► Simisear is a great wallbreaker in the tier right now. Considering it being +2
and it hitting all its moves gives teambuilders a lot of trouble checking it defensively.
However, there are some checks that have to be dealt with beforehand like Audino, (Regirock), Lanturn, Hitmonchan, Altaria, Jellicent or Eelektross.
► Having that in mind, I wanted to create a core that chip away at eachothers checks or even kill them. Stoutland and Simisear can be such a core! But let's go in detail.
@ Firium Z or
Fightinium Z / Blaze
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe / Timid
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
- Focus Blast
► For Simisear, I chose the standard Nasty Plot set. The second you set it up, you will be able to support Stoutland very well. Being able to get important chip on Quagsire, Regirock, Gurdurr or Mudsdale is very useful so Stoutland can break with its Choice Band set.
► Also, it's nice to have your Stoutland not take Will-O-Wisps by weaker ghosts like Sableye and Froslass ("weak" in terms of how much it does to Simisear usually) and switchin the ape instead. Sure, Facade is there to take just that, but in the early state of a game you will be thankful that you have the option to pivot out into Simisear on a potential Willo.
@ Choice Band / Scrappy
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Adamant
- Return
- Facade
- Pursuit
- Superpower
► Stoutland on the other hand has the potential to Pursuit-chip Pokemon like Jellicent, Eelektross, Audino, Altaria or Lanturn. Of course, the classic Return will do a ton as well but most of the time your opponent wants to save those Pokemon to check Simisear lategame; so rather clicking
Pursuit will be way more helpful.
► Also, your opponents will be scared to switchin their Regirock (or Carbink) into Stoutland because of Simisear just being omnipresent. And if they do, the chip damage goes a long way at killing it later with Grass Knot.
► The last thing I want to mention is their Stall matchup. Since I see far less Carbink on Stall (at least on the ladder), this core can pressure a lot of teams pretty well. Pursuit trap the Altaria and pressure down potential Spdef Hakamo-o (if you face tlenit) and you should be good to go! If you want to have a slightly better Stall MU, you can think about running Fightinium-Z Simisear to increase the damage output on Carbink and Hakamo-o.
► So a nice breaking core we got here. But often times, such cores come with some flaws; be it too little role compression for the team or a bad Offense Matchup. So you want to patch up the
problem with speed and, of course, you need a
defensive backbone; potentially with Voltturn to get your threats in.
► I think a nice start would be
Silvally Fairy. With it, you have a much needed switchin to all Fighting Types and a hazard Removal as well. Parting short further improves Simisear's breaking capabilities since it can setup easier after the drop from PShot.
► Another Pokemon I could see working would be
Lanturn. I haven't talked about Stoutland's (and Simisear's too) problem with the infamous
Hail Core. You will always be struggling to click Return if Aurorus or Sandslash are still alive. So having a pivot into both of them is great. Also you stop the momentum opposing Lanturn try to gain if they switched in on your Simisear. Lastly, Lanturn lures in the likes of Eelektross, Audino, Altaria or Grass Types that all get pressured by either Stoutland or Simisear.