Project Next Best Thing: IoA Revamp [Week 7: Krookodile] [VOTING]

[ausma]

hugely snagged from the original Gen 8 thread -- originally hosted by Eve
art done by me!

UU Next Best Thing is back again in Sword and Shield, and a new start for the Isle of Armor metagame! This project tasks the most creative of participants with finding underexplored sets for familiar Pokemon, in order to let them function in a new and useful manner. This project is meant to encourage exploration of a Pokemon in the UU Metagame. With this in mind, not every set will become a metagame staple, but that's fine! We're here to discover what each Pokemon can do, so no matter the purpose of the set you make, your contribution is valuable. We're doing this both for research and for fun, so don't be afraid to submit whatever you want, so long as it isn't anything on the official Smogon Analyses.

How's this going to work?
Each week, a Pokemon with the potential to have many options for sets will be selected. Participants must try to create a new set for it that is not already considered one of its main sets (either already in the Smogon Strategy Pokedex or in the process of being added). Participants will have from Wednesday until the end of Sunday to create their set. On Monday and Tuesday, a vote will be held in order to choose which set is the most creative and viable in the current IoA Gen 8 UU metagame. Once the votes are tallied and a winner is selected, the set will be listed in the Hall Of Fame below this post and the process will start over with another Pokemon.

VERY IMPORTANT RULES

• Feel free to be as creative as you want, just make sure that you can prove that your set stands apart from the standard sets, especially if yours does not appear much different from the standard ones. It is also important that you understand the difference between a creative set and a gimmicky set- this project is meant to use creativity to maximize a Pokemon's potential, not produce gimmicks. We may disallow sets if we deem them too gimmicky, situational, or unoriginal.
• Avoid using single move/item changes, as they do not explore untapped potential of a Pokemon, but rather augment what we already understand of a Pokemon.
• Feel free to post replays of your set in action! This is a great way to show how your set can be game changing in certain situations.
• We appreciate suggestions for Pokemon to cover in the future, but please directly send those to me in a DM rather than posting them in this thread!
• Do not change your set after voting phase has started- doing so will result in disqualification.
• You may not vote for your own set or persuade people to vote for you- these will also result in disqualification.
• You may reserve a set, but if you haven't properly filled it in within 2 days of your reservation it may be taken by someone else.
• Have fun and pop off!

Current Pokemon:

 

[ausma]

Hall of Fame

Hall Of Fame

Week 1: Celebi
Winner: Ramolost
Set: Future Sight

Week 2: Rotom-Wash
Winner: Fusion Flare
Set: Sub + Nasty Plot

Week 3: Cobalion
Winner: Ramolost
Set: Suicide Lead

Week 4: Galarian Weezing
Winner: Ramolost
Set: Choice Specs

Week 5: Necrozma
Winner: Lilburr
Set: Choice Specs

Week 6: Slowking + Slowbro
Winner: Fusion Flare
Set: Body Press

Leaderboard

Leaderboard

1. Ramolost (3 wins)
2. Fusion Flare (2 wins)
2. Lilburr (1 win)

 

[ausma]

Week 6: Bros that are Slow


To kick off the restart of Next Best Thing, why not start with two incredible Pokemon introduced in the Isle of Armor? These two Pokemon are esteemed for the incredibly powerful Regenerator + Teleport combination, which has spearheaded offense in the tier even prior to Slowbro's drop. However, aside from what we already know of them, their movepools are immensely vast, with phenomenal options such as Screens, Status moves, coverage, and even boosting options. How can you give these Pokemon another breath of life in the tier?

Remember, do not use official sets. Due to Slowbro being a new drop, it does not have any analysis, however, Slowking does. Even so, try to see what unique approach you can take with them!

You will have until September 11th at 1:00 AM CST to make your submissions. That being said, happy posting!

 

[Lily]

The Blocker


Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Rest
- Block

Switch into something that can't touch you and Block an incoming Sylveon or Tentacruel or something like that. Calm Mind up to +6 while they pathetically flail around trying to knock you out and proceed to win a game. Slowking can do the same thing but Slowbro's physical bulk makes it better.

 

[SpookMÆN]

Darn it was about to bring up blockbro but it seems like I was too slow. Anyway here goes.

Specs King

Slowking @ Choice Specs
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 88 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Fire Blast
- Psyshock
- Teleport

Kinda reminds me of Specs Weezing, in the same vein that a defensive mon can pull of a specs variant solely just to check its counters. Modest + max investment to spa gives it the best chance to OHKO Zarude switchin in, but most importantly trick cripples bulky walls such as Chansey and the slowtwins, with 168 speed to outspeed the fat blob. Psychock still allows it to handle Keldeo and mons that r3sist fb, while Teleport is a nice option too make it less prediction reliant and keeps utility after trick.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Slowking Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Zarude: 342-404 (97.4 - 115%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

 

[Fusion Flare]

Slowbro @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Teleport
- Body Press
- Iron Defense
- Scald

Yeah slowbro's great and cool and stuff but its always getting threatened out by Darks like Goon, Bish, and Pangoro. IronPress turns the tables on them and makes it so that it can basically stomach their hits and swiftly take them out. Iro Defense also lets you better take on the physical mons Slowbro usually has to check, like Terrak and murder dog, and you still retain the Keldeo checking ability since Body Press still breaks sub at +0.

calcs

252 Atk Choice Band Terrakion Stone Edge vs. +2 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 84-99 (21.3 - 25.1%) -- 0% chance to 4HKO
252+ Atk Guts Obstagoon Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. +2 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 138-164 (35 - 41.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Tough Claws Lycanroc-Dusk Crunch vs. +2 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 94-112 (23.8 - 28.4%) -- 90.5% chance to 4HKO
52+ Atk Black Glasses Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. +2 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 138-164 (35 - 41.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Pangoro Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. +2 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 170-204 (43.1 - 51.7%) -- 7.4% chance to 2HKO

 

[TheGreatMeowth]

Slowbro @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Nasty Plot
- Psyshock
- Fire Blast

Slowbro has a surprisingly respectable special attack stat, and coupled with its natural bulk it can pull of a solid NP set. Run boots to bluff a standard pivot set, and with regenerator, you'll be healthy throughout the match. With 252 HP it's still bulky enough to check Terrakion, and psyshock will kill after LO recoil. Keldeo takes 90% from shock, and none of the variants can break Bro. Sub on a switch and proceed from there. Zarude takes 79% from a fire blast and can't switch in on Bro again afterwards, while Bisharp is cleanly OHKOed by fire blast. After a NP, Slowbro has a 30.5% chance to 2HKO Chansey, and after rocks, it's guaranteed. CM and Specs Sylveon get beat by Psyshock, but Bro struggles against its cleric set. Due to the reduction of its physical bulk, it can't function as a physical wall as well as it usually can, and the lack of teleport means riskier switches. This set greatly appreciates hazard support, and while the set does require heavy team support, the surprise factor is not to be underestimated.

 

[Sickist]

Slowbro @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 244 HP / 232 Def / 32 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Grass Knot
- Ice Beam

since no one has taken the liberty to make the shitty play of just taking a random mon and slapping AV on it, I'll take the hit. The cool thing is that you can actually consistently come in on stuff like non-specs noivern and starmie (the spread avoids the 2HKO from LO tbolt and gknot 2HKOs not counting analytic) and beat them 1v1. The best part is that due to broken regenerator, you can still check 90% of the stuff you should as bro (rak, mamo) just by pivoting in with a butt-ton of defense. Scald and Psyshock are given, beam beats noiv and the bad flygon (and hits rotom-mow trying to come in for free), and grassknot hits starmie, opposing bros/kings, sharpedo, cloyster, etc. Overall, probably a shitty set, but it's okay since it's NBT. Thanks for reading.

 

[ausma]

Hello! It's voting time! You guys have until September 13th at 8:00 PM CST to get your votes in! Don't be slow >v0

You can vote for:
Lilburr's Block Slowbro
SpookMÆN's Choice Specs Slowking
Fusion Flare's Body Press Slowbro
TheGreatMeowth's Nasty Plot Slowbro
Sickist's Assault Vest Slowbro

 

[Sickist]

Specs king is p hot

 

[Revelation]

Iron Defence/Body Press!

 

[SpookMÆN]

Blockbro

 

[pokemonisfun]

Fusion Flare / Iron Defense + Body Press

 

[ausma]

Sorry for the late response all! I was waiting for an extra vote to break the tie, and luckily, we got just that.

Give a hand for Fusion Flare's Body Press Slowbro! If you're gonna do the Lycanroc suspect, perhaps it could serve you well.

Anyway, our next candidate is a Pokemon that rather annoys our Bros, and mugs them in the alleyway when they least expect it.

Week 7: How Bad Can I Possibly Be?



That's right! This week's slate will be dedicated to Krookodile, a Pokemon that has been performing a bevy of useful roles in the tier. Whether you need a good offensive Stealth Rock user, a promising Scarfer, or even just a juicy wallbreaker, Krookodile's your croc. On top of all of this, Krookodile gained newfound access to a couple of fairly interesting moves, namely Close Combat, and has some rather unexplored coverage and utility options. What can you make of this?

As always, don't use these sets, and try to experiment with Krookodile's movepool! You will have until September 20th, at 6:00 PM CST to get your submissions in! Happy submitting!

 

[Sickist]

Krookodile @ Chople Berry / Rindo Berry / Soft Sand
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Throat Chop

Throat Chop was a tech I shared with Lilburr a few weeks back right after the Jirachi ban, before Sylveon even started shooting up. Now that it has, I def think it is a viable option, as it completely shuts down defensive Sylveon from anything except Wishing, as well as blocking CM/Specs Sylveon from clicking Hyper Voice, effectively allowing you to 1v1 these variants. The resist berries are given depending on whether you're weak to Lycan/Rak or Teapot. Soft Sand is also a cool option I've been trying that allows you to more effectively 2HKO/3HKO things you usually wouldn't, as well as having around a 60% chance to actually OHKO Cobalion after rocks.

 

[pokemonisfun]

Krookodile @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Mean Look
- Spite
- Rest
- Throat Chop


Trap and eliminate Umbreon and Sylveon.

 

[SpookMÆN]

WP + Power Trip baybee

Krookodile @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Trip
- Scale Shot
- Close Combat
- Earthquake

This fits on HO screens, and instead of being a rocker Krook becomes a set up sweeper. This set takes advantage of the fact that most teams pack bulky waters + Zarude + mons with fighting type coverage, as with screens up it can survive most unboosted SE hits and set up a scale shot or just go straight for the kill. Basically it takes advantage of walls like Sylveon and Slowbro and differs itself from Power trip Inci by having Moxie and not being weak to accelerock from Lycan, which is huge.

 

[nameless90]

Bulk Up Krookodile

Krookodile @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Substitute
- Bulk Up

This is a more defensive set with the addition of Substitute (to block detrimental status moves) and Bulk Up to fix both Def and Atk. The idea is to set-up in front of physical attackers and, then, dish out damage.
The dual-STAB combo of Earthquake+Knock Off is the bare minimum to avoid being Taunt-bait or too passive.
The EVs spread is a bulky and fast one in order to increase the opportunities to do this.

 

[ausma]

Choice Scarf Moxie Krookodile

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Iron Tail
- Close Combat

92 base Spe is enough to use well a Choice Scarf (reaching 466 Spe points after the boost provided by the item) in order to outspeed some faster threats and slower Scarfers.
Thanks to Moxie you can get easily some extra kills facing weakened threats, so I picked this ability over Intimidate, which is still good but I think that it is worse than Moxie with a Scarf.
The 4 attacking moves are pretty standard, so there isn't need to explain them.
Keep in mind that this Krookodile is a cleaner, so it doesn't have to OHKO threats from full hp: this is why hazards support is appreciated.

Hello, thanks for making a submission! Unfortunately, Choice Scarf Krookodile is already a standard set. Although Moxie is different from the standard Scarf set, it's not enough of a difference to justify being a submission, as it shares almost every other aspect in common with the standard set. I'll have to ask that you change this to something else, or I'll omit it from voting.

For this reason, I'll begin voting tomorrow. I've been really busy with school as well, so you do have a little bit of extra time!

 

[ausma]

Sorry for the holdup, voting begins now and will end on Friday, October 16th at 6:00 PM CST!

 

[Band]

Awww man... Throat Chop is such a cool tech but I gotta go with SpookMAEN's, cuz Power Trip is an even cooler tech

 

[Fusion Flare]

Sickist

 

[nameless90]

SpookMÆN