Greetings all, thanks for dropping by my rmt. I'm a d/p/p uu player who has been out of the game for a hot minute. That said I have really not been loving most of the things about the new tiers simply because non of them feel overly diverse. Anyway, that said I knew coming back into pokemon after a hiatus would be interesting, and it has been. The following team is my best attempt at a balanced NU team that relies on switches and "bulky" pivoting to enable a malamar or swellow sweep. All feedback is appreciated, particularly where I could fit in a rapid spinner/ defogger without creating more problems than it fixes.
This team is in no way perfect and here are some specific Problems:
SR- No hazard removal in a tier where mespirit/ archeops are constantly used as suicide rockers makes me have to deal with the hazard all game. Because so much of my team relies on switching and pivoting, SR can really begin to take its toll on my team.
No reliable Ground Resist- This is a problem that is compounded by the fact that the only real immunity to ground I have can't take any sort of damage and is also SR weak. This is putting a lot of pressure on my vileplume who is really the backbone of the team.
Magmortar- scarfed in particular if the player can predict well. Almost all teams are magmortar weak though, so you sort of just have to limit its chances to come in.
Piloswine- This thing is such an enormous threat that I truthfully must consider seeing it on the other team as a probable loss. It's a shame because Pilo is quite a good mon in general.
At A Glance:
The F/W/G Core:
Going an old faithful route I wanted to work on a f/w/g core and build around that looking at what sort of sweepers I wanted from there.
Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 144 HP / 140 Def / 208 SpD / 16 Sp. Atk.
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Volt Switch
- Scald
- Thunder Wave
Why Lanturn?
-Lanturn was the first pokemon to be put into this team, and mostly because the need for bulky waters is pretty universal through all tiers. In any lower tier she finds herself no matter the generation, lanturn seems to consistently perform well in every new meta as a solid pick. Lanturn started out as a cleric, but she honestly does so much more than that with this set. Every single move stands to net me an advantage whether it be from getting a burn off of scald or through removing status such as burn from Regirock, Lanturn is a solid go to pick.
The EV’s aren’t in any way optimized, but the Sp. Atk. does ensure a OHKO on Rhydons at do not invest in Sp Def which is nice. Perhaps the most hit and miss aspect of this pokemon is thunderwave. When its good its very good, but when its not it is dead weight.
Ninetales @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 128 HP / 128 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Protect
- Power Swap
- Will-O-Wisp
- Overheat
Why Ninetails?
-This set is an old faithful that I never see used which is a real shame. I feel that it firmly capitalizes on the unique qualities offered by Ninetails as a “bulky” fire pivot. Looking at the set on paper you might think that its easy to play around, but bare in mind this set doesn’t see use and the opponent is generally playing into it blind. Admittedly she is much better with Drought, but the free switch ins to Weezing and the subsequent power boosts have been nice. Ninetails is perhaps my most questionable member, and I will admit that, but her perks aren’t necessarily easily replaced in this tier. Perhaps the best thing about this set is that it's so off the radar, and as such people misplay into it quite a bit.
With max speed Ninetails is going to get the jump on the majority of the tier, and this is important for her to do her job. Basically, she wants to come in and Overheat which does a couple of things: hopefully forcing a switch racking up SR damage and softening their special hit taker for swellow AND lowering her own special attack. From there, depending on the switch in, ninetails has three plays: She can protect to scout for choice items or other shenanigans and to gain free leftovers recovery, she can Will O Wisp to burn a physical attacker, or she can power swap to dump a -2 special attack onto her opponent and reset her own Sp. Atk stat. This set also has the added benefit of dumping on plenty of calm mind users, something I should be particularly weak to, because she can burn them and then overheat repeatedly as they set up only to take their offensive stats and go to my malamar to begin a set-up of his own.
Vileplume @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Sludge Bomb
- Moonlight
- Sleep Powder
Why Vileplume?
In a tier where eviolite Tangela is such a good defensive check one may wonder why Vileplume without even the benefit of leftovers or a grass stab is my choice for grass type. The long and short of it is this: fighting resist + rocky helmet is very, very good in this meta. So good, in fact, that I would say this pokemon tends to be the cause of most wins simply because of her ability to keep this core, and the rest of the team honestly, afloat.
This is a solid answer to gurdurr/ hitmonchan/ hariyama, one or more of which seems to be on every team in NU. Moonblast two hit ko’s standard Gurdurrs and any version not carrying ice punch doesn't stand a chance anyway. Most physical moves being used in this tier proc the helmet AND have the added bonus of occasionally procing Vileplumes Effect Spore passive to boot. Rocky helmet coupled with the threat of effect spore on top of a fighting resistance basically invalidates any pokemon attempting to run a drain punch set (and there are several in this tier). More importantly, while Ninetails can bait in and weaken the threats to Swellow that can tank her boom bursts, Vileplume can handle the ones that can beat her through use of mach punch. Sludge bomb is my stab of choice for a couple reasons but the largest one is that it's her strongest stab option and carries the chance to poison for even more passive damage. I really can’t say enough good things about this set in this current environment. She can’t check as many things as tangela, sure, but she isn’t totally dependent on her item either.
Solrock @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Morning Sun
- Stealth Rock
- Magic Coat
- Rock Slide
Why Solrock?
-Solrock because I got tired of the suicide leads always taunting my regirock. While similar in name, this rock brings some unique attributes to the table that Regirock did not. First and foremost, Solrock is a rock type that boasts a ground immunity and what that means for me is a normal resist that has reliable recovery and can even get in on EQ's for free. While not as bulky as Regirock, he is arguably a more reliable SR setter in that he better handles leads dedicated to placing entry hazards on my side of the field. To follow that up, Magic Bounce is a great option on this bulky lead who can generate huge early momentum by bouncing things like Taunt, SR, and even Vivillon Sleep Powders. Magic Coat also helps cover up my lack of spinner/ defogger.
All usefulness as a lead aside, Solrock continues to check the same threats that Regirock did in general, though I miss the double move coverage provided by EQ. Even more importantly, the weak Rock Slide opens up a couple new issues like the fact that Rhydon sets up all over this thing. The trouble I am having with this mon is that keeping Magic Coat for lead Shenanigans forces me to lose a huge answer to certain pokemon, namely rhydon and normal types, in not having Will-o-Wisp.
Swellow @ Choice Specs
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Boomburst
- Air Slash
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
Why Swellow?
-This swellow makes for a fantastic sweeper and revenge killer in that, with no set up at all, the number of switch ins against it are extremely limited and most of her “counters” are really just checks that can be baited and softened up by Ninetails or are ghosts that can check the physical set, but roll over and die to this one. Aside from normal type resists, the only non scarfed thing that beats this set is priority. Thankfully, these are just the types of moves that are punished heavily by a Vileplume switch. With Ninetails and Vileplume addressing the most common counters to this set, the only other thing she needs to worry about is scarfers, which are telegraphed for the most part. This set isn’t overly original and as such doesn’t warrant much more discussion other than to say that it is truly impressive the number of teams that are weak to this set.
Malamar @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Superpower
- Knock Off
Why Malamar?
I’m not sure why this thing was allowed a contrary superpower, but I do know that this thing can win games by itself, which is why I picked it. For my last slot I wanted a “oh no my plan has failed” option. This guy is a fantastic stand alone sweeper that can plow through many an unprepared team. Again, as a fairly self explanatory sweeper running a max/ max set I don't know what else there is to say about him other than that he provides a wonderful addition to this team in the form of knock off and status absorber as well as win con. This could probably be a physically defensive gurdurr to help patch my piloswine weakness without changing the team too much.
If you're still reading this and I haven't bored you to tears, thank you! Please feel free to tell me what you do and don't like!
This team is in no way perfect and here are some specific Problems:
SR- No hazard removal in a tier where mespirit/ archeops are constantly used as suicide rockers makes me have to deal with the hazard all game. Because so much of my team relies on switching and pivoting, SR can really begin to take its toll on my team.
No reliable Ground Resist- This is a problem that is compounded by the fact that the only real immunity to ground I have can't take any sort of damage and is also SR weak. This is putting a lot of pressure on my vileplume who is really the backbone of the team.
Magmortar- scarfed in particular if the player can predict well. Almost all teams are magmortar weak though, so you sort of just have to limit its chances to come in.
Piloswine- This thing is such an enormous threat that I truthfully must consider seeing it on the other team as a probable loss. It's a shame because Pilo is quite a good mon in general.
At A Glance:
The F/W/G Core:
Going an old faithful route I wanted to work on a f/w/g core and build around that looking at what sort of sweepers I wanted from there.
Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 144 HP / 140 Def / 208 SpD / 16 Sp. Atk.
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Volt Switch
- Scald
- Thunder Wave
Why Lanturn?
-Lanturn was the first pokemon to be put into this team, and mostly because the need for bulky waters is pretty universal through all tiers. In any lower tier she finds herself no matter the generation, lanturn seems to consistently perform well in every new meta as a solid pick. Lanturn started out as a cleric, but she honestly does so much more than that with this set. Every single move stands to net me an advantage whether it be from getting a burn off of scald or through removing status such as burn from Regirock, Lanturn is a solid go to pick.
The EV’s aren’t in any way optimized, but the Sp. Atk. does ensure a OHKO on Rhydons at do not invest in Sp Def which is nice. Perhaps the most hit and miss aspect of this pokemon is thunderwave. When its good its very good, but when its not it is dead weight.
Ninetales @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 128 HP / 128 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Protect
- Power Swap
- Will-O-Wisp
- Overheat
Why Ninetails?
-This set is an old faithful that I never see used which is a real shame. I feel that it firmly capitalizes on the unique qualities offered by Ninetails as a “bulky” fire pivot. Looking at the set on paper you might think that its easy to play around, but bare in mind this set doesn’t see use and the opponent is generally playing into it blind. Admittedly she is much better with Drought, but the free switch ins to Weezing and the subsequent power boosts have been nice. Ninetails is perhaps my most questionable member, and I will admit that, but her perks aren’t necessarily easily replaced in this tier. Perhaps the best thing about this set is that it's so off the radar, and as such people misplay into it quite a bit.
With max speed Ninetails is going to get the jump on the majority of the tier, and this is important for her to do her job. Basically, she wants to come in and Overheat which does a couple of things: hopefully forcing a switch racking up SR damage and softening their special hit taker for swellow AND lowering her own special attack. From there, depending on the switch in, ninetails has three plays: She can protect to scout for choice items or other shenanigans and to gain free leftovers recovery, she can Will O Wisp to burn a physical attacker, or she can power swap to dump a -2 special attack onto her opponent and reset her own Sp. Atk stat. This set also has the added benefit of dumping on plenty of calm mind users, something I should be particularly weak to, because she can burn them and then overheat repeatedly as they set up only to take their offensive stats and go to my malamar to begin a set-up of his own.
Vileplume @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Sludge Bomb
- Moonlight
- Sleep Powder
Why Vileplume?
In a tier where eviolite Tangela is such a good defensive check one may wonder why Vileplume without even the benefit of leftovers or a grass stab is my choice for grass type. The long and short of it is this: fighting resist + rocky helmet is very, very good in this meta. So good, in fact, that I would say this pokemon tends to be the cause of most wins simply because of her ability to keep this core, and the rest of the team honestly, afloat.
This is a solid answer to gurdurr/ hitmonchan/ hariyama, one or more of which seems to be on every team in NU. Moonblast two hit ko’s standard Gurdurrs and any version not carrying ice punch doesn't stand a chance anyway. Most physical moves being used in this tier proc the helmet AND have the added bonus of occasionally procing Vileplumes Effect Spore passive to boot. Rocky helmet coupled with the threat of effect spore on top of a fighting resistance basically invalidates any pokemon attempting to run a drain punch set (and there are several in this tier). More importantly, while Ninetails can bait in and weaken the threats to Swellow that can tank her boom bursts, Vileplume can handle the ones that can beat her through use of mach punch. Sludge bomb is my stab of choice for a couple reasons but the largest one is that it's her strongest stab option and carries the chance to poison for even more passive damage. I really can’t say enough good things about this set in this current environment. She can’t check as many things as tangela, sure, but she isn’t totally dependent on her item either.
Solrock @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Morning Sun
- Stealth Rock
- Magic Coat
- Rock Slide
Why Solrock?
-Solrock because I got tired of the suicide leads always taunting my regirock. While similar in name, this rock brings some unique attributes to the table that Regirock did not. First and foremost, Solrock is a rock type that boasts a ground immunity and what that means for me is a normal resist that has reliable recovery and can even get in on EQ's for free. While not as bulky as Regirock, he is arguably a more reliable SR setter in that he better handles leads dedicated to placing entry hazards on my side of the field. To follow that up, Magic Bounce is a great option on this bulky lead who can generate huge early momentum by bouncing things like Taunt, SR, and even Vivillon Sleep Powders. Magic Coat also helps cover up my lack of spinner/ defogger.
All usefulness as a lead aside, Solrock continues to check the same threats that Regirock did in general, though I miss the double move coverage provided by EQ. Even more importantly, the weak Rock Slide opens up a couple new issues like the fact that Rhydon sets up all over this thing. The trouble I am having with this mon is that keeping Magic Coat for lead Shenanigans forces me to lose a huge answer to certain pokemon, namely rhydon and normal types, in not having Will-o-Wisp.
Swellow @ Choice Specs
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Boomburst
- Air Slash
- Heat Wave
- U-turn
Why Swellow?
-This swellow makes for a fantastic sweeper and revenge killer in that, with no set up at all, the number of switch ins against it are extremely limited and most of her “counters” are really just checks that can be baited and softened up by Ninetails or are ghosts that can check the physical set, but roll over and die to this one. Aside from normal type resists, the only non scarfed thing that beats this set is priority. Thankfully, these are just the types of moves that are punished heavily by a Vileplume switch. With Ninetails and Vileplume addressing the most common counters to this set, the only other thing she needs to worry about is scarfers, which are telegraphed for the most part. This set isn’t overly original and as such doesn’t warrant much more discussion other than to say that it is truly impressive the number of teams that are weak to this set.
Malamar @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Superpower
- Knock Off
Why Malamar?
I’m not sure why this thing was allowed a contrary superpower, but I do know that this thing can win games by itself, which is why I picked it. For my last slot I wanted a “oh no my plan has failed” option. This guy is a fantastic stand alone sweeper that can plow through many an unprepared team. Again, as a fairly self explanatory sweeper running a max/ max set I don't know what else there is to say about him other than that he provides a wonderful addition to this team in the form of knock off and status absorber as well as win con. This could probably be a physically defensive gurdurr to help patch my piloswine weakness without changing the team too much.
If you're still reading this and I haven't bored you to tears, thank you! Please feel free to tell me what you do and don't like!
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