Mavis
Banned deucer.
Hello! My name is bkdrew, and I'd like to post an RMT for the first time of my career, because hey, why not? Below is one of my more well known balance teams, built around Snorlax. I put a lot of my experience and time poured into USM RU into crafting a nigh-perfect team with very few glaring weaknesses, and here's what my end result came out to being. Snorlax has been a favorite of mine to build with for a while, and I see no better time than now to get this team up and going.
My building process essentially centered around "what will best complement standard CurseLax? I need a bunch of fighting checks, some cleric prowess, and hazard setting." My first logical choice for this was Necrozma, as the tier's best available Psychic-type and a very good Stealth Rock setter, it made for a natural pairing alongside Snorlax for it's ability to beat back Fighting-types. After that, I sought out a secondary fighting-type check as well as something to take on Mega Blastoise, as it's Mega Launcher attacks do big damage to NecroLax. That, combined with my wish for a cleric, lead me to Florges. With my main core filled, I went about piecing the rest of the team together.
Rocky Helmet Mandibuzz was chosen with the specific speed investment of 208 to be able to outpace and KO Alolan Marowak with Foul Play, whilst being able to Roost on Adamant max-speed Machamp and stack up some Rocky Helmet damage. It also gave me the sturdy Metagross answer I was lacking, courtesy of Foul Play. Donphan was chosen as idealistic hazard removal, to have a sturdy check to Tyrantrum as well as Rhyperior. For the last slot, I filled in Choice Scarf Salazzle as speed control, able to force mindgames with it's STABs and throw out Toxic against things that wouldn't mind either STAB, such as Umbreon or Cresselia. Now, with that out of the way, let's get on to the juicy parts- the sets. Click on each Pokemon to reveal it's set in a Pokepaste!
SETS!
All bow down to god Snorlax, punisher of those without a Fighting-type or physically defensive Taunt user. Curselax is a potent force, able to set up and cleave through teams without a Bewear or Taunt Mandibuzz with ease. Body Slam was chosen over a more powerful STAB alternative to throw out early game to weaken checks as well as paralyze potential Fighting-type switch-ins, allowing an easy dispatch later in the game. I love this Pokemon, and have for years, making it an amazing choice for me to build with.
Florges was the easy choice for a cleric, thanks for it's abilities to pass Wishes to the team, keep itself healthy, and cure status for it's teammates as well as crush public enemies No. 1 and No. 2 for Snorlax, Bewear and Mandibuzz, with it's powerful Moonblast. Florges is pretty self expalantory, but the ability to take on Mega Blastoise, who has attacks that threaten everyone else on the team to varying degrees, is very nice. It can also bait in Metagross, for Mandibuzz to come in and get clean chip on.
Donphan was a natural fit for the team, with it's beefy physical defense and attack patching up the one glaring hole with the other five: powerful Rock-type attacks. Rapid Spin in tandem with cleric support keeps Donphan happy and healthy, clearing the field of Stealth Rocks for ease of Mandibuzz throughout the battle, as the two work together to bring down nearly every physical threat that gets in Snorlax's way. 44 Speed EVs are used because the creep war with other base-50s is damn well insane, so having a decent chunk of Speed enables Donphan to get the jump on opposing Registeel.
Necrozma was the second core member alongside Snorlax, and made a very good pairing, thrashing Fighting-types with a powerful Photon Geyser and decimating bulky resists to Normal with it's absolutely nuclear Shattered Psyche or denting Steel-types with Heat Wave. Setting up Stealth Rock was also a huge boom, as the chip in tandem with the amount of random residual damage the team outputs is great for wearing down foes. It also comes with the small benefit of resisting the one type good against Snorlax, so.. it's excellent.
Anyone familiar with USM RU in recent months should need no introduction to the defensive behemoth that is Mandibuzz. Providing another sturdy (no pun intended) check to Metagross and opposing CurseLax is no joke, and Mandibuzz is amazing at shutting down all sorts of miscellaneous threats, like Alolan Marowak and Arcanine, that can be a hassle for other members of the team. Taunt was chosen to be able to squarely beat opposing CurseLax, as well as force Seismic Toss out of Registeel and beat Bronzong handily, preventing Toxic and Stealth Rocks and forcing Registeel to take Rocky Helmet chip. The specific speed EV, 48 (resulting in 208 speed), placed Mandibuzz in territory for Taunting standard Milotic, outpacing and OHKOing jolly Alolan Marowak, and being able to roost on max speed adamant Machamp.
Another USM terror that shouldn't need any introduction, I rounded out the last team slot with Choice Scarf Salazzle to be able to revenge kill some threats I might otherwise struggle with, namely Shell Smash users, without having to say goodbye to Donphan's precious Sturdy. Obligatory STABs aside, Toxic was chosen to pressure the enemy team as Salazzle forced something out, and Hidden Power Grass was chosen to KO Barbaracle. Originally, I had Dragon Pulse for the two notable Dragon-types, Flygon and Noivern, but changed to Toxic for more overall utility.
SOME REPLAYS!
bkdrew vs Kink (ladder)
bkdrew vs Miyami~~ (friendlies discord tour)
bkdrew vs WhatUpJo2 (ladder)
SOME WEAK POINTS!
They're few and far in between, but even this team struggles with a couple key matchups. Namely the following:
CHOICE BAND GUNK SHOT PASSIMIAN
NU by usage but RU by heart, CB Gunk Shot Passimian has all the tools it needs to effectively dismantle the team without some very careful play. Gunk Shot obviously eliminates Florges as a switchin, and Mandibuzz can only take so many Close Combats before keeling over. A well-played Passimian can easily dismantle this team, but a bit of smart play from the user can prevent that.
NASTY PLOT SALAZZLE
+2 Acid Downpour deals a number to Snorlax and kills everything else. Around Plot Lazzle, I'm usually forced to keep Donphan at full health so as to kill it before it can claim anyone else, and if not, I usually end up losing one Pokemon to it before Snorlax can come in and kill it, or if it's heavily chipped, my own Salazzle can come in to finish the job. Regardless, it's a big threat, but nothing the team can't handle with a bit of careful play.
IMPORTABLE!
https://pokepast.es/b0758afa221a0c2c
Hope you guys enjoy, thanks for reading!
