Other PU HO + Sticky Web

Hello everybody! I have decided to make an HO team with Sticky Web. So far this team has done really well! It's only problem is that it is very weak to anything with Sucker Punch. Here it goes:





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Simisear @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Substitute
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
- Focus Blast

This is the main sweeper of the team. I really liked the idea of a Blaze boosted Fire Blast and this is what I came up with. After Sticky Web, it is able to out speed (barring Choice Scarfers) everything in the tier. It's main purpose is to Sub down to 25% health to activate it's Petaya Berry which allows it to OHKO pretty much everything in the PU metagame. Its moves give it the best coverage and its EV spread along with a Modest nature maximizes Special Attack allowing it to hit as hard as possible. I had to throw 4 in HP to only require 3 Subs to activate Petaya. This thing hits incredibly hard, but all my opponent has to do is send in something with Sucker Punch to revenge kill.




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Basculin-Blue-Striped @ Expert Belt
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Aqua Jet
- Endeavor

I guess you could call this the oddball of the team. I saw a special Basculin in another RMT not too long ago so I decided to give it a shot. So far I have liked this little guy much more than its physical brothers and sisters. Surf hits incredibly hard with the Adaptability boost and Aqua Jet is great for priority all in all. Ice Beam for coverage and Endeavor is fun to use when you are low on health to get a massive amount of damage off. I'm not sure if I like the Expert Belt on this thing or not. I've thought about switching it out for a Splash Plate but not sure if it's worth losing the added power to ice beam. Thoughts?




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Ariados @ Focus Sash
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sticky Web
- Sucker Punch
- Megahorn
- Poison Jab


The role of Ariados is obvious - he sets up Sticky Web. The Focus Sash is in place to help guarantee getting Webs up. The rest of the moveset covers both STABs and an EV spread with an Adamant nature maximizes its Attack, if it ever gets the chance to. I chose Adamant over Jolly because what does this thing really outspeed? I usually use Ariados as my lead unless I see a spinner/defogger on the opponents team.




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Kadabra @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Energy Ball


As of right now Kadabra is my, and my team's, only option for stopping Sucker Punch. I really want to put Life Orb on him to make him hit incredibly hard but I can't think of another Pokemon that can hit as hard as Kadabra and consistently counter Sucker Punch. Anyway, Magic Guard is so I can repeatedly switch in and out without having to worry about the hazards in play. I chose Timid nature over Modest just in case I am unable to get my Webs up. The moveset is there in order to have good coverage. It's always a toss up between Psychic and Psyshock for me so I'd love to hear your opinions on which one I should use. Shadow Ball and Energy Ball are pretty standard and I chose Dazzling Gleam over Focus Blast because I couldn't justify the poor accuracy. Overall this thing is a great revenge killer and a decent Sucker Punch counter.




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Dusknoir @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Shadow Sneak
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch


I chose Dusknoir to be my hard hitter on the physical side. He has great natural bulk and the Choice Band allows him to hit extremely hard. I also use him as a switch in on non super-effective moves because of his ability to sponge hits and do a lot of damage in return. Max Attack EVs and an Adamant nature maxes out his attack while 248 in HP gives it incredible bulk on both sides. Pursuit is used to catch unsuspecting 'mons off guard when they are incapable of doing much damage to Dusknoir. Shadow Sneak is for priority with EQ and Ice Punch being there for coverage. I've been extremely happy with his ability to come in and deal a lot of damage to a good portion of the metagame.




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Persian @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Return
- Retaliate
- Knock Off

I threw Persian on this team for one reason, to stop Sticky Webs from appearing on my side of the field. He is easily the most expendable member of this team and I would love to trade him out for something better. Silk Scarf is to boost the power of 3 of my moves with Knock Off being there when I predict a switch. Max Attack with Adamant nature along with Technician makes Persian's Fake Out pretty powerful. I've been pretty disappointed with Persian so far as I haven't been in many situations where it can actually do what I put it on here to do. It really makes me wish Kecleon was back in the tier.



Threat List: Anything with Sucker Punch



simisear.gif basculin-bluestriped.gif ariados.gif kadabra.gif dusknoir.gif persian.gif


Well there's the squad! Let me know what you think! I am very open to any criticism or suggestions that you may have. However, please keep in mind that I'd like to keep this team as HO as possible to please make suggestions accordingly. Thank you! :)


 
Out of curiosity, why did you choose Ariados over Leavanny, which is just better overall? Normally, the reason would be Toxic Spikes, but that is not the case here, so all I see is you hindering yourself. Leavanny also threatens most common Stealth Rock setters, and has more power with the high base power of Leaf Storm, plus decent Speed to boot. I also see no reason not to simply give Simisear a Timid nature, just to not be outsped by Scarf Pokemon (anything base 90+ Speed, like Mr. Mime) and Dodrio.

Less important, but I see no reason to use Persian on this type of team when Purugly exists. Neither of them have a guaranteed chance to deal with opposing Leavanny, but with the same EVs, item, and nature, Purugly has the stronger Return in exchange for a weaker Fake Out. But Defiant is far more useful for this team to deter opposing Defog and Sticky Web, which makes it a far better option for your team. Purugly also provides extra priority in Sucker Punch, while still having Knock Off and Taunt, so you have extra options.

Other people can properly rate this, but I had to get this out.
 
So we talked on PS and I still stand by Leavanny and Persian being used, already gave the sets so I don't feel like posting them again. Dazzling Gleam hits practically nothing for Kadabra and Energy Ball just isn't that great without smashers being around, Encore and HP Ground should be far more useful. Since you already have webs + fake out, consider Life Orb for a more offensive set, although that's more of an idea and sash is also cool. On Simisear, I just don't get sub petaya when it gets nasty plot. Sub Salac NP would make more sense if anything, but since it's already webs why not just run nasty over sub and change the item to charcoal or life orb? I ran a lot of NP ninetales on webs and I assume it should work similar to that. On Dusknoir, 76 speed beats standard vigoroth and all the things before it while under webs, I don't see a reason not to creep at least a bit. While Pursuit is a good move, you struggle with bulkier things like Duosion, Clefairy and Vigoroth so I'd try running Trick over it, you don't really lose too much.

As for Basculin, I don't like it here. It just accentuates web's weakness to web immunities like Dodrio and Scarf Rotom, you already have priority, and bulky grasses are already annoying. There are lots of things you could experiment with here. Floatzel is at least faster than Zebstrika and can afford Adamant/Jolly on CB/Specs/Mysticwater/whatever while still being faster than non-scarf dodrio, which is nice if you end up going that route. On the not water side, CB Luxray is a nice dodrio check that's always cool on webs and even ursaring could work well with purugly and still works well on webs (quick feet SD, not guts). This slot is a lot more open, I'd like to test and say but I don't exactly have the time so those are just the ideas I came up with that sounds good on paper. Hope this helped
 
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