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Good news everyone, it's me! I'm gonna give you all my latest team, and possibly one of my best and most fun to play with that I've made for this tier. My good friend Molk has always had a weak spot for Scraggy in RU, and when I saw him reach the top of the ladder with it I decided that I wanted to do the same in NU. Not quite reached #1 yet, but it's definetly within reach. This team has gone on a 37-0 win streak across my two alts "intimidatinglycute" and "prettier than you". It's first loss came up against a Shell Smash Gorebyss behind Dual Screens when I misclicked earlier D: And no shnen it wasn't your team. Thanks to Keiran for the banner '3'
Seismitoad
Water Absorb | Leftovers | Relaxed
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Def / 12 Spd / 44 SDef
Relaxed Nature
Stealth Rock | Earthquake | Scald | Knock Off
This ugly bastard is most often my lead, so I decided to start the RMT off with him. It has a great matchup against most other Stealth Rock leads due to his STAB moves, and he outspeeds them as well (looking at Piloswine, Golem, Metang, Golurk etc). I saw that all of these are physically based so I decided to make Seismitoad physically defensive for this team. And it's really paid off. He always, always comes out on top against these Pokemon, and people are dismayed when they see the shoddy damage their Earthquakes do to Toad here. A physically bulky spread also allows him a far easier time against Carracosta, as I've seen specially defensive ones crushed by the turtle after they've taken damage. Seimitoad is utterly crippled by most HP Grasses even when specially defensive anyway, so that was another contributing factor. Nevertheless I've given him enough Special Defense investment to avoid the OHKO from Life Orb Zebstrika and Electrode, who he OHKOs in return. The Speed EVs are because I'm paranoid of my Eelektross EV spread that I've given to #neverused, so Toad can still outspeed it. Knock Off is an awesome move to cripple basically any Pokemon when Seismitoad forces a switch, especially really common switchins like Misdreavus and Ludicolo. Stealth Rock is required on every team obviously (and should be banned). Earthquake is to OHKO Jynx after Stealth Rock and Scald is Scald; if it doesn't burn, it crits.
Garbodor
Aftermath - Rocky Helmet - Impish
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spd
Spikes | Toxic Spikes | Pain Split | Rock Blast
I may have started this team off with Scraggy in mind, but over the course of the battles I've come to realize that this thing is really the reason for my success. The passive pain that it brings is unbelievable. First and foremost, due to NUs lack of good Rapid Spinners, people often don't even bother with them, and even when they do, it's normally an Armaldo or Torkoal, who both lose to Seismitoad anyway or get crippled by Toxic Spikes. Secondly is the absolute ease with which Garbodor sets up hazards. It's stupidly fast for a defensive Pokemon and outspeeds tons of walls that cant do jack to it such as Alomomola, Miltank, etc. Toxic Spikes are incredibly underrated in this metagame. Just because Scolipede and Skuntank are common doesn't mean you can't afford one of your 24 moveslots for a move that can cripple entire teams people! Especially Rain. God how I love how Rain teams fold to Toxic Spikes. And don't think that you need to get two layers up, one if perfectly alright as well. Most Pokemon don't stay in for more than three turns anyway, and that's where normal Poison outdamages Toxic poison. Of course when I see a team that looks like it'll do a lot of switching around, Spikes are the superior option. The next super cool thing about Garbodor is Rocky Helmet in conjunction with its physical defense and its typing. A resistance to Fighting and Bug is extremely cool for dealing with Primeape and Scolipede, both of whom are helpless against Garby. Rock Helmet, hazards, and Aftermath deal so much damage to physical attackers (lol Kangaskhan) that its unreal. Pain Split saps even more health and allows for a possible second round of Rocky Helmet fun, and Rock Blast is the chosen attacking move to deal with nasty little buggers such as Ninjask and SubSalac Scolipede.
Drifblim
Unburden - Flying Gem - Adamant
EVs: 56 HP / 248 Atk / 204 Spd
Acrobatics | Will-O-Wisp | Destiny Bond | Substitute
Drifblim was one of the last Pokemon fitted onto this team, mainly to cover up some type weaknesses. It doe showever also come with the lovely little advantage of blocking Rapid Spin so that my hazards can stick around on the offside that my opponent HAS decided to utilize a spinner. This was the first time that I had decided to use Drifblim, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. Man was I pleasantly surprised. Drifblim not only protects my hazards, but is also an absolutely phenomenal abuser of them in his own right. Because basically every Pokemon that resists Acrobatics is either grounded or Stealth Rock weak (except the might Eel) they can be worn down over the course of the match by a combination of double switching, Will-O-Wisp and Kangaskhans Earthquake, which allows Drifblim to go on a really satisfying Acrobatics sweep. Destiny Bond is another really cool move to pick off nigh anything after the Unburden boost and is the move that I've used the most in the time I've spent with this team, BUT I've very recently been using Disable over it and I think I actually prefer it to Destiny Bond. Disbale allows to to completely screw over my counters and then simply hit them with Acrobatics after Acrobatics while they can't touch Drifblim. I decided to put Destiny Bond over Disable for the RMT for consistency purposes, but basically consider that I'm using Disable at the moment. Also forces tons of switches, ie more hazard damage, and works wonders in conjunction with Substitute.
Kangaskhan
Scrappy - Silk Scarf - Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Double-Edge | Fake Out | Sucker Punch | Earthquake
Kangaskhan is an absolute star. I don't really think there's much that needs to be said about her, everyone knows just what an offensive terror she is. One of the few Pokemon with all three attributes of power, bulk and speed. The moveset is basically standard... I used to run Toxic over Earthquake to smack around Regirock and Alomomola until I realized that they were already manhandled by the rest of my team. Earthquake is far more useful if I have to hit other Rocky Helmet Garbodor, deal immediate damage to Rocks/Steels so that Drifblim has an easier time, and for annoying stuff like Static Ampharos who I do not want to hit with a contact move. I prefer Adamant over Jolly in this meta as Kangaskhan loses out on the crucial 95 Speed tier anyway. Add to the fact that basically all Sawk run Adamant now anyway, so it still gets outsped, and that I now deal noticeably more damage with my priority combination... it's clearly the superior nature. Double Edge is chosen over Return because it cleanly KOs bulky offensive Pokemon such as Ludicolo and Eelektorss in tandem with Fake Out. Kangaskhan's Attack isn't THAT amazing, so having a 120 BP STAB move makes up for that. Silk Scarf is because I like to keep Kanga nice and healthy, Life Orb wears her down too much.
Scraggy
Shed Skin - Eviolite - Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Dragon Dance | High Jump Kick | Crunch | Drain Punch
So this is the Pokemon that the team started off with. Doesn't look like much but it definetly is. Scraggy's claim to fame is being to damn near 6-0 any kind of remotely defensive team by itself between Shed Skin and Drain Punch. It's no slouch against offensive teams either, as after a Dragon Dance it outspeed any positive naured base 95 Speed mon (Jynx). Not really counting Primeape because its always Scarf, but it's not as issue at all between Garbodor and Drifblim. Scraggy is fairly bulky with Eviolite, but it's not like its some defensive champion. This means that it won't always get a chance to set up, which kinda sucks considering th elow base power of its main moves. Fortunately, I was a clever boy and decided to run HIGH JUMP KICK as well. The move is absolutely obscene, and easily OHKOs stuff like incoming Primeape without any boosts whatsoever. After a boost it does some truly scary damage such as OHKOing bulky attackers like Serperior and Seismitoad after hazards or LO recoil. Drain Punch is strong enough to OHKO Jynx after a boost and no hazards, which means that I can get some free HP back and don't need to resort to Crunch. Crunch is really cool too as it 2HKOs stuff like Musharna at +1, and Musharna often runs only Psychic as an attacking move, so it's utter setup fodder. Anothe rlast thing about Scraggy is that due to Shed Skin and a 4x Dark resist, it's a really cool Pokemon to switch into the ever annoying Liepard.
Serperior
Overgrow - Life Orb - Timid
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Giga Drain | Hidden Power [Rock] | Substitute | Calm Mind
And here we have it, one of the cruelest sweepers that the Neverused metagame has to offer right now. Ignore its below average Special Attack, because Serperior reaches dangerous levels really quickly after a single turn of
setup. But the beauty of the set really lies in Serperiors massive Speed, huge controllable recoil between Substitute and Life Orb, and Overgrow. If i don't have a setup opportunity I simply sub down into Overgrow range and then unleash a really devastating Giga Drain. This scenario is extremely common and very useful against bulky Pokemon weak to Grass such as Samurott and Golurk. The lovely fact is that I'm dealing so much damage with this one Giga Drain that I get a great amount of HP back, enough that another single Substitute can bring me back into Overgrow range again, and then the strategy can be rinsed and repeated. Hidden Power Rock is the coverage move of choice hitting Bug, Fire and Flying types for super effective damage, all of whom Giga Drain can't do much against. In a way Serperior and Scraggy are really similar to eachother... both have below average offensive stats but pull it off thanks to their STAB healing moves, abilites and bulk. Serperior and Scraggy also take on the biggest dick in the tier, Alomomola with absolute contempt, which can make life hard for Drifblim and Kangaskhan. But Toxic Spikes ruin it anyway ;)
