RU: Pokemon of Warcraft

[Kawaii Kyouko]

Hello folks. I am Gennosuke Fujiki, also known as Kawaii Kyouko on PS, and I'm here to bring you an RMT of my current RU team. Now, as an introduction, I like to think of myself as a decent player and I like to think that my opinions and thoughts generally have atleast some value, so do consider the pick of each pokemon before discarding them completely. I'm not very good at describing how a pokemon is very good, though, so please be patient with me in that regard (It's because I'm too lazy to spend an hour thinking off every intricate part of the mons). I'm sorry if I come of as a braggy person, but I am kind of arrogant of nature, so yeah :/

With that introduction done, let's get to the very team itself. The base idea of the team was to get the best use out of Life Orb Kyurem, through an offensively oriented team. That thought changed quickly though, as while Kyurem remained, his offensive companions were thrown away one by one and the team ended on a defensively leaning specter. But, now that Kyurem got banned (;_;), I had to find a fitting fit in Tornadus. Quite well and done... problem is, the team now has two weak links. They were good fits before, but now they're lacking, and I need to grasp for new ideas. As such, this RMT is more of a cry for aid, as I sadly cannot think of any mons to fit straight away. Anyways, the baseline and goal of the team is to whittle the opponent's team until Tornadus can come in and clean up. I'd like to keep the team with that intention, as I feel Tornadus is a very solid S rank RU mon atm, as well as him being cool and hip. Don't argue it, his stupid design is glorified.

Fyi: I see no point at all in making a teambuild thingy, so if you want one, you'll just have to force me to expand on the very pokebios.

The Team​

Thrall (Tornadus) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Air Slash
- Heat Wave
- Grass Knot
- U-turn
​

First Pokemon in would be the Striker, the finisher; Thrall the Tornadus. His calm words of comfort will comfort the nature and maintain the balance, only going out on a strike when it is utterly needed. While he may not be the commander of the team, he is still the win condition, and with good reasons. He sports probably one of the best offensive monotypings in the game, and this is further enhanced by his more than stellar offensive stats in 115/125/111 and fairly decent movepool. In RU, he is definitely a threat that you need to prepare for, as Air Slash alone hits most of the tier with unresisted damage. Heatwave and Grass Knot fills in for the empty spots by beating the steel and rock resistances. Finally, U-turn is used for momentum grabbing.. though it's only used in rare occasions. The few times I use him mid-game, or even early-game, is when I want to pop a Rhyperior with Grass Knot, as he proves to be an issue for the entire team in general, but beyond that he's reserved for the end.

Valeera (Liepard) @ Leftovers (F)
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Taunt
- Encore
- Thunder Wave
- Knock Off
​

The second member, the sneaky and roguelike Valeera, the underappreciated fighter. She sticks to the shadows, all her strikes always only made of crafty ways to cripple the opponent members. At the end of the day, her tricky abilities is the support this team truly needs, as her ability to adapt into any situation with ease makes her the true captain. The match follows her pace, always, and her grace on the field is a joy to the eye. With her vicious taunts, she can disrupt opposing teams that rely on plans, like stall, and with Encore you can stop powerful setup sweepers from ruining your team. Thunder Wave is a strong tool to use against teams such as SmashPass and general offense that relies on fast mons, as well as disrupt opposing sweepers that have been given a setup chance. And finally Knock Off removes potential passive recovery, additional bulk, additional firepower or additional speed, allowing the team to wear down the opponent even faster. With a specially defensive setup will SubCM/Scarf Raikou always fail on the 2hko with tbolt, meaning that she can cripple the Raikou even further, or 115 SpA mons in general.

Uther (Cobalion) @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
​

In the third spot, the noble and just Uther strolls in, his chin high and his righteous ways bringing justice to the battlefield. His simple presence bolsters the morale of his friends, his just causes strikes awe in his peers... and his fury puts all foes at bay. Fact is, the righteous ways have granted him the power to not only break through various powerhouses, but also to provide the team with rocks of justice. He will head into a close melee on command, he will hit you with his metallic head or he will cause you to tremble and will be unable to support your team from his mighty roars. With his training supporting a more offensive role, he holds no hostages in advantageous positions, and he grants no losses in disadvantageous ones. He truly is the champion the team needs.

Jaina (Moltres) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Flamethrower
- Roost
- Substitute
- Hurricane
​

Jaina, the proud fiery bird of hope, her presence on the battlefield sparks the fire in all hearts. You could consider her the Queen of the Field, as she simply refuses to die whilst hampering any opponent from harming her friends. But while her will is fiery, her combat style is calm and delicate, planning out every next move with great caution. Because she does not rely on throwing heavy damage in the opponent's face; no, she relies on wearing them down and force them out due to fatigue. As long as Jaina is on the field, the opponent will cry from frustration knowing that he or she cannot break her eternal guard without thinking ahead of her wall. But one wrong move might lead you to eat a Flamethrower or Hurricane straight to the face, as she foregoes a Substitute or a Roost for a turn or two. With a specially defensive build will she be able to combat most bulky waters and stall them out completely, meaning that she puts them in a lose-lose situation. Indeed, this Jaina truly applies pressure to the opponent's team, if you get my drift.

Anduin (Gligar) @ Eviolite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog
​

And then we come to the mons that are starting to fall behind the rest of the team; Anduin and his not-so-good friend Gul'dan. But Anduin has one role, one very important role, in this team; keeping hazards away from my side of the field. By removing rocks, he improves the capabilities of both Jaina and Thrall magnificently, allowing them more switches and more importantly for Jaina, she can check a lot more things without rock damage. A most important role, and that is why Anduin is the "cleric" of this team; he may not heal status as a cleric does, but he does remove debuffs that otherwise harms his team. A total teamplayer that is willing to die for the team if the need arises. He poisons the mons with Toxic, he nabs a few slow-pivots with his U-turn, and he is capable of recovering any lost damage with Roost in the process. He is also the go-to Rhyperior switch-in, as he can tank anything bar Ice Punch.

Gul'dan (Haunter) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Trick
- Destiny Bond

​

The final pokemon to embrace this team is a pokemon known for his love for shadows, and pranks, and general evil nature. Gul'dan is around, spreading horror and fear amongst the opponent, as well as disrupting enemy movements when time is nigh. His function was to combat the archetype stall in the very early RU meta, something he did very well, but RU stall has already left in many ways. With TrickScarf potential, he could disrupt a wall like Registeel from doing major harm (and instead taking it), as well as steal pokemon's lefties or eviolites. With Scarf Destiny Bond are you capable of revengekilling anything that could prove to threaten your team (given that Gul'dan outpaces, of course) and is generally used for that; no one sees it coming. But Gul'dan cares not for speed, he wants power. He lusts for it, enough to the point that he is modest about it (which is kind of counteractive, but w/e) and he does this to his heart's content through utilizing the Shadow Ball's and Sludge Bombs. He can be a threatening pokemon, but alas his role has been stolen by fellow Valeera. Sad day for Gul'dan, indeed!



That is the team, a simple show-off. I'll bring some replays of the team with kyurem around to give you an idea on how the major part of the team works, aside from kyu of course, as well as pack a tiny threatlist with very obvious threats.

Threatening mons imo

Rhyperior - If I do not have Torn in on him, then he'll always get value out of his turn in.
Raikou - Seriously, I have so few options to this. SubCM is least threatening as Liepard beats it, but specs/life orb/scarf can, and will, destroy me when it get's the chance.
Exploud - Well, this is an obvious one, but without any ways to ohko it, as well as pp stall his booms, am I forced to check it through switches; if rocks are up, it's more or less gg
Clawitzer - I really do not have any switch-ins to this thing, and if played right it will claim a kill everytime it gets a chance to, sadly.

I can't think of any immediate others, but you might be able to see some holes in the team as well.

lemme brag with replays imo

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/rubeta-112485121 A recent match with Torn instead of Kyu. You see Liepard carrying the team against this guy, although him not being a total pro.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/rubeta-107554124 Another match where Liepard truly shone and kept him in check. Stally, yes, but it shows off the simple pressure Liepard adds onto a team
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/rubeta-107498727 Moltres destroys a man's life

Importable

Thrall (Tornadus) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Air Slash
- Heat Wave
- Grass Knot
- U-turn

Valeera (Liepard) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Taunt
- Encore
- Thunder Wave
- Knock Off

Uther (Cobalion) @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SAtk
Naive Nature
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Close Combat
- Iron Head

Jaina (Moltres) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Flamethrower
- Roost
- Substitute
- Hurricane

Anduin (Gligar) (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 204 Def / 252 HP / 52 Spd
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog

Gul'dan (Haunter) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Trick
- Destiny Bond

So ye, that's the team in this early meta. I hope to receive some opinions on it, and I also dearly hope you see the purpose of every mon (and every mon that could find a home here)

 

[BLOOD TOTEM]

Watched this a couple of times on the ladder and it's hella solid.
The threats you mentioned are kinda tough to handle but I can't think of any great answers to them, for now you have Choice Scarf Destiny Bond Haunter as a last resort but ideally you'd probably fare better with something a little more solid in the back.

A couple of quick fixes I can recommend.

• Taunt > Volt Switch on Cobalion, If you're choosing Volt Switch you can easily just be double switching, it works exactly the same and means you can use Taunt which is really good. It doesn't matter if you have it on Liepard too, having more than one instance of Taunt is fine.
• Give Tornadus a nature. Whatever +Spa -Atk is should be fine, U-turn will still be able to pick off weakened threats fine as well as add a little chip damage to other stuff. If you really don't want to drop Atk go -Def. Neutral natures are ass =]
• Your team struggles to break bulky walls, consider Toxic over Earthquake on Gligar, most of the things that EQ hits can be handled just fine by using U-turn and pivoting into one of your other threats.

That's all fren, hope I helped =]

Edit: I swear there was no nature on Torn when I first looked at this :>

 

[Kawaii Kyouko]

Watched this a couple of times on the ladder and it's hella solid.
The threats you mentioned are kinda tough to handle but I can't think of any great answers to them, for now you have Choice Scarf Destiny Bond Haunter as a last resort but ideally you'd probably fare better with something a little more solid in the back.

A couple of quick fixes I can recommend.

• Taunt > Volt Switch on Cobalion, If you're choosing Volt Switch you can easily just be double switching, it works exactly the same and means you can use Taunt which is really good. It doesn't matter if you have it on Liepard too, having more than one instance of Taunt is fine.
• Give Tornadus a nature. Whatever +Spa -Atk is should be fine, U-turn will still be able to pick off weakened threats fine as well as add a little chip damage to other stuff. If you really don't want to drop Atk go -Def. Neutral natures are ass =]
• Your team struggles to break bulky walls, consider Toxic over Earthquake on Gligar, most of the things that EQ hits can be handled just fine by using U-turn and pivoting into one of your other threats.

That's all fren, hope I helped =]

Well, I'll try out Taunt then.
Tornadus is timid mang, r u blind fren :]
I've already touched that thought a lot. I never really use EQ anyways, so it's a good idea. Synergizes well with SubRoost too.

 

[Sleepless]

Well, mainly I just want to note after watching the replay with Liepard, I really like this set and it really might shine in this metagame! (Although personally I dislike it being specially bulky but I understand the reason being checking Raikou)
Other small nitpicks, Prankster on full attacking Tornadus is useless. You have one physical move so you might as well run Defiant as it can also scare the opponent if you switch into Defog/Seed Flare and it will pressure the opponent to switch as you U-turn and gain momentoum.
Small things you should consider is Gligar being total Taunt bait so you might consider switching Toxic or something for U-turn but it's how you see fit. Also, Moltres might enjoy the extra power from Fire Blast over Flamethrower.
I will be sure to try Liepard in RU, this set or another. :)

 

[Kawaii Kyouko]

Well, mainly I just want to note after watching the replay with Liepard, I really like this set and it really might shine in this metagame! (Although personally I dislike it being specially bulky but I understand the reason being checking Raikou)
Other small nitpicks, Prankster on full attacking Tornadus is useless. You have one physical move so you might as well run Defiant as it can also scare the opponent if you switch into Defog/Seed Flare and it will pressure the opponent to switch as you U-turn and gain momentoum.
Small things you should consider is Gligar being total Taunt bait so you might consider switching Toxic or something for U-turn but it's how you see fit. Also, Moltres might enjoy the extra power from Fire Blast over Flamethrower.
I will be sure to try Liepard in RU, this set or another. :)

Please, do try it! I really encourage people to try it, as it is such a great overall check to.. well, half the meta. And I chose Specially Defensive as the meta is really leaning towards special attackers (shaymin, raikou, slowking, Milotic, badumbeebadumboo) currently (I feel speed on a support set is pretty useless, unless you really want to taunt Lead Meowstic-M's screens), but of course you can try out other options. I'm trying to figure out a cool little EV spread currently, but yeah, until I've found something spot-on good I'll use this. Also, you may try to speedcreep it to beat 0 or 4 Speed Whimsicott, if you want.

Yeah, Defiant is better. I didn't really think of it, as I chose to have Taunt there first and I kinda forgot to switch abilities. Changed!

Gligar does have U-turn there. Tox/Turn/Defog/Relax

The problem I have with Fire Blast over Flamethrower is the PP whittle. In times where it's a stallwar between Moltres and something like Aromatisse, the PP really makes the difference. I would carry Fire Blast if it wasn't for that, really.

 

[Kawaii Kyouko]

nice team but you need a rapid spinner or a defog user like Claydol
Claydol @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Psyshock
- Toxic

I have Defog Gligar.