Hello all, singles newbie here. Started playing singles more and more when VGC got boring during the previous regulations for me.
This is my first actual try of building a team on my own, without just copying some example teams someone else built. Most of the spreads and such are suggested spreads and the like from the Smogon dex (I think that's what it's called) or the Showdown suggestion feature.
Given the reason for me to pause VGC I decided to play a lower tier, in this case PU, as they generally feature some more uncommon Pokemon that I had no prior experience playing in VGC, especially since the tier features some of my fav mons of all time with the likes of Golurk for example.
Any constructive criticism regarding the team is welcome, as well as suggestions on replacing mons! Especially for Tauros, as PU is currently testing it so it might end up getting banned.
Team "peaked" at 1300s PU ladder
As for the team:
Larry (Golurk) @ Choice Band
Ability: No Guard
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dynamic Punch
- Poltergeist
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
This was the starting point of the team, I like Golurk and it apparently wasn't that bad in the PU meta. Banded Golurk does so much damage to slower targets like Gastrodon, Copperajah etc and switching into Dynamic Punch or Earthquake is not something a lot of mons tend to do (unless you're immune of course). I was thinking of a Sash or Custap lead set with Stealth Rocks, or even an AV set to pick up surprise KOs on weakened special attackers, but ultimately decided to go with the "BONK!" set and it has served me decently well.
PaldeaFriedTauros (Tauros-Paldea-Blaze) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- Trailblaze
Tauros was my second addition to the team. I wanted something that can take care of Decidueye as Golurk gets beaten hard by it. Fire type, fast, Intimidate - the only other option I could think of was Arcanine. I decided to go with Tauros due to Fighting stab to take care of normal types that want to come in on Poltergeist and the like. If Tauros does get banned I feel like Arcanine could be a decent alternative, the Curse set seems to be similar enough to the Bulk up set Tauros uses. Decided to go with Bulk Up Tauros over something like Scarf because I didn't want to start by having 2 choice'd Pokemon on my team as I felt that would restrict decisions for the future mons too much.
Wobble (Gastrodon) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Storm Drain
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
Next up was Gastrodon. Both Golurk and Tauros Blaze are weak to Water, which Gastro is immune against thanks to Storm Drain. I knew I wanted Storm Drain as the ability so I started with a SpDef set, but ended up switching to a Def set after I had finished the team, as I felt like I already had enough SpDef and would rather have something that is better into opposing Tauros Blaze. Tera Dragon over Tera Fairy is an adjustment I have made after a handfull of games to better counter Tauros, as I have gotten messed up by Trailblaze Tauros Blaze a couple times too often, the additional resist to Grass comes in hand too.
Cut or Mow? (Rotom-Mow) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Trick
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt
Next I felt like I didn't really have a good answer into opposing Gastrodon, as well as lacking a real fast mon outside of Tauros. I settled on Rotom-Mow (or Rotom-Cut?) with a Scarf as a lategame cleaner and a mon that can come in on Gastrodons Earth power and force it out. Pretty much standard Scarf set I believe, not much I think that needs to be said here.
Frostslash (Sandslash-Alola) @ Leftovers
Ability: Slush Rush
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Atk / 184 SpD / 52 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Spinner
- Knock Off
- Spikes
I wanted a Fairy resist and something with Hazard control, so Alola-slash felt like the obvious choice. Originally I had Triple Axel over Ice Spinner on this set, which together with the 20 ATK EVs OHKOs opposing Golurk (IF all 3 hits connect). Sadly I have found out I am an expert at only getting 1 or 2 hits of Axel, which is why I settled on using Ice Spinner instead. The added Terrain control is nice, although I have yet to face an actual Terrain team on ladder. May just be because I am still fairly low elo though, idk if those teams are a thing in higher tier or tournament play.
Miku (Meloetta) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Grass Knot
For my final mon I wanted another special attacker. Until this point the only special attackers on the team were Gastrodon (who isn't really a mon that deals a lot of damage, let's be real) and Rotom who while certainly strong didn't feel like it would be able to carry the teams entire special damage output. After looking through the tier and thinking of some mons that may be threatening I settled on Meloetta. Specs Meloetta Hyper Voice is very strong against any non resist. It also is pretty naturally fast, which made me feel like I could use Specs on it over another Scarf user. I replaced Focus Blast with Grass Knot to have a better answer to opposing Mudsdale and Rhydon, who both get OHKO'd by Specs Grass Knot if they don't Tera.
Aaaand that's the team! Generally it feels fine and my suspicion is that I am simply ass at piloting it/playing singles in general, but I'd be happy to hear the thoughts of people that have more experience than me. 3 choice user may be a bit too restrictive, and maybe Golurk ends up being something I should replace with a different mon - do let me know how you feel on these things!
Paste for easier copy-paste if anyone wants to try the team: https://pokepast.es/5c0b235cf08df0e5
Thank you for your time!
Edit: I apologize if this is somewhat hard to read, this is my first time using the Smogon Forums so I have no idea how to insert images and the likes into this easily
This is my first actual try of building a team on my own, without just copying some example teams someone else built. Most of the spreads and such are suggested spreads and the like from the Smogon dex (I think that's what it's called) or the Showdown suggestion feature.
Given the reason for me to pause VGC I decided to play a lower tier, in this case PU, as they generally feature some more uncommon Pokemon that I had no prior experience playing in VGC, especially since the tier features some of my fav mons of all time with the likes of Golurk for example.
Any constructive criticism regarding the team is welcome, as well as suggestions on replacing mons! Especially for Tauros, as PU is currently testing it so it might end up getting banned.
Team "peaked" at 1300s PU ladder
As for the team:
Larry (Golurk) @ Choice Band
Ability: No Guard
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dynamic Punch
- Poltergeist
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
This was the starting point of the team, I like Golurk and it apparently wasn't that bad in the PU meta. Banded Golurk does so much damage to slower targets like Gastrodon, Copperajah etc and switching into Dynamic Punch or Earthquake is not something a lot of mons tend to do (unless you're immune of course). I was thinking of a Sash or Custap lead set with Stealth Rocks, or even an AV set to pick up surprise KOs on weakened special attackers, but ultimately decided to go with the "BONK!" set and it has served me decently well.
PaldeaFriedTauros (Tauros-Paldea-Blaze) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- Trailblaze
Tauros was my second addition to the team. I wanted something that can take care of Decidueye as Golurk gets beaten hard by it. Fire type, fast, Intimidate - the only other option I could think of was Arcanine. I decided to go with Tauros due to Fighting stab to take care of normal types that want to come in on Poltergeist and the like. If Tauros does get banned I feel like Arcanine could be a decent alternative, the Curse set seems to be similar enough to the Bulk up set Tauros uses. Decided to go with Bulk Up Tauros over something like Scarf because I didn't want to start by having 2 choice'd Pokemon on my team as I felt that would restrict decisions for the future mons too much.
Wobble (Gastrodon) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Storm Drain
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
Next up was Gastrodon. Both Golurk and Tauros Blaze are weak to Water, which Gastro is immune against thanks to Storm Drain. I knew I wanted Storm Drain as the ability so I started with a SpDef set, but ended up switching to a Def set after I had finished the team, as I felt like I already had enough SpDef and would rather have something that is better into opposing Tauros Blaze. Tera Dragon over Tera Fairy is an adjustment I have made after a handfull of games to better counter Tauros, as I have gotten messed up by Trailblaze Tauros Blaze a couple times too often, the additional resist to Grass comes in hand too.
Cut or Mow? (Rotom-Mow) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Trick
- Leaf Storm
- Thunderbolt
Next I felt like I didn't really have a good answer into opposing Gastrodon, as well as lacking a real fast mon outside of Tauros. I settled on Rotom-Mow (or Rotom-Cut?) with a Scarf as a lategame cleaner and a mon that can come in on Gastrodons Earth power and force it out. Pretty much standard Scarf set I believe, not much I think that needs to be said here.
Frostslash (Sandslash-Alola) @ Leftovers
Ability: Slush Rush
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Atk / 184 SpD / 52 Spe
Careful Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Spinner
- Knock Off
- Spikes
I wanted a Fairy resist and something with Hazard control, so Alola-slash felt like the obvious choice. Originally I had Triple Axel over Ice Spinner on this set, which together with the 20 ATK EVs OHKOs opposing Golurk (IF all 3 hits connect). Sadly I have found out I am an expert at only getting 1 or 2 hits of Axel, which is why I settled on using Ice Spinner instead. The added Terrain control is nice, although I have yet to face an actual Terrain team on ladder. May just be because I am still fairly low elo though, idk if those teams are a thing in higher tier or tournament play.
Miku (Meloetta) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Grass Knot
For my final mon I wanted another special attacker. Until this point the only special attackers on the team were Gastrodon (who isn't really a mon that deals a lot of damage, let's be real) and Rotom who while certainly strong didn't feel like it would be able to carry the teams entire special damage output. After looking through the tier and thinking of some mons that may be threatening I settled on Meloetta. Specs Meloetta Hyper Voice is very strong against any non resist. It also is pretty naturally fast, which made me feel like I could use Specs on it over another Scarf user. I replaced Focus Blast with Grass Knot to have a better answer to opposing Mudsdale and Rhydon, who both get OHKO'd by Specs Grass Knot if they don't Tera.
Aaaand that's the team! Generally it feels fine and my suspicion is that I am simply ass at piloting it/playing singles in general, but I'd be happy to hear the thoughts of people that have more experience than me. 3 choice user may be a bit too restrictive, and maybe Golurk ends up being something I should replace with a different mon - do let me know how you feel on these things!
Paste for easier copy-paste if anyone wants to try the team: https://pokepast.es/5c0b235cf08df0e5
Thank you for your time!
Edit: I apologize if this is somewhat hard to read, this is my first time using the Smogon Forums so I have no idea how to insert images and the likes into this easily
