Well shit, I made the mistake of actually trying to type this on-the-fly in my browser, but that endeavor was punished when I accidentally refreshed the page and deleted all that I'd done. As such, this is going to be significantly less grandiose and verbose than my initial thread, and for that, I apologize. Alas, here it is:
A bit about myself and how I arrived at my team's present incarnation:
As suggested by the RMT's title, I'm a staunch supporter of quirky/creative [read: out-there] movesets that serve what I'd like to think are simultaneously anti-metagame and serve avant-garde purposes. As a result, I've never much been one for Spikes/SR, weather, stall, choice items, etc, etc. However, in spite of my nonconformist attitude, I'm well aware of the potency the above threats and have hereby attempted to gameplan for them with a bit of flair and shock-value. Call them/me 'gimmicky' or 'too situational' if you'd like, but I've made a conscientious effort to avoid planning for unthreatening pokes with these sets. Regardless, although I was a strictly Trick Room player last generation, by virtue of this gen's oft-alluded-to "power creep" and new [and difficult-to-deal-with] pokemon like Ferrothorn and Reuniculus that were able to out-slow and thereby subvert a lot of my traditional TR sweepers [Ursaring, Rhyperior, Azumarill, etc], I eventually decided to scrap the old playstyle and head back to 'regular speed'.
I suppose it's also important to note that I'm relatively new to the B/W metagame, as I didn't start playing it until school let out [in early June]. As such, I'm only like three and a half weeks into it, so although I feel like I've seen a fair bit of what's out there, there may well be threats I'm un(der)prepared for. However, this team's been as high as the low 100s in the rankings [as of yesterday], and presently sits in the 200s [by virtue of foolishly giving Huntail an audition in Gorebyss' stead as an attempted means of dealing with Blissey/TTar]. It threw the Physical/Special balance my team had way out of wack, and I found myself struggling with Gliscor and Hippowdon, and thereby losing a few matches. Also, a minor note; all [that are able to be made female] are female, as it helps to counteract the abuse of Rivalry Haxorus, however, out of habit, I'll likely refer to them as 'he'.
Regardless, here's my side:
Trollduck (Golduck) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Cloud Nine
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SAtk / 16 SDef / 184 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Boil Over/Surf
- Encore
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Light Screen
Golduck on an OU team, really? Yes, really; he's the first of [and probably the most blatant of my 'odd' sets]. Based on the weather that had previously decimated my past Gen V teams, I knew that I wanted [needed] some means of shutting these threats [especially Excadrill] down, something that Altaria couldn't do. Lickilicky was another one considered for the role, but the prevalence of fighting this Gen coupled with his atrocious speed scared me off from using him. Although I was initially pretty disappointed when I found out that Cloud Nine doesn't completely remove the weather's effects, Golduck remains the only pokemon to have survived from my initial non-TR team because of his slue of uses. The move that probably immediately jumps out at one checking out the set is Hidden Power Fire. I scrapped Ice Beam for it a few matches in, as Scizor/Ferrothorn were perpetually switched in against it and plaguing my team. It puts a massive dent in Ferro, Scizor, Skarmory, Forretress, Venasaur, etc, hitting for upwards of 70% in most cases, if not delivering a fatal blow. Furthermore, a timid nature coupled with the 184 Speed EVs allows him to reach 276 Speed; just enough to outspeed and OHKO Excadrill [in the neutered sand] with a Surf. However, with Life Orb damage added on, a Scald will also usually do the trick. Scald also allows Golduck to perform as more of a team-player and troll things it probably has no business competing with, which is why it's primarily what I run. Encore + its good speed allows it to dismantle things that try and set up on it [which are frequent, as most think he's severely outmatched and incapable of striking back]. Light Screen eases blows from Latios and Ninetails primarily [It throws up a screen in the face of a light-absorbing solar beamer, takes ~40%, and OHKOs back with Sutf]; it also serves to bolster Gorebyss' lackluster SpDef and allow it to Sub/SmassPass.
Bysshe (Gorebyss) (F) @ Leftovers/White Herb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 36 SAtk / 220 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Baton Pass
- Shell Smash
- Surf
- Substitute
Call it childish, I call it effective [and no more childish than using Excadrill in the sand]. A pretty standard SmashPass set; however, it really appreciates Light Screen from Golduck [as well as his Encore support]. Furthermore, after he annoys the opponent for a bit, Golduck's really a magnet for Draco Meteors, which also works to bolster the chances of Gorebyss getting set up with the successive SAtk drops. Bysshe also serves as a secondary check to weather teams, as it can either pirate a swift swim boost from a Politoed or hammer sand teams with [generally] SE Surfs. Everything [sans Golduck] is pretty much game for receiving a pass, but Nidoking is a favorite target, as he sponges the status and electric attacks often thrown Gorebyss' way. I'm always torn between White Herb and Lefties, but I've been going with the healing more frequently of late, as it allows Gorebyss to potentially set up twice [or more] in the same match.
RandallOrton (Machamp) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: No Guard
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- DynamicPunch
- ThunderPunch/IcePunch
- Substitute
- Stone Edge
A stellar stall-breaker, as there's not much that particularly enjoys DynamicPunches + automatic confusion, especially when coming from a +2 +2 Machamp. He also serves as a stout anti-TTar-lead, as it almost invariably will force a switch and prevent rocks, allowing me to get a free sub up and batter whatever comes in with the appropriate move. As for ThunderPunch/Ice Punch, it comes down to whether I want/need to beat Gliscor or Slowbro more easily, and seeing as though Gliscor's been omnipresent of late, I've been running Ice Punch. He always has/will struggle with Reuniculus, but between confusion, substitute, and being the recipient of passes [a +2 Stone Edge hits for 60%+], he can usually muscle his way through most.
One-Off (Borutorosu) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Mischievous Heart
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt/Discharge
- Psychic
- Nasty Plot
- Substitute
Although assuredly hardly a groundbreaking or 'creative' pokemon, the use of psychic on the set allows me to wreak havoc on the fighting types that litter the metagame [Conkeldurr, Toxicroak, Breloom, Infernape] and OHKO most Gengar. The STAB electric move is obvious and obligatory; Discharge if I'm feeling lucky or TBolt for raw power. Thundurus' massive power forces switches like no other, allowing [along with Prankster] multiple Substitutes and/or Plots. Pretty fire-and-forget. However, Excadrill and Ferrothorn are often switched in to stop its fun, so any suggestions to deal with those two [not a fan of focus blast's 'lackluster' accuracy] would be greatly appreciated. There's always HP Fire again, but that seems repetitive.
Fruitof (Breloom) (F) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Seed Bomb
Another fairly straightforward set; everyone knows how appallingly difficult it is to remove without an appropriate counter. As an added bonus, it can serve as an emergency check [along with Machamp] to Excadrill if something's happened to Golduck. A +2/+2 boost from Shell Smash turns it into a pseudo Thundurus [with substitute and status being spread everywhere], along with Focus Punch OHKOing even more than before.
PassMeThat (Nidoking) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Wave/Earth Power/HP Fighting
Perhaps the best recipient of Smashes of all, given his immunity to Poison/Paralysis and indifference to burn. Furthermore, he's immune to Sandstorm damage, toxic spikes and resists Stealth Rock. The real selling point, however, is his DW ability, Sheer Force. In addition to negating the life orb recoil, it essentially turns Flamethrower, TBolt, Ice Beam, and his STAB Sludge Wave into 120 BP attacks with no accuracy drawback. The first three seem like obvious and necessary choices to sweep/wallbreak, but the final slot is more open for debate. Sludge Wave's biggest selling point is that, even when unboosted, it hits for upwards of 80% on Rotoms. Earth Power grants him better coverage [and allows him to always beat non-balloon Heatrans], while HP Fighting allows him to tear apart T-Tar, one of the more frequent switch-ins [as his other moves only hit for ~60% at +2]. Even when not receiving a boost, his attacks still prove absurdly weighty; he'll always OHKO Gliscor, and comfortably 2HKOs Jellicent and Slowbro on the switch [which generally frees up Machamp to utilize Ice Punch]. He also struggles with Reuniculus [seems to be a recurring theme here], as his boosted attacks still only strike for about 45% [and less, obviously, after a calm mind]. I suppose potentially mixing in Shadow Ball could alleviate this, but Breloom and Machamp can usually smash their way through Reuniclus via status.
A bit about myself and how I arrived at my team's present incarnation:
As suggested by the RMT's title, I'm a staunch supporter of quirky/creative [read: out-there] movesets that serve what I'd like to think are simultaneously anti-metagame and serve avant-garde purposes. As a result, I've never much been one for Spikes/SR, weather, stall, choice items, etc, etc. However, in spite of my nonconformist attitude, I'm well aware of the potency the above threats and have hereby attempted to gameplan for them with a bit of flair and shock-value. Call them/me 'gimmicky' or 'too situational' if you'd like, but I've made a conscientious effort to avoid planning for unthreatening pokes with these sets. Regardless, although I was a strictly Trick Room player last generation, by virtue of this gen's oft-alluded-to "power creep" and new [and difficult-to-deal-with] pokemon like Ferrothorn and Reuniculus that were able to out-slow and thereby subvert a lot of my traditional TR sweepers [Ursaring, Rhyperior, Azumarill, etc], I eventually decided to scrap the old playstyle and head back to 'regular speed'.
I suppose it's also important to note that I'm relatively new to the B/W metagame, as I didn't start playing it until school let out [in early June]. As such, I'm only like three and a half weeks into it, so although I feel like I've seen a fair bit of what's out there, there may well be threats I'm un(der)prepared for. However, this team's been as high as the low 100s in the rankings [as of yesterday], and presently sits in the 200s [by virtue of foolishly giving Huntail an audition in Gorebyss' stead as an attempted means of dealing with Blissey/TTar]. It threw the Physical/Special balance my team had way out of wack, and I found myself struggling with Gliscor and Hippowdon, and thereby losing a few matches. Also, a minor note; all [that are able to be made female] are female, as it helps to counteract the abuse of Rivalry Haxorus, however, out of habit, I'll likely refer to them as 'he'.
Regardless, here's my side:
Trollduck (Golduck) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Cloud Nine
EVs: 56 HP / 252 SAtk / 16 SDef / 184 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Boil Over/Surf
- Encore
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Light Screen
Golduck on an OU team, really? Yes, really; he's the first of [and probably the most blatant of my 'odd' sets]. Based on the weather that had previously decimated my past Gen V teams, I knew that I wanted [needed] some means of shutting these threats [especially Excadrill] down, something that Altaria couldn't do. Lickilicky was another one considered for the role, but the prevalence of fighting this Gen coupled with his atrocious speed scared me off from using him. Although I was initially pretty disappointed when I found out that Cloud Nine doesn't completely remove the weather's effects, Golduck remains the only pokemon to have survived from my initial non-TR team because of his slue of uses. The move that probably immediately jumps out at one checking out the set is Hidden Power Fire. I scrapped Ice Beam for it a few matches in, as Scizor/Ferrothorn were perpetually switched in against it and plaguing my team. It puts a massive dent in Ferro, Scizor, Skarmory, Forretress, Venasaur, etc, hitting for upwards of 70% in most cases, if not delivering a fatal blow. Furthermore, a timid nature coupled with the 184 Speed EVs allows him to reach 276 Speed; just enough to outspeed and OHKO Excadrill [in the neutered sand] with a Surf. However, with Life Orb damage added on, a Scald will also usually do the trick. Scald also allows Golduck to perform as more of a team-player and troll things it probably has no business competing with, which is why it's primarily what I run. Encore + its good speed allows it to dismantle things that try and set up on it [which are frequent, as most think he's severely outmatched and incapable of striking back]. Light Screen eases blows from Latios and Ninetails primarily [It throws up a screen in the face of a light-absorbing solar beamer, takes ~40%, and OHKOs back with Sutf]; it also serves to bolster Gorebyss' lackluster SpDef and allow it to Sub/SmassPass.
Bysshe (Gorebyss) (F) @ Leftovers/White Herb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 36 SAtk / 220 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Baton Pass
- Shell Smash
- Surf
- Substitute
Call it childish, I call it effective [and no more childish than using Excadrill in the sand]. A pretty standard SmashPass set; however, it really appreciates Light Screen from Golduck [as well as his Encore support]. Furthermore, after he annoys the opponent for a bit, Golduck's really a magnet for Draco Meteors, which also works to bolster the chances of Gorebyss getting set up with the successive SAtk drops. Bysshe also serves as a secondary check to weather teams, as it can either pirate a swift swim boost from a Politoed or hammer sand teams with [generally] SE Surfs. Everything [sans Golduck] is pretty much game for receiving a pass, but Nidoking is a favorite target, as he sponges the status and electric attacks often thrown Gorebyss' way. I'm always torn between White Herb and Lefties, but I've been going with the healing more frequently of late, as it allows Gorebyss to potentially set up twice [or more] in the same match.
RandallOrton (Machamp) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: No Guard
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- DynamicPunch
- ThunderPunch/IcePunch
- Substitute
- Stone Edge
A stellar stall-breaker, as there's not much that particularly enjoys DynamicPunches + automatic confusion, especially when coming from a +2 +2 Machamp. He also serves as a stout anti-TTar-lead, as it almost invariably will force a switch and prevent rocks, allowing me to get a free sub up and batter whatever comes in with the appropriate move. As for ThunderPunch/Ice Punch, it comes down to whether I want/need to beat Gliscor or Slowbro more easily, and seeing as though Gliscor's been omnipresent of late, I've been running Ice Punch. He always has/will struggle with Reuniculus, but between confusion, substitute, and being the recipient of passes [a +2 Stone Edge hits for 60%+], he can usually muscle his way through most.
One-Off (Borutorosu) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Mischievous Heart
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt/Discharge
- Psychic
- Nasty Plot
- Substitute
Although assuredly hardly a groundbreaking or 'creative' pokemon, the use of psychic on the set allows me to wreak havoc on the fighting types that litter the metagame [Conkeldurr, Toxicroak, Breloom, Infernape] and OHKO most Gengar. The STAB electric move is obvious and obligatory; Discharge if I'm feeling lucky or TBolt for raw power. Thundurus' massive power forces switches like no other, allowing [along with Prankster] multiple Substitutes and/or Plots. Pretty fire-and-forget. However, Excadrill and Ferrothorn are often switched in to stop its fun, so any suggestions to deal with those two [not a fan of focus blast's 'lackluster' accuracy] would be greatly appreciated. There's always HP Fire again, but that seems repetitive.
Fruitof (Breloom) (F) @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Poison Heal
EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Seed Bomb
Another fairly straightforward set; everyone knows how appallingly difficult it is to remove without an appropriate counter. As an added bonus, it can serve as an emergency check [along with Machamp] to Excadrill if something's happened to Golduck. A +2/+2 boost from Shell Smash turns it into a pseudo Thundurus [with substitute and status being spread everywhere], along with Focus Punch OHKOing even more than before.
PassMeThat (Nidoking) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Wave/Earth Power/HP Fighting
Perhaps the best recipient of Smashes of all, given his immunity to Poison/Paralysis and indifference to burn. Furthermore, he's immune to Sandstorm damage, toxic spikes and resists Stealth Rock. The real selling point, however, is his DW ability, Sheer Force. In addition to negating the life orb recoil, it essentially turns Flamethrower, TBolt, Ice Beam, and his STAB Sludge Wave into 120 BP attacks with no accuracy drawback. The first three seem like obvious and necessary choices to sweep/wallbreak, but the final slot is more open for debate. Sludge Wave's biggest selling point is that, even when unboosted, it hits for upwards of 80% on Rotoms. Earth Power grants him better coverage [and allows him to always beat non-balloon Heatrans], while HP Fighting allows him to tear apart T-Tar, one of the more frequent switch-ins [as his other moves only hit for ~60% at +2]. Even when not receiving a boost, his attacks still prove absurdly weighty; he'll always OHKO Gliscor, and comfortably 2HKOs Jellicent and Slowbro on the switch [which generally frees up Machamp to utilize Ice Punch]. He also struggles with Reuniculus [seems to be a recurring theme here], as his boosted attacks still only strike for about 45% [and less, obviously, after a calm mind]. I suppose potentially mixing in Shadow Ball could alleviate this, but Breloom and Machamp can usually smash their way through Reuniclus via status.