Research Week - USUM Edition [Week 4]

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Hi, I would like to share my thoughts on Ninetales. This is a mon I've been trying for a while now, and I was really happy to see it here on Research Week.
My approach to it was to fit it in a sun squad, which I'll provide in the end with a description. I've talked a bit about how Ninetales and Venusaur synergize with more details here.
Ninetales, mainly while holding Firium Z, is a really potent wallbreaker. After some two Nasty Plot's it already can OHKO a Blissey with Firium Z. With that in mind, I thought it would really complement Venusaur, as they have common checks and Ninetales provides sun for it. But Ninetales' power could fit a lot of teams that enjoy special wallbreaking in general.
Also, it's important to notice how Hypnosis helps it break stuff better (and helping Venusaur too in the context of my team). While it's pretty clear what Solar Beam does, Hypnosis is a bit overlooked: Ninetales can really force switches, and although it's 60% accurate, if we assume your opponent switches and your Ninetales is faster than the opposing mon, it'll have a chance to hit it twice, meaning it's actually an 84% chance of putting a very likely counter that tried to absorb your hit to sleep.
With this in mind, I do recommend people to try it. I've been using it for 2 weeks now and it's really fun to see Blissey's dropping to a special move. I'll probably try it in a build not focused around Ninetales + Venusaur, because I'm very sure its raw power is enough to fit some builds.
Also, another point I'd like to notice: Although the idea was to build around Firium Z Ninetales specifically, a sun team like mine really appreciates it holding a Heat Rock. Although it doesn't hold a nuke, it still hits hard and gives Venusaur more turns to set-up and clean. So, if you would like to test my team, I'd recommend you to try making Ninetales Heat Rock and Venusaur Poisonium Z, which I've personally enjoyed a bit more, as it also helps Venusaur to break well without taking recoil. But the team is still fun to run even with Firium Z Ninetales. Also be sure to read the description if you'd like my thought process on building the team. Thanks for reading.
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Ninetales @ Firium Z
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Solar Beam
- Hypnosis

Venusaur @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Growth

Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Roost

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Roar
- Stealth Rock

Muk-Alola @ Assault Vest
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Poison Jab
- Fire Punch

Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Haze
- Roost
- Defog
My first thought with Ninetales was attempting a sun build - which ended up as what I'd call a semi-sun build. Looking at the initial core consisting of Venusaur + Ninetales, I felt like I really needed something to pressure Chandelure, as any set could give me a lot of trouble. Because of that, I decided to pick Alolan Muk as a partner, making Chandelure always feel pressured and also giving me a good Latias switch-in.
Now with 3 mons, I realized sun could really backfire at me, as Scarf Infernape would roll through my team once Ninetales was weakened. With this, I decided to go with Swampert, giving me a nice rocker, a Mega-Manectric answer, A Stakataka answer, and mainly a reliable fire resist.
My next pick was Mega-Aerodactyl, because of the before mentioned fire resistance, but also being a reliable bird resist, taking less damage from Water attacks under sun and being a great mon in general. It's Mega-Aero, not much to explain: Nice coverage, incredible speed, great cleaner. Also granting me a normal resist is nice.
With all of this, I felt the need of a defogger. If I could I'd just run Mandibuzz + Chandelure, as I also felt I was Cobalion weak, a bit Scizor weak and a bit Serperior weak (the latter two ones are kinda true still, but they can be played around.). I decided to go with Mantine, granting me another one of those fire resists and a solid Cobalion answer, while also being a nice check to most Scizor checks. Also can spam haze in case Serperior really pressures it (although not the greatest tech, still can save the team sometimes). Probably I may have missed a point on my thought process (I'm very tired haha) but I think that sums up pretty well. Please also try Heat Rock Ninetales + Poisonium Z if you really feel like testing the team, it really makes Venusaur's job potentially easier.
Some replays showcasing Ninetales (I have some other interesting replays but I'll try to focus on the ones where Ninetales shines):
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-687409171 - helping versus veil because of drought
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-689856034 - getting a kill on Celebi and providing Sun for Venusaur
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-689705898 - I sadly lost this one game because of a misclick on turn 40, but it was really fun and shows how Ninetales is very hard to switch into, making it break through Amoonguss
 
And with that, Week 3 is over. Apologies again for the delays. Congratulations to 'sei. for winning the week, as well as his very well thought-out research!

Stealth Rock Alolan Marowak saw decent success, but with some limitations that can lead to it being quite disappointing for some builds. SuperVegeta20 utilized a more bulky set, but found that it could only find opportunities to set up Stealth Rock early game, and even then found spamming Shadow Bone to be a better use of those turns. Wascally Wabbit used a more bulky set that utilized Marowak's defensive qualities, namely its uncanny ability to punish VoltTurn and apply immense pressure early-game through its power and decent bulk. They capitalized on this by utilizing Pokemon that are generally vulnerable to things like Mega Manectric and Cobalion, such as Mega Absol and a Cobalion of his own. However, the more offensive approach of their team as a whole went to show just how much support Marowak requires as a slow, Stealth Rock weak Pokemon, as it forewent hazard control entirely and dedicated itself to benefiting from Marowak's support as an early-game wallbreaker, instead of the other way around. 'sei. utilized a far faster Marowak, but emphasized that it can be quite an awkward Pokemon to build with, due to how much it necessitates hazard support, how much it struggles to keep up Stealth Rock in the face of Defoggers like Gliscor, and how easy it is to scare out in general. However, he did find it very capable of finding opportunities early-game to set up Stealth Rock and apply pressure in the face of more passive Pokemon like Amoonguss.

Ninetales proved to be a brutal wallbreaker, though it was only explored in detail by Darksafadao. Its ability to break through common checks with a sun-boosted Z-Move, as well as punish opponents for pivoting into Latias, Mantine, etc with Hypnosis, makes it a very effective balance and stallbreaker

Tsareena tested by Sage of the 6 this week, who was surprised by its effectiveness as a spinner. Its ability to at least pressure most hazard setters and spinblockers with its strong Power Whip and Knock Off gave it a niche over Serperior, the more prominent Grass-type remover, which struggles to be an immediate threat. They also got a lot of mileage out of Tsareena's priority immunity, as being a hard check to Azumarill and other priority users meant it didn't have to worry bout being put into range of Aqua Jet.

Here is week 4's selection:

Nidoqueen @ filler item
Ability: filler ability
EVs: filler evs
filler nature
-
-
-
-

Hoopa @ filler item
Ability: Magician
EVs: filler evs
filler nature
-
-
-
-

Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: filler evs
filler nature
- Substitute
-
-
-

Nidoqueen returns again. It was subject to research in the last iteration of Research Week, and has since dropped to RU. Substitute Nidoking sets are common as ways to punish Offense and Balance teams, and there is little reason to use a similar set for Nidoqueen. However, this Pokemon may have potential yet, particularly in its bulkier sets, and we would like for you all to explore that.

While it is not a stellar Pokemon, with its 4x weakness to Pursuit and low speed tier being exploitable, Hoopa is incredbily strong. However, supporting Hoopa does not seem easy. With Alolan Muk being as common as it is, and several other Pursuit users such as Krookodile and Aerodactyl existing, Hoopa often finds itself struggling to do well. Finding a working constellation for Hoopa could prove difficult, but that is exactly why it needs to be researched.

The idea behind Substitute Mega Aerodactyl is similar to Substitute Nidoking: it is not uncommon for these Pokemon to force a sack from the opponent, and then get revenge killed by a Pokemon of their choice. None of the revenge killers are very sturdy, however, and this is what Substitute attempts to capitalize on: get the Substitute, then claim two KOs instead of one. On top of that, many Gliscor do not deal well with Mega Aerodactyl, with Toxic oftentimes being their only way of touching them. This should provide Aerodactyl with plenty of setup opportunities, and lets it hopefully do a great job at picking apart opposing Offense and Balance teams.

If you want to participate, sign up with a fresh (USM) RW alt and remember to share your research and thoughts on the Pokemon in question. The deadline will be Sunday, Jan 29th, 11:59 pm GMT+1. Me or my co-host Ark will check your elo then to determine who won, and post the new week. We hope to see some interesting teams and hope you all have fun!
 
Last edited:
I don't think I'll be any higher on the ladder with this alt, so I'm going to post my research now.


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Nidoqueen @ Leftovers
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
Why this set?
Nidoqueen doesn’t fulfill the same role as a wallbreaker like her partner Nidoking does. Instead, by looking at it’s stats, I realized she has very good defensive power, reaching 383 HP 300 DEF/SPDEF with a bold/calm nature, use her as a check to Mega Manectric (a very common mon right now in the ladder), Muk, Syleon, etc. She also has decent coverage: Ice Beam hits flying types, Sludge Wave hits fairy types and Earth Power is there to hit steel types. She also learns thunderbolt (bolt beam coverage!) and Fire Blast, to hit the somewhat rare Bronzong.

Nidoqueen @ Leftovers
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Defog
- Roost
- Thunder Wave
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 40 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Protect
- Scald
- Substitute
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Clear Smog
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Bell
- Seismic Toss
- Wish
- Toxic
Cobalion @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- Rock Polish
I decided to run a balanced team with a Nidoqueen + Togekiss core: Nidoqueen provides rocks and one of its main checks is Latias; Togekiss provides defog to keep the field clean and also deals with Latias. Both are weak to Scizor, so I paired them with CM+tect cune. Blissey works as a cleric, since cune is weak to toxic and Togekiss is has a paraflinch set, Cobalion is a late game sweeper with double dance and Amoonguss has the main role of checking Azumarill, that is a very strong threat to this team.
Some of those were from ladder games, some where from tournaments
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-694419868
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-694400262
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-694373773
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-694166750
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-694129946
 
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retrowaves said:
I don't think I'll be any higher on the ladder with this alt, so I'm going to post my research now.


nidoqueen.gif

Nidoqueen @ Leftovers
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
Why this set?
Nidoqueen doesn’t fulfill the same role as a wallbreaker like her partner Nidoking does. Instead, by looking at it’s stats, I realized she has very good defensive power, reaching 383 HP 300 DEF/SPDEF with a bold/calm nature, use her as a check to Mega Manectric (a very common mon right now in the ladder), Muk, Syleon, etc. She also has decent coverage: Ice Beam hits flying types, Sludge Wave hits fairy types and Earth Power is there to hit steel types. She also learns thunderbolt (bolt beam coverage!) and Fire Blast, to hit the somewhat rare Bronzong.

Nidoqueen @ Leftovers
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Defog
- Roost
- Thunder Wave
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 40 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Protect
- Scald
- Substitute
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Clear Smog
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Bell
- Seismic Toss
- Wish
- Toxic
Cobalion @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- Rock Polish
I decided to run a balanced team with a Nidoqueen + Togekiss core: Nidoqueen provides rocks and one of its main checks is Latias; Togekiss provides defog to keep the field clean and also deals with Latias. Both are weak to Scizor, so I paired them with CM+tect cune. Blissey works as a cleric, since cune is weak to toxic and Togekiss is has a paraflinch set, Cobalion is a late game sweeper with double dance and Amoonguss has the main role of checking Azumarill, that is a very strong threat to this team.
Some of those were from ladder games, some where from tournaments
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-694419868
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-694400262
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-694373773
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-694166750
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-694129946
Click to expand...
I really like this set, but I’d like to add that Sheer Force > Poison Point is better to give Queens attacking moves a bit of a boost in power, which helps with wearing down stuff like Togekiss and Alolan Muk. I’ve also used defensive Queen with a Sassy Nature with EQ > Earth Power because it hits Alolan Muk a lot harder, but EPower is usually better most likely for better damage on like every other target.
 
I used Nidoqueen this week. I used an offensive, bulky Stealth Rock setter for a Bulky Offense team.

I really loved this set. Nidoqueen is a reliable Stealth Rock setter that can efficiently wallbreak against offensive teams. It also grants offense a good and reliable switch-in to Fairy-types, such as Sylveon and Klefki.

The team I used was a pretty big success, too. The offense team I used was a spikestacking offense that utilized the core of Kyurem + Azumarill, which is really dangerous right now. With Spike support from Klefki, and with Nidoqueen providing a reliable switch-in to the kinds of Klefki and Sylveon, the team got me some pretty good wins.



Although the team was made before the suspect test started, I still think that it is a good idea to provide the team I used so I could show how I believe Nidoqueen should be used on offensive teams.
 
Another week has concluded, and we have a winner, which we will announce in a week from now. Due to the ongoing suspect test, we will be suspending Research Week and resuming once the suspect ladder is gone. Thank you for your patience!
 
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