National Dex Cruel Angels Thesis

[pannu]

Stakataka has always been one of my Favourite Pokemon because of how fun it is to use, to be specific my favourite set is Choice Banded Stakataka due to how unpredictable it is and its insane damage output, ive been feeling a bit burned out on teambuilding as of recent so i thought that id just build something fun and make a viable team featuring an unviable pokemon and make an rmt abt it. its also quite fitting since i just finished watching Neon Genesis Evangelion for the first time and stakataka (aswell as the other ultra beasts) do look kinda like angels, as such the team is named after Evangelion OST.


First impact, Team Building Process.


Komm Süsser Tod (Stakataka) @ Choice Band
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Lonely Nature
IVs: 14 Def / 0 Spe
- Stone Edge
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Heat Crash

This set is quite niche but one i absolutely adore, and if i remember correctly i first saw it in an old blunder video. Choice Banded stakataka is an insanely fun mon to use and a suprsisingly effiencent wallbreaker due to the insane damage output of choice banded Gyroballs or Stone Edges, which are the only moves you really should be using on this set, its a very "click button"-y mon. as for the other two moveslots i have Earthquake to hit Toxapex and Heat Crash for bulky steel types like Corviknight and Ferrothorn. The EV's are quite standard with me going min speed to hit as hard with gyro as possible and lonely nature with 14 def ivs to get an attack boost from beast boost instead of defense whenever i claim a kill.


Tsubasa Wo Kudasai (Latios-Mega) (M) @ Latiosite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Earthquake
- Roost

As for the next mon on my team i wanted something to counteract the many, many, way to many weaknesses that Stakataka has, so i went with Mega Latios. Due to it resisting all of Stakataka's weaknesses i thought it was a perfect fit for a partner to the staka. Latios is a really cool mon in my opinion due to how many diffrent moves it can run, as for my set im running quite a standard mixed set with Psychic for STAB, Ice Beam for bulky ground types (especially Gliscor) and Earthquake for stuff like Heatran and Tyranitar. I would like to mention that origally i had a Latias Here to do what Latios does but more defensively, it was also my defogger. but because of some testing i did with Aurodian i changed it up. Also quick note the reason im running Naive instead of Hasty is to deal with Cinderace, Garchomp and Gliscor Better.



The Beast (Gliscor) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 244 HP / 52 Def / 192 SpD / 20 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Facade
- Roost

As for this slot i wanted something Specifically to check Toxapex. Stakataka cant reliably hit it unless it catches it on a switch due to scald absolutely ruining it meanwhile Toxic meant Latios got worn down over time, especially if you factor in stuff like Stealth Rocks or sand from stall teams, as such i went with Gliscor due to its ability to infinetly wall Toxapex (unless you switch it in on a scald when it isnt poisoned by its toxic orb and just auto lose 30% of the time, dont do that.), A good switch in to Volt Switch (which a certain tier leader has convinced me is mandatory on all teams) and threaten alot of common stall builds once corviknight or Skarmory were out of the picture.


Tsuki no Meikyu (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Leech Seed
- Iron Head

At this point i was lacking hazards and a reliable water resist, theres only one mon that can do both of those things and its our boy Ferrothorn, as a plus it also fuctions as this teams Kyurem check (which every team should have for the record) and gives me utility in Knock Off. As for the Evs they are to live a +1 Dragapult Never Ending Nightmare after Spikes, which can be pretty useful due to my pult check losing to a NEN. originally this was a Spike Setter and i had my rocker as a Clefable, but after the testing game i have with Aurodian i decided to change out my Clefable to fit in a defogger now that my lati wasnt a defogger.



Fly Me To the Moon (Tapu Fini) @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 12 SpA / 56 SpD / 192 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Moonblast
- Defog
- Nature's Madness

Tapu Fini is a mon i dont really use all that much, however i was inspired to use it after a certain event a couple of days ago, i needed to fit a dark resist and defogger in one slot and theres no way im using Togekiss (though ftr i did consider using Mandibuzz) its quite the standard set but i did drop knock off for nature's madness due to me already having Knock Off on Ferro, i did test some games with Taunt > Nature's Madness but i didnt really like that set.


The Red Ambassador (Volcarona) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Flamethrower
- Bug Buzz
- Roost

This last slot was quite a hard one, i wanted something to beat Mega Lopunny so i was heavily considering 3a Zapdos or maybe Toxapex in this last slot, however while looking through the team i realized that this team has heavy amounts of counterplay against Heatran and Toxapex, and there just so happens to be one mon that absolutely hates both tran and pex while being a solid check to Lopunny and that is Bulkarona. It also fuctions as a special sweeper on this team which i really appriciate. The set itself is very standard but the evs are kinda niche, it has enough speed to outspeed a Lopunny after 1 quiver dance.

The second impact, final team + thoughts and threatlist.


Overall this team is one im quite proud of, it feels like its a perfect mix of viability and cheese while also being fun. as for big threats this team is very weak to Faster mons like weavile or anything above base 110, bulk up cinderace also messes the team up pretty badly. its a fun team thoguh i def recommend using it when laddering for fun, it can have decent competetive success but dont expect anything out of it. Lastly i want to thank Aurodian and Sevelon for helping me test this team.
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[Steorra]

nice team, just a few notes.

Tapu fini should rather scald, burning certain mons outside of terrain or even burning mons within terrain can be very handy and I've seen it be used to success in multiple scenarios. But if you find something that surf hits for a great 2hko, then you can keep it on. But I do suggest in that case to adjust the evs in spa. Those evs are primarily to 2hko offensive tran with scald, so with surf you could put them elsewhere. Also taunt is another option that can be explored for those stally mus. I would recommend putting over the water move and adjusting the ev spread accordingly, nature madness, moonblast, taunt, defog can be very cool to use for stally mus in breaking them down, tho not most needed as you have powerful breaker in staka and a breaker in gliscor.

I also noticed a lack of a ghost resist, which can pose to be troublesome. Like during our practice games, I had a gengar and provided some chip onto staka/fini, I would've swept with it. Your only actual counterplay to gengar is to sack appropriately on the z, which isn't the greatest counterplay. Similar case with spectrier, especially with tspikes support can really mess up this team. But normla np can sweep as you don't have a resist to ghost nor any speed control for it. For this, it is tough on what to do, but I want to suggest a greninja with the standard battle bond specs set. Alternatively would be a tyranitar, but it doesn't really transition into the team composition the best imo, but something to consider regardless. In terms of greninja, it gives you more counterplay vs the ghosts, despite spectrier outrunning you as a regular grneinja. Another member I would suggest is hydreigon or dragapult. Hydreigon also gives you a dark type for those ghosts, problem is all of these dark types get rocked by focus blast, which is why i strongly recommend dragapult. Sub gengar can be troublesome for the darks enlisted above, as they would only break the sub for dying, but with dragapult you can bluff infiltrator to get a dd up and really break down a team. In terms of this slot, I think experimentation of all the mons are needed before you make a final verdict, but overall something has to happen to ease the ghost mu a bit. Btw idk if i said this before, bu ti was recommending this slot over volcarona as it seems to be the least valuable member if I had to pick one.

Ferro is another rather interesting set. The only basis I have for iron head is clefable and kyurem. The former isn't 2hko by iron head, provided phys def set, and would most likely switch after doing its utility roles. As for the latter, I think body press should suit more, the magnezone mu isnt the best but certainly has counterplay and this ferro can help out with body press for mag and kyurem. Altho I do see some minimal use in iron head having a bit more pp than body press so I could see it being used for kyurem pp stall, but overall I think body press is better. Also hits ferro which is another cool thing.

Getting rid of volc for help out with the ghost mu is also not very ideal for the likes of ferro, but i believe getting in staka vs ferro can be very good in battle to either kill ferro unexpectedly with heat crash or threaten to kill another mon.

These are my thoughts on the team, I think for these changes, it requires more testing to see how the team plays.

 

[Avery]

Hey Panu,

First of all, I really like that someone is trying to make use of an underappreciated Pokemon in Stakataka. I also have a ton of respect for you as a builder, despite how often we go back and forth on Discord. Getting into the team though, I noticed that Dragapult seemed like a big issue. Not only does it set up freely on Gliscor, Volcarona, and Ferrothorn, but it seems like it claims more than one kill each time, as you lack a Ghost resist. To solve this issue, I would like to propose we replace Tapu Fini with Mandibuzz, as it still Defogs, checks Hydreigon, and now beats Dragapult and offers a Ghost resist. Also, removing Fini does not worsen the Heatran matchup, as you have two other checks to all variants of Heatran.

Mandibuzz

Mandibuzz (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Foul Play
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost

The speed is for max speed Aegislash, and it also lets you U-Turn away from Specs Magnezone.

With the above change in place, I feel it is no longer needed for Ferrothorn to be invested in Defense, as Mandibuzz will be handling all the Dragapult that comes your way. Your team also would appreciate the extra insurance against Ash Greninja, Kyurem, and Tapu Lele. Also, I agree with Aurodian above regarding Iron Head Ferrothorn, as it does not do enough damage to Clefable to warrant use over Body Press. As such, here's the new Ferrothorn I am suggesting, in case you need it.

Ferrothorn

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Body Press

Finally, I noticed the general issue the team has with breaking the common balances anchored by Mega Tyranitar and Blissey, especially considering you have a Volcarona. To counteract this issue, I will be targeting the Mega Latios and Volcarona slots. Latios in most cases is strictly inferior to Mega Latias, especially now with Crown Tundra introducing Aura Sphere into Latias's movepool. Volcarona's utility as a Lopunny and Rillaboom check is also less needed since we added a Mandibuzz. Taking this into consideration, I advise we replace Mega Latios with Mega Latias, and replace Volcarona with Bulk Up Darkinium Cinderace. Latias will still check the same Pokemon that Latios currently does, while also giving Blissey and Mega Tyranitar teams a huge headache, as those teams are increasingly common. Cinderace helps alleviate the issue of the team's speed tier, but it also breaks Slowbro and Mega Slowbro for Stakataka and greatly appreciates all the pressure this team puts on Toxapex and Heatran. Additionally, Cinderace puts a ton of pressure onto opposing Calm Mind Clefable, which is a huge threat to this team otherwise.

Cinderace

Cinderace @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Libero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Pyro Ball
- Gunk Shot
- Sucker Punch

Mega Latias

Latias (F) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Aura Sphere
- Roost

It is also important to note that Mega Tyranitar cannot kill Mega Latias unless it is running Crunch, and +2 Aura Sphere OHKO's standard Mega Tyranitar after Stealth Rock. With all this being said, this is what the final edition of the team would look like, per my updates.

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The link is attached to the sprites above. Hopefully this helped a bit, have fun and take care!