Please rate my NU team!

[feriokun]

I've spent a lot of time on this team and it seems to do really well in the simulator. I think it's dang well near perfect but would like to see your opinions on it as there can always be improvements!

Pokemon:

Monferno @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 Satk
Nature: Naive
- Stealth Rock
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Overheat

What? Monferno!? Most people ridicule me for starting with Monferno. (I always start with him) Why? Because he is a guaranteed stealth rock, usually outspeeds most other stealth rock users, can break focus sash with Fake out before setting up, and gets a huge boost to Overheat with his Ability once damaged. He can even 2HKO a large number of other stealth rock users with Close Combat. I've even had Amoonguss switch in hoping to Spore Monferno (thinking Close Bombat as my only attack) just to be OHKOed by Overheat after Blaze boost. :D

Swellow @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 Hp
Nature: Jolly
- Brave Bird
- Facade
- U-Turn
- Protect

Swellow is what made me interested in the NU tier. I played him in a random battle and my jaw just dropped! With Brave Bird, Facade, and U-turn, he can last a long time and wreck any non-walls with his incredible power after the burn. Protect is there to ensure the burn when needed, and to stall if they are already poisoned or burned.

Gorebyss @ White Herb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Satk, 252 Spd, 4 Hp
Nature: Timid
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power (Grass)
- Shell Smash

Gorebyss is known to be a monster with shell smash. And the white herb allows her her to take nearly all priority attacks with her naturally high defense. Even a life orb Absol can find her hard to crack with Sucker Punch. Surf over Hydro Pump because the low accuracy can cost matches much more then the lower power. Hidden Power Grass is for other Water types and those pesky Water/Ground die without fail to it. I would also like to point out that Gorebyss is my only Special Sweeper, so if she dies it can be rough going against the likes of Tangela!

Absol @ Dark Gem
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 Hp
Nature: Adamant
- Night Slash
- Psycho Cut
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance

Speaking of Absol... I find that Superpower can be very annoying as it basically kills your offensive power until you switch. I know Dark Gem is really odd as it only gives me 1 turn of pure power. I find that I can use the Dark Gem very effectively when the opponent tries to read a Sucker Punch and gets a Crit Night Slash boosted by the gem in the face. I choose Psycho Cut due to the Poison and Fighting types that can be very prevalent. Especially when I read a Sawk hoping to switch into Sucker Punch just to get KOed with a Psycho Cut after stealth rock damage.

Sawk @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spd, 4 Hp
Nature: Adamant
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab

And there he is! Arguably the best revenge killer in the tier. I opted for Adamant over Jolly as the power difference is noticeable, but the speed difference has only cost me one game so far. Sawk is a monster and half the time just kills teams by spamming close combat. The other moves are for coverage and I know what you are thinking... Poison Jab!? This is my answer to 1HKO Ludicolo, who easily could sweep my team if I'm not prepared for it.

Probopass @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Hp, 252 Def, 4 Sdef
Nature: Bold
- Toxic
- Volt Switch
- Power Gem
- Protect

Here's the last guy on my team. He's quite good but basically his only job is to switch in to the oh-so prevalent Normal and Flying types that are found all over the tier. As you can see I opted for a superior defensive bulk, allowing him to even survive powerful fighting and ground attacks. With the right prediction he can take opposing Swellow, Zangoose locked into quick attack, and Cinccino that threatens my Monferno with his skill-linked attacks. If you play your cards right and get rid of threats to Probopass, he's pretty much unstoppable at that point, save against foes immune to Toxic. Protect is to stall Toxic and rack up Leftovers heals.

The last slot is the only one that I've gone back and forth on. the rest of the team seems to have great synergy and have beaten sun, rain, and many teams alike.

What do you think?

 

[Gengan]

You can use offensive Golurk over Probopass if you feel the last slot doesn't do well for you (or maybe over Monferno...)

Golurk @ Earth Plate
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Shadow Punch

 

[WhiteDMist]

Hold your horses before you say that this team is perfect! I see a lot of flaws with this team that you should be aware of before you say something like that.

Right off the bat, I noticed how Fighting weak you are. Gurdurr alone would have a field day with this team, considering that nothing on your team can switch in on it at all. Ground, Electric, and Water types also seem to be big threats to your team, especially the likes of Ludicolo. Also, most higher ranking players have tested Monferno and have declared it to be rather mediocre at best. I personally have tried it as well, but it rarely does anything but set up Rocks and hit something for moderate damage at best. This is Gen 5, where every team member matters, and suicide leads are too costly.

From the bottom up, Probopass needs a little work. If you must use a defensive Probopass, you are better off going specially defensive since you have a better chance avoiding a 2HKO from Scalds, HP Grounds and Surfs. You already have Sturdy to prevent a OHKO from Fighting and Ground moves which are usually physically based. You can also use it to tank Electric moves nicely and hit back hard. Protect is rather pointless as well, since you barely heal anything at all and you need Earth Power for coverage.

Of course, Probopass is definitely a Pokemon that you can easily replace. If you want another Steel type, Mawile and Klang are good options to be your back-up sweeper. Mawile also can be a decent support Pokemon with Intimidate as well. Personally, I think you should consider a Psychic type, like Pivot Musharna to help mitigate your Fighting weakness.

Poison Jab on Sawk is still pointless. Swift Swim Ludicolo outspeeds Sawk in the Rain, while no competent battler will leave Ludicolo in against a Sawk outside of Rain (unless it is locked into Earthquake maybe). Stone Edge provides good coverage against Bug types that can tank your other moves relatively well, like Volbeat and Pinsir. Absol's set is mostly fine, I'll let someone else nitpick on that if they wish.

Swellow doesn't really need Protect, and Quick Attack provides your team with important priority. You have Probopass' Volt Switch to get Swellow in and activate its Orb in any case, so its no big loss. As for Monferno, just about any other Stealth Rock setter would be preferable, but Torterra is a good choice with your team's synergy in mind. It lets you handle Ground, Electric, and slow Water types much better, and doesn't lose to Cinccino.

Changes:

Torterra>Monferno
Sawk: Stone Edge>Poison Jab
Swellow: Quick Attack>Protect
Probopass: Special Defensive>Physical Defensive; Earth Power>Protect
-Or-
Musharna>Probopass

Sets

Torterra @ Leftovers/Rocky Helmet
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP/ 56 Atk/ 200 Spe
Nature: Impish
- Stealth Rock
- Wood Hammer/Bullet Seed
- Earthquake
- Synthesis/Leech Seed

Musharna @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP/ 252 Def/ 16 Spe
Nature: Bold
- Psychic
- Moonlight
- Thunder Wave
- Heal Bell/Baton Pass

 

[feriokun]

Hold your horses before you say that this team is perfect! I see a lot of flaws with this team that you should be aware of before you say something like that.

Right off the bat, I noticed how Fighting weak you are. Gurdurr alone would have a field day with this team, considering that nothing on your team can switch in on it at all. Ground, Electric, and Water types also seem to be big threats to your team, especially the likes of Ludicolo. Also, most higher ranking players have tested Monferno and have declared it to be rather mediocre at best. I personally have tried it as well, but it rarely does anything but set up Rocks and hit something for moderate damage at best. This is Gen 5, where every team member matters, and suicide leads are too costly.

From the bottom up, Probopass needs a little work. If you must use a defensive Probopass, you are better off going specially defensive since you have a better chance avoiding a 2HKO from Scalds, HP Grounds and Surfs. You already have Sturdy to prevent a OHKO from Fighting and Ground moves which are usually physically based. You can also use it to tank Electric moves nicely and hit back hard. Protect is rather pointless as well, since you barely heal anything at all and you need Earth Power for coverage.

Of course, Probopass is definitely a Pokemon that you can easily replace. If you want another Steel type, Mawile and Klang are good options to be your back-up sweeper. Mawile also can be a decent support Pokemon with Intimidate as well. Personally, I think you should consider a Psychic type, like Pivot Musharna to help mitigate your Fighting weakness.

Poison Jab on Sawk is still pointless. Swift Swim Ludicolo outspeeds Sawk in the Rain, while no competent battler will leave Ludicolo in against a Sawk outside of Rain (unless it is locked into Earthquake maybe). Stone Edge provides good coverage against Bug types that can tank your other moves relatively well, like Volbeat and Pinsir. Absol's set is mostly fine, I'll let someone else nitpick on that if they wish.

Swellow doesn't really need Protect, and Quick Attack provides your team with important priority. You have Probopass' Volt Switch to get Swellow in and activate its Orb in any case, so its no big loss. As for Monferno, just about any other Stealth Rock setter would be preferable, but Torterra is a good choice with your team's synergy in mind. It lets you handle Ground, Electric, and slow Water types much better, and doesn't lose to Cinccino.

Changes:

Torterra>Monferno
Sawk: Stone Edge>Poison Jab
Swellow: Quick Attack>Protect
Probopass: Special Defensive>Physical Defensive; Earth Power>Protect
-Or-
Musharna>Probopass

Sets

Torterra @ Leftovers/Rocky Helmet
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP/ 56 Atk/ 200 Spe
Nature: Impish
- Stealth Rock
- Wood Hammer/Bullet Seed
- Earthquake
- Synthesis/Leech Seed

Musharna @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP/ 252 Def/ 16 Spe
Nature: Bold
- Psychic
- Moonlight
- Thunder Wave
- Heal Bell/Baton Pass

Thanks for the tips. I'll try some of these out and let you know how it goes. I agree the team is not perfect. Just me being slightly arrogant.

 

[watashi]

This team desperately needs a Fighting-type resist since it will lose to any decent player utilizing Sawk or Gurdurr. I would suggest replacing Monferno with Golurk since it not only is immune to Fighting-types, but can switch into the Electric-type attacks aimed at Swellow.

Probopass would benefit this team more if it ran an offensive set of 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA with a Modest nature. This allows it to beat down opposing Regirock, Golem, and Probopass which wall Swellow. The moves should be Flash Cannon / Earth Power / Volt Switch / Stealth Rock since these provides Probopass with good offensive coverage and because Monferno is no longer around.

Poison Jab grants no additional coverage at all for Sawk. Stone Edge is a better choice to hit Flying-types that are neutral to Ice Punch, such as Mantine, Swanna, and Charizard. It should also be using a Jolly nature since it hits an important speed tier, outrunning standard Scarf Braviary and Gardevoir among others.

Swellow should have Quick Attack over Protect to dodge the ever-so-common Sucker Punch. You'll usually be coming in after Probopass' slow Volt Switch so having Toxic Orb activated should not be a problem.

Absol really needs Superpower in order to break through Dark and Steel types. It's much more useful than Psycho Cut when it comes to coverage. You should also be running Life Orb over Dark Gem since the extra damage isn't worth the consistency of Life Orb. If you really dislike Superpower, then you should replace Absol with Skuntank, who has more utility than Superpower-less Absol.

Summary of changes:

Monferno —> Golurk
Probopass —> Offensive Stealth Rock set
Poison Jab —> Stone Edge on Sawk
Jolly nature on Sawk
Protect —> Quick Attack on Swellow
Dark Gem —> Life Orb on Absol
Psycho Cut —> Superpower on Absol
[optional] Absol —> Skuntank

Set(s)

Golurk @ Choice Band
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Punch
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Drain Punch

Swellow @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- Quick Attack
- U-turn

Probopass @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Earth Power

Sawk (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Stone Edge

Absol @ Life Orb
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Night Slash
- Superpower
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance

Skuntank @ Dread Plate
Trait: Aftermath
EVs: 236 Spd / 252 Atk / 20 HP
Adamant Nature
- Poison Jab
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Crunch

 

[Raseri]

damn I was almost done this rate and I lost it all :(

Anyways, I believe that Probopass should use Stealth Rock > Protect. And Rocky Helmet > Leftovers. This allows you to replace Monferno, as well as give you a counter to Cinccino.

With this, you can drop Monferno who is useless right now, since it is both weak and frail. It can get Stealth Rock up against most teams, but accomplishes nothing else. It also does very little for your team if you give Probopass Stealth Rock, and allows you to use that slot to check the biggest threats to your team, Fighting-types. Musharna, particularly a Calm Mind version with Psychic and Signal Beam, allows you to defeat many of the biggest threats to your teams with almost no dow.side when compared to Monferno, since Monferno is just below average right now. This set allows you to handle Ludicolo a bit better, while also countering Gurdurr and Sawk.

There are many small things that can be done to improve your team. Swellow should have Toxic Orb > Flame Orb. Since it rarely stays in for long anyways. Quick Attack > Protect since you have Probopass' Volt Switch, which can easily get in Swellow for free in order to active the orb, and not have to waste a turn on Protect.

Gorebyss could run Hidden Power Bug and Life Orb > Hidden Power Grass and White Herb if Ludicolo is a big problem as you mentioned, since this allows Ludicolo to be OHKOd after Stealth Rock, however even if you don't want to use HP Bug, you should use Hidden Power Electric instead of Hidden Power Grass. They have very similar coverage, choosing between Mantine and Seismitoad, but Mantine is much more of a threat among good players recently.

Also, Life Orb > Dark Gem on Absol. Gems are rarely worth it unless they activate Unburden or get a very important KO, neither of these are the case with Absol. Absol also needs needs needs Superpower, choose either Psycho Cut of Swords Dance to be replaced with Superpower, either will work, it depends what role you want Absol to be filling on a team(wallbreaker vs sweeper)

Poison Jab Sawk is also bad, please use Stone Edge instead. Poison Jab offers almost no utility whatsoever, I'd also recommend Jolly > Adamant on the Scarf set, since it does need the speed boost when compared to the Choice Band set. Stone Edge at least hits a few relevant threats harder, like Pinsir.

tl;dr
Stealth Rock > Protect on Probopass
Rocky Helmet > Leftovers on Probopass
Musharna > Monferno
Toxic Orb > Flame Orb on Swellow
Quick Attack > Protect on Swellow
[optional]Hidden Power Bug > Hidden Power Grass on Gorebyss
Hidden Power Electric > Hidden Power Grass on Gorebyss
Life Orb > White Herb on Gorebyss
Life Orb > Dark Gem on Absol
Superpower > Swords Dance or Psycho Cut on Absol
Stone Edge > Poison Jab on Sawk

 

[feriokun]

damn I was almost done this rate and I lost it all :(

Anyways, I believe that Probopass should use Stealth Rock > Protect. And Rocky Helmet > Leftovers. This allows you to replace Monferno, as well as give you a counter to Cinccino.

With this, you can drop Monferno who is useless right now, since it is both weak and frail. It can get Stealth Rock up against most teams, but accomplishes nothing else. It also does very little for your team if you give Probopass Stealth Rock, and allows you to use that slot to check the biggest threats to your team, Fighting-types. Musharna, particularly a Calm Mind version with Psychic and Signal Beam, allows you to defeat many of the biggest threats to your teams with almost no dow.side when compared to Monferno, since Monferno is just below average right now. This set allows you to handle Ludicolo a bit better, while also countering Gurdurr and Sawk.

There are many small things that can be done to improve your team. Swellow should have Toxic Orb > Flame Orb. Since it rarely stays in for long anyways. Quick Attack > Protect since you have Probopass' Volt Switch, which can easily get in Swellow for free in order to active the orb, and not have to waste a turn on Protect.

Gorebyss could run Hidden Power Bug and Life Orb > Hidden Power Grass and White Herb if Ludicolo is a big problem as you mentioned, since this allows Ludicolo to be OHKOd after Stealth Rock, however even if you don't want to use HP Bug, you should use Hidden Power Electric instead of Hidden Power Grass. They have very similar coverage, choosing between Mantine and Seismitoad, but Mantine is much more of a threat among good players recently.

Also, Life Orb > Dark Gem on Absol. Gems are rarely worth it unless they activate Unburden or get a very important KO, neither of these are the case with Absol. Absol also needs needs needs Superpower, choose either Psycho Cut of Swords Dance to be replaced with Superpower, either will work, it depends what role you want Absol to be filling on a team(wallbreaker vs sweeper)

Poison Jab Sawk is also bad, please use Stone Edge instead. Poison Jab offers almost no utility whatsoever, I'd also recommend Jolly > Adamant on the Scarf set, since it does need the speed boost when compared to the Choice Band set. Stone Edge at least hits a few relevant threats harder, like Pinsir.

tl;dr
Stealth Rock > Protect on Probopass
Rocky Helmet > Leftovers on Probopass
Musharna > Monferno
Toxic Orb > Flame Orb on Swellow
Quick Attack > Protect on Swellow
[optional]Hidden Power Bug > Hidden Power Grass on Gorebyss
Hidden Power Electric > Hidden Power Grass on Gorebyss
Life Orb > White Herb on Gorebyss
Life Orb > Dark Gem on Absol
Superpower > Swords Dance or Psycho Cut on Absol
Stone Edge > Poison Jab on Sawk

Thanks I'll try this set out! Very nice suggestions!

 

[shnen]

just saying that I'm pretty sure that signal beam gorebyss is now legal so if you want to go with raseri's suggestion use signal beam, not hp bug