Taking Care of Grass Spam

So Contrary Serperior was recently released in Japan as an event and has plagued multiple tiers since. Knowing this I decided to build a team around an under-rated C Threat in RU named

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Hair=Hands Off! (Bouffalant) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Return
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

Boufflant was decided to be the core of this team as a premier stop to Serperior as well as stall break if needed. Sap Sipper is the only way to switch into a Serperior Leaf Storm and not let it get any contrary boosts. I went with Return as Substitute and recoil struck me as a poor idea. Earthquake was the best 2 move coverage available with it's stab and nothing (good) in RU boasts an immunity to both. Substitute allows you to set up on walls like Alomomola or Amoongus which cant break them and cannot status you/scald burn you. Swords Dance just allows the wall breaking to commence.

Now one Pokemon who REALLY spiked in usage recently due to Dragalge is Bronzong and with Levitate, Earthquake just is not the best way to hit it so I wanted a Pursuit trapper. This brings us to Boufflant's best bud

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Hell's Hound (Houndoom) @ Black Glasses
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 56 SpA / 200 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Flamethrower
- Destiny Bond

Houndoom just traps pests like Bronzong so well. Furthermore it has a nasty priority move in its arsenal in Sucker Punch which can several damage some threats like Moltres as well as fast, frail ones like Dugtrio and Cincino. The EVs are admittedly wonky and suggestions for better spreads would work but this gives flamethrower(I dislike Fire Blast as it tends to miss when needed) some actual oomph while maintaining solid speed on Houndoom. Lastly Destiny Bond is in a sense filler. it allows doom to just suicide itself for a kill which can be great at times. You outspeed a wall or tank and chip away at it before they kill you then if its a losing fight you just take it with you to Hell.

Now usually midway through designing a team I add the wall core and so as Moltres/Mega-Pidgeot combine so well with Serperior/Mega Sceptile I wanted a core that can handle both. First off is

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Lanturn Me Off! (Lanturn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 104 HP / 252 Def / 152 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Ice Beam
- Heal Bell

Lanturn was picked for solely 2 reasons. First off it excellently walls off both Mega-Pidgeot and Moltres as well as fire types as a whole. it can hit hard back with its stabs and do some decent damage if not get a burn. Second and why I picked Lanturn specifically is Heal Bell. Relying on Bouffalant to do work means I needed a way to heal some unlucky burn I may get by chance or some unwanted toxic. Lastly as Mega-Sceptile/Serperior wall you otherwise, which would lead to a free sub, I opted for Ice Beam to smash them as players often over-predict in my experience on the RU Ladder.

Now Joining his buddy is

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: : (Golbat) @ Eviolite
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 248 HP / 176 SpD / 84 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Toxic
- Defog

Golbat is one of very few Pokemon who can boast beating Serperior in almost every situation. Infiltrator allows you to ignore even it's Substitute and smash it hard with a 360 power move. Also less common now but Golbat can beat normal mono-attacking(Moonblast) Cresselia variants by walling it ad nauseum and Toxic-ing it through a Substitute(which thanks to Gobat's typing can never miss). The speed allows you to outspeed the premier wall breaker Pangoro even if Jolly max and smack it hard with a brave bird. Defog is for the hazard removal necessary for any team and Roost is self-explanatory.

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He has been mentioned enough times and so it should surprise no one that Mega-Sceptile is here. Its the fastest Pokemon in the tier who can easily force switches and Substitute as well as outspeed annoyances like Mega-Pidgeot. The set is standard and very effective. The other reason I really wanted Mega-Sceptile on my team is RU recently acquired Quagsire, who with Unaware, can potentially beat my Boufflaunt/Houndoom offensive core. Sceptile neatly alleviates that issue and more. It also cleans up any wounded Pokemon if need be.

Last but not least we have the team's glue and its actually an unhealthy snack.

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EZ Button! (Slurpuff) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 120 HP / 252 SpA / 136 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Flamethrower
- Calm Mind
- Rest

Looking back at the team this is definitely the shakiest slot. I picked it as Doublade is also prevalent and is the only guaranteed counter to a plus 6 Slurpuff. This means most players swap it right in. You can then surprise it with a flamethrower and 2 hit KO it. If they do not have a Doublade you can set up on a wall, scare them as you're special, and then even if they status you; Rest up and Unburden to outspeed the whole tier barring scarfers. The other thing I like about Slurpuff besides covering weaknesses on the team well is it means my opponent cannot freely drop Draco Meteor with Dragalge; they need to think twice and this paired with the offensive pressure can neuter the dragon a lot.

At the moment I am hovering in the top 40 in RU. I beat the number 2 guy on the ladder with this team. (replay is here for any interested to see the team in action: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ru-201097986). Its not perfect but so far I am loving it. The lack of hazards may seem weird but I run defog, never prioritize getting them up, and most importantly ANY rocker I could think of left this team horribly weak to either Fighting/Ground types or was named Drudigon(who did not fit either). So please let me know what you think and how I can patch up any holes in it. Also this is my second RMT so I hope it looks more "professional" quality but if you can leave any tips on that too it would be greatly appreciated. And have a wonderful day!(smiley face)
 
Forgot Serperior's Set: here it is:

Faster than You (Sceptile) @ Sceptilite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Dragon Pulse
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Sorry about that!
 
Hi Ms. Sysbit your team actually looks quite solid but i have a couple of suggestions to make to help you improve it.
First of all your team lacks Stealth Rock which is pretty much a necessity in todays metagame to not let threats such as Moltres and Pidgeot switch in for free too many times. Secondly you lack a Steel-type which is also pretty much fundamental too because of the strong Dragon-types such as Dragalge.
Seeing that the most expendable member of the team is definitely Slurpuff (kinda overlaps with Houndoom + you dont need a Doublade lure really) i suggest you to solve both problems by changing it to Specially Defensive Bronzong.
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Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic

I also have a couple of suggestions regarding your EV spreads and movesets as you should change Houndoom to a set similar like this:
Houndoom @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 220 Atk / 36 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Crunch
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Fire Blast
Which is a way more effective wallbreaker than yours with Life Orb and Fire Blast and to change your Golbat spread to 248 HP / 136 Def / 40 SpD / 84 Spe Impish that retains physical bulk while being never 2HKOd by Pidgeot's Hurricane.
 
nice team ms.sybit we battled and buff took care of the grass spam for sure! like the way you thought of that. P.S: don't mind if i use that team lol?
 
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