ORAS NU at the bottom of everything

[ryan]

the engines gave out
​

Since my return to Smogon and competitive Pokemon, I've built a lot of teams in NU, RU, and UU. Among them, this is one of the best that doesn't look bog standard, even though it still has a lot of common Pokemon. This is my take on bulky offense to take on the common Spikes balance teams that dominate the metagame. Although it hasn't seen extensive use, Cherub Agent and I both got reqs in the Tauros suspect test with it, and I took it on a nice 17-1 spin through the ladder.

This team is very flexible in that depending on the matchup, you will want to play in different ways. Assess the matchup the second the game starts. As with any NU team, this team has certain exploitable weaknesses; don't allow your opponent the opportunity to take advantage of this if you have any say in the matter. For example, with three Ice weaknesses and a Water-type as the only Ice resist, Freeze-Dry users are very threatening to the team. Don't give the opponent free switches into their Aurorus or Abomasnow. Double-switch aggressively against teams with these Pokemon.

Most often, you will want to seek out your win condition very early on in the match and play the entire game with that win condition in mind. You'll usually be able to see from team preview what your best strategy will be, but scout sets early to help you make that decision if necessary. With all of Scarf Shiftry, CM Mega Audino, and SD Samurott, finishing out a game is often not very difficult. Make sure you don't use your Audino as a makeshift check to a threatening Pokemon if it's how you plan to win the game.

This team is not too difficult to pilot, so I'll leave the general playing advice at that. Just remember that even though the team is usually pretty easy to use, there are certain matchups where you will have to make very aggressive plays in order to get the upper hand.

i'm sorry, i'm sorry, oh my god i'm sorry
​

Shiftry @ Choice Scarf | Early Bird
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe | Adamant
Knock Off / Leaf Blade / Explosion / Rock Slide

This metagame is very generous toward slower but strong Scarf Pokemon that can simultaneously break and wear down defensive cores and clean up toward the end of the game. There isn't a lot of priority or Scarf Pokemon floating around right now, which gives room for sets such as this to shine. I decided to build this team around Scarf Shiftry with that thought in mind.

Shiftry's stupidly powerful dual STAB is about all it really needs, which gives you room for creativity in the last two slots. I'd like to run Sucker Punch, but it's not legal with Leaf Blade. Explosion is a great option to guarantee the revenge kill on almost every offensive Pokemon that can live Shiftry's dual STAB, and it is a fantastic way to lure Poison-types such as Skuntank and Garbodor that can stop Mega Audino from cleaning. Rock Slide is purely filler, but it lures and hits Scyther and no item Charizard.

Mesprit @ Choice Specs | Levitate
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe | Timid
Psychic / Ice Beam / Hidden Power Ground / Healing Wish

Alongside Shiftry, I really wanted a way to bust through common defensive cores and to threaten bulky Poison-types. Mesprit was a great fit because it offered both of those qualities in addition to a useful set of resistances and immunities that allow it to pivot well throughout the battle. I also really wanted Healing Wish support to allow me to play more recklessly with my win conditions throughout the early game, which is nearly essential when the only things with any staying power on the team can be super passive against certain teams.

Psychic is considerably better than Psyshock because it deals way more to most things. It's also important to hit Rhydon and Gastrodon because I'm not running any Grass-type coverage. The combination of Ice Beam and Hidden Power Ground covers the most common Dark-types in the tier, Shiftry and Skuntank, while also covering Xatu and Steel-types. As I mentioned earlier, Healing Wish is fantastic for this team because it lets you play carelessly with certain members of the team when necessary. I'm running Timid over Modest to outspeed neutral-nature base 90s and Adamant Shiftry and Kabutops while tying with other positive-nature base 80s.

Rhydon @ Eviolite | Lightning Rod
128 HP / 236 Atk / 144 Spe | Adamant
Stealth Rock / Earthquake / Stone Edge / Megahorn

Offensive tank Rhydon is fantastic in this metagame and deserves considerably more usage. With the spread I'm using, Stone Edge is a guaranteed OHKO against standard Xatu, Megahorn is a guaranteed 2HKO against defensive Torterra, and Earthquake gets the OHKO vs Garbodor after Stealth Rock. The Speed EVs creep defensive Torterra as well. It also does other cool things such as sniping out Rotom with Stone Edge from full. On this team in particular, Rhydon is a fantastic fit as a general Normal- and Fire-type check and corebreaker that doesn't need to check stuff like Tauros throughout the match thanks to Mega Audino.

Stone Edge is used over Rock Blast on this set for the guaranteed OHKO vs Xatu, which is impossible to guarantee with Rock Blast. Swords Dance could fit on this set to help take on opposing Mega Audino more easily, but the team usually does well enough in pressuring it that I don't find it necessary. Megahorn also takes on Torterra and defensive Mesprit, both of which have recently increased in usage.

Xatu @ Rocky Helmet | Magic Bounce
212 HP / 216 Def / 80 Spe | Timid
Psychic / Heat Wave / Roost / Toxic

As I mentioned toward the beginning of the RMT, Spikes balance teams make up a large majority of the metagame right now. As such, having some sort of hazard prevention or removal is pretty much necessary for all non-offense teams. Xatu is the most common choice because it does the job passively and generally forces players to make awkward plays that can help you out. Toxic Xatu in particular does a fantastic job on this team, as it turns the many stalemates it forces into guaranteed winning situations and helps wear down common switch-ins such as Mesprit, Lanturn, and offensive Water- and Ice-types.

Even though I have Psychic over Psyshock on Mesprit, I opted for Psychic on Xatu as well because it matches up better against hazard setters such as Rhydon, Garbodor, and Weezing. I'm using Heat Wave over Grass Knot or Giga Drain because hitting Steelix is often really important with both Mega Audino and Mesprit giving it free switches so often. You can also eek out cute burns against Skuntank with it. Rocky Helmet is used over the more common Colbur Berry because Fighting-types have become rare in Sawk's absence and you lose to Skuntank anyways without U-turn. The Speed EVs with a Timid nature outspeed everything up to neutral-nature base 85 Speed Pokemon, including offensive Magmortar, Skuntank, and positive-nature Ludicolo and Samurott.

Samurott @ Lum Berry | Torrent
80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe | Adamant
Waterfall / Megahorn / Swords Dance / Aqua Jet

SD Samurott is probably the best Pokemon in this metagame right now. Very little beats it, and the few things that do are not used very often. Samurott found its way onto this team for a backup Water, Fire, and Ice resist as well as a backup breaker/cleaner against bulkier teams that Mega Audino can't break. The priority is very nice for the team as well, with Shiftry being the only thing on the team faster than base 80s.

The set is entirely standard, but I'll talk a little bit about optional choices. I opted for Lum Berry over Splash Plate or Life Orb because even though I do have Healing Wish support for Samurott, being able to set up on bulky Water-types without fearing Scald and Will-O-Wisp users such as Weezing can swing games entirely. The Speed I'm using outruns everything up to neutral-nature base 60 Speed Pokemon, including Pawniard and Abomasnow. Keep in mind before you click Megahorn against Abomasnow that it usually runs a positive Speed nature, and you have to run a Jolly nature in order to outspeed it, making it mostly not worth it. You can also run enough Speed for Timid Aurorus considering the team's general weakness to it, but with Modest being far more common, I think this spread is the best choice for the team. Razor Shell misses and Waterfall flinches, so I think the superior choice there is pretty obvious.

Audino @ Audinite | Regenerator
248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe | Bold
Dazzling Gleam / Calm Mind / Rest / Sleep Talk

The last slot went to Mega Audino. Rhydon is more offensive, which makes it a significantly weaker check to stuff like Tauros. Mega Audino fills in pretty well in its absence as a more reliable check to physical attackers including Tauros and Shiftry throughout the game that can also finish things off pretty quickly by boosting on approximately 96.2% of the Pokemon legal in the NU metagame. Shiftry does a great job cleaning offensive teams. Samurott does a great job cleaning balanced teams. Audino cleans up basically everything else.

I spent a long time considering optimal spreads and movesets, including anything from some SpAtk investment to take on Malamar to running niche coverage to lure certain Pokemon to using Wish and Protect over Rest and Sleep Talk. In the end, I decided trusty RestTalk Calm Mind would fit best because the rest of the team does a good enough job supporting it that it didn't need to do anything offensively for the rest of the team in return. I also decided to run max HP and Defense mostly out of laziness. Some SpDef investment would probably work well to help Mega Audino set up more comfortably against stuff like Weezing and to help it take on Aurorus a bit better, but this spread has worked fine up to this point.

we're going to a party. it's a birthday party—it's your birthday party!
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Overall, this is probably one of the most successful and fun teams I've built throughout the entirety of this generation. The flexibility of literally every slot on the team is amazing and makes it really easy to adjust your gameplan on the fly. Although the team has some weaknesses, I have yet to find a Pokemon that makes it really difficult to win either defensively or offensively.

I didn't expect to find myself back here, much less back in my role as one of the NU tier leaders, much much less working alongside Kiyo (www.youtube.com/kiyo392), but I'm really glad to be back. It has been a pleasure to work with the NU community to try to make this the best tier it can be, and although the community looks nothing like what it did at the end of BW2, I think we really have a great bunch of people who share a common love for the game. With Sun and Moon on their way, let's go out with a bang and leave behind a tier that people will want to keep playing for generations to come.

we love you very, very, very, very, very, very, very much
​

importable

Shiftry @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Early Bird
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Leaf Blade
- Explosion
- Rock Slide

Mesprit @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Healing Wish

Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 128 HP / 236 Atk / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Megahorn

Xatu @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 212 HP / 216 Def / 80 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Heat Wave
- Roost
- Toxic

Audino @ Audinite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Samurott @ Lum Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Megahorn
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet

shoutouts