For the past few weeks, I've been focusing on learning the in's and out's of PU in preparation for the upcoming PUPL and Snake Draft. It's been a good learning experience and I've met a bunch of cool people, in fact everyone I've interacted in the PU community is amazing - if only other communities were as welcoming and supportive.
OVERALL TEAM RECORD across both alts 37-5
Onto the team...
I used stall on a few alts to get a feel of the metagame but after getting crushed by czim and tlenit1 millions of times, I went on their advice and embarked on making my own offensive team. Since DPP OU, the playstyle that best flowed with me was Hyper Offense and I decided to try it again this time. I am still learning so any advice from PU beasts will be appreciated!
BLAST CORE (Onix) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Body Press
- Taunt
This Pokemon is pretty darn fast. I know that Stonjuourner outclasses this, however I want an additional volt switch blocker and Sturdy is very useful. I usually lead with this in almost every game, Taunt the slower lead and set up. If I manage to live after getting rocks up, I then boom before they can spin off or just Body Press if they dont bring in their spinner. I use to use Normal Gem initially, however with scald burns happening and ruining my chances of getting rocks up, went for Lum Berry towards the end of my run. This Pokemon is not meant to really last past the initial stages of the game unless you're facing a full on stall team, in which case you can keep taunting and forcing switches and/or boom. Apparently if you explode, the opposing Pokemon cannot defog, never knew that till a few days ago. Eventually will learn all the new gen mechanics zzzz.
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NIKO STYLE (Glaceon) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Cloak
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Frost Breath
- Ice Beam
- Shadow Ball
Such a busted Pokemon. Slower teams really suffer vs Specs Glaceon and stall might have an answer in Lapras/Munchlax however they just invite other threats on this team so yeah. Alot of teams tend to rely on Mr Rime as the sole Ice "resist". Mawile, Pawniard and friends just get bodied by any Ice-type move and as such they just Ideally, I would keep this alive till the later stages especially if they have a Throh/Dubwool/Type-Null at the back which they are stubbornly not bringing out. Standard EVs I guess. Frost Breath saves me and acts as a backup when opposing fat Pokemon try to act cute and Calm Mind up.
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RAKSHASA'S PALM (Hitmontop) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Mach Punch
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- Aerial Ace
An incredibly important part of the team and helps keep it from crumbling. It can take several special attacks and hit pretty hard. I almost always keep this in good shape until i dispose of opposing speedy hard hitting special attackers, namely Manectric and Raichu. It serves as one of the trio of priority users and together they can overwhelm alot of set up sweepers, think Silvally formes. This team is very Scarf Stonjourner weak and despite this being able to take 2 heat crashes, if it gets worn down by special attackers, I have to usually trade other members to get this in safely. I used Thief over AA initially, however Roselia can be a bit of an issue so switched to the latter, is holding on nicely and also helps dish big damage to fighters without lowering my defenses. As said earlier, not sure if the EVs are the most optimal however so if anyone got better spreads please let me know.
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DEVIL'S LANCE (Pawniard) @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
EVs: Undisclosed
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
A common sighting in the tier for sure. Helps me to some extent with Psychic types in general in addition to deterring defog attempts by Vespiquen later in the game. I don't use much speed as I'd much rather be able to always tank one Heat Crash from Ston as a backup to Hitmontop. When facing stall that lacks Pyumuku, I tend to work towards being able to safely get a Swords Dance up and cause some big damage. A huge amount of HP EVs mean that I can also afford to take a dazzling gleam from the likes of Mr Mime who is usually scarfed. Max Attack is obviously needed.
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BLINK (Manectric) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Switcheroo
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
The nickname is accurate. The opponent blinks and in that time, Manectric is in and out. Amazing speed tier and hits pretty hard. My only gripe is that it cannot learn a grass move but meh it is what it is. The plan is to keep this alive (the health doesnt matter as long as you can switch into rocks several times provided it's on the field for good) and deal with lategame Dubwool. Very important as Dubwool outpaces Glaceon and I cannot attack in time. OverHeat allows me to smash Hippo and force them to slack off or switch. I usually bring in Glaceon while they do either and it works in my favour most of the time since if they switch they bring something that can take OverHeat which is usually a non-Ice resist (bar Water-types who are Glaceon food anyways).
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EVOLUTION (Gourgeist) @ Life Orb
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Explosion
- Power Whip
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Sneak
The beast. It just dismantles bulky offense and a timely Explosion can really swings things my way, this tends to be the next Pokemon onto the battleground after Onix booms. I've noticed that Physically defensive Mawile is a very common switch in to this and as such, tried flamethrower which does a ton. You can use Fire Blast instead if you want to be able to knock out the Mawile with power Whip (as it switches into you)+ Fire Blast. This helps with hazard control to some extent, Rocks helps alot of 2 or 3hkos become one or 2hkoes so keeping them is vital. I also prevent defog by exploding on defoggers namely Vespiquen, Vullaby, Vibrava (if it wasnt weakened before to the range of Power Whip) etc. It's good natural Physical bulk allows this to tank a hit from Physically offensive Basc / Seaking / Silvally's. This Pokemon has great naturally speed and thus allows me to outpace +ve base 70s like Ludicolo.
Some calcs:
0 SpA Life Orb Gourgeist Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mawile: 216-255 (71 - 83.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Life Orb Gourgeist Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mawile: 177-208 (58.2 - 68.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
-1 252+ Atk Life Orb Gourgeist Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mawile: 58-69 (19 - 22.6%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Gourgeist Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ludicolo: 292-344 (97 - 114.2%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
And...that's the team! thank you for reading. I'm glad I made the decision to quit old gens and start learning current gen lower tiers. It's been a pleasent experience thusfar and I hope to continue to enjoy gen 8 PU. I'm still a novice in this tier and getting no.5 on the leaderboard was something I'm very proud of no matter how easy it might seem for some other beasts.
Shoutout to the entire PU community, in particular, TJ czim, tlenit1 Akir and Ktütverde
[IMPORTABLE]
https://pokepast.es/e9ffa4aaa5400857
Disclaimer - The actual EVs I use for Pawniward are not what is on the paste, I'd like to keep it a secret for now.
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