Introduction
Hello poke dudes and dudettes, I have yet to make an RMT this gen so figured I'd give one a try. NU ladder is pretty stagnant right now, so climbing it isn't all that difficult, but I had fun using this team anyhow. Hail is far more common in PU than NU in the current metas, but Aurorus still manages to wreck house in Nu due to its incredibly powerful STAB blizzard and hail chip. Aside from wanting to use Aurorus, Sandslash-A provides a very similar role to the one in provides in PU, being decent speed control and a good late-game cleaner.
The Team
The Sets
Aurorus @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power
- Psychic
Aurorus is the mon I wanted to build this team around. Its current checks are very limited, with most players relying on prediction/makeshift checks (i.e Inci, Togey, Vapo) when trying to play around it. Generally on a hail team you'll find the weather-setters are scarfed, but I really wanted to use Aurorus in a more breaker-style role. With a modest nature you raise your chance of 2hkoing mons such as SpD Scrafty from 9% all the way to 90%. With 252 evs Aurorus outspeeds most of what it wants to, and even mons like offensive druddigon generally opt for adamant over jolly. Unfortunately, it means Aurorus is tied with adamant pang, and gets outpaced by jolly. While this is unfortunate, due to coverage like bullet punch from pang it is generally not a super favorable MU anyhow, and other mons such as golbat and aromatisse both act as soft checks. The first 3 coverage moves on Aurorus are obligatory on any Aurorus. Blizzard is clickable and strong, Freeze Dry hits pesky waters, and EP helps deal with steels and Incineroar. As for its last move (psychic), this was a bit of a tossup for me. I considered coverage such as flash cannon, dark pulse, or electric coverage, but I would almost never end up clicking them. Ice types in NU are somewhat uncommon, and coverage like blizzard already hits mega glalie for a good chunk. I ended up with psychic for the niche Hariyama you see here and there, that swaps into Aurorus without fear. Other potential options would be toxic or a second rocker, but for now Psychic manages to catch a few teams off guard. I tend to lead this monster, as having hail up early is always nice.
Sandslash-Alola @ Icium Z
Ability: Slush Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
Next up we have Aurorus' partner in crime, Sand-A. Sand A is basically the only "speed control" on this team, so occasionally I'll find myself sending it in earlier than I would like. Its goal is to be used as a late game cleaner, generally effective under 3-4 turns of hail. Its set and evs are standard as to what you'll find on most sweeper Sandslashes, aside from maybe knock off. I originally threw on knock off as a kind of throwaway move, but its proved to be handy in a lot of scenarios. Whether it be removing lefties, figy, or catching slowking off guard, knock off does come into play in some battles. It manages to grab the KO on standard AV kings after a SD, and makes MUS vs vaporeon a bit less tedious. Ice Z is a good one time nuke to elim any threat that icicle crash couldn't get on its own.
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Toxic
- Earthquake
After experimenting with a few rockers, Seismitoad worked very very well for this team. Its ability to pressure other rockers, as well as soak up water moves is invaluable. The moveset is pretty standard, aside from possibly having refresh over toxic. With Aromatisse as the teams acting cleric, refresh becomes less important than it may be on a standard team. Generally, Seismitoad tends to run 241 speed to outpace offensive inci. The reason I opted to put the evs in defense instead is because Z inci is becoming less and less common late gen. Figy and Bulk up variants are both more common as of late, and sacking the def evs does make a noticeable difference vs other physical mons in the tier. Being immune to Helio's surf/volt combo is incredibly valuable, because without seis Helio creates a ton of momentum with its volt switches vs this team (using another rocker). Seismitoad puts the burden of prediction on your opponent, because Aromatisse is easily able to absorb moves such as specs helio hyper voice.
Aromatisse @ Leftovers
Ability: Aroma Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Heal Bell
This is an admittedly strange choice for a hail team, but I've grown to enjoy the roll it serves for this squad. The team had a massive weakness to mons such as scrafty and malamar, so I wanted a solid check to them both. Making aromatisse purely SpD allows it to check a myriad of threats such as: clawitzer, heliolisk, other blizz spammers, special sceptile, the rare guzzlord etc. The moveset is pretty basic, bein able to wish pass, heal status, and do all the annoyin stuff a cleric is supposed to. Something like maudino could serve a similar role, but I do like the power behind stab moonblasts and pure fairy type so im hesistant to change it at this time.
Incineroar @ Figy Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 244 HP / 100 Def / 164 SpD
Impish Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Earthquake
Next up we have a super OBSCURE choice. Who would ever think to use incineroar? This mon is bottom of the barrel Nu, but I heroically chose to use it. Anyways this mon what is always does. It turns, it tanks, it basically does everything you need it to. The EVS allow it to do whatever smog told me it can do, but usually I just end up flailing for 8 turns until I finally get figy to activate. It checks stuff like Delph, soft checks sigi, and is just a generally useful dark type boi. Next~
Golbat @ Eviolite
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 HP / 80 SpD / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Toxic
- Defog
- Roost
Last and definitely least we have golbat. Look at this POS, smug as hell. What does it do? It annoys the bejeagles outta your opponent. You cant repel away from this bat buddy. Its surprisingly fast af, and outpaces non scarf passimian, braviary, medicham** and many many more useful af things. Brave bird hits a lot of stuff for good damage, and spreading toxic is always useful. A 4* resist to fighting is magical, and this mon just generally beats the stuff it needs to very very well. Its the team's only hazard removal which can be unfortunate seeing as stuff like steelix walls it for days, but it still serves its role with honor.
Threats:
Medicham (wtf checks this lol just uh....sack 3 mons to it)
Nasty plot slowking- There's not many great switchins to this, your best bet is to toxic it and revenge with something like inci
Birbs- This team doesn't have great answers to stuff like braviary, considering brave bird eats a lot of stuff and superpower eats the rest. At least Golbat deals w. sub variants using infil and z move ones are just chipped quickish. Plus with hail up its not doing much considering ice z nukes even after boosts.
Other stuffz- this team can be chipped relatively easy with good plays, and a lot of physical mons (even stuff like ambipom) can cause trouble due to the lack of defensive rocks or steels. Most stuff can be played around, but it's not always easy
Replays:
I wasn't going to post any but plimsoll told me to post the one from tlt so blame pp friso. Friso had an absolute trash mu btw so idrk what this proves
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7nu-995139986
If anyone read this far good on ya, any suggestions are welcome!
Aurorus @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power
- Psychic
Golbat @ Eviolite
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 HP / 80 SpD / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Toxic
- Defog
- Roost
Sandslash-Alola @ Icium Z
Ability: Slush Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
Aromatisse @ Leftovers
Ability: Aroma Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Heal Bell
Incineroar @ Figy Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 244 HP / 100 Def / 164 SpD
Impish Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Earthquake
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Toxic
- Earthquake
Hello poke dudes and dudettes, I have yet to make an RMT this gen so figured I'd give one a try. NU ladder is pretty stagnant right now, so climbing it isn't all that difficult, but I had fun using this team anyhow. Hail is far more common in PU than NU in the current metas, but Aurorus still manages to wreck house in Nu due to its incredibly powerful STAB blizzard and hail chip. Aside from wanting to use Aurorus, Sandslash-A provides a very similar role to the one in provides in PU, being decent speed control and a good late-game cleaner.
The Team
The Sets
Aurorus @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power
- Psychic
Aurorus is the mon I wanted to build this team around. Its current checks are very limited, with most players relying on prediction/makeshift checks (i.e Inci, Togey, Vapo) when trying to play around it. Generally on a hail team you'll find the weather-setters are scarfed, but I really wanted to use Aurorus in a more breaker-style role. With a modest nature you raise your chance of 2hkoing mons such as SpD Scrafty from 9% all the way to 90%. With 252 evs Aurorus outspeeds most of what it wants to, and even mons like offensive druddigon generally opt for adamant over jolly. Unfortunately, it means Aurorus is tied with adamant pang, and gets outpaced by jolly. While this is unfortunate, due to coverage like bullet punch from pang it is generally not a super favorable MU anyhow, and other mons such as golbat and aromatisse both act as soft checks. The first 3 coverage moves on Aurorus are obligatory on any Aurorus. Blizzard is clickable and strong, Freeze Dry hits pesky waters, and EP helps deal with steels and Incineroar. As for its last move (psychic), this was a bit of a tossup for me. I considered coverage such as flash cannon, dark pulse, or electric coverage, but I would almost never end up clicking them. Ice types in NU are somewhat uncommon, and coverage like blizzard already hits mega glalie for a good chunk. I ended up with psychic for the niche Hariyama you see here and there, that swaps into Aurorus without fear. Other potential options would be toxic or a second rocker, but for now Psychic manages to catch a few teams off guard. I tend to lead this monster, as having hail up early is always nice.
Sandslash-Alola @ Icium Z
Ability: Slush Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
Next up we have Aurorus' partner in crime, Sand-A. Sand A is basically the only "speed control" on this team, so occasionally I'll find myself sending it in earlier than I would like. Its goal is to be used as a late game cleaner, generally effective under 3-4 turns of hail. Its set and evs are standard as to what you'll find on most sweeper Sandslashes, aside from maybe knock off. I originally threw on knock off as a kind of throwaway move, but its proved to be handy in a lot of scenarios. Whether it be removing lefties, figy, or catching slowking off guard, knock off does come into play in some battles. It manages to grab the KO on standard AV kings after a SD, and makes MUS vs vaporeon a bit less tedious. Ice Z is a good one time nuke to elim any threat that icicle crash couldn't get on its own.
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Toxic
- Earthquake
After experimenting with a few rockers, Seismitoad worked very very well for this team. Its ability to pressure other rockers, as well as soak up water moves is invaluable. The moveset is pretty standard, aside from possibly having refresh over toxic. With Aromatisse as the teams acting cleric, refresh becomes less important than it may be on a standard team. Generally, Seismitoad tends to run 241 speed to outpace offensive inci. The reason I opted to put the evs in defense instead is because Z inci is becoming less and less common late gen. Figy and Bulk up variants are both more common as of late, and sacking the def evs does make a noticeable difference vs other physical mons in the tier. Being immune to Helio's surf/volt combo is incredibly valuable, because without seis Helio creates a ton of momentum with its volt switches vs this team (using another rocker). Seismitoad puts the burden of prediction on your opponent, because Aromatisse is easily able to absorb moves such as specs helio hyper voice.
Aromatisse @ Leftovers
Ability: Aroma Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Heal Bell
This is an admittedly strange choice for a hail team, but I've grown to enjoy the roll it serves for this squad. The team had a massive weakness to mons such as scrafty and malamar, so I wanted a solid check to them both. Making aromatisse purely SpD allows it to check a myriad of threats such as: clawitzer, heliolisk, other blizz spammers, special sceptile, the rare guzzlord etc. The moveset is pretty basic, bein able to wish pass, heal status, and do all the annoyin stuff a cleric is supposed to. Something like maudino could serve a similar role, but I do like the power behind stab moonblasts and pure fairy type so im hesistant to change it at this time.
Incineroar @ Figy Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 244 HP / 100 Def / 164 SpD
Impish Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Earthquake
Next up we have a super OBSCURE choice. Who would ever think to use incineroar? This mon is bottom of the barrel Nu, but I heroically chose to use it. Anyways this mon what is always does. It turns, it tanks, it basically does everything you need it to. The EVS allow it to do whatever smog told me it can do, but usually I just end up flailing for 8 turns until I finally get figy to activate. It checks stuff like Delph, soft checks sigi, and is just a generally useful dark type boi. Next~
Golbat @ Eviolite
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 HP / 80 SpD / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Toxic
- Defog
- Roost
Last and definitely least we have golbat. Look at this POS, smug as hell. What does it do? It annoys the bejeagles outta your opponent. You cant repel away from this bat buddy. Its surprisingly fast af, and outpaces non scarf passimian, braviary, medicham** and many many more useful af things. Brave bird hits a lot of stuff for good damage, and spreading toxic is always useful. A 4* resist to fighting is magical, and this mon just generally beats the stuff it needs to very very well. Its the team's only hazard removal which can be unfortunate seeing as stuff like steelix walls it for days, but it still serves its role with honor.
Threats:
Medicham (wtf checks this lol just uh....sack 3 mons to it)
Nasty plot slowking- There's not many great switchins to this, your best bet is to toxic it and revenge with something like inci
Birbs- This team doesn't have great answers to stuff like braviary, considering brave bird eats a lot of stuff and superpower eats the rest. At least Golbat deals w. sub variants using infil and z move ones are just chipped quickish. Plus with hail up its not doing much considering ice z nukes even after boosts.
Other stuffz- this team can be chipped relatively easy with good plays, and a lot of physical mons (even stuff like ambipom) can cause trouble due to the lack of defensive rocks or steels. Most stuff can be played around, but it's not always easy
Replays:
I wasn't going to post any but plimsoll told me to post the one from tlt so blame pp friso. Friso had an absolute trash mu btw so idrk what this proves
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7nu-995139986
If anyone read this far good on ya, any suggestions are welcome!
Aurorus @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Earth Power
- Psychic
Golbat @ Eviolite
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 HP / 80 SpD / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Toxic
- Defog
- Roost
Sandslash-Alola @ Icium Z
Ability: Slush Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
Aromatisse @ Leftovers
Ability: Aroma Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Heal Bell
Incineroar @ Figy Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 244 HP / 100 Def / 164 SpD
Impish Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Earthquake
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Toxic
- Earthquake
Last edited: