ORAS NU cold

[ryan]

cold
​

A lot of people have been saying that they really hate this metagame where Magneton, Sneasel, and Gallade are three of the top Pokemon, but I haven't enjoyed NU this much in a long time. The real problem is that NU has gotten into a state where no matter how hard you try, you just can't cover all of the threats in the metagame. There are tons of Pokemon with few to no counters, including Magmortar, Samurott, Sawk, Zangoose, Tauros, and the three aforementioned Pokemon, which I actually really enjoy because NU has been centered around really fat balance and bulky offense teams for a long time. This is the team I used to get suspect reqs, where I went 37-4 and peaked number three before finally getting reqs. This team was built around slow pivots with a very strong offensive backbone, keeping up momentum throughout the entire game, and it has been successful even against Pokemon that it should struggle with on paper.

The team also peaked number one on the suspect ladder for whatever that's worth. Ended up number three after getting reqs, so I figured I'd finish the grind. fatty also used my team to finish out his reqs!

now it's just me and this grey goose
​

I started building around SD Gallade because I'd used Bulk Up already and loved it but really wanted to get a taste of how broken Gallade would be in the metagame. To support it and because it's amazing, I added CB Sneasel, which can Pursuit trap the main threats to Gallade, faster Ghost-types and bulky Psychic-types.

As I mentioned in my introduction, I really wanted to emphasize this team around slow pivots as a defensive backbone for a more offensive team. Mawile and Lanturn cover each others' weaknesses really well barring their Ground weaknesses and are great at coming in and then pivoting out immediately.

I added Xatu on after that because it was pretty much the perfect fit. The team was super weak to Ground and Fighting, both of which Xatu cover really well, and it also struggled a bit with Ferroseed and of course loved preventing Stealth Rock for Sneasel. I ended up not being able to fit U-turn on it because I needed Thunder Wave to help with Gallade and Lilligant, but Xatu by nature swings momentum really well anyways.

I still didn't care for how Ground and Fighting weak the team was because it relied solely on Xatu to check those Pokemon, so I added on Haunter as another soft check. A lot of teams don't really carry anything that beats Haunter defensively, relying on Sneasel as their only way to deal with it. This often means it only gets one kill, but it pressures teams well enough that it usually doesn't even matter.

because i'm too cool for this​

Gallade @ Fist Plate | Steadfast
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe | Jolly
Close Combat | Zen Headbutt | Swords Dance | Knock Off

Like I said in the teambuilding process, I built this team around SD Gallade because I really wanted to get a good feel for how broken it might be in NU. The set itself is pretty standard. I decided to run Jolly over Adamant for a Speed tie against Jolly Kabutops and Timid Mesprit and to outspeed Adamant/Modest versions of both as well as Adamant Sawk. I originally had Life Orb, but I found the recoil to be really shitty because Gallade's special bulk allows it to check a lot of Pokemon if it hasn't already taken a ton of recoil.

As for my thoughts on Gallade, I don't actually find it broken. In most games, Fist Plate Sawk with some other filler over Swords Dance would have been just as good. As long as you keep up pressure well enough against Gallade, it's not that hard to beat, especially with how incredibly physically frail it is. It might be broken in the end, but I think it's highly exaggerated just because it's Gallade.

Sneasel @ Choice Band | Inner Focus
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe | Jolly
Icicle Crash | Knock Off | Ice Shard | Pursuit

Choice Band Sneasel is retarded, and there's very little reason not to use it on most teams. It supports Gallade incredibly well by Pursuit trapping problem Pokemon for it, and it puts on crazy pressure against opposing teams because Icicle Crash always flinches and Knock Off fucks up Sneasel checks. I actually had Ice Punch over Ice Shard for my first like five battles because I messed up in the teambuilder, but I rarely clicked Ice Shard anyways so it was alright anyways! Sneasel is my primary response to offensive Ghost-types not named Rotom, which Lanturn destroys, because it can live any one hit from most of them barring Life Orb Haunter's Sludge Bomb, which is a roll in Sneasel's favor, and Life Orb Dazzling Gleam or HP Fighting from Mismagius, the former of which is also a roll but in Mismagius's favor instead.

Mawile @ Leftovers | Intimidate
248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD | Impish
Stealth Rock | Play Rough | Baton Pass | Toxic

Defensive Mawile is so fucking good. There's really nothing else to say about it. Almost all of my really successful teams since Mawile's drop have included one. Mawile blanket checks a lot of really scary Pokemon, especially Archeops, Sneasel, Scyther, and offensive Normal-types, and its ability to get easy momentum is crazy. I'm running Toxic over other generic filler because it's just better than everything else really. With no investment and without Sheer Force, Mawile does very, very little damage, so having a way to whittle at problem Pokemon is really nice. I really didn't want to use Knock Off on Mawile because I wanted Gallade and Sneasel's Knock Offs to be at full power, and the only other filler I like is Fire Blast for Ferroseed, which this team has zero issues with because it has a Xatu.

Lanturn @ Leftovers | Volt Absorb
104 HP / 236 Def / 168 SpD | Calm
Scald | Volt Switch | Heal Bell | Ice Beam

Lanturn is the other half of the slow pivot defensive core, and it's pretty obligatory on this team for its ability to check Fire-types and Magneton really well. Even without Magneton in the metagame, Lanturn is a perfect fit for the team anyways. Heal Bell support is super clutch for Gallade especially because it can recklessly switch into Scalds from bulky Water-types without worrying about the burn. I chose Ice Beam Lanturn on this team for its ability to 2HKO all but max SpDef Torterra. Offensive Torterra is actually terrifying for this team because it can easily break through Xatu if it is running Crunch or Stone Edge, so being able to 2HKO it on the switch is huge. In fact, in one game for reqs, I won solely because I had Ice Beam on Lanturn to hit Torterra even though my team got dismantled really early on. The EV spread is pretty standard Lanturn EVs, with heavy Defense investment to take resist physical hits and tons of SpDef to help tackle Magmortar, Magneton, and Samurott. The exact SpDef EVs hit a jump point.

Xatu @ Colbur Berry | Magic Bounce
248 HP / 180 Def / 80 Spe | Timid
Psychic | Roost | Giga Drain | Thunder Wave

Xatu literally covers all of the biggest problems to this team in just one slot, which is all of: Ground-types, Sawk, Gallade, Gurdurr, Garbodor, Lilligant, and Ferroseed. The set is tailored towards beating those Pokemon. You could run Roost and three non-attacking moves with a lot of PP and still beat Ferroseed, so that's the only thing that it doesn't "beat" with this specific set even though it does beat it. Psychic is for a stronger hit on Garbodor and Gurdurr because most Psyshock targets either lose anyways or are a lot less common in this metagame. Giga Drain is for bulky Ground-types, particularly Rhydon and Claydol, and it also hits Lanturn a bit harder than Psychic does. Thunder Wave beats Lilligant and Gallade and is just really good in general anyways for catching Dark-types on the switch. Colbur Berry is necessary to allow Xatu to beat Fighting-types, and the EV spread outruns Adamant Sawk as well as Adamant Gallade and Kabutops. Timid is better than running more Speed EVs and a Bold nature because Xatu's biggest Base Stat is its Speed, so it gets the most out of a +Speed nature.

Haunter @ Life Orb | Levitate
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe | Timid
Shadow Ball | Sludge Bomb | Will-O-Wisp | Destiny Bond

Haunter was added to my team because it's fucking adorable. It also offered a secondary Ground and Fighting check and was a great way to threaten bulky Grass-types without having to worry about taking a ton on the switch. The standard set runs Taunt over Will-O-Wisp, but being able to dodge Sucker Punches with Will-O-Wisp and without sacrificing Haunter in the process is sick. It also catches Dark-types on the switch. There's really not much else to say about Haunter other than that it's incredibly threatening, hits ridiculously hard, and has killer typing to help check scary things.

come get your clothes and leave the keys​

By nature, there aren't a lot of Pokemon that are super threatening to this team because it's so good at keeping up momentum, but some things are still pretty threatening to it.

With Lanturn as my only Water resist, Ludicolo is pretty threatening to the team, especially if rain is up. Gallade can easily take any one hit outside of rain and has a 25% chance of living a rain-boosted Hydro Pump. Against full rain teams, try to keep up as much pressure as you can against it, and against teams where it is a standalone cleaner, always Volt Switch with Lanturn and Baton Pass with Mawile so that it doesn't get any free turns.

Offensive Ghost-types are very threatening to the team with Sneasel as literally the only Ghost resist on the team and Lanturn is usually necessary to check other Pokemon. Thankfully, beating them is often as simple as getting a switch into Sneasel, and then you click Pursuit and they're dead.

Rhydon is really scary because both of my Ground resists are very weak to its Rock STAB. Dual Dance sets can legitimately 6-0 the entire team, but I thankfully have never run into any of them. You can also pivot around it with Mawile to get Intimidate drops, but because Mawile can't do much in return, you risk it continuing to boost on you. At least it can be put on a timer with Toxic!

Tauros is probably the least threatening thing to this team on the threatlist, but it's still threatening enough to make the list. Fire Blast and Earthquake both 3HKO Mawile, so it's one of the more threatening Normal-types for it to deal with. Nothing on the team can live a hit and OHKO in return, but if you can damage it a bit, Sneasel can OHKO with Knock Off. Alternatively, predict like a god and Pursuit it.

Don't let your Lanturn get haxed and don't miss Play Rough while it Belly Drums. :(

and I knew when I met you, you would fall in love
​

Shoutouts to the Skype group for helping me through laddering for reqs. I knew I could do it, but you guys telling my opponents to timerstall me so that I couldn't finish in time and telling them to Pursuit my Xatu so I could Thunder Wave their Scyther was really helpful. I had a lot of fun building and using this team, so I hope anyone else that tries it out also has a lot of fun with it! Haunter is really fun and underrated, and even though Gallade isn't as broken as people make it out to be, it's still cool.

Hide

Gallade (M) @ Fist Plate
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off

Mawile @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Play Rough
- Baton Pass
- Toxic

Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 104 HP / 236 Def / 168 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Heal Bell
- Ice Beam

Xatu @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 180 Def / 80 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Roost
- Giga Drain
- Thunder Wave

Sneasel @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Icicle Crash
- Pursuit
- Ice Shard

Haunter @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Destiny Bond
- Will-O-Wisp

 

[blarajan]

fletchinder > haunter covers grounds and fightings while giving you another out for ludicolo, scarf fighting mons that predict well with knock off, ghost types, and sneasel. wisp rhydon on the switch really hinders its ability to hurt you. covers p much everything on your threat list while filling a similar role on your team and adding another win condition

hazard weakness sucks but you have xatu and a lot of pressure so you should be ok

 

[HJAD]

Hey hollywood

Nice team you have here. I myself have been trying gallade + cb sneasel on some other teams that I made and I must say its a crazy good core, really strong and difficult to wall when I play it at least. Anyway, onto the team. You have already mentioned your problems with Ludicolo, but I feel Mega Audino is just as scary for this team. Just like with Ludicolo you are threatened to lose without Gallade, you lose to Audino-Mega without Haunter, which wouldn't usually be a problem but with so many sneasel running around and haunter actually taking a chunk of damage from a dazzling gleam, I think its imperative you add some more checks to it.

The First thing I would so is change Xatu from a Defensive Pivot Varient with Thunder Wave < a Calm Mind Varient with Psyshock. This gives you a much easier way to beat the likes of m-audino without too much hassle, since Psyshock calm minders beat psychic calm minders, but in the case of this, it beats the gleam calm minders. I would also suggest running signal beam on this set as to check malamar, which is still a massive threat in the metagame. You're team really doesn't have an answer to it outside of dbond'ing it with Haunter, which, as you could imagine, is extremely periless and puts tons of pressure on the Mon to do its job flawlessly, when in reality one knock off is the difference between winning and losing.

Next up is your weakness to Rhydon. I wouldn't really call it a weakness as such since every Mon on your team can do something to it, but, I think a simple change in EV spread would be neccesary to cover the threat that is DD Dino. Changing Lanturns spread from current spread < 104 HP / 180 Def / 16 SpA / 168 SpD / 40 Spe with a Calm Nature allows lanturn to out speed dd Rhydon and Ohko 0 HP / 0 SpD Variants 100% of the time with Scald, which imo is really important. It essentially turns Lanturn into a DD Rhydon check when before you have nothing that could really do so. + the EV spread is hella cool ;o

My final change would be to change Gallades set into a Bulky Sub SD varient > offensive SD varient you have now. It allows you to check Ludicolo much more easier than before, since the spread 212 HP / 200 Atk / 56 SpD / 44 Spe allows you to easily live a rain boosted hydro pump and ohko back with close combat after a life orb recoil. He also has to hit the hydro pump in the first place haha. I've also tryed the bulky sub SD varient myself and I must say its one of the scarier varients since it turns specially offensive checks e.g. uxie into complete fodder, which is fun. Lord Prinplup, Weezing and Lanturn (defensive) can't even break gallades substitute with their respective stabs, which is a testament to how bulky gallade really is.

sets

Xatu @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Def / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Psyshock
- Signal Beam
you may want to change the spread, its just my standard xatu speed investment, but you can invest up to 176 Spe Timid for Sawk if you want.

Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 104 HP / 180 Def / 16 SpA / 168 SpD / 40 Spe
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Scald
- Filler
- Filler

Gallade @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 212 HP / 200 Atk / 56 SpD / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Psycho Cut / Zen Headbutt / Knock Off

cool team, your first since becoming TL n_n
yours in mons,
~HJAD

 

[Shuckleking87]

I really love slow momentum pokemon teams, so nice job! I might even suggest to have jolly zangoose over gallade, as it still kills all the stuff in the 80-90 speed range that gallade would have a hard time doing otherwise. Great team though!

 

[ryan]

HJAD, sick Lanturn spread, I'll try that out for sure. I think Jolly Gallade is the best fit for the team, but I'll mess around with your suggestion and shuckleking's Zangoose suggestion, which I really like barring the lack of bulk it offers. Mega Audino has not been a problem at all for the team because it's so easy to pressure it and Haunter beats almost all of them anyway.

Deeerpz, my bad, edited it in.

blarajan, I really dig the Fletchinder suggestion. I had it on the team at one point during building but ended up cutting it because I couldn't really fit a hazard remover anywhere, but I ended up with Xatu anyways.

 

[Evan.]

hey dude, cool team on my phone rn so this rate will be really quick but I might throw a full rate in later. Biggest threats right now are Jolly DD don and Malamar considering the former sets up pretty easily on stuff like locked sneasel and mawile, and you dont really have any solid checks to the latter outside of pressuring it w/ sneasel / gallade and keeping momentum.

I think the most optimal change would be to go with Scarf Haunter > LO Haunter. Scarf haunter provides an emergency check to shit like DD don w/ d-bond (or energy ball if you wanna run e-ball > d-bond) and can also kind of mess w/ malamar with trick, although its p shaky since you lose haunter in the process. You could also throw my custom lanturn spread (ill send it to you on skype cause im on phone rn) on and go with Signal Beam > Ice Beam because it hits most grass types anyways while also allowing Lanturn to 2HKO mar w/ my spread.

hot team gl on making archive