Projects National Dex Other Tiers Good Cores (Submissions appreciated!)

[zastra]

National Dex Other Tiers Good Cores
approved by R8
banner by the amazing IoSonoNeon | Format mostly (stolen) from SV National Dex Good Cores Thread which was (stolen) from SS OU Good Cores Thread | Co-hosted by Clas ​

A strong core is one of the most valuable things to form when creating a new team. Cores are typically made up of a group of Pokémon that, when used together, work excellently toward accomplishing a specific goal, and any good player uses them, intentionally or not. The majority of cores have varying characteristics that allow them to triumph in different areas, and depending on your team, cores can be built to succeed offensively or defensively.
An offensive core is a group of Pokémon that are both focused towards and designed to enable the team to break through most other team styles while being balanced for general play.
A defensive core is a group of Pokémon chosen to give a team a solid set of resistances and the ability to switch into many of the common and threatening attacks in the metagame, allowing it to stick around long enough to win the match.
Overall, cores function as a fantastic base or starting point for a wide range of teams and they are commonly used while teambuilding to achieve a specific goal.


Posting Guidelines

• Any person can post a core in this thread. The cores are broken down into four categories: offensive cores, balanced cores, defensive cores, and weather cores. When posting your core, please make sure to state which one of these categories your core falls under. Note: We've merged offensive and weather into one category, and balanced and defensive into another.
• Although the way your core works may be obvious to you, this may not be the case for others. As such, when posting a core, please make sure to explain how the core operates and any other details you think are important to include. The explanations don't have to be essays; as long as your post has some substance and conveys the main idea behind the core, it's all good. Here are some things you may like to include when explaining your core:
  • Offensive Core: Should your core be an offensive one, such as Tapu Lele + Kartana, you could explain how those two Pokemon work together to break down their similar checks and any other synergistic traits. You could also mention any weaknesses the core has and any partners you believe work well with the core.
    • Here is a good example of what we look for taken from the ORAS iteration.
  • Defensive Core: Should your core be defensive, such as Hippowdon + Skarmory, you could explain their typing synergy allows them to cover problematic Pokemon for one another, or any other synergistic attributes you feel are relevant. You could also mention any weaknesses the core has and any partners you believe work well with the core.
    • Here is a good example of what we look for taken from the ORAS iteration.
• This goes without saying, but do make sure your post includes the sets your core is using. In addition, please try to include an explanation of any EV spreads deviating from the standard 252 / 252. Replays are also very helpful and highly encouraged when posting cores.
• Please do not post a core that has more than 3 Pokemon because cores bigger than this can restrict building immensely.
• Please be respectful of the cores people post in this thread. If someone posts a core that you think is ineffective or just plain bad, there is no need to jump at their throats. With that said, constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged - simply be nice!

Core Selection Process

• We will carefully monitor the cores posted in this thread. When the time comes, we will look at the posted cores and decide which ones will be featured in the archive.
• While the selection of good cores can often be subjective, we will take into consideration a variety of aspects before deciding which cores are featured in the archive. This includes quality of explanation, effectiveness of the core in the current metagame, and so on. We will carefully discuss everything and seek feedback from the cores review councils.
• When we decide which cores will be featured in the archive, we will try to announce them and provide brief explanations behind why certain cores were selected and why certain cores weren't. This feedback can potentially help give people a clearer picture of what we are looking for.
• If a core is originally rejected from the archive, we can definitely provide some tips on how a set or spread can be tweaked so the core meets the standards we look for.
• Just like with anyone else who posts a core, please feel free to bring up any concerns you might have with our posts and/or the cores we select! However, please be sure to be polite, and if it is a simple question/concern, we'd prefer it being directed to us in a PM.

Metagames
These are the metagames you can post your cores for! (More metagames are subject to be added)

• SV National Dex Ubers by NeonJolteonWasUsed
• SV National Dex Balanced Hackmons by anaconja
• SV National Dex RU by Gangsta Spongebob
• SV National Dex LC by MuffinMelody
• SV National Dex Godly Gift by Clas
• SV National Dex Doubles by big pichu
• SV National Dex AAA by Giyu
• SV National Dex NFE by zastra

Cores Review Councils

ND Ubers
Eledyr
entrocefalo
NeonJolteonWasUsed
Ropalme1914

ND BH
anaconja

ND RU
Gangsta Spongebob
Runo
Velcroc

ND LC
Flou
MuffinMelody
rarre

ND GG
Clas
NeonJolteonWasUsed
Runo

ND DOU
big pichu

ND AAA
Atha
Codename C.A.T
Giyu
LordBox

ND NFE
Velcroc
zastra

That's all! Please do not hesitate to post submissions, they are very appreciated!​

 

[NeonJolteonWasUsed]

National Dex Ubers ​

Explanations Coming Soon. Click on any of the Pokemon shown in the cores to view the sets.

Offensive Cores

+
Zacian Crowned + Primal Kyogre

+
Marshadow + Necrozma Dusk Mane

+
Lunala + Ultra Necrozma

+
Mega Salamence + Rayquaza

+
Ho-Oh + Zacian Crowned

+
Eternatus + Zacian Crowned

+
Smeargle + Chi-Yu

+ +
Smeargle + Primal Groudon + Arceus

Defensive/Balance Cores

+
Arceus Water + Ferrothorn

+
Garganacl + Giratina Origin

+
Zygarde + Eternatus

+ +
Dondozo + Giratina + Blissey

+
Calyrex Ice Rider + Primal Kyogre

 

[Gangsta Spongebob]

ndru - Gangsta Spongebob

WIP cores

/+
+
+
/+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

Playstyle Specific Cores
+
+
+

 

[anaconja]

National Dex Balanced Hackmons
(If multiple sets of the same Pokemon are listed, any set is effective, but are roughly ordered by viability.)
[Not Fully Up-to-date with Tera ban]​

Offensive Cores

List

+
+
+
+
+
+

Defensive / Balanced Cores

List

+
+
+
+
+ /
+
+ /
+
+

 

[MuffinMelody]

National Dex Little Cup ​

Offensive Cores

List

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

Defensive Cores

List

+
+
+
+
+ +

Sets and descriptions are coming soon!

 

[Clas]

National Dex Godly Gift​

Offensive Cores

Spoiler

Coming soon!

Balanced Cores

Spoiler

Coming soon!

Defensive Cores

Spoiler

Coming soon!

Coming soon! Cores will be separated further into ones that include Gods and those that don't.

 

[big pichu]

r

 

[Giyu]

National Dex AAA
​

Offensive Cores

hide

Work in Progress

Defensive Cores

hide

Work in Progress

 

[zastra]

National Dex NFE
[NOT FULLY UP-TO-DATE!]
​

Offensive Cores

Hide

+ Fightium Z Electabuzz+Choice Band Raboot
++ Swords Dance Rhydon+Firium Z Magmar+Swords Dance Pivot Thwackey
+ Spikes Frogadier+Swords Dance Qwilfish-Hisui
+ Nasty Plot Misdreavus+Swords Dance Gabite
+ Grassy Terrain Spam [Pivot Thwackey+Calm Mind Swirlix]
++ Sun [Vulpix+Growth Ivysaur+Belly Drum Magmar]
+ Guts Flame Orb Machoke+Choice Band Piloswine
+ Shell Smash Wartortle+Normalium Z Raboot
+ Double Dance Duosion+Bulk Up Gurdurr
+ Dual Screens Morgrem+Swords Dance Steelium Z Fraxure

Balanced / Defensive Cores

Hide

+ Offensive Servine+Stealth Rock Piloswine
++ Bulk Up Vigoroth+Golbat+Marshtomp
++ Calm Mind Dunsparce+Golbat+Marshtomp
++ Swords Dance Qwilfish-Hisui+Hattrem+Gurdurr
+ Calm Mind Clefairy+Gabite
++ Infestation DisableProt Drakloak+Spikes Darkium Z Qwilfish-Hisui+Wartortle
++ Servine+Wartortle+Piloswine
++ Golbat+Tangela+Piloswine
++ Clefairy+Piloswine+Wartortle
++ Hattrem+Gabite+Vigoroth
++ Tinkatuff+Piloswine+Wartortle
++ Duosion+Gabite+Gurdurr
++ Electabuzz+Piloswine+Wartortle
++ Crocalor+Wartortle+Piloswine

 

[Champion Leon]

Defensive Core: (I got to #1 rank on Ladder board w/ basically just 1 team using this core).

Tapu-Fini + Ferrothorn + Giratina

Explanation:

Minimum Atk EVs/IVs on Giratina and Tapu-Fini minimizes healing from enemy Strength Sap, and reduces self-inflicted damage from the odd Confusion, and minimum Speed EVs/IVs allows Tapu-Fini to underspeed enemy slow pivots, and allows Ferrothorn/GIratina to avoid losing their ability due to Core Enforcer.

Tapu Fini: Operates as a sponge to absorb status, and Knock Offs, as well as the Fighting, Ice, and Dragon weaknesses of its teammates, while spreading status, and slow pivoting to force out foes due to the -Atk and -SpA drops. It can partner with Prankster Giratina's Parting Shot to form an endless Parting Shot duo.

Ferrothorn: Tera Normal can allow it to double its boosts by Spectral Thiefing Imposter, after trapping it on its Tera into Normal, and sponges Normalize Ghost's STAB. If Imposter comes in to Rapid Spin, you can Improof via Giratina. Ferrothorn can come in on Fairy, and Dragon moves that threaten Giratina, especially off its Prankster Parting Shots weakening the foes' power. It can also tank Grass, Poison, and Electric moves aimed at Tapu-FIni. Well-Baked Body lets it tank Fire moves aimed at Tera Fire Giratina.

Giratina: Tera Steel is my most frequent Tera of this core, as it can be used to handle Gigaton Hammers, and Fairy offensive moves, off Zacian-C. Giratina serves as the typical Prankster Hazer, with the ability to still threaten PHeal Regigigas via Core Enforcer, and Parting Shot helps supplement the average defenses of its teammates.

Weaknesses: Choice Band Gigaton Hammer Zacian-C, Choice Band Wicked Blow Gyarados-Mega, and Choice Specs Miraidon can exploit their STAB and high power to wear down a core.

Partners: Groudon-P makes a nice partner since it can absorb Electric, and hard-stop Water moves, while threatening foes with powerful Fire-STAB. It can also break past some Fur Coat users like Slowbro-Mega, and Dondozo via Solar Beam exploiting their Water-typing. Ferrothorn can also Improof it.

Replays:
I was able to face off against some high-level players, including #1 Ladder player God of CTA!

God of CTA (was #1 on Ladder at 1648 ELO!)
241 Turns, it was a blowout!

God of CTA with another of their teams (was #2 on Ladder at 1635 ELO!)

I played masterfully, KOing 2 Pokemon by Turn 20, and maintained pressure through strong team cores, and prediction throughout the entire match.
Lasted 64 Turns, pretty standard.

 

[zastra]

Tapu-Fini + Ferrothorn + Giratina

Hey, Champion Leon, thanks for your submission! We've discussed your core a bit, and we've decided to not include it in the archive. The power level of ND BH means any defensive cores without Fur Coat or Ice Scales are naturally going to be pretty bad. Do not get demotivated though, keep submissions coming!

 

[Champion Leon]

Hey, Champion Leon, thanks for your submission! We've discussed your core a bit, and we've decided to not include it in the archive. The power level of ND BH means any defensive cores without Fur Coat or Ice Scales are naturally going to be pretty bad. Do not get demotivated though, keep submissions coming!

Thank you so much! I appreciate your honesty, and I like how you explained why, so not only do I, but others can ensure future Defensive NDBH Cores include at least 1 of the 2 abilities (Fur Coat or Ice Scales) among the 2-3 Core Pokemon.

I am going to take your advice and try 1 more submission. Since it incorporates Weather, according to your OP, it will be listed as Offensive, but you could argue it is Balanced.

Whichever you feel it fits more into, please let me know. ;)

Gyarados-Mega + Groudon


This is derived from the same team, so I think 1 of the same replays is acceptable, especially as you truly get to see how well Gyarados-Mega comes into play with Knock Off, before Groudon wears down the foe with Mortal Spin, and then Gyarados-Mega proceeds to sweep.

God of CTA with another of their teams (was #2 on Ladder at 1635 ELO!)
I was able to remove items via Gyarados-Mega, spread Poison via Groudon, and finish off the foe thanks to Gyarados-Mega sweeping the enemies.

*EDIT: NEW REPLAYS

IzLore Groudon cleared Dondozo, and weaken Giratina via Poison.

Farts McFarty I was able to remove items, spread Poison, and finish off the foe thanks to Gyarados-Mega and Groudon.

Mid-Level
OnceInAlifetim3 (1447 before their loss)

They put up a good fight - towards the end, attempting to PP stall with Imposter, as I had literally Poisoned all but Zacian-C with Mortal Spin.
The battle lasted 109 turns, as it was my Gyarados-Mega that came in and wore down Imposter and delivered the deciding blows to their Zacian-C, and due to a bit of a speed tie, I was able to outlast Imposter thanks to the Poison. The power of patience, and Gyarados-Mega, backed by Groudon-P's Mortal Spin, all paid off. :)

Explanation

I think what I love most about this core is that they can Improof eachother:

Groudon can Improof Gyarados-Mega by blocking Fishous Rend, taking reduced damage from Knock Off, and spreading Poison to Chansey, while bypassing Victory Dance Defense boosts via Solar Beam. Gyarados-Mega can also Improof Groudon thanks to Covert Cloak, and being able to set-up in the face of Solar Beam, since it can outlast via the PP.

Gyarados-Mega: I usually send out Gyarados-Mega first to offer key utility in Knock Off, typically at the start of the match, in order to break down Imposter's Eviolite, an enemy's Choice item, and to remove Covert Cloak so that Groudon can Mortal Spin the opponent to inflict Poison. Gyarados-Mega also works well to handle Status moves like Spikes, or Glare via the Magic Bounce ability, meanwhile Covert Cloak shuts down Salt Cure and Anchor Shot trapper shenanigans. Gyarados-Mega can also exploit Parting Shot, where the foe loses momentum because it allows you to send in a Pokemon instead of them, reduce their offense by -1 each, and eventually force their hand to switch out manually, blocking their safe pivot. Lastly, I chose Magic Bounce over Good as Gold to punish their Strength Sap and Topsy-Turvy so that Gyarados-Mega can set up off a weaker hit next turn. Immunity to Prankster moves, even after being hit by Core Enforcer, is nice, because it still blocks Prankster Topsy-Turvy AND Heart Swap due to its Dark-typing.

Magic Bounce is also key in blocking Entrainment users, by removing that ability so they cannot affect my teammates, letting me switch out as they switch out, whereas Good as Gold only helps the user currently out, but wont help your teammates if the foe stayed in.

Groudon: Mortal Spin supports the team by clearing hazards, but also provides status support to ensure Imposter and walls are heavily worn down. Solar Beam also handles the Fur Coat Water-types that wall Gyarados-Mega such as Dondozo, Slowbro-Mega, and Arceus-Water Fur Coat. Bitter Blade is strong due to the weather and Groudon's terrifying 180 base Atk stat. It maintains momentum by wearing down the foe while healing off chunks of HP, so even heavy neutral hits by MMX are reduced from 2HKOs to 3HKOs, due to drained HP back. Mortal Spin can also be used in conjunction with Bitter Blade, bc it adds a way to stall when the foe uses Strength Sap.

Groudon has Tera Normal so it can avoid being hit by Normalize Ghosts, or Specs Ghost users, as a last resort, in case Gyarados-Mega cannot risk switching-in. Dauntless Shield is used, bc it can actually survive a Gigaton Hammer off CB Zacian-Crowned AND the Struggle the following turn, while being able to force it out due to Bitter Blade basically healing back its HP if Zacian-C users are foolish enough to stay in.

Weaknesses: Choiced Pokemon like Miraidon, and Flutter Mane can deal hefty damage off their STAB to Gyarados-Mega, while still threatening Groudon off its weaker SpD stat with their other STAB in Dragon Energy / Astral Barrage, especially after Tera.

Partners: Ice Scales Dialga can offer a nice wall pivot to ensure that even neutral hits are absorbed, and can also threaten Miraidon with Core Enforcer, and offer potential hazards support via Ceaseless Edge (for other scenarios when Imposter copied Gyarados-Mega with Magic Bounce). Prankster Giratina can also offer a nice resistance to Fighting, Bug, Electric, and Grass attacks aimed at Gyarados-Mega, while also supporting Groudon with general easy pivoting via Parting Shot. Parting Shot Prankster also works to force out Imposter Gyarados-Mega, in the event the Imposter came in after you already set-up a few too many times with Gyarados-Mega.

 

[Champion Leon]

Recently, I noticed lots of teams were using my Groudon @ Red Orb set lately, and after conducting some research on the usage statistics, I can confidently say, that my set is consistently within the most common Groudon sets in the entire metagame, across all tiers of the player base.

For example, all 4 of my moveset's moves are the top 4 moves in use among the top-rated players, proving my set is the standard for 1760 ELO (Highest ranked players). Due to my team, the previously used V-Create is no longer the go-to Fire-type move of choice. All of my moves are about 50% usage. 1760 ELO

Stats Screenshot

When we look down to the 2nd highest tier of players, we see consistency in my set's 4 moves being among the top 5, where Bitter Blade and Mortal Spin are used almost as much as the standard Heal Order move. This is key because in this tier, Heal Order is basically the only good healing move with 16 PP, besides the semi-reliable Strength Sap. So if the only good Healing move is nearly equaled by a less popular Fire-type move (because my team took off), that speaks volumes to the move being highly incorporated into Groudon's moveset builds.
1630 ELO

Stats Screenshot

When we get closer to the average tier player, my 4 moves are in the top 6 moves used where Bitter Blade is more often used than even Heal Order, while Mortal Spin is closely behind.
1500 ELO

Stats Screenshot

-0 is raw usage My moves are among the Top 6 again, demonstrating that my moveset has taken off across the overall metagame itself where this represents all players (not factoring in rank at all).

Stats Screenshot

In conclusion, my core set is not just something I came up with for my team, but it is a set that can be applied to your own teams, and has shown consistency, and viability when facing high, mid-average, and even low-ranked players.

I hope this is involved in the consideration for my above Core, since it is a rare accomplishment that 1 person's set can become the standard set.

 

[zastra]

We have now added ND GG and ND NFE to the archive! Submissions for these metagames are very appreciated!!

 

[zastra]

National Dex NFE Cores have been updated! The list is far from complete though, so please shower the thread with submissions!

 

[zastra]

This thread now supports ND AAA and ND Doubles!

 

[LOrd Fernado]

time to (try to) add some aaa cores

very simple core mainly seen in cg aaa, containing phazing, pivoting, hazard clearing and a core that covers each other's weaknesses. (which is why wbb is not on this corviknight set). not much to say about this one actually.


this core is a little more niche but works just as well, using -ate abusers, with lando-t being a revenge killer hitting pokemon such as ghold and alolan muk with knock off and earthquake, who would wall kommo-o otherwise. kommo-o is the breaker, mainly hitting pokemon such as celesteela or lando-t with it's surprise -ate ability. revenge killers that are faster than lando-t, like lele or azelf can kill this core, so support such as the core above can be useful


this last core uses one of my fav pokemon; mega mawile. i played a lot with this mon, and despite it's low speed, can break very well. it's actual issue, is 4mss, which severely limits it's breaking potential. also, it's slow (well duh). i chose gengar, because of it's bright movepool. so, to put it simply, these sets are used to cover the pokemon that they cannot hit.

 

[Notgamingreally]

I noticed there isn’t a single bulky/defensive core with zyg c in ndbh trying to fix that

This is a very bulky furscales core (well, sometimes pheal) that can also handle a nice chunk of the poison heal users and one can improof the other in a fair amount of circumstances (I.e pheal zyg c can improof non gastro pagos, tera pagos can improof fc zyg sets) other options include things like knock off and mortal spin for Terapagos. Zyg c can also include wisp and glare along with some other util.