Introduction:
Hello, everybody! I recently delved into the world of RU battling, and I must say that I am quite enjoying it. I have made two RMTs in OU, a Sun team and a Rain team. RU, however, is a very different metagame. Perma-weather is non-existent, and several really awesome Pokemon get to shine. So, without further ado, I give you my first ever RU team:
Team At a Glance:
Team Building Process:
Well, being new to the tier, where do you start? Well, obviously, you do a little bit of research, and I did. I browsed through Pokemon in the RU tier, but one in particular caught my eye. One of my favourite Pokemon design-wise resides in the tier. Lacking any other place to start, I started with my physical sweeper: Feraligatr.
Now, with my physical sweeper out of the way, I decided to finish off my main offensive core with my special sweeper. I looked over my options, but it didn't take me long to pick it. This is how Galvantula found a spot on my team.
With my two sweepers and main source of offense out of the way, it was time to look to more defensive options. Several intrigued me, but Cofagrigus intrigued me most. With that incredible bulk and Ghost typing, Cofagrigus made a great defensive threat on my team.
Teaming up with Cofagrigus, I decided I wanted something that could take hits as well as support the rest of the team a ton. Clefable was an obvious choice here, with some great support options and some great bulk to back it up.
Now, with the main cores of my team defined, it was time to look to a hazard setter. Several options intrigued me with this, but in the end, Nidoqueen stood out from the crowd. With two different types of hazards to set and some great bulk, Nidoqueen was right for the job.
Now, with 5 of my 6 team slots established, it was time for the final slot. But, what would it be? Would it be another sweeper? Another support option? Another defensive threat. In the end, I opted for a wallbreaker. I needed something to punch huge holes in the enemy's defenses in order for my sweepers to do their jobs. This is how Escavalier got the job. With an amazing Attack and Megahorn, it does it well.
V1:
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After some battling, I realized that my team had a huge problem with Trick Room teams, a sight that I quickly learned was quite common in RU. For this reason, I opted to swap out Clefable for Slowking, and while I miss the cleric, Slowking has done well, and works well as a core with Cofagrigus. For this reason, Slowking earned a spot.
V2:
Now, with my physical sweeper out of the way, I decided to finish off my main offensive core with my special sweeper. I looked over my options, but it didn't take me long to pick it. This is how Galvantula found a spot on my team.
With my two sweepers and main source of offense out of the way, it was time to look to more defensive options. Several intrigued me, but Cofagrigus intrigued me most. With that incredible bulk and Ghost typing, Cofagrigus made a great defensive threat on my team.
Teaming up with Cofagrigus, I decided I wanted something that could take hits as well as support the rest of the team a ton. Clefable was an obvious choice here, with some great support options and some great bulk to back it up.
Now, with the main cores of my team defined, it was time to look to a hazard setter. Several options intrigued me with this, but in the end, Nidoqueen stood out from the crowd. With two different types of hazards to set and some great bulk, Nidoqueen was right for the job.
Now, with 5 of my 6 team slots established, it was time for the final slot. But, what would it be? Would it be another sweeper? Another support option? Another defensive threat. In the end, I opted for a wallbreaker. I needed something to punch huge holes in the enemy's defenses in order for my sweepers to do their jobs. This is how Escavalier got the job. With an amazing Attack and Megahorn, it does it well.
V1:
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After some battling, I realized that my team had a huge problem with Trick Room teams, a sight that I quickly learned was quite common in RU. For this reason, I opted to swap out Clefable for Slowking, and while I miss the cleric, Slowking has done well, and works well as a core with Cofagrigus. For this reason, Slowking earned a spot.
V2:
Team In-Depth:
Empress the Nidoqueen (F)@Black Sludge
Trait: Sheer Force (Used to be Poison Point)
248 HP/252 Def/8 SDef (Used to be 252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef)
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spe) (Used to be Sassy Nature)
-Stealth Rock
-Toxic Spikes
-Dragon Tail
-Earth Power
Nidoqueen is excellent at what she does. With her great natural bulk and access to two types of hazards, she makes a great hazard setter, likely to live long enough to get them down. Stealth Rock is your priority on this set, as getting it up is far more important than getting Toxic Spikes up. Toxic Spikes is your secondary hazard, and if you can get both layers up it can put the entire opposing team on a timer, crippling their walls and ending their sweeps. Dragon Tail is to shuffle up the enemy's team a little bit, racking up some hazard damage and getting them poisoned while hopefully forcing them into an awkward situation that they don't want to be in, giving me the initiative. Earth Power is there as a powerful STAB attack and a way for Nidoqueen to do some direct damage should the opportunity arise. The EVs provided give Nidoqueen incredible bulk, which, on this set, is needed much, much more than offensive prowess.
Chompy the Feraligatr (M)@Life Orb
Trait: Torrent
252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SDef)
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Ice Punch
-Crunch (Used to be Earthquake)
Feraligatr was always one of my favourite Pokemon in terms of design, and after using Dragon Dance Feraligatr, I can say that I agree in terms of effectiveness as well. While many prefer the Swords Dance set, I have found the Dragon Dance set to be incredibly effective and it does a fantastic job at clearing teams. Dragon Dance is a great way of getting up Feraligatr's Attack and Speed, and after one, it becomes an incredibly potent threat. Waterfall is your primary attack, and with STAB and Life Orb coming off of that boosted Attack stat hits incredibly hard. It is also boosted by Torrent when his health gets quite low. Ice Punch and Earthquake both provide excellent coverage moves, with Ice Punch dealing Super Effective damage to the likes of Tangrowth and also hitting Rotom-C quite hard. Crunch is to hit physically defensive Slowking hard as well.
Peter the Galvantula (M)@Choice Specs
Trait: Compound Eyes
252 SAtk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
-Thunder
-Bug Buzz
-Volt Switch
-Giga Drain
The standard Choice Galvantula set. I opted to go for power over speed on this one, allowing Galvantula to hit extremely hard. Thunder is your primary STAB move here, dealing incredible damage to a lot of opposing Pokemon (provided they aren't Ground type), and with Compound Eyes it hits 91% of the time, which for a 120 BP move is not too bad at all. Bug Buzz is your secondary STAB and can be used to hit anything not resisting it very hard. Volt Switch is useful for getting a little bit of scouting in while still dealing good damage and giving you some initiative in the match. Giga Drain rounds out the set with some healing and allows you to hit Ground types pretty hard, especially with the BP boost.
Tut the Shiny Cofagrigus (M)@Leftovers
Trait: Mummy
252 HP/136 Def/120 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
-Shadow Ball
-Will-O-Wisp
-Pain Split
-Haze
Cofagrigus makes for a fantastic wall and spin blocker thanks to it's bulk and typing. The EVs provided give it great bulk and make it very hard to take down. Couple that with it's Ghost typing and you've got yourself one good defensive threat. Shadow Ball is the attacking move on this set, giving it something to do damage with and hitting things on the switch. Will-O-Wisp is for crippling my opponent's physical attackers, severely reducing their effectiveness and helping out the rest of the team. Pain Split comes in handy when Cofagrigus gets low on health and needs a little boost. Also helps that it takes down my opponent's HP to do it. Finally, Haze is fantastic for stopping those boosting sweepers from setting up in your face and severely limiting their options.
Lancelot the Escavalier (M)@Choice Band
Trait: Swarm
248 HP/252 Atk/8 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
-Megahorn
-Ironhead
-Pursuit
-Return
What a shame it is that Escavalier didn't get Drill Run through the move tutor. If it did it would be pretty hard to beat. Regardless, with a Choice Band Escavalier still hits like a truck and serves well in his function of a wall breaker. Megahorn is your primary attack here, as an attack that powerful coming off an Attack stat that high that also has STAB and Choice Band behind it is bound to hit anything not resisting it hard, and even many things that do resist it have trouble coming into it, especially if Swarm kicks in. Iron Head is a nice secondary STAB move that hits Rock types that wall Megahorn hard. Pursuit is good if you can force a switch, dealing massive damage to the Pokemon switching out and serving as a pseudo revenge killer. Return rounds out the coverage nicely, doing good neutral damage to a large portion of the metagame.
Poseidon the Slowking (M)@Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
248 HP/144 Def/116 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
-Slack Off
-Scald
-Thunder Wave
-Fire Blast
Slowking makes a great wall and a great answer to enemy Trick Room teams, something my team had huge problems with in it's previous iteration. Suggested by Mew2. Slack Off is some recovery, which, when combined with Regenerator and Leftovers, makes Slowking incredibly hard to take down due to the health it can gain back. Scald is a great STAB move, and perfect for a defensive Pokemon like Slowking. That chance to burn is handy and can really help the team out. Thunder Wave is a great status move, and can be used to help Feraligatr or Galvantula sweep. Fire Blast adds a strong move as well as some good coverage. It also allows it to do something to the likes of Steelix.
In Memory of Teammate's Past:
Moonlit the Shiny Clefable (F)@Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
252 HP/4 Def/252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
-Wish
-Heal Bell
-Seismic Toss
-Protect
Clefable makes a great cleric. With Magic Guard she just doesn't give a shit about hazards or any Toxic that finds it's way onto her, absorbing it for her teammates while she can proceed to do her job. Wish is so I can give one of my sweepers some health when they are low, or Cofagrigus so he can continue to wall or Escavalier so he can continue to punch hughe holes. Or, hell, keep the Wish herself to continue being an annoying thing to deal with. Heal Bell cures this team of any and all unwanted status, increasing their longevity and effectiveness. Seismic Toss is basically so Clefable can actually hit something as well as not be Taunt bait. Protect is on the list to scout out my opponent's moves, allowing me to act accordingly and deciding what I want to do. It can also be useful in healing herself up with Wish.
Well, that's my team, rate away. Remember, this is my first RU team, be gentle with it.
