'Sup bros, it's been awhile since I've posted on these forums, but I've been heavily active on Showdown, as well as lurking! For some background on myself and my teambuilding process, just know that I've been playing competitively for like, two years, but I've taken LOOOOTS of breaks here and there for extended periods of time. The team I'm about to ask you, reader, to rate has garnered a lot of success on the ladder, and it has pushed my alt (Poopsicle, in case you were wondering) to the 1600 ish rank, something I'm actually proud of for some reason. Go virginity!
For my teambuilding process, I always pick a pokemon that I've wanted to use, build a team around it, and I'll usually end up with some less-than-desirable results. For this team, however, I spent some time lurking the NU forums to see what was trending in the tier, and then compare my findings to my experiences on the ladder. I found that Toxic Boost Zangoose, Swift Swim Ludicolo, and Regenerator Amoonguss were basically dominating the tier. So, I decided I would make a team that involved all three pokemon.
Using my knowledge from past competitive pokemon experience, I decided to go with the classic FWG defensive core, this time consisting of Amoonguss, Alomomola, and Torkoal (disregard Ludicolo in this :P).
For offensive presence, I decided to go with Ludicolo, Butterfree (just let me explain), and Zangoose. I let Torkoal take a dual role, as I'm using the SmashKoal set. That's just a very basic rundown of the team for starters.
HASH SLINGING SLASHER (Zangoose) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Toxic Boost
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Facade
- Quick Attack
- Night Slash
Zangoose, such a boss of a pokemon. Just look at it, that scowl on its face just SCREAMS badassery, and it has the stats to back that look up. The strategy with Zangoose is to come in on a weakened opponent and revenge them with Quick Attack, setting up the Toxic poisoning, and then just go to town with the other three moves. Close Combat nails the three Regis in the tier, as well as any other Steel, Rock, Ice, Dark, or Normal type that wants to stay in. Facade is here over Return simply because 99% of the time, Zangoose is Toxic'd, and a boosted Facade is nothing to mess with. I have Night Slash listed here solely for Ghost types; Facade hits harder than Super-Effective Night Slashes. Zangoose has great synergy with Amoonguss and Butterfree; both can take resisted Fighting type blows and threaten the aggressor out.
Sombrero (Amoonguss) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 140 HP / 252 Def / 116 SDef
Bold Nature
- Clear Smog
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Spore
Ah Amoonguss, where to begin with the greatness that is this pokemon. His pros are that he is bulky as all hell with Regenerator, Giga Drain, Synthesis, and the given EVs, he has Spore, and can shut down most set-uppers with Clear Smog, given they haven't set up too much. I'd like to expand more on the EVs, as they aren't what's standard. I went with 140 HP EVs to give him a total of 404 HP for some reason, max defense so he can take a lot of resisted physical hits, and I dumped the rest into special defense because there's not many things on my team capable of taking special attacks. Any suggestions on the EV spread are welcome. I chose Rocky Helmet over Leftovers because 1). He already has a lot of recovery going on without Lefties, and 2). Cinccino is completely destroyed by Rocky Helmet if it chooses Tail Slap, along with any other physical attacker. His moves are pretty self explanatory, Clear Smog is for Hazing, as well as a better option to hit opposing Grass types, Giga Drain is for recovery and respectable damage, Synthesis helps me stall out physical attackers with recoil from Rocky Helmet, and Spore is just Spore (which I rarely find myself using, help on ways to make Spore more useful are also appreciated). Amoonguss has great synergy with Alomomola, as both can switch back and forth with Regenerator.
Palindrome (Alomomola) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Protect
- Toxic
- Scald
- Wish
Alomomola is one of the best supporters in the NU tier, just based on the fact it passes huge 267 HP Wishes. She is able to stall a lot of the tier with Toxic/Protect or buff her defenses with Scald, but I feel like Alomomola could do more, halp plox. Alomomola is extremely hard to kill with Regenerator, Leftovers, and Wish. I feel like maybe it could run Rocky Helmet as well, just to help deal more damage to physical attackers, but I'm not sure if I should change it. Alomomola has great synergy with Amoonguss once again, and most of the team benefit extremely well from Wish-passing. Alomomola is one of the weaker members of this team, and any replacements/ tweaks are much appreciated.
Butterfree @ Leftovers
Trait: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain/Air Cutter
- Substitute
- Bug Buzz
Remember when I said I would explain why I count Butterfree as an offensive presence? Let me just say that Butterfree causes lots of switches because people ALWAYS expect Compoundeyes/Sleep Powder, and I just Sub up in their face. Behind a Substitute, Butterfree can always get up a Quiver Dance and begin its rampage. I run the obligatory Bug Buzz because of STAB, and I usually run Giga Drain in order to hit bulky Water types hard, but I've been in a few situations where a second STAB attack in the form of Air Cutter would be extremely useful, but as I said before, having dual STAB is situational. Butterfree has great synergy with Zangoose, Alomomola, and Amoonguss; together with Zangoose, the two can tear teams apart after all of their counters are gone, while Alomomola takes Ice-type moves and Amoonguss takes Electric-type moves.
S.W.E.D (Torkoal) @ White Herb
Trait: White Smoke
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Shell Smash
- Rapid Spin
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
Torkoal has often been named the best Rapid Spinner in NU. I had to test it out for myself, as I always swore upon Armaldo, and I was converted when I first used Torkoal. I was, however, disappointed when I first used Shell Smash , and was outsped by literally everything. He did his job though, and Rapid Spun away the hazards. Fire Blast is for a powerful STAB, while Earth Power is used for great coverage. I'm open to any other suggestions for Rapid Spinners, as I often find Torkoal to be dead weight. He has great synergy with the other two members of the FWG core.
South of the Border (Ludicolo) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Rain Dance
I'm just gonna come out and say it, Ludicolo could literally be a team of its own. Everyone who plays the NU tier knows the destructive power of a Rain-boosted, Life Orb Boosted, STAB Hydro Pump coming from this beast, and so everyone fears it. Giga Drain allows for powerful STAB and recovery, Hydro Pump is LOL Hydro Pump, and Ice Beam is for great coverage. He has great synergy with Torkoal, taking 4x resisted Water-type attacks that would otherwise destroy Torkoal. Ludicolo otherwise doesn't necessarily "flow" with the rest of the team, but acts as his own one-man-army.
Like nothing else in life, this team isn't perfect, and there's a long list of threats to them.
Threats:
Swanna: Swanna's dual-STAB completely destroys my entire team, and Swanna running +Spe outrun my Zangoose and OHKO with Hurricane/Brave Bird.
Amoonguss: Amoonguss is not an offensive threat, it's just that I have to play a lot of mind games in order to take it down, but I usually find a way.
Prankster Liepard: Faster than Prankster Sableye, I've seen sets from these things that employ Substitute, Encore, Swagger, and Foul Play, and they're deadly.
Hazards: Not a single member of my team resists Stealth Rock, and my spinner is weak to it. More suggestions are welcome for spinners.
Anything with more than 90 base speed and a Flying type move: They wreck my team. :(.
Thanks for reading, sorry if it was too long! But really though, I would love to know how to improve upon my NU skills and my team, every little thing helps!
For my teambuilding process, I always pick a pokemon that I've wanted to use, build a team around it, and I'll usually end up with some less-than-desirable results. For this team, however, I spent some time lurking the NU forums to see what was trending in the tier, and then compare my findings to my experiences on the ladder. I found that Toxic Boost Zangoose, Swift Swim Ludicolo, and Regenerator Amoonguss were basically dominating the tier. So, I decided I would make a team that involved all three pokemon.
Using my knowledge from past competitive pokemon experience, I decided to go with the classic FWG defensive core, this time consisting of Amoonguss, Alomomola, and Torkoal (disregard Ludicolo in this :P).
For offensive presence, I decided to go with Ludicolo, Butterfree (just let me explain), and Zangoose. I let Torkoal take a dual role, as I'm using the SmashKoal set. That's just a very basic rundown of the team for starters.
HASH SLINGING SLASHER (Zangoose) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Toxic Boost
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Facade
- Quick Attack
- Night Slash
Zangoose, such a boss of a pokemon. Just look at it, that scowl on its face just SCREAMS badassery, and it has the stats to back that look up. The strategy with Zangoose is to come in on a weakened opponent and revenge them with Quick Attack, setting up the Toxic poisoning, and then just go to town with the other three moves. Close Combat nails the three Regis in the tier, as well as any other Steel, Rock, Ice, Dark, or Normal type that wants to stay in. Facade is here over Return simply because 99% of the time, Zangoose is Toxic'd, and a boosted Facade is nothing to mess with. I have Night Slash listed here solely for Ghost types; Facade hits harder than Super-Effective Night Slashes. Zangoose has great synergy with Amoonguss and Butterfree; both can take resisted Fighting type blows and threaten the aggressor out.
Sombrero (Amoonguss) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 140 HP / 252 Def / 116 SDef
Bold Nature
- Clear Smog
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Spore
Ah Amoonguss, where to begin with the greatness that is this pokemon. His pros are that he is bulky as all hell with Regenerator, Giga Drain, Synthesis, and the given EVs, he has Spore, and can shut down most set-uppers with Clear Smog, given they haven't set up too much. I'd like to expand more on the EVs, as they aren't what's standard. I went with 140 HP EVs to give him a total of 404 HP for some reason, max defense so he can take a lot of resisted physical hits, and I dumped the rest into special defense because there's not many things on my team capable of taking special attacks. Any suggestions on the EV spread are welcome. I chose Rocky Helmet over Leftovers because 1). He already has a lot of recovery going on without Lefties, and 2). Cinccino is completely destroyed by Rocky Helmet if it chooses Tail Slap, along with any other physical attacker. His moves are pretty self explanatory, Clear Smog is for Hazing, as well as a better option to hit opposing Grass types, Giga Drain is for recovery and respectable damage, Synthesis helps me stall out physical attackers with recoil from Rocky Helmet, and Spore is just Spore (which I rarely find myself using, help on ways to make Spore more useful are also appreciated). Amoonguss has great synergy with Alomomola, as both can switch back and forth with Regenerator.
Palindrome (Alomomola) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Protect
- Toxic
- Scald
- Wish
Alomomola is one of the best supporters in the NU tier, just based on the fact it passes huge 267 HP Wishes. She is able to stall a lot of the tier with Toxic/Protect or buff her defenses with Scald, but I feel like Alomomola could do more, halp plox. Alomomola is extremely hard to kill with Regenerator, Leftovers, and Wish. I feel like maybe it could run Rocky Helmet as well, just to help deal more damage to physical attackers, but I'm not sure if I should change it. Alomomola has great synergy with Amoonguss once again, and most of the team benefit extremely well from Wish-passing. Alomomola is one of the weaker members of this team, and any replacements/ tweaks are much appreciated.
Butterfree @ Leftovers
Trait: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain/Air Cutter
- Substitute
- Bug Buzz
Remember when I said I would explain why I count Butterfree as an offensive presence? Let me just say that Butterfree causes lots of switches because people ALWAYS expect Compoundeyes/Sleep Powder, and I just Sub up in their face. Behind a Substitute, Butterfree can always get up a Quiver Dance and begin its rampage. I run the obligatory Bug Buzz because of STAB, and I usually run Giga Drain in order to hit bulky Water types hard, but I've been in a few situations where a second STAB attack in the form of Air Cutter would be extremely useful, but as I said before, having dual STAB is situational. Butterfree has great synergy with Zangoose, Alomomola, and Amoonguss; together with Zangoose, the two can tear teams apart after all of their counters are gone, while Alomomola takes Ice-type moves and Amoonguss takes Electric-type moves.
S.W.E.D (Torkoal) @ White Herb
Trait: White Smoke
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Shell Smash
- Rapid Spin
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
Torkoal has often been named the best Rapid Spinner in NU. I had to test it out for myself, as I always swore upon Armaldo, and I was converted when I first used Torkoal. I was, however, disappointed when I first used Shell Smash , and was outsped by literally everything. He did his job though, and Rapid Spun away the hazards. Fire Blast is for a powerful STAB, while Earth Power is used for great coverage. I'm open to any other suggestions for Rapid Spinners, as I often find Torkoal to be dead weight. He has great synergy with the other two members of the FWG core.
South of the Border (Ludicolo) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Rain Dance
I'm just gonna come out and say it, Ludicolo could literally be a team of its own. Everyone who plays the NU tier knows the destructive power of a Rain-boosted, Life Orb Boosted, STAB Hydro Pump coming from this beast, and so everyone fears it. Giga Drain allows for powerful STAB and recovery, Hydro Pump is LOL Hydro Pump, and Ice Beam is for great coverage. He has great synergy with Torkoal, taking 4x resisted Water-type attacks that would otherwise destroy Torkoal. Ludicolo otherwise doesn't necessarily "flow" with the rest of the team, but acts as his own one-man-army.
Like nothing else in life, this team isn't perfect, and there's a long list of threats to them.
Threats:
Swanna: Swanna's dual-STAB completely destroys my entire team, and Swanna running +Spe outrun my Zangoose and OHKO with Hurricane/Brave Bird.
Amoonguss: Amoonguss is not an offensive threat, it's just that I have to play a lot of mind games in order to take it down, but I usually find a way.
Prankster Liepard: Faster than Prankster Sableye, I've seen sets from these things that employ Substitute, Encore, Swagger, and Foul Play, and they're deadly.
Hazards: Not a single member of my team resists Stealth Rock, and my spinner is weak to it. More suggestions are welcome for spinners.
Anything with more than 90 base speed and a Flying type move: They wreck my team. :(.
Thanks for reading, sorry if it was too long! But really though, I would love to know how to improve upon my NU skills and my team, every little thing helps!
