Introduction: I'm posting this team for two reasons. One because its probably one of the best teams I've made for BW NU (It peaked top ten in high 1700 points, low 1800 I didn't really check), and second cause it needs to be reworked now that Gothibroken is banned, and I need help doing that. I think the original broken trap+sweep premise of the team is pretty impossible to do now, but still
This team came to be because Swellow is the best attacker in NU (Not even kidding), and has a few specific checks it has trouble with, but actually slaughters everything else. I've actually yet to make a decent NU team without it. Gothitelle and Skuntank eliminate everything that gives Swellow trouble. Zangoose adds to the pressure by stressing out Swellow checks, while being able to clean up if Swellow dies to poison before it can sweep completely. Golem and Exeggutor form a back bone to deal with common scarfers such as Rotom-S and Sawk, as well as reliable Stealth Rocks and strong hits. I'm not going to bother with team building because every Pokemon has a fairly straightforward role on the team.
At A Glance
In Depth
Swellow @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Protect
- Quick Attack
- U-turn
The star of the show. Even though its first in team preview I usually end up leading with Golem instead, forcing Probopasses or similar to switch out turn one. Swellow, is a lot like Dexoys-A, in my opinion. it does have its fair amount of checks in the tier, such as Probopass, Misdreavus, Golem, etc, but it slices through the rest of the metagame with profound ease. Its presence puts a huge amount of pressure on opponents teams, meaning they have to keep their Probopass, Midreavus, or Golem or whatever around, or Swellow will sweep you. Scarfers/Priority aren't really an answer to Swellow really, since Swellow still gets to one for one you until you run out of Pokemon to sac to Swellow's Facade, or get into Quick Attack range. Common scarfers are also relatively weak and easily switched into by Skuntank, Exegutor, or Golem. Cinccinno is the only exception. I also run four priority attacks to deal with them.
I use U-turn to lure and trap checks with Gothitelle or Skuntank, or just rack up damage early game. Stealth Rocks does put a damper on my playstyle but Swellow can pull of nearly the same late game sweep off at 50% that it can at 100%. Brave Bird sucks, it hits three pokemon (Haunter, Tangela, and Amoonguss, all which can get trapped and removed) Being able to ensure poison with protect (and scout Scarfers), and beat out weakened Scafers, priority users, and (also fuck Sucker Punch) is much more important.
Golem @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Spd / 252 HP
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch
- Stone Edge
Golem is still the most reliable Stealth Rock Setter thanks to Sturdy. It poses a serious offensive threat as well with its huge base attack and excellent STABs. It even functions as a revenge killer. Sturdy allows it to soft check threats such as Sawk, Ludicolo, Sawsbuck and other frail Pokemon that want just KO Golem early, or it ensures SR gets up. (often I'll opt to kill off rain dance Ludicolo and Sawk instead of putting up rocks, because they are pretty annoying threats). Yeah Golems just a solid, reliable Pokemon.
Zangoose @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Toxic Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Facade
- Quick Attack
- Night Slash
Zangoose is in part a Swellow #2 It functions far better against slower defensive teams. Swellow does well against those teams, but its main advantage over Zangoose (speed) isn't really as important as Zangoose's better power and coverage. Zangoose benefited even more from Gothitelle's support since the list of Zangoose's checks is even smaller than Swellow's and he can just cleave through stuff like Golurk and Probopass that Swellow has trouble with. However, he's really just not fast enough for some offensive teams, and has horrible trouble getting through Haunter.
Zangoose was chose over Cincinno, because, even though Cincinno has U-turn, which would have helped immensely, Zangoose's pwer helps much more against slower bulkier teams that Cinccino would have struggled against. Zangoose is also easier to just unleash on a team and have Swellow pick up the peices.
Skuntank @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Aftermath
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Poison Jab
Because fuck Haunter. ScarfSkuntank checkmates all variants of Haunter (Sub Disable can be problematic, but it still works out well). Haunter is otherwise a major, major threat to this team, but Skuntank deals with it with ease. I just switch in and spam Pursuit, and Haunter dies if it stays in or not. Scarf might seem like a mediocre item for Skuntank since it already has Sucker Punch to remedy its poor speed, but Scarf allows me to skate around dangerous Substitute mind games, in exchange for minimal power. It also deals with pesky Gardevoir, Gothitelle, Drifblim, and Leafeon, eliminating them with ease. Skuntank is also just fast with a Choice Scarf, and ends up being my go-to revenge killer early on in the game. It does lose pretty hard to most general walls that Zangoose and Swellow loose to, since a neutral Crunch is not very strong, but that just gives me more opportunities to trap with Gothitelle.
Gothitelle @ Choice Specs
Trait: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 Spd / 4 HP / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Grass Knot
Gothitelle is broken. I'm so glad it's gone. It traps and eliminates (more or less): Amoongus, Golurk, Garrdevoir, Alomomola, Armaldos, Miltank, Emboar, Exeggutor, Garbodor, Probopass, Regirock, Weezing, Bastiodon, Gurdurr, Torkoal, Tangela, Camrupt, Torterra, Wartortle, Misdreavus, Golem and Carracosta. Every single one is a fucker, and that is just about the entire list of Pokemon that could deal with Swellow. The moves hit specific Pokemon, and allow Gothitelle to take out the Pokemon she needs to, when she needs to. She's also surprisingly bulky, and just hits hard. There really isn't much to say. I'm not exactly sure how I could rebuild this without her.
Exeggutor @ Leftovers
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Psychic
- Sleep Powder
- Synthesis
Exegutor is last on the roster, forming a little bit of defensive backbone with Golem, sponging Fighting, Water and Grass attacks aimed at it, really specifically Scarf Sawk. Synthesis keeps Exeggutor health while it's being defensive, Why the two STABS allow Exegutor to hit hard consistently or just nuke something. Sleep Power is also really hand for just eliminating a key threat. Thanks to sleep mechanics, and the offensive pressure of my team, a sleeping Pokemon probably wont wake up any time soon. Exegutor acts as a glue pokemon, if there was any, working as a fallback defensive Pokemon, or a p ivot, in tandem with Golem, but is still able to hit very hard.
Conclusion:
Swellow is really really good, and really underrated right now. It puts obscene amounts of pressure on the opponent because of the fact that opponents will usually have only one Pokemon that can take more than one hit, and then maybe one other that can revenge it. These configurations are easy to take advantage of as well.
This team came to be because Swellow is the best attacker in NU (Not even kidding), and has a few specific checks it has trouble with, but actually slaughters everything else. I've actually yet to make a decent NU team without it. Gothitelle and Skuntank eliminate everything that gives Swellow trouble. Zangoose adds to the pressure by stressing out Swellow checks, while being able to clean up if Swellow dies to poison before it can sweep completely. Golem and Exeggutor form a back bone to deal with common scarfers such as Rotom-S and Sawk, as well as reliable Stealth Rocks and strong hits. I'm not going to bother with team building because every Pokemon has a fairly straightforward role on the team.
At A Glance
In Depth
Swellow @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Protect
- Quick Attack
- U-turn
The star of the show. Even though its first in team preview I usually end up leading with Golem instead, forcing Probopasses or similar to switch out turn one. Swellow, is a lot like Dexoys-A, in my opinion. it does have its fair amount of checks in the tier, such as Probopass, Misdreavus, Golem, etc, but it slices through the rest of the metagame with profound ease. Its presence puts a huge amount of pressure on opponents teams, meaning they have to keep their Probopass, Midreavus, or Golem or whatever around, or Swellow will sweep you. Scarfers/Priority aren't really an answer to Swellow really, since Swellow still gets to one for one you until you run out of Pokemon to sac to Swellow's Facade, or get into Quick Attack range. Common scarfers are also relatively weak and easily switched into by Skuntank, Exegutor, or Golem. Cinccinno is the only exception. I also run four priority attacks to deal with them.
I use U-turn to lure and trap checks with Gothitelle or Skuntank, or just rack up damage early game. Stealth Rocks does put a damper on my playstyle but Swellow can pull of nearly the same late game sweep off at 50% that it can at 100%. Brave Bird sucks, it hits three pokemon (Haunter, Tangela, and Amoonguss, all which can get trapped and removed) Being able to ensure poison with protect (and scout Scarfers), and beat out weakened Scafers, priority users, and (also fuck Sucker Punch) is much more important.
Golem @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Spd / 252 HP
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch
- Stone Edge
Golem is still the most reliable Stealth Rock Setter thanks to Sturdy. It poses a serious offensive threat as well with its huge base attack and excellent STABs. It even functions as a revenge killer. Sturdy allows it to soft check threats such as Sawk, Ludicolo, Sawsbuck and other frail Pokemon that want just KO Golem early, or it ensures SR gets up. (often I'll opt to kill off rain dance Ludicolo and Sawk instead of putting up rocks, because they are pretty annoying threats). Yeah Golems just a solid, reliable Pokemon.
Zangoose @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Toxic Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Facade
- Quick Attack
- Night Slash
Zangoose is in part a Swellow #2 It functions far better against slower defensive teams. Swellow does well against those teams, but its main advantage over Zangoose (speed) isn't really as important as Zangoose's better power and coverage. Zangoose benefited even more from Gothitelle's support since the list of Zangoose's checks is even smaller than Swellow's and he can just cleave through stuff like Golurk and Probopass that Swellow has trouble with. However, he's really just not fast enough for some offensive teams, and has horrible trouble getting through Haunter.
Zangoose was chose over Cincinno, because, even though Cincinno has U-turn, which would have helped immensely, Zangoose's pwer helps much more against slower bulkier teams that Cinccino would have struggled against. Zangoose is also easier to just unleash on a team and have Swellow pick up the peices.
Skuntank @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Aftermath
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Poison Jab
Because fuck Haunter. ScarfSkuntank checkmates all variants of Haunter (Sub Disable can be problematic, but it still works out well). Haunter is otherwise a major, major threat to this team, but Skuntank deals with it with ease. I just switch in and spam Pursuit, and Haunter dies if it stays in or not. Scarf might seem like a mediocre item for Skuntank since it already has Sucker Punch to remedy its poor speed, but Scarf allows me to skate around dangerous Substitute mind games, in exchange for minimal power. It also deals with pesky Gardevoir, Gothitelle, Drifblim, and Leafeon, eliminating them with ease. Skuntank is also just fast with a Choice Scarf, and ends up being my go-to revenge killer early on in the game. It does lose pretty hard to most general walls that Zangoose and Swellow loose to, since a neutral Crunch is not very strong, but that just gives me more opportunities to trap with Gothitelle.
Gothitelle @ Choice Specs
Trait: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 Spd / 4 HP / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Grass Knot
Gothitelle is broken. I'm so glad it's gone. It traps and eliminates (more or less): Amoongus, Golurk, Garrdevoir, Alomomola, Armaldos, Miltank, Emboar, Exeggutor, Garbodor, Probopass, Regirock, Weezing, Bastiodon, Gurdurr, Torkoal, Tangela, Camrupt, Torterra, Wartortle, Misdreavus, Golem and Carracosta. Every single one is a fucker, and that is just about the entire list of Pokemon that could deal with Swellow. The moves hit specific Pokemon, and allow Gothitelle to take out the Pokemon she needs to, when she needs to. She's also surprisingly bulky, and just hits hard. There really isn't much to say. I'm not exactly sure how I could rebuild this without her.
Exeggutor @ Leftovers
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Psychic
- Sleep Powder
- Synthesis
Exegutor is last on the roster, forming a little bit of defensive backbone with Golem, sponging Fighting, Water and Grass attacks aimed at it, really specifically Scarf Sawk. Synthesis keeps Exeggutor health while it's being defensive, Why the two STABS allow Exegutor to hit hard consistently or just nuke something. Sleep Power is also really hand for just eliminating a key threat. Thanks to sleep mechanics, and the offensive pressure of my team, a sleeping Pokemon probably wont wake up any time soon. Exegutor acts as a glue pokemon, if there was any, working as a fallback defensive Pokemon, or a p ivot, in tandem with Golem, but is still able to hit very hard.
Conclusion:
Swellow is really really good, and really underrated right now. It puts obscene amounts of pressure on the opponent because of the fact that opponents will usually have only one Pokemon that can take more than one hit, and then maybe one other that can revenge it. These configurations are easy to take advantage of as well.
