Welcome to my first RMT ever! This is a balanced team that I used for most of the recent RU suspect round, where Cresselia and Durant were retested and eventually brought down from BL2. It showcases one of my all-time favorite Pokemon, Pinsir, who until now has been a complete non-factor in RU, but who is starting to get some attention among the RU community as people try out the new set I used here.
This team started out with a very clear goal: I wanted to test Swords Dance Pinsir. In particular, Swords Dance Pinsir with Quick Attack and Moxie. Despite being a priority move, Quick Attack is usually a bad choice for anything that isn't a Normal-type due to its poor BP and type. That, combined with the fact that it's incompatible with Close Combat, means that it's been mostly ignored from Pinsir's moveset, and many people don't even remember that it learns it. But for me, the potential of Swords Dance + Moxie + priority was too good to ignore, so I decided to give it a shot.
Given that I was building a team around Pinsir, a spinner was an obvious addition to the team. Kabutops was the clear best choice, as not only is it the best offensive spinner in RU, but it resists most of Pinsir's weaknesses and vice versa. I also needed a Dark-type that could trap the Ghosts that counter Pinsir (especially Rotom) and provide a solid answer to Cresselia; Drapion fit the bill nicely. Finally, I needed a way to spread paralysis so Pinsir wouldn't have to rely too much on Quick Attack, which requires several boosts before it starts getting reliable KOs. Cresselia was an easy choice for this job; besides being an excellent paralysis spreader, she makes just about any RU team better with her ability to safely switch into most offensive Pokemon in the tier.
From there it was a matter of filling in gaps. I needed Stealth Rock and a wallbreaker that could soften up the opponent's walls to give Pinsir a better chance to sweep, so I added Nidoqueen. The last addition was Poliwrath, whose ability to counter threats like Durant, Escavalier, Entei, Drapion, and Crawdaunt allow it to combine with Cresselia to form a very solid defensive core.
I laddered with this team for a while and did alright. I got a few very satisfying sweeps, but also a few bad losses, and I wasn't really satisfied. After getting thoroughly defeated by SilentVerse, I almost gave up on the team and SD Pinsir completely. I convinced SV to try out SD Pinsir for himself though, and he was quickly impressed with its ability to wipe out an entire team when played well. I decided to give my team another shot, but with advice from SV I replaced two members that hadn't been pulling their weight.
Qwilfish counters most of the same Pokemon as Poliwrath does, and while it's not as reliable as a wall, it adds Spikes and another paralyzer to the team, both of which help Pinsir immensely. Spiritomb gives me a third priority user and helps keep my hazards in play while still filling the roles Drapion was meant to. With these changes, the team took off, and I won my next 25-30 matches, including donking ladder enthusiast and cutest user 2011 runner-up Windong both times we played.
The Team
Pinsir @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- X-Scissor
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
Pinsir is the reason this team exists. This set definitely needs support to succeed, but it's absolutely worth it thanks to how quickly Pinsir can end a match. Life Orb and an Adamant nature might seem like overkill given that it has SD and Moxie to boost its power, but Pinsir really does need all that power in order to get the first KO to kick off a sweep, and in order for Quick Attack to be powerful enough to prevent revenge killing. People's first answer to Pinsir is usually a wall like Steelix or Qwilfish, or at least a bulky Bug-resist like Nidoqueen or Aggron. After Swords Dance, Earthquake easily OHKOes the latter three, and it even OHKOes Steelix with enough hazards up. Once you have that first KO, things get a lot easier, because there are very few viable Pokemon in RU that can survive a hit from +3 Pinsir after hazards. We're talking Quagsire, Misdreavus, bulky Rotom, and that's about it. If you've managed to paralyze, eliminate, or heavily damage everything faster that can survive a +3 Quick Attack (it's a short list: Durant, Aerodactyl, Archeops, Drapion, and Rotom), the game is over.
Obviously I wasn't able to force a switch and grab that SD boost every game, but Pinsir was still useful even then. He can outspeed and OHKO prominent attackers like Nidoqueen, Gallade, and Kabutops, and a priority move is always useful for picking off low HP Sceptile, Manectric, etc. If Pinsir does get a KO, it puts immediate pressure on the opponent; +1 Pinsir usually won't sweep a well-built team, but it will force them to play very conservatively in order to force it out, because mispredicting and letting it get another boost could be devastating.
Kabutops @ Lum Berry
Trait: Weak Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Stone Edge
- Rapid Spin
Kabutops is pretty much universally regarded as the best spinner in RU at this point, and he was a no-brainer for this team. This is the standard offensive spin set, except with Waterfall over Swords Dance. I started using 4 attacks Kabutops a couple months ago and haven't really been tempted to go back. I don't need or expect Kabutops to sweep for this team, I just need him to consistently check things like Entei, Moltres, and Aerodactyl. Kabutops often ended up cleaning up at the end of the game if Pinsir couldn't get a clean sweep, and Waterfall's consistency was awesome for that. I used to run Life Orb, but I switched to Lum Berry to stop Smeargle from setting up on me, and it's ended up being useful for being lots of other things that would otherwise give this team trouble, like those silly Cosmic Power Sigilyphs the ladder loves so much. At first I was worried Kabutops would be too weak without Life Orb or Swords Dance, but that hasn't been a problem; like I said, he's not here to sweep, he's here to consistenlty beat the things he's supposed to beat, and he does that very well. 4 attacks Kabutops does work, whether it's Lum, LO, or CB. If you find you don't need or use SD very much, give it a shot.
Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Flamethrower
Nidoqueen is almost certainly the best wallbreaker in RU. She can 2HKO just about anything in the tier with the right moves, and she can be very difficult to wear down. On this team, though, she's not really central to the offense; she's more of a glue Pokemon, here to fill a bunch of small but important roles. Her main job is to set up Stealth Rock. Pinsir has no way to deal with healthy Flying-types, especially ones that are bulky or resist Quick Attack like Moltres, Aerodactyl, and Archeops, so Stealth Rock is essential for preventing them from coming in freely and for weakening them to the point that boosted Quick Attack can finish them off. Nidoqueen is also usually my first answer to Rotom, Manectric, and Galvantula. She's my only Electric resist, and she's the only member of my team that doesn't really mind being Tricked/Switcheroo'd a Scarf or Specs, so she's the safest switch-in until I know what set my opponent is running. Other than that, Nidoqueen's job is to dish out a few strong Sludge Waves before she dies. If my opponent's team looks like it could easily be swept by Nidoqueen, I'll try to keep her out of harms way, but otherwise she's usually the first member of my team to get KOed, because outside of setting up Stealth Rock and throwing out a few Sludge Waves, she's not a critical part of the team's goal.
Spiritomb @ BlackGlasses
Trait: Infiltrator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Shadow Sneak
- Return
Spiritomb is my spinblocker, my Rotom-killer, my Cresselia counter, and another priority user for this relatively slow team. Those are all important things for this team, but Rotom-killing is definitely the biggest, as Rotom is probably this team's single biggest weakness. There isn't really much else to say about Spiritomb. If my opponent doesn't have Rotom, Cresselia, or a spinner, then Spiritomb is pretty useless, and it's usually the first thing I sac or use as sleep fodder for Lilligant or Tangrowth. I opted for Return over Will-O-Wisp or Toxic to avoid interfering with the paralysis support provided by the last two members of the team.
Qwilfish @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Waterfall
- Pain Split
Qwilfish was once one of the most popular Pokemon in RU, but the metagame has changed a lot over the past year, and Qwilfish has fallen quite a bit as the Fighting- and Bug-types that it countered have either fallen out of favor or been banned. With Durant back in the tier and Escavalier on the rise, though, Qwilfish finally found its way back onto one of my teams. Intimidate allows it to check many of the Pokemon that give Cresselia and the rest of this team trouble, while Spikes and Thunder Wave together make it possible for Pinsir (or Nidoqueen or Kabutops) to sweep.
Cresselia (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 52 SDef / 16 Spd
Calm Nature
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave
- Moonlight
- Calm Mind
I don't think I need to say much about Cresselia. It's the boss of RU right now, capable of walling a huge portion of the metagame. I decided to use the Calm Mind + Thunder Wave set, as paralysis support is critical for this team, and Durant and Escavalier are handled by Qwilfish and Nidoqueen so there's not much need for Hidden Power Fire. The 52 SpD EVs and Calm nature ensure Moltres will never 2HKO after Stealth Rock, the Speed is to beat Modest Omastar (and Adamant Crawdaunt, but trying to paralyze that is pretty risky), and the rest goes into physical bulk.
Conclusion
This was a very fun team to use, but I'm ready to move on and try something new, so I'm giving other people a chance to use the manliest bug in the world. One final piece of advice for those who planning to use this team: beware of opposing SD Pinsir!
No seriously, this team is hilariously weak to Pinsir.
Pinsir @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- X-Scissor
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
Kabutops @ Lum Berry
Trait: Weak Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Stone Edge
- Rapid Spin
Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Flamethrower
Spiritomb @ BlackGlasses
Trait: Infiltrator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Shadow Sneak
- Return
Qwilfish @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Waterfall
- Pain Split
Cresselia (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 52 SDef / 16 Spd
Calm Nature
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave
- Moonlight
- Calm Mind
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- X-Scissor
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
Kabutops @ Lum Berry
Trait: Weak Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Stone Edge
- Rapid Spin
Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Flamethrower
Spiritomb @ BlackGlasses
Trait: Infiltrator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Shadow Sneak
- Return
Qwilfish @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Waterfall
- Pain Split
Cresselia (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 192 Def / 52 SDef / 16 Spd
Calm Nature
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave
- Moonlight
- Calm Mind
