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Spiritomb doesn't have any ghost STAB to use with choice band if you ask me, shadow sneak is just weak. So it get shadow ball instead. Choice band is the main item, but the slashes can be used if you want more flexibility (the decrease in power is noticeable though). Plays just as normal cbtomb does, crippling walls with trick or pursuit trapping unfortunate psychics.
The difference comes with the checks/counters. Shadow ball makes spiritomb able to still hit it's usual checks much harder than otherwise. Grabull takes at least 32% damage compared to 13% from shadow sneak allowing for an almost guaranteed 3hko and weezing is 3hko'd as well without much ability to do otherwise. As a bonus getting burned only somewhat hinder spiritomb as it can still take on things with shadow ball, albeit rather weak but still better than useless.
This is much more gimmick-ish than a lot of the sets in here, I realize that.
Mr. Mime @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Charge Beam
- Icy Wind
- Psychic
- Magical Leaf
just a neat technician set on mr mime, i was looking through pokemon to use for a special sweeper/attacker and noticed there isnt really many good ones in NU, atleast ones i enjoy running, it gets boltbeam coverage (kinda) and even if it doesnt KO with something like icy wind, it will slow the opponent and let something comein and get off a big hit for free. havent seen this before so thought i would share
Mr. Mime @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Charge Beam
- Icy Wind
- Psychic
- Magical Leaf
just a neat technician set on mr mime, i was looking through pokemon to use for a special sweeper/attacker and noticed there isnt really many good ones in NU, atleast ones i enjoy running, it gets boltbeam coverage (kinda) and even if it doesnt KO with something like icy wind, it will slow the opponent and let something comein and get off a big hit for free. havent seen this before so thought i would share
Magical leaf is fine since technician boost it to 90BP either way (it also sounds much cooler than energy ball). Frankly there's absolutely no difference between the two except leaf won't miss and energy ball can drop spD, neither too useful.
Mr. Mime @ Life Orb
Ability: Filter/Soundproof
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Charge Beam
- Icy Wind
- Psychic
- Magical Leaf
just a neat technician set on mr mime, i was looking through pokemon to use for a special sweeper/attacker and noticed there isnt really many good ones in NU, atleast ones i enjoy running, it gets boltbeam coverage (kinda) and even if it doesnt KO with something like icy wind, it will slow the opponent and let something comein and get off a big hit for free. havent seen this before so thought i would share
I'm confused as to why you wouldn't use Dazzling Gleam, it gets STAB and is Mr. Mime's best shot at getting rid of Dark-types. I think the most ideal Mr. Mime set would be:
Mr. Mime @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind/Charge Beam
- Dazzling Gleam
- Psychic/Psyshock
- Encore/Reflect
Never used this thing so it's all theorymon, but I'd imagine this is how you'd want to use Mr. Mime. Fairy + Psychic coverage doesn't really miss out on much aside from steel types, allowing you to focus on Mime's great support movepool in order to distinguish it from things like Mesprit. CM for most reliable way of boosting up on a switch or something, Charge Beam is less reliable but damages things so it's an ok alternative. STABs speak for itself, last move is something like Encore for locking opponents into setup moves, giving you more leeway to setup on your own with CM, or Reflect in order to tank Sucker Punches flying your way and OHKOing the Dark-types responsible with Gleam. Still not a fantastic mon, but it can do a few things pretty well.
I'm confused as to why you wouldn't use Dazzling Gleam, it gets STAB and is Mr. Mime's best shot at getting rid of Dark-types. I think the most ideal Mr. Mime set would be:
Mr. Mime @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind/Charge Beam
- Dazzling Gleam
- Psychic/Psyshock
- Encore/Reflect
Never used this thing so it's all theorymon, but I'd imagine this is how you'd want to use Mr. Mime. Fairy + Psychic coverage doesn't really miss out on much aside from steel types, allowing you to focus on Mime's great support movepool in order to distinguish it from things like Mesprit. CM for most reliable way of boosting up on a switch or something, Charge Beam is less reliable but damages things so it's an ok alternative. STABs speak for itself, last move is something like Encore for locking opponents into setup moves, giving you more leeway to setup on your own with CM, or Reflect in order to tank Sucker Punches flying your way and OHKOing the Dark-types responsible with Gleam. Still not a fantastic mon, but it can do a few things pretty well.
why are you using technician with only one move to take advantage of it? use filter or soundproof imo, psychic / fairy coverage is more than enough in this meta (misses on steel-types only).
I would like to share two sets that I like to run for spin blockers in NU.
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Mixed Spiritomb [The ultimate spin blocker]
Spiritomb @ Black Glasses
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 104 HP / 192 Atk / 212 SAtk
Quiet Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Dark Pulse
- Pain Split
Even though you run triple STAB and get completely walled by dark, fighting and fairy types it gets the job done for blocking rapid spinners that want to come in your face and remove your valuable hazards. Since this Spiritomb is mixed and nobody expects it you have the surprise factor when you take into a count the effectiveness of this pokemon.
This particular set is able to switch on a rapid spin and retaliate with the proper move depending on the rapid spinner:
Cryogonal
Gets OHKO'd by sucker punch.
192 Atk Black Glasses Spiritomb Sucker Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Cryogonal: 288-340 (102.1 - 120.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Gets 2HKO'd by pursuit if it doesn't switch out AND rocks are on the field.
192 Atk Black Glasses Spiritomb Pursuit vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Cryogonal: 144-171 (51 - 60.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
You can live two ice beams guaranteed if your opponent is running lefties AND doesn't have hazards on the field.
252 SpA Cryogonal Ice Beam vs. 104 HP / 0 SpD Spiritomb: 111-132 (41.5 - 49.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Avalugg
Gets 2HKO'd by dark pulse.
212+ SpA Black Glasses Spiritomb Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Avalugg: 243-286 (61.6 - 72.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Torkoal
Gets 2HKO'd by dark pulse IF rocks are on the field.
212+ SpA Black Glasses Spiritomb Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Torkoal: 177-208 (51.4 - 60.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Wartortle
Gets 3HKO'd by dark pulse.
212+ SpA Black Glasses Spiritomb Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Wartortle: 106-126 (32.9 - 39.1%) -- 99.8% chance to 3HKO
In case someone is using baltoy
Gets 2HKO'd by sucker punch (same for pursuit, if they don't switch out is a 3HKO) IF it is specially defensive.
192 Atk Black Glasses Spiritomb Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Baltoy: 254-300 (89.4 - 105.6%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
Gets 2HKO'd by dark pulse IF it is physically defensive.
212+ SpA Black Glasses Spiritomb Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Baltoy: 236-278 (83 - 97.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Problems for this set:
- ARMALDO. Since armaldo has an excellent attack stat it's able to breakthrough this set with 2HKO stone edge and not a real way to fight back.
252+ Atk Armaldo Stone Edge vs. 104 HP / 0 Def Spiritomb: 163-193 (61 - 72.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
You can use dark pulse to make him feel like he can KO you and then surprise him with a sucker punch IF you haven't shown that you're mixed.
212+ SpA Black Glasses Spiritomb Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Armaldo: 157-186 (44.3 - 52.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
192 Atk Black Glasses Spiritomb Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Armaldo: 118-139 (33.3 - 39.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Works like this: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nubeta-136570284
If rocks are up you'll be able to bring him down to the point that he can't switch out because he'll die on entry, then you can revenge kill him with something or get momentum with Volt Switch.
- Granbull. You can't do **** to the physically defensive set and it can 2HKO you with Play Rough or paralyze a member of your team.
4 Atk Granbull Play Rough vs. 104 HP / 0 Def Spiritomb: 216-254 (80.8 - 95.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- Sawk/Primeape/Hariyama/Gurdurr. You can't touch them for a super effective or neutral move as they can set up on you.
- Other spiritombs
Good team mates:
- Pokemon to switch into Granbull (Today I faced WAY too many Granbulls).
- A cleric. Any cleric is welcomed as people usually use WoW on you if they see your physical moves, on the other hand if they see you using Dark Pulse they'll use Toxic on you thinking that you're CR.
- Flying types. I personally used defensive Rotom-Fan to WoW the annoying fighting types, kill them with air slash or get momentum with volt switch but you could also run Fletchinder to priority Acrobatics everything or even use Archeops or Swellow.
- Volt-Turn. If you stack a lot of hazards you might want a pokemon that's able to use Volt Switch or U-Turn to get switch initiative and wear down your opponent little by little.
PD: When I first made this, it wasn't triple STAB and it had Water Pulse and HP Fighting (plus expert belt) for Sandslash and Avalugg but then I realized that Dark Pulse after STAB had the same base power of those moves, so I changed the item to Black Glasses and added Dark Pulse.
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Mixed Dusknoir
It seems really odd at the beginning but just as Spiritomb it completes the job of blocking rapid spins really well, I want to clarify that this pokemon ISN'T meant to be a powerhouse, it's not a wallbreaker or a sweeper it's just a spin blocker.
There are two ways of running this set, one has a powerful STAB Shadow Ball and the other one has Focus Blast but it depends whether you like to rely on a move that has a 30% chance of missing or a safer option with a little less coverage (After STAB they're the same base power).
This particular set is able to switch on a rapid spin and retaliate with the proper move depending on the rapid spinner:
Cryogonal
Gets 2HKO'd by Sucker Punch.
60 Atk Dusknoir Sucker Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Cryogonal: 150-177 (53.1 - 62.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Sandslash
Gets 2HKO'd by Ice Beam.
252+ SpA Dusknoir Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Sandslash: 222-262 (62.7 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Avalugg
Gets OHKO'd by Focus Blast IF rocks are on the field OR Gets 2HKO'd by Shadow Ball IF rocks are on the field.
252+ SpA Dusknoir Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Avalugg: 338-398 (85.7 - 101%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Dusknoir Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Avalugg: 169-199 (42.8 - 50.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Torkoal
Gets 3HKO'd by Focus Blas/Shadow Ball (Has a REALLY slight chance of a 2HKO IF rocks are on the field).
252+ SpA Dusknoir Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Torkoal: 123-145 (35.7 - 42.1%) -- 14.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Dusknoir Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Torkoal: 123-145 (35.7 - 42.1%) -- 15.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Wartortle Sadly it gets 4HKO'd IF rocks are on the field.
252+ SpA Dusknoir Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Wartortle: 75-88 (23.2 - 27.3%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Stealth Rock
In case someone is using baltoy
Gets 2HKO'd by sucker punch IF rocks are on the field.
60 Atk Dusknoir Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Baltoy: 134-158 (47.1 - 55.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Gets 2HKO'd by Shadow Ball IF it is physically defensive.
252+ SpA Dusknoir Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Baltoy: 164-194 (57.7 - 68.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
It has a good chance of a 2HKO by Ice Beam IF it is physically defensive AND rocks are on the field (In case you run focus blast).
252+ SpA Dusknoir Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Baltoy: 124-146 (43.6 - 51.4%) -- 55.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Problems for this set:
- ARMALDO. Basically is the same problem with Spiritomb, but you can do even less damage to it.
- Lack of power. There are 20 EV's on Defense stat that are technically useless, you might want to change those to make your Sucker Punches more powerful, but I like the bulk more since the 2HKO on Cryogonal is already guaranteed with only 60 EV's on attack.
- OBVIOUS knock off. Is obvious.
Good team mates:
- A cleric. People usually use toxic on Dusknoir and that can easily wear you down.
- Wallbreakers. You might want to run a powerful pokemon that's able to breakthrough powerful defensive walls that want to set up wishes in your face, Banded Sawk and Life Orb Shiftry are good for this task.
- Phazers. If you're not doing too much damage pokemon WILL set up in your face and you have to get rid of them somehow, that's why you need a bulky phazer to eliminate those threats such as Steelix, Bastiodon (Which both are able to set up rocks), Dragalge or Lickilicky.
PD: This set has lefties so you'll have a more reliable source of HP.
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For me Spiritomb put a lot of work, I hope it does the same for you guys. If you have any suggestions I would be happy to read them.
Some replays: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nubeta-136592911 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nubeta-136601352
When posting sets can everyone at least provide reasons to use it over something similar? eg. When posting about Thief Zangoose, tell us why I'll ever use it over Toxic Orb Zangoose. Because right now half of the sets posted here are terrible gimmicks that shouldn't belong, and there might be good sets that are overlooked due to the lack of explanation.
"it's unexpected" and "it's cool" don't really count btw
I don't care if my Zangoose loses health over time if it is destroying like 85% of the tier (this is what you call a worthy tradeoff), which your set clearly doesn't do since it needs to Swords Dance and lacks STAB. Oh, and Toxic Boosted Facade (210 BP) still outdamages +2 Return (102 x 2 = 204 BP). Sorry to say your set is not even worthy of the title gimmick; it's straight up outclassed.
NATURE: ADAMANT
ATK: 252
Spd: 252
HP: 4
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Item: none and/or Dark gem if applicable
-------------------------------------------
Moves:
==========
Close Combat
Thief
Swords Dance
Pursuit
==========
This set is to utilize an inverse of a hit and run strategy. Thief is to steal any potential life orbs, sitrus berries, etc.
After stealing the item, the person is most likely to switch out. You may either attack with pursuit, or set up with swords dance, and proceed to wreck their team.
Although I like originality, I have to agree with Punchshroom on this one. Using original sets is a great way to keep yourself motivated and entertained, but a set like this is not going to work in the high ladders. On the low ladders you might get a kill or 2, but in the high ladder, this set won't be seen.
The fact that you don't have a Normal type STAB move on there, is also very odd to me. Zangoose is probably the best abuser of the 'Click-Facade-And-Watch-Things-Die' strategy. So therefor, there is only 1 Zangoose set that can be used effeciently.
Zangoose @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Toxic Boost
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Facade
- Quick Attack
- Close Combat
Here's a set I've been using in the lower ladder of NU (cause I'm not that good so I don't get high on the ladder ;) ).
Sceptile @ Choice Specs
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Energy Ball
- Giga Drain
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Ground]
The idea of this set is that sceptile has an incredible base speed, one of the only common pokes with a higher base speed is swellow, so that allows the focus to go all in it's special attack. I mostly see physical sets and those are cool and all but I see that base 105 and think why not use it? So with a choice specs on there sceptile has a huge 338 * 1.5 = 507 attack! The reason for not running timid is that I find the average speed in NU is fairly slow so the base 120 is enough to make up for that. Now the moves, sceptile has a pretty garbage special move pool (literally all grass, normal, plus dragon pulse/focus miss) so that makes it a little tricky figuring out what works best. Personally I like the STAB power of energy ball and then giga drain can be a nice recovery if it will still ko. Even if the hits are resisted the specs will still do a ton of damage. Dragon pulse is there just for neutral damage but I hardly ever use it and hidden ground is for some extra coverage. In usage it is mostly a spam energy ball/giga drain. That's all I really have to say, priority kills this just cause it's base def is so low but no way really around that, thanks for reading the essay I just wrote haha.
I get high on the ladder...if you know what I mean...
Alright, so this is an interesting set. A question is why HP Ground? It allows you to hit Electric-types. Which aren't common in the tier, as far as I see. It hits Steel-types, which Focus Blast hits much better. Yeah, I know it misses sometimes, but the power difference is substantial. It hits Rock-types, which Focus Blast would also hit harder. It hits Poison-types, which aren't really common at all. I just don't see how that would be the best move to put there. Same with Dragon Pulse, actually. Maybe use Focus Blast and Hidden Power Ice / Substitute / Agility idc but this could be cooler imo.
I get high on the ladder...if you know what I mean...
Alright, so this is an interesting set. A question is why HP Ground? It allows you to hit Electric-types. Which aren't common in the tier, as far as I see. It hits Steel-types, which Focus Blast hits much better. Yeah, I know it misses sometimes, but the power difference is substantial. It hits Rock-types, which Focus Blast would also hit harder. It hits Poison-types, which aren't really common at all. I just don't see how that would be the best move to put there. Same with Dragon Pulse, actually. Maybe use Focus Blast and Hidden Power Ice / Substitute / Agility idc but this could be cooler imo.
Yeah I see your point, well sub/agility is sort of useless on a choice set, I really don't like focus blast. Now I was looking at the hp ground decision like this. A resisted energy ball will do more than a neutral hp. So the only hp is valuable is when it is super effective. I think ground has the most super effective to grass resist combination if that makes any sense? This probably isn't the best way of looking at it but that was my thought process in choosing the moves. Like I said before it really became a spam energy ball poke, especially end game where pokes are already damaged so even resisted hits are 1-2 hit ko's.
For a Specs set I would much prefer Giga Drain / Leaf Storm / Focus Blast / HP ice. Giga drain is the spamable stab move, leaf storm is there if you don't care about the drop but is really in need of power (much like overheat/flamethrower on some fire types). Focus Blast + HP ice gives perfect neutral coverage alongside giga drain if I don't miss anything obvious (there's lampent I guess).
The downsides of not using hp ground is hitting poison and fire types for super effective damage, but the most common poison type (vileplume) is hit harder by hp ice, dragalge is hit the same while weezing is immune to ground and muk is too bulky to break through. Fire types in nu aren't all that bulky so hitting them for super effective isn't as important.
Focus Blast miss on the other hand will hit every steel type in the tier hard and ice dents every grass type that will think about switching in on Sceptile. The accuracy of Focus Blast suck, we all know that but there aren't many other options. Dragon pulse is not really a good coverage move.
Also run timid, the 120 speed is very good to abuse to its fullest.
Dragon Pulse has better overall neutral coverage than HP Ice and especially with the debuff from last gen it's still a very acceptable replacement for HP Ice tbh
Oh sorry, I totally forgot about Specs. I was thinking LO for some reason.
But yeah, the reality of the matter is that Sceptile, despite its fantastic Special Attack, has a very lacking Special movepool. When a Pokemon like that is granted Focus Blast, it's kind of hard to look over it when it has literally almost nothing else.
And GlassGlaceon, HP Ice can hit Flying-type switch-ins much harder, which is nice. I don't actually have an opinion on Dragon Pulse v. HP Ice.
Well the main thing is, most of the flying types I commonly see in NU (Articuno, Swellow, Archeops, Mantine...) are hit just as hard or harder by another move in sceptile's arsenal, so I don't really see the point outside of wanting to OHKO unboosted vivillon, but that's just me
Would it work to just get rid of hp and run giga / energy ball / focus blast miss / dragon pulse? Also I'm not sold on running timid. At that speed range who is it important to out speed to justify a lower attack? It would be some scarfers but I haven't done the calcs on common scarfers so I wouldnt know.
Would it work to just get rid of hp and run giga / energy ball / focus blast miss / dragon pulse? Also I'm not sold on running timid. At that speed range who is it important to out speed to justify a lower attack? It would be some scarfers but I haven't done the calcs on common scarfers so I wouldnt know.
There's no point in running Energy Ball > Leaf Storm when Giga Drain is only 15 BP less, and heals you. Leaf Storm off of Choice Specs Sceptile will help you in the early game to soften up walls / grab assured KOs, while Giga Drain prolongs a sweep later by healing you. Specs Sceptile is a hit-and-run Pokemon, so treat it as such. Also Dragon Pulse isn't actually bad on this set; it hits Dragalge harder if you really want to nail it on a switch.
Archeops, Pyroar, Raichu, Sneasel, Liepard, Tauros, Purugly, and you now speed tie with Cryogonal, Scyther, Mismagius, and Kadabra.
It's still pretty important to run Timid.
This set is actually a pretty good revenge killer. I've also had a lot of people switch into ghosts thinking it didn't have (or perhaps forgetting it had) scrappy.
Aurorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Refrigerate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rock Polish
- Echoed Voice
- Ancient Power
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Thunderbolt
Aurorus, to put it bluntly, isn't really that good. However, I present to you a very fun set I've been enjoying greatly! Rock Polish bolsters Aurorus' Speed to threatening levels, outspeeding Accelgor by one point. Of course this can be changed to outspeed certain threats and retain bulk, but I prefer Max Speed because it outspeeds everything below uninvested base 88 Pokemon before a Rock Polish, which can come in handy. Echoed Voice is a gimmicky move, but on Aurorus it sees use because it is 52 power thanks to Refrigerate. It's the same power as most priority, so keep that in mind before thinking it's weak. After one Echoed Voice (then using it again), it hits 104 base power after Refrigerate (same as Nature Power), making it a powerful STAB move. And after this, it just keeps getting stronger and stronger. The max power is 260 (Refrigerate), but you'll often not get this far. But, this is the main issue, it requires being used consecutively to be of use, which can be difficult at times. But, if pulled off, it is a snowball effect that not even resists want to stomach. Ancient Power is a secondary STAB move and has a nifty side effect that can be really helpful! Hidden Power [Fire] hits Steel-types, while Thunderbolt hits Water-types. Both are useful, but I prefer Thunderbolt for the most part. However, this set has a lot of flaws too. It can be outspeed by most Choice Scarf users and it has issues setting up. Its bulk is still horrible and it can't stomach much priority, which is a real bummer. Overall, though, Aurorus is a really fun and cool Pokemon that I think people should try out!
@ Choice Band / Black Glasses
