RU?

[HonestConman]

Hello Smogon. So, it seems to be that every second RMT I post is a good one, and this being my fourth, I'm hoping that the trend will continue :) anyways, recently, I've been focusing more and more on making teams based around coverage. Coverage really is king in competitive battling, and, combined with a little common sense and knowledge of threats, it makes a team unbeatable. I previously used this knowledge to my advantage in creating a team based around (of all things) CB Hitmonchan, phazing Steelix, and Dragon Dance Crawdaunt, and it was damn near unbeatable at times. The team I've created here is equally as awkward (the title being a reference to the fact that half the members are NU, and most of the sets are slightly unconventional), but is still very powerful nonetheless. However, help is always appreciated where it can be given. So without further ado, here we go!

At a Glance:

The Team:​

Sandslash @ Leftovers
Impish Nature
EVs: 200 HP, 56 Atk, 252 Def
Ability: Sand Veil
-Stealth Rock
-Rapid Spin
-Toxic
-Earthquake
Someone made a statement on an earlier RMT that Aggron was the happiest Poke since Gligar disappeared from RU. I disagree. Since Gligar's banning, Sandslash has become the new bulky Ground type in the tier, along with being an SR user and a Rapid Spinner in the same Poke, something this team loves to death. Sandslash matches up very nicely with most leads from the other team, walling Aerodactyl even if a Taunt gets set up, forcing Rotom-C into using either Trick or Leaf Storm and making Sawsbuck's day, and just generally hurting other things with Toxic and a decently powerful Earthquake. Max Def is for resisting things, bringing him to a grand total of 350 Def with Impish nature, 56 Atk ensures that Earthquake can at least do some damage, and HP gets the rest and generally increases survivability

Slowking @ Leftovers
Calm Nature
EVs: 184 HP, 16 Def, 56 SpA, 252 SpD
Ability: Regenerator
-Yawn
-Scald
-Psychic
-Slack Off
Look at that stupid grin. Makes you want to hurt him, doesn't it? Well, guess what? You can't. Troll as he is, Slowking does so much for this team, laughing at Moltres and Typhlosion, phazing out sweepers with Yawn (or just plain putting them to sleep), and just generally being Sandslash's special equivalent. Seriously, their EV spreads are almost mirrors (the extra defensive EVs being their just in case Slowking needs to take on a physical threat like Hitmonlee or Entei), and their respectve attacks and defenses are exactly the same. The set is a bit weird, but it works very well. Yawn, as I said, is for disruption, Slack Off makes for great recovery and durability in combination with Regenerator, and dual STAB allows Slowking to be able to dish out a decent amount of pain if need be. Scald burns are always appreciated too. EV spread works around pretty much the same logic as Sandslash's does.

Aggron @ Choice Band
Adamant Nature
EVs: 240 HP, 252 Atk, 16 Def
Ability: Rock Head
-Head Smash
-Earthquake
-Ice Punch
-Low Kick
In all honesty, for all the work Aggron does in RU, he's actually the most replaceable member of the team. That's not to say that the team doesn't appreciate his help, or that he doesn't do work from time to time, it's just that he doesn't really get too many opportunities to reach his full potential. Aggron really does have great synergy with the team, particularly with Drifblim, but he's dreadfully slow and has two of the most inconvenient double weaknesses in the game. Still, Head Smash is Head Smash, Earthquake hits lots of things heavily, Ice Punch screws over the unfortunate Druddigon, and Low Kick takes care of what Aggron loses from not having a reliable Steel STAB. The EVs ensure Aggron hits like a truck, reaches a very respectable 400 Def, and has HP to survive a lot of brawls.

Drifblim @ Flame Orb
Modest Nature
EVs: 240 HP, 252 SpA, 16 SpD
Ability: Flare Boost
-Protect
-Shadow Ball
-Hidden Power Fighting
-Charge Beam
Ah, Flare Boost Drifblim. So overlooked, yet so incredibly deadly. In keeping with the theme of compliments and coverage started with Sandslash and Slowking, Aggron and Drifblim work together incredibly well. Flare Boost gives Drifblim an enormous amount of Special power when it's active, easily enough for a Shadow Ball to one-shot pretty much anything that doesn't resist it or have some form of SpD investment. Protect allows me to ensure that I get burned instead of toxic'ed or para'ed or some other dreadful status that doesn't help me, and HP Fighting gives me perfect coverage in tandem with Shadow Ball. Charge Beam is an expendable move: it gives me more SpA on occasion and hits a few things nicely, but overall is too weak to be abused, especially since Drifblim's survivability is limited by all the passive damage it takes. EVs work pretty much the same way as Aggron's do, although it should be noted that Drifblim reaches a very nice 501 HP with this set. Food for thought

Sawsbuck @ Choice Scarf
Adamant Nature
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Ability: Sap Sipper
-Double-Edge
-Horn Leech
-Megahorn
-Nature Power
Serious question for everyone: why isn't Sawsbuck at least RU? The sub set is already a massive threat, and Adamant Scarf is just plain deadly. This thing may as well be holding a sniper rifle in its paws: it picks off so many things before they even have time to respond. If you don't have priority or defensive investment, don't even try to beat it. Being immune to Grass attacks also eases the burden of dealing with Sceptile and Tangrowth immensely. Double-Edge and Horn Leech are a tremendous dual STAB combination, Megahorn hits opposing Grass types, and Earthqu-, er, Nature Power beats Steels that think they can switch in on me. EVs are obvious: maximize Atk and Spe, and the 4 extra don't matter. This thing simply does way too much work.

Absol @ Lum Berry
Jolly Nature
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Ability: Super Luck
-Swords Dance
-Sucker Punch
-Night Slash
-X-Scissor/Psycho Cut
Rounding out the team is possibly one of the most deadly late-game sweepers straight out of NU: Lum Berry Absol. Take away an opposing Steel type (or Fighting, if I'm running X-Scissor) and the sweep is on. This thing also spits in lead Typhlosion's face, getting off a Sucker Punch no matter what and stopping Eruption from doing so much damage. The formula is easy: come in off a free switch or on a status that Lum Berry can absorb, set up an SD or two, and proceed to win the game. It's that simple. Two STABs are necessary, as Sucker Punch does nothing to a stalling or incapacitated Poke, plus the fact that Night Slash works beautifully with Super Luck, but the final move is questionable, as both have their shortcomings. EV spread works on the same logic as Sawsbuck's does, though Absol doesn't have the benefit of a Scarf, so I run Jolly to keep up with slightly faster things.

Well there you have it: a solid team with extremely good coverage. Not perfect, but very good in my eyes. Have at it, Smogonites!​

 

[spuds4ever]

This is a decent team you have here. By the way, if you'd noted that the person who said aggron was the happiest bunny was using a sub-rise set which sandslash can't touch, then I think my statement would become more clear :). Speaking of that set, it completely flattens this team right now but it's a rare enough weakness to keep around.

Sceptile, on the other hand, isn't. All the opponent has to do is make a weeny prediction on the sawsbuck switch (i.e, HP fire or focus blast it on the switch) and your team will get mauled pretty badly. Drifloon will die to HP ice or rock as well, both of which are pretty common.

You speak of synergy in your team, but you seriously need some better synergy between your defensive members. I would suggest Mandibuzz over Drifblim who will give you a really solid back-up wall for sandslash and slowking to deal with things like sceptile. If you wanted to make the core even sturdier, you could go for steelix over sandslash who still checks the same things but covers galvantula and the like as well as aggron better than sandslash and can even beat the sub-rise set if you go for some offensive investment and gyro ball. I don't think you'd miss rapid spin too much seeing as you only have one SR weakness.

If you want a wall-breaker over aggron, I would suggest you run sub-punch Hariyama (the set on site is pretty good).

Good luck laddering! :)

 

[HonestConman]

This is a decent team you have here. By the way, if you'd noted that the person who said aggron was the happiest bunny was using a sub-rise set which sandslash can't touch, then I think my statement would become more clear :). Speaking of that set, it completely flattens this team right now but it's a rare enough weakness to keep around.

Sceptile, on the other hand, isn't. All the opponent has to do is make a weeny prediction on the sawsbuck switch (i.e, HP fire or focus blast it on the switch) and your team will get mauled pretty badly. Drifloon will die to HP ice or rock as well, both of which are pretty common.

You speak of synergy in your team, but you seriously need some better synergy between your defensive members. I would suggest Mandibuzz over Drifblim who will give you a really solid back-up wall for sandslash and slowking to deal with things like sceptile. If you wanted to make the core even sturdier, you could go for steelix over sandslash who still checks the same things but covers galvantula and the like as well as aggron better than sandslash and can even beat the sub-rise set if you go for some offensive investment and gyro ball. I don't think you'd miss rapid spin too much seeing as you only have one SR weakness.

If you want a wall-breaker over aggron, I would suggest you run sub-punch Hariyama (the set on site is pretty good).

Good luck laddering! :)

Thank you for all the tips! I meant no offense at all by my comment about Aggron, I simply meant that Sandslash is becoming increasingly popular with it gone.

In my experience, Sceptile isn't a problem. The prediction you noted is, as you stated, quite obvious, and is solved by switching in Drifblim instead, or simply sacking something and then switching in Sawsbuck, since most people seem to expect the Sub set, or Absol, who I think is naturally faster than most special Sceptiles. The physical set is laughable: it has little to nothing to beat Sawsbuck.

Speaking of Drifblim, he's simply too valuable to replace on the team. He's my most solid check to Accelgor, he's the only real special sweeper on the team, and serves as a secondary special tank if be as well.

I will definitely try out Hariyama or Steelix, though I'm a little leery about replacing Sandslash. Drifblim doesn't take kindly to an extra 25% damage when he's already losing 12% to burn every turn, and this team switches more often than you'd think, so the damage tends to rack up. Still, thanks again for the help, and I'll certainly take a few suggestions for a spin :)