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Well I'm not really gonna be touching RU for a bit till home drops so I might as well drop a team
Jesus this Rillaboom sprite is mad weird. Anyway the point of the team was to make a working team with Toxicroak. I added Sigilyph for the offensive core cause both of them destroy the tier. Gigalith + Gastrodon to check physical and special attackers. Drifblim was the designated hazard control because I was experimenting and it ended up as a check to pretty much everything somehow, even shit that hits it for super effective damage. Finally Rillaboom as my scarfer because the appeal of having a faster cleaner than the common Passimian was really nice, plus it weakens fat grounds like opposing Gastro and Mudsdale in case Croak needs em.
Overall I had fun trying out mons in this tier, but it came to a stop when I realized in some weeks we'll have more options so yeah, this was the team I enjoyed the most despite it not being that good of a team. See u next month ladder pce
Yeah also done with RU until home drops, fun tier atm but a shit load of issues as expected so I thought I'd drop a team as well. I decided to use a stall team which seems super weird for this current meta but it had pretty amazing results. Sigi and Pang are VERY hard to check but it can be done no doubt. Having a multitude of protect mons lets you scout banded Pang nicely, and Quag + Drif shuts down SD variants. Toxicroak is the key to checking Pang as it resist both stabs and coverage, it has surprising bulk and can even reverse sweep. SD offers more utility I found then taunt or bulk up. As for Sigi, you are reliant on Gigalith (with very good wish support) to check it mostly, but depending on the set multiple mons on the team can force it out. NGL the most common mon in the tier is also the biggest issue for stall, but its far from an auto win. Kock off on Ferro is very handy to have for crippling it and other mons (xatu) on the switch expecting spikes or leech seed. By far the biggest surprise of the team however was Drifblim, which is what Feli said above. This mon seems to wall just so many things and defog on most rockers easily. God Bless heavy boots tbh.
Having lots of fun with the team listed below and it deals with the current meta fairly well without using Sigi or Godgalith. It’ll be a bit more optimal when Home drops since I really want defog on either Silvally or Mantine and it’ll also let me rotate Roserade in for Eldegoss.
Mantine @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Roost
- Hurricane
- Haze
Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Heavy Slam
0 SpA Arctovish Freeze-Dry vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Gastrodon: 204-244 (48 - 57.4%) -- 87.9% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
4 SpA Arctovish Freeze-Dry vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Gastrodon: 208-252 (48.9 - 59.2%) -- 97.3% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
Well, that's a thing I guess. And Arctozolt actually has more attack than Arctovish. But yeah, while Electric/Ice is great offensively on paper, having to be choice locked into one or the other hurts.
Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Taunt / Encore / Disable
I think Sableye is pretty good in the current metagame. Being able to use priority Will-O-Wisp is really helpful at times, although it falters against Pangoro. But Pangoro is an entirely different subject to worry about, and Sableye does its job of checking non-dark physical attackers pretty well. It's also an excellent spinblocker, being able to force out most spinners, and Taunt the Defoggers, to prevent hazard removal. I've seen some people say they run some SpDef on Sableye, but honestly, whatever works. I like fully physical defensive, and it's worked well enough for me. I like to pair it with Gigalith, and an actual Pangoro check, although there isn't much of that to go around with. Access to Knock Off is great for it, but you can run Foul Play over Knock off, if you want. The last slot is also pretty flexible, but I like Taunt most. But you could fit in other moves, or even techs like Dazzling Gleam if you need an answer to Pangoro that badly. Make sure to change the nature if you're committed to going down that route, and you have ignored the warnings about how Dazzling Gleam isn't that good on Sableye.
As for the last slot, I personally find Taunt to be the best right now. Encore's good to lock the opposing Pokemon into their set up moves or into a disadvantageous move, and Disable's helpful for stopping threats that may only have one attack, such as a few choiced Pokemon. Taunt outright shuts down status moves, and can make it hard for opponents to set up rocks, webs, or try to support their teammates. It's been a great move choice for me, and I haven't found a reason why I shouldn't use Taunt. The only real annoyance is Aromatisse and Alcremie, being immune to Taunt, Encore, and Disable, meaning they can switch into any of these options and begin to set up or support the team. But outside of those two, it's been amazing.
Sableye would probably be B or even B+ if there was a VR up around anywhere, but for now, all I can do is extoll the virtues of Sableye, and encourage others to use it.
, God is here and it"s a Pokémon. Powerful, versatile, fast, somehow bulk and have the movepool and ability to abuse.
, Fastest viable mon in the tier, great offense typing and defensive. Punish everything with toxic, and thanks to boots, can comeback and clean the late game.
;
;Drought should be banned. The abusers are to strong and we don't have the tools to handle this.
; Hail still mediocre, but the abusers now have Veil. The problem here it's that Vanilluxe doesn't need to be just a setter, it can pressure everything with a powerful stab blizzard and freeze dry and the boom to keep momentum (can taunt to). Abomasnow doesn't have the qualities of his partner, but have a wide movepool, with a much bigger coverage, can setup veil and get out with Leaf Storm+ Eject Pack, but still slow, what's make more manageable.
; Checks almost everything, witch is not a good thing.
; Strength Sap it's back and better than ever. Has problems with the mons above, but still checks almost every physical attacker in the tier, with some SPDF can take special to and pairs well with gigalith,
;
; Fight types are a big thing, especially when we don't have the tolls to handle properly. Every one of these mons are capable to pressure the entire tier. Pangoro i'ts disgusting, Bewear i'ts underrated, Passimiam i'ts the beast scarfer in the tier, Machamp has the potential to be a status absorber, Sawk and Toxicroak somehow compete in with Goro, and Scrafty has a niche, but its slow and susceptible to taut.
; Fairies still fairies. People think that silvally it's better because of the offense power but forget that Aromatisse has nasty plot,with can help to punish setup sweepers. Alcreamie i'ts ok, fairy+ Fire is great offensively, but i stick with the perfume.
; Broken?
; would be better if sun its not to prominent. Escavalier have an amazing type and great offense movepool, while Dhelmise has the same qualities+ rapid spin.
Hello, some of ya might know me as paper50. I've been trying to find some cool anti-meta mons to not get so bored with running the same team over & over again. I managed to build this team - https://pokepast.es/6fceeb3f13e83ff5
Xatu - 44 Speed EVs is for Jolly Pangoro. Dazzling Gleam is for the KO. Heat Wave is for Escavalier. And I ran rocky helmet for chip. Which is really what the whole team is about: Getting off as much as damage for Drifblim to sweep to in the late game.
Pincurchin - The terrain setter, the hazard setter, and the boomer. 140+ SpDf allows it to take 1 Draco Meteor from Goodra. You can then boom in it's face for necessary chip damage. And the defensive EVs can allow it to live a Darkest Lariat from Pangoro. If it goes CC then it becomes set-up food for Drifblim.
Gigalith - Brings in the sand chip against sun teams and special attackers while also being the rocker. 156+ Atk Super Power can still KO Steelvally and Pangoro if a spike is up.
Boltund - It shares a few similar checks with Drifblim so it can get off a lot chip on them, especially if Electric Terrain is up. It can even act as a sweeper since it out speeds Whismicott and Salazzle.
Mr. Rime - Emergency Spinner, another solid check to Vaporeon (just in case you don't want Boltund to get burned) and a great check to Goodra if you're faster.
Drifblim - After unburden it becomes one of the fastest mons in the tier, only getting outsped by chlorophyll Leafeon. Not that it matters since Leafeon can't really touch it anyway. Strength Sap + CM can be very annoying for any kind of attacker that's trying to bringing it down and the seed boost in defense only makes it worse. Thunderbolt is mainly for Vaporeon and Mantine.
This is very anti-meta so, don't expect it to be good all the time. It's a very annoying team and can put in a lot of work against unsuspecting players who are spamming top threats. Enjoy the team :D
So I think basically everyone with a soul likes this mon and wants it to be good, and I think this set is probably as good as it gets until Slush Rush, for better or worse. Zolt has a lot of mixed attacking potential that no one seems to be taking advantage of atm, with LO Pump and Freeze-Dry crushing anything that could normally switch into to you safely bar the rare Lanturn, which can't even Volt out on you. PhysDef Gastro and Quag are both cleanly OHKOd by Freeze-Dry, so they can't even EP/Quake in an attempt to weaken you.
SpA Evs let you 2hko Muds on the switch, Steelix and SpDef Don get severely crippled while offensive Don is blown away, Toge and Rotom-F are 2hko'd by pump w/ rocks, and you have Bolt Beak/Crash for everything else. You still have enough speed to outrun and OHKO ada Goro and the ability to 2HKO ada Bewear w/ crash on switch in as a bonus.
I've seen scarf a ton, but honestly that set is kinda wack cuz it's so easy to play around and pretty weak with no boosting item imo. At least with this you can basically kill something if you're in on something you can eat a hit from, or if the opponent is slower than you. LO Bolt Beak hits stupid hard, as if that needed to be said, but just as an example you'll always ohko Pangoro, Plume dies to Beak + Crash even w/o rocks, Torkoal gets 2 shot by beak, Giga takes like 60-70 and the list goes on. If you're hitting for SE damage w BB it's a wrap obviously. Rn this thing isn't exactly OP or anything but it's nightmarish for balance with the ability to feast on those Giga/Vape/Plume type builds and their many variations. If we're ranking Butterfree now then this guy better get on that VR too lol. Gonna be busted with Slush Rush for sure.
Don't have many replays w/ this guy atm but here's one that shows the basic idea in action. The team I used is total ass and was made in like 5 mins as you may have guessed based on the replay, but the little dude does his job
Bad Rotom (Lanturn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 40 HP / 216 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 26 Spe
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave
- Ice Beam
Surprised to see that Lanturn is already on the VR because I have literally not encountered anyone else at all using it, but yea he's a pretty fire pivot honestly. It eats up at least one hit from all but the most dangerous attackers and can grab momentum or TWave with ease while also blanking some potentially annoying mons such as Rotom-N/F/S, Toge, and 4x resisting Steelvally's Multi-Attack, to name a few. TWave support can be pretty nice and Ice Beam is in the last slot just because what else are you really gonna put there while you wait for Heal Bell. At least you can pick off Plume with the 2HKO if it tries to switch in at 60ish ig. The set I've been using intentionally underspeeds Vape to get the slow Volt Switch on it, but you could just as easily throw on some speed to outrun Mantine or even Adamant Don without hurting your bulk too badly. Not much else to add, it's Lanturn. It does what it always has honestly.
Linda At Home (Ninjask)
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 176 HP / 252 Atk / 80 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- U-turn
- Swords Dance
- Protect
It finally happened. No more will Ninjask be laughed at by players worldwide as a low ladder gimmick. No more will he take your abuse. Ninjask is here. Ninjask is now. And more importantly, Ninjask is good.
Ever used a Scyther before? Then you know how this thing works, although with Speed Boost it's sort of this weird hybrid between the uncontested momentum that Scyther is known for, and the difficulty in revenge killing that ORAS Linda had. Unfortunately it also has the bulk of Linda, but that's how it goes sometimes. The spread above lets you outspeed Boltund by 1 point unboosted, with everything else dumped into HP and Atk. Acro slaps a large amount of the tier and U-Turn punishes the rest with an appropriate switch. Protect is really the star of the show, because with a single protect you basically screw every form of speed control out there from scarfers to sun to most unburden users. As a bonus, most of those things just so happen to get stuffed by one of Acro or U-Turn too, with Rilla/Pass/Indeedee/+1/2 Defense Unburden Hitmonlee all folding to a single SE hit, to say nothing of sun abusers which all get outsped bar Leafeon after a single boost.
I know, it's a crazy thought, but think about it. The metagame right now is so offensive. Sun is everywhere on ladder. Even webs is a fairly common playstyle that Ninjask couldn't care less about. Most importantly though, Fighters are everywhere. This has a few implications in that not only are you unlikely to run into multiple sturdy Flying resists on the same team due to Fighters wrecking Rocks/Steels, but you also can hard-punish a CC EQ or Knock lock in a potentially game-ending way. Ninjask is frail, but with the above spread you're still 3HKO'd by a Pass or Rilla Knock Off, and their STAB is equally useless thanks to the 4x resist. Thanks to the HP EVs, non dedicated attackers are rarely capable of OHKOing either, but let's remember that it is still Ninjask of all mons, so even uninvested attacks can really hurt if not resisted.
Fast attackers can't afford to take the U-Turn for fear of later dying to a stock Acro and slow mons that can take the U-Turn hate basically every breaker you could possibly pair with Ninjask. Ninjask by virtue of being itself forces so many lose-lose scenarios for your opponent it's kind of crazy really.
There are some downsides too of course. 4x Stealth Rock weakness means that Defog is required with spin being too inconsistent atm with several viable spinblockers running around. Also, while Ninjask may be able to whittle Gigalith by itself eventually with a few+2 U-Turns if you wanted to, it's sure as hell not breaking Steelix Quag Rhydon or Sab on its own unless your opponent really messes up. Ninjask will need some teammates to pick up the slack in those matchups for sure. Lastly, while Ninjask does very well against most offensive mons, it also fails to OHKO some of the fattest walls in the tier even at +2. Hazards go a long way in improving this, as with SR/Spikes support Ninjask's threat level increases drastically.
Honestly I thought I had more replays saved, but I also thought it would be trash until it carried me back into top 10 so mb on that. By the time I realized Ninjask is legit it was too late.
252 Atk Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 89-105 (28.9 - 34.2%) -- 3.2% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Rillaboom Knock Off vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 130-153 (42.3 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Passimian Knock Off vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 125-148 (40.7 - 48.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Passimian Gunk Shot vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 232-273 (75.5 - 88.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Pangoro Close Combat vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 145-171 (47.2 - 55.7%) -- 79.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Pangoro Bullet Punch vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 130-154 (42.3 - 50.1%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Shiftry Sucker Punch vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 255-302 (83 - 98.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Toxicroak Sucker Punch vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 161-191 (52.4 - 62.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Vileplume Sludge Bomb vs. 176 HP / 0 SpD Ninjask: 183-216 (59.6 - 70.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Life Orb Abomasnow Ice Shard vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 198-234 (64.4 - 76.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Hustle Flapple Sucker Punch vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 272-321 (88.5 - 104.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Guts Machamp Bullet Punch vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 135-159 (43.9 - 51.7%) -- 10.9% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Skuntank Sucker Punch vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 171-202 (55.7 - 65.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Piloswine Ice Shard vs. 176 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 224-266 (72.9 - 86.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
You'll notice that most of those calcs are priority attacks, which are likely the biggest threat to Ninjask outside of SR. I'm sure that many dedicated attackers can in theory OHKO Ninjask, but the thing is, you'll never be taking that hit unless you're sacking because Ninjask is just too damn fast. Outside of Piloswine and Skuntank, the priority user risks losing their entire mon just to get damage as Ninjask is capable of OHKOing every single one from base. That Flapple calc scares me tho ngl, and as you can see by the Plume calc if you're gonna setup on a wall you better be sure cuz HP investment or no Ninjask is still hella frail.
252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Passimian: 336-396 (98.5 - 116.1%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Rillaboom: 336-396 (98.5 - 116.1%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pangoro: 378-446 (114.1 - 134.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Machamp: 368-434 (114.6 - 135.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Ninjask U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Indeedee-F: 278-330 (98.9 - 117.4%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Ninjask U-turn vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Malamar: 436-516 (115.9 - 137.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 52 HP / 0 Def Dhelmise: 306-362 (104 - 123.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Salazzle: 232-274 (83.7 - 98.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Ninjask U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Boltund: 148-175 (53 - 62.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Boltund: 116-137 (41.5 - 49.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Ninjask U-turn vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Cinccino: 147-174 (50.5 - 59.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Sigilyph: 186-219 (65.2 - 76.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Ninjask U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mr. Rime: 248-294 (82.3 - 97.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Ninjask U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mr. Mime-Galar: 278-330 (115.3 - 136.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 248+ Def Vileplume: 248-294 (70 - 83%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Silvally (Not Steel): 160-189 (48.3 - 57%) -- 91.4% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Escavalier: 147-174 (42.7 - 50.5%) -- 95.7% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Turtonator: 118-141 (45.2 - 54%) -- 44.1% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Rotom: 95-112 (39.4 - 46.4%) -- 32.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Drifblim: 387-456 (87.7 - 103.4%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 196+ Def Garbodor: 265-313 (72.8 - 85.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mudsdale: 220-261 (54.4 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 212+ Def Jellicent: 288-340 (71.2 - 84.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 280-331 (65.7 - 77.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Runerigus: 169-201 (52.8 - 62.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mantine: 276-325 (73.7 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 271-319 (66.9 - 78.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Ferroseed: 157-186 (53.7 - 63.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Ninjask U-turn vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Gigalith: 156-184 (41.7 - 49.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Ninjask Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Silvally-Steel: 178-210 (53.7 - 63.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Ninjask U-turn vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Silvally-Steel: 114-134 (34.4 - 40.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+2 252+ Atk Ninjask U-turn vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Togedemaru: 141-166 (52 - 61.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
It's plain to see that ole Ninjask is better as an offense killer than as a pure wallbreaker, but there's no denying that with proper support even some of these walls could find themselves at the wrong end of a Ninjask sweep. Boost bug isn't playing around anymore.
I really fucking hate sun teams so here's a team I've been having fun with on ladder (#8 on ladder peak) that is tailor made to cuck Ninetales and the sun archetype as a whole:
Scarf fridge is actually pretty cool in this meta- not a whole lot of Ground-types are ran (because our electrics kind of suck), and the few that are can't take Blizzards all too well. Usually my preferred lead if there's no electric immunes, or if the electric immunes can be abused by Xatu. The speed tier is also super nice, outspeeding Rillaboom and Indeedee by 1 point, meaning it will be faster than the opponent at turn 1 when I lead with it. Has won most of my games, hella good mon
Xatu is good, not much more to say. The set is a bit wonky- I wanted to fit Thunder Wave to cripple common switch-ins like Sigilyph, and due to this I opted to run Night Shade instead of Psychic for consistency.
Leftovers Glare Drampa is a super solid anti-weather option- it easily beats Torkoal with Surf, paralyzes Ninetales, and generally just slows down the opponent's team for Silvally or Rotom to clean up later. Electric types also don't want to switch in on this usually thanks to the sheer power of Draco Meteor, so your Glares will rarely be absorbed.
The scientist is (imo) the best mon in this tier and the only thing keeping cheesy HO from completely decimating the RU ladder. Throat Chop is for the assured Sigilyph hit because I don't trust Stone Edge.
Silvally-Steel is hella good- Multiattack hits hard, has great natural bulk, and fleshes out both the offensive and defensive backbones of teams. After everything is paralyzed this thing can wreck havoc, before then it's mostly just spamming U-Turn after eating Draco Meteors or whatever.
Pretty good spinner. Hits hard as hell, Anchor Shot trapping can be nice too. I run Shadow Claw over Earthquake to win the Dhelmise v Dhelmise matchup, which happens decently often due to spinblocking. Shadow Claw also guts Drifblim which is cool. Power Whip also does a fuckton to Sableye so it has to be very healthy to consistently spinblock, and if it does come in at full I just go Drampa which OHKOes with Draco (don't Glare it because of Encore tho).
Some replays: In this game I conserve my Silvally with like 2 HP in order to eventually win once the opponent only has their defensive core left. Dodged the Yawn spam thanks to the volturn core of Rotom and Silvally. Here is a game where I match up against full sun and revel in the double weather-cancellation my team provides. Shiftry was kind of scary but I had the flexibility to sack Gigalith in order to ensure a revenge kill. This game shows Thunder Wave Xatu putting in work against the otherwise problematic Sigilyph and a burned Dhelmise still kind of annoying Sableye. Here is a game I probably should have won if the opponent's sigilyph didn't dodge 3 stone edges, 2 blizzards, and get 2 flinches. It was so unreal I couldn't be mad, obviously the opponent had the gods on their side.
Anyways, excited to see what the tier shifts bring us and for Beta to ban some of the HO elements so I don't have to slap a Gigalith on every team. peace
Some things I have noticed playing on Showdown during RU's Alpha.
Sun isn't so strong that is should be banned, but easy to implement/abuse. Mindlessly so. As such I can see the frustration others have when facing it. Ninetails and Torkoal both have Solar Beam means that the few Rock, Ground and Water types in this tier don't want to switch in on them meaning they have few options for true counters. Slap on a Shiftry and you have both 2/3rds a core and a scary end game sweeper. Vileplume is still slow in sun but becomes a fat, bulky mon who outspeeds several of its checks and and can out sustain them while sun is up. Sun right now is the best weather in the tier.
Salazzle is probably the strongest Mon in the tier right now. The prevalence of Sun teams isn't helping anything as 111 SpAtk stab boosted fire is incredibly scary. Ninjask, Accelgor, Jolteon and Boltund are the only things that outspeed it and none of them realistically threaten it. Gigalith is almost mandatory if you aren't running any other weather team to slow down Drought and to check Salazzle. Arguably worst then her is Sigilyph. If you don't have a counter for her, she will be whittled down in 1-3 hits thanks to her poor defenses. Sigilyph on the other hand can wreck a unprepared team. I didn't have to change any of my teams for Salazzle but had to gut two of them for Sigilyph. Even before Sun gets suspect tested I personally hope those two get looked at.
I like using off pick Pokemon. Alcremie is a solid choice but feels like dead weight against half the tier. Xatu is great but loses to all of Sigilyph's checks/counters, limiting its ability to be played. Gastrodon and Steelix are both excellent mon but lost Toxic this gen and suffer from the excess of Sun teams. Machamp is great, being the second best fighting type in the tier in my opinion. However its competition is severe this gen, its unique niche is limited compared to the others (Sawks has sturdy to revenge kill, Mold Breaker to eQuake levitate users; Toxicroak has Dry Skin for Rain Teams; etc) and Pangoro is a better generalist. All these Mons are still great in their own right but these make it harder to justify using them on some teams.
This is all anecdotal, take what I said with a grain of salt.
Usually I run this set in Duos with Pelipper (non competitively), but a Mantine can do just fine. Mantine @ Damp rock
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Nature: Calm
- Scald
- Roost
- Hurricane
- Rain dance
The biggest weakness this duo has so far is being vulnerable to physical attacks, howerver they both have good coverage and good longevity if used right.
Hello, some of ya might know me as paper50. I've been trying to find some cool anti-meta mons to not get so bored with running the same team over & over again. I managed to build this team - https://pokepast.es/6fceeb3f13e83ff5
Xatu - 44 Speed EVs is for Jolly Pangoro. Dazzling Gleam is for the KO. Heat Wave is for Escavalier. And I ran rocky helmet for chip. Which is really what the whole team is about: Getting off as much as damage for Drifblim to sweep to in the late game.
Pincurchin - The terrain setter, the hazard setter, and the boomer. 140+ SpDf allows it to take 1 Draco Meteor from Goodra. You can then boom in it's face for necessary chip damage. And the defensive EVs can allow it to live a Darkest Lariat from Pangoro. If it goes CC then it becomes set-up food for Drifblim.
Gigalith - Brings in the sand chip against sun teams and special attackers while also being the rocker. 156+ Atk Super Power can still KO Steelvally and Pangoro if a spike is up.
Boltund - It shares a few similar checks with Drifblim so it can get off a lot chip on them, especially if Electric Terrain is up. It can even act as a sweeper since it out speeds Whismicott and Salazzle.
Mr. Rime - Emergency Spinner, another solid check to Vaporeon (just in case you don't want Boltund to get burned) and a great check to Goodra if you're faster.
Drifblim - After unburden it becomes one of the fastest mons in the tier, only getting outsped by chlorophyll Leafeon. Not that it matters since Leafeon can't really touch it anyway. Strength Sap + CM can be very annoying for any kind of attacker that's trying to bringing it down and the seed boost in defense only makes it worse. Thunderbolt is mainly for Vaporeon and Mantine.
This is very anti-meta so, don't expect it to be good all the time. It's a very annoying team and can put in a lot of work against unsuspecting players who are spamming top threats. Enjoy the team :D
I've personally toyed around with Xatu sets like this before to lure in / revenge kill Goro and you would need about 28 Special Attack EVs with a Modest nature to secure an OHKO. Also, I would personally run Colbur on Xatus that aim to beat Pangoro because once under Veil the mon can give this set massive issues and exploit its inability to knock it out while it's behind Veil.
I'm done with Alpha SS RU, so I'll drop the team I used. It carried me to quarters of the alpha tour then I got cteamed, and peaked #1 on ladder. I think it's still shit but here it is https://pokepast.es/f99ead1a7a8f9be7
Since the month is almost over and we're all sharing teams, this is one that I had decent success with. Built it around SD Toxicroak, which has caught on a ton in the past two weeks, as it functions as a good wincon while also putting pressure on a lot of good pokemon and archetypes. Specifically its a nice check to sun sweepers, sets up for free on Vaporeon while also putting a lot of pressure on its common partners (Plume, Gigalith, various steels), and also beats the other fighters most of the time. Silvally-Dark is a top 3 Silv form (along with Ghost and Fairy) imo, but on this physically oriented team its highly useful for dealing with the pokemon that commonly spread burns, free switch in on Sableye, deals relatively nicely with Jellicent and Drifblim. Also just has a lot of synergy with Toxicroak and together (esp with knock off and burn support) they can cut through more defensively oriented teams. I probably rate Drifblim higher than the majority of people in this tier rn, but pre-home its absolutely the best defogger in the tier, the spread I run outruns jolly bewear and then maximizes its bulk without increasing its HP so it can still get the most use out of strength sap. The lack of aromatherapy (and obviously heal bell) options in the tier makes wisp useful against everything that isn't a fire type. Drifblim basically burns all the rockers, sap's them to full health and presses defog throughout the game, its rarely not useful in some capacity and often outright annoying for the other team to face. Nothing to say about Gigalith. Protect leftovers Escavalier is really solid, as it has knock off which is currently invaluable, and it hits like a truck. Aside from fire types which you should switch to Gigalith with, a lot of pokemon with fire coverage are choiced, which protect lets you scout for. I threw scarf Rapidash on the team as it is a dragon immune that hits a lot of the threats in the tier and has a great speed tier. Not my favorite scarfer as both STABs are prone to miss at the worst time and it is p weak unless its hitting SE, but it has SE coverage on fast threats like Salazzle, Sigilyph, and scarf Pass. Feel free to use it for the next couple days. Can't wait to see what the next meta looks like!
not pikachu (Raichu) @ Life Orb
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Grass Knot/(it also gets surf but wouldn't suggest)
- Nasty Plot
So Instead of beating the horse about Mons that were already discussed 5 times over, I want to shine light on a Mon that has gotten no recognition probably for a good reason. Obviously Raichu is no top-tier threat and losing Hidden power really hit home but boasting an above average base speed of 110 and having access to Nasty plot and coverage moves makes it a force to be reckoned with. The main reasons to use Raichu over other electric types it's able to uh Kill? the majority of the tier after a Nasty plot. (besides dragons) Focus Blast allows it to hit Snorlax, Shiftry, and Silvally-Steel for effective damage which would otherwise wall it while Grass knot lets raichu OHKO Gastro and Quag as well as pressure if not kill mons such as Runerigus,Sandaconda and Gigalith. Everything else is hit by tbolt. The main problem with raichu is without hp ice it has no way to hit dragons like Goodra and Flapple or grasses whom resist focus blast such as Vileplume and Roserade, so it appreciates mons with ice coverage or who can combat it's resists. In addition Raichu also has poor physical bulk so it's suceptible to priority from Flapple and Hitmontop and doesnt want to switch into physical attackers.
A hyper-offense team I've been having some good success with. It's gone through several revisions, but this is probably the best version of it so far
A standard suicide lead set. I chose to use Crustle or some other option since it also gets Spikes, which can really wear down teams in a tier severely lacking in hazard-control. I also chose to go Focus Sash + Weak Armor instead of Mental Herb + Sturdy to try and get off some last-ditch hazards, and taunt isn't all that prevalent. Rock Blast lets it beat opposing suicide leads, and Knock Off is generally useful for removing items while also having the benefit of threatening Dhelmise and other Ghost-types (you'd be surprised how many people lead Dhelmise).
A hazard-stacking team needs a spinblocker, and I like Sillvally Ghost the best. It's the fastest of the Ghost Types, so it can beat other spinblockers 1 v 1. SD can turn it into a wallbreaker / late game sweeper. U-turn gives it some momentum. The last slot is mostly filler. Double-Edge gives it some nice "coverage", but Flamethrower (for Steelix) and Thunder Wave are things I've considered.
Technitop putting in some work. This was initially Mr. Rime, but I kept getting wrecked by Barbaracle, so I opted for Fake Out + Mach Punch. This is also nice for other fast attackers like Boltund. 16 Speed EVs outpaces Max Speed Adamant Dhelmise. I normally ran Assault Vest, but I switched over to Heavy Duty Boots and it made a world of difference. Giving up some bulk to not get bodied by hazards is amazing.
My sun destroyer check and primary wallbreaker. It basically trades kills vs. sun teams, and even outside of that it hits extremely hard. Pretty standard set.
Late game sweeper, and pretty good at it, too. Passimian locked itself into Knock Off to kill Silvally? Just Shell Smash and click Liquidation a few times. It's really good at punishing choice-locked Pokemon and can easily clean up late game. I opt for White Herb over Focus Sash to give it some extra bulk and to allow it to sweep if I can't remove Sticky Web.
The Scarf slot had probably changed the most. Initially it was Unfeazant, and then I tried Rotom Frost, and now Rillaboom. The main problem is that my team kept getting walled by Vaporeon, and this guy seeks to remedy that. Not much to say beyond that.
Anyways, I'm super excited for the upcoming tier shifts and for RU to exit Alpha So we can get rid of Sigilyph.
Eiscue is what I would call Off Brand Zen Mode Darmanitan-G.
It’s an Ice type that gets High Speed after a condition is met and sets up with Belly Drum, but worse in every way.
-Worse movepool
-Worse offenses
-Lacks a secondary STAB
-Inconsistent with getting its faster form
-Does not have Gorilla Tactics, which would often scare away literally everything and allow Darmanitan-G to set up freely
But Darmanitan-G is in Ubers and this is RU, which is much nICEr to the SQUARE.
Although, Eiscue is still incredibly niche, I will say it still is noteworthy at the very least as a late game sweeper.
Icicle Crash is its main STAB option and avoids Rocky Helmet.
Reversal will do tons of damage at 1 HP and helps Eiscue against most Steel types and Bulky Waters.
And Waterfall exists to deal with Salazzle without boosts.
Having 8 EVs in HP lets Eiscue reach the Reversal Number after either Stealth Rock+Sub+BD, Full Spikes+Sub+BD, 2 Subs+BD, and SR+Spikes+BD. Although it is much better to have there be no Hazards out for Eiscue for consistency.
Jolly is required to always outspeed a Scarf Salazzle after Noice transformation and Salac boost.
And even when it does boost, there still exists Jellicent, Pyukumuku, and Quagsire exist.
What makes Eiscue at least somewhat noteworthy is that it’s harder to exploit its most fatal flaw, being any special attacker that can tank an unboosted icicle crash and outspeed base 50 Speed.
The lower powerlevel of RU, along with less things that wall Eiscue, makes Eiscue a little less high maintenance.
Eiscue is also noteworthy as an Anti-U-Turn Pokemon (although not Volt Switch) and Anti-Band, being immune to Physical Moves for 1 turn and activating Noice. This can allow for some Galaxy brain plays if can read your opponent well.
So yeah.
Slightly less Maintenance than before.
Less things to stop its sweep.
Some utility.
I think that Dhelmise has serious potential as a rapid spinner that can act as a bait to counter the ghost type switch in if you predict it.
Dhelmise @ Assault Vest
Ability: Steelworker
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Anchor Shot
- Brick Break
- Shadow Ball
This is the support set that I run on him. For EVs i decided that his base attack was high enough and instead went for a more special wall build. His speed is already abysmal so I went and gave it sassy to help its insane SpD even more. I don't expect it to out speed much, especially as the ghost bait and the fact that game freak messed up the speeds real bad in swsh Obviously it runs rapid spin, but if you can call a ghost switch in you can easily either anchor shot it to guarantee that it will be killed or you can just hard predict it with a shadow ball if you think you can kill it immediately. Brick break is just there to help with the light screens and reflects, basic support stuff.
Another good option I think would be Eldegoss as it has a higher SpD and speed. However, its move pool is not nearly as good, specifically no good dark or ghost type move to deal with the rapid spin counter. You can run a set on it with light screen, rapid spin, light screen and sleep powder. If you think a ghost is coming just sleep powder then set up your light screen on the switch out. The big advantage this set gets is the broken ability regenerator. Honestly might just be worth it as a special wall with regenerator. I personally prefer the Dhelmise but both are probably fine.
Even if the insanely fast ghosts do dissapear i feel like both of these pokemon have a decent chance at staying relevant. If it does just swap the assault vest for heavy duty boots and just run basic support sets as some of the metas best special walls
These 2 Pokemon are worth mentioning, since they check sun, Salazzle, and Sigilyph.
Their Rock/Psychic typing let’s them resist the Fire, Poison, and Psychic type attacks, while Levitate means they are also immune to grounded attacks and hazards.
Solrock has access to Stone Edge/Rock Slide, Earthquake, Flare Blitz, and Morning Sun, while Lunatone has Power Gem, Earthpower, Ice Beam, and Moonlight.
Their Rock and Ground coverage moves hit the Fire types on sun teams very hard
Flare Blitz/Ice Beam can hurt those grass types that they don’t resist.
And when the sun is up, their recovery moves can heal pretty much anything that doesn’t kill them.
They also won’t just be there to soak up damage and deal it back to a select few Pokemon either. They can set up Stealth Rock, boost their stats with SD and NP, and Solrock can burn Pokemon with Wow.
Shiinotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Strength Sap
- Spore
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
I've been toying around with the idea of Shiinotic recently as a check to Pangoro and as a general physical wall. It functions similarly to defensive Vileplume but is a bit less bulky. Spore is great for reliably crippling switch ins such as Salazzle and Sigilyph and Moonblast is able to dish out some decent damage. However, Shiinotic is unable to take steel moves, such as Silvally-Steel's Multi-Attack and Dhelmise's Anchor Shot, which Vileplume is able to take pretty well. Overall it's worse than Vileplume in almost every way, but since Pangoro checks are few and far between I wanted to give it a shot and it's actually been quite decent.
- Aromatisse was the final addition, largely for Pangoro and other Fighters.
- Gigalith checks seemingly half the tier and 90% of special attackers; at the time veil and sun were even more ubiquitous. I actually think Protect > EQ these days though
- CB Pangoro is still I think the best breaker in the tier; Iron Head is preferred over the less reliable Gunk Shot and can get a nice flinch on random things like Shuckle occasionally. It dying early on though when I'm being reckless is often the cause of a loss, esp against bulkier teams as the team lacks raw power outside it. Speed evs are to outspeed Sandaconda iirc as the fastest bulky mon that wouldn't run any. Max speed like most people probably run might be better though
- Unfezant was and is still underrated as a deadly Scarfer and thus late-game cleaner; it can also run a decent boots Defog set with Roost
- Agreeing with others who say Drifblim is the best hazard removal we have in the tier (now realize I should have left off Hp EVs for better sapping)
- Gastrodon is an amazing blanket answer to so many things and Clear Smog is a godsend. EQ over Earth Power is for Gigalith but EP is probably just as good for other reasons.
The team started out as a vehicle for a Blunder Policy Hypnosis Gallade sweep (hence the username). After it started doing surprisingly well I swapped Gallade for Sigi, who cleaned up far more reliably.
- Sableye is the best catch-all answer for physical attackers in the tier, as well as the best spinblocker; it's ridiculous how much it beats 1v1. Tried Taunt over Encore for a bit but I prefer the ability to mess with set-up sweepers and substitute users. STAB Knock Off is incredible for it as well; far superior to Foul Play imo
- Steelix would be the premier rocker if it wasn't for Gigalith's ability to counter sun and veil I think. It kinda has 4MSS though since it really wants Rock Head Smash for Xatu and Drifblim messing with it's hazard setting, but I found Dragon Tail too juicy to pass up for teams I managed to get spikes up against and for certain set-up sweepers like Sylvally
- Sigi is amazing as we all know, though I rarely found opportunities for Roosting. Still feel like I wasn't taking full advantage of it's potential
- Qwilfish usually leads; originally I had a full phys def set to better answer fighters, but realized its speed is too good to pass up (evs outspeed base 80s). Taunt helps my lack of hazard removal to a degree. Destiny Bond is there partly to kill a Pangoro wanting to finish it off though I don't think that every actually happened. Intimidate is surprisingly not as useful as usual with Scrappy and Defiant screwing with it on the two most common Fighters in the tier.
- Passimian seemed like the obvious choice for a Scarfer on a spikes team to at least get a +2 Knock Off or two off after Defog, while also being nice for webs obv
- Goodra is probably the crux of the team as without it I lose to Sun, special attackers can run pretty rampant, and I have no immediate power. It's easily the 2nd best choiced breaker in the tier after Pangoro imo. Dragon Pulse is here in addition to Meteor since it can clean up late-game against slower teams, esp when Spikes are up, and I rarely use any non Dragon move anyway lol.
Looking forward to NU. Unfezant, Qwilfish, and perhaps Gallade if it drops should wreck there.
The new shift took Roserade and Vaporeon from us, which I personally think is huge considering the standard RU core was Gigalith - Vileplume - Vaporeon, and Roserade was a very strong pokemon in the tier.
We also got Charizard which seems technically good without Vaporeon but is still limited by the all mighty Gigalith. Kinda hyped to see how the meta evolves in a week from now when Home is released
