XY NU NU Balanced Team -First RMT

maskrey

Hi everyone. I have been following the competitive scene for a long time (since 4th gen), but never really played very much due to different reasons. I mostly watch battles of Pokemon Youtubers for entertainment purpose. I played UU 5th gen for about a month without a really good team (just throw in random threats), and occasionally mess with random battles; that's about all the competitive experience I got. About three weeks ago I started my semester as an exchange student in Finland and having a ton of free time, I decided to built some teams seriously. This team it the one I'm most satisfied with, but it still has some flaws (of course), so I decide to put it here to seek for some advice.



Slurpuff @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 232 HP / 92 SpA / 48 SpD / 136 Spe
Calm Nature
- Calm Mind
- Cotton Guard
- Draining Kiss
- Flamethrower

This is my only setup sweeper in this team, and is my MVP. This set is crazy good. In my opinion if Gator and Gurdurr get banned, Slurpluff will become the best setup sweeper in the tier. It also has both this set and belly drum, which makes it really hard to counter. EVs are random except Speed, enough to outspeed base 80 Scarf after Unburden (I got beaten by Scarf Kingler, who is base 75, but when I tweaked the Evs I decided might as well put a little more to outspeed base 80).



Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 224 HP / 204 Def / 4 SpA / 76 Spe
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Scald
- Earth Power

Very standard, nothing to explain really. I need a Gator check, a physical wall, Stealth Rock, Toxic, can't think of any thing better.



Hariyama @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Bullet Punch

Another multi-purpose thing I put in. I need some thing to take status, take some special hit (since my special wall is not really good), Knock Off user, Priority, and some sort of physical attacker. Hariyama served me pretty well; maybe Gurdurr is simply better on every end, but it just seems so broken, and I don't want to use another broken thing besides Slurpuff.



Magmortar @ Expert Belt
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Another very standard set, but Magmortar is kinda disapointing. It can't 2HKO most things with non-super effective moves, and frail as shit. The only thing this does is doing some chip damage and sometimes bluffling specs and OHKO Seismitoad; it can't even remotely OHKO Water types with Tbolt. What I'm considering is changing to Life Orb and Vital Spirit, but maybe you guys can suggest a replacement for this.



Rotom-Fan @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
- Air Slash

I need a trick user, since I don't have taunt in this team, and obviously Volt Switch is nice. This suprisingly does the second most work in my team after Slurpuff.



Garbodor @ Black Sludge
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Clear Smog
- Pain Split
- Gunk Shot
- Spikes

Special "wall", phazer, spike setup, and Aftermath; Garbodor is not an amazing Pokemon (it's PU for a reason), but it does its job. It can somewhat check Gurdurr with Clear Smog, Pain Split and Aftermath. I'm think about chaning Gunk Miss to another move, but honestly can't find anything better. Protect is redundant, and Toxic Spikes can be bad with all the Guts users around.

Things I have problem with:

Psychic type: this team is super weak to Psychic, since the 2 mons dedicated to take special hits are weak to it. However I suprisingly didn't have that much trouble with Psychic types, and they normally became setup fodder for Slurpuff because it's just that good. Also Hariyama only takes around 60% from Mespirit's Psychic, and can KO back with Knock Off + Bullet Punch. Psyshock would obviously destroy me, but then Slurpuff can setup even easier.

Steel type: my team is not that weak to steel, but Magmortar is just not powerful enough which makes it has to switch a lot. Not having a spinner makes Magmortar weaken quickly with rock, and makes it no longer a reliable check to steel types (not to mention Fire Miss and Focus Miss).

Pyroar: not only stops Slurpuff completely, Spec Pyroar can also 2HKO pretty much all of my team. Not really have any idea how to counter it without changing the team completely, so I need some help here.

Maybe there are some other things I can't really think on top of my head right now.

I climbed to 1360 elo with this team (which is not high by any mean, but pretty decent for a newbie like me). I lost only 3 matches, one because of Scarf Kingler which I addressed, one due to a Focus Miss (against a Pyroar), and the other one is also pretty close (1-0 I think).

I'm open to any suggestion; probably I'm not gonna change Slurpuff, because it's the spirit of this team, but any other thing is fine.

Thank you for your help.
 
Hi there, this is actually very good for somebody's first NU team. I don't have much to say, although the team is incredibly weak to psychic types, and something like Xatu or Mesprit can nigh 6-0 your team alone. Outside of that, it is a pretty solid NU team, but makes sure you have 3 sentences for each pokemon of description, or else the thread will be locked. If I were to note only one more thing, this team is mildly Stealth Rock weak, but I don't see it as too large an issue.

The first thing I would do is to replace Hariyama with Pivot Pangoro. By doing so, you mitigate your weakness to common psychic types significantly, and still get many of the benefits of having Hariyama. Pangoro has the added advantage of using Parting Shot, which not only gets momentum for somewhat of a momentum reliant team, but gives Slurpuff free setup opportunities, which is huge. Furthermore, with Taunt it is well equipped to be a strong stallbreaker, and can protect your hazards from stuff like Defog, but most importantly helping you to check psychic types while maintaining key resistances to Dark, Rock, etc. that Hariyama offered.
675.png

Pangoro @ Leftovers / Fist Plate | Scrappy
Adamant | 192 HP / 252 Atk / 64 Spd
Storm Throw | Crunch | Parting Shot | Taunt
​
The next reccomendation that I would make is to use Scarf Rotom over Scarf Rotom-S. The most important things that normal Rotom bring to the table are slightly higher speed, but more importantly a Ghost typing, which is critical to any Spikes Offensive team in the current metagame, as it allows you to prevent Rapid Spinning from the likes of Kabutops, Sandslash, etc. and keep your hazards up throughout the duration of the match as well as using the ghost STAB to pressure psychic types. It still gets the revenge killing, trickscarfing, volt switching capabilities of Rotom-S, but without a Stealth Rock weakness it's a more reliable pivot and can help you protect your hazards.
479.png

Rotom @ Choice Scarf | Levitate
Timid | 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Thunderbolt / Will-O-Wisp | Shadow Ball | Volt Switch | Trick

Minor Changes:
Slurpuff: Your current Slurpuff set isn't that effective, as Calm Mind Slurpuff is incredibly weak and has a hard time sweeping, and Cotton Guard is largely a waste of a moveslot on Slurpuff, as it gives opponents turns to status you, set up while you set up, etc. and is counterproductive the Slurpuff's singular goal in getting in, setting up quickly, and sweeping.. Instead, I suggest you to run the standard Belly Drum Slurpuff who is much harder to prevent from sweeping, and has a far easier time doing so. The set is Play Rough / Belly Drum / Return / Protect or Substitute with 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd.
Seismitoad: Seismitoad ideally should be running 200 HP / 252 Def / 56 SDef Relaxed as this maximizes his physical bulk while giving him just enough special bulk to live the likes of two Draco Meteors from Dragalge, etc. Earthquake is also superior to Earth Power, as unboosted it does more damage across the board.
Garbodor: Honestly, your current Garbodor set hurts you a lot. It gives opponents free setup opportunities, and lets Steel types such as Pawniard and Klinklang freely set up and sweep you for zero opportunity cost. The fact is that on such an offensive team, pure defensive Garbodor just won't work. Instead, I reccomend you run Drain Punch / Gunk Shot / Toxic Spikes or Seed Bomb / Spikes with a Rocky Helmet and 252 HP / 152 Def / 104 Spe. This set works wonders as it maintains Garbodor's great bulk, but is much harder to set up against due to access to moves such as Drain Punch, Seed Bomb hits Seismitoad hard, and wiht a Rocky Helmet + Aftermath stuff like Gurdurr are easily taken out.
​
 
Last edited:
As addition to changed that mentioned above, I suggest Psychic<--Focus Blast, Life Orb<--Expert Belt, Vital Spirit<--Flame Body on Magmortar.
Psychic:Dragalge and Weezing wall Magmortar and Slurpuff respectively. Assault Vest Thick Fat Hariyama also walls Magmortar. With Psychic Magmortar can clean bulky Poison types easily and 2OHKOs AV Hariyama.(with Life Orb).
Life Orb:While Expert Belt is great in general, your team needs more special attack power. You can 2OHKO an Audino after Stealth Rock or 1 layer of Spikes. Probopass takes 41-49% damage,so it can't switch in forever. Also you already have a Seimistoad to counter it. Focus Blast isn't really worth the risk.
Vital Spirit is a good niche on Magmortar, as it and usually can switch in freely to sleeping moves and usually deal free big damage. Magmortar isn't supposed to be take hits, Flame Body really works as a hax that isn't worth losing your special sweeper.
magmortar.png

Magmortar @ Life Orb
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Also a little note about Pyroar, your team isn't really supposed to counter such wallbreakers, you should try checking it with either Rotom(Hyper Voice) or Seimistoad(Fire Blast), by prediciton or often sacrifing a weak pokemon. Hazard support is important here, as Pyroar is fairly easy to weaken by switching in and out.
 
Brawlfest: Thanks a lot for the suggestions. Pangoro is a great idea to reduce my Psychic weakness, tho it will leave my team without anything to take status, and more importantly, without priority. I will definitely try it out, maybe with a slightly different set. I considered regular Rotom, but I wanted something to force Grass types out, especially leech seed users. Now when I look at it, regular Rotom gives much more benefits, so I will make that change. About Garbodor, I know what you suggest is the standard set, but I'm looking for a special wall, not a physical wall; for a physical wall, I will for sure use Qwilfish instead, who is better than Garbodor at everythign except Sp.def. I will probably use Drain Punch over Gunk Shot, because Gunk Shot just misses too much anyway.

With all the suggestions, I'm thinking about having a v2 of this team, changing Rotom-F/Hariyama/Magmortar/Garbodor to Rotom/Pangoro/Flareon/Qwilfish. Specially defensive Flareon is one of my favorite in NU, with Wish/Protect/Heal Bell/Flare Bliz, or some variation with Lava Plume/Will-O-Wisp. Qwilfish will be the physical wall with Spikes/Taunt, 2 other moves I will consider, it will be nice if I can fit Aqua Jet in for Priority. About Pangoro, it's such a shame that it doesn't get Knock Off; I don't think Taunt is necessary; Pangoro is slower than a lot of hazard users, like Garbodor, Qwilfish, Sandslash, Seismitoad, even the rare suicide lead Omastar. Probaly put in that slot another offensive move or Circle Throw.

About the Slurpuff set, you will be surprised how easy to setup it is. I don't like the Belly Drum set because Play Rough has a chance to miss, and since Slurpuff is my only setup sweeper, a miss can easily cost me the game. Furthermore, Steel types just laugh at the belly drum set, but with this Calm Mind set, I can lure them in and KO with Flamethrower after just one Calm Mind. Even when both at full HP, I can beat Steel types 1 on 1 barring crit, because I have enough speed to setup a Cotton Guard before being hit, get my sitrus recovery, and after 2 Cotton Guard they can't touch me without a crit. I can even beat fire types 1 on 1 despite them resisting both of my moves; I have done it many times. I know it is risky to depend on not being critted, but it is still better than depending on Play Rough hitting. Also if this set get phazed it's not the end of the world, but if your belly drum gets phazed, you are pretty much worthless.

Roar of Noob: That was a great battle we had yesterday. Probably top 3 closet battles I've ever had. Life Orb Magmortar is definitely better higher up in the ladderr, where players are better and plays safer, so it's harder to bluff a Specs or Scarf. But the problem is Magmortar is already worn down quickly without a Life Orb, so I was kinda hesitant to put it on. Let me try Life Orb and see what happens.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top