A new generation, a new opportunity to play with my favorite type.
I'm kind of in a weird spot though. I've been teetering on low-mid 1400's, and I'm certain I could be doing better. Last generation, I had this dread feeling that I was kind of like an Ork Mekboy from Warhammer 40K: I can work with something, but I can't really explain how it works. Maybe that will change with this, so here we go.
Nora (Froslass) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Switcheroo
- Spikes
- Shadow Ball
- Destiny Bond
Alright, let's get the weird stuff out of the way early. G-Corsola was the first thing I thought of when I wanted to make a team, and I absolutely needed SOMETHING to properly deal with it. Reflecting back on the shenanigans I pulled in the previous generation, this would be it. Switcheroo passing a scarf cripples any walls that want to take advantage of her seemingly weak attack stat as they try to lay out hazards, while Cursed Body sometimes comes in clutch to disable the choice-locked attack. Spikes are there because I wanted a piece of hazards of my own. Shadow Ball serves as the unique attacking option, which comes with the curious perk of taking out +2 Polteageist if the scarf isn't tricked away (Froslass hits 525 vs the teapot's 524). Destiny Bond serves as a combo-breaker of sorts, on top of being usually unforeseen on a scarf set. It's unorthodox, yes, but I have success stories to tell of it
Lamp Sauce (Frosmoth) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Ice Scales
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Ice Beam
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain
This one's a bit more straightforward. On the surface, Ice Scales partially covers the specially defensive side of things, boosted to greater heights with Quiver Dance. Ice Beam & Bug Buzz make for the standard coverage, though the last move wasn't added on a whim. Of all the coverage options available, Giga Drain seemed to be the best over Dazzling Gleam, Air Slash, and Hurricane. And while it lost Hidden Power to deal with steel, I put the newfound Heavy-Duty Boots to good use on her, making sure she doesn't get faltered by any deadly hazards
Burgundy (Avalugg) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Avalanche
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Body Press
While Frosmoth covers the special defense side, Avalugg covers the physically defensive side, while also serving the hazard removal role with Rapid Spin. Weird how it can't really go toe-to-toe for as long with Gyro Ball Ferrothorn thanks to how it increases speed after every spin, but it's fine. Body Press working off of its titanic defense helps end the fight earlier, since Roar's no longer a TM/TR. Recover's his only way to recover health. As far as usage goes, he's been one of my other more frequently Dynamaxed 'mon so I can stave off the physical hitters like Gyarados. You can bet your bottom dollar that once Home gets released that I'm switching to Sturdy
King Conga (Darmanitan-Galar) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- U-turn
Is Zen Mode still viable (or even allowed) in this side tier? Either way, while having a (second) scarf-bearer to outspeed a lot of things AND hit hard has proven to be very helpful. Icicle Crash for STAB, Flare Blitz & Earthquake for wide coverage, and U-turn for scouting purposes. Probably the most straightforward so I'm hoping this thing doesn't HAVE to meet the absolute "3+ line description" rule
Charon (Lapras-Gmax) (M) @ Chople Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 120 HP / 252 SpA / 136 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Freeze-Dry
- Ice Beam
- Psychic
Drink your fair share of water, kids. Another curveball, who's proven to be near-mandatory with the presence of Dracovish. The EV spread was pulled from a 7th gen analysis, so it's not something set in stone. Chople Berry is also probably not something set in stone, but its high HP combined with the fact that I don't have much besides maybe Avalugg to ward off many of the fighting-type moves (who gets krumped by Focus Blast anyway). Surf & Ice Beam are reliable STAB moves, Freeze-Dry gives me an upper hand against any water-types. Psychic is the coverage option to hit fighting-types back after chewing the Chople, having the other option of krumping poison-types. I see Thunderbolt on other Lapras sets, but with Freeze-Dry present, the only thing I can think that it would hit better is Corviknight. The Gigantamax variant turns the ice moves into Aurora Veil. He doesn't hold Light Clay because of how I usually expect him to not be THE thing to turn Dynamax. I want an item that I can actually use, after all
Dakka (Cloyster) @ White Herb
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Liquidation
The other more straightforward one, and rightly so, since this was usually how it was since 5th gen. Shell Smash helps for the setup, Icicle Spear & Rock Blast make very good use of Skill Link, and Liquidation rounds off the coverage. Even though Avalugg doesn't have Sturdy yet, I found that my opponents just enjoy trying to put hazards on my side too often to warrant Focus Sash over White Herb. As long as G-Corsola is going to be mentioned here, if someone can give me a good reason to switch Liquidation with something like Surf or Hydro Pump, I'm all ears
I'm kind of in a weird spot though. I've been teetering on low-mid 1400's, and I'm certain I could be doing better. Last generation, I had this dread feeling that I was kind of like an Ork Mekboy from Warhammer 40K: I can work with something, but I can't really explain how it works. Maybe that will change with this, so here we go.
Nora (Froslass) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Switcheroo
- Spikes
- Shadow Ball
- Destiny Bond
Alright, let's get the weird stuff out of the way early. G-Corsola was the first thing I thought of when I wanted to make a team, and I absolutely needed SOMETHING to properly deal with it. Reflecting back on the shenanigans I pulled in the previous generation, this would be it. Switcheroo passing a scarf cripples any walls that want to take advantage of her seemingly weak attack stat as they try to lay out hazards, while Cursed Body sometimes comes in clutch to disable the choice-locked attack. Spikes are there because I wanted a piece of hazards of my own. Shadow Ball serves as the unique attacking option, which comes with the curious perk of taking out +2 Polteageist if the scarf isn't tricked away (Froslass hits 525 vs the teapot's 524). Destiny Bond serves as a combo-breaker of sorts, on top of being usually unforeseen on a scarf set. It's unorthodox, yes, but I have success stories to tell of it
Lamp Sauce (Frosmoth) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Ice Scales
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Ice Beam
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain
This one's a bit more straightforward. On the surface, Ice Scales partially covers the specially defensive side of things, boosted to greater heights with Quiver Dance. Ice Beam & Bug Buzz make for the standard coverage, though the last move wasn't added on a whim. Of all the coverage options available, Giga Drain seemed to be the best over Dazzling Gleam, Air Slash, and Hurricane. And while it lost Hidden Power to deal with steel, I put the newfound Heavy-Duty Boots to good use on her, making sure she doesn't get faltered by any deadly hazards
Burgundy (Avalugg) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Avalanche
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Body Press
While Frosmoth covers the special defense side, Avalugg covers the physically defensive side, while also serving the hazard removal role with Rapid Spin. Weird how it can't really go toe-to-toe for as long with Gyro Ball Ferrothorn thanks to how it increases speed after every spin, but it's fine. Body Press working off of its titanic defense helps end the fight earlier, since Roar's no longer a TM/TR. Recover's his only way to recover health. As far as usage goes, he's been one of my other more frequently Dynamaxed 'mon so I can stave off the physical hitters like Gyarados. You can bet your bottom dollar that once Home gets released that I'm switching to Sturdy
King Conga (Darmanitan-Galar) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- U-turn
Is Zen Mode still viable (or even allowed) in this side tier? Either way, while having a (second) scarf-bearer to outspeed a lot of things AND hit hard has proven to be very helpful. Icicle Crash for STAB, Flare Blitz & Earthquake for wide coverage, and U-turn for scouting purposes. Probably the most straightforward so I'm hoping this thing doesn't HAVE to meet the absolute "3+ line description" rule
Charon (Lapras-Gmax) (M) @ Chople Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 120 HP / 252 SpA / 136 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Freeze-Dry
- Ice Beam
- Psychic
Drink your fair share of water, kids. Another curveball, who's proven to be near-mandatory with the presence of Dracovish. The EV spread was pulled from a 7th gen analysis, so it's not something set in stone. Chople Berry is also probably not something set in stone, but its high HP combined with the fact that I don't have much besides maybe Avalugg to ward off many of the fighting-type moves (who gets krumped by Focus Blast anyway). Surf & Ice Beam are reliable STAB moves, Freeze-Dry gives me an upper hand against any water-types. Psychic is the coverage option to hit fighting-types back after chewing the Chople, having the other option of krumping poison-types. I see Thunderbolt on other Lapras sets, but with Freeze-Dry present, the only thing I can think that it would hit better is Corviknight. The Gigantamax variant turns the ice moves into Aurora Veil. He doesn't hold Light Clay because of how I usually expect him to not be THE thing to turn Dynamax. I want an item that I can actually use, after all
Dakka (Cloyster) @ White Herb
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Liquidation
The other more straightforward one, and rightly so, since this was usually how it was since 5th gen. Shell Smash helps for the setup, Icicle Spear & Rock Blast make very good use of Skill Link, and Liquidation rounds off the coverage. Even though Avalugg doesn't have Sturdy yet, I found that my opponents just enjoy trying to put hazards on my side too often to warrant Focus Sash over White Herb. As long as G-Corsola is going to be mentioned here, if someone can give me a good reason to switch Liquidation with something like Surf or Hydro Pump, I'm all ears
Dakka (Cloyster) @ White Herb
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Liquidation
Charon (Lapras-Gmax) (M) @ Chople Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 120 HP / 252 SpA / 136 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Freeze-Dry
- Ice Beam
- Psychic
King Conga (Darmanitan-Galar) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- U-turn
Burgundy (Avalugg) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Avalanche
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Body Press
Lamp Sauce (Frosmoth) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Ice Scales
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Ice Beam
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain
Nora (Froslass) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Switcheroo
- Spikes
- Shadow Ball
- Destiny Bond
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Liquidation
Charon (Lapras-Gmax) (M) @ Chople Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 120 HP / 252 SpA / 136 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Freeze-Dry
- Ice Beam
- Psychic
King Conga (Darmanitan-Galar) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- U-turn
Burgundy (Avalugg) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Avalanche
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Body Press
Lamp Sauce (Frosmoth) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Ice Scales
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Ice Beam
- Bug Buzz
- Giga Drain
Nora (Froslass) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Switcheroo
- Spikes
- Shadow Ball
- Destiny Bond
