PokeNUmon!

[Wartortle]

PokeNUmon!

At a glance

Introduction​

Yo! What is up? Salutations my fellow Smogonites. Wartortle here. Not the actual pokemon, but hey I do like Wartortles :-). I’m sure most, if not all of you don’t know who I am since I just recently joined the Smogon forums, but I have been competitively battling for a while now since B/W came out. After experimenting and battling in most of the tiers, I found my most favorite tier to be NU. I found other tiers such as OU to be so repetitive and the versatility of NU was what appealed to me most. After making a number of NU teams, I wanted to focus on one team that I really enjoy playing with and hopefully get some feedback from you guys to enhance the team. This is my first RMT so go easy on me :-). So with that said, let’s get on with the team.

At first, I wanted an offensive powerhouse so who better than Absol to fill this role. Next, I wanted a poke that could cover Absol’s weaknesses since he doesn’t have the best defenses in the world. I figured that Golbat would fit this role very well. He quad-resists Absol’s weaknesses and with Eviolite, his defenses increases by a chunk. Knowing that Absol only covers Golbat’s Psychic weakness, I needed another poke to build a more synergetic (Is that a word? I think you know what I mean) team. I then thought of Golem since he does cover the Rock and Electric weakness of Golbat, and is also a great lead that can set up stealth rock almost all the time. With the addition of Golem, more weaknesses came in and I still needed to cover Golbat’s weakness to Ice. So with that given, I wanted to add Wartortle, not only because he’s one of my favorite pokemon, but is also a decent special wall that can take Ice, Water, and other of my team’s weaknesses like a champ. Next, I wanted to add a decent scarfer so that’s where Raichu comes in. He can come in to an electric move, get a special attack boost from his Lightningrod ability, and proceed from there. Lastly, I thought of a poke that had the move U-Turn so I can utilize a somewhat effective Volt-Turn combination. I desired something speedy and strong so I added Swellow who is just a freaking beast when Guts is activated. Thus, “PokeNUmon” (I couldn’t think of a catchy name LOL) was created.

So now let’s get more in depth with the team:

In Depth​

Absol @ Leftovers
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower

There’s not much I can say about Absol since his massive attack stat tells us all we need to know. Basically, Absol would come in against a poke that he can scare out, set a Substitute and possibly a Swords Dance, and proceed with a filthy and strong Sucker Punch or Superpower. The EV spread allows him to hit the hardest and outspeed Max Speed 60 base speed pokes since I had some troubled experiences with them. The rest of the EVs go into his HP stat to give him some bulk. Leftovers make him set up more Substitutes if need be.

Golbat @ Eviolite
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Taunt
- Super Fang

Golbat is a pretty good physical wall and does the job of covering Absol’s weaknesses very well. The moveset is pretty much standard. Taunt is used to stop pokes from either setting up, spreading status, and all the other shenanigans. Roost is a very reliable move and makes Golbat’s stay in the playing field much longer and can wall several pokes for days. Super Fang allows him to take down pokes more efficiently and faster, especially annoying walls. Lastly, Brave Bird for STAB and can take out weakened pokes easily. The EV spread allows him to outspeed Max Speed 60 base speed pokes similar to my Absol spread. Max HP EVs gives Golbat good bulk and the 156 Def EVs along with the Eviolite raises his defense to a respectable 354 stat so he can take more hits.

Golem @ Lum Berry
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Sucker Punch

The “Current” King of NU. Possibly the best lead in the tier since he can set up rocks almost all the time which is very much important, if not a must for all teams to set up. The moveset is pretty straightforward. Set up Stealth Rock and proceed with a hitting move. With the Lum Berry, it allows Golem to not to be set up bait, especially when asleep. I just find it funny when my opponent leads with Drifblim, Butterfree, or some related poke and tries to sleep Golem, not knowing that he has a Lum Berry and later retaliate with a filthy Rock Blast. Earthquake is there for STAB and is a good coverage move with Rock Blast and Sucker Punch is used to hit pokes faster than him, which can sometimes result in a kill. The EV spread allows Golem to hit the hardest and Max Speed makes him faster and can outspeed uninvested 75ish base speed pokes.

Wartortle @ Eviolite
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Haze
- Toxic/Yawn

Wartortle! One of my favorite pokemon in the NU tier. He plays the role of a special wall decently, but his main purpose is to spin entry hazards, especially rocks. Scald is there for STAB and can potentially burn his foe. Haze is used to stop sweeps, most notably Gorebyss and Toxic can bring down walls, especially Quagsire since my team has very much trouble with him since I do not have a poke with a grass move. I may want to switch Toxic with Yawn to phaze out spinblockers like Misdreavus, but Toxic seems like the more reliable move. The EV spread here is pretty much straightforward. Max HP and Max SDef make him quite bulky and equipping an Eviolite allows him to take more hits.

Raichu @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Lightningrod
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast

The scarfer/revenge killer of the team. Equipped with choice scarf, he can take out a Shell Smash Gorebyss immediately. When boosted by an electric move, Raichu can pull off a high special attack to his foe and can possibly result in a kill and even a sweep. The moveset is self-explanatory. Thunderbolt and Volt Switch for STAB. Hidden Power Ice takes out the likes of Altaria, Torterra, and other pokes weak against Ice and Focus Blast hits rock and steel types hard. Again, the EV spread here is standard. Max SAtk and Max Speed with a modest nature allow him to hit a little harder and outspeed up to scarfed 85 base speed pokes.

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

A fast beast. When Guts is activated by the Toxic Orb, this thing can wreck a team when my opponent loses or is without a rock or steel poke. Facade is just filthy. Brave Bird is filthy as well and is a great STAB move. U-Turn along with Raichu’s Volt Switch can be very effective. Lastly, Quick Attack for priority and STAB can be very handy as well. Max Speed and Max Atk are straightforward. Let’s face it. Swellow is a beast!

Conclusion​

Having battled with this team about 6, 7 times in the Smogon PO server, I can say it is pretty successful reaching the mid 1100s, but I would want it to peak a much higher rank. I do have trouble with Quagsire since no one in my team has a grass move so I would have to rely on Wartortle’s Toxic to slowly take it out. I may want to switch some pokes to do that, but I’ll continue to battle with this team and make changes if need be. If you can find other threats that can affect my team greatly or even recommend changes, feel free to leave feedback. I would greatly appreciate it. Other than that, I hope you guys enjoyed reading my first RMT and I hope to do another one of these again :-).

Importable​

Hide

Absol (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower

Golbat (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Taunt
- Super Fang

Golem (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Sucker Punch

Wartortle (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Haze
- Toxic

Raichu (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Lightningrod
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast

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

 

[AyoGabos]

Hey! I actually just finished battling you on the Smogon Server. It's rather late (11:23 pm), so I will give your team a rate tomorrow once I read it in depth. It was fun battling you, and it looks like you put a great team together. I was the guy using the Rain Team :)

 

[Wartortle]

Hey! I actually just finished battling you on the Smogon Server. It's rather late (11:23 pm), so I will give your team a rate tomorrow once I read it in depth. It was fun battling you, and it looks like you put a great team together. I was the guy using the Rain Team :)

Hmm I don't remember battling a rain team. Maybe someone was testing my team, but oh well feel free to rate the team anyway. Much appreciated. :-)

 

[WhiteDMist]

Welcome to Smogon! Right off the bat, I'd say that you have a major weakness to Ice, namely Jynx. A Sub NP Jynx can basically rip holes in your team after Swellow faints (which happens all too quickly with Toxic, priority, and Rocks). Similarly, if Raichu is taken out, you'll have some trouble with Rotom-A, especially the scarfed variants (funnily enough, Rotom-F is a nightmare for your team to handle). Golem tends to die quickly, so I can't really count it as a dependable defense against Electric-types. Fighting-type Pokes will also have a field day with your team, since Golbat isn't the bulkiest thing around even with Eviolite; Emboar is definitely a pain for your team to wall, especially Banded variants. finally, opposing Rock-type are troublesome, as are Ground-types. Regirock is hard to beat if it has Drain Punch, and opposing Golems aren't easy to take either.

After testing out this team for a few battles, I've noticed that Wartortle basically sits there doing absolutely nothing. I suggest changing Wartortle to Cryogonal. You gain another Rock weakness, but you still resist Ice and have a Spinner with reliable recovery. I also recommend changing Hidden Power Ice to Grass on Raichu so that it can hurt Ground types, especially Quagsire. You have Swellow and Golbat for Altaria and Torterra. There isn't much else I can suggest without changing the team too much. It is a matter of preference, but you may want to change Quick Attack on Swellow to Protect. Since Raichu is so fast, you have no safe way of switching into Swellow, so you can only come in for a revenge kill. That limits you options, especially if you aren't sure whether the opponent is fast than you/if Quick Attack can KO of not. Still, it is a matter of preference I guess.

The only other thing I can say is that I rarely use Substitute on Absol, since there is very little that it can safely come in on in this meta that can't hurt it badly. The rise of Gurdurr and the Tangela-Quagsire combo is dampening the profitability of Sub on Absol in general, so maybe you would consider Psycho Cut and Lum Berry to hurt Fighting-types on the switch-in and beat the uncommon Weezing semi-reliably? That's all I've got for now. Hope I helped! :)

Edit:Oh, and Ayo, the person you battled was probably me! :)

 

[Wartortle]

Welcome to Smogon! Right off the bat, I'd say that you have a major weakness to Ice, namely Jynx. A Sub NP Jynx can basically rip holes in your team after Swellow faints (which happens all too quickly with Toxic, priority, and Rocks). Similarly, if Raichu is taken out, you'll have some trouble with Rotom-A, especially the scarfed variants (funnily enough, Rotom-F is a nightmare for your team to handle). Golem tends to die quickly, so I can't really count it as a dependable defense against Electric-types. Fighting-type Pokes will also have a field day with your team, since Golbat isn't the bulkiest thing around even with Eviolite; Emboar is definitely a pain for your team to wall, especially Banded variants. finally, opposing Rock-type are troublesome, as are Ground-types. Regirock is hard to beat if it has Drain Punch, and opposing Golems aren't easy to take either.

After testing out this team for a few battles, I've noticed that Wartortle basically sits there doing absolutely nothing. I suggest changing Wartortle to Cryogonal. You gain another Rock weakness, but you still resist Ice and have a Spinner with reliable recovery. I also recommend changing Hidden Power Ice to Grass on Raichu so that it can hurt Ground types, especially Quagsire. You have Swellow and Golbat for Altaria and Torterra. There isn't much else I can suggest without changing the team too much. It is a matter of preference, but you may want to change Quick Attack on Swellow to Protect. Since Raichu is so fast, you have no safe way of switching into Swellow, so you can only come in for a revenge kill. That limits you options, especially if you aren't sure whether the opponent is fast than you/if Quick Attack can KO of not. Still, it is a matter of preference I guess.

The only other thing I can say is that I rarely use Substitute on Absol, since there is very little that it can safely come in on in this meta that can't hurt it badly. The rise of Gurdurr and the Tangela-Quagsire combo is dampening the profitability of Sub on Absol in general, so maybe you would consider Psycho Cut and Lum Berry to hurt Fighting-types on the switch-in and beat the uncommon Weezing semi-reliably? That's all I've got for now. Hope I helped! :)

Edit:Oh, and Ayo, the person you battled was probably me! :)

Thanks for the rate. Yeah Ice is a big weakness to my team once Wartortle is gone. I'll try out those changes and go from there. :-)

 

[AyoGabos]

Edit:Oh, and Ayo, the person you battled was probably me! :)

I was the one that complimented you on your alt account too hahahaha

Anyways, I kinda-sorta have to agree with DMist on replacing Wartortle with Cryogonal for all the reasons he mentioned.

One thing I would also suggest is taking Substitute off Absol and replacing it with Crunch. The main reason for this change would be to hit Pokemon such as Musharna who attempt to set-up or dwindle your health with Toxic. Absol is easily countered if it relies too heavily on Sucker Punch as teams can simply work around it.

Again simply adding an Ice resistance in Cryogonal will do wonders for this team, and from that point on its about making small adjustments here and there where you see fit. This is a well-constructed team, and I look forward to seeing where you take it from here :)

 

[Wartortle]

@AyoGabos Thanks for the rate. Cryogonal seems like a good sub for Wartortle. The Absol change seems good too. I don't think he gets Crunch, but I'll try Night Slash. I'll take that into consideration and make some adjustments. :-)