Project ZeroUsed Teambuilding Competition [Round 7: Gougeist+Golem, Building phase]

[Mirbro]

Alolan-Golem + Fraxure is a cool core that defines the typcal DragMag strategy. However, in this attempt to build a team (below) I wanted to bring a bunch of Pokémon beyond Fraxure that could take advantage of steel type Pokémon were gone.

Alolan-Golem
To make it a Magnet Pull set I had two options: Choice Scarf or Band or Electrium-Z. In order to break through teams relatively well and because I had in mind another scarf user but no Z-move assigned I chose to run Electrium-Z. Wild Charge for STAB, Fire Punch to hit hard Pokémon like Gourg, EQ for steel type with no Levitation and finally Explosion to get some kills if necessary. EV spread was to make it the most offensive way I could.


Fraxure
The other part of the main core. I chose to run Eviolite because it gives Fraxure some longevity. Double Dance is not really usual but with only one DD sometimes is not enough to get some kills. Against stall or BO favorable match-ups SD is a better option.


Mr. Mime
The star of the team. As a Psychic + Fairy type Pokémon, it enjoys a lot that steel type Pokémon are gone. Dazzling gleam and Psychic for STAB boosted moves and Trick for BO + stall archetype. Finally, Healing Wish to help other Pokémon to get a reboost.


Muk
Special defense Muk is just a beast. With Curse it can boost both attack and physical defense. Sleep Talk + Poison jab take many opponent Pokémon in a blink. However, main ground Pokémon in the tier like Sandslash or Golem can take it down. Thus, it was really important to add the following core.

&
Altaria + Bronzor
Physical defensive Altaria and special defensive Bronzor do a great core setting up rocks + defogging them if it is necessary. Toxic helps to weaken opponents and helping both Muk and Fraxure for future sweeps.

 

[Tack]

Alright, I'm finally opening voting for this set, and we have some fun teams this round thanks guys!


Sputnik GT's Hyper Offense

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...-a-building-phase.3648930/page-3#post-8124111
5gen's Galvanize Meme

(normal)

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...-a-building-phase.3648930/page-3#post-8128678shoutouts 5gen for both finding alolem sprite and using mini sprites so i could format the team in literal seconds

Graceclaw's Voltturn

(ground)
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...-a-building-phase.3648930/page-3#post-8128731
ImKoolKid's Bulky Offense

(fighting)
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...-a-building-phase.3648930/page-4#post-8130401
Mirbro's Balance

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...-a-building-phase.3648930/page-4#post-8130471
Good Luck All, Got a bunch of teams this round, going to try and close voting Sunday Night

 

[S1nn0hC0nfirm3d]

Sputnik

DragMag works best on screens. The team is passable at worst and good at its best.

 

[Graceclaw]

5gen!

 

[ImKoolKidz]

mirbro

 

[Sputnik]

Graceclaw

 

[5gen]

mirbro

 

[Mirbro]

Lunagod Graceclaw

 

[papita]

5gen

 

[Tack]

So there's a 3 way tie between mirbro graceclaw and 5gen, after looking at the 3 teams I hold the belief that 5gen's is the best, so I'll tiebreak for him to win it, this week I want to see some teams built around fire corio bc it's a cute mon

 

[85percent]

Choice Specs Oricorio + Z-Trick-or-Treat Gourgeist

Importable

70percent (Oricorio) (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Dancer
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Hurricane
- Revelation Dance
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- U-turn

65percent (Golem) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Atk / 216 Def / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Protect

95percent (Silvally-Water) @ Water Memory
Ability: RKS System
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 240 HP / 128 SpA / 140 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Defog

60percent (Machoke) (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Dynamic Punch
- Knock Off
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

85percent (Electivire) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Motor Drive
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Volt Switch
- Wild Charge
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch

75percent (Gourgeist-Large) (F) @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Frisk
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Trick-or-Treat
- Seed Bomb
- Rock Slide
- Shadow Sneak
​

Description

I initially built this team with Choice Specs Oricorio in mind, but the stallbreaker set ended up fitting much better. (I opted to go for Revelation Dance with Normalium Z over Hurricane with Flyinium Z, since Bronzor seems to be an issue otherwise). Two mandatory things when using Oricorio are an electric immunity and very reliable hazard removal. This thought lead to the addition of Golem and Silvally-Water. They also cover all of Oricorio´s type weaknesses and give me a hazard setter. (After building the team, I decided to give Silvally Flamethrower, to help out the teams Abomasnow weakness). At this point I was still a little worried about being weak to electric and water, so I decided to add Gourgeist-Super, even if this meant increasing the Abomasnow weakness. So far the team struggled with Lickilicky and the already mentioned Abomasnow. I tried to patch this up a little with a specially defensive Machoke. Machoke also gives the team a dark resist and Knock Off support versus Pokemon like Bronzor and Mareanie. Up to this point the team was very slow, which is why I decided to add Electivire as last member. (Keep in mind that even with Electivire the team is quite slow). Electivire also gives the team a second electric immunity in case Golem gets removed or doesn´t want to come in. Some things to watch out for: The team is missing a psychic resist, so Beheeyem, Kadabra and Mr. Mime are things you don´t wanna see. Abomasnow still poses an issue, and so does Swanna to an extend.

As sad as it is: I tested the initial team out and Oricorio was dead weight constantly. That´s why I changed the set to Choice Specs and replaced Gourgeist-Super with his large brother who likes to go Trick-or-Treating. As a result this team might struggle versus stall, but it is much more fun and Oricorio actually puts in work now! The description above still applies for the most part, so you can read that if you want.
Also I feel like Mr. Graceclaw should be proud of me for how non-standard this team is compared to my usual creations!
​

Replays

Wanna see the team slaughter a mighty Parasect squad? Here you go:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-914509358

Wanna see it dominate a Luvdisc? Your wish is my command:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-914502100

Lastly you wanna see how our friends perform vs an actual team? Tough luck. I wasn´t even testing on low ladder, I swear...

... ... ...

Edit: Okay, since I´m a nice person, I went out there again and played until I encountered something that resembles a team - just so you can watch a decent replay. Here you go: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-914533576
​

 

[Sputnik]

Offense Featuring Specs Oricorio

Importable Layout

Oricorio @ Choice Specs
Ability: Dancer
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Revelation Dance
- Hurricane
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- U-turn

Golem @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Sucker Punch
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

Komala @ Leftovers
Ability: Comatose
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- Wish
- Protect

Electivire @ Expert Belt
Ability: Motor Drive
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Wild Charge
- Flamethrower
- Ice Punch
- Cross Chop

Crustle @ Rockium Z
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Shell Smash
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge

Basculin @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Liquidation
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower
- Ice Beam

Team Description

Alright let's get one thing out of the way: I despise this Pokemon. The fact that this team is labeled in Showdown for me as "Oricorio Take Four Because F&#$ This Thing" should be indicative of how much I disliked (and struggled with) building around this thing.

It's just really not my sort of Pokemon, mainly because I actually had to remove hazards in order to make this thing work. I play a lot of HO, and most of my teams don't even bother removing hazards so they can keep up the pressure. This obviously wasn't an option. So I way out of my comfort zone.

I tried a Sun team. I tried a screen team. I tried a Hazard Stacking squad. I tried every offensive set in the book, from Calm Mind, to Scarf, to Specs, and I even experimented with a couple of Sub+Pinch Berry sets. I couldn't get it to work. Part of the issue is my own innate drive to be as creative as possible, but even considering that I was having a bizarrely hard time working around this things flaws.

Finally, after going through six different teams, I managed to get something that I was reasonably happy with.

Oricorio

One thing that Oricorio does have going for it is it's nice STAB combination. It's Special Attack is workable, but with a Modest Nature and Specs this thing hits pretty hard. It also outspeeds +Speed Nature base 80s with a Modest Nature, which does come in handy. It's STAB moves+Hidden Power Grass mean that anything that doesn't have a high Special Defense stat and that Oricoro can't hit super effectively is going to be hurting. Now I still don't particularly like this set. The 50% rocks weakness is way more trouble than its worth, and if I wanted a Fire Type Special Wallbreaker I'd much rather use Camerupt. But it's not bad, and it does pull its weight if it gets a good matchup.

Golem
The next four mons might look pretty standard, but they function in a completely different fashion then you might think. This particular Golem set is a Rock Polisher with Weakness Policy that functions as a late game sweeper/cleaner. Rock Polish in the face of something that can OHKO it with a super effective move, activate Sturdy and the Weakness Policy, and prepare to bring the pain. This thing sweeps a lot with just 1 HP. Obviously this thing needs hazards off the field too, but I figured if I'm investing in hazard removal I might as well take advantage of it.

Komala
The Hazard Remover. I wanted a Rapid Spinner (I really like not having to defog away my own hazards), and really only Komala worked. Sandslash was already out of the question thanks to the severe weakness stacking, and Avalugg can't take a Special Hit to save its life. Komala was the only option. Rapid Spin, Knock Off, Protect and Wish give this thing some nice utility overall.

Electivire
Expert Belt Electivire helps to shore up a shaky stall matchup. It's also a really funny lure, as most will assume its Scarf once they see its not Life Orb and will switch something in that resists what the Evire is "Choice Locked" into, only for it to switch moves. Especially effective against stall (in particular preventing Pyukumuku from hard walling the entire team) and not too bad against offense either.

Crustle
Unexpected bluff sets are becoming a bit of a theme here. This Crustle set feigns a suicide lead by setting up Rocks, only to Shell Smash and begin an early game killing spree. Even resistant bulky Pokemon really hate a +2 Continental Crush, and Knock Off is almost always extremely useful against opposing leads. This thing is a nice way to start off games; if it fails it at least gets Rocks up, and if it works it can blow an early hole for the rest of the team to take advantage of.

Basculin
Basculin is a bit of a meme, but it worked nicely for my purposes as a scarfer. First of all it gave me a water resist, which this team desperately needed. Adaptability Liquidation also hits stupidly hard, and as a scarfer it has nice coverage and is more than fast enough. Superpower and Ice Beam finish off the set, while Aqua Jet can pick off the rare faster scarfers and opposing priority users if they've been chipped.

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-915187672
Vs. ProtoLugia
Rock Polish Golem finishes the job here, while Specs Oricorio shows off its decent power

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-915168088
Vs. mdavid17
Actually sort of similar to the match above, but it does show, again, how the team works.

It took a while, but after going through six different concepts and dropping from 1400 to 1100 on the ladder I managed to get a team that I think is somewhat decent.

 

[Tack]

Ok so I got around to updating this rly late, and to spice things up i've decided to submit my own team.

importable

https://pokepast.es/87340d11019ae0a5

teambuilding process

So for this week we're starting with a gen 7 mon I like a lot, Oricorio. It would've been Pom-Pom insted but Pu stole it. oops. First thing's first, the oricorio set i wanted to use was Dual stab u-turn roost with a Life orb, because it's an effective breaker with recovery and the ability to pivot. First issue that corio provides is that quite frankly it takes 50% from rocks, which is terrible. it also invites Evire in to pivot for free, so the first thing i did was add a hazard remover that was immune to volt in fat silv ground, i crept jolly tree and invested the rest in Physdef bulk because it was better for checking golem on a team that i planned to turn into volturn offense, because voltturn is imo fun to play, and something i haven't used in awhile., anyway at this point i decided i wanted a rocker, and ended up picking metang entirely because it can switch into band komala, which is currently looking very threateningfor the team, it also lets me mess wth evire a bit more by having multiple mons to switch into it reliably. next up I had to choose what my team's scarfer would be, and I ended up falling on swanna because quite frankly losing speed ties to evire is awful, and surf 2hko's it after it comes in on rocks. around this point i realised that i was reaaally weak to golem, and decided to slap on sd synth leafeon with z move to chjeck both it and shiftry in one slot, while also providing a wincon for the team. also notice i had nothing to break bronzor so i decided to use Knock off over D-Edge ultimately. finally i wanted a second volt absorber because i had 2 birds, so i slapped on Ebelt vire since i already had scarf swanna. ebelt is honestly a super good set, great for bluffing sets you aren't, ended up using taunt in an attempt to improve stall MU, which is currently very hard to win


Teamweaknesses: Poor Stall MU, Beheeyem devours you if it can get in, mons that are mostly faster than the team such as rapidash/kadabra
idk i ultimately decided to build for fun this week

There are 3 teams to vote between this week

85%'s Specs Corio Offense Feat Z ToT Gourgeist

(water)(large)
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...le-building-phase.3648930/page-4#post-8135433

Sputnik's Specs Corio Offense

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...le-building-phase.3648930/page-4#post-8136850

Tack's LO Roost Corio

(Ground)

(do i really need to link my own post?)

 

[Sputnik]

85Percent

 

[5gen]

tack

 

[yovan33321]

Tack

 

[Tack]

Welp guess i won my own thing, oops

How about this week we go for gourgeist+golem? Should provide some variety with sizes running different sets
Also alolan golem is legal as an option for core if you want it

 

[S1nn0hC0nfirm3d]

Golem + Gourg-Small Webs

Pokepaste

https://pokepast.es/5c0702cce94fbf61

Description

Just a simple webs team, a deviation from my original webs team, but still works pretty well.

Gourg-Small excels as a spinblocker and helps bring the speed so Z Swanna doesnt outright sweep my team.

Will edit with more to say later and replays, just wanted to post something and go back to it, but do know this is a tested team and has been working more than fine recently.

 

[5gen]

Z-ToT Gourgeist-Small and CB Golem

Import

Gourgeist-Small @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Trick-or-Treat
- Seed Bomb
- Phantom Force
- Rock Slide

Golem @ Choice Band
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch
- Sucker Punch

Kecleon @ Assault Vest
Ability: Protean
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Ice Beam

Silvally-Dragon @ Dragon Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- U-turn
- Defog

Metang @ Eviolite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch

Electivire @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Motor Drive
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wild Charge
- Volt Switch
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake

Description

Here's a quick build around Z-Trick-or-Treat Gourgeist-S and Choice Band Golem. I wanted to go for a more unorthodox set and I've yet to try Z-ToT Gourgeist_S, so I thought it would be worth a shot. Its Speed tier and coverage make it enough of a late-game threat against offense with the breaking support of CB Golem. The two have okay offensive synergy, so I decided on running a jank Kecleon set of Sub/Drain Punch/Knock Off/Fire Blast to lure in Gourgeist-XL as well as fatter normals. However, that quickly fell apart as I added team members and ultimately I stuck with AV Kecleon with enough creep for Bouff and with Ice Beam over Shadow Sneak. Next, I initially had Silvally-Water+Metang as the entry hazard/setter backbone of the team, but then I realized Shiftry is a big threat so I opted for Silvally-Dragon instead. Lastly, I added Scarf Electivire for the speed and revenge killing (and because it fit better than other scarfers like Swanna and Mime).

Overall the team aims to utilize Gourgeist-Small's sweeping potential and pave a way for it to clean late-game. Aside from Gourgeist-S, the team is relatively standard and supports the core of Gourgeist-S+Golem relatively well. However, the team can lack offensive pressure in certain matchups and is weak to Pokemon such as Shiftry, Pinsir, and Z-Rain Dance Swanna.