SM PU Scaling The Spectrum

[Conor3197]

Scaling the Spectrum

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Introduction
As PUPL IV played out quite a few new sets were discovered, some of which were very situational, others of which were a bit more versatile. One set in particular, Assault Vest Crabominable, caught my eye for being a very interesting bulky attacker, which led me to the creation of this team. Nowadays in the PU meta, you don't see much semi TR teams, which was another thing I was excited to incorporate into my team due to Crabominable's slow speed tier. I also liked the idea of having a Dragon spam core paired with my Crabominable due to its ability to check Ice-types so well. As I kept building this team, I ended up with a team that could be either too fast or too slow for opponents liking, which made the name only fitting for this team.

Team Breakdown

Crabominable @ Assault Vest
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 236 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Ice Hammer
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
I originally built the team around AV Crab, a set created by Hjad during PUPL, and it currently serves as my Ice-team switch in, with the ability to switch in against offensive Ice-types, like Aurorus and Sandslash-Alola, and live a hit and either force a switch or pick up a KO. As well as this, Crab also serves as a specially defensive wall on my team with the ability to heal via Drain Punch. AV Crab has also been an amazing Wallbreaker, even granting late game sweeps with the help of Trick Room.

Exeggutor-Alola @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
- Trick Room
- Wood Hammer
- Earthquake
- Dragon Hammer
Next I was looking for offensive Dragon-types that could take advantage of AV Crabs ability to check Ice-types, so I went with Exeggutor-Alola since it was able to help Crab with TR support and its immune to Sleep Powder / Spore. I chose the physical varient of this Pokemon since Turtonator was able to spam Specially offensive Dragon-type moves.

Turtonator @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Shell Smash
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
Next I added Turtonator as the specially offensive half of the Dragon spamming core, and its access to Shell Smash lets it be a great set up wincon. Turt also has the ability to switch against Fire-type moves that AV Crab baits, and it can take advantage of Choice locked Pokemon by setting up on them with Shell Smash. And I know what u may be thinking, Turt may not be the best Shell Smasher, but it manages to do enough damage for my other Pokemon to finish up, Omastar in particular. Upon sacking a Pokemon to this mon, the opponent often sends in their priority users to revenge kill this mon, allowing me to revenge kill the priority user with my other mons, letting Omastar become my wincon.

Omastar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
Next I have Omastar, which has been amazing at cleaning up late game. I added this Pokemon to add to the hyper-offensive nature of this team. In games without hazards Omastar's Focus Sash lets it get off a guaranteed Shell Smash, which helps Omastar sweep late game once priority users have been removed. Even with hazards up Omastar has an easy time setting up against Pokemon it resists, and sometimes it can even clean up by just switching in and getting a Weak Armor Speed boost.

Lycanroc @ Focus Sash
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Endeavor
- Accelerock
- Taunt
At this stage, I was convinced this team was meant to be a hyper offensive semi TR team, so I decided to add the most effective suicide lead, Lycanroc. Lycanroc can successfully get up rocks against a lot of teams thanks to its incredible Speed tier, and it can even perform as an anti-lead taunting opposing SR setters. This is very beneficial for my Omastar, who appreciates hazards not being up to sweep.

Scyther @ Eviolite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Atk / 32 Def
Adamant Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Roost
- Bug Bite
- Swords Dance
It was kindof hard to find a Pokemon for the last slot, so naturally this slot changed quite a few times, until I finally settled with Scyther. I originally wanted a Pokemon with Knock Off and priority, but upon noticing my weakness to Fighting-types, especially Hitmonchan who just 6-0ed me, I knew that a Fighting resist was much more important. I decided to run a slow bulky offensive Scyther set as I felt that Speed investments would only be a drawback if I needed to use Scyther in Trick Room. This current ev spread in particular lets me guaranteed live 3 of Hitmonchans Ice Punches, however I'm not sure how much that matters since Hitmonchan has priority in Mach Punch anyway. So far I have not lost out much by not having max Attack anyway, so I'm happy to continue using this set. I also discovered that by having this spread, Scyther can come in against Hitmonchan in Trick Room and guaranteed live an Ice Punch with rocks are up and proceed to KO it with Aerial Ace, which is one of the benefits of this spread. The Attack EVs have also been very useful in situations where I don't want to set up and I just want power.

Importable

Crabominable @ Assault Vest
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 236 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Ice Hammer
- Close Combat
- Earthquake

Turtonator @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Shell Smash
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse

Exeggutor-Alola @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
- Trick Room
- Wood Hammer
- Earthquake
- Dragon Hammer

Omastar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power

Lycanroc @ Focus Sash
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Endeavor
- Accelerock
- Taunt

Scyther @ Eviolite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Atk / 32 Def
Adamant Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Roost
- Bug Bite
- Swords Dance

Weaknesses

There have been games where this Pokemon sweeps me due to it's amazing special bulk, its priority, and its recovery in Drain Punch, paired with its access to Ice Punch to cover Exeggutor-Alola. This is not as problematic anymore as it used to be thanks to Scyther, however once Scyther has been removed this Pokemon straight up wins.

Hazards
Hazards can be problematic as they break Omastar's Focus Sash and with no hazard removal, it often forces u to rethink ur game plan. In games where hazards are up Trick Room can somethings be the better wincon, however this is even more difficult in games where Toxic Spikes are up. Luckily though, thanks to this teams hyper offensive nature, the pressure this team generates can be enough to overcome this.

Conclusion
I have enjoyed using this team a lot, and I was looking foward to sharing this team as I felt like it is something that is not usually seen in the PU meta. There are a lot of aspects that I enjoy in this team such as the Dragon spam, the semi TR aspect, and the dual Shell Smashers. Overall I feel like I succeeded in creating something very different to the usual build, which has been both fun to use and enjoyable to make!

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pu-786949075
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pu-787288281
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pu-786959128
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pu-787302074
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pu-787305863
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pu-787304524

 

[yogi]

Hi there! You have a super cool team here, and it certainly does a good job of showing off semi-room as a unique play style. Thought I'd drop a rate and an almost alternative take on the team. While you wanted to go down a more offensive approach, I think semi-room can actually function well on balance too.

Close Combat --> Stone Edge
This is a very small change but often Crabominable doesn't require the extra damage that Close Combat provides, and this team already struggles a lot versus the likes of Froslass, so I decided to put Stone Edge over Close Combat in an attempt to both not let it in for free and to not let it freely spam Spikes versus Crabominable, even after a potential burn from Will-O-Wisp.

Physical --> Special
My second change is a set change for Alolan Exeggutor. I think that a physical set is pretty fun, especially because you mentioned a weakness to Hitmonchan. However, with Crabominable already abusing the physical side, I think Alolan Exeggutor is far more suitably ran with its more common special set. This allows you to abuse a fantastic dual STAB in Leaf Storm and Draco Meteor to break down common checks to Crabominable, such as Mesprit and Weezing. I decided that Life Orb was the best choice as the Z-move was going to be used on a different Pokemon later on. The ability was also changed to Frisk because no Berry was being used.

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Because of later decisions in terms of set-up sweepers, I decided to go for a form of speedy hazard removal here. The absolute first thing that plagues all forms of hyper offense is Toxic Spikes, and I thought it'd be a great idea to go Silvally-Poison over Omastar. Silvally-Poison may seem like an odd choice at first glance, but it provides the first two Pokemon with all the support they need. Being able to:

1. Absorb Toxic Spikes upon entry rather than needing to either Rapid Spin or Defog after switching in.
2. Provide not only momentum but weaken the opponents with Parting Shot.
3. Act as a secondary Fighting-type check on the team.

Basically makes Silvally-Poison a very good choice for the role of hazard remover. Flamethrower can be opted for to trade the Qwilfish match-up for a better Togedemaru and Froslass match-up.

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With all the changes that have occurred up until this point, the team has quite a few clear weaknesses to it. Firstly, the team is extremely weak to Ground-types and Ground moves, so Defensive Stealth Rock Mesprit was the clear choice here. With the team shifting to a bulkier play-style, the hazard setter also needed to adapt too. Healing Wish support from Mesprit is also invaluable for several Pokemon on the team to get second chances at sweeping or breaking during the later portion of the game too. This set opts for Hidden Power Ground over U-turn and enough speed for Jolly Aggron, because the team already struggles with having no Rock-type resist.

Suicide Lead --> Swords Dance + Z-move
With both the role of Stealth Rock setter provided by Mesprit and two set-up sweepers being removed, I decided Lycanroc would be perfect for the role. Swords Dance Lycanroc is already an extremely threatening Pokemon in the current meta and being able to either break or sweep for/because of the Trick Room abusers essentially makes it the best choice. It thrives off Alolan Exeggutor breaking down common defensive switch-ins like non-Ice Beam Poliwrath and Mudsdale, while being able to break Pokemon such as Type: Null.

Bulky Swords Dance --> Choice Scarf
With Lycanroc already filling the role of a Swords Dance user and the team lacking proper speed control, Choice Scarf Scyther was a logical change. Having a fantastic speed tier capable of outspeeding big threats to the team like Togedemaru and +1 Jynx, while forming a good double momentum core with Silvally-Poison , makes it an excellent way of generating free momentum, especially against more offensive teams. With the likes of Brick Break you're also able to threaten Aggron, which almost always switches in on the Bulky Swords Dance set.

Overall I had a blast playing with both the original version and the more balance-oriented version, and I do hope you give my changes a shot. The team still struggles against a few Pokemon, like opposing Lycanroc, but there's enough counter-play. Good luck!

New Version

Crabominable @ Assault Vest
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 236 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Ice Hammer
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

Exeggutor-Alola @ Life Orb
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Leaf Storm
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower

Silvally-Poison @ Poison Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Multi-Attack
- Thunderbolt
- Defog
- Parting Shot

Mesprit @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Stealth Rock
- Healing Wish
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Lycanroc @ Lycanium Z
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Drill Run

Scyther @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aerial Ace
- U-turn
- Brick Break
- Bug Bite