn, with no investment and no stab, it really isn't doing much damage even against super effective pokes. Have you tried out thunder wave over it? Your team is quite slow overall and a paralysis abuser really seems like it would work well. For example, I can see a sub lo Alakazam hurting your team a lot. If drapion switches in while it subs up, focus blast will ko it with very little prior damage or hazards up. Thunder Wave could be a nice last ditch move.

Also, this may sound weird, but have you considered using toxic spikes over ice fang on drapion? I don't see how useful ice fang is on drapion or how often you actually use it, but your team seems like it would love toxic spikes, especially with 2 pressure users. Though you would get locked into it, I can see it being a good last ditch effort if you don't need drapion anymore, or if you see that the opposing team is very weak to toxic spikes in team preview.

Just some things for you to try out, great team and congrats again on your win
You're right. Ice Beam is mostly a filler. However, if I had to replace it for something, I'd replace it with Toxic, since there's stuff (for example, Mandibuzz), that when played well, can be a headshake. Toxic would help me in those cases. About Toxic Spikes on Drapion: Yes, It's a completely legit option, but I would probably end up not using it much, so I'd just stay with Ice Fang, since it's good against random stuff like Dragon Dance Altaria that people may I use on the ladder.

Thank you everyone for the rates!
 
Is there any reason you're using Drapion over Krookodile? Besides the bulk and nearly useless 6 points in speed, Drapion really has nothing going for it over Krook. Krook is stronger and a better cleaner with Moxie, and thanks to STAB on Earthquake, even more efficient at revenging Shell Smash Omastar. Unless you really want to absorb Tspikes I'd use Krook, and you have a trapper + spinner anyway to deal with Tspikes. great team!
 
I agree with fried rhys why not use kookodile instead? anyway great team very solid, good luck and hope you have a good success with this team
 

Pearl

Romance は風のまま
is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis the 7th Grand Slam Winneris a Past SPL Champion
Is there any reason you're using Drapion over Krookodile? Besides the bulk and nearly useless 6 points in speed, Drapion really has nothing going for it over Krook. Krook is stronger and a better cleaner with Moxie, and thanks to STAB on Earthquake, even more efficient at revenging Shell Smash Omastar. Unless you really want to absorb Tspikes I'd use Krook, and you have a trapper + spinner anyway to deal with Tspikes. great team!
I agree with fried rhys why not use kookodile instead? anyway great team very solid, good luck and hope you have a good success with this team
Yup. I need to absorb Toxic Spikes that much. Otherwise, both Dusknoir and Lanturn would lose almost all their effectiveness.
 
I've tested this team and it has worked wonders as well but I'm curious to know how you handle with SubPunch, Encore, Waterfall Poliwrath because if it gets up a sub it can hit pretty much everything on your team at least neutrally and I had to play mind games with Lanturn volt switching and Dusknoir..... Also, Might want to try Sableye > Dusknoir, works much better in my opinion...
 

Pearl

Romance は風のまま
is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis the 7th Grand Slam Winneris a Past SPL Champion
Only fault I can see is no phazers or hazers, otherwise it is a great team!
That's not an issue, as Baton Pass is an uncommon strategy, and the team's offensive nature already causes enough switches.

I've tested this team and it has worked wonders as well but I'm curious to know how you handle with SubPunch, Encore, Waterfall Poliwrath because if it gets up a sub it can hit pretty much everything on your team at least neutrally and I had to play mind games with Lanturn volt switching and Dusknoir..... Also, Might want to try Sableye > Dusknoir, works much better in my opinion...
Sableye is BL2 now, and even if it wasn't, I wouldn't consider it, since that change would make me very Clefable weak.
 

ebeast

she's probably sexting nprtprt
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
This is still an excellent team, Pearl. This is what got me wanting to make my own RMT, and I even considered you my rival back then in terms of RMT quality and views. This team definitely deserves more discussion and here's hopes you'll bring this RMT back to its feet!

Also, will you be updating it now that Golurk is available? You said it would better over Dusknoir, and I can't wait to see this team surpass what it already has accomplished. Good luck, bro. :D
 

Pearl

Romance は風のまま
is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis the 7th Grand Slam Winneris a Past SPL Champion
This is still an excellent team, Pearl. This is what got me wanting to make my own RMT, and I even considered you my rival back then in terms of RMT quality and views. This team definitely deserves more discussion and here's hopes you'll bring this RMT back to its feet!

Also, will you be updating it now that Golurk is available? You said it would better over Dusknoir, and I can't wait to see this team surpass what it already has accomplished. Good luck, bro. :D
Not really, this team has already shown its awesomeness and now shall have its well deserved rest. It's also worth mentioning that Rewer made it to the council for the Quick Vote on Cresselia and someone else, I think it was MarceloDK, but I'm not sure, also used it for moderated sucess.

Also, thanks for the positive feedback. The bump was unappreciated though.

EDIT: Post 100!
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top