SM NU my first NU team

[deruberstench]

Yo. I'm very inexperienced to NU, but I made a team that did surprisingly well on the lower ladder at ~1300. So I thought that it was a good idea to show it here.

Xatu @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Night Shade
- Roost
- U-turn
- Thunder Wave

It's a pretty standard Xatu I think. The only difference is that i put 16 speed. Why? No clue. 240 defense and max health lets it eat loads of attacks though. It survived Knock Offs from Incineroar and a Life Orb Sneasel which was very useful in certain scenarios where I needed that extra chip. It takes U Turns just fine and is one of my two ways of set up prevention. Psychic isn't that useful in my opinion since Night Shade constantly pressures enemies to not risk more paralysis unless their name is Heliolisk. It's also a pretty good slow pivot. Roost is the only reliable recovery so when I'm desperate I could just Roost stall a burn or poison.

Hitmonlee @ Life Orb
Ability: Reckless
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- Mach Punch
- Rapid Spin

I would use Hitmontop since I like it more, but it generally sucks compared to Lee. I could've used Blastoise, but I wanted a harder hitter and priority since I have a lack of set up moves. High Jump Kick hits hard with an Adamant nature and pretty quickly too since Incineroar can't outspeed it. I would've opted for a Jolly nature for Blastoise, but I had another member to deal with the water types. Knock is the obvious choice for its utility of removing items and punishing Ghosts expecting High Jump Kick.


Incineroar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Fake Out
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz

One of, if not the most popular choice in the NU tier, Incineroar. He's basically the Lando-T of the NU tier. Knock Off is the safe option for just about anything. Fake Out is for when I want to break possible sashes, extra toxic or burn, general chip, and it's one of my few priority moves. U Turn to just switch for predicted switches, but if I think it's safe i could just Knock. Flare Blitz is a nuke in the tier even without Blaze. I use max health and AV because of the Ghosts, Heliolisk, and Vivillon which is what scares me since I don't have good resists (besides Heliolisk lol) and that I don't like the SD set since Incineroar's so slow and hits hard. Also the fact that some people make their IVs just to outspeed Jolly Incineroar.


Heliolisk @ Choice Specs
Ability: Dry Skin
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Grass Knot
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast

Aww ye, my favorite member. He's immune to Ghost and Water, resists Flying and Electricity, hits hard, and deals with the load of Waters in the tier. Dry skin so he could just soak up Scald and fire back with a yuge T-Bolt or Volt Switch. I chose Specs over Scarf since everything's so bulky. 0 attack to be more resistant to potential Foul Plays. Grass Knot was chosen to take on Blastoise, Seismitoad, Steelix, Rhydon, Piloswine, Palossand, and Torterra to some extent. Focus Blast to hit Silvally Steel better, Darks infesting the tier, other Heliolisk, and Ferroseed. Volt Switch and Tbolt are obvious for their usage. He serves as the Volt in the 'VoltTurn core'. He's just really good in general.


Haunter @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Sludge Bomb
- Perish Song
- Will-O-Wisp

Mr. Stopboosting. Haunter was chosen over Mismagius because of the Poison STAB and better raw special attack. This is my answer to Comfey, other fools trying to High Jump Kick and boost their stats. I'm fine with losing the slight increased power of Sludge Wave since Bomb can 2HKO lots of things anyway and the 30% chance of Poison makes switching scarier, hurts Houndoom and Incineroar, and makes Hex more appealing. Speaking of which, Hex was chosen since Haunter works with Incineroar to dampen physical attackers with WIll O Wisp. Perish Song gets Substituting nerds and and anything with Sleep moves. It gets scared out by Mismagius, but Heliolisk and Incineroar dunk them.

Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Roar

The big bad Steel type on every team. Impish nature to give it pretty Physical bulk, but maxing health and Special Defense makes it deal with would be counters easier. Sturdy because that's the only ability it would benefit from. Earthquake and Heavy Slam makes switching less free for just about EVERYTHING in the tier. Stealth Rock usage is obvious. Roar is for the same things as Perish Song, but with the added bonus of getting SR damage on a switch in as well as the the one switching in.

A few things I noticed:
This team has a hard time breaking VIleplume unless I sack something like Steelix.
Passimian looks good against this team.
This is very prediction heavy.
Besides Heliolisk, it's pretty slow.

This team isn't perfect, but I hope you don't go too hard.

 

[Author_Pendragon]

I'm not exactly an expert here, but your team is really fighting weak. Your two checks either barely scratch said Fightings (Xatu) or can't really switch into anything (Haunter). It might be worth it to replace Night Shade with Psychic. Also, Haunter is fairly weak overall, with low immediate power against anything that resists poison. You might want to replace Hex with Shadow Ball, or even change the mon up entirely. I think Dhelmise could replace Haunter handily, and even carry spin to free up a possible replacement for Lee

 

[Snou]

Hey! Sorry if I'm late and welcome to NU :]
Your teams seems extremely offensive (which is not the case in the actual NU metagame, since offense struggles to even be a possibility).
Sadly, your team is weak to most of the things a team shouldn't be weak in NU. If you really want to improve it, you will have to change more than one thing or two. Major problems I noticed are:

- Lack of Scarf (which is not a good thing in such an offensive squad)
- Non-optimal EVs Spreads/Movesets
- No Incineroar/Slowbro/Heliolisk/Passimian counters/checks (and they're a must, I guess)
- Kinda shaking hazards control.

The first change I'd recommend is Hitmonlee. It's nothing but a worse version of Passimian, and using it just to have a spinner is not the case like at all. With that being said, I'd replace it with Passimian itself: it would give you a scarfer and a Incineroar check at least. In addition, would give you a volturn core with Heliolisk. It would even revenge kill opposing Heliolisks.

Then, you'd need a solid remover. For this, I'd change your Steelix into a Cryogonal, probably a toxic one if you want to force Slowbros. It would give you a secondary ice resist (together with Incineroar) and would work as both spinner and general special sponge. It would even add speed to your team. Ofc, without Steelix you'd need a rocker and, possibly, a ground type. And ofc,the fighting weakness you had is not fixed at all. That's why the last change I'd do in terms of pokémon is Palossand over Haunter. That reduces firepower but turns your team into a solid one, and gives you a Passimian resist, but you won't have to give up on the utility that both ground and ghost types gives you.

Evs spreads changes:

Xatu @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 240 HP / 204 Def / 64 Spe
Bold Nature
- U-turn
- Night Shade
- Protect
- Roost

This is my favorite Xatu EVs spread. It gives you the chance to outspeed Incineroar and turn safely, and doesn't die from 4 stealth rocks switchins. I gave up on Thunder Wave since Protect would give you the chance to scout specs Heliolisk moves, or Sneasel pursuits.

Heliolisk @ Choice Specs
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hyper Voice
- Grass Knot
- Thunderbolt

Heliolisk absolutely needs its secondary stab. Giving up on Focus Blast is the best thing you can do, since you already wall Steelix with your Xatu.

Incineroar @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 240 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake

Last change is your AV Incineroar. It's super outclassed by the Iaiapa fat one, and this is the set.
That's all, I hope i've helped you! This is the final ETT with the remaining sets :) (using Z offensive Incineroar and Helmet Palossand is an option too, but that would leave you weaker to Vanilluxe and Aboma, even tho would be more offensive)

Hide

Passimian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Receiver
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Gunk Shot

Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 88 Def / 180 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Freeze-Dry
- Recover
- Rapid Spin

Incineroar @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 240 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake

Xatu @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 240 HP / 204 Def / 64 Spe
Bold Nature
- U-turn
- Night Shade
- Protect
- Roost

Palossand @ Groundium Z
Ability: Water Compaction
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shore Up
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Shadow Ball

Heliolisk @ Choice Specs
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hyper Voice
- Grass Knot
- Thunderbolt

 

[deruberstench]

Hey! Sorry if I'm late and welcome to NU :]
Your teams seems extremely offensive (which is not the case in the actual NU metagame, since offense struggles to even be a possibility).
Sadly, your team is weak to most of the things a team shouldn't be weak in NU. If you really want to improve it, you will have to change more than one thing or two. Major problems I noticed are:

- Lack of Scarf (which is not a good thing in such an offensive squad)
- Non-optimal EVs Spreads/Movesets
- No Incineroar/Slowbro/Heliolisk/Passimian counters/checks (and they're a must, I guess)
- Kinda shaking hazards control.

The first change I'd recommend is Hitmonlee. It's nothing but a worse version of Passimian, and using it just to have a spinner is not the case like at all. With that being said, I'd replace it with Passimian itself: it would give you a scarfer and a Incineroar check at least. In addition, would give you a volturn core with Heliolisk. It would even revenge kill opposing Heliolisks.

Then, you'd need a solid remover. For this, I'd change your Steelix into a Cryogonal, probably a toxic one if you want to force Slowbros. It would give you a secondary ice resist (together with Incineroar) and would work as both spinner and general special sponge. It would even add speed to your team. Ofc, without Steelix you'd need a rocker and, possibly, a ground type. And ofc,the fighting weakness you had is not fixed at all. That's why the last change I'd do in terms of pokémon is Palossand over Haunter. That reduces firepower but turns your team into a solid one, and gives you a Passimian resist, but you won't have to give up on the utility that both ground and ghost types gives you.

Evs spreads changes:

Xatu @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 240 HP / 204 Def / 64 Spe
Bold Nature
- U-turn
- Night Shade
- Protect
- Roost

This is my favorite Xatu EVs spread. It gives you the chance to outspeed Incineroar and turn safely, and doesn't die from 4 stealth rocks switchins. I gave up on Thunder Wave since Protect would give you the chance to scout specs Heliolisk moves, or Sneasel pursuits.

Heliolisk @ Choice Specs
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hyper Voice
- Grass Knot
- Thunderbolt

Heliolisk absolutely needs its secondary stab. Giving up on Focus Blast is the best thing you can do, since you already wall Steelix with your Xatu.

Incineroar @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 240 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake

Last change is your AV Incineroar. It's super outclassed by the Iaiapa fat one, and this is the set.
That's all, I hope i've helped you! This is the final ETT with the remaining sets :) (using Z offensive Incineroar and Helmet Palossand is an option too, but that would leave you weaker to Vanilluxe and Aboma, even tho would be more offensive)

Hide

Passimian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Receiver
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Gunk Shot

Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 88 Def / 180 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Freeze-Dry
- Recover
- Rapid Spin

Incineroar @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 240 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake

Xatu @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 240 HP / 204 Def / 64 Spe
Bold Nature
- U-turn
- Night Shade
- Protect
- Roost

Palossand @ Groundium Z
Ability: Water Compaction
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shore Up
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Shadow Ball

Heliolisk @ Choice Specs
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hyper Voice
- Grass Knot
- Thunderbolt

hey man thanks for the critique
kinda sad lee had to get chopped, but whatever
i kinda want to know why the 8 speed on incineroar and why heliolisk's hyper voice is preferred over focus blast
thanks!

 

[Snou]

hey man thanks for the critique
kinda sad lee had to get chopped, but whatever
i kinda want to know why the 8 speed on incineroar and why heliolisk's hyper voice is preferred over focus blast
thanks!

I run some speed on every mon because of speed tie with same-nature pokémon :o Hvoice hits neutrally every possible switchin. It's ok, you have gknot for grounds, but since it's specs you have to predict them properly. With hvoice you will have a reliable move to use against Seismi, Torterra, but mostly Plume, Whimmi etc it does some decent damage on Lix too :o