Nothing Lasts Forever
Introduction
Hello Smogon community, I am Double01 and this is my fourth RMT that I have created. Although this is my fourth RMT, I’m not going to lie my past three RMT’s have been sub-par at best. I want to make this RMT the best it could be. I want this RMT to be particularly special because of the importance of the team to me. I am retiring this well-used team that I have played with for about 4-5 rounds in RU because of the latest tier shifts.
I started playing Pokemon competitively around July of 2011. I started off in the OU tier and was pretty terrible. I watched tons of Pokemon Battles on Youtube and went on Smogon to help improve my battling skills. Although I got better at Pokemon, OU was just not the right tier for me. OU was horribly repetitive and the lack of creativity drove me away from the tier. I wanted to try a new tier that was relatively unknown at the time. (It’s still pretty unknown currently :() I fell upon the rapidly growing RU tier! It was around Round 1 in RU and I was highly into stall at the time. I quickly created a lack-luster stall team just so I could get familiar with the tier. Only 5 battles in and I got completely destroyed by teams that used so many powerful threats such as Omastar, Lilligant, Porygon-Z, Honchkrow, and many more. I thought these pokes were completely overpowered at the time and quickly put together 6 of the best and most powerful set-up pokes in the tier. This is basically the roots of my team and where the concept of all out offense strategy came to me. Once I had this team I never looked back.
I named my RMT “Nothing Lasts Forever”because I’ve used this team for practically my whole time spent in the Rarely Used tier and after 4-5 rounds it has to finally be retired due to the latest tier shifts. I was sad at first but I just had to remember nothing lasts forever and neither did this team. The team is a Hyper-Offensive team that has no hazards, no rapid spin, no screens, just 6 pokemon that have great offensive synergy and will plow through nearly any team. Some people make the misconception that Hyper Offensive is easy and requires minimal prediction skills. While maybe Hyper Offensive may not be the hardest, full stall is probably the hardest, it is damn near one of the hardest play styles to play. Hyper Offensive may achieve you easy points for a short period of time, but to be good and consistent is a very difficult task. Hyper Offensive has to deal with so many threats that usually can demolish a Hyper Offensive team such as stall, trick room, and gay dual screen teams that use linoone. (yes I’m looking at you ShakeItUp) Not only that but my team has had to adapt to all of the tier shifts and bans I’m surprised that it has made it 5 rounds before one of my elite sweepers got moved to UU.
In this RMT, I will show you how the team works and how I use it, but also the changes I’ve made that were necessary to sustain this team through all the tier shifts and bans. I have been consistently in the top 5 round after round and reaching a max peak of #2. It is not about the peaks, but more about the evolution of the RU tier and how my team has adapted and conquered all these phases in RU. Without further ado, I present to you Nothing Lasts Forever.
Team Building Process
This was my first team that I created and it consisted of the 6 best set up pokes and that I knew. Lilligant, Sharpedo, Porygon-Z and Omastar were obvious choices in my eyes. They were by far the strongest and best set up pokes in the game. I needed a scarfer and wanted to finish the Fire-Water-Grass core so I added Scarf Moltres. And Honchkrow was my priority user because, at the time, I thought a priority user was a must on any team. This team was pretty bad I must say and only getting to about 1100 rating at best.
I noticed that I had a HUGE toxic spikes weakness that none of my sweepers enjoyed. Porygon-Z seemed like the weak link to me as it was quite difficult for it to set up with and it had a weakness to a very common priority move, Mach Punch. To solve this issue I needed an offensive poison type that could hit hard and was fast. I discovered Scolipede running in the mucks down in the NU tier. It had amazing speed, decent attack, and access to Swords Dance, what else could I ask for? This version of the team was still mediocre and I knew I could do better.
Another threat that was quite common was Honchkrow. It straight up 6-0ed me and I knew I needed a counter to this menace. I went searching and came up with a weird, misshaped gear thing that had a great set up move Gear Shift. Raising Speed by 2 and Attack by 1 it was basically a worse shell smash. Klinklang was the other ‘mon I found lurking down in NU which surprised me because of its ability to check Honchkrow so well and set up on it. Thank god more people weren’t running mix krow at the time or else I might have never found Klinklang. I used this team through rounds 3 and 4 to rather good success. I reached about 1250 with this team which was great for me at the time and even did a RMT on it. Check it out if you wish it’s nothing spectacular http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3459360.
Round 5 rolled around and with the tier shift new threats emerged from the UU tier such as Sigilyph, Aerodactyl, and Spiritomb. But the new major threat that got popularized was Unburden Hitmonlee. Unburden Lee easily 6-0ed my team. So to combat this I needed a bulkier fighting resist that could easily switch in and out. SubCm Uxie was the perfect choice it seemed. I decided to replace Omastar because it wasn’t pulling its weight since it had a hard time setting up and once it did set up there was too much priority in the tier that it could never sustain a sweep. Another change I made was adding Scarf Manectric over Scarf Moltres. Having no rapid spin support limited Moltres’s use since it could only switch in once or twice in a match. Manectric was a fantastic scarfer that fit the team perfectly. Being able to absorb t-waves and gain momentum via volt switch what else could I ask for? This is essentially the final team that I used for about 3 rounds straight. It has achieved great success and has been consistent throughout the rounds getting me to top 5 in multiple rounds.
Note: I did test out some other mons such as Shell Smash Crustle over SD Scolipede. But I ended up going back to scolie and I didn’t feel like adding those into the team building process because the changes weren’t permanent.
I noticed that I had a HUGE toxic spikes weakness that none of my sweepers enjoyed. Porygon-Z seemed like the weak link to me as it was quite difficult for it to set up with and it had a weakness to a very common priority move, Mach Punch. To solve this issue I needed an offensive poison type that could hit hard and was fast. I discovered Scolipede running in the mucks down in the NU tier. It had amazing speed, decent attack, and access to Swords Dance, what else could I ask for? This version of the team was still mediocre and I knew I could do better.
Another threat that was quite common was Honchkrow. It straight up 6-0ed me and I knew I needed a counter to this menace. I went searching and came up with a weird, misshaped gear thing that had a great set up move Gear Shift. Raising Speed by 2 and Attack by 1 it was basically a worse shell smash. Klinklang was the other ‘mon I found lurking down in NU which surprised me because of its ability to check Honchkrow so well and set up on it. Thank god more people weren’t running mix krow at the time or else I might have never found Klinklang. I used this team through rounds 3 and 4 to rather good success. I reached about 1250 with this team which was great for me at the time and even did a RMT on it. Check it out if you wish it’s nothing spectacular http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3459360.
Round 5 rolled around and with the tier shift new threats emerged from the UU tier such as Sigilyph, Aerodactyl, and Spiritomb. But the new major threat that got popularized was Unburden Hitmonlee. Unburden Lee easily 6-0ed my team. So to combat this I needed a bulkier fighting resist that could easily switch in and out. SubCm Uxie was the perfect choice it seemed. I decided to replace Omastar because it wasn’t pulling its weight since it had a hard time setting up and once it did set up there was too much priority in the tier that it could never sustain a sweep. Another change I made was adding Scarf Manectric over Scarf Moltres. Having no rapid spin support limited Moltres’s use since it could only switch in once or twice in a match. Manectric was a fantastic scarfer that fit the team perfectly. Being able to absorb t-waves and gain momentum via volt switch what else could I ask for? This is essentially the final team that I used for about 3 rounds straight. It has achieved great success and has been consistent throughout the rounds getting me to top 5 in multiple rounds.
Note: I did test out some other mons such as Shell Smash Crustle over SD Scolipede. But I ended up going back to scolie and I didn’t feel like adding those into the team building process because the changes weren’t permanent.
Overview
A Closer Look
Scolipede (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
From round 3 I have always said SD Scolipede is the most underrated poke in RU and I’m holding true to that statement. I lead with Scolipede about 90% of the time mainly when I see a poke that can set up hazards. Practically everyone I face thinks this is the standard hazard set. (except when people know my team, which is actually quite common. :() This gives me the element of surprise to set up an SD as they either taunt me or set up SR. Another interesting thing is that, unlike most SD Scolie’s, I run a focus sash instead of life orb. Focus sash is 10x better than life orb for multiple reasons. Firstly, focus sash allows me to at least get 1 SD up before I died. But the main reason why focus sash is better than life orb is because it activates Swarm which increases bug moves damage by 50% once the user’s health is below 33%. Trust me a swarm boosted, +2 atk megahorn will hurt. A lot. If you still don’t trust me let me show you some calcs.
All the calcs will be done with +2 swarm boosted Megahorn:
vs 252/252+ Poliwrath: 170 - 201 (44.27% - 52.34%) Guaranteed 3hko
vs 252/136+ Cofagrigus: 136 - 161 (42.50% - 50.31%) Guaranteed 3hko
vs 252/252+ Ferroseed: 234 - 276 (80.14% - 94.52%) Guaranteed 2hko
vs 252/252+ Tangrowth: 374 - 444 (92.57% - 109.90%) 53.85% 1hko
I think you get the picture by now.
vs 252/252+ Poliwrath: 170 - 201 (44.27% - 52.34%) Guaranteed 3hko
vs 252/136+ Cofagrigus: 136 - 161 (42.50% - 50.31%) Guaranteed 3hko
vs 252/252+ Ferroseed: 234 - 276 (80.14% - 94.52%) Guaranteed 2hko
vs 252/252+ Tangrowth: 374 - 444 (92.57% - 109.90%) 53.85% 1hko
I think you get the picture by now.
I have tried Shell Smash Crustle in the lead position over Scolipede for a short bit. In theory Crustle should be better because after one set up move Crustle is faster and stronger the +2 Scolipede. But in practice the swarm boost really does make the difference between which is better for my team and in the end Scolipede proved itself and stayed on the team. Also getting t-spikes off the field was quite crucial to the team because with Crustle I had to run Lum Berry Lilligant just so Lilli had the opportunity to set up and sweep.
Lilligant (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power [Rock]
It’s sad that Lilligant seems to be getting over shadowed by Sceptile even though Lilligant has one of the best set up moves in the game. It is so easy for Lilligant to get a couple of quiver dance’s and sweep. Thanks to sleep powder it can essentially eliminate its counter and set up on it. I chose HP Rock over HP Fire for a few reasons. Moltres, Entei, and flying types in general can threaten my team much more than Ferroseed does, so HP Rock helps eliminate those threats. Also most of the grass types in the tier such as Tangrowth and Sceptile still take a ton from Giga Drain after Lilligant has a few Quiver Dance’s up. Sun would threaten this team a hell of a lot more if Lilligant wasn’t on my team. Basically Lilligant is my only good way of dealing with sun teams because it can abuse the sun as well. I use Lilligant more as a mid-game sweeper rather than a late-game sweeper. Mainly because Sharpedo in itself has the job as late game sweeper and Lilligant’s setting up ability is too easy to abuse mid-game. During round 6, SD Feraligatr became very popular and I found myself using Lilligant a ton more. As Lilligant and maybe Uxie are my only good ways of dealing with SD Feraligatr. Even while Feraligatr is at +2, Lilligant can shrug off an Aqua Jet and KO back with a Giga Drain. I have also been experimenting on what item is better for Lilligant, Life Orb or Lum Berry. While Life Orb adds that extra “umph” needed to get more OHKO’s, Lum Berry has allowed me to switch into walls more freely allowing me to absorb that toxic or T-wave. Because a paralyzed Lilligant is a dead Lilligant. Lilligant is another lure for the team by luring sap sippers such as Bouffalant and Sawsbuck. Although not as versatile as Sceptile, Lilligant is still one of the best sweepers in the tier.
Uxie @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 32 HP / 252 SAtk / 224 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
Uxie is right behind Sharpedo as one of my favorite pokes in the tier. Uxie is so versatile and I chose to run the infamous SubCm Uxie. During rounds 3 and 4 SubCm Uxie was very prevalent and dangerous but this set sort of died out in the later rounds. Uxie is my main switch to fighting types. I swear people really do underestimate Uxie’s speed. With base 95 speed it out speeds a large portion of ‘mons in the tier. The EV’s are to out speed Timid Rotom which is basically all it needs to out speed. Uxie could set up on basically any wall bar Steelix because I can’t touch Steelix at all with this set. I loved playing people that used Claydol because that Claydol was the biggest set up bait in the history of RU. I chose Thunderbolt over Giga Drain because I really wanted to hit Honchkrow and Mandibuzz for SE damage. If Krookodile was still around I might be using Giga Drain but thank god that thing is gone. My recent change to Uxie was changing Psychic to Psyshock. The change has paid off big time I must say. Now I don’t get completely blocked by Haze Cryogonal and Munchlax. I can at least hit Munchlax relatively hard now. This change has been counter-productive in some cases because now bulky ghosts such as Dusknoir and Cofagrigus will have an easier time with me because of their massive defenses. Uxie is basically the glue to the team while still adding major sweeping potential.
Sharpedo (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SAtk / 124 Spd
Rash Nature (+SAtk, -SDef)
- Protect
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Crunch
Boss Pedo is boss. Sharpedo is the man, the myth, the legend. He was my shining star and probably the best late game sweeper in the tier. It is quite sad that UU had to take this beast away. But looking at the 1337 stats in UU I’m surprised he didn’t go sooner. This thing has one me more games than probably any other poke on my team. It has very few checks and counters and most of those checks can be dealt with by SubCm Uxie. Those two actually make a pretty decent combo by eliminating each other’s checks. Once priority is eliminated Sharpedo has a strong possibility to go for a sweep. I chose to do a mixpedo set instead of the physical set mainly because of the Slowgrowth combo that was common at the time of me building this team. Sharpedo had a field day against those cores because Ice Beam Ohkoes Tangrowth while I believe Crunch did like 75% to Slowking which was good enough for me. I have tried HP Fire on Sharpedo just for by passing Ferroseed, but it was too situational and HP Fire didn’t have enough power to get sure KO’s on Tangrowth and Rotom-C. Although Sharpedo is strong it is basically a glass cannon. Even resisted hits can sometimes Ohko this frail shark. Protect is very important in this team success because it can scout attacks from the opponent and stall out weather and TR. Stalling out TR is very crucial because TR absolutely rapes this team if I can’t control it. But a lot of TR teams are weak to Sharpedo powerful moves so if I don’t let TR get set up then I will mostly plow right through their team.
Sharpedo leaving the tier is the main reason for making this RMT. As I have tried many different replacements such as SD and DD Feraligatr as well as different sets for Absol but neither of them have the coverage or the instant power that Sharpedo brought to this team. If you have any suggestions for the replacement of Sharpedo I would be happy to try them and possibly pull this team out of retirement.
Manectric (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Lightningrod
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Switcheroo
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Manectric is quite possibly the best scarfer in RU. Manectric fit this team perfectly. With its ability Lightningrod, it can come into a t-wave and absorb it while also getting a SpAtk boost. Before I had Manectric t-wave killed my team because my team is extremely fast paced and t-wave crippled my sweepers severely. Another key feature Manectric brought was Switcheroo. Switcheroo gave me yet another weapon to help deal with stall. Stall wasn’t very common but when I did face a stall team they were VERY annoying. So tricking their wall a scarf basically eliminated that poke for the rest of the game, which is quite important. Switcheroo was mainly necessary to take care of a major threat, Munchlax. Because Munchlax walls half of my team and can phaze them if I try to set up on it. With rest Munchlax can gain back all the damage I did to it. Munchlax usually sticks around for the large portion of the game which makes it so annoying. I usually have to trick it a scarf for my team to have a chance at beating it. If I manage to get Munchlax the choice scarf I can further damage their team by giving something else a useless eviolite. Even once I tricked away my scarf Manectric is still a dangerous poke with its good Sp Atk and fantastic 105 speed that allows me to out speed a ton of threats. Manectric sort of completes the F/W/G core because it acts as a pseudo fire type thanks to Overheat. If a grass type thinks that it can just absorb my Volt Switch I’ll hit them with an Overheat. Volt Switch is fantastic for gaining back momentum which is what this team is all about. The more I control momentum on my side the better chance I have to win. Hidden Power Grass rounds out the coverage and allows me to hit bulky ground types such as Quagsire and Rhydon. Manectric definitely is one of the best scarfers that I have found and I will definitely use it on future teams.
Klinklang @ Leftovers
Trait: Plus
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Shift Gear
- Gear Grind
- Return
- Substitute
If SD Scolie is the most underrated poke in RU then Klinklang has to be the second most. First meeting Klinklang down in the NU tier I drastically needed a check to Honchkrow. Thankfully, no one ran Mixkrow or else I might’ve never chose Klinklang to be on my team. Klinklang provides so much for my team it will be hard to list them all. Firstly, Klinklang makes it so CB Entei does not go rampage with E-Speed on my team. As E-speed comes close to killing all of my pokes and I needed something to absorb those powerful priority attacks. TR at the time was also quite powerful and Druddigon under trick room completely tore my team apart. Klinklang could take on Druddi’s powerful Outrage’s and start setting up on it. I have tried Hp Fire over Substitute but I could not live without Substitute. The only thing Hp Fire could do was kill Ferroseed but I could just set up a sub on Ferro instead. Klinklang also added sort of a way to beat stall teams. As Avira’s stall team was practically the only decent full stall team, I found myself winning many of the games thanks to Klinklang. Thanks to Klinklang’s bulkiness and its ability to take on wimpy attacks and set up. The EV’s are mainly to out speed max speed Honchkrow. Gear Grind is an amazing move allowing me to break through subs and focus sashes. This allows me to beat Molk’s lvl 1 Smeargle and also Sub Nasty Plot Jynx which can be a pain to my team. Klinklang makes for a great lure to Magneton because 99% of the time if the opponent has a Magneton it will switch in trying to trap Klinklang. This essentially gives me a free switch to something to take on the Magneton. Overall, Klinklang is essentially irreplaceable on this team as it just helps my team so much and gives me a decent physical wall to take on powerful physical moves.
Conclusion
So, that is my team! I hope you enjoyed reading this RMT even though I may have talked a little too much. (Also I don’t have the greatest writing skills.) I just wanted to share this fantastic journey I had with this team and that it has been my best team I’ve ever created. It’s quite ironic how Oglemi named this new round “Don’t Look Back” even though that is exactly the opposite of what I am doing. I thought making this RMT would help remind me of all the highs and lows I had this team. It also showed how the RU tier has changed from the beginning to the end and how the play styles have evolved over time. I would like to thank everyone who is reading this as well as the RU community and the people on IRC. They really have made my journey in RU much more enjoyable and I have learned so much from them. I joined this tier as a noob practically but end this journey as at least someone who is decent at Pokemon. I would do shout outs but I’m afraid I’ll forget someone’s name and that will make things worse. I hope more people start playing the RU tier as it is really balanced and basically any playstyle is viable. Even a team with no hazards, no priority, no rapid spin, and no screens managed to succeed in this tier. If you join this tier I’m sure you will learn something. Once again this is Double01 presenting “Nothing Lasts Forever” and good bye.
