Sneasel & Friends; Hyperoffensive

[Louiss]

So here it is guys, my very first RMT :D.
You could call this a hyperoffensive team, all the pokemon on this team have either full investment in special attack or attack :)


A quick look at the team:

Teambuilding process:
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So I pretty much began with Sneasel, carrying Taunt and Swords Dance.
My Sneasel could easily outspeed a big part of the metagame and with Taunt it could prevent Stealth Rock, something this team is vulnerable to.

Then I needed something that could counter two big threats in the NU metagame; Cinccino and Liepard.
This bulky orientated Gurdurr has a big chance to survive 2 x 5 Tail Slaps from Cinccino, and with its Mach Punch or even Drain Punch it could crush Both Liepard and Cinccino.

After I settled those two threats, it was time to get a Stealth Rocker on this team.
There are many players that use other Stealth Rockers over Relicanth, and I know that.
Yet I still chose Relicanth. Why? Not only can this pokemon serve as a wall, it has also a pretty decent attack stat.
Rock Head and Head Smash is a very good combination, and I was totally convinced that this thing would get a place in this team.

Now I had three physically offensive pokemon, it was time to get a specially offensive pokemon.
I searched for a pokemon with a good SpA stat, as well as good defensive stats, and Rotom-F was the perfect fit.
I gave this Rotom Specs, which might be a little surprising, but it has been working just fine!

Now that I already had three attackers, I just couldn't let it to bring Golurk as well. This has always been one of my favorite pokemon, and i just wanted to try it out.
One thing about this Golurk; it doesn't carry Stealth Rock.
That's the trick of this pokemon, if you ever stand against a pokemon with Taunt, you will trick him and possibly sweep him right away, which is of course, AWESOME!
This is a No Guard Banded Golurk, something you have probably seen before, but still, Stealth Rock Golurk is just more common in NU.

So here it is, the last pokemon; Gardevoir. This thing is a speedy (or at least a bit) special attacker, with a decent SpD bulk. Since there were already 3 fully defense invested pokemon on this team, it was definitely the right time to get at least a little bit of SpD bulk.
This is also a pokemon that carry Taunt, so when Sneasel doesn't survive the trip you can always use this pokemon as replacement.

I shifted Samurott for Sneasel and Regirock for Relicanth. Since this team was (and still is, but a bit less) weak to Water types, I had to bring a Water type of my own, and because of the tips of somebody, I chose for Samurott.
I chose Regirock over Relicanth (also because of the tips) because it just has more bulk from both defensive sides.

The Stats:

Samurott @ Life Orb
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot

The Anti-lead, preventing pokemon that rely on status moves or pokemon with entry hazards by using Taunt.

Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Mach Punch

I said it in the Teambuilding process; this thing is too prevent pokemon such as Cinccino and Liepard. I can either Drain Punch and OHKO them or set up a Bulk Up and go for the Mach Punch. Ice Punch for the Flying type coverage.

Regirock @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Thunder Wave
- Drain Punch

Thunder Wave to cripple sweepers, and Stealth Rock for obious reasons. Drain Punch to get some decent hits on Ice Rock and Steel types, and also to regain some health. The only pokemon on this team that doesn't have attack or SAttack investment.

Rotom-Fan @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Air Slash
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Trick

Trick to cripple Status Move pokemon, and otherwise the Scarf can still come out handy. You could say this thing outspeeds the whole metagame with some exceptions.

Golurk @ Choice Band
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Ice Punch
- Shadow Punch
- Earthquake
- Drain Punch

Another pokemon with the same purpose; sweeping. Just go for whatever move comes in handy at the moment and you will be fine :)

Gardevoir @ Life Orb
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Destiny Bond

The special sweeper of the team, able to take out quite a lot of pokemon, and then Destiny Bond when it's close to dying.

Conclusion

So that was the team guys, I would really appreciate it if you would leave a comment with tips for this team, if i would be able to improve it I would be very happy :D.

Threats to this team:
I'd say that Amoonguss would be a threat, and also every pokemon that has Entry Hazards, since this team has no Rapid Spinner.
I am aware of this threat, but if you use this team in the right way you should have no problems with these at all. Save your Gardevoir and Sneasel for the pokemon with Status Moves, if you use these in a right way there should be no threats from Amoonguss nor Stealth Rockers!



Changelog:
-Added a 'how to use' description on each pokemon.
-Chose Taunt Samurott over Sneasel, the title is now wrong lol xD
-Chose Regirock over Relicanth
-Changed the EV's of Golurk and Gurdurr
-Some moveset changes on Gardevoir, Golurk and Gurdurr

_________________________

This is the final result of the team, I will not change it anymore because im happy with it :) I will continue battling using this team while I'll think about my next team. Thanks everyone!
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[Yeezy D]

Night Slash over Taunt maybe? Sash grants you access to a guaranteed Swords Dance, why not abuse it with a strong STAB-type high-crit chance move? Besides you need more coverage than just two Ice-moves.

 

[Louiss]

I have considered that yes, but this team is literally nothing without Taunt, since it has no rapid spinner and it is weak to pokemon that rely mostly on status moves.

If i come across something that has resistance to ice, I will pretty much need to switch out or sack my Sneasel.. I appreciate your tip though :D!

 

[Enguarde]

Hi there, you have a nice team but as previously stated you need more coverage on sneasal, I'd suggest swapping ice shard for either pursuit or foul play (shame sneasel doesn't get night slash), otherwise you're very limited in attacking options, which isn't something that a frail pokemon with swords dance wants.

Ice punch is also hardly needed on Golurk since your other moves can either hit stronger super effectively than ice punch or for the same amount most of the time. (EQ being as equally strong as a super effective ice punch), I'd choose shadow punch as a strong STAB as well as hitting Misdreavus and a lot of other types hard.

 

[Bluwing]

Hello Louiss and welcome to smogon ! This is a nice team you got here, but there is as far as i see some changes that need to be done, so lets start !

First off you have two SR weak pokemon which will hurt you in the longrun, her is also a good rule always try to use only 1 SR weak pokemon if your not using an spinner. So my suggestion would be to change Sneasel to LO Absol, Absol will help you a lot with psychic/ghost types, and will be an second check to Musharna which can tear through your team if Sneasel is dead as your Golurk is not using Shadow Punch. Also when speaking off Golurk, the banded set must use Iron Fist with Ice Punch & Shadow Punch to hit Flying & Musharna harder also Drain Punch over Dynamich Punch, as this will give nice recovery and will hit just about as hard as Dynamich Punch does when using Iron Fist. So now we have covered some threaths , lets move on ! Your team is very water weak, especially to strong special water types like Samurott, Gorebyss & Ludicolo, Absol + Gurdurr kinda handles Ludicolo tho but, Gorebyss & Samurott still sweeps you hands down, to fix this you should run Scarf Rotom-Fan over specs to outspeed Shell Smash Gorebyss, and it already handles Samurott quite nice. When it comes to Gardevoir & Gurdurr, you should use SubCM over your curent taunt set to dodge sucker punches and status, Gurdurr should have Ice Punch over Payback as it give better coverage and hits birds super effective on the switch.

Some final words, some off your EVs are just so random and i dont know why you have them, but Gurdurr should run 252 HP | 252 Atk | 4 SpD to gain max overall bulk. Gardevoir wanna run max speed and special atk with timid nature with the SubCM set, also Golurk should use the spread 172 HP | 252 Atk | 84 Spd to outspeed and 2HKO Alomomola with Earthquake after Stealth Rock damage, and the hp lets Golurk live a Sucker unch from Skuntank and OHKO back with Earthquake.

Well that was it and good luck ! :)

Changes:

Absol --> Sneasel
Scarf Rotom --> Specs Rotom
SubCM Gardevoir --> Taunt Gardevoir
Iron Fist --> No Guard
Ice Punch --> Payback

Sets:

Hide

Absol @ Life Orb
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Night Slash
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower

Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Ice Punch
- Bulk Up

Gardevoir @ Leftovers
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt

Golurk @ Choice Band
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Shadow Punch
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake

Rotom-Fan @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Air Slash
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Trick

 

[ium]

there's a lot of nitpicks i want to point out, mostly with your EVs. you're just slapping on arbitrary defensive investment, but the rule of thumb is to maximized HP first for all-around bulk. the optimal EV spread for gurdurr is 252 hp / 252 atk (sorry, typo) so it can tank some special hits as well. if relicanth is using rock polish, then maxing out speed investment would put it to better use. for golurk, 172 hp / 252 atk / 84 spe is best; the speed investment gets the jump on uninvested base 65 speed pokémon such as alomomola to hit it before you potentially get burned if need be. rotom has a nice speed tier—you should max out its speed instead of investing in defense. finally, the special defense EVs on gardevoir seem kind of unnecessary because it doesn't really do justice for the set you're using. just go 252 satk / 252 spe timid since you seem to be playing it like an offensive taunt user.

okay, for sets, there can be a few adjustments as well. gurdurr can't really touch psychic types with payback regardless so it should be switching out anyway. ice punch should be used over payback as it gives better general coverage for flying types and hits the common ghosts hard enough anyway (lampent isn't common at all).

choice band golurk with no guard is inefficient; just go with iron fist with earthquake / shadow punch / ice punch / drain punch. shadow punch really needs the iron fist boost and prevents choice band golurk from being stopped by bulky things such as misdreavus and musharna. stone edge is generally redundant with ice punch anyway and dynamicpunch isn't the main move you would be spamming even if you'd like to think that having the confusion would be nice.

dark pulse on rotom-s is a bit redundant and doesn't really do anything. it can just use trick instead of dark pulse to cripple some things that would normally switch in (golem, for example). speaking of golem, you can consider hidden power ice over thunderbolt to prevent it from stopping you but this is optional. what i really think you should do is consider a timid scarf rotom-s since water-types give your team trouble and the speed that rotom-s hits allows it to revenge things like +2 gorebyss. sadly it doesn't stop swift swim pokémon in the rain which your team is still weak to.

there's more that i'd like to point out (particularly weaknesses to water-types like ludicolo in the rain), but i can't give a full rate because i'm doing stuff on campus right now so i just don't have time. cheers.

 

[Louiss]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I will edit the team as soon as possible :D

 

[Bigblue]

I would suggest not having two pokemon with taunt on the same team, it is a good idea to have it on sneasel as he is an antilead, but on gardevoir it seems redundant. I would personally change it to something like healbell but other moves such as Thunderwave to cripple sweepers that switch in or use some type of hidden power to give her that extra little coverage.(I'm not sure what would be the best because personally I don't play NU much, RU is my piece of cake)

 

[WhiteDMist]

Please increase your descriptions a little more. You should explain your choice in items, moves, EV spreads, sets, etc. The other raters (especially BROStime and ium) gave you some decent advice already, so I won't have much else to add. That being said, there are some things that have not been addressed yet that I think you should look at.

Relicanth is trying to do way too much right now with your set. You have no Speed investment, so even after a Rock Polish you are way too slow to properly sweep, nor do you have the power without a Life Orb. You should simply stick with a tank set, which reliably sets up Stealth Rocks in order to give your team the guaranteed KOs it wants. It also gives you a defensive check to the powerful Flying types of the tier, especially the likes of Swellow and Braviary (tanking hits from SD Samurott and DD Altaria is also a big bonus).

The previous idea of Absol is great, along with all of BROStime's changes. Your team after these changes would have a nice balance of speed, power and bulk. Unfortunately, you lose out on Taunt, which means that you are very vulnerable to being worn down by hazards (especially with only minimal recovery and Drain Punch). Also, you have problems handling Stall teams, rare as they are. Sneasel isn't the most effective choice either due to it's lack of bulk. Cinccino, Armaldo, Carracosta, Garbodor and Golem leads are able to get around Sneasel pretty easily with Rock Blast/Aqua Jet.

Skuntank would be a decent option over Absol/Sneasel to give you an additional option against them. It has Taunt to interrupt hazard setters and annoy Stall teams, a nice Poison typing to absorb the odd Toxic Spikes, better bulk, and Aftermath for a good-bye present. All it costs you is a more powerful Sucker Punch and Superpower coverage. And you DO have a slight problem with powerful Grass-types, which makes Skuntank's resistance to them very helpful indeed.

Changes:

Relicanth: Tank set>RP SR setter
Skuntank>Absol/Sneasel

Sets

Relicanth @ Leftovers
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Head Smash
- Waterfall
- Toxic/Yawn

Skuntank @ Black Sludge
Trait: Aftermath
EVs: 20 HP / 252 Atk / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Poison Jab
- Taunt

 

[watashi]

I will most likely repeat a lot of what has already been said, but it'll be easier for both of us if I just list out what changes I believe should be made from scratch.

Looking over this team, it's evident that you have a huge weakness to Rain teams and powerful Water-type attackers in general. Replacing Sneasel with Taunt Samurott can maintain an anti-hazard Pokemon on this team while helping you gain a Water-type resistance.

If you're using Relicanth's slot as a Stealth Rock setter, then I would suggest using Specially Defensive Regirock over it. The main reason for this change is because Regirock can survive nearly every attack in the metagame while being able to paralyze them, which is important for this team since it is very offensively oriented.

Rotom-S would benefit a lot from a Choice Scarf since it will help you revenge kill Pokemon such as Gorebyss after a boost and Sawsbuck. Your team doesn't really have a designated revenge killer at the moment, which is huge for any offensive team in NU.

You can also try Life Orb Gardevoir over your current set. This will help with weather teams and Alomomola + Amoonguss cores since Gardevoir packs humongous power and can outpace weather sweepers due to Trace. Your current spread does not make good use of Gardevoir's good coverage and offensive potential.

Gurdurr should be using a spread of 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def since it provides it with the best bulk possible specially and physically. Ice Punch has better coverage than Payback since most counters to Gurdurr are either Flying-types or are bulky Psychic-types that are slower than it.

Golurk's spread should be 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe to help it outpace Alomomola and provide it with good bulk. Iron Fist is generally a better idea since it allows you to abuse the effects of Shadow Punch and Drain Punch while boosting Ice Punch. The former two should go over DynamicPunch and Stone Edge. Shadow Punch is especially helpful for hitting the bulky Psychic-types that wall Gurdurr.


Summary of changes:

Sneasel —> Taunt Samurott
Relicanth —> Regirock
Gardevoir —> Life Orb set
Rotom-S —> Choice Scarf set
Different EV spreads on Golurk and Gurdurr
Payback —> Ice Punch on Gurdurr
DynamicPunch and Stone Edge —> Drain Punch and Shadow Punch on Golurk

Set(s)

Samurott @ Life Orb
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot

Regirock @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
- Thunder Wave
- Drain Punch

Rotom-Fan @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Air Slash
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Trick

Gardevoir @ Life Orb
Trait: Trace
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Destiny Bond

Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Mach Punch

Golurk @ Choice Band
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Ice Punch
- Shadow Punch
- Earthquake
- Drain Punch