Project Next Best Thing: USUM UU (Week 45: Jellicent - Submissions)

[Sage]

For Week 6 we'll be taking a look at the first Ultra Beast, Nihilego! With a ton of Z move potential, item variance, and interesting techs like Pain Split and Substitute, there's sure to be a lot possible with the jellyfish.

Sets are due 3/4/18, EST Afternoon! The following sets are blacklisted:

Choiced Attacker

Nihilego @ Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt / Hidden Power Ice
- Grass Knot / Hidden Power Fire

Rocks Z-Thunder

Nihilego @ Electrium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Thunder
- Stealth Rock

 

[vivalospride]

Nihilego @ Electrium Z / Black Sludge
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 24 Def / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes / Stealth Rock
- Thunder / Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Pain Split

Aight so I’ve been using different versions of this set for a while now, since pre-Staka shifts. https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...rds-dance-rock-polish-gliscor.3605072/page-12 I think this is the first time I used the set but I really enjoy it because of the utility it gives. Nihilego is honestly the best switch in the UU tier has to the coverage of Moltres, Mega Pidgey, etc. I generally enjoy TSpikes more with the combination of sub cm Flame Body Chandy since it can abuse TSpikes so well and checks one of Nihi’s most common threats (Scizor). Pain Split gives this mon a lot of durability, and it can lowkey really fuck over and cripple stall if it decided to switch Blissey in, thus giving a free 2 TSpikes and Pain Splitting all the Hp back. I think Nihi does have a lot of problems due to being weak to p much every common priority user in the tier, but it is super underrated imo and I’ve been having fun with this set for a while now n_n.

 

[Pearl]

(Nihilego) @ Electrium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 12 HP / 244 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Grass Knot
- Acid Spray

old snake draft gem i've never had the chance to post or use since then. doesn't rly need to use elec z (poison and rockium seem like more consistent options when you don't need the extra power on your coverage move) but that's what i used back then so there it is. acid spray is the crux of the set and it allows you to brute force your way past pokemon such as blissey and snorlax, which was huge since the team i made with this set had no other way of damaging stall. plus, it paves the way for fast special attackers like manectric and raikou. give it a shot!

 

[Jade]

Nihilego @ Psychium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Guard Split
- Sludge Wave
- Grass Knot/HP Ice
- Power Gem

This Nihilego set can serve as a late-game sweeper of sorts. Z-Guard Split swaps defense stats (which can be useful for surviving hits due to Nihilegos abysmal defense), and gives +1 speed. The rest of the moves are rather self-explanatory. Power Gem and Sludge Wave are STABs. Grass Knot can be used to hit mons like Swampert, Quagsire, and Seismitoad. HP Ice can be used for Gliscor (though it can fit on a team that takes advantage of Gliscor). HP Fire is another option to hit Scizor, but this set should be used to its fullest once Scizor is gone. I hope you enjoyed this post, and I hope you guys use it in the future!

 

[SuckyTheClown]

AV (Nihilego) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 116 HP / 140 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Ice/Fire]
- Sludge Wave
- Power Gem

So I'm pretty new to this whole tier and to Next Best Thing. This pokemon has been so much fun to tinker with. This is the one I have had the most fun using so far. This is a really good revenge killer agaisnt special mon's. With it's natural special bulk and AV it can tank most moves that would OHKO it, then it gets the kill. Grass knot deals with those pesky water types (Quaq, Swampert, Seismatoad), Whatever hidden power you think fits best on the team. I mostly used HP ice because fire really only hit scizor and you don't want to be switching in on that anyways. Sludge wave hits the fairys and is a strong STAB and same with Power Gem. It has just enough SpDef investment so that you get the speed boost. I really like this and it's been a lot of fun. Thanks Sage for letting me participate. I love NBT!

 

[justdrew]

Nihilego @ Electrium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Thunder
- Sludge Wave
- Grass Knot

I think that Nihilego pressures many teams with Substitute just like Nidoking does. It also allows it to not be revenge killed by Pokemon like Scizor and Mega Aerodactyl. Uh Grass Knot allows for it to OHKO Pokemon like Swampert and I don't feel the need for Power Gem because Thunder and Sludge wave cover enough. That's pretty much it lol..

 

[nameless90]

Mirror Coat Pain Split Nihilego

Nihilego @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 180 SpA / 80 SpD / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Pain Split
- Mirror Coat

Mirror Coat is a very nice move which uses Nihilego's special bulk in order to (almost) OHKO some special attacker regardless of its resistances (unless we are talking about Dark-types, which are immune to this move). Then, Pain Split allows Nihilego to recover some HP towards a slower threat. Leftovers helps you to not be so reliant on Pain Split.
The dual STABs are mandatory in order to have a minimum offensive presence.

EVs spread is stolen from the Choice Scarf set.

 

[Sage]

Very pleased with the activity this week, good slate y'all. Voting will be open until 3/6/18 EST Afternoon.

Vivalospride's Pain Split Nihilego

Nihilego @ Electrium Z / Black Sludge
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 24 Def / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes / Stealth Rock
- Thunder / Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Pain Split

Pearl's Acid Spray Nihilego

Nihilego @ Electrium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 12 HP / 244 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Grass Knot
- Acid Spray

D2P2's Z-Guard Split Nihilego

Nihilego @ Psychium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Guard Split
- Sludge Wave
- Grass Knot/HP Ice
- Power Gem

SuckyTheClown's Assault Vest Nihilego

Nihilego @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 116 HP / 140 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Ice/Fire]
- Sludge Wave
- Power Gem

Wascally Wabbit's Substitute Nihilego

Nihilego @ Electrium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Thunder
- Sludge Wave
- Grass Knot

Nameless90's Mirror Coat Nihilego

Nihilego @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 180 SpA / 80 SpD / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
- Power Gem
- Sludge Wave
- Pain Split
- Mirror Coat

 

[justdrew]

Vivalosvegas

 

[vivalospride]

Super shiny pearl

 

[pdt]

acid spittin' pearl

 

[Jade]

Diamond and Pearl

 

[SuckyTheClown]

normally i'd vote for myself but I'm really digging pearls acid spray. I give him my vote

 

[pokemonisfun]

Vivalospride (and pearl if this project allows 2 votes)

 

[A Cake Wearing A Hat]

Pearbl

 

[Darksafadao]

Pearl

 

[Flygoner818]

pearl, ive used acid spray nihi with shaymin for a double drops core and it's literally everything

 

[Sage]

Did some testing with the sets, and was particularly impressed with Pain Split and Acid Spray sets. Pain Split is a nice way to abuse some of the high HP switchins to Nihilego like Blissey, while Acid Spray softens many checks like Gliscor and Amoonguss into being forced out or taking heavy damage from your STABs. I'll be voting for Pearl this week.

Congratulations to Pearl for winning week 6, your set will be added to the Hall of Fame. Week 7 will be posted shortly!

 

[Sage]

For week 7 we'll be taking a look at the majestic snake, Serperior!



Sets are due 3/11/18. The following sets are blacklisted:

Breakneck Blitz

Serperior @ Normalium Z
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Hyper Beam
- Glare / Defog

SubSeed

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
- Leech Seed

Scarf (Don't use this I just don't want anyone posting it)

Serperior @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Glare

 

[justdrew]

Serperior @ Miracle Seed
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Dragon Pulse
- Giga Drain
- Defog

Serperior is not only great as a sweeper, it is also great offensive utility by having access to Defog. Miracle Seed boosts its powerful Leaf-type attacks while allowing to regain more health with Giga Drain giving it more longevity. Hidden Power Fire can be swapped for Dragon Pulse if your team deals well with Scizor but has issues with Dragon-types as well as Fire-types who resists both Grass- and Fire-type attacks. That’s all, enjoy!

 

[A Cake Wearing A Hat]

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Taunt
- Synthesis

TauntSynth lets serp wallbreak as optimally as possible, with Taunt preventing Suicune from subbing/cming, preventing Blissey and the like from recovering health, and stopping Toxic from mons like Mantine and non-U-turn Gliscor, and Synthesis giving Serperior good sustainability so it can recover off chip damage. Overall a fun set if you need to trim fat teams really well.

 

[TSR]

Serperior @ Leftovers / Meadow Plate / Normalium Z / etc
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- filler; Hyper Beam / Giga Drain / Taunt / Synthesis / Defog
- Mirror Coat

Came up with this because people are literally spamming Amoonguss everywhere right now and this is a great way of incapacitating it for a while, which opens the door for stuff like Azu or weak-ish scarfer x to come in and stop Amoonguss from pivoting all over the place. The average Sludge Bomb won't do enough to Amoonguss back with Mirror Coat from full, but incorporating chip from rocks or Leaf Storm is actually more than enough to secure a kill, especially if they heavily rely on Amoonguss to deal with Serp defensively. Unfortunately it does leave Serperior pretty weakened which can bite it in the ass when it's attempting to tank priority from Scizor and the like, but what doesn't leave Serp weakened these days lmfao.

 

[nameless90]

Coil Serperior

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrowth
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Knock Off
- Outrage/Iron Tail
- Coil

Here we have physical Serperior, which can use Coil in order to hit decently hard on the physical side of the spectrum while boosting our Def to decent levels. The accuracy boost can be handy if you need Iron Tail as a coverage move. I really like Outrage, too, because is a nice neutral coverage move.
Leaf Blade is STABbed, whereas Knock Off is chosen for the utility it provides.

EVs are pretty linear with a 252/4/252 split and a Jolly nature in order to have a fast Coil.

I know that I'm scrapping the bottom of the barrel, but the movepool is quite meager.

 

[Amane Misa]

Serperior @ Miracle Seed
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Knock Off
- Defog

I decided to post this, that despite Wascally Wabbit already posted a Defog set because mine has Knock Off. Basically, Serperior is one of the best Defog users right now. It is able to beat common hazard setters, including Swampert and Hippowdon. The main thing about this set, though, is luring Poison-types, such as Alolan Muk, Amoonguss, and Gengar, and Choice Scarf users, such as Latias and Hydreigon, and thus supporting its teammates really well. This set works exceptionally well with Special attackers, such as Mega Pidgeot, Primarina, as it is able to remove certain items from common checks. It also works extremely well with Moltres, for its ability to not only Knock Off Alolan Muk's Assault Vest but also to switch into common hazard setters and use Defog right away, while also pressuring them to switch out.

 

[Flygoner818]

Serperior @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Taunt / Dragon Pulse
- Gastro Acid

Gastro Acid is a neat little tech that negates your opponent's ability, great for Regenerator mons, Sap Sipper Azu, Poison Heal Gliscor, Natural Cure mons (+ Toxic Spikes) and Pressure users like Kyurem. When boosted by Poisonium, it gives you a further +1 boost in speed, meaning that you can now muscle past Scarfed Latias and Krookodile and Nihilego, and potentially sweep a team. I think Taunt works better on this set because it's good for stall breaking, but Dragon Pulse is immensely useful if you get to +2 SpA/+1 Spe as you may be able to bring down Latias.