Well, Dynamax was banned and Showdown isn't working, so I thought I would share with people what I was envisioning as a good team in the new meta to work on it togheter with other people and make it as good as possible.
Here's the whole importable:
While here's a more accurate description and analysis of the team:
Clefable @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 196 HP / 252 SpA / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Moonlight
The star of the show. LO Clefable is a huge threat, dealing a ton of damage while being bulky thanks to its great fairy typing and decent stats. Its main role is to destroy slower, tankier pokemons like Corsola-Galar, Seismitoad, Gastrodon, Ferrothorn (which usually doesn't run gyro ball these days, but it's better to scout that) and Toxapex thanks to magic guard negating toxic damage and thanks to its great damage and coverage options. Life Orb+Magic Guard is a great combo, while as for the EVs 60 speed is there to outpace uninvested Corviknight and the rest is put into HP to be as bulky as possible; if you aren't interested in outspeeding Corviknight, a 252 HP / 252+ SpAtk / 4 Spe set to outspeed opposing uninvested Clefables instead of speed tying could also be considered. Flamethrower is a OHKO on 252 HP / 252+ Def / 4 SpDef Ferrothorn and Moonblast is a great base power STAB, while moonlight allows Clefable to easily defeat pokémons like Corsola-Galar and generally come in more than once on other bulkier pokemons. Thunderbolt is the usual second coverage option, but I decided to opt for psychic for a couple of reasons: mainly I wanted Clef to 1v1 Toxapex, and thunderbolt only deals 41-49% to 252 HP / 4 Def / 252+ SpDef Toxapex. Obviously as a 90 base power non-STAB psychic deals the exact same damage, but the SpDef drop means Toxapex can't stay in indefinitely, which paired with moonlight should mean you always win the 1v1 with Toxapex in the long run. Psychic is also great because one of the more common switch-ins is Toxtricity, which is OHKO'd by psychic. Psychic also hits the Rotom forms harder. Generally thunderbolt is only better against the water types that are usually run in rain, so you can switch that in if you feel like rain is more popular than Toxapex, but I feel like I already have enough countermeasures to rain in the rest of the team. I also considered Hatterene for this same spot, particularly a 204 HP / 252+ SpAtk / 52 Spe set (maybe with expert belt to OHKO the aforementioned Ferrothorn set with mystical fire) to outspeed Toxapex, but the fact that it has a worse 1v1 with Dragapult and the lack of reliable recovery makes it less incisive against slower and bulkier teams imho.
Darmanitan-Galar @ Choice Band
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch
- U-turn
Darmanitan-Galar doesn’t need any introductions: it’s a great Pokémon and we all know it. I opted for a choice band set because I wanted my scarfer to be Dragapult, as I will explain later, and for the raw power of this set. This has basically no switch-ins apart from Rotom-Heat, which still gets chipped nicely by u-turn and stealth rock (if it isn’t running heavy-duty boots). Earthquake is the coverage option, OHKOing 252 HP / 4 Def / 252+ SpDef Toxapex, while I prefer ice punch over icicle crash simply because I used to miss a lot of icicle crashes. I usually run fire punch over flare blitz because I hate the recoil and I feel like the extra damage isn’t really necessary on a banded set. Finally u-turn allows you to keep up the momentum if the opponent has a good switch-in.
Dragapult @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
Dragapult is my scarfer, and for many good reasons. First of all modest choice scarf Dragapult outspeeds Darmanitan-Galar and OHKOs it with fire blast. Furthermore with these EVs Dragapult also outspeeds every swift swim user under rain except Qwilfish (which isn’t all that common) and Barraskewda, and with rocks up it OHKOs all of them with thunderbolt or draco meteor except Seismitoad. Fire blast is the first coverage option to OHKO Darmanitan-Galar and Ferrothorn and to hit hard steel types such as Aegislash and Corviknight; draco meteor is a stellar STAB that doesn't really need any explanation, while shadow ball is the secondary STAB which hits for neutral damage most of the metagame. Lastly thunderbolt is great against Mandibuzz and rain teams, as mentioned previously. Infiltrator also makes this great against sub-nasty plot Hydreigon, which otherwise would be a huge menace to this team after a boost, and generally against double screens teams.
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
Excadrill is the hazard removal of the team. After this gen’s buff, rapid spin is a dependable removal that deals decent chip and also boosts Excadrill’s speed, opening up sweeping possibilities. Earthquake is the main STAB which hits hard most of the meta thanks to mold breaker, while iron head allows Excadrill to OHKO or still deal considerable damage to fairy types such as Hatterene and Clefable. Finally swords dance allows Excadrill to threaten Ferrothorn and togheter with rapid spin it forms a sort of double dance set which sometimes allows you to sweep. Leftovers is my item of choice, since this set forces many switches and the passive recovery allows Exca to come in multiple times to clear hazards.
Mandibuzz @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Toxic
- Foul Play
- U-Turn
- Roost
Mandibuzz is the special wall of the team, offering great bulk even against some physical attackers such as Excadrill and walling Pokémons such as Hydreigon and special Dragapult (but be careful of switching into thunderbolt). Toxic is how Mandibuzz still threatens enemies, while foul play is the attacking move of choice since Mandibuzz is the main switch-in against Excadrill. Roost is mandatory on sets like this, while I opted for u-turn over defog because otherwise sub-nasty plot Hydreigon would cook this set while instead a slow u-turn into infiltrator Dragapult forces it out. Heavy-duty boots are a great item to avoid getting chipped by stealth rock.
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Toxic
- Protect
Seismitoad is my rocker of choice. It’s a great mon with a dirty, dirty typing. Toxic and protect are a great combo to heavily injure opponents and gain some free recovery off leftovers. Scald is the STAB of choice thanks to the burn chance. The main draw of Seismitoad is water absorb, which allows it to wall Dracovish, who would otherwise be a decent threat to the team. Water absorb is also great against rain teams. Seismitoad can also somewhat check choice scarf Darmanitan-Galar, but since it gets 3HKOd by icicle crash, it's possible for a flinch to make him die without even getting toxic off.
In general I had also considered choice band Tyranitar over Excadrill and defog on Mandibuzz, but I think that would be way too weak to enemy Excadrills, sub-nasty plot Hydreigons and fairy types in general, albeit the matchup against rain would be even better.
I imagine the main threats to this team would be Toxtricity, since Dragapult and Excadrill can only come in so many times against it, and Darmanitan-Galar, because even if Dragapult outspeeds and OHKOs it, it can always miss fire blast and moreover it's hard to get him in safely against Darm. I thought about running restochesto Rotom-Wash/Heat to check Darm but I fear that would make the team too passive.
Let me know what you think and how you'd make the team better!
P.S. I'll add some replays as soon as showdown comes back online and I get to play a couple of games.
Here's the whole importable:
Clefable @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 196 HP / 252 SpA / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Moonlight
Darmanitan-Galar @ Choice Band
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch
- U-turn
Dragapult @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
Mandibuzz @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Toxic
- Foul Play
- U-turn
- Roost
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Toxic
- Protect
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 196 HP / 252 SpA / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Moonlight
Darmanitan-Galar @ Choice Band
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch
- U-turn
Dragapult @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
Mandibuzz @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Toxic
- Foul Play
- U-turn
- Roost
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Toxic
- Protect
While here's a more accurate description and analysis of the team:
Clefable @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 196 HP / 252 SpA / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Moonlight
The star of the show. LO Clefable is a huge threat, dealing a ton of damage while being bulky thanks to its great fairy typing and decent stats. Its main role is to destroy slower, tankier pokemons like Corsola-Galar, Seismitoad, Gastrodon, Ferrothorn (which usually doesn't run gyro ball these days, but it's better to scout that) and Toxapex thanks to magic guard negating toxic damage and thanks to its great damage and coverage options. Life Orb+Magic Guard is a great combo, while as for the EVs 60 speed is there to outpace uninvested Corviknight and the rest is put into HP to be as bulky as possible; if you aren't interested in outspeeding Corviknight, a 252 HP / 252+ SpAtk / 4 Spe set to outspeed opposing uninvested Clefables instead of speed tying could also be considered. Flamethrower is a OHKO on 252 HP / 252+ Def / 4 SpDef Ferrothorn and Moonblast is a great base power STAB, while moonlight allows Clefable to easily defeat pokémons like Corsola-Galar and generally come in more than once on other bulkier pokemons. Thunderbolt is the usual second coverage option, but I decided to opt for psychic for a couple of reasons: mainly I wanted Clef to 1v1 Toxapex, and thunderbolt only deals 41-49% to 252 HP / 4 Def / 252+ SpDef Toxapex. Obviously as a 90 base power non-STAB psychic deals the exact same damage, but the SpDef drop means Toxapex can't stay in indefinitely, which paired with moonlight should mean you always win the 1v1 with Toxapex in the long run. Psychic is also great because one of the more common switch-ins is Toxtricity, which is OHKO'd by psychic. Psychic also hits the Rotom forms harder. Generally thunderbolt is only better against the water types that are usually run in rain, so you can switch that in if you feel like rain is more popular than Toxapex, but I feel like I already have enough countermeasures to rain in the rest of the team. I also considered Hatterene for this same spot, particularly a 204 HP / 252+ SpAtk / 52 Spe set (maybe with expert belt to OHKO the aforementioned Ferrothorn set with mystical fire) to outspeed Toxapex, but the fact that it has a worse 1v1 with Dragapult and the lack of reliable recovery makes it less incisive against slower and bulkier teams imho.
Darmanitan-Galar @ Choice Band
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Fire Punch
- U-turn
Darmanitan-Galar doesn’t need any introductions: it’s a great Pokémon and we all know it. I opted for a choice band set because I wanted my scarfer to be Dragapult, as I will explain later, and for the raw power of this set. This has basically no switch-ins apart from Rotom-Heat, which still gets chipped nicely by u-turn and stealth rock (if it isn’t running heavy-duty boots). Earthquake is the coverage option, OHKOing 252 HP / 4 Def / 252+ SpDef Toxapex, while I prefer ice punch over icicle crash simply because I used to miss a lot of icicle crashes. I usually run fire punch over flare blitz because I hate the recoil and I feel like the extra damage isn’t really necessary on a banded set. Finally u-turn allows you to keep up the momentum if the opponent has a good switch-in.
Dragapult @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 96 HP / 252 SpA / 160 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Draco Meteor
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
Dragapult is my scarfer, and for many good reasons. First of all modest choice scarf Dragapult outspeeds Darmanitan-Galar and OHKOs it with fire blast. Furthermore with these EVs Dragapult also outspeeds every swift swim user under rain except Qwilfish (which isn’t all that common) and Barraskewda, and with rocks up it OHKOs all of them with thunderbolt or draco meteor except Seismitoad. Fire blast is the first coverage option to OHKO Darmanitan-Galar and Ferrothorn and to hit hard steel types such as Aegislash and Corviknight; draco meteor is a stellar STAB that doesn't really need any explanation, while shadow ball is the secondary STAB which hits for neutral damage most of the metagame. Lastly thunderbolt is great against Mandibuzz and rain teams, as mentioned previously. Infiltrator also makes this great against sub-nasty plot Hydreigon, which otherwise would be a huge menace to this team after a boost, and generally against double screens teams.
Excadrill @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
Excadrill is the hazard removal of the team. After this gen’s buff, rapid spin is a dependable removal that deals decent chip and also boosts Excadrill’s speed, opening up sweeping possibilities. Earthquake is the main STAB which hits hard most of the meta thanks to mold breaker, while iron head allows Excadrill to OHKO or still deal considerable damage to fairy types such as Hatterene and Clefable. Finally swords dance allows Excadrill to threaten Ferrothorn and togheter with rapid spin it forms a sort of double dance set which sometimes allows you to sweep. Leftovers is my item of choice, since this set forces many switches and the passive recovery allows Exca to come in multiple times to clear hazards.
Mandibuzz @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Toxic
- Foul Play
- U-Turn
- Roost
Mandibuzz is the special wall of the team, offering great bulk even against some physical attackers such as Excadrill and walling Pokémons such as Hydreigon and special Dragapult (but be careful of switching into thunderbolt). Toxic is how Mandibuzz still threatens enemies, while foul play is the attacking move of choice since Mandibuzz is the main switch-in against Excadrill. Roost is mandatory on sets like this, while I opted for u-turn over defog because otherwise sub-nasty plot Hydreigon would cook this set while instead a slow u-turn into infiltrator Dragapult forces it out. Heavy-duty boots are a great item to avoid getting chipped by stealth rock.
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Toxic
- Protect
Seismitoad is my rocker of choice. It’s a great mon with a dirty, dirty typing. Toxic and protect are a great combo to heavily injure opponents and gain some free recovery off leftovers. Scald is the STAB of choice thanks to the burn chance. The main draw of Seismitoad is water absorb, which allows it to wall Dracovish, who would otherwise be a decent threat to the team. Water absorb is also great against rain teams. Seismitoad can also somewhat check choice scarf Darmanitan-Galar, but since it gets 3HKOd by icicle crash, it's possible for a flinch to make him die without even getting toxic off.
In general I had also considered choice band Tyranitar over Excadrill and defog on Mandibuzz, but I think that would be way too weak to enemy Excadrills, sub-nasty plot Hydreigons and fairy types in general, albeit the matchup against rain would be even better.
I imagine the main threats to this team would be Toxtricity, since Dragapult and Excadrill can only come in so many times against it, and Darmanitan-Galar, because even if Dragapult outspeeds and OHKOs it, it can always miss fire blast and moreover it's hard to get him in safely against Darm. I thought about running restochesto Rotom-Wash/Heat to check Darm but I fear that would make the team too passive.
Let me know what you think and how you'd make the team better!
P.S. I'll add some replays as soon as showdown comes back online and I get to play a couple of games.
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