ss234
bop.
Sup guys. This has been one of my favourite teams I have made, and I've really enjoyed using it. This team doesn't have any amazing achievements, mainly because I am terrible at laddering, but has gone undefeated out of the battles I have played. It was built around Durant, which I had barely used previously and has proved to be an incredibly effective wall breaker and sweeper. The basic idea of the team is set-up hazards with Smeargle, smash the opponents defensive core with Slowking, Durant and Druddigon, and then clean up with Rotom-C and Absol. Also, the title is an awesome song by AC/DC, which I chose because it is a great song. Enjoy!
First glance:
The Team:
Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Spore
Smeargle is easily the best spikes setter for offensive teams in the tier. Spikes are very useful for this team, and pretty much every mon on this team really appreciates the extra damage on their counters. Stealth Rock obviously is a necessity of any team, as otherwise Moltres is a much more dangerous threat, as is Swellow and Braviary etc. and the extra damage on things like Druddigon is very useful. Spore is great to incapacitate things such as steelix and allows me to get two layers up much more easily as well, and a 100% accurate sleep move is always useful. Whirlwind is an incredibly crucial move, allowing me to stop set-up sweepers that for some strange reason always try to set-up on Smeargle, as well as phaze out volbeat and ninjask, which are always annoying to face. Obviously, there isn't much defensive synergy that smeargle gives, but if I can get up two layers straight away then I will have a lot of momentum on my side and it makes my sweeper's jobs a whole lot easier.
Slowking @ Choice Specs
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SAtk / 44 Spd
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Psyshock
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
Specs Slowking is the first member of my bulky offensive core, and thanks to its incredible power, coverage and survivability can cause a huge amount of damage to the opposing team. Slowking is also very crucial to this team defensively, granting crucial resistances to ice, fighting, fire and psychic, allowing it to check pilsowine, hitmonchan, hitmonlee, typhlosion and some gallade among others. The move set is fairly standard-Surf is the primary STAB move, and hits very hard with the boost from Specs, Psyshock hits the likes Cryogonal and the majority of fighting types much harder than Psychic would, Fire Blast hits the annoying Ferroseed, Glaceon and Escavalier thinking that they can outspeed, while Grass Knot is mostly filler, but does hit opposing Slowking, Alomomola and Walrein pretty hard. I have tried OTR Slowking in this spot, but that made me much weaker to Escavalier, which basically destroys everything on this team under trick room. I also missed the raw power of specs.
Druddigon @ Choice Band
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Atk / 24 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
Druddigon is easily one of the best pokes in RU, and it is not hard to see why. Outrage coming off of 120 base attack and a CB destroys everything in the tier, 2HKO ing even Escavalier after rocks and a layer of spikes iirc, and it has really excellent bulk and a great typing as well. The ability to stop cold the likes of Lilligant, Manectric and Magmortar all in one team slot is incredibly valuable, and the team really couldn't function without Druddigon's great bulk and resistances. The speed evs are to outspeed min speed base 50's, which is handy because I 2HKO Tangrowth after 2 layers of hazards. Destroying Crustle is also handy.
The moveset is pretty standard for CB Druddigon. Outrage is the move I'm using 90% of the time, because it is just an absolute nuke button and any team lacking a steel type will lose a mon to this thing with Spikes and Stealth Rock up. Dragon Claw is a useful secondary STAB, for when I can't use Outrage because they have a steel type waiting in the wings that can set-up on Outrage. Fire Punch hits Esca switch ins as well as Durant, while Earthquake hits Steelix and Aggron very hard. Overall, Druddigon is a crucial member of the team.
Durant @ Lum Berry
Trait: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Superpower
- X-Scissor
- Iron Head
- Hone Claws
The star of the team, Durant hits so hard it isn't funny. When Durant sets up, which really isn't that difficult as some people have said thanks to Lum Berry and that great defensive typing and decent physical bulk as well as Slowking luring out pretty much everything that Durant can set-up on, something dies more often than not, or takes huge damage. Durant is also my only way around Smeargle setting up multiple layers, by Volt Switching from Rotom-C to Durant I beat it 80% of the time which is good enough for me.
Again, this is a fairly standard move set for Hone Claws Durant. Hone Claws is the set-up move, and boosts his accuracy and power to monstrous levels. X-Scissor hits Slowking, Tangrowth and other grass types, Iron Head is a nice secondary STAB and hits Nidoqueen as well as Dusknoir and other ghost types for big damage. It also has a nice flinch chance, which has come in useful before. Finally, Superpower smashes Aggron, Steelix and the majority of fire types for massive damage, which makes Druddigon's job a lot easier(or the other way round).
Durant doesn't add that much defensively, but does help a lot against hail and defensive teams, as well as the majority of dark types that plague Slowking. I guess it can check HP Rock Lilligant, but that is better left to Druddigon.
Just to prove how strong Durant is, here is a pic:
Absol @ Life Orb
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SAtk
Naughty Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Night Slash
- Superpower
- Fire Blast
Absol is a really excellent mon in this metagame, and is arguably the best revenge cleaner in the tier. With Druddigon, Slowking and Durant shredding the majority of his counters, Absol can more often than not clean up with relative ease. Absol also does a nice job of destroying the ghost types that can somewhat wall Durant and Slowking, as well as Uxie. Sucker Punch off of 130 base attack leaves a dent in everything, and can 1HKO many frail threats straight off the bat, such as Galvantula.
This is the standard moveset for Absol-sucker punch is the most powerful priority in the game, and hits incredibly hard, Night Slash is a reliable STAB move, and has a 1/4 chance of getting a crit which is awesome. Superpower hits Aggron, and dark types that resist night slash and gives perfect neutral coverage alongside Night Slash / Sucker Punch. Fire Blast 1HKO's Escavalier and opposing Durant that often try to set-up on Absol.
Rotom-Mow @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Rotom-C is arguably the best scarfer in the tier, thanks to its good coverage, switching move(technical term) and the ridiculous power of Leaf Storm. Rotom-C also helps my team a lot defensively, providing a secondary switch in to water types and electric moves, as well as a secondary check to Sceptile, Durant and many, many others.
Rotom-C's move set is the only one that differs from the one on site. Leaf Storm and Volt switch are still standard, the first is a very powerful move that destroys electric immunities, while Volt Switch is a great scouting move. Thunderbolt is a more reliable second STAB move than Volt Switch, and is a 1HKO on opposing Durant, which would be a major issue without it. Hidden Power Ice was chosen due to its ability to hit grass types such as Sceptile, as well as Druddigon and Nidoqueen relatively hard. It also doesn't lower my speed stat, giving me a major advantage against opposing Rotom-C.
Threatlist:
Hail: I only have two ice resist, one lacks leftovers and the other cannot take even resisted special hits well. Scarf Rotom-F is a huge pain to face, as one wrong switch in and I can lose either Slowking or Druddigon, allowing it to spam its other STAB move much more easily. Hail also renders Smeargle's Focus Sash useless, which makes it hard to get up multiple layers.
Aggron: This is one of the only things that can take a Druddigon Outrage, and can hit every member of my team incredibly hard with Head Smash since I have no rock resist. Luckily, Rotom-C and Absol and Durant can check it, but it out speeds and destroys both Slowking and Druddigon which is a pain.
Braviary / Swellow other fast flying types: I have no flying resist, which means that these things can get a KO pretty much every time they switch in. Luckily, they are very easy to revenge kill with Rotom-C / Absol, and are quite easy to wear down as well with Stealth Rock.
Moltres: Moltres is always a threat to any team. It can beat +1 Durant even with rocks up, and it 2HKO's or 1HKO's everything on my team. It can be checked by Slowking and Rotom-C though.
First glance:
The Team:
Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Spore
Smeargle is easily the best spikes setter for offensive teams in the tier. Spikes are very useful for this team, and pretty much every mon on this team really appreciates the extra damage on their counters. Stealth Rock obviously is a necessity of any team, as otherwise Moltres is a much more dangerous threat, as is Swellow and Braviary etc. and the extra damage on things like Druddigon is very useful. Spore is great to incapacitate things such as steelix and allows me to get two layers up much more easily as well, and a 100% accurate sleep move is always useful. Whirlwind is an incredibly crucial move, allowing me to stop set-up sweepers that for some strange reason always try to set-up on Smeargle, as well as phaze out volbeat and ninjask, which are always annoying to face. Obviously, there isn't much defensive synergy that smeargle gives, but if I can get up two layers straight away then I will have a lot of momentum on my side and it makes my sweeper's jobs a whole lot easier.
Slowking @ Choice Specs
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SAtk / 44 Spd
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Psyshock
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
Specs Slowking is the first member of my bulky offensive core, and thanks to its incredible power, coverage and survivability can cause a huge amount of damage to the opposing team. Slowking is also very crucial to this team defensively, granting crucial resistances to ice, fighting, fire and psychic, allowing it to check pilsowine, hitmonchan, hitmonlee, typhlosion and some gallade among others. The move set is fairly standard-Surf is the primary STAB move, and hits very hard with the boost from Specs, Psyshock hits the likes Cryogonal and the majority of fighting types much harder than Psychic would, Fire Blast hits the annoying Ferroseed, Glaceon and Escavalier thinking that they can outspeed, while Grass Knot is mostly filler, but does hit opposing Slowking, Alomomola and Walrein pretty hard. I have tried OTR Slowking in this spot, but that made me much weaker to Escavalier, which basically destroys everything on this team under trick room. I also missed the raw power of specs.
Druddigon @ Choice Band
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Atk / 24 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
Druddigon is easily one of the best pokes in RU, and it is not hard to see why. Outrage coming off of 120 base attack and a CB destroys everything in the tier, 2HKO ing even Escavalier after rocks and a layer of spikes iirc, and it has really excellent bulk and a great typing as well. The ability to stop cold the likes of Lilligant, Manectric and Magmortar all in one team slot is incredibly valuable, and the team really couldn't function without Druddigon's great bulk and resistances. The speed evs are to outspeed min speed base 50's, which is handy because I 2HKO Tangrowth after 2 layers of hazards. Destroying Crustle is also handy.
The moveset is pretty standard for CB Druddigon. Outrage is the move I'm using 90% of the time, because it is just an absolute nuke button and any team lacking a steel type will lose a mon to this thing with Spikes and Stealth Rock up. Dragon Claw is a useful secondary STAB, for when I can't use Outrage because they have a steel type waiting in the wings that can set-up on Outrage. Fire Punch hits Esca switch ins as well as Durant, while Earthquake hits Steelix and Aggron very hard. Overall, Druddigon is a crucial member of the team.
Durant @ Lum Berry
Trait: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Superpower
- X-Scissor
- Iron Head
- Hone Claws
The star of the team, Durant hits so hard it isn't funny. When Durant sets up, which really isn't that difficult as some people have said thanks to Lum Berry and that great defensive typing and decent physical bulk as well as Slowking luring out pretty much everything that Durant can set-up on, something dies more often than not, or takes huge damage. Durant is also my only way around Smeargle setting up multiple layers, by Volt Switching from Rotom-C to Durant I beat it 80% of the time which is good enough for me.
Again, this is a fairly standard move set for Hone Claws Durant. Hone Claws is the set-up move, and boosts his accuracy and power to monstrous levels. X-Scissor hits Slowking, Tangrowth and other grass types, Iron Head is a nice secondary STAB and hits Nidoqueen as well as Dusknoir and other ghost types for big damage. It also has a nice flinch chance, which has come in useful before. Finally, Superpower smashes Aggron, Steelix and the majority of fire types for massive damage, which makes Druddigon's job a lot easier(or the other way round).
Durant doesn't add that much defensively, but does help a lot against hail and defensive teams, as well as the majority of dark types that plague Slowking. I guess it can check HP Rock Lilligant, but that is better left to Druddigon.
Just to prove how strong Durant is, here is a pic:
Absol @ Life Orb
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SAtk
Naughty Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Night Slash
- Superpower
- Fire Blast
Absol is a really excellent mon in this metagame, and is arguably the best revenge cleaner in the tier. With Druddigon, Slowking and Durant shredding the majority of his counters, Absol can more often than not clean up with relative ease. Absol also does a nice job of destroying the ghost types that can somewhat wall Durant and Slowking, as well as Uxie. Sucker Punch off of 130 base attack leaves a dent in everything, and can 1HKO many frail threats straight off the bat, such as Galvantula.
This is the standard moveset for Absol-sucker punch is the most powerful priority in the game, and hits incredibly hard, Night Slash is a reliable STAB move, and has a 1/4 chance of getting a crit which is awesome. Superpower hits Aggron, and dark types that resist night slash and gives perfect neutral coverage alongside Night Slash / Sucker Punch. Fire Blast 1HKO's Escavalier and opposing Durant that often try to set-up on Absol.
Rotom-Mow @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Rotom-C is arguably the best scarfer in the tier, thanks to its good coverage, switching move(technical term) and the ridiculous power of Leaf Storm. Rotom-C also helps my team a lot defensively, providing a secondary switch in to water types and electric moves, as well as a secondary check to Sceptile, Durant and many, many others.
Rotom-C's move set is the only one that differs from the one on site. Leaf Storm and Volt switch are still standard, the first is a very powerful move that destroys electric immunities, while Volt Switch is a great scouting move. Thunderbolt is a more reliable second STAB move than Volt Switch, and is a 1HKO on opposing Durant, which would be a major issue without it. Hidden Power Ice was chosen due to its ability to hit grass types such as Sceptile, as well as Druddigon and Nidoqueen relatively hard. It also doesn't lower my speed stat, giving me a major advantage against opposing Rotom-C.
Threatlist:
Hail: I only have two ice resist, one lacks leftovers and the other cannot take even resisted special hits well. Scarf Rotom-F is a huge pain to face, as one wrong switch in and I can lose either Slowking or Druddigon, allowing it to spam its other STAB move much more easily. Hail also renders Smeargle's Focus Sash useless, which makes it hard to get up multiple layers.
Aggron: This is one of the only things that can take a Druddigon Outrage, and can hit every member of my team incredibly hard with Head Smash since I have no rock resist. Luckily, Rotom-C and Absol and Durant can check it, but it out speeds and destroys both Slowking and Druddigon which is a pain.
Braviary / Swellow other fast flying types: I have no flying resist, which means that these things can get a KO pretty much every time they switch in. Luckily, they are very easy to revenge kill with Rotom-C / Absol, and are quite easy to wear down as well with Stealth Rock.
Moltres: Moltres is always a threat to any team. It can beat +1 Durant even with rocks up, and it 2HKO's or 1HKO's everything on my team. It can be checked by Slowking and Rotom-C though.
