introduction
yo. been a while since i've touched down in these parts, the life cycle of a tr badge and then some iirc. which is a shame, really, since building still holds my interest even in these trying times, and rating is something i have enjoyed doing in the past as a result. too many appeals for typhlosion ambipom balances and 'hope my opp misplays or else my evident lack of self-sustaining win condition will expose itself' bulky offenses to sift through to really dig into the rare, solid project i figure. but i'm rambling.
this was a team i conceptualized around the point where venusaur dropped, but didn't really manage to click in on until amoonguss was forcibly ejected from the tier in may. at its foundation, the team was meant to a defensively inclined product that didn't succumb to the various compromises made available, while still maintaining a distinct 'purpose' in a match (perhaps the most irksome trend you might discover in ru building is the idea that the opponent will just be weak to your beater or conservative booster, and if not then you just bad mu and there was nothing you could've done). this meant avoiding 'compromise pokemon' like blastoise and uxie (which i feel are utilized on slower builds far more than is ideal), downplaying reliance on pursuit-weak facets, and striving to minimize the long-term impact of moves like knock off and scald. what developed was a somewhat unique quick-stall, built around trapping problem 'mons and setting up an end-game from one of two calm mind users in the process (moreso audino, but anything can happen really).
i'd like to think that this team has effectively exhibited its ability in recent months, performing admirably in the recent ru open games via multiple players. i decided to rmt this is no small part due to this, since i feel it does a solid job showcasing the potency of archetypes like dugtrio stall / balance, as well as the overarching pressure pokemon like it and xatu can apply indirectly. in order to most properly reflect the state of things when this team was first crafted, i will be showing the team as it was initially, but i will make commentary on how the metagame has shifted since and some alternatives this build can take as countermeasures. as i do, went with a record i like a lot for the title. look it up, some really cool, dense electronic music, one of the best albums to come out last year for me personally.
a closer look
Venusaur @
Ability: Overgrow
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 144 HP / 16 Def / 172 SpA / 176 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Synthesis
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
i suppose you might be able to say with a reasonable amount of veracity that this is the most controversial pokemon in the metagame now, which is fair; in spite of mild uniformity throughout its sets (with every variant being grass stab / sludge / synth / utility @ varied ev spreads and item), it plays into some key markets in terms of role, utility, and malleability of play that can be expanded upon significantly with proper support. at its core, this team was built around dugtrio + sleep powder venusaur, and i would say this set reflects upon that, least as best as i can manage. the idea, of course, is that powder venusaur can effectively force poisons and steels to come in and get put to sleep, only to be promptly trapped by dugtrio (or, depending on how one chooses to play, presents the risk of a dugtrio trap and forces the opponent to act accordingly). a more offensively-inclined venusaur, specifically one with leaf storm, might also prompt counterplay from fire-types, something dugtrio also suppresses comfortably. to run a more defensively-inclined set would be to give the opponent far more leniency in how they pivot into sleep powders, whereas a life orb variant would not provide the defensive utility i would require of it here. speaking generally, a variant such as this is more likely than most to either win the venusaur ditto or (in the case of this set v.modest lo) force it to be weakened to the point of prompting a dugtrio trap.
the value of this pokemon's ability to incorporate offensive presence to this team is, of course, invaluable, but offering up an alternative electric switch is also valuable here, given that hedging your bets on dugtrio to suppress sets you up to get smacked off a mispredict. for that reason (amongst others), venusaur is ev'ed to outpace modest magneton down, allowing me to avoid momentum loss v.most of the conventional middling-speed beaters of the tier. the bulk, if we were to get down to the most specific number, avoids the 2hko from scrafty's knock, though it's also heavily favoured to survive specs magneton's flash cannon after sr when switching in and a variety of other assorted and useful calcs.
an option that pearl made use of in later rounds of ru open was to run weezing over venusaur. while i understand the implications of this change, largely for its ability to even out issues with escavalier, i cannot say i feel it is the most consistent alternative. as mentioned prior, the offensive presence and alternative electric check is pretty important here, and it generally shifts the dynamic in a fashion i do not much care for. that said, it is not a wholly poor choice, and it does highlight a pokemon that was not common at the time, but is potentially very threatening and worth acknowledgement (escavalier).
Dugtrio @
Ability: Arena Trap
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 16 HP / 240 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
Perhaps the carnal focus of this team. If ever I might express the impetuous to act as though I'd ever made an impact within the RU community, it'd be for my ability to let people know when Dugtrio is and is not broken. I would argue that Dugtrio's ability to both suppress offensive threats and remove defensive lynchpins is unmatched in this tier, and when backed by a proper defensive backbone and complementary booster this can become very unwieldy. The most direct implication of this would be in the context of this team is setting up Venusaur and Audino, removing [most] checks and counters and forcibly removing pokemon inherently threatening to balance; some, like virizion, are very simple matters, whereas others require a little more chip damage and working around. However, depending on how you need to play it, you can strive to take a more indirect route w/your dugtrio facilitation, removing 'mons like diancie such as to favour your team heavily in terms of status trade. It can also put a much more direct strain on electrics to avoid the use of volt switch, which i think goes miles in keeping momentum in your court. moreover, while not necessarily the most common pokemon simply by merit of the current metagame state, having the option to pursuit trap hoopa is a very nice option for a slowly team such as this.
obviously, the most apparent alternative here would be to utilize life orb > choice band. while this would not be so much a change with which to minimize exploitability (pretty much everything you'd be conceding free turns w/cb are covered to decent effect by the team as is), there would be a significant benefit in playing around sd absol, another one of the bigger threats of this team. however, when bearing in mind the raw value ascertained by dugtrio's ability to trap type-neutrals on occasion, i would argue that choice band is much more broadly useful. the 16 hp evs, as minimal as it is, ensures both that minimally invested houndoom's sucker punch fails to ko from full and that seismic toss / night shade (most significantly from registeel) fails to ko after stealth rock.
Audino @
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 52 SpA / 24 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Dazzling Gleam
Audino is, of course, the conservative booster upon which the offensive supporters focus their utility. I would stand to argue that balance v.balance match-ups in this tier, on their most empirical level, are centered around the exchange of knock offs and scald burns, and any team capable of minimizing the impact of these moves has an almost immediate advantage in any given game; a team that utilizes their alomomola exclusively for both will have a distinct disadvantage over those that build with something such as a curse registeel with which to absorb scalds, heal bell diancie's omnipresence in recent rounds reflects on this idea, etc. Bearing this in mind, I considered crodino to be hugely potent in this environment, cutting the value of moves such as this significantly while offering a win condition that exploits the passivity of defensive cores in turn. less active steels, such as sr registeel and bronzong, are easily outlasted, forcing something more active such as venusaur to play in for a shot at breaking it down. due to its raw bulk and typing, audino is also favoured heavily in winning 1v1 against many dangerous conserative boosters, significantly malamar, flame orb sigilyph, and scrafty, which might otherwise prey upon the passivity of this team much in the same way as audino itself might strive to. furthermore, by merit of its typing audino stands as one of the most self-sufficient checks to [non-boosting] hoopa and sub rotom, pokemon that conventionally apply notable pressure to or otherwise force a trade from balances of this nature.
realistically, i cannot see many changes being made to this slot / set, given just how much it plays into the fundamental interactions of this team. the ev spread seeks to both avoid the 2hko from lo hoopa after sr and ensure the 2hko of max / max malamar at +1, which are ultimately not the most commonplace circumstances, but ones i feel it important to account for nonetheless. as you will come to observe in practice, there will be occurrences that might behoove you to forgoe mega evolution for a time in order to boost safely, most significantly in the case of opposing venusaur, but for the most part little is lost from prioritizing this, especially in the case of pivoting stronger type-neutrals like rhyperior.
Registeel @
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 92 SpA / 164 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Thunderbolt
while i am not necessarily the most dutiful advocate of registeel, it was hard to dismiss the positive traits it brought to the table in the context of this team; by the point it was selected as my stealth rock user, many of the exploitable aspects of which certain pokemon will prey upon were already covered, and the advantages registeel retains are really brought out here. first and fore-most, i was striving to restrict the impact pursuit-reliant balances had against this build, so opting for registeel over bronzong was a bit of a given here. however, the general bump in bulk also comes into play quite significantly, allowing registeel (as my only normal resist) to effectively go toe to toe w/beaters like exploud without potentially finding itself getting battered for a trade. but perhaps the most interesting option it carries is thunderbolt; full credit to pokemonisfun on this one, but essentially what it boils down to is allowing registeel to break braviary's subs consistently, which otherwise presents as one of the most dangerous conservative boosters for this team to get matched up against.
the special attack evs here are ensuring, specifically, that max / max braviary's subs are broken, which may seem excessive, but honestly i feel as thought braviary is capable of significantly manipulating its spread to suit the team it is placed on. obviously, the most pertinent tech to be fitted unto this set would be to run shed shell > leftovers to avoid the dugtrio trap. there really isn't a situation outside knock venusaur that warrants registeel getting its item removed here, so it ultimately comes down to game-per-game consistency, and as a result i decided on leftovers here. this heightens the necessity for alomomola to pass wishes to registeel, but otherwise it is a highly feasible tech.
Alomomola @
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 104 HP / 176 Def / 224 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Knock Off
another hot button issue, what with the ongoing suspect and all. in with the trends of this team, alomomola was the natural choice for this team; not only was it important to limit pursuit-susceptibility here, but presenting a bulky water with heightened sustainability was invaluable as well. while certainly on the lower end of direct damage output, alomomola reaps some of the most gainful free turns of anything in the tier, encapsulating the sentiments expressed of balance mirrors in audino's description. against bulkier teams, alomomola's role is simply to cut down on the sustainability of other pokemon in order to push my agenda (pressuring venusaur switches, steadily cutting down the sustain of opposing waters, etc.), whereas against offense its function is much more linear. due to personal preference, i strive to minimize the necessity for alomomola to directly take on various threats, and as of such it is only hard-pressed to check fires on this particular team. beyond this, very little can be said about mola here that isn't obvious from a glance and basic understanding of the tier.
while not a hugely significant shift, i run a slightly different spread than the 'standard' of 120 hp / 136 def / 252 spd, which comes to favour physical defense slightly more. amongst the benefits offered to this team in particular are the ability to always avoid the 2hko from cb flygon's outrage and avoiding the 2hko from absol after sr + spikes once both it and mola were knocked off. the loss in special bulk is largely negligible here, at worst making the prospect of taking on the rare clawlitzer slightly more problematic.
Xatu @
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Roost
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- U-turn
xatu's role on the team is perhaps the most malleable, what most would take to calling a 'glue'; its function is highly varied on a game-to-game basis, though speaking broadly it is the pokemon that finds itself being played the most aggressively of anything on the team. The most direct function to be observed with xatu is, of course, that of a hazard prevention, given that (especially in the state of the metagame during which this team was conceived) very few conventional stealth rock setters could consistently get up stealth rock against it. while this team is certainly not hazards-weak to any great extent, it is possible as with any more defensively inclined team to destabilize in the face of a well-composed offense in tandem with proper hazard support, which is something xatu's presence detracts from. to hone in even more specifically, xatu's ability to just shy of hard-wall weezing (who is pigeon-holed into fishing for sludge bomb poisons should it not opt for clear smog) is rather significant now in a time of heightened usage of it and its unique position as a taunting, dugtrio-immune poison. however, the other key role xatu plays for this team lies in its ability to set up dugtrio traps. as i mentioned before, the way to play xatu on this team will fluctuate heavily from match-up to match-up, and against assorted threats (ranging from life orb medicham to exploud to magneton), you will find yourself playing xatu loosely into them as to force a scenario wherein they get trapped in turn. obviously this will not be the proper sequence in every game, and depending on the backing hazard support that team retains it may well be worth keeping xatu, but generally speak forcing this kind of trade will favour this team heavily in the long-term.
everything about this set here is very specifically tailored to the team it is on, and not necessarily something i would advocate for everyone (aside from roost, which is an obvious staple). rocky helmet and u-turn are both devices for setting up dugtrio traps; the ability to passively force chip damage unto pokemon such as medicham forces them to wear themselves down to a point of vulnerability, whereas overzealous magneton and such will find themselves u-turned on. as for calm mind, it was run initially as a means to buffer against certain pokemon to better force the aforementioned trapping scenario. specifically, this might allow the xatu to calm mind on something like an exploud, either absorbing a boomburst and hitting with psyshock + follow-up dugtrio, or catching fire blast and avoiding the 2hko. similarly, this put more pressure on magneton to throw volt switch, establishing a scenario that more heavily favoured a dugtrio hard switch. to that end, i found it most appropriate to run only enough speed for scrafty down, as to present the option of a slow u-turn out of magneton. bearing that in mind, in this metagame that is coming to favour different pokemon, i would argue that xatu is the most reasonable choice when it comes to opting for fire coverage as to 'check' escavalier, for many of the same reasons discussed prior; it is perhaps the most expendable in terms of greater team synergy, and via its ability to force chip damage on an escavalier or what have you, it can very easily force it down to the point of a dugtrio trap (~50%, 55% in the case of banded variants). ultimately, i would come to consider roost / u-turn / (night shade / toxic) / heat wave @ 252 hp / 176 def / 24 spa / 56 spe, bold, allowing it the speed and special attack to outpace and always 2hko modest, minimally invested magneton.
showcase
Pearl vs. Solider - RU Open R1 : a really solid example of how dugtrio can piece apart important facets of a team, particularly when facilitated by aggressive play. otherwise, pretty linear.
Hack vs. Analytic - RU Open R1 : while hack definitely played it a little more wildly than i'd normally encourage, I think it's interesting to note the alternative angle the game takes; a more heavy-handed sequence that forces the opponent's more offensively-skewed balance to drop their primary audino check (escavalier) and setting up an end-game from it in turn. on a purely fundamental level, it performs as the team was intended to.
Mambo vs. Rhythms - RU Open R1 : a very interesting game, back when i was a little hesitant to incorporate the thunderbolt registeel tech. the biggest points worth gleaning from this, at least for me, were that xatu is capable of playing into [defensive] diancie with complete comfort, and that the presented venusaur is capable of playing into most others, should the situation warrant.
FLCL vs. chundermunch - RU Open R1 : a showcase of foolcool's ability to dodge moves and win w/scarf alomomola. i think this puts across the idea that, in spite of a generally poor match-up, the team's ability to play somewhat more offensively via venusaur grants it leniency in ways that a more hard stall wouldn't.
Pearl vs. Azalea - RU Open R2 : a game made slightly tighter than need be by some bad rng, but nevertheless an advocate for so many of the more minute points of the team: choice band dugtrio being able to play a furthered roll in the game after eating moonblast where a life orb variant would have dropped off, rocky helmet xatu providing chip against medicham, etc.
TDK vs. rnbs - RU Open R2 : another advocate of slightly more aggressive play with this team (forcing a venu-for-venu trade that set up audino in turn), as well as a showcase of thunderbolt registeel on braviary!
H-C vs. Feliburn - RU Open R2 : a similarly focused game of weaken / beat the audino checks and win, this time highlighting the points i made about ru balance mirrors, wherein leeway was made via the scald burning and knocking off of the opposing venusaur.
ZoroarkForever vs. Advantage - RU Open R4 : a match that highlights the application of venusaur's spread nicely, in addition to the potential ramifications of forgoing mega evolution on audino.
conclusion
i am very satisfied with this team, and i'd like to think it does well in executing a concept that has become almost synonymous with ru as a whole. however, i would say this team is very much one of a specific time, and as folks start to expand on their ideas of how to exploit such balances, this team tends to lose favour. i would be remiss to ask you not to try it out for yourselves, but the door is closing on the era that this team took to as well as it did, and for that reason i felt it as good a time as any to send in down the river. s'pose it's a nice time for it, given this will be marking a hair over 5 years on this site (even if the vast majority is marked w/inactivity, breaks, and general misanthropy), and it's been a time indeed. to clarify, i'm not quitting, just sitting around the same level of do-nothingness i have for the past however many months. thanks for reading.
be sure to use the nicks if you do choose to play with the team, it makes them stronger
Venusaur @ Black Sludge
Ability: Overgrow
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 144 HP / 16 Def / 172 SpA / 176 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Synthesis
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
Dugtrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 16 HP / 240 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 92 SpA / 164 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Thunderbolt
Audino @ Audinite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 52 SpA / 24 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Dazzling Gleam
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 104 HP / 176 Def / 224 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Knock Off
Xatu @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Roost
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- U-turn
Ability: Overgrow
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 144 HP / 16 Def / 172 SpA / 176 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Synthesis
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
Dugtrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 16 HP / 240 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 92 SpA / 164 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Thunderbolt
Audino @ Audinite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 52 SpA / 24 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Dazzling Gleam
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 104 HP / 176 Def / 224 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Knock Off
Xatu @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Roost
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- U-turn
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