Snakebite: Arbok's Assault

[Silver Scrapes]

So, this is my first attempt at any serious NU team and my first RMT. I've played OU decently and peaked around 1900~ with Rain (which isn't all that difficult). Recently, however, I have been playing NU, and find it far more enjoyable. This team thus far is 9-2.

SO, anyway, the team.

This is my 6 I have selected for various reasons. I don't feel like explaining the entire process of teambuilding, and the only change I've made is that Gurdurr used to be Butterfree.

Drug Dispenser/Musharna (F) Leftovers w/ Synchronise
Calm Nature, 252 HP, 20 DEF, 236 Sp. DEF+
-Moonlight
-Heal Bell
-Thunder Wave
-Psychic

This, Arbok, and Bastiodon were the first three things I was completely certain about using on this team. I figured Bastiodon could set up hazards and work the physical side of defending while Musharna could function as a Heal Bell pseudo-cleric and generally be annoying to take down with Special attacks. The EVs don't really have much thought into them, they just sort of... are. They seemed good to me when I was typing them down.

Jacobson/Arbok (M) Black Sludge w/ Intimidate
Jolly Nature, 4 HP, 252 ATK, 252 SPE+
-Coil
-Gunk Shot
-Earthquake
-Sucker Punch

While not necessarily the most reliable sweeper, it's good fun to use and not as difficult to set up as some might think. Poison STAB is surprisingly good at hitting lots of stuff for neutral damage, and does amazing damage with the power boost of a couple of Coils behind it. The main downside, of course, is Gunk Shot's pathetic accuracy without boosts, making Arbok very reliant on finding ways to set up. If he manages to get set up, though, he's pretty hard to stop.

Bastard/Bastiodon (M) Leftovers w/ Sturdy
Impish Nature, 252 HP, 252 DEF+, 4 Sp. DEF
-Protect
-Stealth Rock
-Roar
-Toxic

Yeah, complete taunt bait. However, he's weak to fighting moves, which Arbok can resist and and at the same time has Intimidate, making Bastiodon a somewhat indecent lure. Plus, Roar is always helpful against pesky setup sweepers that just love to ruin your day. I'm looking at you, Gorebyss. His physical defense is positively massive with a beneficial nature and is generally very solid at picking up Musharna's defensive slack. Roaring things for 12 turns straight while your opponent struggles to hurt you is a fun little parlor trick, too.

Hurrdurr/Gurdurr (M) @Eviolite w/ Iron Fist
Adamant Nature, 252 HP, 252 ATK+, 4 Sp. DEF
-Bulk Up
-Drain Punch
-Mach Punch
-Ice Punch

Lemme tell you something. You only get swept by Liepard with Assist/Whirlwind once before you do something to prevent it from happening ever again. Well, meet preventative action. Gurdurr takes the place of Butterfree, which could find opportunities to set up decently well since opponents tend to underestimate it, but Gurdurr wound up being a much better ally than Butterfree could dream of being. With great bulk thanks to Eviolite, and the only priority Fighting move in the tier, Gurdurr is irreplaceable.

The Fox/Glaceon (M) Leftovers w/ Ice Body
Bold Nature, 252 HP, 252 DEF+, 4 Sp. ATK
-Ice Beam
-Shadow Ball
-Wish
-Protect

More or less a joke at first, Glaceon turned out to be an indispensable help during many battles with Braviarys expecting easy KO's or even setup opportunities. Last I saw, Banded Superpower from the American eagle dealt about 95% with Superpower, which is a lot, but without rocks, it's survivable. Braviary doesn't exactly appreciate Ice Beams. The number of people who laugh at Ice types is too damn high, and Glaceon is on track to clearing their name. Also, he's here over Walrein chiefly because of Wish, which I feel like I need.

Buzz Aldrin/Ampharos (M) @Choice Scarf w/ Static
Timid Nature, 4 HP, 252 Sp. ATK, 252 SPE+
-HP Grass
-Focus Blast
-Thunderbolt
-Volt Switch

I just wanted to try this. It's probably inferior to Electabuzz, but I don't exactly care. He has more power if memory serves, and that's enough for me. His main purpose is to patch up the gaping hole I have offensively with no strong and/or fast special attackers. Ampharos serves as both, and giving him a Scarf is a good surprise.



So, this isn't super-detailed... I'm looking for critique, mainly. Again, this is my first real attempt at competitive NU and my first RMT.

Thanks.

 

[nScAtmAn-]

id change psychic to signal beam on musharna just for liepards, assist whirlwind liepard is huge atm and if u only have psychic they can assist until musharna comes out then get up free sub and nasty plots by continuously assisting u back out.

 

[WhiteDMist]

Welcome to Smogon and NU! Honestly, 11 or so battles with a team isn't really enough to work out all the kinks that you possibly can on your own (there's nothing like battle experience to figure out problems). You also should pump up the descriptions, because outside of the actual sets no one has any real idea of what role the Pokemon play on your team, what your win condition it, why you chose specific Pokemon/sets/etc., or why you feel you need a particular role on your team at all. Expanding on these descriptions would actually give raters something to build on.

Right now, I'm not sure what this team is trying to do (I'm thinking Arbok sweep, but the team doesn't seem to support it too well) but I can tell that it isn't a stall team. That makes Bastiodon a bit of a liability since it has no real purpose outside of setting up Rocks and possibly Roaring (not often useful on balanced teams). I would suggest Probopass if you are looking for a similar Pokemon, as it still sets up Stealth Rocks, has usable Special Attack, and has a slow Volt Switch to help you gain some momentum. If you are really afraid of AssistCat, Magic Coat is a possibility as well, though its a rare team to really justify preparing for. Regardless of which Pokemon you use, they are better off using a specially defensive spread (or maybe offensive in Probopass' case) as Bastiodon's typing lends itself better to tanking special hits.

Musharna prefers to be physically defensive, as you have no real defense against Choice Band Sawk (good luck trying to survive the 2HKO with Arbok). 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpD Bold is more effecient use of Musharna's bulk. I honestly do not see the use of Heal Bell on this team except to try and prevent Musharna from being worn down by Toxic (Arbok absorbs Toxic Spikes so its only direct Toxics). I feel like Baton Pass is more beneficial because it lets you escape Skuntank once you've Thunder Waved it, or predict a switch.

I see no real reason for Glaceon at all. It is a terrible, terrible Wish Passer due to its poor defensive typing, Stealth Rock weakness, and lack of Regenerator all combining to make it difficult to even keep its own HP high, let alone the rest of the team. If you must use one, you have Alomomola and Audino as excellent options (the former can tank Ground-type moves, while the latter can even use Heal bell instead).

I won't argue that Scarf Ampharos can be a bit of a surprise, but its kind of pointless if you tell us. It is too slow to be an effective revenge killer, and there are better offensive Pokemon that AREN'T locked into a move. Electabuzz can use a similar set WITHOUT using Choice Scarf (the Life Orb makes up for the difference in power), while the Rotom-formes can use Scarf better because they actually outspeed Gorebyss after a Shell Smash (what good is locking a Pokemon into a move if you can't actually outspeed fast Pokemon?). I am leaving work in a few minutes so I don't have time to think of other revenge killers that work specifically for your team, but off the top of my head: the aforementioned Electric-types, Kangaskhan, Scarf Jynx, Pivot Liepard all look like they are usable.

 

[Dell]

Hiya

This team is quite weak to hard-hitting Ground-types such as Golurk due to the lack of efficient switch-ins to it and the fact that it beats a lot of your members 1v1. I suppose that Glaceon doesn't completely distract your ability to take it on, but even then it's quite an inferior Wish passer due to the lack of Regenerator and weakness to Stealth Rock, factors that can heavily deter Glaceon's ability to check them. I would say that Alomomola fits the slot better, who sports much better physical bulk, can pass Wishes a lot more consistently, and can take on Normal-types that has the capabilities to beat Bastiodon with some kind of coverage (from the likes of Kangaskhan, Tauros, Zangoose, etc.).

Otherwise, I agree with WhiteDMist in that Ampharos just isn't going to pull as much as a weight as Rotom-A or Electabuzz for this team. Either way is fine and will certainly help you pick up the slack in terms of Speed for the team. The former can help you revenge kill a lot of threats with their additional typing and the ability to outspeed key threats such as Gorebyss after a Shell Smash, while the latter can do the same, but more specifically function as an offensive pivot with Eviolite and naturally high Speed.

 

[Silver Scrapes]

Thanks, you two. That's the criticism I was mainly looking for - fundamental problems with the team.

I'll replace Bastiodon with Probopass and Ampharos with (probably) Rotom-S, and Glaceon with Alomomola when I get home later, as well as switching Musharna over to physical defense.

But, yes, the idea is to support Arbok for a sweep. Any ideas on how to better do that?

 

[scorpdestroyer]

Hi, short rate here

Instead of random EV spreads on Musharna, just take the one onsite: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SDef. The HP allows for maximum Leftovers recovery, with defense maximized and the rest thrown into special defense.

If you want to pave the way for an Arbok sweep, the most obvious things to get rid of are Steel-types and Alomomola. You can try replacing Gurdurr with Scraggy. Scraggy can set up on Musharna, Alomomola, and Steel-types, and can beat them for Arbok. Scraggy doesn't mind status either thanks to Shed Skin. You do lose a priority move though, but then again Gurdurr is already too slow to be stopping AssistCat with Mach Punch