The Facade isn't over!
Hey everyone! I' m an off again, on again NU player who got into NU in gen 5. With all the changes brought about in gen 6 the one thing I wanted to try out was Sticky Web, where in NU, almost all users end up. I have included my teambuilding so you can see my thought process.
Teambuilding:
Being a Sticky Web team I obviously needed a Web user. With many Web teams floating around, I wanted to differentiate this team from the others by choosing a Web user that I think deserves more credit, Masquerain. The advantages that Masquerain has over the other Web users is its nice special movepool, access to QuiverPass and a nice ability in Intimidate. But when choosing a web user the one thing that caught my eye was that Masquerain was the only Web user with reliable recovery in Roost. With Roost and Intimidate, Masquerain has noticeable staying power and can take all sorts of hits you wouldn't expect it to.
The downside to using Masquerain as something more than a suicide lead setter is the crippling Stealth Rock weakness. With Defog out of the question, it was clear that I needed a rapid spin user to get rid of pesky Rocks that will plague Masquerain throughout the match. With Cryogonal and Sandslash being the only decent spinners in the tier the choice was between them. Cryogonal has terrible synergy with Masquerain so the clear choice was Sandslash, who can take take strong rock attacks aimed at Masquerain throughout the match. Slash's Stealth Rock support could be very useful throughout the match as well.
Sandslash, however, couldn't take the ice and fire attacks aimed at Masquerain. From this point I decided to add Hariyama to the team as a special sponge, taking the ice and fire attacks which would otherwise dismantle the team. Hariyama's further resistance to rock is also very useful and synergetic with Masquerain, and fighting stab is always useful.
After looking through my team I noticed it was weak to flying spam and it had no strong special attackers. The only rock type I know with any specially offensive prowess in NU is Omastar, sitting at a nice 115 SpA and with typing I need to curb flying types. It also is a nice preventive measure to fire spam as well.
To be honest I just threw Swellow on here as speedy pokemon that can lategame clean exceptionally well. Whenever I add a Swellow to a team, he always serves me well and so far he had done just that.
And now I wanted a pokemon that can abuse Sticky Web, and after going through the NU tier list, I came to pokemon that has slipped under the limelight, Ursaring. In past teams I have used Zangoose as wallbreaker so Swellow can clean up, with Zangoose having the ability to deal with rock and steel types which otherwise hamper Swellow. I realized that Ursaring is just a beefed up Zangoose with more coverage options and lower speed. However with Sticky Web support Ursaring can wreak havoc on the metagame with just pure poke-crushing power.
Team:
Masquerain @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- U-turn
- Air Slash
- Roost
- Sticky Web
As the dedicated Sticky Web user of the team, he performs his job admirably. It is easy to come in on any physical attacker with subpar power and set up Webs. I don't usually lead with this set because many people think it is a suicide lead or a Quiverdance lead, so instead I counter pick and save the surprise factor of this Masquerain set for later on in the match. I've seen many times when a player will just attack thinking it is frail while I set up Webs and Roost off the damage. Rocky helmet helps in that regard for racking up extra damage on weak hits. U-turn is very useful throughout the match as it it can get in Swellow and Ursaring freely, as well as wrecking Shiftry, who cant really do anything to this set, bar Knock Off. U-turn also takes half of Cryogonal's Hp on an obvious switch to try and Rapid Spin or Ice Beam me. Air Slash is there so it isn't complete setup bait and mainly filler. It does, however give me an option to take care of physically defensive grass types, and Gurdurr, who otherwise is a nuisance to the team. In BW2 NU Gurdurr always ran Ice punch, but now-a-days it never runs it, so smooth sailing for Masquerain.
Sandslash @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
It may seem like I stole Hollywood's set but I was running Sandslash before his RMT. It is the best Sandslash set in the meta right now however, and the only thing I did take was his EVs because outspeeding Sawk after Sticky Web is useful. Sandslash may not be spectacular every game but he always performs consistently every game. The Knock Off buff significantly helped Sandslash, as now he can actually take out the ghosts that are trying to spinblock him. Swellow and Ursaring also love the Rocks Slash dishes out, turning many 2HKOs into OHKOs and just helping the team in general. Sometimes I wish I had Stone Edge to deal with Scyther who is dangerous to this team, but alas, no room.
Hariyama @ Assault Vest
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off
- Heavy Slam
Hariyama is like the glue for my team. Sometimes I think I am overly reliant on Hariyama to check different threats for me. He is however one of the best users of the Assualt Vest in NU and great answer to Cryogonal, who otherwise is very annoying to deal with. The special part of this Hariyama set is Heavy Slam which is a great way to deal with fairies who would otherwise have their way with Hariyama. I chose Heavy Slam after getting walked on by Slurpluff, and I believe Heavy Slam gets full damage on Slurpluff with Hariyama being the fatty that he is. It also does a good chunk of damage to Granbull on the switch and if I ever face a Carbink again he will get wrecked. Bullet punch is one my two priorities moves , and standard on Hariyama, but the uliity it provides is immense, especially with my lack of scarfer for revenge killing.
Omastar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 128 Hp / 252 SpA / 128 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Ice Beam
-Toxic
Wanting an answer to flying spam, and fire spam, but also something with damage, I chose Omastar. Omastar is the only special attacker on my team so i decided to slap Specs on him just to make him hit even harder. This is the set, or pokemon, is the one I could use the most recommendations with, as I'm not sure how much speed to give him to outspeed certain threats in sticky web, or if he is even the best choice at all. He has performed well enough though for me to keep him and is great in punching holes in things for Swellow and Ursaring. Swift Swim is pretty much my only answer other than Webs to Rain Dance teams but fortunately they aren't very common on the ladder. I have tried Hidden Power Fire to nail Ferroseed, who is annoying af to this team but without Hidden Power Grass Omastar gets walled to hell and back by water types. If only he got some sort of grass move like Energy Ball, sigh. Toxic may seem weird, and it is a shit move to get locked into, but I haven't really found a good use for Earth Power, and Toxic is nice to hit special walls on the switch. If someone can give me a good reason to run Earth Power I will change this.
Swellow @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Facade
- U-turn
- Quick Attack
Ahh Swellow. One of my favorite pokemon in Gen 5 NU and still one of my favorites to date. With the right support he can demolish teams with his speed and power. I always come back to Swellow because of that beautiful speed tier. Masquerain can get Swellow in for free with a slow U-Turn and with its Sticky Web support, he can clean house with even Choice Scarf users falling due to his superior speed. Nothing over 110 base speed ever uses a scarf so its too easy for Swellow. To deal with rock and steel types that wall Swellow I use Omastar or Ursaring, who makes a great normal spam core with Swellow. This normal spam core is where I got the the name for the team, with each of them using Facade to its full potential. I have been testing Adamant Swellow recently to see if the power it provides is worth the trade off and while the boosted Quick Attacks are nice I think Jolly is overall better when the Web isn't up, which can happen due to a premature death of Masquerain. On the topic of Quick Attack it is soooo useful in dealing with obvious Sucker Punches and creates so many mind games.
Ursaring @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Crunch
- Close Combat
- Seed Bomb
Rounding off my normal spam core is none other than Ursaring. While Quick Feet Ursaring is probably more useful in other teams, I couldn't pass up the pure power that Guts provides for the bear as speed issues are covered by Sticky Web. Looking at Ursaring's movepool, its coverage options are gigantic and throughout its movepool it has the ability to 2HKO the entire metagame. Facade and Close Combat are pretty standard with Close Combat taking out rocks and steels plaguing Swellow. Seed Bomb is my way of taking out rock, ground, and water dual types with one swift hit, who would otherwise be able to tank a Close Combat and retaliate. Honestly I would much prefer Play Rough over Crunch to deal with Spiritomb, who otherwise is damn annoying, but there are way too many compatibility issues with Play Rough and my other moves to make it worth it. Crunch is good enough to do some damage to Spiritomb and nailing and ghost types who can switch into Facade and Close Combat. I have experimented with Substitute instead of Crunch to deal with Sucker Punches, but Toxic Orb and Substitute are not a good combo. :(
Summary / Threatlist:
There you have it my gen 6 NU normal spam Sticky Web team! One pokemon that gives me trouble is bulky SD Scyther who can come in on Hariyama, Sandslash, Masquerain and Omastar locked into a resisted move, and I dont have anything to outspeed it except Swellow. Spirtomb is also a giant nuisance and I usually have to rely on brute force to deal with it. I also recently noticed that I have no water resists, and that is probably my biggest problem at the moment as only Hariyama can take a special water attack comfortably, and not even that comfortably to boot. This water issue I usually can play around though, and I haven't got any good ideas to help it. I also have no spinblockers prevent Webs from going down or some sort of Defiant user to counter Defog. This would normally be a much bigger issue for a Sticky Web team with a suicide lead, because the Web is only going down once, and then they are dead. For me, I can deal with it slightly better with offensive pressure and Masquerain's longer presence during the match. I haven't done much laddering with the final version of the team, but did peak somewhere the 1500s while still working on it. This is my first real RMT and I would appreciate any recommendations and advice as I put a lot of work into the team and RMT. Please read, rate, and enjoy! As a sidenote, my PS name is Dr. Trollton. I used it as an alt to troll in gen V, but I used it so much it became my main. lel.
Importable:
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