Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
The main goal of this project is to encourage and maintain discussion on lesser used, but still effective, Pokemon in SM OU with community participation. In addition to discussion based on the Pokemon (plural) of that week, the thread acts as a nice way to encourage people to build with more creative options in the tier, getting them out of their comfort zone a bit.
Procedure:
Each week, 2-3 Pokemon will be chosen as our "test subjects". From there you can either post to reserve a Pokemon or just post whenever you want that week.
If you reserve a Pokemon, I'll tag you like 2-4 days before the next slate is posted. The point of this is to act as a reminder.
Once you pick your Pokemon and you feel that you have enough of an understanding of it to make a post, you simply post those findings here.
As we start up the next week, I'll announce which posts will be archived for the previous week. PLEASE NOTE:
The archived posts aren't the definitive best posts due to the very subjective nature of choosing them. The archived posts are usually the ones that do a good job at highlighting a bunch of general stuff about the Pokemon rather than focusing on one specific aspect.
With that in mind, don't be discouraged from posting more specific things! I usually give detailed posts about specific topics a shoutout or even a mention in the archive.
I will talk to other people about which posts I feel should be archived; I will mention the people I consulted after announcing the posts.
Guidelines:
When posting, you can include (but are not limited to):
strategies used
sets used
how you went about building with the Pokemon
general strengths / weaknesses you noticed about the Pokemon
if the meta is in favor of the Pokemon or not
how the Pokemon fares in high level / tournament play (examples are nice here)
and much more...
You do not need to ladder or build new teams to participate in this project if you don't feel the need to. Building and battling with your selected Pokemon is highly suggested, of course, but it isn't mandatory.
Including replays and teams in your post are both highly suggested and very helpful, but not mandatory. You can include replays and teams that don't belong to you (tournament replays, for example), but make it clear they aren't yours and give credit where credit is due. Also, please don't post a team that isn't public already without the consent of the original creator; that's just rude, yo.
Your posts don't need to be super lengthy & detailed, but they shouldn't be super short and simple. I'm not gonna put some arbitrary regulation on how many sentences you should have, but you should have at least a small paragraph.
If you have any questions or concerns about the project, please feel free to VM/PM me!
zygarde got thousand arrows this generation, making it a lot better than ORAS; it can now spam without worrying about ground immunities, letting it get past skarmory, celesteela, and even landorus-t after some boosts. it has a variety of cool sets including dragon dance and coil, making it a really diverse and strong pokemon to play with. mega venusaur seems to be a lot more consistent now than it was in ORAS. it does a great job checking threats like tapu koko, greninja, tapu bulu, and more. nihilego is a really cool new pokemon with a variety of solid sets to choose from.
REMEMBER: you simply pick 1 one of these 3 (or 2 / 3 of them if you want) and post here saying which one you're taking. if you don't want to reserve, you have between now and friday (1/13) evening to post.
if you are unsure of what to post, just look at the guidelines in the OP.
Mega Venusaur's function albeit unchanged from ORAS, it received a couple of small but beneficial buffs. This green dino's ready to rock the Gen 7 Metagame even better than it did last generation!
Strategies and Sets
Generally, Venusaur is pretty splashable and finds it home on nearly every playstyle. There's two ways to use it, that being offensive and defensive. But we're going to focus on defensive, as the utility and bulk it brings to the table are objectively better than the increased power.
Venusaur's spread is quite flexible, you can opt to run 80 Sp.DEF EVs to take hits from the likes of Ash-Greninja even better, but physically defensive is quite fine. 16 is the bare minimum for speed since it creeps Azumarill, but you can run more to creep for pokemon like Tapu Fini or opposing Venusaur. Giga Drain is a mainstay move for its nice recovery and solid damage output, especially since it doesn't have any passive recovery. Sludge Bomb is also a staple move due to the increase of fairies, and allows you to pressure Tapu Koko and generally dent others, and it even prevents Tapu Lele from coming in for free. Not to mention that the poison chance is very nifty. Synthesis is required as it is the only "reliable" recovery move that Venusaur gets. Sand isn't as common but Rain has seen a rise, and gimping the recovery can give some issues. Hidden Power [Fire] is a great move as it prevents you from being setup fodder to Ferrothorn (you generally 2ko), and you're able to go toe to toe vs Mega Scizor.
Are there Other Options to run?
Yes, if you aren't too troubled by Scizor/Ferrothorn, you could opt for Relaxed and even use Earthquake to surprise Heatran and chunk Magearna for a solid amount of damage. Leech Seed can be used to increase longevity, Knock Off annoys Chansey and Alolan Marowak, and Sleep Powder deserves a special mention for putting something out of commission, though it's not as good anymore thanks to Misty Surge/Electric Surge.
Pros/Cons
Pros - Great overall defensive typing and bulk to check pokemon such as Ash-Greninja, Protean w/o Extrasensory, Tapu Koko, Scizor and M-Gyarados.
- Thanks to the burn nerf and the rather uncommon appearance of sand, it boasts considerably better longevity than last generation.
- Splashable, fits on nearly every playstyle and has a few other options that can cater to the team's needs.
- Thick Fat generally helps as it removes weaknesses and in some situations, lets you 1v1 threats like Charizard-X
Cons - Lack of 100% reliable recovery. (Synthesis only has 8PP, and it's weakened by weather.)
- Psychic types like Tapu Lele and M-Zam are quite popular right now, which immediately threaten M-Venusaur.
- Susceptibility to passive damage. (While Burn nerf does help, hazards still hamper it due to lack of passive healing)
- The rise of lures like Z-Fly Landorus-Therian and Z-Bounce Gyarados don't help either.
Metagame Perspective
Well, how does M-Venusaur fare against SM OU? (Assuming Giga Drain/Sludge Bomb/HP Fire/Synthesis)
Disclaimer: This is just a rough estimate, situations can vary per individual battle and certain moves do well vs other pokemon (eg; EQ vs Heatran)
Great Matchups: Defensive Landorus-Therian, Defensive Garchomp, Scizor-Mega, Ferrothorn, Tapu Fini, Tapu Bulu, Tapu Koko (non BB), Rotom-Wash, Kartana, Mega Gyarados, Kingdra, Tangrowth, Mimikyu, Clefable, Dugtrio, Hippowdon
While it is threatened by common pokemon like M-Metagross, Alakazam and whatnot; M-Venusaur does a fine job at the metagame due to the overall omnipresence of the Tapus, Ash-Greninja, lack of certain megas like Medicham and pokemon like Tornadus-Therian being under the radar, it certainly does better in S/M than in the previous generation.
Slim Shady (Muk-Alola) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Poison Touch
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Atk / 148 SpD
Careful Nature
- Pursuit
- Knock Off
- Shadow Sneak
- Poison Jab
Kendrick Lamar (Heatran) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 224 HP / 208 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Earth Power
Lil Wayne (Tapu Bulu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 224 HP / 44 Atk / 92 SpD / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Zen Headbutt
- Superpower
The team uses the FWG core of M-Venusaur/Heatran/Tapu Fini, as all three quite compliment each other very well. Some of the spreads look odd but Muk-Alola provides a significant role in pursuit trapping dangerous threats like Tapu Lele and Hoopa-Unbound. Zapdos is setup to provide defog support (as Tapu Fini's set is more akin to a stallbreaker) while also surprising Rockium Lando-T by outspeeding even jolly variants and blowing it back with HP Ice. Finally Tapu Bulu helps versus bulkier teams by setting up and busting pass through usual balance cores.
the people i tagged and anyone else who wants to post have until friday (1/13) night to write up a post about whichever pokemon you took (zygarde / mega venusaur / nihilego). as a reminder to those unsure of what to post:
When posting, you can include (but are not limited to):
strategies used
sets used
how you went about building with the Pokemon
general strengths / weaknesses you noticed about the Pokemon
if the meta is in favor of the Pokemon or not
how the Pokemon fares in high level / tournament play (examples are nice here)
remember: you aren't limited to these guidelines; they're just here to help in case you aren't sure what to post. if you'd prefer to focus on 1 specific aspect of the pokemon you selected rather than a broad overview, that's okay! if you're still lost, try checking out this postby Infernal (rip).
if you signed up, but you cannot find the time to post, don't worry about it! just please don't do it regularly.
i'm thinking about going back to the original reserve system since i feel like this is a bit too messy personally, but i'm not sure. if people who are posting could suggest what they think i should do either in their posts or in a PM/VM, i'd appreciate it n_n.
oh also posting here to remind myself that kyurem-b will be in the next slate since i told someone that.
This is the best Zygarde set imo and extremely effective vs a lot of the stalls running rampant on higher ladder rn, which is very nice for anytime atm. Going more in detail to the set, lefties is there to let u heal off hp from subs and have increased longevity, The HP prevents Dark-typess from breaking your substitutes with Foul Play, most notably Mega Sableye, while also hitting enough HP to make subs unbreakable by Seismic Toss. which aids in setting up vs stall teams significantly. The speed outspeeds Shift Gear Magearna before a boost, which is one of the best Magearna spreads atm and hits ton of shit lower than that thing that you love out speeding in the process. The rest is dumped into Special Defense with a careful nature so that you can setup on special attackers and not get blasted by random HP Ice from mons like Lando-T, Tapu Koko, Zapdos, and others. The set is pretty self-explanatory but I'll run through it anyways. Sub lets you set up on passive stuff without fear of status and can really ease prediction on switches, Coil is the setup move on this set that makes u into an insane physical tank and makes TA a bitch to deal with when you've stacked up some boosts, TA is arguably the best mono attacking move in the game, and the last moveslot depends on whether you want your matchup vs offense or fat teams to be better (toxic is for stalling out stuff like Tangrowth and pressuring Unaware Clef while Espeed is just to deal with ur lower speed vs offense and hits quite hard after a couple of boosts).
Building with Zygarde
Pros/Cons
Place in Meta
Looking at the 1825 usage stats for Pokebank OU, let's examine Zygarde's matchup vs some of the most used Pokemon:
Landorus-T: It uses most non-SD sets as setup fodder:Good MU
Tapu Lele: Sadly Moonblast does an absurd amount of damage and it outspeeds you: Bad MU
Metagross-Mega: Ice Punch does too much for you to be comfortable: Bad MU unless it lacks Ice Punch
Tapu Fini: Deals with you fine unless it lacks Moonblast: Bad MU
Garchomp: Outspeeds and does a ton with Dragon STABs
Greninja-Ash: You avoid 2HKO from any hit pre-transformation and threaten to 2HKO it with +0 TA: Good MU
Tapu Koko: HP Ice Can be annoying, but you tank it easily and it lose 1v1: Good MU
Toxapex: You win 1v1, but Haze stops you from setting up reliably: Good MU
Ferrothorn: Setup Fodder: Good MU
Pheromosa: Choiced Variants locked into anything but Ice Beam does too much: Situational MU
Turn 2: Switches into Zapdos (for some reason) and only takes 37 from HP Ice, showing its insane special bulk and revealing that it's a Coil set.
Turn 19: Revenge kills heavily weakened Tapu Bulu
Turn 21: Did 73 to Greninja with TA, severely weakening it, and only took 45 from Specs Hydro.
Turn 29: Did 22 to Zapdos with TA to force it into Roosting
Overall, Zygarde did pretty well in this game and showed off how it can be valuable, using its insanely high special bulk to put a Battle Bond Greninja, which he couldn't switch his weakened Tapu Fin into, out of commission and pressuring a Zapdos repeatedly throughout the game with the threat of TA dropping it to the ground and rendering it incapable of checking Lando-T, which was important because of how crippled Tapu Bulu does. While ABR didn't play Zygarde perfectly this game, it certainly put in quite a bit of work and helped him clinch his Victory in the end.
It's hard to believe that the Pokemon that's number 003 in the Kanto pokedex has managed to become relevant in OU, 6 generations later, but here we are. Venusaur was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Mega Evolution mechanic in gen 6, and has only gotten better as the meta shifted to gen 7. Sporting an adequate defensive typing in Grass / Poison with excellent 80 / 123 / 120 defenses and a solid defensive ability in Thick Fat that removes two of its weaknesses, there are few hits that Venusaur can't take.
Why Use Venusaur?
Venusaur has enjoyed a wonderful transition into the seventh generation. Many, many changes have gone its way, from big changes, like Talonflame getting obliterated by nerfs, to small changes like the burn nerf allowing it to switch into Scalds more easily. It checks many of the new big dogs- all the Tapus not named Lele, Ash-Greninja, Buzzwole, Pheromosa, and Magearna. Tyranitar is less prominent due to a rise in fairy and fighting types (primarily the aformentioned Tapus, Pheromosa, and Magearna), and the most common weather is Tapu Koko + Pelipper Rain, so even Venusaur's matchup against weather is slightly improved. It struggles against new users of Z-moves like Supersonic Skystrike Lando-T and Salamence, as well as a surge in Volcarona and Mega Metagross usage, but those can be handled with teammates. Speaking of teammates, new Pokemon like Tapu Fini and Magearna provide excellent support for mega Venusaur.
Building With Venusaur
Venusaur builds don't tend to begin with it, since it excels primarily at filling defensive gaps in balanced teams. It can be plugged in as a blanket check to a lot of threatening Pokemon, a la Mega Scizor towards the end of gen 6. However, I did make an attempt to build specifically around it. The team I built began with the combination of Venusaur and AV Magearna to deal with all of the Tapus. Speaking of Tapus, I threw in Tapu Fini, to give me hazard removal and Misty Terrain support. I wanted to use Z-Rain Dance Manaphy, and it seemed to synergize well, so I added it. It gives the team its primary win condition. The rest of the team fell together as a pretty typical balance team, with bulky switchins to anything threatening. Celesteela handles Metagross without Thunderpunch, which is most of them, and Buzzwole beats Zygarde and sets up on opposing Ferrothorn easily. It's my secondary win condition, if I can get rid of special attackers.
Mega Venusaur can be forced out very easily by smart switches to things like Tapu Lele and Mega Metagross, so the first priority when building with it is to find switch-ins to those, because otherwise you will have to play incredibly cautiously with Venusaur. Because it is forced out by such ubiquitous wall breakers, I find Venusaur to be much more effective on bulky teams, rather than as a glue mon on pure offense. Offensive Venu teams put so much pressure on the Venusaur user to constantly double switch, or they'll have to sac something to every Lele switchin, and Venusaur is at its best when it stays in. In addition, HO teams don't have time to Defog as often as teams with more bulk, which cuts into Venusaur's durability.
Venusaur can be used on HO teams that struggle with Tapu Koko and need a check for Pheromosa, but that's not where it truly shines.
It is important to note that Venusaur is one of the Pokemon who hates Z-moves the most. It relies on statistic bulk rather than defensive typing, so it gets absolutely blown back by many common offensive Z moves, like Supersonic Skystrike from Lando-T, Gyarados, and Salamence, Continental Crush from Lando-T and Terrakion, and Inferno Overdrive from Volcarona. It can, however, absorb a poorly played (i.e. no Magma Storm) Bloom Doom from Heatran for its water-type teammates. However, if Z-moves can be played around, Venusaur can handle most of these threats.
Metagame Analysis So far, I've mentioned a lot of things that Venusaur does well. It 1v1's pretty much all of the A+ mons on the current Viability Rankings, which is a marvelous accomplishment. It can't beat them all at once, since Celesteela requires HP Fire (and that Steela doesn't have a Flying move) and Heatran needs Earthquake, but it can theoretically beat them all, along with the majority of A rank (outside of Hoopa , Zard-X, and some Garchomp). With Sand and Rain both on the decline, Synthesis has become more reliable, and an influx of Fairy types means Poison typing is more valuable than ever. The fact remains, however, that it is absolutely destroyed by three of the absolute best Pokemon in the metagame in Tapu Lele, Mega Metagross, and Z-Fly Landorus-T. For all of Venusaur's defensive prowess, there is nothing it can do to take hits from these three, and while it can hit them for solid damage on the switch, its only alternative afterward is to switch out and open up a teammate to a massive hit. That's why Celesteela and Magearna are two of its best teammates- they handle those three Pokemon about as well as anything could be expected to.
If you can keep the S-rank Pokemon in check, though, and avoid the Z moves mentioned earlier, Venusaur can become a near-unbreakable wall.
*hopefully I'll be available later to grab some replays for this.
Mega Venusaur's function albeit unchanged from ORAS, it received a couple of small but beneficial buffs. This green dino's ready to rock the Gen 7 Metagame even better than it did last generation!
Strategies and Sets
Generally, Venusaur is pretty splashable and finds it home on nearly every playstyle. There's two ways to use it, that being offensive and defensive. But we're going to focus on defensive, as the utility and bulk it brings to the table are objectively better than the increased power.
Venusaur's spread is quite flexible, you can opt to run 80 Sp.DEF EVs to take hits from the likes of Ash-Greninja even better, but physically defensive is quite fine. 16 is the bare minimum for speed since it creeps Azumarill, but you can run more to creep for pokemon like Tapu Fini or opposing Venusaur. Giga Drain is a mainstay move for its nice recovery and solid damage output, especially since it doesn't have any passive recovery. Sludge Bomb is also a staple move due to the increase of fairies, and allows you to pressure Tapu Koko and generally dent others, and it even prevents Tapu Lele from coming in for free. Not to mention that the poison chance is very nifty. Synthesis is required as it is the only "reliable" recovery move that Venusaur gets. Sand isn't as common but Rain has seen a rise, and gimping the recovery can give some issues. Hidden Power [Fire] is a great move as it prevents you from being setup fodder to Ferrothorn (you generally 2ko), and you're able to go toe to toe vs Mega Scizor.
Are there Other Options to run?
Yes, if you aren't too troubled by Scizor/Ferrothorn, you could opt for Relaxed and even use Earthquake to surprise Heatran and chunk Magearna for a solid amount of damage. Leech Seed can be used to increase longevity, Knock Off annoys Chansey and Alolan Marowak, and Sleep Powder deserves a special mention for putting something out of commission, though it's not as good anymore thanks to Misty Surge/Electric Surge.
Pros/Cons
Pros - Great overall defensive typing and bulk to check pokemon such as Ash-Greninja, Protean w/o Extrasensory, Tapu Koko, Scizor and M-Gyarados.
- Thanks to the burn nerf and the rather uncommon appearance of sand, it boasts considerably better longevity than last generation.
- Splashable, fits on nearly every playstyle and has a few other options that can cater to the team's needs.
- Thick Fat generally helps as it removes weaknesses and in some situations, lets you 1v1 threats like Charizard-X
Cons - Lack of 100% reliable recovery. (Synthesis only has 8PP, and it's weakened by weather.)
- Psychic types like Tapu Lele and M-Zam are quite popular right now, which immediately threaten M-Venusaur.
- Susceptibility to passive damage. (While Burn nerf does help, hazards still hamper it due to lack of passive healing)
- The rise of lures like Z-Fly Landorus-Therian and Z-Bounce Gyarados don't help either.
Metagame Perspective
Well, how does M-Venusaur fare against SM OU? (Assuming Giga Drain/Sludge Bomb/HP Fire/Synthesis)
Disclaimer: This is just a rough estimate, situations can vary per individual battle and certain moves do well vs other pokemon (eg; EQ vs Heatran)
Great Matchups: Defensive Landorus-Therian, Defensive Garchomp, Scizor-Mega, Ferrothorn, Tapu Fini, Tapu Bulu, Tapu Koko (non BB), Rotom-Wash, Kartana, Mega Gyarados, Kingdra, Tangrowth, Mimikyu, Clefable, Dugtrio, Hippowdon
While it is threatened by common pokemon like M-Metagross, Alakazam and whatnot; M-Venusaur does a fine job at the metagame due to the overall omnipresence of the Tapus, Ash-Greninja, lack of certain megas like Medicham and pokemon like Tornadus-Therian being under the radar, it certainly does better in S/M than in the previous generation.
Slim Shady (Muk-Alola) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Poison Touch
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Atk / 148 SpD
Careful Nature
- Pursuit
- Knock Off
- Shadow Sneak
- Poison Jab
Kendrick Lamar (Heatran) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 224 HP / 208 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Toxic
- Earth Power
Lil Wayne (Tapu Bulu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 224 HP / 44 Atk / 92 SpD / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Zen Headbutt
- Superpower
The team uses the FWG core of M-Venusaur/Heatran/Tapu Fini, as all three quite compliment each other very well. Some of the spreads look odd but Muk-Alola provides a significant role in pursuit trapping dangerous threats like Tapu Lele and Hoopa-Unbound. Zapdos is setup to provide defog support (as Tapu Fini's set is more akin to a stallbreaker) while also surprising Rockium Lando-T by outspeeding even jolly variants and blowing it back with HP Ice. Finally Tapu Bulu helps versus bulkier teams by setting up and busting pass through usual balance cores.
A and Monkey Smurf said pretty much everything that is relevant, so I will make it short. Some information might be even redundant, lol.
Overview
Mega-Venusaur do not add much to offense in my opinion, but is a good staple to balanced builds because is no momentum killer and checks very relevant threats right now.
It have good typing, bulk and a good ability, but to me, it shines most right now because the meta is pretty much in its favor.
Pros
- Birds are not everywhere as they were last gen
- In general, it is a good answer to Tapus and Ultra-Beasts
- It can take advantage of fairies and Toxic Spikes have more viable users.
Cons
- Psychic-types are more proeminent now - Tapu Lele and Mega Metagross are currently Rank S and rek Venusaur with ease, for example.
- Lures are most common and powerful this gen, which means Z-Moves need prior scout.
- Even with the burn nerf, is easy to wear it down.
Building with Mega Venusaur
Mega Venusaur is part of a very solid defensive backbone. Heatran remains one of its best partners, along with Tapu Fini, rounding a core that can perfectly beat each other counters. Magearna and/or Celesteela also sinergizes well, because it can deal with Tapu Lele and Metagross, respectively.
Place in metagame
It is a good answer to Tapu Bulu, Tapu Fini, Tapu Koko (if lacking Brave Bird); and to Pheromosa, Buzzwole, Kartana and Xurkitree. Other A+ threats handled by it: Ash Greninja, Celesteela, Greninja, Ferrothorn, Garchomp, Manaphy, Rotom-W, Scizor-Mega.
Sample Team
Standard team using the core I mentioned early. Is kinda lame and there are better teams with this same build, but this peaked 343 at pokebank OU ladder. Here some replays because internet is crap and I can't watch them rn to give proper URLs. http://pastebin.com/tDu1Gi7F
Overview: Nihilego can function as a very capable revenge killer with a choice scarf, or a powerful wall breaker with choice specs.
Strategies and Sets: While testing, the set I have found most effective is the choice scarf variant:
Nihilego @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Psychic/Thunderbolt/Thunder
The choice between psychic and tbolt depends on if you prefer to hit celesteela or Mega Venusaur
Other sets include choice specs:
Nihilego @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 80 HP / 176 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Psychic/Thunderbolt
Evs are for a beast boost in speed, max spatk and speed is also an option if you want a spatk boost for more power
Another option is a suicide lead, however I find the suicide lead set mostly outclassed and would not recommend it.
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
-Able to revenge kill multiple common threats with scarf such as +1 Zard X, +1 Gyarados, Scarf Tapu Lele
-Able to beat many common mons such as tapu fini, tapu koko, tapu bulu, zard Y, alolan marowak, and more in certain situations
-Solid speed tier and Special Attack Cons:
-Walled by steel types
-4x weak to ground, although somewhat mitigated by hp ice for lando t, chomp and zygarde
-Stabs are easy to abuse when choice locked
-For a speed boost on specs, must run 176 spatk which is sub optimal
-Awful defence
Metagame Perspective:
Nihilego can function pretty well in the current meta game because of its poison typing enabling to beat all 4 of the tapus, however being walled by steel is absolutely awful for it with mega metagross as an S tier threat. Beating 2/3 S ranked mons in 1v1 situations is very nice however. While clearly having flaws, nihilego can function at a decent level in this meta game.
Matchups to watch out for: Mega metagross, Magearna, Ferrothorn, Magnezone, Excadrill, Jirachi, Chansey, Dugtrio are all awful matchups for nihilego and must be played carefully.
The team is built to support a late game win with either scarf nihilego or mega scizor. Magnezone helps deal with most steel types that threaten nihilego while AV lets it beat scarf Lele as well as aura sphere magearna more reliably. Offensive flyinium z lando t without Sd is uncommon but I needed a rocker and the team was weak to magma storm bloom doom tran, so defensive wasn't going to cut it. Thunder is on nihilego for Z rd manaphy which would otherwise break this team. Psychic and bolt are also options of course.
Calcs:
252 SpA Manaphy Surf vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Nihilego: 194-230 (54 - 64%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Nihilego Thunder vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Manaphy: 238-280 (69.7 - 82.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Tapu Fini Surf vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Nihilego: 150-176 (41.7 - 49%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Nihilego Sludge Wave vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Fini: 246-290 (71.7 - 84.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Zap Plate Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Nihilego: 169-199 (47 - 55.4%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Nihilego Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Koko: 390-458 (138.7 - 162.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Nihilego Power Gem vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Charizard-Mega-X: 296-350 (99.6 - 117.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Nihilego: 124-147 (34.5 - 40.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Nihilego Power Gem vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Charizard-Mega-Y: 456-540 (153.5 - 181.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Nihilego Hidden Power Ice vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Landorus-Therian: 308-364 (80.8 - 95.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Nihilego Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 296-352 (82.9 - 98.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Nihilego Psychic vs. 232 HP / 4 SpD Venusaur-Mega: 166-196 (46.2 - 54.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Nihilego Power Gem vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados: 258-306 (77.9 - 92.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Nihilego Thunder vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Gyarados: 476-560 (143.8 - 169.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Nihilego Power Gem vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Marowak-Alola: 216-254 (66.8 - 78.6%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Nihilego Power Gem vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Marowak-Alola: 312-368 (96.5 - 113.9%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
Unfortunately I don't have any replays at the present time but I might edit some in if I find some good ones.
Also thanks to @A because I used his format a lot for reference
