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Basic goal of this set is to catch your opponent off guard and set up rain with Mienfoo, and then slow U-Turn into Wingull. Spam Hurricane (100% acc. in rain), and you have Scald for Mudbray / whatever the hell else doesn't get KOed by Hurricane. U-Turn back to Mien or another mon when you're out of rain. Rest + Hydration paired w/ Eviolite give Wingull recovery and usable bulk. Wingull hits 15 speed, which is alright.
Pairing Shellder with a fighting spam core is something a lot of teams can not handle very well, breaking down checks and counters for each other with ease. Iron Fist Timburr lures in the likes Snubbull for example, hitting it hard with Poison Jab or knocking off its item and gives you a reliable check to many threats such as opposing Shellder. Choice Scarf Mienfoo acts as a solid revenge killer and can actually work extremely well late game after Shellder and Timburr have a chance at breaking(assuming Shellder struggles to win). The reason you would use Shellder here is because how much pressure Timburr and Mienfoo put on its checks, but also having the benefit of either having common checks of the 3 worn down to the point of no return or it simply just beats the checks of them easily once set up Ponyta, Foongus and Flying-Types being the most notable. This core has given me the greatest success I had up to this point, just being extremely potent.
Hey, I wanted to revive this thread with a core I've been using. I'm sure I'm not the first to use it, but its worth appearing in this thread:
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Basically, in the current metagame people often use the same Pokemon as their check to Gastly and Snivy in the interest of role compression. The most common example of this is Alolan Grimer, which is the best and most common Gastly check, but Pokemon like Vullaby and Foongus (which kinda hates gastly but w/e) tend to be used to take on both of these Pokemon as well. If one of these Pokemon is used to lure the check for the other, the path becomes clear for that other to sweep, and both have the offensive presence to quickly become very dangerous. Below, I've presented two different variants of this core that can work to lure in and take out shared checks, but I imagine more can be used. Obviously, this core is quite weak to powerful faster Pokemon, like Abra, Doduo (if it wins Speed ties), and most Scarf mons, but it packs enough offensive presence into two team slots that I find its not difficult to fit checks to these Pokemon in the remaining team slots.
This thread lacks good defensive cores so gonna stick a standard semi-stall core here
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Simple defensive core that does pretty well in the meta rn. Spritz passes wishes to ferroseed and itself. Mudbray counters mons like A-Grimer and Pawniard bar the rare SD. Ferro counters staryu bar the rare hp fire and gets hazards up to wear the opponents down. Spritz counters fighting mons, you'll have to scout into bray for jab or Acid Downpour though. Just scout around for fighting mons' coverage and you're generally good. Keeping spritz healthy is the main goal though as this meta is ridiculously spritz weak if they have no foongus. Core is weak to foongus/pump, but you can add a bulky defog vull to the mix to help that pump/foongus weakness
Ferroseed @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 5
EVs: 84 HP / 36 Atk / 188 Def / 148 SpD / 36 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Knock Off
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock/Spikes
Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave
Budew: Budew's goal is to set up Spikes. It's the standard XY set, but I switched Sludge Bomb with Sleep Powder; there's way more function to sleep than coverage on a stack core. Use Sleep Powder on the switch against Pokemon like Staryu, flying mons (bar overcoat Vullaby), and whatever else can threaten Budew. You can get another layer up, and then you can switch out to a safe mon on the predicted attack. Budew can switch into water type attacks aimed at Onix, and it can slow down Timburr and Mienfoo who crush the Onix and Pawniard. I'm pretty sure Budew looses to setup Timburr, so I'd recommend using Sleep Powder and switching in that situation.
Onix: Onix can and should (usually) do these three things in this order: 1) switch into physical flying type moves aiming at Budew to pickup a Weak Armor boost, 2) Use Rock Blast and Earthquake to potentially break through some stuff, and 3) set up Stealth Rocks on the last turn possible. If you know there's a mon with priority that is going to be switched in as a revenge killer, set up rocks early and sack Onix. Explosion is just a dump move for when ya boy is tired. Taunt can be cool vs. status moves if you're super bomb at predicting, but I've noticed that most opponents will just go for the kill because of the Weak Armor defense drop. So yeah, rocks and bird removal. When vs Vullaby, Rock Blast it and wish for a high chain if your team doesn't have a solid answer to it. With hazards, Onix can pretty often get it down. The Nasty Plot set is a big pain for the core, so try to get it down early. Sometimes it's fun to switch Onix out before sacking and bringing it back later, but it depends on the team. If you can build a wish passer like Spritz into your team, do it. Onix loves it.
Pawniard: Pawniard is firstly a Staryu-screwer-upper and secondly a Defog-screwer-upper. Budew is screwed by Psychic / Ice Beam variants, and Onix is rendered useless by Staryu. Pawniard resists both of the the coverage moves for Budew, and he can at least mess Staryu up with Knock Off or Thunder Wave. You could run Stealth Rocks instead, because Staryu teams do royally fuck Onix, but that's up to you. I've noticed that just dealing with Staryu's rapid spin is an easy thing. You can run a ghost in there if it's an issue, but it's up to the other three slots on your team. Additionally, if you've got a strong feeling your opponent will go with Defog, switch Pawniard in. The Defiant boost is bomb, and it can break a ton of stuff & makes it easy for you to go in and setup with Budew and/or Onix again.
Onix @ Eviolite
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 76 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Taunt
Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Thunder Wave
Budew: Budew's goal is to set up Spikes. It's the standard XY set, but I switched Sludge Bomb with Sleep Powder; there's way more function to sleep than coverage on a stack core. Use Sleep Powder on the switch against Pokemon like Staryu, flying mons (bar overcoat Vullaby), and whatever else can threaten Budew. You can get another layer up, and then you can switch out to a safe mon on the predicted attack. Budew can switch into water type attacks aimed at Onix, and it can slow down Timburr and Mienfoo who crush the Onix and Pawniard. I'm pretty sure Budew looses to setup Timburr, so I'd recommend using Sleep Powder and switching in that situation.
Onix: Onix can and should (usually) do these three things in this order: 1) switch into physical flying type moves aiming at Budew to pickup a Weak Armor boost, 2) Use Rock Blast and Earthquake to potentially break through some stuff, and 3) set up Stealth Rocks on the last turn possible. If you know there's a mon with priority that is going to be switched in as a revenge killer, set up rocks early and sack Onix. Taunt is in there as a filler, really. I haven't found any use for anything else. It's cool vs. status moves if you're super bomb at predicting, but I've noticed that most opponents will just go for the kill because of the Weak Armor defense drop. So yeah, rocks and bird removal. When vs Vullaby, Rock Blast it and wish for a high chain if your team doesn't have a solid answer to it. With hazards, Onix can pretty often get it down. The Nasty Plot set is a big pain for the core, so try to get it down early. Sometimes it's fun to switch Onix out before sacking and bringing it back later, but it depends on the team. If you can build a wish passer like Spritz into your team, do it. Onix loves it.
Pawniard: Pawniard is firstly a Staryu-screwer-upper and secondly a Defog-screwer-upper. Budew is screwed by Psychic / Ice Beam variants, and Onix is rendered useless by Staryu. Pawniard resists both of the the coverage moves for Budew, and he can at least mess Staryu up with Knock Off or Thunder Wave. You could run Stealth Rocks instead, because Staryu teams do royally fuck Onix, but that's up to you. I've noticed that just dealing with Staryu's rapid spin is an easy thing. You can run a ghost in there if it's an issue, but it's up to the other three slots on your team. Additionally, if you've got a strong feeling your opponent will go with Defog, switch Pawniard in. The Defiant boost is bomb, and it can break a ton of stuff & makes it easy for you to go in and setup with Budew and/or Onix again.
I'd suggest running Explosion over Taunt if you haven't found much use for it; since you're running Onix as a pseudo-suicide setter, it only makes sense to take a big ol chunk out of whatever comeback in to take out Onix!
I'd suggest running Explosion over Taunt if you haven't found much use for it; since you're running Onix as a pseudo-suicide setter, it only makes sense to take a big ol chunk out of whatever comeback in to take out Onix!
Timburr + Mienfoo
Together these Pokemon form a great Fighting spam core. They wear down each others checks and counters so that Choice Scarf Mienfoo can sweep with High Jump Kick. Timburr has Ice Punch so that it can remove threats like Foongus and Vullaby that could otherwise stop Mienfoo in its tracks, while Mienfoo has Poison Jab to weaken the Fairy-types that usually wall it. Reckless is great for breaking through Pokemon like Mareanie, however Regenerator can be used to let Mienfoo easily recover from damage it takes from priority and High Jump Kick misses.
Doduo + Vullaby
Nasty Plot Vullaby lures in Onix and Kabuto which are then KOed with Hidden Power Grass, and threats like Ferroseed and Pawniard can be KOed with Heat Wave. This opens the way for either Vullaby itself or Choice Scarf Doduo to clean.
Carvanha + Corphish
Together these Pokemon weaken their shared checks so that Carvanha can sweep. Corphish can weaken threats like Ferroseed using Knock Off and break through them using Swords Dance.
Zigzagoon + Alolan Grimer
Alolan Grimer Pursuit traps Ghost-types so that Zigzagoon can sweep with Belly Drum. It also provides Knock Off support to weaken bulky Pokemon that would otherwise live a +6 Extreme Speed. Memento lets Zigzagoon set up more easily, however Alolan Grimer isn't an incredibly reliable Memento user because it's slow, so Fire Blast can be used instead to damage the Steel-types which trouble Zigzagoon. If Fire Blast is run, a Brave nature should be used.
Foongus + Slowpoke + Mienfoo
This Regenerator core can be difficult to wear down. Foongus checks the Fighting-, Grass- and Electric-types which threaten Slowpoke and the Fairy-types which threaten Mienfoo, while Slowpoke checks the Fire- and Ice-types which threaten Foongus. Mienfoo deals with Dark-types for Slowpoke and Steel-types for Foongus.
Foongus @ Eviolite
Level: 5
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 124 HP / 160 Def / 160 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog / Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Fighting
Slowpoke @ Eviolite
Level: 5
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 116 HP / 156 Def / 116 SpA / 116 SpD
Bold Nature
- Slack Off
- Scald
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave / Fire Blast / Calm Mind
Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Level: 5
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 76 Atk / 196 Def / 196 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch / High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- High Jump Kick / Acrobatics
Staryu + Onix + Foongus
Foongus deals with Fighting-, Water-, Grass- and Ground-types for Onix and Electric- and Grass-types for Staryu, while Onix deals with Flying- and Fire-types for Foongus. Staryu covers Foongus's Fire and Ice weaknesses and Onix's Ground, Ice and Steel weaknesses. Staryu also removes hazards with Rapid Spin, keeping Onix's Sturdy intact. Weak Armor Onix can also be used.
Onix @ Berry Juice
Level: 5
Ability: Sturdy / Weak Armor
EVs: 76 HP / 236 Atk / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Taunt / Roar / Dragon Tail / Explosion
Foongus @ Eviolite
Level: 5
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 124 HP / 160 Def / 160 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Fire
Surskit + Pumpkaboo-Super + Pawniard
This core aims to set up Sticky Web and keep it on the field. Choice Scarf can be used on Surskit instead of Focus Sash to consistently set up webs versus Onix, a common lead, and Taunt Mienfoo. Pumpkaboo-Super spinblocks fairly reliably, taking on Drilbur, Staryu, and Kabuto. However, it should be wary of Analytic Ice Beam Staryu, which 2HKOes after Stealth Rock if it hits Ice Beam on the switch, and Life Orb Staryu, which consistently 2HKOes. Pawniard discourages Defog via Defiant. It can also abuse Sticky Web using its great offensive presence, especially if it runs Swords Dance. It also takes on Fire-, Ice-, Dark- and Ghost-types for Pumpkaboo, while Pumpkaboo checks Ground-types in return.
Pawniard @ Eviolite
Level: 5
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock / Swords Dance / Brick Break
Scraggy + Alolan Grimer
This is a great Dark spam core because together these Pokemon can wear down their shared checks with Knock Off so that Scraggy can sweep with Dragon Dance. Alolan Grimer can check Fairy-types which are a large problem for Scraggy while also providing Memento support. It also Pursuit traps Abra, which can stop a Scraggy sweep if its Focus Sash is intact.
Abra + Gastly
Abra and Gastly wear down and lure each other's checks. Abra can KO Pokemon like Grimer-Alola, Munchlax and Pawniard using Counter, while Gastly can KO them with Destiny Bond. Gastly can use Fairium Z to KO Vullaby without having to use Destiny Bond.
Gastly @ Life Orb / Fairium Z
Level: 5
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 36 Def / 196 SpA / 76 SpD / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Dazzling Gleam
- Destiny Bond
Omanyte + Cottonee
Cottonee helps Omanyte set up via Memento. Z-Memento means that Omanyte can set up even after being weakened and potentially even set up twice. Cottonee lures in the Flying-, Fire- and Poison-types which Omanyte can set up on and provides Knock Off support. Additionally, Cottonee can KO Pawniard using Hidden Power Fighting, which threatens Omanyte with Sucker Punch.
Thread hasn't been so active so here with some cores
Slowpoke+Ferroseed+Spritzee
Slowpoke @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 156 Def / 116 SpA / 116 SpD
Bold Nature
- Slack Off
- Scald
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave/Yawn/Fire Blast/Calm Mind
Ferroseed @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 5
EVs: 84 HP / 36 Atk / 188 Def / 148 SpD / 36 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Knock Off
- Spikes/Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave/Spikes
Spritzee @ Eviolite
Ability: Aroma Veil
Level: 5
EVs: 212 HP / 196 Def / 12 SpA / 76 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Moonblast
- Heal Bell
- Protect
Relatively standard for bulkier teams. Slowpoke+Spritzee walls fighting mons. Spritz takes care of Vullaby bar flinches. Ferroseed spikes stacks and walls waters (scout for hp fire star and fire blast slowpoke of course). Also slowpoke is slowpoke so is spritzee (meaning it walls 80% of the tier cause it's stupid bulky.) Just standard and handles the meta pretty nicely for a bulky core. Mareanie is also an option over slowpoke as it gives t-spikes and another fighting answer but walling grounds like drilbur and mudbray with this core is really nice. Wynaut+Carvanha
Wynaut @ Berry Juice
Ability: Shadow Tag
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Encore
- Counter
- Mirror Coat
- Destiny Bond
I am a HUGE fan of Wynaut right now and for good reason. It traps many annoying and good mons right now like Timburr, Foongus, Croagunk, Slowpoke, Snubbull etc. The main thing is trapping Timburr and Croagunk is HUGE for Carvanha allowing it to run lose which is TERRIFYING for teams. Don't know if the Wynaut ev spread is optimal in terms of where all the non speed evs should go but you want max speed for guarantee outspeeding standard snub, timb, foongus, etc.
Yeah okay cool core and stuff but Pumpkaboo is a Ghost so it can't be trapped so if your opponents have been staying in then you've been playin some quality players
Yeah okay cool core and stuff but Pumpkaboo is a Ghost so it can't be trapped so if your opponents have been staying in then you've been playin some quality players