NFE NFE Metagame Discussion

[Antares]

 

[megatyler30]

View attachment 416890

Shing'n Streets Does the God's work in NFE. Might steal one of his teams and attempt to find someone to play some ladder at some point this weekend. (Vote Shing for Tier Leader everyone.)

 

[Reece]

Poliwhirl
​

I've been playing NFE for around 2 months now, this is an interesting pick at first sight. With the ban of both Golbat and Magmar, I wanted to play around with another potential Belly Drum user to single out whether it was Belly Drum that was broken in this tier or not. This was the fastest user and most viable option, s/o Charmeleon.

The Set

God

Poliwhirl @ Salac Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 20 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Def / 192 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Belly Drum
- Waterfall
- Earthquake / Ice Punch

Substitute allow you to set on probably the most common defensive staple right now, Wartortle, due to the overwhelming popularity of Piloswine. This means getting setup is almost as easy now. Waterfall is your preferred STAB move and can OHKO Roselia after the slightest chip. Ice Punch OHKOes any Grass-type bar defensive Tangela. Noticed that Mareanie was an issue so you can also slot Earthquake depending on what your team needs. EV spread ensures that the HP for Poliwhirl is divisible by 4 which makes everything function properly, enough Speed EVs to outpace Gabite, and rest placed into Defense. An alternative spread with 4HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe with an Adamant nature can be used instead if you are not worried about faster threats since Poliwhirl has a great natural Speed tier.

Calcs

These Worry Me

Jolly
+6 252 Atk Poliwhirl Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 80 Def Vullaby: 382-450 (111 - 130.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252 Atk Poliwhirl Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Clefairy: 246-289 (71.5 - 84%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (assuming behind Sub)
+6 252 Atk Poliwhirl Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Piloswine: 536-632 (132.6 - 156.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252 Atk Poliwhirl Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Electabuzz: 349-412 (128.7 - 152%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252 Atk Poliwhirl Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Eviolite Roselia: 207-243 (85.8 - 100.8%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
+6 252 Atk Poliwhirl Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Mareanie: 358-422 (117.7 - 138.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252 Atk Poliwhirl Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Marshtomp: 298-352 (86.6 - 102.3%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

Adamant
+6 252+ Atk Poliwhirl Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Marshtomp: 327-385 (95 - 111.9%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Poliwhirl Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Eviolite Roselia: 227-267 (94.1 - 110.7%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Poliwhirl Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Ferroseed: 156-184 (53.4 - 63%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

The Team
​

I saw Shing's latest post on cores, and the offensive Roselia and Trick Clefairy really interested me since that would be how I play in other formats. So to begin with, it was in great interest that Stealth Rocks were given to Piloswine, there isn't too much to discuss about this core so instead I'm going to link the post i got it from with a perfect explanation. From here, some Hazard removal was needed and Vullaby was a great option since Roselia pairs well with it, while Piloswine functions better with Eviolites removed. Now Wartortle has risen recently due to the prominence of Piloswine so I wanted something that could stop it from pivoting out. Poliwhirl stops Flip Turn, Subs on the Toxic and then Belly Drums without it being able to touch it, which leaves its Sub intact for mons like Thwacky. A pivot was needed for this team since I just like spamming Volt Switch on a tier that doesn't really have an answer to it, making setup chances better for Poliwhirl.

Struggles
- Choice band variants can tear through the team, but Spikes support can whittle it down in conjunction with Electabuzz forcing it out
- Highlighted above, only Roselia can deal with it properly unless you pivot on it coming in for Piloswine to deal with it. (Usually Pilo even loses the Giga Drain matchup)

My Overall Thoughts
Poliwrath is definitely an interesting pick that I'd say more people should play around with, due to its unique ability and rather odd setup capabilities on most Pokemon in the tier, especially since most OMPL teams + the NFE sample teams centralize around the Piloswine check, Wartortle. Although, one may allude to the conclusion that Belly Drum here is the issue instead of the Pokemon which could be something the Council looks at over time as the Meta stabilizes post-bans. It most definitely has the potential to mow through the vast majority of teams we see competitively, though, this is probably unseen territory for most since this is the most cursed thing ever.

Pokémon to Look Out For in the Future
click on the sprights for all of the sets​

- Loves the presence of Stealth Rock Piloswine, can absorb any hit, Future Sight, and pivot out into something else. Good Toxic bait for Tangela and trade with Wartortle. Phenomenal paired with Raboot when luring in Grass-types.

- Choice Specs Gastly thrives off everything moving towards Physical Defense due to Piloswine, making it easier to blast through walls. Nothing can switch into it safely, excluding Galarian Linoone, though it has to be weary of Dazzling Gleam. Can be a good Wallbreaker under the correct positioning which funnily enough is helped by Electabuzz's Volt Switch luring in all the Grass-types

Thanks for attending my TEDTalk, have a good day/night.

 

[Paratrooper69]

Hi gang, I’ve been playing NFE for roughly a month or two, and I believe the team I’ve used to climb to rank 94 out of 500 is worth reviewing, maybe even making it a usable set for others to base off of.


Para’s Corsola (Corsola-Galar) @ Eviolite
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Strength Sap
- Haze
- Night Shade

Para’s Gurdurr (Gurdurr) @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch

Para’s Tangela (Tangela) @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Giga Drain
- Leech Seed
- Sludge Bomb

Para’s Zweilous (Zweilous) @ Choice Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Outrage
- Superpower
- Facade

Para’s Electabuzz (Electabuzz) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Focus Blast

Para’s Fletchinder (Fletchinder) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Dual Wingbeat
- Flame Charge

I have many reasons for these pokemon, and I’d be more than willing to put them down below, which is what I will be doing

We all know why Corsola-Galar was chosen for the team, but for those who don’t know. Corsola-Galar is a premier tank in the current meta, and it takes a lot to take it down with an eviolite. Even with Knock Off, the thing has Strength Sap to negate the defense drop against Physical pokemon like Guts Gurdurr.

Zwelious was my inspiration, because of its Hustle + Choice Band set absolutely wrecking Specially Defensive Corsola-Galar and Dusclops alike. Even physically defensive Corsola-Galar gets two shot with eviolite on, and its easy to blow away a lot of defensive competition when stab Crunch, Facade, and stab Outrage essentially have an instant swords dance on them.

Fletchinder is an underrated Priority User. Being able to outspeed Thwackey with Dual Wing Beat, having Swords Dance, and being threatening to Ferro are all extremely viable traits for it on this team, on top of being able to absorb Will O’s when Gurdurr faints. Speaking of which

Gurdurr is a mindblowing pokemon here. Eviolite gives the necessary bulk to thrive against Banded Raboot, Hatterne, etc, while not losing when Corsola tries to wisp. A benefit of it being Guts is people expect it to always have a flame orb. Drain Punch makes it a believable Iron Fist user, and it uses the set extremely Viably. I credit Temporal Totodile here, because he helped make Gurdurr even better than the original way I used it.

Electabuzz is a Fast pokemon, and with specs, it’s stan Thunderbolt does the equivalent of an unboosted Psychic against other Electabuzz. Not to mention its boosted Psychic’s or Focus Blast, the pokemon is great in so many ways, and has been a great abuser of Volt Switch, and keeping momentum going, even in sticky situations.

Finally, last but not least of all, Tangela. It’s status abuse, defensive bulk, and regenerator lets it be a great late game wall, capable of taking up Corsola’s Spot when it faints, or even when the ghost simply can not take the next hit. Leech Seed is great when it supports not only Tangela, but other team mates such as Zwelious, who absolutely adore the extra HP when the damage simply doesn’t do enough from its dual stabs.

I thank everyone who read this for their time, and I hope it is considered for a sample set. If not, then it is understandable, and I simply wish my insight be useful for future readers :-)

 

[Maybca☆〜ゝ。∂]

hello to all today I'm going to show all my teams from my omfl / nfe seasonal journey! all teams are of course takeable. first of all thank you to the fr people who helped me get into the oms s/o Kabilapok it’s a very good guys ty for all of your help for the nfe seasonal and to my two captain ItsChew. and TTTech !

week 2 : https://pokepast.es/1a921296c376d067

week 4 : https://pokepast.es/1bce4b41aa527575 s/o Shing'n Streets

nfe seasonal :
the first rounds were not interesting and I almost always used the same teams.

round 6 : https://pokepast.es/7a2712d0b248df66 , https://pokepast.es/a083779c53d32845 , sorry I can't find the last one anymore :(

round 7 : https://pokepast.es/3ed209d9522e520a , https://pokepast.es/48617be90b66d7a2, https://pokepast.es/7cae860c902d8bcc I did not go until the third game but I say it anyway I was going to use this team , s/o Kabilapok for the prep even if I was not up to it. for those who are wondering the spread of the electabuzz 2 team of the round7 seasonal it’s for the 172 spa 2hk0 mamoswine after a spikes/sr, the 56 def is to get 5hk0 by the koffs of vullaby which suddenly becomes my answer to vullaby with tief

I tell you goodbye and I hope to do it again with another tournament one day who may know the ompl :) hello and I hope these teams will be useful to you for some
S/o for Dragonillis who helped me a lot on lots of build ideas and who made me open my eyes to the oms the same for Osake on the aaa x) we suspected it. Bye !

 

[Shing]

Maybca posted some of their NFE teams in OMFL, but I'll post the rest of them here. My overall opinion of my effort on NFE was well I could have done much better, but overall I did my work and got to experiment with things differently.

W1: https://pokepast.es/e75f2d11329e313f
W2: Maybca posted them and it's their team
W3: https://pokepast.es/767d1e55212ef857
W4: https://pokepast.es/323b36744ec77d59
W5: https://pokepast.es/4c13974b6a4fd837
Playoffs
G1: https://pokepast.es/22c8f42e58380211
G2: https://pokepast.es/ef017204e65257bc
G3: https://pokepast.es/635c3afe68ffd872

While on OMFL, I made a personal NFE Set Compendium all based on my knowledge of SS NFE's history. That means it doesn't only reflect the current VR and is taken from old history. The reason is that so the players that will play NFE in our crew will be aware of the sets that can exist, and avoid being cheesed while using them to their advantage on the calcs or building their own stuff. Obviously, I'll give them direction on what's relevant or not, but I think it was worth mentioning ancient sets. Since our crew is out of playoffs, I'll gladly just post the Set Compendium I made of my own for anyone that wants to use it. I did a recheck and updated them today so it's not that worthless. The paste is reflected by the current VR and most of the sets for higher tiers should be the relevant ones. Only C to UR mons are where there are sets that are taken from old times and they're either outdated or not viable for the current meta. There are notes that will be included there too, such as niche moves, different EV spreads, and some mention of outdated sets. Enjoy them and I hope you'll find some use with this :]

S to A: https://pokepast.es/87e561c66949d486
A- to B: https://pokepast.es/74e86d480b2e76ab
B- to C: https://pokepast.es/38f1ec2397156e46
C- to UR: https://pokepast.es/2ed4801b852420d8

Before ending this post, I'll just say I'm gonna make an NFE nom post on NFE Resources and another one in here to reflect the current meta, and as well talk some personal thoughts as my opinion on the meta and cores. It'll probably take a good amount of time since it's expected at this point that I end up making long-ass posts and I think there's definitely a lot to talk about. Less ambiguous compared to my previous ones, but it'll still be long IMO. When I'll post them is a bit unsure, but more than likely end of OMPL since I'm going on vacation next week. But I will post them and definitely before Scarlet and Violet since SS NFE will be a classic just like every old gens.

What I want to talk about would definitely be something like:
- Roselia's effect on the meta, and how it abuses Spikes to the fullest extent.
- Physically Defensive mons and its importance to the tier; Corsola-Galar is back as one of the important pokemon for many playstyles.
- In reflection, talking more about Physical Offense and their potential.
- Vullaby's impact and how its importance is needed for majorities of teams, adapting new sets and cores, and how people can exploit it
- Piloswine's adapting to the trends and all of their sets have shown success.
- Machoke's underutilized tools to force progression and how Machoke can successfully play around its checks and it's a way better wallbreaker than Gurdurr, and dare I say it potentially a better Pokemon than Gurdurr at the moment.
- How Hattrem's actually excellent again(as much I hate to admit it). Such as its impacts for the current meta, and how offensive and defensive teams will benefit them again. Dare I may say it, actually one of the most influential pokemon's in the tier right now with Roselia and Vullaby?
- Downfall for Koffing maybe.
- Going in-depth for Hazard vs Hazard Control aspect, for the good and the ugly side.
- Was the Golbat Ban truly a completely positive ban overall? Did it make the teambuilding aspect more variable, or did it make it too centralized such as Spikes being too strong? I'll definitely talk about this one, even if it'll take a lot of thought process for me to write it out.

Those are such examples I may talk about in my next post. It won't be as constructed as my last posts and is more likely to end up just thoughts-alike ones I want to ramble about although. But yeah, there are a lot of things I want to speak out about. Hopefully, I'll actually finish it before I feel burned out and quit lol. Look forward to my nom post and my other NFE posts till then :>

 

[Maybca☆〜ゝ。∂]

hello to all, today I will present my viability ranking according to me let's start!

S-Rank
Reserved for absolutely meta defining Pokemon
S
he is really very strong as long as with his set 3 atk taunt/toxic or specs or rest he puts real pressure on his own some check stops him
piloswine he really has an influence, band or eviolite he does enough damage to take a real advantage in the game band he 2hk0 with tremor clefayri full defensive his only check: corsola g

A-Rank
Reserved for Pokemon that do great in the current meta, and otherwise need little to no support to function, or ones that provide a tremendous amount of support.

A+
roselia is really strong. his role in hazard stack so impressive he checks electabuzz well he is fast and he has access to spike which I find the hazards have real effect on nfe games
defensive spinner? shell smash spinner or sub shell smash? these three sets are as strong as each other first defensive one of the best check a pilo shell smash a good sweeper if roselia is weakened and corsola g too.
when we talk if a good defensive check how not to pass tangela: he hits hard enough to kill pilo he tank if he is band gurdurr he has the duel. raboot he comes over without dying? is it killable in addition to that regnerator to come back many times he has sleep powder
frankly, haven't you already drooled over this one? if you don't have a taunt / magic bounce he is almost unkillable the koff is essential on him! between the burn haze and the trapper, I can't take it anymore
one of the best defogers in the tier is a koffer a check at corsola g and he comes on raboot if he is defensive. in addition to that knoc off is one of the best atk of the tier at the same time all the mons without eviolite it does not become oof
humm a good defogger his talent guts he suddenly becomes a check to roselia with drain punch or the rest sleep talk strategy. he puts real pressure and it's koff his often free the counter hummm tangela after a koff and ... that's all

A
he checks electabuzz in spd a good pass wish, and good check raboot if he is defensive. he has good sr with trick to recover the eviolite he is really hard but weakens easily and roselia comes over quietly and that's why he is not ranked higher.
it's a pokemon that is close to my heart one of my favorite poke of the tier I don't really see the counter except tangela I find it great in hazard stack with haterem for one that corsola g does not counter it!
without talent makes him too strong. he spams u turn and with a good team he becomes really strong! just key and corsola can come safely.
another one i love one of the best supports in the tier the only one that bothers corsola g are an amazing talent goes so well in hazard stacks or even scales. only when it's done koff it becomes too much of a good check to those he checks with an eviolite, and that's why I put it there

with all its: band, no sd acrobatics item, sd eviolite no real counter except corsola-galar and even if he has the whirpool set it's free only just to pass the 5 laps of grassy terrain let a poke die / make uturn go to something faster and hit the right move. I don't place him any further because there are too many cons for him.

A-
he's really cool, he's got the smirk parting kick and the koff, his speed is one of his only good assets. only too many pokemon stop it
nice this one good setter if only too many good grass type in the meta for it to be highlighted enough
really cool gabite my favorite counter at electabuzz his set rest, toxic, eq, sr is really strong in this meta toxic for vullaby the only mons which is annoying.
the first lc of my vr, it is quite special but remains usable in particular for its access to wow, tspike, pain split tief, sludge bomb finally a good movepool. and it is notably one of the only safe checks at gurdurr/machoke.
I find that his spam fire blast in specs is really strong his access to shadow ball allows him to scare corsola g and dusclops.
although he has too many common pokemons that can come on him, his role as tspike offers him a good opportunity. As well as his koffs are often free because he tank electabuzz thunderbolts (non specs). it is a good counter to the wartortle and the raboot.

B-Rank
Reserved for Pokemon that work well in the meta or can provide valuable niches, but otherwise have large competition or flaws that make them not as viable as A-Rank Pokemon.

B+
a lot of checks but his speed and talent make up for it all. it is a good koffer.
are talent + band makes it a good breaker pity that key the wall a little. but really too strong if he doesn't miss.
good breaker with sd, scale shot it picks up speed and can really make big holes i think with a smash wartortle shell behind it would be a really good combo.
to have the bulk of a crushed chips what does he hit hard he 2hk0 vullaby sludge bomb his speed is not really horrible but still the problem of his bulk the priorities will kill him every time damage.
this harmless-looking bird can change your stance whether you have bad mu or lose. this damage is simply colossal. I send him to the pip break by killing himself on brave bird I put wartortle I start to smash shells and knock there I see that the end of the game is near.



I think that after all the pokemons the others don't have their place in the tier, but there are too many counters to give them the opportunity to shine.

bye all !

 

[S1nn0hC0nfirm3d]

xavgb stepped down from council. Thanks for your help this generation!

Lampent remains as one of the only special wallbreakers / setup sweepers. It usually takes a defensive core with the correct predictions and offensive pressure to stop Choice Specs sets, which is a great tradeoff for Lampent players to take advantage of. There's even the added benefit of being a softcheck to Raboot; a feat incapable of its competition like Gastly and Abra. Unless more of its counters catch on, its safe to say Lampent is capable of fishing for a good matchup and tearing through defensive cores.

A sleeper pick, there's all the right reasons to use Hakamo-o. It's almost surprising that it didn't catch on sooner when: 1) Golbat left, 2) Roselia and to a lesser extent Tangela + Thwackey received more attention, 3) Lampent replaces Magmar to some degree, and 4) Electabuzz is relying more on Focus Blast + Seismic Toss than Psychic as coverage. Hakamo-o's typing and ability Bulletproof are seemingly so anti-meta that there isn't much else it needs to function as a setup sweeper. Sure, Piloswine and Clefairy are going to be tough, but it has the tools like Substitute and Iron Head to beat them as need be. I don't want to jump the gun here but it's safe to say this pick is more suitable to B or potentially A rather than C.

Thwackey is back in fashion. At +2, it pressures enough defensive cores to make up for that added Grassy Terrain recovery you provide them, and it's also functioning as an offensive check to Electabuzz, Wartortle, and Piloswine. Needless to say, most teams need answers to those three, and building around Swords Dance sets is super rewarding. Acrobatics is still my favorite set to run most of the time, but you can't go wrong with a standard U-turn set and extra pivots.

- Vullaby's impact and how its importance is needed for majorities of teams, adapting new sets and cores, and how people can exploit it
- Roselia's effect on the meta, and how it abuses Spikes to the fullest extent.
- Physically Defensive mons and its importance to the tier; Corsola-Galar is back as one of the important pokemon for many playstyles.
- In reflection, talking more about Physical Offense and their potential.
- Piloswine's adapting to the trends and all of their sets have shown success.
- Machoke's underutilized tools to force progression and how Machoke can successfully play around its checks and it's a way better wallbreaker than Gurdurr, and dare I say it potentially a better Pokemon than Gurdurr at the moment.
- How Hattrem's actually excellent again(as much I hate to admit it). Such as its impacts for the current meta, and how offensive and defensive teams will benefit them again. Dare I may say it, actually one of the most influential pokemon's in the tier right now with Roselia and Vullaby?
- Downfall for Koffing maybe.
- Going in-depth for Hazard vs Hazard Control aspect, for the good and the ugly side.
- Was the Golbat Ban truly a completely positive ban overall? Did it make the teambuilding aspect more variable, or did it make it too centralized such as Spikes being too strong? I'll definitely talk about this one, even if it'll take a lot of thought process for me to write it out.

​

We've hit a point in the metagame where Vullaby is on almost every build. There's not an updated OMPL usage stats (or any usage stats from the recent seasonal) that I personally know of but from my observations and experience it looks like Vullaby is potentially even more popular than Piloswine. I think we can directly attribute both the loss of Golbat and the consequential rise of Roselia as the main reasons. Golbat was a necessary and splashable Defogger on most teams, and it in turn kept Roselia from being a popular choice for a Spike user. That said, Vullaby still had a noticeable niche and its supporters, but with the bat out of the picture it's almost universal. I mentioned previously the centralization around entry hazards and how even two answers to them isn't always enough, so Vullaby is the next best splashable answer.

More so, Vullaby offers three imperative defensive perks on top of the customization options for making progress. Defensively, Vullaby checks most Grass- and Psychic-types as well as providing a necessary switch-in to Lampent's Shadow Ball. There's a liberty to choose between U-turn as what is probably still the best option to punish what Vullaby switches into or something like Toxic and Brave Bird / Air Slash as a lure. Even Vullaby's EV investment is pretty customizable; from full phsydef to full specialdef, from minimum speed U-turns to a good speed so you may Air Slash an unexpecting Tangela, there's a ton you can do.

This centralization is a concern because it makes teambuidilng as boring and samey as before, if not even more.

Roselia saw more development as well as a general concern with how to deal with Roselia in the teambuilder. Covet creates an opportunity to pressure Vullaby and Hattrem way more than what Roselia is capable without it, so it's acting like a "what if Tangela got Spikes" sort of deal. Poison Point is a great asset for it not only for making the poison on Vullaby more reliable, but also for punishing Thwackey's attacks and Wartortle's Rapid Spin. Faster sets use either Leaf Storm or Sleep Powder to dispatch Piloswine, neutering any surprise attack Choice Band Piloswine may have had in mind––barring Roselia being in range from Ice Shard, of course. These bonuses are on top of Roselia's main goal, which is to set Spikes on virtually most defensive Pokemon like Tangela, Gurdurr, Clefairy, Mareanie, Koffing, and Marshtomp. Only a handful of walls and sweepers actually force it out, and the fact that Roselia developed the tools to work around some of them is a huge perk for it.

The entry hazard playing field is already so centralizing, and now that we're seeing the full extent of what Roselia is capable of, we're also seeing how inconsistent it is to try and check it.

Physical walls are vital because, for the most part, the most popular sweepers and wallbreakers are physically offensive. Galarian Corsola and physically defensive Clefairy are the root of many defensive cores not only because of their advantageous matchups against potent threats like Choice Band Piloswine, setup Fraxure, and Raboot, but also because of their unique typings. Galarian Corsola takes most physical attack neutrally: Ghost coverage is mostly limited to special attackers, and most Dark attacks come from defensive Pokemon using Knock Off or threats that are still too weak to KO it followed by Strength Sap and maybe even burn. Clefairy is in a similar boat and particularly is useful for its Dragon immunity. Compare this to walls like Tangela and Koffing, which are becoming less popular due to their poor matchups with Piloswine even if they're better at making progress or are just as good at checking Fighting-types.

I'm probably out of the loop but outside of Choice Band getting more popular, Piloswine feels like it's doing the same song and dance. It's true that people are relying more on Piloswine as a wallbreaker rather than an inconsistent stop to Electabuzz's Volt Switch (maybe because we also know Gabite is better at that anyways). As far as other variation or tendencies, I'm at a loss. If you want to go down the rabbit hole of how much Speed EVs you should use here then that's a bit to deep for me. I still either use a small, somewhat random amount of EVs for creep or none at all because bulky offensive Piloswine still rocks. It never stopped rocking. A+ or S tier it's the same threat.

Machoke hype finally makes sense to me as a wallbreaker with unique coverage deviating from Gurdurr's Fighting / Dark attacks. If I had to judge I'd say Machoke is still too fishy for me to think it's better than Gurdurr. Regardless, I wanted to write about what it is doing, which is largely luring in physical walls that you'd expect to absorb Knock Off and check Fighting-types. Machoke has Heavy Slam for Clefairy and Roselia, Earthquake for Mareanie and Koffing, and even wonkier options like Fire Blast to hit Tangela and Substitute and Encore to mess up Galarian Corsola. There's also the fact that Machoke is faster than Gurdurr, so when it comes to speed creep you have an advantage when walls like Tangela and Vullaby creep for Adamant Gurdurr and not Adamant Machoke. You're going to be fishing for a good matchup to get the most out of Machoke regardless but inherently there's always good to come out of beating PiloClef cores + forcing the Knock Off on Tang / Gorsola.

Hattrem is great because––like Piloswine––it's doing more of the same in a better metagame for it. Not gonna reiterate much of the above except that entry hazards are very good and our answers are limited. I can only say this so many times before I want to pull my hair out.

Koffing totally fell out of fashion, probably because it's always been a little fishy and players moved on to more consistent builds. As a wall, it lacks meaningful resistances outside of Grass and Fighting, of which we have a ton. It also competes with other Poison-types like Roselia and Mareine, which bring more to the team defensively. Roselia's Spikes are often more reliable than Koffing's Toxic Spikes as a means to make progress, too, which makes me think that Roselia's popularity was a big influence. Maybe the return of Levitate Koffing to check the influx of Choice Band Piloswine could be a good idea.

Entry hazard centralization + Golbat leaving go hand in hand, like I said above, but I think the meta is better competitively even if it wasn't an improvement on "fun." The meta being boring but playable is what I'd consider the major problem of all of 2022 NFE. It's very centralized around a handful of Pokemon and strategies to the point where we see a ton more set-variation than teamslot-variation.

If you think we can combat the centralization by banning Pokemon like Vullaby, Piloswine, and maybe more like Electabuzz and Roselia, let us know! I'm not a fan of how much we had to remove already to get to this point but banning the former two could be a great way to decentralize the metagame and give more breathing room to our B and C ranks.

Edit: small note that Gabite > Marshtomp now that both accomplish the same goal of walling Electabuzz but Gabite gets more out of checking Lampent, Rough Skin, and a faster EQ for likes of Roselia and slow wallbreakers is v good.

 

[Fraise]

Hi, gonna drop all my team for OMFL that I build
W2 vs Wes8888 (pokepast.es)
W3 vs Fluore (pokepast.es)
W4 vs 5dots (pokepast.es)
W5 vs Duguo (pokepast.es) with very big help of Givra ☯ (he made it)
G1 vs Shing (pokepast.es)
G2 vs shing semi (pokepast.es)
Final vs AM (pokepast.es)
You can take them if you want ofc

 

[S1nn0hC0nfirm3d]

NFEPL V Survey! Fill out below:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1...ziLMqrnZkgQNYOvT2yrHPpqQ/viewform?usp=sf_link


It's about that time for NFEPL, and we decided to gauge interest if we should continue the tournament soon or replace it with something smaller. Note that if you do want to signup for NFEPL, there's a couple more questions about the format and managers. If you're interested in managing, treat the manager question as a potential signup post. If you are not interested in NFEPL, there's the option to show support for a replacement 3v3 NFE team tour that we can get started at instead.

 

[MattC (Banned)]

Hello. I'm doing a run little project that requires me to build an NFE team. And so I wanna know - is there any requirements on NFE teams?

 

[85percent]

Hello. I'm doing a run little project that requires me to build an NFE team. And so I wanna know - is there any requirements on NFE teams?

Do you mean hard requirements, like following a certain banlist? If so, check out the first post in this thread, it tells you what is legal and what is not. If you mean softer requirements, like things you'd have to use in order to have a solid team, then check out the resources thread here.
For more immediate help, feel free to join the NFE Discord (also something you can find in the first post of this thread), or the NFE channel in the OM Discord.

 

[MattC (Banned)]

Do you mean hard requirements, like following a certain banlist? If so, check out the first post in this thread, it tells you what is legal and what is not. If you mean softer requirements, like things you'd have to use in order to have a solid team, then check out the resources thread here.
For more immediate help, feel free to join the NFE Discord (also something you can find in the first post of this thread), or the NFE channel in the OM Discord.

No like... any pokemon requirements on a serious competitive team. Like for example RBY OU Tauros is required on every serious team

 

[Antares]

Hello. I'm doing a run little project that requires me to build an NFE team. And so I wanna know - is there any requirements on NFE teams?

 

[Maybca☆〜ゝ。∂]

hello, after the nfe pl, I decided to show my teams, and give my feelings on the meta.

week 3 vs poat : https://pokepast.es/7e86dac5110ffbd2
week 4 vs dugu0 : https://pokepast.es/61f95307cda8b3d3
week 5 vs fraise : https://pokepast.es/c5f3a9d26a568dd5
final vs ArticBreeze : https://pokepast.es/3b4475fe6dc56575

despite i love the nfe, i think the meta is way too stacked, inover is getting too hard, i also think the same 4 is everywhere, with some variation of course. I still notice that: buzz becomes too strong in certain matches. I also notice that hattrem takes up too much space and that im monopolizes the center of the meta a bit in my opinion.
you can Take my team.

 

[Shing]

Before I’ll talk about why Roselia has been dominating since the Golbat/Magmar ban, I believe knowing how it became so good would be valuable for anyone knowing about Roselia’s history in SS NFE as it’s not documented as well about it to the general public, only known to that played in at the start of SS NFE. I was supposed to tell about Roselia in this nom thread (big S/O to Mirbro for coming in clutch), albeit much less detailed than this post However, due to IRL traveling I was unable to finish it before the deadline. Now I think it’s the perfect time to tell about Roselia as SS NFE, from past to the current meta as it synergizes on why it’s suddenly become so good compared to past metas. Take this history of SS NFE Roselia from my perspective, I am only doing it because I'm motivated enough to do it and I feel like I own some of you guys one.

A Tl;dr version for those who want it short and simple

tl;dr

The combination of the new Pokemon from Isle of Armor & Crown Tundra and every ban indirectly made Roselia better in the long run. Some of the newer Pokemons invalidated some of Roselia’s past threats. However, I would say the bans after the release of DLC Crown Tundra were the major reason why Roselia became the force that is today. Roselia suffered from a very extreme issue from power creep for 2 years I believe. Each ban indirectly helped Roselia as the power creep slightly went down on each ban. Now the meta is balanced enough to have her defensive cores able to check the offensive threats while having some of the absurd advantages in the hazard game. Roselia is considered now one of the most influential pokemon in the tier. You can skip to the Cores category after reading this.

SS NFE - Post-Dynamax Era
ft.


a simpler time, yet a dangerous one

​

At the start of SS NFE, specifically after the Dynamax ban, Roselia was looked at for its great niche strength and SpDef role. It was one of the best spikers but had other roles such as soft-checking Haunter and Water pokemon. But in some periods it could also act as an Offensive Spiker where it could break through Water types while exploiting the hazard control back in the days when Hattrem, Dartrix, Gurdurr, Carkol, and Vullaby were the best hazard removal we had. This was a period where the meta also lacked Knock Off, Toxic, and Defog due to distribution. You could easily compare the past hazard control to now if you think about it a second, but there’s a quite key difference from before to now.
In the earlier meta, things were much more centralized because the Top Tiers were difficult to check in the long run, almost unstoppable which made the meta more restricting in the teambuilding aspect, which Roselia did not appreciate. She could check some of the threats, but she would be overwhelmed rather quickly too by the pace and top tiers of the meta. It was also difficult to build around her as it was like you needed to support Roselia more than being the support, She was also a pokemon that didn't fit in a typical team. This is a recurring issue that would haunt Roselia for the next two years. Other issues I could mention would be the 4mss syndrome, especially since you had to think about covering Haunter, Hattrem, other cores, etc. Even if you implemented more modern techs into the old days, I don’t think they would be effective at all. For example, Covet Roselia would make it a free switch-in for Haunter which is a huge no since giving Haunter free switch-ins means you’re forced into a position no one wants to be in.

While Roselia could potentially have some spotlight at smaller DLC releases before Isle existed, those periods were too short and most people don’t even remember those. All the old SS NFE players remembered was the centralization of Haunter and Machoke, then offensive threats like Mime-Galar and Klang. After some DLCs patches later, people took more attention to the Knock Off distribution, noticeably Gurdurr, Sneasel(yes this mon existed in SS NFE and it was awesome lol) and Pawn, and then deadly ones such as Rufflet getting Roost and Sun + Ivysaur. Roselia before Isle wasn’t a bad pokemon, but it was widely looked at as a niche at best and faced a lot of inconsistency from its role and then building around. Balance which is arguably Roselia’s most preferred playstyle was looked down and most people ran offense to Bulky Offense as its main playstyle for years. In conclusion, Roselia had a role but it was not particularly anything special and she had quite of issues on her own.

SS NFE - DLC Isle Of Armor Era
ft.

when Pikachu, Thwackey, and Raboot's shackles unlocked
​

Roselia completely disappeared from the Isle(DLC1) meta, with no serious/good teams having a single Roselia at all. While Haunter, Rufflet, Sneasel, Pawn, and Mime-Galar ended up banned, there was an introduction of newer top threats which Roselia just despised even more. Raboot and Thwackey’s hidden ability is finally legal, making them one of the top threats. Pikachu was the best pokemon in 4-5 weeks before being banned. It was directly buffed from the Fake Out/E-speed combination being legal and indirectly got buffed when Haunter got banned as well. The introduction of Kadabra meant that there were needed for new viable checks, which ended up being mainly Klang and Vullaby. How the meta was warped from these changes really broke Roselia’s viability into dust. But why exactly?

Well, Roselia was an even easier pokemon to switch in and take advantage of. Vullaby and SpDef Rest/Talk Klang switched in and gets a safe pivot to their other powerful wallbreakers that would exploit Roselia and her defensive core with little to no effort. In that era, Physical Offensive and Kadabra were notoriously difficult to stop so inviting them in like that was a huge red flag. Hattrem didn’t stress so much against Roselia at that time, so switching in was considered very safe and prevented her to use her main strength. There was some annoyance from other small ones such as Ferroseed too, but it was more the fact that the defensive supporters that were needed to check the top tiers happened to be good against Roselia as well and it was just easy to take advantage of her.

This comes to the next point and the most important one for Roselia’s downfall. The offense itself changed so much that Roselia couldn’t really take on the Offensive threats at all. In early NFEPL, Pikachu and Raboot were so centralized that they destroyed so many defensive cores with little effort. Roselia became a victim as well as her defensive cores became too overwhelmed by the offensive pressure. Even if Pikachu got banned, Physical Offense just adapted into Thwackey/Raboot core which didn't mind Roselia that much. And I haven't even mentioned other physical threats such as Klang which had an offensive set and could set up on Roselia extremely free. Anyone who played in that period knows the danger of letting Klang be an advantage. Klang was that pokemon that could reverse a team 6-0 really hard because of the lack of viable counters at that time. Roselia simply didn’t have the cores to handle physical offense because she herself did not check them, so every team that tried to synergize defensively with her was always putting them at disadvantage. Roselia wasn’t known for the Physdef set though, so what about the SpDef role? Well, Haunter just got banned. And Kadabra took over as the main and only fast special attacker in the tier. Roselia did not handle Kadabra at all, and Kadabra was arguably the best pokemon at that time. So Roselia’s SpDef had no place to be in there anymore when Kadabra is common. More on that, she had other competitions that did her role better. Tangela was one of the best physical walls in the tier, but also wasn’t completely deadweight against Kadabra as its bulk coupled with Regenerator could let have a chance to survive a hit against Kadabra and revenge kill it back. Arguably, you can say that Tangela was a more legit SpDef wall in that meta. As it had another legit role handling Pikachu at that time. Ferroseed was one of few that could comfortably switch in against the Kadabra sets, so it was easier to synergize with this Mon. It was also a better spiker and pressuring against anti-hazard mons. Even then, I don’t think Tangela(arguably) and Ferroseed were even used that extremely much compared to Vullaby, Klang, and Corsola-Galar. So if they didn’t show that much, then why would you even think Roselia would have a chance to be used at all?

You could put an argument that people didn’t push Roselia forward at all, and some modern techs could have helped Roselia’s viability in the tier. For example, Physdef and Covet Roselia doesn’t look too bad against those things in the meta so she could have a use. But you have to understand that building Roselia in that meta was too hard, especially when you have a mindset of wanting to be bulletproof against the offensive threats, which I repeat Roselia had a horrible time against. In the end, Roselia did not fit in the meta because she was taken advantage of more than she could take advantage of. She could not check the most important threats and there were better contenders than her that could fill her role better. The meta became more offensive and faster, and the best way to check things was using your own bulk to handle or having the rare typing to resist them, which Roselia did neither have. This is just the start and things go even worse for her.

SS NFE - Crown Tundra Era
ft.

When offense peaked​

DLC Crown Tundra (DLC2) was probably the biggest thing that changed SS NFE as a whole with a ton of new introductions of Pokemon and a unban decision that also happened. Too bad it didn’t help Roselia at all and it only left Roselia in the shadow for a whole another year. There are so many different reasons from many different players why Roselia was not used at all, but they do share a lot of common opinions on it. So for me, when I’m speaking up my perspective here, you should take a bit of a grain of salt as you’re reading based on one's experience and biased perspective, but I mean that you should definitely take this one a bit more suspiciously because I’ve definitely my own different meaning on this period.

Now let’s get the easiest one out here. The introduction of Golbat really made sure to tell that Roselia won’t be a threat as long it stays in the meta. Golbat is known for its insane centralization from a defensive and offensive perspective as it limits both sides so it was the best Pokemon and you needed to have teams to deal against it. Golbat simply countered and invalidated almost every aspect of Roselia. They could switch with ease, threaten it out, and remove hazards that took away Roselia’s progress quite easily. But my hot take on this one is that Golbat wasn’t the main reason why Roselia became borderline unviable/unused. Yes Golbat did have a good amount of influence on the biggest reason why Rose suffered, but I simply believe a bit more complex reason behind this, and if Golbat didn’t exist I don’t think that would even affect my main reason why I think Roselia was just not used for so long. I’ll even point out a period much later where Roselia could be viable, or well function for some people when Golbat still existed.

Now the biggest reason why I think Roselia struggled in SS NFE was Power Creep and how the Offensive Threats centralized themself. In Isle, the meta grew more faster and offensive. Special Attackers and Physical Attackers became buffed and centralized in a way where Roselia couldn’t switch against them. Crown Tundra was basically Isle on Crack because everything became so much more threatening that it was just beyond chaotic. There was faster pokemon that was also so powerful and lacked viable and solid defensive checks to any viable counters. Combined that many of them don’t share the same counter/checks you’ll get a very chaotic meta. The best way to deal with the offense was to deal with it offensively back, as simple as it is. This is where my bias came from and that meta was the most fish meta I’ve ever seen from any meta. Like how do you even prepare Pikachu, Kadabra, Electabuzz, Mime-Galar, Magmar, and many other random wallbreakers that could synergize with each other? Roselia couldn't as the only pokemon it could really switch into was Electabuzz, which could have exploited Roselia even easier. The Golbat centralization didn’t make it better since it did also limit other offensive/defensive mons and indirectly made the wall breakers even better. Will say seeing Zwelious popping up was kinda cool though. Out of the positives from this DLC is probably that Klang becoming irrelevant through the meta was one big threat Roselia didn’t need to think about anymore. This lasted for like 6+ months or longer, I forgot how long since I hated this meta lol.

SS NFE - Crown Tundra Part 2
ft.

pov: Magmar uses Belly Drum ​

The time Roselia finally began to get attention was around the Magmar/Golbat meta, so somewhere like a year later and starting at the end of OMPL 2021. Pokemon that were banned before were Pikachu, Kadabra, Vulpix(Sun), and Mime-Galar. How people began to pay attention to it was interesting and different from what I've seen. To my knowledge, somewhere in early NFEPL weeks, people were still high on F-Sight Duosion as an effect of the Mime-Galar meta. But T-spikes Koffing and Tangela increased in popularity and proved to become a big problem as well. Especially the cores it could synergize with and the counterplay against those were always controversial. As a response to deal with that, someone(me lowkey) picked up Roselia back in mid-NFEPL as it could handle those extremely well. And well, more people noticed it and began optimizing in their own way and Roselia never left after that.

The reason why Roselia worked here and not in early Crown Tundra was because of the huge difference in power creep, threats being easier for Roselia and her cores, and probably some lucky meta trends that favored her. Each ban has indirectly closed the gap of the power creep as the Special Offense became weaker each ban and indirectly helped Roselia forward. The offensive threats favored more towards to Electabuzz, Raboot, and Magmar. While Roselia doesn’t like Raboot and Magmar that much, both of them were noticeably easier to handle compared to Kadabra and Mime-Galar on the defensive counterplay. There is also some thankful side effect that made Roselia’s life easier. Such as Duosion, Ferroseed and Hattrem were beginning to fall off because of meta adaptations and trends favoring them less. Golbat did become better though as it loved the bans too, however, I don’t think the Rose MU was as one-sided thing as some people think. One saving tool that helped Roselia against Golbat was the fact that it had Stun Spore, and paralyzing Golbat is actually a big deal for the Roselia + Piloswine cores. Golbat was insane, but it’s kinda funny it despised status from grass mons. You can kinda say that is why having Golbat as your only Tangela switch-in was not as perfect because Tangela cores can take advantage of Golbat being asleep. This alone is why I think Golbat was not the biggest reason why Roselia became borderline unviable because it had the result to perform in this period despite the odds. However it’s not a top-tier threat and arguably still not a staple mon depending on the people you’re speaking to, but it was definitely noticeable enough that people needed to prepare against it in the teambuilding.

SS NFE - Post Golbat & Magmar Ban
ft

Things have calmed down, and finally
​

And now after the Golbat/Magmar ban, we’re finally at the current meta. What changed now compared to the previous ones?

The biggest one for me is that Power Creep went down so hard that Roselia has just the right defensive cores to handle most if not all things. Special Offense has been weakened so hard only to Electabuzz, Wartortle, Lampent, Morgrem, and some degree Duosion are the only noticeable ones, which Roselia and her cores can handle quite well. The offense became more physically orientated, but physical is by far much easier to counterplay with many different pokemon that could handle those wallbreakers and Roselia synergizes them excellently. The reason Special Attackers was so powerful overall is that SS NFE lacked versatile and solid specially defensive checks while they had versatile and powerful coverage to break down the defense. Couple with having some of the fastest speed tiers and the lack of viable scarfers meant that they could get away far easier than Physical Attackers despite the increase of priority moves compared to SM.

But we should not deny the impact of Golbat’s department from the tier, because that ban did not only change the meta, but it finally enabled Roselia’s “niche” spikes role to become the centralization threat it is today. Roselia could handle against most if not all defoggers and spinners because they got pressure by its Grass/Poison Stab, and the combination of other hazard cores put the pressure against anti-hazard control to its limits. Even the infamous Hattrem was being adapted from Modern Techs such as Covet Roselia acting as an Eviolite remover, but instead stole it from Hattrem which means it can still have its bulk while being able to break through Hattrem, which also meant rockers such as Piloswine and Gabite had a much easier time to break through Hattrem cores overall. Roselia had practically the perfect way to break through hazard removals with few drawbacks as its 4mss became less of an issue and more an option she can do if she wishes so.

Combine that Roselia has a much easier time handling its current offensive threats and being able to win the hazard war against anti-ones in long term together means you’re getting a pokemon that’s able to switch in more consistently and has a strength that’s beyond over the top with not an easy counterplay. The meta practically changed more towards balance and spikes stacked teams which means it’ll favor the pace Roselia likes a lot; slower and more methodic gameplay. Other key attributes are the 4mss issue becoming less of a weakness; more like to make its strength even more powerful. The last one that isn’t talked about as much and that Roselia was actually not quite easy to switch in for many didn’t like switching in on a 30% Poison STAB and the Golbat ban showed how annoying it was to deal with.

What types of hazard mons would Rose typically synergize with nowadays? Here's where I can finally talk about the most common ones you’ll see in most teams, their strengths and weaknesses of them.

+
This is what you’ll have to face against most Rose teams as they have near-perfect synergy against hazard removals. Roselia practically walls defensive Wartortle and gets an advantage in most interactions against it, puts immense pressure against a lot of Gurdurr sets with the combination of Piloswine’s damage and limiting its recovery from Drain Punch, and can play around vs Corsola-Galar. While Piloswine practically beats every defogger besides Gurdurr due to being weak against Ice. Sometimes it can beat Hattrem via flinch hax if it’s faster. Outside of that Roselia can act as PhysDef checker against the likes of Thwackey w/o Acrobatics, Gurdurr, somewhat Machoke, etc. But most importantly take advantage of Tangela which used to be one of the most common switch-ins against Piloswine. While Piloswine could pressure Vullaby and to some degree Hattrem. Both of them could also be an excellent core against most Electabuzz sets, although the set Electabuzz uses nowadays can break through them.
Piloswine would usually go for its usual set, but it does like to be faster than Hattrem as a note. While Roselia could go for the normal we all know, the current players have optimized Roselia even further by introducing a new set that’s practically putting so much pressure against Hattrem(and somewhat Gurdurr but Hattrem gets affected by the most), Covet Roselia. Roselia usually loses its Eviolite rather easily against such as Vullaby, Tangela, and Clefairy for example. However Covet steals the opponent's Eviolite, and because of spikes pressure, people would usually preemptively switch in Hattrem and Vullaby to block/remove or take advantage afterward as a very common interaction. Hattrem takes already a lot of pressure from Roselia/Piloswine, but Covet basically destroys Hattrem’s bulk and longevity. Covet Roselia usually likes to be PhysDef, but loves the SpDef bulk to switch in against Electabuzz w/ Psychic so the set spread is usually a mixed one.

The core does have some holes though. Some Vullaby sets that are faster than Piloswine can stall it out in 1v1, especially if Piloswine is poisoned. It’s also able to challenge Roselia, especially with another hazard removal/offense core. There is a set that could in theory beat both Rose/Piloswine(Brave Bird+Toxic), but usually, Vullaby is not hopeless as long it doesn’t try to play out the long game. Shell Smash Wartortle can aggressively deal against weakened Roselia and Piloswine, and use spin as one last resort which can be very clutch in some scenarios. Hattrem has to be respected still as Hattrem forces out Roselia and Piloswine doesn’t like switching in aggressively against Hattrem due to coverage, and Rest/Talk Hattrem has to be respected regardless. So it's more like you'll need another pokemon for Hattrem.
While they’ve some excellent defensive synergy from their attributes, they’re still very vulnerable from the types and bulk aspects such as…
- Weak to Fire, which isn’t good because Fire types are notoriously difficult to check
- Physical Offense takes an advantage against them with their power and tricks because Rose’s bulk and typing are still exploitable and Piloswine is generally weak towards physical attacks.
- Electabuzz is still able to break through them with Psychic, which is a problem because those two are the defensive backbones against Electabuzz for these teams.

Overall though the problems they have are worth what they’re providing for any team and there are a lot of partners that can help with these issues.

+
Corsola-Galar provides valuable support as a Rocker that’s able to beat Gurdurr, and Hattrem(not as simple though), wins the rocks vs defog exchange against Vullaby if it doesn’t run Toxic, but I would rather look at them as a defensive core instead. Corsola-Galar and Roselia is an insane defensive core, probably one of the strongest ones in current meta. Corsola-Galar can handle most of the Physical threats that Roselia is afraid of, but also walls against psychic Electabuzz specifically, which is being used nowadays due to Roselia’s existence, solidifying the counterplay against it. Besides providing more hazard pressure, Corsola-Galar gets annoyed by support mons that want can easily switch in and take advantage of it, and Roselia is one of the best pokemon to switch in against support mons overall. Simply said, Corsola-Galar deals with many of Roselia’s offensive threats while Roselia switches in Corsola-Galar's switch-ins and takes advantage of them in exchange.

Obviously, though they’ve their fair share of weaknesses. They don’t have any raw power as they function more defensively, so those that can switch in against both of them or can beat both of them will be a problem. Some cores like Vullaby + Hattrem/Gurdurr could also play around them, especially on Corsola-Galar to prevent it from healing. And you would prefer having a ground type in that core, which reminds me…

+ +
These three works together extremely well, and maybe too well? Corsola-Galar helps some of the issues from Rose+Pilo core defensively, while Piloswine provides more power and threat for Roselia+Cors-G in exchange. IMO this is one of the strongest cores I’ve known as I’ll have to prepare for it back in my mind when building teams. There’s a lot of flexibility you can get out of it and I’m speaking at the selection of sets and partners. Piloswine could be the Choice Band set if Corsola-Galar is the rocker, while Corsola could be the Calm Mind set if Piloswine is the rocker. But here’s the thing, you don’t need to be that. It all depends on your mind and what you're after.

I would like to point out some holes though, although most of them can be mitigated and can be solved by the next partners. They’re still not as comfortable switching in against Hattrem, although Hattrem does not like Corsola-Galar especially if healthy. SS Wart does have a chance to break through this, but it requires a lot of turns beforehand to weaken them which means Wart has fewer positions to sweep. Vullaby and its cores have ways to pressure them, but I’ll say it’s not gonna be easy and you’ll notice some 4mss issues for Vullaby in here as well regardless of what. I will say though the core is slow it does make it up that it’s extremely hard to break it down. But for optimism, there are some holes for the offense to break through. Examples I could think of are probably Knock Off + Physical Wallbreaker like Raboot, Machoke, Lairon, etc could go through this if done right. But you'll usually need a core to handle that. Well unless you're Lampent thooooo. Big S/O to Lampent itself just spams Fire Blast through this team with ease. Otherwise, you've 3 more available slots that can help this core

Not too important to know, but while they haven’t been together as a core(unless I forgot they were used to in Haunter/Machoke meta), I don’t this core is anything new and more is a modern adaption from the Roselia + Clefairy + Piloswine core that was used in Golbat/Magmar meta. In fact, Clefairy and Corsola-Galar have a lot of contrast in their role. Both acted as PhysDef mons, but could also switch in Electabuzz as well. They could also run a lot of different sets in combination with Piloswine.
The only small difference I would say is Clefairy could handle some things better against like Vullaby, Wartortle, and Ferroseed, and had a better typing synergy overall. While Corsola-Galar faced better against the Roselia and Machoke and handled against mons with a lot more power overall. Which could explain why Clefairy fell off in my eyes. Roselia being everywhere and having the counterplay against trick made it difficult, while handling against Physical Attackers became more inconsistent. Something like facing Machoke becomes a nightmare for Clefairy because they've just Heavy Slam and bam your PhysDef + Electabuzz check is now gone. Thwackey and Piloswine are also very annoying for Clefairy, but I personally felt like Machoke existence was a huge reason why I felt like using Clef as your PhysDef mon became a lot more MU fishy. Cors-G in contrast handles those Roselia and Machoke much better while dealing with everything else much more naturally and less stressful.

+
Gabite has one thing over Piloswine and Corsola-Galar, and that’s the typing resistance against Fire and the speed itself. What Rose could provide for Gabite in my eyes is having the chance to steal an Eviolite from Hattrem, which means Gabite can break through Hattrem, especially against the mixed spread. While Gabite can switch to Lampent freely, and help deal with Electabuzz easier. The issue with this core though is simply trying to cover their weakness of them and finding partners have always ended up negative for me. Being weak to Piloswine, still not threatening Vullaby, and trying to fit in the partners to handle those is not easy because you’re probably ending up being weak against other things. It’s not a bad core though, but I find it just difficult to build around this especially when I’ve always tried to build around interactions in my head and it ended always unsatisfied. So I’m gonna end talking about this because I don’t believe in this core as much in the future.

Common Partners
For the last 3/4 slots, there’s a lot to pick for Cors-G/Pilo/Rose core. But there is an agreement to have a dark type in order to be not vulnerable against Hattrem and Duosion. You could go for Linoone-Galar or Vullaby, but most would go for Vullaby for what it provides. Vullaby is one of the flexible supporters in the tier while being extremely bulky. The core loves that it can switch in against Specs Lampent, but does also provide Defog, Knock and Pivot support. Pivots are especially good as Vullaby provides safe switch-ins to many faster wall breakers. So if you’re using U-Turn, you would want to have wallbreakers that can abuse it, or else you’re kinda overextending a bit too hard IMO when you’ve Rose behind. For the Wallbreakers, if you see a Raboot in the preview, you know the Vullaby is U-turn 100%. Raboot is one of the most common wallbreakers for the core. There are other Wallbreakers, but Raboot is appreciated for its fast speed and pivoting and being difficult to switch in against because fire types are difficult to check defensively. Electabuzz should also be mentioned because it’s probably the best spikes abuser by beating all viable defoggers and spinners, also the combination of pivoting, near-perfect coverage, and being the fastest pokemon is insane.
Linoone-Galar isn’t bad because they do abuse the spikes pretty hard with the combination of Knock/DEdge + Taunt and revenge killing Raboot is huge. However, your options in partners are a bit more limited in the defensive synergy. You would like to have something that can switch against Lampent from there on. Other noticeable ones I could think of would be Wartortle for its fire resistance, being a spinner that can pivot and handle opposing Wartortle. Hattrem is also good if you want to deny spikes from the opposing side and have something for Ferroseed MU, but you’ll definitely need something for the Vullaby interactions. There are probably more partners to think of, but I think the ones I mentioned are the best as they take advantage of the cores the strongest out of anyone.


Roselia is definitely a top 3 pokemon in the tier by the direction it’s heading in at the moment. While I think it’s a healthy addition to the tier, I can’t deny that it made hazards too overturned. I loved that we have now another viable Electabuzz check, Tspikes absorber, and a Tangela counter thank the lords. But I really disliked how it made hazards feel so one-sided, and I think we’re in the period where hazard stack is at its peak. Hazards have always been very controversial in SS NFE because while we had better hazard removal compared to previous gens, we’ve also gained some of the insane rockers like Piloswine and Corsola-Galar, which also are very meta-relevant ones today. At the same time, I believe there’s still a lot more the tier can develop itself against the hazard-stacked meta. I’ll explain more in detail in the next post(part 3) because it fits much there better. While Roselia could potentially be worse on how the meta will find the counterplay, I don’t believe in the slightest Roselia can be bad like it was before and it’ll always be a great pokemon if this meta is the last thing.

Roselia is an SS NFE overall though. I think I got extremely lucky to end up in a position like this. I remembered Roselia as a SS NFE pokemon that struggled to fit in the meta for a long time. It took a ton of bans to tune down the power creep and the changes slowly became more Rose-favored. If you would ask players that only played NFE in 2022, they would say Roselia is great. But if you were asking players that played in 2019-2021, their opinion would be more negative towards Roselia and that’s too many good reasons against it. Personally, I’m just glad Roselia is finally viable as it’s one of my favorite Pokemon in general. And I’ve paid attention to it back since early SS NFE and seeing where it’s now from before is a satisfying feeling for me in the most personal way possible.


I've more to post, but they'll take some time since I have to do a double and fix any spelling/grammar errors. I'll be done before this thread gets locked. Expect a hour or two.

 

[Shing]

While I’ve been observing the meta around, it’s clearly easy to see that the Offense prefers physical over the latter as an effect of the Golbat and Magmar ban. There are still Special Wallbreakers such as Electabuzz, Lampent, and Morgrem, but most of the Special Attackers usually prefer the support role as they perform it far better than being offensive. While comparing it to the Physical Wallbreakers, there are a lot more of them ranging from different places in the speed tier, and they've more tools to break through teams more effectively. The Golbat ban made Physical Offense the best way to approach Offense, while the Magmar ban made checking against Special Attackers much more manageable. aka worse.

While it sounds like Physical Offense is too strong, there are still a lot more options to handle it as SS NFE has a bigger and more versatile amount of viable PhysDef mons in the tier. I personally prefer the Offense being more physically oriented especially since the counterplay against Special Attackers is usually very one-dimensional. Dedicated SpDef walls usually rely on their typing to resist the attacks than their own base stats. Which makes the counterplay against Special way more difficult to handle than the Physical.

My view on that is that Physical Offense could potentially become overbearing, but right now the players have adapted enough that it’s not overwhelming at the moment. While Special Offense is at an all-time low, where the option of abusing one powerful move because it’s difficult to switch in against it(Magmar/Kadabra) or have near-perfect coverage(Mime-Galar) to beat its checks doesn’t exist now. It’s much easier now to check against Special Attackers overall such as by going for mixed spreads without needing to use any dedicated SpDef walls. The biggest threats you would need to be worried about would be Electabuzz and Lampent, but every team usually has always a dedicated core to play around Electabuzz and Lampent, though Lampent sometimes doesn't give a fuck lol.

You can dedicate your team by having more counter and checks against Physical Offense, but it’s still possible to deal with Special Attackers just as fine. You can make a team with only pure physical offense and it would work, but every Special Wallbreakers needs a Physical Wallbreaker with it in order to make the team work. As that’s how I see it. Then again this isn’t an uncommon opinion since people instinctively already build like that anyway. But I think this is very apparent for the current SS NFE.

I don’t rlly care about writing a lot of SS NFE mons, so I’m gonna just mention the mons I think are worthy or fun enough to be discussed. What I said above isn’t going to be influenced by the mons I'm talking about. It’s just easier to talk about the mons after talking about the playstyle/aspect of it.

like this mon

I think it’s the best physical pokemon(not the best SS NFE mon overall), and even better than Piloswine for what it has going on. Obviously got much stronger from its bans, but I think it’s more of the fact it doesn’t have much weakness. The ones I can point out are his moveset isn’t all-time impressive, so it can get checked by depending mons if it doesn’t have the move, e.g Acrobatics against Roselia so somewhat a 4mss since sacrificing one for another means it loses some sort of utility in exchange for more wall-breaking potential. And since it’s a grass type, a lot of teams are preemptively ready against them, so Thwackey has to face loads of Rose, Vull, Cors, and Raboot forcing it out most of the time. Another issue would be terrain also benefits the opposing team, so it means the opposing team can take advantage of the healing factor. However, these weakness is not a huge problem. Thwackey can go with the normal set and still find openings to break through its checks as you can play the hit-and-run game, weakening the team and giving Thwackey another opportunity to sweep. Most Thwackey checks can be overwhelmed, specifically Vullaby and Roselia so they are not the longevity checks I believe in so. I’ll say Raboot forcing out Thwackey is a weakness they’ve to accept since it survives 2+ Grassy Glide. But even then, Raboot is not a completely safe revenge killer if weakened enough, which is possible from recoil damage from Flare Blitz. While the opposing team can appreciate the terrain, you should have already been aware of that from the beginning and built the team that will get the most out of it regardless of who’re you facing against IMO.

Why I also think highly of Thwackey is that it can provide a bit more flexibility in the teambuilding. Not just the wacky grassy seed techs. More like those who like grassy terrain for defensive reasons. So something like Koffing likes to have it in the field in order to take weakened EQ attacks from Pilo, which means it can be switched against more physical attackers overall. Imo Thwackey has opened me to a lot of other types of teams that can work via that ability.

Although Thwackey doesn’t have the pure raw single hits, wall-breaking/cleaning potential like Electabuzz, Piloswine, and Raboot, it does have the tools to become one, just takes a lil more setup . Overall, I think it’s arguably a top 6 or 5 mon. Glad to see this one back in the meta at full force.

love using it, hate facing it xp

Raboot has no need to worry about the competition as the best fire pokemon because it’s totally the best one easily. Also being 3rd fastest viable pokemon, a fire type that can also pivot means it’ll be on 90% of teams that’ll need it to pressure grass types or just if you’re using Vullaby with U-turn. Will say that while it doesn’t mind Golbat being gone, it has to deal with the fact that it’s easier to put rocks and spikes in the field will hurt the viability of using Choice Banded Raboot. Which has been very apparent because I’ve seen way more people use boots than banded nowadays. Using Banded actually has legitimate flaws now wow! I don’t know if I think Raboot is better or worse, but it does what it has always done and it’s effective. Sub Acrobatics Raboot is also an option again with Corsola-Galar usage at these days and sometimes it wincons through some teams, but it’s easier to handle it with Piloswine and Electabuzz putting enough pressure on its movespread.

in paper broken, but in practice not as broken

While I’ve praised a lot on Machoke from my last post, I’ll have to admit Machoke has some issues that make it feel like it’s a bit inconsistent. Being worn out has been more apparent for me and I don’t like switching in the field a lot of times because there aren’t that many times I can find one. But the biggest one would be the speed tier because it’s still vulnerable enough to revenge kill it. Besides that though, I still think there is untapped potential from it as it’s able to have the moveset to cover against its checks while threatening the whole tier. If it’s a better wallbreaker than Gurdurr is something I’m a bit uncertain of because I think both of them function very differently. Too hard for me to compare really since I think both of them are heavily underdeveloped right now. I would argue though that Mahoke is arguably a better Flame Orb user than Gurdurr, but only for a small reason. That’s because I believe Jolly Machoke could be an option in order to deal with those that always speed creep to 200. But otherwise, using or another all depends on who you would want to revenge kill with the priority move. Unrelated note though, I just remembered that Koffing can’t break Sub Machoke, which is so funny to think of. I guess Machoke is able to win against the Koffing + Cors-G core lol. Maybe there are some things I forgot back in the old days rofl.

underrated mon, and a very scary pokemon overall. just need that support rlly

Lot of mixed feelings when I used it. I don’t like that it loses the hazard game against Corsola + Roselia because that core alone gives Defog Gurdurr a 4mss issue that it’s not possible to win against them. And then I find it weirdly not threatening enough since it doesn’t have the wall-breaking potential that Machoke has(mainly bc of the base power moves comparison). Lastly, I’ve always struggled to find the right set for it months ago since if it’s the usual full ATK/HP, it usually gets worn down from taking hits by Raboot and Piloswine, but then doesn’t get enough health back because Rose, Koff and Corsola-G, Clef can switch in and limits its recovery, and take advantage afterward. And if it’s bulkier but less invested in ATK, there’s no way it’s able to break those above, but it’s also lowkey easier to switch in. As a standalone pokemon, I don’t think it’s that impressive.

However, after some periods I stopped looking at it as a standalone pokemon. Eventually more towards how good it is as a pokemon with support. And I figured that changed a lot of my perspective. Gurdurr is actually insanely powerful if you give it the right support and synergy. While it’s a mon that always needs the right synergy and support, the potential and the reward you gave him was something untapped potential and it was so much easier to build with this Mon. Examples I’ve in mind would be Bulk Up and Defog Gurdurr + Brave Bird or U-turn and Toxic Vullaby as a way to pressure Corsola-Galar + Rose, but still work against the meta. Or something right now I’ve with Duosion + Defog or Bulk Up and Toxic Gurdurr, but that one will I probably later :3
In a nutshell, Gurdurr with support has some untapped potential that requires a bit "outside of the box" thinking. But if you’re going to use it as you’ll need it to support something, I think you’ll be more than likely disappointed by the result.

ain't in A at all. his niche doesn't work nowadays. love using him sometimes tho

I’ve no idea how this pokemon got ranked so high. While it has a very sweet wincon factor against sudden teams and positions, it requires a ton of support before it can start sweeping. And based on how the meta goes, no chance that there will be more Psychic Electabuzz, and mainly Corsola-G keeping an eye on it. The niche was that it sets the hell up on Tang/Mareanie type of teams, and mainly slower teams where it can break but those teams have fallen out of the meta. I don’t think it’ll be happier as the direction of the meta makes it easier to check this pokemon tbh.

like it, but gatekept by the meta itself. dragon type defensively is so ass in ss nfe

It’s probably better than Hakamo-o, but I still think it’s hella gatekept by Cors-G, Piloswine and overall being underwhelming to find the right position. But I would like to see it being used more via HO or CB because goddamn that thing hurts hard as hell. Otherwise being a dragon type in this meta is such a disadvantage.

lol

Sometimes it randomly destroys Rose w/o Corsola-G teams, and even then it can still break through it under the right circumstances. It's a rather rad choice band mon, and that’s a cool niche enough for me. It will probably struggle if teams become faster, and brings in more of Gurdurr and Ferroseed in the field. But otherwise, it does what it can effectively, which is goat energy here.

Newer PhysDef ones have never been needed so much until now because their best one Golbat is banned. However Golbat did also directly invalidate half of them, so those who were gatekept by its centralization benefited from it, so it's a more variety of physical checks. So in my mind, you would always want to have two in general. One fully physdef with another one that is either mixed or fully physdef are both solid. But the roles can always be one just tanks hits while the other takes the Knock Off or verse visa. A lot of Knock Off users can be easily switched into a mon or towards Vullaby really, so having knock absorbers is much easier now.
Protip: Always have a mon that can either switch in Piloswine, or take advantage of it. Have also something for Thwackey/Raboot, but especially for fighting types. The issue with singular PhysDef is that they’re extremely telegraphic and a good player knows how to exploit it to the fullest. Building an NFE team and having two PhysDef mons feels very mandatory for me for any good ones.

DLC1 Deja Vu @-@

Corsola-Galar is absolutely the best PhysDef wall in the game. It loves where the meta is heading towards and is one of those that appreciates a ton from the bans. Using this pokemon feels like how it was used at the Isle of Armor era, just as spammable as Vullaby and Piloswine today. What differentiates it from most other PhysDef walls is that it can also take on Special Attacks. Specifically, it counters Psychic Electabuzz, which is on most Electabuzz these days. The lack of Special Attackers and being able to 1v1 every viable physical attacker makes this pain of wall much harder to break down, especially when it’s easier to sap things as there are fewer offensive mons with low base ATK. I personally like that it solidifies a lot of defensive cores so it eliminates a lot of MU fishing. I believe if you’re not going to use this pokemon, it’ll have to be a good reason for it because IMO this is definitely a mon you can easily autopilot in the teambuilding.

you're broken but hella gatekept by rose and vull

Not gonna lie, I did not expect it to get dropped down in usage so hard LOL. If I can see Ivysaur being a modern alternative to Tangela, you know how hard it fell down. Well tbf I think it’s still a good pokemon, but more underwhelming to build around it. If you’re going to use it, you’ll have to have something to eliminate the Roselia, which isn’t easy as you think. The times I’ve seen it being successful is the Ho3n’s Lairon team just destroying any Roselia teams w/o Cors-G. I think if Tangela could succeed though, I think you’ll have to be a little cheesy to beat it such as Duosion F-Sight + Whirlwind Vullaby, or No Item Acrobatics Thwackey. Or maybe have more offensive support that is designed to overwhelm Roselia cores overall. Then again, even I haven’t figured out that one yet. This pokemon is still highly dangerous and the fact it’s only gatekept by Vullaby and Roselia is why no one will understand how bs this pokemon truly is. Xavgb was right, that mon is nigh-impossible to switch in and I understand why it could be banned. Using Tangela is like a big MU fish, but it’s one of the biggest reasons why every team has a rose, and if not a Rose then it’s a 100% Vullaby. Unless you’re like webs or HO, but those playstyles tend to get folded by Tangela anyway… It’ll be watching on its comeback once Roselia starts to fall off.

you're stupid, but I still love u

Geniunely one of the most unique PhysDef mons in the tier because of its ability. Sadly a lot of people don’t like it because of its controversial T-spikes combined with the ability. While Roselia does deal with t-spikes and Koffing extremely well, I still think it'sis a solid alternative pick just because it can switch in against important mons such as Raboot, Thwackey, and Fighting types without feeling fodder afterward. Also, I’ve also built some Koffing teams to exploit against Roselia, but I’ll say it’s not a pretty look for anyone facing that team I made. Another exploration I really like using Koffing is dropping Will O Wisp and going with Tspikes + Toxic, just to nail on the Vullaby MU, which is important for specific interactions
Toxic Koffing is honestly pretty stupid even if Rose is common because it makes Toxic Spikes even more obnoxious to face against.
Flamethrower over Sludge Bomb is also an option if you want to nail on the Ferroseed matchup while warning out other grass types. Also, Koffing w/o t-spikes is definitely a viable option, but missing out on T-spikes does suck a lot so I tend not to do that.

ik too many weird specific bout u, but atleast you're fun to use

Saw this appearing at some recent tournament matches again, and ngl that mon can work in this meta. Switching Piloswine and Raboot consistently and taking advantage of Teleport is satisfying as hell. At the same time, it’s beyond weak against hazards and doesn’t have the wincon factor compared above, so easy enough why I didn’t pay much attention to it. But if you’ll need the slowest pivot in the game, then this mon is the most viable out of them. Also, F-Sight Slowpoke is an option for one thing only, and that’s for breaking Shell Smash Wart behind the sub if it sets up one time as a random fact :3

Because Special Attackers are easier to handle, mixed defensive sets are absolutely a thing as the only legitimate special attacker you’ll have to worry about is Electabuzz in terms of seeing them normally. Their most preferred partners are Piloswine for the counterplay core against Electabuzz but at the same take on physical attacks, and Corsola-G because they can usually solidify the PhysDef cores very easily. The most known ones are Roselia, Hattrem, Clefairy, and Cors-G for now. But there could be other ones that are not known, but that’s probably because those may not be viable mons overall. But always nice to explore this aspect because it kinda makes Piloswine more fun to build overall.

jett cringe, but sometimes I like using jett cringe :>

Hattrem had a very weird development as far as I know. I’ve seen full PhysDef, more SpDef investment ones, and now mixed spreads for Piloswine, Roselia, and Electabuzz. For better or worse, Hattrem will always have a role in this meta that’s for sure. I do think it's very much pressured by having to constantly face Piloswine and Roselia at the same time. Even the mixed set isn’t as consistent against every Pilo or Rose set, which makes me think that healing wish would become the best set in the future. But right now people are more invested in rest/talk, which is rather fine because you would want Hattrem to be alive to deny hazards as much as possible. Most people pair it with another remover or with Rose so Hattrem will be fine. I will say though that some of you guys make me disgusted with the 4th slot pick. I really don’t need to see Life Dew or Psyshock ever again lmao.

lot of things that can be developed for it, but in the end it's going towards cheese

I’ve been trying to explore Duosion for so long since the ban. I’ve no opinion on its state of how good it is, instead, I am more interested if I can find use with it in the meta. Well as far as I’ve labbed, Duosion does definitely prefer being more physically defensive despite being able to check special attackers more consistently. That’s mainly because Physical Offenses are way more common so Duosion has to adapt to that. With that said, it can add some 48 SpDef EVs in order to take hits from Electabuzz so it becomes a mixed spread from that, even if most EVs go to defense. Magic Guard and Regenerator both works in their own way. But Regen synergizes with F-sight by far better than Magic Guard since you’re able to switch in and out more flexibly without deciding if you want to recover or use F-sight with M-Guard Duosion. Still, M-Guard is solid if you want Duosion to stay in without being worried by hazards. Also, I think Psychic is a much better move than Shadow Ball because Psychic gives a more powerful move and revenge killing Gurdurr and Machoke is satisfying, though the position to make it work they need to be paralyzed and have their Eviolite knocked. Trick is not mandatory, but I do think Duosion needs Eviolite as much as it can. So something like against Covet Roselia, Trick Clefairy, and Covet Mareanie is where you could pull it out in a situation like that.

praised it, but ended up being a weaker cors-g. use this for utility purposes only

This mon got definitely skewed so hard by the changes LOL. I don’t like using it so much because Machoke and Roselia existing makes it feel like I’m just matchup fishing when using it. However it’s still a useful pokemon for many different teams, but more for its utility and hazard immunity aspect. Physdef is probably the best set in the future, but I’ve been used to mixed spread that it’s hard for me to forget. With that said, all the sets Clef still works today. One thing I’ll mention though is that CM Clef is slightly better as Golbat was one of the biggest walls, and it doesn’t mind Roselia since it can win the 1v1 war as 1+ cm setups on Rose. If you want to use this because of its bulk, then it’s much better to go for Corsola-G IMO.

eh, still cool it won both matches it was in tho

If you want a bulkier Roselia, but also somewhat act like Tangela without Spdef weakness then this pokemon works for you. Tbh I don’t know how I feel about it so much since it’s not that different from Rose and Tangela. But I’ll say this pokemon won both of the tournament matches it was in, which was pretty cool. As a general pokemon though, I think it’s kinda alright and it has some noticeable bulk to act as a mixed spread. But otherwise, it faces a lot of competition against Roselia. You’ll need to take the fullest advantage of this mon if so. It can actually work, but I don’t see it as something that different from its competitors. Growth being showcased was interesting though, definitely a cool tech that punishes teams that relies too much on Vullaby being the check.

FINALLY, I can talk about this one Jesus. Alright so we’re at a state where I believe Piloswine should be used in 80% of your teams, and using other ground types should only be used occasionally. The issue with using other ground types is that they’re much easier to take advantage of as there are more pokemon that is able to switch in without being so threatened. When you’re using other ground types like Gabite and Marshtomp, it’s mainly because you want a pokemon that can wall the Special Attackers with Rest/Talk back in the old days. Nowadays, their defensive roles matter way less in this meta and I would argue that Piloswine's defensive attributes are more useful than what they’re providing right now. Pokemon such as Hattrem, Roselia, Corsola-Galar, and Vullaby can easily annoy them from a defensive perspective. However, I think what’s more dangerous is that it gives wall breakers such as Thwackey and Piloswine more switch-in opportunities which no team wants to deal with. I don’t think they’re useless, but instead very exploitable which means you’ll have to go far for the support.

2nd best mon, but idk for how long tho

It’s still the 2nd best ground type in the tier as its values are still useful for the tier. I think it could be a better pokemon if people stop using Rest/Talk set altogether. Rest/Talk has that funny wincon ability that works sometimes, but the set is just not worth it in long run IMO. It’s so restricted that it puts you in such a 4mss struggle, which makes you less threatening and easier to switch, and Rest/Talk is much easier to take advantage nowadays. Besides, why would you even use that set when Magmar is gone? Gabite can easily take hits from Electabuzz and it outspeed Lampent, so using Rest/Talk just makes you way too passive. I would only use that set for a stall team or something very specific. If you’re going to use Gabite in a team nowadays, I think you’ll need to back this team with powerful wallbreakers that can take advantage of Electabuzz’s interaction. Teams I’ve at least tried with are Gabite with Koffing or Balance with Wish support for example, and they’ve worked as far as I know.

hes bad but i like him. has only one or two very useful thing over most teams

If you’re ever thinking of using this pokemon, I think U-Turn is 100% mandatory as you don’t feel completely walled by everything and get no momentum. The issue behind U-turn is that you’ll have one hell of a struggle to remove Defog, Earthquake, or Toxic as all of their help Vibrava a ton. But if you’re not using U-Turn, then you won’t get that much from Vibrava itself since it’s not a solid defogger or defensive check in long term. So take your poison. I think it’s 100% possible to build a good team with Vibrava, but you’ll have to take its unique advantages while having the option to be flexible. Despite being immune to spike and taking hits from Electabuzz and Lampent like a boss, it’s still not doing much damage back and for some teams, it’s not possible to switch it in at all. Vibrava is useable because of it counters two viable pokemon, and if you want a mon to switch in those and then get a slow pivot out of them then this pokemon works for that.

huge s/o for arctic and jr for giving me interest on this mon

Just wanna speak a few funny takes on this one. It could potentially have a legit niche which is being a wincon sweeper, using the Curse Hippo set. Setting up on Electabuzz is a very rare thing to do, but Hippo does set up super free against Electabuzz. And unlike other sweepers, it can face Cors-Galar in 1v1 because of Slack and some cases against Piloswine if given the right position. Here’s a funny set Curse Hippo set I’ve made as an example.

Hippopotas @ Eviolite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 220 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Toxic

Tl;dr Toxic Hippo helps it to break against Cors-G and Vullaby, while 1+ Def can take 2 Icicle Crashes from Piloswine. And Hatt can’t really touch this set it barely does that much damage. Not the perfect set, but ground types get away with a lot of things as how a lot of people tend to approach them.

Calcs for someone if interested.
0 SpA Hattrem Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 220+ SpD Eviolite Hippopotas: 78-94 (22.9 - 27.6%) -- 69.7% chance to 4HKO
252+ Atk Piloswine Icicle Crash vs. +1 252 HP / 36 Def Eviolite Hippopotas: 134-158 (39.4 - 46.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Also should also mention with sand up, you’re able to disturb Roselia’s synthesis which is also neat in itself.

always will be in this meta as long tangela exist.

I don’t need to speak about how good it is when the usage speaks for itself. I'd rather instead be interested in Vullaby versatility in sets and I've another take on it too. While Knock/U-Turn is extremely effective it should definitely not be overused. I think if you have a rose beside you, or not having anything else after the U-Turn that can pressure Tangela, you should consider something else than U-turn. Knock Off + Toxic/Brave Bird are also really good as Knock + Toxic helps Vullaby to beat slower Piloswine and Corsola-G in the hazard game, and Knock + Brave Bird helps you against Rose, and overall against the grass and fighting mon, although I’m not a big ban of Knock + BB combo.

My take on the Vullaby sets is that Knock Off is not mandatory and honestly holds a lot of people back when trying to build innovative teams. People tend to auto-pick Knock Off on Vullaby super easily. While Knock Off is extremely spammable, which in hindsight is a problem too because people will prepare for that position and interaction since it’s one of the most common ones every NFE player will be put in. As an answer, there are a lot more Knock Absorbers mons that will punish after that interaction with mons such as opposing Rose, Clefairy, Koffing, opposing Vullaby, etc. Usually from stealing the opposing Eviolite, but can be also spreading hazards and toxic depending on the context. Overall though, I’ve find using other utility sets such as Brave Bird + Toxic and Toxic + anything(Vullaby Toxic is really good tbh) to work extremely well, and there are probably more combinations you can find on your own. The drawback would be that you won’t have the Knock Off progression it usually provides, and you can’t exactly break through Lampent and Hattrem, though they don’t usually switch into Vullaby anyway. But I think no Knock Vull shows a very interesting way to use Vullaby differently, especially when people are so prepared with Knock Absorbers in this generation.

Other funny stuff I thought of is that Vullaby 2atk + taunt actually kinda invalidates a lot of Vullaby defensive checks as the way most checks beat it doesn't break Vullaby, and only tries to cripple it in some sort of way. The issue is that you’re going to lose Defog, so using this set means you need something else to back up this set, which can be challenging if you’ve always just used Vullaby with Defog. Anyway, I think Vullaby is never going to fall down ever. As long Tangela exists Vullaby will always be used 99% of the time in any team in my mind.

I wanted to talk about put three together at the end because I made a category for these 3 being nerfed in the last post. I think I was wrong on Piloswine, 50/50 on Ebuzz, and definitely predicted the Wartortle drop hard. So 1 and a half kinda?

best mon, mostly talk how it adapts and sets

Oh boy, I’ll say that I’ll have to take an L on this one. Obviously, there’s a lot more grass spam in this tier, but you can simply deal those checks by abusing your own grass type, and also there is Vullaby, or even in combination lol. Piloswine actually liked the bans more than I realized. Wartortle being severely limited right now means that it’s much more difficult to resist its STAB combo. And pokemon that were limited by Golbat’s centralization such as Corsola-Galar and Hattrem became better in process. In another word, Piloswine got much better defensive synergy from the defensive mons as a consequence of the ban. I will be right though that Choice Band and Toxic sets became much better, so I wasn’t all wrong on the prediction. I think Piloswine is easily the best Pokemon right now, although not as centralizing compared to Golbat and Pre-Machoke. Is it broken though? I think the hazard aspect is 100% fucked up and checking against that pokemon is extremely susceptible as I see it’s easier to handle Piloswine checks than dealing with Piloswine itself. But there’s still a good amount of counterplay both offensive and defensive, so it’s up to the player's opinions if Piloswine is fine or overbearing enough.

Most sets are good and have a sense of use. But I don’t really like SpDef invested in Piloswine as sacrificing its power is a noticeable issue, such as Hattrem becoming a better wall, or you’re not doing enough chip-on fighting checks. And lastly, you could potentially lose in positions where full ATK Piloswine could have killed which is a shitty feeling to be in. If you’re desperate enough to use SpDef Piloswine, solidify your defensive cores better. We have literally Roselia, Clefairy, Duosion, Hattrem, Corsola-G, and a lot more mons that can easily fill in the Electabuzz counterplay. Piloswine’s biggest strength is that it can force progress by its sheer offense and playing aggressively rewards it more than giving it more defensive values.

cleans the game, but rlly need its partners to weaken it so u dont see it being on field in early-game

I will still die on the hill that it’s an A+ rank in this meta, but I don’t think people who rank it at S are wrong at all. When you’re the fastest character in the tier and you can only be touched by priority moves as scarfers aren’t a thing in SS NFE, it means revenge killing is difficult. When the defensive counterplay is forcing most teams to have two(or three sometimes) because the best ground type is weak to its insane coverage and using other ground types is a risk means that you have a very simplified counterplay that feels very dry but effective nonetheless. You’ve basically the best cleaner in the game with a very susceptible counterplay.

Why I still think it’s A+ mons because it’s way easier with many different ways to deal with it compared to the last gen. Electabuzz does also need support in order to make it work, and I don’t see people talking about it enough. Yes supporting it isn’t hard, but a lot of teams have preemptively prepared for it and giving Electabuzz fewer opportunities to take complete advantage before their own cores fall down. While the defensive cores are something Electabuzz can break through, Electabuzz still needs to respect it to the point when you’re using it Electabuzz, it’s way later in the mid-late game. Something like Reboot has a more significant presence in earlier plays due as it weakens things way more effectively than Electabuzz. I do think I did underestimate it too much through. Maybe in the future, I may change my opinion on it, as its centralization is something I always underestimate.

uhhhhh lol

Wartortle got extremely gutted by the ban hot diggity damn
The defensive set has always its uses because flip turn + spin is always a solid combo regardless of meta, and being pure water type helps you immensely against Piloswine and Lampent at the same time. But the high rise of Roselia and Corsola-G definitely made this set more inconsistent. Shell Smash Wartortle is still a threat that’s able to literally sweep almost any team, but the current meta gives it fewer opportunities which forces you to use it at the very end, if it wasn’t the fact that the opponent has Thwackey then instead you’re easily forced out regardless. Wartortle’s best set is Shell Smash, and probably Sub > Spin but overall the meta has indirectly made Wartortle a worse pokemon. I still think it’s able to be a good pokemon, but it’ll never be as good as it was in Golbat meta.

Bonus

loved using it in this meta, would have been my fav swsh nfe mon if it wasn't for morgrem freemans eliminating my nfepl iv team out tyvm >:(

I adore this pokemon a lot. It’s a B+ mon at best probably, but I have been having a blast using it. My favorite set would be the Nasty Plot as how it sets up and target mons is way different than the usual way to approach NFE things. There isn’t only one singular set, but there are definitely guidelines for each NP set.

If you’re using the Pickpocket set…

• You should more than likely run 3 ATK instead of 2 ATK + Paralyze
• Modest over Timid likely since you’ve accepted that Thwackey will revenge kill you with no drawback regardless.
• Dazzling Gleam is usually better than Draining Kiss for damage, but DK isn’t a bad decision if you know what you want to do with it

If you’re using the Prankster set…

• Running Thunder Wave over Burning Jealousy is an option if you want to paralyze most faster mons besides Linoone-G/Electabuzz. But Burning Jealousy isn’t bad if for baiting purposes.
• Timid >>> Modest because the speed just barely outspeeds Thwackey, which lets you paralyze it before it hits you with Grassy Glide.
• Dazzling Gleam and Draining Kiss are both solid, but I prefer Draining Kiss if you want that small longevity that can work against like Piloswine and Electabuzz trying to chip you out with Volt Switch.

I don’t think Screens are worthless, however, I do think the interactions you want to cover against make it too hard to be consistent, and it’s simply impossible to have a set that covers all of the interactions I want to be bulletproof/not losing progress against. In the end, you can easily lose light clay from Vullaby itself, which means you’re not having a consistent way to put out screens against the most common defogger. This is so awkward in my mind because Morgrem has some of the best typings against Vullaby lol.

Prankster with Screens + Taunt doesn’t work on Vullaby because Dark types are obviously immune from screens, and you are not doing shit against a Vullaby if they have an Eviolite. At that point, if you’re in that position after they switched in Vullaby and you just put out the screens. A fully healthy Vullaby can remove it, but also knock off the Morgrem to get rid of light clay, and then proceed to freely roost back. And if you’re building a pure HO team, you’re in such an awkward position as most of your mons do not want to switch in Knock, but Morgrem screens are worthless right after. In that way, Taunt does not help a lot of times.

Prankster Screens + Thunder Wave is definitely better than Taunt, although the Vullaby issue still persists. Why I prefer Thunder Wave so that I can opt between screens is similar to the reason why I use Thunder Wave with NP. The issue is that Vullaby can still play around the screens so, in the end, the most screen turns you’ll get is 4(or well 3 tbh) screens at best. But I still think it has its uses for potential cheese or tricks. Also, Timid >>> Modest, same reason as the NP set one.

Pickpocket Screens + Taunt can work actually. You’re able to stop all defoggers and set up before them. And if Vullaby tries to Knock you in the same interaction where I mentioned in Screens + Taunt one, they’ll get punished by losing their Eviolite, which means Vullaby is fully vulnerable against Morgrem. The issue is that being forced to use Pickpocket means that you won’t be able to put screens against faster pokemon and easily get revenge killed before being able to pull it screens, and then the player can use Vullaby for another time to defog if you got to pull out a defog, something like after a U-Turn/Volt Switch turn.

Conclusion: Every sets bar Pickpocket leads up to you losing with Light Clay after a switch-in fully healthy Vullaby if you decide to use screens when the Vullaby w/ Eviolite switches in, and all the other options aren’t better. If Pickpocket, you’re vulnerable to getting revenge killed anyway, so the player can preserve Vullaby and use screens later. Also if you’re pulling out one of the screens against Vullaby switching in, you’re in a easy 50/50 at that position.
Pulling out the other screen move and Vullaby attacks > You win
Pulling out the other screen move and Vullaby Defogs instead > You lose and regardless of what you do, Vullaby has the utter advantage and them using Knock Off when you’re staying means it’ll be worth it if they limit your turns in screens.

You’re just bound to not have 8 turn screens from what I’ve observed. Kinda sucks tbh.
But right now(/legit right now) there’s a potential mixup I just thought you could in theory. Using Nasty Plot Morgrem with Screens can scare Vullaby right away as bait, which means you can get two free screens. Yes, you aren’t doing much with NP and one atk move as there’s always someone being able to cover it…Unless you’re going absolutely based and using Metronome’s RNG to get the move…Unless Vullaby is immune to that too if the move functions with Pransker mechanics lol…
But yeah if you’re running that set, I think you’ll have something that can be set up on Clefairy or Roselia especially, which would react appropriately. Then you’ll have to have something against Roselia + Cors-G core ugh, a lot to think of XP
But yeah, there are a lot of complications with Morgrem screens, which is why I’m more favored by the nasty plot because there is some consistency you can get out of it.

It could have been my favorite SWSH NFE mon if it wasn’t for my team getting literally by Morgrems in NFEPL IV… So I’ll have to drop points because of that. Thank you very much Morgrem Freemans >:(

spam stabs and win lfg

Should have written this before but the fact that Golbat is gone means it can spam the hell out of its STABs even harder. It does the same thing as Lairon does, but much better and consistent. Even if Vullaby exists, Lampent can eventually break down Vullaby. A lot of teams that try to build their defensive cores based on the bulk/base stats and ability will be reminded that this Pokemon does not care. It does have a huge speed issue so it tends to be much weaker against faster teams, but overall Lampent loves that it can spam powerful damage with its previous checks got banned or nerfed by the tier itself.

 

[Shing]

What do I think about the meta right now? Do I think the Golbat ban was overall positive? Are Roselia spikes too overturned? How do I personally feel about it?

I’ll not be the last person to say I absolutely hate dealing with Roselia’s Spikes meta. Those who knew me for a long time know how much I despised the hazard game back in the DLC 2 era because you were forced to run double anti hazards mon as to be able to handle hazards, which became the norm today. Roselia absolutely boiled that frustratingly even harder because Roselia handles all anti-hazard removals with little effort while having strong synergy with the rocks ofc. Also, some modern techs had to make that mon more annoying. Like god, why did some of yall create Covet Roselia??? Absolute insanity it was shown three times in an OMPL week, what the hell you guys? A part of me wanted to have Golbat back for balancing hazard control, giving Roselia a legitimate 4mss issue, and having a mon that switches into it consistently. If I was thinking a year ago like the same today, then I would not play SS NFE for a longer period.

However, a lot of things changed from then to now. I could mention something such as being a better player overall so I got a more perspective thanks to playing other tiers. And I’ve been a lot more optimistic and tried to build pushing ahead, but also more innovative and thinking differently which actually made me like this tier a lot. In fact, I think I like this meta the most out of any because I feel like it’s the most balanced one yet without the feeling overwhelmed by the offense or a side of it really. The offense in SS NFE has always been torturous to handle for me, I disliked it lol. It’s either this meta or the Linoone-G being an A+ in NFE was the most fun due to being the first time for me playing NFE really lol. And lastly, I realize that I despised every period when Golbat and the Special Breakers were all viable, and I still dedicated myself effort and time to play through that meta. So if I could handle that, then this meta is something I can innovate and push through the roof. Also, the last point which stayed true since the early days is that I’m the most NFE addict out of anyone. Literally got distracted in the gym because my thoughts COULD NOT stop me from thinking of building an NFE team. I actually got rid of that problem once I began doing more compound exercises, bc that shit takes a lot of my energy FYI.

Because of my optimism and because I found a different perspective to think about the meta, my conclusion came to this:
This meta is still undeveloped and there is something that can handle Roselia spikes meta to the point they’re not overwhelming. Rose teams will never be bad, but I believe that they won’t be as oppressive as they are in these days. There is a lot of different type of approach to this offensive as I’ve experienced. As one of Rose’s biggest issues is that it’s quite frail for its base stats, and even the cores it has some holes that we can break through. So I am in a somewhat deep rabbit hole that offense/bulky playstyle will catch up against the Roselia teams, while not taking over they’re able to consistently enough to be considered a staple playstyle. The issue is it’ll need quite some time since Offense is usually much harder to figure out and since there are a lot of offense tools, but it means it can be confusing to find the right one. Bulky teams are often thrived up from Offensive teams, so if they get better then bulky teams will get better in exchange. The sad thing though is that SV is coming out soon and SS NFE will be only pushed through UMPL and OM circuit tournaments. At the same time, it’s still like around 2 months before people completely move on SV NFE, so maybe we can get something more different. I’ll probably put some blame on myself for not participating in team tournaments as I refused to play more after last year's OMPL due to prioritizing different things IRL. Even if I helped people behind the scene, I am still not talking my stuff to people as much in public. Those who know me know I try to keep up with NFE, but yeah this year has been less public posts from me.

Overall though, I am positive that we can get something more out of the meta. I think SS NFE rn is a good meta overall, and the best state it has been IMO. While it’s dry and kinda boring for many people, I personally appreciate it after going through so many periods of SS NFE @.@

Before finishing the triple posts, I’m gonna post some ideas/cores and eventually my teambuilder because I want to clean up things.
Cores and team ideas I have to build, finished, and not finished with some details. Eventually, it’s my teambuilder and something else for the end. :)
P.S EV Spreads should be taken with a grain of salt; change them to more of your liking if you want. A lot of these spreads can be interpreted as paranoids and trying to be too perfect, so overall my details matter more than the EV Spread itself.

[Double Defog] Brave Bird + Toxic Vullaby and Bulk Up Gurdurr
Notes: Originally had Knock on Vullaby, but Jordy talked about Brave Bird so I changed it as well in there.

Details

Vullaby (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 172 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Toxic
- Roost
- Defog

Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Atk / 64 Def / 40 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Defog
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Bulk Up

The concept behind this was to break through Roselia + Piloswine + Corsola-Galar core. Faster Vullaby can stall out Piloswine if it’s poisoned. If you want to tank both Icicle Crash and Ice Shard, then 80 Def is guaranteed. Originally that was my purpose, but I miscalced so oops lol. Not a big issue with Piloswine since you have a Gurdurr, so you can find other positions to heal Vullaby back, but yes you can fix that one if needed. Here are the calcs for 80 def for some of you guys.

252+ Atk Piloswine Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 80 Def Eviolite Vullaby: 194-230 (56.3 - 66.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Piloswine Ice Shard vs. 252 HP / 80 Def Eviolite Vullaby: 92-110 (26.7 - 31.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

66.8% + 31.9% = 98.7%

While you can Vullaby against them alone in theory, Vullaby gets overwhelmed so Gurdurr being able to help against the Piloswine MU is helpful enough, while Vull can help Gurdurr weaken Cors-G and Roselia, which lets Bulk Up Gurdurr become stronger afterward. The calcs on Gurdurr are just some specific stuff, like 40 SpDef lets it takes 3 hits from Roselia guaranteed as I don’t like dealing with rolls. I forgot Def EVs a bit, but I’m sure to lower the chances of rolls or it’s against Raboot and Piloswine. Personally you don’t need to use the EV spread I made here, but I’m always just that type of person that wants to be guaranteed against everything.

The issue behind this team is that it’s quite Koffing weak, so having something that can aggressively take advantage of it like CM Cors-Galar, Wartortle, or even weird ones like Growth Roselia/Ivysaur can work. This core was actually used in a tournament, with a team I gave Mirbro, and him eventually giving it to Jordy and we just talked a bit bout the team. Here’s the replay if you’re curious :)

[Fsight abuse to the extreme] F-Sight Duosion, Whirlwind Vullaby, and Toxic + Tspikes Koffing

Details

Duosion @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Def / 48 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Recover
- Psychic
- Trick

Vullaby (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 172 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Whirlwind
- Defog
- Roost

Koffing @ Eviolite
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Flamethrower
- Toxic Spikes
- Pain Split

Probably the evilest concept I’ve made lowkey. As I tried to find the right F-sight Duosion set, I stumbled on what type of core I wanted to make. A lot of issues I had before were the random interactions and covering all of them. Like if I was pivoting in Duosion and using F sight, then the opponent can aggressively react to that and force Duosion out, ending them forcing a mon of mine not being able to touch Vullaby in the next turn. Another thing was there were three pokemon I wanted to handle at the same time, which are Hattrem, Ferroseed, especially Vullaby. Ferroseed was not common, but since I thought to cover everything then I wanted to have Flamethrower to hit this, while Flamethrower is a solid coverage move against other grass types tbh. However the focus was on Vullaby, and Vullaby could easily remove hazards or take advantage of switching to Koffing + Fsight. This is why I gave Koffing Toxic, to specifically take advantage of that interaction that's very common and force Vullaby in and poison it instead of using T-spikes. If Vullaby is Toxic’d against this matchup, then Koffing can mindlessly abuse t-spikes and Duosion can stall that mon in long term.

Sadly, there was a flaw that I noticed right away. While I could change to Thief on Koffing against Hattrem you would still have issues against like Ferroseed and I’m all about that perfection. So the third had to be Vullaby. Not because it can threaten Hattrem out, but more instinctively because I do not want to lose mf Tangela LOL. But I realized I could pull out Whirlwind perfectly here, and I could easily pull out one Whirlwind cheese, and then what happens after? An RNG chance where I could potentially kill a Fighting type/Poison type. Just imagine losing Roselia with the opposing Koffing in the field. If I did get neither of them, T-Spikes can poison the opposing opponent for free if they’re not immune to it. The best positions you can this is either against a Hattrem or against an opposing Vullaby. Probably more to the latter as some people switch in Vullaby against Vullaby way too much.
Duosion is also more PhysDef invested to switch in against Piloswine, but 48 SpDef investment makes it some sort of mixed set as it helps against Electabuzz immensely. I think Duosion needs an attacking move here, so I went for psychic in case I need to revenge kill Machoke/Gurdurr and psychic does a lot generally. Trick isn’t as needed, but if you’re annoyed by the Covet/Trick/Thief interaction, then this option is helpful as it goes.

I’ll just give out two other partners I think it’s a no-brainer to pick should be Piloswine and Thwackey. Piloswine + Duosion is really good, and if you get rid of the fighting types = Piloswine goes in HARD. Thwackey gives terrain support to Koffing so it can tank hits from EQ Piloswine, while poisoning Vullaby will help Thwackey a lot more than you realize in long term.

The last slot can be anything, but it’s usually preferred if those last mons are really fast and can abuse t-spikes the hardest. I’ll have teams for that FYI ;)
Also while the Koffing slot makes this team unique, this is not the only mon needed here. If you’ve other mons that can punish Hattrem/Ferroseed/Vullaby(and some degree Clefairy), then go for it. A tip I would give out is that Toxic is extremely free to throw out if that pokemon can threaten Hattrem(And some degree Clefairy again :P

Nasty Plot Twave Morgrem + Tangela

Concept + Details

Morgrem (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Draining Kiss
- Dark Pulse
- Thunder Wave

Tangela @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Bold Nature
- Knock Off
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder

Basically, the concept came simply from this interaction.

-> Vullaby Knocks Morgrem
-> Morgrem sets up
-> Morgrem chips out w/e next mon it sees
-> Uses Prankser paralyze to paralyze the opposing mon

Basically wanted to paralyze Poison Point Roselia and Thwackey, as both of them being slowed down means there’s a lot easier to revenge kill them. Imagine Lampent, Offensive Roselia, and Tangela being able to be faster than Thwackey. Though I don’t think this core makes that much sense since you won’t get that first interaction a lot of times, especially since people usually know it’s an NP Morgrem in that team. I did finish a team out of it, so I’ll post that one too.

[Stall is funny to try out] Sub Toxic Rufflet + SG Rest/Talk Klang

Details

Rufflet (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 248 HP / 24 Def / 232 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Aerial Ace
- Toxic
- Roost

Klang @ Eviolite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 100 SpD / 156 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Gear Grind
- Shift Gear

Yes, this is simply just trying to force a free toxic on Electabuzz so Klang can wincon through this team LMAO. Klang is gatekept by a lot of things, but I think Electabuzz is kinda the one to push it out of the meta. Otherwise, this pokemon can wincon a lot of shit if getting the circumstances right. Also yes I have a team I made of this, not proud of it lol.

Some random “out of the box sets” I’ve made.

Klang @ Air Balloon
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shift Gear
- Gear Grind
- Wild Charge
- Substitute

Air Ballon lets Klang setup on Piloswine since Piloswine can only attack with Ice Moves unless you’re banded Superpower >:(
The cool thing with this is that you’re immune to spikes and take only rocks damage, so less damage which is appreciated for Sub. You would prefer using it in a HO team or very bulky teams where 5 of your teammates can function themself and focus on weakening the opposing team, mostly focused on Gurdurr and Electabuzz to the right percent and then proceed to sweep the whole team if you get the interactions as you wanted to.

Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Swords Dance

Tbh this was built with a Duosion/Vull team as this > Koffing I mentioned above, but never got to finish that team. Laziness and job come in handy.


Now here are the teams I’ve picked because I like them + they’re useable and not too random, well except those I mentioned above. I’ll say these can work, but I don’t think you should think of them as amazing or new, though most of them can work. Only Stall, webs, and HO did not age well tbh lol. Otherwise, a mix of them has been on tours other ppl have used, but also things I am personally comfortable with.
https://pokepast.es/1fde4f566ceaa591

Teambuilder itself (throwing it out here so I can clean my builder tbh)
https://pokepast.es/667f2e65bba4bae1

I think I’ll build some more optimized SS NFE teams when I feel for it, because while I’ve tried to innovate things I’ve been trolling around and I don’t like the lack of “optimized” teams I had here.


But now, SV NFE is coming around now or very soon here sheesh.
But wow though… Can’t believe I’ve been playing SS NFE since the Dynamax meta and am still here. I don’t think I would have been on smogon for so long if it was for the NFE community's existence. Really can’t believe meeting Tack in the ZU room ended me staying in this tier for 3 whole years. I’ve met so many amazing people, and it ended in me branching through other OM tiers and DPP. Funny enough, at the start of SS NFE I was not an amazing player, but I was such a tryhard player back at the time going high in ladder and room tours. I didn’t even know NFE was an OM(tbf NFE is def not like any other OMs) and I didn’t even know what OM was. So when I saw a lot of OM players at suspect tests and NFEPL, I thought they were some randos looool. So ignorant I was before :P. Now I have somewhat of a presence in the OM community I guess? I don’t think I was anywhere near an NFE goat builder and player, or even near of the Top 10 SS NFE players of all time. I just thought that I could personally push myself into becoming a better builder than everyone else and had the mindset of beating anyone. Obviously, there were up and downs here, but I think the fact I’m still here means I did care enough tbh.

As much as I want to make a huge shoutout, I don’t think I’ll do it. These post has been way too lengthy and has no time for feelings. So I’ll just say...

Thanks to everyone that has been active in the community, those who are still here or have left some point ago; you guys are all appreciated for the activity. Thanks to those that picked me in the team tournaments, loved that I got drafted into other things. And personally, thank those that I’ve befriended and who gave some a lot of wonderful discussions from servers into the DMs, you guys know who you are ;)
I don’t think I'll stay for SV NFE for so long as I’ve been more interested in my other hobbies and I feel like I don’t want to learn competitive mons for some time. But I’ll definitely try SV NFE at the start though to give it some headstart. Either way, Thanks to everyone for playing SS NFE, and see you in SV NFE.​

 

[longhiep341]

Time for a massive team dump for all main metas. I won't just dump everything in OM Bazaar because my builder is filled with both OM and OMM teams and I want to give some insights for teams as well as some ideas I had that didn't come into fruitition yet. Hopefully I can inspire some players to be more innovative, cause that's what I build teams and spectate for: Creative but competitive.
I will start with NFE since I have the least teams, but stay tuned if you want teams for other main metas.

This is probably a meme, but it might be legit, who knows since I never brought this to a tour. I built this when joining Swiss since I did say "Join to DrumSpam". I think Pickpocket Max Speed is probably better on Morgrem to punish Knock Off while still Taunting Vullaby to prevent Defog. Counter on Combusken is because most physically bulky Pokemon like Vullaby, Gurdurr and Piloswine are physical and can damage Combusken quite hard, so it can pave the way for others. It can also ignore the rare WoW from Corsola-G and boost to +6 against non-Haze variants to OHKO it.

When I looked at sample teams and also tour replays, I recognized Sun could murder most teams with next to 0 resistance. It's also helped by the fact that other weathers see 0 play. Charmeleon can do heinous things like 2HKO SpD Mareanie in sun with a Fire move and is really only stopped by Lampent if it has Flash Fire. Ivysaur is more physically bulky than Roselia and thus Vullaby doesn't even beat it 1v1, all while getting +2 in sun. Outside of STAB, Weather Ball, Knock Off and Sleep Powder are all viable, however Sleep Powder should be reserved for Gloom as Gloom is basically the same but without the former two. Gloom can opt for Drain Punch as well though if Ferroseed is a concern. Both can also run recovery moves, but I find that not necessary. Slowpoke and Clefairy were chosen as setters for their longevity and resistance to hazards since it's likely they will be up while they try to set sun and pivot out. Hattrem also helps with that, and I changed Psychic to Psyshock to deal with Cutiefly better.

If there's one thing I'm good at, it's punishing lazy structures with overused cores. This is the goal I always have in mind, especially in metas like NFE where most teams are similar. This weird offensive team has multiple ways to take advantage of them. Anorith has some pretty good role compression, with Knock Off helping teammates even if it can't get rid of Corsola-G. Under Web, Seadra becomes pretty scary, only needing minimal chip to OHKO Cress after Focus Energy. It does need to avoid Knock Off more though. I ran Blizzard before to OHKO SpD Roselia but honestly, either Ice Beam or Blizzard is fine. Charjabug is like the only Web setter, with X-Scissor for Hattrem and Spark for Vullaby and spread para in general. This CM Corsola-G is different in that it's max SpA, as I don't believe it needs any Def to do its job, max SpA helps more. Gothorita punishes Defog from Vullaby, Strength Sap from Corsola-G and Hattrem bouncing Web, which at +2 can claim all of them. Fletchinder is a late-game sweeper once Electabuzz is gone and preferrably Piloswine weakened, but it's also helpful to switch in against Raboot's U-turn as well. Team overall feels pretty good to use and does have ways out against anything since the general power of NFE is low. I forgot what the spreads are for except the 227 Speed benchmark to outspeed Electabuzz under Web.

This is the most standard looking team, though it does have cool elements. Wartortle's set was yoinked from somewhere I forgot. Lampent can probably be Specs as well, but I like being able to surprise Raboot as Lampent really only fears Sucker and can cripple it with Trick before it U-turn out. Honestly, I'm surprised nobody tried Grassy Seed Thwackey before. Yeah it telegraphs your set and you can't lure Roselia, but who needs that when you can kill everything in front of you anyway, and the Def boost from Seed helps against many foes like Vullaby and Piloswine. The Def EVs ensures it lives a Flare Blitz from Boots Raboot from full. Speed EVs speed creep Pokemon that speed creep 252 EV base 70. Morgrem is pretty cool to punish Knock Off and can also clean, the EV is to survive Sludge Bomb from defensive Roselia. Sliggoo wallbreaks pretty well, only really somewhat sketchy against SpD Vullaby while denying Corsola-G recovery. Its SpD is also good even without Eviolite so it acts like an Electabuzz switch-in as well. General gameplan is to just set Rock and then begin wallbreaking, ideally Thwackey or Wartortle cleans up but can go many ways depending on matchup.

My last team and if you notice, all of them are offense. The reason I like offense in NFE is because every Pokemon is relatively bulky thanks to Eviolite, meaning I can afford to go offense without fearing a random offensive threat just coming out, clicking a move and claiming a mon every turn or setting up mindlessly and sweeping like in AAA, GG or STAB. The first question that comes to your mind while seeing the team is obviously "Why not Mareanie?". Well from my third team to this, you can see my increasingly more punishing ways to deny Corsola-G. From still getting HP but having to deal with a new threat, to losing a turn for free and now actively losing HP. It can also keep Gurdurr low as well. And it also has Rapid Spin so more often than not it can beat Corsola-G after it takes a hit from other Pokemon. The main idea behind this team is based on the offensive core of Porygon and Lairon to force progress. Banded Lairon can 2HKO anything except Tangela and Gurdurr, hence the Toxic. It's also recommended to get Raboot in and U-turn to Porygon, as at +1 it can get a mon every time it switches in against something it can OHKO and predicts correctly.

Now for the next part, I'd like to talk about some Pokemon that I looked at and theorized their niche in the meta (that I didn't make noms for and aren't already on the VR).

Pokemon table

Pokemon	Estimated Viable Chance (C or higher)	Suggested Role + Set	Notes
Boldore	Little to none	Physical rocker Boldore @ Eviolite Ability: Sturdy EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe Adamant Nature - Explosion - Stealth Rock - Toxic - Stone Edge	Boldore has some good physical stats to back it up, but Rock is just a bad defensive type in NFE, though it can somewhat keep Rock against Vullaby, Gurdurr and Wartortle sadly force it out, however. Offensively, it struggles against Gorsola and tangela, so can't see how it's usable.
Brionne	Medium	Offensive trapper Brionne @ Eviolite Ability: Torrent EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe Modest Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Whirlpool - Ice Beam - Substitute / Perish Song / Surf - Encore	A niche case where Brionne can shine over Seadra or Omanyte is to beat Grass- and Water-types by trapping with Whirlpool, essentially draining them of recovery PP while discouraging status moves.
Carkol	Very High	Entry hazard control Carkol @ Eviolite Ability: Flame Body / Flash Fire EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe Adamant Nature - Heat Crash - Stealth Rock / Spikes - Rapid Spin / Stone Edge - Will-O-Wisp / Stone Edge Note: Flash Fire should only be used with Will-O-Wisp to beat Hattrem. Carkol @ Power Herb Ability: Flame Body EVs: 100 HP / 252 SpA / 156 Spe Modest Nature - Meteor Beam - Fire Blast - Stealth Rock/ Spikes - Rapid Spin	Carkol has much more potential than Boldore due to also having Spikes and Rapid Spin. Weakness to Rock itself though is what prevents it from actually being on VR. Nevertheless, being paired with something to spinblock and punish Defog (Gorsola and Gothorita for example) can do wonders for offensive teams, or it can run Explosion to deny them as well. While some hazard deniers like Hattrem and Gurdurr can also give it troubles depending on sets, it can also go for a special set with Power Herb Meteor Beam which further adds to its versatility. Overall one of those I was most intesrested in while theorycrafting but didn't have any chance (like tour games) to showcase it.
Corvisquire	Low	Setup Corvisquire @ Eviolite Ability: Big Pecks EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 120 Def / 40 Spe Adamant Nature - Taunt - Drill Peck / Power Trip - Roost - Hone Claws	I think Corvisquire can run a set similar to Fletchinder but with a less severe Rock weakness and higher vulnerability to Piloswine. Nothing special about this, but do pack something to limit Pilo and Buzz if you want to make this work.
Dartrix	High	Bulky setup Dartrix @ Eviolite Ability: Long Reach EVs: 148 HP / 252 Atk / 108 Spe Adamant Nature - Knock Off / Swords Dance - Leaf Blade - Roost - Brave Bird	I thought Nasty Plot should be on the VR for sure until I found out it learns no special Flying move whatsoever. As such, SD is probably the only thing it can hope for. NFE might also be the only meta where Grass + Flying is good coverage so that helps, especially against Wartortle, Tangela and Gurdurr. Gorsola is still annoying and absolutely requires a teammate that stops it, like Sliggoo, Hattrem, or even Tentacool if you feel adventurous.
Dragonair	Medium	Setup Dragonair @ Eviolite Ability: Shed Skin EVs: 32 HP / 232 Atk / 104 SpD / 140 Spe Adamant Nature - Dragon Dance - Outrage - Rest - Iron Tail	Obviously this competes with Fraxure, but Shed Skin is something to consider. No taunt for Gorsola feels bad though, since at +6 it still might not OHKO it with Outrage and has to rely on Iron Tail against Clefairy.
Drifloon	Medium	Setup Drifloon @ Sitrus Berry Ability: Unburden EVs: 128 Def / 252 SpA / 128 SpD Modest Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Calm Mind - Shadow Ball - Thunderbolt - Will-O-Wisp / Toxic / Substitute / Filler	Drifloon is like Woobat but fast, which honestly isn't that good since Simple is way stronger. That said, Unburden can help against Electabuzz, but sadly Drifloon doesn't get Strength Sap to deal with the likes of Raboot and Pilo.
Drizzile	Little to none	Attacker	I looked at this while trying to find a Sniper Focus Energy user, basically use Seadra instead.
Gloom	Low	Sun user Gloom @ Eviolite Ability: Chlorophyll EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe Modest Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Growth - Sleep Powder - Giga Drain - Sludge Bomb Can also run Drain Punch over Sleep Powder if Ferroseed is a concern.	You really only use this if you run Sun and want to double your Ivysaur, so too niche for VR. Having Drain Punch is definitely something though if you want your Ivysaur with Knock to handle Ferroseed and Lampent better.
Loudred	Low	Choice Loudred @ Choice Specs / Choice Scarf Ability: Scrappy EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe Modest / Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Echoed Voice - Hyper Voice - Fire Blast - Ice Beam	Maybe I should stop trying to make Echoed Voice work. But I attempted to build an Echoed Voice team with this, Brionne, and Amaura, and ideally Loudred should go last due to the lack of Rock and Steel in NFE. Unless Echoed Voice is actually good though, use Porygon instead.
Nidorino	Low	Hone Claws Nidorino (M) @ Eviolite Ability: Hustle EVs: 192 HP / 252 Atk / 24 Def / 24 SpD / 16 Spe Adamant Nature - Hone Claws - Poison Jab - Sucker Punch - Drill Run	I tried to look for a Hustle user besides Rufflet, and while Nidorino is one of them, it's really not preferred compared to Rufflet. Pack something for Piloswine and Gorsola if using it.
Poliwhirl	Medium	Belly Drum Poliwhirl @ Sitrus Berry Ability: Water Absorb EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Belly Drum - Waterfall - Earthquake - Thief	Anything with Belly Drum instantly becomes semi-viable in my eyes. Poliwhirl also has Thief for some shenanigans but still can't OHKO physical walls at +6.
Scraggy	High	Bulky setup Scraggy @ Eviolite Ability: Shed Skin EVs: 248 HP / 56 Atk / 84 Def / 120 Spe Adamant Nature - Bulk Up - Knock Off - Drain Punch - Rest	Scraggy can see play due to the fact that other Fighting-types have no reliable recovery, while Scraggy has a semi usable Shed Skin. However, it also loses to said mons and gets forced out by Clefairy but it might outlast them in a long game where they lack recovery.
Sealeo	Medium	Belly Drum Sealeo @ Sitrus Berry Ability: Thick Fat EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Icicle Spear - Waterfall - Belly Drum - Substitute / Earthquake	This one at least can break Tangela, but pretty much same story as Poliwhirl to some extent. A set with Brine and Super Fang might be somewhat usable as well, or some Encore Whirlpool shenanigan like Brionne, but it's more lacking in stats, ability and no Hydro Pump + weak to Rock
Vanillish	Low	Attacker Vanillish @ Eviolite Ability: Ice Body EVs: 32 HP / 252 SpA / 224 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Ice Beam - Magnet Rise - Taunt - Flash Cannon	The only reason I looked at this is cause of Magnet Rise, as I looked for something with the potential to bait Pilo. No Freeze-Dry sucks, but it can chip down stuffs at least.
Amaura	Low	Choice Specs Amaura @ Choice Specs Ability: Snow Warning EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe Modest Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Freeze-Dry - Blizzard - Earth Power - Flash Cannon/ Stealth Rock	On one hand, most teams don't have a true Freeze Dry resist cause Gorsola and Wartortle deal with Pilo well enough so Blizzard and Freeze-Dry become pretty spammable. On the other hand, Amaura has trash defensive typing and fails to break Clefairy and might not 2HKO Pilo with Flash Cannon. Recommend something that can bait to Knock Clefairy.
Archen	High	Offensive lead Archen @ Rocky Helmet Ability: Defeatist EVs: 4 HP / 180 Atk / 72 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Knock Off - Stealth Rock - Endeavor - Taunt Offensive Archen @ Eviolite Ability: Defeatist EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Knock Off - Roost - Stone Edge - Dual Wingbeat Mixed Archen @ Power Herb Ability: Defeatist EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe Hasty Nature - Meteor Beam - Acrobatics - Earthquake - Roost	For something with good offensive stats and movepool, Archen is really not held back that much by Defeatist imo. Its wide movepool also gives it ways to get around its answers, so I think this should be explored more. Pure physical, mixed, Switcheroo, it just beams with potential.
Bunnelby	Medium	Choice Bunnelby @ Choice Band Ability: Huge Power EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Adamant Nature - U-turn - Wild Charge - Facade - Earthquake Setup Bunnelby @ Eviolite Ability: Huge Power EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Adamant Nature - Substitute - Swords Dance - Strength / Facade - Earthquake	Bunnelby's trainwreck of BST and the most reliable STAB being Strength/Facade make people discard it quickly, but it does have potentials. It can punish Toxic Spikes and status spreaders by strengthening its Facade, which is preferrably paired with Lampent and a reliable Rocker to keep pressure against Gorsola. SubSD turns Gorsola from a counter to setup bait similar to Work Up Raboot. It's more vulnerable to Whirlpool, but boosts much faster and isn't weak to Rock. They also make a decent bunny pair with Raboot U-turn into Bunnelby. Last Resort might also be usable.
Cufant	Low	Offensive rocker Cufant @ Life Orb Ability: Sheer Force EVs: 252 Atk / 12 SpD / 244 Spe Adamant Nature - Iron Head - Stealth Rock - Play Rough - Superpower / Zen Headbutt / Play Rough	Steel-types are rare in NFE, and while Cufant can threaten hazard removers and has some unique tools all around, it's still prediction reliant and a bit lacking in defensive value. Still, if it's to be built around, Wartortle and Gorsola are great partners.
Darumaka	Low	Choice Band Darumaka @ Choice Band Ability: Hustle EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Adamant Nature - Flare Blitz - Zen Headbutt - Rock Slide - U-turn	Flare Blitz calcs like 2HKOing Gorsola are pretty impressive... provided that you hit. Its Spe is also a bit of a letdown, though investment helps against most defensive Pokemon and at worst ties Pilo. Raboot and Rufflet still do everything this wants to though, so...
Dewpider	Medium	Offensive Web Dewpider @ Eviolite Ability: Water Bubble EVs: 228 HP / 252 SpA / 28 Spe Modest Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Bug Buzz - Scald - Sticky Web - Infestation	Dewpider might have mediocre stats compared to Charjabug, but it has some qualities. It can ease Hattrem mindgame with Infestation, somewhat deal with Pilo and Raboot without Gunk Shot, while Scald burn still annoys Vullaby and Wartortle. It's still worse, but usable.
Farfetch'd-Galar	Medium	Final Gambit Farfetch’d-Galar @ Eviolite Ability: Scrappy EVs: 148 HP / 252 Atk / 108 Spe Adamant Nature - Knock Off - Close Combat - Brave Bird - Final Gambit	Opening the path for Gurdurr and Machoke is what this should do. Most teams' Fighting-checks can't take an attack into Final Gambit, so once this trades itself, you at least remove one roadblock, preferrably Gorsola but can also be Roselia/Clefairy.
Inkay	Medium	Resttalk Inkay @ Eviolite Ability: Contrary EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD Careful Nature - Knock Off - Superpower - Rest - Sleep Talk	For a broken ability, Inkay's dreaded BST and U-turn weakness really hold it back. In the right mu, getting some Superpower can turn the tide though, with bonus point for using Strength Sap to its advantage. Also helps a bit that not all Vullaby run U-turn and Raboot and Thwackey still don't like switching in directly.
Krabby	Low	SFLO Krabby @ Life Orb Ability: Sheer Force EVs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpA / 136 Spe Naughty Nature - Knock Off - Liquidation - Ice Beam - Swords Dance	I planned to bring Krabby in OM champs final but sadly lost. The spread 2HKOs Tangela with Ice Beam after it gets Knocked Off
Marill	Medium	Belly Drum Marill @ Eviolite Ability: Huge Power EVs: 104 HP / 252 Atk / 72 Def / 76 SpD / 4 Spe Adamant Nature - Belly Drum - Aqua Jet - Knock Off - Play Rough	Same story. It can OHKO Gorsola with Knock Off at +6 though.
Ponyta	Low	Offensive Ponyta @ Eviolite Ability: Flame Body EVs: 168 HP / 164 Atk / 176 Spe Adamant Nature - Flare Blitz - Morning Sun - Toxic / Will-O-Wisp - Wild Charge / High Horsepower	Morning Sun is probably the only thing it has over Raboot, though Toxic can come in handy against Gorsola and Wartortle, and the occasional Flame Body. It's nothing special otherwise, struggling to get past most physical walls directly.
Skrelp	High	Choice Skrelp @ Choice Specs Ability: Adaptability EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe Modest Nature - Sludge Bomb - Scald - Thunderbolt - Flip Turn / Hydro Pump Offensive utility Skrelp @ Eviolite Ability: Adaptability EVs: 212 HP / 252 SpA / 44 Spe Modest Nature - Sludge Bomb - Scald - Toxic Spikes - Flip Turn	Skrelp is a pretty interesting one since I think it's hard to properly take its attack unless it's Ferroseed or Mareanie, kinda similar in power to Lampent. Mixed set in theory can break anything outside of them while playing out defensively like Mareanie-lite. RestTalk probably can be useful too.
Stufful	High	Setup Stufful @ Eviolite Ability: Fluffy EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe Adamant Nature - Substitute - Swords Dance / Bulk Up - Brick Break - Earthquake	This would be much better if it had Drain Punch, but sadly it doesn't. A Sub BU/SD set is still pretty dangerous though, which sets itself apart from Gurdurr with Fluffy and Normal type to use Corsola-G as setup fodder. No Knock is pretty sad, but I believe it can clean up better once Eviolites have been removed.
Trubbish	Little to none	Entry hazard setter Trubbish @ Eviolite / None Ability: Sticky Hold EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Spikes - Explosion - Gunk Shot - Pain Split / Thief	Having Sticky Hold and entry hazards, as well as Pain Split is nice and all, but getting stopped cold by Hattrem invalidates most of its possible use. Thief or Acid Spray might help a bit but it's still not really worth it.

Not much to say about the meta overall that I haven't said above, feels like there are rooms for development but everyone just falls back to the same structures which can be taken advantage of in many ways. Ladder inactivity seems to really hurt NFE. Like I don't see Vullaby being mandatory in teams at all. Its Rock and Piloswine weakness makes it really awkward for me to build with.
For tournaments, I think some techs can be more utilized without exploring new Pokemon. Considering item removal is a big part of NFE, Trick Sticky Barb can definitely see more usage, from Clefairy and Duosion mostly. A more extreme way can be leading with something without Magic Guard (preferrably also scares the aforementioned two) or hard switching in a Sticky Barb mon after a foe gets Knocked Off and is likely to use a contact move. As gimmicky as it is, Assault Vest can be a serious consideration against those that like to use Covet/Thief as well (such as beauts), permanently crippling important defensive pieces like Clefairy and Roselia from the game.
Ending note: I should have got this out a long time ago, but better late than never I guess. Next up will be BH.