Life's a Beach

[Glisgarnite]

Life's a Beach...​

Hola! Welcome to my first NU RMT. To kick off the summer I decided to make a team dedicated to sunlight and the beach... Yay! The most obvious Pokemon to base the team around was Exeggutor (I mean, come on), the palmtree Pokemon.

Next, I needed to complete the offensive core. Since Exeggutor wrecks face on the special side, I needed a physical force that has great synergy with Exeggutor and can really do work. I decided to go with Samurott. My team has changed around a lot after I decided on these two (Exeggutor was always there of course), and Samurott has been replaced with Emboar and Poliwrath. In the end, I came crawling back to Samurott, because he is the best of all his replacements. After all, every beach needs an ocean.

Now, I needed some defense. In the beginning, I had four other stall Pokemon to wear down the opposing team (I actually still do have that team and use it from time to time), which all countered my offensive cores counters. At first, everything was great, but as I moved up the ladder, people had better and better counters to my team, and I was losing more and more. I also wasn't having fun because of stall's boring nature. My checklist for a defensive core on this team is: 1. A Wish passer 2. A Heal Bell-er 3. A Stealth Rock-er and 4. a Rapid Spinner. I also wanted to cover both the physical and special defenses as well as maintaining synergy. I settled on Lickilicky and Torkoal.

Now that I had what I needed really, I had to fill the gaps. I needed a counter to stall and the abundance of normal types in the tier. I chose Gurdurr for his huge bulk with Eviolite and incredible attack. After a Bulk Up or two, he pretty much wins everything. Also, Gurdurr can absorb status when Lickilicky's down and out. Solid Poke.

Next I needed speed and something to handle Alomomola. Rotom-S can do both, as well as keeping the momentum with Volt Switch, and allow for a switch into one of my sweepers with Trick. Not a bad Pokemon at all.

So here's sort of the layout/breakdown to this team:

There's Samurott and Exeguttor, and then there's four Pokemon to support them on their sweep. That's pretty much how this team works. I really, really love this team, and I use this as my primary for the Pokemon Online server. I would like for this team to get even better so I can really use it to get to the top.

Without further delay, here's the team!

Rotom-S @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Trick
- Air Slash
- Volt Switch​

Purpose: The purpose of Rotom-S is too be fast. He serves as a fairly good lead for the most part and uses his high Speed and Special Attack to be super annoying. He also is very useful for scouting with Volt Switch, and has good bulk to survive a long time. HP Grass is for Golem and other Ground types, while Air Slash is good coverage. Trick is a great way to cripple walls and can really help set up sweeps for Exeggutor or Samurott. Rotom-S's purpose, though, is to be fast. He serves as a good revenge killer for everything that doesn't have priority, and is a pretty decent check to things like Emboar and Sawk. Pretty decent Pokemon, but he's really crippled by his typing. The Stealth Rock weakness both he and my spinner share really limits the amount of times he can come in, especially if Torkoal doesn't get a spin off. That's possible something to change, but I don't know how.

Gurdurr (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Mach Punch
- Bulk Up
- Payback
- Drain Punch​

Purpose: To be annoying! Seriously, though. Gurdurr is one of the best, if not the best Fighting type in the tier. With incredible bulk, a great setup move, priority, semi-reliable recovery, and almost perfect coverage, Gurdurr is the real deal. Once he gets a couple Bulk Up's in, it can pretty much be GG a lot of times. Absol would be a super annoying threat to my team, but Gurdurr is my savior. I used to run Emboar and Poliwrath in place of Samurott just to deal with Absol, but Gurdurr is a great counter and generally much better than either of them. After Lickilicky is gone, Gurdurr can serve as a great status-absorber thanks to Guts, but it also limits his survivability because he really appreciates the BIG WISHES that get passed to him by Lickilicky. I don't know of any possible changes here, I haven't been playing NU long enough to say. I know my team appreciates the Fighting type to help deal with Absol, who is super annoying otherwise, as well as the plethora of Normal types that are in NU. I really like Gurdurr though, so I don't really like the idea of changing him. If you have a better idea, though, it'd be cool to hear it!

Lickilicky (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Dragon Tail​

Purpose: Ah, Lickilicky. Wish, Protect, Heal Bell, and Dragon Tail are his standard moves. Wish and Protect are for stalling and passing health onto teammates, while Heal Bell is to rid Lickilicky and other Pokemon of status. Lickilicky is a great, great cleric and is perfect for almost every team. While I sometimes really, REALLY, regret how bad of a move Dragon Tail is, he makes up for it in a lot of ways. Dragon Tail is the only flaw on this guy. I seriously think that Body Slam would be a much better move, but I'd lose out on a phasing move. I don't know if Body Slam would be breaking subs any more than Dragon Tail would, all I know is that Baton Pass is a MASSIVE threat to this team, and Lickilicky can't phaze out anything behind a sub. I'm not sure if Lickilicky is worth preserving, or if I should move onto another Pokemon or even another defensive core. This is an area that needs a lot of help!

Torkoal (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: White Smoke
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Yawn​

Purpose: Torkoal is a pretty good spinner, despite having pretty poor typing, and weaknesses to all forms of hazards. The key with Torkoal is to switch him in before the hazards are actually down, letting him spin away everything without taking damage. This is easier said than done of course, which is why Lickilicky is such a great partner. The set is pretty standard and doesn't require much talking about. I think that he works out pretty well most of the time and can definitely take physical hits like a champ. I was wondering about using Rest over Yawn to give him more longevity, and could work really well in conjunction with Lickilicky's Heal Bell. Need some help on this guy especially!

The Offense...​

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Samurott (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 144 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Megahorn​

Purpose: Umm, let's see. What's there to say about Samurott? He functions a lot like Feraligatr's IT'S GATR TIME set does in RU/LU, meaning you know it's badass. His typing is great, as Water is always good to have on a team. Swords Dance and Life Orb turn him into a beast, but the turn spent setting up and the residual damage means he'll need a cleric to heal him up. That's where Lickilicky is so helpful, relieving him of status and other worrisome ailments. Waterfall is the way to go most of the time, while Aqua Jet is a great STAB priority move, and can really screw up Sucker Punching Absols and Cacturnes. Megahorn wrecks almost everything that could ruin Samurott's chances of sweeping, and 144 Speed EV's lets him out-speed 252 speed Cacturne, Exeggutor, Bouffalant, Torterra, and Ursaring, just to name a few. The rest is poured into HP since free bulk is good bulk. Samurott is a really solid Pokemon, and pretty good on this team. If you have any better ideas, though, let me know!

And now...



The moment you've all been waiting for...



Here it is...​

Exeggutor (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- SolarBeam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psyshock​

Purpose: Dum, dum, DUUUUUM! Sunny Day sweeping' Exeggutor! Not everyday you see that! Seriously, this is a perfect summer Pokemon. For one, he's a palm tree, and two, he sets up Sunny Day, which is perfect summer weather! Sunlight turns Exeggutor into a monster, unleashing the power of STAB SolarBeam, boosting the power of HP Fire, and doubling his speed. He can function as an early game sweeper, punching huge wholes in the opponents defenses, or he can come in at the end and torch the remaining health of the enemy with his speed and power. With all that said, he's not perfect. Scarfed Pokemon can still out-speed and kill Exeggutor (he's not the bulkiest guy around), especially after Life Orb recoil. Stall teams can kind of work around Exeggutor's sunny power with Protect and Wish, while racking up Life Orb damage. I really like this set though, it catches a lot of people off-guard. Originally, I set out making a team with a Rock Polish sweeper, but the best one, being Rhyperior, has been banished to RU/LU, which sucks. I instead decided to go with this guy, and never looked back. Great 'moon, great 'moon…

Conclusion: I really, really like this team, and want it to be as good as possible. It's one of my most favorite teams, and I want it to show in how it plays, so please take the time to help me out. Thanks!

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Rotom-S @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Trick
- Air Slash
- Volt Switch

Gurdurr (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Mach Punch
- Bulk Up
- Payback
- Drain Punch

Lickilicky (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Dragon Tail

Torkoal (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: White Smoke
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Yawn

Samurott (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 144 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Megahorn

Exeggutor (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- SolarBeam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psyshock

 

[Glisgarnite]

bump! no one wants to help? :(

 

[erisia]

Hmmm, well I don't think Torkoal is entirely necessary, as Rotom-S is the only other pokemon on the team that benefits massively from Rapid Spinning. Your team doesn't really benefit synergy wise from having a Fire type either, as Rotom-S takes on Grass and Bug types while Samurott and Lickilicky can take Ice Beams. I would swap it for either Regirock or Golem, as both are more or less equally defensive, can take on the birds more effectively, and have various other helpful qualities (Thunder Wave for the former and great offensive presence for the latter)

 

[watashi]

Neat team Glisgarnite, I really like the creative use of Exeggutor!

As stated above, I would definitely swap out Torkoal for Golem. Rapid Spin is not really necessary for your team since only one Pokemon is weak to SR. By using Golem, you gain a solid switch-in to opposing Rotom-S, which looks like a big threat to your team. I would also drop Payback for Stone Edge on Gurdurr, since the psychic types in the tier can either KO you with Psychic or are slower. Stone Edge is more useful for hitting flying and bug types.

 

[WhiteDMist]

I've been meaning to get to this...

I'm not quite as familiar with the PO server and its separate metagame, so I'll try my best. I agree with everyone that Torkoal can be replaced with Regirock or Golem, and Stone Edge/Rock Slide would be better on Gurdurr. I would still recommend Body Slam over Dragon Tail on Lickilicky because Baton Pass teams aren't too common and you can always Trick a Choice Scarf onto the passer while they set up with Rotom-S. If you use Golem, you also have Rock Blast to break Subs, while Dragon Tail cannot most of the time.

I also feel like you can make Gurdurr more offensive, since it isn't really threatening unless it gets up a few boosts. A max HP, max Atk spread would give you more immediate power, and you will still have decent bulk. Hope I helped!