Resistance is Feralitile

[Cleezy]

Welcome to my RMT!

So I just wanted to make a team with two of my favorite Pokemon of all time, they were both in a tier which I'd never played before so I decided it was time for me to venture from OU and Randbats, dig a little deeper into PS and try out RU. I'll admit, OU gets boring (Cookie-cutter teams and what not); I had fun in RU, it has a ton of my favorite Pokemon and the teams are a lot less predictable. Alas, this is not about RU, this is about my team which needs some help.

FERALITILE

(Changes will be shown in red)

The Core:

Feraligatr @ Life Orb
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Return
- Swords Dance

Sceptile @ Life Orb
Trait: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Focus Blast
- Substitute

An old standard of mine is that I don't like two types of Pokemon, starters and legendaries. Sceptile and Feraligatr are two exceptions to this rule. I like the way they compliment each others weaknesses, Sceptile being fast, specially offensive and grass; Feraligatr being slow(er), physically offensive and water. I've always loved both of their designs and concepts so I thought why not make them an offensive core to and RU team.

Suggested by Silvershadow234: As per suggested, I opted Return over Crunch on Feraligatr and Substitute over Synthesis on Sceptile because Crunch wasn't helping much against anything and Sceptile is far too frail to be using Synthesis in the first place.

The Secondary Muscle:

Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 88 HP / 252 SAtk / 168 Spd
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Wave

Aerodactyl @ Life Orb
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Roost
- Taunt
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

I know these probably aren't the best Pokemon to compliment my cores weaknesses, but I'm new to the tier and these seemed like obvious and viable choices. How can you pass up on Sheer Force Nidoqueen, she's got a bit of bulk and she's got great coverage; I find her useful in cleaning up before unleashing Feraligatr on a team. Aerodactyl on the other hand, I like to use as a lead before bringing in Sceptile; It's fast, it's powerful and it has some moves that get rid of Sceptiles low coverage points fairly easily.

Suggested by Silvershadow234: I leveled out Nidoqueen's EVs because her bulk wasn't doing much for her and she needed a bit of speed to get past a few base 55s that were tearing her up; I also pushed Taunt over Double-Edge because Taunt gave Aerodactyl more of a utility than just a strong attacker since Double-Edge wasn't giving much damage in the first place.

The Coverage:

Bouffalant @ Leftovers
Trait: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
- Substitute
- Head Charge
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

Uxie @ Lum Berry
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave

Suggested by Silvershadow234: One thing pointed out by Silver was that I had no Stealth Rock to put on the field, the second was that I was walled ferociously by Calm Mind Cresselia; The former, is fixed by adding a quick Lum Berry Uxie which can also help in the defeating of Cresselia as well as setting up my Stealth Rocks, crippling with Thunder Wave and keeping momentum with U-turn. Both great suggestions and exactly what I was hoping for whilst writing this RMT.

Suggested by Yoko7: After some testing, Durant wasn't exactly pulling his weight, he was too frail and the fire weakness was abundantly abused. Yoko suggested running Sap Sipper Swords Dance Bouffalant instead. My team had a little trouble hitting grass types and Bouffalant remedied this by still 2HKOing Cresselia after a boost and absorbing Grass moves with Sap Sipper and setting up on the switch, overall a great addition to the team.
​

Well, that's my team. Please, please, please criticize. It's my first RU Team as well as my first RMT, any and all help is appreciated; Just try not to change the core, as that is the whole reason the team came to be. Moveset, EV and secondary Pokemon switches are greatly appreciated, thank you! :).

Importable:
(Changes will be in red)

Hide

Feraligatr @ Life Orb
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Return
- Swords Dance

Sceptile @ Life Orb
Trait: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Focus Blast
- Substitute

Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 88 HP / 252 SAtk / 168 Spd
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Wave

Aerodactyl @ Life Orb
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Aqua Tail
- Taunt
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Bouffalant @ Leftovers
Trait: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
- Substitute
- Head Charge
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

Uxie @ Lum Berry
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave

The Expedited:

The (Original) Coverage:

Durant @ Lum Berry
Trait: Hustle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor
- Superpower
​

The (Original) Support:

Cryogonal @ Light Clay
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Rapid Spin
- Recover

Sigilyph @ Flame Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Cosmic Power
- Psycho Shift
- Roost
- Stored Power
​

 

[ss234]

Hey there. This seems like a pretty solid team, however there are some weaknesses.

First of all, you lack Stealth Rock. Stealth Rock is vital in RU, as it allows you to weaken huge threats such as Archeops and Moltres among others, and without them you are going to have a really tough time against them, since they can easily come in and fire off a powerful hit with little consequences. You are also going to have significant trouble against Smeargle offence teams, as they can easily spore one pokemon, and set-up hazards with ease. Becuase you lack Stealth Rock, it can set-up hazards later as well with an intact Focus Sash.

Therefore, I recommend using fast Lum Berry uxie over Sigilyph. This set guarentees that Smeargle will only get up one layer of hazards, as you are faster than it and 2HKO it. Uxie also provides Stealth Rock for your team, allowing you to slowly weaken powerful threats such as Moltres, instead of letting it deal heavy damage to aerodactyl and then come back in later with no counters to worry about. Uxie also helps out against the likes of Endure + Reversal Hitmonlee, which Nidoqueen falls to, as well as other fighting types. The reason I put it over Sigilyph is that Sigi isn't doing all that much for your team at the moment, apart from stalling the opponent, and it also ruins all of the momentum on this team.

Another huge weakness your team has is Cresselia. It walls every single member and can quite easily set-up Calm Minds on Nidoqueen and Sceptile, and you can't do anything back to it. Therefore, I recommend running Lum Berry Durant over Cryogonal. You only have one Stealth Rock weak Pokemon, and apart from that Cryogonal isn't needed at all, especially as it increases your Escavalier weakness. Durant packs immense power after a +1 boost, which it can quite easily get against many of Uxie's counters. From there, Durant is very difficult to deal with. Thanks to it's immense power and Bug STAB, it can weaken Cresselia to the point where it can no longer deal with Nidoqueen, Sceptile or anything else on your team-even Uxie can easily U-turn out of it and finish it off.

Now for a few small changes with the ev spreads and move sets. Feraligatr really wants to be running Return over Crunch, as return allows it to hit Poliwrath for relatively good damage. Crunch is only really hitting Cresselia for big damage, and even then it isn't going to be 1HKO ing Physically Defensive Cresselia at +2, so is a 2HKO just like Waterfall is. You also want to be running 252 Speed on Gatr, as Gatr is then able to 1HKO Nidoqueen with Waterfall, and the extra bulk isn't doing all that much.

For Sceptile, Synthesis really isn't worth it, as Sceptile is too frail to recover it's health reliably without losing even more in the process. I recommend running either Substitute or Leaf Storm over Synthesis. Substitute is an excellent move on Sceptile, allowing it to 2HKO Escavalier without fear of a Megahorn(as long as Focus Blast hits twice), as well as stopping it from Pursuiting you. Because Sceptile is so fast and powerful it forces a lot of switches, which means you can often get of an easy hit against things that like to switch in on sceptile, such as the aforementioned Escavalier and Druddigon. Leaf Storm is a sort of nuke button, as it is incredibly powerful. it is able to 1HKO the likes of Poliwrath and Lanturn and Slowking with ease, opening up the path for Durant and Feraligatr. Both are great choices, and it's really up to you which one to go with.

Next up is Nidoqueen. 252 HP is a really bad idea on nidoqueen, as then it is outsped by the likes of Omastar and Crawdaunt, which queen should be smashing through. Although the extra bulk is nice, it's not that great of a trade off when it means you are being beaten by things such as SubTect Glaceon that you should be out speeding and destroying. 88 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Spe is the optimal Nidoqueen spread IMO-this allows you to out speed max speed base 55's and Modest Glaceon, as well as have a little bulk leftover allowing you to beat Escavalier and the like.

Finally, we come to Aerodactyl. There isn't all that much to say about this, as the set is pretty standard as a LO attacker. However, I don't think that Double-Edge is really worth it, as it is rarely more powerful than your STAB attack and coverage options-really, the only thing it is hitting for more damage is Poliwrath, and Aerodactyl still isn't hitting that very hard. I recommend running either Taunt or Roost over this-Taunt helps against things like Cosmic Power Sigilyph and Cresselia, while Roost allows you to recover more health. I personally prefer taunt, as it makes aerodactyl a great stall breaker and makeshift stop to numerous boosting sweepers and walls.

Here are a summary of the changes and movesets:

Hide

Small Changes:
Feraligatr
252 HP--->252 Speed
Crunch--->Return
Sceptile
Synthesis--->Leaf Storm / Substitute
Nidoqueen
252 HP / 252 SpA--->88 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Speed
Aerodactyl
Double-Edge--->Taunt / Roost

Team changes:
Sigilyph--->Uxie
Cryogonal--->Durant

Sets:
Uxie @ Lum Berry
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave

Durant @ Lum Berry
Trait: Hustle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor
- Superpower

Hope I helped and GL with the team.

 

[Cleezy]

Thanks a ton for the suggestions Silvershadow234, they were exactly what I was hoping for by writing the RMT. I put all your suggestions in red as well as giving you credit for the changes, I'll be testing the team either now or later tonight.

All I'm wondering now is if there are any better item or nature changes that could be done. I'll probably be working on a threat list sometime later this week. Thanks again :).

 

[Yonko7]

Hiya Cleezy, I like your team; Feraligatr is really underrated and one of the better starter Pokemon!

Well now on to your team. Silvershadow gave excellent advice, so I'm assuming you going with his changes! I notice that Grass-types really give you a hard time. For example, Feraligatr can't do anything to Tangrowth or physically defensive Amoonguss. Similarly, Sceptile--your other sweeper--also has a hard time, because it has nothing to hit them with, as Focus Blast does null has most are dual Poison-type, and Hidden Power Rock isn't even effective. So two of your end-game finishers (Feraligatr and Sceptile) are blocked by Grass-types. Sure Nidoqueen can hit them with a Fire Blast, but a good player won't risk their Tangrowth, Roselia, or Amoonguss to Nidoqueen. It's true that Uxie has Psychic, but most teams have a way to bypass this, and they all have Hidden Power Fire to maim Durant with. Additionally, with Crunch gone on Feraligatr, Cresselia becomes an ever annoying force, because most won't stay in on Durant anyway in fear of X-Scissor. I don't see Durant being as useful as it is on paper, which is its main flaw as well! Its 80 Base Power STABs hit as strong as Primeape's Close Combat.

To help remedy all these problems, I suggest Bouffalant to replace Durant.

Bouffalant

Bouffalant@Leftovers
Adamant | Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Substitute
- Head Smash
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

Thanks to Sap Sipper, Bouffalant can easily switch into Grass-type attacks, such as, Spore, Sleep Powder, and any other Grass-type attack, and gain +1 in Attack. This means that Bouffalant can switch into any of the aforementioned Grass-types and proceed to set up a Substitute as they switch out. Sceptile isn't too much of a problem because you have Aerodactyl, which outspeeds and hits with Stone Edge. Also, to help with your Cresselia problem Bouffalant is EVed in such a way to always outspeed the floating duck--the uninvested Speed variants anyway. Because Bouffalant outspeeds, it can set up a Substitute on a predicted Thunder Wave and then proceed to set up a Swords Dance, or hit Cresselia if already at +1 thanks to Sap Sipper. Your gameplan depends on if Bouffalant has a boost or not.

Calcs

{Sap Sipper Boost}
+1 252+ Atk Bouffalant Head Charge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 183-216 (41.21 - 48.64%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

{Swords Dance Boost}
+2 252+ Atk Bouffalant Head Charge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 243-286 (54.72 - 64.41%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

{Sap Sipper & Swords Dance Boost}
+3 252+ Atk Bouffalant Head Charge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 304-358 (68.46 - 80.63%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Now onto the rest of your team. The rest are only going to be minor changes. On Aerodactyl Aqua Tail doesn't have too much utility, or in other words, use. Aqua Tail's main purpose is to hit ideally Rhydon, which is handled really well by Feraligatr, Sceptile, and Nidoqueen. Aerodactyl can hit Pokemon like Steelix hard with Earthquake, so Aqua Tail isn't that helpful in that endeavor. Therefore, I suggest Roost as a replacement. As with Taunt already, defensive Pokemon have a hard time taking on Aerodactyl if they lack a super effective attack. Additionally, you don't have a "safe" switch-in to Fire-types such as Entei and Moltres. By safe I mean one that can come in repeatedly if needed. As it is now, Aerodactyl won't be able to switch in too many time due to Stealth Rock and lack of recovery. However, Roost helps to fix this problem, as it effectively extends the dinosaur's longevity. Another changes that you could make is Rock Slide over Stone Edge. The accuracy of Stone Edge could make anyone wanna kick a wall, and Rock Slide has better accuracy and the flinch rate could be useful. Just a suggestion.

Summary

->

Durant -> Bouffalant

Aerodactyl
Aqua Tail -> Roost
Optional: Stone Edge -> Rock Slide

Hope I helped ^.^ Feel free to VM me if you need help.

 

[Cleezy]

Thanks for the suggestions Yonko7, love the avatar, love one piece and I love Bouffalant. It's probably one of my favorite BW Pokemon. I also like the idea of Roost and Rock Slide over Aqua Tail and Stone Edge. Extra Accuracy is always good and Aqua-Tail was a bit redundant. As for that little Bouffalant, how would Megahorn over Earthquake work, do you think? it could usually OHKO Cressalia as well as murder all the grass types it switches into. The accuracy is a little lower but I think I already have enough ground coverage. What do you think?

 

[Yonko7]

Well the purpose of Megahorn is to hit Psychic-types really hard like Slowking and Cresselia. However, a +2 Head Smash and +2 Megahorn both 2KO, so there isn't too much of a difference. Although, the difference is seen when Bouffalant gets +3, in this case, Megahorn has 50% chance to OHKO 252/252 Cresselia, whereas Head Smash still 2KOs. However, I think the cases where Bouffalant can get +3 is exceedingly rare, whereas +2 can still happen most of the time. Also, Earthquake is useful to hit Steelix and other Pokemon that are weak to Earthquake, without suffering from recoil. Grass-types can't do much to Bouffalant anyway thanks to its decent bulk and their STAB being neutralized.

So the main question is, how confident are you that +3 is possible. In most cases, I'd go with +2 because it still gets the job done.


+1 252+ Atk Bouffalant Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 244-288 (54.95 - 64.86%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+1 252+ Atk Bouffalant Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 41.21 - 48.64%

+2 252+ Atk Bouffalant Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 324-382 (72.97 - 86.03%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+2 252+ Atk Bouffalant Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 54.72 - 64.41%

+3 252+ Atk Bouffalant Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 406-478 (91.44 - 107.65%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

+3 252+ Atk Bouffalant Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 68.46 - 80.63%




Hope that cleared something up! ^.^

 

[Cleezy]

Absolutely did! Earthquake will stay :). Thanks for the suggestions! I've been trying to test as much as possible but nobody seems to be doing the RU ladder.

 

[ChadMurrow]

Tried ur team, liked it ALOT. Been laddering very well in RU and i love the way this team counters ANYBODY thinking u can run over any team with lilligant. Allowed to use it for youtube uploads?

 

[Cleezy]

Sorry for the very very late reply but go ahead and use it as you please, it's a fun team :).