Cute Banner by iOh n_n
Hello friends, 49 here with a humble little RMT to share with all of you. This team actually has a lot of history to it, so I guess I'll give a bit of detail to it. The roots of this team actually began to set in as early as the re-introduction of Cresselia into RU, at which point I was in a serious team-building slump. All of my useful lazy team-building tricks and whatnot were either getting boring even for me or simply weren't as effective in the metagame since Cress just smashed 90-ish% of the tier no problem. Basically any team could just slap a Cress on it and it would do well, then another two team-slots were basically reserved for Cress checks, you could dig up some of the horror stories if you really are adamant on learning about it. While this team certainly didn't begin to establish itself at this time, it was a critical juncture for it indirectly, because it got me into experimenting with pretty much every Bug-type of any possible competitive value. It was safe to say that by the end of that god-awful meta that I had a firm understanding and respect for most of the available Bugs of RU, which I probably could have achieved with substantially less effort by simply asking SilentVerse, but I digress.
For one reason or another, one of the Bug-types that managed to mesh well with me through all that was Scolipede. Its unique combination of Speed, bulk, and interesting movepool, particularly its ability to effectively Baton Pass SD boosts while retaining sweeping capabilities on its own, really appealed to me, and while at first I didn't put any excessive effort into building around it, I enjoyed utilizing it in a plethora of casial "ladder teams". Actually, it wasn't until the banning of Nidoqueen that I finally decided to put a conscious effort into making a team for the 'mon. With the queen's tyranny finally coming to a close, I foresaw two large changes in the metagame: the increase in Toxic Spikes, and the re-establishment of Bulky Offense and Stall as viable playstyles. I know, 2 for 2, clearly I should be a jeweler, 'cuz my intuition is sharp enough to cut diamonds. While it didn't take any great deal of complex thinking to figure this out, I figured this would be a perfect opportunity for Scolipede; the ability for an offensive team to passively neutralize TSpikes was sure to become a wonderful commodity, and being capable of tossing around +2 Attack boosts to a plethora of diverse threats would give offense a nice flexibility that would allow it to bust through essentially every conventional defensive core (at least in theory :p ). With that in mind, I took to building.
This team went through a ton of different builds before reaching its current form, though I eventually settled with what is seen now. With the exception of two team members (one of course being Scolipede), I've tinkered with every slot to achieve better results in the different stages of the metagame this went through and optimize the "roles" each slot was meant to perform, and even then I kept tinkering with smaller fixes, so you could say I've grown a little attached to it. In all fairness, I guess you could call this a Round 15 - Present (is it really still Round 16 ?_? ), but honestly it's all the same to me. However, through it all the team remained the same in concept: a heavy offense team focused around Scolipede's abilities as a moderately powerful offensive Pokemon with the capacity to pass off boosts to teammates. Of course, in order to properly capitalize upon this, this team was made to be almost entirely physically inclined, with only one special attack on the entire team (which is pretty important, as I'll explain when I get to it). In doing so, I am me to focus on overloading physical walls to pave the way for a sweep from the appropriate 'mon, as this team carries 4 distinct "win conditions" to push through with. This team has served me pretty well for the past few months, and has been an easy go-to team for half-assed laddering and more "serious" matches alike, including the recent suspect testing round (where I alternated between this team and the always excellent Gurdurr Balance !_!). I've peaked the ladder a couple times with it (either two or three, honestly I don't care much for laddering all that much '~' ), but really gauging a team's effectiveness from ladder achievements probably isn't the best idea nowadays '-' Notwithstanding, that sort of thing does really draw attention to RMTs I suppose, and I'm not popular / important enough to get people to check this out on the merit of my name on it's own, so here's one from the hail suspect ladder I guess. Any which way, I decided to name this team after the album of the same name because, aside from music generally being one of my biggest motivators for anything and everything, I have found that I played this team best when listening to the jams on the album. Plus Team Me is sick as hell, easily in my top 5 Norwegian indie pop bands :] So I'm sure that even the people who bothered to actually read all this must be bored out of their minds, so I guess I'll just cut it off here, hope you enjoy n_n
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scolipede ⎮
Trait: Swarm
Nature: Jolly [Spe+, SpA-]
EVs: 112 HP ⎮ 104 Atk ⎮ 52 Def ⎮ 240 Spe
Swords Dance ⎮ Megahorn ⎮ Aqua Tail ⎮ Baton Pass
Scolipede was, as mentioned prior, the inspiration to this team. I was really drawn to its stats, particularly its high Speed and reasonable Attack and physical bulk, and typing, and sure enough it failed to disappoint. While I can't say that Scolipede is responsible for most of the sweeping that goes on with this team, I can safely say that it is responsible for paving the way for an impressive sum of them. Passing off a Swords Dance can be pretty threatening with a team of potential recipients, since it both allows me to make the optimal pass to suit the team match-up and puts the opponent in a tough situation when determining how to approach the switch-in. However, that isn't to say that Scolipede isn't more than capable of sweeping in its own right, as its nice coverage, nice Speed and high-powered attacks allow it to pose quite a big threat to teams. A ton of defensive or generally bulky Pokemon in the tier, such as Slowking, Uxie, Rhydon, Tangrowth, Druddigon, and so forth have trouble eating a boosted hit from him, making it tough to switch into unless you're packing Qwilfish or Poliwrath even on its own.
Its bulk is far from bad as well, with CB Entei's ESpeed not even guaranteed to 2HKO, making all the more difficulty to check. As I mentioned, Poison sub-typing became much more useful for an offensive team with the rise in TSpike usage, as even with a spinner this team appreciates the ability to passively sponge TSpikes, since every member is grounded. Moreover, a Toxic immunity is also quite nice, as it allows Scolipede to set up boosts on defensive 'mons like Alomomola lacking Scald, as its Waterfall is a 5HKO at best. The EV spread looks somewhat odd, I'll admit, but it serves a specific purpose. The investment in bulk gives Scolipede a Black Sludge #, with the added investment in Defense giving it extra insurance against priority (letting it take a LO Sucker Punch from Absol after SR+1 turn of Black Sludge recovery, 2 LO Entei ESpeeds for safety's sake, etc.). I don't run max Speed in order to safely BP into my Pokemon of choice without forcing them to take unnecessary damage in match-up with opposing Scolipede, which, while uncommon, comes up enough that I would rather be prepared for it. The loss in overall damage output is pretty insignificant from my experiences, still managing to net the KOs I expect out of it (2HKOing Entei after SR, OHKOing -1 Gallade, etc.), and his role as a utilitymon greatly outweighs his role as a sweeper anyway. Scoli's kinda cute if I do say so myself ^_^
Golurk ⎮
Trait: Iron Fist
Nature: Adamant [Atk+, SpA-]
EVs: 160 HP ⎮ 216 Atk ⎮ 132 Spe
Stealth Rock ⎮ Earthquake ⎮ Shadow Punch ⎮ Magic Coat / Fire Punch
Wow, I wasn't even clever with that nick at all, I suck lol. Notwitstanding, Golurk really is my favorite ghost. Like, seriously, The Iron Giant is such a stupidly good animated film for its time. Ok, but really though, Golurk was selected for this team for a number of reasons. Its usual set of resistances are a huge boon to the team, being able to suppress aggressive Fighting spam in particular is a really nice plus for the team. As I've mentioned, I really like to pack an Electric immunity on most, if not all of my "serious" RU teams, as Electric-types are incredibly prevalent and generally quite good in the tier, and being able to restrict mindless Volt Switching is crucial. Essentially, Golurk is pure utility for this team, helping to quote-on-quote "control momentum" in the match while retaining a solid offensive presence. Needless to say that Stealth Rock is also rather important. I'm not really going to go into some long-winded rant on how effective Golurk is in RU, since I'm pretty sure that's been touched upon just a little in a couple nice RMTs that have popped up recently, but, ya know
it is.
This set is all fairly standard with one exception, and I know you've been waiting for me to address it since this section started. Or you don't care, that's cool too I guess ;-; Anywho, this set began with the standard Golurk, but after trying testing some alternatives I ended up falling in love with Magic Coat. Seriously, this move is so much fun on Golurk. This move makes Golurk an even more comfortable "lead" than it was before (as when I'm unsure what the opponent would lead with I'd normally just turn to Golurk), allowing it to critically disrupt the opponent's plans. This move lets Golurk prevent early- and mid-game hazards really well, completely donking 'mons like Smeargle and Aerodactyl that attempt to cripple Golurk with Taunt or Spore respectively, and more. This can also let me "set up" Spikes on unaware Ferroseed and even push some critical damage on it, which is nice considering otherwise it is somewhat irritating to beat down. I will occasionally swap it out for Fire Punch if I don't feel like putting up with Ferroseed or Escavalier at all though, so I figured it would be worth giving it the nod here as well. The EV spread is rather straightforward, I only run the standard spread with a few EVs taken out of Attack for HP and Speed. The 1 extra HP actually guarantees unboosted Aerodactyl (ie.the sash lead that really shouldn't exist anymore but does) never 3HKOs with EQ, and in a tier where every single 'mon in the 50-65 Base Speed realm is aiming to outrun min Speed Lanturn, there is no excuse for not speed creeping a little. I still retain the jump point, and the damage output is basically the same, so I've had no problems with it. Oh, and I occasionally run Colbur Berry on Golurk, since it allows him to get off some really nice damage on Pursuit 'mons like Absol and Spiritomb, but I decided I'd keep Leftovers as the primary item because I like the idea of him trying to eat what's left of an apple core n_n
Kabutops ⎮
Trait: Weak Armor
Nature: Adamant [Atk+, SpA-]
EVs: 4 HP ⎮ 252 Atk ⎮ 252 Spe
Rapid Spin ⎮ Stone Edge ⎮ Aqua Jet ⎮ Waterfall
I hardly feel as though I need to say anything about Kabutops, he's been pretty solidly established to be one of the most consistent Pokemon in the RU metagame. Personally, I've always been under the impression that if you are capable of fitting a spinner onto your team without compromising the team structure, then you should damn well do it. This is particularly pertinent on a team such as mine, where everything is pressured by Spikes if given too much leeway, and Pokemon such as Qwilfish and Ferroseed can grab 2-3 layers on average before getting taken down. This of course relieves some pressure on Scolipede as well, as without SR it can BP around much more liberally, which really benefits the entire team. Kabutops is also rather crucial from an offensive outlook, being my primary deterrent for Fire-type spam and valuable priority source, as well as a quick response to birds. For these reasons and more I decided to use Lum Berry over Life Orb as my choice of item, offering a nice "middle ground" and allowing Kabutops to stay in on a burn here and there to get off a little extra damage. Quite frankly I consider Lum Berry to be the superior item choice in this metagame, as with bulky offense becoming ever more popular, the number of hazard setters that can repeatedly get them up is also starting to increase, and Kabutops can no longer afford to switch into hazards and lose that extra 10% to spin. I also choose to run Waterfall over the common Swords Dance in order to provide Kabutops a moderately powerful and accurate secondary STAB, as the ability to hit incoming Fighting- and Steel-types decently hard is much more useful overall. This especially comes into play when Weak Armour gets activated, as Kabutops can put more offensive pressure on the opponent without the need to set up. Speaking of, due to Weak Armor's passive Speed-boosting abilities, in addition to Kabutops's priority, it is one of the primary candidates for SD boosts from Scolipede, as it can easily sponge a hit from the Fire- and Flying-type it baits and run through an opposing team at +2 / +1. There isn't much to say about the EV spread, a straightforward 4 / 252 / 252 spread is basically all 'Tops should be running, even if the chances are slim that it would risk the Speed tie with Gallade or opposing 'Tops. I run Adamant because I'm a real man.
Entei ⎮
Trait: Pressure
Nature: Adamant [Atk+, SpA-]
EVs: 212 Atk ⎮ 12 SpA ⎮ 32 SpD ⎮ 252 Spe
Flare Blitz ⎮ Extremespeed ⎮ Sunny Day ⎮ Solarbeam
Ming, I get to have two complex EV spreads on an offensive team ^_^ Anywho, Entei is a pretty huge offensive utility for my team for quite a few reasons. First and fore-mostly, there's the whole "does Entei stuff" thing; being a powerful physically-based Fire-type means that he's an invaluable breaker for 'mons like Tangrowth and Steelix, among others, and packing priority as effectual as Extremespeed means that it can not only pick off some weakened 'mons and play around Sucker Punch effectively, but that it can also very easily clean if passed an SD boost under the right conditions. Moreover, Entei's immunity to Will-O-Wisp is critical in preventing defensive Ghost-types and so forth from simply coming in and either crippling a 'mon or forcing me to burn Kabutops's Lum Berry, and helps me bait them to go for alternate moves. Of course, then there's Sunny Day+Solarbeam. While somewhat unorthodox, I've found this to be a very effective set. Entei baits bulky Water-types pretty naturally, and Sunny Day allows me to flip the tables on them, threatening them with the possibility of Solarbeam. Even if the opponent proceeds to switch out, the possibility of a sun-boosted Flare Blitz is all too real, and it can usually manage to grab a KO regardless. Moreover, if any team was ever legitimately Quagsire-weak, it would have to be this one lol, so I felt the need to pack at least one lure for it. This used to double as a disruptive tool for match-ups against Hail teams, but I suppose that has come and gone =( However, Entei's utility and flexibility as an offensive 'mon means he's still very useful and effective at what he does.
I run Flame Plate over something such as Heat Rock or something else of the sort because the extensive sun turns are largely unneeded (even detrimental at times if I need Kabutops hitting something), and the boost Flare Blitz gets actually is somewhat crucial, allowing it to secure KOs on Tangrowth, Steelix, Slowking, and Druddigon, among others (largely in the sun). As for the EV spread, max Speed is still valuable to Entei for getting its ESpeed in before opposing Entei, and the occasional post-Scarf / Timid Specs Rotom-C is definitely worth investing for. The 12 Special Attack EVs ensure Solarbeam is doing at least 50% to standard Alomomola, meaning that it will be 2HKOed after SR damage+2 rounds of Leftovers recovery and thusly can't switch in, take a hit, Protect to get healthy enough to get out of the KO range, and then stall out the Sun turns in Wish+Protect cycles. As for the 32 Special Defense EVs, the added special bulk helps cushion it out for specially-based Grass-types a little, allowing it to switch into things like Roselia / Amoonguss Sludge Bombs with a little more peace of mind.
Druddigon ⎮
Trait: Rough Skin
Nature: Adamant [Atk+, SpA-]
EVs: 224 HP ⎮ 220 Atk ⎮ 64 Spe
Outrage ⎮ Dragon Claw ⎮ Superpower ⎮ Sleep Talk
Druddigon, as people have finally begun to realize in the recent months, is a stellar Pokemon in RU. Its choice stat distribution and useful mono-Dragon typing is practically tailored for the RU metagame, having enough natural bulk to easily comfortably check a variety of common Grass-, Electric-, Fire-, and Water-types that occupy the tier (especially since Ice-type coverage on such Pokemon is rarely seen since it would basically be exclusive to hitting Drudd), as well as steamrolling teams lacking either a bulky Steel-type to sponge Outrages or an Ice-type attack to deter it from locking into Outrage. Of course, with speed creep on Drudd being as common as it is now, it's hardly safe to say that you'll be coming out on top in a mirror match-up with such a meager investment as the one I decided to post for the sake of this RMT (hint: I might have actually been running more speed in practice, though I'd like to think the idea that you should be speed creeping on those sort of 'mons has been relayed clearly enough), but that's besides the point. After much deliberation and a variety of other Pokemon being utilized in this team-slot for some time, I eventually decided upon using CB Druddigon as one of this team's breakers; especially at the time of this team's inception, when everyone was firmly fixated on SR Drudd as the only Drudd (except for the innovators on the ladder, with their Rocky Helmet+RestTalk sets), CB Druddigon was (and still is) a pretty ridiculous immediate attacker, capable of clicking Outrage and simply netting KO's with minimal risk on its part. Being put irreparable holes in the majority of physical walls without the need to grab a boost via Scolipede, including the very nice 50-60% on the assured Steelix switch-in with Superpower, is great for breaking down defensive 'mons for the rest of the team, and the ability to get off chip damage with Rough Skin and check FWG cores temporarily is just icing on top.
Sleep Talk on choiced 'mons shouldn't be any sort of surprise to people who play RU at this point, it's practically a staple of the tier considering how well-distributed Sleep moves are among Pokemon in the tier. While I suppose Druddigon isn't commonly seen utilizing, I honestly have no idea why; as a matter of fact, I'd argue that CB Druddigon is the second best choiced Sleep Talk user available, competing with such common users as Escavalier and Entei (Emboar is hands-down the best one imo, if we're speaking in a generalized sense). What makes Druddigon such a great Sleep absorber is that, unlike Pokemon like Escavalier or Entei, it doesn't need to scout what Hidden Power or other coverage move the Grass-type it's switching into is packing, as it can easily shrug off either of those hits and proceed to threaten it with any of its given moves. This also partially validates my use of Superpower over the seemingly more common Earthquake, as otherwise I'm risking a 33% chance of Sleep Talk pulling a move that's resisted by Grass-types, and I don't like taking those odds with something like Liligant if Drudd is sitting at low HP. However, I also run Superpower because I very much dislike locking into un-STABed Earthquakes, especially on a team lacking any kind of lasting switch-in to Flying-types. I could use Mold Breaker to minimize the risk associated with this, yes, but the chip damage from Rough Skin is actually pretty crucial for wearing down Pokemon, and quite frankly isn't worth dropping just to make EQ semi-usable.
Tauros ⎮
Trait: Intimidate
Nature: Adamant [Atk+, SpA-]
EVs: 252 Atk ⎮ 4 Def | 252 Spe
Double-Edge ⎮ Return ⎮ Earthquake ⎮ Rock Slide
Ok, so I think I mentioned this set a couple times before, but I really have been enjoying Choice Scarf Tauros. Not only does it outpace basically everything, both opposing Scarf users and general set-up sweepers alike, but its ability to clean up is pretty ridiculous as well. Base 100 Attack isn't too shabby at all, especially when it has the leniency to run an Adamant nature, and considering that offensive team's will pack at most 2 Normal-type resistances / immunities, it isn't too hard to set Tauros up to sweep at times. Passing it an SD boost only eases this process, though honestly it's usually easier to simply push damage on their resistances prior. Having an Intimidate user to fall back on is pretty cool as well, the pseudo-bulk it grants Tauros makes it rather resilient to priority, which of course is basically everywhere in RU. Really, Tauros isn't a particularly flashy Pokemon, it just comes in when it needs to, grabs a kill, and leaves, while providing a solid end-game against offensively inclined teams in the process. I had used Stone Edge over Rock Slide for a time, but considering it is dominantly around to hit Aerodactyl, Archeops, and Moltres, all of whom are hit sufficiently by Stone Edge, I figured I might as well reduce the chances I have to miss a little bit. I've considered the use of Jolly, since it ensures Tauros can outpace some less common scarf users, like Manectric and for some reason Galvantula, as well as +2 Klinklang, though Adamant's extra power has generally providing more use in application.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scolipede @ Black Sludge
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 112 HP / 104 Atk / 52 Def / 240 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- Aqua Tail
- Baton Pass
Kabutops @ Lum Berry
Trait: Weak Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Stone Edge
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
Golurk @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 160 HP / 216 Atk / 132 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Shadow Punch
- Magic Coat
Tauros (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Return
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Entei @ Flame Plate
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Spd / 32 SDef / 212 Atk / 12 SAtk
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- ExtremeSpeed
- Sunny Day
- SolarBeam
Druddigon @ Choice Band
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 224 HP / 64 Spd / 220 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Superpower
- Sleep Talk
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 112 HP / 104 Atk / 52 Def / 240 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- Aqua Tail
- Baton Pass
Kabutops @ Lum Berry
Trait: Weak Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Stone Edge
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
Golurk @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 160 HP / 216 Atk / 132 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Shadow Punch
- Magic Coat
Tauros (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Return
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Entei @ Flame Plate
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Spd / 32 SDef / 212 Atk / 12 SAtk
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- ExtremeSpeed
- Sunny Day
- SolarBeam
Druddigon @ Choice Band
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 224 HP / 64 Spd / 220 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Superpower
- Sleep Talk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With everything taken into account, this team is certainly one of my favorite that I've used in the recent rounds, being sufficiently fast-paced, obscure, and "anti-meta" enough to suit my fancy. It's gone through tons of changes, from EV tweaks to item tinkering to complete 'mon changes, but as a whole I'm pretty satisfied with the end result. I'm pretty terrible at closing things up, so I won't drag this out too long. Not one for shoutouts or anything, but I suppose I should thank the RU community for being as chill as it is, saves me from having to learn how to deal with drama and stuff. Some quick thanks are in order from my PO buddies from The Gang to the communities / servers and such that I still lurk around (TBT, QA, all the other half-dead communities I still sorta exist in the vicinity of, etc.), you guys are the best for putting up with my stupid crap, feelsrs. Anywho, rate, hate, like, comment, subscribe, I got nothing left to say. Bye friends, thanks for reading :]
