XY NU Less Mainstream Team Hopefully

[Red Cup]

Hi all, I'm fairly new to the competitive scene (around 6 months) and don't have a ton of playing time under my belt. Recently I made this team and I peaked around 1340 which is the highest I've ever gotten, normally I'm in the 1200s. Now I want to know if I'm doing something right or I was battling people that didn't entirely know what they were doing. Last note before I get started is that I try to not use the super mainstream pokemon as I like to see variety.

1. Defensive Core:

Weezing @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Pain Split

A very common weezing set but I don't see it a lot while playing and its really a superb defensive wall. With it's only weakness being psychic and that isn't normally physical this gets the job done. I normally play it as an anit lead to stop hazards going up that's why I have the 4 speed to outspeed other base 60's. Also this was a great check to shiftry. Shiftry's health would be whittled down through life orb recoil and then when weezing died pangoro comes in to hit something hard with a it's choice band.

Cradily @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Ancient Power
- Recover
- Mirror Coat

This guy is an absolute beast specially and I have never seen anyone else use it this gen, probably because vileplume/seismitoad seem to have taken over defensive cores. Anyways Mirror coat is a little gimmicky but that's partly why I chose it. I like the surprise factor and since it has that and a reliable way to recover health in the form of recover I picked him up for my special wall. This can take two scarfed typhlosions eruptions at max damage. That's a pretty good check and it performs similarlly against other threats. Focus Blast is a concern but it's not getting ohko by one.

2. Special Attacking Core

Mismagius @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt

Very common mismagius set, but the poke itself seems to be less used. Anyways this is really here for late game sweeps. Take out it's counters find a turn or so to set up and finish the remaining pokes. I went for the survive-ability of leftovers instead of the power of life orb. During my "run" I met a lot of spiritombs with infiltrator and so this set didn't really do a whole lot.

Meowstic-F (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Barrier
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Thunderbolt

This set works a lot like the mismagius set does, set up sweep. I recently had the idea of running weakness policy on it since it can take a hit due to barrier/calm mind and then it gets 4 boosts adding instant power to stored power but I haven't tested it so for now it has leftovers. This poke did alright, it is hard stopped by ferroseed which I actully saw a lot of so that was unfortunate but after those stops were gone it was able to do some decent damage.

*NOTE: I think this core is the weakest part of the team. They basiclly do the same job with little coverage between the two of them and they are both weak to knock off. If I were to drop one it would be mismagius because I want to play with the weakness policy meowstic. I got stuck a couple times because these were some of my last pokes left and they were both walled by one of the opponents leading to a lose.

3. Physical Attacking Core

Bouffalant @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt
- Pursuit

Bulky attacking Bouffalant, switches in on special attackers and hits like a truck. When I made this set the idea was a vileplume stopper. However, against defensive vileplumes, which seem to be farily common, zen headbutts damage is lack luster. Vileplume can't do much in return but eventually effect spore kicks in and it goes poorly for Bouffalant. While it failed in it's intended job, I liked having the option of switching in a bulky attacker in stead of cradily on special threats. It's a shame they are both weak to fighting but it didn't seem to be a problem most of the time. Also pursuit is on there for a surprise factor but it wasn't used all that much.

Pangoro @ Choice Band
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Storm Throw
- Poison Jab
- Parting Shot

I'll be honest, this is one of my favorite 6th gen pokes and I grabbed him just because I wanted to seem him do something good. I've messed around with scarfed pangoro in the past but I decided to switch it up. He wasn't sweeping teams or anything but I would find he did a great job of hitting defensive threats hard enough to put them at a low enough health for someone else to come in a clean up. There were some late game sweeps where people thought he was scarfed/av and would get caught off gaurd by the banded damage. Also he has some decent bulk to take a few hits, as long as they aren't fairy, to make up for his lackluster speed.

*NOTE: I realize that both physical attackers are slow and have no priority. I was concerned when I made the team but they have great bulk and the very fast special attackers seem to do a good job of covering up that weakness.

Thanks for reading all that. I'm ready for the constructive criticism as I know this team isn't great but I was so happy with getting so high, for me that is, on the ladder. I want to get better so I look forward to people's advice and changes. last thing, sorry for grammar spelling errors or whatever, I'm human it happens :)

 

[Brawlfest]

Hi there! Your team however is very weak to SubSG Klinklang which easily sets up on 3 of your pokemon, and outright 6-0's your team. I also worry about dark moves, as the moment that Pangoro dies your team is extremely vulnerable to strong Knock Offs coming off of Shiftry or Liepard, becoming an insanely difficult move to switch into for your team. Outside of that, the team looks solid, but some of the individual sets do also have issues.

Meowstic is honestly useless to you. It is extremely frail, has a hard time setting up, and is still not very strong when set-up. As a result, it is a poor setup sweeper, unreliable, and especially in your case where it is relying on a STAB that requires boosts completely useless. I would reccomend running Calm Mind Slurpuff instead over it. Unlike Meowstic, Slurpuff is far bulkier, has less common weaknesses, and more importantly, it is far more reliable at setting up. It is bulky, and with Unburden incredibly fast, and its great typing and coverage makes it a easy setup sweeper to use. It also can act as a secondary check to dark types that wreck you if Pangoro goes down, which is a major boon to make your team a lot more solid.

Cradily honestly doesn't help your team either. It is incredibly easy for the biggest threat to your team to set up on, and is honestly dead weight throughout a game. Instead, I would reccomend running Defensive Seismitoad, which still offers the immunity to water types but also helps with Klinklang, which even at +2 will never do more than 50%, easily allowing Seismitoad to check it. Furthermore, Seismitoad has incredible utility in Knock Off and Stealth Rocks, helping to be much better support than Cradily, while maintaining some mild offensive pressure.

Minor Changes:
Mismagius: Dazzling Gleam > Thunderbolt, because it offers better two move coverage.
_____________

Slurpuff @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe or 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Modest Nature / Bold Nature
- Dazzling Gleam / Draining Kiss
- Calm Mind
- Flamethrower
- Substitute

Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Def / 56 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Knock Off / Toxic
- Stealth Rock

 

[Shuckleking87]

I would 100% do the changes above.

I also really, really like using weezing, as it's a great physical wall with few weaknesses, can take a +6 slurpuff, and sawk do not usually run mold breaker+ eq like gen 5. Taunt is an underrated move used on weezing (as shown in my week 1 NUPL game). I would suggest running 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 speed to outspeed min speed seismitoad and no speed sandslash to prevent their rocks, while still living a +6 slurpuff hit after rocks. Also run thunderbolt >pain split in my opinion, to 2hko lead qwilfish and lead omastar.

You are correct that your team would be weak to vileplume, especially switching meowstic to slurpuff. I would suggest to run head charge somewhere on that set, as it has a better than 50% chance to 2hko 252 hp 252 Def vileplume, while zen headbutt has a 0% chance to 2hko. I dont like that fact that both of your physical attackers are so slow, but I see how pangoro works, and similar fighting types like primeape (who is faster but weaker) and sawk (who is stronger but has no switching moves) probably wouldn't fit the mold as well. I can see choice banded scyther/ life orb or no item archeops actually working pretty well on your team.

I would go with 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 speed jolly with u-turn, aerial ace, quick attack and knock off with technician ability for scyther.

For archeops, 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 speed jolly (adamant works too) with u-turn, acrobatics, stone edge and knock off/earthquake/roost I suppose.

But I know you like pangoro, so the switch really isn't necessary, but might be something different to try out.

 

[Red Cup]

Awesome, loving the suggestions guys. First things first I switched out meowstic for slurpuff. Second, if I drop cradily for seismitoad should I really run a physically defensive set since I'm losing a special wall? Also I changed the evs on weezing so it outspeeds no speed sandslash. Last note is I did a damage calc and even head charge doesn't 2hko a defensive vileplume so that is still a threat to the team, but I suppose slurpuff becomes a counter to it. Calc below

252+ Atk Bouffalant Head Charge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vileplume: 153-181 (43.2 - 51.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery

 

[Shuckleking87]

Awesome, loving the suggestions guys. First things first I switched out meowstic for slurpuff. Second, if I drop cradily for seismitoad should I really run a physically defensive set since I'm losing a special wall? Also I changed the evs on weezing so it outspeeds no speed sandslash. Last note is I did a damage calc and even head charge doesn't 2hko a defensive vileplume so that is still a threat to the team, but I suppose slurpuff becomes a counter to it. Calc below

252+ Atk Bouffalant Head Charge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vileplume: 153-181 (43.2 - 51.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery

Forgot to say, but my calc assumed stealth rocks on the field, which will happen more often than not.
252+ Atk Bouffalant Head Charge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vileplume: 153-181 (43.2 - 51.1%) -- 56.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Bouffalant Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vileplume: 136-162 (38.4 - 45.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery

 

[Red Cup]

Forgot to say, but my calc assumed stealth rocks on the field, which will happen more often than not.
252+ Atk Bouffalant Head Charge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vileplume: 153-181 (43.2 - 51.1%) -- 56.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Bouffalant Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vileplume: 136-162 (38.4 - 45.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery

Ah got it! Makes sense and the change seemed to make sense regardless because zen headbutt was absolutely useless.

 

[Brawlfest]

Awesome, loving the suggestions guys. First things first I switched out meowstic for slurpuff. Second, if I drop cradily for seismitoad should I really run a physically defensive set since I'm losing a special wall? Also I changed the evs on weezing so it outspeeds no speed sandslash. Last note is I did a damage calc and even head charge doesn't 2hko a defensive vileplume so that is still a threat to the team, but I suppose slurpuff becomes a counter to it. Calc below

252+ Atk Bouffalant Head Charge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vileplume: 153-181 (43.2 - 51.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery

Honestly, your team really doesn't "need" dedicated walls with tanks such as AV AFROBULL and Panda, so its more about having enough bulk to tank a hit rather than having dedicatedly specially or physically defensive walls. Your team is a lot more balance than anything, so having a solid backbone with good synergy is more important than having pure walls.

 

[Red Cup]

Honestly, your team really doesn't "need" dedicated walls with tanks such as AV AFROBULL and Panda, so its more about having enough bulk to tank a hit rather than having dedicatedly specially or physically defensive walls. Your team is a lot more balance than anything, so having a solid backbone with good synergy is more important than having pure walls.

Interesting, I was playing earlier and I used a fully invested special defensive toad and broke the top 500 at around 1427. I'll try your mixed toad set when I get the chance.

 

[g]

Looking at your team I immediately notice a huuuuge weakness to entry hazard stacking teams as you don't have anything with reliable recovery and a lot of pokemon suffer spikes, a partial solution would be using Taunt over Substitute on Mismagius. While you lose the ability to check some sucker punch users you become infinitely better against hazards teams as you lack the pressure to deter something like ferroseed or garbodor from coming in and starting to set up hazards for free.
The "easiest" (and by easiest I mean the least painful one) solution is changing the Seismitoad to Defog Mantine who like Seismitoad has OK sinergy with weezing and removes your entry hazards problem.

Tldr;
Substitute -> Taunt on Mismagius
Seismitoad -> Defog Mantine

Mantine set

Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Scald
- Protect / Air Slash
- Toxic