MWP finished a week ago and I figured I'd open a thread for if anyone wanted to share any cool teams or sets they made over the tournament. Feel free to drop teams from any of the formats; this is not limited just to USUM teams.
I'll start off with a handful of my weird sets. Some of them worked, but some of them sadly didn't. I didn't share the full teams, but it's really easy to recreate teams anyway with replays and the creative sets handed over.
Latios-Mega @ Latiosite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earthquake
- Roost
I used this on Psychic vs Sabella in week 3. The set is meant to be a steel killer with the combination of Hidden Power Fire and Earthquake at worst 2HKOing every Steel-type outside of Celesteela, and Assault Vest sets would be walled, so only Leech Seed + Protect sets were a threat. At the same time, it handles Poison teams with Psychic and Earthquake, as Alolan Muk is easily 2HKOed by Earthquake, and everything else is KOed by Psychic. While the OU set uses Draco Meteor, I feel the Dragon coverage is rather useless in Monotype for Psychic, and having this combination of coverage is far more useful. In the actual game, Hidden Power Fire ended up being crucial against Sabella's Bug team by OHKOing Forretress before it could Rapid Spin. This set works especially well when paired with Latias and even more when they're both combined with Slowbro, as it becomes very difficult to predict which Pokemon will Mega Evolve.
Bisharp @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pursuit
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
I used this on Steel vs Vid in week 4. The point of this set is to take advantage of how useful Pursuit is. Most importantly, it makes the Psychic matchup much easier to handle because Victini pretty much will always switch out of Bisharp for fear of Sucker Punch. It also helps out in the Steel mirror, as Pursuit can pop the opposing Heatran's Air Balloon, letting your own Heatran wreak havoc. It also helps vs Flying by Pursuit trapping Mantine and vs Electric by trapping Alolan Raichu. Ironically, in the game against Vid's Electric, I had already taken out Tapu Koko before Alolan Raichu ever got the time to come into play, meaning Pursuit was useless and Knock Off would have been a win. Darkinium Z + Sucker Punch gives Bisharp a strong nuke, since Pursuit is going to do basically no damage at all when they don't switch out.
Porygon-Z @ Normalium Z
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
- Conversion
I used this vs Arifeen in week 5. While the BoltBeam coverage is much more common on Porygon-Z, I feel Recover lets Porygon-Z sweep much more reliably. Thanks to Adaptability, Shadow Ball tends to be just barely weaker than Ice Beam even when Ice Beam is super effective. I kept Thunderbolt, as that coverage fit better with Shadow Ball. It is also superior against Flying, as it OHKOes Mantine and Shadow Ball does more than enough to Gliscor and Zapdos. Recover helps a lot because at +1 Defense and Special Defense, not a lot can OHKO Porygon-Z, and a lot of teams rely on chipping at it until it drops. With Recover, that is simply not an option most of the time.
Tapu Koko @ Magnet
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Grass Knot
- Mean Look
Clefable @ Babiri Berry
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Fire Blast
- Soft-Boiled
- Healing Wish
I used this core on Fairy vs -Tsunami- in week 6. Mean Look Tapu Koko eliminates prediction in the Flying matchup by allowing you to trap Gliscor or Landorus and then KO them with Hidden Power Ice. Against Choice Scarf Landorus-T, you will still need to catch it on the switch or Knock Off its Choice Scarf as I did in the game. After removing the Ground immunity, Tapu Koko is free to spam Thunderbolt on the vulnerable Flying team. Zapdos cannot switch into Thunderbolt when Electric Terrain is up, so not having Taunt is acceptable. Instead, I ran Grass Knot to use a similar strategy against Water teams. Because Water teams now often bring Sap Sipper Azumarill, Tapu Bulu is no longer a massive threat even with Tapu Koko's support. Here, though, I can Mean Look the Electric immunity and then Thunderbolt will, again, sweep through the team. Healing Wish Clefable was used to give Tapu Koko longevity throughout a match. Gliscor can't OHKO Tapu Koko with the 4 Defense EVs, which is the main motivation for it, although its utility is useful in pretty much any matchup.
Salazzle @ Black Sludge
Ability: Corrosion
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Flamethrower
- Substitute
- Protect
I used this on Poison vs Chras in week 7. Sadly, it was sacrificed because I misclicked lol. I swear this set works you just need to hit the right matchups. Corrosion + Toxic just completely stallbreaks Water and the Poison mirror, turning what are normally just awful hundreds of turns long games into easily beaten with SubTect + Toxic. It's also great in the Steel matchup, as most Steel-types lack recovery and Toxic poison just wears on them slowly but surely. In general, a lot of the slow, fat balance teams do struggle with this set, but it'll be total deadweight vs offense, like it was in my game vs Chras. Luckily, Poison is a type with quite a few defensive pivots and a lot of support for Salazzle.
Vikavolt @ Metronome
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Agility
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Energy Ball
I used this on Bug vs Leru in the finals. The set is meant to take advantage of Vikavolt's huge Special Attack and the two combinations of BoltBeatm coverage and Electric + Grass coverage to sweep Flying and Water teams, respectively. In the game, I risked the Scald burn, which ended up costing me the game, but the set will take a lot of teams off guard, since Choice Scarf Greninja is outsped at just +2 with Sticky Web or +4 without. The item can really be either Electrium Z or Metronome. I went with Metronome here because I felt Electrium Z would be less reliable and Thunderbolt spam is really strong against the two types the set is meant to beat. The set is rather awful vs most of the other types, but I was really confident in seeing Water, so it's what I ended up using.
I'll start off with a handful of my weird sets. Some of them worked, but some of them sadly didn't. I didn't share the full teams, but it's really easy to recreate teams anyway with replays and the creative sets handed over.
Latios-Mega @ Latiosite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earthquake
- Roost
I used this on Psychic vs Sabella in week 3. The set is meant to be a steel killer with the combination of Hidden Power Fire and Earthquake at worst 2HKOing every Steel-type outside of Celesteela, and Assault Vest sets would be walled, so only Leech Seed + Protect sets were a threat. At the same time, it handles Poison teams with Psychic and Earthquake, as Alolan Muk is easily 2HKOed by Earthquake, and everything else is KOed by Psychic. While the OU set uses Draco Meteor, I feel the Dragon coverage is rather useless in Monotype for Psychic, and having this combination of coverage is far more useful. In the actual game, Hidden Power Fire ended up being crucial against Sabella's Bug team by OHKOing Forretress before it could Rapid Spin. This set works especially well when paired with Latias and even more when they're both combined with Slowbro, as it becomes very difficult to predict which Pokemon will Mega Evolve.
Bisharp @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pursuit
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
I used this on Steel vs Vid in week 4. The point of this set is to take advantage of how useful Pursuit is. Most importantly, it makes the Psychic matchup much easier to handle because Victini pretty much will always switch out of Bisharp for fear of Sucker Punch. It also helps out in the Steel mirror, as Pursuit can pop the opposing Heatran's Air Balloon, letting your own Heatran wreak havoc. It also helps vs Flying by Pursuit trapping Mantine and vs Electric by trapping Alolan Raichu. Ironically, in the game against Vid's Electric, I had already taken out Tapu Koko before Alolan Raichu ever got the time to come into play, meaning Pursuit was useless and Knock Off would have been a win. Darkinium Z + Sucker Punch gives Bisharp a strong nuke, since Pursuit is going to do basically no damage at all when they don't switch out.
Porygon-Z @ Normalium Z
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
- Conversion
I used this vs Arifeen in week 5. While the BoltBeam coverage is much more common on Porygon-Z, I feel Recover lets Porygon-Z sweep much more reliably. Thanks to Adaptability, Shadow Ball tends to be just barely weaker than Ice Beam even when Ice Beam is super effective. I kept Thunderbolt, as that coverage fit better with Shadow Ball. It is also superior against Flying, as it OHKOes Mantine and Shadow Ball does more than enough to Gliscor and Zapdos. Recover helps a lot because at +1 Defense and Special Defense, not a lot can OHKO Porygon-Z, and a lot of teams rely on chipping at it until it drops. With Recover, that is simply not an option most of the time.
Tapu Koko @ Magnet
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Grass Knot
- Mean Look
Clefable @ Babiri Berry
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Fire Blast
- Soft-Boiled
- Healing Wish
I used this core on Fairy vs -Tsunami- in week 6. Mean Look Tapu Koko eliminates prediction in the Flying matchup by allowing you to trap Gliscor or Landorus and then KO them with Hidden Power Ice. Against Choice Scarf Landorus-T, you will still need to catch it on the switch or Knock Off its Choice Scarf as I did in the game. After removing the Ground immunity, Tapu Koko is free to spam Thunderbolt on the vulnerable Flying team. Zapdos cannot switch into Thunderbolt when Electric Terrain is up, so not having Taunt is acceptable. Instead, I ran Grass Knot to use a similar strategy against Water teams. Because Water teams now often bring Sap Sipper Azumarill, Tapu Bulu is no longer a massive threat even with Tapu Koko's support. Here, though, I can Mean Look the Electric immunity and then Thunderbolt will, again, sweep through the team. Healing Wish Clefable was used to give Tapu Koko longevity throughout a match. Gliscor can't OHKO Tapu Koko with the 4 Defense EVs, which is the main motivation for it, although its utility is useful in pretty much any matchup.
Salazzle @ Black Sludge
Ability: Corrosion
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Flamethrower
- Substitute
- Protect
I used this on Poison vs Chras in week 7. Sadly, it was sacrificed because I misclicked lol. I swear this set works you just need to hit the right matchups. Corrosion + Toxic just completely stallbreaks Water and the Poison mirror, turning what are normally just awful hundreds of turns long games into easily beaten with SubTect + Toxic. It's also great in the Steel matchup, as most Steel-types lack recovery and Toxic poison just wears on them slowly but surely. In general, a lot of the slow, fat balance teams do struggle with this set, but it'll be total deadweight vs offense, like it was in my game vs Chras. Luckily, Poison is a type with quite a few defensive pivots and a lot of support for Salazzle.
Vikavolt @ Metronome
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Agility
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Energy Ball
I used this on Bug vs Leru in the finals. The set is meant to take advantage of Vikavolt's huge Special Attack and the two combinations of BoltBeatm coverage and Electric + Grass coverage to sweep Flying and Water teams, respectively. In the game, I risked the Scald burn, which ended up costing me the game, but the set will take a lot of teams off guard, since Choice Scarf Greninja is outsped at just +2 with Sticky Web or +4 without. The item can really be either Electrium Z or Metronome. I went with Metronome here because I felt Electrium Z would be less reliable and Thunderbolt spam is really strong against the two types the set is meant to beat. The set is rather awful vs most of the other types, but I was really confident in seeing Water, so it's what I ended up using.
