Gen 1 Ryan Started The Fire! - Fire Spam [RBY NU]

[pac]

​

Hello! I'm one of the most prolific players of RBY NU (both my Ladybug and Contributor badges are mainly from NU Analysis work), and there's a playstyle that's been close to my heart for a long time now. That playstyle is Fire Spin + Toxic spam, known as "Fire Spam" by the RBY Community. The goal of this is to spread Toxic around, and then chip and outmaneuver constantly with Fire Spin. Its a very unique, and very controversial, way to play RBY, and hasn't really been replicated completely in any other Smogon tier. This will serve as a guide and example for those willing to partake in this. It is obviously not optimized, and is very likely subpar compared to what builds we will inevitably come up with. However, I've used it to good effect. Some consider this team broken, some degenerate, and some think it's inconsistent rng dogshit. Either way, it is a fun team to mess around with and abuse.

Teambuilding Process ​

When building a team revolved around Fire Spin and Toxic, one must obviously look at Fire Spin users. In NU, there are 4 good ones (5 if you include Flareon who's bad).

​

For this team, Moltres is going to go. The goal of Fire Spam is to brute force through your opponent with fast offensive pressure by outspeeding all of their threats and pivoting/chipping around them. Moltres tying with Mr. Mime is problematic for this, while Zard Tales and Rapidash are basically Dragonites that have already set up Agility (the only mons that keep up with their speed are themselves, Arcanine, Scyther (lol), and Electrode who is frail and easily countered with Golem.) We need Charizard to help versus Kabutops and Golem thanks to its Earthquake, Rapidash to contest other Fires due to its crazy fast Toxic and Fire Spin, and Ninetales so that if we get unlucky and one Fire dies we can keep up the pressure. That leaves us with three more slots to fill the team.

This rocky boi is an obvious fit for our team, with its monstrous boom and EQ opening holes for abuse, decimating through checks like Blastoise and Kabutops that switch in, as well as being a check to Electrode which threatens our Spinners with scary Paralysis.

The turtle is going to be a very important defensive backbone, with 3x Fires and Golem opening up lots of holes versus the equally plentiful Waters of the tier. Its also a great mon to spread Toxic with, as your opponent is likely going to switch in Pokemon that Fires can have trouble breaking through otherwise like Kabutops and their own Blastoise.

And its the Tier-King! As our Pokemon to help sweep and clean after Fire chip and the like, its an obvious choice. Its coverage is the best to handle the wide array of endgame threats that may still be present, with its checks like Clefable and Exeggcute unlikely to last until that point. It also helps nail some of the mons that can be tricky for Fires thanks to TBolt and Special Drops from Psychic.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Team

Ryan (Rapidash)
- Fire Spin
- Fire Blast
- Hyper Beam
- Toxic​

Rapidash outspeeds every common lead, so its the obvious pick for our lead to get the momentum going. You can nail Venomoths with Fire Blast, spread Toxic to your opponent's Fire Spinners to cripple them, or just pivot out of annoying stuff like Mr. Mime and Poliwhirl. Hyper Beam is your finisher move, doing okay damage versus stuff like Blastoise. Use Toxic to help support your opposing Spinners (or Rap). If you can use Rap to spread Toxic to multiple separate mons, deem it a success as you can now break through stuff way easier.

Jim (Charizard)
- Fire Spin
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake
- Slash​

Charizard is what makes the team work, tearing through checks like Kabutops with Earthquake and fellow Fires with Slash. Combine this with its own respectable Speed tier in its own right, as well as a Ground immunity, this thing is a beast. Put it at #3 on my VR for a reason, it kinda just breaks the rules of the Fires. This thing doesn't have room for Toxic, so this is gonna be the mon your other Pokemon support. Charizard and Mr. Mime are common partners for the endgame sweeping scenarios, with Charizard covering some things and Mr. Mime covering the others.

Dwight (Ninetales)
- Fire Spin
- Fire Blast
- Hyper Beam
- Toxic​

Rapidash #2, Electric Boogaloo, but this team with better stats besides Speed. Its got the best Special of the crew, meaning it has the strongest Fire Blasts and Fire Spin while taking the least from Surfs and stuffs. Its not as essential or unique compared to the other ones, but we need a third Fire and Moltres is too slow.

Kevin (Golem)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
- Substitute​

It's a bit sad to see the former OU powerhouse down here, but its good for the team. It handles Electrode well, and its big and meaty. Its a simple mon, just kinda slap em with STAB QuakeSlide and BOOM. Note that Sub and Toxic are both moves I use on this guy regularly, its a bit confusing because Toxic contributes to the team more but its kinda redundant, but Substitute isnt that great, and Body Slam means that whatever u para cant be hit with Toxic. In general, you wont need the 4th move that often.

Stanley (Blastoise)
- Hydro Pump
- Blizzard
- Toxic
- Rest​

Chunky turtle soup here is just here to big pump and spread some toxins. Its the one defensive backbone this team has in every matchup (Golem is too but only versus Trode teams), so play it carefully. Don't be scared to Toxic the opposing Blastoise and just hard switch to Fires, it seems scary but if you just piss around and play the mirror you're going nowhere, and if you freeze war them they're just gonna switch into a Fire Blast and thaw out.

Michael (Mr. Mime)
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave​

If you've played NU, you know how this guy goes, he's on every team. Sting with Psychic, Sting with TBolt, annoy your Exeggcutes with Seismic Toss, and then spread some Paralysis. Same shit, different day. This guy is your main sweepy sweeper alongside Charizard.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
General Team Strategy
​

This team is another one of my funny Hyper Offensive teams. Play to it!

Make aggressive trades:​

With three different wincon buttons you can press, making aggressive trades with one of them will many times win games, moreso than in most games. If you have to trade your 60% Rapidash to land a Toxic on Kabutops, DO IT! Its the best way for this team to win, as the team is very frail and unsound requiring very specific lines and plays.

Pivot Around:​

If you stay in with Charizard clicking Fire Spin like a UU AgiliWrap Dragonite clicking Wrap, they're gonna PP stall yo ass and keep waking up their Resting Blastoise. If you keep moving around between your Fires, that sleeping Kabutops has to face Charizard EQ which kills decently quickly.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flaws
​

This team can be very inconsistent, even if some games it just tears through. A poorly timed Fire Spin miss or the opponent's Hydro Pump crit can mean a complete shatter of the team's linear strategy. It has the tools to succeed, but can fall flat on its face with minor mistakes or poor luck.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Special Thanks

Special thanks to Plague von Karma, Shellnuts, Volk, and the numerous other people in the RBY NU community who have helped me improve and use this team to its maximum potential!

Team Pokepaste​