Introduction:
Hello, fellow Smogonites. I have really gotten into the groove of the RU tier in the last week. It's a lot of fun, its really balanced and there's a lot more options in terms of playstyle and teamslots than in UU and OU, from my experience.
This is the most recent version of the first team I made for the tier, but it is still struggling a bit. The very first version was quite bad, but it slowly developed over the course of testing. However, it has a total win rate of just over 50% on the ladder (out of like 30 games), and I'd really like to bring that up to somewhere closer to 60% or even 70%.
The team's strategy is fairly simple, and is what many might call "semi-stall." The goal of the team is to set up hazards, particularly Toxic Spikes, and weaken the counters of either Munchlax or Slowking so that they can set up and sweep the opposition.
The team is named after the account that I tested it on, guiltyPleasure. But enough talk, here's the team.
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Scolipede (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Megahorn
- Rock Slide
Scolipede's main role on the team is to set up those hazards, and he does a good job at that. His ridiculous speed allows him to set up multiple layers against a lot of stuff in the tier. Toxic Spikes is crucial to the team's strategy, as it weakens a lot of mons and prevents them from effectively setting up, such as Gallade, Krookodile, opposing Slowking, and more.
However, I try not to just sacrifice Scolipede in the early game just to get up spikes. I will only sacrifice Scolipede after specific threats have been poisoned, which is his main role. But his niche over other spikers is not limited to his speed; with full Attack investment and a Life Orb tacked on, Scolipede also acts as my revenge killer. His strong STAB Megahorn kills off major threats such as Uxie, Krookodile, and Tangrowth, while Rock Slide allows me to check threats like Moltres and Honchkrow.
Scolipede's typing is also handy, with 4x resistances to Fighting and Grass, both of which hit my main sweepers pretty hard. He can then outspeed and KO those threats, or set up some more hazards.
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Munchlax (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Curse
- Body Slam
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Munchlax is just so resilient. He tanks hits like a champ, particularly from hard hitting special attackers like Sceptile and Manectric, which give my team some issues. However, this set obviously can't touch any Normal resists so I only bust him out in the early game if I'm getting threatened by one of the aforementioned special attackers.
I decided to use the Curse set, as once those powerful Fighting types are killed off, he can easily sponge most neutral physical hits after a boost or two. This set intends to boost up to a minimum of +3 before sweeping, capitalizing on the poison that Toxic Spikes provide.
As mentioned though, it's important to remove those hard hitting Fighters and those pesky Ghosts before busting out Munchy. He is actually somewhat of a liability against any team that runs any combination of Ghost/Fighting/Steel, since he won't have any time to set up, much less heal up if he's getting pounded by special attacks. Paralysis is helpful against the latter two, though, so he can at least fire off a Body Slam before being forced out of the ring.
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Slowking (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Slack Off
- Scald / Surf
- Psychic
- Calm Mind
Slowking is the man. He walls so much stuff with his awesome typing and awesome ability in Regenerator. He is my main check against Entei, Moltres, Rhydon, Aggron, Steelix, Gligar, as well as a secondary check to Gallade, Medicham, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. He is just really sturdy, and is a great staller and sweeper.
Calm Mind was my boosting move of choice, as Nasty Plot does not help Slowking take hits better, and he does not need the immediate power if Toxic Spikes are out. His double STABs provide great coverage, hitting pretty much everything but Crawdaunt and Cacturned for good damage. Scald is usually used over Surf for the burn chance, but I have missed the power in a few cases (vs. Moltres), and the burn seems to contradict the Toxic Spikes a little bit. So I would definitely like some input on that.
Despite his wonderful bulk, Slowking just can't handle any super effecitve attacks to save his life. He is quite slow, so he is easily revenge killed by Sceptile, Accelgor, Manectric, Galvantula, Krookodile and others. All of these mons are hit by Spikes and T-spikes, however, which is what makes them so important.
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Gligar (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- Taunt
Gligar is a staple on any RU team, it seems. He walls almost the entire physical side of the metagame thanks to eviolite, and his weaknesses provide great opportunities for the rest of my team to switch in and rack up more hazards damage. He is my main check to Fighting, Ground, and Electric types, sponging hits from them like the beastly scorpion bat thing he is.
The set fairly standard. Earthquake is for a general attack, also killing off Aggron, Magneton, Manectric, what have you. Stealth Rock is standard, as it helps me check Hail teams, as well as Moltres and Scyther. Roost is for recovery, which is very necessary to rack up that poison damage. Taunt is the odd man out, as that moveslot is usually saved for Toxic. However, I really like Taunt's utility for a team like this. Forcing opponents to attack instead of spread status, pHaze, or whatever just gives me free switches. It also prevents guys like Gallade from setting up in my face.
I run enough Speed to guarantee that I outrun Bulk Up Gallade so that I can taunt it before it sets up.
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Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Recover
The initial team didn't have a spinner, which didn't bother me too much since Clefable was in Munchlax's place, and the only thing that was actually being effected by spikes were Slowking and Scolipede, one of which could just heal off the damage. However, as the team progressed, I knew I needed to deal with those Spikes because it severely affected Munchlax and Slowking's weakness became a lot more apparent afterwards. Qwilfish was always guaranteed a few layers against my team, and that was really starting to get on my nerves.
Cryogonal is my choice of spinner because it gave the team another special tank, allowing me to switch into Sceptile and the like more easily than if I had used Claydol or some other spinner. And his weaknesses to Fire, Rock and Fighting are very, very easily handled by my core of Slowking/Gligar/Rotom.
Protect is the only odd move here, but it is really useful for scouting and locking in Choiced attakers, particularly Entei and Fighters like Medicham, as well as just building up residual damage. I can then switch to an appropriate counter or predict their prediction of my prediction and switch to my other fire weak mon. You know the game. :)
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Rotom @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Rotom was added mainly as a spinblocker. The initial team did not pack a Ghost type, which is pretty ridiculous considering how dependent it is on hazards now. Rotom is a great spinblocker, though, as most people underestimate his awesome bulk with some investment and the help of a burn.
Having access to a STAB Thunderbolt is also very useful against the ever so common Qwilfish, since it prevents him from setting up more than one layer at a time. Rotom is just begging for Krookodile to switch-in, though, and Will-O-Wisp can be unreliable at times. I don't like eating un-burned STAB Pursuits, so sir. So double switching is sometimes necessary if you noticed a Krookodile on team preview.
Rotom also provides the team with yet another check to Fighting types, which makes Munchlax's job a walk in the park. He also checks Normal, Flying and Steel attackers, namely Swellow, Bouffalant, Aggron, and Steelix. He is particularly useful against Steels because of their immunity to Toxic Spikes, so getting a burn on those guys really helps out Munchlax even more.
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So there's the team guys, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Threats (off the top of my head):
Qwilfish: This team hates Qwilfish and his mother. It will always get spikes up in the early game, and if it manages to outlive Cryogonal, than it is really going to delay any opportunities for me to sweep in the mid-game.
Ferroseed: This guy also just sets up hazards in my face, and I lack a fire or fighting type to threaten it out like I do with Qwilfish. It's also immune to poison damage, so it can switch in pretty liberally against my team. It can hurt Slowking but he can't hurt it either. Gligar can taunt it, Scolipede can hit it with megahorn, but my checks are quite limited.
TrickScarf/Specs Manectric/Gallade/Medicham/Mismagius: The only mon on this team that can function even remotely well with a Choice Item forced onto it is Scolipede. Everything else is effectively crippled by Trick. If I predict a trick, I have to basically "sacrifice" something that doesn't need to heal up as much, depending on the match-up.
CB Entei: Flare Blitz is easily sponged up by Slowking, but should it go down, Gligar risks getting 2HKO'd by Flare Blitz and Munchy is hit hard by Stone Edge. Scolipede can revenge with Rock Slide, but it can just switch out and come in again with a hard hitting Extremespeed. Rotom resists Extremespeed but can't burn it and doesn't KO with Thunderbolt. Cryogonal is obviously a liability and is dead weight against it.
Ferroseed: This guy also just sets up hazards in my face, and I lack a fire or fighting type to threaten it out like I do with Qwilfish. It's also immune to poison damage, so it can switch in pretty liberally against my team. It can hurt Slowking but he can't hurt it either. Gligar can taunt it, Scolipede can hit it with megahorn, but my checks are quite limited.
TrickScarf/Specs Manectric/Gallade/Medicham/Mismagius: The only mon on this team that can function even remotely well with a Choice Item forced onto it is Scolipede. Everything else is effectively crippled by Trick. If I predict a trick, I have to basically "sacrifice" something that doesn't need to heal up as much, depending on the match-up.
CB Entei: Flare Blitz is easily sponged up by Slowking, but should it go down, Gligar risks getting 2HKO'd by Flare Blitz and Munchy is hit hard by Stone Edge. Scolipede can revenge with Rock Slide, but it can just switch out and come in again with a hard hitting Extremespeed. Rotom resists Extremespeed but can't burn it and doesn't KO with Thunderbolt. Cryogonal is obviously a liability and is dead weight against it.
