Hey, everyone! Mewtwo here after a million billion years' hiatus with another RMT!
I was sick of OU because it plays like Ubers, which it should not. The only strategies are weather offense, rain stall, and VoltTurn, and I’m sick of it. While I like Ubers because of the offensive nature, I don’t like how I can’t seem to switch anything in ever, and I’ve never been particularly successful in UU. So I dropped down to RU, a brand-new metagame with a brand-new attitude (but you still gotta catch them all...).
Two Waters and two Grounds: an interesting duality. However, the restricted Pokemon pool in RU has left me with a few serious issues and stalled my once-swift ascension up the ladder. I'm new to the metagame and the playstyle, so I don't really know what to drop for what.
I saw blarajan’s post about the Steelix/Mantine core, and I decided to make a semi-stall team around it. I decided to add Lanturn for added bulky Waterness and clerical duties. Its Volt Absorb also supports Mantine fairly well.
My team looked a bit slow, so I slapped on Scyther and supported it with an Armaldo. Stealth Rocks aren't gonna spin themselves, you know. Finally, because I planned on forcing switches, I drafted a Roselia for Spiking and defensive typing.
The team worked for a bit, but I noticed problems. Armaldo was slow, which was fine, but between his typing and defenses, he couldn’t take hits very well. Like, at all. So I replaced him with old favorite Sandslash, and that worked out for a while.
Then, I saw Mantine going belly-up in the face of physical attacks, Tangrowth, and Magmortar. While I can take care of Tangrowth all right with Rosie and Lanturn, Maggy proved a thorn in my side. I dropped Mantine in favor of Slowking, whose better physical bulk has served him well.
The focus of the team is to stack on enough residual damage that Scyther can clean up. In the event that it can’t, I stick with the residual-damage idea. My team leans toward Special Defense, and its redundant typings are proving problematic, but I can't decide what I definitely want to change.
If you’re a Grass-type that can stall out a Weezing, then you’re either Arceus, some power-creepin’ Gen 6er, or Eviolite Roselia. (Yeah. It happened.)
Anyway, Roselia is my answer to Leech Seeders and Toxic inflictors. It’s also a handy pivot switch into things like Lanturn that run only one attack that really scares it. Even then, Eviolite can help it sponge anything short of a Fire Blast, and RestCure brings Rosie back to full. Spikes are handy because I aim to force switches and (as you can see in the link above) their high PP helps in stall wars and Mexican standoffs.
I keep Roselia in the lead spot so I can lure her counters in; I usually lead with Lanturn or Scyther. The only issue with Rosie is that she gets leveled by physical attackers like Acro Sceptile, who proceeds to run through the rest of my team if Steelix is down. I may switch her with Tangrowth, but Tangrowth can’t Rest and run like Rosie can, and I don’t want to put unnecessary pressure on Lanturn.
POSSIBLE CHANGES: Switch for Tangrowth.
Bog-standard physical wall. Ingot also helps against Substituters, fragile speedsters like Acro Sceptile, and tanks that expect me to switch. He also forms a good partnership with Slowking and Lanturn (and, prior to this edition, Mantine) due to Special capabilities.
There’s really not much to say about Ingot, other than he’s my physical wall. That’s the problem: “wall” is singular. Steelix can’t handle every physical threat, and although I can switch in Scyther to sponge Earthquakes and Fighting attacks, I don’t really like to predict that kind of thing.
POSSIBLE CHANGES: Make something else physical.
The first of my bulky Waters and easily the classiest. Just look at that hat. Ooh, that hat. And with the ruff! Day-Care man, wonder no longer; that ruff/hat ensemble is where Eggs come from.
…Ahem.
Slowking is like a suitcase full of pants. He covers Steelix’s arse with specially-oriented badassery, he covers Lanturn’s arse by checking similar things and status-spamming, and (as he stated, even Slowking could use pants) he covers his own arse with Slack Off and Regenerator. Of course, when Enemy Airlines decides to make a surprise U-turn, Slowking’s HP ends up going in the wrong direction. That’s the risk of flying, though.
On a more serious note, Slowking’s hatred of status only adds to the pressure on Lanturn, which I really want to alleviate. His myriad weaknesses require some working around which I can’t always provide because my Pokemon die more quickly than their bulk suggests. Finally, I hate Fire Blast. I lost a game against a sun team because they switched in their Sunny Day user and Fire Blast missed. Goddammit, Fire Blast.
POSSIBLE CHANGES: Some other coverage move. Open to suggestions.
Bulky Water number 2. This little fishy is one of my favorite to use yet least favorite to face. She’s like an RU Slowmie with more supportive capabilities. Scald helps against physical Pokemon like Muk and Steelix that Toxic can’t touch, although the hax never works right when I use it. Volt Switch helps me scout for counters—it’s not like I can’t handle Ground-types with this thing—and lets me spam VoltTurn OU-style with Scyther. (Seriously, in OU, if it isn’t rain, it’s sand; if it isn’t sand, it’s sun; and even if it is one of those, it’s probably also VoltTurn. Am I right, or am I right?)
Heal Bell keeps my other guys burn-proof and toxic-free. I rarely find myself in need of it, though, but when I do, Lanturn’s already crumbled under repeated attacks or Magmortar’s HP SE-type, power FU. Now that I no longer run Mantine, I can’t lure Volt Absorb bait like I used to, so Lanturn really doesn’t recover well. Her being my only Maggy check never really works out well for her, either.
POSSIBLE CHANGES: Spread. Movepool. The addition of an anti-Maggy buddy.
This girl is my response to fast, frail offense and my only particularly speedy Pokemon. I usually only get her in first turn, after a kill, or on Giga Drains and Earthquakes. However, once she’s in, something’s taking a hit it won’t like. Most of the time, I’ll U-turn out to whatever I need to, but I’ll stay in to kill things with Tech-boosted attacks now and then. (I hardly ever use Brick Break at all…)
The EV in defense keeps her HP at an odd number, which is essential for switching into Stealth Rock because, even though I have a spinner, I always forget / can’t find an opening to use it. (If I was a perfect player, I’d be fixing this team on my own.)
POSSIBLE CHANGES: Brick Break for something.
When you think “Scyther”, you think, “I hate Stealth Rock.” When you think, “I hate Stealth Rock,” you think Rapid Spin. I thought Armaldo first, but Armaldo kinda disappointed, so I switched to Claw. Claw is a definite improvement. He sucks up physical attacks in an emergency, he can sweep some Pokemon that insist on staying in on him, and his Lum Berry makes Lanturn’s job that much easier.
I just wish Claw was faster. If he was faster, he’d be golden. Everything he can come in on seems to have a coverage attack for him, and he sometimes can’t even Spin, which I need something to do for Scyther.
POSSIBLE CHANGES: Another Spinner that fits in with my team.
SUBSTITUTE—Bastards. I only run one offensive Pokemon and one phazer, neither of which can cover all Subbers.
MAGMORTAR—Magmortar is an anus with its superb coverage against everything. I can’t think of a special wall that can handle all of its attacks. Electivire is a problem for similar reasons.
SUNNY DAY—I can’t change the weather, my guys often can’t break Substitutes, and every Sun sweeper can total my bulky Pokemon.
I was sick of OU because it plays like Ubers, which it should not. The only strategies are weather offense, rain stall, and VoltTurn, and I’m sick of it. While I like Ubers because of the offensive nature, I don’t like how I can’t seem to switch anything in ever, and I’ve never been particularly successful in UU. So I dropped down to RU, a brand-new metagame with a brand-new attitude (but you still gotta catch them all...).
Two Waters and two Grounds: an interesting duality. However, the restricted Pokemon pool in RU has left me with a few serious issues and stalled my once-swift ascension up the ladder. I'm new to the metagame and the playstyle, so I don't really know what to drop for what.
I saw blarajan’s post about the Steelix/Mantine core, and I decided to make a semi-stall team around it. I decided to add Lanturn for added bulky Waterness and clerical duties. Its Volt Absorb also supports Mantine fairly well.
My team looked a bit slow, so I slapped on Scyther and supported it with an Armaldo. Stealth Rocks aren't gonna spin themselves, you know. Finally, because I planned on forcing switches, I drafted a Roselia for Spiking and defensive typing.
The team worked for a bit, but I noticed problems. Armaldo was slow, which was fine, but between his typing and defenses, he couldn’t take hits very well. Like, at all. So I replaced him with old favorite Sandslash, and that worked out for a while.
Then, I saw Mantine going belly-up in the face of physical attacks, Tangrowth, and Magmortar. While I can take care of Tangrowth all right with Rosie and Lanturn, Maggy proved a thorn in my side. I dropped Mantine in favor of Slowking, whose better physical bulk has served him well.
The focus of the team is to stack on enough residual damage that Scyther can clean up. In the event that it can’t, I stick with the residual-damage idea. My team leans toward Special Defense, and its redundant typings are proving problematic, but I can't decide what I definitely want to change.
Akiza (Roselia) (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Rest
If you’re a Grass-type that can stall out a Weezing, then you’re either Arceus, some power-creepin’ Gen 6er, or Eviolite Roselia. (Yeah. It happened.)
Anyway, Roselia is my answer to Leech Seeders and Toxic inflictors. It’s also a handy pivot switch into things like Lanturn that run only one attack that really scares it. Even then, Eviolite can help it sponge anything short of a Fire Blast, and RestCure brings Rosie back to full. Spikes are handy because I aim to force switches and (as you can see in the link above) their high PP helps in stall wars and Mexican standoffs.
I keep Roselia in the lead spot so I can lure her counters in; I usually lead with Lanturn or Scyther. The only issue with Rosie is that she gets leveled by physical attackers like Acro Sceptile, who proceeds to run through the rest of my team if Steelix is down. I may switch her with Tangrowth, but Tangrowth can’t Rest and run like Rosie can, and I don’t want to put unnecessary pressure on Lanturn.
POSSIBLE CHANGES: Switch for Tangrowth.
Ingot (Steelix) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Roar
- Gyro Ball
Bog-standard physical wall. Ingot also helps against Substituters, fragile speedsters like Acro Sceptile, and tanks that expect me to switch. He also forms a good partnership with Slowking and Lanturn (and, prior to this edition, Mantine) due to Special capabilities.
There’s really not much to say about Ingot, other than he’s my physical wall. That’s the problem: “wall” is singular. Steelix can’t handle every physical threat, and although I can switch in Scyther to sponge Earthquakes and Fighting attacks, I don’t really like to predict that kind of thing.
POSSIBLE CHANGES: Make something else physical.
Got Crabs? (Slowking) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 144 Def / 116 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Slack Off
- Scald
- Toxic
- Fire Blast
The first of my bulky Waters and easily the classiest. Just look at that hat. Ooh, that hat. And with the ruff! Day-Care man, wonder no longer; that ruff/hat ensemble is where Eggs come from.
…Ahem.
Slowking is like a suitcase full of pants. He covers Steelix’s arse with specially-oriented badassery, he covers Lanturn’s arse by checking similar things and status-spamming, and (as he stated, even Slowking could use pants) he covers his own arse with Slack Off and Regenerator. Of course, when Enemy Airlines decides to make a surprise U-turn, Slowking’s HP ends up going in the wrong direction. That’s the risk of flying, though.
On a more serious note, Slowking’s hatred of status only adds to the pressure on Lanturn, which I really want to alleviate. His myriad weaknesses require some working around which I can’t always provide because my Pokemon die more quickly than their bulk suggests. Finally, I hate Fire Blast. I lost a game against a sun team because they switched in their Sunny Day user and Fire Blast missed. Goddammit, Fire Blast.
POSSIBLE CHANGES: Some other coverage move. Open to suggestions.
Lumina (Lanturn) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Def / 216 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Volt Switch
- Heal Bell
Bulky Water number 2. This little fishy is one of my favorite to use yet least favorite to face. She’s like an RU Slowmie with more supportive capabilities. Scald helps against physical Pokemon like Muk and Steelix that Toxic can’t touch, although the hax never works right when I use it. Volt Switch helps me scout for counters—it’s not like I can’t handle Ground-types with this thing—and lets me spam VoltTurn OU-style with Scyther. (Seriously, in OU, if it isn’t rain, it’s sand; if it isn’t sand, it’s sun; and even if it is one of those, it’s probably also VoltTurn. Am I right, or am I right?)
Heal Bell keeps my other guys burn-proof and toxic-free. I rarely find myself in need of it, though, but when I do, Lanturn’s already crumbled under repeated attacks or Magmortar’s HP SE-type, power FU. Now that I no longer run Mantine, I can’t lure Volt Absorb bait like I used to, so Lanturn really doesn’t recover well. Her being my only Maggy check never really works out well for her, either.
POSSIBLE CHANGES: Spread. Movepool. The addition of an anti-Maggy buddy.
Jade (Scyther) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace
- Bug Bite
- Brick Break
This girl is my response to fast, frail offense and my only particularly speedy Pokemon. I usually only get her in first turn, after a kill, or on Giga Drains and Earthquakes. However, once she’s in, something’s taking a hit it won’t like. Most of the time, I’ll U-turn out to whatever I need to, but I’ll stay in to kill things with Tech-boosted attacks now and then. (I hardly ever use Brick Break at all…)
The EV in defense keeps her HP at an odd number, which is essential for switching into Stealth Rock because, even though I have a spinner, I always forget / can’t find an opening to use it. (If I was a perfect player, I’d be fixing this team on my own.)
POSSIBLE CHANGES: Brick Break for something.
Claw (Sandslash) (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Hardy Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Night Slash
When you think “Scyther”, you think, “I hate Stealth Rock.” When you think, “I hate Stealth Rock,” you think Rapid Spin. I thought Armaldo first, but Armaldo kinda disappointed, so I switched to Claw. Claw is a definite improvement. He sucks up physical attacks in an emergency, he can sweep some Pokemon that insist on staying in on him, and his Lum Berry makes Lanturn’s job that much easier.
I just wish Claw was faster. If he was faster, he’d be golden. Everything he can come in on seems to have a coverage attack for him, and he sometimes can’t even Spin, which I need something to do for Scyther.
POSSIBLE CHANGES: Another Spinner that fits in with my team.
TROUBLE LIST
SUBSTITUTE—Bastards. I only run one offensive Pokemon and one phazer, neither of which can cover all Subbers.
MAGMORTAR—Magmortar is an anus with its superb coverage against everything. I can’t think of a special wall that can handle all of its attacks. Electivire is a problem for similar reasons.
SUNNY DAY—I can’t change the weather, my guys often can’t break Substitutes, and every Sun sweeper can total my bulky Pokemon.
