Insert Creative Team Name Here - VGC17 RMT

> Insert Creative Team Name Here - VGC17 RMT <

|
|
|
|
|


Introduction

Hey guys, just thought I'd share a team that I feel is pretty strong to see if there are any improvements I can make. Here we go.

The Team


Mudsdale @ Assault Vest
Ability: Stamina
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Atk / 84 SpD
Adamant Nature
- High Horsepower
- Heavy Slam
- Superpower
- Rock Slide

Let's start off with the most interesting member of the team. I really do find Mudsdale to perform incredibly well in the current format. It hits like a truck, becomes disgustingly bulky with Stamina, Intimidate/Snarl/W-o-w support and hits a large proportion of the meta for SE damage. The set is completely ripped from Wolfey's set in his analysis of Mudsdale and I haven't really found any improvements I can make. I will say that I find I practically never click Superpower, but I guess it's a nice fail safe vs P2. The spread makes non-LO Modest Tapu Lele's Psychic a 3HKO in psychic terrain (hopefully I can change the terrain with Bulu to ensure the 3HKO even if they are LO) as well as being 3HKOd from non-boosting item Torkoal Eruption from full and lives a Flare Blitz from Marowak from full without any boosts/Intimidate. Once this thing's checks are eliminated/neutered it really can just win from there if given the chance.


Tapu Bulu @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 204 Atk / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Horn Leech
- Stone Edge
- Protect

Next up Tapu Bulu. I love lefties Tapu Bulu + all of the aforementioned support for the same reason as Mudsdale. It hit's like a truck and has great staying power. In grassy terrain it still deals serious damage. I have considered Grassium Z, but I really feel lefties functions better for this kind of team. The EVs are very simple, just enough speed to outspeed 4 speed Milotic by 1 with the rest dumped into HP and attack. Nothing fancy. Stone Edge is primarily for Marowak, as without Mence/Mudsdale it can definitely be difficult for the team to beat without some major prior damage. I suppose Stone Edge could be replaced, but I just couldn't think of anything I valued more. Tapu Bulu synergises well with Mudsdale as it is able to eliminate the waters that it struggles with and provides Mudsdale with passive recovery, while in return Mudsdale deals with the poison, fire, steel and electric types that Bulu hates.

Salamence @ Choice Specs
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dragon Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Fire Blast

I love Mence in this format. There's nothing quite like dropping a specs draco and watching something die. So this is used more as a suicide intimidate lead to nuke something, but it certainly can function as a more long term role if the opponent lacks the necessary coverage or just gets outsped and KOd. I chose specs specifically for the ability to OHKO Marowak 100% of the time without the need for a Modest nature or running Hydro miss. I would much rather be locked in to Draco than Hydro Pump, and considering how popular Marowak is I don't want to be so reliant on even a 15% accuracy difference. Salamence naturally outspeeds a large proportion of the metagame so I wanted timid to take advantage of this. The moveset is very bland, I just really value reliable options while occasionally needing to rely on an inaccurate move, and I didn't feel this set needed any other coverage. I more than likely would have replaced one of these moves with Tailwind if that was an option this gen. Salamence provides me with the much appreciated Intimidate support, and it having very nice synergy with Arcanine allows me to pivot between the two to cycle the Intimidate if I so desire (they only share a rock weakness, which is a rare type to begin with and are generally beaten by both Mudsdale and Bulu).

Arcanine @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Snarl
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roar

Next up Arcanine. I really expected this thing to be strong when the format was first announced and so far I haven't been disappointed. Being one of the only viable Fire types in the format (besides Marowak and Torkoal), Arcanine provides the team with the crucial role of dealing with opposing grass and steels, such as Bulu and Celesteela. I really love this moveset and it's been working tremendously for me. I decided on Flamethrower just due to the nature of the team being slightly more defensive, I wanted a reliable STAB option that doesn't get burned up on a Protect like Burn Up does (see what I did there...? God I hate myself sometimes.) Snarl is used to soften up special attackers, especially when they are unable to switch as there partners are dead. Will-o-wisp can just practically eliminate certain physical attackers from the game entirely, allowing me to wail on their partner as they just sit there. And finally Roar is the most consistent form of trick room deniable, as I have found mental herb Oranguru to be more and more common. It also has some more niche uses, but really its just there as a hard answer to trick room. The spread is essentially max speed max HP with leftovers in the rest of my stats.

Tapu Koko @ Focus Sash
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Sky Drop
- Protect

Next up Tapu Koko. Essentially it's here as an answer to Flying types, being Celesteela, Gyarados, Pelliper and the occasional Aerodactyl in particular. It also acts as a second check to waters for Arcanine and Mudsdale and a solid revenge killer overall being the fastest team member and tied for second fastest non-scarfer in the tier. I chose Focus Sash mostly because I didn't find LO necessary to pick up the KOs I needed it to pick up and Sash allows me to make plays I otherwise wouldn't be able to make. Dazzling Gleam for spread damage and fairy STAB and Sky Drop mostly there just for a niche tech and the ability to deal minor damage to things like Bulu. Sky Drop is replaceable, but I find non-LO HP ice a bit lack luster and kind of unnecessary on this team. I suppose Nature's Madness is an option, I'm not how often I'd use it however.

Celesteela @ Lum Berry
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Atk / 4 Def / 172 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Wide Guard
- Leech Seed
- Protect

And finally Celesteela. As soon as I saw the typing and noticed it learned Wide Guard I knew this thing would be decent, but I never expected it to be this strong. With Fire types being fairly scarce (and being able to eat most non-STAB fire moves), Celesteela really only struggles with Electric types, but with two resists and an immunity on the team and no other weaknesses to it this isn't that big of a deal. In return, Celesteela provides Wide Guard support, making Torkoal without Overheat/Flamethrower less of an issue, amazing resistances/immunities, leech seed recovery and a very strong STAB steel move. The EVs are taken from one of Kyle Cole's videos, just generally maximising my special defence to better take on special attackers (especially considering I have dual intimidate and w-o-w support) while having a higher attack stat for beast boost. I chose to use Lum Berry because lefties was taken.

Conclusion

And there we have it! I really do think this is a very strong team and for the most part has ways of dealing of most things the format has to offer, at least at this time. While it is noteworthy that the team doesn't have a form of speed control, I have found in testing that for the most part this isn't all that necessary. Most of my team focuses on tanking hits and returning with KOs. If there is anything that I have clearly missed out or glaring weaknesses please let me know.
Celesteela @ Lum Berry
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Atk / 4 Def / 172 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Wide Guard
- Leech Seed
- Protect

Tapu Bulu @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 204 Atk / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Horn Leech
- Stone Edge
- Protect

Arcanine @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Snarl
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roar

Salamence @ Choice Specs
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dragon Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Fire Blast

Mudsdale @ Assault Vest
Ability: Stamina
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Atk / 84 SpD
Adamant Nature
- High Horsepower
- Heavy Slam
- Superpower
- Rock Slide

Tapu Koko @ Focus Sash
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Sky Drop
- Protect
 
Last edited:
Honestly, I think you did a good job with this team and I'm not really good enough at building to say one thing is better than the other, but I question Wide Guard on Celesteela. I think you struggle enough with Kartana to justify Flamethrower on it; Arcanine as the main response isn't that solid especially if you see Kartana on rain. I might consider HP Flying > Fire Blast on Salamence just because the 4th move on Specs sucks and that at least lets you do neutral damage to weakened Tapu Fini. The lack of speed control on this team kind of hurts, so I don't know how dealing with opposing Trick Room works out, especially if it's TR + Celesteela / a threat to Mudsdale.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top