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Hello World! This team has been my standard RU team for quite a while, and I've had great success with it, getting 25% of the way to a Tiering Contributor Badge, winning the tenth RU minitour, and doing altogether not terribly at the RU Premier League. Unfortunately, I took it on a ladder trip to record a peak for this RMT and kept losing to Molk. ;~;
At First Glance
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Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA - 252 Spe - 4 Atk
Mild Nature (SpA ↑, Def ↓)
| Blizzard | Giga Drain | Hidden Power [Rock] | Ice Shard |
The first Pokémon I chose when I was building this team was Snover. This was, rather understandably, a no-brainer, because it is literally impossible to make a good Hail team without a Snover.
The set is a pretty standard one, and because I found the immediate damage more appealing than the arguable utility of a SubSeed set, Snover takes on the task of destroying unwary opposing leads should the opponent choose their lead unwisely. As is to be expected, Blizzard kills anything weak to Ice, usually Aerodactyl, Druddigon, Archeops and various Stealth Rock setters. Kabutops and Quagsire fall to Giga Drain, which also dealing passable damage to many opposing Slowking hoping to tank out Snover. Hidden Power Rock is where this set becomes interesting; while the conventional Hidden Power Fire allows Snover to 2HKO (and thus win against) Escavalier, Hidden Power Rock carries an element of surprise when used against opposing Entei, Moltres and Typhlosion which try to set up their Substitutes or start an Eruption spree. It doesn't help much that most of the players on the Pokemon Showdown! RU ladder somehow have never heard of the concept of a Focus Sash Snover. Ice Shard usually deals the killing blow to Galvantula, Accelgor and other Pokémon which are just out of KO range from Blizzard + Hail damage. Snover strong <3
Unfortunately, Snover is stopped cold (haha get it >_>) by many of the walls that inhabit the tier, like Uxie and Cryogonal. That's what the next team member is for, though...
Trait: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP - 252 Atk - 8 SpD
Brave Nature (Atk ↑, Spe ↓)
IVs: 0 Spe
| Iron Head | Megahorn | Swords Dance | Substitute |
Escavalier is an absolutely beastly wallbreaker. Once Slowking manages to get Trick Room up, Escavalier can usually wreak a ton of havoc with the opponent's team thanks to its incredible Attack stat and the rather surprising Substitute. Plus, Overcoat means it doesn't take Hail damage, which lets it stall out Stallrein, Poliwrath, and Qwilfish:
0 Atk Qwilfish Waterfall vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Escavalier: 79-94 (23.03 - 27.4%) -- possible 4HKO (62.5% chance to break sub)
0 SpA Poliwrath Scald vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Escavalier: 61-73 (17.78 - 21.28%) -- possible 5HKO (0% chance to break sub)
0 SpA Walrein Blizzard vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Escavalier: 59-69 (17.2 - 20.11%) -- possible 5HKO (0% chance to break sub)
Substitute may be a rather unorthodox choice, but it is a really effective one. Standard Poliwrath, Qwilfish, and any Walrein not running Surf can't break its Substitute with a single hit, allowing Escavalier to set up comfortably if it wants to; furthermore, with a Substitute up, our little escargot friend doesn't have to worry about a stray Will-O-Wisp or Scald from opposing Spiritomb, Dusknoir or Poliwrath. Unfortunately, Escavalier's somewhat limited STABs mean it can't do much towards hurting Steelix or any Fire-type at all very seriously. Thankfully we have Slowking for that.
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP - 252 SpA - 8 SpD
Quiet Nature (SpA ↑, Spe ↓)
IVs: 0 Spe
| Trick Room | Surf | Fire Blast | Psyshock |
As excellent a tank and sponge as always, Slowking is a great boon to the team, if not absolutely essential to its success. First and foremost, Slowking provides a great switch-in to Typhlosion, Entei, and so forth, threats which ruin the rest of this team. It's also a greatly underestimated and formidable sweeper under Trick Room, due in part to the average ladderer's ignorance regarding the ability of Slowking to learn Fire Blast. Thanks to its excellent coverage and bulk, the only opponents Slowking isn't able to do anything to under Trick Room are generally Uxie and opposing Slowking, as well as priority users such as Spiritomb and Absol. Thankfully, these are mainly stopped dead in their tracks by the other half of the Slowking-Escavalier core.
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk - 252 Spe - 4 SpA
Adamant Nature (Atk ↑, SpA ↓)
| Flare Blitz | Stone Edge | ExtremeSpeed | Hidden Power [Grass] |
Woof. The canine from hell makes a reappearance, spreading fire and brimstone to anything and everything that gets in its way. While originally intended to be a secondary physical sweeper, Entei has surprisingly proven somewhat more useful than Medicham, thanks to the fact that Entei actually has some bulk and generally doesn't fall apart under any offensive pressure. This set is literally a copy of Smogon's standard Choice Band Entei set. For most intents and purposes, Flare Blitz takes out just about anything the opponent can use, even 2HKOing non-physically bulky Slowking. ExtremeSpeed is very useful for speedy glass cannons such as Cinccino as well as finishing off weakened opponents; furthermore, it can be used even during Trick Room, allowing Entei to carry out suicide missions during Trick Room, removing an opposing Pokémon while also allowing Escavalier a free switch-in paving the way for a sweep. Worth noting is the fact that Stone Edge isn't actually of much use most of the time, but I honestly can't think of anything that might be more useful in its place.
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA - 252 Spe - 4 SDef
Timid Nature (Spe ↑, Atk ↓)
IVs: 0 Atk
| Trick | Blizzard | Thunderbolt | Volt Switch |
Who knew refrigerators could be so deadly? Rotom-Frost is capable of tearing holes in many teams once the opponent's bulky Psychics and Steels are mostly gone, because a surprising number of RU Pokémon are weak to either Blizzard or Thunderbolt. In fact, a lot of Pokémon in general are either weak to Blizzard or Thunderbolt. Not only does a Choice Scarf allow Rotom-F to hit hard and fast, but it is also a powerful weapon when Tricked to many tanks like Clefable and Quagsire, which are essentially powerless when their Leftovers are replaced with a Choice Scarf, usually allowing Slowking to set up Trick Room or Escavalier to set up Substitute. Volt Switch increases Rotom's mobility, letting it hit its target while swapping to a better check or counter at the same time.
Trait: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk - 252 Spe - 4 Def
Jolly Nature (Spe ↑, SpA ↓)
| Fake Out | Bullet Punch | ThunderPunch | Hi Jump Kick |
As far as physical offense goes, it's hard - if not impossible - to top Medicham. Originally, my team was having plenty of trouble with Clefable for some unfathomable reason (I really have no idea why). At first, I used Hitmonlee, until I realised that it really wasn't a very good fit on this team. Besides having sky-high Attack, Medicham can actually hurt opposing Slowking pretty badly with ThunderPunch, unlike most of the other Fighting-types in the tier. While the residual damage from its Life Orb and Hail might pose a threat to Medicham's longevity, it could be argued that Medicham doesn't have much bulk in the first place; plus, Life Orb enables it to take out any non-physically bulky Slowking with a Fake Out + ThunderPunch combo (I think). Medicham also works pretty well against opposing HP Fire Snover leads, which I had quite a bit of trouble with otherwise because their sash is incredibly annoying. Medicham can also swap in and out of difficult opponents, while being able to deal damage to them over time through a combination of Fake Out and Hail damage.
A Last Look Back
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I hope you've enjoyed my team and my RMT; I certainly enjoyed making them! I've left a directly importable version of it below, so you can give it a spin on the ladder if you like. I really don't think there's much else to say here except thanks for reading (and taking the time to rate??) my RMT!
~
Importable:
Code:
Snover @ Focus Sash
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Mild Nature
- Blizzard
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Ice Shard
Escavalier @ Leftovers
Trait: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Iron Head
- Megahorn
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
Slowking @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SAtk / 8 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Trick Room
- Surf
- Fire Blast
- Psyshock
Entei @ Choice Band
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Stone Edge
- ExtremeSpeed
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Rotom-Frost @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
Medicham @ Life Orb
Trait: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Bullet Punch
- Hi Jump Kick
- ThunderPunch
