I have been gone for so long, so I'll start by saying hi to everyone that I have missed over the time I haven't been playing Pokemon. Hi! Now with that done, I have a team to showcase for you all. I've been trying to do alot of things since I came back. And one of those is about doing things that aren't common, but still being as successful as I can. Not that I'm aiming to miss things, but I'm digressing. With that in mind, lets have a look at some things about the team in context. Firstly, you'll notice that the team looks quite bulky and has none of the top offensive threats which is incredibly uncharacteristic of the NU metagame. Stall and Semistall together make up less than 10% of teams on the ladder. In addition I've based the team around one of the lesser seen threats in the metagame, Pinsir. It may not seem like the most exciting team, but it's definitely a challenge to use, but rewarding when properly used. Team Preview is very important to the success of this team as it's incredibly important to prioritise targets. The wincon for the team often comes down to working out which targets you can get away with leaving and which restrict your plays. Many Pokemon need to be played around quite tactically, nothing is unbeatable by this team. But everything needs to be played incredibly carefully.
It's this style of play that is why I have thoroughly enjoyed playing with this team. The team has gone through a multitude of changes and each time I've had to really work with the team to win matches. And win I have. At my peak I was 35/1 on the ladder and well within the top 100 on this team's dedicated alt. Not sure exactly. Anyway, I've bored you all enough. Lets look at the team.
As you can see the team uses a combination of hazards and tanks to create a severely weakened team against which Pinsir's amazing cleaning abilities can be used to close out matches swiftly and effectively.
The team started with Pinsir. I wanted to build around a sweeping set that was both devastating when supported correctly and incredibly hard to stop once it was going. After seeing the Swords Dance Priority set, it was such a good concept that I felt compelled to try it out.
Yep, I originally went with two bugs. My first priority was spikes support for Pinsir, and I felt that Scolipede was the strongest choice. I ran the standard bulky Scolipede set in an attempt to get some speed on the team without having to compromise offensive pressure. At this point I was still aiming for a balanced team.
It was still early into my foray into this team and so I went with another popular choice, Golurk. I felt that the team would need a spinblocker to keep the hazards up and the damage Golurk can put out is simply monstrous. I went with a quite conservative SubPunching set to try and provide some hole punching. I felt it was the best wallbreaking set he could run.
I bet you weren't expecting that. I looked at the team so far and thought to myself how can I possibly still fit a heap of damage, a spinner, a proper physical wall, a stealth rocker and all the other things I wanted. Then I realised. I could do all that. Sure it was iffy, sure it was completely stupid. But God it'd be fun. I ran Stealth Rock / Toxic / Super Fang / Rapid Spin. It wasn't going to beat any ghosts, but it was going to do tons of damage and set up rocks.
This was how the team looked after initial teambuilding. I realised that my type synergy was horrendous, and that I was relying alot on hazards. So that meant two things for me. 1. I'd need to run stat based, recovery walls. And 2. They would have to be phazers. Lickylicky seemed like a better option, but it was less hard countery against Jynx because of it's susceptibility to sleep, so I went with Munchlax. And I'd was keen to try Mandibuzz, so I went with full investment to provide myself the best chance against the hardest hitters.
The team felt good. Not great, as it was at only about 70% win rate. I knew it could be significantly improved. The two worst performers were Scolipede and Golurk would you believe. Scolipede never got the spikes it needed down and never got damage down hard enough. I was feeling every mon was going to need to be binary to make such a hazards strategy to work. Golurk on the other hand was just letting too much in. Sandshrew had been getting some serious work done, leaving holes better than Golurk, so Golurk was the ground that had to go. I played around a bit and eventually settled on two Pokemon.
Now this team felt great. And I was ready have a proper go of it. But something was nagging. I could bring all the birds into Pinsir range with the help of Mandibuzz and Sandshrew with Whirlwind/Foul Play and Super Fang respectively but it was risky and expensive. I was also having difficulties stopping Carracosta. If teams were running more than one of the big threats in tandem with some like Pokes, I was in deep trouble and needed very risky play to win. It was doable but unreliable. I messed around with the Sandshrew slot as I felt it was the worst setup bait (If you run a similar team with better synergy, Sandshrew is possibly worth it). I found that the most important thing was Carracosta. It could 6-0 if it came in on Mandibuzz or Munchlax. I needed a solution.
The bulky Toad was the best answer I could come up with. The only other real option was Golem because of Sucker Punch. However I found that Golem, while amazing, would put me in a position where I would get ahead, but leave myself in a position where I was actually more susceptible to being swept via a lack of offensive pressure to push through with a weakened physical wall from it's nuking.
Lets take an in depth look at the final result. I love this team, but because of its nature it's incredibly weak against cheese and hax. I need to be able to rely on knowing that my opponent will be logical which results in some very swingy ladder matchups. So I've brought the team here. Half retirement, half tweaking session. The team can be better, however I can pin where the 'problem' lies.
Pinsir @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
- X-Scissor
- Swords Dance
The glory piece of the team. This set's amazing combination of Priority, Boosting, and Snowballing is a godsend for a stalling team's wincon. The set struggles when the rest of the team has let it down, but I almost never feel pressured to bring it out before I'm ready unless I am truly losing the match. Quick Attack and Swords Dance form a lethal combination in the context of this team. Spreading damage evenly is the aim as a weakened team will never survive the onslaught of this set. The incredibly powerful STAB X-Scissor hurts even bulky flier switchins after a Swords Dance, and sometimes a quick kill on an unsuspecting target can spell ruin for the would be revenger as it smashed with priority from over 500 attack.
It's not all good news for the bug menace here. I quite often feel that I could be getting more from this slot. Things I have considered include Rock Slide over Earthquake to break the Flying walls I have so much difficulty with, changing the nature to Adamant to deal that bit extra damage or replacing Pinsir, as I mentioned above, with other similar sweepers. The top picks for replacing this slot all have issues I deem bigger than those I have had with Pinsir and so it lives on.
Roselia @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
Roselia is an incredibly bulky spiker. The bulkiest specially in NU at the very least. Since replacing Scolipede with Rose I have found her recovery options to be a great boon to my hazard strategy as she can repeatedly come in to both set hazards and weaken key foes that would inhibit the team's effectiveness. Spikes are incredibly important, some of the top physical walls in the tier are both hit alot harder by spikes than just rocks, and are weak to Roselia's STAB moves. By being able to switch in to some key threats like Leech Seed and Status, it provides a useful pivot and backup special wall to Munchlax. Munchlax hates both Focus Blasts and Leech Seed, so Roselia is possibly the best defensive partner for him in the tier.
Misdreavus @ Eviolite
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spd
Bold Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Taunt
Misdreavus is an incredibly important member on the team. Without it, I wouldn't have a good check to Sawk which can punch incredibly big holes into the team otherwise. The Taunt is terribly important for dealing with boosters that can roll through the team and granting some safe switches for grabbing myself tempo in a match. Normally people associate tempo with offensive matchups, but semistall needs it all the more to stay ahead and force out as many switches as I can. Missy is great for this. While she is very weak to being trapped, this can be played around by reading the match well. Misdreavus and Mandibuzz may play similar roles, but both must be wary of being wall broken. My lack of mixed walls require me to have two Pokemon capable of dealing with other walls as I need to spread my checks around the opposing team. They work well together and actually share no weaknesses while dealing with similar threats.
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Def / 56 SDef
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Knock Off
Standard Seismitoad with Knock Off. Toxic is much more common, but unlike full stall, I don't actually try to deal lots of residual damage. I have two other Pokemon capable of breaking down walls, and I'd much prefer either robbing Pokemon of power or survivability. It lets me beat Custap Golem one on one, as well as Piloswine. Most Pokemon that switch in to Toad really love their items as they are either sweepers looking free turns or walls looking to gain momentum. The other moves are standard. Toad beats most rockers in even matchups which is great for getting me tempo early in the match. I have good switchins to most things that instantly threaten Toad, as such I almost always send it out first. Scald is always a safe choice as nothing really likes being burnt, and can really turn some matches. Most Clerics lose to my Taunters so once something gets burnt, it will usually stick.
Munchlax @ Eviolite
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SDef / 4 Atk
Relaxed Nature
- Body Slam
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
- Whirlwind
Ok, so I was originally going to run the Defence EVs in HP. But then opted for the standard spread. Munch has a hell of a lot of HP naturally, and this spread can let it take on some wall breakers, like I will generally be able to get a hit on Samurott before switching to Rose. Besides that, this set can take on Charizard and Jynx, two of the hardest special hitters in the tier, which is amazing for a mixed defenses set. Not everything is perfect though as ghosts do get a free switch, Haunter with Thunderbolt is a menace as a result but Munchlax's pros far outweigh the cons for the team. Body Slam's paralysis is a great boon as throughout the match a paralysis can really take the pressure of the team as it can open up some great opportunities for Pinsir to start a sweep. I've found that the ladder is severely offput by the bulk that Munchlax has, and that's without investment.
Mandibuzz (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Big Pecks
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Spd
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Taunt
- Whirlwind
- Foul Play
Now this thing is an absolute beast of a Pokemon. As I previously mentioned, Toxic isn't really needed for this team. Mandibuzz can break walls with a combination of taunt and Foul Play, Alomomola for example can't even touch it, even if it runs Scald. But it's not just walls that fall against it. Golurk is OHKO's by Foul Play. Kangaskhan can't really break through it either, Floatzel, who beats Missy also falls to it and can't outdamage it with Ice Beam without investment. I went with the fully defensive spread to beat better with the big names in damage, like Tauros, Leafeon and even non-Band Sawk in a pinch. It still amazes me how well Mandibuzz deals with the metagame. Sure it gets forced out, but it is a Pokemon that will never feel like it's not pulling its weight. It's always useful.
It's this style of play that is why I have thoroughly enjoyed playing with this team. The team has gone through a multitude of changes and each time I've had to really work with the team to win matches. And win I have. At my peak I was 35/1 on the ladder and well within the top 100 on this team's dedicated alt. Not sure exactly. Anyway, I've bored you all enough. Lets look at the team.
The team started with Pinsir. I wanted to build around a sweeping set that was both devastating when supported correctly and incredibly hard to stop once it was going. After seeing the Swords Dance Priority set, it was such a good concept that I felt compelled to try it out.
Yep, I originally went with two bugs. My first priority was spikes support for Pinsir, and I felt that Scolipede was the strongest choice. I ran the standard bulky Scolipede set in an attempt to get some speed on the team without having to compromise offensive pressure. At this point I was still aiming for a balanced team.
It was still early into my foray into this team and so I went with another popular choice, Golurk. I felt that the team would need a spinblocker to keep the hazards up and the damage Golurk can put out is simply monstrous. I went with a quite conservative SubPunching set to try and provide some hole punching. I felt it was the best wallbreaking set he could run.
I bet you weren't expecting that. I looked at the team so far and thought to myself how can I possibly still fit a heap of damage, a spinner, a proper physical wall, a stealth rocker and all the other things I wanted. Then I realised. I could do all that. Sure it was iffy, sure it was completely stupid. But God it'd be fun. I ran Stealth Rock / Toxic / Super Fang / Rapid Spin. It wasn't going to beat any ghosts, but it was going to do tons of damage and set up rocks.
This was how the team looked after initial teambuilding. I realised that my type synergy was horrendous, and that I was relying alot on hazards. So that meant two things for me. 1. I'd need to run stat based, recovery walls. And 2. They would have to be phazers. Lickylicky seemed like a better option, but it was less hard countery against Jynx because of it's susceptibility to sleep, so I went with Munchlax. And I'd was keen to try Mandibuzz, so I went with full investment to provide myself the best chance against the hardest hitters.
The team felt good. Not great, as it was at only about 70% win rate. I knew it could be significantly improved. The two worst performers were Scolipede and Golurk would you believe. Scolipede never got the spikes it needed down and never got damage down hard enough. I was feeling every mon was going to need to be binary to make such a hazards strategy to work. Golurk on the other hand was just letting too much in. Sandshrew had been getting some serious work done, leaving holes better than Golurk, so Golurk was the ground that had to go. I played around a bit and eventually settled on two Pokemon.
Now this team felt great. And I was ready have a proper go of it. But something was nagging. I could bring all the birds into Pinsir range with the help of Mandibuzz and Sandshrew with Whirlwind/Foul Play and Super Fang respectively but it was risky and expensive. I was also having difficulties stopping Carracosta. If teams were running more than one of the big threats in tandem with some like Pokes, I was in deep trouble and needed very risky play to win. It was doable but unreliable. I messed around with the Sandshrew slot as I felt it was the worst setup bait (If you run a similar team with better synergy, Sandshrew is possibly worth it). I found that the most important thing was Carracosta. It could 6-0 if it came in on Mandibuzz or Munchlax. I needed a solution.
The bulky Toad was the best answer I could come up with. The only other real option was Golem because of Sucker Punch. However I found that Golem, while amazing, would put me in a position where I would get ahead, but leave myself in a position where I was actually more susceptible to being swept via a lack of offensive pressure to push through with a weakened physical wall from it's nuking.
Lets take an in depth look at the final result. I love this team, but because of its nature it's incredibly weak against cheese and hax. I need to be able to rely on knowing that my opponent will be logical which results in some very swingy ladder matchups. So I've brought the team here. Half retirement, half tweaking session. The team can be better, however I can pin where the 'problem' lies.
Pinsir @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
- X-Scissor
- Swords Dance
The glory piece of the team. This set's amazing combination of Priority, Boosting, and Snowballing is a godsend for a stalling team's wincon. The set struggles when the rest of the team has let it down, but I almost never feel pressured to bring it out before I'm ready unless I am truly losing the match. Quick Attack and Swords Dance form a lethal combination in the context of this team. Spreading damage evenly is the aim as a weakened team will never survive the onslaught of this set. The incredibly powerful STAB X-Scissor hurts even bulky flier switchins after a Swords Dance, and sometimes a quick kill on an unsuspecting target can spell ruin for the would be revenger as it smashed with priority from over 500 attack.
It's not all good news for the bug menace here. I quite often feel that I could be getting more from this slot. Things I have considered include Rock Slide over Earthquake to break the Flying walls I have so much difficulty with, changing the nature to Adamant to deal that bit extra damage or replacing Pinsir, as I mentioned above, with other similar sweepers. The top picks for replacing this slot all have issues I deem bigger than those I have had with Pinsir and so it lives on.
Roselia @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
Roselia is an incredibly bulky spiker. The bulkiest specially in NU at the very least. Since replacing Scolipede with Rose I have found her recovery options to be a great boon to my hazard strategy as she can repeatedly come in to both set hazards and weaken key foes that would inhibit the team's effectiveness. Spikes are incredibly important, some of the top physical walls in the tier are both hit alot harder by spikes than just rocks, and are weak to Roselia's STAB moves. By being able to switch in to some key threats like Leech Seed and Status, it provides a useful pivot and backup special wall to Munchlax. Munchlax hates both Focus Blasts and Leech Seed, so Roselia is possibly the best defensive partner for him in the tier.
Misdreavus @ Eviolite
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spd
Bold Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Taunt
Misdreavus is an incredibly important member on the team. Without it, I wouldn't have a good check to Sawk which can punch incredibly big holes into the team otherwise. The Taunt is terribly important for dealing with boosters that can roll through the team and granting some safe switches for grabbing myself tempo in a match. Normally people associate tempo with offensive matchups, but semistall needs it all the more to stay ahead and force out as many switches as I can. Missy is great for this. While she is very weak to being trapped, this can be played around by reading the match well. Misdreavus and Mandibuzz may play similar roles, but both must be wary of being wall broken. My lack of mixed walls require me to have two Pokemon capable of dealing with other walls as I need to spread my checks around the opposing team. They work well together and actually share no weaknesses while dealing with similar threats.
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Def / 56 SDef
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Knock Off
Standard Seismitoad with Knock Off. Toxic is much more common, but unlike full stall, I don't actually try to deal lots of residual damage. I have two other Pokemon capable of breaking down walls, and I'd much prefer either robbing Pokemon of power or survivability. It lets me beat Custap Golem one on one, as well as Piloswine. Most Pokemon that switch in to Toad really love their items as they are either sweepers looking free turns or walls looking to gain momentum. The other moves are standard. Toad beats most rockers in even matchups which is great for getting me tempo early in the match. I have good switchins to most things that instantly threaten Toad, as such I almost always send it out first. Scald is always a safe choice as nothing really likes being burnt, and can really turn some matches. Most Clerics lose to my Taunters so once something gets burnt, it will usually stick.
Munchlax @ Eviolite
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SDef / 4 Atk
Relaxed Nature
- Body Slam
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
- Whirlwind
Ok, so I was originally going to run the Defence EVs in HP. But then opted for the standard spread. Munch has a hell of a lot of HP naturally, and this spread can let it take on some wall breakers, like I will generally be able to get a hit on Samurott before switching to Rose. Besides that, this set can take on Charizard and Jynx, two of the hardest special hitters in the tier, which is amazing for a mixed defenses set. Not everything is perfect though as ghosts do get a free switch, Haunter with Thunderbolt is a menace as a result but Munchlax's pros far outweigh the cons for the team. Body Slam's paralysis is a great boon as throughout the match a paralysis can really take the pressure of the team as it can open up some great opportunities for Pinsir to start a sweep. I've found that the ladder is severely offput by the bulk that Munchlax has, and that's without investment.
Mandibuzz (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Big Pecks
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Spd
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Taunt
- Whirlwind
- Foul Play
Now this thing is an absolute beast of a Pokemon. As I previously mentioned, Toxic isn't really needed for this team. Mandibuzz can break walls with a combination of taunt and Foul Play, Alomomola for example can't even touch it, even if it runs Scald. But it's not just walls that fall against it. Golurk is OHKO's by Foul Play. Kangaskhan can't really break through it either, Floatzel, who beats Missy also falls to it and can't outdamage it with Ice Beam without investment. I went with the fully defensive spread to beat better with the big names in damage, like Tauros, Leafeon and even non-Band Sawk in a pinch. It still amazes me how well Mandibuzz deals with the metagame. Sure it gets forced out, but it is a Pokemon that will never feel like it's not pulling its weight. It's always useful.
Pinsir @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
- X-Scissor
- Swords Dance
Roselia @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
Misdreavus @ Eviolite
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spd
Bold Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Taunt
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Def / 56 SDef
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Knock Off
Munchlax @ Eviolite
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SDef / 4 Atk
Relaxed Nature
- Body Slam
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
- Whirlwind
Mandibuzz (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Big Pecks
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Spd
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Taunt
- Whirlwind
- Foul Play
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
- X-Scissor
- Swords Dance
Roselia @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
Misdreavus @ Eviolite
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spd
Bold Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Taunt
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Def / 56 SDef
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Knock Off
Munchlax @ Eviolite
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SDef / 4 Atk
Relaxed Nature
- Body Slam
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
- Whirlwind
Mandibuzz (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Big Pecks
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Spd
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Taunt
- Whirlwind
- Foul Play
