GSCPL VI Team Dump
Week 1 - vs MrSoup
https://pokepast.es/68e528a744f1d1f1
Going into this I knew MrSoup would be the most difficult opponent I could face given that 1. he's really good at this tier 2. we talk to each other about the tier all the time 3. I was on an 0-5 streak against him going into this, so I figured it would be wise to just stick to something solid and maybe incorporate a piece of spicy tech. I began with the classic core of Stantler/Weezing/Dewgong/Pineco + rock and was just looking for a sixth. Ended up coming up with Counter Hitmonlee as a way to turn the tables on something like Weezing and even potentially Primeape. I initially had it in the back, but after looking at his leads and thinking about my Octillery matchup, I figured it would be better to put Lee in the lead rather than Pineco. Chose Rhyhorn as the rock because Hitmonlee meant I wanted my rock to check normals (so not Graveler) and I wanted my rock to not easily let Stantler in (so not Pupitar), but you could use Sudo if you wanted. Curse Ground Weezing to cover the Hitmontop matchup, not let Stantler in, and because I didn't feel like I needed Thunder or Fire Blast.
Week 2 - vs Real FV13
https://pokepast.es/be292cd047e55fcc
I don't have too much to say here, I was dry on ideas, and I just wanted to use a basic good team. This isn't anything new, it just works.
Week 3 - vs BigFatMantis
https://pokepast.es/dff3cbaa498c451a
I had like no information on what BFM liked to use except that he's a crack addict and he might be getting help from MrSoup. I decided I wanted to use Wigglytuff and went from there. I figured spikeless would probably be better and just filled out Weezing/Dewgong/Primeape/Graveler as the adds, and finalized with Sudowoodo for the extra exploding rock pressure for both offense and to take some weight off Graveler defensively. Also considered using this but with Hitmontop + Porygon instead of Sudo + Ape but Sudo felt more comfortable against Weezing and in general for its explosive potential. Curse Weezing for Hitmontop again.
Week 4 - vs Zpice
https://pokepast.es/cc05aba6452a78c4
Scouted Zpice and saw that he really liked fires and rocks and was building a bit light against Xatu, so Dash Xatu with Thief Xatu felt pretty natural. It's a pretty typical Dash Xatu for the most part, but this time with the sixth slot being lead Thief Weezing. I think it's pretty cool, it can pretty consistently land one against fires, Stantler, or an opposing Weezing, any of which is appreciated on this team. Thief Weezing is especially nice when paired with Xatu and Dash because often Weezing will take Leftovers away from Rapidash or Ninetales, making it easier for Xatu to put a Thief down against something like Dewgong or Porygon, not just helping Rapidash break through but also Xatu itself. Most people aren't going to be comfortable sending in their rock against Weezing until it's revealed its coverage, especially when it's in the lead, so I felt pretty safe not running HP Water and just using Thunder to make sure something like Xatu, Dewgong, or lead Octillery couldn't screw with Weezing.
Week 5 - vs Shengineer
https://pokepast.es/a07e9779b53b0567
I was itching to use Dugtrio just in general by the time Week 5 rolled around, and I had a pretty good excuse to use it here. Shen was pretty heavy in on Primeape and Ninetales and had barely been using fat waters (relatively). Rolled with another Dewgong Spikes build because Dugtrio fits quite well and I didn't want to use Dash Xatu again if he was going to bring something more defensively inclined. I actually made several variations here and the choice came down to if I wanted Xatu or Hitmonlee, and I decided I was vibing with Hitmonlee. This time, I went with a Thief set to ensure I could do something to Weezing regardless of the situation (i.e. if he plays around Counter) so that Primeape would have an easier time. Thief also helps a lot against Exeggcute. Rapid Spin last to prevent Pineco from spiking in front of me and to let Hitmonlee function better as a boom sack to Pine in the mid game. Curse Weezing for Hitmontop.
Week 6 - vs Real FV13
https://pokepast.es/6019ec8994511b7d
After looking at FV's scout and screwing around a bit, I was mostly just like, "hey why don't I use a goofy Wigglytuff?" So, I did. I was looking through its movepool, and Thunder Wave really stuck out to me. I know that Wiggly gets Body Slam and that move is really good, but the instant guaranteed paralysis of TWave was very appealing, and it would let me use the super powerful Double-Edge on it. Bubble Beam last for the rocks and such. Beyond the Wigglytuff set, I didn't really know what direction I wanted to take my team. Genuinely, I had nothing solid for ideas for any of the other 5 Pokemon. So, what did I do? I looked at FV's scout, saw something that was basically exactly what I wanted, stole a six he had used, and here we are. Curse Weezing for Hitmontop, this time with Thunder to hit lead Octillery and force Sudo to explode earlier than it wanted to. Could use Psybeam instead of Curse if you want and the team would not suffer much against Stantler, but Curse felt like it would really force him to use a rock to deal with Weezing instead of Stantler or a fire, which Rapidash likes.
Week 7 - vs MrSoup
https://pokepast.es/a817269fabb01bc3
Once again, I knew this would be a challenge, especially since Soup told me before this week that he had apparently already made a team to deal with me this week. I wasn't too sure what to bring when looking at either his scout or my self-scout across GSCPL and NUCL, but Kiyo suggested that he would bring Sudo if he faced me, which indirectly inspired me to use Sudo myself. I spontaneously came up with the genius idea (full glaze) to use Sunny Day 3 attacks Rapidash in the back alongside a Thief Sudo in the front, and after running some calcs, I was pretty happy. I filled out Gong/Weez/Pine/Ape for defense and because Spikes were definitely necessary. After talking some with JensenDale, I decided on dropping Curse from Sudo altogether and keeping Eq for full coverage so that I wouldn't just lose if Soup decided to use lead Sudo and to hit Weezing without exploding. Pineco + Primeape + Explosion Weezing + Sudo made me feel safe enough against a potential Porygon or Wigglytuff anyway. This time though, I did not use Curse Weezing, because I chose to ignore Hitmontop. I figured he would avoid using Hitmontop since he knew I had been using a ton of Curse Weezing on teams without a different check to it, and the extra coverage felt really important to enable Rapidash. Lo and behold, Rapidash ended up working perfectly, and it left me feeling super satisfied, especially since this broke my 0-6 losing streak against MrSoup. Definitely my proudest moment of the tournament.
Week 8 - vs Shengineer
https://pokepast.es/62380c9fde025076
I lowkey assumed our team would make finals easily (to be fair it was very difficult not to at this point in the tournament), so I definitely took this as an opportunity to screw around a little more than usual. I chose to go with an overload strat that would really put as much pressure as possible on enemy Primeape and Pineco with Egg and Ninetales for a backbone and to help enable my pieces through paralysis and Reflect. The team takes on a sort of identity as para spam to facilitate a Curse LS Stantler end game, and I think it can work quite well. The Kingler could (debatably should) probably be something else or just a different set like maybe Surf RestTalk or SD Hyper Beam, but dunno I just wanted to use this set. Also, since this was Shengineer, I was concerned about bp, and I felt like Sudo + Porygon would help a lot.
Finals - vs MrSoup
https://pokepast.es/d6545c2dc02a8e22
Heading into this I was definitely intimidated, but I definitely felt a little better now because I had finally broken my massive losing streak against MrSoup back in Week 7. I initially was inclined to use a Flareon Hitmontop spikeless, but after running a couple test games with Shen and talking to Jensen, I just wasn't really vibing with it at all, so I had to shift gears. I knew I wanted to be prepared if he brought Gong Spikes, which felt quite likely given the stakes of our match since he would want to fish minimally and let his skill speak for itself. I was between two main teams for this week, but I'll just go over this one for now (the other I did end up using anyway in NUCL Week 6). I came up with the idea of using a double fighter core of lead Meditate Primeape with RestTalk Hitmonlee in the back, with the ultimate goal of removing Weezing to clear the way for Lee domination (or just completely dominating just in case he did choose to use stall). I initially had Curse Roar Stantler as the sixth, but I was concerned about my plan against Primeape if Weezing went down early and made a version that swapped it for Thief Haze Xatu (which I later swapped to Thief Cray because Haze is mostly for BP since Xatu really prefers to not be the one to deal with boosted Wiggly/Pory). I ended up choosing the Xatu variant because it fared better into Kingler and the speed control gave me a sense of comfort against Primeape and Weezing. Primeape is preferred as the lead on double fighter here because it more directly forces Weezing to deal with it since Hitmonlee is much more vulnerable to Xatu, and also because I have Xatu to help against Kingler where other teams like what I used in Week 5 don't and want RestTalk Primeape in the back to help deal with it.
NUCL III Team Dump
To preface, I took NUCL a lot less seriously compared to GSCPL, so most of my brings were significantly more vibes based and I generally have less to say about the thought I put into them.
Week 1 - vs Estarossa
https://pokepast.es/d1536d8cf8813be8
Wanted to use Surf RestTalk Kingler because I thought it was cool and matched well into the lack of HP Electric Octillery in Esta's scout. Decided on going with a more balance-forward Spikes build focused on defense and spreading paralysis. I'm a pretty big fan of this team; while it's definitely slow, it provides a ton of support to really get a Kingler or Porygon win condition going and is capable of slowing down the game and stalling things out if needed. The team comes together quite cohesively and is fun to use. HP Psychic Gloom to prevent Hitmontop from 6-0ing this and to hit Weezing. Your own Pineco makes up quite well for the lack of Spin Graveler here, especially if you're able to paralyze the opposing Pineco (shouldn't be too difficult).
Week 2 - vs JensenDale
https://pokepast.es/4a24c1fdb48da8fe
So there I was just screwing around thinking about stuff, and while I was in the middle of building out another idea I had for this matchup, I just randomly came up with Zap Cannon Weezing. The team as a whole is pretty goofy, but I kinda love it. Essentially, it's just a regular old Gong Spikes that can absolutely play like a regular Gong Spikes but has the potential to take over the game with massive paralysis spam to facilitate potential destruction with Confuse Ray Xatu. I actually had Rain Dance + Hydro Chinch at first, but I swapped back to Surf + Light Screen cause I pussied out and didn't want to be dealing with 100% accurate Primeape Thunders when my Weezing didn't have RestTalk. Team's very fun, unfortunately didn't get to click Zap Cannon in the battle but it still worked out fine.
Week 3 - vs lax
https://pokepast.es/cfc9c636acf23506
Not too much to say, was going off little information about lax beyond that last time he played GSC NU he like used Kingler every game, so Dash Xatu seemed pretty sensical. Was going between lead Fearow and back Talk Persian and I picked Persian because idk I wanted to. Better against Octillery, Dewgong, and Kingler I suppose.
Week 4 - vs Leoperi
https://pokepast.es/9805a8da708e451a
Just wanted to use some comfort and so I just picked the Fearow version that I chose to not use in Week 3. Not too much to say, I've used this before and it's just like a regular good team. Fearow lead is pretty good, people should try it out more on Spikes teams. Has a lot of positive lead mus like Stantler, Pineco, Primeape, and Hitmonlee and isn't terrible against Persian or Octillery.
Week 5 - vs LustfulLice
https://pokepast.es/fb78fdd419f86dd8
One of the aforementioned alternate variations of the team I built for Week 5 of GSCPL, having Xatu and a coverage Weezing set rather than Hitmonlee and Curse Weezing. I just wanted to use Dugtrio this week, that's pretty much it. Good Pokemon, it really went off in the battle.
Week 6 - vs MrSoup
https://pokepast.es/c4b1141b284d5510
I built this during finals of GSCPL and ended up choosing the Xatu version over this one. Essentially, after talking with Jensen some, I replaced the Curse Roar Stantler with Sudowoodo to help with stuff like Weezing and Sunny Tales and provide an extra explosion. I really really like this team and I think it's extremely potent with incredible offensive potential, and I very nearly chose to actually use this in GSCPL finals. Given that I suddenly found myself subbed in last minute to play MrSoup after deciding at the beginning of the week that I wanted to bench, I had a pretty good opportunity to use this, and I went for it. Curse Weezing for Hitmontop, and Primeape in the back because it's at least something in the way of Kingler counterplay.
Week 7 - vs Shiloh
https://pokepast.es/ba767372da774aa4
Not much to say here, you've all seen this team before. Only comments are Toxic Persian as an interesting tech option for Porygon/Rocks/Baton Pass and Haze Xatu for BP. Wish I Confuse Ray in the game though.
Some Commentary on the Metagame
Pineco to me has really solidified itself at the number one spot. It's just so good. Every team is made better by Spikes if you're able to fit Pineco, and Pineco itself has a lot of valuable qualities. You don't need Pineco to make a good team, but you always need to be cautious when facing it and be conscious of if you are or are not able to use it well and deal with it on your team.
Weezing, while I still think is not quite as good as Pineco, also feels like it's gotten even better. All of Weezing's sets are extremely effective and there are just so many. 3 attacks + Boom, Curse Boom, Curse RestTalk, Thunder RestTalk, and more all work great on the right teams, and we've really been able to expand the individual moves Weezing can use also. Long gone are the days where every Weezing is Sludge Bomb/Thunder/Explosion + Fire Blast or HP Water; moves like HP Ground, Psybeam, and Thief are legitimately good, and Curse especially makes its way onto a ton of sets. To go on a mini side-tangent about Curse, I think it's a pretty fantastic move on Weezing. It gives it the ability to muscle through checks like Ninetales, Rapidash, and especially Stantler when otherwise it could be somewhat difficult even with Spikes, and it can even potentially turn Weezing into a win condition. Perhaps most useful from a teambuilding perspective though is that it makes Weezing a truly solid Hitmontop answer when paired with Explosion, as opposed to before when many Xatu/Egg-less teams' best hopes were to try and explode on Hitmontop before it got more than one Curse up.
Hitmontop is somewhat of an anomaly to me. I'm always super paranoid about it because it can just dominate unprepared teams. Because of this, as I'm sure you can tell by looking through these teams, I'm always keeping in mind ways to deal with it that I can fit onto my teams like Xatu, Curse Weezing, HP Psychic Gloom, Exeggcute, Gastly, etc. As a result though, since I perhaps am debatably overcompensating for the Hitmontop matchup, its actual effectiveness in battles is somewhat diminished in my eyes since there are so many ways to neuter its ability to do stuff offensively against your team. Perhaps more exploration with Hitmontop is due to really explore countermeasures against these anti-Hitmontop options, but for now, I'm definitely a little lower on it than before, especially since it's usually beholden to defensive teams where slots tend to have to fit defined roles rather than allowing for a noticeably greater degree of flexibility like you might find in the sixth slots on Dash Xatu or Gong Spikes. Who knows though. Definitely worth messing around with, possibly on these offensive Spikes structures as a tech option for certain matchups.
Kingler perhaps has been the Pokemon to go under the most transformation in the metagame recently. Double Edge/Surf/RestTalk, while it has existed for some time when MrSoup and I came up with it several months ago, is now a proven staple of the tier. It expands Kingler's overall usefulness to the structure of a team greatly, making it a strong punish to important defensive pieces like Dewgong, Pupitar, and Rhyhorn. Not a ton of Pokemon can comfortably stomach Double Edge, especially with Spikes up. Primeape and RestTalk Xatu are the best options you have on most teams, which while they're fine answers, still take over 40 from Double Edge. Tangela is effectively immune to Kingler, but it's an extremely specific choice that really only works on ultra defensive teams in most cases. Luckily, dealing with Kingler is not an impossible feat. Many teams can prevent it from becoming too much of an issue with their own offensive pressure. Not having Dewgong on your team also makes it much easier to handle. As per usual, while Kingler is an incredible choice against slower teams, its effectiveness is still limited against high-octane offense teams, regardless of what set it's using. Speaking of, both versions of SD Kingler are still strong choices IMO, they've just had some of their spotlight taken away by RestTalk being so good and being less forced to commit to risking huge damage when trying to muscle through Xatu or Primeape. You definitely can't forget they exist though.
I think Dewgong has eclipsed Octillery for I believe the first time in the history of the tier. I know not all feel that way, but to me, Dewgong is incredible. I firmly believe that Dewgong Spikes is the best all-around structure you can run right now if you just want to ensure you have a decent chance of winning regardless of matchup. Dewgong itself is amazing against dangerous threats like Xatu, Rapidash, Pupitar, and Dugtrio and is a stop to some otherwise potentially really irritating things like Gloom and Exeggcute. Dewgong really anchors a ton of teams defensively, and while it's not incredible offensively, it can still do things. Ice Beam freezes as always can reverse a game state, and Stantler and Octillery are not fool proof defenses against Dewgong. Primeape is liable to getting taken out by something like a Curse normal or even just getting overconfident trying to muscle through Weezing, and Porygon needs to be extremely careful around status. Encore Dewgong has also shown itself to be quite good as a way to really screw with Curse users. However, it's definitely not unpunishable. Dewgong still carries with it a heightened weakness to Primeape, and it's extremely vulnerable to Sunny Day Ninetales, Kingler, Hitmonlee, and even Sudowoodo, and we've seen a huge uptick in usage of these as a way to take advantage of the rise in Dewgong usage.
Octillery meanwhile is in a bit of an awkward state. Don't get me wrong, it's still a fantastic Pokemon. It hits extremely hard and it is still firmly, at the very least, top 7. If anything, Octillery itself is quite good against many Chinch/Gloom-less Gong Spikes teams that have to deal with it by trying to force it asleep or freeze it with their own Dewgong. Octillery is difficult for a lot of teams to switch into, even Egg teams once Spikes are up. Octillery also does a lot of things Dewgong can't, like very comfortably dealing with Sunny Day Ninetales and preventing Primeape, Hitmonlee, and Kingler from abusing it as freely. The main thing with Octillery is that it feels somewhat difficult to build with. Being so much worse against Xatu feels really bad and running it with a fire feels somewhat forced, though definitely not mandatory. Octillery is a Pokemon I think that we should honestly explore more in the builder, which certainly feels pretty strange to be saying given how much of a staple it was on nearly any team in the past. Hell, I think RestTalk Octillery could be excellent
alongside RestTalk Dewgong on Gong Spikes, but it does face a lot of competition with RestTalk Kingler there. MrSoup has been using some Flareon Octillery Spikeless teams that certainly have some potential. Honestly, I'd love for there to be more than like at most 2-3 consistently functional Octillery + Weezing Spikes teams like there was back in the day, but we'll see. Moral of the story, use Octillery. It's still great, just not as great.
Hitmonlee I think is super underrated right now. It still has a lot of issues, but there's so much you can do with it when you're pairing it alongside Stantler or Primeape. Lead sets are quite effective, and in general, non-RestTalk deserves more exploration imo. Hitmonlee's movepool is super wide, you can do almost anything. BSlam, Dedge, HP Rock, Thief, Rapid Spin, Counter, Protect, Substitute and possibly more are all great moves, and of course, there's Reversal. RestTalk is definitely decent too though. I believe Double Edge is probably the best 4th move right now, though BSlam certainly isn't bad. I don't think I'd use HP Rock, too much of a liability against Weezing and the grasses. I'd rather just fit a rock to cover Pineco. Hitmonlee should overall definitely be used at least a little more.
Sudo feels quite strong right now. I feel like increasingly we are discovering the amount of team builds it can fit on and enable, especially if you view it as just part of the engine rather than an integral piece to making your team function. It's just such a nice thing to have to force your opponent into awkward positions and effectively give up one of their Pokemon in exchange for Sudo being gone. It's great at helping you deal with Weezing, Ninetales, Rapidash, and Curse normals. Sudo definitely feels inherently limited due to its nature as a trade piece and its competition with the other rocks, but it's still very solid.
Wigglytuff has gotten better, and Porygon has gotten worse. This being said, Porygon is still better than Wigglytuff. Porygon is significantly superior from a defensive standpoint and Thunder Wave is a nutty move. The main reason why I believe Wigglytuff is now in better standing with respect to Porygon relative to where it was before is perhaps because Wigglytuff is not being relied on as an integral defensive piece. Porygon very often has to take on a lot of defensive duties, which while it is great at doing that, can somewhat limit its capabilities. Wigglytuff however can be treated like a battering ram and just do whatever it wants. It's excellent at just mashing buttons and taking things with it before it dies, and it has a ton of cool stuff it can do with its moveset like Fire Blast, Bubble Beam, Thunder, Protect, and even Rollout that Porygon can't because Wiggly is so naturally bulky that you can afford to forgo RestTalk if you really want to. Also, just as a straight up Curse + Recovery user, Wigglytuff fares far better against Pupitar and Rhyhorn compared to Porygon because of Body Slam, which can definitely matter. BS potential with Wiggly somehow feels greater than Porygon, but Porygon is undeniably more consistent and overall useful to the structure of a team.
Don't get me wrong, Sunny Day Ninetales is still great, I just think it might be getting used a bit too much. The ideal matchup for Sunny Tales is a Dewgong team without a fire or Sudowoodo, and preferably not Pupitar either. This is certainly a common matchup, but there are many situations where Sunny Tales is reduced to doing very little. It requires pretty careful building to minimize its weaknesses. Even in good matchups though, Sunny Tales is not an automatic win. It faces the threat of Explosion from Weezing, a potential Dugtrio steamrolling its team, a Porygon Recover stalling it, or just getting cheesed. On the flipside, Reflect Ninetales feels super good right now. Reflect is just a realy good move and negates a lot of the negatives that come from using Ninetales. Sure, Dewgong and Octillery become harder to deal with, but they're not immovable walls, and Flamethrower still has enough power to 3HKO many common targets like Primeape, Stantler, Xatu, and Weezing. Roar Ninetales is also pretty good but more specific.
Exeggcute is probably the biggest riser in the tier over the past few months (though Kingler comes close). It has kinda become something from almost nothing. It featured prominently on like one or two teams, but now, it's suddenly everywhere. What can I say, it's just pretty good. Egg does a lot of unique things. It's the only Pokemon that can check all of HP Electric Octillery, Chinchou, Primeape, Hitmonlee, Hitmontop, Dugtrio, Sudowoodo, Graveler, Pupitar, and Rhyhorn (Elec Oct + fighters + rocks). That is pretty much all it does, but that alone is so valuable. It actually can do some other things though. Stun Spore is a good support move, and if you want, you can fit something like Sleep Powder or Thief over Giga Drain. You can even run Explosion over Synthesis if you want, but it definitely requires a different approach to building since Egg is no longer able to function as a long-term defensive piece. Egg's just a very neat defensive Pokemon with good support abilities, that's kinda it. I do think people have been using it too much, but I understand that there was a good bit of hype around it and people wanted to try it out, which I don't blame. It's pretty good and can enable a lot of unique builds, mainly ones without Octillery or Dewgong.
Lastly, I really want to thank all my managers,
gorgie and
choolio for GSCPL VI and
Be13costa and
Kingler for NUCL III, for having me on your teams and placing your full trust in me. I apologize that it did not always go the best on my end and I truly lament how these tournaments ended for us, especially GSCPL, but regardless, thank you for dealing with me and I appreciate your work. I had fun.
/ 
