Project National Dex OU Matchmaking (discontinued)

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Steorra

nya smells
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Discord Leader
Congratulations to Solaros & Lunaris for winning by a mile! Your team will be added to the archives soon.

Cycle 16:
:ss/blaziken:

Yes the unbanned fire chicken himself. And unlike other cycles, you won't be locked to a specific set. So let your heart run wild and find the best pairs possible to satisfy Blaziken's burning passion for a match.

Deadline for submissions is Thursday 1st of July at 10:00pm GMT-4.
 

NuttyRabbit

Banned deucer.
:ss/Serperior:

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 56 HP / 200 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Glare
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute

Everyone's favorite fiery kickin' chicken is a potent offensive threat in the tier, with very few things able to stop it once it really gets going. However, Blaziken often finds it hard to get going between its relative frailty, trouble with Grounds such as Lando-T, Gliscor, and Garchomp, with Bulky Waters like Tapu Fini, Slowtwins, and Toxapex, and finding itself easily revenged even at +1 owing to its lacking speed tier.

Enter Serperior, a Pokemon which patches up pretty much all of these flaws. To start with the most obvious aspect, Serperior's nuclear Leaf Storms help to chip and outright eliminate the bulky Grounds and Waters that give Blaziken a hard time. Beyond that, Glare actually acts as excellent de facto speed control/support for the chicken, either slowing down faster revenge killers (like Scarf Landorus/Victini/Jirachi) or flat out preventing them from even having a chance to revenge at all (Rillaboom/Ash Gren though that is never switching in).

However, this partnership isn't a one way street, since Serperior absolutely loves Blaziken's ability to threaten/eliminate the bulky Steels/Grasses/Fires as well as stuff like Blissey that can stop the snake in its path.

In general, I would say this Serperior set works best with an SD Blaziken, specifically the Normalium Set since that can eliminate a shared check in Mega Latias and Serp can cover that set's blind spots. Running it with a Banded Blaziken is also viable though imo not as much since it becomes much more prediction reliant. In terms of the kinds of teams this works best on, it works best on Hyper Offense teams specifically Screens Hyper Offense since this pair really likes Screens and using this core anywhere else opens up major defensive holes.
 
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:ss/Tapu_Lele:
Tapu Lele @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power Fire
Man, recently using Tapu Lele + Blaziken there are no switch-ins, every answer to Blaziken is answered. (talking about banded blaziken)
:ss/Blaziken:
Blaziken @ Choice Band
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- U-turn
M-Latias could be tough for the banded set because of it being locked into cc or flare blitz
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Latias-Mega: 326-386 (89.5 - 106%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
Toxapex:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Toxapex in Psychic Terrain: 354-416 (116.4 - 136.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Slowbro:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Slowbro: 279-328 (70.8 - 83.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Kommo:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Kommo-o: 856-1012 (241.8 - 285.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Landorus-Therian:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian in Psychic Terrain: 345-406 (90.3 - 106.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
Gliscor:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 244 HP / 244 SpD Gliscor in Psychic Terrain: 274-324 (77.8 - 92%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
This shows how great they work together, checking each other's swap-ins. I could go on about how they work great with each other, Like how when Blaziken gets a speed boost under psychic terrain common revenging with priority is canceled! It also works with other sets for Blaziken, Sd Z, Electrium Z, etc. Lele supports Blaziken greatly.
 
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adem

her
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:ss/zeraora:
Zeraora @ Expert Belt
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 208 Atk / 108 SpA / 192 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Work Up
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
Work Up Zeraora is an amazing lure and teammate for the chicken, as it pressures bulky waters for it, and lures and KO’s grounds such as Garchomp, Gliscor and Landorus-Therian. Furthermore, Blaziken removes bulky grasses for it and pressures Mega Latias immensely, both supporting each other to clean late game.
+1 108 SpA Expert Belt Zeraora Hidden Power Ice vs. 244 HP / 192 SpD Gliscor: 355-422 (100.8 - 119.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
108 SpA Expert Belt Zeraora Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 283-336 (88.7 - 105.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
208 Atk Expert Belt Zeraora Plasma Fists vs. 252 HP / 96 Def Toxapex: 223-266 (73.3 - 87.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
 
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:ss/torkoal:

Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Body Press

A large part of why blaziken isn't considered broken is not just its frailty, but that it isn't always able to accomplish much due to the pick your poison nature of choosing z move coverage, which necessitates prior setup to not get cleaved open by a revenge killer. It also struggles with numerous bulky waters and grounds due to the reduced power of its coverage or stabs without life orb. Enter Drought. The 1.5x boost to its fire stab and halved damage from water attacks allows blaziken to setup much more easily vs many threats and not get walled in turn. For example, it turns tapu fini from a check to setup fodder by halving the damage from scald and boosting Firium z to staggering levels of power. Here is just a sample of what it can do:

(Btw, my blaziken calcs will be based on this theoretical set: https://pokepast.es/9a26f7c0bc3cca17. Any set with firium z paired with drought will have similar calcs, but this is to demonstrate the lack of need for coverage due to the sheer power of z flare blitz under sun. It also has other benefits like allowing it to quasi-automatically outspeed threats as fast as weavile (aka most offensive pokemon in the tier, even greninja), blocking fake out from medicham and lopunny, and providing the one extra speed boost needed for some scarfers like lando-t.)

+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Latias-Mega in Sun: 411-483 (112.9 - 132.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro in Sun: 325-383 (82.4 - 97.2%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Toxapex in Sun: 335-394 (110.1 - 129.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex in Sun: 258-303 (84.8 - 99.6%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 148+ Def Kommo-o in Sun: 321-378 (90.6 - 106.7%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Landorus-Therian in Sun: 559-658 (146.3 - 172.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

I could go on but you probably get the point. Nothing walls this thing under sun barring water type unaware pokemon on stall teams, who still take nearly 50% from close combat and have a slight tendency to let their stall teams get 6-0ed by venusaur. Pelipper is also an issue due to resisting both stabs and changing the weather, but sun teams usually have the tools to beat rain teams regardless, so this isn't too much of a problem.

Now for the defensive aspect. In addition to setting up on usual targets such as blissey, ferrothorn, tyranitar, heatran switching out, choice locked kartana, etc., it can also set up on tapu fini and toxapex and inflict a massive amount of damage. Even slowbro fails to do enough damage turn 1, allowing blaziken to SD up and send it to the shadow realm with minimal chip.

Torkoal provides sun support (and can hold heat rock for extra sun turns), sets stealth rock with a level of consistency (threatening corviknight, kartana, lando-t, and zapdos with either a super effective burn or status, even threatening stuff like pelipper and fini on a reasonable prediction), and has a significant amount of defensive utility due to it's skarmory-rivaling physical bulk and only 2x weakness to stealth rock. The most obvious point of comparison would be Mega Charizard Y, who has an immense offensive presence, roost, and the ability to threaten rain teams immediately with its coverage. The difference here is that torkoal has a slightly reduced need for urgent hazard removal, has increased ability to pivot in due to its bulk, can hold heat rock for increased sun duration, frees up a moveslot for stealth rock, and can more consistently threaten sand teams with body press rather than relying upon focus blast accuracy. Additionally, it can free up a potential mega slot if one desires to use a different mega. There is an arguement for both setters, but in my opinion torkoal is a better overall partner for blaziken due to its support capabilities.

The exact set provided can have one of toxic or body press swapped out for rapid spin, but each increases the difficulty of the matchup vs rain or sand respectively. Torkoal is also terrible at hazard removal anyway, only threatening ferrothorn who is easily dealt with for this teamstyle. Unlike in OU, it can't even threaten all of the most common spikers, since greninja dominates it. Sun team always need a separate form of hazard removal anyway, so this isn't much of a sacrifice.

Before Blaziken was introduced, sun teams have had a rough time in national dex due to their shaky matchup vs much of the meta. With the addition of blaziken for a fast, flexible offensive sweeper and wallbreaker to compress offensive roles, this might be able to allow them to shore up their defensive backbone or diversify the potential offensive pokemon that could be added. In any case, I encourage everyone to try out this offensive core, regardless of how the votes turn out for this cycle.
 
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Steorra

nya smells
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Discord Leader
Voting time!!


Pokemon A by NuttyRabbit
:ss/Serperior:

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 56 HP / 200 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Glare
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute

Everyone's favorite fiery kickin' chicken is a potent offensive threat in the tier, with very few things able to stop it once it really gets going. However, Blaziken often finds it hard to get going between its relative frailty, trouble with Grounds such as Lando-T, Gliscor, and Garchomp, with Bulky Waters like Tapu Fini, Slowtwins, and Toxapex, and finding itself easily revenged even at +1 owing to its lacking speed tier.

Enter Serperior, a Pokemon which patches up pretty much all of these flaws. To start with the most obvious aspect, Serperior's nuclear Leaf Storms help to chip and outright eliminate the bulky Grounds and Waters that give Blaziken a hard time. Beyond that, Glare actually acts as excellent de facto speed control/support for the chicken, either slowing down faster revenge killers (like Scarf Landorus/Victini/Jirachi) or flat out preventing them from even having a chance to revenge at all (Rillaboom/Ash Gren though that is never switching in).

However, this partnership isn't a one way street, since Serperior absolutely loves Blaziken's ability to threaten/eliminate the bulky Steels/Grasses/Fires as well as stuff like Blissey that can stop the snake in its path.

In general, I would say this Serperior set works best with an SD Blaziken, specifically the Normalium Set since that can eliminate a shared check in Mega Latias and Serp can cover that set's blind spots. Running it with a Banded Blaziken is also viable though imo not as much since it becomes much more prediction reliant. In terms of the kinds of teams this works best on, it works best on Hyper Offense teams specifically Screens Hyper Offense since this pair really likes Screens and using this core anywhere else opens up major defensive holes.


Pokemon B by low ladder Erti
:ss/Tapu_Lele:
Tapu Lele @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power Fire
Man, recently using Tapu Lele + Blaziken there are no switch-ins, every answer to Blaziken is answered. (talking about banded blaziken)
:ss/Blaziken:
Blaziken @ Choice Band
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- U-turn
M-Latias could be tough for the banded set because of it being locked into cc or flare blitz
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Latias-Mega: 326-386 (89.5 - 106%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
Toxapex:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Toxapex in Psychic Terrain: 354-416 (116.4 - 136.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Slowbro:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Slowbro: 279-328 (70.8 - 83.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Kommo:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Kommo-o: 856-1012 (241.8 - 285.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Landorus-Therian:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian in Psychic Terrain: 345-406 (90.3 - 106.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
Gliscor:
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 244 HP / 244 SpD Gliscor in Psychic Terrain: 274-324 (77.8 - 92%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Poison Heal
This shows how great they work together, checking each other's swap-ins. I could go on about how they work great with each other, Like how when Blaziken gets a speed boost under psychic terrain common revenging with priority is canceled! It also works with other sets for Blaziken, Sd Z, Electrium Z, etc. Lele supports Blaziken greatly.


Pokemon C by adsam
:ss/zeraora:
Zeraora @ Expert Belt
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 208 Atk / 108 SpA / 192 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Work Up
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
Work Up Zeraora is an amazing lure and teammate for the chicken, as it pressures bulky waters for it, and lures and KO’s grounds such as Garchomp, Gliscor and Landorus-Therian. Furthermore, Blaziken removes bulky grasses for it and pressures Mega Latias immensely, both supporting each other to clean late game.
+1 108 SpA Expert Belt Zeraora Hidden Power Ice vs. 244 HP / 192 SpD Gliscor: 355-422 (100.8 - 119.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
108 SpA Expert Belt Zeraora Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 283-336 (88.7 - 105.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
208 Atk Expert Belt Zeraora Plasma Fists vs. 252 HP / 96 Def Toxapex: 223-266 (73.3 - 87.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


Pokemon D by Darkortex
:ss/torkoal:

Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Body Press

A large part of why blaziken isn't considered broken is not just its frailty, but that it isn't always able to accomplish much due to the pick your poison nature of choosing z move coverage, which necessitates prior setup to not get cleaved open by a revenge killer. It also struggles with numerous bulky waters and grounds due to the reduced power of its coverage or stabs without life orb. Enter Drought. The 1.5x boost to its fire stab and halved damage from water attacks allows blaziken to setup much more easily vs many threats and not get walled in turn. For example, it turns tapu fini from a check to setup fodder by halving the damage from scald and boosting Firium z to staggering levels of power. Here is just a sample of what it can do:

(Btw, my blaziken calcs will be based on this theoretical set: https://pokepast.es/9a26f7c0bc3cca17. Any set with firium z paired with drought will have similar calcs, but this is to demonstrate the lack of need for coverage due to the sheer power of z flare blitz under sun. It also has other benefits like allowing it to quasi-automatically outspeed threats as fast as weavile (aka most offensive pokemon in the tier, even greninja), blocking fake out from medicham and lopunny, and providing the one extra speed boost needed for some scarfers like lando-t.)

+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Latias-Mega in Sun: 411-483 (112.9 - 132.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro in Sun: 325-383 (82.4 - 97.2%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Toxapex in Sun: 335-394 (110.1 - 129.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex in Sun: 258-303 (84.8 - 99.6%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 148+ Def Kommo-o in Sun: 321-378 (90.6 - 106.7%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Landorus-Therian in Sun: 559-658 (146.3 - 172.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

I could go on but you probably get the point. Nothing walls this thing under sun barring water type unaware pokemon on stall teams, who still take nearly 50% from close combat and have a slight tendency to let their stall teams get 6-0ed by venusaur. Pelipper is also an issue due to resisting both stabs and changing the weather, but sun teams usually have the tools to beat rain teams regardless, so this isn't too much of a problem.

Now for the defensive aspect. In addition to setting up on usual targets such as blissey, ferrothorn, tyranitar, heatran switching out, choice locked kartana, etc., it can also set up on tapu fini and toxapex and inflict a massive amount of damage. Even slowbro fails to do enough damage turn 1, allowing blaziken to SD up and send it to the shadow realm with minimal chip.

Torkoal provides sun support (and can hold heat rock for extra sun turns), sets stealth rock with a level of consistency (threatening corviknight, kartana, lando-t, and zapdos with either a super effective burn or status, even threatening stuff like pelipper and fini on a reasonable prediction), and has a significant amount of defensive utility due to it's skarmory-rivaling physical bulk and only 2x weakness to stealth rock. The most obvious point of comparison would be Mega Charizard Y, who has an immense offensive presence, roost, and the ability to threaten rain teams immediately with its coverage. The difference here is that torkoal has a slightly reduced need for urgent hazard removal, has increased ability to pivot in due to its bulk, can hold heat rock for increased sun duration, frees up a moveslot for stealth rock, and can more consistently threaten sand teams with body press rather than relying upon focus blast accuracy. Additionally, it can free up a potential mega slot if one desires to use a different mega. There is an arguement for both setters, but in my opinion torkoal is a better overall partner for blaziken due to its support capabilities.

The exact set provided can have one of toxic or body press swapped out for rapid spin, but each increases the difficulty of the matchup vs rain or sand respectively. Torkoal is also terrible at hazard removal anyway, only threatening ferrothorn who is easily dealt with for this teamstyle. Unlike in OU, it can't even threaten all of the most common spikers, since greninja dominates it. Sun team always need a separate form of hazard removal anyway, so this isn't much of a sacrifice.

Before Blaziken was introduced, sun teams have had a rough time in national dex due to their shaky matchup vs much of the meta. With the addition of blaziken for a fast, flexible offensive sweeper and wallbreaker to compress offensive roles, this might be able to allow them to shore up their defensive backbone or diversify the potential offensive pokemon that could be added. In any case, I encourage everyone to try out this offensive core, regardless of how the votes turn out for this cycle.

Deadline is Saturday 3rd at 10:00pm GMT-4.
 

Steorra

nya smells
is a Site Content Manageris a Member of Senior Staffis a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnusis a Top Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnus
Discord Leader
Congratulations to Darkortex for winning cycle 16!!

Cycle 17:

:ss/Slowking-Galar:

Slowking-G is truly an enigma to the National Dex tier. It can carry a wide variety of sets with numerous Ev spreads existing. So with this in mind, you will get to pair Slowking-G of an EV spread of your choice, so be sure to say the set upon submitting!!

Deadline for this cycle is July 8th at 9:00pm GMT-4.
 

Solaros & Lunaris

Hold that faith that is made of steel
is a Site Content Manageris an official Team Rateris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
:ss/tapu-bulu:
THORNS (Tapu Bulu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 220 HP / 92 Def / 140 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
- Swords Dance
- Synthesis
- Horn Leech
- Superpower

Slowking-G is a special wall that struggles with the best special wallbreaker in the tier—Ash-Greninja. It also can’t hold its ground (heh) against the tier’s Ground-types, like Garchomp and Gliscor. Enter Tapu Bulu, who messes with both of these answers and appreciates Slowking-G’s ability to handle Mega Charizard Y and Kyurem, while taking advantage of Future Sight to ease matchups against Pokemon like Toxapex and Zapdos.
 
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spell

of the void
is a Community Contributoris a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus
OMPL Champion
:ss/urshifu-rapid-strike:

who is joe (Urshifu-Rapid-Strike) @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Surging Strikes
- U-turn
- Aqua Jet


Wetshifu is an amazing partner to Galarian Slowking as they work off of each other extremely well. Glowking checks the stuff that Wetshifu fears and vice versa, most notably being the Tapu's, Clefable, Pex and Darks (this one is for Urshifu). Urshifu also acts as a (very flimsy, mind) pseudo Gren check or as a form of offensive pressure to keep it from ruining Glowking's day (note that unevolved dpulse can still be tanked by it).
 
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adem

her
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frick u Solaros & Lunaris
:ss/hydreigon:
Hydreigon @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 8 HP / 220 SpA / 28 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Roost
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
Dark Z Hydreigon is an amazing partner to Glowking as together they form a potent core with amazing defensive and offensive utility. Glowking handles fairies such as Clefable, and the Tapus for Hydreigon, whilst throwing off strong future sights to help it break. Hydreigon is a formidable dark resist that, together with Glowking check Ash Greninja, and breaks holes through Grounds and Steels for it.
 
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NuttyRabbit

Banned deucer.
The Partner:

:ss/Tangrowth:

Tangrowth @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power Ice
- Sleep Powder

The Glowking Set I'm Pairing It With (Courtesy of omicorio)

:ss/Slowking-Galar:

Slowking-Galar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 12 SpA / 104 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Scald


The Explanation:

Physdef Tangrowth serves as an excellent complement to Glowking, especially this set, letting it take on the Grounds and general physical attackers that threaten it like Lando-T/Garchomp/Gliscor/Lopunny/Rillaboom. Glowking in return gives Tang a buffer vs the likes of Ash Gren, Heatran, Koko, Lele, Diancie, Fini and strong special attackers in general. The two of them also form a really nice Regen core, letting them pivot into the other's switchins ad nauseam and being extremely annoying to chip down, especially since Glowking can absorb something like PEx T-spikes which could otherwise cut into Tang's longevity.

The Glowking spread lets it better take on stuff like Urshifu-RS and Diancie while still giving it enough bulk to deal with Lele and dumping the leftover EVs into SpA to let its coverage hit decently hard, as between FS/Sludge Bomb/Flamethrower/Scald it can put a surprising amount of pressure on other teams, both on their offensive mons and more importantly, on their defensive cores, something which RH Tang can find itself struggling with, especially when it comes to PexCorvClef or AmoongKingKommo-o cores.

The core isn't exactly perfect however and can somewhat struggle with Heatran and Ash Gren longterm so pairing it with a bulky Water like Rotom-W or Fini or pairing it with something like a Hydreigon which can not only check the aforementioned mons but apply further offensive pressure and absorb Knock Offs for the both of them is extremely advisible.
 
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Steorra

nya smells
is a Site Content Manageris a Member of Senior Staffis a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnusis a Top Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnus
Discord Leader
Voting is up! many great submissions

Pokemon A by Solaros & Lunaris
:ss/tapu-bulu:
THORNS (Tapu Bulu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 220 HP / 92 Def / 140 SpD / 56 Spe
Careful Nature
- Swords Dance
- Synthesis
- Horn Leech
- Superpower

Slowking-G is a special wall that struggles with the best special wallbreaker in the tier—Ash-Greninja. It also can’t hold its ground (heh) against the tier’s Ground-types, like Garchomp and Gliscor. Enter Tapu Bulu, who messes with both of these answers and appreciates Slowking-G’s ability to handle Mega Charizard Y and Kyurem, while taking advantage of Future Sight to ease matchups against Pokemon like Toxapex and Zapdos.


Pokemon B by omicorio
:ss/urshifu-rapid-strike:

who is joe (Urshifu-Rapid-Strike) @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Surging Strikes
- U-turn
- Aqua Jet


Wetshifu is an amazing partner to Galarian Slowking as they work off of each other extremely well. Glowking checks the stuff that Wetshifu fears and vice versa, most notably being the Tapu's, Clefable, Pex and Darks (this one is for Urshifu). Urshifu also acts as a (very flimsy, mind) pseudo Gren check or as a form of offensive pressure to keep it from ruining Glowking's day (note that unevolved dpulse can still be tanked by it).


Pokemon C by adsam
frick u Solaros & Lunaris
:ss/hydreigon:
Hydreigon @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 8 HP / 220 SpA / 28 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Roost
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
Dark Z Hydreigon is an amazing partner to Glowking as together they form a potent core with amazing defensive and offensive utility. Glowking handles fairies such as Clefable, and the Tapus for Hydreigon, whilst throwing off strong future sights to help it break. Hydreigon is a formidable dark resist that, together with Glowking check Ash Greninja, and breaks holes through Grounds and Steels for it.


Pokemon D by NuttyRabbit
The Partner:

:ss/Tangrowth:

Tangrowth @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power Ice
- Sleep Powder

The Glowking Set I'm Pairing It With (Courtesy of omicorio)

:ss/Slowking-Galar:

Slowking-Galar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 12 SpA / 104 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Scald


The Explanation:

Physdef Tangrowth serves as an excellent complement to Glowking, especially this set, letting it take on the Grounds and general physical attackers that threaten it like Lando-T/Garchomp/Gliscor/Lopunny/Rillaboom. Glowking in return gives Tang a buffer vs the likes of Ash Gren, Heatran, Koko, Lele, Diancie, Fini and strong special attackers in general. The two of them also form a really nice Regen core, letting them pivot into the other's switchins ad nauseam and being extremely annoying to chip down, especially since Glowking can absorb something like PEx T-spikes which could otherwise cut into Tang's longevity.

The Glowking spread lets it better take on stuff like Urshifu-RS and Diancie while still giving it enough bulk to deal with Lele and dumping the leftover EVs into SpA to let its coverage hit decently hard, as between FS/Sludge Bomb/Flamethrower/Scald it can put a surprising amount of pressure on other teams, both on their offensive mons and more importantly, on their defensive cores, something which RH Tang can find itself struggling with, especially when it comes to PexCorvClef or AmoongKingKommo-o cores.

The core isn't exactly perfect however and can somewhat struggle with Heatran and Ash Gren longterm so pairing it with a bulky Water like Rotom-W or Fini or pairing it with something like a Hydreigon which can not only check the aforementioned mons but apply further offensive pressure and absorb Knock Offs for the both of them is extremely advisible.


Deadline is saturday 10th 9pm GMT-4
 
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Steorra

nya smells
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Discord Leader
Congratualtions to Solaros & Lunaris for winning cycle 17!! Gonna be redoing the cycle due to low turnout.

Cycle 18:
:ss/diancie-mega:
Diancie-Mega @ Diancite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Mystical Fire / Earth Power
- Stealth Rock​

Mega Diancie is a sparkling diamond in Natdex OU, having a very scary offensive presence and providing a lot for a team, along with near perfect coverage.

Deadline will be Thursday 22nd of June at 10:00pm GMT-4
 
Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Volt Switch

Magnezone makes a great partner to Earth Power Mega Diancie due to it's ability to trap and remove common steel-types while allowing Diancie to still directly threaten Heatran, examples of this include Corviknight, Mega Scizor, Skarmory, and Ferrothorn. This trait allows Diancie to rip through common balanced teams, who rely on these pokemon to check the fairy.
 
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Solaros & Lunaris

Hold that faith that is made of steel
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:bw/kyurem:
Kyurem @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Ice Beam
- Draco Meteor
- Focus Blast

Kyurem and Mega Diancie pressure their opposing Steel-type checks, like Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Corviknight, pretty well. Mega Diancie sets Stealth Rock, protects Kyurem from hazards thanks to Magic Bounce, and revenge kills Garchomp. In return, Kyurem can easily handle Greninja locked into Hydro Pump, and eviscerates Landorus-T and Gliscor, short term checks to Mega Diancie.
 
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