[youtube]a9A2MARbdL0[/youtube]
Introduction:
Hey all! I'm here with an RMT for a team I've been using for some time now. This team was made around the tier shifts of the last stage, when Emboar, Absol, and Cinccino left the tier. Due to the fact that so many offensive heavyweights that I normally used had left at once, for a while I was looking around for something to base a team around, and that was when I saw SubSD Cacturne in an issue of the Smog and decided to use it since not only had a defensive Pokemon that Cacturne would have to break through left the tier, one of its main offensive counters, Emboar, had also left, making it a better environment to use it. The goal of this team is to have Cacturne set up on or beat things that might trouble other members of my team and also sweep on its own as well. This team has performed pretty well throughout the time that I've used it, but I've decided to retire it following the recent tier shifts that have occurred in favor of making a new team. This team has been very fun to play throughout the time that I've used it, and has given me some great games. The teambuilding was primarily inspired by some of the Gothitelle Meta teams I've been using for the NUPL, as Cacturne and Gothitelle are used to remove similar things and thus have many partners in common. Anyways, onto the team:
Regirock @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Wave
Regirock is really my go to Rock type in the tier, and has remained my favorite one for a long time. Its role here is to set rocks and act as an offensive pivot, making sure I'm not weak to Flying types among other offensive threats. It is chosen over other Rock types since it has a nice level of offensive presence while maintaining good bulk, making it the best of both worlds. Stone Edge is there for a powerful STAB move, with Drain Punch being the coverage move of choice and being nice to regain a bit of HP or for if you need to hit a move and don't want to risk Stone Edge's accuracy. Thunder Wave helps stop fast sweepers that think that they can set up on Regirock risk free and helps my team by providing speed control. The EV spread was one I got from FLCL during the NUPL to outspeed Modest Smashkoal, and it's been pretty useful for a minimal level of investment, and preventing Smashkoal from setting up and dishing out heavy damage to things is pretty great.
Cacturne @ Dark Gem
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Seed Bomb
This thing is a menace. I originally chose Cacturne in order to set up on things like Alomomola and beat the Alomomola + Roselia cores that I was expecting to replace the old Alomoongus cores, and it has yet to fail in its role of picking apart defenses. One of the prime things that can keep Sawk from smashing through a team or keep SD Samurott from sweeping is an Alomomola, and Cacturne can use it as setup fodder and proceed to cleave through the opposing team. Even against more offensive teams where it won't have as much opportunity to set up, it can still use a powerful Dark Gem boosted Sucker Punch to beat the frailer mons that are prevalent on those kinds of teams. Dark Gem is a pretty great item on this set, as it lets Cacturne nab KOs that people wouldn't be expecting, and also lets it revenge-kill frailer sweepers. It also lets Cacturne deal heavy damage to Psychic types for Sawk. Substitute lets it set up on defensive threats like Alomomola by blocking status, and Swords Dance lets it boost up its attack to rip apart the opponent's cores. Sucker Punch is a great STAB move as well as having priority to alleviate Cacturne's speed problems and Seed Bomb is a nice secondary STAB move that dishes out good damage.
Musharna @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonlight
- Baton Pass
- Thunder Wave
I find myself using this pokemon on so many NU teams. Its like without Musharna you can find yourself weak to so many threats that it's always something to consider adding to a team. Musharna is the team's second pivot and helps make sure this team isn't weak to things like Sawk. I needed something that would be able to support Cacturne and make sure that it could get in consistently, and Pivot Musharna fit the bill perfectly. The EVs let Musharna hit a Leftovers number while having maximum physical bulk, with the remaining dumped into Special Defense. Psychic is a STAB for dealing damage and preventing Musharna from becoming Taunt bait, Moonlight lets it recover HP to continue being able to switch in on various threats, Baton Pass lets it drypass to bring in a frail sweeper and gain momentum and also lets it escape the clutches of Skuntank, and Thunder Wave lets it cripple faster pokemon and render them nearly useless.
Samurott @ Lum Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Megahorn
Outside of consistently being a strong threat in the NU tier for a long time, Samurott also acts as a second sweeper for the team, and is used to clear up the wreckage that Cacturne leaves behind. Between Samurott and Cacturne, common defensive cores would often be under a lot of pressure to check the duo. SD Samurott has good offensive synergy with Cacturne as Cacturne can beat/weaken plenty of things that might otherwise end a sweep by Samurott. Lum Berry is here in order to give Samurott an easier time sweeping since it won't have to worry about status. Swords Dance lets it boost its Attack to high levels, Waterfall is a great STAB move with a nice flinch chance, Aqua Jet is used to bypass Samurott's middling speed and beat faster threats that have been weakened a bit, as well as adding more valuable priority to the team. Megahorn gives great coverage, hitting things like Grass types that resist Waterfall, and can also be used to shred through Psychic types. Despite having a few counters, when they're out of the way Samurott is the monster its always been and can be very deadly in the mid to late stages of the game, often either sweeping outright or dealing enough damage that another member can clean up the pieces.
Sawk (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Stone Edge
Sawk acts as the wrecking ball on this team, and is meant to simply smash through things and just dish out large amounts of damage in general. There are very few things in the tier that will like to take a CB Close Combat, and the few things that do will get beaten/worn down by Samurott + Cacturne, leaving Sawk to do its thing. I had Sturdy as the ability but I never used it, so I switched to Mold Breaker which has been useful to beat Sturdy or Levitate mons that could live through or avoid hits. Beating Sturdy mons is particularly useful since plenty of people might rely on Sturdy to take hits and set up Stealth Rocks, and Sawk makes it so that can't happen. Close Combat is a superpowerful STAB move, Earthquake hits Poison types that resist Close Combat, Ice Punch can hit things like Golurk for good damage, and Stone Edge hits other things that could take a CC such as Rotom-S. The EV spread's pretty basic to maximize Attack and Speed. A Jolly Nature is chosen to outspeed things like CB Braviary and Gardevoir so I don't have to take hits from them before I strike.
Rotom-Frost @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- Trick
Rotom-Frost is meant to be the team's revenge killer and stop various threats from rampaging through the team once they've set up. I chose to use it as my revenge killer since it has an Electric resist, which helps it make sure that Volt Switch users don't dance around the team all day (Cacturne has an Electric resist but it's super frail) and gives a decent switchin to powerful Electric attacks. Thunderbolt is a standard STAB move that does a lot of damage to most things with Hidden Power Ice is the secondary STAB, granting Rotom-F BoltBeam coverage. I chose Hidden Power Ice over Blizzard because while the extra power is nice, 70% accuracy on a revenge killer wasn't very appealing. Volt Switch is used to deal damage while preserving offensive momentum and letting me switch to another pokemon if one of Rotom-F's checks are brought in, and Trick lets it cripple defensive pokemon with a Choice Item.
Conclusion:
Thanks for reading :) This team's been a blast to play, and building and using it has helped make me a better NU player in general. If you liked this team and this RMT, feel free to give it a Luvdisc. Also, if you have any rates or suggestions as to how to adjust this team to better handle the new threats in the metagame, those would be appreciated as well. Also, feel free to take the importable and give this team a try.
Importable:
Hey all! I'm here with an RMT for a team I've been using for some time now. This team was made around the tier shifts of the last stage, when Emboar, Absol, and Cinccino left the tier. Due to the fact that so many offensive heavyweights that I normally used had left at once, for a while I was looking around for something to base a team around, and that was when I saw SubSD Cacturne in an issue of the Smog and decided to use it since not only had a defensive Pokemon that Cacturne would have to break through left the tier, one of its main offensive counters, Emboar, had also left, making it a better environment to use it. The goal of this team is to have Cacturne set up on or beat things that might trouble other members of my team and also sweep on its own as well. This team has performed pretty well throughout the time that I've used it, but I've decided to retire it following the recent tier shifts that have occurred in favor of making a new team. This team has been very fun to play throughout the time that I've used it, and has given me some great games. The teambuilding was primarily inspired by some of the Gothitelle Meta teams I've been using for the NUPL, as Cacturne and Gothitelle are used to remove similar things and thus have many partners in common. Anyways, onto the team:
Regirock @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Wave
Regirock is really my go to Rock type in the tier, and has remained my favorite one for a long time. Its role here is to set rocks and act as an offensive pivot, making sure I'm not weak to Flying types among other offensive threats. It is chosen over other Rock types since it has a nice level of offensive presence while maintaining good bulk, making it the best of both worlds. Stone Edge is there for a powerful STAB move, with Drain Punch being the coverage move of choice and being nice to regain a bit of HP or for if you need to hit a move and don't want to risk Stone Edge's accuracy. Thunder Wave helps stop fast sweepers that think that they can set up on Regirock risk free and helps my team by providing speed control. The EV spread was one I got from FLCL during the NUPL to outspeed Modest Smashkoal, and it's been pretty useful for a minimal level of investment, and preventing Smashkoal from setting up and dishing out heavy damage to things is pretty great.
Cacturne @ Dark Gem
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Seed Bomb
This thing is a menace. I originally chose Cacturne in order to set up on things like Alomomola and beat the Alomomola + Roselia cores that I was expecting to replace the old Alomoongus cores, and it has yet to fail in its role of picking apart defenses. One of the prime things that can keep Sawk from smashing through a team or keep SD Samurott from sweeping is an Alomomola, and Cacturne can use it as setup fodder and proceed to cleave through the opposing team. Even against more offensive teams where it won't have as much opportunity to set up, it can still use a powerful Dark Gem boosted Sucker Punch to beat the frailer mons that are prevalent on those kinds of teams. Dark Gem is a pretty great item on this set, as it lets Cacturne nab KOs that people wouldn't be expecting, and also lets it revenge-kill frailer sweepers. It also lets Cacturne deal heavy damage to Psychic types for Sawk. Substitute lets it set up on defensive threats like Alomomola by blocking status, and Swords Dance lets it boost up its attack to rip apart the opponent's cores. Sucker Punch is a great STAB move as well as having priority to alleviate Cacturne's speed problems and Seed Bomb is a nice secondary STAB move that dishes out good damage.
Musharna @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonlight
- Baton Pass
- Thunder Wave
I find myself using this pokemon on so many NU teams. Its like without Musharna you can find yourself weak to so many threats that it's always something to consider adding to a team. Musharna is the team's second pivot and helps make sure this team isn't weak to things like Sawk. I needed something that would be able to support Cacturne and make sure that it could get in consistently, and Pivot Musharna fit the bill perfectly. The EVs let Musharna hit a Leftovers number while having maximum physical bulk, with the remaining dumped into Special Defense. Psychic is a STAB for dealing damage and preventing Musharna from becoming Taunt bait, Moonlight lets it recover HP to continue being able to switch in on various threats, Baton Pass lets it drypass to bring in a frail sweeper and gain momentum and also lets it escape the clutches of Skuntank, and Thunder Wave lets it cripple faster pokemon and render them nearly useless.
Samurott @ Lum Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Megahorn
Outside of consistently being a strong threat in the NU tier for a long time, Samurott also acts as a second sweeper for the team, and is used to clear up the wreckage that Cacturne leaves behind. Between Samurott and Cacturne, common defensive cores would often be under a lot of pressure to check the duo. SD Samurott has good offensive synergy with Cacturne as Cacturne can beat/weaken plenty of things that might otherwise end a sweep by Samurott. Lum Berry is here in order to give Samurott an easier time sweeping since it won't have to worry about status. Swords Dance lets it boost its Attack to high levels, Waterfall is a great STAB move with a nice flinch chance, Aqua Jet is used to bypass Samurott's middling speed and beat faster threats that have been weakened a bit, as well as adding more valuable priority to the team. Megahorn gives great coverage, hitting things like Grass types that resist Waterfall, and can also be used to shred through Psychic types. Despite having a few counters, when they're out of the way Samurott is the monster its always been and can be very deadly in the mid to late stages of the game, often either sweeping outright or dealing enough damage that another member can clean up the pieces.
Sawk (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Stone Edge
Sawk acts as the wrecking ball on this team, and is meant to simply smash through things and just dish out large amounts of damage in general. There are very few things in the tier that will like to take a CB Close Combat, and the few things that do will get beaten/worn down by Samurott + Cacturne, leaving Sawk to do its thing. I had Sturdy as the ability but I never used it, so I switched to Mold Breaker which has been useful to beat Sturdy or Levitate mons that could live through or avoid hits. Beating Sturdy mons is particularly useful since plenty of people might rely on Sturdy to take hits and set up Stealth Rocks, and Sawk makes it so that can't happen. Close Combat is a superpowerful STAB move, Earthquake hits Poison types that resist Close Combat, Ice Punch can hit things like Golurk for good damage, and Stone Edge hits other things that could take a CC such as Rotom-S. The EV spread's pretty basic to maximize Attack and Speed. A Jolly Nature is chosen to outspeed things like CB Braviary and Gardevoir so I don't have to take hits from them before I strike.
Rotom-Frost @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- Trick
Rotom-Frost is meant to be the team's revenge killer and stop various threats from rampaging through the team once they've set up. I chose to use it as my revenge killer since it has an Electric resist, which helps it make sure that Volt Switch users don't dance around the team all day (Cacturne has an Electric resist but it's super frail) and gives a decent switchin to powerful Electric attacks. Thunderbolt is a standard STAB move that does a lot of damage to most things with Hidden Power Ice is the secondary STAB, granting Rotom-F BoltBeam coverage. I chose Hidden Power Ice over Blizzard because while the extra power is nice, 70% accuracy on a revenge killer wasn't very appealing. Volt Switch is used to deal damage while preserving offensive momentum and letting me switch to another pokemon if one of Rotom-F's checks are brought in, and Trick lets it cripple defensive pokemon with a Choice Item.
Conclusion:
Thanks for reading :) This team's been a blast to play, and building and using it has helped make me a better NU player in general. If you liked this team and this RMT, feel free to give it a Luvdisc. Also, if you have any rates or suggestions as to how to adjust this team to better handle the new threats in the metagame, those would be appreciated as well. Also, feel free to take the importable and give this team a try.
Importable:
Regirock @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Wave
Cacturne @ Dark Gem
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Seed Bomb
Musharna @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonlight
- Baton Pass
- Thunder Wave
Samurott @ Lum Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Megahorn
Sawk (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Stone Edge
Rotom-Frost @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- Trick
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Drain Punch
- Thunder Wave
Cacturne @ Dark Gem
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Seed Bomb
Musharna @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonlight
- Baton Pass
- Thunder Wave
Samurott @ Lum Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Megahorn
Sawk (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Stone Edge
Rotom-Frost @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
- Trick
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