Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
for anyone curious, a paddling is a group of ducks in the water. a group of flying ducks is called a team (which would have worked perfectly here except then it would be called "hollywood's teams" and that doesn't sound cool), and a general group of ducks is a raft.
consider this a team archive of sorts. unlike most other team archives, I won't be dumping a ton of teams or taking requests because the teambuilding lab already offers both of them. instead, it's a way for me to incentivize building around fun, weird, obscure, or gimmicky Pokemon by posting them regularly in a public medium with the added benefit of offering cool teams for people to try out (it also keeps teams with Vespiquen out of the lab). this is especially useful for the NU community in particular because it feels like a lot of people use the same shit all the time not out of necessity, but out of an inability to make weird stuff work. admittedly, I get into phases like that as well where I spam cores or certain offensive Pokemon, but it seems like less of a phase and more of an entity here.
so while other archives offer you loads of squads, mine offers you consistent paddlings. for now, I hope to post a new team every day, but my activity might vary based on other Smogon happenings like suspect tests, how busy I am, or how motivated I feel. I also plan to keep them updated in the following post so you can browse through them and look for something you like. I'll try to put my weird shit at the start of the sprite list to make it easier to browse for something you might want to use once I've gotten up a sizable collection.
i also strongly encourage you to talk about the teams here. play with them and let me know what you think of them, suggest changes, ask me questions about some of my teambuilding choices (lots of my EV spreads are wonky and I can attempt to explain them if I remember what they do), talk with other people about them, go wild.
This team is built around Bulk Up Gallade, which is actually criminally underused because most common Gallade checks get throttled by Bulk Up. At the time I built this team, Magneton was still legal and so Stunfisk was still used. Because of that, I decided to try out Safeguard over Substitute. You pretty much only use Substitute on Bulk Up Gallade to dodge status because it gets bulky enough after a boost or two that you don't need to worry too much about getting revenge killed. Safeguard is cool because it still deals with status users while also getting by Vileplume's Effect Spore (and at the time Stunfisk's Static, though it is pretty much irrelevant now), and you can safely continue to boost against Scald users without spending every two or three turns getting up another Substitute.
Unfortunately, a lot of the rest of the team is super standard, which makes the team itself not super exciting. I went with Regirock over the more common Mawile as my Sneasel check because it checks Tauros and Kangaskhan better, beats SD Scyther, threatens Xatu more, and actually does damage to things. The team doesn't care as much about keeping momentum as it does those things. Xatu is there as a Spikes and Gallade check, and the Thunder Wave support is cool for Gallade. Kangaskhan is a nice generic cushion against offense and can check Ghost-types like Haunter decently well. Lanturn is standard Fire/Water/Electric resist that also checked Magneton at the time this team was made. I was also testing Icy Wind Lanturn at the time I built this and have since decided that I mostly prefer Ice Beam, but it's still kind of cool as a last ditch fuck off to any offensive Pokemon that outspeeds Lilligant so that it can attempt to set up on it. Yache Lilligant is a quite dank cleaner that doesn't get boned by Sneasel, and it gives a nice offensive check to Lanturn and other bulky Water-types. Be mindful of what you status with Regirock and Xatu because you might need something un-statused so you can put it to sleep with Lilligant later on.
Gallade (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 248 HP / 180 SpD / 80 Spe
Careful Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Bulk Up
- Safeguard
Regirock @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 20 Atk / 52 Def / 176 SpD / 12 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Toxic
The team is really cool and effective, safeguard gallade is actually very nice as I found myself setting up on lanturns and weezing really easily. After using the team quite a bit I noticed hex rotom is quite a problem to you, it outspeeds everything on your team and hits everything hard which causes problems. It simply burns things like regirock and lanturn then procedes to hex. It will usually get a kill against the team if not more. One way you can avoid this is changing Kanga to Banded Sneasel which still gives you a ghost check like kanga, but can also pursuit trap rotom as well. Of course sneasel also gives you the incredibly good core of sneasel/gallade which benefits almost every team in the current meta n_n
I built this one around Sub Malamar for Nugget Bridge because I knew this shit would crush, and it totally did. I actually tested an earlier incarnation of this team against Waters and my entire team did jack shit until Malamar came out and just cleaned everything. Basically, this Malamar absolutely destroys balance that relies on something like Scyther to check it because it can Sub against a lot of common Pokemon, especially Lanturn, and then start to boost and keep the Sub up against everything, making it almost impossible to revenge kill without breaking the Sub with a slower U-turn or Volt Switch. This team also uses the amazing Power-Up Punch Electivire. I needed an Electric resist that could also keep up offensive pressure, so Electivire was a good choice. Power-Up Punch is there as filler because all it REALLY needs is Wild Charge, Ice Punch, and Earthquake, but it's actually a lot better than you'd think because of how good Electivire is at forcing switches.
The rest of the Pokemon are mostly standard barring one strange choice in CM Pass Musharna on a team with no good recipients. The reason for the set is because it can keep up momentum in the early game and then clean later on, with the added caveat of passing SpDef boosts to Malamar and Gurdurr to help them set up more easily. Choice Band Sneasel is standard as shit, and it's there to Pursuit trap Signal Beam Psychic-types for Malamar. Defensive Carracosta is a god, covers Sneasel, offensive Normal- and Flying-types, and checks Pyroar. Gurdurr is a nice Rock resist/Rhydon check that gives some more priority.
Malamar @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 208 HP / 40 Atk / 184 SpD / 76 Spe
Careful Nature
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Psycho Cut
- Substitute
Sneasel @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Icicle Crash
- Pursuit
- Ice Shard
Carracosta @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 196 Def / 64 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Rock Slide
- Toxic
Musharna @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Baton Pass
Electivire @ Life Orb
Ability: Motor Drive
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wild Charge
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Power-Up Punch
I decided to try out sand tonight because I love SD Sandslash in sand, and it turned out pretty solid. Sandslash, Hippowdon, and Stoutland are all obvious picks and there's really not much to say about them. I went Whirlwind/Toxic with no Slack Off on Hippopotas because it's supremely unimportant for it to stay healthy, so long as it stays alive long enough to allow it to get up sand for you to clean. The Stoutland EVs let it outrun Scarf 95s (pretty much just Jynx and Haunter) with the rest in bulk because max Speed seemed unimportant.
After that, I wanted something to beat on bulky Water-types, so I went with Life Orb Lilligant. Quiver Dance seemed pretty unimportant on a team with Sandslash and Stoutland both to easily clean offensive and balance, so I'm running Sleep Powder/Healing Wish two attacks for the team support and power. Offensive Leftovers Poliwrath is the only set I'll use, and it checks Sneasel and still hits decently hard/burns shit/has priority. Standard Xatu patches up Fighting/Psychic weaknesses. The team is supremely weak to Freeze-Dry, but with Sandslash and Stoutland outspeeding and OHKOing all common users and Lilligant threatening Aurorus, it shouldn't be a huge deal.
Sandslash @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
Hippopotas @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Toxic
So I felt like using Beheeyem, and this is what came from it. I originally built around Specs, but it just seemed kind of weak in this metagame even though it absolutely crushes common defensive cores. Trick Room, however, can crush all kinds of balanced teams without having to worry too terribly about Sneasel destroying it. I went with Recover in the last slot to dodge Sucker Punches, mostly from Cacturne, and so that I can use Audino's Healing Wish on other team members. I'm also running offensive Trick Room Mega Audino, which still doesn't hit as hard as you might like but offers a lot of team support with both Trick Room and Healing Wish. Team structures in this metagame heavily favor fast offensive Pokemon and bulky pivots, and Trick Room teams do very well against them.
The rest of the team can take advantage of Trick Room but still operates very well outside of it. Stealth Rock Golurk can help beat bulky Psychic-types and offers a Tauros check, which this team otherwise lacks. Offensive Vileplume is a nice Fighting-type check that isn't weak to Knock Off, and it hits stupid hard even without max investment and Life Orb. Toxic Plate over Life Orb helps keep it healthy to check what it needs to throughout the match. Kangaskhan is a nice blanket check to most offensive Pokemon and can help stall my own Trick Room turns in case that ever becomes necessary. SD Samurott ravages every team in this metagame and sets up on a ton. It offers more priority to make up for the team's lack of Speed in case Trick Room cannot be set, and it breaks both bulky and offensive teams really easily.
Beheeyem @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Psyshock
- Signal Beam
- Trick Room
- Recover
I haven't had much inspiration to build more teams for this meta when it will most definitely be drastically changing within the week. Because of this, the thread has been dead. I have built some cool teams since I last posted, but I have other plans for them, whether they be creating an actual RMT or saving for possible tournament battles. I'd build for the post-suspect metagame, but there's no way to know whether or not either will be banned and again, I'd rather not waste my time building teams that will be obsolete in a week. This team, however, is the exception.
I built this team around Dewgong, which is a very strong Pokemon in this metagame. Whenever you use Dewgong, the most immediate complaint that comes to mind is that it has trouble breaking through bulky Grass-types. Because of this, I decided to build around what I believe to be the best Dewgong set for this metagame--SubDisable Sitrus Berry Belch. Having troubles breaking through common defensive Grass-types such as Ferroseed, Vileplume, and Roselia? Belch has got you covered. You could also run Ice Beam in this slot for Ludicolo, but I prefer the extra power of Belch. Now, Dewgong's main weaknesses in this metagame are Fighting, Rock, Electric, and Grass, all of which are covered perfectly by Dedenne. Dedenne is a great support Pokemon that can wear down conventional checks to its offensive set with Super Fang and Toxic, and it is impossible to kill, as it restores 56% every time it eats a Sitrus Berry. With Recycle, you can just keep going and healing constantly. Charm is there to help it take on offensive Ground-types that would otherwise take advantage of it.
The biggest problem with this team was its major weakness to Stockpile Power-Up Punch Muk, so I decided to fight fire with fire and add a Power-Up Punch Quagsire to beat it. This set is also better against Sneasel than the most common set because unlike Scald, which has a 30% chance to allow Quagsire to beat Sneasel, Power-Up Punch is 4x super effective against it. It is also a good late-game cleaner once every Grass-type, Pokemon with Grass-type coverage, Freeze-Dry Pokemon, special attacker, Toxic user, Will-O-Wisp user, and Scald user has been taken out. Now because Dedenne was my only answer to offensive Dark-types and it really doesn't want to get hit with a Knock Off, I decided to add physically defensive Mightyena to help against those Pokemon. It also offers crucial Heal Bell support that keeps Dewgong and my defensive Pokemon going in case they get hit with a Toxic. Armaldo is on the team for Rapid Spin support and as a Super Fang / Body Slam Purugly check. It also sets Stealth Rock and spins in one slot, which is amazing! Finally, I added Sneasel at the end to take Ice-type attacks for the team and Pursuit trap Dewgong's most common counter, specially defensive Slowpoke.
This team has a winning record of 4-3 on the ladder, so it's pretty good in my opinion. It might still do with some fine-tuning, but it's about as good as a team in this metagame is going to get. Enjoy!
Hello user hollywood, thank you for the amazing and innovative Dewgong team. I would like to add that there is an exploit on PS as I tried using Belch on a Ferroseed (standard defensive grass type) and it did 0 damage. Where do I report my opponent for hacking?
Shit! I forgot about this thread! I haven't been building much lately, but I'll work on stepping it back up soon. For now, here's my Dark Horse team! It is quite fun and utilizes many underrated threats.
As you all know by now, I really, really love Vanilluxe. It's such a spectacular and underrated wallbreaker, which is a huge reason why I wanted to post this team in particular so that more people could easily try it out. Ice Shard Vanilluxe is especially good for its ability to finish off faster weakened Pokemon, be better against offensive teams, and revenge kill Vivillon and Lilligant even after they boost. Specs Swellow is another spectacular Pokemon, though it's a bit less underrated now than it has been in the past. I've seen it a fair amount on the ladder in the last two suspect tests, and I'm really glad it's catching on because it's really good. It's especially nice to use alongside Vanilluxe because common checks such as Rhydon are really easy to U-turn out on and give a free switch to Vanilluxe to start blasting away at the opponent's team again. Clefairy was my choice in Dark Horse. SpDef Clefairy is a great support Pokemon that does all of paralyze faster threats, set Stealth Rock, and check terrifying special attackers such as Samurott, Pyroar, and Magmortar. It can even live any two hits from Specs Pyroar, which is incredible. Unfortunately, it's terrible Knock Off bait and doesn't check Fighting-types at all because it's really frail on the physical side, so Weezing helps to cover those things as well as the threatening Klinklang. CM Uxie gives a switch-in to Psyshock, which is important because offensive Psychic-types with Psyshock are some of the few special attackers Clefairy does not beat. Pelipper offers Defog support for Vanilluxe and Swellow, checks physical Fire-types such as Flareon, and offers a slow U-turn for the team. The 30 Speed IVs are to get a slower U-turn against other base 65s and to guarantee the slower Roost against Roselia so that you can heal against it.
Hope you guys enjoy the team because it was super fun to build and is incredibly fun to play with! It is very weak to Haunter, but thankfully Vanilluxe's Ice Shard does loads to it, Swellow outspeeds and OHKOs it, and almost the entire team can live any one hit and get off damage.
Vanilluxe @ Life Orb
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Ice Beam
- Freeze-Dry
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Ice Shard
hollywood quick question. What's the reasoning on Ice Body > Weak Armor for this Vanilluxe set? I'd assume WA would be better to possibly let it outspeed things after taking a hit. Both abilities seem niche, but Ice Body seems less useful to me.
ice body is less useful, but it also comes with no drawbacks. this team is strong enough in terms of speed control with timid uxie and swellow with twave support and a strong defensive backbone that i didn't feel the positives of weak armor outweighed the drawback.
