Never Underestimate (NU RMT)

[XxBlazePWBTxX]

Never Underestimate {NU RMT}


Hey guys, BlazePWBT here again, for another RMT, i think its my second. This is my first RMT on a tier lower than OU. Here is an NU RMT.

Personally, I don't see many of these around on Smogon, but I've always wanted to try it and maybe use it competitively in tournaments. So, anyway, onto the team.


This is a NU team, which did have some tweaking. It is the first NU team I have made, and well, I hope it will be good enough to see the day of tourneys :).

I have used it on shoddy a fair bit and it has had success, I would just like it to be either revamped or altered for the better. So, onto the team.


Team Building Process

For obvious reason, not every single one of my thoughts can be used here, otherwise, you guys'll get bored. So, I'll show you the main changes to this team. Immeadiately I wanted a lead, that was good,but not common, so I chose a Grumpig anti lead.

I then found I needed a decent physical tank/wall and so I chose Meganium. Then, I wanted to have a special wall who could work in tandem with Meganium, immeadiately I thought of Hypno.

I then saw that Grumpig wasn't going to fit so I had to change it back. I chose Persian at the time, intending to change it later. Also, I wanted a sweeper who could set up with ease and with decent speed and attack, could be utilized middle/end game and I chose Pinsir over Zangoose.

So far, I thought that my team synergy was working well, with only a minor weakness of Bug and Fire to deal with. Now, I wanted someone who could resist bug and fire or be neutal to it, deal status if possible and dish out some fairly decent damage. At first I chose Entei.

Then I wanted a fast special sweeper who could deal heaps of damage, could be choiced and had a wide range of attacks to use. I chose Manectric.

I then used this team in Shoddy. I didn't forget about changing my Persian lead, but I found it to be working sound, despite the un-rarity of it. I then found that Entei wasn't working that well. Will-o-wisping wasn't helping much and generally it wasn't working out. Now, I desperatley wanted a bug and fire resist, and therefore, on the similar lines as Entei, I chose Ninetales, and boy has it been working out for me!

This was my team ^^^^^^^^^ after my original post. Now after some good rates I have decided to change it. In terms of pokemon, Pinsir went out due to frailty and weakness to rocks. In came Scarf Relicanth to wreak havoc if required.

And that everyone, is how my team is at the moment :) . In a nutshell, I have shown you the changes I have made. Now, onto the team itself in detail.

(Edits will be made in Italic just to clarify them)


The Team In Detail

Persian @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Technician
Jolly Nature
Ev's: 252Att/252Speed/4HP


Fake Out
Taunt
Return
U-turn

I like this lead. It is able to function well in UU and NU, but it's NU we're talking about. At 361 Speed, it outspeed many, many non- scarfed NU's. Fake out works well with STAB + Technician like Ambipom, but with less power. Taunt can prevent other pokemon using status, Stealth Rock'ing or setting up. Return is an obvious STAB move to hit most things neutrally and U-turn can be used as a Hit + Run technique and to finish a poke off, letting a sweeper come in poised ready to deal damage. Standard lead, but effective.

Meganium @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
Nature: Bold
Ev's: 216HP/ 148Def/ 144 SpDef

Aromatherapy
Toxic
Light Screen
Energy Ball

I like this too. It's more of a support than anything. A nice quagsire counter more than anything. Light Screen is there to up Meganium's spec. defence up more, can be used to protect Hypno from more Special Attacks and can allow one of my sweepers to set up with slightly more ease. Energy Ball is there for STAB and hits with enough power to severly dent if not kill Gastrodon and Quagsire. Toxic is there so my counters that I can't touch like Altaria and other walls can be dealth with easily.

Hypno @ Leftovers
Ability: Insomnia
Nature: Calm
Ev's: 252HP/56Def/ 200Sp.Def

Thunder Wave
Wish
Seismic Toss
Reflect

Thunder Wave is simple status that helps me counter fast pokemon or cripple counters. Wish works well and nets me a 2move recovery which can be passed to other weakened members of the team, easing prediction. Seismic toss is there since Hypno's attack power is average at best and this will get me 100HP off every pokemon that isn't a ghost. Reflect works well in tandem with Meganium and can help make 2HKO's on Hypno become 3HKO's etc. Helps with sweepers setting up too. This is one of my favourite guys on this team. It works really well and always plays a part in the matches.

Relicanth @ Choice Scarf (Courtesy of Friar)
Ability: Rock Head
Nature: Jolly
Ev's: 252Att/252Speed/4HP

Head Smash
Waterfall
Earthquake
Stealth Rock

A simple, yet very powerful set. An attack stat of Base 90 is formidable for NU, but coupled that with two powerful STAB attacks - Waterfall and most notably, Head Smash. Rock Head prevents Head Smash's recoil damage as well. Earthquake gives this set some nice coverage. With a scarf, this set's speed is 229 x 1.5 = 343.5 (no calculator needed :P ) - a formidable speed only slower than non-scarfed Floatzel, Purugly, Persian, Jumpluff and Tauros, not bad at all. Stealth Rock is a viable option in NU, many threats being weak to the rocks - Pinsir, Charizard, Ninetales etc.

Ninetales @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Timid
Ev's: 252SpAtt/252Speed/4HP

Nasty Plot
Flamethrower
Energy Ball
Dark Pulse

My favourite pokemon on this team. It is beautiful and has swept countless times. Generally, I bring it in on something Ninetales counters or will easily KO and can nasty plot on the switch. With 328 Speed, it is fast and can generally sweep with ease with STAB Fire attacks which can be even more powerful with the common Flash Fire Boosts I receive and E-Ball provides good coverage. It makes the perfect Fire immunity and Bug resist I wanted and isn't easy to beat. Dark Pulse is there for Psychic's and Ghost's which sometimes I may not be able to KO with Flamethrower.

Manectric @ Life Orb
Ability: Static
Nature: Timid
Ev's: 252SpAtt/252Speed/4HP

Thunderbolt
Flamethrower
Hidden Power { Ice }
Charge Beam

Having two grass atacks on my team is enough to take care of Quaggy and Gastrodon. I decided to use Hp Ice over Hp Grass. Thunder bolt is there for STAB and Flamethrower for steels and grass pokemon. HP Ice is a good counter for Altaria, providing it hasn't got a few D-Dances up already. Charge Beam is used against weakened foes and gives me +1 SpAtt as well as Life Orb, making a true specially attacking threat.

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And that's a wrap! So, here's the team again:

So there's the team. I'll accept any views on it, but I would like to keep the core of the team similar if possible. Thanks for reading guys. Merry Christmas.

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But, Before I go, have a look at a couple of the past members of the team that I was pondering, just incase you were wondering how it was originally.

Grumpig @ Expert Belt
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Modest
Ev's: 140HP/100Def/252SpAtt/16Sp.Def

Magic Coat
Psychic
HP Fighting
Thunder Wave

It made a good lead. Prevented Status etc. with Magic Coat. Also, It could T-Wave and cripple leads. Psychic and HP Fighting worked well together allowing me to hit many things neutrally too.

Entei @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Timid
Ev's: 252SpAtt/252Speed/4HP

Will-O-Wisp
Flamethrower
HP Ground
Protect

It was good, until Ninetales came along and outshone it completely. Wisp was a nice status to cripple physical attackers allowing Hypno + Sweepers to set up in peace. Fire + Ground gave me good coverage coming off an above average sp.Att stat. Protect was able to scout out choiced pokemon and enabled to let Wisp to more damage and ease prediction.

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Thanks Guys for reading this far if you did so. Help is appreaciated in any area, but I'd like to keep the core of the team similar if possible. Thanks for rating, peace out.

MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS!

== BlazePWBT ==

PS: Threat list coming soon :)

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[JohntheDM7000]

First off, congratulations on actually building and posting a NU team-they're a rarity around here and it's always good to see a bit of originality. Now to my opinions:

Persian: As you said, the moveset and EV's are fairly standard. I generally prefer 252 speed/252 attack spreads simply because of the higher average speed of NU pokemon nowadays and because Persian (especially with the listed moveset) is relatively common and thus you'll probably find yourself facing a lot of persian leads where success or failure will come down to who has the higher speed to get off a fake out, which makes the speed evs worth it in my opinion but you may see things differently.

Meganium: Toxic would definitely be useful in preventing meganium from becoming "set up bait" for bulky attackers like DD Altaria. Ideally I'd replace synthesis with toxic, because without sun support synthesis is of little utility generally speaking (especially given that it has such low PP).

Hypno: Fairly typical, but a good moveset-I can't really see any problems here.

Pinsir: As far as item and the final moveslot are concerned I'd likely go for life orb and EQ respectively. Life orb simply because you've already decided to make Pinsir a sweeper and aren't paying too much attention to his surivivability (what with no investment in defenses etc) and earthquake because it offers type coverage for a type that you don't otherwise have a super-effective move for (electric) and because it takes advantage of Mold Breaker, which is one of Pinsir's bigger perks and something that I feel should be utilized if at all possible.

Ninetales: Nothing jumps out at me that should be changed.

Manectric: He never really did have all that much in the way of move pool options *sigh*. Nice set for the build though.

Resistance wise, your roster is a little bit lacking but that's likely solved by the bulky core of your team (Meganium and Hypno) and the support they offer with the screens. It also helps that your team doesn't have any type weaknesses that occur more than twice which can be hard to achieve for a lot of teams (especially if you have a strategy in mind that calls for certain pokemon). So congrats on that as well.

All in all, it looks well put together. If you decide to implement any changes keep me updated on how they work out for you.

Have a good saturnalia/christmas etc.

 

[XxBlazePWBTxX]

First of all - Thanks for the rate JohntheDM700, and Merry Christmas to you too.

Quote from you --- John:

"As you said, the moveset and EV's are fairly standard. I generally prefer 252 speed/252 attack spreads simply because of the higher average speed of NU pokemon nowadays and because Persian (especially with the listed moveset) is relatively common and thus you'll probably find yourself facing a lot of persian leads where success or failure will come down to who has the higher speed to get off a fake out, which makes the speed evs worth it in my opinion but you may see things differently."

Response:
I think you may have read the Ev's wrong since I didn't put them in stat order lol. But it was and still is 252Speed. But yes, I will change it to 252Att as well. Thanks.

As for Meganium, yes Toxic does seem a good choice on this Meganium. Wears opponents away and can cause switches, netting free Screens, and switch ins. It helps with the removal of bulky sweepers like DD Altaria, as you mentioned. A good idea.

Pinsir - Yes Mold Breaker is a huge plus point for pinsir's, hence using EQ to abuse that is the way forward - agreed. Life Orb, yeah, I guess so, Even with Stealth Rock and Perhaps one Prioirty move being used on me, I will be able to get about 3-6 Attacks in, most of them able to OHKO. Agreed.

Yeah. Manectric is kindaaaa bad with its movepool. But thank god its got good enough stats to pull of a sweep! I May, and i mean "may" decide to change it for another good special sweeper, although, despite testing a few, Manectric still seems to have the edge.

Overall, yes resistance wise, it isn't the best, but the defensive core of the team does make up for it I guess. Strategy is almost everything in NU.

Thanks for the rate, mate....

Hope to catch ya soon

Merry Christmas etc.

==BlazePWBT==

 

[JohntheDM7000]

Yeah sorry...I guess I did misread the EVs on your persian...sorry.

 

[Maris]

change your manetric moveset to
Manetric@choice specs Evs 252 speed 252 Special attack 4 hit points
timid
discharge/thunderbolt
hp grass
flamethrower
swicharoo
this provides manetric with great move coveredge in the NU enviornemnt. 105 base speed +speed nature outspeeds everything in NU other than tauros. HP grass hits quagsires/golem flamethrower hits eggy and leafeon. and discharge hits a large amount of enemy's hard. Swicharoo allows you to cripple a wall like slowking

 

[Friar]

Hey there,

I like this team and NU in general, so I'll definitely give this a go.

To me, the most glaring weakness I see on your team is Dodrio. Dodrio's high attack stat and base 110 speed allow it to out speed and KO most of your team. The only way I see you stopping it is revenge killing with Persian, who cannot switch in for fear of being OHKO'd. The way I see it, Pinsir is your least needed team member. I think another physical sweeper could work much better in this slot: Relicanth. Relicanth gives you more useful resistances in addition to a very threatening physical attacker. You struggle against some of the fastest NU threats, so a Choice Scarf variant would probably help you the most. Relicanth's huge attack power with Head Smash should break down most pokemon on your opponent's team and weaken Ground types such as Sandslash for Manectric to break through. This also helps alleviate a pressing SR weakness. Here is the set:

Relicanth @ Choice Scarf
Jolly / Rock Head
4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed

Head Smash
Waterfall
Earthquake
Stealth Rock

Jolly nature makes you faster than the vast majority of NU and Head Smash already packs enough power to make Adamant a lesser option. If you are able to force a switch, Stealth Rock is a good option to throw down on the switch. NU is known to have a large SR weakness, and will help you keep these threats in check. Double Edge does not help Relicanth in NU, so it can spare the moveslot.

On Persian, I would keep it almost the same, but change to a 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed spread and add Bite over Taunt. This will make Persian more of an offensive presence in the lead position. In addition, by dropping Pinsir your SR weakness is less pressing, so Taunt is less needed. Bite gives you a nice option against frail ghosts such as Banette in the lead position or the more common Haunter who looks problematic without Bite.

Meganium and Hypno look solid. Just watch out for Hypno getting Pursuited by Skuntank.

To me, it looks like your main method of sweeping will be breaking through from the special side of the attacking spectrum, namely through Ninetales and Manectric. Ninetales has the ability to be much more dangerous and can blow through NU special walls such as Lickylicky, Hypno, and Grumpig or at least weaken them to the point that Manectric can finish them off. To do this, Ninetales needs to be a more offensive presence, with Life Orb and a few other changes. Here is the more potent Ninetales set.

Ninetales @ Life Orb
Timid / Flash Fire
252 Sp. Attack / 4 Sp. Defense / 252 Speed

Nasty Plot
Fire Blast
Energy Ball
Dark Pulse

This is a more destructive Ninetales set. With a Life Orb equipped, a +2 Fire Blast will destroy much of the tier, leaving room for Manectric to clean up. Energy Ball beats down Water types hoping to wall your Fire Blast, and with the Life Orb I think you will find you can break them more often. Dark Pulse hits prominent special walls hard, especially Thick Fat Grumpig, so then Manectric will be able to take it out. Also, if you manage to get a Flash Fire boost off a Dusclops Will o Wisp or something, say goodnight.

With Ninetales blasting through the midgame to open up for Manectric, a versatile sweeper is needed. Thats why I think the Life Orb version would be better. It does pretty much the same thing but has the ability to switch attacks. Heres the set

Manectric @ Life Orb
Timid / Static
4 HP / 252 Sp Attack / 252 Speed

Thunderbolt
Flamethrower
HP Ice
Charge Beam

Although I would usually say use HP Grass, you have Gastrodon and Quagsire locked down and hitting Gligar is appreciated on your team (Altaria is still UU I think). Charge Beam might up your Special Attack, which along with Life Orb would allow you to hit harder than with Specs alone. Basically this thing will just clean up the mess.

Thats all I have, good luck with your team and Merry Christmas!

 

[XxBlazePWBTxX]

Thanks both you guys! Great ideas. To Maris, yes, that was what I was thinking of myself so yes I will use that. Also Maris, you said that Manectric only loses to Tauros. That's incorrect, coz there are other pokes that outspeed it: Floatzel, Purugly, Persian, etc. all of which 99% run Max Speed.

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However, Friar, has just made me change my mind more than once lol. Thanks Friar for an awesome rate. And yes I do plan on changing those things you mentioned. Now that I think about it, why didn't I chose that in the first place!!!

First off, Relicanth > Pinsir. I don't agree with you on this one. But now, after doing some testing and battles etc. It works well. It didn't have the ease that Pinsir had, but boy does it work wonders. That set is a good one. At the moment, I am testing Stealth Rock against other fillers, but I have a feeling the Rocks will stay.

For Ninetales - hmmmm. I have Toxic on Meganium, Thunder Wave on Hypno, What's the point for Hypnosis on Ninetales, when it can get more coverage. Hypnosis' 60% Acc or 70% in D/P was and still is a pain. Life Orb is better for its role as a sweeper too. Now, its the only pokemon weak to stealth rocks, and Hypno's wish can also enable it some extra healing should the rocks be in place. Dark Pulse is great in the last slot as it can take down those ever annoying Psychics and Ghosts.

That leads me into Manectric, where now, Signal Beam is pointless. With Relicanth already having a Scarf, it's not the best idea to have another pokemon that will be locked into a move, and one as versatile as Manectric. Life Orb will replace Specs. With that, Overheat will obviusly change to Flamethrower as 2x Flames is more powerful than 2x Overheats. Gastro + Quaggy are taken care of already hence HP Ice for Altaria if used in UU and Gligar etc. Charge Beam can help finishing a weakened opponent too, to get +1 Spec Att and 30% more power with Orb at a cost of 10% health, a good trade.

Overall, thanks for your rates, especially to John and Friar notably. Made my Christmas that much better :) Thanks guys

Merry Christmas :)

I will make the changes in ITALIC - Thanks again :P

==BlazePWBT==

 

[XxBlazePWBTxX]

~ 24 Hour Bump ~

==BlazePWBT==