SM RU Lunar Force [1.5k ELO, GXE 82.3%]



Introduction

Hey there and welcome to my first SM RMT I build for the RU meta that just “exited” its BETA. Ever since Umbreon dropped to the RU tier all I heard was that it was a stall staple. Especially when its biggest competitor went up to UU, Alomomola. I really like using Clerics/Wish passers on my teams and therefore I wanted to use Umbreon but I didn’t want to go the standard stall route most people takes when teambuilding with Umbreon. That’s why I chose to build for a teambuilding process that would 1) lead to the playstyle I prefer to play, namely balance and 2) utilize Umbreon’s healing ability to its fullest potential.
The idea behind the team is to pivot Umbreon into resisted or weak non-super effective attacks so it can wish up and abuse its fighting and bug weaknesses to lure out the counters/checks to Umbreon. This way the appropriate teammate can pivot in with the support of a wish and stay healthy while pivoting in and weakening the opponents team gradually to the point either Swords Dance Doublade Or Nasty Plot Salazzle can clean up. You’ll notice that another way you could describe this team is “Umbreon + 5 Fighting/Bug resists”. That is quite an accurate description, yet the beauty of this team is that it can still perform on its own without the help of Umbreon.
I went 25-2 with this team and reached an Elo of 1511 with a GXE of 82.3%. I didnt try to go for a number 1 spot on the ladder or something mainly because I didnt have the time for it and I also wasnt feeling 4-7 points per game. This team did help me alot in my campaign to qualify for BLT since i won almost all the (official) RU tournaments I joined making sure a majority of the qualifying points I gathered were from RU tournaments.


Disclaimer: I hate to do this but I saw no other choice. Yes a very similar sample team was posted very recently but before everyone calls me a cheap rip-off/thief or whatever, I build this team and wrote this RMT before that sample team was even posted. I wasn’t aware if he build that team already but all I know is that I build my team separate from him. Check the dates in the replays posted below for confirmation that I had built this team before he posted his team.


I started out with a standard Wish/Heal Bell Cleric Umbreon set. This set can check a large amount of the Non-super effective meta just by itself. I used Umbreon also as my main answer to Nidoqueen and Specs Swellow.


Nidoqueen and Mantine were added to provide the team of a solid hazard control core. Both appreciate the Cleric and or Wish- support from Umbreon while they provide defensive synergy with Umbreon. Nidoqueen provides the team Stealth Rocks and an Electric immunity since Volt-Turn would completely hurt the idea behind the team while it also performed as a semi Fairy check. Mantine completed the Hazard control core with Defog and provided the team with a red button against spikes, a Ground immunity, a Gardevoir check, a secondary Swellow check and a Fire check. What’s also important is that Nidoqueen and Mantine showed good defensive synergy between eachother as well


For now the team was still weak to Fighting spam and strong physical attacks and lacked a win-condition. That’s why I added Swords Dance Doublade. Doublade also acts as the main answer to fairies like Slurpuff, Florges and Comfey and strong Flying types like Honchkrow.


The team seemed somewhat slow at this point therefore I added Scarf Moxie Heracross. It gave the team also a ground resist, an answer to bulky psychics with recovery like Reuniclus and Necrozma, a solid revenge killer (especially Scarf Gardevoir), and most importantly a secondary wincon.


The last spot has changed multiple times. At first I added LO 3 attacks Shaymin since I wanted a wall breaker that could come in on bulky waters while also threaten Balance builds and other wall breakers like Escavalier and Flame Orb Heracross. I thought I was able to beat stall with the Seed Flare drops but I didn’t realise I wasn’t that lucky.


That’s when I ditched Shaymin and went with a Sub Roost stall breaker Moltres set. While Moltres functioned well on the team, It was a solid answer to Escavalier and Flame Orb Heracross and did well against stall builds, but it was quite hard to let that set function properly when I couldn’t keep rocks of the field.


That’s when I decided to switch up the team composition a bit. Heracross became the stall and balance breaker of the team. I switched it to a Flame Orb Swords Dance set. This set appreciates the Wish support from Umbreon giving it a second chance to go ham on the opponent. In order to keep the Speed control somewhat intact and support Heracross in its battle against stall I added Taunt Nasty Plot Poisinium Z Salazzle. This addition also relieved Doublade from the pressure of being the sole answer to special Fairy types


In-Depth analysis


Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 244 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Foul Play​

Umbreon is the glue of this team and its set is pretty straight forward. Protect to give some extra lefties or Wish recovery safely and stall out some Toxic/Sun/Trick Room turns. Heal bell to relieve pokes of a status ailment like toxic or unwanted status ailments in Heracross’s example. Foul Play to deal decent damage and punish opponents who set up Swords Dances in front of Umbreon. Umbreon’s Bulk lets it also check a lot of non-super effective physical hitters from which Bruxish and dhelmise are the most notable. (The special defense investment makes it possible for Umbreon to make certain super effective special moves be barely 3hko’s with Wish+Lefties recovery. This makes sure Umbreon can stall out the Life Orb recoil or Toxic stall the opponent when Badly poisoned.)


Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt​

Nidoqueen is the mandatory rocker of the team. Thunderbolt and Ice beam makes sure it can set the rocks up in front of all common Hazard removers because Thunderbolt OHKO’s Mantine and Ice Beam OHKO’s Gligar and Donphan if it’s Sturdy is broken. The speed investment was originally to make sure it out speeds Adamant Honchkrow and OHKO it with Thunderbolt or Ice Beam but that left me with 40 EV’s left that didn’t really make a difference in another stat. This is why I’m running max speed Modest Nidoqueen. Lastly, Nidoqueen is one of my offensive checks to Scarf Heracross as its only 3HKO’d by both its stabs.


Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Defog
- Toxic
- Scald​

Mantine provides the team with Defog Utility. I can usually let Mantine come in most hazard setters and either defog as I force them out or Toxic them when the opponent is persistent the hazards stay on my side of the field. Toxic is also quite useful to stall out fat Pokémon like Porygon2 and Calm Mind Necrozma. The Special Defence investment is to make sure Mantine can live 2 specs Boomburst’s from Swellow with Leftover recovery and make Moonblast from Specs Gardevoir be a 3HKO after leftovers making it possible to Toxic stall out those threats.


Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Atk / 96 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak​

Doublade is very much alike Umbreon in the sense that it’s also a blanket check to a lot of things in the meta due to its natural bulk that’s also boosted by its Eviolite. Due to this bulk it can find plenty of set up opportunities. Furtermore Doublade is my counter to one of the most threatening set up sweepers RU has, Curselax. Shadow claw is chosen to have a move that hits bulky psychics harder while still hitting steel types neutrally. Even without Sacred Sword Doublade will still manage to win the set-up war against Curselax since it can set up faster. Shadow Sneak is to either get a revenge kill on a weakened mon or to help with the sweep when 1 or 2 Swords Dances are up.


Heracross @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Façade​

Heracross is the muscle of the team. He appreciates the Wish-pivot support from Umbreon a lot because this way I can bring in Heracross more easily without worrying about the limited amount turns it has due to the Flame Orb. Swords Dance helps to muscle past some annoying stall builds or defensive pokes that would take more turns to deal with without a Swords Dance for example Chestnaught. Knock Off is there to hit Ghost types but mostly to get rid of Eviolites on Pokémon like Doublade, Gligar and Golbat. This helps the main cleaners of the team to get past those mons. Doublade especially appreciates Gligar to lose its Eviolite. The reason for a Jolly nature is specifically to be able to switch in to non-Scarf Gardevoir and OHKO it with a Façade. Being able to hit an occasional Timid Nidoqueen is an extra bonus.


Salazzle @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Wave​

Salazzle was added as a filler to all the holes that were left in the team. Taunt provides some utility for Salazzle. For example; set up opportunities in front of defensive Pokémon like Wish/CM Florges and Sableye or prevent a mon from setting up itself. The reason for Sludge Wave over Sludge Bomb is to be able to hit an occasional Bulletproof Kommo-o. Nasty plot and/or Poisinium Z gives Salazzle the extra boost it could need to muscle through a special defensive (bulky) wall like Pyukumuku, Mantine or Umbreon in order to continue sweeping. Salazzle’s Typing and Stabs gives the team another check to fairy types and a check for Escavalier. Salazzle can switch in to either a banded MegaHorn + Rock damage or a banded Iron head without Rock Damage and get healed up back to 100% via a Wish from Umbreon.
Threatlist

Taunt Nidoqueen: Umbreon is my counter to Nidoqueen but it needs its Wish recovery to be able to take on Nidoqueen with ease. Without it Umbreon would lose the match up. But running taunt could mean Queen has to give up on one of his coverage moves causing Mantine to be able to handle Nidoqueen if it dropped Thunderbolt. If not Heracross can still switch in and almost OHKO it.

Sub Calm mind Gardevoir: whenever this mon gets behind a sub and gets one Calm mind up I will be in a lot of problems. This is one of the reasons why I run a Jolly Nature on Heracross in order to either prevent it from subbing or revenge killing it. Luckily this set isn’t as common as its choiced sets wich are much easier to deal with

Set up sweepers with Z-crystals. For example Tyrantrum, Flygon, Kingdra and Salazzle. Those can be played around carefully but they should be kept in mind at all times while playing in order to not be surprised and overwhelmed. In a few replays I got surprised by an unexpected Z-move causing me to lose Umbreon and making the rest of the game a lot harder.

Conclusion
All in all I think I have build one of my most solid teams since the start of SM. Ofcourse the team has some flaws but with the introduction of Z-moves I think in every team one or more flaws can be found. But with good, smart and sometimes brave plays I feel (and experienced) the team can overcome those flaws. I Hope you enjoyed this RMT and I'll look forward to your rates or comments.
:toast:


http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7rubeta-561810431
Displays the threat NP Poisinium Z Salazzle and how to work around it.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7rubeta-562968981
Displays the team versus a Rain team.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7rubeta-562967150
shows the team against a Webs team.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7rubeta-564366643
shows how an unexpected Z-move can cripple the team.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7rubeta-564372762
shows the work FO Heracross puts in versus fat teams.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7rubeta-566302493
shows the work FO Heracross puts in versus fat teams #2.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7rubeta-566313360
shows the team working around Shadow ball CM Reuniclus
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7rubeta-563503202
I added this replay just because its one of the best games I have had with both sides making good plays and with the least amount of hax. I did lose but I had to add the replay just because of the good quality of it.


I'm terrible at this so I'm gonna keep this short and simple and possibly offend a few people in the process of it, Sorry!
Evigaro: For coming up with a genious Moltres set and spread and being the person who puts up with most of my bullshit lol.
Laurens/Solidsweeps: For suggesting nasty plot poisinium Z Salazzle and a good friend
Serene Grace: For dragging my ass to all the RU tournaments in the tournament room in the beginning of the second BLT cycle.
SilverWhiteBlue: For motivating me in a weird way to keep going for a qualifying spot for BLT :p
The Tournament Room: for supporting me in my campaign for a BLT qualifying spot
And last but definetly not least, the RU comunity: I'm glad I'm part of this comunity. you guys are always so cheerfull and just plain awesome.


Umbreon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 212 SpD / 44 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Foul Play

Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 120 HP / 16 Def / 156 SpA / 216 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt

Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 16 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Defog
- Toxic
- Scald

Doublade (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak

Heracross (M) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Facade

Salazzle @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 8 HP / 248 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Taunt
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Wave
 
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what does your team do when its morning?

jk the team looks pretty solid, wanted to steal it before it became rmt. i dont know ru so i doubt i have too much helpful insights to give competitive wise. maybe watch out for reuniclus or some special flygon? nice team n_n

now, down with the wall
 
what up b

i like how this team is built generally, and don't sweat the similarities it might share w/other builds; almost every team is rooted in the same checklist, so the fact that a lot of shared facets come up time and time again is a pretty natural occurrence. what does bother me, however, is the lack of cohesion between the offensive facets of the team. to me i view the salazzle + orb hera battery more as throwing two strong beaters into the mix and assuming the opp will have to fold to one or the other, which isn't the worst thing, but i feel you could be garnering more with your teamslots. one such issue i feel is manifested by this light redundancy is the limited control on faster strongmons (looking to pokemon like np zoroark, shaymin, etc.) which you rely heavily on a hazard-weak in salazzle to revenge-kill, which i view as a fairly significant issue for forcing unfavourable playing conditions for the balance player.

i think that honestly the most cohesive fix to most of this would be to simply opt for the scarf hera > flame orb. as mentioned, i think a team such as this should be valuing the speed control for reinforcing defensive stability while maintaining a "presence" v.offense, and i see scarf as doing that for your team, offering something of a loose shaymin / zoroark switch, and so forth. i think i'd be advocating for megahorn / cc / knock / eq (useful for croak, generally a better end-game tool than edge in most cases) potentially with adamant, given very few of the repercussions of opting out of jolly hinder this particular team, though i would encourage you to toy with both that and edge.

in regardless to minor fixes, i'd be in support of changing the salazzle spread slightly, 12 def / 244 spa / 252 spe. very minute shift, but it'd ensure 3 consecutive foul plays fail to 3hko, granting it some slight leeway in pushing the umbreon mu for you. i feel similar tinkering w/the queen spread would do some good, since it's playing far more of a significant role defensively than a minimal hp investment would imply, and honestly tying opposing queen seems to have only middling value here. the initial spread i came up w/is 120 hp / 16 def / 156 spa / 216 spe (puts you over honch, survives cb panda knock and swellow boomburst after sr, for a couple relevant ones), but really it's the most malleable pokemon spread-wise and i simply do not feel you're making the most of that as is x_x

nonetheless, a nice team, thanks for sharing. hope to see more from you in the future
 
Hey man,

Thanks for the rate and kind words, really appreciated!
I agree that the team looks somewhat slow with Salazzle being the fastest on my team. The weakness to rocks doesnt help with the ability to RK other mons. This is why I usually play pretty aggressive with Mantine and try to keep rocks of my side of the field "at all cost" to be able to switch relatively more freely. In the last meta with Hawlucha in it I didnt feel the necessity for that speed since most opposing faster threats like swellow and scarfers were managable by either my defensive core or my "breakers" who could tank a hit and retaliate hard and heal them back up later with a wish.
Your suggestion of switching back to Scarf Heracross would indeed help with the match up against threats faster than Salazzle. Now that Feraligatr is likely to return I can see the need of Heracross to be a Scarfer over its FO set to be able to Revenge kill a + 1 Gatr. Ive been trying out both the Edge and Quake versions. I feel like Earthquake shows the most advantages. Since it still Ohko's Rotom-heat after Rocks and is a more spammable move for the late game when an opposing doublade is still alive. Nonetheless sometimes I still find myself during a game searching for my trusty battering ram to speed things up a little. :p

The Nidoqueen spread is probably better overall yeah. when I posted the Queen + Mantine core in the core sample thread I also said queen was quite mallable to what the team would need. Guess I was quite lazy with regards to my own team lol

About the suggestion concerning Salazzle I can be very short: GENIUS! I implemented it immediately!

Anyways thanks again for taking a closer look at my team I really appreciate it!
 
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nice team bro, i ran the sample team which is quite similar for a long time and i'll suggest the same change here that i made myself.

that change would be choice scarf shaymin replacing salazzle. shaymin helps to revenge kill threats such as opposing np salazzle, sd gatr, tyrantrum etc. whilst also threatening random stuff with the potential spdef drop from seed flare. healing wish partners with hera really well too, giving you a cool set up opportunity against stuff like umbreon, registeel and even cresselia that can switch in.

Shaymin @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
- Dazzling Gleam
- Healing Wish

also i really like col's queen spread, would advocate that change too.

edit: whilst looking at optimizing that queen spread further (always +nature the stat with the highest base number) i found an interesting quirk. the exact same stat distribution can be achieved with a completely different ev spread and nature.
EVs: 120 HP / 16 Def / 244 SpA / 128 Spe @ Timid Nature
also yields 351 HP, 170 Atk, 214 Def, 247 SpAtk, 206 SDef, 242 Spd.
 
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