reptilians

[ium]

hello, i'm kind of new to the scene and all and thus, here is my first rmt. people may know me more for contributing some art for the smog and for the site, as well as being talkative as fuck on certain irc channels sometimes. i only joined around mid-september and kind of laid low until a week or so later when i started chatting and stuff. i started taking interest in battling around the summer which is still not too long ago (relatively speaking). i'm very cerebral and i tend to think things through, so battling was second-nature to me.

however, i'm still kind of rough and i'm not particularly known for battling that well; i just like to casually play some matches on the ladder (i hardly even ladder seriously at all). neverused is where i found it best for myself; the people are great, the metagame didn't feel too crazy, and there were a ton of new things to mess around with from the black and white 2 move tutors. between this rmt and back then, i've gone through many other teams that i either did not like or liked but had glaring weaknesses. this is one of my oldest teams and this is a slightly newer team; both of these had huge problems with certain threats but i did not feel like it was worth fixing them.

fast forward a month later, and i started using a fraxure-based team that is currently very successful. the team practically says bulky offense—almost every member poses some threat while still providing a decent defensive backbone to prevent the team from being mauled by common threats. the team usually tries to reach a final end goal: open up a way for fraxure to wreck late-game. this started off as a five-minute team that had four members weak to ice-type pokémon at one point, but i then decided to develop it into something more usable and eventually created a team that i was satisfied with.

with a glicko2 of 1993 ± 65, i peaked at around #9 with this team on the ladder before i started losing to a small number of crucial critical hits and secondary effects, or just flat-out playing like a retard. the current version of the team has gone around 47-4 across two alts as a result. also, with absol most likely moving up a tier come 2013, i don't really feel like playing with this team as much anymore unless there are substantial changes that i would enjoy playing with. even though i am only an okay player at best, this is probably the first team i have made that has done pretty well.

teambuilding

fraxure—the base of this team. it was just something i wanted to try out ever since it received an arsenal of new coverage moves (which was when i started getting into competitive battling to be honest).

the next thing i usually turn to with a new team is a good rock- or steel-type. stealth rock is always as important as ever, and regirock did that while helping check so many physical attackers—mainly the normal- and flying-types. all of this while being able to invest fully in offense was just great.

and this is where it escalated quickly. i just wanted to try out some stuff i haven't used before or in a while, so i piled them onto the team within five minutes. choice specs exeggutor and focus sash destiny bond cacturne were among the experimental sets. special samurott was something i haven't used in ages, and substitute + bulk up braviary was just always good as it helped eased things for me against defensive threats.

although cacturne was helping me lay spikes and score some surprise KOs, i noticed that my team had an insane weakness to ice-type attacks. this was the point where i decided to actually work on this team to improve it; i started off by using regice to give myself a solid buffer against my issues with ice-type attacks and water-types, such as ludicolo.

again, exeggutor performed well, but it didn't lend to the overall success to the team. aside from the fact that i lost to birkal of all people, my team was heavily pressured by fighting-type attacks and i hardly had any way to handle choice band sawk. defensive exeggutor could have worked, but i decided to go with the standard musharna for general reliability. i also decided to try out golem over regirock since my team was slow-moving and could use some priority.

still, my team felt way slower than it should be. no immediate power outside of samurott, no choice scarf users, and two priority moves that i couldn't really rely on (non-STAB sucker punch and 4 attack aqua jet). in addition, i still had issues with musharna who could just use calm mind on two-thirds of my team. i felt that with regice, i did not need braviary anymore to break through some defensive pokémon and could therefore replace it with absol.

and then my team.

"not scared of death. so, i know..."

JULIUS
Item: Eviolite
Trait: Mold Breaker | EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd | Nature: Jolly
Taunt / Dragon Dance / Outrage / Low Kick​

i don't really have much to say about fraxure because i usually save it for late-game and do not use it as a switch-in. what i can say though is that it usually gets me anywhere from one to three kills late-game. not much can tank a +1 outrage from fraxure. between probopass, bastiodon, tangela, alomomola, and a few others, nothing wants to deal with low kick or taunt. as a result, only faster, offensive things can deal with this set well.

a jolly nature helps it outspeed swellow by one point at +1 while not missing out on any significant power (since like i said, only offensive things check this set well enough). since fraxure dislikes fast scarf users (usually specially-inclined ones) and ice-type attacks, regice is a wonderful teammate that fraxure appreciates very much.​

"only a dream tonight. let me take care..."

MONA VEGAS
Item: Rocky Helmet
Trait: Sturdy | EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spd | Nature: Adamant
Stealth Rock / Earthquake / Rock Blast / Sucker Punch​

as always, any NU team appreciates a stealth rock user and a flying- and normal-type check. golem provides all of these and much more through this tried-and-true set. rock blast and earthquake are the STAB moves with the former being very useful for frail substitute users like haunter or ninjask. sucker punch is really cool here because not only does it provide me priority, but it also deters something like zangoose from using close combat on me (especially in conjunction with rocky helmet).

the EVs are simply for outspeeding golurk that creep on 0 speed alomomola by one point. with rocky helmet, golem wears down swellow, zangoose, and cinccino easily or else they would give my team trouble. once these threats become a non-problem, i tend to play golem as a rather suicidal pokémon so that carracosta or gorebyss will not get a shell smash for free.​

"you know there is no, nowhere to go..."

MYSTERY CLOUD
Item: Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body | EVs: 240 HP / 252 SAtk / 16 Spd | Nature: Modest
Ice Beam / Thunderbolt / Rest / Sleep Talk​

the NU community has hyped up ice-type pokémon, and for good reason. regice is one of the more popular ones, sporting the best special bulk available while being able to maintain full offenses. in addition, ice beam and thunderbolt backed up by 100 special attack provides the necessary coverage needed to hit most things hard bar certain fire-types and piloswine.

regice acts as my primary answer to many walls that rely on status for damage. alomomola and amoonguss cannot do anything to regice while they are hit hard with the respective coverage move. rest + sleep talk provides the necessary staying power for the duration of the match because i also rely on regice to tank hits from rotom-a and special attacking water-types. ludicolo cannot break through even a slightly weakened regice without rain dance. even if regice is weakened, ludicolo must take considerable damage in the process, so my team can usually handle it afterwards.​

"simple life, i want a simple life..."

ASTORIA
Item: Life Orb
Trait: Torrent | EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd | Nature: Hasty
Hydro Pump / Ice Beam / Hidden Power Grass / Aqua Jet​

samurott is kind of the odd-ball here because all it does is attack stuff. however, with life orb and an amazing special attack stat, samurott hits hard with hydro pump. water is a coveted attacking type to have as STAB in the tier, and samurott is the one who abuses that. therefore, i tend to lead with it and start breaking through many things right away if i have the advantage. water / ice / grass provides great neutral coverage to where very few things can switch into samurott safely.

aqua jet may seem weak without the investment, but my team is really slow so i do not want to rely solely on sucker punch to pick off boosted threats. megahorn would be very nice to check ludicolo, but it hardly has any uses outside of that since i already have regice and absol. taunt may be a good option since i like to lead with samurott, but i have hardly run into any instances where it was really needed.​

"no more thoughts, just heart and bone..."

SLOW DANCE
Item: Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize | EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spd | Nature: Bold
Calm Mind / Moonlight / Signal Beam / Psychic​

fighting-types run through my entire team, so i needed the best answer to them. musharna can take hits from the likes of adamant choice band sawk while recovering it off with moonlight. it is pretty much a standard set, except i use signal beam instead of heal bell because i do not want to excessively predict against the likes of absol if i know i can kill it off on the switch. skuntank needs to be played around a little more, but golem gives it problems since i sometimes play aggressively. musharna also acts as as a last-ditch-effort check to many physical attackers in the tier, such as cinccino and kangaskhan, in case i do not want to predict with golem.

physical bulk is maximized because i cannot afford to lose to choice band sawk, while the speed is there to get the jump on amoonguss and opposing musharna. usually, if fraxure isn't the one able to set up, musharna is the one who does it instead.​

"don't leave. i know we are dreaming..."

WHITE OF NOON
Item: Life Orb
Trait: Super Luck | EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd | Nature: Adamant
Night Slash / Pursuit / Sucker Punch / Superpower​

braviary was once in this team slot, but then i realized i needed to just hit musharna as hard as possible. while not completely reliable, absol does this while providing immediate offensive presence unlike skuntank. again, even though i stress this a lot, my team is really slow so having the strongest unboosted priority in the tier is a blessing. pursuit is on this set regardless of it being shaky because i want the opportunity to predict the switch-out for certain psychic- and ghost-types that can otherwise give my team trouble. superpower is just there to provide excellent coverage while hitting the bulky normal-types such as miltank if i weaken it beforehand.

absol provides a few other things for my team as well. it is an excellent check to several threats in the rain or sun, provided that regice or another member of my team cannot take a hit anymore. whatever absol cannot break through (such as alomomola, amoonguss, etc.) the rest of my team can handle which makes absol very threatening alongside them. while it may not be the most reliable pokémon ever, absol provides the offensive presence that my team could not simply pass up.​

threats: i will have a really hard time if someone has garbodor with toxic spikes. skuntank was a consideration to absorb them, but it lacks the sheer power that absol has. i'm also shaky with fast, bulky things like miltank since i can't really pick it off with priority and need to tank a hit before i retailiate. most of my members are either slower or have no immediate offensive presence so it can be a nuisance. in a similar vein, articuno is really irritating; even though regice stops it, regice can't do much back. piloswine and golurk can be a pain due to their strong ground-type attacks so i need to be careful with how i play samurott (and sometimes absol). carracosta is a little tricky too—i can't afford to let it get to +2 for free. most of these things mentioned here are not huge problems usually, but i still need to be careful.
shoutouts: everyone over at #neverused: zebraiken (great tutor i think??), flcl, annoyer, mmf (the prettiest), ebeast, tennisace, dtc, raseri, django, cbb, other people i'm forgetting to mention, and even keiran! you're all gr8. :) second shoutout to just all the people i've met at smogon so far in general.
importable:

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julius (Fraxure) (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Low Kick

mona vegas (Golem) (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch

mystery cloud (Regice) @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SAtk / 16 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Sleep Talk
- Rest

astoria (Samurott) @ Life Orb
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Aqua Jet

slow dance (Musharna) @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Signal Beam
- Psychic

white of noon (Absol) @ Life Orb
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Night Slash
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower

 

[Sweet Jesus]

Nice team ium, I notice 3 important weaknesses. First off, hazards, you mentionned toxic spikes but all hazards can harm you a lot. Second weakness, you have no ground resist or immunity at all and your only rock resist fears ground. Last thing is nothing in your team has over 70 speed considering absol is adamant and your main priority is sucker punch which leaves you weak to fast fighting and opposing dark pokes (especially jolly absol). This also means once mushy is gone, CB sawk is basicaly outspeeding and ohko'ing everything in your team with only rocks support. All in all, you seem to rely a bit too much on mushy to take on pretty much anything with over 70 speed and a decent attack stat (cb braviary, kanga, cinccino, tauros, sawsbuck, sawk, scarf rampardos and most of all zangoose who can even cut through mushy).

I would suggest replacing samurott, although it's a great poke that brings important kills, it doesn't seem to have that much synergy with the rest of the team really. Haunter would seem a cool option, it has a very strategic speed to take on the some of the preivously mentionned threats. It's nice immunities can really help mushy to take on normal and ground monters. Sub disable is also a good way to fool choice locked pokes that your team can't always withstand. Haunter is also a king when it comes at doing job through heavy hazards. It would still leave you a bit weaker to smash costa and cincinno considering the loss of aqua jet.

I'm generaly not too good at team rates, hope it helped :)

 

[watashi]

!compliment

running a bulkier spread on golem can help you with the fast, bulky threats you mentioned. 200 hp will be sufficient since outpacing smashkoal is still important. you'll miss out on beating golurk, but that's risky business anyways since a lot of them run enough speed to beat garbodor.

ground-types are a bit trickier to deal with, but you could try running ludicolo over samurott. it's not the best answer defensively to them, but having a resist to the type could help you in a tight situation. even if you don't make the switch taunt is generally a better choice on samurott. aqua jet is very situational and forces you to sacrifice bulk. taunt can serve to get you out of tight situations and prevent hazards from being set up, which is a huge benefit for this team.


summary of changes:

bulkier spread on golem
samurott —> ludicolo or aqua jet —> taunt on samurott

 

[WhiteDMist]

Nice team ium! FLCL, I think you meant to add in Timid nature as well for your change.

After testing your team out a bit, I have to say that your team likes to maintain as much health as possible since it is so slow (meaning it usually has to tank a hit), so I'd recommend changing Life Orb on Absol for Dread Plate. You still get most of the KOs that you had before, but now you live somewhat longer. Since you have no Wish support or method to prevent hazards (outside of Samurott/Ludicolo), maintaining as much HP as possible can't hurt. If you are willing though, I would even recommend Lum Berry as your item in order to defeat problematic Pokes such as SubWisp Gardevoir and Misdreavus.

Both Ludicolo and Haunter are good suggestions from my fellow raters. Ludicolo gives you a method of stopping a few prominent Rock setters from setting up too easily, and gives you a speedy sweeper to go along with Fraxure. Haunter gives you a check to Psychic, Ground, and Fighting types, and its SubDisable shenanigans forces quite a few switches. However, I feel Ludicolo works better for this team, since it provides an extra check to opposing Water types as well. This team doesn't have enough hazards to truly abuse Haunter to its fullest, so sticking with something that helps deter being set up on is far superior. As a cherry on top, in the Rain, it still beats Carracosta.

Changes:

Absol: Dread Plate/Lum Berry>Life Orb
Ludicolo>Samurott

 

[IceSpade]

Awesome team ium. Your team has decent synergy, but there are a few things that might give you trouble.
Zangoose (and some other Normal types) can give you trouble, it outspeeds everything, and it also has priority to counter Absol and Samurott, which means that with some prior damage it can sweep your team. Golem can counter it, but without Leftovers it is going to get OHKOed by Close Combat if SR is on the field. I suggest Armaldo over Golem, it walls Zangoose and a few other Normal types, and has Rapid Spin to remove hazards.
Fast Fighting types, especially Sawk, can also give you trouble. You have Musharna but once it is down then you're going to be swept by Sawk. Also with Armaldo you are going to be more weak to Flying types. Scarf Rotom-S is the best answer to both, it can outspeed Sawk and Swellow, and resists Brave Bird from Braviary.
You can also try Haunter and Ludicolo (as has been said), but Ludicolo can't take on Fighting and Flying types effectively. Haunter is pretty good though.
Again, nice team, and I hope I helped with it. :P
Changes:
Golem->Armaldo
Samurott->Scarf Rotom-S

 

[ium]

I would suggest replacing samurott, although it's a great poke that brings important kills, it doesn't seem to have that much synergy with the rest of the team really. Haunter would seem a cool option, it has a very strategic speed to take on the some of the preivously mentionned threats. It's nice immunities can really help mushy to take on normal and ground monters. Sub disable is also a good way to fool choice locked pokes that your team can't always withstand. Haunter is also a king when it comes at doing job through heavy hazards. It would still leave you a bit weaker to smash costa and cincinno considering the loss of aqua jet.

yeah i tend to play musharna very conservatively and use it as a pivot in certain situations (such as an incoming skuntank), so i try to use moonlight whenever necessary.

while haunter is a good pokémon, i don't think i feel comfortable opening up an even bigger weakness to piloswine. i may test it out although it's a really hard fit onto this team.

ground-types are a bit trickier to deal with, but you could try running ludicolo over samurott. it's not the best answer defensively to them, but having a resist to the type could help you in a tight situation. even if you don't make the switch taunt is generally a better choice on samurott. aqua jet is very situational and forces you to sacrifice bulk. taunt can serve to get you out of tight situations and prevent hazards from being set up, which is a huge benefit for this team.

i have tested taunt samurott before, and taunt vs aqua jet on samurott has been more of a "i wish i had x move in y situation" kind of thing. they are both very useful to be quite honest, but yes i already know of the general utility with taunt and i may as well just stick with that.

FLCL, I think you meant to add in Timid nature as well for your change.

it's okay; it was implied anyway.

After testing your team out a bit, I have to say that your team likes to maintain as much health as possible since it is so slow (meaning it usually has to tank a hit), so I'd recommend changing Life Orb on Absol for Dread Plate.

...

I feel Ludicolo works better for this team, since it provides an extra check to opposing Water types as well. This team doesn't have enough hazards to truly abuse Haunter to its fullest, so sticking with something that helps deter being set up on is far superior. As a cherry on top, in the Rain, it still beats Carracosta.

as a response to both you and flcl: ludicolo is definitely something worth testing so that i don't have to rely on musharna too much. i'll try it whenever i can.

also, i'll run some calculations with dread plate absol; it looks pretty good i guess. i haven't exactly needed extra staying power on absol though, but i suppose it can prove useful in some cases.

Awesome team ium. Your team has decent synergy, but there are a few things that might give you trouble.
Zangoose (and some other Normal types) can give you trouble, it outspeeds everything, and it also has priority to counter Absol and Samurott, which means that with some prior damage it can sweep your team. Golem can counter it, but without Leftovers it is going to get OHKOed by Close Combat if SR is on the field. I suggest Armaldo over Golem, it walls Zangoose and a few other Normal types, and has Rapid Spin to remove hazards.
Fast Fighting types, especially Sawk, can also give you trouble. You have Musharna but once it is down then you're going to be swept by Sawk. Also with Armaldo you are going to be more weak to Flying types. Scarf Rotom-S is the best answer to both, it can outspeed Sawk and Swellow, and resists Brave Bird from Braviary.

although armaldo can rapid spin, it gets worn down way too fast without wearing zangoose down equally as fast. armaldo has to switch into hazards, and a defensive variant sometimes has a hard time spinning, while zangoose can simply switch out if it wants to.

rotom-s does look interesting though, but the argument of "once musharna is down, you lose to sawk" is a matter of how i play. if i lose musharna when i know there is a sawk around, then that is my fault. i am a little skeptical about using rotom-s when it opens up a further weakness to ground-types like piloswine and pressures me to save musharna even more. it may be worth testing i suppose, but i am not sure if i see its effectiveness in this case.

thanks for the suggestions all. :)