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Aerodactyl @ Life Orb / Choice Band
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
This core has a pretty straight-forward function, aerodactyl really appreciate spikes to wear down its common checks. Pokemon like rhyperior, seismitoad, steelix, bulky waters and others are really pressured by spikes. When we add a spike setter like mega glalie that is able to pressure basically every single one of the aerodactyl checks while supporting it through hazards they make quite the amazing pair. Solid duo that are even able to overwhelm common checks in the form of bronzong. Nice stuff. Double-Edge if you run banded aerodactyl is an option.
Banette @ Banettite
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak / Destiny Bond
- Shadow ClawClaw
Mega Banette sucks because its a roadblock in team building if you can't do much with it.. Mega Banette actually helps Meloetta quite a bit, specifically its ability to cripple walls like Registeel and Escape with Knock Off and Wisp. Meloetta obviously benefits from having its checks and counters weakened. If Banette runs Shadow Sneak Melo can run FBlast easier since it doesn't need to hit Hoopa or if you DBond you can pressure Pursuit trappers (most notably sneasel)
This is a fun core I've been playing around with that provides tons of momentum and offensive presence. Magneton beats the bulky Water-types that Dugtrio hates, such as Alomomola and Blastoise, while Dugtrio beats the Fire-types Magneton fears, such as Emboar and Camerupt. I typically use the two on a Voltturn team, allowing them to come in safely with no damage and trap an opposing Pokemon, while also keeping up momentum with U-turn and Volt Switch. An excellent partner for the two is Flygon, who provides a slowish U-turn and a resistance/immunity to Fire- and Ground-type attacks for Magneton. You can run Specs Magneton if you feel like it but I like being able to switch up my moves. Try it out!
Venusaur is a really strong mon in the current metagame, but it hates Steel / Fire / Poison types, so Dugtrio is a really cool partner for it because it can trap these mons, except for some rare exceptions (Bronzong and Escavalier) that don't get OHKOed by Dugtrio. Sleep Powder on Venusaur can put these mons to sleep giving Dugtrio a free turn to switch to compense its bad bulk.
Ok back from the dead finally lol. Cinccino is by no means a top tier mom but paired with some other really amazing good it has it uses. Scythed forces a lot of switches thank to its powerful attack multiplied by CB common switching being something like Rhyperior, Seisamatoad, or Diancie being resists or bulky enough to take it attacks. Cinccino comes in on these mins and thanks to the U-Turn damage able to OHKO the switch-ins. Cinccnino can also take out Virizion switch can OHKO syther with Stone Edge. I put Irona Tail over U-turn to back it a better lure taking out Diance and 2 hit OHKO Aromatisse you can also run U-turn to form a U-turn core if you don't find it helpful. Glad to be back :).
Scyther @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Bug Bite
- U-turn
- Knock Off
Cinccino @ Life Orb
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Tail Slap
- Knock Off
- Bullet Seed
- Iron Tail
Uxie @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 24 Def / 236 Spe
Bold Nature
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off / Yawn / Heal Bell
- Psyshock / Psychic
Defensive core more suited for balance teams thanks to Uxie not being a momentum drain thanks to U-turn and a notable support movepool. Utility moves like thunder wave, yawn, knock off, stealth rock among others; great mon. The only bad thing is that lacks reliable recovery so thats where Mola comes into play. Alomomola provides Uxie important wish support so it can stay healthy while Uxie in return deals with the Pokemon Mola struggles to deal with like Virizion, Venusaur and what not. Really customizable duo as well, Mola can run toxic or knock off, Uxie can run the world. 8.5/10
Escavalier @ Choice Band
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Iron Head
- Megahorn
- Drill Run
Sub Hoopa (either Nasty Plot or just Sub + 3 Attacks) is one of my favorite sets. I know opinions vary a lot about the quality of this set but in my experience is the set that does more for Hoopa. Anyways, Hoopa is cool and all but struggles against one thing, MELOETTA so this is where Escavalier comes to save the day! Hoopa technically works with every pursuit trapper but I prefer escavalier personally cause, albeit REALLY slow, is the pursuit trapper that can switch reliably against Meloetta besides Spiritomb, and I wouldnt be stacking 2 ghosts especially one that isnt too good nowadays. So yeah, Escavalier is really good, an impressive amount of teams struggle to even switch into it and megahorn is just absurdly spammable, is fantastic really. This core is pretty slow so pack a good scarfer or fast mon in the back. 8/10
Natural Disaster (Aggron) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Head Smash
- Heavy Slam
- Ice Punch
- Low Kick
Verdant Blade (Virizion) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power Ice
Long story short, Aggron hates things that Virizion beats and sets up on and Aggron weakens everything for Virizion. Basically once Aggron comes in on something like Diancie you are free to use Heavy Slam or Head Smash on everything and even come in on Flying-types such as Golbat and Fletchinder. If a person has a decent resist like Rhyperior or Flygon then Virizion can come in and set up with Calm Mind and destroy most of the rock resist in the tier. The reason you would opt for Calm Mind instead of Swords Dance is because Calm Mind pressures Aggron's switch ins more than SD and vice versa.
Hoopa isn't seeing much light since they're so many pursuit trappers, but I think a simple core can help out this problem. A offense core including Dugtrio can weaken/kill mons that trap/take hits from Hoopa.
Hazard stacking core for bulky offense, basically druddigon checks most of the stuff that you would want to check with phys def blastoise, allowing us to use spdef instead, which helps a ton against glalie/houndoom/delphox/camerupt making for a more solid deffensive backbone; spin support is obviously good for glalie but drudd is definitely its main partner, usually the things that are going to come in on/try to revenge kill glalie can be answered by drudd and blastoise respectively, all the while allowing you to get more spikes up. You definitely wanna add a solid fighting resist and a ghost type if you can afford it, spiritomb/hoopa can both do fine.
Druddigon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
- Glare
- Fire Punch
Basically shuca drapion is great at luring in and removing opposing ground types(think flygon, mostly) allowing jolteon to spam electric attacks with much ease, not to mention they have good offensive synergy seeing as how drapion is really good against fatter teams whereas jolteon heavily punishes offense.
Jolteon (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
There two things that you need to make a gurdurr team work:something to punish fairy type switch ins after they take a knock off and pursuit trapping. Camerupt punishes aromatisse/togetic switch ins extremely hard and scarf drapion is a very reliable source of pursuit trapping, having tspikes is a huge plus also.
Eternal Mind (Drapion) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Poison Jab
Everlasting Fight (Gurdurr) @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Mach Punch
The Die is Cast (Camerupt-Mega) @ Cameruptite
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Saitama (Sawk) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Zen Headbutt
Crimson Rose (Fletchinder)
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 76 Def / 28 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
So we already know that Fletchinder struggles versus a lot in the meta such as Registeel, Diancie, Magneton, Aerodactyl, etc. Sawk is able to break most of Fletchinder hard counters + get away with dealing with some of its soft checks like pressuring Garbodor, Granbull, and Alomomola. Fletchinder is almost required to use hazard removal so having Sawk there also benefits from one Fletchinder's flaws in a way. And of course you have the normal wallbreaker + sweeper trade off which basically means Sawk weakens the opposing team in general so Fletchinder can have a much more laxed time sweeping.
Death by Glamour (Diancie) @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
IVs: 0 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Trick Room
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Psychic / Diamond Storm
Dugtrio + most things works pretty well but this one is a little bit more creative IMO. Diancie is a decent priority sponge and can even force most of them out letting Diancie secure a Trick Room. OTR Diancie counters are pretty simple and are stuff like Registeel, Alomomola, Seismitoad. Dugtrio is kind of nifty since it can eliminate most of them and then cripple something like Slowking with Toxic which puts it on a timer. Dugtrio's also pretty nice so if you wanted to Psychic you can't more easily eliminate Fire-types like Mega Camerupt and Emboar.
Death by Glamour (Diancie) @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
IVs: 0 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Trick Room
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Explosion
Vesuvius (Camerupt) @ Cameruptite
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Toxic / Flamethrower
Its actually really simple. Diancie snatches a Trick Room, pressures Pokemon, potentially Explodes, goes into Camerupt. Between type synergy its almost practically not there but they do hold the same checks like Mola which Diancie can weaken with STAB / Explosion and the Camerupt can come in freely and launch nuclear attacks till Trick Room wears off. Mega Camerupt's last moveslot is really a toss up of whatever you want it to be but I went ahead and slashed Flamethrower in case you don't want to always rely on Fire Blast which could potentially waste a Trick Room turn.
Balance Cores
Saitama (Sawk) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Zen Headbutt
Chime (Xatu) @ Leftovers / Colbur Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Roost
- Night Shade
- Toxic
Sawk doesn't like hazards, Xatu discourages hazards. It really doesn't get any simpler than that but I can elaborate more of the type synergy between the two. Sawk is pretty good at beating down Dark-types and Rock-types that want to hurt Xatu. Xatu can in return check certain Psychic-types like Medicham and Delphox which can bring Sawk down to Sturdy / OHKO it. It also pressures defensive Poison-types which Magic Bounce which makes it less stressful for Sawk to predict. Xatu also has U-turn to get Sawk in safely.
A mix and match of any of there sets would work tbh since this core mostly relies in defensive synergy. Virizion dislikes Psychic, Fire, Flying, and Ice-types which Slowking can happily check due to its good bulk and longevity with Regenerator and Thunder Wave to check them much better. Thunder Wave is also neat sometimes snagging an extra turn to get Virizion to set up or crippling a revenge killer. Other sets can fulfill different roles to like AV makes it much better at pressuring the opponent to weaken there typical Slowking / Virizion checks, OTR and Specs and lure some Pokemon like Escalivier and Braviary. Virizion on the other hand gives the core a valuable sweeper that can check Water, Electric, Steel (for some Slowking sets), and Dark-types for Slowking. Slowking naturally is very good at supporting sweepers so when paired with Virizion it's pretty much a match made in heaven.
Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Bulk Up
Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful / Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam / Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Roar / Toxic
Stolen straight out of the Core Analysis Workshop because I realized I had actually never shared / posted anything with this anywhere else. Gurdurr struggles with Fairy-types as a Bulk up sweeper so Steelix can check check more defensive Fairies as well as deal with another problem of Gurdurr which is Braviary and Fletch with Roar and Stealth Rock. Finally Choice Banded Drapion is added because it helps with the Psychic weakness (Steelix isn't a good response) and it helps to lure Flygon, you could use other coverage but most of the other targets are set up on by Gurdurr. Although I have been considering using Toxic Spikes on one of two of my teams with this core as its more of a semi stallish core. Fuck Toxic.
A core I enjoy using the most when building with Scrafty. Garbo just provides so much for Scrafty: Spikes support for clearing lategame, a switch-in to Fighting types like Virizion, Hitmonlee, Medicham, Sawk (shakiest one here is Medicham as Scarf forces a 50 / 50 and LO can bone you if Scrafty is unboosted / weak enough to get picked by Bullet Punch) etc which are quite troubling for Scrafty, Venusaur check (pain split is hilarious oml), and haze support to inhibit BU sweepers like Malamar and Gurdurr, which would otherwise be pretty troublesome for Scrafty. This core still has some inherent problems like faster hitters such as Psychics, Magneton, Hoopa, etc and Dugtrio (2nd most annoying mon behind mola I swear), as it can trap garbodor, thereby inhibiting fighting check support for Scrafty. One of my favorite partners to patch this up is usually 3 Atks + Roost Sigilyph with Air Slash, Dark Pulse, and Heat Wave. While it also benefits from the spikes support garbo provides, this mon provides another switch-in to Medicham if need be and can deal nicely with the aforementioned threats (Magneton sure as Hell doesn't wanna take a heat wave, Dark Pulse is cool to snipe Meloetta, Hoopa and Delphox) oh, and, it's also not trapped by dugtrio. Decided to go Air Slash > Psychic as my STAB due to the popularity of pursuit trappers and revenging opposing unboosted Scrafty
Sturdy balanced core inspired by 49 latest RMT which showed Dugtrio potency and how reliable Xatu + Mega Audino are as a pair. The broken 3 headed trapping behemoth is long but the likes of Mega Audino are here to stay. Mega Audino, or Audino in general, bring another durable wish passer to the table that isnt Alomomola and a Fairy that doesnt feel forced to constantly heal itself (aka Aromatisse) and being an outstanding knock off switch-in, thing that is a rarity in general, but sadly the lack of a Fighting resistance is perhaps the only downside, and a pretty rough one at that. So this is where Xatu enters the game providing that fighting type resistance and nice hazard control so Mega Audino doesnt get overwhelmed by Spikes and what not. Protect let Mega Audino scout against choice-locked Fighting types if they go for knock off or close combat (sawk for example) and let you play around accordingly.
There is one massive weakness that these 2 have in common tho, MAGNETON, and a pretty massive weakness at that. So here is where Seismitoad enters. Provides one of the most reliable stops to Magneton available (since it cant have both hp grass and hp water, gotta scout for it first) but switching into both STABs really well in fantastic against such a profficient breaker. Seismitoad also helps with the issue against SD Drapion variants (covering both lum and shuca with either scald or earth power... just burn) so yeah, no way of replacing Dugtrio but Seismitoad blends really well with these 2, and that it appreciates wish passing :). Mega Glalie, Delphox, Sigilyph are problems so thats why Low Kick Sneasel fits amazingly with these :)
Offensive Core
+
Accelgor @ Life Orb
Ability: Sticky Hold
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Spikes
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Bug Buzz
- Focus Blast
I guess it is an offensive core given they form a pretty good spikestacking core that goes on many offensive teams. Accelgor is a really profficient spiker virtue of its outstanding speed tier and decent power to quite put a dent on opposing teams before going down. HP Ice is perhaps the most important element since it stops any attempt of Flygon from suicide defogging your beloved spikes, Bug Buzz is a powerful, and obligatory, STAB Move and Focus Blast is a great move to damage most of Accelgor switch-ins, netting a good 2hko on most registeels after stealth rock, kills magneton easily and deals the most damage to Escavaliers, and with the added pressure of spikes those can be worn down pretty easily.
Druddigon, lovely mon that completes Accelgor extremely well. Covering that fire weakness, disregaring Fletchinder and flying-types from clicking either acrobatics or brave bird and ofc, providing the Stealth Rock needed to complete the hazard stacking. I love Toxic on Druddigon cause it let you put bulky waters like Alomomola on a timer, mainly Blastoise cause if it dears to Spin the rocky helmet + toxic recoil will take a massive toll and being slower let you keep your rocks and wear it down so Accelgor can kill it. Great duo overall, give it a try. Credit to lighthouses cause IIRC I saw him using that for the first time with that scarf durant team... one of the 80 :v
Ah, one of my absolute favorites. Shell Smash Omastar is one of the most fun things Ive ever tried in this metagame, not even exaggerating. There are times where I just bring games back with this monster, and it is fast enough to outspeed most relevant scarfers benchmarks and can find a good amount of setup opportunities against any emboar locked into flare blitz, fletchinder, braviary and ground types thanks to shuca berry! All the coverage moves are mandatory for it too work.
SD Drapion works fantastically well alongside SS Omastar. Sharing really similar checks like bulky waters, including the likes of Blastoise and Alomomola, these 2 can easily overwhelm them. SD Drapion also helps Omastar against the balanced cores that could attempt to stop it, taking advantage of the flagship Steel + Bulky Water + Bulky Grass balanced cores thanks to lum berry while Omastar pays Drapion back luring ground types like Flygon when it setups it and proceeding to clean offense pretty easily at +2. Man, I can use this again!!
Hi I'm doing this for Slurmz, I think some of the old ones could be updated (like EonX Trapper Doom + ScarfCham) so if someone would like to post on those that would be great. Also I'm adding in a few more of mine since it is convenient. Offensive Cores
Choice Band Scyther + Choice Specs Magneton by Dragonn.
With MLix being banned a while ago, VoltTurn has gotten a lot better. This core has really solid defensive synnergy with Magneton beating Ice-, Electric-, Rock-, and Flying-types, while Scyther can resist hits from Ground- and Fighting-types. Additionally, this core has really solid offensive synnergy with Magneton breaking down fat Steel, Rock, and Water types for Scyther while Scyther can smack incoming Ground types with banded U-turn and killing fighting types with Aerial Ace that can stop Mag from staying in and firing off STAB attacks. Now, the sets are really cool. If your team is lacking in speed, you slap a scarf on scyther or Magneton, although the provided sets are much better. Overall, this core is very suceptible to Fire types and can get shredded by hazard stack, so fire-resisting hazard removers like Blastoise and Flygon are really nice partners.
Magneton @ Choice Specs
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest/Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power Water/ Grass
Shuca Berry Omastar + Swords Dance Drapion by MrAldo
Ah, one of my absolute favorites. Shell Smash Omastar is one of the most fun things Ive ever tried in this metagame, not even exaggerating. There are times where I just bring games back with this monster, and it is fast enough to outspeed most relevant scarfers benchmarks and can find a good amount of setup opportunities against any emboar locked into flare blitz, fletchinder, braviary and ground types thanks to shuca berry! All the coverage moves are mandatory for it too work.
SD Drapion works fantastically well alongside SS Omastar. Sharing really similar checks like bulky waters, including the likes of Blastoise and Alomomola, these 2 can easily overwhelm them. SD Drapion also helps Omastar against the balanced cores that could attempt to stop it, taking advantage of the flagship Steel + Bulky Water + Bulky Grass balanced cores thanks to lum berry while Omastar pays Drapion back luring ground types like Flygon when it setups it and proceeding to clean offense pretty easily at +2. Man, I can use this again!!
Offensive Spiker Accelgor + FUCKING TOUCH ME I DARE YOU by MrAldo
I guess it is an offensive core given they form a pretty good spikestacking core that goes on many offensive teams. Accelgor is a really profficient spiker virtue of its outstanding speed tier and decent power to quite put a dent on opposing teams before going down. HP Ice is perhaps the most important element since it stops any attempt of Flygon from suicide defogging your beloved spikes, Bug Buzz is a powerful, and obligatory, STAB Move and Focus Blast is a great move to damage most of Accelgor switch-ins, netting a good 2hko on most registeels after stealth rock, kills magneton easily and deals the most damage to Escavaliers, and with the added pressure of spikes those can be worn down pretty easily.
Druddigon, lovely mon that completes Accelgor extremely well. Covering that fire weakness, disregaring Fletchinder and flying-types from clicking either acrobatics or brave bird and ofc, providing the Stealth Rock needed to complete the hazard stacking. I love Toxic on Druddigon cause it let you put bulky waters like Alomomola on a timer, mainly Blastoise cause if it dears to Spin the rocky helmet + toxic recoil will take a massive toll and being slower let you keep your rocks and wear it down so Accelgor can kill it. Great duo overall, give it a try. Credit to (tag)lighthouses cause IIRC I saw him using that for the first time with that scarf durant team... one of the 80 :v
Accelgor @ Life Orb
Ability: Sticky Hold
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Spikes
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Bug Buzz
- Focus Blast
Choice Band Sawk + Swords Dance Fletchinder by Take Azelfie
So we already know that Fletchinder struggles versus a lot in the meta such as Registeel, Diancie, Magneton, Aerodactyl, etc. Sawk is able to break most of Fletchinder hard counters + get away with dealing with some of its soft checks like pressuring Garbodor, Granbull, and Alomomola. Fletchinder is almost required to use hazard removal so having Sawk there also benefits from one Fletchinder's flaws in a way. And of course you have the normal wallbreaker + sweeper trade off which basically means Sawk weakens the opposing team in general so Fletchinder can have a much more laxed time sweeping.
Saitama (Sawk) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Zen Headbutt
Crimson Rose (Fletchinder)
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 76 Def / 28 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
Life Orb Articuno + Earth Plate Flygon by Take Azelfie
Honestly its really hard to resist using Flygon over any other hazard remover since it provides a good way to check Steel-types like Registeel and can tank Fire-type and Electric-type attacks for it while also being consistent unlike Blastoise who suffers from all forms of chip damage. Articuno is also good at breaking balance teams that use cores like Venusaur + Flygon + Alomomola since it can apply an insane amount of pressure to all of them while Flygon can get Articuno in safely on a U-Turn. Also Articuno can be a decent Ice resist for Pokemon like Abomasnow which could threaten Flygon with and Ice Shard.
Offensive Trick Room Diancie + Mega Camerupt by Take Azelfie
Its actually really simple. Diancie snatches a Trick Room, pressures Pokemon, potentially Explodes, goes into Camerupt. Between type synergy its almost practically not there but they do hold the same checks like Mola which Diancie can weaken with STAB / Explosion and the Camerupt can come in freely and launch nuclear attacks till Trick Room wears off. Mega Camerupt's last moveslot is really a toss up of whatever you want it to be but I went ahead and slashed Flamethrower in case you don't want to always rely on Fire Blast which could potentially waste a Trick Room turn.
Death by Glamour (Diancie) @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
IVs: 0 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Trick Room
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Explosion
Vesuvius (Camerupt) @ Cameruptite
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Toxic / Flamethrower
Choice Scarf Drapion + Bulk Up Gurdurr + Mega Camerupt by lighthouses
There two things that you need to make a gurdurr team work:something to punish fairy type switch ins after they take a knock off and pursuit trapping. Camerupt punishes aromatisse/togetic switch ins extremely hard and scarf drapion is a very reliable source of pursuit trapping, having tspikes is a huge plus also.
Eternal Mind (Drapion) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Poison Jab
Everlasting Fight (Gurdurr) @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Mach Punch
The Die is Cast (Camerupt-Mega) @ Cameruptite
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Shuca Drapion + Choice Specs Jolteon by lighthouses
Basically shuca drapion is great at luring in and removing opposing ground types(think flygon, mostly) allowing jolteon to spam electric attacks with much ease, not to mention they have good offensive synergy seeing as how drapion is really good against fatter teams whereas jolteon heavily punishes offense.
Jolteon (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Nasty Plot Hoopa + Choice Band Escalivier by MrAldo
Sub Hoopa (either Nasty Plot or just Sub + 3 Attacks) is one of my favorite sets. I know opinions vary a lot about the quality of this set but in my experience is the set that does more for Hoopa. Anyways, Hoopa is cool and all but struggles against one thing, MELOETTA so this is where Escavalier comes to save the day! Hoopa technically works with every pursuit trapper but I prefer escavalier personally cause, albeit REALLY slow, is the pursuit trapper that can switch reliably against Meloetta besides Spiritomb, and I wouldnt be stacking 2 ghosts especially one that isnt too good nowadays. So yeah, Escavalier is really good, an impressive amount of teams struggle to even switch into it and megahorn is just absurdly spammable, is fantastic really. This core is pretty slow so pack a good scarfer or fast mon in the back. 8/10
Escavalier @ Choice Band
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Iron Head
- Megahorn
- Drill Run
Mega Banette + Choice Specs Meloetta by Take Azelfie
Mega Banette sucks because its a roadblock in team building if you can't do much with it.. Mega Banette actually helps Meloetta quite a bit, specifically its ability to cripple walls like Registeel and Escape with Knock Off and Wisp. Meloetta obviously benefits from having its checks and counters weakened. If Banette runs Shadow Sneak Melo can run FBlast easier since it doesn't need to hit Hoopa or if you DBond you can pressure Pursuit trappers (most notably sneasel)
Banette @ Banettite
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak / Destiny Bond
- Shadow Claw
Mega Spiky Wrecking Ball + Offensive Aerodactyl by MrAldo
This core has a pretty straight-forward function, aerodactyl really appreciate spikes to wear down its common checks. Pokemon like rhyperior, seismitoad, steelix, bulky waters and others are really pressured by spikes. When we add a spike setter like mega glalie that is able to pressure basically every single one of the aerodactyl checks while supporting it through hazards they make quite the amazing pair. Solid duo that are even able to overwhelm common checks in the form of bronzong. Nice stuff. Double-Edge if you run banded aerodactyl is an option.
Aerodactyl @ Life Orb / Choice Band
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Pivot Uxie + Choice Specs Exploud by Thatwackycruton
Alright, so this core is basically centered around Uxie being a solid hazard setter, and, more importantly, momentum generator for Exploud to come and destroy things. Uxie also acts as a fightingi-type check for Exploud, which is useful because many teams that use Exploud are a little weak to fighting types, and almost all of them are able to easily revenge kill Exploud. Basically, Uxie can set up hazards for Exploud and then proceed to U-turn out on anything faster than it and let Exploud in to rip apart the opposing team. While I chose thunder wave to disrupt faster teams and provide a way for Exploud to beat faster mons, Yawn can be used as a way to get nearly guarunteed momentum for Exploud. It's a really cool core I've been using alongside Sweepers like Omastar and Virizion.
Pursuit Sneasel + Choice Scarf Medicham by Take Azelfie
Medicham really wants to clean with High Jump Kick so adding a good Pursuit trapper like Sneasel can really benefit it since the good Switchins to High Jump Kick are all obliterated by its second STAB or weak to Pursuit trapping. Sneasel also helps to check Choice Scarf Flygon who could potentially revenge kill a slightly weakened Medicham with Earthquake.
Medicham @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Thunder Punch
- Trick
Chicken Pass by Take Azelfie
lol do I really need to explain. You pass Speed to Xatu and it Calm Mind after you hopefully activate Kee Berry and you win. Its a really neat archetype if you invest enough time on learning your matchups and is much more reliable than other super HO archetypes like Weather or TR since the teams this core can function on work even after Chicken is gone.
Eye of Minds (Xatu) @ Kee Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Calm Mind
- Signal Beam
- Roost
Balance Cores
Rest Dragon Dance Scrafty + Spikes Garbodor by Ryoma Nagare
A core I enjoy using the most when building with Scrafty. Garbo just provides so much for Scrafty: Spikes support for clearing lategame, a switch-in to Fighting types like Virizion, Hitmonlee, Medicham, Sawk (shakiest one here is Medicham as Scarf forces a 50 / 50 and LO can bone you if Scrafty is unboosted / weak enough to get picked by Bullet Punch) etc which are quite troubling for Scrafty, Venusaur check (pain split is hilarious oml), and haze support to inhibit BU sweepers like Malamar and Gurdurr, which would otherwise be pretty troublesome for Scrafty. This core still has some inherent problems like faster hitters such as Psychics, Magneton, Hoopa, etc and Dugtrio (2nd most annoying mon behind mola I swear), as it can trap garbodor, thereby inhibiting fighting check support for Scrafty. One of my favorite partners to patch this up is usually 3 Atks + Roost Sigilyph with Air Slash, Dark Pulse, and Heat Wave. While it also benefits from the spikes support garbo provides, this mon provides another switch-in to Medicham if need be and can deal nicely with the aforementioned threats (Magneton sure as Hell doesn't wanna take a heat wave, Dark Pulse is cool to snipe Meloetta, Hoopa and Delphox) oh, and, it's also not trapped by dugtrio. Decided to go Air Slash > Psychic as my STAB due to the popularity of pursuit trappers and revenging opposing unboosted Scrafty
Scrafty @ Life Orb
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- Rest
Sawk doesn't like hazards, Xatu discourages hazards. It really doesn't get any simpler than that but I can elaborate more of the type synergy between the two. Sawk is pretty good at beating down Dark-types and Rock-types that want to hurt Xatu. Xatu can in return check certain Psychic-types like Medicham and Delphox which can bring Sawk down to Sturdy / OHKO it. It also pressures defensive Poison-types which Magic Bounce which makes it less stressful for Sawk to predict. Xatu also has U-turn to get Sawk in safely.
Saitama (Sawk) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Zen Headbutt
Chime (Xatu) @ Leftovers / Colbur Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Roost
- Night Shade
- Toxic
Swords Dance Virizion + Defensive Slowking by Take Azelfie
A mix and match of any of there sets would work tbh since this core mostly relies in defensive synergy. Virizion dislikes Psychic, Fire, Flying, and Ice-types which Slowking can happily check due to its good bulk and longevity with Regenerator and Thunder Wave to check them much better. Thunder Wave is also neat sometimes snagging an extra turn to get Virizion to set up or crippling a revenge killer. Other sets can fulfill different roles to like AV makes it much better at pressuring the opponent to weaken there typical Slowking / Virizion checks, OTR and Specs and lure some Pokemon like Escalivier and Braviary. Virizion on the other hand gives the core a valuable sweeper that can check Water, Electric, Steel (for some Slowking sets), and Dark-types for Slowking. Slowking naturally is very good at supporting sweepers so when paired with Virizion it's pretty much a match made in heaven.
Bulk Up Gurdurr + SpDef Steelix + Choice Band Drapion by Take Azelfie
Stolen straight out of the Core Analysis Workshop because I realized I had actually never shared / posted anything with this anywhere else. Gurdurr struggles with Fairy-types as a Bulk up sweeper so Steelix can check check more defensive Fairies as well as deal with another problem of Gurdurr which is Braviary and Fletch with Roar and Stealth Rock. Finally Choice Banded Drapion is added because it helps with the Psychic weakness (Steelix isn't a good response) and it helps to lure Flygon, you could use other coverage but most of the other targets are set up on by Gurdurr. Although I have been considering using Toxic Spikes on one of two of my teams with this core as its more of a semi stallish core. Fuck Toxic.
Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Bulk Up
Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful / Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam / Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Roar / Toxic
OMG SO MUCH CHIP DAMAGE + SpDef Blastoise + Mega Glalie by lighthouses
Hazard stacking core for bulky offense, basically druddigon checks most of the stuff that you would want to check with phys def blastoise, allowing us to use spdef instead, which helps a ton against glalie/houndoom/delphox/camerupt making for a more solid deffensive backbone; spin support is obviously good for glalie but drudd is definitely its main partner, usually the things that are going to come in on/try to revenge kill glalie can be answered by drudd and blastoise respectively, all the while allowing you to get more spikes up. You definitely wanna add a solid fighting resist and a ghost type if you can afford it, spiritomb/hoopa can both do fine.
Druddigon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
- Glare
- Fire Punch
eh, sorry for all the slashes but this is what is now considered the base per-say for spikes balance in the current meta and i found myself returning to this core again and again in several variations on several teams (my taunt roost aero balance, 2 versions of my malamar balance, etc). the interactions of zong + garb + toise are quite cool, specifically in terms of maintaining and keeping hazards off the field while retaining good defensive synergy. usually with this core, you would add a psychic check (usually tomb), a wincon (virizion, taunt roost aero, malamar), and some speed control (scarf boar). generally, you will almost never run foresight on toise on this core because you usually won't have the space for heal bell yet it may happen, so i slashed it just for clarity's sake.
stain of mind (Garbodor) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 240 HP / 220 Def / 48 SpD
Careful Nature
- Toxic Spikes / Haze
- Spikes
- Pain Split
- Gunk Shot
overt enemy (Blastoise) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD OR 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def
Bold Nature / Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Refresh / Foresight
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
Defensive Cores
Support Mega Audino + Defensive Seismitoad + Pivot Xatu by MrAldo
Sturdy balanced core inspired by (tag)49 latest RMT which showed Dugtrio potency and how reliable Xatu + Mega Audino are as a pair. The broken 3 headed trapping behemoth is long but the likes of Mega Audino are here to stay. Mega Audino, or Audino in general, bring another durable wish passer to the table that isnt Alomomola and a Fairy that doesnt feel forced to constantly heal itself (aka Aromatisse) and being an outstanding knock off switch-in, thing that is a rarity in general, but sadly the lack of a Fighting resistance is perhaps the only downside, and a pretty rough one at that. So this is where Xatu enters the game providing that fighting type resistance and nice hazard control so Mega Audino doesnt get overwhelmed by Spikes and what not. Protect let Mega Audino scout against choice-locked Fighting types if they go for knock off or close combat (sawk for example) and let you play around accordingly.
There is one massive weakness that these 2 have in common tho, MAGNETON, and a pretty massive weakness at that. So here is where Seismitoad enters. Provides one of the most reliable stops to Magneton available (since it cant have both hp grass and hp water, gotta scout for it first) but switching into both STABs really well in fantastic against such a profficient breaker. Seismitoad also helps with the issue against SD Drapion variants (covering both lum and shuca with either scald or earth power... just burn) so yeah, no way of replacing Dugtrio but Seismitoad blends really well with these 2, and that it appreciates wish passing :). Mega Glalie, Delphox, Sigilyph are problems so thats why Low Kick Sneasel fits amazingly with these :)
Audino-Mega @ Audinite
Ability: Healer
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off / Toxic
- Scald
- Earthquake
Defensive core more suited for balance teams thanks to Uxie not being a momentum drain thanks to U-turn and a notable support movepool. Utility moves like thunder wave, yawn, knock off, stealth rock among others; great mon. The only bad thing is that lacks reliable recovery so thats where Mola comes into play. Alomomola provides Uxie important wish support so it can stay healthy while Uxie in return deals with the Pokemon Mola struggles to deal with like Virizion, Venusaur and what not. Really customizable duo as well, Mola can run toxic or knock off, Uxie can run the world. 8.5/10
Uxie @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 24 Def / 236 Spe
Bold Nature
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off / Yawn / Heal Bell
- Psyshock / Psychic
RegiMola by Cheryl.
This is the famous Alomomola + Registeel core that has been seeing a boom in popularity on stall and balance teams alike since the ban of Mega Steelix, and even before MegaLix was banned this core was seeing some usage. So, Alomomola and Registeel synergize very well with each other, as Alomomola checks many of the things that Registeel can't beat, such as Fire- and Ground-types like Emboar. Alomomola can also pass it's huge Wishes to Registeel, which helps patch up Registeel's problem with it's lack of reliable recovery. In return, Registeel not only helps spread status with Toxic and set up Stealth Rock for Alomomola, it also helps beat many special attackers that can trouble Alomomola, such as Venusaur, Exploud, and Choice Specs Meloetta. (This does require some prediction with Exploud and Melo however as Fire Blast or Focus Blast can 2HKO Registeel; Protecting with Mola to scout out their moves can help with this.) Registeel can even use Thunder Wave over Protect to cripple faster attackers like Choice Scarf Emboar that could switch into it, or it could use Protect to help Toxic stall with Mola, which can free up Mola's fourth moveslot for Knock Off, which helps against this core's matchup against numerous threats like SubCM Meloetta and Hoopa. With Alomomola's Regenerator ability allowing it to stay alive and pass Wishes to Registeel effectively, this core can be a major pain to take out, but it does have some threats that can hurt it. In particular, Fighting-type wallbreakers such as Choice Band Sawk and Life Orb Medicham can cause major problems to this core as CB Close Combat from Sawk 2HKOs Alomomola easily, and Thunder Punch variants of LO Cham can avoid Protect shenanigans from Mola as they can mess with High Jump Kick and Adamant LO Cham can 2HKO Mola with Thunder Punch even without Rocks, and both of them beat Registeel pretty easily, of course. Trick variants of Choice Specs or Choice Scarf Rotom-Mow are also rather troublesome as they can cripple Registeel, otherwise a decent switch-in to them, with Trick, and can then wear it down with Volt Switch, while also switching into Alomomola rather nicely. Therefore, Pokemon that can deal with these threats, like Aromatisse and Granbull to deal with the Fighting-types or Grass-types like Venusaur to deal with Rotom-Mow can partner up well with this core. Clerics like Aromatisse and other Fairy-types also help with Alomomola's vulnerability to Toxic and Toxic Spikes and Registeel potentially getting crippled by Scald burns. Overall, this is a very good defensive core that can take on a number of threats in the current metagame with proper team support to take out the threats to this core.
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 120 HP / 136 Def / 252 SpD
Bold / Impish Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Toxic / Knock Off
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 244 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Protect / Thunder Wave
Defensive Alomomola + SpDef Diancie by Kitten Gaming
Alomomola + Diancie is a very solid defensive core (surprised nobody posted this yet tbh) and while it's not the most obvious, both members pair well together. Alomomola can take physical hits as well as Steel and Ground moves and Regenerator off damage. Alomomola can also attempt to Scald burn threats such as Escavalier and Rhyperior that threaten Diancie. Diancie can absorb special hits and Electric attacks for Alomomola in return and offers Heal Bell support to heal Toxic from Alomomola. Stuff like Venusaur and Magneton threaten this core massively but it is still very solid.
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 120 HP / 136 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Toxic / Knock Off
Diancie @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heal Bell
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
SpDef Registeel + OUCH THE SKIN HURTS!!! by Kitten Gaming
Registeel + Druddigon is a really capable defensive core, Registeel can win one-on-one with the majority of Special Attackers while Druddigon heavily punishes certain physical attackers. Registeel can soak up Fairy an Ice hits for Druddigon and Druddigon can soak up Fire and punish Fighting hits in return. Not to mention that Druddigon can free up some slots like T-Wave for Registeel and Registeel can set rocks, freeing a spot for Druddigon.
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
- Protect
Druddigon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Glare
- Dragon Tail
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
Gourgeist Super + SpDef Diancie by Cheryl.
Gourgeist-XL (or Super) is a mon that's been getting a bit of attention lately due to being one of the best counters to SD Virizion in the tier, as well as checking many other physical threats with it's great physical bulk and support movepool with choices like Will-O-Wisp and Leech Seed. However, Gourgeist-XL is vulnerable to common types like Flying, Fire, and Dark, all types that Diancie resists, making it a great partner for Gourgeist. Not only does Diancie resist most of Gourgeist's weaknesses, it provides Stealth Rock to support the team, and functions as a cleric with Heal Bell, which is useful since Gourgeist-XL hates Toxic or burns. Gourgeist in return checks Fighting, Water, and Ground-types for Diancie, making them almost perfect partners defensively, as they can help wear down teams efficently via hazards, status, and Leech Seed from Gourgeist. Good partners to this core include Mega Steelix checks like Weezing, as while Gourgeist already checks it and can burn it and wear it down, it hates taking Toxics and Diancie can't Heal Bell in front of MegaLix. WishPassers such as Alomomola help give the core more longetivity in a match as well. Overall a very cool defensive core that should get more recognition.
Gourgeist-Super @ Leftovers
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Leech Seed
- Synthesis
- Seed Bomb / Foul Play / Rock Slide
Diancie @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Heal Bell
SpDef Registeel + Bulky Venusaur by Take Azelfie
Venusaur helps to check a lot of Registeel's weaknesses like being able to check Ground-types with Grass STAB and Leech Seed other things like poison-types who Registeel can't touch and tank hits from certain Fighting-types. On the other hand Registeel helps to check Psychic-types that Venusaur dislikes and can feed off of Venusaur's Leech Seeds. Really weak to fire so you'll usually pair this with Alomomola.
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
- Protect
Hi I'm doing this for Slurmz, I think some of the old ones could be updated (like EonX Trapper Doom + ScarfCham) so if someone would like to post on those that would be great. Also I'm adding in a few more of mine since it is convenient. Offensive Cores
Choice Band Scyther + Choice Specs Magneton by Dragonn.
With MLix being banned a while ago, VoltTurn has gotten a lot better. This core has really solid defensive synnergy with Magneton beating Ice-, Electric-, Rock-, and Flying-types, while Scyther can resist hits from Ground- and Fighting-types. Additionally, this core has really solid offensive synnergy with Magneton breaking down fat Steel, Rock, and Water types for Scyther while Scyther can smack incoming Ground types with banded U-turn and killing fighting types with Aerial Ace that can stop Mag from staying in and firing off STAB attacks. Now, the sets are really cool. If your team is lacking in speed, you slap a scarf on scyther or Magneton, although the provided sets are much better. Overall, this core is very suceptible to Fire types and can get shredded by hazard stack, so fire-resisting hazard removers like Blastoise and Flygon are really nice partners.
Magneton @ Choice Specs
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest/Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power Water/ Grass
Shuca Berry Omastar + Swords Dance Drapion by MrAldo
Ah, one of my absolute favorites. Shell Smash Omastar is one of the most fun things Ive ever tried in this metagame, not even exaggerating. There are times where I just bring games back with this monster, and it is fast enough to outspeed most relevant scarfers benchmarks and can find a good amount of setup opportunities against any emboar locked into flare blitz, fletchinder, braviary and ground types thanks to shuca berry! All the coverage moves are mandatory for it too work.
SD Drapion works fantastically well alongside SS Omastar. Sharing really similar checks like bulky waters, including the likes of Blastoise and Alomomola, these 2 can easily overwhelm them. SD Drapion also helps Omastar against the balanced cores that could attempt to stop it, taking advantage of the flagship Steel + Bulky Water + Bulky Grass balanced cores thanks to lum berry while Omastar pays Drapion back luring ground types like Flygon when it setups it and proceeding to clean offense pretty easily at +2. Man, I can use this again!!
Offensive Spiker Accelgor + FUCKING TOUCH ME I DARE YOU by MrAldo
I guess it is an offensive core given they form a pretty good spikestacking core that goes on many offensive teams. Accelgor is a really profficient spiker virtue of its outstanding speed tier and decent power to quite put a dent on opposing teams before going down. HP Ice is perhaps the most important element since it stops any attempt of Flygon from suicide defogging your beloved spikes, Bug Buzz is a powerful, and obligatory, STAB Move and Focus Blast is a great move to damage most of Accelgor switch-ins, netting a good 2hko on most registeels after stealth rock, kills magneton easily and deals the most damage to Escavaliers, and with the added pressure of spikes those can be worn down pretty easily.
Druddigon, lovely mon that completes Accelgor extremely well. Covering that fire weakness, disregaring Fletchinder and flying-types from clicking either acrobatics or brave bird and ofc, providing the Stealth Rock needed to complete the hazard stacking. I love Toxic on Druddigon cause it let you put bulky waters like Alomomola on a timer, mainly Blastoise cause if it dears to Spin the rocky helmet + toxic recoil will take a massive toll and being slower let you keep your rocks and wear it down so Accelgor can kill it. Great duo overall, give it a try. Credit to (tag)lighthouses cause IIRC I saw him using that for the first time with that scarf durant team... one of the 80 :v
Accelgor @ Life Orb
Ability: Sticky Hold
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Spikes
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Bug Buzz
- Focus Blast
Choice Band Sawk + Swords Dance Fletchinder by Take Azelfie
So we already know that Fletchinder struggles versus a lot in the meta such as Registeel, Diancie, Magneton, Aerodactyl, etc. Sawk is able to break most of Fletchinder hard counters + get away with dealing with some of its soft checks like pressuring Garbodor, Granbull, and Alomomola. Fletchinder is almost required to use hazard removal so having Sawk there also benefits from one Fletchinder's flaws in a way. And of course you have the normal wallbreaker + sweeper trade off which basically means Sawk weakens the opposing team in general so Fletchinder can have a much more laxed time sweeping.
Saitama (Sawk) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Zen Headbutt
Crimson Rose (Fletchinder)
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 76 Def / 28 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
Life Orb Articuno + Earth Plate Flygon by Take Azelfie
Honestly its really hard to resist using Flygon over any other hazard remover since it provides a good way to check Steel-types like Registeel and can tank Fire-type and Electric-type attacks for it while also being consistent unlike Blastoise who suffers from all forms of chip damage. Articuno is also good at breaking balance teams that use cores like Venusaur + Flygon + Alomomola since it can apply an insane amount of pressure to all of them while Flygon can get Articuno in safely on a U-Turn. Also Articuno can be a decent Ice resist for Pokemon like Abomasnow which could threaten Flygon with and Ice Shard.
Offensive Trick Room Diancie + Mega Camerupt by Take Azelfie
Its actually really simple. Diancie snatches a Trick Room, pressures Pokemon, potentially Explodes, goes into Camerupt. Between type synergy its almost practically not there but they do hold the same checks like Mola which Diancie can weaken with STAB / Explosion and the Camerupt can come in freely and launch nuclear attacks till Trick Room wears off. Mega Camerupt's last moveslot is really a toss up of whatever you want it to be but I went ahead and slashed Flamethrower in case you don't want to always rely on Fire Blast which could potentially waste a Trick Room turn.
Death by Glamour (Diancie) @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
IVs: 0 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Trick Room
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Explosion
Vesuvius (Camerupt) @ Cameruptite
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Toxic / Flamethrower
Choice Scarf Drapion + Bulk Up Gurdurr + Mega Camerupt by lighthouses
There two things that you need to make a gurdurr team work:something to punish fairy type switch ins after they take a knock off and pursuit trapping. Camerupt punishes aromatisse/togetic switch ins extremely hard and scarf drapion is a very reliable source of pursuit trapping, having tspikes is a huge plus also.
Eternal Mind (Drapion) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Poison Jab
Everlasting Fight (Gurdurr) @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Mach Punch
The Die is Cast (Camerupt-Mega) @ Cameruptite
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Shuca Drapion + Choice Specs Jolteon by lighthouses
Basically shuca drapion is great at luring in and removing opposing ground types(think flygon, mostly) allowing jolteon to spam electric attacks with much ease, not to mention they have good offensive synergy seeing as how drapion is really good against fatter teams whereas jolteon heavily punishes offense.
Jolteon (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Nasty Plot Hoopa + Choice Band Escalivier by MrAldo
Sub Hoopa (either Nasty Plot or just Sub + 3 Attacks) is one of my favorite sets. I know opinions vary a lot about the quality of this set but in my experience is the set that does more for Hoopa. Anyways, Hoopa is cool and all but struggles against one thing, MELOETTA so this is where Escavalier comes to save the day! Hoopa technically works with every pursuit trapper but I prefer escavalier personally cause, albeit REALLY slow, is the pursuit trapper that can switch reliably against Meloetta besides Spiritomb, and I wouldnt be stacking 2 ghosts especially one that isnt too good nowadays. So yeah, Escavalier is really good, an impressive amount of teams struggle to even switch into it and megahorn is just absurdly spammable, is fantastic really. This core is pretty slow so pack a good scarfer or fast mon in the back. 8/10
Escavalier @ Choice Band
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Iron Head
- Megahorn
- Drill Run
Mega Banette + Choice Specs Meloetta by Take Azelfie
Mega Banette sucks because its a roadblock in team building if you can't do much with it.. Mega Banette actually helps Meloetta quite a bit, specifically its ability to cripple walls like Registeel and Escape with Knock Off and Wisp. Meloetta obviously benefits from having its checks and counters weakened. If Banette runs Shadow Sneak Melo can run FBlast easier since it doesn't need to hit Hoopa or if you DBond you can pressure Pursuit trappers (most notably sneasel)
Banette @ Banettite
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak / Destiny Bond
- Shadow Claw
Mega Spiky Wrecking Ball + Offensive Aerodactyl by MrAldo
This core has a pretty straight-forward function, aerodactyl really appreciate spikes to wear down its common checks. Pokemon like rhyperior, seismitoad, steelix, bulky waters and others are really pressured by spikes. When we add a spike setter like mega glalie that is able to pressure basically every single one of the aerodactyl checks while supporting it through hazards they make quite the amazing pair. Solid duo that are even able to overwhelm common checks in the form of bronzong. Nice stuff. Double-Edge if you run banded aerodactyl is an option.
Aerodactyl @ Life Orb / Choice Band
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Pivot Uxie + Choice Specs Exploud by Thatwackycruton
Alright, so this core is basically centered around Uxie being a solid hazard setter, and, more importantly, momentum generator for Exploud to come and destroy things. Uxie also acts as a fightingi-type check for Exploud, which is useful because many teams that use Exploud are a little weak to fighting types, and almost all of them are able to easily revenge kill Exploud. Basically, Uxie can set up hazards for Exploud and then proceed to U-turn out on anything faster than it and let Exploud in to rip apart the opposing team. While I chose thunder wave to disrupt faster teams and provide a way for Exploud to beat faster mons, Yawn can be used as a way to get nearly guarunteed momentum for Exploud. It's a really cool core I've been using alongside Sweepers like Omastar and Virizion.
Pursuit Sneasel + Choice Scarf Medicham by Take Azelfie
Medicham really wants to clean with High Jump Kick so adding a good Pursuit trapper like Sneasel can really benefit it since the good Switchins to High Jump Kick are all obliterated by its second STAB or weak to Pursuit trapping. Sneasel also helps to check Choice Scarf Flygon who could potentially revenge kill a slightly weakened Medicham with Earthquake.
Medicham @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Thunder Punch
- Trick
Chicken Pass by Take Azelfie
lol do I really need to explain. You pass Speed to Xatu and it Calm Mind after you hopefully activate Kee Berry and you win. Its a really neat archetype if you invest enough time on learning your matchups and is much more reliable than other super HO archetypes like Weather or TR since the teams this core can function on work even after Chicken is gone.
Eye of Minds (Xatu) @ Kee Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Calm Mind
- Signal Beam
- Roost
Balance Cores
Rest Dragon Dance Scrafty + Spikes Garbodor by Ryoma Nagare
A core I enjoy using the most when building with Scrafty. Garbo just provides so much for Scrafty: Spikes support for clearing lategame, a switch-in to Fighting types like Virizion, Hitmonlee, Medicham, Sawk (shakiest one here is Medicham as Scarf forces a 50 / 50 and LO can bone you if Scrafty is unboosted / weak enough to get picked by Bullet Punch) etc which are quite troubling for Scrafty, Venusaur check (pain split is hilarious oml), and haze support to inhibit BU sweepers like Malamar and Gurdurr, which would otherwise be pretty troublesome for Scrafty. This core still has some inherent problems like faster hitters such as Psychics, Magneton, Hoopa, etc and Dugtrio (2nd most annoying mon behind mola I swear), as it can trap garbodor, thereby inhibiting fighting check support for Scrafty. One of my favorite partners to patch this up is usually 3 Atks + Roost Sigilyph with Air Slash, Dark Pulse, and Heat Wave. While it also benefits from the spikes support garbo provides, this mon provides another switch-in to Medicham if need be and can deal nicely with the aforementioned threats (Magneton sure as Hell doesn't wanna take a heat wave, Dark Pulse is cool to snipe Meloetta, Hoopa and Delphox) oh, and, it's also not trapped by dugtrio. Decided to go Air Slash > Psychic as my STAB due to the popularity of pursuit trappers and revenging opposing unboosted Scrafty
Scrafty @ Life Orb
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- Rest
Sawk doesn't like hazards, Xatu discourages hazards. It really doesn't get any simpler than that but I can elaborate more of the type synergy between the two. Sawk is pretty good at beating down Dark-types and Rock-types that want to hurt Xatu. Xatu can in return check certain Psychic-types like Medicham and Delphox which can bring Sawk down to Sturdy / OHKO it. It also pressures defensive Poison-types which Magic Bounce which makes it less stressful for Sawk to predict. Xatu also has U-turn to get Sawk in safely.
Saitama (Sawk) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Zen Headbutt
Chime (Xatu) @ Leftovers / Colbur Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Roost
- Night Shade
- Toxic
Swords Dance Virizion + Defensive Slowking by Take Azelfie
A mix and match of any of there sets would work tbh since this core mostly relies in defensive synergy. Virizion dislikes Psychic, Fire, Flying, and Ice-types which Slowking can happily check due to its good bulk and longevity with Regenerator and Thunder Wave to check them much better. Thunder Wave is also neat sometimes snagging an extra turn to get Virizion to set up or crippling a revenge killer. Other sets can fulfill different roles to like AV makes it much better at pressuring the opponent to weaken there typical Slowking / Virizion checks, OTR and Specs and lure some Pokemon like Escalivier and Braviary. Virizion on the other hand gives the core a valuable sweeper that can check Water, Electric, Steel (for some Slowking sets), and Dark-types for Slowking. Slowking naturally is very good at supporting sweepers so when paired with Virizion it's pretty much a match made in heaven.
Bulk Up Gurdurr + SpDef Steelix + Choice Band Drapion by Take Azelfie
Stolen straight out of the Core Analysis Workshop because I realized I had actually never shared / posted anything with this anywhere else. Gurdurr struggles with Fairy-types as a Bulk up sweeper so Steelix can check check more defensive Fairies as well as deal with another problem of Gurdurr which is Braviary and Fletch with Roar and Stealth Rock. Finally Choice Banded Drapion is added because it helps with the Psychic weakness (Steelix isn't a good response) and it helps to lure Flygon, you could use other coverage but most of the other targets are set up on by Gurdurr. Although I have been considering using Toxic Spikes on one of two of my teams with this core as its more of a semi stallish core. Fuck Toxic.
Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Bulk Up
Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful / Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam / Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Roar / Toxic
OMG SO MUCH CHIP DAMAGE + SpDef Blastoise + Mega Glalie by lighthouses
Hazard stacking core for bulky offense, basically druddigon checks most of the stuff that you would want to check with phys def blastoise, allowing us to use spdef instead, which helps a ton against glalie/houndoom/delphox/camerupt making for a more solid deffensive backbone; spin support is obviously good for glalie but drudd is definitely its main partner, usually the things that are going to come in on/try to revenge kill glalie can be answered by drudd and blastoise respectively, all the while allowing you to get more spikes up. You definitely wanna add a solid fighting resist and a ghost type if you can afford it, spiritomb/hoopa can both do fine.
Druddigon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
- Glare
- Fire Punch
eh, sorry for all the slashes but this is what is now considered the base per-say for spikes balance in the current meta and i found myself returning to this core again and again in several variations on several teams (my taunt roost aero balance, 2 versions of my malamar balance, etc). the interactions of zong + garb + toise are quite cool, specifically in terms of maintaining and keeping hazards off the field while retaining good defensive synergy. usually with this core, you would add a psychic check (usually tomb), a wincon (virizion, taunt roost aero, malamar), and some speed control (scarf boar). generally, you will almost never run foresight on toise on this core because you usually won't have the space for heal bell yet it may happen, so i slashed it just for clarity's sake.
stain of mind (Garbodor) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 240 HP / 220 Def / 48 SpD
Careful Nature
- Toxic Spikes / Haze
- Spikes
- Pain Split
- Gunk Shot
overt enemy (Blastoise) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD OR 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def
Bold Nature / Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Refresh / Foresight
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
Defensive Cores
Support Mega Audino + Defensive Seismitoad + Pivot Xatu by MrAldo
Sturdy balanced core inspired by (tag)49 latest RMT which showed Dugtrio potency and how reliable Xatu + Mega Audino are as a pair. The broken 3 headed trapping behemoth is long but the likes of Mega Audino are here to stay. Mega Audino, or Audino in general, bring another durable wish passer to the table that isnt Alomomola and a Fairy that doesnt feel forced to constantly heal itself (aka Aromatisse) and being an outstanding knock off switch-in, thing that is a rarity in general, but sadly the lack of a Fighting resistance is perhaps the only downside, and a pretty rough one at that. So this is where Xatu enters the game providing that fighting type resistance and nice hazard control so Mega Audino doesnt get overwhelmed by Spikes and what not. Protect let Mega Audino scout against choice-locked Fighting types if they go for knock off or close combat (sawk for example) and let you play around accordingly.
There is one massive weakness that these 2 have in common tho, MAGNETON, and a pretty massive weakness at that. So here is where Seismitoad enters. Provides one of the most reliable stops to Magneton available (since it cant have both hp grass and hp water, gotta scout for it first) but switching into both STABs really well in fantastic against such a profficient breaker. Seismitoad also helps with the issue against SD Drapion variants (covering both lum and shuca with either scald or earth power... just burn) so yeah, no way of replacing Dugtrio but Seismitoad blends really well with these 2, and that it appreciates wish passing :). Mega Glalie, Delphox, Sigilyph are problems so thats why Low Kick Sneasel fits amazingly with these :)
Audino-Mega @ Audinite
Ability: Healer
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off / Toxic
- Scald
- Earthquake
Defensive core more suited for balance teams thanks to Uxie not being a momentum drain thanks to U-turn and a notable support movepool. Utility moves like thunder wave, yawn, knock off, stealth rock among others; great mon. The only bad thing is that lacks reliable recovery so thats where Mola comes into play. Alomomola provides Uxie important wish support so it can stay healthy while Uxie in return deals with the Pokemon Mola struggles to deal with like Virizion, Venusaur and what not. Really customizable duo as well, Mola can run toxic or knock off, Uxie can run the world. 8.5/10
Uxie @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 24 Def / 236 Spe
Bold Nature
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off / Yawn / Heal Bell
- Psyshock / Psychic
RegiMola by Cheryl.
This is the famous Alomomola + Registeel core that has been seeing a boom in popularity on stall and balance teams alike since the ban of Mega Steelix, and even before MegaLix was banned this core was seeing some usage. So, Alomomola and Registeel synergize very well with each other, as Alomomola checks many of the things that Registeel can't beat, such as Fire- and Ground-types like Emboar. Alomomola can also pass it's huge Wishes to Registeel, which helps patch up Registeel's problem with it's lack of reliable recovery. In return, Registeel not only helps spread status with Toxic and set up Stealth Rock for Alomomola, it also helps beat many special attackers that can trouble Alomomola, such as Venusaur, Exploud, and Choice Specs Meloetta. (This does require some prediction with Exploud and Melo however as Fire Blast or Focus Blast can 2HKO Registeel; Protecting with Mola to scout out their moves can help with this.) Registeel can even use Thunder Wave over Protect to cripple faster attackers like Choice Scarf Emboar that could switch into it, or it could use Protect to help Toxic stall with Mola, which can free up Mola's fourth moveslot for Knock Off, which helps against this core's matchup against numerous threats like SubCM Meloetta and Hoopa. With Alomomola's Regenerator ability allowing it to stay alive and pass Wishes to Registeel effectively, this core can be a major pain to take out, but it does have some threats that can hurt it. In particular, Fighting-type wallbreakers such as Choice Band Sawk and Life Orb Medicham can cause major problems to this core as CB Close Combat from Sawk 2HKOs Alomomola easily, and Thunder Punch variants of LO Cham can avoid Protect shenanigans from Mola as they can mess with High Jump Kick and Adamant LO Cham can 2HKO Mola with Thunder Punch even without Rocks, and both of them beat Registeel pretty easily, of course. Trick variants of Choice Specs or Choice Scarf Rotom-Mow are also rather troublesome as they can cripple Registeel, otherwise a decent switch-in to them, with Trick, and can then wear it down with Volt Switch, while also switching into Alomomola rather nicely. Therefore, Pokemon that can deal with these threats, like Aromatisse and Granbull to deal with the Fighting-types or Grass-types like Venusaur to deal with Rotom-Mow can partner up well with this core. Clerics like Aromatisse and other Fairy-types also help with Alomomola's vulnerability to Toxic and Toxic Spikes and Registeel potentially getting crippled by Scald burns. Overall, this is a very good defensive core that can take on a number of threats in the current metagame with proper team support to take out the threats to this core.
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 120 HP / 136 Def / 252 SpD
Bold / Impish Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Toxic / Knock Off
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 244 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Protect / Thunder Wave
Defensive Alomomola + SpDef Diancie by Kitten Gaming
Alomomola + Diancie is a very solid defensive core (surprised nobody posted this yet tbh) and while it's not the most obvious, both members pair well together. Alomomola can take physical hits as well as Steel and Ground moves and Regenerator off damage. Alomomola can also attempt to Scald burn threats such as Escavalier and Rhyperior that threaten Diancie. Diancie can absorb special hits and Electric attacks for Alomomola in return and offers Heal Bell support to heal Toxic from Alomomola. Stuff like Venusaur and Magneton threaten this core massively but it is still very solid.
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 120 HP / 136 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Toxic / Knock Off
Diancie @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heal Bell
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
SpDef Registeel + OUCH THE SKIN HURTS!!! by Kitten Gaming
Registeel + Druddigon is a really capable defensive core, Registeel can win one-on-one with the majority of Special Attackers while Druddigon heavily punishes certain physical attackers. Registeel can soak up Fairy an Ice hits for Druddigon and Druddigon can soak up Fire and punish Fighting hits in return. Not to mention that Druddigon can free up some slots like T-Wave for Registeel and Registeel can set rocks, freeing a spot for Druddigon.
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
- Protect
Druddigon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Glare
- Dragon Tail
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
Gourgeist Super + SpDef Diancie by Cheryl.
Gourgeist-XL (or Super) is a mon that's been getting a bit of attention lately due to being one of the best counters to SD Virizion in the tier, as well as checking many other physical threats with it's great physical bulk and support movepool with choices like Will-O-Wisp and Leech Seed. However, Gourgeist-XL is vulnerable to common types like Flying, Fire, and Dark, all types that Diancie resists, making it a great partner for Gourgeist. Not only does Diancie resist most of Gourgeist's weaknesses, it provides Stealth Rock to support the team, and functions as a cleric with Heal Bell, which is useful since Gourgeist-XL hates Toxic or burns. Gourgeist in return checks Fighting, Water, and Ground-types for Diancie, making them almost perfect partners defensively, as they can help wear down teams efficently via hazards, status, and Leech Seed from Gourgeist. Good partners to this core include Mega Steelix checks like Weezing, as while Gourgeist already checks it and can burn it and wear it down, it hates taking Toxics and Diancie can't Heal Bell in front of MegaLix. WishPassers such as Alomomola help give the core more longetivity in a match as well. Overall a very cool defensive core that should get more recognition.
Gourgeist-Super @ Leftovers
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Leech Seed
- Synthesis
- Seed Bomb / Foul Play / Rock Slide
Diancie @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Heal Bell
SpDef Registeel + Bulky Venusaur by Take Azelfie
Venusaur helps to check a lot of Registeel's weaknesses like being able to check Ground-types with Grass STAB and Leech Seed other things like poison-types who Registeel can't touch and tank hits from certain Fighting-types. On the other hand Registeel helps to check Psychic-types that Venusaur dislikes and can feed off of Venusaur's Leech Seeds. Really weak to fire so you'll usually pair this with Alomomola.
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
- Protect
updated by removing duggy core(s)
added new cores
removed irrelevant cores aka hariyama + aromatisse
p.s. i wont be removing the lixmola example because its still a good representation of a post
p.s.s. added alternate tbolt registeel spread for all registeel and made note of what the spread does
updated by removing duggy core(s)
added new cores
removed irrelevant cores aka hariyama + aromatisse
p.s. i wont be removing the lixmola example because its still a good representation of a post
p.s.s. added alternate tbolt registeel spread for all registeel and made note of what the spread does
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