Project National Dex Teambuilding Competition - Permanent Hiatus

Should I continue this project?

  • Yes

    Votes: 10 71.4%
  • No

    Votes: 4 28.6%

  • Total voters
    14
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.

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
Congratulations to NuttyRabbit for winning……again by default! Your team will be added to the Hall of Fame.

Before the next round, I’m holding a poll to decide whether to continue this project. This isn’t actually due to freative burnout — I’m still excited to lead the project! But the lack of recent submissions is a bit concerning, as this is ultimately a project that requires your help. So should I continue the project or no?​
 

Steorra

nya smells
is a Site Content Manageris a Member of Senior Staffis a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnusis a Top Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnus
Discord Leader
Hey all, with the results of the poll in, we will continue the building competition, but will try to make it more interesting, so expect some more experimentation on new things come next few cycles. With this in mind you will be building around:

:ss/medicham-mega: :ss/Tapu koko:

Yup you'll be building around a core this time around, Mega Medicham and Tapu Koko have proven to be an insane offensive core in various tiers now. However we always like innovation so we look forward to what you can build for it.​

Deadline will be Saturday 26th at 11:59pm GMT.
 
MEDIKOKO + MELMETAL VOLTTURN
:ss/tapu-koko: :ss/medicham-mega: :ss/melmetal: :sm/kommo-o: :sm/slowking: :sm/landorus-therian:
Click on the sprites for the paste!


Pretty standard bulky offense featuring Melmetal

:tapu-koko: :medicham-mega:

So obviously I started with this week's core of Tapu Koko + Mega Medicham, which is personally one of my favorite cores of all time because of how well these two can cover each other's checks. I originally went with Specs Koko + Thunder Punch Mega Medicham so Cham could easily overwhlem stuff like Clefable, Mega Sableye, and the Slowtwins while still being insanely strong.

:Tapu-koko: :medicham-mega: :melmetal:

While thinking of ideas for what to pair with these too, I remembered an old conversation on the NatDex discord talking about how Melmetal would make for an excellent partner for Mega Medicham since it easily forces out/pressures the bulky fairies and such that try to tank MegaCham's hits. After a bit of playing around with the moveset, I went with a 3A + Twave set with DIB, TPunch, and SuperPower (murks Heatran and is the strongest option to hit Corviknight attempting to Roost). At this point, I also changed Medicham to Ice Punch to smack Grounds for Koko as well as to abuse Melm potentially paralyzing Mega Latias in order for Cham to turn the tables on it.


:Tapu-koko: :medicham-mega: :melmetal: :kommo-o: :Slowking:

At this point I began focusing on the team's defensive core. SpD Kommo-o checks the likes of Ash-Gren, Serperior. Heatran, Volcarona, etc. while setting rocks up to assist in breaking down the opposition. Rock Slide allows Kommo-o to instantly threaten Zard-Y and Volcarona without taking too much damage and the Speed EVs are meant to outpace Modest Magnezone. I originally had Rotom-Wash here as well, but the team was too weak to Psychics and Fairies so I added Slowking in its place, as its Future Sight enables my team to break teams even more efficiently. The mixed EV investment allows Slowking to avoid the 2HKO from standard Mega Diancie's Diamond Storm as well as opposing Mega Medicham's High Jump Kick while still handling threats like Tapu Lele and Mega Lopunny.

:Tapu-koko: :medicham-mega: :melmetal: :kommo-o: :Slowking: :landorus-therian:

Last but certainly not least, I rounded the team off with Scarf Lando-T which helps fulfill some important roles that no other mon could fill all of at once. Lando provides my team with both a necessary Ground and Electric immunity, as well as another pivot to bring in the wallbreakers and additional speed control as well as Defog to remove hazards when necessary. EVs allow Landorus-T to take two hits from unboosted Kartana's Leaf Blade after rocks as well as just take on opposing gounds better in general.

Special Thanks to the NatDex Discord for helping me iron this team out. Y'all rock!​
 
:ss/Medicham-Mega::ss/Tapu Koko::ss/zarude::ss/corviknight: :ss/heatran: :ss/gastrodon:

Medikoko + BU Zarude...BO? (yes i suck)

Ignoring that awful definition of the name, i wanted to try the first teamcomp with cores and so i went with this

:medicham-mega: :tapu koko: good old Medikoko core that has been going around for a long while. Each other clearing the problematic MUs from the other one and Koko giving easy momentum for it to come,

:zarude: Since i dint wanted to imitate almost all the Kommo-O´s that would appear on these cores i decided to try other options. With the experience i had in ND RU i put Zarude into use, went for a BU JHealing set in order to handle waters (Specifically Ash Greninja) and potentially bait pokemon like Zapdos or Corviknight, i still dont have enough experience with stuff in general but as for the small testing i did it did fairly well.

:corviknight: I needed a Kart check and a bit more of momentum, this also gives me something that can switch into Sub Kyurem at least once even if its not that good at it. Also needing something to switch into U-Turn Gliscor or Landorus-T because otherwise my whole team gets abused hard.

:heatran: Specially Defensive Tran specifically for Serperior and Non-HP Ground Volcarona, at first its a normal spdef tran until you see his moveset, Heavy Slam allows me to beat CM Clef and not risk a miss on the stuff that can easily be killed on a 1v1 like Weavile (got this idea when i saw one of adam teams having one for it).

:gastrodon: Zarude alone wont help me with Ash Gren if it runs U-Turn or just not being able to heal enough, this also gives me a hard volt blocker for Electrics and the Ash Gren switch i needed.

:kyurem: While i do have a Corv, if its Specs i have to pray that i can outplay it and SubRoost is still gonna be a pain

:medicham-mega: no usual Slowking or whatever means that just like with Kyurem, i have to outplay it and this one is SIGNIFICANTLY harder to deal with so sometimes i preffer to click X

Anyway with this out of the way, keep up with the Teambuilding Competition as much as you can Sol, we re all hoping for this to keep up
Edit: everytime i finish something like this i just dont like it, sadge
 

NuttyRabbit

Banned deucer.
MEDIKOKO SCREENS...BUT WITH A TWIST

:ss/Azelf: :ss/Grimmsnarl: :ss/Tapu Koko: :ss/Medicham-Mega: :ss/Serperior: :ss/Volcarona:
Click on the team above for the paste

So originally, I was going to go with a standard MediKoko Voltturn, but seeing as everyone else is doing it (and doing heat takes on it), I wanted to try something different, but instead of just going with standard screens HO to be "different", I decided to go with something far more interesting.

:Azelf: Okay so you may be asking "Wait what the hell is an Azelf doing here?". The answer is that I wanted to try some different HO leads, and I thought there was no better time to try it than with this team in particular. Azelf has a few things that make it unique amongst HO leads: a blistering speed tier that puts it above every other HO lead outside of Ribombee (and makes it faster than every rocker and defogger in the tier, and most interestingly puts it speed wise above Mew, which would be its direct competition for this very specific niche ), the combination of Taunt + Boom with that speed that serves to help it prevent both opposing hazards and Defog, and Levitate which helps it match up well vs the Grounds. In terms of the set, it's pretty basic, with rocks being rocks, Taunt and Boom helping it keep momentum and prevent hazards/Defog, and finally Psychic to give it a strong spammable offensive move that hits most rockers/leads at least neutrally. Skill Swap is an option to counterlead Stall and M-Diancie teams but the team has more than enough outs for the latter (and Azelf can force a kill/rocks vs it anyways). Originally I wanted to put Ice Beam but since it doesn't get Ice Beam for some reason, I figured Psychic was best, but u can go HP Ice if you really, really hate Grounds. In terms of spreads, I've chosen to go max Speed and SpA to maximize power, but u can go max HP to improve the Lopunny MU.

:Grimmsnarl: Grimmsnarl is the screener of choice on the team both because it's the best screener, because I'm doing something diff with Koko, and because it helps shore up the team vs both Lop and Greninja which are otherwise massive threats. Set and spread are pretty standard, with max Spdef being nice here to buffer vs Fairies and Gren but max Def can be used to buffer vs Lop and Rilla

:Tapu Koko: And here's where things start to get super heat. See, originally I wanted to a normal Screens team with Koko as the screener but then I realized not only is Koko ass at screens, but also it has a set that can readily abuse screens: Calm Mind Z. With Calm Mind, Koko turns from an offensive pivot or screener into a terrifying setup sweeper and wincon that can blow through its typical Ground checks with boosted Gleams and Twinkle Tackles, win CM wars vs the likes of Clef, boost alongside Latis, and stick around a deceptively long time with Roost. Set and spread are self explanatory, with Fairium Z being the Z of choice thanks to having no immunities unlike Elec-Z and helping it beat Grounds.

:Medicham-Mega: The heat only continues with Koko's required partner in crime in Mega Medicham. As always, Mega Medicham serves to help breath through the bulky Grasses and Normals that Koko struggles with, and in turn Koko breaks through the bulky Waters and Fairies that can wall out Medicham as well as help deal with the faster mons that can threaten Medicham. That dynamic is one that fortunately hasn't changed much. However, the twist comes in the move choice. Here, Medicham forgoes Fake Out in favor of a new, more dangerous option: Bulk Up. Medicham forces a ton of switches just through its existence, and it can take advantage of those forced switches, as well as Grimmsnarl's screens, to set up and make it not only nearly unwallable (fun fact +1 HJK just flat out 2HKOs Latias-Mega and goddamn Gliscor. The only things that wall this are Slowbro and Sableye and both get blown the fuck up by Koko), but also really hard to revenge on the physical side (Rilla Glide does 81 at most after 1 Bulk Up and just dies to HJK/Zen and that is without screens). In terms of the set, it's all pretty self explanatory sans the last move. I've chosen to forego coverage for the last move in favor of priority in the form of Bullet Punch, letting it murk would be revenge killers in Weavile and Diancie

:Serperior: Originally this slot was Hawlucha to abuse Koko's screens and improve certain MUs, but the GOAT Avery suggested a far more interesting (and imo viable) option in Serperior, and more specifically, stallbreaker Serperior to well, break Stall as well as provide a secondary form of speed control and a wincon that readily exploits Koko and especially Medicham's ability to blow through its checks. The spread is pretty standard, but the set is where things get interesting. LEaf Storm and HP Fire are standard fare, but instead of Sub or Leech Seed or Glare, this Serp instead has Taunt and Synthesis to not only stick around a long time, but annoy the everloving shit out of fat teams. You can go Glare over Taunt or Synth to improve certain MUs but u lose the Stall MU so it's dicey. Also lefties are nice for longevity

:Volcarona: And finally, rounding out the team is Volcarona, who's here to provide the team with a Fighting and Fairy resist, secondary Grass resist, and something that can just click the funny Quiver button behind Screens and win. In terms of coverage, I've elected to go STABs + HP Ground to cover Heatran because the team doesn't have enough Tran answers and because it helps Serp a ton (and because it really doesn't need coverage for Pex). Timid> Modest because +1 Modest misses key speed tiers and Boots because Boots.

:Lopunny-Mega: This is the big one. Lopunny can be extremely annoying to deal with since it outspeeds the entire team, chips it with Fake Out, can pivot around pretty freely with U-turn, and just generally be a massive pain in the ass. Can't come in on anything but it's very annoying, especially if you don't have Rocks. That being said, chipping it into +1 Volc range or Medi Bullet Punch isn't hard and it can't come in hard on anything like I said so you can keep it at bay. That and worst case Grimm can take a hit and revenge with Spirit Break.

:Greninja-Ash: Same deal as Lopunny except its slower but way goddamn stronger. Grimm can work as a last resort vs it and Koko can generally revenge if it hasn't evolved

:Landorus-Therian: > :Azelf: To be honest, I think Suicide Lando is probably the more consistent lead, being able to take on stuff like Lop, Diancie, and Chomp better and hitting way harder with its moves. You do lose the major speed advantage and Taunt but u can force kills more easily, whether it's the SD/EQ/SR/Boom set or EQ/Smack Down/Boom/SR set. Personally I prefer Azelf for it's specific qualities that it brings but objectively Lando is prob better

:Hawlucha: > :Serperior: This change forfeits the Stall MU but guarantees that you just dump on opposing Offenses/HOs and gives you a really nice last ditch revenge option vs Gren and Lop. Make sure to go Psychic> HP Ground on Volc if you do this

Shoutouts to the Natdex Discord, especially TheWeirdGastrodon and Avery for giving me feedback on the team and being cool peeps in general!

Thank you all for reading!

Rank Mega Camel
 

adem

her
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MediKoko + The Better Grass Type
:ss/tapu-koko: :ss/medicham-mega: :ss/tapu-bulu: :ss/heatran: :ss/toxapex: :ss/landorus-therian:

gm

I had a pain building this as seen by TheWeirdGastrodon and R8 , but i have finally made it. MediKoko is a pretty standard core that can be done in multiple ways. I paired it with Rock Z Bulu here in order to pressure and KO mons such as Mega Latias, Amoonguss, AV Tangrowth and Grounds in general for this core. Lando + Heatran was added to ease the grass MU and provide rocks + checks to medi, offensive psychics Calm Mind Clefable which was a bitch for this team to deal with, and pressuring Mega Lopunny. Earth Power was used here over Earthquake to synergise with Bulu better + hits Kartana for much harder. Toxapex was added to round off the team to check Ash Gren due to offensive Bulu not being a sufficient check, and handles other threats such as Zard Y.
 

Solaros & Lunaris

Hold that faith that is made of steel
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Voting time!

Team A by KirbCena
MEDIKOKO + MELMETAL VOLTTURN
:ss/tapu-koko: :ss/medicham-mega: :ss/melmetal: :sm/kommo-o: :sm/slowking: :sm/landorus-therian:
Click on the sprites for the paste!


Pretty standard bulky offense featuring Melmetal

:tapu-koko: :medicham-mega:

So obviously I started with this week's core of Tapu Koko + Mega Medicham, which is personally one of my favorite cores of all time because of how well these two can cover each other's checks. I originally went with Specs Koko + Thunder Punch Mega Medicham so Cham could easily overwhlem stuff like Clefable, Mega Sableye, and the Slowtwins while still being insanely strong.

:Tapu-koko: :medicham-mega: :melmetal:

While thinking of ideas for what to pair with these too, I remembered an old conversation on the NatDex discord talking about how Melmetal would make for an excellent partner for Mega Medicham since it easily forces out/pressures the bulky fairies and such that try to tank MegaCham's hits. After a bit of playing around with the moveset, I went with a 3A + Twave set with DIB, TPunch, and SuperPower (murks Heatran and is the strongest option to hit Corviknight attempting to Roost). At this point, I also changed Medicham to Ice Punch to smack Grounds for Koko as well as to abuse Melm potentially paralyzing Mega Latias in order for Cham to turn the tables on it.


:Tapu-koko: :medicham-mega: :melmetal: :kommo-o: :Slowking:

At this point I began focusing on the team's defensive core. SpD Kommo-o checks the likes of Ash-Gren, Serperior. Heatran, Volcarona, etc. while setting rocks up to assist in breaking down the opposition. Rock Slide allows Kommo-o to instantly threaten Zard-Y and Volcarona without taking too much damage and the Speed EVs are meant to outpace Modest Magnezone. I originally had Rotom-Wash here as well, but the team was too weak to Psychics and Fairies so I added Slowking in its place, as its Future Sight enables my team to break teams even more efficiently. The mixed EV investment allows Slowking to avoid the 2HKO from standard Mega Diancie's Diamond Storm as well as opposing Mega Medicham's High Jump Kick while still handling threats like Tapu Lele and Mega Lopunny.

:Tapu-koko: :medicham-mega: :melmetal: :kommo-o: :Slowking: :landorus-therian:

Last but certainly not least, I rounded the team off with Scarf Lando-T which helps fulfill some important roles that no other mon could fill all of at once. Lando provides my team with both a necessary Ground and Electric immunity, as well as another pivot to bring in the wallbreakers and additional speed control as well as Defog to remove hazards when necessary. EVs allow Landorus-T to take two hits from unboosted Kartana's Leaf Blade after rocks as well as just take on opposing gounds better in general.

Special Thanks to the NatDex Discord for helping me iron this team out. Y'all rock!​
Team B by TheWeirdGastrodon
:ss/Medicham-Mega::ss/Tapu Koko::ss/zarude::ss/corviknight: :ss/heatran: :ss/gastrodon:

Medikoko + BU Zarude...BO? (yes i suck)

Ignoring that awful definition of the name, i wanted to try the first teamcomp with cores and so i went with this

:medicham-mega: :tapu koko: good old Medikoko core that has been going around for a long while. Each other clearing the problematic MUs from the other one and Koko giving easy momentum for it to come,

:zarude: Since i dint wanted to imitate almost all the Kommo-O´s that would appear on these cores i decided to try other options. With the experience i had in ND RU i put Zarude into use, went for a BU JHealing set in order to handle waters (Specifically Ash Greninja) and potentially bait pokemon like Zapdos or Corviknight, i still dont have enough experience with stuff in general but as for the small testing i did it did fairly well.

:corviknight: I needed a Kart check and a bit more of momentum, this also gives me something that can switch into Sub Kyurem at least once even if its not that good at it. Also needing something to switch into U-Turn Gliscor or Landorus-T because otherwise my whole team gets abused hard.

:heatran: Specially Defensive Tran specifically for Serperior and Non-HP Ground Volcarona, at first its a normal spdef tran until you see his moveset, Heavy Slam allows me to beat CM Clef and not risk a miss on the stuff that can easily be killed on a 1v1 like Weavile (got this idea when i saw one of adam teams having one for it).

:gastrodon: Zarude alone wont help me with Ash Gren if it runs U-Turn or just not being able to heal enough, this also gives me a hard volt blocker for Electrics and the Ash Gren switch i needed.

:kyurem: While i do have a Corv, if its Specs i have to pray that i can outplay it and SubRoost is still gonna be a pain

:medicham-mega: no usual Slowking or whatever means that just like with Kyurem, i have to outplay it and this one is SIGNIFICANTLY harder to deal with so sometimes i preffer to click X

Anyway with this out of the way, keep up with the Teambuilding Competition as much as you can Sol, we re all hoping for this to keep up
Edit: everytime i finish something like this i just dont like it, sadge
Team C by NuttyRabbit
MEDIKOKO SCREENS...BUT WITH A TWIST

:ss/Azelf: :ss/Grimmsnarl: :ss/Tapu Koko: :ss/Medicham-Mega: :ss/Serperior: :ss/Volcarona:
Click on the team above for the paste

So originally, I was going to go with a standard MediKoko Voltturn, but seeing as everyone else is doing it (and doing heat takes on it), I wanted to try something different, but instead of just going with standard screens HO to be "different", I decided to go with something far more interesting.

:Azelf: Okay so you may be asking "Wait what the hell is an Azelf doing here?". The answer is that I wanted to try some different HO leads, and I thought there was no better time to try it than with this team in particular. Azelf has a few things that make it unique amongst HO leads: a blistering speed tier that puts it above every other HO lead outside of Ribombee (and makes it faster than every rocker and defogger in the tier, and most interestingly puts it speed wise above Mew, which would be its direct competition for this very specific niche ), the combination of Taunt + Boom with that speed that serves to help it prevent both opposing hazards and Defog, and Levitate which helps it match up well vs the Grounds. In terms of the set, it's pretty basic, with rocks being rocks, Taunt and Boom helping it keep momentum and prevent hazards/Defog, and finally Psychic to give it a strong spammable offensive move that hits most rockers/leads at least neutrally. Skill Swap is an option to counterlead Stall and M-Diancie teams but the team has more than enough outs for the latter (and Azelf can force a kill/rocks vs it anyways). Originally I wanted to put Ice Beam but since it doesn't get Ice Beam for some reason, I figured Psychic was best, but u can go HP Ice if you really, really hate Grounds. In terms of spreads, I've chosen to go max Speed and SpA to maximize power, but u can go max HP to improve the Lopunny MU.

:Grimmsnarl: Grimmsnarl is the screener of choice on the team both because it's the best screener, because I'm doing something diff with Koko, and because it helps shore up the team vs both Lop and Greninja which are otherwise massive threats. Set and spread are pretty standard, with max Spdef being nice here to buffer vs Fairies and Gren but max Def can be used to buffer vs Lop and Rilla

:Tapu Koko: And here's where things start to get super heat. See, originally I wanted to a normal Screens team with Koko as the screener but then I realized not only is Koko ass at screens, but also it has a set that can readily abuse screens: Calm Mind Z. With Calm Mind, Koko turns from an offensive pivot or screener into a terrifying setup sweeper and wincon that can blow through its typical Ground checks with boosted Gleams and Twinkle Tackles, win CM wars vs the likes of Clef, boost alongside Latis, and stick around a deceptively long time with Roost. Set and spread are self explanatory, with Fairium Z being the Z of choice thanks to having no immunities unlike Elec-Z and helping it beat Grounds.

:Medicham-Mega: The heat only continues with Koko's required partner in crime in Mega Medicham. As always, Mega Medicham serves to help breath through the bulky Grasses and Normals that Koko struggles with, and in turn Koko breaks through the bulky Waters and Fairies that can wall out Medicham as well as help deal with the faster mons that can threaten Medicham. That dynamic is one that fortunately hasn't changed much. However, the twist comes in the move choice. Here, Medicham forgoes Fake Out in favor of a new, more dangerous option: Bulk Up. Medicham forces a ton of switches just through its existence, and it can take advantage of those forced switches, as well as Grimmsnarl's screens, to set up and make it not only nearly unwallable (fun fact +1 HJK just flat out 2HKOs Latias-Mega and goddamn Gliscor. The only things that wall this are Slowbro and Sableye and both get blown the fuck up by Koko), but also really hard to revenge on the physical side (Rilla Glide does 81 at most after 1 Bulk Up and just dies to HJK/Zen and that is without screens). In terms of the set, it's all pretty self explanatory sans the last move. I've chosen to forego coverage for the last move in favor of priority in the form of Bullet Punch, letting it murk would be revenge killers in Weavile and Diancie

:Serperior: Originally this slot was Hawlucha to abuse Koko's screens and improve certain MUs, but the GOAT Avery suggested a far more interesting (and imo viable) option in Serperior, and more specifically, stallbreaker Serperior to well, break Stall as well as provide a secondary form of speed control and a wincon that readily exploits Koko and especially Medicham's ability to blow through its checks. The spread is pretty standard, but the set is where things get interesting. LEaf Storm and HP Fire are standard fare, but instead of Sub or Leech Seed or Glare, this Serp instead has Taunt and Synthesis to not only stick around a long time, but annoy the everloving shit out of fat teams. You can go Glare over Taunt or Synth to improve certain MUs but u lose the Stall MU so it's dicey. Also lefties are nice for longevity

:Volcarona: And finally, rounding out the team is Volcarona, who's here to provide the team with a Fighting and Fairy resist, secondary Grass resist, and something that can just click the funny Quiver button behind Screens and win. In terms of coverage, I've elected to go STABs + HP Ground to cover Heatran because the team doesn't have enough Tran answers and because it helps Serp a ton (and because it really doesn't need coverage for Pex). Timid> Modest because +1 Modest misses key speed tiers and Boots because Boots.

:Lopunny-Mega: This is the big one. Lopunny can be extremely annoying to deal with since it outspeeds the entire team, chips it with Fake Out, can pivot around pretty freely with U-turn, and just generally be a massive pain in the ass. Can't come in on anything but it's very annoying, especially if you don't have Rocks. That being said, chipping it into +1 Volc range or Medi Bullet Punch isn't hard and it can't come in hard on anything like I said so you can keep it at bay. That and worst case Grimm can take a hit and revenge with Spirit Break.

:Greninja-Ash: Same deal as Lopunny except its slower but way goddamn stronger. Grimm can work as a last resort vs it and Koko can generally revenge if it hasn't evolved

:Landorus-Therian: > :Azelf: To be honest, I think Suicide Lando is probably the more consistent lead, being able to take on stuff like Lop, Diancie, and Chomp better and hitting way harder with its moves. You do lose the major speed advantage and Taunt but u can force kills more easily, whether it's the SD/EQ/SR/Boom set or EQ/Smack Down/Boom/SR set. Personally I prefer Azelf for it's specific qualities that it brings but objectively Lando is prob better

:Hawlucha: > :Serperior: This change forfeits the Stall MU but guarantees that you just dump on opposing Offenses/HOs and gives you a really nice last ditch revenge option vs Gren and Lop. Make sure to go Psychic> HP Ground on Volc if you do this

Shoutouts to the Natdex Discord, especially TheWeirdGastrodon and Avery for giving me feedback on the team and being cool peeps in general!

Thank you all for reading!

Rank Mega Camel
Team D by adsam
MediKoko + The Better Grass Type
:ss/tapu-koko: :ss/medicham-mega: :ss/tapu-bulu: :ss/heatran: :ss/toxapex: :ss/landorus-therian:

gm

I had a pain building this as seen by TheWeirdGastrodon and R8 , but i have finally made it. MediKoko is a pretty standard core that can be done in multiple ways. I paired it with Rock Z Bulu here in order to pressure and KO mons such as Mega Latias, Amoonguss, AV Tangrowth and Grounds in general for this core. Lando + Heatran was added to ease the grass MU and provide rocks + checks to medi, offensive psychics Calm Mind Clefable which was a bitch for this team to deal with, and pressuring Mega Lopunny. Earth Power was used here over Earthquake to synergise with Bulu better + hits Kartana for much harder. Toxapex was added to round off the team to check Ash Gren due to offensive Bulu not being a sufficient check, and handles other threats such as Zard Y.
Voting will end on 6/28 at 11:59 PM GMT
 

Steorra

nya smells
is a Site Content Manageris a Member of Senior Staffis a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnusis a Top Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnus
Discord Leader
Congratulations to adsam for winning Round 59!! YOur team will be added to the archives in time.

Round 60:

:ss/blaziken:

The fire chicken has invaded yet another project. How will you build around with it to bring out the most of its potential?

Deadline is 3rd of July at 11:59pm GMT.​
 

NuttyRabbit

Banned deucer.
STAND PROUD: BANDED BLAZIKEN OFFENSE

:ss/Blaziken: :ss/Greninja-Ash: :ss/Garchomp: :ss/Tapu Fini: :ss/Corviknight: :ss/Lopunny-Mega:
Click on the team for the paste


Man, I never thought I'd actually get to build with this thing, yet here we are. Despite myself, I decided not to build another HO, both for the sake of variety and because I have other plans for Blaziken HO. Instead, what I've got here is something that's a bit more balanced but is still the kind of offensive team that Blaziken really fits on.

:Blaziken: Given that I was going for a more balanced team, I knew I couldn't go with SD or Mixed LO Blaziken since those are complete dick on anything that isn't hard HO, so instead I went with something with a bit more utility and splashability in CB Blaziken, trading its sweeping potential for more of an immediate breaker/pivot. In terms of moves, STABs+Knock+Turn cover a good amount of stuff and prevent it from completely thudding into random shit/forcing bad 50/50s (as opposed to encouraging those with banded EQ/T-punch/etc), instead allowing it to always make some form of progress between Knock and U-turn even against builds that just wall out its STABs. Jolly>Adamant because +1 Adamant is slower than goddamn Koko and I ain't having that

:Greninja-Ash: Ash Gren's up next, serving as not only a secondary wincon next to Blaziken, but pairing extremely well with Blaziken thanks to being able to nuke the physical walls/Grounds/Psychics it hates so much, while also giving it Spikes support to help wear down their shared checks (something which is made far easier thanks to Blaziken giving Knock support). It also slots well here because Gren really appreciates Blaziken's ability to break down Grasses and stuff like Blissey.

:Garchomp: Chomp's here to do Chomp things, i.e get up rocks and break stuff with +2 Continental Crushes. Chomp slots in perfectly here thanks to not only those qualities, but also its ability to come in on Electrics, break stuff like Pex, and just apply insane offensive pressure in general. In turn it absolutely loves not only Gren's Spikes, but also Gren and Blaziken's ability to pressure its very few checks and pivot into it (especially Blaziken's ability to do so since it lures in Pex and Fini which Chomp can scare out or in the latter's case, heavily, heavily chip.

:Tapu Fini: Fini is arguably the lynchpin of the team and why it's able to work at all, not only providing a bulky Water resist, but also a solid Tran answer, Gren answer, Weavile check, opposing Blaziken check, and Misty Terrain support so the team's offensive threats don't have to worry about Scalds and Toxics. However, more than that, Fini gives the team a reliable way to deal with the defensive pivots that otherwise annoy the shit out of it in opposing Finis, Gliscors, and most of all: Toxapexes. It's able to do this thanks to the combination of Whirlpool, Taunt, and Nature's Madness, letting it lure in the aforementioned Pokemon and slowly but surely eliminating them, freeing up the other members of the team to run wild.

:Corviknight: Corviknight is the team's proper Defogger and general Psychic/Ground/Dragon check. It does Corv things, it has Corv moves, it pivots into the breakers and trapper Fini, it has the normal spread what else needs to be said?

:Lopunny-Mega: What's better than 2 really fast Pokemon? Three really fast Pokemon. Lop's here because the team really needed something that was not only faster than the likes of Weavile and Koko, but also had priority (Lop's being Fake Out) which could stymy opposing offensive mons. Lop also just benefits a ton from the rest of the team in general, appreciating Gren's Spikes, Blaziken's Knock support, their shared ability to chip Fini/deal with Grounds, Chomp's rocks and ability to crush stuff like Corv and Pex, Fini's ability to trap/chip Gliscor/Pex/annoying physical shit in general, and Corv's Defogging since its kinda hazard prone.

In general, the team's strategy boils down to either "Trap with Fini and let the offensive Pokemon run wild" or "All the offensive mons chip each other's checks/counters and force progress via that, excessive pivoting, and Spikes+rocks

:Sableye-Mega: I was gonna say I have no idea how this team beats Stall but ig Fini just kinda goes nuts. If Fini goes down it's ogre though

:Charizard-Mega-Y: This thing can force a kill every time it comes in but half the team revenges it or pivots on it coming in so honetly just play aggressive and you'll be fine

:Kartana: Same shit as Zard but Corv just kinda beats it in general.

:Tapu Koko: This thing can be AIDs to fight esp if it's Boots since its coverage just fucks the team up but it's the same shit as Zard. Just play extremely aggressive and you should be fine vs it. Probably the biggest threat to the team in general tho

:Medicham-Mega: Same deal as Zard but Fini also pivots:

Shoutouts to the Natdex Discord for giving me feedback on the team and being cool mfs in general. Not sure how I feel about the chicken yet I gotta do some more testing and game watching but I may vote to unban idk.

Thanks for all for reading!

Watch Jojo and rank M-Camel
 

adem

her
is a Tutoris a Site Content Manageris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
Flaming ThunderClap

:ss/blaziken: :ss/zeraora: :ss/latios-mega: :ss/tapu-bulu: :ss/heatran: :ss/landorus-therian:

This team was made around the core of Normalium Z Blaziken and Work Up Zeraora, with the idea of Blaziken luring in Mega Latias and pressuring bulky grasses , and Zeraora in return pressuring bulky waters and luring and killing grounds such as Garchomp, Gliscor and Lando T. Bulu was added to give extra longetivity to both Zera and Blaziken, whilst compressing an Ash Greninja check. SupDef Helmet Lando T was added as a check to Mega Lopunny, Mega Medicham and as a general fight resist and check to AuraShock Mega Latias. SpDef Heatran was added as a Fairy and Psychic resist, and helping with the stall MU, with Natures Power here chosen to lure and kill Gastro, and big problem for both our main breakers. Lastly, Mega Latios was added as a soft Heatran check, a check to the likes of Garchomp and its Mega, and lures and pressures bulky waters such as Slowking, Tapu Fini and Slowbro.
 

Senko

meow
is an Artist
WEIRD ASS BLAZIKEN SAND... SPIKES???

:ss/blaziken::ss/reuniclus::ss/tyranitar::ss/excadrill::ss/tapu-fini::ss/skarmory:

ok this is probs a stretch but who cares this build is much less extreme than some other crazy garbage stacks ive made. basically...
:blaziken: pressures the steels and ttar gets rid of the stupid psychics for it.
:reuniclus: is in the back as a wincon once blaz and ttar get rid of the waters, steels, and psychics. also is a fighting resist.
:tyranitar-mega: eats psychics and does the rocking for the team.
:excadrill: is the speed control and volt blocker since blaz is just wayy too slow.
:tapu-fini: is the gren and tran check and knocks stuff for spikes.
:skarmory: is the main spiker and checks the grasses and provides a ground immune.
 
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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
Voting time!

Team A by NuttyRabbit
STAND PROUD: BANDED BLAZIKEN OFFENSE

:ss/Blaziken: :ss/Greninja-Ash: :ss/Garchomp: :ss/Tapu Fini: :ss/Corviknight: :ss/Lopunny-Mega:
Click on the team for the paste


Man, I never thought I'd actually get to build with this thing, yet here we are. Despite myself, I decided not to build another HO, both for the sake of variety and because I have other plans for Blaziken HO. Instead, what I've got here is something that's a bit more balanced but is still the kind of offensive team that Blaziken really fits on.

:Blaziken: Given that I was going for a more balanced team, I knew I couldn't go with SD or Mixed LO Blaziken since those are complete dick on anything that isn't hard HO, so instead I went with something with a bit more utility and splashability in CB Blaziken, trading its sweeping potential for more of an immediate breaker/pivot. In terms of moves, STABs+Knock+Turn cover a good amount of stuff and prevent it from completely thudding into random shit/forcing bad 50/50s (as opposed to encouraging those with banded EQ/T-punch/etc), instead allowing it to always make some form of progress between Knock and U-turn even against builds that just wall out its STABs. Jolly>Adamant because +1 Adamant is slower than goddamn Koko and I ain't having that

:Greninja-Ash: Ash Gren's up next, serving as not only a secondary wincon next to Blaziken, but pairing extremely well with Blaziken thanks to being able to nuke the physical walls/Grounds/Psychics it hates so much, while also giving it Spikes support to help wear down their shared checks (something which is made far easier thanks to Blaziken giving Knock support). It also slots well here because Gren really appreciates Blaziken's ability to break down Grasses and stuff like Blissey.

:Garchomp: Chomp's here to do Chomp things, i.e get up rocks and break stuff with +2 Continental Crushes. Chomp slots in perfectly here thanks to not only those qualities, but also its ability to come in on Electrics, break stuff like Pex, and just apply insane offensive pressure in general. In turn it absolutely loves not only Gren's Spikes, but also Gren and Blaziken's ability to pressure its very few checks and pivot into it (especially Blaziken's ability to do so since it lures in Pex and Fini which Chomp can scare out or in the latter's case, heavily, heavily chip.

:Tapu Fini: Fini is arguably the lynchpin of the team and why it's able to work at all, not only providing a bulky Water resist, but also a solid Tran answer, Gren answer, Weavile check, opposing Blaziken check, and Misty Terrain support so the team's offensive threats don't have to worry about Scalds and Toxics. However, more than that, Fini gives the team a reliable way to deal with the defensive pivots that otherwise annoy the shit out of it in opposing Finis, Gliscors, and most of all: Toxapexes. It's able to do this thanks to the combination of Whirlpool, Taunt, and Nature's Madness, letting it lure in the aforementioned Pokemon and slowly but surely eliminating them, freeing up the other members of the team to run wild.

:Corviknight: Corviknight is the team's proper Defogger and general Psychic/Ground/Dragon check. It does Corv things, it has Corv moves, it pivots into the breakers and trapper Fini, it has the normal spread what else needs to be said?

:Lopunny-Mega: What's better than 2 really fast Pokemon? Three really fast Pokemon. Lop's here because the team really needed something that was not only faster than the likes of Weavile and Koko, but also had priority (Lop's being Fake Out) which could stymy opposing offensive mons. Lop also just benefits a ton from the rest of the team in general, appreciating Gren's Spikes, Blaziken's Knock support, their shared ability to chip Fini/deal with Grounds, Chomp's rocks and ability to crush stuff like Corv and Pex, Fini's ability to trap/chip Gliscor/Pex/annoying physical shit in general, and Corv's Defogging since its kinda hazard prone.

In general, the team's strategy boils down to either "Trap with Fini and let the offensive Pokemon run wild" or "All the offensive mons chip each other's checks/counters and force progress via that, excessive pivoting, and Spikes+rocks

:Sableye-Mega: I was gonna say I have no idea how this team beats Stall but ig Fini just kinda goes nuts. If Fini goes down it's ogre though

:Charizard-Mega-Y: This thing can force a kill every time it comes in but half the team revenges it or pivots on it coming in so honetly just play aggressive and you'll be fine

:Kartana: Same shit as Zard but Corv just kinda beats it in general.

:Tapu Koko: This thing can be AIDs to fight esp if it's Boots since its coverage just fucks the team up but it's the same shit as Zard. Just play extremely aggressive and you should be fine vs it. Probably the biggest threat to the team in general tho

:Medicham-Mega: Same deal as Zard but Fini also pivots:

Shoutouts to the Natdex Discord for giving me feedback on the team and being cool mfs in general. Not sure how I feel about the chicken yet I gotta do some more testing and game watching but I may vote to unban idk.

Thanks for all for reading!

Watch Jojo and rank M-Camel
Team B by adsam
Flaming ThunderClap

:ss/blaziken: :ss/zeraora: :ss/latios-mega: :ss/tapu-bulu: :ss/heatran: :ss/landorus-therian:

This team was made around the core of Normalium Z Blaziken and Work Up Zeraora, with the idea of Blaziken luring in Mega Latias and pressuring bulky grasses , and Zeraora in return pressuring bulky waters and luring and killing grounds such as Garchomp, Gliscor and Lando T. Bulu was added to give extra longetivity to both Zera and Blaziken, whilst compressing an Ash Greninja check. SupDef Helmet Lando T was added as a check to Mega Lopunny, Mega Medicham and as a general fight resist and check to AuraShock Mega Latias. SpDef Heatran was added as a Fairy and Psychic resist, and helping with the stall MU, with Natures Power here chosen to lure and kill Gastro, and big problem for both our main breakers. Lastly, Mega Latios was added as a soft Heatran check, a check to the likes of Garchomp and its Mega, and lures and pressures bulky waters such as Slowking, Tapu Fini and Slowbro.
Team C by emillight
WEIRD ASS BLAZIKEN SAND... SPIKES???

:ss/blaziken::ss/reuniclus::ss/tyranitar::ss/excadrill::ss/tapu-fini::ss/skarmory:

ok this is probs a stretch but who cares this build is much less extreme than some other crazy garbage stacks ive made. basically...
:blaziken: pressures the steels and ttar gets rid of the stupid psychics for it.
:reuniclus: is in the back as a wincon once blaz and ttar get rid of the waters, steels, and psychics. also is a fighting resist.
:tyranitar-mega: eats psychics and does the rocking for the team.
:excadrill: is the speed control and volt blocker since blaz is just wayy too slow.
:tapu-fini: is the gren and tran check and knocks stuff for spikes.
:skarmory: is the main spiker and checks the grasses and provides a ground immune.
Voting will end on 7/5 at 11:59 PM GMT
 

NuttyRabbit

Banned deucer.
THE STRONGEST BULKY OFFENSE OF ALL TIME FEAT. MAWGREN AND SD SKYSTRIKE LANDO

:ss/Mawile-Mega: :ss/Greninja-Ash: :ss/Gastrodon: :ss/Corviknight: :ss/Kommo-o: :ss/Landorus-Therian:
Click on the team above for the paste

This team is so fucking good it hasn't lost a single game yet

:Mawile-Mega: :Greninja-Ash: This the core for the week and it's just here to break shit on both sides. Ain't nothing out there that can handle both of these at the same time outside of some wack-ass Mega Venu fat but even that loses long term. Set and spreads standard

:Gastrodon: Gastrodon is so GOATED bro this shit checks everything: CM Fini, Gren, Volc, Tran, Magnezone Zapdos, Manaphy (without E-ball) all of them just fall in this thing's face. The spread maximizes special bulk while the set's pretty standard just with Clear Smog> EQ or EP to blank out CM Fini, Volc, and Manaphy because fuck losing to those

:Kommo-o: Kommo-o also GOAT shit I use this on all my teams, this shit is another Gren check, better Tran check, Zard check, another Volc check, rocker, Draco-less Hydra check and even Serp check this shit got so much utility. Set and spread standard just with Rock Slide last for Zards and Volc.

:Corviknight: Corv is another GOAT mon best defogger in the tier checking all the Psychics and Dragons and Grasses and shit this just sits there, Defogs, throws out BBs and pivots around into the breakers.

:Landorus-Therian: Last mon is another GOAT in SD Fly-Z Lando. Using this shit cos I didn't have a Z mon and I wanted another breaker, and this mon one of the best at doing it, being able to break the like 1 or 2 Grasses that stop Mawgren while also providing more pivoting with U-turn, a soft Lop check, another Volt immune and another Ground immune this shit puts in the business

:Medicham-Mega: This is like the only relevant mon that can really win vs this team since the checks are just Corv and Lando but honestly u can pivot around and force it into range of everything so w/e. Lop is kinda the same deal but u can't revenge it w/ Gren. Tho u can just handle that shit w/ Corv and Kommo-o

:Buzzwole: This the only real big threat to the team since CC/Ice Punch just kinda fucks up everything and Bulk Up is scary as shit. But between Gren, Maw, and Lando u can handle this

Like I said, this team is fire as shit and I ain't lost with it yet. Shoutouts to SamSandMan for helping me test and the Natdex cord for being fire as always.

As a gift I gotta couple replays of this shit in action.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1371328359-o8mx5qny6li8i3jlspgfn7zub9w7m5cpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1370798057-dzdzn315kpoi69higfotyqf03c3movopw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1370810889-vgq5vtijd3uojjgcxxask5fhtx85jilpw

With that being said thanks to y'all for reading!

Rank Mega Camel

EDIT: This team finally lost :psycry:. But I more than made up for it with this game, which demonstrates how it can navigate seemingly obnoxious matchups in Mega Lopunny and oddly enough Celesteela

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldex-1372557493
 
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adem

her
is a Tutoris a Site Content Manageris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
OTR STAKATAKA + MAW GREN

:ss/stakataka: :ss/mawile-mega: :ss/greninja-ash: :ss/rotom-heat: :ss/landorus-therian: :ss/tapu-fini:

When I saw the theme was MawGren, I immediately thought of this sm team (smog formatting is being a pain so had to link it separately https://pokepast.es/027a8787453abca1) I made with OTR Magearna and loved using, so i decided that I was going to build some flames, and that flames would be OTR + MawGrenl Whilst browsing through my options, non really stood out to me, and nothing really felt like it could work, and then I realised, “ay, staka can snowball too” and did some calcs. HOLY fuck this thing is monstrous, shits doing 60 to Drill with a resisted move, and pretty much claims kills vs the standard HO’s nowadays, mainly those lacking Bulletproof Kommo O, as its one of the few mons that can swap into it reliably, and thats why I chose The Tower. I then decided to make Mawile 4A Triple Punch + PR due to it synergising amazingly with staka, as it lures Tran, Pex, Corv, Skarm and SupDef Lando too, limiting the amount of mons able to swap into Staka, allowing it to snowball much faster. AshGren is standard, ntn much to say. I then added SupDef Lando T and Tapu Fini as the start of my defensive core, providing the team with rocks and fog, with HP ice lando to weaken opposing MegaChomp and Chomp in general, and Fini providing misty terrrain supports both maw and staka break and clean without fearing status. Rotom H was the final option i decided after some time, as i needed a good check to Volc, Kyurem, and Koko, and a secondary Grass resist as Lando generally could get overwhelmed, so I settled on Heattom. Pretty clean pivot, spreads Tox and can bring in Maw/Staka/Gren as needed, and checks IPunch MMaw as Lando struggles with that.

Team has major manaphy issues tho, so you’ll need to play around that like a champ.
 
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