Other Metagames Scrub's Shackles: A Nearly NDRU NDUbers team (PEAKED RANK 22 1689 ELO)

So I was messing around on Discord, playing the most popular fan-made format after draft leagues, that being gym leagues.
Anyways, the important part to know about Gym Leagues is that they typically restrict your ability to just bring a top-tier NDUbers or NDOU team, restricting you to only one pokemon of each tier above NDRU, no or only one legendary, etc. There are also often rules like No Stall but that's irrelevant.

After getting bored to death playing through gym leagues, I eventually decided to make a team based off of the rules that seemed most common and run a team through NDUbers ladder with it. I ended up getting mid-1500s back around the time of the sticky web suspect and giving up there. However, I was really bored in class lately and wanted to see if I could go further. Turns out, I totally could. So without further ado, please enjoy the Scrub's Shackles and click like on my post to recompense me for my suffering.




Idol (Fezandipiti) @ Leftovers
Ability: Toxic Chain
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 16 Spe
Tera Type: Dark
- U-turn
- Icy Wind
- Acid Spray
- Roost

The bird birdself! Fezandipiti is basically the only defensive choice I could make in NDRU to check both eternatus and yveltal. It also helps out against CM Arceus formes, defensive Primal Kyogre, and most ladder shitmons that don't actually threaten it (think Flutter Mane or specs pult). Leftovers provides chip healing, which is useful since many pokemon you are intended to check enjoy running taunt. U-turn is the momentum move, Icy Wind is the move that allows you to give Marshadow an entry or slow something down so you can U-Turn and get twice as many chances to fish chair, Roost is healing and Acid Spray is actually still good even though you don't have any other special attackers. One, it turns Fezandipiti itself into a threat in longer 1v1s, but it also turns special attackers into their own downfall once Ditto gets pivoted in. Dark tera idk I don't like Psyspam but I also never encountered it. There is probably a better one. Not running 44 defense since the SpD invest really matters on your main special pokemon and you never leave it in vs tera ghost thief anyways, like wtf are you even doing back.



Nihilist (Ditto) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
Happiness: 85
Tera Type: Dark
- Transform

This guy. THIS GUY. Singlehandedly the pokemon on the team most able to win the game at any moment, Ditto is a reverse-sweeping machine that finds out what awful sets ladder is using and uses them back, swaps into your setup sweeper and takes them off the board, does your taxes, pays your bills, and generally wins the game. EVs are basically impossible to optimize, min speed and max def for the mirror, HP Ice for HP opponents I guess, dark tera for sucker punch/shadow sneak resist (I never clicked this), Happiness for some calc surely but I forget, Transform is forced, scarf for duh. Not much to say here but this guy is seriously good and a massive part of my success.



Temple (Garganacl) @ Leftovers
Ability: Purifying Salt
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 18 Spe
Tera Type: Water
- Salt Cure
- Body Press
- Iron Defense
- Recover

Another one of the team's giant wincons, Garganacl checks almost every single physical attacker in the game post-tera and is almost entirely impossible to switch into. Salt Cure slaps every single pokemon on the common GHAZ structure with chip damage that they really don't want to take, Body Press gives Garganacl an immediate threat especiall combined with Iron Defense to win boosting wars, recover is healing. Garganacl is unfortunately the Groudon check on the team which means you have to outplay it with Landorus into Garganacl most of the time, or get off a pre-tera, but you cope that. Also solar beam is like an instant loss but just be better. This guy is what wins when Ditto or Marshadow don't, the number of times I've looked at an opposing team and thought that I win the moment the Yveltal or Primal Kyogre dies is staggering. IDBP makes 1v1s from physical attackers pointless, you outboost stuff like Necrozma and Kyurem-Black and outdamage Zacian, Ekiller, Pdon, etc. EVs live 2 dracos from special Giratina-Origin, max defense.



Guardian (Zarude) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Leaf Guard
EVs: 160 HP / 124 Atk / 8 SpD / 216 Spe
Jolly Nature
Tera Type: Fire
- Power Whip
- Knock Off
- Encore
- Jungle Healing

Worst pokemon on team, honestly. bumboclaat did EVs iirc and I have no idea what they're for except for 330 speed, they work though. This compresses a Zygarde and POgre check into one slot except it doesn't actually really beat either of them so those are some of the bigger threats to the team. Fortunately they are very playable threats. Whip slaps POgre for huge damage, knock does items and also owns Lunala/Giratina, Encore is fun into some of the slower webs stuff and Jungle Healing makes me want to rip my hair out unless I'm in heavy rain or statused and then I praise the geniuses at Gamefreak for inventing it. Tera type is whatever I never clicked this. Mon is decent into the MU-fishy rains that ladder loves and also POgre and Zygarde super fun.



Oracle (Marshadow) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Tera Type: Ghost
- Shadow Sneak
- Poltergeist
- Spectral Thief
- Close Combat

Damage button and the one Uber on the team. Responsible for removing threats that Ditto doesn't want to with Tera Ghost shadow sneak and smashing through cores with your stabs. This is the only other pokemon that I ever actually Tera and only for one reason: more dakka. Marshadow allows the team to break and revenge kill in one slot, with crushing pressure being applied to the balance teams that typically cause problems. Just like Ditto, there's not much to say on Marshadow, strong stabs and Choice Band and Tera Ghost equals a completely unwallable menace that can and will clean up your team.



Terror (Landorus-Therian) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
Tera Type: Steel
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Defog

When you reach the last slot of your team and realize you need a check to physical attackers, hazards, and removal, Gen 7 OU has a solution: Add a Landorus-Therian. Same thing applies here. Landorus both sets and removes hazards for the team based on whether or not you have the advantage with them up on both sides, pressures typical setters (groudon) with STAB, and clicks U-Turn whenever you think that Ho-Oh is going to try to switch in for free (this is always). Unfortunately it cannot fit taunt, nor can it afford to run anything less than 248/244+ defense, and at that point I'd rather just max max. Landorus has one massive upside into Webs teams, namely that with the defensive investment provided it can always switch into rocks and survive a +2 Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade. This swings the matchup relatively in your favour, as with Fezandipiti and Zarude shutting down many of the special attackers and Garganacl checking the physical, Marshadow can poke holes as long as webs are off. Ditto also appreciates the lack of rocks chip when going into endgames against Sucker Yveltal, Marshadow, and Ekiller.


In conclusion ladder is bad and you don't actually need a good team to do well at it.

TBH you may want to consider swapping Zarude with Ferrothorn, which would fill better the role of easing the matchup into Zygarde, especially with Marshadow and Ditto punishing the variants it can't beat, and bonus points for being among the best Primal Kyogre answers in the meta on top, and even lifting some of the load for Garg and Lando-T at checking physical breakers.

Otherwise, if sticking to this league's rules is a priority, I would recommend granting Fezandipiti an Utility Umbrella, as then it'd be able to check Primal Kyogre, instead of POgre just taking down a mon every time it comes in (or downright sweeping if Zarude and Marsh are down):

252+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Origin Pulse vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Fezandipiti: 156-184 (41.1 - 48.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

This seems like a surprisingly decent team beyond that, here's a paste for the Ferrothorn approach, and another for the Fezandipiti one, I hope this helps!

In summary:

:zarude: -> :ferrothorn: OR :fezandipiti::leftovers: -> :fezandipiti::utility umbrella:

Bobsican said:

TBH you may want to consider swapping Zarude with Ferrothorn, which would fill better the role of easing the matchup into Zygarde, especially with Marshadow and Ditto punishing the variants it can't beat, and bonus points for being among the best Primal Kyogre answers in the meta on top, and even lifting some of the load for Garg and Lando-T at checking physical breakers.

Otherwise, if sticking to this league's rules is a priority, I would recommend granting Fezandipiti an Utility Umbrella, as then it'd be able to check Primal Kyogre, instead of POgre just taking down a mon every time it comes in (or downright sweeping if Zarude and Marsh are down):

252+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Origin Pulse vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Fezandipiti: 156-184 (41.1 - 48.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

This seems like a surprisingly decent team beyond that, here's a paste for the Ferrothorn approach, and another for the Fezandipiti one, I hope this helps!

In summary:

:zarude: -> :ferrothorn: OR :fezandipiti::leftovers: -> :fezandipiti::utility umbrella:

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ya I totally would have gone ferrothorn and hated having Zarude over it for the entire climb, unfortunately the team was deliberately designed around the Mickey Mouse rules that lots of people make where you have only a certain number of mons above NDRU allowed so Zarude was basically forced if I didn’t want umbrella fez, and I found lefties too nice for that. Also ladder was bad enough that I simply outplayed POgre ahahahaha Ferro is 3000% better though. doesnt check Zygarde though arguably the best choice is Arceus-Grass or something.

Edit to not get infracted; I’m not actually doing the thing where you insist that people don’t suggest changes because you have a code of honour like not using legendaries (this is not allowed) the team is simply intended to play by those rules and this is my explanation why I didn’t make better choices, please don’t smite me

Mewtwo's Greatest Soldier said:

EVs are basically impossible to optimize

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tier so bad we have to optimize ditto

Mewtwo's Greatest Soldier said:

Worst pokemon on team, honestly. @bumboclaat did EVs iirc and I have no idea what they're for except for 330 speed, they work though.

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iirc the Attack EVs are for Power Whip to break DD Zyg-C's Substitute. HP + Def Evs were so +2 Tera Ground Zygarde 2HKOed. The SpD was for unboosted Eternatus Sludge Bomb to Encore or Rock Tomb if needed, but LO is a lot more common these days. Glad Zarude at least did its job and served you well even if it wasn't the best choice available.

goat