SM PU Kang and Friends [Top 15]

[VernonN]

Hey! I'm not normally a PU player, but since OU is garbage right now I decided to check out the tier for the first time in quite a while yesterday. I built a quick team and after playing yesterday and today, I realized it was very successful, I think I lost maybe 1 game and I'm not even sure about that, quickly getting me up to almost 1600. It's been very fun to use so I decided to share it. It's been through some iterations and I think the current one is my favorite. I learned pretty much everything I know about this metagame from playing over the past two days, so excuse me if I get anything wrong.

I wanted to build around Kangaskhan, because it seemed fun to use and is apparently a menace in this metagame.

Scarf Mesprit was the next addition, forming a pretty cool core with Speed control through Scarf and double Priority.

I added Sandslash-Alola as a spinner and a decent Physical backbone.

Next was Mudsdale as a rocker, giving me a switchin to Rock type moves and generally giving me another good Physical Tank.

I used Qwilfish as a Water resist. This also gave me Spikes, allowing Kangaskhan to pressure teams more easily.

The team was finished off with Oricorio-Sensu as a wincon and spinblocker, as well as additional Ground resist.

The next build was a fair bit bulkier, replacing Qwilfish and Oricorio with Jellicent and Tangela. This proved too passive for me.

I replaced Tangela with Gurdurr, giving me a Status absorber and Special Pivot.

I still wasn't completely content. I noticed I was not doing amazing on the Special breaking front and I didn't feel like I needed a Spinblocker anymore. Skuntank was added as a Specially offensive Stallbreaker. And that's the current iteration.


The Team
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Kangaskhan @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch

I built this team around Kangaskhan, an awesome Physical breaker and a Pokemon with 2 priority moves, giving it a good matchup versus both offensive and bulkier teams. The set is standard. I opted to go Adamant, as I did not feel like running Jolly would benefit me much and so far that has proven to be the correct choice. I initially ran Frustration to avoid recoil, but the extra power Double-Edge provides is too important.

Mesprit @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Healing Wish

Mesprit was added next. It's a Fighting resist, which Kangaskhan appreciates. It can also Healing Wish it if it's used Double-Edge too many times or taken other hits and get it back in the game. I went with Psychic over Psyshock for that extra bit of power and Ice Beam over Dazzling Gleam to hit Pokemon like Mudsdale, which Kangaskhan cannot break.​

Sandslash-Alola (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Slush Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Atk / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake

Since both previous Pokemon are prone to chip damage, I wanted to avoid that as much as possible and make sure Stealth Rock are never up on my side. Alolan Sandslash seemed like a cool spinner, also giving me a resist to Ice, Grass, Normal, Flying, Psychic, Bug, Dragon and Fairy, which neither of the previous members had. I run a lot of Speed to outspeed other Alolan Sandslash as well as all Drampa and I opted to put spare EVs into Attack over Sp.Def. to let this Pokemon have a real offensive presence. That's also the reason I have Swords Dance on it, because it lets it dish out some serious damage against pretty much every Pokemon in the tier.​

Mudsdale (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stamina
EVs: 240 HP / 128 Atk / 140 Def
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Protect

Now, I wanted my own rocker. Mudsdale seemed like a great choice, as I did not have an Electric resist and its Stamina would let it take on several physical threats. The EVs are slightly different from the standard set, maximizing Leftovers recovery while also giving it slightly better Physical Defense. Toxic and Protect take up the last two moveslots, as I appreciate the ability to wear things that can take Earthquakes and Rock Slides down, as well as giving Mudsdale the opportunity to recover a bit more with its Leftovers.​

Skuntank (M) @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Aftermath
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Acid Spray
- Sucker Punch
- Taunt

Skuntank is a personal favorite of mine, but that's not because of its use in battle, so that's a topic for another day. It's on the team to pressure Pokemon like Mesprit and Haunter while also giving me a check to Jynx. In addition, it resists Dark, which is great for opposing Skuntank as well as Houndoom. Taunt+Acid Spray lets it break through Stall while Z-Dark Pulse is a great nuke. Sucker Punch is the last move to pick off Haunter, Jynx and Alolan Raichu. Timid nature over Modest mostly for opposing Kangaskhan, which can be a threat if Mudsdale is weakened. I went with Darkinium Z as the item, because I had no other Z-user and it seemed to work.

Gurdurr (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off

Gurdurr is a bit of a Special sponge and Status absorber, as I was looking a bit weak to Burns and Toxics, as well as Pokemon that like to Volt Switch such as Lanturn. It also gave me a Pokemon that can set up, which I lacked. I decided to go with this spread because Gurdurr was not supposed to be my main check to Stoutland, rather picking off Pokemon such as Houndoom and Absol. The rest should be self-explanatory, it's just Gurdurr.


And that's the team! Here's an import: https://pokepast.es/cab0c64ac2d62c9c
There are a couple threats to this team, though.

Threatlist

SUN
Sun teams with Victreebell are scary. Wincon is opposing human error if Skuntank takes some chip, as everything else dies to a +2 move. All the priority moves help, but it's still not an awesome matchup.

Oricorio
All forms can be bitches but Pom Pom and Sensu are specifically scary, the offensive CM sets, bulky CM sets and stallbreaker sets.

Poliwrath
Not a huge threat, but definitely annoying to break. Not fun to switch in to.

Skuntank
With a lot of different sets, you have to scout what it does and deal with it appropriately. Don't let it get out of hand.

And that's it! Thanks for reading!​

 

['sei.]

Whatup VernonN, this is a pretty cool squad you've got here given how you're still pretty new to the meta-game (this is something we have in common). I'm gonna try to chop it up here and try to make some edits based off of your threat-list and my own personal miniature threat-list, as well as offer up some words of advice from one new player to another.

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Tips & Threats

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4

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5

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[1] Choice Scarf Mesprit: I want to briefly mention here that CS Mes can make better use of better coverage than Ice Beam; although it does well against threats like opposing Mudsdale it can leave you wishing you had an HP lure for Aggron/Sandslash or Dazzling Gleam for Sableye (I will touch on this soon).​

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[2] SnowSlash: Here I see you opted for an SD offensive variant, and you provided some nice reasoning as to why you chose that pick over the standard set --- I'd say in the previous version your team has enough of an offensive presence as it is, getting assistance from Kanga, Scarf Mes, Gurdurr w/ Knock, Skuntank with Special-Z, and even extending to Mudsdale with ToxicTect. I'd believe your squad is very capable of holding its own in that regard as it is without SD Slash, not to mention your team appreciates the utility a specially defensive variant would provide, as it checks a lot of common threats like Ori, Lilli, and Mesprit - forcing them to all run coverage as lures on certain sets to workaround this tank.​

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[3] Gurdurr: Touching on the spread and recommending that you go with either the standard analysis spread or dog the calcs for a spread more befitting of Lil Conk, because while you do tank special attacks better with Max Max +, that's not exactly Gurdurr's job and it would appreciate having more of an offensive presence with its Adamant variant. Also looking at the Specially-inclined breakers of our tier, Gurdurr doesn't appreciate staying in on them and trying to eat a Specs Psychic from Mes (even a regular Psychic) or a Specs Draco from Drampa.​

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[4] Sableye (and Jellicent): Looking at this 6, not much can be done against Sableye and with it having access to Knock, Taunt, Will-o, and Recovery it basically 6-0s this team once your Special Skunk lure is out of the picture. This goes for Jellicent as well, although it doesn't have the same amount of tools both sets can ravage this team with proper play.​

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[5] Eelektross: This pick kind of reminds me of Vileplume in NU, I don't think people account for it in building at times until they consistently get wiped by it. This team has no real answer to this thing outside of Kanga, and that's not a great thing when your team is fairly Knock susceptible either.​

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Revisions
Made a few edits, going to keep it short and sweet for this part down here since I went a lil overboard on the Tips & Threats.

Silk Scarf for Z-Crystal ​

I gave your Kanga a Z-Crystal over its Normal-Move booster, mainly for things it would normally have a bit of an issue KOing like Stoutland, Drampa, SnowSlash, and Sableye off of the switch, as well as being a Knock absorber for Eelektross and scaring it out. You retain your breaking ability, lose a key portion of your speed control but with better speed tiers and priority, you will be more than capable of handling speedy threats. Facade on this set so you don't get screwed by Froslass and Sableye, the momentum can shift in your direction entirely if your opponent thinks they can cripple you by Will-o-wing.

Scarf for Specs​

I gave your Mesprit the Spectacles because it plays on the theme of steadily breaking down Snowslash with STAB Psychics, Knocking off its Leftovers, and Rocky Helmet chip, to hopefully put it in range of the Rocky Helmet KO and retain hazards (since this edit does not have a Spinblocker). Dazzling Gleam for Sableye and does a passable amount of damage to Skunk.

→

Went with Primeape as a means of Speed control, Defog punisher (in a sense), momentum with U-Turn, and Lilli check all in one. Fighting-type is a very important type down here, and you retain one on your squad as well.

→

In short, your Snowslash has rocks and there's not a reason to use Muds over Quag at this point. Yawn scares 'mons out, forcing switches and making better use of your Hazards. You can experiment with Scald / EQ / Toxic in those slots to see what coverage fits the best if you'd like.

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→

Hazards and a reliable Lilligant check and addressed your concerns about Poliwrath. An additional Fighting-type check, even if it's only a soft check, in some cases you can get a Spike up so use that to your advantage.

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I liked your original squad man, and hitting the top 10 as a player that's newer to the meta-game is pretty commendable in my eyes. I liked your RMT and how you made it easy for me by explaining your reasoning behind most of your sets and spreads that went against the grain, and I enjoyed adding my own personal flair to it as well. Good shit dude, I hope you stick around in PU because it's a pretty fun tier all around. :)​

 

[VernonN]

Thanks for the rate! I'll address it bit by bit.

Mesprit's coverage: I haven't really had an issue with Aggron or Alolaslash so Hidden Power does not seem necessary, but I could consider Dazzle. I've only run into 1 Sableye, which wasn't a big issue, but I could see it potentially being annoying. However, Ice Beam has actually proven to be a good choice to hit Grass types hard, which are often scary. I'd personally keep Ice Beam over Gleam if the team composition stays the same, however if better Grass-checks are added then it could be changed.

AlolaSlash spread: You're probably right, I probably don't need that much attack with the current version of the team, although I do still like having SD.

Gurdurr: Yeah Gurdurr's offensive presence has been kinda lacking, I should work on a better spread.

Sableye: Like I said has not proven to be an issue but could be. I have actually not run into a Jellicent somehow, but I'll see how that goes.

Eelektross: I've faced several and it's been fine. Looks threatening on paper but hasnt proven to be a huge threat.

Lilligant is indeed a big threat that I failed to mention in the OP, but I've managed to deal.


I'll try using the team you edited it into and see what I think as well as making changes to the current version as recommended. Thanks!

Quick note on the last part, I actually haven't hit top 10, although that's definitely the goal haha. Never managed that in any tier so I'll see how that goes. I'll definitely consider playing more, from what I've played PU has seemed to be the best USUM tier, too bad I've only found that out now.

 

[ShuckleDeath]

Hello VernonN,

It is always nice to see players getting interested in PU and I give you a big warm welcome. I see a few set flaws but nothing super major, like Skuntank is mixed with Sucker Punch but it is still Timid and Gurdurr invest into Defense over Special Defense. Looking at your threats I think you do fine against Poliwrath and Skuntank between Mesprit and Mudsdale respectively. I think the team is not bad and you made a very good early attempt here. Honestly looking through your team I think I can fix your treat list with one big change and touching up a few sets.

--->

Set

Aurorus @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Rock]

Aurorus over Skuntank helps your match-up with both Sun Teams and the Oricoriosas it allows your Alolan Sandslash to outpace them and OHKO with Icicle Crash. It is also a better special wallbreaker and considering you have Alolan Sandslash as your spinner Toxic Spikes are still manageable, albeit you are a bit weaker to them now. It also gives you a way to threaten Quagsire as you didn't mention it before, in your original incantation of this team a well-played Quagsire could be an auto-loss as you had no way to threaten it besides it switching into Kangaskhans Double Edge and a well timed Toxic.

Set Change

Mesprit @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Healing Wish

Hidden Power Ground should be better on your team. It immediately threatens Aggron(this has been dropping in usage atm) which is good for Kangaskhan and Alolan Sandslash just to be able to try and spam STABs more often. It also hits Skuntank for you a bit harder. I know you addressed this already but, Hidden Power Ground offers you more utility then Ice Beam on this team considering you already threaten things like the Oricorio's(with my revisions) and U-Turn gets momentum for Kangaskhan and Aurorus

Set Change

Sandslash-Alola (M) @ Icium Z
Ability: Slush Rush
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Swords Dance
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake

Not a major change here. With Aurorus you now form the Hail Core which is when you pair Snow Warning Aurorus with Alolan Sandslash. When given an Icium Z it can be turned into a very effected sweeper and wallbreaker. Jolly lets it outpace Choice Scarf Primeape in the Hail which is very important.

Set Change

Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 Spe
Impish Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Mach Punch
- Bulk Up

You can go with the standard spread which I will link, here. This is my Gurdurr spread and I like it quite a bit. This lets you take two Stoutland Frustrations, and you outpace 0 speed invested neutral nature base 50's, with a touch more creep for Drampa which is nice as Drampa is seeing alot more use since we banned Alolan Exeggcutor. This along with Mudsdale and Mesprit help with your Fighting-type weakness as your offensive core Kangaskhan, Alolan Sandslash and Aurorus are all weak to them, and it's nice to have the last 3 Pokemon check them, which the all do. You need to be careful against opposing Gurdurr as you are weakest to them and if you let Mesprit go down against them they can beat this team rather easily so I can not stress how important Mesprit is in those match-ups.

Updated Team

That's about it. I hope you like the changes and once again I have to give you praise for such a good early effort, it shows you are taking time to care and get to know the tier and current metagame. I am exited to see more form you so i hope you stick around for a while.

 

[VernonN]

Thanks for the rate and the very warm welcome! I've fiddled around with the Aurorus suggestion (and other edits) a bit and while it's worked in some situations, it's also made others worse. For example, it makes my matchup versus Grass types that can take on AlolaSlash worse, such as Lilligant, Lurantis, Servine and Victreebell, all of them running through the team if they can manage to remove the hail. I also wanted to address the nature on Skuntank, as the Smogon page says Timid Sucker still KO's Jynx and Haunter as well as Raichu-A after rocks, which is what I was using it for, so I didn't bother running Naive.

I hope you like the changes and once again I have to give you praise for such a good early effort, it shows you are taking time to care and get to know the tier and current metagame. I am exited to see more form you so i hope you stick around for a while.

Thank you! I hope I can stick around and learn more about the metagame.

I've also tried 'sei.'s suggestions a bit and while I like the Quagsire addition, overall I don't enjoy the team as much, especially as a +2 Victreebell can now OHKO the entire team and multiple priority moves were removed (lost one game to a sun team and dropped from #11 to #29 big oof)

Another threat I've found that 'sei. mentioned is Jellicent, as I had not considered Specs Jellicent. I completely forgot my lack of a Water resist. I see that the team is very flawed so I will continue editing it to hopefully find a good iteration with good matchups versus Sun, Jellicent, Sableye and other Grass Type. Again, thanks both for your help!

I've also made some edits to the original team: https://pokepast.es/fb2a173ccb1f1367
This uses ShuckleDeath's Gurdurr spread as well as a different, bulkier spread for AlolaSlash.