Leads in NU

[Elegy96]

In any battle, a good lead can make a big difference. It allows you to do serious damage, set up for a sweep, lay hazards or cripple the opponent from turn one. So this thread is to document some effective leads in the NU metagame.
I'll be putting Pokemon into four categories: Offensive Leads, Support Leads, Hazard Leads and Mixed Leads.

Feel free to submit your own. I'll add a few to get the ball rolling.

Use this as a template:

[pokemon sprite here]
[B]Pokemon Name:[/B]
[B]Lead Type:[/B] Offensive Lead / Support Lead / Hazard Lead
[B]What it does:[/B]
[B]Why it is good:[/B]
[B]What counters it:[/B]

Offensive Leads

Pokemon Name: Cinccino
Lead Type: Offensive Lead
What it does: Hit hard and fast. Cincinno is a top threat in the metagame and for good reason.
Why it is good: Powerful, base 125 attacks that can break Substitutes, with great Normal/Rock/Grass coverage allow this rodent to melt through unprepared teams like butter. With U-Turn to get momentum, Cinccino is a good lead that can take out frailer pokemon in the blink of an eye. Most sets use a Life Orb or a Choice Band, although Choice Scarf sets allow him to outspeed pretty much everything in the tier.
What counters it: Gurdurr is the #1 Counter. He can take a Tail Slap and OHKO back with Drain Punch. Steel types such as Probopass, Bastiodon, Mawile and Klang only fear the rare Wake-Up Slap, and can take up to 3 attacks. Non-Scarfed Cinccino can be revenged killed by the likes of Rotom-F, Swellow and Sawk. Life Orb variants can be easily brought down by residual damage from Spikes, Stealth Rock and recoil.

Support Leads

Pokemon Name: Gardevoir
Lead Type: Support Lead
What it does: Lots: Provide Status support, Dual Screens, Trick, healing, and support attacking.
Why it is good: Gardevoir's movepool is huge so there's room to do pretty much anything. With access to Will-o-Wisp, Thunder Wave and Toxic she can provide status support. I like using a Dual Screen set, as her decent bulk and speed make her a reliable setter. Trick works well in tandem with a Flame Orb or a Choice Scarf, screwing over Physical attackers and Walls respectively. Wish or Healing Wish can heal damaged team-mates, while Heal Bell makes her a reliable cleric. She can also go on the offensive with decent Psychic/Ghost/Bug/Fighting coverage.
What counters it: Skuntank is a good option, taking nothing from her STAB and doing serious damage with his Dark attacks. Other Psychics like Musharna can set up freely on any set apart from a TrickScarf one. Faster attackers like Zangoose can easily OHKO her.

Hazard Leads

Pokemon Name: Golem
Lead Type: Hazard Lead
What it does: Reliably gets up Stealth Rocks and hits hard in the process.[/B]
Why it is good: Sturdy is a fantastic ability, which almost guarantees that Golem can put Stealth Rocks up for you. A good Base 110 attack makes him no slouch, either: Dual STAB in Rock Blast and Earthquake can deal serious damage, given an opening. Priority in Sucker Punch can take faster threats off-guard, while Explosion lets him go out with a bang, so to speak. He can provide a decent check to Flyers such as Swellow and some Braviary.
What counters it: Cinccino. A Bullet Seed from Cinccino will negate Sturdy and destroy Golem before it has a chance to do anything. After Sturdy has been removed, any powerful Grass / Water attack will take Golem out in an instant.

Mixed Leads

Pokemon Name: Piloswine

Lead Type: Offensive/Tank/SR setter Lead

What it does:
Piloswine can tank a lot of hits expecially from the physical side and thanks to his useful resistances/immunity and Thick Fat he's even more bulky then the normal with an eviolite equipped. He can also set Stealth Rock for your team (that's pretty guarateed) or simply sweeps opponent's pokemon.

Why it is good:
Piloswine is my favourite lead. He's so good at setting Stealth Rock and in doing huge damages to the opponent team. If an opponent is not prepared for Piloswine's covergage, he can even sweeps entire teams. Naturally if you face a good player Piloswine can only set Stealth Rock and can do some damages before going down.
So principally he can: Sweep, Tank and set Stealth Rock pretty easly

What counters it:
Powerful special Water/Grass/Fight attacks are Piloswine worst nightmare, Tricking to him a Choice Scarf or Knock Off can nerf him a bit, but he has a good bulk even without Eviolite. On the Physical side the most common attacks that can threaten Piloswine are Fight and Water (since most grass are special) and you have to use CB or SD to OHKOing Piloswine.
So some common counters can be CB Sawk/Braviary/Absol/Emboar, Ludicolo and Gorebyss with Hydro Pump, Gardevoir with trick or Focus Blast.
Submitted by Ewil

 

[Ewil]

Pokemon Name: Piloswine

Lead Type: Offensive/Tank/SR setter Lead

What it does:
Piloswine can tank a lot of hits expecially from the physical side and thanks to his useful resistances/immunity and Thick Fat he's even more bulky then the normal with an eviolite equipped. He can also set Stealth Rock for your team (that's pretty guarateed) or simply sweeps opponent's pokemon.

Why it is good:
Piloswine is my favourite lead. He's so good at setting Stealth Rock and in doing huge damages to the opponent team. If an opponent is not prepared for Piloswine's covergage, he can even sweeps entire teams. Naturally if you face a good player Piloswine can only set Stealth Rock and can do some damages before going down.
So principally he can: Sweep, Tank and set Stealth Rock pretty easly

What counters it:
Powerful special Water/Grass/Fight attacks are Piloswine worst nightmare, Tricking to him a Choice Scarf or Knock Off can nerf him a bit, but he has a good bulk even without Eviolite. On the Physical side the most common attacks that can threaten Piloswine are Fight and Water (since most grass are special) and you have to use CB or SD to OHKOing Piloswine.
So some common counters can be CB Sawk/Braviary/Absol/Emboar, Ludicolo and Gorebyss with Hydro Pump, Gardevoir with trick or Focus Blast.

Hope i don't forget something

 

[Elegy96]

That looks good. I love Piloswine but haven't considered leading with him before.
I've also added a new category for Mixed Leads, who perform multiple roles.

 

[Organization Member XIV]

Braviary

Lead Type: Offensive Lead

What it does:
Kill shit. On a serious note though, Braviary is an excellent lead as it has the ability to force switches and an insane attack to destroy a lot of Pokemon.

Why it is good:

Again, has the ability to force switches just because it is Braviary. U-Turn is useful to get out of disadvantageous situations. STAB Brave Bird and Return hurt HARD, and Superpower hurts Rocks and Steel Types. Choice sets are best for leading with the USA bird.

What counters it:

Regirock. Big f**kin asshole right here. Base 200 Defense is trollish and makes sure Braviary gets wrecked by a Stone Edge or Rock Slide. Faster Pokemon with SE moves also suck. But the second statement can be said for basically anything.

EDIT: Thought this was gonna be a more popular thread. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

 

[Punchshroom]

Pokemon Name: Sawk
Lead Type: Offensive Lead

What it does:
Stealth Rock can be considered a staple for many teams and both helps and hinders combatants depending on their side of the field. Being able to postpone or altogether prevent the rocks from being set up on your field can save you a lot of grief.

Why it is good: Sawk is already recognized as a top threat in NU, but with its newly released Dream World ability and the reintroduction of hail, Sawk has gotten even better. Now not only can he break the Sturdy leads that could set up so easily before, the Ice types that came along with Hail gave him even more targets to destroy.

Most Sawk run Choice Band nowadays to brutalize every slower non-fighting resist, but the fact that Jolly Life Orb Sawk can OHKO Piloswine is already a testament to his power. Life Orb Sawk can also run Taunt to stop the likes of Weezing, Armaldo, Garbodor, Torkoal, Alomomola, Regirock and other defensively inclined opponents from doing shit. Choice Scarf Sawk can outrun stuff, but it is getting used less simply because Choice Band or Life Orb Sawk comes out on top of most leads, hazard setters and opponents in general. Scarf Sawk does trade power for speed though, but not killing things like 90% Samurott or 75% Serperior can be a turn-off.

What counters it:
Bulky Psychic types, they are public enemy number one. Musharna, Duosion, Thick Fat Grumpig, you name it. No, not freakin' Chimecho. While Musharna is stunted by Hail (another reason Sawk became better), Duosion usage is increasing steadily. Faster Pokemon like Kadabra, Swellow and Electrode also revenge it, especially after Close Combat.

 

[Demist]

Pokemon Name: Dwebble

Lead Type: Hazard Lead

What it does: While it may seem outclassed by hazard leads, such as Golem, Dwebble does what it is supposed to do very well; and that is to set up hazards. Dwebble gets both Stealth Rock and Spikes, and when equiped with Eviolite Dwebble holds some impressive physicalbulk, allowing him to take several hits while laying more layers of hazards. Another thing is Sturdy, meaning that little hermit crab will be at least getting one layer of hazards. Dwebble also has Knock Off and Rock Blast, so it isn't Taunt bait.
While you won't be getting kills with this guy, Dwebble still can KO some Rock weak Pokemon, such as Charizard and Ninjask.And Knock Off can cripple some Pokemon by knocking off their Choice Bands, Choice Scarfs or even Leftovers.

Why it is good:Dwebble definitelly isn't a Pokemon commonly used in NU, however it is good simply because it almost always does his job, be it just setting up crucial Stealth Rock, or some layers of Spikes or even stopping some dangerous Pokemon.

What counters it:Pretty much every Special attacker can bring Dwebble to Sturdy range, bulky Steel- and Rock-types can outstall Dwebble with Toxic and finally Taunt users can stop it from laying hazards.

Pokemon Name: Regirock

Lead Type: Offensive / Tank / Support

What it does:Regirock is undoubtfully one of the best Rock-type in NU tier, where he can perform a myriad of things. He can wall a decent amount of the tier with it's gigantic 80 / 200 / 100 defenses, he can support team by either laying Stealth Rock or slowing the opposition with Thunder Wave. We aren't done here, possesing base 100 Atack stat, Regirock isn't slouch offensivelly either. He gets pretty nice moves, including Stone Edge, Rock Slide, Earthquake, Drain Punch,and Elemental Punches, allowing Regirock to nab some KOs.

Why it is good: Regirock has everything it needs in one set: Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave and usually 2 attacking moves. His defenses allows it to take even Super Effective hits and that's rather impressive by itself.

What counters it: Special Water- and Grass-types are major problem for Regirock. Alomomola, while uncommon in today's metagame walls Regirock like no tommorow (lgi world's end pun), Musharna can usually set up in front of Regirock, Amoonguss can counter it without much problem as well as Golurk (unlessRegirock has Ice Punch)

 

[erisia]

Pokemon Name: Carracosta
Lead Type: Hazard Lead
What it does: Sets up Stealth Rock while maintaining offensive and defensive presence
Why it is good:Lead Carracosta functions similarly to Golem, but with a few twists. Firstly, it uses STAB Aqua Jet over Sucker Punch; while it's less powerful than the latter, it also retains more versatility, and doesn't depend on the opponent attacking to be used. Waterfall and Aqua Jet also give Carracosta a critical advantage when facing Golem in a lead matchup. It can even use Solid Rock over Sturdy if you want, letting it survive attacks such as LO Raichu's Thunderbolt and giving it an easier time against Ground and Fighting types than Golem, should you be forced to keep it in for some reason. If you don't mind the drop in power, Scald can also be used to Burn switchins.
What counters it: Bullet Seed attackers such as Cinccino and Torterra can break through Carracosta easily if it runs Sturdy. Grass-types in general do a fantastic job at countering Carracosta so long as they can switch into a Stone Edge.

 

[Brave Bird spam]

While using Ludicolo as a lead seems odd at first, I have found that it is a great offensive anti-lead because it hits so many opposing leads super effectively with its STAB moves.

Pokemon Name:Ludicolo
Lead Type: Offensive Lead
What it does: Immediately attacks the opposing lead, usually kocking it out in one or two hits
Why it is good: Ludicolo works well because of its dual STABs, which allow it to plow through opposing leads such as Golem, Regirock, and Armaldo by hitting them super effectively. Ludicolo can quickly put you up a pokemon by brute forcing its way through the opposing lead. It has the added bonus of being able to sweep late game as well as take down a pokemon early game.
What counters it: Now that Snover is allowed in NU, it is probably the best Ludicolo counter, resisting water and grass while being hit only neutrally by ice, and removing rain upon entry. Other than that, it’s really difficult to counter ludicolo, but it can be checked by faster scarfers like cinccino and priority like Absol’s sucker punch and Swellow’s quick attack.

In which section would I put possible team mates? Because I just realized Rocky Helmet probapass would work really well with it by 1. Setting up SR to finish off an opposing golem the opponent might have switched out after sturdy activated and 2. Trolling cinccino, one lead the can threaten ludicolo

 

[Uselesscrab]

Pokemon Name: Rotom-F
Lead Type: Offensive Lead
What it does: Outspeeds a great many pokemon with a Choice Scarf, cripples the ubiquitous Stealth Rock support leads with Trick
Why it is good: Great SpA, STAB Volt Switch and Blizzard. On a Hail team, Blizzard will never miss, so you get 120 power with no downsides.
What counters it: Anything that hits it super effectively before it can Volt Switch. Things like Scarf Sawk, for example.

 

[JCM.]

Well, Rotom-F can't succesfully use Blizzard if it's leading unless facing a hail team that leads with Snover (I always lead with CB Sawk, though).

 

[watashi]

Golem @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch

Lead Type: Hazard Lead

What it does: Sturdy allows Golem to set up Stealth Rocks for sure against most teams. Its huge attack stat and great STAB moves allow it to dish out a lot of damage before going down, especially against offensive teams. Sucker Punch allows Golem to pick off frail Pokemon such as Kadabra, Gardevoir, and Haunter.

Why it is good: As previously mentioned, Sturdy basically guarantees that Stealth Rocks will be set up. However, even after that, Golem is far from dead weight since it can abuse its nice resistances and powerful offensive capabilities. Additionally, many opposing leads are forced to choose between dying to Golem or not setting up Stealth Rocks since they're often weak to its powerful Earthquake. There's a reason why Golem has been consistently named as one of the best leads since Round One.

What counters it: Pokemon that can bypass Sturdy, such as Sawk, Rampardos, and Bullet Seed users will be able to prevent Golem from doing anything other than Sucker Punch. The former even resists two thirds of Golem's moveset, making it a great counter to it in most situations. Grass-types are generally a good defensive answer to Golem since it has to rely on Rock Blast to deal damage to them. Torterra has the bonus of resisting both of Golem's STAB's and Bullet Seed to boot. Bulky Water-types, especially Alomomola, can pose as a huge threat with Waterfall. With that being said, the aforementioned defensive counters do not fare well as leads and have to be wary of the rare Toxic.

 

[DTC]

If you are using Golem primarily as a lead, I recommend Ground Gem > Leftovers. That extra damage is very useful in a lot of situations, especially when you consider Golem will often only be using a few attacks in any given game. I know FLCL likes to preserve Golem throughout a match and use it to check threats like Rotom-Fan, but personally I prefer to lead with it, set up Stealth Rock, and attack a Pokemon or two before it dies.

 

[Ewil]

Personally i prefer Lum Berry in some situations, having a free turn of damage while your opponet is trying to toxic/will-o ing you is pretty useful.
But actually i feel that leftovers can be more useful due to the Hail introduction (if you want him for the rest of the match, but i'm like DTC and i prefer to punch holes in the opponent's team at the start of the battle, so i prefer Lum or Rock Gem)

 

[Uselesscrab]

Well, Rotom-F can't succesfully use Blizzard if it's leading unless facing a hail team that leads with Snover (I always lead with CB Sawk, though).

I usually use Volt Switch unless I'm against an immune Pokemon or I predict a switch.

 

[saucemonkey1]

Floatzel @ Flame Orb
Ability: Water Veil
EV's: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Sp. Atk) or Jolly Nature (+Spe, -Sp. Atk)
- Waterfall
- Ice Punch / Crunch / Brick Break
- Switcheroo
- Taunt

Lead Type: Mixed Lead

What it does: Stops Stealth Rock and cripples anyone that it gives its item to, especially if they're a physical attacker. Also has enough power and speed to pack a punch with its STAB Waterfall, ensuring that it doesn't go down without a fight.

Why it is good: Floatzel is fast. Really fast. Faster than most Pokemon in NU, and certainly faster than every Stealth Rock user in the Tier. What people don't realize is that it's also deceptively strong, capable of taking down many lead Pokemon given the opportunity. With Floatzel at the head of your team, you can ensure that Stealth Rocks will not be set up on your side of the field for the first turn, and anything that switches into him is either going to take a huge fall by losing its item for a Flame Orb or getting a huge chunk of health taken off by its surprisingly hard hitting attacks. Many people don't expect a Flame Orb / Switcheroo set, so the surprise factor is really great here, and you can bet that a lot of the people you take by surprise will be really angry. Very fun lead, very effective in the right hands.

What counters it: Regirock. Regirock can take any hit from Floatzel and cripple it with a Stone Edge, however, it won't be left unscathed (pun not intended) as it will usually have a Flame Orb switched onto it. Anything with Water Veil can usually tank all of Floatzel's hits, isn't really bothered by a Flame Orb, and take it out either by withering away at its HP slowly, or stalling it out with Toxic damage. Special attackers that resist Floatzel's moves are also good counters, capable of taking hits well and not having as severe a drawback from taking a Flame Orb. Amoongus works well here, as even an Ice Punch from Floazel isn't really that much of a problem for it.

 

[Nyara]

Pokemon Name: Butterfree
Lead Type: Support Lead

What it does: Countering standar-leads like Golem with Compoundeyes Sleep Powder; preventing SR and other tactics from being put to play at the start from the game. It can also Stun Powder the switch or start to set Quiver Dance and put some pressure on the enemy team.

Why it is good: Compundeyes makes it's Sleep Powder 97,5% accurate, making it the best sleeper of the tier as it can outspeed things with it's decent 70 base speed and can sleep other leads almost the 100% of times. At difference of offensive leads or Taunters, Butterfree can prevent better any starting plan as it doesn't care about Focus Sash or Sturdy, and it's still giving huge damage with sleep to the possible switch at difference of Taunt. It can also Quiver Dance and being an instant threat to any Special Sweeper lead without a super effective move.

What counters it: Leads with Chesto or Lum Berry fasters than it, or with priority attacks (not named Sucker Punch), or Rock Blast. Timid Garbodor with Rock Blast can outspeed and OHKO it. Insomnia, Vital Spirit, and Sap Sipper users like Noctowl, Murkow, Vigoroth, Electabuzz, Magmar, Zebstrika, and Miltank can lead or counter it without problem, but they should beware of the predicted switch as it can Stun Powder them, or Quiver Dance on their face. Early Bird or Sleep Talk users can also be used to sponge the sleep (activating the Sleep Clause), and later switching to your lead again or a counter. Taunt from faster leads or Prankster users can also cripple it. Being lucky and wake in the second or third turn can also work as long your lead can resist some 1+ STAB Bug Buzz or Giga Drain/Hidden Power Flying/Psychic.

The Set:

I'm assuming a Timid Butterfree with Quiver Dance + Sleep Powder + Focus Sash, with also max investment on special attack. The Choice Scarf variant is not a good idea as lead because it's - too - weak to any offensive lead faster than it, or against any priority move, making it a shaky anti-lead, then. It also can't threat the enemy team with Quiver Dance, so, it does have less options against it's counters. Without Choice Scarf or Focus Sash it can't just work as lead, so, don't bother with other options. Also, if you sleep something faster than Butterfree, then they will always switch-out, as the first turn is always a sleeping one in Black and White, while sleeping by outspeed give them the chance to wake up on the next turn.

Butterfree @ Focus Sash
Trait: Compoundeyes
EV's: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Hidden Power Flying / Psychic / Giga Drain
- Sleep Powder
- Quiver Dance

Note: Notice that you can forgoe some speed EV's and put them on HP or special defense, to make Butterfree able to survive somewhat better against priority (it can also be paired with Roost or Giga Drain) or to make it a more deadly threat with Quiver Dance against some other threats, but it's up to you the number of speed you want to reach before and after Quiver Dance, usually, you'll not need too much EV's on speed to outspeed support/hazard leads, and you shouln't care about the offensive lead as they will outspeed you anyway, but the speed you may want to reach with Quiver Dance can be a topic more of conflict, it depends more of your team, actually.

For Modest, it's usually better to just don't care too much about the post-Quiver Dance, so, you can forgoe 8 EV's and you'll still outspeeding neutral Milktank, otherwise, you can forgoe 20 EV's and outspeed standar Solrock and all of kinds of Torterra, and it can be 40 if you don't care too much about outspeeding Torterra, Ursaring, Relicanth, and Ampharos, notice that you can forgoe up to 52 if you don't care about Kangaskhan's substitute, but you should not reduce more the speed, as you may want to outspeed Seismitoad from putting SR or rain on the field, and if you care too much about the post-Quiver, your limit should me resting 36 EV's as in that way you'll still outspeeding standar Jumpluff, Timid; Swoobat, Serperior, Electabuzz, Rapidash, Kadabra, and the Simi's post Quiver Dance (limit: 8 if you care about Timid Jumpluff and Zweilous Scarfer after Quiver Dance).

With Timid, you can forgoe even more speed, as you can forgoe 56 EV's and still outspeeding all the relevant, but if you're fearing post-Quiver Dance; Choice Scarf Braviary, Gardevoir, and Altaria, you should spend all on speed in order to outspeed them (well, you can still forgoe 8 EV's) with Quiver Dance, but, even then, it's not likely Butterfree will win against Braviary or Altaria at all (but can damage them a lot before saying good bye), but it can win against Gardevoir without problem. If the previous is not a problem for you, and you don't care about leading's and/or standar Drifblims, then you can forgoe up to 80 EV's; don't-ever-try to reduce it more, as you want to outspeed neutral and max investment Ludicolo, Dragonair, and Victreebel if you're Timid (otherwise don't be Timid, be Modest). You can forgoe up to 100 EV's if you don't care to increse your speed more with Timid or more your power with Modest, in that way you'll reach the same speed as forgoing 36 EV's with Modest and you can spend the remain on extra bulky, and can be 112 EV's less if you want to reach the same speed as 52 EV's less with Modest.

 

[jmorris]

Pokemon Name: Volbeat

Lead Type: Support Lead

What it does: Sets up priority Sunny Day or Rain Dance with Prankster, as well as crippling opposing Leads with either Thunder Wave or Encore (or both if you're brave).

Why is it good: Thanks to Prankster, Volbeat can set up either Sunny Day or Rain Dance on the first turn and then either cripple the opposing Lead with Encore and Thunder Wave or switch out with Baton Pass or U-Turn. Actually the first two steps should be reversed if you want to cripple the opposition as it will use up an extra turn of your weather. This allows other team members to either set up or sweep while your opponent swaps out their lead or tries to stick around to lay down hazards etc. While it doesn't get a defensive boost from holding an Eviolite, investment in HP, Defense and Sp.Defense with and Impish nature allows it to survive at least one hit while it sets up and retreats.

What counters it: If the opponent chooses to lead with common Stealth Rock setters such as Regirock or Golem, they can easily threaten or KO Volbeat with Stone Edge or Rock Blast. Not to mention its weakness to Sealth Rock reducing its chances of switching in later on. Being 4x resistant to Fighting helps, but Volbeat is certainly no bulky supporter so you can forget about it sponging Close Combats, should you need to set up your weather again. Powerful Ice, Fire and Electric attacks will undoubtedly KO Volbeat but you should shouldn't be sending it in on any attacks like that anyway. Basically anything with priority or decent offensive presence is enough to threaten Volbeat.

Possible Set:

Volbeat @ Heat/Damp Rock
Trait: Prankster
EV's: 248 HP/ 252 Def/ 8 SpD
Impish/ Bold Nature
-Sunny Day/ Rain Dance
-Encore
-Thunder Wave
-U-Turn/ Baton Pass

Bold nature can be used if using Baton Pass although it wouldn't make much difference. On the other hand, a slow U-Turn allows your weather sweeper to switch in unscathed. Alternatively the Baton Pass set can be combined with the weather setter, which focuses more on boosting your sweepers Sp.Attack rather than crippling your opposition. Sunny Day (Rain Dance)/ Encore/ Tail Glow/ Baton Pass could be used but I find that Volbeat is trying to do much at once with this set.

 

[WhiteDMist]

@Nyara: You might want to mention Sap Sipper Miltank as a good counter to that Butterfree lead.

@jmorris: U-turn is more to guarantee a safe switch in for your weather sweepers rather than to avoid Taunt.

Now this set was first used by Sweet Jesus, but I don't think he'll mind if I post it.

Metang @ Eviolite
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Toxic/Bullet Punch

Pokemon Name: Metang

Lead Type: Hazard Lead

What it does: Tanks hits while setting up Stealth Rocks.

Why is it good: It has an amazing Steel typing which gives it a huge amount of resistances, making it a reliable switch in for most Normal, Flying, and Poison types. It's secondary typing also allows it to tank Fighting hits from unboosted attackers as well. Most opposing hazard leads are vulnerable to its STAB Meteor Mash and opposing walls don't like Toxic. With this combination, it even has a small chance to come out on top against opposing Psychic types. Not bad for what was thought to be a terrible Pokemon. With Eviolite and HP investment, it is almost impossible to OHKO with a physical attack unless it is super effective and boosted in some way (Adamant Golurk's Earthquake only OHKOs 25% of the time).

What counters it: Marowak, Golurk and Golem are problematic opposing leads, though Golem is also afraid of Metang's Meteor Mash. Golem with Ground Gem can KO Metang, while the others can't, but bring Metang down that low deters it from setting up if you lack another way to check Normal/Flying types. Special attacking leads, mainly the Water and Fire types, can all easily take Metang down with their Hydro Pumps and Fire Blasts. The Switcheroo Taunt Floatzel listed above is a near perfect counter as well, though most Taunt leads hate being hit by Meteor Mash. Sleep leads like Butterfree and Jumpluff can also trouble Metang, though they have trouble actually damaging it.

 

[Nyara]

@WhideDMist: Thanks for the suggestion!, I did the correction and mentioned Sap Sipper's Miltank and Zebstrika as hard counters, and did mention to Sleep Talkers to sponge the sleep, too. Also, Butterfree lead doesn't have problem damaging Metang, as Bug Buzz is neutral and it can Quiver Dance (and most important, the special bulk of Metang is far from being amazing), while Jumpluff lead can just Sleep it, and later proced to SubSeed or use Sunny Day + Hidden Power Fire.

 

[ium]

Metang @ Eviolite
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Toxic/Bullet Punch

i love using metang in this metagame right now. it's one of the few things to tank ice- and psychic-type attacks while still handling the normal- and flying-types. the big problem it has was basically mentioned already: the fact that metang can't really do much to a majority of other stealth rock leads. that means it won't be getting up stealth rock quite as easily early-game unless it wants to tank an earthquake. however, for this reason, i love pairing metang with something like ludicolo, who can take ground-type attacks aimed at metang while being able to threaten stealth rock users with hydro pump and giga drain.

as for the toxic vs. bullet punch kind of thing, i think toxic is a must-have on metang so that ludicolo and gorebyss don't get free opportunities to just run through your team. toxic is also neat to wear down musharna much more easily and it capitalizes on metang's quad-resistance to psychic. bullet punch can be useful in certain situations, but there are plenty of other better priority or scarf users that should be used alongside metang anyway.

also, i just wanted to provide an extension to the set that flcl posted here a while ago:

Golem @ Custap Berry
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Explosion

basically took the same set he provided, but changed a few things. custap berry has been released for a little while now, so it should now get a mention on many of these types of leads. also, bullet seed is mostly nonexistent now since cinccino and sand veil cacturne are gone; at best, only a torterra would run it.

with sturdy and a custap berry, golem will usually score a KO or heavily dent something while still being able to set stealth rock. people who send out ludicolo and samurott to threaten golem turn one now have to watch out as they risk getting KO'd with explosion. custap berry is also pretty neat if the golem user has not gotten stealth rock up for some reason and wants to do so before fainting.

everything else is pretty much the same. it has a stellar defense stat, so if necessary, golem can be saved rather than being sacrificed early in order to check normal- and flying-types. golem's high attack also means that it only a handful of pokemon, which are usually bulky or dedicated walls, take little from golem's attacks. however, with explosion being used, those bulky pokemon can be taking a large hit switching in, and will then have to face an unfavorable match-up against whatever comes in next.

 

[skylight]

Pokemon Name: Fraxure

Fraxure @ Choice Band
Trait: Mold Breaker
252 Attack / 252 Speed
Adamant
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Superpower
- Aqua Tail

Lead Type: Offensive Lead

What it does: It can help prevent SR from being set up (and only allow one layer of Spikes from Garbodor) as most people don't expect it to be an all-out attacker and prevent SR unlike Sawk which is never going to set up and would rather kill them, while they assume Fraxure will just use set up DD, but instead it ends up OHKOing like everything that commonly sets up hazards other than Garbodor which it 2HKO's thanks to having Choice Band and Mold Breaker, pushing it through the common SR-setters.

Why it is good: It's really really strong. Not only is it strong against some of the most common hazard-setting leads (Golem, Bastiodon, Roselia, Probopass, Cacturne and 2HKO's Garbodor and Carracosta with Outrage and Superpower respectively) through the choice of move it uses, it's also strong against certain defensive mons in general. Miltank is 2HKO'd (or sometimes OHKO'd) by Superpower, Musharna is 2HKO'd by Outrage, Vileplume is 2HKO'd and Alomomola faces a 2HKO if it switches in and Fraxure gets a lucky damage roll, while Weezing is 2HKO'd.

What counters it: Metang can easily take a Superpower and laugh it off as the power keeps decreasing, allowing Metang to set up SR with it only having a 20% chance to OHkO from the start, and do whatever else it wants to. Tangela is only 3HKO'd and can Leech Seed it, or put it to sleep, then switch out and recover any sort of damage taken. Any other sort of steel that isn't part rock can take it on, with Mawile only getting 3HKO'd versus Superpower once switching in. Regirock can't take two Superpower's but with the power decreased and access to Drain Punch it can suck back damage, or even Thunder Wave it even, hindering it for the rest of the match, however it should be cautious as Aqua Tail can 2HKO it with a lucky damage roll. Torkoal can take Aqua Tail, with it only getting 3HKO'd and then can set up Shell Smash, OHKOing it in return. However Fraxure can be doomed due to being locked in if the wrong defensive mon mentioned @ why it's good switches in, causing it to be susceptible to being beaten by another.

 

[MarshallLeRoy]

Pokemon Name: Glalie

Glalie @ Focus Sash
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Ice Shard
- Explosion

Lead Type: Hazard Lead

What it does: Sets up Spikes. Glalie's Base 80 speed makes it a surprisingly fast Pokemon against many leads. Also, due to the anonymity of the set in the last few rounds, despite being on Glalie's NU page, many players treat Glalie like an attacking lead and expect ice beam. Taunt allows it to shut down a lot of other hazard setters. In the Cincinno metagame, this lead was less effective, but it's versatile enough to be useful elsewhere.

Why it is good: Surprise factor, mainly. So many players expect an offensive set, especially during the last phase with hail. Glalie has a really good chance to setup two layers of Spikes, which are for my money the best entry hazard in the tier. For hyper offence, or teams that prefer offensive pressure and keeping hazards off the field early, this set is incredible. Also, Ice Shard allows it to pick off weakened threats later if setting Spikes isn't possible, and Explosion+Focus Sash makes Glalie a great stop gap if the opponent setup a sweeper.


What counters it: Golem through Rock Blast really hurts Glalie's ability to setup hazards. Also, spinners like Armaldo that often see time as a lead are problematic, since Glalie has no way to deal with it. However both of these counters are setup bait for common Pokemon in the tier, so Glalie, provided she can switch in later, can easily be a pivot.

 

[CyberOdin✝]

Cinccino is Ru, now not ?

 

[skylight]

Cinccino is Ru, now not ?

It still is RU. If you're referring to previous posts mentioning it, it's because they were made before it became RU, and the previous post mentions that it wasn't as effective while Cinccino was around, if that's what you're referring to.

 

[thesynchrohero]

Bastiodon @ Leftovers
252 Hp / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish (+Def, - SPAtk)
Sturdy
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
- Toxic/Thunder Wave
- Rock Slide/Stone Edge

Pokemon Name: Bastiodon
Lead Type: Hazard Lead
What it does: Get up rocks with no problems whatsoever.
Why it is good: Because it just doesn't get OHKO'ed by anything that doesn't have mold breaker, because Cincino can't reliably take it out with anything.
What counters it: Sawk and Ramphardos, but they do counter every lead that relies on sturdy to get up rocks. Faster pokemon with taunt or a sleep move also shut him down, but if Sleep Powder misses Bastiodon can take Butterfree out with a rock move, preferably Rock Slide.