Simplicity

[Yuelia]

Decided to name this team Simplicity for two reasons. The first is the team's most dangerous sweeper abusing Simple, and the second is that the team itself is very straightforward in its strategy.

Without further ado...team at a glance:

Team in detail:

Swoobat @ Mind Plate
Timid Nature
Ability: Simple
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Substitute
- Hidden Power Ground

Simple Swoobat. This thing sweeps so many unsuspecting teams it's not even funny. Outspeeds almost everything that lacks a scarf, and after just one turn of setup, becomes obscenely powerful. I've seen this thing sweep entire teams before, one-shotting mon after mon after mon. The only real issue is in getting that one turn of setup - Swoobat is frail as hell, and I have to play it carefully if I suspect the opponent is packing priority or a fast Scarfer, and Sturdy mons aren't exactly helpful either. Substitute helps to ease this problem, though, and if it blocks a status move or a Sucker Punch, it gives me a ton of momentum. Despite its frailty, Swoobat's raw power is very very useful, to the point where I can even sometimes take out mons at +0 if I see an opening.

Rotom-S @ Choice Scarf
Timid Nature
Ability: Levitate
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Air Slash
- Trick
- Hidden Power Grass

Rotom-S acts as the gluemon for this team, patching up a ton of would-be weak spots. Stallish defensive cores? Trick. Something's too fast for Swoobat? This can almost always hit it where it hurts. Tangela and Scraggy can't defend? Rotom-S usually can. Need to build momentum? Volt Switch. Need to revenge something? This thing can supply in spades. However, it's a necessary evil of sorts, because it has two major weaknesses: it lacks real power, and its Volt Switch can very easily lead to giving my opponent momentum if they don't switch themselves. Rotom-S can be a double-edged sword, but nothing else can really do what it does.

Miltank @ Life Orb
Jolly Nature
Ability: Sap Sipper
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Milk Drink
- Heal Bell

Miltank was placed on my team in response to the thought "how am I going to deal with Amoonguss and Tangela?" "With a neutral physical attacker" doesn't really seem like a smart answer, until you realize there is just about nothing they can do back. Once they're scared off, something on their team is facing a dangerous and fast mon at +1; something is going to hurt. Even if the opponent is a rare one that lacks any sort of Grass move, Miltank is rarely dead weight. A bulky attacker that can heal itself and cleric at the same time? Yes please! About the only downside to this mon is that Misdreavus and Haunter stop it dead cold, but that's why I have...

Scraggy @ Eviolite
Careful Nature
Ability: Shed Skin
248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Rest

Scraggy is my main answer to special attackers in general, and Psychics/Ghosts in particular. Dark typing is surprisingly good defensively in NU, and max SpD + Eviolite makes for a nigh-unbreakable tank on the special side that can easily accrue a Bulk Up or two. Once it does, and starts using Drain Punch, the opponent had better have a very strong attacker capable of quickly breaking it, or Scraggy will be all too happy to Drain Punch off the damage or even Rest if need be. It can be a little less bulky on the physical side than I'd like before it sets up, and weaknesses to Flying and Fighting are really painful, but once it gets those Bulk Ups, outside of those weaknesses it is extraordinarily hard to break.

Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Bold Nature
Ability: Regenerator
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Clear Smog

Amoonguss, as pretty much the best tank and defensive pivot in BW2 NU right now, needs no introduction. Physically defensive Amoonguss can switch into pretty much every physical threat and hurt them with Rocky Helmet. The ability to break Sturdy and troll the hell out of Cinccino is much more useful than slight recovery when Amoonguss can restore practically its entire health bar with Synthesis + switch. Giga Drain is surprisingly powerful despite the lack of investment, Clear Smog prevents anything from setting up on it, and Spore is Spore. Amoonguss slows the pace of the game drastically, and I need to predict very carefully when using Spore, but it is hard to overstate its value as a member of my team.

Carracosta @ Leftovers
Adamant Nature
Ability: Solid Rock
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
- Stealth Rock
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Stone Edge

Carracosta is, like Rotom, a gluemon being used to patch up holes on the team. It beats Swellow and most variants of Braviary, and offers Stealth Rock support to keep them away, which is key as most other members of my team hate the sight of them. Its 4X Grass weakness is actually a blessing in disguise, because it lures out the same moves that give Miltank a chance to perform at its best. It is also the team's only user of priority; the ability to finish off a fast, weakened mon is enormously helpful. Solid Rock is used over Sturdy for taking Superpowers, and because this team's lack of a spinner and Carracosta's excellent bulk mean Sturdy would rarely see use.

So...thoughts? Rates? Fixes? Flames?

 

[watashi]

I can see a pretty big weakness to Cinccino since it can outspeed most of your team members and hit them hard. The current spread that you're running on Tangela has a huge chance of being 2HKO'ed after Rocks by Choice Band Tail Slap from Cinccino, meaning you have no reliable checks to it. I would recommend changing Tangela's spread to a defensive one in order to check Cinccino more reliably.

If Scraggy's main role is to check Ghost and Psychic types, then you should try out Skuntank in its place. Scraggy usually requires a lot of team support to be used effectively while Skuntank is pretty much the opposite. It gives you a reliable switch-in to most Psychic and Ghost types and hits hard immediately. With Pursuit, it can make sure they don't get a free switch-in to a counter, which tends to happen a lot with Scraggy. As an added bonus, it absorbs Toxic Spikes, making Tangela, Miltank, and Pinsir's lives a lot easier. Skuntank also adds valuable priority to your team, and gives you another check to Cinccino.

Summary of changes:

Tangela —> Defensive Spread
Scraggy —> Skuntank

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Tangela (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Sleep Powder / Leech Seed
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Leech Seed / Synthesis

Skuntank (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Aftermath
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Taunt / Crunch
- Poison Jab
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit

 

[MMF]

Hey there! I really like this team and I only see a few weaknesses. Number one being Braviary and Swellow. Basically once they get in the can spam Brave Bird and Facade respectively and really put a dent in your team and since you don't have SR it really hurts you even more.

So I definitely agree with FLCL's suggestion of Skuntank as Sucker Punch alleviates the weakness a bit. But I really think you should try and slip SR on your team somewhere. I suggest slipping Stealth Rock on Miltank over Heal Bell as your team is offensive enough to where status doesn't bother you as much and Miltank is immune to all of the Sleep moves bar hypnosis.

Secondly I think you should try Substitute over Hidden Power Fighting and Hidden Power Ground over Air Slash. This allows you to avoid status and retain the ability to hit Probopass and company while also nailing Skuntank for pretty good damage. The only thing I can think of that you miss out on with those two moves are opposing Scraggy. You should use Leftovers if you try out the above suggestions.

Lastly I think the defensive Tangela FLCL suggested will help you out a lot more and should help solve some problems you might've had with Sawk and company.

Good luck with the team!

 

[jake]

Hey man,

Really unique team, I like it. :) SD Samurott, while uncommon this metagame, is pretty bad news for your team, especially if Miltank is weakened and when Samurott has SR support. When at full health, it can nab a set-up opportunity against an unboosted Scraggy or Swoobat (Swoobat will actually knock it down to Torrent range, which makes it significantly more powerful) and then go to town, OHKOing most of your team after SR sans Miltank. Choice Band Sawk is difficult for you to handle as well, especially since it gets an essentially free switch-in on Scraggy and can 2HKO offensive Tangela. Your resists, Swoobat and Rotom-S, can't take any more than two Close Combats after switching into SR which is also a real shame, especially since they have no recovery. As FLCL and MMF pointed out, LO Cinccino can also be incredibly troublesome, as it usually is for slower offensive teams.

It may not be standard, but I think I have an interesting fix for most of these problems: Rocky Helmet Amoonguss in place of Tangela. While it's less physically bulky than Tangela outright and carries less firepower than the offensive set, it certainly has its own merits. Firstly, its typing basically makes it one of the best Sawk counters you'll find anywhere. Even switching into a CB Ice Punch can be shrugged off with Regenerator + Synthesis, should you choose to run both on one set. Amoonguss also takes much less damage from Samurott's Megahorn than Tangela and can KO back with a combination of Rocky Helmet damage, LO, and Giga Drain. Now, Cinccino still does a fuckton of damage to Amoonguss (~50% with LO Tail Slap iirc), but Rocky Helmet will punish it severely for doing so. Every hit from Tail Slap that Amoonguss takes knocks off 1/6th of Cinccino's HP, which combined with LO will drop it down to ~20 HP, if Cincy gets in perfectly healthy (so it's basically an OHKO with SR up). U-turn counts as a contact hit as well and forces Cinccino to take the Rocky Helmet damage, although keep in mind that neither Bullet Seed nor Rock Blast are contact moves.

MMF did point out another weakness, though; Swellow and Braviary can be huge nuisances, since they punish basically everything on your team and have several free switch-in opportunities. I can't really fix this without swapping something else on your team entirely out, since currently they can cleanly OHKO everything on your team. If you do decide that you want to trade something out, I'd advise dropping Pinsir as it seems to be the weakest link and just thrown onto the team for its potential sweeping capabilities. Instead, you should try a Rock-type that can prop up SR, which will greatly help you out in the long run with both sweeping with Swoobat and keeping the birds tame. You can probably use whichever you prefer, although I'd suggest Probopass, as it's the least susceptible to Cinccino and has Volt Switch as an option to maintain your momentum. Carracosta is another option that can carry priority to finish off weakened sweepers, and it shares great synergy with Amoonguss.

summary

Rocky Helmet Amoonguss > Tangela

Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet | Regenerator
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk) | 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Giga Drain / Sludge Bomb / Spore / Synthesis or Stun Spore

Optional

Probopass or Carracosta (or whichever Rock-type you prefer) > Pinsir

Probopass @ Leftovers | Sturdy or Magnet Pull
Timid nature (+Spe, -Atk) | 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
Stealth Rock / Flash Cannon / Volt Switch / Earth Power

Carracosta @ Leftovers | Sturdy or Solid Rock
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA) | 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Stealth Rock / Waterfall / Stone Edge / Aqua Jet​

Hope I helped, and GL with your team!

 

[WhiteDMist]

Wow, you should be proud that three of NU's top players have added their input to your team! That being said, it's hard to follow up on all three of them too. I've personally found that Stored Power is more useful than Psychic after a boost, since it isn't hard to get a boost with some strategy. Substitute and HP Ground is a great option to deal with Skuntank and Steels, but they leave you vulnerable to bulky Psychic's like Musharna (who can actually CM up alongside Swoobat, and won't be KOed by anything Swoobat does). Stored Power gives a better chance to overwhelm bulky Psychics before they Shadow Ball/Signal Beam you to death.

Oh, and Zebraiken's Carracosta set seems to be an excellent idea, since it is more offensive and provides priority that this team DOESN'T have. It can also provide Stealth Rock to make Flying-types more wary of switching in. I also agree with FLCL's Skuntank set (and you alreaady know I agree with MMF's Swoobat changes)

I've made my own suggestion and everyone else made theirs. I hope you take our ideas to heart. Good luck with your team! :)

 

[Yuelia]

Thanks a lot for the help! A lot of these fixes have already been really helpful. Especially Amoonguss over Tangela; that seems so obvious in retrospect that I can't believe I didn't see it myself, but I know that even if I had, I wouldn't have thought of Rocky Helmet. That is genius.

I've changed Swoobat's set to Psychic/HP Ground/CM/Sub with a Mind Plate. Leftovers really isn't helpful since Swoobat is so frail to begin with, while Life Orb's recoil is too much to deal with alongside Substitute. Psychic gets excellent neutral coverage and is my go-to move, and it usually OHKOes stuff even with the slight power drop.

I've also added the suggested Carracosta set. I was more than a little skeptical about dropping Pinsir, but Carracosta has just been too good. Priority is something I'd wanted for a while, but couldn't think of a way to add; having both that and a solid (read: not Rotom) answer for the birds is very useful. And it makes Miltank better than ever by being a total magnet for Grass attacks, which has worked wonders for the team.

I played around with Skuntank > Scraggy for a little while, and honestly while it did look very good on paper, in practice I found myself wishing I had Scraggy. I need a mon capable of sponging special hits. Is there something that can 1. take most special hits without getting 2HKOed after rocks, and 2. beat Misdreavus, that isn't Scraggy? I can't think of anything. I honestly do want to replace Scraggy, as recently I've been noticing it falling short an awful lot, but I'd want to replace it with something that would successfully fill its niche.

So, I'm in the middle of editing the OP to reflect the changes made. I'm keeping the older descriptions here, though.

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Tangela @ Eviolite
Modest Nature
Ability: Regenerator
248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power Ice
- Giga Drain

Tangela is my main answer to physical attackers in general; even without max defense Bold, this thing can effortlessly wall a ton of things. STAB Leaf Storm off a base 100 SpA really hurts, and switching out after it's used works great alongside Regenerator. If that's overkill, Giga Drain can often work just as well, and with an actually beneficial side effect. What Tangela's STAB attacks can't kill, its Ice coverage often will - and what that doesn't incapacitate, Sleep Powder certainly will. Tangela's main issue is the necessity of Leaf Storm for power, which in turn can completely wipe any momentum I had going off the face of the planet. Still, this is often a price worth paying, even if it necessitates a sacrifice, as having a choice in which mons go down can make all the difference.

Pinsir @ Salac Berry
Jolly Nature
Ability: Moxie
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- X-Scissor
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Substitute

Pinsir is my late-game cleaner, and what a job it does with its most evil of combinations: SubSalac, simple and classic, brought back thanks to BW2...but what's not so classic is the addition of Moxie to the combo. Taking out the first mon is relatively easy from behind the Substitute and with a +1 in Speed if need be, and from there, the fun begins. With a +1 in Attack, Pinsir can often take out any revenge killer that comes in to break its Sub in one shot, which in turn tends to lead to a +2 against a wall which is itself promptly OHKOed. Once Pinsir starts snowballing, the opponent often needs multiple revenge killers or an unlucky Stone Miss on Pinsir's part to even stand a chance. Pinsir can be quite stoppable before it starts going, but once it does it is lights-out.