The Elemental Bull

[Xelgodis]

Hello everyone! A few weeks ago I decided to try NU for the first time. Before I created this team I decided that I wanted to run something different. I wanted something fun, that would make people so confused, that I could even get a KO with it. I wanted a special Tauros. I also wanted to revolve this team around five offensive pokes and a support guy. So with that knowledge let's jump right in!

First look:

Now to the team:

Lopunny (F) @ Focus Sash/Chopple Berry
Trait: Limber
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Swagger
- Thunder Wave
- Attract
- Protect
The definition of annoying. This Lopunny set was put together to whip my opponent into a frenzy as well as to pass around paralysis, making it easier for the rest of my pokemon to sweep. With her very decent speed she uses attract first turn and becomes very annoying from there. With the combination of Swagger, Attract, and Thunder Wave I the opponent finds very little opportunity to attack. The EV spread is fairly self explanatory. Max speed with a timid nature so she can annoy as soon as possible, and max health for some overall bulk. I run limber over Cute Charm since I'm using attract anyway. Using this set is sort of a gamble, although I find it can usually pay off in the end.

Ursaring (M) @ Flame Orb
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Facade
- Close Combat
- Crunch
- Swords Dance
I very little to say about this set other then that it is a complete monster. He busts down walls and can even sweep unprepared teams. Facade is the main STAB move that, when boosted by his flame orb, does massive damage. Close Combat is a powerful coverage move that does massive damage. Crunch is an important move to hit ghosties that come in to block a Facade or CC. I use Swords Dance over Protect due to the fact that it allows Ursaring to OHKO many, many things in the teir. The EVs are fairly simple as they allow Ursaring to hit as hard and fast as possible. Ursaring isn't known for his speed so a Adamant nature is provided for him to hit as hard as possible.

Drifblim (M) @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Unburden
EVs: 252 Def / 140 SAtk / 116 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
Drifblim is a wonderful late game sweeper and a much needed counter to scarf ed Sawk. Drifblim likes to come in on a wall, set up a few Calm Minds, Rest, then proceeds to sweep. With Drifblim's ability Unburden he becomes fast enough to out speed almost anything in the teir. Shadow Ball and HP Fighting are used due to the perfect neutral coverage it provides. The EVs are spread to allow him to take a few hits while setting up CMs, and a Modest nature is provided for him to hit harder.

Emboar (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Wild Charge
- Earthquake
Emboar with a scarf is an amazing thing. Max attack and speed with a Jolly nature allows her to out speed most non-choice scarf users while still allowing her to hit hard. Her main STAB in the form of Flare Blitz does very good damage to anything not resisting it. Superpower is here for additional coverage and more STAB. Wild Charge and Earthquake are the lesser used moves but can still be important depending on the situation. Emboar is really a great revenge killer when you slap a scarf on her.

Eelektross (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Grass Knot
- Acid Spray
Eelektross is a great pokemon that I actually don't see too often. The ability levitate is very handy for taking Earthquakes directed at Emboar, and him having no resistances is very handy. Max special attack and speed allow him to hit fast and hard. The Modest nature and the life orb come in for additional power. Thunderbolt is a wonderful STAB used to hit anything not resisted quite hard. Flamethrower and Grass Knot are wonderful coverage moves alongside Thunderbolt, and they allow Eelektross to hit many things for super effective damage. I run Acid Spray on this set solely to lower Special Defense on things such as Hypno, who would normally wall Eelektross.

Tauros (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
What you are looking at the the most effective Tauros set off all time! Just kidding. Although, this set can be quite effective against many pokemon with a little prediction. The main point of this is the element of surprise. This elemental bull has four coverage moves and works best when sent in late game to clean up. A modest nature and max special attack still leave Tauros as a measly 192 Satk making Choice Specs a necessity. Although again, surprise is why this works. No one expects a Tauros to shoot off an Ice Beam or Thunderbolt. While it may not be as powerful as a physical Tauros, this set can work very well.​

Afterthoughts:
I used to run a Golem instead of Lopunny for rocks, and I might do so again.

Hide

Golem (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spd
Hardy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Sucker Punch

He was a valuable member to the team although I believe Lopunny brings a little more with her T-wave support.

One Huge Threat:
Sawk. Sawk. Sawk. This guy? He has the ability to sweep almost my entire team. Choice Scarfed Sawk is the biggest reason I have Drifblim. He can live one Stone Edge, Rest, activate unburden, then 2HKO the Sawk in return. That is, however, the only way for me to kill that thing.

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Anyway, thanks for reading! I hope to get some helpful feedback. This is my first RMT and Smogon post so again, thanks for reading :).

 

[WhiteDMist]

Well, a problem I have with your team is the fact that you have 3 Normal types, so of course you have trouble with Fighting-types like Sawk. While I appreciate the unique sets you have for Lopunny and Tauros, they really don't seem too useful. Sure, they catch people off guard, but they easily become set up bait, especially Tauros.

Lopunny is the perfect definition of Taunt-bait, and a couple of common Pokes have Taunt that outspeed it (Serperior, Murkrow, and Electrode being the main threats). Ninjask, Jumpluff, Sneasel and Zebstrika are less common Pokes that can also either Taunt it or set up/KO it. Annoyers in general don't really work since our opponent can easily switch and you have no hazards to discourage that. I'd replace Lopunny with something that helps the rest of your team sweep. Dual Screens, hazards, free turn generators (i.e.- Encore, Memento, Sleep, etc.) are all very helpful. Pokes like Dual Screen Gardevoir, Jumpluff, Serperior, and Garbodor all provide you with helpful things and an extra FIghting resist. If you are dead set with using Lopunny, at least replace Protect with Switcheroo, change your ability to Klutz, and change your item to Choice Scarf/Burn Orb. Otherwise Lopunny isn't really limiting your opponent to the best of its abilities.

Tauros is set up bait, but the element of surprise helps a little I guess. Still, if you really have to have a Special Normal type, why not use Exploud or Persian instead? Exploud has more brute power, while Persian has more Speed, Nasty Plot, Technician, and equal surprise factor.

While these threats are not quite as dangerous as Sawk, they are all very threatening to your team from what I can tell: Magmortar, Rain teams, Defensive teams, Scarfed Rotom-A, Absol, Priority, Quagsire, Samurott, and Special attacking Water Pokes in general. While normally, offensive teams have some answers to these problems, your team is relatively slow with the exception of Drifblim (Scarf Emboar is still pretty slow actually :/) If Drifblim is scared out after Unburden activates, your team is outsped by Swellow and destroyed. There isn't much I can do to help you without completely demolishing this team, so I'm just warning you about these common problems to your team. Hope this helps!

 

[Xelgodis]

Thanks a lot for your input! I'm looking into Gardevoir now and she seems like a great addition to my team. I'll be testing her instead of Lopunny soon. Also, I think it might be time to shelve Tauros for another day. Samurott seems like a good choice for this position. I will also be switching Emboar for a scarfed Magmortar instead. Thanks for pointing out some things to me and I will get to testing right away!

 

[watashi]

I think a Tangela would benefit this team a lot since it can check Sawk and some of the threats WhiteDMist listed reliably. It can also spread paralysis with Stun Spore and cripple common switch-ins such as Magmortar. I would have it over Lopunny since it seems to be the weakest link on your team, doing nothing but spreading paralysis and being annoying. The set for Tangela is:

Tangela (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Sleep Powder/Stun Spore
- Leech Seed
- Hidden Power [Ice]

I would also change the item on Tauros to Life Orb, the recoil is negated from Sheer Force and it allows Tauros to switch moves at the cost of a small amount of power. You could even go farther in changing Tauros' set to a mixed set, running three physical attacks and Fire Blast to surprise Tangela, one of Tauros' main checks. However, that would ruin the theme of the team so it's up to you.

 

[Xelgodis]

Thanks for the advice. I'm not really sure about the Tangela, although I think it could be very useful. I'll go try it out soon!

 

[Dangerous]

I would also change the item on Tauros to Life Orb, the recoil is negated from Sheer Force and it allows Tauros to switch moves at the cost of a small amount of power. You could even go farther in changing Tauros' set to a mixed set, running three physical attacks and Fire Blast to surprise Tangela, one of Tauros' main checks. However, that would ruin the theme of the team so it's up to you.

I was about to point this out as well - with Surf being the only move in its arsenal to actually trigger Life Orb, why not change it from Specs to LO? Unless it misses out on specific 2- or 3HKO's this way of course.

In general, this team just seems a little TOO novelty to be effective. Using creative/strange sets is one thing, but you really are crippling yourself way too much by ignoring defensive type-synergy alltogether.

 

[AyoGabos]

I have a major problem with your Lopunny set. On top of the fact that it is Taunt bait (which was already mentioned in an above comment), it's moveset, while obviously annoying, is a-little defunct in combination with the EV spread. For Attract to do it's job, you cannot switch out, which means Lopunny must remain on the field for a long time to be truly annoying. Speed EVs are important to make this set work, but I feel some defensive investment would be necessary to keep Lopunny from potentially being taken out in one hit. I feel you should test Gardevoir as you mentioned in the above response, with access to many support moves including Will-O-Wisp.

Rest of the team seems fine though!