BW OU Good Cores

Status
Not open for further replies.

Nalorium

is a Tutoris a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris the defending BW Circuit Champion
World Defender
Approved by Rage | Go ahead and tell Dybala jr how sick his art looks.
OP adapted from the CAP GC/RU GC and old BW GC thread
S/os Caetano93 for the help


Welcome to the BW OU cores thread! This thread is a place to post cores that you have found to be effective in the Generation 5 OU Metagame and get feedback. It is also a place for new and experienced players alike to find cores to use in teambuilding. It's important to remember that a core is a group of 2-3 pokemon that work extremely well together in performing a specific task that will help in winning battles. Offensive cores are either capable of beating a large portion of the meta and most play-styles together, or taking out the checks to their partners so they can sweep more easily. Effective defensive cores will resist a large amount of common offensive attacks and check or counter large portions of the metagame such that it will greatly improve the longevity of a team.

:Tyranitar: Rules to follow when posting a core:
  • Always include an importable separate from the explanation for other people to use
  • Include a short description of the core to make it easier to understand for someone who doesn't know how your core functions.
  • Please be respectful of the cores people post in this thread. If someone posts a core that you think is ineffective or just plain bad, there is no need to jump at their throats. With that said, constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged, simply be nice!
  • Please do not post a core that has more than 3 Pokemon. Cores bigger than this restrict building immensely.
:Latios: LATIOS :Latios:
Latios + Keldeo
Latios + Tyranitar
Latios + Ferrothorn
Latios + Landorus-Therian
Latios + Alakazam
Latios + Magnezone
Latios + Politoed

:Ferrothorn: FERROTHORN :Ferrothorn:
Ferrothorn + Rotom-W
Ferrothorn + Politoed + Tentacruel
Ferrothorn + Tyranitar
Ferrothorn + Landorus-Therian
Ferrothorn + Gliscor
Ferrothorn + Alakazam

:Tyranitar: TYRANITAR :Tyranitar:
Tyranitar + Landorus-Therian
Tyranitar + Excadrill
Tyranitar + Gliscor
Tyranitar + Reuniclus
Tyranitar + Rotom-W

:Landorus-therian: LANDORUS-THERIAN :Landorus-Therian:
Landorus-Therian + Excadrill
Landorus-Therian + Breloom
Landorus-Therian + Rotom-W

:Excadrill: EXCADRILL :Excadrill:
Excadril + Celebi
Excadril + Terrakion

:Politoed: POLITOED :politoed:
Politoed + Keldeo
Politoed + Tentacruel
Politoed + Ferrothorn
Politoed + Thundurus-Therian

:Alakazam: ALAKAZAM :Alakazam:
Alakazam + Reuniclus + Latios
Alakazam + Skarmory
Alakazam + Gliscor

:Gliscor: OTHERS :Magnezone:
Magnezone + Dragons (Garchomp/Latios/Kyurem-Black/Dragonite)
Volcarona + Starmie
Rotom-W + Amoonguss
Jirachi + Magnezone

All these cores are just the pokemon without any specific set, so several variants of the same core can come out as long as it has different sets. You can also post other cores that are not specified in the spoiler. With all that said, cores of any kind with sufficient reasoning will be added to the archive below.
Happy posting :blobthumbsup:
 
Last edited:

Fakee

LA FLAME
is a Tutor
Hi, I'm here to add a somewhat popular core which is Skarmory + Gastrodon, which independently are solid walls in this tier, but together they do magic.
Explanation of the core: Skarmory's function is to stop potential threats in Sand teams, such as Excadrill, Jirachi, Garchomp (depending on set), Landorus-Therian, Gliscor and Breloom.
Gastrodon, on the other hand, stops certain threats such as Rotom-Wash, Volcarona, Starmie, Jirachi, Scarf Keldeo, which are threats that take Skarmory out of the field.
In summary: Gastrodon covers everything Skarmory is weak in, which is its special defense, Skarmory covers the aforementioned physical threats.


Click on the respective Pokemon to know the set, cool post and bye
 
Hi, today i would like to share that I use pretty often on my sand teams, RotomW + Mamoswine. It's pretty simple, the answers for Rotom are usually grass types, like Celebi, Amonguss or Breloom ; which are destroyed by mamo. It can even predict and sub on the switch out. An other answer for Rotom is Ferro, and it gets usually burned. So with time, ferro will be weakened for mamo to finish it off.
On the other hand, a quite good answer to mamo is Phys def Skarm, and rotom can come and do a free volt switch. (sorry if my english is bad) (click on Rotom to have the sets)


mamoswine.jpg 479-wash.png
 
Last edited:

Voyager

He didn't notice that the lights had changed
Hi today I will be sharing the most fun core to play against. It is honestly a joy to play against this core, no sarcasm. What is this incredible core you ask? Triple psychic.
zam.jpg
latios.png
reuni.jpg

The core has 2 main points. The broken blue dragon+zam core designed to weaken ttar for the other one to then clean up late game. The main roadblock on most teams that stops lati just coming in again and again is the tier defining sand monster thingy. But if u remove that by weakening it with one of the speedy psychics. The other may be able to muscle through it.

The other point of this core is the double magic guard core of zam+reuni. The magic guard stack allows your team to win in spike wars and not worry about keeping hazards off, but instead worry about getting as many of the fuckers up as u can. Spikes plus either of the psychics can overwhelm many underprepared structures and the combination allows you to have a good-playable matchup vs any team.



Teammates:

These 3 appreciate ttar's sand the most as it adds more residual damage that they ignore and it is overall the best weather if ur not using something that abuses rain. They appreciate a spiker and rocker, something like skarmory or ferro. They also appreciate a ghost type (jellicent) to punish rapid spin but it isn't required as rocky helmet on skarm or iron barbs on ferro will damage the spinner + they take spikes damage when they come in. Ur own spinner is highly advised against as it is unnecessary and defeats the point of the team. If u go skarm>ferro u might want another water resist.
 
Last edited:

Ununhexium

I closed my eyes and I slipped away...
is a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Smogon Media Contributoris a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnus
:jellicent: :skarmory:

One of the more reliable hazard-stacking cores for aggressive Spikes teams, usually with stuff like Alakazam or other Psychics / Dragons. Skarmory's excellent defensive typing and spiking ability is great, but it does basically nothing to the best Spinner in BW (Tentacruel). Jellicent is as hard of a counter as you can get to Tentacruel while also stopping the Spin from getting off. Though Jellicent can struggle with Excadrill, Skarmory running Rocky Helmet can put a hard stop to it and chip it down significantly at the cost of allowing it to spin, but again, can set them back up. They also have pretty solid defensive synergy otherwise.

It mixes well with stuff like the aforementioned Psychics and Dragons as well as general sand stuff like Gliscor / Tyranitar / something that threatens Rotom-W

https://pokepast.es/5ff6ff3d681119ad
 
:bw/skarmory: :bw/gliscor:

So i was going to drop Skarmory + Jellicent aswell, but it looks like someone has beaten me to it, that aside, here i have the definitive hazard stacking core for defensively oriented sand teams, Skarmory + Gliscor.

Skarmory does what it always does: Lay down spikes and wall physical threats with its immense natural Def stat, allowing you to invest into SpD to ward off pokemon like Alakazam. Gliscor sets up stealth rocks and makes sure they stay up vs the best spinner in the tier, Excadrill, with its high Def boosted by additional investment. SpD Gliscor is a fan favorite, but taking out of Def makes you less solid against the myriad of offensive threats the OU metagames has, including the aforementioned Excadrill.

Rocky helmet is the standard on skarm for a reason, it chips physical attackers by simply switching in, if you are confident in your Gliscor to handle those, feel free to slot in Leftovers as the item, this will you make you a lot more solid against Alakazam. Gliscor carries its signature Toxic orb+ poison heal combo along with protect to milk as much recovery as possible, while scouting choiced pokemon and racking up sand damage at the same time.

Alternative options:

Both these pokemon have a myriad of tech options that can be used to tweak their role ever so slightly as to suprise your opponent, especially Gliscor (SpD SD, etc.). To preserve the cores hazard stacking nature though i will only present two: Secret Power over Brave Bird on Skarmory and U-turn over Knock off on Gliscor.

Secret power on Skarmory turns into body slam when clicked and allows you to threaten paralysis at a 30% chance to anything that is not immune to paralysis. This option is best used when enough Breloom insurance is present, which hazard stacking teams this core fits on should have.

U-turn on Gliscor turns Gliscor into an even better pivot. While item displacement with Knock off is invaluable, using gliscor to U-turn for momentum, and maybe most importantly, slow U-turn on opposing Gliscor so your other team members dont have to eat the opposing Gliscors Knock off is phenomonal, if you decide to use U-turn, lower your speed by a handful of IVs to make sure you always underspeed opposing Gliscor and get the slow U-turn out.

If you're interested in using this core, I've added an importable in the spoiler below.

Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird / Secret Power
- Spikes
- Roost
- Whirlwind

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off/ U-turn
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
 
Last edited:

Ununhexium

I closed my eyes and I slipped away...
is a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Smogon Media Contributoris a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnus
:tyranitar: :keldeo:

Everyone knows that Keldeo threatens a lot of things. Some of the things that threaten Keldeo back are Psychics such as Alakazam and Latios, Tentacruel, and the likes. Tyranitar is good at removing or at least crippling these threats through Pursuit trapping, Thunder Wave, or by removing rain / setting sand to cripple Tentacruel. In turn, Keldeo can threaten Pokemon such as Excadrill, Landorus-T, and Mamoswine that can cause problems for Tyranitar. You might want to run them alongside something that can deal with Jellicent better as neither of them really wants to deal with it themselves, but between sand + Toxic + hazards it can be worn down reasonably quickly.

https://pokepast.es/10b529b3e8ce72cb
 

Voyager

He didn't notice that the lights had changed
I'm back with another core. This time its dragMag. :bw/magnezone: :bw/latios: :bw/Kyurem-Black: ( :bw/garchomp: :bw/dragonite: )

DragMag is another fairly simple concept. Fairies don't exist yet so steel is the only thing that stops dragon types destroying your team and guess what magnezone does. That's right traps and removes steels. This deadly combo allows kyurem to come in on something that doesn't threaten it and let off a banded outrage, breaking open a massive hole in the opponents team allowing one of your other dragon types (run more than just these 2) to clean up late game. Lati can be scarf or specs depending on preference but if specs (or something more niche like colbur) then your garchomp should run scarf. Magnezone runs sunny day to remove weather.

Teammates:
the other 2 dragons have already been vaguely mentioned but garchomp and dragonite are very good, other dragon types do exist but these are very standard. Some people drop 1 of the dragons for starmie because of its rapid spin, however others are highly opposed to this and say with dragmag u shouldn't waste turns spinning. jirachi is also standard to switch into other dragons. this playstyle is fairly restrictive so their aren't many options.

Nuances:

kyurem runs adamant + ice beam because with stab ice beam is cleanly ohko'ing or 2hko'ing all its targets such as doing 150% to defensive gliscor and lando. u would never run +spa and a neutral nature gives little and insignificant damage increase as well as giving u less free turns to wallbreak. Mag runs sunny day to remove other teams weathers. Magnet rise+air ballon lets it beat excadrill 1v1.

Kyurem-Black @ Choice Band
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Fusion Bolt
- Ice Beam

Latios (M) @ Choice Specs/Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Trick
- Dragon Pulse/Recover

Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Ability: Magnet Pull
Hidden Power: Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sunny Day
- Magnet Rise
 
Last edited:

Fakee

LA FLAME
is a Tutor
:Garchomp: :Tornadus:

One of the many offensive cores in teams that seek to do excessive damage to the opponent, usually accompanied by abusers of Tornadus' Tailwind, which gains teammates momentum and good entries. By abusing the speed, Tornadus causes great damage which can weaken or sufficiently lower the life of Skarmory and Ferrothorn, which are threats to Garchomp. Also, taking advantage of Tailwind, Garchomp can speed up faster threats than him and weaken them, such as Latios, Keldeo, Alakazam, Volcarona at +1 speed, etc.

https://pokepast.es/31eea1df8e86d7ec
 
Here's one I have had great fun using:
Hidden power ice
alakazam.gif
+ choice scarf
rotom-wash.gif


One of the pokemon Alakazam teams hate most is offensive Heatran which has been becoming more and more popular. Without Jellicent your only option is often to go to Tyranitar and many on Alakazam teams can't hurt Heatran too badly because Ice Beam, Fire Blast or Thunder Wave are moves Tyranitar's team benefits more readily than Superpower or Earthquake. Although you will still have to go to Tyranitar to break Heatran's balloon, Rotom as a second switch-in later can be a valuable tool. Rotom can also escape Magma Storm with Volt Switch, unlike Jellicent. What makes scarf Rotom a good partner for Alakazam is that it's a user of Trick that, unlike Latios, Tyranitar wants absolutely no part of. In fact, Rotom is with Jirachi the only user of Trick not weak to Pursuit in OU which makes it a far more reliable user of the move than Latios to cripple something like Reuniclus or Gastrodon while being immune to spikes, unlike Jirachi. Rotom also helps a lot against some threats to Alakazam teams like Mamoswine, Tornadus and Gyarados; while niche those last two can very easily run you over because of their speed or resistances and Gyarados is famously a psyspam killer.

Now scarf Rotom has some issues, mainly the fact that it's somewhat difficult to ev effectively because you want some bulk while maintaining some power and speed (I would say it needs at least 263 speed to be an effective scarfer). This difficulty in eving it also leads to a difficulty choosing the last move between Hidden power ice and Will-o-wisp, bulky scarf will want wisp and less bulky but stronger scarf will want hp ice. Even then scarf Rotom has power issues. Add in the fact that you have to rely on hydro miss to clean up games with it and you've got yourself a fairly unreliable cleaner; that's where Alakazam comes in as the more reliable cleaner with its immediate speed and coverage. Where Rotom will struggle against threats such as Dragonite or Garchomp, Alakazam is far more equipped to make sure those don't get out of hands with focus sash and Hidden power ice. Returning the favor against slower teams, Rotom will cripple the walls that might annoy Alakazam in the endgame. The duo pairs well but fits on more aggressive spikes teams than the Gliscor + Gastrodon style and still struggles against Volcarona teams but Rotom's Trick and spikes immunity make it a great weapon against opposing spikes stacking teams. Finally, if you keep your scarf you will even have the advantage against opposing Alakazam in the endgame. Try it, it's a good duo!

https://pokepast.es/df767c5953240761
 
Last edited:

Gamer1234556

"Because... Scald is a shit Ferro answer!!!"
garchomp.gif
+
tyranitar.gif
+
latios.gif

I have been playing with Mixed Chomp a lot and noticed that one core that I found myself sticking to was Mixed Chomp + Chople Tar + Scarf Latios. The premise is pretty simple: Mixed Chomp wreaks havoc on many of its former checks, namely Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Rotom-Wash, Landorus-T, and Gliscor, but the problem is that it gets worn down rather fast in games, ultimately putting it in range to be safely revenge killed by Scarf Latios and Zam. This is where Tar comes in, it is used to trap opposing Latios and Zam in the event if Chomp does go down. I added Scarf Latios to the core since these two alone tend to struggle against Rain, particularly Keldeo.

The good thing about Mixed Chomp is that you don't really need all that much team support for it. You can pick another Pursuit-Trapper like Scizor as well as another anti-rain mon such and just be fine. It's just that Tar and Latios were the easiest ones to use and the ones that compliment Chomp the most.

Here is the link to the importable.
 
Last edited:

peng

fuck xatu
is a Community Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnus
Skarmory + Jellicent has already been mentioned as a defensive core, but there's also the hyper offense variant(s) below:

1623360749943.png
1623360778634.png
/
1623360859525.png

Skarmory @ Salac Berry / Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Brave Bird

1623360882640.png
1623413008692.png
/
1623360939344.png

Jellicent @ Air Balloon / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 176 HP / 120 Def / 212 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Night Shade
- Recover

Notes: A hazard-controlling core for hyper offense teams. Skarmory will be your lead in >80% of situations, and is built to lay hazards quickly with maxmimum speed investment and both Stealth Rock and Spikes in the moveset. Taunt prevents mirror set-ups from the likes of Ferrothorn, Gliscor, Celebi, Jirachi, Hippowdon, and slower Skarmory, thereby allowing you to go into the game with a significant hazards advantage. Skarmory utilises a either a Salac Berry (+1 Speed) or Custap Berry (
\infty
speed for 1 turn) which activate below 25% HP, which works well in tandem with Sturdy to either get an additional hazard, or to sacrifice Skarmory with Brave Bird recoil to deny a Rapid Spin from Starmie / Tentacruel / Excadrill (Rapid Spin fails if the target is already KOd). You may be tempted to run 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SDef IVs on Skarmory in order to more consistently get knocked into berry ranges, but in practice the loss of bulk means you get fewer layers on the likes of Garchomp.

In addition to being able to suicide Skarmory with Brave Bird to deny a Rapid Spin, these teams also utilise Jellicent as a dedicated spin-blocker, giving you multiple ways to stop Starmie / Tentacruel / Excadrill from doing their job. For example, it is often beneficial to save low HP Skarmory (particularly if Custap) and instead of self-KOing, go directly to Jellicent for the temporary block in case you get more opportunities to set-up hazards later in the game. This importantly also prevents opponents who smartly keep Skarmory out of Berry prock / self-KO range so that they can spin in front of it. Whilst the moveset is standard, the item choice for Jellicent deviates from standard defensive Jellicent by opting for either Sitrus Berry or Air Balloon, which help Jellicent more easily switch into Starmie and Excadrill once to deny them a spin, before overloading the opponent with sweepers.
 
I cannot believe that no one has already mentioned the most iconic offensive duo which was already very good in early BW days and were significantly involved in shaping the new team archetype VoltTurn. The synergy is pretty much self-explanatory and needs no further explanation.

@ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit

@ Leftovers / Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp / Hidden Power Ice
- Pain Split / Trick
 

Fakee

LA FLAME
is a Tutor
:Seismitoad: :Gliscor:
This core doesn't need much explanation, Rotom-Wash and many other rain abusers with some choiced items are a threat to Gliscor and Seismitoad does a good job blocking them and has a free turn to put rocks. Gliscor can set up against the best spinner in the tier which is Excadrill, and even OHKO Rotom-Wash after entering a Facade at +2, Gliscor can also set up against Ferrothorn and keep the pressure high.
 
Ferrothorn and Jellicent (Also Ferrocent) is a Great Defensive Core able to cover each other Weakness and resistant and keeping each other like being Healthy with Ferrothorn's Leech Seed and Jellicent's Max 16 PP Recover in BW , such as, Ferrothorn being weak to Fighting and Fire which Jellicent deals with and Jellicent is weak to Dark, Electric, Ghost and Grass which Ferrothorn all Resist. They both have amazing Defensive Properties in the BW OU metagame that pairs well Together Switching against Moves. Dealing with Weather Setters like Tyranitar being Jellicent can usually deal with Tyranitar with Burn from Scald and Will-O-Wisp and Ferrothorn being Obvious with Typing to counter Tyranitar. And Politoed with Ferrothorn can Set Hazards and has STAB Power Whip and Jellicent being immune to any Water STAB from Politoed, assuming it has Water Absorb and mostly annoy Politoed with Taunt and Will-O-Wisp from Jellicent, as long Politoed don't have Toxic, Raises Jellicent's Poison Damage every Turn, Ferrothorn being immune to that with its useful Steel-typing to boot. Being able to have a Bulky Spinnblocker with Jellicent's Ghost-typing and Having Powerful Hazards laid down with Ferrothorn's Great Dual Typing is excellent defensive Utility for a Team, This Defensive Core, Ferrocent, is a Great to use in my Opinion for its ability to both have Longevity, handle most of the BW Treats like Ferrothorn dealing with the Majority of Dragons and useful Resists along with spreading Contact Damage with Iron Barbs and Jellicent with Jirachi, Heatran, Occansonal Azumarill appearing in the Drizzle lead by Politoed. Ferrocent is really good at spreading Residual Damage, keeping the Pressure high and wearing down their Counters turn by turn.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers / Lum Berry / Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed / Knock Off
- Power Whip / Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock / Worry Seed / Thunder Wave

Jellicent @ Leftovers / Colbur Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 220 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald / Night Shade
- Recover / Pain Split
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
1628393019020.png1628393038158.png
------------------------------------------------------------
Skarmory + Jellicent has already been mentioned as a defensive core, but there's also the hyper offense variant(s) below:

View attachment 348478View attachment 348479/View attachment 348480
Skarmory @ Salac Berry / Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Brave Bird

View attachment 348481View attachment 348585/View attachment 348485
Jellicent @ Air Balloon / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 176 HP / 120 Def / 212 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Night Shade
- Recover

Notes: A hazard-controlling core for hyper offense teams. Skarmory will be your lead in >80% of situations, and is built to lay hazards quickly with maxmimum speed investment and both Stealth Rock and Spikes in the moveset. Taunt prevents mirror set-ups from the likes of Ferrothorn, Gliscor, Celebi, Jirachi, Hippowdon, and slower Skarmory, thereby allowing you to go into the game with a significant hazards advantage. Skarmory utilises a either a Salac Berry (+1 Speed) or Custap Berry (
\infty
speed for 1 turn) which activate below 25% HP, which works well in tandem with Sturdy to either get an additional hazard, or to sacrifice Skarmory with Brave Bird recoil to deny a Rapid Spin from Starmie / Tentacruel / Excadrill (Rapid Spin fails if the target is already KOd). You may be tempted to run 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SDef IVs on Skarmory in order to more consistently get knocked into berry ranges, but in practice the loss of bulk means you get fewer layers on the likes of Garchomp.

In addition to being able to suicide Skarmory with Brave Bird to deny a Rapid Spin, these teams also utilise Jellicent as a dedicated spin-blocker, giving you multiple ways to stop Starmie / Tentacruel / Excadrill from doing their job. For example, it is often beneficial to save low HP Skarmory (particularly if Custap) and instead of self-KOing, go directly to Jellicent for the temporary block in case you get more opportunities to set-up hazards later in the game. This importantly also prevents opponents who smartly keep Skarmory out of Berry prock / self-KO range so that they can spin in front of it. Whilst the moveset is standard, the item choice for Jellicent deviates from standard defensive Jellicent by opting for either Sitrus Berry or Air Balloon, which help Jellicent more easily switch into Starmie and Excadrill once to deny them a spin, before overloading the opponent with sweepers.
Wow, so is these sets Viable on Certain Hyper Offensive Teams?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Here is one that has been at the heart of one of my favorite teams to use over the last few months:

celebi.gif

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP
- Psychic
- Recover
- Baton Pass
- Substitute

+

terrakion.gif

Choice Band / swords dance + rock gem


Turns out when Celebi doesn't need to run rocks it has several options that can contribute to one's offensive assault immensely. Terrakion is on paper a massive threat to every team because of its speed, power and stab combination. However on the defensive end, Rock and Fighting means you are weak to every water move coming from rain teams and all the earthquakes on sand teams and thus it has a tendency to not only struggle to switch in but also to scare other pokemon out to set up a substitute itself, only doing so reliably against Tyranitar which it can't even switch into carelessly because many run a move that can ruin it. That's where this Celebi set helps it out a lot, by using substitute on defensive pokemon like Ferrothorn and Jellicent it can consistently baton pass to Terrakion against those or Tyranitar because of their great typing synergy. Additionally, passing a substitute means that even if Ttar goes for a move that can break the bp'd sub such as Earthquake or Superpower you'll have lost the sub but most importantly you will have switched Terrakion in safely. Jellicent is even more helpless because max hp Celebi means your sub will always survive 1 night shade, banded Terrakion loves those free switch-ins against Jellicent. I've been often frustrated by teams that have a Terrakion on it but fail to account for its issues and I have found that pairing it with Substitute Celebi is the easiest way to switch Terrakion in consistently to break down the opposition with repeated banded assaults or forcing that ko on the opposite Landorus-T with the rock gem set; Lando that won't threaten to u-turn on your Celebi anymore, effectively breaking volt-turn cores that hinge on Landorus-T and Rotom-Wash. Those two form a strong duo that can be surprisingly difficult to punish.

https://pokepast.es/5fde2a97d25907c3
 
Last edited:
I have a second core to share with you guys, and i'm not that sure about this one, but don't worry, believe me.
1630172729937.png + 1630172878148.png+ 1630173019591.png
Volcarona and Keldeo kinda have the same checks. Dragonite, Gyarados, Jellicent, Salamence, so one can weaken his checks so the other can go kinda wild ; and they destroy each others checks. Keldeo destroys Heatran, and Volcarona is good versus the Lati-twins, Gastrodon if running Giga Drain, and Toxicroak. But there's a problematic pokemon : Tentacruel, who is unkillable in the rain for the weatherless teams that this core fits on. But that's when the G.O.A.T Toxicroak comes in. It counters Tentcruel, sets up on it and is really threatening if there's no Reuniclus.

Click on the sprites for the paste. (sry if my english sucks)
 

peng

fuck xatu
is a Community Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnus
I don't know how much Keldeo actually contributes there (Keldeo being a bad way of covering a Heatran weakness and not pairing with Volc well generally) but I've used a lot of Toxicroak over Breloom on standard Smurf for the reasons alluded to above and it certainly pulls its weight. Toxicroak does a nasty job of checkmating opposing Rain vs Volcarona, as their best ways of dealing with it (Keldeo, Politoed, Tentacruel, Scarf Latios) become easy set-up fodder should they actually remove Volcarona - in many situations your opp can't KO Volcarona without getting into an autolose situation vs Toxicroak. With rain being the worst MU for Smurf, this slight variation can be really potent.

:garchomp::toxicroak::dragonite::volcarona::starmie::scizor:

Major benefit of Toxicroak is removing some of the need for Psychic Volcarona, so you can use Hidden Power [Ground], or a different coverage option. Most Psychic targets you'd rather keep alive to set-up on with Toxicroak anyway

Biggest loss from going Breloom to Toxicroak is that you get quite a lot worse vs Excadrill so you really want Air Balloon Starmie.

tl;dr I think the actual "core" in those 3 is just Volcarona + Toxicroak, which is effectively just degenerately pairing the sand counterteam mon and rain counterteam mon but in my experience the synergy is actually v strong
 
Last edited:

Gamer1234556

"Because... Scald is a shit Ferro answer!!!"
Here is a core I have been using a lot on Ladder to great success.
Tornadus  sprite from Black 2 & White 2 & Black & WhiteMamoswine  sprite from Black 2 & White 2 & Black & WhiteFerrothorn  sprite from Black 2 & White 2 & Black & White

Kudos to Finchinator for creating such a simple, yet effective team structure. Rain teams tend to struggle against Psyspam since they rely on Scarf Latios as their sole source of speed control. Mamoswine’s priority in Ice Shard is massive as it allows you to break through Zam much easier, thus enabling Scarf Latios and Tornadus to sweep late game. As for the core itself, Mamoswine is usually the mid-game breaker of the core, getting free switches and forcing out so many common pokes. Between Hazards on the opposing side and Substitute, Mamoswine becomes incredibly difficult to dance around, which Tornadus can take advantage of as it would be able to sweep late game if any of the opponent's speed control, especially Scarf Latios, was picked off already by Mamoswine. While Mamoswine's defensive utility itself is rather limited, its ability to pivot into a stray Thunder by Thundurus is pretty nice while Tornadus can force out the many Fighting-types Mamo is afraid of.

Finally, Lum Ferro really goes a long way when it comes to dealing with Water-Types such as Rotom-Wash and Jellicent, who would otherwise annoy this team due to their habit of spreading burns.
 
Last edited:
Hey, new to Forums, but I just feel the need to give one of my favorite Defensive cores on Sand a Shoutout

1651085301712.png1651085319804.png1651085333146.png

Slowking as is I already feel is a very underrated Pokemon in the current Metagame, between its stellar bulk, defensive typing, and ability in Regenerator basically giving it a "Get out of Jail Free" Card for one Pursuit Attempt in Tandem with Colbur Berry. It's overall a Special Wall I've taken a very great liking to. Now what happens when you pair that with a massively Physically Bulky Pokemon? Well you get a Duo that becomes really annoying to break as they constantly pivot around each other. What's more is they cover each other's Weaknesses to great effect. Slowking can switch in to the Fire, and Rain Boosted Water Moves Skarm fears so much, on top of tanking some heavy hits from prominent special attackers like Scarf Latios, Alakazam, Keldeo, Reuniclus, Even taking a hit from things like Volcarona, or Thundurus Therian in a pinch! Skarmory is able to switch in on Pokemon that might scare Slowking, like Breloom, Tyranitar, Garchomp, or even Whirlwinding out Dragonite before it can get too many boosts.

Now you might've noticed I've only been talking about Slowking and Skarmory Thus far, and asked "so what's Excadrill doing here?" Well while talking about the two, you may have noticed neither of them can take Electric Attacks very well, and that's Exactly where Excadrill comes into play. Taking Fusion Bolts, Thunders, and Volt Switches all day, while providing both Rapid Spin, and Stealth Rock support.

Another thing I quite like about this Core is that it's actually not as passive as one would expect. Between Whirlwind, Dragon Tail, Slowking Luring and significantly damaging or burning Ferrothorn, and Excadrill's Mold Breaker Earthquake still bringing quite the hurt. It can force a lot of residual Damage in very little time.
This core tends to work best on more offensive Sand Teams making use of Scarf Tyranitar, as it gives them plenty of leeway to fall back on depending on what the opponent sends out after a successful Trap Kill. I also really like to pair this with Offensive Air Balloon Heatran, as it's a great offensive check to what this core lacks the ability to consistently beat, Such as Volcarona, or Mixed Garchomp, but other options are certainly available, like Swords Dance Gliscor, Terrakion, Swords Dance Fighting Gem Landorus Therian, Alakazam (Admittedly this one's a maybe, as I haven't tried it myself. But it seems like it could work.) and Calm Mind Dragon Gem Latios.
 
Last edited:

Gamer1234556

"Because... Scald is a shit Ferro answer!!!"
Wow, this thread has been super inactive. How about I make things a bit interesting by adding a few underexplored cores?

:hippowdon::zapdos:

This core was seen in 1 SPL Replay alongside 2 BW PL Replays. Hippowdon in general is a pretty cool, albeit curious Pokemon in modern-day BW. It's one of the few Pokemon that can actively stave off dangerous attackers such as Dragonite, Garchomp and Terrakion, but on the other hand, it also comes with an inherent Latios weakness (since it's a weather setter that cannot trap Latios). The fact that Sun is also much worse now and offensive threats such as Volcarona and Cloyster are more common doesn't help matters much either (keep in mind I am not exactly saying that Hippowdon is specifically Volc weak, it's just that the structures it is commonly seen on tend to be swept by Volcarona). Despite this, I still feel like this is a pretty decent core due to the interesting synergy between the two. Zapdos is an equal niche mon as Hippowdon is, but it's also a Ground-immune that has a decent enough matchup against Rain, which is something that Skarmory doesn't offer. Zapdos also provides much-needed insurance against Excadrill, Breloom and Scizor. While its not something I would run in the current meta, its still something that could potentially spark something cool in the future if explored more.
 
I don´t play BW anymore, but I´m suffering from insomnia and a minor burn-out, so I thought it would be funny to write a couple paragraphs here about how my brain ticked back when I used to play this tier.

1652138087981.png
1652138120070.png


This used to be the easiest core to build standard offensive teams around for me. Though neither Landorus-Therian, nor Jirachi are particularly noteworthy as offensive threats themselves, the two possess typings and movepools excellently suited to support other offensive Pokémon: Both have decent, balanced stats, access to Stealth Rock, U-Turn, and ways to slow down opposing offensive threats (Intimidate, Icy Wind, Paralysis), as well as typings that let them check or at the very least scout important oppposing Pokémon. Together they check (among others):

1652139431818.png
1652139462322.png
1652139484723.png
1652139510366.png
1652139537551.png
1652139564616.png
1652139670028.png
1652139684302.png
1652139700839.png
1652139738548.png
1652139767289.png
1652139783533.png


These are all the tier´s "oh shit"-Pokémon, with the exception of Keldeo, Thundurus-Therian and Volcarona, thereby offering incredible defensive role compression with just 2 slots. Unlike dedicated defensive Pokémon such as Skarmory or Gastrodon, neither Landorus nor Jirachi are momentum sinks by any stretch of the word, having their own decent offensive movepools and the ability to generate momentum with U-turn, letting them fit in with an offensive team´s wallbreakers and sweepers with little trouble.

Since almost all of the team´s obligatory support is being covered in those slots, the rest of the team can be built to one´s personal taste, permitting anything from 4 sweepers to further team support and slow win conditions such as Calm Mind Reuniculus.

Landorus and Jirachi themselves are also highly customizable, being both able to run a wide range of moves and items. Some examples:

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
- U-turn
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch
- Trick / Healing Wish

My personal favorite. Since Jirachi´s fast Trick / Healing Wish is good at generating set-up opportunities for sweepers, it gets to use a scarf, which makes it also a decent revenge killer against dragons, while Landorus handles the Stealth Rock. This core is a little Volcarona-weak, so it works out best on dedicated offense, dictating the game´s pace without giving the moth a chance to breathe too much.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Normal Gem
Ability: Intimidate
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Imprison

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
- U-turn
- Healing Wish / Iron Head
- Icy Wind
- Thunder

Suicide Landorus + offensive support Jirachi. Icy Wind on Jirachi is notable, as it allows Landorus to set Stealth Rock even against Aerodactyl. Otherwise this probably plays best on a DragMag-style team, using Jirachi as a Latios switch-in to bring in the team´s own set-up sweepers and wallbreakers.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Fighting Gem
Ability: Intimidate
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Superpower
- Filler (Stone Edge, Explosion, Return, Outrage)

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Icy Wind / Wish
- Iron Head

Wallbreaker Landorus + Jirachi. Jirachi handles team support, while Landorus sees use as a Skarmory- or Ferrothorn killer. This probably best fits on bulkier team styles.

There are probably many other, even more effective options. I´ll leave it at that, as I´m finally getting tired enough to sleep. Maybe somebody reading this will actually pick up some inspiration from it and create something of value.

:woop::woo::wo:
 
So I can definitely see myself getting a couple Eyebrows for this one, but let's not waste any time and I'll get into it.

I think we all are aware of Kyurem. A heavily Flawed, but incredibly Powerful Pokemon. Now I know what you're thinking. "Why wouldn't I just slap Kyurem on DragMag and be done with it? Instead of having to come up with some weird niche strategy to fit it on something else?" and to your credit. You'd be correct!

If I was referring to Kyurem Black

1652225316282.png1652225421491.png


That's right, this core makes use of Kyurem Black's forgotten unfused (but incredibly overlooked) little brother. Kyurem Base!

Kyurem works in tandem with Tentacruel's Toxic Spikes to put dangerous Pokemon on a timer, and outright win against slower threats by Subspamming, threatening Ground Types that Tentacruel is afraid of, and on top of that, can PP Stall attacks Tentacruel may not be so willing to Stomach, such as Rotom Wash's Volt Switch (Or any Electric Move for that matter), Jellicent's Night Shade, a myriad of Scald Users (including other Tentacruel to prevent the comical games of chicken they get into with scald wars), and even some of Adamant Kyurem Black's Deadly Attacks! (this is dependant on what it locks into, for example if it's on Fusion Bolt or Ice Beam, while it will break Sub, it won't do enough to significantly Threaten Kyurem Base back. However Outrage and Dragon Claw are extremely risky, but Substitute Attacker Kyurem Black can barely even touch base Kyurem if it's not carrying Dragon Claw.). It can even sometimes Garuntee a KO against DragMag if it is ever able to get a Substitute up, having an Ice Beam powerful enough to boast a formidible 50% shot of OHKOing Dragonite even through Multiscale!
Even if it doesn't have a Gyro Ball on Ferrothorn to PP Stall. It can still act as a very effective check to Ferrothorn if it does lack Gyro Ball! Something most Rain teams tend to lack outside of their own Ferrothorn (However it doesn't like switching into a Knock Off)

As for Tentacruel's assistance, not only can it lay Toxic Spikes, to limit what can safely come in on Kyurem even further. But can also switch in on and duke it out with some prominent fighting types that would normally terrify Kyurem! On top of that it can remove the hazards that plague Kyurem so greatly due to its crippling weakness to Stealth Rocks. Finally it's capable of potentially spreading burns on key foes, making breaking Kyurem's substitutes even more difficult.

Together, Tentacruel and Kyurem are very capable of completely bulling over Bulkier Sand Teams, Hyper Offense, and DragMag alike!

This core is at its best on more Bulkier Builds of rain. Kyurem is able to PP Stall important moves to allow dangerous Pokemon to go to town. As well as more than just Kyurem appreciating Tentacruel's Toxic Spikes and Spinning Capabilities.

Pokemon I've found very effective to pair this with are Substitute Nasty Plot Thundurus, Choice Scarf Keldeo, Mamoswine, Swords Dance Breloom, Choice Scarf Jirachi, and (obviously) the normal staples you'd find on most forms of rain!
 
Last edited:

Gamer1234556

"Because... Scald is a shit Ferro answer!!!"
:scizor::tentacruel:

We all know how effective defensive cores are, but I believe that this is probably one of the more overlooked, yet very effective cores I can think of in the meta. Scizor has one of the best defensive typings in the tier, but it comes with an unpleasant weakness to dangerous Fire-types such as Heatran and Volcarona. Tentacruel easily walls Volcarona (given you locked it into Bug Buzz with Encore Politoed), absorbs Heatran's Magma Storms (as long as Sun isn't up) and can spin hazards off, which Scizor really appreciates as it often foregoes Roost nowadays. Scizor on the other hand can easily handle the Psychics that scare out Tentacruel, primarily Latios, Reuniclus and Alakazam and can trap Jellicent so that Tentacruel can have an easier time spinning hazards off. Tentacruel also loves Scizor's ability to U-turn on its common switch-ins such as Landorus-T, Gliscor, Excadrill and Magnezone, all of which Tentacruel can easily gain momentum off of.

It is generally a pretty solid core, especially in rain, where Tentacruel really shines with its insane longevity via Rain Dish + Black Sludge recovery while Scizor enjoys the reduced damage from Fire-type attacks. I even tried it a bit on Sun teams as, much like Rain teams, they often struggle to have reliable pressure against Latios, while Tentacruel can provide much-needed insurance against Keldeo. Keep in mind though that Tentacruel may have a harder time answering Heatran under the sun, especially with the sun boosting Magma Storms' power and reducing Tentacruel's Scald power.
 

Gamer1234556

"Because... Scald is a shit Ferro answer!!!"
:abomasnow::alakazam:

Alakazam is one of the most threatening Pokemon in the tier with its amazing speed tier and endless coverage, but it also really wants a fair amount of support to break through Steels. While Skarmory, Jirachi and Scizor don't enjoy taking numerous Focus Blasts, the move's accuracy and low PP leave it prone to being PP stalled. It also doesn't help that all three of these are immune to Sand chip damage, making them much more resilient against Sand Psyspam Teams.

And this is where Abomasnow comes to play. Abomasnow has been slowly but surely beginning to creep up in popularity with even advanced players such as Dice using it numerous times in serious tournament settings, and for good reason. Pokemon immune to Hail Chip are significantly rarer, between Ice-Types (Cloyster, Mamoswine, Kyurem and Kyurem-B), Magic Guard Pokemon (Reuniclus and Alakazam) and the gimmicky Overcoat Forretress, Hail's chip can prove to be very irritating to deal with in battles. In fact, Hail Chip goes a very long way for Zam as Steels are significantly more susceptible to being worn down, making them easier to break through.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top