Introduction
Hi, i decided to post a team that is.. probably the first PU team in this cursed generation that i'm satisfied with. I used it to qualify for the first PULT cycle (i'm bad so it's the team's success) and tilt a couple of good players that i like and that i was rooting for in the following cycles, because that's how the matching on ladder works. The team is a bulky balance revolving around Scrafty, Charizard and Toxic Spikes and it has a solid matchup versus most of the stuff you can encounter on ladder - stall, weather and the usual balances/offenses. Obligatory bad english disclaimer.
Teambuilding process
A certain positive aspect of helping players in the PU PS! room with teambuilding is that they tend to have a lot of good ideas that you can steal. The core of special attacker Charizard and Bulk Up Scrafty is one of these. Charizard switches into fairies, Scrafty absorbs status, deals with Gigalith. It is not the most innovative idea, but it's a solid place to start building.
Flapple got replaced fairly quickly, but the idea was that it has similar checks as Scrafty - Whimsicott, Garticuno, Charizard etc and it can heavily damage or outright kill them, making Scrafty's life easier.
Toxic Spikes support is very valuable for both Charizard and Scrafty. Their checks hate getting poisoned and Scrafty can remove Heavy-Duty Boots from the bulky Fairy types it forces in. Weezing is the best Toxic Spikes setter, it synergizes well with the rest typing-wise and we don't have a physical blanket check yet so no need to experiment here. Gigalith provides rocks and deals with Charizard and Garticuno, it's the premier special sponge of the tier, so again nothing too interesting. Weezing + Gigalith is one of the better and most common defensive cores that works, has the moves we need and doesn't clash with the rest of the team, so we'll use it.
This how the "let's have some fun on the ladder and see what we need and what we are weak against" version of the team looked like. Eventually it became clear that Flapple does not fit the idea of this team. It's too much of a glass cannon that is not able to switch in and dish out attacks as many times as we would need. Flapple is also too risky and inconsistent, due to the prominence of Defiant and Competitive abilities and Hustle's accuracy drop. It would probably work if I did a couple of changes and made this team more offensive, but I wanted a bulkier squad for laddering. As for the sixth slot - Manectric provided some speed control, momentum and a Volt Switch immunity, but I tried out several Pokémon there, including Eviolite Kadabra, Togedemaru or Raichu.
Tsareena retains some of Flapple's breaking power while having more longevity, Knock Off and Rapid Spin. Charizard, Garticuno, Scyther, Whimsicott or Ribombee are exactly the Pokémon that we want knocked for Scrafty and Rapid Spin allows Charizard to use Toxic instead of Defog. The decision on the sixth Pokémon was somewhat complicated by the fact that this is a bad team which needs speed control, Volt Switch immunity, Weezing abuser, Drampa switchin, Ice resist, something more reliable than Zard's Hurricane to deal with Scrafty, Substitute Steelvally counter, Water resist,... well, in the end I decided to go with Scarf Poliwrath. It ticks some of the boxes and has a great deal of defensive utility while also being a threat that can help breaking down opponent's defenses after entry hazards are up.
The team worked out perfectly fine, until i learned that it loses 6:0 to Iron Defense Regirock and Coil Sandaconda. An obvious easy fix was a replacement of Tsareena by Encore Whimsicott. It deals with every defense-boosting sweeper that this teams struggles to break, has an immunity to Draco Meteor and beats Bulk Up Scrafty without losing an important item. But it's so bad. Whimsicott is a completely reactive Pokémon unable to make any progress on its own - and it gets worn down and dies very, very quickly. I used both an offensive Encore set and a defensive set with Leech Seed in ~10 games and in those games it did more damage to my opinion on the PU VR council (A+! how come on) than to my opponents' Pokémon. So I gave Lurantis a chance and it was.. better. Knock Off is always useful and it's generally not that passive. However, it's longevity really suffers from the Gigalith-Synthesis interaction. It's quite interesting actually, because Synthesis Tsareena that was there before was functioning just fine overall, despite sand. So another try: Eldegoss. Rapid Spin is so much better than Defog in this metagame- and um, on a team that is built around hazards- and with Regenerator we have a free moveslot to utilize Aromatherapy. Status healing is a huge relief for the team, it gives you a lot more freedom when playing. Offensive set, we already have a good defensive backbone, dealing damage is more important here. Other final changes on the team were the ability change to Neutralizing Gas on Weezing, mainly to absorb Toxic Spikes and a speed EV investment on Scrafty for a better Drampa matchup.
In-depth
Charizard @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Flamethrower
- Roost
- Toxic
Standard set with Toxic. Flamethrower is preferred over Fire Blast for both its accuracy and PP, we often need Charizard to revenge kill the likes of Mesprit or Silvally, so we can't risk untimely misses (i mean we already do with Hurricane). Charizard is fairly difficult to deal with thanks to its typing, and many teams rely on something like Gigalith/Regirock/Lanturn/Archeops + revenge killer to beat it. Toxic, and many other members of the team as well can contribute wearing these down. Early game, try to poison everything possible with Toxic or Toxic Spikes and keep rocks up. Later, Toxic allows it to break down general walls like Aromatisse or Audino. Keep Blaze in mind, the damage boost is handy in many late-game situations.
Scrafty @ Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 176 SpD / 80 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Rest
The main win condition of the team, Bulk Up Scrafty. Speed inventment is for Modest Drampa - Scrafty is bulky enough to switch into Drampa and survive a Draco Meteor, so this allows it to outspeed it and use Rest. Scrafty can switch into weaker attackers with ease, absorb status attacks and spam Knock Off, however it doesn't really work as an actual special sponge because of its weaknesses to the omnipresent Fairy- and Flying- type attacks. Gigalith will be doing that job most of the time, Scrafty is better at threatening the likes of Weezing and Lanturn.
Gigalith @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rock Blast
- Toxic
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
Gigalith is a rocks setter, toxic spreader and overall a general annoyance and a surprisingly resilient chunk of stone. The set is again nothing crazy - rocks, STAB that breaks through substitutes (yes that is useful) and misses less often than stone edge, Toxic to poison stuff, notably boots-wearing hazard removers and Protect to rack up chip damage, get Leftovers recovery and scout choice-locked moves. There are only two things that can kill a Gigalith: chip damage and incompetence of its Trainer. My Gigalith usually experiences a combination of both, you will likely be more concerned about the former. Don't let it get knocked, keep it free of status effects and make sure you have it healthy enough to check what's needed. Things can get sour if the opponent manages to overwhelm it.
Weezing @ Black Sludge
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Will-O-Wisp
- Toxic Spikes
- Pain Split
It's Weezing. Will-O-Wisp is needed to cripple the stronger physical attackers that the team struggles against otherwise. Toxic Spikes are perhaps the most dangerous entry hazard and a great help to the rest of the team, especially Scrafty. A bit matchup reliant, but especially against stall and bulkier teams winning the hazard war can be the key to winning the game. Pain Split is one of the two recovery options avaitable to Weezing, and we need recovery here. Another option would be Rest, you can try that if you feel like it, but sleeping Weezing is very, very abusable. Neutralizing Gas allows us to absorb opponent's Toxic Spikes and it has a lot of neat interactions with various abilities, notably Regenerator or Guts. Speed invested for Alcremie and base 65s.
Eldegoss @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Rapid Spin
- Aromatherapy
- Sleep Powder
Eldegoss attempts to do a bit of everything. It's a decent hazard remover that threatens most spinblockers. Invested Leaf Storm does heavy damage to neutral targets, but without Miracle Seed it misses on some OHKOs. Boots are useful though, and there are too many good Grass resists in the tier for Eldegoss to consistently deal damage. Aromatherapy gets rid of status that would be otherwise crippling to Gigalith, Charizard or Poliwrath. The fourth slot is fairly free - other options would be Leech Seed and Pollen Puff. Or Weather Ball (sandstorm) if you want to be cheeky. Sleep Powder is a practical move that can temporarily take out the likes of Charizard and Garticuno - and Drampa, thanks to the current Cloud Nine craze. Leech Seed should provide some recovery, in practice it just forces switches, Pollen Puff would hit Tsareena and Ferroseed.
Poliwrath @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Darkest Lariat
Yes, i consider Adamant Scarf Poliwrath to be a good speed control. My standards are low. But- yes, the main reason for it here is the additional utility. It outspeeds everything up to Lycanroc, but misses out on base 115s, Whimsicott and Ribombee. Adamant allows it to 3HKO physically defensive (CM Stored Power) Mesprit and OHKO Charizard and a couple of less relevant Pokémon. Poliwrath acts as one of the team's offensive threats, so the extra power is nice to help it break. Moves are self-explanatory: STABs, Grass/Bird coverage, Mesprit/Cofagrigus coverage. The typing and okayish bulk allows it to check a lot of otherwise problematic Pokémon such as Scrafty, Carracosta and Steel-types.
Threatlist
Calm Mind Stored Power Draining Kiss Mesprit and Uxie have almost no counterplay. We don't have a Swords Dance Silvally or an Encore user here. You can deal with Mesprit by forcing it to Rest (Toxic it with Gigalith), switching Poliwrath in as it Rests and 3HKOing it with Darkest Lariat - the move ignores Kee Berry boost. It's easier than it sounds actually: Gigalith switch - Toxic - Rock Blast and after you get it in the range, switch in Poliwrath. Unfortunately, Uxie avoids the 3HKO from Darkest Lariat without the help of Sandstorm.
Well, this is a fat team with passive Pokémon, but it doesn't have the heavy duty walls of stall, so strong wallbreakers are a threat by definition, kind of? Fortunately the big boy breakers are not that common, aside of Drampa. Keep hazards up, chip them, predict well. For Drampa we have Scrafty (and Gigalith if not Cloud Nine), though we must be wary of Focus Blast. Banded Snowslash can spam Triple Axel and eventually wear Poliwrath down. With others it's a bit more about 50/50s.
Fighting-types that Weezing can't switch into. Or like, it can survive an attack and burn but not much else. It's not the end of the world, but playing around them is annoying. Charizard and Poliwrath can outspeed and kill them, but you risk having Zard knocked or KOd by Rock Slide on the switch, Roosting after is risky and Hurricane is Hurricane.
VoltTurn is an awkward matchup. Nothing impossible, just harder than other matchups. There is no Volt Switch immunity and it can be very difficult to regain momentum if you get caught in the loop. Knocks, hazards. You have to outplay.
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