Project SS ZU Secret Santa 2022

Merry Christmas 5Dots,

You requested a team around Carracosta and ngl I was a bit annoyed. During UMPL, I already wanted to use Carracosta and just ended up using Ho3n's HO and replacing Lunatone with Carracosta. I decided to be a bit more creative this time with going for a non-HO route.
:articuno::carracosta::gourgeist::miltank::qwilfish::rhydon:
The biggest issue with Carracosta is its inability to break through Poliwrath and Thwackey, so I decided to bring CB Rhydon to nuke them. I then added Qwilfish + Sap Sipper Miltank to cover weaknesses, bring hazard support, and force damage on common Choice Scarf users like Rotom and Sawk. Gourgeist-S and Articuno rounded up the team with their set of resistances and utility that offer opportunities for Carracosta and Rhydon.

Replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8zu-1752438854
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8zu-1752443930
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8zu-1752436332-nx34yfe0khrgahyf7mig2h1y6klw59upw
 
Merry Christmas UberSkitty !

You requested a team with 3 choice item users (Scarf, specs and band) and i built 2 versions of the team. As i'm not sure which one is the worst, I'll let you try both.

:articuno: :jynx: :rotom: :Silvally-Poison: :stunfisk: :thwackey:
:articuno: :jynx: :Miltank: :palossand: :rotom: :thwackey:

Unfortunately my comp died recently and I'm very sick so won't put explanations of them but they are very easy to familiarize with and if you have any questions you can DM me on cord (Beka#5928).
 
Screen Shot 2022-12-24 at 12.45.55 PM.png


merry christmas, Aaronboyer !! ive got your very extra special present of a type:null bulky offense or balance team right here for you.

:type-null::palossand::silvally-dark::alcremie::cryogonal::Sawk:

i really wanted to move away from the standard toxic + uturn + resttalk set and to try my hand at a mono-attacking crit-me-not sweeper. and with battle armor as its only ability, it really rings true! 12 speed is to outpace any uninvested base 60s like tangela. type:null struggles to break past rock- and steel-types, and fighting-types threaten it out, so palossand was a very obvious partner in my eyes. i was kinda stumped from then on, so i just tried toying around and seeing what looked like it worked. darkvally helps to break down fighting-types with psychic fangs, as well as handling ghost-types that type:null also cannot touch. its spread in particular means that scarf rotom cannot 2hko with tbolt even after rocks. next i added alcremie for cleric support and another fighting-type answer, cryogonal for defog + toxic shenanigans and a jynx check (244 hp + 12 def guarantees you dont die to specs psyshock from full, although you cant do much back without knock), and finally sawk as the resident speed control + knock user. heres another version with bulky aroma 2 atks cremie instead of cm + cuno over cryo with def evs to again live specs jynx psyshock (but without uturn im not sure how solid of a check you are to it): https://pokepast.es/8484e32066ef53ff.

here's two additional versions of the team as well, but im not as confident in these ones:

:type-null::palossand::persian-alola::qwilfish::articuno::mr-mime:
:type-null::palossand::persian-alola::qwilfish::articuno::rapidash-galar:

72 hp/220 def on persian guarantees a 3hko from band froslass triple axel on 3 hits from full, and the speed + jolly nature means you are always faster than it; froslass was another mon that the type:null + palo core i was building around struggled with

thats all i have for you now, ho ho ho and happy holidays to all!
 
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Merry Christmas Miyoko! I was tasked with building an Abomasnow team for you.

I view Abomasnow as a high-risk, high-reward choice, being able to dish out strong blizzards with a complementing second stab but being slow and defensively weak. The build most notably needed Rhydon answers that don't bait edge, since Aboma itself is a very risky switchin, as well as ways to deal with its other weaknesses like Articuno or rocks.

:abomasnow:-:palossand:-:miltank:-:ninetales:-:morpeko:-:silvally:

Specs was used as a baseline so it could function as a budget Vanilluxe. Both Sawk and Rapidash can easily revenge it so we chuck in a Palossand. Since both our grass type and ice type sucks vs the common grasses we make up for that with sipper Miltank, and here's where it gets a bit wild. The biggest issue that hasn't been adressed is Articuno, and while Rapidash would work just fine here at first sight, hail weakens its recovery while it gives Ninetales an unexpected boon. Any cheeky Altarias that attempt to annoy it get sent to the moon by weather ball. Even if Expert Belt is not needed for this it 1. gives us a good chance to ohko dash from full with sands, 2. does extra damage to the grounds (which is useful in the light of energy ball's absence) and 3. our last two mons pretty much make us commit to keeping rocks off anyway. Morpeko is generally threatening and also really hard to spinblock but mostly here bc palo teams are inherently weak to Rotom. Watervally is added last as a solid defogger/physical tank/pivot + having palo as the only fire answer is asking for trouble. The team's biggest weaknesses that stand out are Miltank (even if that can be lured if u lock into the right move with Aboma), keeping tales' health high enough to abuse cuno and ofc, actually keeping off rocks.

I wanted to try other building options too, so here's two more Aboma teams. They're all pretty similar, but overcompensate for the previous team's weaknesses leaving them weak to other stuff.

:abomasnow:-:palossand:-:silvally:-:coalossal:-:throh:-:rotom:
The main gist here is we use spikestack with coal to abuse cuno and Throh to phaze around. Main issues are it's slow as balls and Alcremie needs to be pressured offensively (which is code for "trick it a scarf or you lose to it").

:abomasnow:-:ninetales:-:altaria:-:sableye:-:silvally:-:stunfisk:
Here we not only re-embrace boots, but also use SD Rock Slide as the Aboma set of choice to lure cuno while also catching special walls like clef. Trick np Rotom kinda goes ham and u better pray Altaria beats the rocker, while SD pvally is a bad set even if it kinda works here (+ cake paranoia like I mentioned).

Hope you have fun and feel free to let me know if you have questions!
 
Hiiii Monai I'm your secret santa, and I tried to build a team around Choice Band Morpeko!

Paste Link
:morpeko: - :exeggutor:- :cramorant: - :skuntank: - :alcremie: - :piloswine:
CB Morpeko seems like a really cool and fun mon that provides great speed on a breaker, so I built the team around trying to cover its weaknesses. Exeggutor and Cramorant can check Ground types for Morpeko and both appreciate the damage reductions from Parting Shot. Piloswine provides rocks and amore dedicated Electric-immunity, Alcremie provides a Fighting-resist for Morpeko, and I've heard NP Skuntank is in vogue and I thought a double Dark-type team could be fun.
I think this team might struggle a bit with some Ground-weak Dark-types like Skuntank and Pawniard given how slow Piloswine is, but I feel like it's pretty solid. I hope you have happy holidays!
 
Merry Christmas Toto!

You requested a Team using the Galarian Mimes (Mr Mime G/Mr Rime) , so Iv made you one using the latter

:Mr Rime: - :Sawk: - :Rotom: - :Altaria: - :Palossand: - :Tangela:

Making a Mr Rime team where Jynx wouldn't just be better is harder than you may think, I opted to utilize its unique trait of possessing Rapid Spin to turn it into a late game sweeper who can outrun opponents Jynx can't. Mr Rime is not great defensively so I opted to pair it with a Pallosand to scare out the fire and rock type attackers who would want to pray on Mr Rime's weaknesses. Sawk and Rotom act as offensive backup with Rotom doubling as a pivot to let Mr Rime in more easily while Sawk works as your main physical attacker to break through Special walls. As Mr Rime is pretty shaky as hazard removal due to its typing and mainly working as a sweeper on this team, Altaria is used as the team's main hazard removal who can stick around to repeated removal hazards. Tangela is finally added to act as a defensive mon who can sleep opponents to allow for sweep oportunities or just general better game position. A offensive set is used with enough speed to creep max speed Rhydon as Tang is to be used more aggresively as compared to the other defensive Pokemon on this team. The team's clear main weakness is Knock users. with 3 Pokemon weak to dark and with Altaria and Tangela not appreicating it. ensuring your opponents knock usage is at a minimum is key. morelikely than not Palo should be used to abosrb knocks if you must. Jynx is also a pain to switch into for this team, with Rime bein your best bet for a switch in.

Anyway hope you enjoy the team!, Happy Holidays!
 
Merry Christmas mr czim! I am here to deliver your request for a water ground type
:Qwilfish: :rhydon: :whiscash: :Klinklang: :rotom: :silvally:

Whiscash takes advantage of the fisks, horse, and other klinklang and rotom checks to throw out its solid attacks. Klinklang, Qwil, and Rhydon are your standards to make good progress early. I chose darkvally in the back for the ghost-resist and speed, and scarf rotom does its thing.
Hope you enjoy gamer, happy holidays, and sorry I couldn't make palpitoad work.
 

:pimp::pimp::pimp: Happy holidays giove97 !!! :pimp::pimp::pimp:
I was your secret santa and you requested a build around our hazard overlord Kangaskhan (Man I miss the times this thing was top tier) + a Ghost type if choice.

Starting off, with Kangaskhan we go back to the roots. Back to a simpler time, where hazard removal wasn't so prominent. The classic Fake Out + Sucker Punch combo, paired with a devastating STAB Double-Edge hitting everything with Scrappy, rounded off with Earhquake to hit Steel and Rock types. Protective Pads because the many annoying contact punishing abilities and Adamant because Jolly is for pussies.
Very straight forward pokemon, very fun to click brainless buttons with.

Palossand is the very fitting Ghost type you requested, with Qwilfish adding onto the hazard stacking core the team is centered around. Pretty basic resistances and moveset choices, check Sawk, check Lycdog and Kabu, check Rapidash and Klinklang etc etc. Not much to explain here, will hold up for its name. Ghost typing is also nice because of spin blocking obv.

With Cryogonal, you get a spinner of your own; we ain't running Defog for obvious reasons. Knock Off because it is a broken move, same goes for Freeze-Dry and Recover for reliable recovery. I really like Cryo in the current metagame, it finds itself on a lot of my builds, even tho it competes with the, supposingly best, defensive wall in Articuno. Watch out for Psyshock Jynx and you will be fine.

Rapidash + Lurantis help you versus different threatening pokemon in the tier e.g. they prevent you to auto-lose to Alcremie and Thwackey. Lurantis also gives the benefit of a clearic, together with Qwilfish preventing the omni-present Toxic to overwhelm you. Really nothing unordinary here.

I hope you and everyone else can enjoy the holidays to their fullest! ​
 
Merry Christmas, missangelic !

You had requested a team using 4 special attackers (none in particular). This was a bit of a challenge since many of ZU's best attackers are physical attackers but this was a fun challenge nonetheless

- ----

Starting off this, team is centered around the core of Specs Thievul and CM Stored Power Gapidash. Specs Thievul is able to break away at teams so Gapidash can clean later, weakening shared checks such as Skuntank. CB Thwackey offers the team some speed control and Grassy Terrain gives Gapidash an easier time setting up. Klingklang with volt switch is able to lure in and pivot out on mons like Cofagrigus and Qwilfish that may try to take advantage of it, allowing you to safely bring in Thievul. Stunfisk offers the team hazard support and a check to Skuntank and Electric-types while Altaria acts as hazard control and helps to deal with the likes of Kanto Rapidash and Sawk.


Hope you enjoy the team and the holiday!
 
Merry Christmas Hitmonstars! You asked for a team built around Choice Specs Poliwrath.
:poliwrath: :klinklang: :rotom: :miltank: :coalossal: :shiftry:
replay team
I'm not a huge fan of Specs Poliwrath just because of the utter dominance of Articuno which nearly completely walls it. Klinklang and Choice Scarf Rotom are common sights to help mitigate that issue, but Rock Slide Shiftry is tech that I wanted to really showcase in tandem with Specs Poliwrath. Earlier on the game you'll be able to scout for how much damage Rotom's Volt Switch does to the opposing Articuno and therefore how fast it would be. The given Shiftry EV spread outspeeds 136+ Speed Articuno which is the fastest, non-max Speed Articuno in my builder. A bit of a Fighting weakness was hard to overcome when building, I'm sure there's some sort of simple fix I'm overlooking that would take a quick tweak.
 
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