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Pangoro is arguably the scariest breaker in the tier, with almost nothing consistently switching in once, let alone twice. The problem is, Pangoro has a hard time coming in for free and can be revenged by the Fighting types, such as busted Mienshao. Comfey patches up a ton of Goro's problems, and more importantly, vice versa. Comfey's ability Triage applies priority pressure to the prominent faster mons that will come in to revenge kill Pangoro while providing the crucial Fairy typing to eat CC's for Goro. At the same time, it has U-Turn, baiting in Copperajah, Bronzong, or other Steel's, giving Pangoro a free kill every single time. Enjoy!
P.S. A more offensive Comfey works wonders here, too.
Comfey @ Life Orb
Ability: Triage
EVs: 232 HP / 252 SpA / 24 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draining Kiss
- Giga Drain
- U-turn
- Synthesis / Calm Mind
A fun little SpikesShuffler core I recently 'discovered'. The idea for RestTalk Dragon Tail Guzzlord comes from your____bro (at least I saw it there first) so all credits for the idea to him. Guzzlord creeps max speed Copperajah, as it is a good answer to the standard sets and I like to make sure I can use Knock Off / Rest before it can hit me. You can run the remaining EVs in either pysdef or spdef depending on what you want to check more, main target would be Decidueye.
The Roserade spread allows you to outspeed Jolly Sirfetch'd/Adamant Tyrantrum and allows you to OHKO Tyrantrum after Stealth Rock damage with Leaf Storm. 88 SpA Evs would be enough to OHKO Sirfetch'd after Stealth Rock and 1 layer of Spikes damage. I tend to run the remaining EVs on the physical side to make the Mienshao matchup easier.
Itemless Ninjask helps with Poltergeist spammers like Decidueye & Golurk but obviously suffers from its x4 Stealth Rock weakness so using a Support Flygon set helps with Defog. Flygon also resists Electric & Rock attacks in which Ninjask is weak too, making them a nice pair. It can recover with Roost to make sure hazards are off throughout the match and pivot Ninjask in with U-turn. Since this is a utility set, Flygon is best using maximum HP while Ninjask just needs to creep Aerodactyl with 156(creeping more speed for opposing Ninjasks is also an option!).
Mantine @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Roost
- Defog
- Air Slash
Flygon @ Choice Band
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- First Impression
- U-turn
this core tackles alot of the issues the other core partner has, mantine takes care of ice- and strong water-attacks whereas flygon can deal with electric-type mons such as rotom-mow. mantine can take care of inteleon and golisopod. this core aims to help the other teampartner and is especially good because it can tackle ground-types really well and moreover has the traits to threaten a lot of pokemon in the current metagame.
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Copperajah @ Leftovers
Ability: Heavy Metal
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SpD / 44 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Heat Crash
- Power Whip
copperajah and dhelmise work well together as copperajah can lay down stealth rock and dhelmise can rapid spin entry hazards away without blowing off the stealth rocks copperajaha put on the field. dhelmise also covers the fighting-weakness copperajah has meanwhile copperajah can help versus strong wallbreakers such as dragalge.
Drapion @ Black Sludge
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Earthquake
this core acts highly offensive as starmie runs the wallbreaking set and drapion runs the words dance set which gives a team a lot of power and breaking potential. starmie and drapion compliment each other pretty well as offensive teammates as they offensively threaten a multitude of pokemon in the metagame with their stabs and coverage options.
defensive core
& &
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Gyro Ball
Mantine @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Roost
- Defog
- Air Slash
this core aims to be defensive for balance-teams and takes on the weaknesses the teammate has, bronzong covers strong psychic- and fairy-types and also strong normal-types such as exploud, mantine covers salazzle and arcanine for bronzong and vileplume can help versus strong pokemon such as mienshao and rotom-mow.
Guzzlord and Weezing together check a lot of the current metagame. Guzzlord can pretty much sit on the two most common steel types Copperajah and Bronzong which could potentially threaten Weezing; Bronzong a bit more than Copper. It also checks a variety of mons that either rise in usage or are already have that usage e.g. Vaporeon, Decideye, Silvally-Ghost, Salazzle and Rotom-Mow. In return, Weezing is able to withstand the Fighting types are have gotten really good with the ban of Cresselia which threaten Guzzlord. It can also check Fairy type like Sylveon which are also really dangerous for Guzzlord.
Depending on the ability chosen for Weezing, either Copperajah or Bronzong add some extra benefits to the core, acting as a check against Psychic types that also carry Fairy coverage and vise versa and also being able to switch into Dragon type attacks, especially special attacks like Draco Meteor.
Copperajah @ Assault Vest
Ability: Heavy Metal
EVs: 252 Atk / 92 SpD / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Power Whip
- Stone Edge
- Heat Crash
Vaporeon @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD | EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SPD
Bold Nature | Calm Nature
- Scald
- Wish
- Protect
- Flip Turn / Heal Hell / Toxic
A defensive core I've been spamming a lot lately. Bulky Water types + defensive Steel types have been a good core for quite a while now and this one is a very good example. Copperajah is now again freed up to run my personal favorite set Assault Vest again. With four attacking moves it basically has coverage for everything for at least neutral damage. That combined with its high attack stat makes it difficult to switch into it safely. Besides its great offensive presence, Copperajah is able to check a lot of the current metagame e.g. Psychic types like Starmie and Celebi, Grass types like Roserade and under certain circumstances even Salazze (provided you switch into a Poison attack and hit Stone Edge). Vaporeon is well known now for being one of the best anti-hail tools and can check Fire types like Talonflame and Arcanine. Wish support allows Vaporeon to keep Copperajah healthy through the battle while if you run Heal Bell makes it able to heal a potential burn from Copperajah.
I know that the core is far from perfect, it still needs support from other teammates. E.g. the lacking Fighting resist is pretty huge in the current metagame.
S/o to S1nn0h for this core, I saw him using it first.
Machamp is a very dangerous wallbreaker at the moment and has no safe switchin outside of Neutralizing Gas Weezing. While having a pivot that lures in Steel types to get Machamp in versus them is not particularly special itself, Xatu has the ability to get in Machamp via Teleport which makes activating Flame Orb guaranteed while also minimizing the chip damage Machamp has to take which makes Machamps lifespan a bit longer. There isn't really much more about this core so you'll need a defensive backbone/core for sure.
Golurk @ Choice Band
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Poltergeist
- Earthquake
- Trick
- Ice Punch
This core has a similar concept to the one above. Dragalge is a fantastic pivot at the moment with useful resistances against common threats like Rotom-Mow and also abuses the fact that Vaporeon is pretty good at the moment. Gifted with Flip Turn this generation, it is able to pivot out against incoming defensive Steel types that are usually the safest overall switchin against Dragalge. Golurk is a breaker that many people (myself included) have a bit forgotten about; at least I don't see it very often. But don't be fooled because its dual STAB still hit like a truck and all you need is Ice Punch which basically hits all the pokemon that its STABs don't. I recommend trying it out!
Make sure to post your favorite post-cress-ban core!
Who said Spikes are dead with Roserade leaving?? Garbodor is probably the best Spikes setter for balanced teams because of its bulk and good defensive typing allowing it to act as a check to our absurdly strong fighting types. The lack of longevity is somewhat made up by the fact that Wish passing Vaporeon is really splashable.
Dhelmise gains some attention recently and its hard to see why; Its STAB combination is nearly impossible to switch into (I can think of 3 viable mons that resist its dual stab) if you don't run specific pokemon that resist Power Whip with no item. Access to Rapid Spin its good typing synergy with Garbodor makes it a really good partner since hazard stack teams usually run this to not get rid of the own hazards. A bulkier spread can be used to make it a somewhat reliable Blastoise check but I wouldn't soley count on this.
Have fun! and post cores >:(
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam/Body Press
- Protect
- Toxic
Really fun spikestack core I’ve been enjoying recently, Exploud is probably one of the best spikes abusers in the tier, being able to nuke anything in its path with an extremely strong Boomburst. The other two are just there to provide hazard support and a fighting resist. PhysD Zong is there to give the core a Head Smash switch in, as well as a Glastrier check. Really fun core, best to pair with a Ghost type, but honestly spinners are rare here so that is optional. Quick look into the move sets, Psychic on Garbodor is for Toxicroak and Salazzle, Sleep Talk is filler, but Whirlwind is cool to shuffle opponents on hazards, preventing proper wish passing. Zong had enough PhysD to live the Head Smash, and Body Press can be used for Copperrajah which is annoying for this squad. Really fun core hope you enjoy!
Scarf Mowtom and defensive Flygon fit pretty much every where for a good VoltTurn core to nab some momentum. There's really not much that competes as a scarfer compared to Mowtom, and some special walls that tank its attacks like Copperajah and Dragalge are weak to Flygon's EQ. Flygon of course appreciates Rotom-M breaking Mudsdale and Vaporeon, and its Defog ensures SR won't wear down its partner from constant pivoting. The main appeal though is what isn't shown: wallbreakers that love the constant pivoting to get in. The core works great on offensive and defensive VoltTurns and balances alike, hard to go wrong with the two
Hazards: Check
Copperajah @ Leftovers
Ability: Heavy Metal
EVs: 156 HP / 16 Atk / 252 SpD / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Power Whip
- Heat Crash
These two have been paired together for the while now not just for their defensive synergy, but also because the two fit Stealth Rock + Defog together pretty easily. The core then is awesome to build around as you can explore different roles and playstyles while not worrying about fitting an awkward or less than ideal SR setter or remover. Again, I also shouldn't downplay how the two work phenomenally as walls. Usually all you need defensively is a cleric and a Ground-type to block Volt Switch and you're set.
Vaporeon and a Steel-type; Let's do Bronzong
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Scald
- Heal Bell
- Protect
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Heatproof
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Body Press
- Toxic
As the title suggests, this core is pretty interchangeable with any specially defensive Steel-type, and if not Bronzong, then Copperajah or Escavalier. The pro of Vaporeon is that it's a pretty relevant bulky Water with cleric support, both of Wish and Heal Bell. That's exactly what the specially defensive Steel-types need, as they all lack recovery themselves. I chose Bronzong here especially because it's the bulkiest while having a nice passive combo of Toxic and Stealth Rock. Heatproof might not be necessary when paired with Vaporeon but countering Exploud, 1v1ing Heat Crash Copperajah, and extra help with Sallazzle is never a bad thing.
HO Starter Pack
Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
Blastoise @ White Herb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Surf
- Dark Pulse
- Substitute
HO is pretty formulated at this point; Aero is proving to be the best suicide lead, Xatu is phenomenal as a screen setter, and an HO team without Blastoise would be an odd one at that. Not much more to say other than that I suppose there are Blastoise alternatives like Focus Energy Inteleon or Shell Smash Omastar depending on the team's needs, but I'd say to start with these three and experiment with different supportive sweepers and you'll do great.
Sirfetch’d @ Leek
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- First Impression
- Brave Bird
There's limited Ghost checks and Sirfetch'd checks in the tier, so why not build a VoltTurn / Balance where these two wallbreakers may support themselves? The big point of synergy is Decidueye's U-turn, which baits in Guzzlord, Drapion, and AV Copperajah for Sirfetch'd to break. Decidueye in return pressures pretty much every physical wall in the tier and even has enough natural bulk and resistances to switch into some like Vaporeon and Mudsdale. They share checks with Flying-types like Talonflame and Braviery, but they also both have Knock Off, so supporting them with a reliable Stealth Rocker would be helpful. Obviously a fast Electric-type works here too.
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Toxic
- Protect
Diancie @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Def / 48 Spe
Impish Nature
- Heal Bell
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Body Press
This core complements each other's weaknesses quite well as a lot of things that pressures Bronzong such as Xatu, Guzzlord, Drapion, Salazzle etc... are checked by Diancie. While Bronzong can provide extra security to threats such as Celebi, Vileplume Flygon and more. Diancie can also provides heal bell support incase either are statused, while Bronzong can set up stealth rocks and spread status itself. Something like a grass type or a bulky water/ something that takes advantage of water types might work well with this core. Also recommend pairing with an itemless grass if you are going that route as you put a stop to the ghost users in the tier.
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Toxic
- Protect
Guzzlord pressures Pokemon such as Xatu, bulky waters and Salazzle. All Pokemon that can somewhat be problematic for the other two members of this core. In return, Garbador offers a solid fighting resist and can set hazards for Guzzlord to better phase and pressure the opposing team. Bronzong rounds this core out as it's able to better deal with problems such as offensive Sylveon and Flygon.
Uxie @ Colbur Berry/Itemless
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Future Sight
Sirfetch’d @ Leek
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Brave Bird
- First Impression
This core utilizes a pretty underrated mon in the meta currently which is Uxie. Uxie provides a few utility moves that can be really neat for Sirfetch'd. Firstly it offers Knock-Off, allowing it to chip and cripple Pokemon such as Sylveon, steel types and in general pretty much everything. It also provides Stealth Rock support, helping Sirfetch'd click buttons. Furthermore Uxie provides a pivot to Sirfetch'd in U-Turn, luring in dark types such as Guzzlord. It also has Future Sight allowing Sirfetch'd to break through poisons that would otherwise be troublesome.
Copperajah @ Leftovers
Ability: Heavy Metal
EVs: 152 HP / 16 Atk / 252 SpD / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Power Whip
- Heat Crash
- Stealth Rock
Pretty standard bulky core. Sylveon and Copperajah make for a pretty good pairing. Sylveon beats things that would otherwise threaten Copperajah such as fighting types, Flygon, Diancie, Guzzlord as well as providing wish+ heal bell support. While Copperajah provides a nice special tank, a Dragalge answer, Bronzong answer and can overall exert a lot of offensive pressure. Flygon is there as a blanket physical attacker check to help against Tyrantrum, ghost types, Knock-Off switch in and just spreading status in general.
Exploud has no counters period. However, the few things that can tank hits such as Bronzong and Copperajah are chipped and pivoted on by Xatu. The Copperajah matchup is shakier but you can usually beat it 1v1 as long as you don't have prior chip/aren't unlucky. You also sit on Bronzong as well so that's nice. Guzzlord can always stomach a hit so a fairy type such as Diancie or Comfey could work nicely here as well.
Tyrantrum @ Choice Band
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Head Smash
- Dragon Claw
- Close Combat
- Crunch
Tyrantrum also has like no switch-ins bar things like Mudsdale and Bronzong. Both Pokemon that Xatu sits on. The goal of this core is to just click buttons with Ttrum, and in the event of a Bronzong or Mudsdale you just go to Xatu to pivot out and wall them forever.
Pincurchin @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rising Voltage
- Spikes/Recover
- Memento
- Scald
Electric Terrain has been seeing more usage recently. With Dual Screens taking a huge hit it's no surprise people are using other types of HO. Pincurchin provides electric terrain support for Alolan Raichu and Sceptile to hopefully sweep. Grounds somewhat get pressured by Sceptile, and can also become overwhelmed by other teammates such as Hitmonlee or Decidueye.
Anyways this offensive core is one that has gained quite a bit of popularity lately, possibly due to Mariannabelle's recent teams. Ninjask chips everything down with Acrobatics+ U-turn while things like Diancie and Steel types get further pivoted on by Magneton and Xatu respectively. Things like Mudsdale also get walled by Xatu.
Guzzlord beats Psychic-types and Poltergeist users with Knock Off. Toxic Spikes allows Guzzlord to pick up KOes better like Heavy Slam vs Sylveon / Comfey. Weezing also helps with Iron Defense Bronzong since it can beat this particular Guzzlord set. Futhermore, Weezing helps with Fighting-types and acts as a Ground immunity to prevent the two from being worn down by stuff like Choice Band Flygon.
Mantine appreciates Flygon to compress Defog which allows it to run Toxic AND Haze. Toxic pressures Vaporeon and opposing Mantine and Haze stops set up sweepers like Blastoise. Water / Flying + Ground / Dragon is overall nice synergy.
Gigalith @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Toxic
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
Gigalith is able to check a large number of special attackers and support pokemon in the metagame such as dragalge, espeon, exploud, garbodor, goodra, heliolisk, ninjask, salazzle, sylveon, talonflame, xatu, and zoroark. Rather than relying on status or stalling them out, it is able to threaten them directly with its rock stab + earthquake coverage while tanking their attacks with ease due to its excellent all around bulk. The only two pokemon that could shrug off its rock blast + earthquake + toxic combination while not being forced to recover were flygon and bronzong. Of these, only flygon could remove stealth rock. With the departure of flygon, that only leaves the passive bronzong, who lacks recovery and often gets overwhelmed checking other threats such as vileplume or rotom-C.
Furthermore, with the departure of flygon, Gigalith is now able to beat or outlast every form of hazard removal in the tier. The flying types like talonflame and mantine get shredded due to stab rock blast, while the grasses take at least neutral damage and have poor recovery, all the while getting chipped by sandstorm.
Vaporeon is able to check most of the waters and grounds in the tier for Gigalith, while also soft-checking some steel types like bronzong and escavalier. It also provides critical wish and heal bell support, keeping gigalith healthy into the endgame. Gigalith provides it a check to heliolisk and many strong special attackers.
The main threats to this core are grass types and strong fighting types. For this reason, partners such as talonflame and vileplume can be excellent teammates to check both threats.
I might go into more detail later but you get the idea. These two work together astonishingly well.
Diancie @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 52 SpD / 204 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Diamond Storm
- Body Press
- Heal Bell
Escavalier @ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Atk / 160 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Protect
- Toxic
One of the main flaws with Escavalier is that it's a 'fake steel', not being able to handle any Fire-Type coverage from common special threats such as Goodra, Exploud and many more. Diancie alleviates this issue, able to check the Pokemon that are able to OHKO or threaten Escavalier out. Diancie is also able to provide Stealth Rock and Heal Bell support. Escavalier is able to provide Diancie with a solid matchup against many of the things that would otherwise threaten Diancie, such as Starmie, Vileplume, Kingdra just to name a few. A bulky Grass-Type such as Vileplume could work well as a pairing, helping against Strong Poltergeists and better dealing with Mudsdale/Vaporeon. The Diancie spread outspeeds 252 speed Guzzlord and Diancie that wants to outspeed Guzzlord (nascar Diancie). I don't know what the attack on Escavalier does but I think daniYSB said it was useful for something.
Duraludon @ Eject Pack
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Flash Cannon
- Dark Pulse
- Stealth Rock
Eject Pack Duraludon + Fighting-Type is a good offensive core, utilizing the underrated and quite potent threat of Duraludon. Duraludon as a SR setter allows you to pressure common hazard controls such as Xatu, Talonflame, Dhelmise and more. Bronzong can easily be chipped into range of two Dark Pulses, with Copperajah and Escavalier being very easy to chip as well. Even if you don't think you would be able to break through them, you'll be able to use your Eject Pack with Draco Meteor, allowing you to switch into a Fighting-Type to gain momentum. Toxicroak is the one I found to be a good partner with Duraladon, able to pressure shared checks in Mudsdale and Bronzong. However, something like Sirfetch'd would also work great here.
This is probably my favorite VoltTurn-core at the moment. Both offer great defensive utility and serve as checks to many omnipresent threats and annoying pokemon. What they really excel at is bringing in breaker consistently against common walls like Diancie, Vaporeon and the bulky Dragons. They also allow a potential Bronzong as a partner to go Heatproof because they check most Ground types fairly well.
The sets are self explanatory and standard at the moment. Depending on what you need them to do, you change them to that role.
Tauros (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Body Slam
- Close Combat
- Throat Chop
- Iron Head
I have seen this combination being theorized about a few times and after trying it out myself I realize how potent it actually is. Drapion is a very threatening pokemon in the current metagame due to the lack of actual Knock Off absorber (realistically nothing appreciates losing its item). Removing Leftovers from pokemon such as Diancie, Vaporeon and especially Mudsdale makes it a lot easier for Tauros to break and 2HKO its switchins. Again, pretty standard sets, I like running Aqua Tail on Drapion to hit Mudsdale for more damage but Earthquake to hit opposing Drapion is fine as well.
Xatu + Salazzle is a promising offensive core. The former mainly provides Teleport support and hazard control via Magic Bounce as well as overall utility by chipping down common Salazzle checks with Night Shade and Future Sight. Focus Sash variants of Salazzle specially apreciate Xatu's ability to mantain hazards off the field to keep the aforementioned item intact.
Great offensive, volturn core. Choice Specs Heliolisk provides extremely potent breaking capabilities that compliment Ninjask's abilities as a late-game cleaner. Furthermore, their ability to break through each other's checks (Ninjask breaking through pokémon such as Decidueye and Dhelmise and Heliolisk heavily chipping the likes of Vaporeon, fat Steel-types and Diancie and even Mudsdale with Grass Knot).
Thwackey is an excellent catalyst for offense. It provides Grassy Terrain support to activate Grassy Seed, provide Earthquake resistance to Ground-weak pokémon and give some pokémon access to powerful Grass-type coverage in Terrain Pulse. Plus, U-Turn, Knock Off and Taunt support are all excellent tools on the monkey's kit. Lastly, priority Grassy Glide helps pick some K.O.s after powerful breakers have weakened the opposing team.
The three cores above are my favourites on terrain offense right now. Uxie can act as a mini-Cresselia for late-game sweeps, 4 Atks Diancie acts as a powerful breaker with immense coverage while gaining Earthquake resistance and Blastoise gains a method of bypassing fat Waters such as Vaporeon.
New drop -> new cores,let's revive the thread ! (click on sprites for imports !)
Balanced hazard control
Probably my my favorite defensive core atm.Uxie and steelvally provides a lot of role compression and defensive utility.Itemless Uxie covers silvally weakness,can act as a pseudo-ghost resis immune to poltergeist and being able to prevent the 2 physical ghosts in decidueye and doublade to setup thanks to foul play and vally take advantage of top tier diancie,chip the others with u-turn/toxic and forces slow fighters to think twice before click knock (multi-attack is 2hko vs almost any breakers).Thanks to their natural high speed the duo also easily revenge kill slow breakers.
Since they don't get natural recovery,spikes and rocky helmet can overwhelm the duo pretty fast so wish support is good to consider.
Metal Gear Solid (Offensive)
Salazzle struggles to find opportunities to switch vs diancie.Ninjask weakens diancie with metal claw and let salazzle freely spread status and removes items.It also takes advantage of sylveon to help goodra sweep later.
The Diancie spread is a bit wild, but any dia works. A balance core featuring Doublade which naturally pairs really well with a secondary Normal resist. Diancie provides a lot of utility e.g. Stealth Rock since Doublade can't set them up itself & Heal Bell which can heal annoying status from Doublade. Doublade in return checks pretty much every physical attacker in the tier. Rotom-Mow offers a Ground immunity that can easily abuse common checks to both Doublade & Diancie such as Mudsdale. The movesets and EV spreads are customizable and can be changed to whatever your team needs or benefits the most from.
Edit core:
Tauros (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Body Slam
- Close Combat
- Throat Chop
- Iron Head
Garbodor @ Black Sludge
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Stomping Tantrum
- Spikes
- Toxic
Passimian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Rock Slide
An offensive core that is pretty self-explanatory. Tauros is a really scary breaker that only gets way better with Spikes support from Garbodor. Garbodor also checks Fighting types that might try to revengekill Tauros, mainly Passimian. Our own Passimian works as good speed control and removal punishment with Defiant. There are some set tweaks I would prefer tbh, but the standard sets work decently fine.
Fun offensive core I've been liking recently! The whole goal is to lure fires/poisons for Omastar to sweep. It's very easy to bait in a Talonflame or Garbodor, or Weezing or whatever it may be with Sirfetch'd, and then being able to setup with Omastar after. I've found Omastar to be quite a good pick actually, as it's able to outspeed most of our speed controls/scarfers besides Heliolisk, and is able to check Snorlax okay, along with serviceable bulk to help vs Doublade and others. Plus speed nature is to outspeed Scarf Passimian and Mowtom after a Shell Smash. I have also been loving this duo but with Specs Sylveon paired with Omastar, which has also been working great.
A solid offense core I've been liking a lot lately. Choice Band Tyrantrum is still a scary breaker which can spam Head Smash without any drawback. Choice Scarf Passimian offers good traits together with Tyrantrum. For starters, Passimian lures pokemon which Tyrantrum can come in on and scare out like Talonflame, Mantine & Sylveon (if this is their main answer to Passimian, Head Smash scares it out). On the other hand, Tyrantrum and Passimian share similar checks like Doublade, Mudsdale and Bronzong which can be overwhelmed by Tyrantrum for Passimian to clean lategame with Close Combat. Xatu helps this core defending versus Mudsdale & Bronzong while also providing another pivot to the core.
The pokemon themself have different coverage/utility options which can be used to work best on your team.
Silvally-Ground @ Ground Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- Rock Slide
- Flame Charge
Blastoise @ White Herb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Surf
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
Tyrantrum @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Head Smash
- Outrage
- Close Combat
Basic spikestack HO core. The primary Pokemon is Froslass, and really any offensive mon can be paired alongside it. Spikes allow many offensive threats the opportunity to OHKO their checks/counters, with the ones listed above all being primary examples/ common Pokemon on HO teams.
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Silvally-Ground @ Ground Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
Silvally-Ground is a dangerous cleaner that can be very difficult to stop once its checks are weakened/gone, though common Pokemon such as Vaporeon, Weezing, Mudsdale, Rotom-C, Vileplume and others can all be problematic for it. Decidueye heavily damages or takes advantage of those Pokemon via free switch from Silvally, and forces damage on them throughout a match. Decidueye can't do much in a Guzzlord or Drapion matchup, but can simply pivot out to Silvally-Ground, who's able to use both as setup fodder.
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Silvally-Ground @ Ground Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
Similarly to the core above, Silvally-Ground really enjoys having a special breaker alongside it, which Indeedee does very well at doing. It abuses bulky poisons that Silvally can pivot on, while also providing healing wish support in the event Silvally becomes statused.
Ice is a very strong type in the current metagame, though it can be quite hard to effectively use with the few good Ice-types around. Xatu helps Vanilluxe safely get into the field, acting as a hazard control and pivot. Xatu also helps against Fighting-types, Copperajah and Silvally-Ground, and thanks to Rocky Helmet can chip things like Stakataka and Escavalier into Blizzard range. A bulky Ground-type may be beneficial to better help deal with the tier's steels.
Defensive/Balance Cores
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Stakataka @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball/Heavy Slam
- Body Press/Protect
- Toxic
Together, Stakataka and Weezing are capable of handling many offensive threats, while also providing a lot of utility to a team with Stealth Rocks and status. Stakataka is able to check many of the tier's dangerous special attackers that can take advantage of Weezing, such as Indeedee-F, Exploud, Salazzle, Dragalge and Vanilluxe. Thanks to Weezing's defensive typing and ability, it's able to in return check Fighting and Ground-types and steels such as Copperajah and Doublade. The core is weak to Water and Electric-types, so a bulky grass may be important.
Noticed there wasn't a core yet with Mudsdale so why not include one. Mudsdale synergizes very well defensively with a Dragon-type. Mudsdale checks and sponges strong physical hits from things like Silvally-Ground, Stakataka, Golurk, Tyrantrum and Fighting-Types. Dragalge in return helps Mudsdale in the water/grass type matchup, particularly against foes such as Vileplume, Vaporeon, Rotom-Mow and Blastoise. The core struggles against strong special attackers such as Starmie, Indeedee-F, and Vanilluxe, so a Steel-type would compliment these two well.
Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 244 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Curse
- Body Slam
- Rest
- Earthquake
Vileplume and Snorlax are both dangerous wincons that compliment well together, and can help ware each other's checks down throughout a match through their status spreading moves. Vileplume helps Snorlax deal with Fighting-types, Setup Rotom-C and Stakataka, while Snorlax helps against strong special hits from things such as Starmie, Salazzle Vanilluxe, and is able to soft-check others like Indeedee-F. While Vileplume can help against Fighting-types, most can still threaten it heavilly, while steels such as Escavalier and Doublade threaten this core heavily. As a result, something such as Talonflame may be beneficial.