Let's begin shall we. You tried to give two different sets in one for Slowbro/Mega and ended up just giving incomplete sets for both options. Please decide on which set you want to use, preferably Mega Slowbro since it is a Defensive Core and there is no other Defensive Mega to use, and only focus on that, plus be sure to put down the actual full, i.e. Rest and Sleep Talk, Iron Defense and Calm Mind, etc. Also please change your EVs for Slowbro to either 232 Def / 24 SpD with a Bold Nature ~or~ 80 Def / 176 SpD with a Bold Nature. The first is pretty standard for Slowbro spreads because it allows to take special hits better and the second is the OU spread that works pretty well with Calm Mind Mega Slowbro. For Toxapex put Toxic as an option next to T Spikes and for Swampert add Yawn as an option for Scald. Normally Yawn would be better used for Balance/Offensive teams, however because you have CM Bro as a set right now, it wouldn't hurt to have a free turn of set-up. Assuming you do go with Mega Bro, please remove Mega Blastoise from teammates. I would also suggest adding Lanturn as a very good teammate for Electric immunity because it helps manage the massive output Electric teams have. Make these changes and I'll look over it again.Defensive Water Core water got some really interesting Pokemon this generation and one of them is toxapex which is just very good defensively. So following is a defensive core that can also be used on semi stall teams.
Slowbro-Mega @ Slowbronite /Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Rest /Slack off
- Psyshock
- Scald
Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Haze
- Recover
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Damp
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Roar
- ScaldThe slowbro+toxapex core is really hard to break as they both have regenerator and cover each others weakness pretty well. Swampert is used for electric immunity and stealth rock. This is a great defensive core that is a pain to play against. The aim of this core is to gradually worn out the opposing team through toxic spikes,stealth rock and stall.
•Slowbro can pivot in most physical attacks in conjunction of its pre-mega ability which is regenerator. Slowbro is great as a win condition late game as few things can stop it from sweeping once it has few calm minds under its belt. Psyshock hits special walls hard once few calm minds are up. Scald is the water stab and the chance to burn opposing Pokemon making slowbro more tanky on the physical side. Rest can be replaced by slack off. Non mega slowbro can also be used with leftovers.
•Toxapex is the other member of this core that acts as a glue to the team and is the sp.def Pokemon can switch in most special attacks very easily. Toxapex has regenerator which adds more to its already 50/152/142 bulk. Toxic spikes is used to gradually worn out opposing teams. Haze is used so that toxapex isn't a set up fodder to opposing Pokemon. Scald is just a pure evil move to fish for burns! Recover is used for immediate sustain and to stall things out in tandem with toxic spikes.
•Swampert adds to the team a crucial electric immunity and stealth rock support which is great to keep many types pressured with stealth rock. Physically defensive swampert can tank a lot of things and can phaze out opposing Pokemon with roar and rack up residual damage. Earthquake is used for electric types that can easily threaten this core,earthquake also hits decently even when uninvested. Scald is for fishing burns.Threats
•Strong wallbreakers like hoopa unbound can really put a dent and a stop to this team by using the appropriate moves.
•Grass types: Grass has always been a pain for defensive and stall mono water teams even if you run sap sipper azumarill as mega Venusaur can still kill it with poison stab.However using Sap sipper azumarill on a defensive water team is a must as it improves match up vs grass types/moves.
•Stallbreakers: Stall breakers like Gliscor,Sableye can easily put a stop to the stall with taunt.
Support pokemon
•Alomomola: Wish support.
•Azumarill:Grass immunity(Sap sipper)
•Defog/Rapid spin support. Empoleon,Tapu fini,Mega blastoise(if non mega slowbro)
I really don't think Max Defense / Bulk Mega Scizor is all too viable simply because you lose a lot of versatility in coverage and limit what your core can handle threat wise. I'd just say changing this into your RMT's EV spread or something of the like would do. Araquanid is fine. What are the 84 Speed EVs for on Volcarona? I can't see any threat that would require you to have a Speed of 257. Please make it designed to specifically speed creep something, whether its invested base 70s, neutral base 70s, etc. Last thing, why do you have soooo many slashes. I get that you can pretty much run whatever you want, but ideally only really necessary moves should be listed, not everything that happens to be viable for said Pokemon. Make these changes and I'll review again.Hope you don't mind Alpha, but since I'm on mobile I stole your core template :P
Balance Bug Core
Not a whole lot has changed for Bug since last gen except for the introduction of one, key Pokémon: Araquanid. This little wonder offers bug a legit water and fire resist on top of decent (if one-dimensional) offensive presence. I made a balance bug team around this new addition.
Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technitian
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Bullet Punch / Knock off
- U-turn / Knock off / Toxic
Araquanid @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm / Careful Nature
- Scald / Liquidation
- Toxic / Mirror Coat
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Volcarona @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpD / 84 Spe
Calm Nature
- Quiver Dance / Will o Wisp
- Roost
- Fiery Dance
- Giga Drain / HP Ground / Bug BuzzThis is just a basic Balance Bug defensive core you can use to build off of. It features defensive Mega-Scizor, who is one of the greatest blanket defensive checks in the game, with it's near-ironclad defensive typing and reliable recovery. Defog and Roost are mandatory, but your choice of other two moves can range from Bullet Punch to Knock off to Uturn.
Araquanid offers a water and fire resist and special defensive bulk to cover volcarona and Scizor's main weaknesses while pestering with scald / liquidation. Mirror Coat is an option to keep offensive Celesteelas in line, along with other threats.
Volcarona offers a secondary specially defensive bulwark to contend with electric, in particular. Roost is mandatory, but one can run quiver dance + 2 attacks or even Will o Wisp.I'll revise the EVs a little once I get back to my computer, I just wanted to get this out there.Threats
•Strong wallbreakers like hoopa unbound or Lando-I can really put a dent and a stop to this team by using the appropriate moves.
•Electric: Powerful Electric wallbreakers will surge this core if not stopped.
•Set up: Powerful boosting threats are very hazardous for this core, such as Charizard-X.
Support pokemon
•Armaldo / Forretress: Hazard and Rapid Spin Support. Red Card Forretress is an excellent panic button for opposing set up.
•Galvantula: A way of offensively dealing with opposing threats and hazard setters as well as pivoting. Sticky Webs are always good to have.
For Zapdos please change the EVs to 252 HP / 192 SpD / 64 Spe so that you can effectively Speed Creep up to Max invest Magearna. Other than that you're good.Balanced Flying Core
With Celesteela being added to the Flying type, Balanced Flying has a new and improved Skarmory as the teams physically defensive backbone. While Celesteela can't cover the field with rocks teammates such as Landorus-I can and bring the team a nice Electric immunity. Lastly and most importantly the teams specially defensive defogging wall, Zapdos is introduced to the core. Without further ado, here is the core!
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Toxic
- Leech Seed
- Protect
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 244 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Toxic
- Defog
- Roost
Landorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Rock Slide
- Stealth RockCelesteela is the teams premiere Ice and Rock type switchin. This allows Flying to take neutral damage to those supereffective types. Celesteela also provides great team support with Leech Seed and Toxic which allows it to widdle down the opponent's health and simultaneously recover health back through Leech Seed for itslef or the team. Protect is a great move on Celesteela as it allows it not only to scout moves from the opponent such as Choice locked recovery but also its great passive recovery and allows Celesteela to chip down the opposibg team. Finally Heavy Slam is mainly to hit annoying Ice and Rock types that threaten the team while also providing great coverage for fairy types.
Zapdos provides the team with a decent defensive pivot while also having the ability to clear hazards such as Stealth Rocks from your side of the field. Zapdos can stall out Electric teams due to its great typing allowing it to take neutral damage to electric types. Since most of Electric is Specially oriented Zapdos has an easy time switching into most electric type attacks. Volt Switch helps the team slowly gain momentum and pivot into an appropriate teammate to take on the foe. Zapdos then has the option of using Toxic to wear down the foe further and or to use heat wave to wear down steel and ice types further.
Landorus-I is the core offensive presence and stealth rock setter. Due to Celesteela effectively replacing Skarmory there us no obvious Stealth Rocks and Landorus-I brings an offensive presence allowing it to setup rocks on the switch out. Earth Power is Landorus-I's main stab and helps Flying deal with annoying electric and rocks types while taking care of Fire, Steel and Poison type pokemon. Rock Slide was the second move I decided to use was to help me cover Ice and Flying types while hittong Ground resistant Fire types for Supereffective damage like Charizard-Y and Rotom-Heat. Lastly Focus Blast was practically mandatory as it helps the team take down pokemon such as Heatran, Kyurem-Black, Lapras, and bulky normal types such as Porygon2 and some other annoying threatning pokemon to the flying monotype.Good Teammates
- Charizard Y is a great wallbreaker with Drought and Fire Blast it can tear through any unresisted specially defensive wall. Charizard-Y can also stop sand and rain which severely threaten flying. Focus Blast hits again bulky normal types, ice, steel, rock and dark types. Defog can provide the team with a secondary pokemon to helo clear Stealth Rocks off the field or Roost can preserve Charizard-Y to help it wallbreak longer into the battle.
- This also can help deal with annoying threats such as Paralyzing any nondark type setup sweeper and can cover many different types with coverage. It can also offer strong late game setup sweeper and cleaner with Nasty Plot. Coverage moves it can run are Thunderbolt, HP [Ice], Grass Knot and Focus Blast.
- Dragonite can work as a teams setup sweeper or Choice Banded cleaner. Outrage is strong stab that can help the team break through opposing teams. Extreme Speed is Dragonite's most reliable move that allows it to work as a great late game setup sweeper. Superpower, Fire Punch, and Earthquake are all viable options on banded dragonite. Dragon Dance prefers Outrage, Extreme Speed and Earthquake. Dragonite can also break special walls down for Landorus-I and Charizard-Y.
- Assault Vest Tornadus can form a nice core with Zapdos making a voltturn core. Hurricane can cover Flying, Grass and Bug types and confuse opposing pokemon. Tornadus-Therian's moveset can be customized around the teams need with options of Superpower, U-turn, Knock Off and Heat Wave.
- Togekiss aka the teams rely on hax mon. With access to moves such as Thunder Wave, Roost, Nasty Plot and Air Slash; Togekiss can fully shut down slower teams by flinching them to death, acting as a cleric pokemon or simply outspeed most of the unboosted metagame with a choice scarf.
- In gen 7 mantine was blessed with the 2 utility moves in Defog and Roost. Mantine can provide the team with another toxic user, can provide the team with another defog user or can haxs the opposing team with
100%30% chance to scald burn. Mantine overall is another great Special wall that flying has access to. Water Absorb can also help the team take on annoying water types and no longer makes the keldeo+terrakion core a pain for flying as Celesteela is a tech for Stone Edge from Terrakion and Mantine can absorb any scald or hydro pump keldeo can throw.
Pelipper should have Leftovers as an option before Eject Button and switch Hurricane and Defog. Hurricane should be standard on Pelipper because it provides a powerful STAB grass coverage move. U-turn is technically better than Defog as well because it makes your weather setter a pivot option which is incredibly useful for managing momentum and not losing too much HP on your weather abusers. Flash Cannon should not be an option for Kingdra and please put Dragon Pulse before Ice Beam as an option. Azumarill should have Knock Off as an option over Superpower. Make these changes and you're good.Offensive Water Core With the introduction of Gen 7,some old and forgotten Pokemon got new abilities and one of them is pelipper. Pelipper this Gen has got drizzle. It is an amazing ability that makes water moves more stronger,it also help Pokemon like kingdra to become a beast in rain and sweep. The core of pelipper+kingdra+Azumarill works really well and is a great offensive core to put opposing teams on their toes.
Pelipper @ Eject Button
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Scald
- U-turn/Hurricane
- Roost
Kingdra @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
- Flash Cannon/HydroPump
Azumarill @ Normalium Z
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Superpower•Pelipper with eject button is used so that crucial rain turns are not wasted and kingdra can start demolishing teams with its rain+specs boosted moves.Pelipper has decent physical bulk and it can check Pokemon with either scald or hurricane. It is also a decent hazard remover with access to defog and a reliable recovery in roost. U-turn can be used on the above set to gain momentum as the opponent switches out.
•Kingdra pairs up very well with a drizzle Pokemon so that it can abuse its ability swift swim. Specs kingdra in rain achieves a lot of ohko on opposing Pokemon. It also 2hkos Pokemon that resist its water Stab. Some calculations:
Specs Kingdra Surf vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Keldeo: 159-187 (49.2 - 57.8%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO
Specs Kingdra Surf vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Breloom: 221-261 (84.6 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
Specs Kingdra Surf vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Zapdos: 241-285 (62.7 - 74.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
The calculations above are just to give a general idea of how strong kingdra is in rain aided by specs. Draco meteor is 130 bp move that has a lot of ohko potential on opposing Pokemon. Draco meteor helps to get past opposing grass,water and dragon Pokemon.Ice beam is used so that it is easier to sweep vs dragon types. Ice beam also helps against bulky grass types. In the 4th slot,flash cannon is used as fairy types are much more prevalent this generation. Flash cannon can be replaced by hydro pump for some insane move power.
•Azumarill is a strong physical wallbreaker that is really hard to switch into,except dedicated physical walls. 176 speed and adamant nature helps azumarill to outspeed uninvested base 70 speed Pokemon. Normium z with belly drum is used so that azumarill can set up belly drum easily and sweep as belly drum in conjunction with normium z fully heals the user first before deducting hp for belly drum. Aqua jet is a priority move that makes up for its low speed and azumarill can sweep with aqua jet alone once belly drum is set. Play rough is for opposing Pokemon that resist its water stab and vs fighting,dark,dragon types. Superpower is used to deal with annoying ferrothorn.
Threats
•Mega venusaur: Mega venusaur is a nightmare for most mono water teams to face as it has immense bulk as it lets it shrug off the attacks with synthesis and giga drain.
•Electric Pokemon: Things like tapu koko and surge surfer raichu can demolish this core rather easily.
•Defensive teams with dedicated walls can be a trouble for this core as they can shrug off attacks with their bulk. However this can be mitigated by employing smart switches and plays to keep defensive teams on its toe.
Support Pokemon
•Gyarados: It deserves a special mention as its substitute dragon dance and bounce set helps to check grass types like mega venusaur admirably.
•Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
•Starmie: Great speed. Access to rapid spin and can be a secondary rain setter for the team.
•Seismitoad: Offensive stealth rock support from Seismitoad as well as electric immunity is something to consider while building swift swim team since mega swampert is not released.
•Mega Sharpedo: Mega Sharpedo pairs well with this core as it can clean up very easily late game and is a good wallbreaker in general.
First, please explain what the EVs are for specifically. Saying they are for "taking hits nicely" or "doing a little extra damage" isn't a good enough reason to mitigate EVs in such a way. Real in-game situations need to be accounted for. Mantine's moves are fine, though if there weren't as many /'s that'd be better. Swampert shouldn't have Protect as an option and Yawn/Toxic should be options over Scald. Will review once changed.Balanced Water Core The following is a core of Mantine and Swampert.
Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Def / 200 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Roost
- Defog/Mirror coat
- Air Slash/Haze/Toxic
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Roar/Protect/ToxicOverviewMantine has always been a good defensive Pokemon with a very good special defense at base 140,however mantine lacked a form of sustain other than rest and its inability to take physical hits well. However Gen 7 proved to be a boon for the kite fish Pokemon,as it got +20 boost in hp and a sustain in the form of roost. Combining all this has increased the viability of mantine. Speaking of the core,mantine works really well with swampert as mantine is x4 weak to electric moves and x2 weak to rock moves,while swampert is immune to electric moves and takes resisted damage from rock moves. With the good special bulk of mantine,it can take grass moves aimed at swampert. Both the Pokemon not only support each other but also provide utility to the whole team in form of hazard,hazard removal and phazing.
•Mantine: The given set above is a standard bulky set with 200 sp.def Evs and a calm nature greatly increasing its special bulk. 60 defense Evs are used so that it takes hits slightly better on the physical spectrum,rest Evs in hp. Roost is used for longevity and it lets mantine take special hits repeatedly. Scald is a stab move to do some chip damage and burn opposing Pokemon,further improving the bulk of mantine. It is also a decent defogger as it can threaten many stealth rock setters with its stab scald. Haze can be used so that mantine can stop set up sweepers. Mirror coat is an option too as mantine can ko Pokemon with it. Air slash helps against grass types especially when the opposing Pokemon resists water stab. Toxic can be used to put a timer on opposing walls and to stop sweeps.
•Swampert: Physically bulky swampert set is used,252 def and a relaxed natures allows swampert to take hits from non choice banded Pokemon. 240 hp Evs are used to hit a leftovers number and 16 Evs in attack so that it still hits decently with earthquake. Stealth rock is used to rack up residual damage while earthquake is a stab move that hits pretty well even with little investment.Scald is the other stab move with a chance to burn and thereby increasing its utility. Roar may be used to phaze out opposing Pokemon and to rack up residual damage at the same time. Toxic can also be used in the 4th slot to stop annoying walls and to spread status around which greatly helps in wallbreaking. Protect can be run to scout opposing Pokemon.
Threats
•Dragon types like kyurem black cab be a problem for this core as it can deal good amount of damage to both the Pokemon. This is where protect on swampert helps to scout for its moves if it is choice locked.
•Grass types like mega venusaur and tapu bulu are huge threats to this core and are difficult to play against however checks to both will be listed below.
•Pokemon that have access to both electric and grass type moves can be problematic as it comes down to precise prediction and sometimes it cannot be predicted.
These are some of the threats to the core,if you feel like there are more threats to this then please feel free to tell me.
Teammates
•Volcanion: Helps against grass types. Can check tapu bulu with a scarf set.
•Greninja:Helps to check mega venusaur with extrasensory. Starmie does the same job and is a good offensive rapid spinner if defog is not used on mantine.
•Mega Sharpedo/Gyarados
•Azumarill-Dragon immunity+ wall breaking capabilities.
•Keldeo
I'm not sure why you're running HP Fire on Magearna and not Focus Blast since both either do practically the same in most applicable situations or Focus Blast out damages. The only Pokemon I could see this helping with is Mega Scizor, but you already take neutral from BP so why the specialized coverage? Remove Megahorn from Tapu Bulu because with Grassy terrain there's pretty much no reason to not just run Wood Hammer. Also remove Leech Seed. Not sure what HP Ice is for on Tapu Koko, and I think HP Fire would be better suited here. Add Taunt as an option. After that you should be good.Offensive Fairy Core
Tapu Koko, Tapu Bulu, & Magearna
Magearna @ Fairium Z
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flash Cannon
- Fleur Cannon
- Shift Gear
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Tapu Bulu @ Life Orb
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
- Wood Hammer/Leech seed/Bulk Up/Megahorn
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb/Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Dazzling gleam
- Volt Switch
Basically, this core has amazing synergy. Switch Bulu into ground attacks aimed at Koko & Magearna (between the resist and grassy terrain you take almost nothing). Switch Magearna into poison type attacks aimed at Koko and Bulu, or steel attacks as needed. All three of these pokemon can exert a lot of offensive pressure. Bulu and Magearna are naturally bulky and difficult to kill, and Koko is fast and has volt switch.
I don't think my sets are complete, or even that good, so honestly there is a lot of potential for improvement. But I think their synergy is undeniable and will only get better as the sets improve. That aside, here is my reasoning for the sets I'm using now and how I use them:
- Get Magearna into something that doesn't threaten it by swtich/volt switch and go for shift gear. Z-Fleur Cannon is your nuke that doesn't lower your special attack, and if you can get a kill with it you can go for another kill with Fleur Cannon and be back to neutral. Flash cannon is an amazing secondary STAB on fairy, and wins VS a lot of types. It's worth noting that Fleur Cannon is stronger than SE HP Fire unless Fleur Cannon is resisted, or HP Fire is 4x effective.
- Bulu is great because of terrain boosted STAB horn leech, making it very difficult for anything that can't KO it to get rid of it. Even with life orb this thing just does not die. (Also it's probably the best switch in to opposing Tapu Koko that fairy has). Stone edge is for zapdos and fire types, as well as providing extra flying coverage if Koko can't handle it. Super power is for steels. The fourth slot feels really open to me -- wood hammer, leech seed, bulk up, megahorn, etc.
- Koko can do ton of damage with volt switch through out the game while staying healthy for a final sweep. I'm using specs which is honestly a little crazy, but a lot of monotype teams do not have a ground type, or have one that is slower and dies to HP ice. And specs volt switch from Koko seriously dents stuff. You can even use U-Turn over volt switch to ensure a safe switch. Taunt & grass knot are also options.
- Magearna & Bulu's shared fire weakness can be covered with Azumaril. I use band so I don't need to worry about it's health as much. It also helps that both of them are bulky enough to take a few hits from non STAB fire attacks. Klefki screens can help even more. The fire matchup is tough in general as it resists fairy, grass, steel, and even HP fire and ice.
- This core doesn't really have anything to hit electric, and there aren't many team options to help with that without Mega Diancie.
- Even though 2/3 of this core and 4/6 of the team I'm using are neutral to steel it's still an uphill battle for sure. Excadril can be especially threatening
Alpha-Harpreet and Dece1t, you two need to decide which one of you is submitting this core. If it's Alpha, please make the changes that Stun suggested. If it's Stun, I'll review it again.
