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49 procrastinated in making this thread so Aldo went ahead and let me make it up. Snake players feel free to post your teams/sets used throughout the tour below and expound on them however you please. Myself, I'll be posting the teams I used each week along with a brief description below.
Week 1 versus Ajna (W)
Versus Ajna I expected him to bring a more aggressive build oriented around spikes, so I decided to bring an aggressive build of my own built around Salazzle to counter that (Ajna brought the exact opposite unfortunately). Snorlax was an addition I added because I considered Ninetales or other Fire-types somewhat likely, and also was a Pokemon I hadn't trended towards using, which I figured might catch him off guard. The rest of the core was standard SR gligs + Toise + Scarf Gardevoir with HP Ice Roserade.
Salazzle @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
Happiness: 0
EVs: 188 HP / 128 Def / 192 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse
- Body Slam
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Week 2 versus Dodmen (W)
My build against Dodmen is the most disparate of all my builds, mainly because Dodmen tended to build off meta teams with very specific trends that I had in mind to counterteam. I chose Ebelt HPFire Vanilluxe because of how much Dodmen liked used weaker Steels defensively like Mega Lix and Escavelier, and he ended up bringing Mega Lix. Likewise his affinity for Rock-types like Tyrantrum and Rhyperior led to me use Draco with Dragonium on Noivern, and actually putting Scald on Blastoise, which I usually do not use.
I opted for a less aggresive and more controlling core versus Lighthouses, augmented by a LO Sigi to break. Unfortunately, LH brought an AV Lax which trapped my Sigi without it being able to do anything, but the rest of my core, particularly Haze Milotic, in conjunction with LO Shaymin was able to bring it back.
Prepped this team against mop, opted for a versatile offensive build. Double offensive Poison core worked nicely in conjunction with Florges + Slowking. SubStoise was used on this team to add additional breaking power, which came in somewhat handy during the match.
Salazzle @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Corrosion
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
A favorite team of mine, LO Shaymin in conjunction with CB Zygade is used to break, along with Registeel + Cresselia as a defensive core. Lunar dance Cresselia effectively allows Celebrate Meloetta to win more easily after the opposing team has been worn down. This team performed as planned, breaking down the opposing build, and letting Meloetta win.
Best Friends (Shaymin) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Synthesis
Bury Me Face Down (Zygarde-10%) @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Superpower
Week 6 versus Col49 (W)
Ended up bringing a very similar build as last week thanks to the way the team naturally evolved, building around Araquanid + Spikes Roserade. Idea was to use Spikes + Araquanid to pressure the opposing team, in conjunction with CB Zygarde, while Registeel and Cresselia shut down a lot of the opposing build's offensive momentum, which more or less worked out throughout the game.
The Adriatic (Araquanid) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 176 HP / 252 Atk / 80 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Substitute
- Toxic
I built this team versus Ajna Week 1 and decided I wanted to use it, based on how well it would have performed based on what he brought Week 1 and through the rest of the tour. AV Guts Machamp is paired with bulky wish Gardevoir (a set I had been eager to try for a while), with a rounded out offensive core. While Machamp getting hurt a lot very early made it hard to play quite as I'd have liked with the Gardevoir, it was certainty able to put in a lot of work.
San Pedro (Machamp) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
- Earthquake
Prayer (Salazzle) @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Week 8 versus Mr.Aldo (W)
Versus MrAldo I built around Expert Belt Meloetta, another mon I felt had an underutilized set. Wish Florges + Blastoise was used to build the core of the team, with Virizion as a wincon + breaker, Registeel as rocker, and Scarf Tyrantrum to revenge Virizion and Salazzle. Team worked pretty much as anticipated.
She Works Out Too Much (Meloetta) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
Little Dark Age (Registeel) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
- Seismic Toss
When You Die (Blastoise-Mega) @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Dark Pulse
- Aura Sphere
- Ice Beam
Me and Michael (Florges) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Synthesis
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
James (Tyrantrum) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Head Smash
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace
Week 9 versus Lighthouses (L)
Fearing stall, I built around NP Taunt Houndoom. Overall I spent a great deal of time trying to proof this build verus whatever it could potentially face before arriving at this. Unfortunately, I didn't account for Pangoro (or most fighting types in general) as well as I should have and thus had trouble piloting the team around it.
Higher Ground (Houndoom) @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt
A Moment Apart (Gligar) @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Roost
- Defog
Late Night (Slowking) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 100 SpA / 144 SpD / 16 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Grass Knot
- Zap Cannon
- Fire Blast
Divide (Shaymin) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Synthesis
Just A Memory (Registeel) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
- Seismic Toss
Meridian (Tyrantrum) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Head Smash
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Aerial Ace
Overall, I had a great time playing in Snake, and feel my approach to building has definitely opened up a significant amount. I think RU is a very hard tier to build in, thanks to the sheer amount of offensive threats to account for, which makes it hard to cover everything. I think Cresselia is a really overlooked mon, which can spotcheck a lot despite being slightly deadweight and Florges has already been receiving some attention which might be deserved. Looking foward to building and experimenting more going into circuit finals!
If you guys have something to share, that would be great. Every little you considered to use or not to use or whatever you used is mega valuable. If you want to add to the convo ofc, if not you can move along. This is something that I need to do for my tier you feel me?
Versus MrAldo I built around Expert Belt Meloetta, another mon I felt had an underutilized set. Wish Florges + Blastoise was used to build the core of the team, with Virizion as a wincon + breaker, Registeel as rocker, and Scarf Tyrantrum to revenge Virizion and Salazzle. Team worked pretty much as anticipated.
She Works Out Too Much (Meloetta) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
Little Dark Age (Registeel) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
- Seismic Toss
When You Die (Blastoise-Mega) @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Dark Pulse
- Aura Sphere
- Ice Beam
Me and Michael (Florges) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Synthesis
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
I don't have anything I care to add of my own volition though i'd like to mention that on KW 's team vs aldo, the viriz has 252 spatk evs and not atk. It's probably a good idea to change this if you've alrdy copied this paste, before you bring it to a meaningful game or w/e. I'm unsure if this was how kw brought it to the game or just an error in translation to the thread.
e: I lied here's a prime set I used during snake
Donphan @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
Dangerous Donphan picking up another win vs a noteworthy opponent was pretty cool. Hoping more people catch on sooner or later lol
I hope everyone uses a Scarf Drapion against me so I can just set up on it.
Man user X is definitely going to bring Noivern and Roserade against me.
I really hope I don't run into a Milotic.
I didn't have as much time to help / trusted dodmen with his builds before he disappeared after Phase 1, but we did have a couple cool ideas that I don't think we used.
Cool set that brings a lot of interesting nuances into Drapion's usual gameplay. Having the ability to switch moves severely limits how much a Bronzong is going to accomplish even more, with you being able to switch Dark-type moves after the Protect turn and they think they know what you are doing. Toxic Spikes are cool vs some Shaymin archetypes standalone; and even vs. teams with opposing Poison-types Drapion is decent at removing them (Pursuit Roserade / Poison-Locked Salazzle, Earthquake for weakened Toxicroak / Dragalge.) Also gives Barb much less breathing room than it would think on the setup-turn. Make sure to have good Mega Blastoise counterplay as it kinda runs over this set.
Roserade @ Grassium Z
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Leaf Storm / Energy Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Cool set that combines the ability of offense / balance busting thanks to the versatility on the Z-move, you don't often see Sleep Powder on Grassium Rose right now but the +1 Speed makes it a very dangerous surprise cleaner and allows it to catch some stuff like weakened Noivern and Scarf Gardevoir off guard. Energy Ball can be used over Leaf Storm if you're worried about cleaning although I find the former still reliable.
Escavalier @ Buginium-Z
Ability: Swarm / Overcoat
EVs: 136 HP / 252 Atk / 120 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Pursuit / Swords Dance
Really cool surprise nuke that manages to hit a lot of unsuspecting targets hard. Gets Knock Off to soften Gligar and then Z-move on the Roost, also compresses trapping, just in general a nice heavy hitter for some BOs. I think Swarm directly synergizes with the set better and you get some truly unholy damage, but if you're worried about Roserade Overcoat is still fine. SD is also fine if you don't need the Pursuit utility but I don't think Escav is excellent as a booster.
252+ Atk Escavalier Savage Spin-Out (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 16+ Def Gligar: 301-355 (90.1 - 106.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Escavalier Savage Spin-Out (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Milotic: 294-346 (74.6 - 87.8%)
While I was definitely more motivated in Phase 2:
AUGUST (assassin)09/08/2018
we stalling and usin screens
Which vs who
(no hate u know I love u august, professional cheese dog)
The teams were pretty self explanatory, I think Electrode is a better pick over Swoobat on screens most of the time because of its matchup with Noivern who is by nature dangerous with High Speed + Infiltrator, of course Ajna managed to bring Scarf Noivern of all things.
The stall team was fairly standard with Quagsire chosen over the usual Pyukumuku for Haze / PP + having a Head Smash switch in with direct recovery. The main issue with RU stall imo is that Blastoise is at least moderately threatening by default depending on set and you rarely run into the excellent matchups stall can grab in other tiers, but I think its not completely worthless as a counterpick.
Pangoro was something I advocated for multiple times across the Tournament both with Taipans and then Nagas in the finals later on, but unfortunately he was never busted out on a team I was influencing.
Was fun to be able to start thinking about RU at the high level although I don't really feel confident enough in my own piloting to be there myself yet, as a support option I think I can still provide some value though and looking forward to hopefully increasing my playing skill in the tier.
Well, time to drop the HUGE LOAD of teams I used or considering using during the time of snake (or the ones I consider were the best and had some though in preparation).
Looked like the type that was weak to 3 attacks noivern plus some sub sd virizion + drapion action but got 1upped by Gatr Sand so excellent choice from her to... counterprep me? is that even a term?
Totally expected a Ninetales of some sort and damn, it worked out so went with the fire dog. Ended up in some unintentional destruction. Shoutouts Offensive Defog Flygon. ORAS lives on.
vs col49
Espeon @ Electrium Z
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Morning Sun
- Zap Cannon
Tsareena @ Choice Band
Ability: Queenly Majesty
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Power Whip
- High Jump Kick
Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Roost
Tyrantrum @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Head Smash
Banded Tsareena is hot. So is Electrium Z Calm Mind Espeon so slapped that with some goons against col49 and ended up being a real close one. Should have brought the hp ice foul play salazzle variant. Everything puts barbaracle in range of foul play anyways.
vs Ajna
Barbaracle @ Rockium Z
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Low Kick
- Liquidation
- Stone Edge
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Psywave
- Toxic
- Earthquake
Team is rather bad, and got played like ass by me choking an almost certain barbaracle victory. Oh well, the best lessons are learned the tough way. I felt the team is somewhat uncomfortable to use after using it extensively... idk, hard to explain. Another variant that is steel-less but feels more loose and friendly to the user. This one despite not having a steel has a more defined goal
Barbaracle @ Rockium Z
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Low Kick
- Liquidation
- Stone Edge
Zygarde-10% @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Zen Headbutt
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
Uxie @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 132 SpD / 44 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Zen Headbutt
Blastoise-Mega @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Mega Launcher
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Work Up
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
Roserade @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
Shoutouts SD Aboma for being so fire. Preparation was pretty on point on this one... except for the part where I forgot the dragon resist, dont worry I will make sure to add one on the rework of this. Aboma is super cool and thankfully I got rid of the Tyrantrum which looked like a menace. Ended up in a nailbiter where I almsot choke and a seed flare miss made the difference. Pretty crazy. Also RIP Rotom-H, I WILL MISS IT.
Disclaimer: Vs Col49 round 2 and Vs King Wynaut I got real busy that my preparation time was extremely small. I just threw stuff together on these 2 and it notably backfired. Especially vs KW since I just threw some Steelix Mantine balance and didnt care much for the outcome since the week was won at that point
HOWEVER
vs Col49 round 2 had this fire CB Passimian idea I didnt had the balls to pull off. Would have demolished him, damn. Shoutouts to him for using AV Goodra tho, Unmon but it is my kryptonite :V
Passimian @ Choice Band
Ability: Receiver
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide
- Close Combat
Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
Lycandog is love. Used Fire Fang on this for some reason but I think it got changed to Drill Run before game. Probably a better idea to just run Drill Run yes. Paired with Sub Toxic Toad to lure and/or remove bulky stuff for Lycanroc to have an easier later on. Shoutouts Goodra the glue, kind of a neat scarfer tbh.
The team used vs Robert Alfons wasnt my idea (but I wish it was)
FINALS
Either one of these 2 would have won but then I went with a mixture and then I though "he aint bringing doublade" and he did anyways so... yeah. Shoutouts to Sage for the panda idea, you deserved that gut pick and should have trusted it. Would have made the difference.
or
Pangoro @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
Tyrantrum @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Head Smash
And thats it really. Reaching finals was a blast after a rough start on phase 2 and the team really tried their best to get the W... so close. Was a really fun experience regardless and Im glad I got a chance to go through it. Really thankful to Void and Pohjis and all the nagas for all.
And shoutouts to the RU community for keeping it real, no sock puppeting and nothing like that. Always keeping it real with how I played and thats really respectable, and I appreciate the authenticity. For real.
Howdy y'all. Upon discovering the character limit to posts here, I've tried to cut as much fat as possible but a lot needs saying. If you feel anything needs clarification as a result, lmk!
To open, I think that the current metagame is one of the most volatile that I've ever experienced, and has resulted in an environment where the baseline for consistent building is exceedingly high. To nip any straw-manning in the bud here and now, I don't actually view our current metagame as unhealthy or worth "fixing" in any significant way, and simply want to convey just how much can go awry in the pregame; the tier as is remains positively rife with threats that threaten significant reprisal for looser play and by and large we lack the tools defensively to respond to a sizable chunk of them. To this end, a demand has been established for balances and bulky offenses to integrate Pokemon capable of responding more actively to threats, a mantra I have stressed both in smaller scale conversation and through threads like my RMT from some months back. Comparing this metagame to that of just a year ago is like apples and oranges, as we as builders are now prompted to engage in not only discussions of immediate defensive synergy with our defensive cores, but now even more so the tendencies for each facet to concede turns to threats and the manner in which the remaining members respond. This naturally is reflected in play as well; a major boon for Steelix as a hazard setter now lies in its ability to catch the obligatory Blastoise coming in for a solid 45+%, depending on how much you find yourself capable of distributing into Attack, where in metagames prior the "immunity" to Knock Off might have established its primary draw. At this point in time, players should be on high alert with their consideration of the 241, 280, and 328 speed tiers for just their denizens contort the manner in which the average game is played.
Now in these points I tend to put a sizable emphasis on the inner workings of what I mean deem a properly meditated balance or bulky offense, which (barring the obvious hyper offense, which neglects defensive stability) does little for the matter of stall. Put plainly, I do not consider stall to be a consistent option for the current metagame, serving predominantly as a tool to exploit certain balance tendencies to middling results. Again circling back to the matter of threats, stall at this time is prompted to structure itself in such a way that exposes itself to perfectly accessible or consistent, but simply "out of vogue" options in order to slink out wins in most cases, with Pokemon such as [Choice Band / Z Rock] Tyrantrum, Substitute Mismagius, and most Virizion consistently finding favourable match-ups with lacking counterplay from the opponent. This passive approach is one I myself mulled over during the stretch preceding Grand Slam 'til just recently with the end of SSD and Slam finals, having bemoaned my own lack of stall usage in the tournament's prior, but ultimately came to the conclusion that a broadly strong end result is untenable, at least by the standards I set. Compared to the Slam / Snake metagames of the year prior, which actively rewarded the spamming of Shake's Toxicroak stall and alternative midtempo Spike stacks, playing a steady game seemed to get your bulky Water fished for Dark Pulse flinches, or your Gligar drilled into CB Thousand Arrows range. As someone who had long since felt this tier had historically punished you for overlooking a team's necessity to break down fat, I simply could not find myself conceding that maybe my opponent simply wouldn't have the resources to beat Gligar / Umbreon / Registeel / Water.
To that end, I feel as though the balance / bulky offense approach is, now more than ever, the standout 'best' approach to building at this moment. As some nominal token of this, despite the fact that many people will concede the top end of a pokemon like Roserade is higher than that of Shaymin, the latter managed a slightly higher usage rate by the end of SSD, something I feel can be attributed largely to its superiority in the field of taking hits and firing back. However, to speak broadly, I find Grass-types to be some of the most efficient Pokemon in this metagame, to the point where I had one in every team during Snake; not only does our pool of Grass-types serve as amongst the best of these "active" responses to balance threats, but their resistance sets are incredibly key at this time and they serve as some of the more consistent providers of [Toxic] Spikes, which too are incredibly good right now. Virizion in particular has struck me as very emblematic of the manner in which folks strive to respond to threats; I can count on one hand the instances in which I prioritized breaking over reactionary ability in my choice of Z, be it Fighting for Shaymin / Bewear, Grass for Blastoise / Nidoqueen, and so forth. Similar points can be made of Z Noivern, as for all the good cutting out the downsides of Hurricane or Draco Meteor can be if only once, the value teams anoint to it for responding to threats such as Ninetales (who I feel is not appreciated for its ability to cut Hurricane accuracy on the whole) is absolutely huge.
However, there are two Pokemon that to me warp or otherwise exploit the metagame trends I have until this point expanded on, and those are Zygarde-10% and Doublade. Zygarde has for some time now skewed the manner in which folks are forced to react to threats, due both to the unorthodox nature of Thousand Arrows and the Speed tier that slightly overtakes the usual 346-350 that people find themselves comfortably opting for with their reactive picks (again, see Virizion, Shaymin, etc.). This is not to say Zygarde is a complete outlier, in fact it can snuggly adopt similar principles in addressing threats (being a decent soft Fire check sans Salazzle, retaining the option of Zen Headbutt / Superpower to react to pertinent Grass-types to an extent, and even DD having a moderate french benefit in being able to target Shaymin / Virizion in much the same way as Z Fight Virizion), but the slight uptick in Speed and freedom to yield results off minimal predictions brings a whole different kind of math into micro-managing the HP of your Gligar, bulky Water, Shaymin, etc. It shocks me that Golisopod has not seen a resurgence off Zygarde alone, as the freedom to be comfortably EV'd to avoid the 4HKO from CB Thousand Arrows is a godsend, let alone on a Pokemon that maintains high tier offensive presence. Frankly, I feel as though Zygarde is still not being used to the fullest at this time, as in spite of the brutality it can set in with minimal support (think Pokemon that force Gligar to stay under 65%), it too can be used to facilitate other potent Pokemon well for the types of responses it prompts. As it stands, a CB Zygarde committing to Outrage is a death knell for the Zygarde user, as while it may well allow him to make the push through a Water, Grass, etc. in the short term, many a balance player would take that trade to have it forcibly committed to staying in and thereafter dying. I'm of the mind that SD Feraligatr is one such Pokemon that, in spite of a very precipitous downturn in public approval over the past year or so, is very much capable of exploiting this tendency in players, and granting that extra layer to dealing with Zygarde is what to me allows it a continued spot in the upper echelon of threats at this time (and, again, continues my dogged advocacy of Grass-types on most teams). Doublade being as strong as it is has been, at least to me, a comparatively newer development, but I have long since stood by the belief that any metagame whose primary switch-in is Gligar is a metagame where Doublade will strive. Doublade becomes an interesting case in that it, more than so many other Pokemon, it has thrived in a metagame that strives to respond to threats more offensively. In somanygames, we have been seeing this pattern of get chip on w and x, get the free turn v.y and z to win with Doublade, because plainly it is one of the singularly most effective win conditions in the tier as is. Mind, this hinges greatly on the tendencies of players, as Pokemon such as [Haze] Milotic, Mandibuzz, and so forth are not inherently bad and have the ability to adapt to the metagame at hand, but simply do not see the use to greatly hinder the performance of Doublade at this time. To this end, many Doublade games boil down to a gameplay struggle to maintain HP on the Pokemon striving to engage in these sockfests with Doublade, and if this whole post has indicated anything, it's that many of these Pokemon will be struggling to remain sufficiently healthy to do so, having been committed in the building stage to trading hits in order for the team to function optimally. Unlike Zygarde, I feel as though there is a much larger margin for adaptation in addressing the boon in Doublade potency, but as it stands I would consider it one of the best Pokemon for closing out games atm.
Araquanid @ Focus Sash
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 132 HP / 176 Atk / 200 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sticky Web
- Liquidation
- Magic Coat
- Mirror Coat
Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 48 HP / 16 Def / 216 SpA / 228 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Thunder
Honchkrow @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Brave Bird
- Taunt
- Night Slash
Lycanroc-Dusk @ Life Orb
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Accelerock
- Drill Run
This was a fairly popular team in the earlier stages of RU Slam as a means of collecting v.the prototypical balances; a focused offensive battery that could apply consistent offensive pressure to bulky Water- and Steel-types in order to facilitate an endgame from any of the team's boosters, a loose resistance-based backbone of bulky attackers to not so much check everything as much as prompt certain exploitable responses, etc. Sticky Webs is a bit of a pet project of mine that I do revisit in SSD, but to speak briefly on it I feel as though its merit are very much under appreciated by the [non-ladder] community; after stressing so heavily the importance of Speed control, the value in disallowing, say, a Shaymin from being able to adequately pick off Bruxish here (among various other implications) is incredible, and the fact that Pokemon such as Ribombee and Araquanid double as soft Zygarde checks to me really drives it home. This, to me offers a unique context for Pokemon such as the aforementioned Bruxish and Lycanroc to thrive, with the latter providing a somewhat unique combination of good natural speed (which helps greatly in dealing with off-the-beaten path scarfers such as Shaymin, in addition to leaving the team less out to dry in the event that the opponent has an unusually strong response to Webs setting) and the ability to soft-check Noivern, a fairly consistent threat to webs builds that don't opt for either him or [potentially Assault Vest] Vanilluxe. The choice of Accelrock is in turn validated by Webs, as the potential downside of failing to clean through Zygarde is neutralized. Honchkrow is a Pokemon that has also been gaining some traction, and while I concede it lacks the tools to be universally good, it has shown itself to be a very capable performer in contexts that afford it Spikes or Sticky Webs.
Spreads here are mostly standard. Queen is EV'd to outpace Salazzle under Webs, survive 1 Scarf Tyrantrum Earthquake after Stealth Rock + Spikes and KO 252 / 4 Milotic with Earth Power + Thunder. Araquanid is a slightly retooled EV spread from one I mentioned after the last SPL, living 2 Band Thousand Arrows from Zygarde after Stealth Rock and OHKOing in turn, while still allowing it to KO Blastoise through the combination of Liquidation + a Mirror Coat of Dark Pulse. The bulk investment on Bewear grants it leniency vs.Cresselia, avoiding the 2HKO from Psyshock after Stealth Rock and, in a pinch, lives 0 SpA Noivern Hurrican from full. In terms of alternatives, Araquanid can spare Toxic > Magic Coat in most cases, Ice Fang > Liquidation has a stronger top end but does lack the same midground potential, and for as nice as Double-Edge is on Bewear, if you're really concerned about not keeping momentum and catching Doublade at least once you can opt for Shadow Claw over it.
Gigalith @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 188 HP / 192 Atk / 24 SpD / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
- Superpower
- Throat Chop
Another somewhat popular pick, seeing use both in Nat's Phase 1 game vs Aldo and Pearl's Round 2 Grand Slam Playoffs game vs FV. While an untimely Stone Edge miss set in motion a tough series of events to bounce back from, I feel both are a reasonable testament to the potency of the team. The lack of appreciation / exploration of weather to me feels like an oversight, given just how incredible the endgame offered by speed-boosting weather abilities are at this time in conjunction with the standalone potential of both Gigalith and Ninetales. To this specific context, the 1-2 punch of Gigalith into Stoutland hits on the bases of many 'good' offensive batteries, even offering with it some very strong speed control and Pursuit support. This context to me felt ideal to make use of Dragon Dance Feraligatr, a Pokemon I would say is so low in usage more for a lack of apt context than actually being conventionally bad as a Pokemon. Here the sand battery offers not only a strong core for weathering away at opposing Water-types, but also offers a decent Pursuit option for Gardevoir, one of the more consistently observed Scarf users capable of checking Feraligatr. The defensive stability of the team is quite loose, and to that end more aggressive play is encouraged, but on the whole it is fairly good at procuring good match-ups.
Gigalith is EV'd to OHKO 252 / 252+ Milotic after Sand, survive +1 Focus Blast from Meloetta (among an assortment of other things, of course), and speed creep AV Slowking. I believe the Steelix spread was on some level influenced by Kushalos, with Gyro KOing Virizion after Stealth Rock / 1 round of Sand, in addition to KOing Shaymin after SR + Sand, etc. Noivern is EV'd to 2HKO standard Doublade after Stealth Rock, OHKO Ninetales after Stealth Rock, etc. Yache Berry Roserade has implications both in the Blastoise match-up and the the SD Abomasnow one, where it always lives +2 Ice Shard + a round of hail.
One of the earlier efforts to a decent Doublade Hyper Offense, functioning in a very Art of Peer pressure fashion, which is to say that everything is organized in such a way that each Pokemon prompts responses that lend free turns for another Pokemon to set up off. Sash Vivillon is fairly interesting in spite of a very unfortunate just-shy-of-Roserade speed tier, given the disruptive potential of Sleep Powder + Endeavor, which forces chip on effectively on pretty much every non-Regi Steel-type, which of course offers the free turn to Doublade. While I am generally against Scarf Roserade, I find that the context provided allows it to really expand upon its potential as a cleaner and utility Spiker. It also offers something of a subversion of expectations, as most folk will assume for Z Roserade + Scarf Tyrantrum, offering the option to bluff vs.a Fire-type that might otherwise seek to suppress set-up by attacking into Tyrantrum. While this team was built prior to the STABless Blastoise revelation, I have in reassessment come to prefer Hydro Pump in this context for the ability to apply more consistent pressure to Pokemon such as Florges and [Assault Vest] Machamp as they gain popularity.
Another Grand Slam team, this time being an opportunity to experiment with alternative balance structures. Both Slowbro and Diancie are Pokemon I see plenty of value in broadly, but on the whole struggle to make an impact for issues regarding pace; Slowbro is far too much of a momentum suck to be used in anything that could be deemed trve 'offense', but as a bulky Water that invites and gives predictive leeway to Blastoise there are tons of roadblocks, and while the "Scald insurance" and additional Noivern assurance Diancie brings to the role of Rock-type SR setter, its complete inability to meaningfully dissuade the free Steel / hazard control switch in many ways entices the use of a better cleric + rocker over the role compression. I feel the following team gives apt context for both, utilizing a bulkier take on the rising SD + Synthesis Virizion as both a hard Blastoise check and beneficiary to the provided Heal Bell support, a Specs Noivern to more aggressively punish greedy plays into Diancie and incapacitate Steels, and a Banded Drapion to facilitate Virizion, isolate LO Roserade / Doublade, and so forth. Klinklang, as odd a Pokemon as it may be in this metagame, found itself an unlikely / ideal sixth here, punishing the tendency for Blastoise, Steels, etc. from taking chip in the early-game and circumventing issues from Ground-types such as Gligar that this team does somewhat neglect in terms of immediate punishment. For as unconventional as some of the choices made here are, I feel this is one of the most accessible teams for someone to pick up and run with, which alongside the process with which the choices made came into effect made this team worth sharing for me.
Virizion's spread is somewhat complicated, striving to outpace Roserade and KO at +2 after 2 rounds of Stealth Rock, whilst avoiding the 2HKO from [Timid] Blastoise's Ice Beam. Other points of interest include the ability to survive non-Specs Ninetales' / Salazzle's Fire Blast and KO at +2 (after Stealth Rock in the case of the latter), a very favourable rate (91.1%) of avoiding the 3HKO from LO Shaymin's HP Ice, and so forth. Naturally the conventional max / max is playable here, but provided the turns the team offers to Blastoise in conjunction with the additional non-Ice Shaymin check (which is by now the standard, and well worth giving the assumption for) in Noivern, I feel the choice is validated nicely. I've been asked about Draco Meteor on Noivern before, and ultimately the decision to me has fallen to the notion of lower necessity than, say, an accurate, no-repercussions STAB with which to endgame, which to me is far more valuable on a Pokemon such as [Specs] Noivern which is so well adapted for cleaning.
Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 224 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch
- Gyro Ball
Rhyperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 184 HP / 52 Atk / 252 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Swords Dance
Another really nifty, as well as fairly popular / successful, petri dish of a handful of sets and concepts I was hoping to work with in this Grand Slam timeframe. I am oftentimes one to preach this 'Steel overload' state of building, as oftentimes even the wild children that opt out of Steel-types in their balances are not safe from this kind of laser-focused mindset, and at the time of building this Celebrate Shaymin was very much in the limelight and I just thought it was awful; attempts at making it a cleaner betrayed every ounce of common sense that told you it's phenomenal as a midgame breaker and utility, and all attempts at doing a little of both just turned it into a clunker that ended up dying to Toxic regardless. So rather than bothering with all that, I instead opted for the superior Celebrate Grass, Venusaur, which i say in earnest because it's more palatable two-move coverage offered it much more leniency in opting in Synthesis, even coming alongside a very useful Toxic immunity. The fact that it could piggyback of a rising threat in Ninetales just further reinforced a niche for it, and to that end I built what is for all intents and purposes a fairly to-the-point bulky offense. This to me was an excellent context to make use of Forretress, as I was able to somewhat de-emphasize its role as a spinner and focus more on taking advantage of the ability to Spike and pivot rather well, making use of Rapid Spin moreso as a device to punish Spikes Roserade (which is even now one of the primary draws to Forretress, as HP Ice is far more essential to this Roserade set than Fire nine times of ten). Thief Noivern and Specs Gardevoir offer two very capable means of setting up a Venusaur endgame via offensive pressure, removing Leftovers and making aggro pushes as needed.
Probably the most obvious and 'safe' change would be in the adoption of Choice Scarf > Specs on Gardevoir, which is perfectly viable and [to an extent] covered in the overall scope of the team. Personally, I have never outside a couple noteworthy performances from opposing Salazzle players felt too inclined to make the change, but there are assuredly tangible benefits with either item selection, and if you feel it might improve your performance than by all means do so. Sturdy on Forretress can also come into play in scenarios where the team wants to play fast and loose, trading for a Spike, which may sound a bit niche but I also think I've only seen Sleep Powder + Spikes Roserade from myself and Ajna, so it may be of equal odds here.
With that, we move onto teams I actually made or ran during Snake, this being built for my game vs Yoppie (originally to be Soulgazer). In truth, maybe a bottom 5 RU Snake game, and I regret that because in spite of the conceit made that I was not anticipating my opponent to be privy to the STAB-less Blastoise set (thereby ensuring that, with proper scouting, I could adequately hard check it between one of Jellicent, Snorlax, or Chesnaught), the team was by no means a match-up loss to the set either provided more active play. In an environment wherein I make the assumption of Ice / Dark / Fight Blastoise, trading HP with Registeel for a Toxic on it is more than plausible, and with Noivern opting for Z Dragon > Flying, I need only 25% prior damage in order to sneak it in and thereby force it out, which can effectively neutralize it as a threat were those priors accrued via Stealth Rock + Spikes. I won't typically go about defending my choices in post like this, what's done is done and you can be sure that I'll be aware where I could have done better, but I would hate for the takeaway to be a black-and-white "this style of team is no longer viable" because I feel that for the occasional Pokemon that now present it greater troubles there are plenty of notable boons to it.
Bearing that in mind, I was viewing Soulgazer as a very one-dimensional user in regards to prep after an RUPL season that would suggest a lack of interest in 'keeping up' with the metagame and a first game vs. Nat reaffirming it in many ways, and I sought to exploit that as much as possible to bridge what I might view as a skill gap. Funnily enough, this resulted in a something of a revamp of a Semi-stall I brought vs. Nat in the last iteration of Snake, as I noted that his usual takes on balance resulted in a somewhat lackluster response to CurseLax (force a Rest, go to Bewear / [Dragon Tail] Slowking, crossing fingers one doesn't pull STAB on the Sleep Talk in the case of the latter). Chesnaught is in my eyes exceedingly underrated for what kind of utility it brings to the table, and while Jellicent's fall from prominence is far more understandable, I do feel as though it offers a unique counterpoint to Snorlax defensively, in part due to such teams tending to walk the line of fairly to incredibly Salazzle-weak. The bulk of the edits made reflect the more active state of the metagame, running a Pursuit user and faster Pokemon meant to revenge-kill threats to contrast a period in time where it was so much more of a scant luxury, etc. If you are feeling Blastoise to be exceedingly burdensome, a Yache Berry variant of Chesnaught is reasonably playable, KOing 4/0 Blastoise after Stealth Rock and receiving the Ice Beam rather well, in addition to KOing Zygarde-10% after Stealth Rock + 1 layer of Spikes in exchange for the drop-off in defensive stability. The lack of Rocky Helmet is a pretty big loss in truth, since it drastically impacts the ebb and flow of the team and how it seeks to set certain wins up, but it's not the most overbearing thing to deal with. Taunt is also viable enough on either variant, though it does make major concessions to Virizion in particular.
Sableye @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 224 Def / 32 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Knock Off
Araquanid @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 248 HP / 140 Atk / 40 SpD / 80 Spe
Careful Nature
- Sticky Web
- Liquidation
- Toxic
- Mirror Coat
Virizion @ Rockium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Leaf Blade
- Stone Edge
Not a 100% faithful import of the team for my game vs Scythe., but I figured that double Knock Off Sableye would be inferior for most of y'all so I just went ahead and put Will-o-Wisp instead. I was at the time very interested in contextualizing Sticky Web Araquanid into a bulkier context, provided the kind of value it offers in playing around Pokemon such Blastoise and Zygarde. Virizion and Choice Specs Dragalgae (which is EV'd to outpace Pokemon such as Bewear under webs) were the primary picks to exploit the Speed control offered here, with Sableye playing a somewhat unique role in its ability to respond more resolutely to Fighting-types and Zygarde if potentially lent extra turns. By the product of its design, Noivern does become somewhat problematic, and to that end Virizion opts for Z Rock in order to offer that ability to catch it coming in, in addition to the utility of Araquanid to take a Hurricane after Stealth Rock and OHKO w/Mirror Coat in turn. It is admittedly one of the odder teams to pilot of the bunch, since micro-managing the hazard game becomes a fairly complex affair, but the top end of Sticky Webs is pretty fantastic at this time, and would encourage folks to explore the field further.
Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head
Shaymin @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Synthesis
Tyrantrum @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Head Smash
- Earthquake
- Superpower
- Outrage
Honchkrow @ Darkinium Z
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Brave Bird
- Night Slash
- Taunt
Fairly intuitive Spikes HO I built for my game vs. Nat in the second half of Stage 1. I felt as though the manner in which she builds was primed for exploitation with some proper Doublade Offense, and I would say that for the most part the gameplay reflected as much. Part of this prep work was rooted in grand scale metagaming, insofar as her being privvy to my Slam teams and potentially recognizing the framework had a lot in common with the Vivillon offense I posted earlier. This had some influence in my choice of roles, even opting for Outrage on Scarf Tyrantrum when I was so typically an avid supporter of pretty much anything over it, building with consideration of the varied shortcomings with the understanding that it might well result in a scenario wherein it offers me a cleaner sweep (say against last 'mons Virizion + Rhyperior). Ultimately, I would say very much consider Ice Fang > Outrage all the same, but it is decent enough. Very fast-and-loose offense that seeks to force damage onto select Pokemon in order to facilitate an endgame from the appropriate Pokemon given context, with Doublade being the conclusion in this game's case. Cloyster is a pretty interesting Spiker at the moment given the way it nabs full layers v.a conventional bulky Water- or Steel-type while at worst presenting the option of a Cloyster-for-Blastoise trade and at best totally shutting out any attempts at bringing hazard control in. Moreover, by pressuring conventional Stealth Rock setters, Cloyster maintains the option of switching into Zygarde on the CB Thousand Arrows and surviving a follow-up Extremespeed after boosting, providing a pretty unique counterplay window to that threat that most offenses are not readily afforded. In contrast to the last team, this one is all fairly intuitive, and while the nuances of when to suicide lead Cloyster, who to focus your endgame around, and so forth take some time to get used to, this is a team that I'd vouch for just picking up and running with.
Machamp @ Assault Vest
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Atk / 12 Def / 16 SpD / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dynamic Punch
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
- Bullet Punch
Apparently one of the most accessible teams of the bunch, being prepped for my game vs. Aldo but being used in RU Slam Finals in Pearl vs. bebo, thereafter in Slam Play-offs in aim vs. Luthier, and even a handful of times by Nat in her current RU Seasonal run, most recently guaranteeing Grand Finals via her vs. Kushalos. It's cool to see the team strike such a chord with folks, and I am fairly happy with how it panned out; the interactions here are somewhat less intuitive than some of the "Steel overload" type ones of earlier teams showcased here, but the ability for Machamp and Blastoise to facilitate wins from Zygarde or Yanmega are to me the most direct here, and the framework of it all to me is very conscious of how most people are structuring their teams nowadays. Aldo struck me, at the time of building, as someone that would be punished more harshly than most by a team devised to win out on 1-for-1 trades that ensue in your average bulky offense game, and Assault Vest Machamp and Speed Boost Yanmega stood out as perfect mid- and end-game picks for this, respectively. After consecutive more defensively skewed balance picks for me, I was very much looking out for some midpaced breakers, perhaps a Fire Blast Nidoqueen and / LO Shaymin stood out to me as potential picks, and that more loose approach oftentimes means a Pokemon like Machamp is almost untenable to respond to without sacrificing a Pokemon and a half. Looking to that school of thought, Yanmega is a vicious cleaner in the bulky offense mirror, given the ebb and flow of the game sees almost every Pokemon getting below half to fulfill their roll as 1-time check to x, forces the trade with y, and surprisingly none of that played out after a Turn 1 misplay forced me to adjust focus. Blastoise's interactions with Zygarde here are something of note, almost Feraligatr lite in that it approaches the kind of exploitation of player tendencies that I touched upon in the foreword of all this but sacrifices the major pay-off of a committed sweep in favour of broader utility.
The major conceit of the team is, of course, Florges, who has been popping up recently and does deserve to be addressed on some level, though the team has its outs (sleep being the major one). Opting for Heavy Slam over Ice Punch or even somewhat Bullet Punch (it is weak, yes, but has upteen auxiliary functions that make it tough to drop) is absolutely an option on Machamp, though losing the ability to pressure Gligar / Noivern outright does hurt, as does the inability to KO Roserade after Stealth Rock. Sludge Bomb on Roserade, and even Z Poison to an extent for the ability to catch key Flying- and Fire-types coming in, is very much an option right now as well, and for the obvious sacrifices made in dealing with Steels in such an indirect way is perhaps the most 'safe' means of addressing Florges here. Plenty of folks are keen to dismiss Dynamicpunch, perhaps for the assumed 'cheese factor' of it, but personally I have viewed it primarily as a tool for avoiding defense drops and find that for as vexing as the prospect of playing into Scald odds may be, the option of a Blastoise edging out advantage that much more easily or god forbid a Steelix taking one and OHKOing after limited to no chip is oftentimes worse for me personally.
Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 156 Def / 104 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- Defog
- Roost
- Foul Play
- U-turn
The "should've used Minior" team I brought for my game vs. KW, featuring a cast of overlapping bulky attackers capable of (theoretically) granting liberty in calling overly aggressive plays and punishing a tendency towards Blastoise as the 'bulky Water'. Did not quite execute in the end, but I'm fairly satisfied with the resulting product, even if it skews more towards the types of aimless goodstuffs I will oftentimes critique. Being able to contextualize Whimsicott I thought was also fairly satisfying, because I find the total dismissal of the Pokemon somewhat ridiculous in the metagame at hand; the ability to hold together teams that concede turns to major players in turn exploitation such as Zygarde is particularly fantastic, and in the case of the Choice Scarf set I adopt here, gives so much more liberty in locking Normal- and Fire-type attacks against, say, a Barbaracle / [Rock Polish] Tyrantrum in the back. The team also somewhat inadvertently effective in bluffing a Scarf Toxicroak, apparently, as while I would have never felt comfortable building in such a manner that would have left me without means of consolidating a win, both KW and other players approached me after the game with the notion that it was, so hey. Also probably up there in terms of easy teams to pick up, the real nuance of it comes down to knowing how to micromanage HP vs. Pokemon like Blastoise.
Barbaracle @ Rockium Z
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Stone Edge
- Liquidation
- Low Kick
Rotom-Mow @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 104 HP / 100 SpA / 56 SpD / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
Steelix @ Steelixite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Atk / 112 SpD / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Heavy Slam
- Toxic
Goodra @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 40 HP / 216 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Tail
Golisopod @ Choice Band
Ability: Emergency Exit
EVs: 108 HP / 220 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- First Impression
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Drill Run
The first of two teams I ended up prepping for my game vs. Sam, formerly for Aldo. As I had touched upon earlier, Golisopod to me does loads in terms of validating alternative structure for balance in its handle on Zygarde, specifically serving as a solid foil for Rotom-C, capitalizing on Defog support and accommodating the Thousand Arrows neutrality that it is granted as a Grass-type. Barbaracle was a Pokemon I was striving to work with here, honing in on his tendency to play against it more reactively, cutting into the free turns it would be afforded with a combination of status, Taunt, and offensive pressure. Fairly to-the-point bulky offense in forme and function, with perhaps fast Assault Vest Goodra (which, at a time where you should pretty frequently be responding to something like Blastoise that you could be EV'ing to be faster than rather than taking an extra hit, why wouldn't you at least consider it?) and a Rotom-C spread being refined to better pivot Blastoise and so forth being a bit less immediately intuitive. The biggest thing to be conscious of with this team is to be comfortable in shedding defensive Pokemon once certain conditions have been achieved, and of course being a bit more proactive with Steelix in the face of potentially dangerous Fighting-types, moreso Bewear and Pangoro than Toxicroak since Steelix can oftentimes scare out all but Z-Fight Toxicroak.
Barbaracle @ Rockium Z
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Stone Edge
- Liquidation
- Low Kick
The veto'd, more fast-and-loose take on Barbaracle that ended up, to me, unique in such a way that felt worth touching down on. An offense that really bears down with its three primary sweepers with the luxury of double Healing Wish effects bolstering my ability to bear in with the same threat multiple times per game in order to facilitate another Pokemon or even then same in another later attempt. I would deem this a pretty unique team at this time, as it finds what I would consider to be consistent applications for sets such as Weakness Policy Necrozma and Choice Scarf Shaymin that to me oftentimes read as very short-sighted building choices, as well as of course hosting Druddigon, who plays a unique role in keeping Stealth Rock against pretty much everything in the short term between chip damage + Glare + Taunt and allowing me to accrue prior damage on key Pokemon such as Doublade, Registeel, Golisopod, and various others. It is not without it's bad match-up, as both Toxic Spikes and Sticky Webs in the hands of a reasonably competent player are oftentimes too taxing an obstacle to overcome with play, but I might go as far as to say that the framework of it all is fairly "anti-meta" at this moment. Shaymin can make use of almost any coverage move deemed appropriate over Energy Ball really, which was selected more for end-game accuracy than anything trvly substantive, so don't hesitate to tune it to your individual preference.
Built for my final Snake game vs. Ajna, bittersweet for landing the intended match-up and squandering it with an oversight during the Doublade v.Honchkrow sequence. This team was in a way a culmination of my total refusal to touch Fire-types of any sort to this point, looking for the right type of player that would go into things comfortable with "just" Blastoise + Zygarde (for some arbitrary enough example) as their resistances, and I got mostly that. While hard weather has always sat poorly with me personally, the breaker-sweeper mindset of Ninetales + Venusaur, or previously Gigalith + Stoutland, is oftentimes perfectly viable and well worth applying competitively. Venusaur in particular does so much in terms of freeing up Ninetales to lock almost anything, as it's presence serves as deterrent from almost any significant counterplay from the usual locks. This team served as a reasonable outlet to explore Defog Silvally as well, which as a Fairy-type develops a niche over Florges for its ability to maintain momentum via Parting Shot (or U-turn if the team it supports values the ability to get initiative off Registeel badly enough) and skew upwards in the speed tiers to potentially cover Toxicroak, pick off Roserade, etc. Contextually it offered utility in playing into perceived "free" Knock Offs, a solid Blastoise check that freed up Choice Scarf Goodra, and a passable Defog user that more strove to force conventional Steel-types to debate resetting them or attempting to catch Ninetales via Toxic. Pursuit Doublade served here as a tool to both punish Gardevoir and maintain solid counterplay (or, as situations warranted, the threat thereof) against Registeel to accommodate what is otherwise a team that does very little to actually force it to take damage outside of getting that ideal it v.Venusaur under Sun scenario. Toxic as a catch option for various all-purpose pivots into Goodra was to me much more valuable than any coverage option on a team whose game plan so largely subsists on AoA type Pokemon, and is again validated by the Gligar + Doublade core than grants so little leeway to defensive Steel-types for finding free turns.
Machamp @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 248 HP / 104 Atk / 32 Def / 16 SpD / 108 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
- Bullet Punch
Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Shadow Sneak
- Shadow Claw
Lastly, while it wasn't a team I used for the tour, I felt it worth giving a shout to the team I built for Pearl in his Slam finals set vs. Teddeh, since I don't really much look forward to making another one of these in the near future. Swords Dance Abomasnow to me has a very high top end that is very difficult to cash in on for a variety of factors, namely a context that allows it to keep Stealth Rock off the board long enough to pay out while not dipping into overly balanced territory that might see it being relied upon to play into bulky Water-types in the midgame, exposing itself to Scald. To me that moderate liberty in the midgame is what characterizes Mixed Abomasnow's niche, as there's no real debate as to which set has the stronger endgame, so some maneuvering has to be done. To me Ajna's build very much touched upon what I'd deem the most consistent framework of this type of team, being Aboma / [Espeon / Meloetta] / [Nidoqueen / (Rindo) Rhyperior / Seismatoad] / Fighting-type / Fill (with various conditions needing to be within those restraints as far as reacting to Pokemon such as Blastoise, speed control, etc etc.), which we eventually whittled down to what is seen here. As I touched upon in the previous team that utilized Assault Vest Machamp, in this context I do value it's ability to play into bulky Waters, and to that end had opted for a Guts variant.
Tangela @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 92 SpA / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 30 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Knock Off
- Sleep Powder
Earnestly quite effective, being a solid initial switch into upteen different Pokemon (with the hard Zygarde stop being a major draw) that doesn't concede much to conventional switch-ins to such pivots by merit of Knock Off (which goes miles if and when you catch a Steel-type) and whatever is run in the utility slot. Obviously there are major shortcomings to be accounted for with such a pick, including a total inability to touch Virizion, Fire-types, etc., not to mention the only winning scenario for a Grass-type vs. Blastoise is a 1-on-1 from full, but with proper support (great with Noivern, Doublade, Dragalgae) it is pretty darn good.
Delphox @ Psychium Z
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 12 HP / 32 Def / 240 SpA / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Trick
I've gone on record saying that I earnestly find Delphox to be more worth using than Houndoom and was met with some disagreement, but there is a decent chance that it was a little past 1 AM and I was in a mood after the thoroughly mediocre Bohemian Rhapsody that everyone but me thought was great and what the heck, it was so canned I could have gotten the same experience from reading the Wikipedia article while listening to a greatest hits comp. Point being, I feel Delphox does far better in accentuating the strengths Houndoom provides in the balance game with certain exceptions (Assault Vest Slowking is totally big, plus the soft Doublade check and Sucker Punch resistance points being ones that I cannot deny, but but as a matter of personal preference dislike as an option for a balance or bulky offense when the the Pokemon in question is rocking 75 / 50 bulk) at the expense of the stall game, which as I have mentioned I might deem incredibly niche. The manner in which Delphox can react to threats and become a threat in turn is, to me, far more significant, being able to switch into balance Grass-types with much greater, if any, consistency, which offers distinction in a metagame where Stone Edge Virizion has grown so sparse, and in contrast outright invalidates the Gardevoir revenge-kill. Moreover, the option presented by both the Z-Trick and the Special Defense boost of Calm Mind allows Delphox to circumvent conventional revenge-killing methods such as Zygarde and Noivern, the latter of which fails to KO a +1 after Stealth Rock. While it is by no means incredible, I feel that Delphox is a strong booster with a pertinent Speed tier and a consciousness of how folks react to threats in the current metagame, and to that end is very much worth using at this time.
Hardly a revelation at this time, but I figured this "take" on the Ice Spikes set was worth highlighting at a time where people are becoming once again disillusioned by Synthesis Roserade. I feel as though Roserade remains incredibly solid at filling this multi-tool role for balances in keeping pertinent threats honest while offering utility as a Scald absorber and Spikes setter, and with so many opting for Technician, Focus Sash, and its plethora of other good options I wanted to advocate briefly for a more defensively minded set. The following allows you the usual ability to apply pressure to your typical Steel / Gligar / Water frameworks, hitting most of the "key" benchmarks for a set such as this (not 3HKO'd by Seismic Toss or 2HKO'd by Gligar Earthquake, while 2HKOing basically all but Careful Gligar, etc.), but expands its utility somewhat through the use of resist berries. Coba Berry remains my personal favourite, as Noivern tends to be incredibly taxing for teams like this that oftentimes will reacting to it by sneaking in their Scarf user of choice or keeping something like Milotic healthy to take a swing with Ice Beam, but the utility of Yache Berry in more consistently playing into Blastoise, rather than prompting a window for them to aggressively trade, is worth consideration as well. Roserade can do loads of different things, so it's just another slight variation I think is worth considering.
Aromatisse as a sweeper finds itself in a fairly unique position as a sweeper through the combination of Aroma Veil, which allows it to circumvent the panic button Taunt Pokemon such as Noivern, [Non-Sludge Wave] Nidoqueen and co. will often find themselves using to restrict threats such as Barbaracle, and its bulk and typing allow it unique opportunities to counterplay Pokemon such as Blastoise and Machamp in manners that accompanying teams don't tend to account for. The spread presented here always avoids the 3HKO from Modest Blastoise's Ice Beam, and in a metagame rife with Pokemon capable of punishing and forcing damage unto Steel-types, the ability to forgo coverage in favor of Psychic to push through prominent Poison-types is perfectly doable. I could make the argument that Aromatisse's skillset make it a more proficient OTR user than Cofagrigus by a significant amount, and while I'm none too keen on hard Trick Room as a playstyle, the speed control it offers does quite a lot in facilitating solid beaters such as CB Tyrantrum, Bewear, etc.
Guzzlord @ Dragonium Z / Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 116 Def / 172 SpA / 160 SpD / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Knock Off
- Fire Blast
In the vein of Pokemon 1-for-1'ing at the moment, I feel as though Guzzlord has a lot of merit in the current metagame in just what it brings to the table; it is capable of trading hits with Shaymin, forcing Knock Off onto Steels, bulky Waters, Gligar, etc., being able to play reactively into Doublade and Assault Vest Slowking in a manner fairly unique to it, and more. The Dark subtyping (and the access to Knock Off it provides) offers it a fairly exploitable niche in a metagame saturated with high-utility Dragon-types, especially in a metagame with Doublade pay-off on the rise as it is. Nothing too special, but utility-based Knock Offs are super high-value and well worth exploiting where you can get it, so give this Pokemon a try!