SubBU Braviary. Common, but so damn good.

[MoxieInfinite]

Introduction

Hi and welcome to my first RMT since the new Smogon Forums arrived. My name is MoxieInfinite, and you can find me, and/or contact me at these places:

http://www.youtube.com/MoxieInfinite
https://twitter.com/MoxieInfinite
http://www.smogon.com/forums/members/moxieinfinite.176781/

First of all, I'm going to be honest. This isn't a full RateMyTeam article, but more of a HelpMyTeam.
You'll understand more the further down you scroll.

I started playing NU a week ago, and I decided to build a team around Sub + Bulk Up Braviary. This is one of the most common threats in NU, and every team should be prepared for this. This team is fully based around a sweep with him, and therefore, it has worked very well.



This is the team: (Beware of retarded nicknames)

canada (Braviary) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Brave Bird
- Roost
​

The almighty star, the destroyed of worlds, the creator of joy (mainly for me), the beast itself, SubBU Braviary. This thing can set up a Substitute on a slower foe which can't break his Sub, like Alomomola or Tangela, and go from there.
You have NO IDEA how many times this has gotten to +4 (I don't feel like +6 is necessary, everything dies anyway) behind a Sub and just swept teams. I've probably played over 150 NU matches this last week, and at least 100 of them has come from this guy who has, either made a massive hole in the opponents team, or just outright swept himself.
I'd like to say more about him, but I'd assume Smogon has a 100k letter capacity or something, so I'll just leave it here.​

dr bob (Probopass) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 172 SAtk / 84 Spd
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Magnet Rise
- Power Gem
​

This guy was specifically made to trap opposing Steel-types, so Braviary could get an easier way to victory, and he's done his job very well. Comes in on a Steel-type trying to set up Stealth Rock or something like that, pulls of a Magnet Pull to be safe from potential Earthquakes, and then just Earth Powers away.
Speed EV's are made to outspeed uninvested Base 55's, and mainly Metang. This guy might look like an idiot, but he makes Braviary's way idiotically easy (can I say that?).

primecuddle (Primeape) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Vital Spirit
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Punishment
​

Every team needs a scarfer, that's obvious, and this guy was my choice. In fact, I started off with Sawk, but Primeape has higher speed and access to U-turn, which made it a relatively easy change.
I often lead with Primeape to scout, and break a potential Sturdy on a Pokemon like Golem or Gigalith.
He also cleans up late-game if that is necessary. He is basically my other win condition if Braviary goes down.

hi there sawk (Misdreavus) @ Eviolite
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd
Bold Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Pain Split
- Thunderbolt
​

As the name suggests, this is the Sawk counter. Sawk is a major threat in NU, and I needed something that could handle it reliably, so the choice fell on Misdreavus. Great bulk because of Eviolite, and has Will-o-Wisp to shut down physical attackers.
It also has great synergy with Probopass, and I often switch between these two when facing a Choiced Sawk, or in fact any other Choiced Fighting type.
While being a wall, it can actually hit quite hard too, and isn't too slow either. EV's are standard, to outspeed 252 Neutral Torterra, but they can be tweaked a bit, and I often run 88 in Speed, just to outspeed standard Kangaskhan and maybe snatch a burn.
Overall, this thing is a beast.

wat (Exeggutor) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SDef / 88 Spd
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Toxic
- Sleep Powder
- Rest
​

You might be thinking, "What? Sleep Powder AND Toxic?". Yes. I found this guy quite unuseful once I've put something to sleep, so I added Toxic and hitting Mandibuzz on the switch once Sleep Clause is active has never felt better.
He is the teams status-absorber, and with Lum and Rest + Harvest, he does this really well. The lack of Leftovers recovery can be annyoing with hazards up on my side, but as long as he's fast enough, he can just Rest back up to full health.
EV's are designed to speedcreep on standard Golurk and opposing Exeggutors.

...only 5 Pokemon?

Yes. I've tried finding the 6th member for the team, but I have yet to find the perfect one.

cartman (Lickilicky) @ Leftovers
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Careful Nature
- Body Slam
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect

I startet with Lickilicky, but he didn't work out too well, and Haunter was a massive threat, so I changed him to a Pokemon who could beat a few problematic Pokemon.

:):) (Miltank) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Rock Slide
- Milk Drink
- Heal Bell
- Body Slam

Next up was Miltank. She had Rock Slide to beat Charizard and Rotom-Fan, two of my biggest problems, but Haunter could still do some massive damage.

grtntyntrddgrdbr (Altaria) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SDef / 248 HP / 8 Atk
Careful Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Roost
- Heal Bell
- Roar

Then I discovered Altaria. She fixed the Haunter problem, and also kept Charizard and Rotom-Fan in check, but I now got an even bigger problem. Rain Dance + Swift Swimmers. Gorebyss and Ludicolo can with the combination of Ice Beam and Surf/Hydro Pump, destroy my entire team with Rain Dance in play, and as went higher up the ladder, the more of these I saw.

(o)(o) (Jynx) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 200 HP / 252 SAtk / 56 Spd
Timid Nature
- Lovely Kiss/Substitute
- Nasty Plot
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock


So I had to fix this. And Jynx seemed to be an alright answer. But with both Gorebyss and Ludicolo running Grass coverage, Jynx would be outsped and 2HKOed before I could do something back, especially if Sleep Clause was already active. So I had to tweak the EV's so I could be guaranteed to take two hits, and 2HKO back with Psyshock. This worked to an extent, but I found Jynx to be very useless outside of this.

big ass threat (Kangaskhan) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 212 HP / 44 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch​

The final member, and the one I'm using at the moment, is Kangaskhan. I asked the PS chat for help, and got this answer: "Why check it, when you can revenge kill/force it out?". Kangaskhan has obviously priority Fake Out and priority Sucker Punch to do this job, but it has a low chance of 2HKOing, unless some prior damage is done, which works in my favor IF the Ludicolo runs a Life Orb. It has done a decent job, but losing a Pokemon everytime Ludicolo sets up rain is not a funny thing. Kangaskhan also dies very fast due to residual damage, so I occasionaly run Leftovers, but then Ludicolo can take a Fake Out + Sucker Punch better.


I'd like to add a threat list, but I'm a lazy motherfucker. Instead, I'll just give you some of the few things that gives me problems:

Ludicolo: This thing is the by far biggest threat to the team, with rain up it can outspeed and OHKO everything, but is forced out and put on hold as long as Kangaskhan can switch in for free:

Electabuzz: This thing is a threat because he can deny Braviary a sweep. He is 2HKOed by Brave Bird after rocks, but can just Volt Switch out, and stay safe. It also outspeeds my Primeape if it is scarfed, and can therefore be a big problem if Kanga is gone.

Kangaskhan: This thing is a threat because of Scrappy, which means Misdreavus can't wall it, because she's 2HKOed by the combination of Fake Out and Double-Edge. Can be revengekilled, but always break massive holes in my team.​

 

[Brawlfest]

From what I can tell. Braviary and Primeape are fine. However, Probopass should NOT have magnet rise. It's gimmicky and a waste of time. Volt Switch can bring you momentum, and Pain Split increases our longevity. Take your pick!

 

[soulgazer]

Change the ev spread of Braviary to 248 HP/ 196 SpDef/ 64 Spe. It let Braviary outspeed max speed Adamant Torterra and anything under base 55 Speed, which are seen quite often in NU.

 

[scorpdestroyer]

Have you read the RMT rules? You're only supposed to post complete teams that have undergone a fair amount of testing. And you didn't even finish writing up Primeape

 

[epikkyogre78]

This RMT is complete now, so change the title.

 

[MoxieInfinite]

This RMT is complete now, so change the title.

Oh yeah, whoops :P

 

[WormJustWorm]

I'd highly recommend giving your Misdreavus Taunt over Tbolt. You'll lose some coverage, but Misdreavus isn't very powerful anyway, and Taunt is incredibly useful, especially for stopping status, boosters, and entry hazards.
For your final member, I'd recommend Eviolite Munchlax with Body Slam/Rest/Sleep Talk/Whirlwind. Munch is great for racking up residual damage, he has superb defensive synergy with Misdreavus, and he's a decent check to Electabuzz (Munchlax can easily take a 70 percent accuracy Focus Blast), Kangaskhan, and even Ludicolo, depending on the set.

 

[Volcaronaaa]

For your last member, I'd suggest offensive Seismitoad. Honestly who uses offensive Seismitoad? With Surprise factor, it can check the steel, rock and electric types that give Braviary trouble while outspeeding Ludicolo and revenging it with Sludge Wave after few Life orb recoil. In return, Braviary can setup all over grass/bug types.

Seismitoad @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
Evs: 252 Sp.atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Modest Nature
~ Hydro Pump
~ Earth Power
~ Sludge Wave
~ Rain Dance

Also Exeggcutor and Braviary would love Toxic Spikes Support if you can manage it.

 

[Plus]

You could probably just use Musharna for your last member since it fares relatively well against Rotom-S, Charizard (better than most other Pokemon), Kangaskhan, Electabuzz, and Ludicolo. Simply paralyze these threats and let other Pokemon handle them. If you're running a Sub BU Braviary team, paralysis support works really well against Offensive teams because Braviary isn't the fastest guy around especially since you're investing in all that bulk. I also see that the last slot started with Lickilicky as somewhat of a cleric and pivot to this team, and changing that to Kangaskhan seems like a rather dramatic change considering how differently the two play out. Musharna can also Heal Bell and keep status away from your team (especially the Sub BU Braviary who is useless while statused), and has great synergy alongside Probopass.

Against Ludicolo, switch Musharna in when you predict a Rain Dance so it doesn't have to tank a Hydro Pump, then use Thunder Wave to cripple it. After that, you can probably just switch between your other Pokemon while predicting Hydro Pump / Ice Beam / Energy Ball until you get a favorable matchup. Same for Charizard -- switch it in safely into anything not named LO / Specs Fire Blast, and then proceed to paralyze it then force it out with something like Probopass. For things like Kangaskhan, you can paralyze it then switch to Probopass, and play mind games with your opponent as you switch back and forth between Probo and Musharna.

Musharna has synergy with the team, and provides you a cleric and paralysis support to the team, both of which are really nice to have on a team focused around a set-up sweeper prone to being killed by faster threats / status.

You can try out Encore over Punishment on Primeape if you want; personally I find it works better because it absolutely cripples any set-up sweeper and gives you a free turn to set-up yourself after you switch. You could even predict something like a Sleep Powder from a Tangela then proceed to Encore it, as it will most likely stay in.

Seconding Taunt>Thunderbolt on Misdreavus, as Taunt messes stall up very thoroughly and has more uses in general. You can still use Taunt + Shadow Ball + Pain Split to beat out stuff like Alomomola.

Lastly, change the Braviary spread to what Soulgazer suggested, as the minimal speed investment can still pay off large dividends.

Musharna@Leftovers
Bold 240 hp / 252 def / 16 sdef
Psychic / Thunder Wave / Heal Bell / Moonlight