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Ok so recently I've had a couple of users comment on the fact that there really isn't anywhere to post their teams that they don't feel are RMT worthy but still wish to share with the NU community. This is the place to do so. I've also decided this is the place to post teams that you wish to have help on, but once again don't wish to make an RMT with. Pretty much we are going to swap teams :)
To start off with there are a couple of things that you must do before you post a team.
You must have tested the team out, teams that are incomplete or clearly have flaws that could of been ironed out through a little testing will either be ignored or deleted. Fixing things yourself helps you to learn an improve as a player.
Your team must have a description telling us your thoughts behind it as well as 6 mini sprites for easy rating. If you don't know how to insert sprites you can use this website http://fulllifegamer.bplaced.net/format.php simply import your team and copy and paste the BB Codes.
An example of a post will look something like this:
Tauros @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rock Climb
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt
Kabutops @ Lum Berry
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
Lilligant @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Quiver Dance
Mawile @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Swords Dance
- Baton Pass
- Iron Head
- Super Fang
Pinsir @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- X-Scissor
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
Hi Curry, I already had a variation of a team with Pinsir that I liked and had used in a tour match against Fssong, except with Sneasel > Tauros. I had used Rocks Pinsir because Mold breaker rocks is great against all the balanced teams that rely on Xatu for hazard support and it really removes the mindgames. The main idea I had behind the team was to use SD Pass Mawile and a bunch of mons that appreciate a +2 or a free switch through BP. I originally had SD Sneasel and SD Kabu because they were both really underprepared for, but I changed it to Tauros after the ban because stock tauros is hard enough to beat, let alone +2. Pinsir also appreciated the SD boost which is why I ran quick attack over a possible coverage move. Mesprit provides more immediate speed ability to hit stuff from the special side, as well as HW support for any of my physical breakers. Lilligant is there to sleep common walls, lure in Ferroseed and gives me a reliable way to beat Quagsire. Really fun and fast paced team to play, I hope you enjoy!
first
k so this is a really fun team I made recently that is made around SD Kabutops. Weak Armor is a great ability in a meta with U-turn Xatu, Scyther, and Fletch and there are a very limited number of switch ins to Kabu at +1 speed. Kabu hates Grass-types, Spikes, and Gurdurr so I added a Xatu because Xatu is a god in this meta. Psychic > Psyshock because of the aforementioned Gurdurr. Tort is a good rocker because it handles opposing Rock-types that Kabu can't and is a nice check to Lanturn. Yama is a good blanket check to things like special Water-types (for my matchup against rain), Magmortar, Vivillon, etc. Been back and forth with Liepard, but I really like the extra power CB gives. Encore gives me a better matchup vs Klinklang, but I just have to play aggressively and not let it get in vs Xatu or something like that. Mismagius is my secondary Fighting check and stallbreaker. The team would be struggling against Mdino without it and its high speed coupled with Wisp/Taunt are great right now in general.
You mention it in your post, but I really think you should switch back to standard black glasses liepard with encore as your team doesn't have a scarfer and so anything that sets up to +1 is going to outpace and potentially sweep you. Encore is that extra saftey net in the back.
Also CB Liepard is really quite meh if we're being real here. Blast is a scrub and we shouldn't follow his example in using it lol. I mean its cool in concept, but you're just crippling yourself for no reason.
Hariyama @ Assault Vest
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 240 SpD / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Fake Out
- Earthquake
Prinplup @ Eviolite
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Scald
- Stealth Rock
- Signal Beam
Kangaskhan @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Aqua Tail
Rotom-Fan @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Air Slash
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Trick
This was a team I built to try out Jynx more after the Sneasel Suspect. I decided with Focus Blast Jynx, since it is able to lure in so many Steel and Rock Types like Regirock and Klinklang. It is probably one of the best dedicated leads in NU atm, as it has always done something, as it can easily put something to sleep and then proceed to put huge dents in the opposing team. I then went with Fletchinder as my second mon, as it appreciates Steel and Rock Types being lured in, and its just a great late game sweeper. Since I was running Fletch I needed Hazard Control, so I chose Prinplup as the next mon as it can also deal with Rock Types like Rhydon and Regirock, it also has the added benefit of soft checking certain Fire Types as well as getting up rocks. I run Signal Beam>Toxic specifically for Malamar, as the rest of my team has problems with it. I added Hariyama next, as it was able to help dent Steel Types and Fire Types. EQ is mainly used for Garbodor and Magmortar. Kangaskhan was next, as it appreciates Steel and Rock Types gone, as well as luring in Rhydon with Aqua Tail. Rotom-Fan was added at the end as a scarfer, and a way to threaten faster mons like Archeops, but it definitely is the most replaceable slot on the team. This team so far is 19-3 on the ladder, so it has been working out pretty well, though there are some weaknesses that hopefully can be fixed.
first
k so this is a really fun team I made recently that is made around SD Kabutops. Weak Armor is a great ability in a meta with U-turn Xatu, Scyther, and Fletch and there are a very limited number of switch ins to Kabu at +1 speed. Kabu hates Grass-types, Spikes, and Gurdurr so I added a Xatu because Xatu is a god in this meta. Psychic > Psyshock because of the aforementioned Gurdurr. Tort is a good rocker because it handles opposing Rock-types that Kabu can't and is a nice check to Lanturn. Yama is a good blanket check to things like special Water-types (for my matchup against rain), Magmortar, Vivillon, etc. Been back and forth with Liepard, but I really like the extra power CB gives. Encore gives me a better matchup vs Klinklang, but I just have to play aggressively and not let it get in vs Xatu or something like that. Mismagius is my secondary Fighting check and stallbreaker. The team would be struggling against Mdino without it and its high speed coupled with Wisp/Taunt are great right now in general.
The main thing that jumps out at me is a weakness to Archeops, as Kabutops is more or less your only switch-in and almost everything else gets threatened out, and you can't even wear it down with SR if they have a Xatu since that walls Torterra. The physical attacker set specifically is the most threatening to you, but the mixed set and even Bulky Cheops are still huge threats. CM Musharna over Mismagius kinda solves this, as it gives you a great Mega Audino check, a better fighting check, and a reliable Archeops switch-in. The fact that you have Bullet Punch on Yama and Liepard doesn't make this too important, however.
The other weakness that stands out is SD Rott to an extent, but you don't give it too many set-up opportunities so it's probably fine, and you have Liepard to Encore it to SD and revenge it with Sucker Punch, in addition to Kabutops living an Aqua Jet+Yama's Fake Out.
Also 100% agree with making Liepard standard Black Glasses, it gives you insurance against basically every set up sweeper and is generally more useful. It also ironically checks Mega Audino xd
Audino @ Audinite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Dazzling Gleam
I've wanted to use Swanna for a while so here's my team with it being the starting point. Originally I had defensive Ferroseed w/ spikes, leech, knock off and t-wave but recently put in Garb. I felt like Ferro/Swanna had decent type synergy, but I wanted to try out other hazard options. SubRoost LO on Swanna because I felt defog was unnecessary and counter productive with me stacking spikes of my own.Swanna's been pulling its weight and ultimately I'm happy with it. I've considered sets with RD/Rest for strong heals and perfectly accurate Hurricane and stronger Scald but I don't think it can pull it off on my team. Hariyama is in because I wanted some more offensive presence and someone to take a few special hits and it synergized better when Ferro was in the team. I stole the EVs from Blast's RMT and incorporated some ideas from the comments on it, I love being able to take scalds from Lanturn. Fake Out is something I'm not sure about but it has obvious synergy with tspikes. I'm considering Powerup Punch over it. Garb is self explanatory really, pretty standard fully defensive with helmet. Coverage moves are for steel and fairy types, also longevity. Next I wanted a fast but strong threat and I considered a QD Lilligant but I wanted something that could be a threat immediately and revenge kill if needed so here it is. The set is once again pretty standard with HP Rock>Fire because I feel like hitting flying types is more important than revenging Klinklang or something, I feel like my team already covers it well enough. Quagsire is my answer to boosting sweepers and a late game wincon. Mdino as my special wall and cleric. Helps keep some pressure off of Hari to take every special attack whilst keeping my team healthy.
I feel type wise my team is pretty solid but I can't help but think I'm missing an answer to a few different threats that I haven't considered. I've played about 20~ games with this team and won at least 75% but I can't say if thats because the team is strong or I just played better than my opponents.
edit: Felt like adding a replay would be useful so just battled someone for this. Usually stuff goes like this game but there were a few mistakes on my opponents part IMO. http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-252019479
Vileplume @ Black Sludge
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Moonlight
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Regirock @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 244 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
I wanted to build around Beheeyem because it's an insanely powerful wallbreaker with literally no switch-ins. I went with max speed and Timid because I wanted to outspeed and force out as much a possible, and particularly outspeed max speed Adamant Rhydon and Malamar. SD Samurott was next since I wanted a reliable win condition that took advantage of Beheeyem's wallbreaking, and it's probably my favorite sweeper in this meta. Regirock was chosen as my Stealth Rock setter because it checks Normal-, Flying-, and Fire-types and most physical attackers in general. Vileplume gave me a Fighting-, Water-, Grass-,and soft Electric-check, and is a semi-reliable answer to Klinklang (and Ferroseed), which my team struggled with. Mixed Archeops gave me a fast Pokemon, which my team kind of needed, can lure Quagsire for Samurott, and is in general a great wallbreaker. Liepard was added last because I needed a Psychic check (and Ghost check) and a blanket answer to setup sweepers such as Klinklang and Lilligant that my team could lose to.
The team has been doing fairly decently, but I haven't really battled any notable players with it. The biggest weakness might be to SD Mawile, though none of my Pokemon let it set up and I have Aqua Jet Samurott to revenge kill it, and Liepard to checkmate it if it went for SD or Sucker Punch. Electric-types, particularly Rotom-Fan and Zebstrika, also seem quite annoying, but they're not too common and I can probably deal with them OK in practice.
Mawile @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
I've been having a lot of fun building in the post Sneasel meta and I thought I might as well put up one of them for some critique here. I was actually going to post a different team that I really like but it has 4/6 same mons as the team above haha. Anyways, I built this team around the core of Cacturne + Garbodor. I personally would never use any other set than Mixed Cacturne, but I'm not going to deny that Swords Dance has its merits. Cacturne is a great offensive Pokemon in the post Sneasel meta since it lost one of its best offensive checks and Ghosts are gaining in viability with Sneasel gone. Garbodor has great synergy with Cacturne, as it checks Fighting and Fairy-types as well as providing Spikes support, while Cacturne is a soft check to Ground and Psychic types. I went with Naive on Cacturne to get the jump on the stuff which creeps the 209 Speed tier, which is quite a lot, and the loss is power isnt too noticeable. Tauros fit very well with this pair as it also loves Spikes support and is a fast late game cleaner. Rhydon acts as a win condition while providing the general Fire / Flying / Normal resistance; I went with Rock Polish 3 Attacks because Megahorn helps out with Malamar as well as Lilligant and some other bulky Grass types but I slashed SD since there have been a bunch of times where I've wished I had SD over RP, mainly to break through stuff like Miltank. Mesprit provides Stealth Rock support as well as Healing Wish, which is excellent so that I can play a bit more recklessly with Mawile at times, and I chose Thunderbolt as coverage to mainly hit Xatu as I dislike Stealth Rockers which crumble to Xatu, but its also useful to revenge the likes of Samurott. Lastly, Mawile provides a secondary check to CM Psychics and another wallbreaker, pairing nicely with Tauros. So far there hasn't been anything super obvious standing out to me which I'm weak to, maybe Dual Dance Rhydon, but Water types can also be annoying since Cacturne isnt too reliable at checking them.
Hariyama @ Assault Vest
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 240 SpD / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Fake Out
- Earthquake
Prinplup @ Eviolite
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Scald
- Stealth Rock
- Signal Beam
Kangaskhan @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Aqua Tail
Rotom-Fan @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Air Slash
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Trick
This was a team I built to try out Jynx more after the Sneasel Suspect. I decided with Focus Blast Jynx, since it is able to lure in so many Steel and Rock Types like Regirock and Klinklang. It is probably one of the best dedicated leads in NU atm, as it has always done something, as it can easily put something to sleep and then proceed to put huge dents in the opposing team. I then went with Fletchinder as my second mon, as it appreciates Steel and Rock Types being lured in, and its just a great late game sweeper. Since I was running Fletch I needed Hazard Control, so I chose Prinplup as the next mon as it can also deal with Rock Types like Rhydon and Regirock, it also has the added benefit of soft checking certain Fire Types as well as getting up rocks. I run Signal Beam>Toxic specifically for Malamar, as the rest of my team has problems with it. I added Hariyama next, as it was able to help dent Steel Types and Fire Types. EQ is mainly used for Garbodor and Magmortar. Kangaskhan was next, as it appreciates Steel and Rock Types gone, as well as luring in Rhydon with Aqua Tail. Rotom-Fan was added at the end as a scarfer, and a way to threaten faster mons like Archeops, but it definitely is the most replaceable slot on the team. This team so far is 19-3 on the ladder, so it has been working out pretty well, though there are some weaknesses that hopefully can be fixed.
Nice team, I'll get straight onto the rate. What worries me most about your team is the lack of normal resist. Stuff like Tauros, Kanga, and Zangoose put massive pressure on Prinplup and any kind of normal spam puts you at a huge disadvantage. With only one method of hazards control, M-Audino looks like a problem, since Fletch isn't the most solid counter, and its quite a clean sweep if its gone. Calm Mind Psychics also look problematic, since Rotom-Fans Trick is your main way of dealing with it. Cacturne is a bitch to switch into as well, since Physical Sets (still exist) ruin Yama.
So probably the best change I could suggest is suggest Regular Rotom > Rotom-Fan. Reasons are that it provides that crucial Immunity to normals so you have an offensive switch into the likes of Tauros or Zangoose and another way of pressuring Calm Mind Psychics, since shadow ball does ample damage and can often weaken / prevent sweeps should it be neccesary. My next suggestion would be to run SD Offensive Mawile > Kangaskhan. LO Sheer Force Mawile might be slower than Kangaskhan, but since you have tonnes of speed control, I don't think the speed you lose will be too missed. SD Mawile gives you a fantastic check to the likes of Regirock and Rhydon, Solid Priority (similar to kanga) but what it does offer that Kanga doesn't is that CM Psychic check and M-Audino check I mentioned earlier. If kept healthy, it can also be used as a normal resist, which is also cool. The additions of these 2 soft Malamar checks means that now you can run Toxic > Signal Beam on Prinplup because Quagsire is really annoying to this team right from the word go, and it could provide you with an ample check to it, especially since the pressure on Prinplup is much less than before. Cacturne is also checked by the Mawile switch, which is also nice.
Audino @ Audinite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Dazzling Gleam
I've wanted to use Swanna for a while so here's my team with it being the starting point. Originally I had defensive Ferroseed w/ spikes, leech, knock off and t-wave but recently put in Garb. I felt like Ferro/Swanna had decent type synergy, but I wanted to try out other hazard options. SubRoost LO on Swanna because I felt defog was unnecessary and counter productive with me stacking spikes of my own.Swanna's been pulling its weight and ultimately I'm happy with it. I've considered sets with RD/Rest for strong heals and perfectly accurate Hurricane and stronger Scald but I don't think it can pull it off on my team. Hariyama is in because I wanted some more offensive presence and someone to take a few special hits and it synergized better when Ferro was in the team. I stole the EVs from Blast's RMT and incorporated some ideas from the comments on it, I love being able to take scalds from Lanturn. Fake Out is something I'm not sure about but it has obvious synergy with tspikes. I'm considering Powerup Punch over it. Garb is self explanatory really, pretty standard fully defensive with helmet. Coverage moves are for steel and fairy types, also longevity. Next I wanted a fast but strong threat and I considered a QD Lilligant but I wanted something that could be a threat immediately and revenge kill if needed so here it is. The set is once again pretty standard with HP Rock>Fire because I feel like hitting flying types is more important than revenging Klinklang or something, I feel like my team already covers it well enough. Quagsire is my answer to boosting sweepers and a late game wincon. Mdino as my special wall and cleric. Helps keep some pressure off of Hari to take every special attack whilst keeping my team healthy.
I feel type wise my team is pretty solid but I can't help but think I'm missing an answer to a few different threats that I haven't considered. I've played about 20~ games with this team and won at least 75% but I can't say if thats because the team is strong or I just played better than my opponents.
edit: Felt like adding a replay would be useful so just battled someone for this. Usually stuff goes like this game but there were a few mistakes on my opponents part IMO. http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-252019479
Nice team, Swanna is a cool Mon :o Onto the rate and my immediate impression is that your team lacks Stealth Rocks. SR is imperative on any and every team since it hits Every Pokémon. Pokémon in Air (either by flying type or levitate) don't get touched by Spikes which is a huge reason why they are not the first form of hazards. Your team flat out loses to CM Psychics w/ Grass Coverage aka Uxie, Mesprit or Xatu. Lack of Hazards Pressure means that your stall / bo archetype will succumb easily to hazard stack style teams.
My first quirk with your team is that the Mon you built around, Swanna, is redundant to your teams purpose to stall + hazards stack and where down the opponent. Even the SubRoost set that you are using (Defog and Spike Stack shouldn't be used together) isn't that effective in the meta, because Lanturn is still everywhere. As a result, for the benefit to your team. I'll suggest running Xatu > Swanna. This makes much more sense to your team, since not only does Xatu pressure hazards setters which your team hates (and provides an offensive hazards control like no other) but it provides a secondary fighting resist since relying on Garbodor is very unreliable. Stuff like Sawk will make easy meat of it with its coverage options then spam CC to essentially win.
I also feel a sense of redundancy in M-Audino. You have quite a nice balance build going then slap an M-Audino, which essentially turns your team into full stall + Lilligant, and with the vast amount of wall breakers NU has, it isn't ideal. Instead, opting for Pawniard > M-Audino allows you to not only carry Stealth Rock on your team, but provide you with a great CM Psychics check (to varients that have Psychic + Giga Drain coverage) but a way to pressure defoggers, so your Spike stacking isn't in vain. It's typing synergy makes perfect sense with the rest of your team.
E: Also run a slightly bulkier spread on AV Yama. AV Yama don't run that spread because it doesn't want that much speed and much prefers the bulk. 252 Atk / 252 SpD / 4 Spe Adamant Nature is much more optimal for an assault Vest varient. Banded Varients should use Blasts spread
Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch / Thunder Wave
- Iron Head
sorry about changing the Mon you built around, but it was to the benefit of the team. Instead, when building around Swanna, try to make it so that you need its ability to wall break teams, and remove hazards at the same time, since that is Swanna's main attraction. Make sure to be plenty prepared for Lanturn which is popular and walls tf out of Swanna. It generally fits on more offensive / balance builds.
My next suggestion would be to run SD Offensive Mawile > Kangaskhan. LO Sheer Force Mawile might be slower than Kangaskhan, but since you have tonnes of speed control, I don't think the speed you lose will be too missed. SD Mawile gives you a fantastic check to the likes of Regirock and Rhydon, Solid Priority (similar to kanga) but what it does offer that Kanga doesn't is that CM Psychic check and M-Audino check I mentioned earlier. If kept healthy, it can also be used as a normal resist, which is also cool.
252+ Atk Toxic Boost Zangoose Facade (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mawile: 198-233 (82.1 - 96.6%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Silk Scarf Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mawile: 119-141 (49.3 - 58.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Tauros Rock Climb vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mawile: 118-140 (48.9 - 58%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Toxic Boost Zangoose Facade (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mawile: 198-233 (82.1 - 96.6%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Silk Scarf Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mawile: 119-141 (49.3 - 58.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Tauros Rock Climb vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mawile: 118-140 (48.9 - 58%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Zangoose Facade vs. Rotom: 0-0 (0 - 0%) -- aim for the horn next time
Tauros Rock Climb vs. Rotom: 0-0 (0 - 0%) -- aim for the horn next time
The thing is, Mawile isn't his dedicated Normal Resist. If it was, I would have been tempted to run a defensive intimidate set. But since he has the Rotom to tank some of these normal hits, he can keep Mawile fresh and healthy for when it does need to tank a few. Not to mention you can check normals through Jynx, Fletchinder, and even Hariyama or Prinplup if their HP is well maintained.
Mawile is simply there to make mince meat of CM Psychics and M-Audino as well as wallbreak for Fletchinder. A bi-product of this is its typing which allows it to check normals also. You can call it an extra insurance protection; not always neccesary, but nice to have. Much like the secondary fighting resist we usually have on every team.
Nice team, Swanna is a cool Mon :o Onto the rate and my immediate impression is that your team lacks Stealth Rocks. SR is imperative on any and every team since it hits Every Pokémon. Pokémon in Air (either by flying type or levitate) don't get touched by Spikes which is a huge reason why they are not the first form of hazards. Your team flat out loses to CM Psychics w/ Grass Coverage aka Uxie, Mesprit or Xatu. Lack of Hazards Pressure means that your stall / bo archetype will succumb easily to hazard stack style teams.
My first quirk with your team is that the Mon you built around, Swanna, is redundant to your teams purpose to stall + hazards stack and where down the opponent. Even the SubRoost set that you are using (Defog and Spike Stack shouldn't be used together) isn't that effective in the meta, because Lanturn is still everywhere. As a result, for the benefit to your team. I'll suggest running Xatu > Swanna. This makes much more sense to your team, since not only does Xatu pressure hazards setters which your team hates (and provides an offensive hazards control like no other) but it provides a secondary fighting resist since relying on Garbodor is very unreliable. Stuff like Sawk will make easy meat of it with its coverage options then spam CC to essentially win.
I also feel a sense of redundancy in M-Audino. You have quite a nice balance build going then slap an M-Audino, which essentially turns your team into full stall + Lilligant, and with the vast amount of wall breakers NU has, it isn't ideal. Instead, opting for Pawniard > M-Audino allows you to not only carry Stealth Rock on your team, but provide you with a great CM Psychics check (to varients that have Psychic + Giga Drain coverage) but a way to pressure defoggers, so your Spike stacking isn't in vain. It's typing synergy makes perfect sense with the rest of your team.
E: Also run a slightly bulkier spread on AV Yama. AV Yama don't run that spread because it doesn't want that much speed and much prefers the bulk. 252 Atk / 252 SpD / 4 Spe Adamant Nature is much more optimal for an assault Vest varient. Banded Varients should use Blasts spread
Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch / Thunder Wave
- Iron Head
sorry about changing the Mon you built around, but it was to the benefit of the team. Instead, when building around Swanna, try to make it so that you need its ability to wall break teams, and remove hazards at the same time, since that is Swanna's main attraction. Make sure to be plenty prepared for Lanturn which is popular and walls tf out of Swanna. It generally fits on more offensive / balance builds.
Thanks for the advice I really appreciate it. I'll admit my team has a ton of issues and I haven't used it since I posted it actually, it was only good enough to get me into 1400. I think I'll revisit it with your fixes, and I'll definitely keep in mind with future building what you've said. With this team I was sorta like "Okay start with Swanna, hhm Ferroseed is good with her type wise, oh then Hariyama to take fire attacks and some special attacks okay good, now something fast with good offensive pressure so scarf Lilli, oh shit what about offensive boosters okay throw in Quagsire then, and I guess I'll round off with something to take some more special hits and use heal bell."
I'll get back to you with how the changes worked out once I can battle a bit!
Mawile @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
I've been having a lot of fun building in the post Sneasel meta and I thought I might as well put up one of them for some critique here. I was actually going to post a different team that I really like but it has 4/6 same mons as the team above haha. Anyways, I built this team around the core of Cacturne + Garbodor. I personally would never use any other set than Mixed Cacturne, but I'm not going to deny that Swords Dance has its merits. Cacturne is a great offensive Pokemon in the post Sneasel meta since it lost one of its best offensive checks and Ghosts are gaining in viability with Sneasel gone. Garbodor has great synergy with Cacturne, as it checks Fighting and Fairy-types as well as providing Spikes support, while Cacturne is a soft check to Ground and Psychic types. I went with Naive on Cacturne to get the jump on the stuff which creeps the 209 Speed tier, which is quite a lot, and the loss is power isnt too noticeable. Tauros fit very well with this pair as it also loves Spikes support and is a fast late game cleaner. Rhydon acts as a win condition while providing the general Fire / Flying / Normal resistance; I went with Rock Polish 3 Attacks because Megahorn helps out with Malamar as well as Lilligant and some other bulky Grass types but I slashed SD since there have been a bunch of times where I've wished I had SD over RP, mainly to break through stuff like Miltank. Mesprit provides Stealth Rock support as well as Healing Wish, which is excellent so that I can play a bit more recklessly with Mawile at times, and I chose Thunderbolt as coverage to mainly hit Xatu as I dislike Stealth Rockers which crumble to Xatu, but its also useful to revenge the likes of Samurott. Lastly, Mawile provides a secondary check to CM Psychics and another wallbreaker, pairing nicely with Tauros. So far there hasn't been anything super obvious standing out to me which I'm weak to, maybe Dual Dance Rhydon, but Water types can also be annoying since Cacturne isnt too reliable at checking them.
I really like this team, but your weaknesses to DD Rhydon, Water-types (particularly the 2 smashers), Pyroar (LO Pyroar just beats Rhydon, your only switch-in; Magmortar too, but it's slower+physically frail so it's not as big a problem), and Lilligant (it wins with Garb somewhat weakened; Cacturne could theoretically revenge it with Sucker Punch but in practice it can just QD to take less from Dark Pulse and it's in general unreliable) seem pretty bothersome. To fix the DD Rhydon and Pyroar weakness, I would recommend replacing SD Mawile with SD Samurott, as it can revenge kill Rhydon and soft-check Pyroar, while still fulfilling Mawile's role, and though it's less powerful, it is also a more reliable sweeper overall.
After this, there are a few options to help with the other threats to your team. One way is to replace Tauros with Zebstrika, another fast attacker that really loves Spikes support, and it gives you a decent Lilligant (and Vivillon, which can be a problem, especially with Energy Ball) check, and helps your matchup against Water-types, and though it can't switch in on them, it also replaces one of the few things Carracosta and Barbaracle (which can sweep your team with relative ease) can set up on. I think this is the better option overall
I hope I was helpful xd
Edit: Oh one more thing, to prevent Claydol from spinning on you, as it walls both of your hazard setters, I would consider going Ice Beam>Thunderbolt on Mesprit, but if you really want the KO on healthy Rott (which is really nice ngl), I might go Signal Beam>H-Wish instead
spiky ball (Ferroseed) @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Leech Seed
- Bullet Seed
motor (Rotom) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Trick
I really like Miltank and I was really interested in exploring its options in the NU metagame. I've used SpDef Thick Fat Curse back in the Sneasel meta but kind of brushed the set aside now since there are really no Pursuit trappers as good as Sneasel was. Then I heard someone mention Pursuit Pawniard and that got me thinking and resulted in me building this fun squad. I decided to use Black Glasses more as an experiment, to see how Pawn fares without its Eviolite boosted bulk since I really don't need it to sweep on this team but the extra immediate power can prove to be crucial on important Pursuits and Suckers. Miltank is basically the team's wincondition that doubles as a cleric support which is really helpful on all kinds of teams. Thanks to having access to Milk Drink and Heal Bell I don't have to rely on RestTalk. 4 attacks Mesprit is imo super underrated. Great coverage that hits everything from Liepard to Klinklang and everything in between. Mesprit is on the team mainly for opposing Gurdurr and to possibly lure Liepards and Klinklangs with faking Specs or something like that. I opted for Taunt over Bulk Up on Gurdurr and got some weird looks for it but its main purpose is simple: beating Quagsire. Even though Mesprit has EBall, good players will scout for it and won't leave their Quag in so I need another way to beat it reliably. Taunt has really been incredibly useful even though I sometimes wish I had Bulk Up and by extension the full HP investment. Ferroseed is on the team because I needed a water resist that could set up rocks. I had Cradily for a bit but that sucked so hard I went to Ferroseed after just a couple battles. Rotom is just a general speedy special attacker that the team desperately lacked as it had lots of trouble against stuff like Mismagius. (This used to be Special Archeops but that sucked even more than Cradily :[)
My main gripe with the team is that it's slow as hell. Could possibly be fixed somewhat by replacing Pawn with Liepard but that makes the team significantly weaker to Mawile so idk :/.
spiky ball (Ferroseed) @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- Leech Seed
- Bullet Seed
motor (Rotom) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Trick
I really like Miltank and I was really interested in exploring its options in the NU metagame. I've used SpDef Thick Fat Curse back in the Sneasel meta but kind of brushed the set aside now since there are really no Pursuit trappers as good as Sneasel was. Then I heard someone mention Pursuit Pawniard and that got me thinking and resulted in me building this fun squad. I decided to use Black Glasses more as an experiment, to see how Pawn fares without its Eviolite boosted bulk since I really don't need it to sweep on this team but the extra immediate power can prove to be crucial on important Pursuits and Suckers. Miltank is basically the team's wincondition that doubles as a cleric support which is really helpful on all kinds of teams. Thanks to having access to Milk Drink and Heal Bell I don't have to rely on RestTalk. 4 attacks Mesprit is imo super underrated. Great coverage that hits everything from Liepard to Klinklang and everything in between. Mesprit is on the team mainly for opposing Gurdurr and to possibly lure Liepards and Klinklangs with faking Specs or something like that. I opted for Taunt over Bulk Up on Gurdurr and got some weird looks for it but its main purpose is simple: beating Quagsire. Even though Mesprit has EBall, good players will scout for it and won't leave their Quag in so I need another way to beat it reliably. Taunt has really been incredibly useful even though I sometimes wish I had Bulk Up and by extension the full HP investment. Ferroseed is on the team because I needed a water resist that could set up rocks. I had Cradily for a bit but that sucked so hard I went to Ferroseed after just a couple battles. Rotom is just a general speedy special attacker that the team desperately lacked as it had lots of trouble against stuff like Mismagius. (This used to be Special Archeops but that sucked even more than Cradily :[)
My main gripe with the team is that it's slow as hell. Could possibly be fixed somewhat by replacing Pawn with Liepard but that makes the team significantly weaker to Mawile so idk :/.
Just out of curiosity does BlackGlasses on Pawn guarantee any kills that Eviolite doesn't, because otherwise I really don't see giving up the utility of bulk on such a important mon to your team.
As the NU Speedbuilding tour happened, I thought it could be cool to post the teams that happened to come out of it before the tier shifts make them useless (I also want to promote the speedbuilding thing more). Read the link if you want to know the exact rules.
I (Samurott) @ Mystic Water
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Megahorn
Built (Cacturne) @ Life Orb
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Substitute
- Giga Drain
- Dark Pulse
This (Combusken) @ Eviolite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Baton Pass
- Substitute
- Fire Blast
- Protect
I started off with Samurott and Cacturne, because they are really cool together. The Cacturne set was a mistake, but it ended up being pretty useful. Because the main downside to both Cacturne and Samurott, I added Combusken to sorta work around this by passing speed around, which it does better than anything else. Mega Audino was added to be bulky and have a more reliable way to beat really fat teams if Samurott fails. Rhydon is the rocker, but also helps vs the annoying Magmortar and Normal spam. I personally think Rock Blast > Stone Edge on bulky mons, but that might just be me. I added Rotom as an extra safety measure against faster teams, because this is fairly slow before Combusken has a chance to get things rolling.
Pokemon given: Samurott
Time taken to build: 4 minutes
Mawile @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
I don't like building with Xatu as a base, but it was the Pokemon handed to me. I dislike Xatu's initial passiveness, but I never ended up using it so I have no idea how well this set would work. After Xatu I added Gurdurr and Cacturne for a Dark/Psychic/Fighting core for a throwback to BW2 NU, and they work pretty well together. Both use pretty standard sets, so nothing else to say. Regirock was added as a Fire resist and Stealth Rocker. The Rock Tomb set is pretty cool and help with speed control alongside Thunder Wave. I added Rotom for the same reason as last time, better initial speed than anything else, plus Scarf Will-O-Wisp is pretty clutch. Last was offensive Mawile, because nothing else on the team can hope to beat Mega Audino and the extra priority is pretty helpful.
Pokemon given: Xatu
Time to build: 5 minutes
Tauros @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Rock Climb
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt
Cacturne @ Black Glasses
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Substitute
- Giga Drain
- Dark Pulse
- Sucker Punch
Tauros is a fun mon to play with, but because I tend to switch it in and out a lot during a game, I added Xatu to at least attempt to stop hazards plus Xatu does pretty well against Fighting-types. Another weird Xatu set though. I put on Thunder Wave because the speed drop it give is fantastic for the rest of the team, and I didn't really think of anything I needed the slot for at the time. Rhydon is the Normal and Fire resist and it does a fantastic job at living random Fighting attacks too, in case I need it. Sturdy Sawk is my emergency check to anything and because of Xatu, preserving Sturdy is relatively easy. I wanted a second answer to Fighting types, plus the spikes support is really nice to have. Last mon, unintentionally making another DPF core, was Cacturne. Cacturne is the only Pokemon with priority on the team, so it and Xatu are my best bets against other fastmons. I picked Blackglasses + Substitute because Spikes was already covered and I wanted something similar to my round 1 set, but less recoil-prone.
Sawk @ Choice Band
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
Specs Exeggutor hits like a truck, but I favored Meadow Plate over Specs here because I didn't want to lock myself in to a move. Gurdurr was added as my Knock Off sponge, plus its match up against all the Dark types is good enough. I needed a stop to Fletchinder and a general Flying resist, so Thunder Wave/Rock Tomb Regirock was added, because even burned it beats most Flying types with Rock Tomb or Thunder Wave. I added a secondary Thunder Wave mon in Liepard, so Exeggutor could get even more chances to fire over stupidly powerful attacks. The Prankster Encore also helps vs Klinklang if Gurdurr is down. As before this team is fairly slow on the offensive side, so Rotom once again became my solution. I added another Fighting-type in Sawk as the last pokemon, because I felt I lacked something physical to match Exeggutor's nukes.
Pokemon given: Exeggutor
Time to build: 6 minutes
Closing note: These teams may or may not be complete garbage in actual ladder games, but they proved to be relatively effective in the tournament battles they were built for. It was, and still is, an incredibly fun practice to speedbuild teams for a tournament, and I really hope the next time something like this rolls around again more people join in. Sadly, as the tier shifts are right around the corner, these teams may never see any more play :/
I promised to tag Montsegur when I made this post :o
Prinplup @ Eviolite
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Defog
- Scald
- Toxic
So I wanted to build around the core of Sawk and Skuntank, as most of the common and more reliable swicth-ins to Sawk get trapped and removed by Skuntank. Both Sawk and Skuntank have pretty standard sets, with the choice between Black Sludge or Lum Berry basically coming down to how well I want Skuntank to handle Ghost-types. Next I added Prinplup because I wanted to abuse Sawk's Sturdy, and it gave me great role compression as a Stealth Rock setter, Water check, and Archeops/Rhydon check. Scyther was chosen as a fast win condition, Fighting check, and Malamar check, and greatly appreciates Sawk's wallbreaking, and with Eviolite it's so bulky that it even works as a Kangaskhan check. I chose AV Magmortar because I really needed a Fire-check, special attacker, and just a generally specially bulky Pokemon, and it's in general a great wallbreaker that can even lure in and 2HKO Rock-types (teams' only switch-ins lol) with Focus Blast for Scyther. Last I wanted a fast Pokemon and Swellow, Scyther, Tauros, and Archeops check, so I added Rotom. Rock Polish Rhydon also works on this slot, and helps against my Electric weakness somewhat, but it left me more susceptible to Quagsire and especially SD Samurott, and I really like Rotom's initial speed.
The team's biggest weakness is probably Electric-types, particularly Lanturn, but in practice I've handled them well enough, so I don't think it's that big. Beyond that I think the team's biggest flaw is that it really only has one sweeper/general win condition in Scyther, which has been troublesome in some battles but I can manage usually, with Sawk in particular pulling sweeps more often than expected.
This is a pretty fun team with a lot of hard hitters, and it has been pretty successful so far, winning me an official room tour and getting me to the 1600s on ladder, so I'd say it's at least competent. I'd appreciate any feedback n_n
Prinplup @ Eviolite
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Defog
- Scald
- Toxic
So I wanted to build around the core of Sawk and Skuntank, as most of the common and more reliable swicth-ins to Sawk get trapped and removed by Skuntank. Both Sawk and Skuntank have pretty standard sets, with the choice between Black Sludge or Lum Berry basically coming down to how well I want Skuntank to handle Ghost-types. Next I added Prinplup because I wanted to abuse Sawk's Sturdy, and it gave me great role compression as a Stealth Rock setter, Water check, and Archeops/Rhydon check. Scyther was chosen as a fast win condition, Fighting check, and Malamar check, and greatly appreciates Sawk's wallbreaking, and with Eviolite it's so bulky that it even works as a Kangaskhan check. I chose AV Magmortar because I really needed a Fire-check, special attacker, and just a generally specially bulky Pokemon, and it's in general a great wallbreaker that can even lure in and 2HKO Rock-types (teams' only switch-ins lol) with Focus Blast for Scyther. Last I wanted a fast Pokemon and Swellow, Scyther, Tauros, and Archeops check, so I added Rotom. Rock Polish Rhydon also works on this slot, and helps against my Electric weakness somewhat, but it left me more susceptible to Quagsire and especially SD Samurott, and I really like Rotom's initial speed.
The team's biggest weakness is probably Electric-types, particularly Lanturn, but in practice I've handled them well enough, so I don't think it's that big. Beyond that I think the team's biggest flaw is that it really only has one sweeper/general win condition in Scyther, which has been troublesome in some battles but I can manage usually, with Sawk in particular pulling sweeps more often than expected.
This is a pretty fun team with a lot of hard hitters, and it has been pretty successful so far, winning me an official room tour and getting me to the 1600s on ladder, so I'd say it's at least competent. I'd appreciate any feedback n_n
Very solid team man! However, I would consider giving Magmortar either hp grass or flame charge over earthquake. The former gives you a better way to deal with Quagsire, which your team is quite weak to, while the latter allows Magmortar to sweep unprepared teams without getting revenge killed by Archeops/Tauros/whatever. Especially since your only other win condition is Scyther, Magmortar gives you another option with complimentary coverage.
Prinplup @ Eviolite
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Substitute
- Defog
- Stealth Rock
Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
So when building this team i wanted to build around a lure Rotom-Fan set. Rotom-Fan is meant to lure rock types and ground types, and bop them with HP Grass. This is particularly useful for making certain pokemon put bigger dents in opposing team, or even flat-out clean the game. To be specific, on this team I'm using Swellow, a pokemon that struggles against rock types. The reason I'm using Swellow on this team rather than another flying type like Archeops or Scyther is because of Swellow's amazing speed and normal typing. The normal typing is needed for a ghost immunity which this team desperately needs. Musharna's role on the team is to check fighting types, and i know Skuntank may seem like a problem, but when Skuntank is paralyzed Musharna can outspeed it and Baton Pass into Rhydon and then proceed to set-up. Lilligant is standard-dot-lilligant, I chose HP Fire because Ferroseed is a pain for this team. On Prinplup I'm running Substitute just because of Ferroseed. Sub lets me fish for burns with Scald, and Ferroseed can't do much against Prinplup behind a sub unless they run grass stab, which most don't.
I like this team because it has a momentum type of playstyle; Musharna has BP, Swellow has U-Turn, Rotom-Fan has Volt Switch. It's definitely not a perfect team. I've noticed it struggles against Rain and has quite the Malamar weakness. I guess you could run Scyther over Swellow to get rid of the Malamar weakness but then i feel like you're very ghost weak and very dependent on Prinplup to get rid of hazards.
Edit: forgot to this is in my original post but I won against Shaneghoul in the neverused tournament league for round 4. Here's the replay: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-256080936
Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Careful Nature
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock
Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Atk / 64 Def / 56 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Bulk Up
sup dudes I got a fresh one for you. I built this squad with Raseri earlier today and wanted to post it somewhere because it's actually really strong. We had decided to build around Specs Lapras because I've ultimately decided it's op and needs to be experimented with. A special Water-type (super strong in NU), with a Water immunity (super helpful in NU), that quad-resists Ice (also super helpful in NU although people never admit that), neutral to Freeze-Dry (another thing people won't admit in team building in NU), AND has access to its amazing Ice-type STAB with Freeze-Dry. It's cool secondary Water-typing prevents bulky Fire-types from walling it, and Freeze-Dry prevents bulky Water-types from walling it, totaling up to a very sexy field presence. To start building around it, we decided to build a momentum core around it so it could get free switch ins to things like Vileplume, Golurk, etc etc. I wanted Rotom, but ras said it sucked so we went with Rotom-S which ended up being way better because it gave us a soft Lilligant check. Banded Primeape synergizes really well with Specs Lapras because it U-turns out of Fighting resists and Lapras handles basically anything Gunk/EQ can't. We chose Mesprit initially for our secondary Fighting check, but we ended up having no room for hazard control so Xatu was slapped on. Xatu is also a fairly reliable Malamar check which was needed for the team at this stage in the game. Rhydon was added as a Normal/Fire Resist, rocks, and a Volt Switch immunity. It's hard to not slap a Rhydon on teams nowadays, it's amazingly good. Gurdurr was the final pick because we evaluated the team and saw we were really weak to Klinklang and Offensive Rhydon.
I changed the xatu spread so you nerds don't know if I run creep or not :)
The only problem I have with the team is Rockers who have a good matchup vs Xatu. Once Rocks are up, the team starts getting whittled too fast. Great team otherwise, highly enjoyable :)
Oh, right, I got a nice replay vs my buddy Waters here that show cases Lapras really well http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-256299129
It was a bit haxy, but Lapras proved itself a number of times which is the important part :)
Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Careful Nature
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock
Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Atk / 64 Def / 56 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Bulk Up
sup dudes I got a fresh one for you. I built this squad with Raseri earlier today and wanted to post it somewhere because it's actually really strong. We had decided to build around Specs Lapras because I've ultimately decided it's op and needs to be experimented with. A special Water-type (super strong in NU), with a Water immunity (super helpful in NU), that quad-resists Ice (also super helpful in NU although people never admit that), neutral to Freeze-Dry (another thing people won't admit in team building in NU), AND has access to its amazing Ice-type STAB with Freeze-Dry. It's cool secondary Water-typing prevents bulky Fire-types from walling it, and Freeze-Dry prevents bulky Water-types from walling it, totaling up to a very sexy field presence. To start building around it, we decided to build a momentum core around it so it could get free switch ins to things like Vileplume, Golurk, etc etc. I wanted Rotom, but ras said it sucked so we went with Rotom-S which ended up being way better because it gave us a soft Lilligant check. Banded Primeape synergizes really well with Specs Lapras because it U-turns out of Fighting resists and Lapras handles basically anything Gunk/EQ can't. We chose Mesprit initially for our secondary Fighting check, but we ended up having no room for hazard control so Xatu was slapped on. Xatu is also a fairly reliable Malamar check which was needed for the team at this stage in the game. Rhydon was added as a Normal/Fire Resist, rocks, and a Volt Switch immunity. It's hard to not slap a Rhydon on teams nowadays, it's amazingly good. Gurdurr was the final pick because we evaluated the team and saw we were really weak to Klinklang and Offensive Rhydon.
I changed the xatu spread so you nerds don't know if I run creep or not :)
The only problem I have with the team is Rockers who have a good matchup vs Xatu. Once Rocks are up, the team starts getting whittled too fast. Great team otherwise, highly enjoyable :)
Oh, right, I got a nice replay vs my buddy Waters here that show cases Lapras really well http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-256299129
It was a bit haxy, but Lapras proved itself a number of times which is the important part :)
cool team, i was looking at lapras the other day too haha.
biggest threat is probably lilligant with HP ice/rock since it gets up +1 pretty easily on locked lapras or sleeping gurdurr/rhydon and pretty much beats your whole team once it does (especially since it outpaces rotom at +1). i'd probably go with Thunder Wave > U-Turn on xatu since you need signal beam for malamar and U-turn is the most expendable move. +1 lilligant can't OHKO you so you can t-wave it and kill it later. I guess you could try going like hitmonchan > gurdurr if hazards are really bugging you, but I don't think that it's a great idea since it makes you weaker to Klinklang and DD don like you said. hope i helped
Gourgeist-Super @ Leftovers
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 244 HP / 156 Def / 108 SpD
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Leech Seed
- Synthesis
- Foul Play
sup guys,
so this fat team stemmed from my desire to build around rest/curse/mean look/wow dusclops (which was later turned into a gourgeist-xl). lanturn + mawile is a fantastic core, albeit a bit weak to ground. i then added a garbodor bc i wanted tspikes and spikes, and malamar was added as a wincon + cm psychic check. it was originally the standard sub malamar which is extremely underrated, but i changed psycho cut to toxic to beat quag bc it was problematic. maudino was originally a kecleon but it improves my matchup vs opposing malamars. surf is a rly nice move that catches a lot of things by surprise, such as rhydon which can be a problem if gourgeist gets weakened.
the team has performed really well on the ladder, but i've noticed several weaknesses. i have no means of getting rid of hazards, so stuff like garbodor are a nuisance. tried xatu over maudino but that made my matchup vs fire types such as mag much worse. cm xatu with signal beam can 6-0 me, although that should be rarer with skunk in the tier. there's a couple of other things that i can't rly put my finger on bc it's 2:30am lmao.
i was gonna rmt this but it has way too many flaws imo !_!
So this is a neat team I built recently. I started with LO Shiftry since that just dropped and I wanted to try it out. Set is standard, but with Hurricane to just generally hit both Skuntank and Garbo hard. Next was Tank Rhydon to set up rocks and take on Bug, Poison, and (some) Fire types for Shiftry. Specs Lumineon was next to remove hazards and do solid damage, while also gaining momentum with U-turn. It also sponges Water attacks for Rhydon. Scarfed Rotom-Fan helps me check Archeops, as well as a multitude of other threats. Xatu is there to be a more reliable Fighting switch-in (hence the Colbur Berry). It also helps keep annoying hazards off the field since Lumineon loses a lot of momentum by Defogging. Heat Wave helps break Ferroseed which is otherwise really annoying for this team. Finally, we have Mega Audino. Blob is a good Dark switch-in, though it does have some issues with Skuntank. Wishes help keep the team healthy (needed since only Xatu has recovery). I planned on using this more as a pivot than a sweeper, so I went with max SpA and then Dazzling Gleam for STAB and Fire Blast to hit steels and make sure Klinklang doesn't set up on me. Overall, this team is pretty fun and does decently. Tauros is a big threat to this team, especially if Rhydon is weakened. Hariyama is bothersome as well (I can run Psyshock on Xatu, but then Weezing becomes an issue). Sweeper Rhydon can steamroll this team if I let it get to +2 speed. Pyroar is a threat, especially if they predict my Rhydon switch. I should probably play with this team a little more (don't worry; I have played with it a good amount, just not super extensively), but I thought I'd go ahead and post it here and see if you guys find any glaring weaknesses.
