So I went to Smogon's Good Cores thread and decided to build around the Slowbro + Amoonguss + Tornadus-Therian core.
Great core. Handles a variety of threats and pivots all day long with Regenerator. The components themselves won't get much description from me, as I can't say much more than what's already been written about this core in the aforementioned thread:
The rest of the team went towards defensively patching up this core.
I made some minor changes, though, most notably the addition of CM over a status move on Slowbro:
Slowbro (deryl, M) Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off
Since the core's function is described above, I'll describe Slowbro in relation to the greater team. Calm Mind gives it the secondary utility of a win condition against teams that can no longer threaten it. This can be integral on such a defensive team. I got much more mileage out of this than T-Wave or Toxic, as I felt Slowbro wasn't the best status spreader (at least with how I was using it). Pairing with Clefable allows the two to check every variant of Greninja, Dark Pulse or no.
Amoonguss (Toad, M) Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 SDef
Calm Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Foul Play
- Clear Smog
Fuck your Rotom. Amoonguss feels like it's here tie up loose ends, as I find myself switching in Slowbro and Tornadus-T much more often. The threat of Spore prompts a lot of switches, which can sometimes make what would seem like an auto-click first move into a greater risk, as it could mean sleep immunity for the threat he was originally meant to neutralize. Clear Smog means I don't have to put setup sweepers to sleep, which is a saving grace since their sleep turns would waste away against Amoonguss' lackluster attacking stats or a turn-consuming switch.
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Tornadus-Therian (Hermes, M) @Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 160 SAtk / 216 Spd / 132 HP
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Pivot pivot pivot. All day it's pivotin'. Fast Knock Off + U-Turn + Regenerator is stupidly disruptive and resilient, and the speed / special attack investment allows it to act as a revenge killer in a pinch. Shame about that inaccurate Hurricane, though.
Heatran (Hestia, F) Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Protect
Heatran provides indispensable rocks and phazing as one of the few walls that's top-tier bulky even without reliable recovery. It scares off Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Bisharp, mons which might otherwise give the Regenerator core some trouble, and has some choice synergy with Mega-Scizor and Clefable, the former in hazard management and fire immunity, and the latter in great type combination. Lava Plume + Slowbro's Scald threaten burns on the opposition, often screwing over physical attackers at a key moment.
Scizor (DonPachi, F) Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-Turn
- Defog
- Roost
Get those hazards off our field. Stealth Rocks can really put a damper on the pivot game, especially for Tornadus-T, and Mega-Scizor is a pro Defogger who conveniently covers Tornadus-T's ice weakness. Roost lets it stick around, while Bullet Punch snipes heavily damaged opponents and U-Turn keeps the pivot game alive. I tend to play conservatively with Mega-Scizor, as it can't do *too* much against a lot of things it does wall (don't underestimate base 150 Technician Bullet Punch, though, even without investment). Defog + U-Turn is a typical first play for this mon, usually followed by Roost + U-Turn while it switches in to wall something. Bullet Punch carries the special utility of scaring fairies shitless, as none of them want to eat a BP for anything.
Clefable (Linus, M) Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Def / 104 SDef
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Moonblast
- Heal Bell
- Protect
I want Wish + Heal Bell on most teams, so the fairy type is a godsend. As I mentioned earlier, Clefable checks the Dark Pulse variant of Greninja, which is so important for this team, as the Regenerator core can have some serious trouble with it. The 104+ SDef EVs allows it to change Greninja's fully invested Life Orb Hydro Pump from a 2HKO into a 3HKO, which is huge. Speaking of checks, this same investment + Unaware allows Clefable to deal with Nasty Plot Thundurus, another threat that can otherwise trouble this team. The rest goes into physical defense for more versatile Wish passing. Plus, having four dedicated special walls would be redundant.
CONCERNS
If you have any questions about how the team is intended to work, then please ask. I could be missing out on some great feedback.
Thank you for your time.
Great core. Handles a variety of threats and pivots all day long with Regenerator. The components themselves won't get much description from me, as I can't say much more than what's already been written about this core in the aforementioned thread:
The rest of the team went towards defensively patching up this core.
I made some minor changes, though, most notably the addition of CM over a status move on Slowbro:
Slowbro (deryl, M) Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off
Since the core's function is described above, I'll describe Slowbro in relation to the greater team. Calm Mind gives it the secondary utility of a win condition against teams that can no longer threaten it. This can be integral on such a defensive team. I got much more mileage out of this than T-Wave or Toxic, as I felt Slowbro wasn't the best status spreader (at least with how I was using it). Pairing with Clefable allows the two to check every variant of Greninja, Dark Pulse or no.
Amoonguss (Toad, M) Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 SDef
Calm Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Foul Play
- Clear Smog
Fuck your Rotom. Amoonguss feels like it's here tie up loose ends, as I find myself switching in Slowbro and Tornadus-T much more often. The threat of Spore prompts a lot of switches, which can sometimes make what would seem like an auto-click first move into a greater risk, as it could mean sleep immunity for the threat he was originally meant to neutralize. Clear Smog means I don't have to put setup sweepers to sleep, which is a saving grace since their sleep turns would waste away against Amoonguss' lackluster attacking stats or a turn-consuming switch.
Tornadus-Therian (Hermes, M) @Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 160 SAtk / 216 Spd / 132 HP
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Pivot pivot pivot. All day it's pivotin'. Fast Knock Off + U-Turn + Regenerator is stupidly disruptive and resilient, and the speed / special attack investment allows it to act as a revenge killer in a pinch. Shame about that inaccurate Hurricane, though.
Heatran (Hestia, F) Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Protect
Heatran provides indispensable rocks and phazing as one of the few walls that's top-tier bulky even without reliable recovery. It scares off Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Bisharp, mons which might otherwise give the Regenerator core some trouble, and has some choice synergy with Mega-Scizor and Clefable, the former in hazard management and fire immunity, and the latter in great type combination. Lava Plume + Slowbro's Scald threaten burns on the opposition, often screwing over physical attackers at a key moment.
Scizor (DonPachi, F) Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-Turn
- Defog
- Roost
Get those hazards off our field. Stealth Rocks can really put a damper on the pivot game, especially for Tornadus-T, and Mega-Scizor is a pro Defogger who conveniently covers Tornadus-T's ice weakness. Roost lets it stick around, while Bullet Punch snipes heavily damaged opponents and U-Turn keeps the pivot game alive. I tend to play conservatively with Mega-Scizor, as it can't do *too* much against a lot of things it does wall (don't underestimate base 150 Technician Bullet Punch, though, even without investment). Defog + U-Turn is a typical first play for this mon, usually followed by Roost + U-Turn while it switches in to wall something. Bullet Punch carries the special utility of scaring fairies shitless, as none of them want to eat a BP for anything.
Clefable (Linus, M) Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Def / 104 SDef
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Moonblast
- Heal Bell
- Protect
I want Wish + Heal Bell on most teams, so the fairy type is a godsend. As I mentioned earlier, Clefable checks the Dark Pulse variant of Greninja, which is so important for this team, as the Regenerator core can have some serious trouble with it. The 104+ SDef EVs allows it to change Greninja's fully invested Life Orb Hydro Pump from a 2HKO into a 3HKO, which is huge. Speaking of checks, this same investment + Unaware allows Clefable to deal with Nasty Plot Thundurus, another threat that can otherwise trouble this team. The rest goes into physical defense for more versatile Wish passing. Plus, having four dedicated special walls would be redundant.
CONCERNS
- Every defensive player has nightmares about the threats they're potentially not checking, so please tell me about any that I might have missed.
- Clefable might be better replaced with a physically defensive Sylveon, as such a variant of Sylveon offers more physical and special bulk as well as a hard-hitting Hyper Voice. I guess it comes down to how much I value Unaware over the added bulk.
- For Tornadus-Therian, is Heat Wave a better option than Super Power? I refuse to use Focus Miss. I will not have two 70% accuracy moves on the same set.
If you have any questions about how the team is intended to work, then please ask. I could be missing out on some great feedback.
Thank you for your time.
