OP adapted from the 2021 edition which was adapted from PTF 's post in PU | Hosted by Ren-chon and Aawin
Scarlet and Violet NeverUsed Secret Santa
A tradition across Smogon (that we haven't done in NU since 2021...), welcome to Secret Santa 2024: SV NU Edition! It's the holiday season, and giving and receiving gifts is a big part of the holidays. We're embracing that here with Secret Santa!
In case this is your first time hearing of this project, Secret Santa acts as an anonymous exchange of gifts, where you give a gift to a random person, and you receive a gift from another person. In NU's Secret Santa, it will work (on paper) identically to that of a teambuilding workshop (such as in the NU Teambuilding Lab or the NU Bazaar). Each participant will send Ren-chon or myself a DM on Smogon or a DM on Discord ( @ baronnedefleur , @ Aawin on Discord, respectively) with a specific Pokemon or core of Pokemon in mind for your gift. Every "gift" request will be assigned to a participant, and you will have until the deadline to build a team with the assigned Pokemon or core. Once the deadline has passed for building, each request will be sent to the person who requested it.
General Rules for NU Secret SantaScarlet and Violet NeverUsed Secret Santa
A tradition across Smogon (that we haven't done in NU since 2021...), welcome to Secret Santa 2024: SV NU Edition! It's the holiday season, and giving and receiving gifts is a big part of the holidays. We're embracing that here with Secret Santa!
In case this is your first time hearing of this project, Secret Santa acts as an anonymous exchange of gifts, where you give a gift to a random person, and you receive a gift from another person. In NU's Secret Santa, it will work (on paper) identically to that of a teambuilding workshop (such as in the NU Teambuilding Lab or the NU Bazaar). Each participant will send Ren-chon or myself a DM on Smogon or a DM on Discord ( @ baronnedefleur , @ Aawin on Discord, respectively) with a specific Pokemon or core of Pokemon in mind for your gift. Every "gift" request will be assigned to a participant, and you will have until the deadline to build a team with the assigned Pokemon or core. Once the deadline has passed for building, each request will be sent to the person who requested it.
- Post "in" or some sort of relevant message to indicate that you want to participate in Secret Santa
- Given the deadline (see the giant text at the bottom of the post), if the team cannot be completed during the time frame, we advise that you don't sign up for Secret Santa. Failure to abide by the deadline will lead to you being disqualified from the event for future renditions, which we would hate to see happen.
- As tempting as it may be, sharing what you submitted or received ruins the fun of the project, so don't do that either
- Once you complete the build and it's confirmed by Ren or I in PMs, post it to the thread @ing the person who you were assigned with the Pokepaste of the team and an explanation for the build!
- Also, to add something new this year, we highly encourage everyone to participate in a "guessing game!" Before you post your team and write your thoughts, let's try describing the person you got. Are they an old gens player? Are they known for something specific in the community? Are they a good friend of yours? Anything goes! For example: "My Secret Santa (the person you were assigned to) is someone who's been really active in the community since the SS days, and have been making a name for themselves lately as a player and contributor... Coincidently as soon as they started being active for more than 3 months every year. They have a cult following for their pet, and a certain gif that might very well be the Smogon moment of the year. That's right, it's Pokeslice!" (from there you would post the team + thoughts using hide tags) This is completely optional, and you're free to just post the team, but if you have something to say about the person then we highly encourage you do!
Submission Guidelines
- Submit your cores in Ren or I's Smogon PMs or on Discord (contact info for that is above). This should be done before the signup deadline.
- For Pokemon submissions / cores (maximum of 3 mons), it is preferred that it be kept viable by NU standards, but if a niche / unmon is requested, we don't mind. Please review the VR if you have any concerns
- We do ever so slightly prefer cores are over individual Pokemon, unless one of the Pokemon is known hard to build around or not common within the NU metagame. This rule is pretty fluid and will work on a case-by-case basis, and won't be super tightly enforced, but just as a general heads-up.
- Specific build style for a more individually tailored team (balance, hyper-offense, etc) can also be noted when submitting your Pokemon / cores
- If you want to have the Pokemon in your request have a specific set (along with a specific Tera type), please mention that in the submission. The more specific you are, the smoother the process goes for everyone involved.
Final notes
- Feel free to sign up even if you're new to the tier! If you do end up in a creative block or are struggling with teambuilding, Ren and I will help out to the best of our abilities.
- You can change your request before the deadline. Notify Ren and I (in this case both, not one or the other) of this change in the PM.
- Have fun!
Deadline to sign up will be December 15th (12/15) @ 11:59 gmt -5 (EST)
Deadline for building will be December 24th (12/24) @ 11:59 gmt -5 (EST)
Last edited:
This cute grass hedgehog has 3 things going for it. A good speed for the tier, Seed Flair and Healing Wish. I tried Leech/Leftovers , Specs, SD... Neither of those you feel like you are truly doing something that weren't wishing to use other mon. Ok Specs isn't bad you get revenged too easily and you cant gargantee a HW later. In the end I used it to have my speed control and revive one of the good mons. It does the job. 
The standard SpD Wisp/PS nothing special here. It actually becomes too tanky with wish support and a late game HW passed over it can close games . 
To finish the grass/water/fire core and to be a counter part to Incin of being the main Def wall of the team. Again they work together spreading burns and pivoting and Wish support goes a long way in this core. 
Another great mon closes our defensive backbone giving the ground immunity and Rocks support. Heavy Slam/B-press hit most stuff for the desired chip and Psy Noise destroy wish pass. 
DD Flygon with the anti zong build. There is not better setup option in the tier, the mon is the S mon we know. In the end is a great win condition to benefit from the small but steady progress the last 3 previous slower mons make. It pick apart weakened teams like few in this tier with 1 DD and 1 Scale Shot . 
Another potential cleaner + defensive measure vs setup that can too work on the hazards department. 
is still cute.
)
