Behold my artistic masterpiece.
Hello there! It's been a few months since I've done anything big PU-related on the forums, so I'd thought I'd make another RMT to show off a team I've been using and having lots of fun with. Like last time, it's also a way to take a snapshot of the meta before it changes forever, as mons such as Talonflame, Vaporeon, and Arctovish will be rising to NU, and a good amount of this team is dedicated to either using or abusing them. Unfortunately, this team will most likely be outdated within a few days, and my original PU RMT didn't start as much discussion as I wanted it to, but nonetheless, I find this team to be very solid and worth detailing. It's a culmination of about 3 months of building, testing, and playing with this team, and that's why I wanted this one to cement my 150th post on this site.
This team is actually a modified version of a previous team here that I built after some direct feedback from people I asked and indirect feedback from me constantly losing to the same things on ladder. This team has seen all playstyles from Trick Room to Dual Screens to Semi-Stall to Electric Terrain and everything in between while being able to beat most of them, so trust me when I say that it's very consistent. Often, you either lose because you misplayed with the team and not because you got a bad matchup with a random B- mon, although it's bound to happen from time to time because you simply can't build to account for everything.
And what about the name? Well, the Showdown music starts to get repetitive and sometimes unfitting after a year or so. Recently, I've switched to my playlist of video game music to listen to whenever I'm laddering or playing, and one song, This Is Minion Turf!, stuck out to me as highly energetic, fun, and intense. As such, I've been listening to that song whenever I play with this team. It's caused a connection of sorts where I ended up associating the song with the team, and that's where the mildly unconventional name comes from. If you click on the banner, you'll get a direct link to the song I'm talking about. I heavily recommend giving it a listen, it's only a minute long and really enjoyable.
Gathering The Minions
As I said before, this is a modified version of a team I built previously. Since this isn't a RMT for this older team, I'll just quickly sum up the process used here. Talonflame + Weezing + Aromatisse is a solid core that's able to deal with a myriad of threats, such as Virizion, Toxicroak, and Archeops. Tsareena and Togedemaru make a solid pivot core while providing utility via Spin and speed control with Scarf Togedemaru, while Xatu was the bulky win-con that was able to demolish most teams after a few boosts. It was a very simple team that I even summited as a sample team, but was ultimately declined.
After some testing and feedback, I decided to make some changes to the team. I wanted to keep Toxic Spikes, as it was, and still is, absolutely amazing at forcing progress in a game, as well as a Fighting resist, a SpDef wall, and a Rocks setter. I was able to narrow my choices down to ID + BP Cofagrigus and Gigalith. Cofagrigus is amazing at sweeping unprepared teams, barring hax such as crits, and can sit in front of so many passive threats because of Iron Defense, as well as the threat of a boosted Body Press. Gigalith is probably one of the best glue mons in the tier right now because despite sand chip being annoying for stuff like Talonflame and Cofagrigus, the sheer utility it provides otherwise cannot be understated. It resets weather, chips stuff like Weezing (and with KOff support can even outlast it sometimes), stacks on top of Toxic damage + the damage it and others will be doing, but most of all, it makes damage stick. That is crucial for any balance team IMO: a way to make damage stick, because otherwise, more defensive playstyles will just heal off the damage done, and offensive playstyles won't be pressured as much. I also made Tsareena Boots so it didn't have to deal with hazards as much.
This team was fine until I ran into an Orbeetle on ladder and promptly got 6-0ed. Being the resourceful player I am, I decided to use Orbeetle for a few games to figure out its weaknesses, how to beat it, how much I could cheese ladder with it, etc. But I slowly came to realize that, for this specific team structure, Orbeetle was at least 5x better than Xatu was. It is immensely bulky after a few boosts, and with help from Cofagrigus' TSpikes and other chip damage, combined with the fact that all of the Darks in the tier are either frail or otherwise get bodied by Cofa, made Orbeetle an amazing bulky win condition that only needed a bit of support to wreak havoc. It's a bit unconventional, but I like going for the fringe pick if it can still work.
The Minions
Bird Up (Talonflame) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 244 HP / 136 Atk / 128 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Roost
- Will-O-Wisp
- Flare Blitz
There's a reason why Talonflame is S Tier. It is undisputedly the best glue mon in the tier and offers so much. Need a Fire resist? Talon has your back. Need a fast pivot? With Flame's great speed tier and malleable EVs, you can outspeed almost any threat with ease. Need a Toxicroak check, a Virizion check, and a Ribombee check rolled into one? Talonflame's your dude. There really isn't a single role Talonflame doesn't excel in, and while it's easy to say Talonflame is centralizing, I think it's the good sort of centralization where teams know what exactly they're building for and not just throwing cheese at the wall and hoping it sticks. Talonflame isn't unhealthy either; it's easy to account for in the teambuilder with a defensive Rock-type, a bulky Water, a fast Electric, or a bulky Ground, and it doesn't force 50/50s every time it's on the field like Virizion or Toxicroak do. It's a fun mon to use, low risk-reward, and ultimately never fails.
This set is less bulky than your standard set but still does well against most archetypes. U-turn is an easy button to click and guarantees an almost free pivot into whatever you what, and combined with Rocks + Sand chip from Gigalith, makes it great at slowly wearing down its checks. Wisp may seem like overkill with Flame Body, but the emergency check to Braviary, random SD Silvallys, and Archeops (Wisp + U-turn is brutal) is great while hitting Steels and Weezing on a supposedly free switch-in to Brave Bird only to be hit with Flare Blitz or Wisp is a euphoric feeling. The Speed investment is for Archeops, the Attack OHKOs Heliolisk, while the rest is just dumped into HP for bulk.
Leon (Charizard) (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Mystical Fire
- Hurricane
- Will-O-Wisp
With the recent leave of Talonflame, this team is slightly outdated. In an attempt to continue to use this team, I replaced Talonflame with bulky Charizard. While the team is objectively worse now, I have been getting similar results in both ladder matches and sparring matches, so I can comfortably say bulky Zard is a solid replacement. I understand that offensive sets such as 3 atks + Roost and Belly Drum are rising in popularity, but I still believe bulky Zard with Wisp is underrated currently and continues to be a solid set that can fill in for bulky Talonflame on teams that need it.
This is the bulkiest possible set that fits on this team. Wisp is a very interesting choice considering how many more Charizards run Toxic to cripple Rock-types, but with Vaporeon gone and Lanturn/Jellicent unable to fill the void, I have found Wisp to be worthwhile, especially in matchups where a Burn is all that's needed to let Orbeetle sweep. Mystical Fire is run over Flamethrower because of negligible damage output change and the ability to stifle special attackers such as Eggy-A, greedy Magmortars on the switch-in, and Mesprit. If you reveal Fire, they also immediately assume you're Sands as well, which makes hitting Eggy-A with Hurricane all the sweeter. The spread outspeeds all Togedemaru, which I recommend running on any team with a Knock Off user, while the rest improves its bulk.
Bless You (Cofagrigus) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Toxic Spikes
- Rest
Cofagrigus recently has been an up-and-coming threat because of how good it is at abusing a ladder team's flaws. Many people rely on stray KOffs from Scarf Passimian to check Ghosts or don't check Ghosts at all, which means 70% of the time, Cofagrigus just wins on turn 1 (or turn 2, depending on their lead). In practice, it hasn't always been like that for me, but the powerful combination of Iron Defense + Body Press + TSpikes, even uninvested, devastates unprepared and prepared teams alike, taking advantage of stuff like Gigalith, Miltank, and Talonflame to set up for free, while pressuring its other checks with Toxic Spikes. It is absolutely an amazing pick in the current meta and sure to catch at least one team off-guard.
Standard set I've already raved about. While SpDef may seem weird, especially on a team with Gigalith, I often find that Cofagrigus usually works alone and needs the SpDef to live a bunch of hits it otherwise wouldn't, like Heliolisk TBolts and non-QD Ribombee Moonblasts. Rest with Chesto Berry is pretty obvious as to what it does, but with SpDef investment and some boosts, Cofa can usually survive the Rest turns. I've stalled out a Ribombee before with this set, which is usually a losing matchup because it clicks QD or Switcheroo and goes ham. Speaking of matchups, this should almost always be used as the lead regardless of matchup, as Toxic Spikes puts a ton of pressure on the opponent and Cofagrigus can usually sit on their Dark-type if they have one.
Monolith (Gigalith) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
- Toxic
- Rock Blast
Like Talonflame, Gigalith is a glue mon capable of doing a bunch of things, from setting Rocks to being a SpDef wall to spreading Toxic and, of course, setting Sand. While most team structures need to be SpDef, I've also seen Banded sets, Curse sets with Explosion, Custap lead sets, and physically defensive sets as well. What Gigalith does is pretty simple: you set Rocks, make damage stick, check a bunch of stuff, scout with Protect, and sack when you need your sweeper to come in so you can say "gg". While this team can do fine without the Giga sack, often if you need a sack, it's probably going to be Gigalith, especially if Rocks are already up and it's not a Weather team. There aren't many matchups where Gigalith is outright useless though, and it can usually find openings to do Gigalith things.
Standard SpDef set. Blah blah blah Rocks, blah blah blah Tect, blah blah blah obligatory Rock STAB. ToxTect is always something I like running on Gigalith and other similar defensive mons without recovery, as Toxic + Sand makes damage quickly rack up and Leftovers recovery is drastically improved. The most common set also has Earthquake over this, which means tons of Palossand and Vaporeon expect a free switch-in only to be Toxiced and be put on the back foot while Tsareena comes in for free, although this does worsen the Toxicroak matchup. There isn't much to say here, it's just a reliable and solid set. Speaking of Tsar...
Tsar (Tsareena) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Queenly Majesty
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Power Whip
#BestSpinnerInTheTier (sorry Claydol, you'll always be #1 in our hearts). While Big Bird Flame directly counters it, Tsareena is still great hazards removal because of its amazing matchup against literally every Rocker in the tier. And even then, Talonflame doesn't want to switch in because no more Boots for a 30% chance of burning Tsareena is a trade some teams are willing to make. This, in turn, leads to free U-turns because no Talonflame wants to punish it, and the only Pokemon that consistently run Rocky Helmet, Sandaconda and Palossand, are not going to take a Power Whip to the face. It's a bit frailer than it wants to be, as well as slower than it wants to be, but Boots Tsareena is one of the scariest things in the tier to switch into despite looking okay on the surface.
Another standard set. You spin, KOff, and pivot, not exactly in that order. Sometimes, you click Power Whip because they have no Talon so it's free damage or that bulky Water/Ground/Rock won't budge, but otherwise, there's very little to say here. The moves that aren't Spin/KOff/Power Whip (you do need some way to pressure those Rocks setters you force out) are quite malleable depending on what you need. Personally, I like U-turn because of the pivot core with the rat. Hi-Jump Kick to threaten Steels isn't important because you can pivot into Talonflame, and Triple Axel just means more burn chances from Flame.
To Ge De Me (Togedemaru) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Zing Zap
- U-turn
- Zen Headbutt
THE RAT. Despite its cute appearance, Togedemaru strikes fear into the hearts of many players because of its near unmatched utility and ability to flinch past its checks (you have not lived until you have seen Togedemaru flinch the opposing Palossand 5 times in a row to win a match). It fills in many holes when teambuilding: Ice resist, Hail check, speed control, and general revenge killer. The reason Scarf Toge is probably the best Scarf in the tier is that, despite the power that Passimian provides and the "fuck off Virizion" that is Braiviary, Togedemaru has a solid and unique speed tier without giving out on much of that power due to its solid STABs and good Attack stat. It's not going to turn heads anytime soon with some super unique set that breaks half the tier, but sometimes, mons don't need to constantly innovate to stay one step ahead of the metagame. Sometimes, all you need is reliability, hax, and cuteness.
Scarf Toge does Scarf Toge things. Dual STABs for solid coverage, U-turn pivots out of bad matchups that completely block Togedemaru, while Zen Headbutt is great if you don't feel like calcing if Virizion or Toxicroak will die to Iron Head or not. I've seen people run Toxic for those annoying bulky Grounds, but I've found pivoting into Tsar or whatever is much more beneficial for you here. While the pivot can be abused, you're not sinking your momentum into something spamming Toxic and giving the opponent a free turn to do whatever they want. Plus, Tsareena always appreciates being able to spam Knock.
Orbiting (Orbeetle) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 248 HP / 44 SpD / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Iron Defense
- Rest
- Calm Mind
I have been waiting quite a bit to talk about Orbeetle. It does basically everything you need it to. It holds the team together with a great win condition, while also tearing other teams that rely on lame Pokemon like Cosmic Power Xatu or Switcheroo Whimsicott to stop setup sweepers, it sets up on whatever it wants because it forces so many switches and ultimately boosts past all of them, hell, it even does your homework if you want it to. While many teams aren't going to be 6-0ed on team preview by an Orbeetle of all things, there is usually just one mon that's stopping Orbeetle from sweeping, and once it's gone, all it needs to do is come in on whatever defensive mon can't beat it and it's over. The above team members all provide a clear path to Orbeetle sweeping. Toxic Spikes support from Cofagrigus is obvious as it cannot get past Darks, but the burns from Talonflame onto mons like Silvally-Steel and Braviary turn them into setup fodder surprisingly fast. Rocks + Sand make the TSpikes damage stick, and KOff from Tsareena removes those pesky boosting items or those annoying Heavy-Duty Boots. I guess Togedemaru deals with Whimsicott and Ribombee, two mons that are otherwise annoying for Orbeetle, but this is more of an unintended side effect. Never doubt Orbeetle, for when it is at +2 in the 3 stats it can boost, it will not be merciful in your swift downfall.
Looking at the set, it should be pretty obvious as to what it does. ID + CM lets it boost past pretty much everything and has the bonus of 1v1ing Xatu and other random setup sweepers like Alcremie, although crits are the bane of your existence. Rest may seem weird, but usually, after a few boosts (2 IDs and 2 CMs is usually a safe bet for Resting), the Rest turns are unimportant chip damage at worst that simply leads to a restarted sweep. Flame Orb + Recover can work, but Rocks damage is annoying for Orbeetle and Rest is more useful when PP stalling, which is something people actually try to do for some reason. The Speed is great for creeping Toxicroak, as by the time they realize that they get outspeed, it's usually too late, and the rest of the EVs are HP and SpDef because it's the stat that boosts slower.
Threats
Aggron
The unfortunate reality when building a team is that you can't cover every single threat in the metagame. Aggron just so happens to be the Achilles' Heel to this team because it lacks a genuine Rock resist. It comes in for free on Gigalith and grabs a kill, or at best forces tons of damage onto whatever switches into the right move. What you want to do here is to bluff EQuake on Gigalith by not revealing Toxic, which makes the Aggron a lot more scared to come in for free. Burning it on the switch with a Wisp from Talonflame also goes a long way in neutering it, although it still hits surprisingly hard. It's quite uncommon though, so it shouldn't be team-breaking. You also fair much better against those weird lure sets because Head Smash doesn't hit as hard as without a Choice Band.
Haze Golbat
While Orbeetle and Cofagrigus can usually sit on Poisons, Golbat is a special case where both of them can't do it alone. Eviolite-boosted bulk means simply clicking CM on Orbeetle or spamming Body Press with Cofagrigus won't force it out, and while Taunt variants are manageable, Haze is where the issues really begin, as a +1 Stored Power will not out damage Roost with Eviolite intact. Plus, if they're running Haze, it also means they're running Super Fang, which makes wearing down Orbeetle much easier. If you see any Golbat, it requires a team effort to be dealt with: Knock Off its item with Tsareena, burn it with Talonflame, keep Rocks up with Gigalith, and finally set up with Orbeetle. At a certain point, it's forced to spam Roost to deal with it, letting it be sufficiently 1v1ed, although it's still annoying as hell.
Trick mons
As you can tell from the structure, the team really doesn't have a Trick switch-in. While Knock Off is manageable via Cofagrigus and Corrosive Gas is only really run on the two Poison-types that don't seriously impact the team, Trick is a much harder move to work around since its abusers can often bait in the switch-ins on this team (Gigalith and Talonflame), which means they must be played carefully around. Gigalith can take a Band just fine, and if Rocks have been laid down, being able to fire off powerful Rock Blasts can dissuade many non-Ground types. Specs and Scarf are harder to take, although Orbeetle can take both if it has boosted to a serviceable level. Scarf can usually be taken by Togedemaru, while Specs does, unfortunately, force one mon on the team to be useless, but this does depend on the matchup.
Replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8pu-1308216938
Not the most high-quality replay, but this one shows the teams' gameplan very clearly: wear down the opposing team with Sand and constant pivoting, force out stuff so Talon can Wisp whatever beats Orbeetle, Cofa gets rid of opposing Dark types, and Orbeetle finds a setup opportunity and says gg. It's more for those who learn visually instead of reading a bunch of text.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8pu-1306129965
Sometimes, Orbeetle just outright 6-0s a team. It happens. Many teams are naturally "prepared" for Orbeetle (by which I mean they either have a Dark, a fast Flying/Rock-type, or both), but the ones that aren't...well, just look at the replay. While my opponent certainly could have played better, all I really needed was a Wisp on Stunfisk to seal the deal and no unlucky crits.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8pu-1309001837
This replay showcases its solid matchup against a sample team created by BagOfTrixx. Even on paper, Cofagrigus simply has its way with the team, abusing Regirock's presence and lack of Rest to easily set TSpikes, while constant pivoting from Talonflame, Tsareena, and Togedemaru wear the team down into OHKO range from coverage moves, and solid prediction takes down the opposing Talonflame. With it gone, the match quickly snowballed, and once Guzzlord was gone, Orbeetle simply set up on a burned Regirock and won the game from there. Whimsicott not having Switcheroo was also great.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8pu-1309489172
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8pu-1310145483
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8pu-1312857507-f5kevcetnx4o53ciqs890jzn437o99tpw
These replays don't have a specific purpose but show that a player can win with this team against good players with good teams, and I have nothing really to say here. Even more unconventional picks like Hitmonlee and Rhydon were played around and eventually ended up in Togedemaru cleaning (if Orbeetle doesn't sweep, usually Togedemaru just cleans).
Shoutouts
This entire RMT would not be possible without gum. She has taught me so much about playing and I really have felt improvement under her guidance. She's also dealt with my dumbassery more than once, and carefully looked over my teams and found ways to improve them, including this one.
I also wanna shoutout ctproonie217, Estarossa, Greybaum, Paulie Walnuts Jr. (no known Smogon account unless it's an alt) for helping me with these replays, and Bag of Trixx , ManOfMany, and avarice, who don't have replays but still helped me tested out the team. They're all good players and good people.
The PU PS room and Smogon forum are also great places for me. I wouldn't have learned about the tier without the dedicated help of the PS room (which I am now a voice in) and the great resources on the Smogon forum. This extends to everyone that has provided these resources, which includes current tier leaders Specs and 2xTheTap, past tier leaders MZ and Akir, and moderator tlenit, as well as others on the QC team and the past moderators whose names evade me.
Importable
THANKS FOR READING!
THANKS FOR READING!
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