Now this is a good looking team. I’ll give it a spin (pun intended) real soon! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this for me; I really appreciate it!Apologies for the delay in getting to this. For you, my friend, I have cooked something special...
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Normal is, in my opinion, a pretty underrated type in the current metagame. Here, I aimed to take full advantage of Normal's main strengths (Shed Tail Cyclizar + Ursaluna-B) and unique support options to create a powerful fast-paced team that matches up well into most of the metagame. I hope you enjoy.
- As requested, Cyclizar is what ties this team together. It serves a phenomenal support Pokemon, clearing entry hazards with Rapid Spin, removing foes' items with Knock Off, stallbreaking and preventing entry hazards with Taunt, and, of course, passing Shed Tail to its teammates.
- CM Ursaluna-B behind Shed Tail is broken. Not too much more to say really. After a CM, Ursaluna-B becomes virtually indestructible, mauling the vast majority of the metagame. The example replays show some of the absurd feats this Pokemon is capable of, winning the game in every one. Ursaluna-B also carries this team in the Ghost matchup.
- RestoChesto Snorlax is a classic who pairs well with Ursaluna-B and Cyclizar on this team, serving as an alternative Shed Tail recipient which is great for taking on foes like Volcarona, Frosmoth, and Flutter Mane due to its immediate special bulk and access to Thick Fat. It also forms a fairly sturdy defensive core with Ursaluna-B, being able to soak up Ice Beams from the likes of Greninja and take on Articuno while Ursaluna-B deals with more physically inclined threats. Chesto Berry is used as the item of choice here so you can use Rest to heal Snorlax and cure its status condition without becoming a sitting duck. Rapid Spin support from Cyclizar is important for Snorlax, as its item choice makes it very vulnerable to being worn down by entry hazards.
- A less free thinking player may see Dudunsparce on this team and wonder where my mind is. "Don't you know Dudunsparce is unranked, Big C? Did you fall off?". Be at ease, dear reader, for I am here to tell you Dudunsparce is in fact Him™. In all seriousness, I think Stealth Rock is an extremely valuable asset to this team, but Blissey would be somewhat redundant here due to Snorlax already serving as a special wall. Moreover, looking at the rest of this team, it is extremely weak to Chien-Pao, and would also benefit greatly from paralysis support to allow Cyclizar to more easily pass Shed Tail and to facilitate Ursaluna-B snowballing. Dudunsparce therefore fits really well here, as it can set Stealth Rock, and with these EVs live a Choice Band Chien-Pao Sacred Sword while OHKOing it in return with Body Press. Furthermore, Dudunsparce can spread paralysis even to Ground-types with Glare, and use its infamous Serene Grace Headbutt paraflinch shenanigans to make your opponent throw their laptop out the window. The Speed investment here allows Dudunsparce to outspeed a paralyzed Baxcalibur and wear it down with Headbutt; Dudunsparce actually survives a +2 5-hit Baxcalibur Icicle Spear with this spread, so this is a valuable benchmark to reach.
- Hisuian Zoroark is a lock for any Normal team due to its crucial Fighting immunity. I opted for a Choice Specs set here to give this team an immediate fast wallbreaker that can blast through roadblocks to Ursaluna-B like Corviknight and Gastrodon with its fantastic coverage. I would recommend disguising Hisuian Zoroark as either Staraptor or Ursaluna-B here to catch foes off guard with either powerful special attacks or high Speed respectively. One interesting thing Hisuian Zoroark can do when disguised as Staraptor is lure in Corviknight and OHKO it with Specs Flamethrower... if you really think about it, that's about as powerful as Urshifu-S was ;)
- Choice Scarf Staraptor rounds out the team by providing speed control and a Ground immunity, serving as an answer to foes such as Choice Scarf Great Tusk, Flutter Mane, Zamazenta, Ogerpon-H/W, and Chien-Pao, and an all-around good cleaner. It can additionally pivot into Cyclizar with U-Turn to give it more opportunities to get a Shed Tail off or simply regain HP via Regenerator. In a pinch, Final Gambit can also be used to weaken foes such as Iron Hands and Corviknight and guarantee a safe switch-in for a teammate.
As an aside, I previously posted another Cyclizar Normal team to the SV Monotype Bazaar if you're interested. It can be found here: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-monotype-bazaar.3711074/post-9823599
also I’ll check out the other team too! It looks interest :)
- As requested, Gengar is the mon I built this team around. Gengar has a unique niche on Ghost as a Toxic Spikes setter, and with its high Speed and access to Taunt, it serves as an excellent suicide lead who can virtually always get at least one layer of Toxic Spikes up in a game. Sludge Bomb is used as the offensive move of choice to threaten Fairy-types such as Hatterene and Alolan Ninetales, as well as spread poison around. With its Focus Sash intact, Sludge Bomb also guarantees that Gengar will win a 1v1 against Ogerpon-W and Ogerpon-H. Lastly, Destiny Bond means Gengar can potentially score a free KO after getting a layer of Toxic Spikes up; this is particularly effective combined with Taunt.
- This request also asked for Mimikyu to be included in this team. I opted to use a standard SD set here in order to threaten various special walls throughout the metagame such as Alolan Muk and Gastrodon, and act as a check to Hoopa-U, Hydreigon, and Meowscarada. Using Disguise, Mimikyu can additionally serve as a one-time check to the Dark-types that menace this team, such as Greninja, Chien-Pao, and Kingambit. As a sweeper, Mimikyu naturally enjoys the chip damage Gengar's Toxic Spikes provides, and can use them to more easily force the foe to switch around and thus find more opportunities to setup Swords Dance.
- Sub CM Hex Spectrier is an immensely powerful sweeper with Toxic Spikes support; not too much to add. This set also includes Will-O-Wisp to cripple physical attackers and foes such as Clodsire and Hisuian Goodra,, is deadly to Gliscor who is otherwise a headache for this team, and outruns and can potentially duel Greninja with a Substitute and a CM boost or two.
- Bulky Air Balloon Gholdengo is an invaluable asset to this team, providing a soft Ground immunity and a plethora of valuable resistances and useful utility including Defog blocking. This set is demonic with Toxic Spikes up, being able to leverage its great bulk, recovery, and NP to whittle down foes and tear through annoying special walls like Hisuian Goodra and Empoleon. Air Balloon Gholdengo is also this team's main way of dealing with Ursaluna-B, can live a hit from non-Choice Band Chien Pao and OHKO it in return with Make It Rain, and, with its Air Balloon intact, walls and OHKOs Baxcalibur.
- From Game Freak's balancing teame sprang the ghastlie FLUTTER MANE, who doth live and feed on the tears of Monotype players - Beyond deliverance she doth don a Choice Scarfe, encumbering Dragapult, Chien-Pao, Zamazenta, and even her own kind in her vile shadow like a daemon with gruesome dreams...
- Skeledirge rounds out this team by serving as a mixed wall and bulky sweeper that checks various nuisances to the rest of the party such as Volcarona, specially defensive Heatran, and Kingambit. Skeledirge's great bulk and access to Slack Off in conjunction with the snowballing potential of Torch Song also make it a prime exploiter of Toxic Spikes, giving it further synergy with its teammates.
- Orthworm is a really nice pick for offensive Steel teams, offering a lot of valuable role compression. Aside from setting Spikes, it further enables its offensive teammates with Shed Tail support (Kingambit and Scizor are incredibly scary behind a sub), provides a Ground immunity which lets you drop Corviknight, and even acts as a check to Chien-Pao and Kingambit due to its high physical bulk and access to Body Press. Sitrus Berry is the item of choice here to allow Orthworm to recover some HP immediately after setting up a Shed Tail. It's important to keep in mind that unlike Levitate, Earth Eater restores HP when you're hit with a Ground move and ignores the effects of Gravity, which can potentially let you set up multiple Shed Tails throughout a game and overall gives your opponent a hard time clicking Ground moves into this team.
- Swords Dance Scizor offers nice overlap with and a contingency to Kingambit; generally teams will massively struggle to deal with both in one game. Scizor is also quite effective against Gliscor teams, which is useful for a type that is very much weak to Gliscor. +2 Scizor Bullet Punch under Stealth Rock and Spikes is incredibly difficult to deal with in general, and Swords Dance Scizor also goes all in on Steel's strong matchups against Fairy, Ice, and Poison by making those close to unplayable for your opponent. The given EVs allow you to outrun Adamant Kingambit and OHKO it with Close Combat, but max HP with Trailblaze > Close Combat is also an option to allow you to beat Quagsire and generally make Scizor more effective against Ground teams.
- Aside from its usual role of keeping hazards off your side of the field, Iron Treads provides a lot of valuable utility for this team. With an Air Balloon, Iron Treads serves as a secondary Ground immunity, which is useful due to Orthworm's lack of recovery and consequent longevity issues. An Air Balloon combined with Ice Spinner allows this set to wall and beat standard defensive Gliscor sets without a secondary attacking move. Ice Spinner is also useful to answer Dragonite and Garchomp, as you can freely switch into their Earthquakes. Knock Off removes Heavy-Duty Boots from foes such as Toxapex, opening them up to Spikes. Iron Treads also forms a good offensive core with Gholdengo, with them naturally beating each other's checks for the most part.
- Given how offensively oriented this team is, specially defensive Empoleon may seem like an odd choice. However, it actually ends up fitting really well here, serving as a Scald/Wisp switch in, providing a Water resist and Fire neutrality, setting Stealth Rock to compound on Orthworm's Spikes and free up Iron Treads to run Knock Off, and using Roar to check problem foes such as Volcarona, Manaphy, and some Ogerpon-W sets, as well as accumulate hazard damage. By acting as a special wall and checking some of the threats to Orthworm, it also gives this team a nice defensive backbone when paired with Orthworm, giving this team more consistency and stability.
best Pikachu
best Pichu set
best Pachirisu set
speed control and revenge killing
sweeper
wallbreaker
