ULTRA SM NU Sample Teams [Closed]

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hello NU frens :] wanted to post a team that i though was decent.

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(Klinklang @ Steelium Z
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Atk / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shift Gear
- Gear Grind
- Return
- Wild Charge

Archeops
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Acrobatics
- Earth Power

Venusaur @ Black Sludge
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Synthesis

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Protect
- Wish
- Ice Beam

Delphox @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Psyshock
- Grass Knot
- Switcheroo

Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 126 Atk / 130 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Earthquake
- Heavy Slam )


( So I decided to build the team around klinklang. toad and mow leaving just make Klinklang even better so i wanted to make a klinklang team. As for the klinklang set magnet rise can be used to set up on mons such as rhydon and steelix or toxic can be used to poison slowbro on the switch which is very annoying to this team. I chose wild charge to better deal with fat waters but sometimes i like to change it to toxic. the first teammate I chose was vaporeon as it covers klinklangs fire weakness as well as being able to freely switch in on common klinklang switch ins such as steelix and druddigon. Ice beam is to not give free switch ins to grass mons like venu and whimsicott however you can change it to toxic or heal bell if you prefer. spdef venusaur was added as a heliolisk check as well as a soft fighting type resist. steelix was next for rocks and a switch in to sneasel as my team was looking weak to it. Toxic on steelix to poison pesky mons like slowbro. next was scarf delphox for speed control and forms a fire water grass core with venusuar and vaporeon. last the team was looking weak to a bit weak to houndoom and grass knot delphox so i added archeops as a check as well as a defogger. earth power is nice because it can 2 hit ko steelix on the switch which hard walls klinklang. )



(the team is a bit weak to ice types wich forces me to keep delphox and klinklang healthy since there my only switch ins that dont get 2 hitkoed. slowbro is annoying because my main water switch in would be vaporeon and venusaur except vaporeon cant touch it and venusaur cant reliably switch into it because psychic stab. delphox can be annoying to face because it recks half my team and is hard to switch into grasss knot varients however acheops can safely revenge kill it. guzzlord can be problematic however changing grass knot into dazzling gleam can help the match up )


In conclusion i had a lot of fun with this team and think its solid. shoutout to carcy and quziel for helping me and giving suggestions to the team. shoutout to all the kool people in the nu room and ladder. thanks for reading :] : D
 
Dorian (Slowbro) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Slack Off
- Scald
- Toxic
- Psyshock

SPITFIRE! (Houndoom) @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Flame Charge
- Nasty Plot

Toxispam (Toxicroak) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off

Togedemaru @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spiky Shield
- Wish
- Zing Zap
- Super Fang

Piloswine @ Eviolite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Shard

Joshua (Whimsicott) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Energy Ball
- Psychic
- Moonblast
Scarfcroak Balance
-----------------------

I wanted to try something a little different, something that had potential with the right support, so I chose to build around scarf croak.

I believe poison to be one of, if not the most spammable stab in the metagame. There are only three prominent steels and the Pokemon that resist poison you still win against the majority of the time anyway. Being gunk locked on a steel type can be pretty detrimental, so I built the team in a way that effectively deals with those steal types. Scarfcroak also has some issues in not being a very fast scarfer, being outsped by scarf Dodrio, Scyther, Rotom, Hitmonlee, Delphox, and Houndoom, and the team was given offensive and defensive switch ins for those Pokemon.

Houndoom: Provides a switch in to scarf Delphox and Houndoom + 1vs1 Rotom while also providing a breaker role, and the only Pokemon that could actually do both, any other Pokemon would have been one or the other or one or the other plus SSI. What I like most about doom here is that it sets up a flame charge/nasty plot on a lot of what switches into Toxicroak.

Whimsicott: The team was a little slow, and it helps with dealing with those faster mons when Toxicroak can't comfortably pivot or switch in. Also role compression, it provided that needed speed while also providing a needed defog for 2 SR weak Pokemon.

Piloswine: Because why not? It deals with every rocker (unless your opponent is running some dumb phys def lix) and is difficult for a lot of teams lacking a fighting type Pokemon to deal with without sacking a mon to sometimes deal even just half damage on the thing (It survives a Braviary superpower and OHKOS back, and nearly every special attack). Also provides some support versus flying types, which is greatly appreciated by Toxicroak. Runs 8 speed for a Guzzlord creep.

Togedemaru: An effective ice resist and electric resist for Slowbro that also isn't a complete deadweight for momentum with it's super fang that often hits fire types switching in and makes it easier to put things like Incineroar(which the team can really struggle with) in range of a kill by Houndoom or Whims. Most importantly it provides an excellent check to Klinklang whom can set up easily on a gunk locked Toxicroak, Pilo if magnet rise, or Whimsicott. There is Slowbro there, but with three easy set ups for Klinklang, I wasn't too comfortable with just Slowbro there.

Slowbro: Pretty self explanatory, Slowbro doing what Slowbro always does, providing a physical wall for fighting types and physicals in general bla bla bla you've heard it before

Toxicroak: Basically explained in the introduction, the only thing I'd add is that it throws people off a lot and can usually get at least 1 kill due to it being so unexpected.


This team is disgusting, and I love it. Thank you.
 
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Type: Null @ Eviolite
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Return
- U-turn
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Xatu @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Night Shade
- Defog
- U-turn
- Roost

Vikavolt-Totem @ Buginium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 176 HP / 252 SpA / 80 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Bug Buzz
- Volt Switch
- Energy Ball
- Roost

Emboar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Wild Charge
- Head Smash

Druddigon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
- Toxic
- Earthquake

Whimsicott @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Energy Ball
- Substitute
- Endeavor

This team has been undefeated for me in NUL so far and has seen a lot of success for the people I passed it to for the same tournament. Its my take on a very standard bulky offense team with a few cool meta calls.

Null acts as the backbone of the team as its just a blanket special wall that offers slow momentum for the rest of the team which helps get mons like Vikavolt and Emboar in.

Xatus pretty standard for these kinds of teams as its one of the best mons for hazard control. I opted to run a Night Shade + Defog on here just because I think its the best set for it because it allows you to play really safe with Xatu on rockers that can beat it like Pilo, and trade chip damage for rocks and then defog them away mid game.

Vikavolt-Totem was chosen because of a personal meta call I made. I noticed people just don't run bug resists anymore aside from Steelix or Steel-Vally, both of which Vikavolt shreds. Its also insanely bulky so it allows me to soft check a lot of mons in the tier such as Piloswine or Hariyama that kind of give this team issues.
(side note Totem takes less from Steelix's Heavy Slam so its just objectively better then regular in case people were wondering why I ran Totem).

Emboar's just a generic the late game cleaner for the team with Head Smash to break Altaria. Not a whole lot to explain for the mon.

Drudd works with Xatu to help control difficult mons like Emboar as you can predict and pivot around Super Power and Flare Blitz. Its also just really nice to be able to have a rocker that can set past Xatu.

Whims makes up the last member of the team and it runs a really cool set that needs a lot more exposure. Sub Endeavor Whims is really the best set for it in my opinion as you basically are allowed to 1 for 1 with any single pokemon in the tier, or late game if you've subbed down enough it allows you to fire off endeavors to nuke things like Steelix or Venusaur which normally wall this.
 
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some weeks ago i was looking for something to build around, and then remembered there was an ORAS NU team that I really enjoyed and decided to revamp it a bit (heres the initial team for those who wonder https://pokepast.es/4426419656ea7911 ) after trying different variation i came up with this and did some good shit on ladder (hit top5 before starting to test others teams without much troubles) and as the team sounds pretty decent and easy to use i decided to share it for those who wants to start that wonderful tiers which is NU!

I kept alty lix because they check together a good amount of mons in general and compress so much utility in only 2 slots thx god alty finally got defog so i didn't have to bother about spikes this time, so i added colbur Slowbro which is my favorite item on slowbro atm allowing you to check z dark croak after a sd, houndoom, incineroar ect ect which were all painful for the initial defensive core. that core is destroyed by mismagius, cm delphox, and annoyed by xatu to some extent so decided to add a sneasel to abuse knock off/pursuit, sneasel allows the team to knock steelix once it comes which allows Altaria to beat it more comfortably and keep hazards off our field for sneasel/delphox/sturdy lix. Hariyama is doing Hariyama things: beating fire and ice type as well as pressuring a lot of commons defensive build after some chip, decided to go for stone edge as the team wants to keep rocks up for as long as possible so pressuring golbat on the switch is amazing. Last but not least, CM Delphox is key to the team to break defensive core to allows sneasel to pressure more easily mid/late game I initialy has wishfox instead but the team was way too passive and autolose to scrafty. almost forgot, but steelix's set has been choosen because the team needed a sub bu braviary and magnet rise klinklang check in one slot plus it allows to one v one grass knot Xatu without being too weakened at the end which is awesome.

In general the plan with the team will be to use Delphox in early/mid game if there is no sneasel to pressure the opposing defensive backbone to allows sneasel & hariyama to pressure as much as possible with strong moves/priorities
 


some weeks ago i was looking for something to build around, and then remembered there was an ORAS NU team that I really enjoyed and decided to revamp it a bit (heres the initial team for those who wonder https://pokepast.es/4426419656ea7911 ) after trying different variation i came up with this and did some good shit on ladder (hit top5 before starting to test others teams without much troubles) and as the team sounds pretty decent and easy to use i decided to share it for those who wants to start that wonderful tiers which is NU!

I kept alty lix because they check together a good amount of mons in general and compress so much utility in only 2 slots thx god alty finally got defog so i didn't have to bother about spikes this time, so i added colbur Slowbro which is my favorite item on slowbro atm allowing you to check z dark croak after a sd, houndoom, incineroar ect ect which were all painful for the initial defensive core. that core is destroyed by mismagius, cm delphox, and annoyed by xatu to some extent so decided to add a sneasel to abuse knock off/pursuit, sneasel allows the team to knock steelix once it comes which allows Altaria to beat it more comfortably and keep hazards off our field for sneasel/delphox/sturdy lix. Hariyama is doing Hariyama things: beating fire and ice type as well as pressuring a lot of commons defensive build after some chip, decided to go for stone edge as the team wants to keep rocks up for as long as possible so pressuring golbat on the switch is amazing. Last but not least, CM Delphox is key to the team to break defensive core to allows sneasel to pressure more easily mid/late game I initialy has wishfox instead but the team was way too passive and autolose to scrafty. almost forgot, but steelix's set has been choosen because the team needed a sub bu braviary and magnet rise klinklang check in one slot plus it allows to one v one grass knot Xatu without being too weakened at the end which is awesome.

In general the plan with the team will be to use Delphox in early/mid game if there is no sneasel to pressure the opposing defensive backbone to allows sneasel & hariyama to pressure as much as possible with strong moves/priorities
I generally like the team, especially because I enjoy the core (Lix/Altaria/Sneasel/Phox) a lot.
Main question: What is your plan against ResTalk Malamar? I found myself playing it twice without really having a plan; nothing KOs (a +-0 Inferno Overdrive does ~70%, Hariyamas CC fails to 2HKO after one Superpower boost) it and its coverage against the team is quite annoying.
 
I generally like the team, especially because I enjoy the core (Lix/Altaria/Sneasel/Phox) a lot.
Main question: What is your plan against ResTalk Malamar? I found myself playing it twice without really having a plan; nothing KOs (a +-0 Inferno Overdrive does ~70%, Hariyamas CC fails to 2HKO after one Superpower boost) it and its coverage against the team is quite annoying.
Malamars usage is quite Low as is but If you are worried enough, replacing Signal beam over psyshock on slowbro, Generally not worth it though (speaking from experience, i despise malamar) in that Case though be Sure to keeps steelixes sturdy intact im croak mus(If you so change it i would make lix adamant Nature with 252 spdef and Protect AS that makes it Take on whimsicott more reliably and hrlps with sturdy, and gives you a 75 percrnt Chance to ohko croak still)
 


cannot change (Sneasel) @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Ice Shard

hidden hills (Omastar) @ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Scald
- Knock Off

let it bang (Venusaur) @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder
- Synthesis

ice it up (Xatu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 240 HP / 132 SpD / 136 Spe
Calm Nature
- Psychic
- U-turn
- Thunder Wave
- Roost

pop it (Combusken) @ Eviolite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
- Low Kick

m&ms (Lanturn) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 72 SpD / 184 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Ice Beam


sup fam, cooked up a hot one for ya.

so i wanted to mess around with combusken since i believe it has a pretty valuable typing in the emboar-less metagame. we're seeing alot more usage of mons that benefit from the absence of emboar; specifically sneasel, incineroar, and houndoom. while combusken is far from an emboar substitute, it benefits from these metagame trends.

in my opinion, the best mon rn is sneasel. you can prepare for sneasel all you like but you can't avoid being pursuit trapped. combusken really benefits from the trap god sneasel. it can trap jellicent, delphox, and even forces the bros in some 50-50's, and when these are eliminated combusken can really shine late-game. sneasel and combusken have really great synergy, both offensively and defensively. combusken only takes 7% from incineroar's u-turn, so there's not too much loss.

venusaur is a really great mon, the lo set is the only one i've used so far. i chose defensive omastar because i wanted a reliable switch-in to incineroar and i didn't always want to be forced to throw combusken in. xatu is for hazard control and is a venusaur check, it outspeeds modest venusaur by 1 point. lanturn is my heliolisk check, omastar vs heliolisk matchups are no bueno without lanturn. lanturn's moveset is kinda flexible, you can try hp fire to hit heliolisk harder, but i like doing damage to druddigon if given the opportunity.

some replays from ladder:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7nu-709808861
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7nu-709805467
 
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Another Klinklang Bulky Offense
Import: http://pokepast.es/d3bb14a21f9a1557
I've been just spamming this team to great effect and it simply just works. Is just a tad weak to Heliolisk.

Started with AV Hariyama and Guzzlord form a nice core as Guzzlord gets free switches on Slowbro, Druddigon, and Xatu all mons that Hariyama are annoyed by and in return Hariyama can switch into Vanilluxe and easily kill Type Null.

Guzzlord is heavily speedcreeped to outspeed unvinvested base 60s and it allows for it to fire off a strong Draco against an uninvested Scrafty because this team is a bit Scrafty-weak. Other than that fairly standard Guzzlord set that is excellent against the meta rn.

I like Stone Edge on Hariyama instead of the usual double priority as I use it as my main Vikavolt answer and I don't want it to be a sitting duck vs. Altaria either. If it also comes down to it, it can tank a +1 Hurricane from Vivillion and it's the only move that can OHKO Z-move Vivillion. Fake out is imo more useful than bullet punch usually as I feel this team is a bit weak to CM Delphox which Fake out quite annoys (although this makes the team a bit more weak to Froslass).

Slowbro is just a broken excellent pivot and I prefer Ice beam on this build because an opposing Guzzlord switches in for free otherwise as well as catching Altarias/Druddigons and I can already check Toxicroak/Venusaur well enough with my other mons. Colbur Berry cause duh and Sneasel is a lame. This also stops Sub BU Braviary from getting free setup.

Klinklang is Electrium Z Magnet Rise because a current meta trend seems to be relying on Slowbro or Lix alone on checking this beast and relying Incineroar as a backup check at full which isn't enough as the rest of the team answers Lix pretty well and Z-Wild charge kills both Incineroar and Slowbro after rocks. Rhydon and Piloswine are a little annoying for this team to switch into and punish, so Magnet Rise seems just like a perfect fit. Also lightly checks Z-celebrate growth Venusaur. Z Magnet Rise is also the goat

Palossand seemed as the most appropriate rocker for this team as I wanted something that can easily beat Steelix/Xatu as well as check Toxicroak who can easily come in on a Guzz choice lock or Hariyama. This can also emergency check Klinklang and Medicham. I like Colbur berry as the item the best as it allows me to more easily check knock off spamming fighting types as well check Incineroar better.

Scarf Venusaur is just an excellent scarfer all around as I didn't want to run something that was weak to rocks like Braviary/Delphox/Houndoom (nor did I want to shoehorn shitty hazard control) and I need a good grass check as well as something that can absorb T-spikes. It also surprise kills anything that doesn't expect it coming (Sneasel, Whimsicott, Rotom-N, Cincinno). The last slot Earthquake allows me to beat Togedemaru and hit weakened fire types like Delphox/Incineroar/Houndoom stronger than its other moves.
 
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"Hazard Stack Trap"
Slowbro @ Psychium Z
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Slack Off

Regirock @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Toxic

Zangoose @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Quick Attack
- Knock Off
- Close Combat

Sneasel @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pursuit
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Knock Off

Xatu @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Heat Wave
- Roost
- U-turn
- Toxic


Roselia @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 196 SpD / 56 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Synthesis
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain

This teams revolves around hazard stacking in order to pull of a sweep with either Zangoose or Sneasel. Sneasel is more or less broken, as it can easily play around incineroar with hazards and knock off. Slowbro is also broken, as it scoffs at attempts to trap and doesn't care about knock off. Psychium Z is used to destroy any walls which get in the way of a CM sweep, as well as kill offense pokes that switch in after rocks. Xatu protects Sneasel from hazards, and Roselia stacks and walls threats such as vikivolt. Zangoose with belly drum is way too underrated it can pull of sweeps with little hassle.It doesn't even need hazards, all it needs is one free turn. Regirock sets rocks and blocks many annoying threats from wrecking the team.
 
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Half of the samples right now have a banned pokemon in Venusaur on it still. If someone could shove a standard sand team to replace the sun offense sample I think that would be the best as threatening as a playstyle and how centralizing Sand is in the current metagame. As for the balance one I'll drop a balance of my own to get the ball rolling. Hopefully others post some newer teams in here too as I know mine is not perfect.

http://pokepast.es/1270e60d96892eed

I started off with a defensive regen core of Tangela and Slowking. Tangela is a great regen pivot that is a blanket physical wall most notably checking sand incredibly. The spread eats 2 Banded Stoutland returns after rocks or 2 returns after sand damage. Slowking is another great regen pivot that is a special wall with its incredible spdef paired with Assault Vest. This core while being hard to break defensively, also has offensive presence which is nice. Immediately when building with these 2 I knew I was gonna want some pokemon that don't mind taking a knock off. The 1st one that came to my mind was Diancie. Diancie is an incredible pokemon in general but it gave me a knock off switch in, rocks, a bird check, and a heal beller all in one. The sprea I realized I had no speed so I added the most splashable pokemon in the tier in my opinion in scarf Passimian. This is the primary revenge killer if I can't bulk the hits out. Next I realized I had no real breaker so I added SD Z Incineroar for that. U-turn from Passimian allows this monster to come in more which is nice for the team. Finally I realized I was hazard weak and still lacked a little bit of speed so I added a Rotom. Rotom is just another glue mone that gives this team another pivot into the regen mons or Incineroar as well as giving it another bird check, hazard removal, and a fighting normal and ground immunity.

Edit: So sand suspect is now a thing. Waiting to update till after the suspect is probably the obvious and right decision
 
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Half of the samples right now have a banned pokemon in Venusaur on it still. If someone could shove a standard sand team to replace the sun offense sample I think that would be the best as threatening as a playstyle and how centralizing Sand is in the current metagame. As for the balance one I'll drop a balance of my own to get the ball rolling. Hopefully others post some newer teams in here too as I know mine is not perfect.

http://pokepast.es/1270e60d96892eed

I started off with a defensive regen core of Tangela and Slowking. Tangela is a great regen pivot that is a blanket physical wall most notably checking sand incredibly. The spread eats 2 Banded Stoutland returns after rocks or 2 returns after sand damage. Slowking is another great regen pivot that is a special wall with its incredible spdef paired with Assault Vest. This core while being hard to break defensively, also has offensive presence which is nice. Immediately when building with these 2 I knew I was gonna want some pokemon that don't mind taking a knock off. The 1st one that came to my mind was Diancie. Diancie is an incredible pokemon in general but it gave me a knock off switch in, rocks, a bird check, and a heal beller all in one. The sprea I realized I had no speed so I added the most splashable pokemon in the tier in my opinion in scarf Passimian. This is the primary revenge killer if I can't bulk the hits out. Next I realized I had no real breaker so I added SD Z Incineroar for that. U-turn from Passimian allows this monster to come in more which is nice for the team. Finally I realized I was hazard weak and still lacked a little bit of speed so I added a Rotom. Rotom is just another glue mone that gives this team another pivot into the regen mons or Incineroar as well as giving it another bird check, hazard removal, and a fighting normal and ground immunity.

Edit: So sand suspect is now a thing. Waiting to update till after the suspect is probably the obvious and right decision

Hey, I recently started playing in the NU tier and I made a sand team. I played a few games with this team and it seems that works. So the thing is that I don't know if I won games because I am in low ladder or if it is actually good.

Houndoom @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Flame Charge
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse

Sandslash-Alola @ Focus Sash
Ability: Snow Cloak
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head

Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Will-O-Wisp
- Trick Room
- Pain Split

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Recover
- Toxic

Gigalith @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock

Cradily @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Protect
- Toxic
- Giga Drain

(Update: I got smacked don't use it)
 
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Finchinator

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It's going to get banned soon enough, so it doesn't matter too much, but... here is a Sand team worth including for the brief time being.

I'll quote from my suspect post to go more in-depth on the team itself

Personally, I have been using this team for the past while and I have had ridiculous amounts of success in tournament play and ladder play with it. Yes, it is, more or less, glorified "cheese" for those familiar with the term. However, the rate at which it is effective and has a favorable match-up is insanely high compared to that of other "cheese" (i.e: Webs, Screens, and even Stall teams, which are probably the main other type of cheese that people even see at the moment). The fact of the matter is that unless you go out of your way to use some combination of durable resists/immunities to Normal/Grounds (Tangela, Palossand, Torterra, Golbat, Weezing, and Gourgeist can be issues to break as you have to outplay them consistently and force them in to Knock, chip, etc. if they are played properly), Protect Pokemon that are not entirely passive (Xatu most notably, but Vaporeon can help if you do not give Sandslash a free turn switching it in and Blastoise with Protect has been a slight cockblock in some of my experience, too), or other niche defensive elements, then you're either going to pretty much outplay the entire game or be incredibly vulnerable throughout. In addition, it is worth noting that none of the aforementioned means of stopping this team are particularly viable on offensive teams, which brings me to a point I will expand upon a bit later about the Sand archetype lacking offensive counterplay.

To expand on how this team should be used and its history as to give some backing to my argument and assertions throughout this post, I will provide some tournament and ladder replays showcasing it. The best example comes in HPL finals against Starmaster, which went like this. The team ideally functions in a way where you set Sand and perhaps get Stealth Rock up and then proceed to safely get Sandslash or Stoutland in -- usually the former to break holes for the latter or at least claim a kill or two. From there, you make progress with the momentum and speed you have acquired naturally at that point and then the game should break down fairly clearly from there. This match is obviously an extreme because Sandslash straight-up won, but Starmaster was using a pretty standard team for the time (yea, it was Venusaur metagame, but that does not impact Sand's viability whatsoever and if it does, then it helps it as that is one less thing to prepare for) and there are often very similar outcomes against other offensive teams as the metagame has little room to adapt in this regard to the archetype, thus part of why I deem it very banworthy. A similar game to this one happened in NUPL when Meeps used his original variant of the team that mine is based off of and it can be found here -- his opponent had an offensive team and it was very clear that he had no shot whatsoever at winning this game given the way it played out.

Another example of the team being used in tournaments would be Elodin's game against Orphic for NUPL, which can be seen here. While the non-Sand Rush members of the team do a good job opening the door earlier on in the game due to Eject Button getting Knocked off, Sandslash still manages to pick off four kills (assuming you include the Rotom at the end prior to the forfeit with it being the last Pokemon) against a standard offensive team that even had a Hail setter to remove the Sand temporarily. Elodin did outplay his opponent, but it was a very straightforward, routine, and even systematic win regardless of that so long as he took a remotely optimal approach throughout given the overwhelming presence of Sandslash (and the eventual Stoutland which simply wasn't even needed in this specific game). There are a number of other tournament games in which other Sand teams prove to also have no competitive place in the metagame; I will hyperlink a handful (1, 2 (this one isn't THAT bad), 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7) that should all display the clear problem, but I want to also get into some ladder examples as well seeing as it is time to get reqs atm.

I personally laddered 80 games with this team on the suspect ladder in order to get my own reqs, prove the point I am making here, and just have more evidence to showcase how ridiculous this archetype is and thus how banworthy Gigalith is. My two alts were likeagee6 and driedupblood and I combined for a 69-11 record with about half of those losses being to opposing Sand teams -- i.e: 1 and 2, including my own (most of the others were to dumb shit, too, but that's besides the point). I'm not here to toot my own horn, but through auto-piloting the build I essentially got both alts in the top 15 and I can imagine that if others took the team and tried to get reqs with it, they could do so quite easily if they understood how to pilot it. This is normally not as easy to attain so easily unless someone is a really consistently good player or they are using stall, which tends to rake in free wins on the ladder. The fact of the matter is that this team really is "cheese" that is borderline match-up proof (yea, there are some defensive cores that prove troublesome, but they're comprised of rare Pokemon and this is not enough to keep it from being broken). I strongly implore people who are uncertain, looking for some examples of how the team is played or why it is effective, and perhaps in need of their daily dose of salty Finch to check out some replays under either of these accounts as I saved every game I remembered to and all of them are public unless my opponent hid them at some point. I will also go through a couple example ones just to further showcase how it performs like I did for the tournament games.

This game shows me playing a fairly standard build and digging a hole for myself early on by making a couple poor plays, but still pulling through with Sandslash sweeping later-on despite facing a Tangela. Usually, Sandslash breaks things open for Stoutland, but the opposite happened here and Sandslash won in a close game by cleaning out over half of the opponent's team. Here is a replay where my opponent pretty much knew my sets from the start and used a balanced team that had some defensive leverage, but still easily got overwhelmed by the team after losing an early 50/50 between Ice Shard and Pursuit (the game would have been won regardless, but that really opened up the flood gates) -- games like these really show how vital the momentum and pressure of this team comes into play and why it makes the Sand Rush abusers as potent as they are. Here is another quicky where Sandslash just runs through an offensive team that is actually somewhat prepared for a choiced Stoutland, just showing that offensive teams cannot really be prepared for this stuff even if they have immunes and resists that normal offenses sometimes lack. Here is a game against a fairly good opponent, actually, who was using a team that had a Steelix, Xatu, Slowbro, and a means of changing the weather to Hail, but the Sand rushers came through in the end despite losing Silvally-Steel to a freeze earlier on -- the tier just does not have sufficient tools to handle the offensive onslaught that these teams pack unless you want to have people overloading on fat shit every single time to be sufficiently prepared. Again, there are dozens of other examples that can be found in the replays of "driedupblood" or "likeagee6" for those that wish to see more and this post is getting insanely long, but the fact of the matter is that this team archetype simply is not healthy in the current metagame.
 
Quagsire + Z Braviary Balance

Neat little balance that covers most bases with the newly dropped Quagsire. The few oddball sets explained further below.

Xatu is an odd but imo a pretty underrated set. ToxicTect Xatu with Night Shade is really wavy bc not only does it chip common Xatu switch ins like Incineroar, AV Slowbro, Guzz, etc. but also already prevents you from getting trapped by Sneasel if you're like ~50%+ making U-turn rather redundant bc Protect often times nabs you the same momentum against like a choice locked mon. will absolutely making anyone running TR in 2018 wanna commit die

Quagsire usually found in stall is a pretty underrated mon to slap in a standard balance. This is pretty much beat Incineroar 99% of the time assuming not Adamant, Z Darkest Lariat, and it catches you on the switch with rocks up or you happen not to recover. It also covers a large variety of physical threats and a few that standard defensive Slowbro can't handle too reliably like Sneasel, Z Wild Charge Klinklang, Sub BU Braviary, and Megahorn Rhydon. Waterfall/Toxic/Curse/Recover looks VERY weird I know, but I believe this blanket checks the most things. Scald/EQ over Waterfall would allow Braviary to PP stall you, EQ over Toxic would make Quag complete Grass switch-in bait, and Curse in general is a nifty late game win con. EQ doesn't do much more than Waterfall most of the time as well.

Miltank is there for the mandatory Vanilluxe switch-in (that also manages to set up rocks) and the set is standard as it gets. I've tried Sandslash-Alola over it but typically will almost always prefer the recovery aka not getting completely boned by Knock Off however it's interchangeable as Sandslash-Alola more easily checks Comfey, Heal Bell Diancie, and Specs Whimsicott.

Sceptile is absolutely busted and spams Grass moves + coverage when no one runs Type Null and fast Golbat is the only real Golbat meaning it can 2HKO after rocks by HP Ice. Leaf Storm/Giga Drain/ HP Ice/ Focus Blast is the go-to set bc Delphox is kind of irrelevant making EQ meh and HP Ice is great for covering max-defense Vileplume, Braviary, etc. on the switch.

Braviary is the new talk considering the new drops and rightfully so. It's very free versus Dhelmise/Decidueye as well as defensive Incineroar. Bulk Up Fightinium is what most people are talking up but I think that Flyinium U-turn is excellent for baiting scarf and it can actually kill AV bro with BB + SSSS. SSSS is generally also nukes every team without a Steelix like it WILL kill Mega-Audino with BB + SSSS and teams with Steelix gets checked by Xatu anyway.

Sneasel is the last mon just being an awesome glue in like murdering the new ghosts if things get out of hand and anything random that can beat the team randomly like a Delphox, Heliolisk, Vanilluxe, or Mold Breaker Druddigon not to mention since this team has no scarfer (I personally think scarfers rn are just pretty "whatever" if they're not clicking u-turn) Ice shard being able to take out a low Aerodactyl or smth of the like.

Weaknesses: Fight-Z Magmortar, Specs Whimsi, Sceptile, and pretty much any decently fast special breaker that can get past Miltank (even Clawitzer) can eat this team whole so your best hope is to outplay with Sneasel very hard with pursuit/shard. Heliolisk is annoying but Tect Xatu annoys specs a lot while Miltank can stomach LO except for f-blast. LO pursuit Aerodactyl bags on all the offensive mons but keeping up rocks + threatening with Sneasel should do the trick and should you EVER risk it, Sceptile has like a ~50% chance to live a LO stone miss and LO Giga Drain in Overgrow will kill it 100%.
 

Rabia

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GP & NU Leader
Braviary @ Leftovers
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 172 HP / 252 SpD / 84 Spe
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
- Brave Bird
- Roost

Decidueye @ Decidium Z
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Spirit Shackle
- Substitute

Silvally-Steel @ Steel Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 232 HP / 216 SpD / 60 Spe
Calm Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Flamethrower
- Toxic

Diancie @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 36 SpD / 4 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Heal Bell

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic

Passimian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Receiver
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot
The idea of this team was to wallbreak with Decidueye so that Scarf Passimian and Sub BU Braviary have an easier time late-game. I used my favorite balance core of Diancie + Vaporeon + Silvally-Steel since it covers most of the meta and the holes are patched up pretty well through Braviary. There are a few changes that could be experimented with: more offensive Braviary, LO > Decidium Z on Decidueye, Low Sweep > Substitute on Decidueye, any of those would probably still work fine though I haven't tested. Also U-turn >>> Parting Shot on Silvally-Steel until we ban Braviary :]

Medicham @ Life Orb
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Thunder Punch
- Bullet Punch

Sneasel @ Dread Plate
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Tail
- Ice Shard
- Pursuit

Diancie @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Moonblast
- Diamond Storm
- Heal Bell

Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic

Silvally-Steel @ Steel Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 232 HP / 216 SpD / 60 Spe
Calm Nature
- Defog
- Multi-Attack
- Flamethrower
- Parting Shot

Golbat @ Eviolite
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 240 HP / 92 SpD / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Roost
- Brave Bird
I RMT'd this team a week or so back so I won't elaborate too much, but I wanted to build around the offensive core of Medicham + Sneasel. Sneasel Pursuit traps Ghost- and Psychic-types so that Medicham can press HJK more freely. Again used my balance core of Diancie + Vaporeon + Silvally-Steel, but with Golbat this time to add counterplay to Decidueye and Dhelmise. This team has kept me above 1500 and usually closer to 1550 so it's got credentials (can post a screenshot of my current rank if need be, it's like 1520~ or so).
 

Jrsmash9

jrsmash that timer
Skuntank Stall

https://pokepast.es/fda29cc2dae1a8d5

I wanted to build a stall team to use in R2 of BLT. First I started with Xatu and Articuno as they can prevent most pokemon from setting rocks. Another reason I wanted to use articuno was because it is arguably one of the best vanilluxe counters. It beats every set from protox to taunt, articuno can switch into vanilluxe and then roost up making it resist ice moves that turn. The spread I use allows it to outspeed base 80s while maximizing bulk. I decided to run healbell on articuno so that it could prevent being toxic'd from mons like palossand, while allowing audino to run toxic and knockoff. Protect is required on xatu in order to not be trapped by sneasle and I decided to run defog on the last slot for extra insurance so that in case rocks get up then articuno doesent have to come in and lose half of its health. Mega audino was the next pokemon to be added due to the fact that its one of the best glue mons on stall. It can be used as a blanket check for most special attackers while also acting as a wish passer. Pyukumuku was added as the unaware of the team, being able to prevent mons like scrafty, braviary, incineroar, and klinklang from sweeping. Poisonium Z is used in order to prevent knock off damage increase as pyukumuku is my switchin to sneasle and incineroar. It also allows you to toxic taunt mons like comfey. I needed a rocker and passimian check so palossand was a good fit. The set is pretty standard with toxic over earth power. Finally I needed a pursuit trapper for my team and at first I had sneasle, however I decided on skuntank after seeing how it improved the matchup vs decidueye, dhelmise, and medicham. Skuntank can switch into any decidueye set unlike sneasle and proceed to trap it. It also has aftermath which helps chip dhelmise and medicham if they kill it with hjk or anchor shot.
 

Yoshi

IT'S FINK DUMBASS
Aren't the sample teams rather outdated by now? Tangela doesn't really have usage with Gigalith gone right?
Unfortunately you can't really update the sample teams thread unless there are submissions. I was going to build some really meta teams recently but honestly like myself I'd imagine a lot of people are busy with other stuff, so submitting sample teams is put in the back. Even if teams get submitted, not all of them will always be suitable to be considered as "sample teams" anyway. Also, Rapture is a busy man as well from what I understand, and it's hard to keep a resource like this updated 24/7, especially when you have to consider each team posted carefully.
 
WELCOME DECIDUEYE


Hi guys i know im not a really know player but this month i have been playing a lot of NU games and building different stuffs with good scores in different tours.
I want to post a team that is updated with the shitf changes. This team was builded around Decidueye with z-fight becouse you can destroy Incineroar with that and other steel that can stop this pokemon.

I put different sets version, for example, Slowbro, i thought to play the classic slowbro with culbor berry and toxic but i have 2 toxic in the team, (Steelix and the snowflake) so i decided to put Zap cannon, ¿Why? becouse in my opinnion is a really good move and not much people think slowbro can learn it or people like to play it and of couse, the 100% paralyze chance. BUT the accuracy is really low so if you dont want to be tilted you can use grass knot :D
I think Slowbro 3 atk + Slack off is really good, becouse people can think that you are Assaust vest.

Counter Vanilluxe and Sneasel with Hariyama, crazy pokemon, with heavy slam for anoying fairy types.
I need a good scarf pokemon but i need something more faster than Passimian for accergol, (if you dont know, accergol have 427 (timid specs) and passimian only 426) so houndoom look really good in this team. I can make much dmg with Fire blast and ofc Destiny is a move that not much people spec. If you dont like this move you can use hidden power steel for Diancie. I used Pursuit to try to trapper shits like rotom / dhelmise / decidueye / etc. pretty usefull in my opinion.

Steelix, ground type and tank, you can use different versions, like sr with roar or toxic or if you like to play more agrro you can try the curse set.
This team is a bit weak vs comfey if you play a long run and steelix are low.

Hope you enjoy this team, is easy to use and in my opinion is solid.

If you have any questions, dont worry, i will answer.

And of course, if you know how to improve it, also comment. (srry about my english)
 
WELCOME DECIDUEYE


Hi guys i know im not a really know player but this month i have been playing a lot of NU games and building different stuffs with good scores in different tours.
I want to post a team that is updated with the shitf changes. This team was builded around Decidueye with z-fight becouse you can destroy Incineroar with that and other steel that can stop this pokemon.

I put different sets version, for example, Slowbro, i thought to play the classic slowbro with culbor berry and toxic but i have 2 toxic in the team, (Steelix and the snowflake) so i decided to put Zap cannon, ¿Why? becouse in my opinnion is a really good move and not much people think slowbro can learn it or people like to play it and of couse, the 100% paralyze chance. BUT the accuracy is really low so if you dont want to be tilted you can use grass knot :D
I think Slowbro 3 atk + Slack off is really good, becouse people can think that you are Assaust vest.

Counter Vanilluxe and Sneasel with Hariyama, crazy pokemon, with heavy slam for anoying fairy types.
I need a good scarf pokemon but i need something more faster than Passimian for accergol, (if you dont know, accergol have 427 (timid specs) and passimian only 426) so houndoom look really good in this team. I can make much dmg with Fire blast and ofc Destiny is a move that not much people spec. If you dont like this move you can use hidden power steel for Diancie. I used Pursuit to try to trapper shits like rotom / dhelmise / decidueye / etc. pretty usefull in my opinion.

Steelix, ground type and tank, you can use different versions, like sr with roar or toxic or if you like to play more agrro you can try the curse set.
This team is a bit weak vs comfey if you play a long run and steelix are low.

Hope you enjoy this team, is easy to use and in my opinion is solid.

If you have any questions, dont worry, i will answer.

And of course, if you know how to improve it, also comment. (srry about my english)
Mind posting the PokéPaste link for ya' team? I'm interested.
 
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