Project SV ZU Teambuilding Competition

diegoyuhhi

our shared past and our lost future
is a Pre-Contributor
:sv/abomasnow: :sv/arboliva: :sv/bellossom: :sv/cacturne: :sv/dipplin: :sv/exeggutor: :sv/flapple: :sv/leafeon: :sv/lilligant: :sv/ludicolo: :sv/lurantis: :sv/sawsbuck: :sv/scovillain: :sv/shaymin: :sv/shiftry: :sv/toedscruel: :sv/victreebel:
The ZU tier always finds itself infested by grass types, since it's one of the most common and worst typings in the game; still, many different grass types are able to shine in this tier with different niches for each one of them.
Build a team featuring at least 2 Grass types and post it in this thread with a brief description.
Deadline is Friday 12th at 10pm GMT+2.
Have fun!
 
:dipplin::shaymin::avalugg-hisui::dusknoir::carbink::Muk:
As a stall connoisseur, this week's challenge was definitely a tough one for me, given the multitude of very relevant weaknesses that grasses have, but after building a bunch of different teams with a bunch of different grasses, this is what I ended on. So let's look at the team!
First up, let's look at the grasses the team is built around.
:dipplin: was an obvious inclusion as a grass type, given that it's already one of the strongest stall mons in the tier. Even with its mediocre at best typing, there's only a few physical attackers in the tier that actually threaten it (although those attackers are definitely very threatening such as :sneasel-hisui:, :sneasel:, and basically all mons that run toxic). I ran a very standard physically defensive set, with draco Meteor to take some cheeky kills on weakened mons, and dragon tail to stop setup mons.
:shaymin: was the other grass I brought onto the team as a special wall. I initially tried :appletun: as my second grass, but it's longevity left much to be desired, given its poor speed and deceptively average bulk. Shaymin, on the other hand, while having many very annoying weaknesses, with 100s across the board, it had enough bulk to blank most neutral special attacks, and make some progress with leech seed and air slash. I ran it with max spdef and hp, with synthesis as recovery, leech seed to force switches, and giga drain and air slash to chip some mons that weren't threatening shaymin.
:avalugg-hisui: is the team's rocker and spinner. it's typing, while obviously not being great, covers for many of dipplin's biggest weaknesses. In addition, when terastalized into a better type, it can come in and blank physical attackers, set up rocks, and spin for days. most importantly, it can switch into the ice, flying, and poison type attacks that dipplin does not like to take.
:dusknoir: is the resident spinblocker and burn spreader. it can easily switch into the fighting type attacks that avalugg hates taking, and haze and burn physical setup sweepers before sitting on them for days, slowly chipping them down with night shade and burn chip.
:carbink: is the team's spiker and special wall. it importantly resists many of the types shaymin is weak to, and shaymin resists most of its weaknesses. in addition, it can threaten many mons that scare the rest of the team with body Press or power Gem.
:Muk: is the best special wall in the tier, and is the best progress maker on the team with knock and toxic. haze stops setup mons, and its sheer bulk and threat of knock can force loads of switches over the course of the game.
 
Vulpix may be banned but sun is far from dead!

:ivysaur: :volbeat: :komala: :charmeleon: :poliwrath: :shiftry:

Sun teams are still somewhat viable thanks to Heat Rock being allowed in the tier. This team is unconventional as several key Chlorophyll users are missing, but it still puts in work as the three sun abusers can all hit hard, especially after a Growth in the case of the two Grass types.

:Ivysaur: the MVP. Using this over :Victreebel: because, firstly just using Victreebel is boring, secondly I often found it useful to switch Ivysaur into certain mons thanks to its eviolite bulk. It's pretty easy to set up a Growth with this Pokemon, and tera fire is there to make its Weather Balls hit even harder when the sun is up.

:Volbeat: obligatory sun setter.

:komala: spinner with decent spdef and can set up sun alongside Volbeat.

:charmeleon: because I wanted a Solar Power user (hopefully Charizard drops to ZU sometime) and with scarf it can nuke a lot of mons with Overheat, or late game sweep with Flamethrower.

:poliwrath: this was originally a :scovillain: but I found I needed a non sun-related mon to balance the team out a bit more. Bulk Up Poliwrath is just so good at the moment.

:shiftry: incredible with Chlorophyll, hits like a truck, especially after a Growth. Mostly self explanatory team. Could probably replace the Ivysaur and Charmeleon with better Pokemon but where's the fun in that.
 
:shaymin: :magmortar: :samurott: :cryogonal: :Arboliva: :sneasel-hisui:
I really like making unorthodox sets, so when I saw that my favorite pokemon was in ZU, I had to make a team around it.

:Shaymin: is obviously the star of the team. It baits in special walls and surprises them with swords dance and trailblaze. This is especially good because it often runs scarf with earth power, scaring out the fire types that could take it out before it gets set up.

:Magmortar: is on the team because I needed some raw power. With specs, there are not many mons that can switch in on it, especially after :Shaymin: whittles down special walls.

:Samurott: is on the team because I like its coverage and access to knock off. I often lead it because its coverage tends to be unexpected and sometimes it takes out one or two mons on its own. I gave it AV to improve my team's matchup into :pyroar:

:Cryogonal: is on the team for rapid spin and haze.

:Arboliva: is my other grass type, and fills a very similar role to :Magmortar:, it is just bulkier and slower. Grassy terrain also helps :Shaymin: get set up, and the boost on grass moves is certainly useful.

:Sneasel-Hisui: is on the team because I realized that my team needed a more immediate physical threat. It is one of the best mons in the tier, and with band it can do heavy damage to walls and switch out into one of my bulkier mons.
 
:lurantis::rotom::shaymin::poliwrath::perrserker::magmortar:
Ngl, building with two Grasses (again since I used two Grasses before for :shaymin: week) was kinda tricky, but I ended up landing on this offensive squad built around :lurantis: and SD :shaymin:.

:lurantis: starts off this squad, being what I believe to be one of the rare actually decent Defog users in the tier (Most Flyings are kinda ass imo). This access to Defog allows it to support Specs :magmortar: coming up later, which would have a hard time getting consistent results with rocks on the field. Access to Synthesis grants :lurantis: some nice longevity as well. Contrary Leaf Storm is :lurantis:'s main mode of attack. Contrary allows it to spiral pretty quickly if the opponent doesn't deal with it properly, further bolstered by tera Poison neutralizing every attack :lurantis: would otherwise be weak for. This and its last move, Knock Off, makes it quite scary for pokémon who want to hit a terastallized :lurantis: for super-effective damage to come in, since grounds are weak to Leaf Storm, and Psychics are weak to Knock. Boots allow :lurantis: to come in consistently to try to clear the hazards.

A major weakness that Grass-types have to deal with is their weakness to Poison and U-turn, so :rotom: attempts to solve those problems, taking resisted damage from both types. I'm running the standard Scarf set here to make up for the lack of speed in the team's latter half with tera Dark to resist Sucker Punches and other Dark attacks from 'mons like :toxicroak:.

SD :shaymin: is really what I tried building this team around. I found that most of the best Grass-types in this tier are special attackers, so running a physical Shaymin allows me to fulfill the prompt while also not having to fit two pokémon that do relatively similar things (Before I landed on this team I tried to run a duo of :shaymin: and :arboliva:, but they felt too similar, even with the SD set on :shaymin: since :arboliva: would also function as a Grass-type with Normal-STAB). Petal Blizzard is :shaymin:'s main STAB, Zen Headbutt is here to hit Poisons like :toxicroak: and the ever annoying :muk:, even though there's probably better answers for the latter, let's be real. Quick Attack and tera Normal allow :shaymin: to potentially clean late-game à la E-killer :arceus: in Ubers. I'm using Boots as the item here since I got tired of taking chip from hazards and/or Life Orb, leading to :shaymin: getting worn down too early in the match more often than not.

At this point, I have a bit of a Fire- and Ice-weakness going, so I thought :poliwrath: would be a decent way to plug up that hole. I'm running a Bulk Up set with Knock Off for team support, along with Rocky Helmet to punish physical attackers and a specially defensive spread so I don't get pummeled as hard by special attackers. Tera Dark allows me to deal with Psychic-types without having to burden :perrserker:, who is a little lacking in the special bulk department, at least with the set I'm running on it.

Speak of the devil, the next addition to the team is :perrserker:, who functions as the team's main rocker, with U-turn for momentum, Fake Out for some much-needed priority, and Iron Head for STAB, which can still deal good damage, despite the relatively minimal attack investment. A physically defensive spread allows :perrserker: to consistently deal with threatening physical attackers, and gives it some nice longevity so it can get up hazards throughout the game, which is useful when your form of hazard-removal is Defog. Tera Dragon is used to give :perrserker: a resistance to Fire-types and gives it a better matchup into Electrics and Waters, if ever that's necessary.

Lastly I added :magmortar:, which rounds off the FWG core and gives the team a useful secondary Fire-resistance, and is also the main reason this team uses :lurantis:, since its Defog support enabled :magmortar: to run a terrifyingly powerful Specs set, with even some of the bulkier 'mons in the meta like :muk: taking like a third of their health from a STAB Fire Blast. Focus Blast allows :magmortar: to get decent damage on certain Dark-types, and hits Rocks and Steels harder than Scorching Sands, if the extra damage is needed. Thunderbolt helps :magmortar: against Water-types, and Scorching Sands allows :magmortar: to make progress against opposing Fire-types and the aforementioned :muk:, with tera Ground allowing :magmortar: to juice the move up even further, while also mitigating its Rock-weakness, in case :lurantis: couldn't effectively clear the field.
 

diegoyuhhi

our shared past and our lost future
is a Pre-Contributor
In the currently going on ZU World Cup, many players have been fighting in the ZU tier to represent their country or region and to defeat all other ones to be on top of the world.
Build a team representing your country/region and post it in this thread with a brief description.
Deadline is Friday 19th at 10pm GMT+2.
Have fun!
 
Meet Virginia
https://pokepast.es/6cc4c12e6e739b54
Screenshot 2024-04-18 at 8.22.25 AM.png
Number one what style will we be building? As a citizen of the country with an obesity epidemic, I decided bulky offense or at least FAT would be a good start.

:Rhydon: The fattest mon (on paper) in the tier with eviolite. No idea wtf the real-world inspiration for rhydon is, but it's a TANK. And I live in a mecha of military bases. So here's our first representation of that. (Tank, as in literal tanks. I live where they test tanks. It is very annoying and loud.)

:Lapras: Ahh, a beautiful FAT mon. I live near the beach so I went for the fattest water type I could find that wasn't Whiscash, so no one would think I'm wooper in disguise. Went for the loaded dice set because there are casinos where I live. (I'm gonna get doxxed aren't I?) Icicle spear because the spear is arguably the most successful melee weapon of all time in war and I live where they practice da wars.

:Shaymin: More loaded dice because GAMBLING! Also a decently fat mon and one with BULLET SEED. That's right, more military / artillery references.

:Magmortar: It's hot AF where I live and THE MILLITARY BASE IS DOING ARTILLERY FIRE RIGHT NOW AS I WRITE THIS I STG ITS SO FUCKING LOUD KILL ME magmortar shoots mortar fire/cannons DUH. Also the fattest fire type imo.

:Toedscruel: Once where I live I was stung by a shit ton of jellyfish. That's it.

:Venomoth: Saw a big ass moth last night.
TL;DR:
The military base a few miles from my house shoots artillery at all hours of the day and scares my dog and it shakes my entire house. Ok, bye.
 
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:arbok: :medicham: :Sinistea: :cufant: :Metang: :monferno:
INDIAAshok Chakra Wall And Art Print _ Ashok Chakra.jpegBHARAT
So disclaimer, this team doesn't have competitive sets. Since the aim is to represent the country I instead decided to use the items, abilities and movesets to full potential to describe qualities/traits/personalities of the entities these mons represent.

:rb/Arbok:
Yea, Kobra. There's no way anyone can skip on this one for representing India right?
Indian King Cobra is one of the world's most poisonous snakes iirc so ofc we give poison barb+intimidate and go with coil/poison fang/bite/scary face. Self explanatory.

:rs/Medicham:
Medicham evo line is about meditation/yoga which has its origins from India.
Telepathy, Mental Herb, Calm Mind and Reflect represent the effects of meditation and yoga whereas Stored power and Helping hand are traits of a true Yogi.

:ss/Sinistea-Antique:
Ah yes, Indians and our age old obsession with tea. Like for real it would be over 40 degree Celcius out there but we wouldn't skip on that tea lol. We enjoy it too.
A masterpiece tea deserves to be served in a masterpiece teacup and so the item.
Calm mind, Aromatic Mist, Sweet Scent and Rest are all the traits/Effects of a good Herbal Tea

:ss/Cufant:
Cufant and Copperajah are based on Indian elephant and if there's any animal that represents India better than a Cobra, it's def elephant.
They are considered auspicious in our culture and so it holds the auspicious armor.
We know why it's heavy metal, not gonna explain.
The strength of elephant is clear from its stomp-ing, fling-ing of trunk and the bulldoze from its running.

:rs/Metang:
Metang here refers to IT department and Technological might of India in general (e.g., record breaking feats of ISRO)
Wise glasses and clear body(refer to mind) describe intelligence just right.
The IT and technological sector is India's Iron Defense and is always working towards a Future Sight.
~If you are active and interested in geo-politics u would know what Stealth Rock here means~
Finally a shoutout to how much these tech PPL Endure :')

:dp/Monferno:
The Inferneape evolution line is based on Son Wu Kong who in turn is itself inspired from Hindu God Lord Hanuman.
Sun stone cuz Lord Hanuman once swallowed the sun when he was a child.
Iron fist to describe the strength.
Agility and Acrobatics refer to his speed and the way he glides in air. Taunt describes his playful and mischievous nature while also referring to some of his legends. Protect is for how he protects PPL.


I was kinda confused as to which 6 mons to choose cuz like quaxwell evolved into a peacock which is the national bird of India but it itself is a duck. Pyroar can represent Gujrat Lions but Royal Bengal Tiger is much more famous. Finizen was close cuz India has one of the few fresh water dolphin species but idt that is famous.
 

viet noa

eating neopronoun pizza at little xe/xyrs
is a Pre-Contributor
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:eelektross::cryogonal::gurdurr::basculin-blue-striped::lilligant::gothitelle:
WTF IS A KILOMETER!!!!! - ALL-UNOVA BULKY OFFENSE


GM ZU!!! UNOVANS RISE UP RAAAAAAAAHH

Unova is based off of New York / New Jersey, so since I'm repping the Northeast US, I thought I'd make a team exclusively made of Unovan Pokémon!

Eelektross is definitely the MVP of this team, as its versatile defensive profile lets it do a little bit of everything. Cryogonal is our best option for hazard removal, as I'd much rather run Bulk Up on Gurdurr to make it more of a threat. We'll also have to make do with no hazard setting, since Krokorok isn't viable at all in this meta. Basculin is a top-tier wallbreaker that we all fear, and Lilligant is a scary sweeper. Lastly, Gothitelle is the the only other real wallbreaker left, so we will have to suffice with it for now. That said, it can switch into Intimidates to get a Competitive boost, so that's funny.

I LOVE LIBERTY AND THE IMPERIAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM WOOOOO

Role Summary / TLDR:
:eelektross: - Defensive Pivot, Special Wall, Phaser
:cryogonal: - Spinner, Special Wall
:gurdurr: - Physical Wall, Knock Off Spammer, Bulky Setup
:basculin-blue-striped: - Physical Wallbreaker, Speed Control, Offensive Pivot
:lilligant: - Special Sweeper, Late-Game Cleaner
:gothitelle: - Moral Support (also Speed Control)
 

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