Shark and Awe Peak #2

[freezai]

Shark and Awe

Shock and awe is a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of strength to paralyze the enemy's perception of the battlefield and destroy its will to fight.​

INTRODUCTION:
Hello everyone, this is User: Rattled Snakes here to show my RU HO team that I built. The team is extremely fun to use as it is a balls to wall hyper offense team with a lot of speed and a lot of power. Being a UU player by trade, I was trying to make some popular UU strategies work in RU. I also wanted to try out some of the new drops which looked very potent and fun to play with. I stumbled upon the idea of a water spam core of Samurott+Sharpedo; similar to the core of Feraligatr+Mega-Sharpedo in UU. The idea is that by stacking types, you can overwhelm the opposition by hitting the same counter over and over again before it capitulates. Let me elaborate: On its own neither sharpedo nor Samurott can beat Bulky grass types 1v1, but if Samurott can weaken the grass type just enough, Sharpedo can do the finishing damage and is on its way home to a sweep.
I usually tend to bulkier teams as I like to have switchins to things. But one negative that comes with a stack offense is that defensively it makes you even more vulnerable because you don't have the flexibiltiy of switching in due to type synergy. As a result, I went for a full offense build designed to overrun and overwhelm the opposition before my defensive weakeness could be exploited.
I don't really bother laddering much but I did get into the top 30 before I stopped. This is my go to RU team and is really deadly in the right hands.


Teambuilding Process:

Started with the spam core designed to overwhelm the opponent

After that I added a dedicated spike setter suicide lead for the team. Both pedo and Samurott love spike support especially for getting damage on pesky regenerator mons.

I added Aerodactyl because I needed something fast,strong, and had the ability to lay rocks. Its a powerful tool that can help against other oppositions and is also a good Linda Check

I wanted a spinblocker because losing my precious hazards is something I don't want to happen. Initially I tried Jellicent but I realized I needed something more offensive to keep momentum up so I chose Blackglasses Spiritomb.

To add the finishing touch, I added a cleaner and wallbreaker in the form of scarf Medicham; one of the best scarfers in RU.

THE TEAM

Accelgor @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Spikes
- Final Gambit
- Bug Buzz
- Energy Ball

"How fast do I need to be? Faster."

ROLE: Lead

Description: Accelgor is a perfect lead for an offensive team like this. It spike stacks and then dies,giving a free switch to my team while also blocking a spin or defog. Final Gambit also has utility in doing big damage against something that I really want gone in exchange for no spikes. Energy ball is a bit of an unorthodox move but is used to OHKO Rhyperior and Seismitoad while also doing damage to qwilfish among others. I'm not running max hp for final gambit because I want as much attacking power as possible and I find that I mostly use gambit for free switches or blocking hazard removal, not for actual hp damage

Sharpedo @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump

"Sharks are born swimming."

ROLE: Late game sweeper,wallbreaker,cleaner

Description: The star of the show, arguably the most dangerous late game sweeper in the tier. I opted for a specially attacking set despite Sharpedo having a better attacking stat because most of sharpedo's counters are weaker to the spdef side which lets me overpower them. It also does big damage to Mega-Steelix, something that waterfall couldn't do. Most of the time Samurott breaks walls for this, although depending on the situation the roles can be flipped and Sharpedo can break the walls. For example, Samurott can sweep past Fletchinder with aqua jet but Sharpedo can't. In this case I use sharpedo as the wallbreaker and Rott as the sweeper.

Samurott @ Lum Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Megahorn
- Swords Dance

"Why give an inch when she'd rather have nine."

Role: Mid to late game sweeper, Wallbreaker

Description: Sharpedo's partner in crime, it breaks through walls and steamrolls with the combination of Lum Berry and Swords dance. Waterfall is an obvious stab move and Megahorn is used to bone through grass types with its fabulous horn. Aqua jet is used to sweep through weakened pokemon after it gets a +2. A tip to using Samurott is not being afraid to let it die if need be. For example, getting chip damage on Virizion or a Elektross is worth its death if it means you can put it in kill range of Sharpedo.

Aerodactyl @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace
- Stealth Rock

"Jack of all trades,master of it too."

Role: Stealth rocker,offensive utility,speed control

Description: Aerodactyl provides stealth rocks for my team and is a check for a myriad of threats including Durant, Virizion,Houndoom, Fletchinder and more. Its LO 3 attacks set has beautiful coverage which lets it check a lot. Combined with its offensive strength it has the 3 magic qualites: Coverage,Speed and Power. Its a shame that Aerodactyl cant ko common defoggers like Togetic or Golbat, so sometimes I lead with it so I can get rocks up and then later in the game I can double in on it so I can ko after rocks.

Spiritomb @ Black Glasses
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp

"Darkness envelopes what nightmares don't."

Role: Spinblocker,priority user, trapper

Description: I needed a spinblocker that was both offensive as well as being able to actually spinblock stuff. Spiritomb fits this role well. It also acts as a pursuit trapper for Meloetta, Delphox, and other psychic types. It is also a strong pokemon to get good damage on faster pokemon like Jolteon who threaten my team. Taunt is for shutting down defoggers who try and come in like Togetic. Will-o wisp is just to cripple stuff and get some more chip damage for my sweepers. It's ok to let spiritomb die in certain cases in exchange of getting a burn+damage on Blastoise and stopping the spin. It needs to keep hazards up at all costs. As suggested by Arifeen, speed is for Poliwrath to stop it from resting.

Medicham @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Thunder Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Baton Pass

"Purity of soul, Purity of heart, Purity of power."

Role: Scarfer,momentum provider,wallbreaker

Description: Arguably the best scarfer in RU, its combination of power and speed make it a monster for any team to handle. I use it to revenge kill sweepers that Aerodactyl may not be able to touch while also using it to force out pokemon and then pivot with baton pass to gain momentum. Thunderpunch is used to have a better matchup vs water types which can become troublesome.

THREATLIST:

: Walls both my main sweepers and Samurott isn't strong enough to wear it down to the point of Sharpedo's kill range like Samurott can usually do with most checks. Spikes are the name of the game and you need to keep applying pressure with Medicham switchins whenever Poliwrath might come in. Don't let it come in on Spiritomb otherwise it gets a free rest.

: Not really a threat but Foresight and Refresh Variants remove hazards which is a huge loss for the team, especially since you are playing a 5-6 in exchange for those precious hazards. There's also no way to scout for those moves so you will have to settle for trying to wear it down with spikes+doubles to Medicham to wear it down. Nothing Ohkoes :L

Toxic Spikes is also annoying but not too much of an issue because the game is fast and you won't be racking up turns and turns and turns and turns of damage.

​

Importable

Accelgor @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Spikes
- Final Gambit
- Bug Buzz
- Energy Ball

Samurott @ Lum Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Megahorn
- Swords Dance

Sharpedo @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump

Aerodactyl @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace
- Stealth Rock

Spiritomb @ Black Glasses
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp

Medicham @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Thunder Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Baton Pass

​

shoutouts

Cyndequil. OG homie tbh
BrandonBeast Literally the best dpp uu ladder player of the year :^] also a real homie
LittleRunnerXC One of my best friends on the site and so enthuastic
shadestep Grats on NU voice haha. Thanks for giving me nu teams and helping me with tseting
Oddish is the best Thanks a bunch for helping me test
MrAldo and Arifeen helping me with some of the finishing touches
Fineonbae Being a really good RU friend
Killintime Solid player in UU and RU and you really helped me out a lot
Kableye Bc I like Kablemeta
Aquadext You hate RU, but its ok because I hate you
Bhris Brown Being one of my best friends and first friends on ps
Horsehead-3 OG Shit user in UU, helped me play ru a few times
Merlouvynis really cool guy n_n
Drapionswing Helped me test which was cool
SotheBlacKnight Helped me in the chat and also practice.
McSaltine The og cancer of uu. Nuff said.
Euphonos because trying to learn innovation from you
shoutouts to the rest of the UUser squad Pinkin Lark Cancer On FLEEK Island Spices iplaytennislol newfren lucqq LeoLancaster NV
Mahmudkipz A god uu mod who really helped me out a lot during the ru suspect and also in UU and RU in general.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ru-312138544 Ru swiss round 6 vs HJAD

 

[Killintime]

Great team overall my only misgivings being that opposing sharpedo as well as aboma can be a pain in the ass for your team, but its HO so you know all good i guess since you just revenge. Energyball does sound unorthodox I would try encore since it comes in handy allot versus opposing rockers leading out and lets you get the spike stack in more often. Great rmt!

 

[feen]

Sup man this team is a really nice HO team, centralized around Sharpedo and wallbreakers. Here's a few changes:

• Okay so, as Killintime has specified, I do agree that opposing Sharpedo and Dark-type spam in general could be really annoying for your team to deal with. Abomasnow as well, can be very annoying to face, specially the fact because Ice Shard is very spammable, as well as Blizzard. In fact, your matchup versus opposing Sharpedo is relied on who can send out their Sharpedo first late game. This is in fact, very hard for your team to handle. Therefore, a better idea would be to run Choice Specs / Life Orb Poliwrath over Samurott. With Poliwrath, you can counter Sharpedo and almost every set of Absol, as well as Houndoom and Drapion. I would run Max Speed on it, as it can outspeed Mega Abomasnow before Mega Evolution and KO it with Focus Blast, since they tend to be speedy. Note that having a Poliwrath will give free switches to Slowking, but I think you should be fine, especially since it can be pressured with Spikes, and lured by Thunder Punch Medicham.

• I agree with you that RestTalk Poliwrath is really annoying for your team to handle, since it gets a free Rest upon switching into Spiritomb. RestTalk Poliwrath runs Relaxed Nature, and since you have Taunt on Spiritomb, you should run Speed EVs to outspeed Poliwrath, making it unable to Rest. Sure, you lose some bulk, but in the expense of being able to check a really annoying Pokemon that stops the cleaner of your team.

Sets

Poliwrath @ Life Orb / Choice Specs
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Vacuum Wave
- Focus Blast

Spiritomb @ Dread Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Taunt

Good luck!

 

[LRXC]

10/10 You used Accelgor

But anyway I think you should replace one of 2 things. I think Encore>Energy Ball would be a great choice because it deters set up sweepers, and your counters like Seismitoad and RYpherior from setting up rocks, and I also think another possible change could be Focus Blast>Energy ball as well. Provides more useful coverage, and can really suprise a lot of mons. However I think the encore one would be better, because you are not running any SpA investment.

I only have a suggestion for Accelgor because I dont play RU, but I know about Accelgor so yeah. Hope you have fun with the team and thank you for the shoutout man! =)

 

[freezai]

Ok so I decided to apply the Spiritomb changes as it really goes a long way in blocking defog. After trying out Poliwrath, I didn't really like it too much because although it limits dark spam, it means I lose out on my only SD Sweeper which I really need to blow through walls and punish passivity. Also, I don't really feel I am that weak to abomasnow because 4 out of 6 mons outspeed and launch a super effective attack, the 5th mon burns it and does heavy damage with sucker and Aboma also gets worn down by my hazard stack. Aboma only really beats pedo. Opposing pedo is dealt with by Samurott who lives any attack and OHKOes with megahorn. Spiritomb also does heavy damage with hazards+sucker punch+LO recoil.

 

[MrAldo]

I owe you a rate for this so here is something.

After thinking about this build for a while Im convinced that spiritomb is the weak spot in this team. While it provides a solid spinblocker and important priority and a pursuit trapper for annoying psychic types it invites many dangerous fighting types for your team and only having medicham as a way to revenge kill them is rather unreliable, for example if gurdurr manages to get at +1 even, it puts in an horrible position since medicham fails to kill, opposing dark types like sharpedo are also problematic.

- With that being said, I would recommend Mesprit over Spiritomb. Mesprit provides the team with stealth rock, a reliable fighting switch-in and a solid dark type lure for mons like sharpedo and from there it is really to pick off with aqua jet from samurott. Being able to soft check medicham while not inviting any fighting type is something your team will really appreciate. Also healing wish is fantastic for back-up insurance with misses from medicham and stuff. And give you something for poliwrath.

- Now, with mesprit having stealth rock you can then run roost over stealth rock on aerodactyl. Also, since I got rid of your main way for trapping psychic types I would run pursuit over aerial ace on aerodactyl as well. Sounds dangerous but aerodactyl can easily trap the psychic types that give you trouble since they wont stay in versus aerodactyl (sigilyph, delphox, meloetta) and you easily catch them off guard with it. Have been using this and it has been working well, could work for you.

- Last, imo, I think you can play a bit more aggresively with your accelgor in order to prevent defoggers from just getting rid of your hazards. Imo, Life orb accelgor over focus sash, with spikes, and sludge bomb over final gambit is a good albeit pretty risky change to you could try and that it could benefit your team. Sludge bomb pressure togetic to think twice about switching into you and it has a chance of 2hko (easily 2hko after rocks). Also, I feel that final gambit isnt of much use without max hp, it is better to apply pressure on the defoggers that give you trouble, it also helps you to pressure blastoise better which is annoying. I would run focus blast but I believe you have enough tools to hammer opposing steel types.

changes

Mesprit @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Healing Wish

Aerodactyl @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Stone Edge

Accelgor @ Life Orb
Ability: Sticky Hold
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Spikes
- Bug Buzz
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain

Hope my changes work for you. Neat team. Ill leave the option to run expert belt on accelgor in case the recoil annoys you. Good luck.