Other Metagames [Gen 7 CAP] The Lucid Nightmare

[Drapionswing]

The Lucid Nightmare

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This is my first CAP RMT in the actual RMT forum. With the 23rd CAP, Pajantom, producing a trapper, I decided it was time to try and produce a mean team inspired but the Dugtrio metagame. While I was never actually fond of Dugtrio, I definitely acknowledge the effectiveness of removing pokemon and while Pajantom of course can't do it as efficiently, I wanted to see how close it could come to that of Dugtrio.

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While looking at the pokemon that Pajantom was meant to pressure and trap, I saw that Pajantom could potentially give way for Ash-Greninja to break teams as it has a very favourable matchup versus toxapex. Pajantom then allowed me to run toxic spikes to not only pressure toxapex to come in, but also put pressure on other pokemon which may want to come in on Ash-Greninja or absorb the spike before its form change such as Tapu Bulu or Mega Venusaur as well as other CAP walls such as Arghonaut and Mollux.

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I then decided that I needed immediate power in the form of a win condition to put pressure on physically defensive pokemon which want to come in on Pajantom such as caps very own Tomohawk, or Mega Scizor. I felt that Mega Pinsir would fit here very well as it could gain momentum on checks to Ash-Greninja while also busting through the previous pokemon mentioned very easily. Mega Pinsir also gained support from Pajantom as it pressures electric type checks to Pinsir such as Zapdos and Cyclohm, and gave me priority to hit weakened offensive threats such as Ash-Greninja so this further supported this choice. Despite this, my team started getting weak to Tapu Koko and defensive steels such as Celesteela and Skarmory, that lead me to put Magnezone on this team to act as another trapper and put as much constraint on my opponents switching as possible. Magnezone was also able to function as a soft check to specific fairies.

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Next I needed a rocker, I considered many Pokemon however I was drawn heavily to Clefable thanks to its ability to knock off Skarmory's shed shell and Celesteela's leftovers while acting as a really soft check to Ash-Greninja when also paired with pivoting between Magnezeone. Clefable's matchup versus stall is very strong thanks to being able to get Rocks up on Mega Sableye, whilst also beating common spinners in CAP such as Tomohawk and Colossoil. Clefable also gave reason for Heatran to come in, which is also another trap victim for Pajantom.

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Lastly, my team needed a form of hazard removal + speed control so I didn't just lose to Tapu Koko if magnezone died, whilst also acting as another soft check to Ash-Greninja, Regular Greninja. Not only that, but Scarf Kartana could act as a cleaner after all the wall removal/wallbreaking had been done.


The Sets:

Greninja-Ash @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- U-turn
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This is a really standard Choice Specs Ash-Greninja, capable of really being a pain once it gets its transformation going. I went with U-turn over Spikes so that I could bring in Pajantom on Toxapex pretty much freely without having to risk anything, it also hits the less common Malaconda. Good ol' standard stabs to of course present itself as a powerful breaker, and Water Shuriken to act as a form of priority to kill/pressure scarfers and faster pokemon.

Pajantom @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Comatose
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spirit Shackle
- Outrage
- Ice Punch
- Toxic Spikes
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One of the Cooler sets on this team, I'm running Spirit Shackle to trap a vast amount of threats (as named earlier) however spirit shackle gives this team a really nice way to pivot into defensive pokemon safely as the opponent can't double out predicting my switch. Outrage was used to give me a way to pressure Dragons with reliable stab, and give me a very powerful Z nuke capable of killing or weakening a ton of pokemon once trapped or brought into Pajantom. Ice Punch was used to hit Landorus-T for Mega Pinsir and Kartana opening up a huge hole in defensive teams running this Landog as their only physical wall. Toxic Spikes are used to encourage in poison types which check Greninja and can start to really pressure fatter grounded Pokemon.

Pajantom Calcs

OU Calcs
252 Atk Pajantom Spirit Shackle vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Toxapex: 93-109 (30.6 - 35.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Pajantom Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Toxapex: 219-258 (72.2 - 85.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Pajantom Spirit Shackle vs. 248 HP / 88 Def Venusaur-Mega: 103-123 (28.3 - 33.8%) -- 0.6% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Pajantom Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 248 HP / 88 Def Venusaur-Mega: 246-289 (67.7 - 79.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Pajantom Spirit Shackle vs. 252 HP / 28 Def Tangrowth: 108-127 (26.7 - 31.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Pajantom Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 28 Def Tangrowth: 255-300 (63.1 - 74.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

And if you ever want to try and trap with Ttar
252 Atk Pajantom Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 80 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 291-343 (80.6 - 95%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


CAP Calcs
252 Atk Pajantom Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Mollux: 366-432 (92.8 - 109.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Pajantom Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arghonaut: 330-388 (79.7 - 93.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Pajantom Devastating Drake (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cyclohm: 408-480 (97.1 - 114.2%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack​

This was decided to be my win condition, carrying Swords Dance to boost its power becoming a threat once set up. Earthquake is especially helpful to hit Crucibelle on potential switch-ins and Cyclohm so that it doesn't get completely walled. This amazing pokemon is also generally just an amazing wallbreaker capable of just breaking through common walls in the CAP metagame with this very simplistic set.

Magnezone @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 136 HP / 192 SpA / 180 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon​

Magnezone is meant to act as my soft check to fairies and steels, capable of checking all the Tapus to some extent and Greninja so I felt that assault vest would be better than traditional choiced sets. HP Fire to hit ferrothorn, however it was not really a pokemon I was too concerned with. The EVs allow you to outspeed adamant MMaw and 56 Speed Mega Scizor, whilst also giving you some generic bulk to take hits as best as possible while still retaining offensive presence to scare steels I aimed to trap.

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
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Physically Defensive Clefable is one of my favourite rockers this generation as it pressures many hazard removers on balance whilst also being able to pressure Mega Sableyes on stall. Knock Off is general utility, capable of knocking off leftovers from defensive pokemon which may want to come in on it allowing for an easier time trapping or breaking. Clefable also acts as my ground check for weaker ground types such as AV Colossoil and Defensive Landorus-T. The Fairy typing combined with the bulk also grants my team immunity to strong Dragon moves which could come from stuff like Pajantom, Zygarde and the less common Latios.

Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Smart Strike
- Defog​

I went with Choice Scarf defog Kartana to give Mega Pinsir, and my other pokemon, some hazard removal. I considered Knock Off on this set, but both stabs were very important to me as my team doesn't have a solid answer to Fairy-Types and not having smart strike would only make that worse.

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Big Threats:
Psychic Terrain basically removes a lot of my counter play to faster threats.
Hawlucha is a big pain in the ass if ever allowed to set up for free on something like Kartana
Ash Greninja will begin to really give you me a problem as the game goes on, especially if it gets a kill.
Hazards really can't be played around with and will chip away at the primary offensive core if not dealt with carefully.

Importable

Greninja-Ash @ Choice Specs
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Dark Pulse
- Water Shuriken
- U-turn

Pajantom @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Comatose
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spirit Shackle
- Outrage
- Ice Punch
- Toxic Spikes

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack

Magnezone @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 136 HP / 192 SpA / 180 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off

Kartana @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Smart Strike
- Defog

Shoutouts

First off I'd like to shout out my motivators and inspirations who either beat my ass, encouraged me or both!
cbrevan
snake_rattler
reachzero
Rat With Wings
HeaLnDeaL
sparktrain
You 6 have either given me really good advice, quality games and/or conversations that have all kept my passion for CAP alive throughout my time of playing the tier.

TheWall Long time smogon friend, one of the funniest guys on this server I swear to god. I'm coming back to get you in RU real soon ;)
Jho You've given me a shitton of games since around CapTT, and I've enjoyed them all. How is it being related to laxy? :eyes:
SHSP So I heard you're... the boi
Ria Worked with you in so many different projects, you should get back into battling like in Gen 6!
Cheryl. Long time smogon friend, definitely will smack you in RU soon ;)