Intro
Hello and welcome to my very first thread here in Smogon! I've been an avid Pokemon player since the very first gen, but only got into "competitive" back in gen IV (as in learned about EVs, IVs and tried some old simulator). I've been able to reach 1600s rating in randoms on Showdown, which is not that much, but made me very proud. I like to theorycraft a lot so expect me to post more of these. Also, since its my first post here (tho I'm used to forums in general), be gentle about bs I may or may not write, and forgive any misspelling and/or awkward translations.
Now, without further delay, lets get to the
Team Building Process
Since we all start wanting to fit an specific Pokémon on a team, I wanted to go Magmortar. Magmar was always my fav poke, since the Seismic Toss Charizard thing on the anime, and NU is the only current way Magmortar sees any usage at all.
After playing around with someshitty teams, I found that Magmortar is but a one trick pony with Overheat, and Choice Scarf Fire Blast isn't nearly as good as Eruption Typhlosion, even with the 15 diff in spatk. So, since Magmortar was just a weaker version of the fire starter, I've changed my core to him.
Now after playing around with Typhlosion I lost quite a bit of matches only because I wanted to feel him, to know what he can and can't do. I know I could simply get this info by searching some damage calcs in the interwebs, but ehh. I came to the conclusion that, in the tier, if Typhlosion can deal more than 50% to a target, he is good to go. It gets even better with Wish support, for pokes that can take at least one Eruption and ruin the fun of the next ones, like pretty much any priority moves. But to make things even better and easier for me, I've picked up a Rapid Spinner of my liking, Sandslash, who was also the hazard user.
After that, I had to address four weaknesses of a regular Fire type: Dragon, Fire, Rock and Water. So, for my defensive core I've picked up Dragalge to straight up tank enemy Typhlosions and Pyroars, which are really the biggest offensive threats of the tier. He also can soak Water damage with his awesome stats, but common Waters usually carry Ice moves for coverage against Grass. This proved to be a trouble, notably Feraligatr, since Dragalge is more of a special wall, so I've also added Articuno, who could provide some support with Defog and Heal Bell while also dealing with Ground users, that both Typhlosion and Dragalge have trouble with.
Next step was adressing the lack of a real physical wall, since Articuno could switch into EQ but would be insta gibbed by a Stone Edge next turn. I went for Furfrou because of his passive. I realize he cant deal anything back but Toxic, but I found him to be ok for momentum gain with U-Turn. I also had Chesto Rest on him to soak status.
Last I found Cacturne to be quite interesting. He was a reliable lead with Spikes, an ok setup stopper (since Sucker Punch is not that reliable) and a nice coverage for bulky Psychic and Ghost which are pretty common in any tier. Also Psychic immunity was pretty badass because Dragalge.
Now Articuno was the first to get sacked because SR hurts him too much and I needed my SR up at all times, so Defog was counter productive. He also couldn't do that much damage. I tried pretty hard to fit Cryogonal, who is also a monster on the tier, but ended up with Storm Drain Cradily to deal with the Feraligatr issue. Of course, Ice Punch hurts as heck, but with Defense investment (since its spdef is already high).
Also, since Cradily can set up SR, I thought about sacking Sandslash. I mean, most of the hazard setters in the tier are Levitating. All I could do was mindlessly spam Rapid Spin and/or Knock Off. So I felt like needing an EQ user that could also do more for foe Dragalge (which I perceive like one of the best all around poke in NU, borderline broken really). Well, there is Golurk, who can pretty much break any wall, even the physically defensive ones. And, for the Rapid Spin / Defog spot, I had to swap someone else...
I found Armaldo to be an actual threat to most hazard setters, not only because of Rapid Spin. He could also hurt the likes of Uxie, Cacturne and what not. What he couldn't hurt, he also had no trouble defensively. He made my Cacturne kind of redundant since Bug hits Psychic all right and Golurk could take care of Ghosts. Also most Ghosts are physical walls (but Mismagius) anyways, so even Typhlosion could go in and wreck.
Lastly, since Cradily was doing good as the physical wall, Furfrou is overlaping. This one last spot is pretty much open. I have three pokes with an Ice Weakness, but I really liked the option to U-Turn on such an ofensive team, so I've opted for Xatu. His stats are pretty bad, but he can simply sit on any special wall and stall them out. Another noteworthy thing is how good Xatu is against Hariyama and its thick fat. I also thought of Audino for Wish passing, but I don't seem to make him work well for me.
The Team
Typhlosion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Eruption
- Flamethrower
- Extrasensory
- Hidden Power [Ground]
I chose him over Pyroar because lets face it, he is far superior. Extrasensory gives me a way to hurt a little bit Hariyama and Dragalge on switch, but I think in both cases its a 3hko. Hidden Power Ground is to avoid Flash Fire, as no Fire type in NU has a common Air Balloon set. Flamethrower is better than Eruption at 59% HP and is there to abuse Blaze if possible. Another option would be HP Grass to dent opposing water type, but since I focused in getting around those with the rest of the team, I felt like HP Ground was a better option.
Dragalge @ Assault Vest
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Hydro Pump
- Sludge Bomb
- Draco Meteor
This guy is so resilient its not even funny. It could even take some STAB SEs and live to tell the story, while also able to deal some back. I usually just spam Sludge Bomb hoping for poison proccs, since most things won't stay trying to take him down. Dragon Tail sometimes give me a free switch, but is mostly to phaze out sweepers trying to set up.
Golurk @ Choice Band
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Shadow Punch
- Ice Punch
- Drain Punch
I don't really know how much I need him, since I have Xatu to sit on walls, but I do know how much I like him. Sometimes it's even kind of retarded how hard he hits. As said above sometimes, I really feel like I need a strong EQ in NU, even with the vast amount of stuff that are immune to it, which is bad since Golurk is Banded. I suppose I could just use either Expert Belt or Life Orb? I'm not really confortable with those... Maybe Seismitoad?
Cradily @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Giga Drain
- Toxic
- Recover
This one has been one of my favs even when I used to run a Sand Excadrill team back when it wasn't banned last gen. The ugly plant-mon-thing can run a vast array of sets, and still be usefull. I could swap SR with a Rock move, but really I use it mostly to scare Waters away with my boost. I wonder if Leafeon would do a better job than it even without Storm Drain on checking Feraligatr. Or even Qwilfish.
Armaldo @ Leftovers
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- X-Scissor
- Stealth Rock
Sometimes I use him as a lead when I know there is a Psychic trying to spit hazards, of course to try and get rid of them. Knock Off on predicted switches if you don't feel like its someone trying to set up on you or to dent spinblockers. Solid poke indeed.
Xatu @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Calm Mind
- U-turn
- Psyshock
- Roost
I'm not really sure about this one. He loves to go into the likes of Dragalge, Hariyama and Weezing, but fears Cacturne and Lanturn. I liked Audino and Liepard here, but not that much. Since he is the newest member on the team, I don't really know how far he can go or other move sets. I don't really like to try and setup this way since the switch in will most likely scare me away, so I mostly just click U-turn.
Conclusion
Import
Hello and welcome to my very first thread here in Smogon! I've been an avid Pokemon player since the very first gen, but only got into "competitive" back in gen IV (as in learned about EVs, IVs and tried some old simulator). I've been able to reach 1600s rating in randoms on Showdown, which is not that much, but made me very proud. I like to theorycraft a lot so expect me to post more of these. Also, since its my first post here (tho I'm used to forums in general), be gentle about bs I may or may not write, and forgive any misspelling and/or awkward translations.
Now, without further delay, lets get to the
Team Building Process
Since we all start wanting to fit an specific Pokémon on a team, I wanted to go Magmortar. Magmar was always my fav poke, since the Seismic Toss Charizard thing on the anime, and NU is the only current way Magmortar sees any usage at all.
After playing around with some
Now after playing around with Typhlosion I lost quite a bit of matches only because I wanted to feel him, to know what he can and can't do. I know I could simply get this info by searching some damage calcs in the interwebs, but ehh. I came to the conclusion that, in the tier, if Typhlosion can deal more than 50% to a target, he is good to go. It gets even better with Wish support, for pokes that can take at least one Eruption and ruin the fun of the next ones, like pretty much any priority moves. But to make things even better and easier for me, I've picked up a Rapid Spinner of my liking, Sandslash, who was also the hazard user.
After that, I had to address four weaknesses of a regular Fire type: Dragon, Fire, Rock and Water. So, for my defensive core I've picked up Dragalge to straight up tank enemy Typhlosions and Pyroars, which are really the biggest offensive threats of the tier. He also can soak Water damage with his awesome stats, but common Waters usually carry Ice moves for coverage against Grass. This proved to be a trouble, notably Feraligatr, since Dragalge is more of a special wall, so I've also added Articuno, who could provide some support with Defog and Heal Bell while also dealing with Ground users, that both Typhlosion and Dragalge have trouble with.
Next step was adressing the lack of a real physical wall, since Articuno could switch into EQ but would be insta gibbed by a Stone Edge next turn. I went for Furfrou because of his passive. I realize he cant deal anything back but Toxic, but I found him to be ok for momentum gain with U-Turn. I also had Chesto Rest on him to soak status.
Last I found Cacturne to be quite interesting. He was a reliable lead with Spikes, an ok setup stopper (since Sucker Punch is not that reliable) and a nice coverage for bulky Psychic and Ghost which are pretty common in any tier. Also Psychic immunity was pretty badass because Dragalge.
Now Articuno was the first to get sacked because SR hurts him too much and I needed my SR up at all times, so Defog was counter productive. He also couldn't do that much damage. I tried pretty hard to fit Cryogonal, who is also a monster on the tier, but ended up with Storm Drain Cradily to deal with the Feraligatr issue. Of course, Ice Punch hurts as heck, but with Defense investment (since its spdef is already high).
Also, since Cradily can set up SR, I thought about sacking Sandslash. I mean, most of the hazard setters in the tier are Levitating. All I could do was mindlessly spam Rapid Spin and/or Knock Off. So I felt like needing an EQ user that could also do more for foe Dragalge (which I perceive like one of the best all around poke in NU, borderline broken really). Well, there is Golurk, who can pretty much break any wall, even the physically defensive ones. And, for the Rapid Spin / Defog spot, I had to swap someone else...
I found Armaldo to be an actual threat to most hazard setters, not only because of Rapid Spin. He could also hurt the likes of Uxie, Cacturne and what not. What he couldn't hurt, he also had no trouble defensively. He made my Cacturne kind of redundant since Bug hits Psychic all right and Golurk could take care of Ghosts. Also most Ghosts are physical walls (but Mismagius) anyways, so even Typhlosion could go in and wreck.
Lastly, since Cradily was doing good as the physical wall, Furfrou is overlaping. This one last spot is pretty much open. I have three pokes with an Ice Weakness, but I really liked the option to U-Turn on such an ofensive team, so I've opted for Xatu. His stats are pretty bad, but he can simply sit on any special wall and stall them out. Another noteworthy thing is how good Xatu is against Hariyama and its thick fat. I also thought of Audino for Wish passing, but I don't seem to make him work well for me.
The Team
Typhlosion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Eruption
- Flamethrower
- Extrasensory
- Hidden Power [Ground]
I chose him over Pyroar because lets face it, he is far superior. Extrasensory gives me a way to hurt a little bit Hariyama and Dragalge on switch, but I think in both cases its a 3hko. Hidden Power Ground is to avoid Flash Fire, as no Fire type in NU has a common Air Balloon set. Flamethrower is better than Eruption at 59% HP and is there to abuse Blaze if possible. Another option would be HP Grass to dent opposing water type, but since I focused in getting around those with the rest of the team, I felt like HP Ground was a better option.
Dragalge @ Assault Vest
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Hydro Pump
- Sludge Bomb
- Draco Meteor
This guy is so resilient its not even funny. It could even take some STAB SEs and live to tell the story, while also able to deal some back. I usually just spam Sludge Bomb hoping for poison proccs, since most things won't stay trying to take him down. Dragon Tail sometimes give me a free switch, but is mostly to phaze out sweepers trying to set up.
Golurk @ Choice Band
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Shadow Punch
- Ice Punch
- Drain Punch
I don't really know how much I need him, since I have Xatu to sit on walls, but I do know how much I like him. Sometimes it's even kind of retarded how hard he hits. As said above sometimes, I really feel like I need a strong EQ in NU, even with the vast amount of stuff that are immune to it, which is bad since Golurk is Banded. I suppose I could just use either Expert Belt or Life Orb? I'm not really confortable with those... Maybe Seismitoad?
Cradily @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Giga Drain
- Toxic
- Recover
This one has been one of my favs even when I used to run a Sand Excadrill team back when it wasn't banned last gen. The ugly plant-mon-thing can run a vast array of sets, and still be usefull. I could swap SR with a Rock move, but really I use it mostly to scare Waters away with my boost. I wonder if Leafeon would do a better job than it even without Storm Drain on checking Feraligatr. Or even Qwilfish.
Armaldo @ Leftovers
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- X-Scissor
- Stealth Rock
Sometimes I use him as a lead when I know there is a Psychic trying to spit hazards, of course to try and get rid of them. Knock Off on predicted switches if you don't feel like its someone trying to set up on you or to dent spinblockers. Solid poke indeed.
Xatu @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Calm Mind
- U-turn
- Psyshock
- Roost
I'm not really sure about this one. He loves to go into the likes of Dragalge, Hariyama and Weezing, but fears Cacturne and Lanturn. I liked Audino and Liepard here, but not that much. Since he is the newest member on the team, I don't really know how far he can go or other move sets. I don't really like to try and setup this way since the switch in will most likely scare me away, so I mostly just click U-turn.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this team has been working all around pretty well although I understand this is not 100%. I have some trouble with Lanturn, who can take a +1 Giga Drain just fine and usually packs Heal Bell (which I'm currently lacking), said Ice Weakness, since I can't really switch Typhlosion into anything without Wish passing, and giving away one pokemon to switch him in is not an option since nothing guarantees me that this Ice user is going to stay. I really feel like I need EQ for Fire, Poison and Steels, but Golurk can be played around just fine with a Levitate and a Normal type. Of course I can predict this, but not always.
Import
Typhlosion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Eruption
- Flamethrower
- Extrasensory
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Dragalge @ Assault Vest
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Hydro Pump
- Sludge Bomb
- Draco Meteor
Golurk @ Choice Band
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Shadow Punch
- Ice Punch
- Drain Punch
Cradily @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Giga Drain
- Toxic
- Recover
Armaldo @ Leftovers
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- X-Scissor
- Stealth Rock
Xatu @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Def / 188 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- U-turn
- Psyshock
- Roost
Ability: Blaze
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Eruption
- Flamethrower
- Extrasensory
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Dragalge @ Assault Vest
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Hydro Pump
- Sludge Bomb
- Draco Meteor
Golurk @ Choice Band
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Shadow Punch
- Ice Punch
- Drain Punch
Cradily @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Giga Drain
- Toxic
- Recover
Armaldo @ Leftovers
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- X-Scissor
- Stealth Rock
Xatu @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Def / 188 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- U-turn
- Psyshock
- Roost
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