INTRO:
Salutations smogonites! I bring to you another nifty little RMT focused around the NU tier, themed around my favorite **SHINIES**. Not only do these shinies look pretty boss, they also kick ass in the NU tier, or at least during my experimentation they did. I also play this team within the UU tier, as it surprisingly plays out quite well against the more common UU pokemon, so if you see me talking about UU counters more than anything in this RMT, that's why. Its been quite some time since my last RMT, mainly due to the utter bore that is college. To be honest, I put pokemon on hold when I went away to school, and completely forgot about it til 2 weeks ago, when I put this team together for giggles. I then realized I had forgotten how much fun this game is, and jumped on to shoddy. I found myself faced with a long weekend, and said hey, I've got some time! Let's RMT this mofo! And here I am. ANYWAYS, on to the overview!
OVERVIEW:
TEAM BUILDING PROCESS:
I started this particular team off with one of my favorite shinies, as well as pokemon in general, of all time: PINSIR! I wanted to try something a little less common with Pinsir, and actually ended up using him as my lead. Even though I start him in the opening slot, I generally find myself returning to him later on in the game, a valuable poke indeed.
With pinsir on the team as an attacking lead, I'd need something to cover its 2 most common NU weaknesses: fire and rock. I figured a bulkier water type, but with enough offensive potential to not be rendered useless, would the suit the team nicely (and I love green shinies :D): POLIWRATH!
At this point, I begin to realize that a Manectric (or something of the like) could bumrush me to an incredible extent, regardless of the set its carrying. If faster, Flamethrower/Overheat could crush Pinsir, and a Life Orbed thunderbolt would make Poliwrath look like a joke. At the same time, I realized SR would soon be a bit of a problem for parts of the team, and a spinner was somewhat necessary. SANDSLASH! fit the team perfectly.
Luckily, I remembered how common jumpluff and other grass type - sleepers were in NU and realized I needed a somewhat quick counter to deal with such annoyances, while also being able to cripple its switch-ins with status and the like. Not to mention, RAPIDASH!'s shiny is basically the Merriam-Webster definition of Badassery.
I was somewhat lacking in a special wall, until I found PROBOPASS! Not only does Probopass provide great amounts of support with his vast moveset, but he is also a backup rocker, in case I choose to carry out the more offensive option with Pinsir.
To this day, it still astonishes me that this beast of a pokemon is regarded as NU tier material. Probopass' heavy fighting weakness is easily taken care of with this fiend. She usually ends up sweeping a large portion of the opponents team with her great moveset, and her shiny is to die for. I couldn't have an NU team without ESPEON!
And with that, the team was finished!
Man the helms! Dive! Dive! Dive!
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
THE LEAD: EDWARD SCISSOR-FACE!
PINSIR @ Focus Sash
Mold Breaker
EV's: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
- Stealth Rock
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- X-scissor
I really love Pinsir, and I really wanted to try something a little bit different. Most of the time, I'd usually start a team off with a very "set-up" style lead. Something inspired me otherwise when making this team, and I desperately wanted to try a more offensive style of lead. Pinsir has proven to be very very effective for me, usually netting at least 1 KO, or simply by setting up rocks, and providing type coverage. His moveset is based around being as offensive as possible, while still maintaining the title of "lead". Stealth Rock works great with this team, as multiple counters are somewhat weak to it. Close Combat is for big hits onto Rock counters, as well as a standard high damage attack. Stone Edge is for Moltres, a common wall to Pinsir, as well as the other Fire type counters that oppose it. X-Scissor takes the last slot as a reliable STAB move that can put up occasional big numbers onto psychic and dark type walls.
How he fares:
THE PHYSICAL SWEEPER: KIMBO SLICE!
POLIWRATH @ Leftovers
Water Absorb
EV's: 252 Atk, 252 HP, 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Waterfall
- Ice Punch
Poliwrath provides great synergy for the core of this team, particularly with Pinsir. He can deal with nearly all of Pinsir's switch-in counters, and can even set up on a Rain team. Originally I had gone for Politoed, but he lacked Poliwrath's unique typing, as well as the ability to be a much more offensive bulky water. Although I usually don't need to, I can usually double switch and juke into an easy sub, allowing me to pawnch my way to victory. Substitute is 100% necessary with this set, and makes Poliwrath that much better. Focus Punch is a great high power STAB move that dishes out a ton of damage. Waterfall is a basic STAB move when there's nothing else to use. Ice Punch is for fantastic coverage against grass type's behind a sub. Originally, I had gone for Encore, mainly because I found it harder to find an open gate to Sub, but found that Ice Punch actually made Poliwrath's job that much easier.
THE UTILITY: QUASIMODO!
SANDSLASH @ Leftovers
Sand Veil
EV's: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Atk
Nature: Impish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
Sandslash is a great Utility pokemon to use, mainly because of Rapid Spin (duh), and his defensive capabilities. He blends with the rest of the team quite well, mainly due to his typing. Most types that Pinsir and and the rest of the team are forced to switch out against are covered by Sandslash, and he can easily rapid spin away the oh-so-common Stealth Rocks/Toxic Spikes that are present in the NU tier. Earthquake is great to have on Sandslash, especially because I dropped it for Close Combat on Pinsir, and now have a backup EQ. Stone Edge is all around a fantastic move, even when 2 or more pokes on a team have it. Rapid Spin is a necessity for this set, otherwise Sandslash would be a bit useless. I was thinking of dropping SR on probopass and keeping it on Sandslash mainly because I feel he's a little more versatile, but felt that having Toxic on the team would be a great check to plenty of Life Orb sweepers.
THE MIXED SWEEPER: ECLIPSE!
RAPIDASH @ Life Orb
Flash Fire
EV's: 252 SpA, 176 Spe, 80 Atk
Nature: Naive
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power Grass
- Megahorn
- Hypnosis
Although she has quite a small movepool that lacks variety, Rapidash still has plenty of potential to be an effective mixed sweeper. I chose to run this set mainly to be able to dent some of the bulkier water types, while maintaining at least one status move to be able to cripple some of the team's hard counters. I faced a long and hard debate over which set to use, the physical or mixed team, but after about a week of testing, I found the mixed set definitely proved to be more synergetic and decided I would stick with it. Rapidash's main weakness is Aqua Jet Azumarill, and if its on the opponents team, Rapidash is pretty much useless. Having said that, if Azumarill isn't on the team, Rapidash can be considered a game-changer, particularly because she carries hypnosis. Fire Blast is a great STAB move that hits hard enough to 1-2HKO almost all the time. HP Grass is for type coverage on slower bulky waters, while Megahorn is for putting up big numbers on incredibly common Slowbro switchins, as well as other psychic types who want to set up on me. Hypnosis takes the last slot and without it, Rapidash would be close to nothing.
THE WALL: FLANDERS!
PROBOPASS @ Leftovers
Magnet Pull
EV's: 252 HP, 168 SpD, 88 Spe
Nature: Calm
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
Probopass has proven to be an incredible wall for this team. When I came across the special wall set on Smogon, I almost peed a little. It fit the team perfectly and contained everything I needed in order to provide a defensive core to the heart of the team. I had originally chosen Bastiodon to take place as the wall for this team, however, he proved that he could only withstand so much, and desperately needed Sandstorm to perform. I tried Probopass out and have stuck with him since. The 88 speed EV's may look a little odd, however they are used in order to deal with somewhat faster grounded steel types (Aggron, Steelix, the like) that magnet pull traps. Stealth Rock is a great move to have on this set, considering the durability that Probopass has. I also needed it in case Pinsir were to go straight for the KO or switch out on an opposing lead. T-Wave was another great option, crippling some of Probopass' counters and overall another status move to add to the team. Earth Power and Flash Cannon perform incredibly against Rock/Steel types and although they don't do as much damage, provide great coverage to the rest of the team.
THE SPECIAL SWEEPER: MILES PROWER!
ESPEON @ Life Orb
Synchronize
EV's: 252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 SpD
Nature: Timid
- Substitute
- Psychic
- Grass Knot
- Shadow Ball
I'll say it again. Why this thing is meant to be NU tier material is beyond me. Although Alakazam is generally the preferred choice, Espeon is no laughing matter. During experimentation, I found myself coming across 3-4 poke sweeps with this beast. Espeon has great variety within its movepool, and possesses fantastic type coverage that this team really needed. The only downside to Espeon is her low survivability rate, however, if I find myself behind a substitute, it makes obliterating everything in my path that much easier. Psychic is for excellent STAB damage and crippling the fighting types that can oppose my wall. Grass Knot is for big bulky waters, 2HKOing Milotic. The last move slot took a while. I was faced with a choice between Shadow Ball and HP Ground. I started off with HP ground, but soon realized that everything I needed to KO with HP ground would already have been taken care of by Sandslash or Poliwrath (Drapion, Houndoom). Shadow Ball then proved to be the better choice when I started having a problem cleaning up on Spiritomb/Mismagius.
THREAT LIST:
To save myself from another hour of work, I'm only going to list which Pokes are a major threat to this team. Sorry if you think I'm lazy, :D
NU:
PERSIAN: Although I can usually juke it/wall it and end up killing it, it proves to be incredibly annoying to pinsir.
PURUGLY: See persian.
SHARPEDO: With a lot of sweeping potential, Sharpedo can be very deadly to this team. If Poliwrath is down I usually find myself having to double switch or scare it off or find an opening to cripple it.
UU:
AZUMARILL: The choice band set is really the only set that can do damage. If I can lock it into aqua jet without it KO'ing anything with it, then the threat recedes.
FERALIGATR: The swords dance set is much more deadly to my team then the DD set. very similar to Azumarill, however I can't lock it into anything. Poliwrath walls it exceptionally well, however, if he's down I may face a problem.
SCEPTILE: Luckily I can usually scare it off with rapidash, but it can be a bit of a nuisance without her.
CONCLUSION:
Thanks for stopping by! I encourage everyone to rate this team, throw any suggestions you may have on the table and I'll most definitely consider them. This team was incredibly fun to make, and is a blast to play with. You may see another RMT from me in the near future, but I'm not sure, we'll see. PM me if you guys are ever up for a UU or NU battle, I'm always ready to play. But to oncoming challengers:
"Get ready to die, and tell God I say hi" - Notorious B.I.G.
PEACE!
Salutations smogonites! I bring to you another nifty little RMT focused around the NU tier, themed around my favorite **SHINIES**. Not only do these shinies look pretty boss, they also kick ass in the NU tier, or at least during my experimentation they did. I also play this team within the UU tier, as it surprisingly plays out quite well against the more common UU pokemon, so if you see me talking about UU counters more than anything in this RMT, that's why. Its been quite some time since my last RMT, mainly due to the utter bore that is college. To be honest, I put pokemon on hold when I went away to school, and completely forgot about it til 2 weeks ago, when I put this team together for giggles. I then realized I had forgotten how much fun this game is, and jumped on to shoddy. I found myself faced with a long weekend, and said hey, I've got some time! Let's RMT this mofo! And here I am. ANYWAYS, on to the overview!
OVERVIEW:
TEAM BUILDING PROCESS:
I started this particular team off with one of my favorite shinies, as well as pokemon in general, of all time: PINSIR! I wanted to try something a little less common with Pinsir, and actually ended up using him as my lead. Even though I start him in the opening slot, I generally find myself returning to him later on in the game, a valuable poke indeed.
With pinsir on the team as an attacking lead, I'd need something to cover its 2 most common NU weaknesses: fire and rock. I figured a bulkier water type, but with enough offensive potential to not be rendered useless, would the suit the team nicely (and I love green shinies :D): POLIWRATH!
At this point, I begin to realize that a Manectric (or something of the like) could bumrush me to an incredible extent, regardless of the set its carrying. If faster, Flamethrower/Overheat could crush Pinsir, and a Life Orbed thunderbolt would make Poliwrath look like a joke. At the same time, I realized SR would soon be a bit of a problem for parts of the team, and a spinner was somewhat necessary. SANDSLASH! fit the team perfectly.
Luckily, I remembered how common jumpluff and other grass type - sleepers were in NU and realized I needed a somewhat quick counter to deal with such annoyances, while also being able to cripple its switch-ins with status and the like. Not to mention, RAPIDASH!'s shiny is basically the Merriam-Webster definition of Badassery.
I was somewhat lacking in a special wall, until I found PROBOPASS! Not only does Probopass provide great amounts of support with his vast moveset, but he is also a backup rocker, in case I choose to carry out the more offensive option with Pinsir.
To this day, it still astonishes me that this beast of a pokemon is regarded as NU tier material. Probopass' heavy fighting weakness is easily taken care of with this fiend. She usually ends up sweeping a large portion of the opponents team with her great moveset, and her shiny is to die for. I couldn't have an NU team without ESPEON!
And with that, the team was finished!
Man the helms! Dive! Dive! Dive!
IN-DEPTH REVIEW
THE LEAD: EDWARD SCISSOR-FACE!
PINSIR @ Focus Sash
Mold Breaker
EV's: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
- Stealth Rock
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- X-scissor
I really love Pinsir, and I really wanted to try something a little bit different. Most of the time, I'd usually start a team off with a very "set-up" style lead. Something inspired me otherwise when making this team, and I desperately wanted to try a more offensive style of lead. Pinsir has proven to be very very effective for me, usually netting at least 1 KO, or simply by setting up rocks, and providing type coverage. His moveset is based around being as offensive as possible, while still maintaining the title of "lead". Stealth Rock works great with this team, as multiple counters are somewhat weak to it. Close Combat is for big hits onto Rock counters, as well as a standard high damage attack. Stone Edge is for Moltres, a common wall to Pinsir, as well as the other Fire type counters that oppose it. X-Scissor takes the last slot as a reliable STAB move that can put up occasional big numbers onto psychic and dark type walls.
How he fares:
BANETTE: Though I don't see it enough, Stone Edge on the Taunt, and Again on the Trick Room for the KO.
CHARIZARD: Again, not nearly enough of these around. Go into Rapidash on the Fire Blast and sleep it. Back into Pinsir on the switch/turn of sleep. Stone Edge for the KO/Rocks on the switch.
ELECTRODE: Eat the taunt and smack him. Let him put rain up and get the KO before he explodes.
FLOATZEL: Straight into Poliwrath on the Rain, Sub on the Return/Switch. Poliwrath eats Ice Punches for breakfast.
GLIGAR: Switch to Poliwrath on the Taunt, Sub on the Switch/Ice pawnch to death.
JUMPLUFF: Take the sleep with Pinsir, and switch to Rapidash to have some fun in the sun. If its a SubSeed variant, let Pinsir take the sleep, and switch to Espeon to set up.
NIDOQUEEN: Switch to Sandslash on the Taunt, scare it off with EQ, and rapid spin the SR/TS
PERSIAN: Switch to Probopass on the Fake Out/Taunt and wall him all day. If he sleeps me, Il go back to Pinsir and Close Combat.
PINSIR: Yet to see another Pinsir lead, which I assume is a good thing. Select the more offensive option, Stone Edge on the rocks/speed tie.
PURUGLY: Very similar to Persian. Switch on the Fake Out, Let him Sleep probopass, wall him or switch into another poke on his switch to set up.
QWILFISH: Close Combat on the Taunt/Aqua Jet, Rocks on his spikes. Sash will keep me alive when he explodes.
REGIROCK: Close Combat/Rocks on the switch. After one CC, I'll most likely switch due to the fact that it carries stone edge.
SOLROCK: Rocks, X-Scissor for the 2HKO. If he explodes - pbbbthh I have a sash.
VENOMOTH: Let Pinsir take the sleep, switch into Sandslash to Rapid Spin, and wall whatever hes got.
CHARIZARD: Again, not nearly enough of these around. Go into Rapidash on the Fire Blast and sleep it. Back into Pinsir on the switch/turn of sleep. Stone Edge for the KO/Rocks on the switch.
ELECTRODE: Eat the taunt and smack him. Let him put rain up and get the KO before he explodes.
FLOATZEL: Straight into Poliwrath on the Rain, Sub on the Return/Switch. Poliwrath eats Ice Punches for breakfast.
GLIGAR: Switch to Poliwrath on the Taunt, Sub on the Switch/Ice pawnch to death.
JUMPLUFF: Take the sleep with Pinsir, and switch to Rapidash to have some fun in the sun. If its a SubSeed variant, let Pinsir take the sleep, and switch to Espeon to set up.
NIDOQUEEN: Switch to Sandslash on the Taunt, scare it off with EQ, and rapid spin the SR/TS
PERSIAN: Switch to Probopass on the Fake Out/Taunt and wall him all day. If he sleeps me, Il go back to Pinsir and Close Combat.
PINSIR: Yet to see another Pinsir lead, which I assume is a good thing. Select the more offensive option, Stone Edge on the rocks/speed tie.
PURUGLY: Very similar to Persian. Switch on the Fake Out, Let him Sleep probopass, wall him or switch into another poke on his switch to set up.
QWILFISH: Close Combat on the Taunt/Aqua Jet, Rocks on his spikes. Sash will keep me alive when he explodes.
REGIROCK: Close Combat/Rocks on the switch. After one CC, I'll most likely switch due to the fact that it carries stone edge.
SOLROCK: Rocks, X-Scissor for the 2HKO. If he explodes - pbbbthh I have a sash.
VENOMOTH: Let Pinsir take the sleep, switch into Sandslash to Rapid Spin, and wall whatever hes got.
THE PHYSICAL SWEEPER: KIMBO SLICE!
POLIWRATH @ Leftovers
Water Absorb
EV's: 252 Atk, 252 HP, 4 Def
Nature: Adamant
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Waterfall
- Ice Punch
Poliwrath provides great synergy for the core of this team, particularly with Pinsir. He can deal with nearly all of Pinsir's switch-in counters, and can even set up on a Rain team. Originally I had gone for Politoed, but he lacked Poliwrath's unique typing, as well as the ability to be a much more offensive bulky water. Although I usually don't need to, I can usually double switch and juke into an easy sub, allowing me to pawnch my way to victory. Substitute is 100% necessary with this set, and makes Poliwrath that much better. Focus Punch is a great high power STAB move that dishes out a ton of damage. Waterfall is a basic STAB move when there's nothing else to use. Ice Punch is for fantastic coverage against grass type's behind a sub. Originally, I had gone for Encore, mainly because I found it harder to find an open gate to Sub, but found that Ice Punch actually made Poliwrath's job that much easier.
THE UTILITY: QUASIMODO!
SANDSLASH @ Leftovers
Sand Veil
EV's: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Atk
Nature: Impish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
Sandslash is a great Utility pokemon to use, mainly because of Rapid Spin (duh), and his defensive capabilities. He blends with the rest of the team quite well, mainly due to his typing. Most types that Pinsir and and the rest of the team are forced to switch out against are covered by Sandslash, and he can easily rapid spin away the oh-so-common Stealth Rocks/Toxic Spikes that are present in the NU tier. Earthquake is great to have on Sandslash, especially because I dropped it for Close Combat on Pinsir, and now have a backup EQ. Stone Edge is all around a fantastic move, even when 2 or more pokes on a team have it. Rapid Spin is a necessity for this set, otherwise Sandslash would be a bit useless. I was thinking of dropping SR on probopass and keeping it on Sandslash mainly because I feel he's a little more versatile, but felt that having Toxic on the team would be a great check to plenty of Life Orb sweepers.
THE MIXED SWEEPER: ECLIPSE!
RAPIDASH @ Life Orb
Flash Fire
EV's: 252 SpA, 176 Spe, 80 Atk
Nature: Naive
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power Grass
- Megahorn
- Hypnosis
Although she has quite a small movepool that lacks variety, Rapidash still has plenty of potential to be an effective mixed sweeper. I chose to run this set mainly to be able to dent some of the bulkier water types, while maintaining at least one status move to be able to cripple some of the team's hard counters. I faced a long and hard debate over which set to use, the physical or mixed team, but after about a week of testing, I found the mixed set definitely proved to be more synergetic and decided I would stick with it. Rapidash's main weakness is Aqua Jet Azumarill, and if its on the opponents team, Rapidash is pretty much useless. Having said that, if Azumarill isn't on the team, Rapidash can be considered a game-changer, particularly because she carries hypnosis. Fire Blast is a great STAB move that hits hard enough to 1-2HKO almost all the time. HP Grass is for type coverage on slower bulky waters, while Megahorn is for putting up big numbers on incredibly common Slowbro switchins, as well as other psychic types who want to set up on me. Hypnosis takes the last slot and without it, Rapidash would be close to nothing.
THE WALL: FLANDERS!
PROBOPASS @ Leftovers
Magnet Pull
EV's: 252 HP, 168 SpD, 88 Spe
Nature: Calm
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
Probopass has proven to be an incredible wall for this team. When I came across the special wall set on Smogon, I almost peed a little. It fit the team perfectly and contained everything I needed in order to provide a defensive core to the heart of the team. I had originally chosen Bastiodon to take place as the wall for this team, however, he proved that he could only withstand so much, and desperately needed Sandstorm to perform. I tried Probopass out and have stuck with him since. The 88 speed EV's may look a little odd, however they are used in order to deal with somewhat faster grounded steel types (Aggron, Steelix, the like) that magnet pull traps. Stealth Rock is a great move to have on this set, considering the durability that Probopass has. I also needed it in case Pinsir were to go straight for the KO or switch out on an opposing lead. T-Wave was another great option, crippling some of Probopass' counters and overall another status move to add to the team. Earth Power and Flash Cannon perform incredibly against Rock/Steel types and although they don't do as much damage, provide great coverage to the rest of the team.
THE SPECIAL SWEEPER: MILES PROWER!
ESPEON @ Life Orb
Synchronize
EV's: 252 SpA, 252 Spe, 4 SpD
Nature: Timid
- Substitute
- Psychic
- Grass Knot
- Shadow Ball
I'll say it again. Why this thing is meant to be NU tier material is beyond me. Although Alakazam is generally the preferred choice, Espeon is no laughing matter. During experimentation, I found myself coming across 3-4 poke sweeps with this beast. Espeon has great variety within its movepool, and possesses fantastic type coverage that this team really needed. The only downside to Espeon is her low survivability rate, however, if I find myself behind a substitute, it makes obliterating everything in my path that much easier. Psychic is for excellent STAB damage and crippling the fighting types that can oppose my wall. Grass Knot is for big bulky waters, 2HKOing Milotic. The last move slot took a while. I was faced with a choice between Shadow Ball and HP Ground. I started off with HP ground, but soon realized that everything I needed to KO with HP ground would already have been taken care of by Sandslash or Poliwrath (Drapion, Houndoom). Shadow Ball then proved to be the better choice when I started having a problem cleaning up on Spiritomb/Mismagius.
THREAT LIST:
To save myself from another hour of work, I'm only going to list which Pokes are a major threat to this team. Sorry if you think I'm lazy, :D
NU:
UU:
CONCLUSION:
Thanks for stopping by! I encourage everyone to rate this team, throw any suggestions you may have on the table and I'll most definitely consider them. This team was incredibly fun to make, and is a blast to play with. You may see another RMT from me in the near future, but I'm not sure, we'll see. PM me if you guys are ever up for a UU or NU battle, I'm always ready to play. But to oncoming challengers:
"Get ready to die, and tell God I say hi" - Notorious B.I.G.
PEACE!
