The Thespian - NU Team

UnderOATHfan

Hello Smogon, this is my first ever NU team I’ve ever made. The title comes from the song, “The Thespian” by Alesana, which I listened to the entire time I was making this team. It’s a team with a FWG core, so fairly standard if you ask me. I would like to get your opinion on this team, and recommendations as to what should change.

Changes in BOLD

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Butterfree (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Compoundeyes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature: (+Spd, -Atk)
- Quiver Dance
- Sleep Powder
- Bug Buzz
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Butterfree is one of my favorite leads in the NU, with a 97.5% accurate Sleep Powder thanks to Compoundeyes, it will put the opponent asleep almost all the time. If the opponent stays in or switches, I will simply set up a Quiver Dance, boosting my mediocre stats to a point where Butterfree can do some damage to the opposing team. Bug Buzz is for basic STAB, and the 10% chance to lower an opposing pokemon’s Special Defense . Hidden Power Ground is to hit the Rock, Fire, and Steel Types that come in, and either threaten to KO, or wall Butterfree. The only downside to this set in my opinion, is it’s really basically just death fodder once it’s done it’s, because I can’t switch out if my opponent has SR up, because it will simply die. Despite that, I still love this set.

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Duosion (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Recover

I chose Duosion solely for the fact that it’s a Special Attacker and my team lacked one, and it’s pretty bulky with an Eviolite as well. Calm Mind boosts it’s already high SAtk stat to even greater levels, and also boosts his SDef too. Psychic is just a general STAB. Signal Beam hits opposing Dark and Psychic Types, not to mention it can hit Grass-Types as well. Recover is just to provide recovery and help Duosion live longer

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Emboar (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Head Smash
- Wild Charge

I use an Expert Belt Emboar over a Choice Banded one, because everyone assumes that it will be banded, and then I can surprise them when they assume I am locked into a move, and then I just surprise them with a powerful move. Flare Blitz is standard on any Emboar, as is Superpower. Head Smash is now used over Earthquake, so I don’t enjoy using 3 moves that cause recoil damage, so I don’t know tbh. Wild Charge helps me take out Flying, and Water Types that threaten me. The EV spread may seem a little weird, but it works for me.

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Carracosta (M) @ White Herb
Trait: Solid Rock
EVS: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet

I used to use a Shell Smash set, but he was still to slow, so I switched him over to a Tank set. He still isn't the fastest, but he still can take hits like a champ. Stealth Rocks is for Entry Hazards. While Stone Edge and Waterfall are STABS, Aqua Jet is a weaker, yet a STAB'd Priority move, allowing Carracosta to make up for his slow speed.

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Torterra (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Atk / 200 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
-Wood Hammer
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Synthesis
I needed another bulky pokemon to be my physical wall, and Torterra seemed like he would work. He’s a Grass-Type so he fits with the FWG core, he has awesome defense and HP stats, and can fight back with his ok attack stat, or set up Stealth Rocks. Wood Hammer is a powerful STAB. Even though it causes recoil damage, I can simply heal it off with Synthesis. Earthquake is another powerful STAB, that can hit the Fire-Types that switch in. He seems to fit the role of a wall on this team nicely.

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Braviairy (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk /252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Superpower
- Rock Slide
- U-Turn

Braviary serves as my Revenge Killer. I used an Adamant nature over Jolly, because I want Braviary to be able to hurt the opponent severely, and Jolly would only make him faster, but he’s already pretty fast with the Choice Scarf equipped. Now, Sheer Force seems odd, seeing as I only use one move that gets powered up, but that boost on Rock Slide makes it so good. Brave Bird is the only STAB move, because I run Rock Slide over Return, simply for the Sheer Force boost. Superpower helps me take care of Rock and Ice types that will attempt to take Braviary down. U-Turn is simply to inflict damage, and get a free switch into another pokemon. It’s a set that I enjoy using.

Well that’s the team. Feel free to tell me what you think, because I would appreciate all the help I could get.
 
This is my first time rating a team; please bear with me.

At first glance, I see a huge weakness to Gorebyss. Once it has set up a Shell Smash, it can outspeed every single member of your team and kill them. In order to combat this, I think changing Braviary to Choice Scarf Rotom-S would be an effective change. Aside from outspeeding Gorebyss, Rotom-S grants you an additional Flying-type resistance, which your team would greatly appreciate.

However, Rotom-S isn't a completely effective to a lot of Flying-types, as Swellow can use Facade to deals tones of damage. Personally, I don't think Shell Smash Carracosta is very effective, due to its low Speed stat. In order to make it a more effective check to Flying-types such as Braviary and Swellow, I suggest changing it to an Stealth Rock-laying tank set, with the moves Stealth Rock / Waterfall / Aqua Jet / Stone Edge.

Finally, due to your Carracosta now packing Stealth Rock, Torterra is now a tad redundant. I think changing Torterra to Ludicolo would enable your team to take on Rain teams a lot better. Its typing means it 4x resists Water-type attacks, and its good Special Defence means it can also take most Electric-type attacks. However, this Ludicolo fails to beat Swanna, a Pokemon occasionally used on rain teams, which is why I recommend using Rotom-S alongside this.

If you decide to keep Braviary in favour of Rotom-S, I suggest a slight moveset change; Return > Rock Slide. Rock Slide is a poor coverage move for Braviary, it benefits much more from having a secondary STAB move that doesn't have any secondary effects, such as Brave Bird's recoil. Rock Slide may seem attractive due to its Sheer Force boost. Secondly, if you take the moveset change, I recommend changing Braviary's ability to Defiant. With Return, Sheer Force is useless, and it would now prefer the power boost gained occasionally from Defiant.

tl;dr:

Rotom-S > Braviary
Ludicolo > Torterra
Tank Carracosta > Shell Smash Carracosta
Change Braviary's moveset and ability.

Rotom-Fan @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Air Slash
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

Ludicolo @ Leftovers
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 152 SAtk / 104 SDef
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Giga Drain
- Toxic / Ice Beam
- Synthesis / Leech Seed

Carracosta @ Leftovers
Trait: Solid Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Stone Edge

Braviary @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Return
- Superpower
- U-turn

Again, this is my first team rate; take my suggestions with a grain of salt.
 
You bring up alot of good points, I will make the changes and test them out and see how it works out

Thanks for your advice

EDIT: I tried out your changes, and the Team performed exceptionally well I must say. Thank you so much for your advice
 
Nice team! You use a fair amount of underrated threats like Butterfree and Duosion. Before I go in depth with my rate though, I must tell you that you are horribly weak to Water-types, especially the likes of Ludicolo and Gorebyss. The Rotom-formes are also a huge threat, especially if they have Tricked their Scarf away. I'll get to that later in my rate though.

Now, Butterfree is a good Pokemon (made somewhat better with the decrease in Golem usage), but I'm not sure how it fits this team. Sure, a Sleep Powder is useful and Quiver Dance boosted Bug Buzzes are decently powerful, but your team doesn't bring out its full potential. Another problem is the fact that while Golem is used less now, Cinccino is used much more. And it is faster than Butterfree and can Rock Blast it to oblivion (only Torterra can switch in safely, and Tail Slap will take its toll). You'd be better off using something that can deal with your Water weakness (preferably one that can handle the Rotom-formes as well). An extra Grass-type would be decent, and Specially Defensive Amoonguss would nicely fit the role as well as provide a lot of support (Spore and the rare Toxic Spike absorption) at the cost of not dealing with the Rotom-formes as well. Still, giving Gothitelle a doormat to set up on wouldn't be smart, so Thunder Wave Regice can solve some of your problems as well. For a more offensive option, Scarf Rotom-F handles all of the Pokemon I mentioned well (a little poorly on Ludicolo, but still better than nothing). These are just some of the options that stand out to me, and the ultimate choice is yours of course.

Regardless of all this, you also don't like dealing with Braviary, Emboar, Zangoose, and Cinccino. Rotom-F is the only one of these changes that can deal with these threats through revenge killing, but it can't switch in. To prevent yourself from always losing a Pokemon to these threats, I would switch your Carracosta and Torterra's roles. It may seem odd, but let me explain my reasoning: Carracosta is rather slow even after a Shell Smash, and Aqua Jet doesn't always make up for this (ironically, Defensive Torterra can easily tank any hit and KO right back with Wood Hammer). By making Carracosta the Tank Carracosta set, you gain a reliable Stealth Rock setter and bulky tank. It can also take a Superpower from Braviary and KO back. Adamant Aqua Jet also forces Zangoose and Emboar to switch out or face crippling damage. Torterra can then use its threatening Rock Polish set to devastating effect, due to the fact that many teams tend to have a weakness to offensive Torterra.

The only other thing of note is that Braviary really would prefer Return over Rock Slide and Defiant over the useless Sheer Force. Duosion is a bit outclassed by Musharna and Gothitelle for the role of bulky Calm Minder, but that is your prerogative. Here are the changes:

Changes:

Rotom-F/Amoonguss/Regice>Butterfree :(
Carracosta: Tank set>Shell Smash set
Torterra: Rock Polish set>Tank set
Braviary: Defiant>Sheer Force; Return>Rock Slide

(Musharna>Duosion is more of my personal preference than anything else)
Rotom-F @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

-OR-

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb/Clear Smog
- Hidden Power Ice/Stun Spore/Clear Smog

-OR-

Regice @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SAtk / 8 Def
Modest Nature
- Thunder Wave/Sleep Talk
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Rest

Carracosta @ Leftovers/Rocky Helmet
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet/Toxic

Torterra @ Life Orb
Trait: Overgrow
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Wood Hammer
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Braviary @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Return
- Superpower
- U-turn

Yeah, Keiran ninja'd me, but his point are basically the same as my own (great minds think alike!). After taking a look at what any combination of these changes will do for you, I can see that your new main threat will be Fighting-Dark cores like Absol and Sawk, or Gurdurr and Skuntank. Still, with proper switching, you should be able to handle this fairly well. Good luck and I hope I helped! :pimp:
 
Emboar should be running Head Smash over Earthquake to prevent Roost Altaria from walling it. Earthquake has really redundant coverage with Superpower and Flare Blitz already hits Poison-types hard.
 
Yeah I was thinking that too, I'll edit the post and change EQ to Head Smash.

Also WhiteDMist, I didn't really think I'd have a Cinccino problem until I actually faced one, and it sucked, so Butterfree has to go. What would be the best counter to a Cinccino that would fit on this team?
 
Well, the best check would honestly be Rocky Helmet over Leftovers on Carracosta, and switching it in on a Tail Slap. Aqua Jet finishes it off anyways. It helps that half of your team is hit hardest by Tail Slap, meaning that you can usually predict what the Cinccino user will use it and switch Carracosta in. Out of the changes I recommended for Butterfree's slot, Rotom-F is the most offensively oriented. The main problem is that it can't actually switch in to what threatens your team, but it can revenge kill them. Amoonguss would help draw out Tail Slap and other Normal moves, but it is rather weak offensively and is a doormat for Gothitelle. Regice wasn't meant to help with Cinccino, but with your Water weakness.
 
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