• Check out the relaunch of our general collection, with classic designs and new ones by our very own Pissog!

NU Discussion Thread (Mark II)

Status
Not open for further replies.
Um, dude, Flower Gift doesn't boost Special Attack.

Edit: Oh, unless you're talking about the Special Defense boost being a good thing?
 
0_0, it's attack and special defence. I thought it was special attack and defence. placement of the 'special' in that sentence.

Still, said Cherrim boosts a powerful enough special attack to 2HKO Regice. The only pokemon with more powerful Solarbeams in NU are Victreebel Exeggutor, Shiftry, and Vileplume.

Cherrim has the highest unboosted speed of the group, and the most all round stat layout, but a movepool that's abominably shallow, not even enough to pull together 4 moves for a Specs set.

On the other hand, the others can all fill 'other roles' than a Specs pokemon, while that is where Cherrim actually has some use in NU. Vileplume is used as an annoyer, 'Bel is about as close to a reliable mixed sweeper in NU there is, with Base 105 Attack and 100 Special Attack, albeit, a small physical movepool (But there is STAB Leaf Blade), and both Siftry and the Coconut tree like to swap moves to explode when they are near death. Cherrim, besides subseeding, (And poorly at that), can't do much.

Still, I'll give one of the more powerful Special Attackers a shot. Vileplume, at a guess.
 
This metagame is very hectic but also very fun. At times it is all out offense, where the faster Pokemon with more power wins, and at others it is complete PP stalling and prediction based. Just one Pokemon can make or break the game.

Now I'd like to inform everybody who doesn't already know, about the most broken Pokemon in NU. It is commonly referred to as Cacturne. The evasion set can tear teams apart in an instant. This is possible due to Sand Veil and a priority move in Sucker Punch. Even with its slow Speed it is faster than a fair enough portion of the metagame and can use Substitute until the opponent misses. From there it can Swords Dance up and sweep with its priority move or Focus Punch. It can also switch in pretty easily on Grass / Ground moves and Psychics. A lot of people have used this Cacturne to great success, and all the support it needs is Hippopotas.

If a BL tier between UU and NU is made, Cacturne should probably be the first to go.
 
This metagame is very hectic but also very fun. At times it is all out offense, where the faster Pokemon with more power wins, and at others it is complete PP stalling and prediction based. Just one Pokemon can make or break the game.

Now I'd like to inform everybody who doesn't already know, about the most broken Pokemon in NU. It is commonly referred to as Cacturne. The evasion set can tear teams apart in an instant. This is possible due to Sand Veil and a priority move in Sucker Punch. Even with its slow Speed it is faster than a fair enough portion of the metagame and can use Substitute until the opponent misses. From there it can Swords Dance up and sweep with its priority move or Focus Punch. It can also switch in pretty easily on Grass / Ground moves and Psychics. A lot of people have used this Cacturne to great success, and all the support it needs is Hippopotas.

If a BL tier between UU and NU is made, Cacturne should probably be the first to go.

Yeah, Cacturne is an absolute beast in the sand. It's Sucker Punch is stronger then Skuntanks, and it also has other support moves like Encore and Spikes which it can use quite effectively.


On the other hand, Toxic is probably the most carried status move in the NU metagame. A ton of Pokemon that don't normally carry Toxic, carry it. These include Pokemon like Tauros, Pinsir, Medicham, and Hitmonchan. Toxic can really destroy some common walls, most notably Dusclops (unless it's a RestTalk version).

You always have to keep your eyes open for Toxic, because it can pop out of nowhere. Carrying a cleric is probably a good idea. Meganium and Lickilicky are pretty awesome at that job, both boasting great defenses.
 
Has anyone considered Golbat as a lead? It gets Taunt, has Inner Focus (to basically laugh at Persian's Fake Out) and is fast enough to Taunt a good amount of the metagame.

Yeah I've been using it. It's pretty good Brave Bird is very powerful and it speed ties with Venemoth - Base 90 is very fast in this metagame but sometimes it isn't fast enough (Manetric). It taunts Gligars and can roost off any damage, also can come in on Primape and Medichams fighting assualts with ease. Overall it's a decent lead and poke.
 
Is Encore affected by evasion modifiers? The only way I managed to defeat an evasion Cacturne was with Shuckle's Encore.
 
Is Encore affected by evasion modifiers? The only way I managed to defeat an evasion Cacturne was with Shuckle's Encore.

Yes it is affected. I was using Jumpluff to Encore it's Substitute, Swords Dance, or Seed Bomb. It missed twice in a row.

Cacturne is a bit too much in the sand.
 
I'm yet to face a Cacturne in the sand, if only because I use a Sunny Day Team.

That's the thing about Sandy Cacturne, it fails in other weather... to the degree that is can be managed somewhat.
 
Cacturne's mostly common on teams with a Sandstream pokemon on it. And since Tyranitar/Hippowdon are OU, and Hippopotas pretty much sucks, there aren't any in the NU enviroment.
 
Jumpluff isn't the only thing able to come in on anything Cacturne does. Victreebell learns Encore as well, while it can be more threatening with its own Sucker Punch (which renders Cacturne's Sucker Punch useless) and access to Swords Dance. It also x4 resists Seed Bomb, x2 resist Focus Punch (which still does a lot tho) while being a fine check to Toxic Spikes.
 
Victreebel's Sucker Punch is more or less worthless on Cacturne, seeing as it's UnSTABed, and Cacturne Resists it, Cacturne would win the Sucker Punch War.

Although, 'Bel does have one of the faster encores in NU, but Jumpluff is probobly the better counter for Cacturne.

And Hippopotas is a somewhat bulky pokemon in NU. Used as a lead as well. I've seen teams using the Hippo.
 
Cacturne's mostly common on teams with a Sandstream pokemon on it. And since Tyranitar/Hippowdon are OU, and Hippopotas pretty much sucks, there aren't any in the NU enviroment.

mm .. wrong. plenty of people use sand teams, just get rocks up with 'potas if you're not facing a taunt lead, then let it die or fodder it later.
 
I thought Sucker Punch worked even if sucker Punch was used by a faster foe. If that's the case, then 'Bel would work as a Cacturne Counter, and, Cacturne would just be set-up fodder. Although, posion jab would still hurt if you mispredicted SP.
 
Or you can just encore it and SD, like I originally stated, but no one bothered to read.
How do you have room for Encore? Substitute, Swords Dance, and Encore means you only have one slot open for an attack, presumably Sucker Punch, in which case your opponent can just switch around his Pokemon until you run out of PP.

Cacturnes with Encore:
| Cacturne | Move | Other (15) | < 4.9 |
 
How do you have room for Encore? Substitute, Swords Dance, and Encore means you only have one slot open for an attack, presumably Sucker Punch, in which case your opponent can just switch around his Pokemon until you run out of PP.

Cacturnes with Encore:
| Cacturne | Move | Other (15) | < 4.9 |

He meant Victreebel using Encore on Cacturne's Substitute.
 
What are people using as lead Gligars? I fail to see how one could take 44.01% - 52.10% if it's EVed correctly (see previous page). I'm running:

Gligar @ Leftovers
252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SDef
Impish (Enough Def EVs to get to 330 Def)
-Stealth Rock
-Taunt
-Roost
-Earthquake

Takes around 25% from Return against Tauros.
 
How are we going to deal with the unofficial forums testing in regards to Suspects and potential NU+ Pokemon we decide on? What will determine (if anything) whether or not Smogon recognizes these changes?
 
I thought Sucker Punch worked even if sucker Punch was used by a faster foe. If that's the case, then 'Bel would work as a Cacturne Counter, and, Cacturne would just be set-up fodder. Although, posion jab would still hurt if you mispredicted SP.

They both have the same priority so the faster pokemon goes first

Sucker Punch's mechanics dictate that the other pokemon has to use an attack move after Sucker Punch goes off, any faster priority will cause it to fail.
 
What are people using as lead Gligars? I fail to see how one could take 44.01% - 52.10% if it's EVed correctly (see previous page). I'm running:

Gligar @ Leftovers
252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SDef
Impish (Enough Def EVs to get to 330 Def)
-Stealth Rock
-Taunt
-Roost
-Earthquake

Takes around 25% from Return against Tauros.

My Gligar takes a much more offensive approach:

Gligar @ Focus Sash
252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Jolly (I think?)
Taunt
Stealth Rock
Earthquake
Rock Slide
 
I think that Sneasel should be an NU threat as it is arguably the best NU pursuiter and can make a great CM Drifblim check before it rests with punishment or a weakened one with ice shard, as well as being able to hit most walls for SE damage with Swords Dance/Bite/Ice punch/Brick Break. It's also a great lead with inner focus, focus sash and a fake out/counter/taunt/punishment (just in case it's still around later).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top