introduction
hi, this is my first NU team that i've been experimenting with over the past few days. i've been starting to get into the tier since it's quite closely related to pu, a tier i really enjoy, so i decided to test it out, and i have to say, it's been really fun so far. i've won quite a few battles with this team [i'll link a few at the end of the rmt] and it's an hyper offense team. hyper offense is my favourite playstyle because it's really fast pace and i like spamming moves so it works together. the sets are more or less standard since i'm not that good at the meta to start concocting random sets so don't get annoyed :3c without further ado, here is the teambuilding process.
teambuilding process
i start off with archeops since a suicide lead is almost mandatory on every HO team and it's ability to break down other leads, namely smeargle, is really useful because it usually forces a switch, allowing me to set down stealth rock, unless they switch into xatu, in which case i just head smash.
tauros is my first wallbreaker and is there to break past fat mons like xatu and pelipper with its great coverage. it can sweep teams that lack fat cores with rock climb alone which is great. swellow is my second wallbreaker and can punch a lot of holes into the opposing teams with a specs-boosted boomburst, which really hurts.
then come my setup sweepers, lilligant and scyther. lilligant is really useful because it has sleep powder, making setting up much more easier, especially when it predicts a switch out to a grass type like vileplume. scyther forms a voltturn core with swellow and becomes an absolute monster after it sets up.
claydol supports this team a lot, by providing a safe switch-in to sludge bomb aimed at lilligant, mach punch aimed at tauros or thunderbolt aimed at swellow. it most importantly provides hazard removal which my team really really appreciates, seeing as both swellow and scyther, especially scyther, do not want to get worn down by stealth rock.
in-depth
Archeops @ Focus Sash
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Endeavor
- Head Smash
- focus sash guarantees archeops is able to get a layer of stealth rock down, though if up against xatu, it's best to just head smash since if if rocks get bounced back, there's gonna be a lot of pressure on my team. switching out is also a safe option too though.
- stealth rock wears down the opponent, and is really appreciated by scyther/lilligant because they can get easier KOs if the foe has already taken damage.
- taunt breaks down opposing leads. a lot of people tend to lead with smeargle and then watch it get taunted and become totally useless, forcing them to switch it out and allowing archeops to get a free layer of rocks down.
- endeavor works well with focus sash if archeops is brought down to it, as it can greatly weaken the foe, allowing scyther or another mon to just finish it off
- head smash does an amazing amount of damage to a plethora of mons and it also prevents the opponent from removing stealth rock which is also helpful.
- ev spread maximizes attack and speed
Tauros @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rock Climb
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Zen Headbutt
- life orb + sheer force makes tauros an extremely threatening wallbreaker, and there are only a select few pokemon that can actually stomach repeated rock climbs
- rock climb is a neutral stab move which does a fair bit of damage to anything that doesn't resist it and has the chance to confuse which is handy
- earthquake hits stuff like aggron which resist rock climb
- fire blast is for ferroseed since iron barbs wear tauros down and it resists rock climb as well
- zen headbutt is for fighting types like hitmonchan and hits weezing/garbodor which is really helpful to prevent them from setting toxic spikes in garbodor's case.
- iron tail can be used to hit audino-mega but i like zen headbutt much more
- evs maximize speed and attack, rest in special attack to boost fire blast a bit
Swellow @ Choice Specs
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Boomburst
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- choice specs swellow hits like a truck and nothing can escape from the wrath of choice specs boomburts except steel types that resist it
- heat wave is there to hit the steel types that take little from boomburst and provides a bit of coverage
- u-turn is for momentum and to get swellow out of unpleasant situations, hits stuff like lilligant as well which is useful i guess
- hidden power grass is for more coverage, hitting rock-/ground-/water-types but it's not worth getting locked into. just spam boomburst imo
- tailwind used to be in last slot but my team bar claydol is already fast so it's unnecessary
- sleep talk was fine but there were only a few situations where swellow actually got put to sleep since i'd just switch to lilligant
- evs maximize damage output as well as speed
Lilligant @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Sleep Powder
- life orb boosts the power of giga drain/hp ice but miracle seed trades no recoil for less power but helps lilligant bluff life orb
- quiver dance should be used after sleep powder, as the foe will either do nothing [unless it has sleep talk or luckily wakes up] or switch out, so this should be taken advantage of
- giga drain provides two things; a strong STAB move as well as recovery which is appreciated since lilligant is worn down by life orb
- hidden power ice is for coverage hitting opposing grass-types and flying types as well as some other stuff
- sleep powder cripples the foe by preventing them from attacking, allowing lilligant to set up once, twice, or maybe even three times if the opponent is being stupid and wants to lose
- evs make lilligant as fast and strong as possible, so as to get as much health back using giga drain
- don't push your luck though; one boost may be enough :3c
Scyther @ Eviolite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace
- Roost
- eviolite is for bulk so that it can safely set up swords dance, without it, it struggles to set up since most shots will most likely KO it, technician boosts the power of aerial ace which is good for revenge killing
- swords dance boosts scyther, allowing it to sweep teams more easily late-game
- u-turn is there to pivot out of the field, and ideally should be used if the foe brings out a threat, or if they set stealth rock, in which case you should go to claydol and eliminate the opponent / remove hazards--the former should be done if they pose as a threat, the latter should be done if they can't really do much
- aerial ace should be spammed most of the times, especially after a boost, as only a few mons take little damage from a +3 aerial ace
- roost is for recovery and should be used if scyther is weak or on a predicted switch in.
- choice scarf used to be used but the lack of a second wincon really got to me :(
Claydol @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earth Power
- Shadow Ball
- Psyshock
- colbur berry is used to help vs shiftry/kangaskhan/knock off spam
- rapid spin removes hazards which is appreciated by scyther and swellow
- earth power hits poison types that are immune/that resist psyshock like skuntank
- shadow ball hits xatu as well as opposing psychic types
- psyshock hits audino in calm mind wars, poison types like garbodor/weezing/vileplume.
- evs for speed and more damage output, with rest in hp for bulk.
conclusion
this team has so far been really successful, i'm open to any feedback and / or criticism. personally, i think claydol is the weakest link of this team since it's kinda slow but it's been great defensively, switching into attacks that could've potentially taken out one of my attackers so yeah :3c thanks for reading my rmt, i hope you enjoyed reading it.
replays
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-380995085 close game v Sanjay.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-380644122
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-380640451
import
http://pastebin.com/SKgNGKBi
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