SM OU Sticky Web + Serperior

[Jucherz]

Shuckle is cool and I wanted to build a team around it. So I found some potent sweepers that enjoy Sticky Web support and they became friends with Shuckle. :3 The team had a decent success and I reached 1661 ELO using it.

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Teambuilding Process

Started off with Shuckle.

Serperior gets checked by common revenge killers, such as Pheromosa, Greninja or Scarf Lele. Sticky Web helps it to become a very threatening sweeper that is almost impossible to outspeed.

Then I added Greninja, my revenge killer/second sweeper/spike setter... it's just so versatile. It helps Serperior by beating most fire types and also profits from Sticky Web as it isn't revenge killed by Pheromosa and Tapu Koko anymore.

I needed a spinblocker. Chose Mimikyu over Gengar because I didn't want another special attacker. It can easily set up with Swords Dance and sweep with Sticky Web backing up it's already good speed.

I wanted a Pokemon that would remove entry hazards from my side of the field. Also I needed a Heatran check. So I used Excadrill.

Now I needed something fast that doesn't rely on Sticky Web and can outspeed and remove Serperior's and Greninja's checks. Chose Scarf Nihilego because it can switch in on fire type attacks that threaten some members of the team.

The Team:
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Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock
- Encore
- Toxic
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A classic Sticky Web + Stealth Rock setter. Encore helps it to not be a set up bait and it can provide a safe switch into another Pokemon. Sometimes the bulk allows it to return on the battlefield and use Sticky Web again in case the opponent removes it. After Shuckle does it's job it can be sacked so a team-mate will get a free switch in.

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
- Dragon Pulse
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Serperior works very well with Shuckle, as it can switch in on the most common defogger: Tapu Fini. It gets the evasion boost from Defog thanks to Contrary and forces Fini out. It loves Sticky Web and it can often sweep once the opposing fire Pokemon are gone. I've chosen Dragon Pulse over Leech Seed because I think the coverage for dragons is more useful.

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Gunk Shot
- Spikes
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I used the Spike set for Greninja. With Spikes it can dodge electric attacks and Sucker Punch and get some chip damage on the opposing Pokemon. Hydro Pump is it's strongest STAB, Ice Beam is a must on any Greninja set and Gunk Shot allows it to beat all Tapus, especially Fini. Greninja is usually used as a revenge killer, but on this team it can also work as a sweeper, thanks to Sticky Web.

Mimikyu @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak / Destiny Bond
- Play Rough
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Mimikyu blocks Rapid Spin so Sticky Web will stay on the field longer. If I screw up and there is some boosted monster running around, Mimikyu can usually stop it. It will always live at least one hit and retaliate with a strong Z-move. Mimikyu is also a pretty good set up sweeper that profits from Sticky Web.
Right now I'm not sure if I want to run Shadow Sneak or Destiny Bond on it. Shadow Sneak is the only priority I have on my team, while Destiny Bond is an option to take down some fat walls that I can't break and probably would work well in conjunction with Sticky Web.

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin
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Excadrill removes entry hazards. Thanks to it's two immunities it can switch in on Pokemon such as Nihilego or Magnezone. Also it will lure Landorus-T 100% of the time so I can do a safe double switch into Greninja. The movepool is a classic Rapid Spin + 3 attacks. Air Balloon allows Excadrill to Rapid Spin on ground type Pokemon before switching out.

Nihilego @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Power Gem
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
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Scarf Nihilego doesn't rely on Sticky Web to outspeed the fast threats. It can kill Pheromosa, Scarf Lele, Greninja, +1 Volcarona or Mega Beedrill even if the Sticky Web is gone. It can switch in on fire attacks that trouble Serperior and Excadrill. It is a good late game cleaner.

Threats:

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Heatran is a hard stop to Serperior and forces me to double switch into Excadrill. Nihilego can switch in on Heatran's Magma Storm but is super weak to Earth Power. Nihilego's Power Gem doesn't even 2HKO.

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Scarfed Pheromosa is a threat. It outspeeds Serperior and Greninja even if it is slowed down by Sticky Web and keeps pressuring them with U-Turn. Scarf Pheromosa with Rapid Spin is the worst, since it can force Serperior/Greninja out and remove Sticky Web.

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Offensive Celesteela outspeeds everything on my team except Nihilego after an Autotomize boost. Nihilego's Thunderbolt chunks away half of it's HP but Nihilego is then OHKOed by Heavy Slam. So I'm forced to use Mimikyu's Z-move to finish it off, but before doing so Mimikyu loses it's Disguise.

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Replays

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-549754074

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-549901339
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-549923535
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-549933052
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-549934341
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-550083242
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-550086448
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-550104863
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-550164666
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-550387961​

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-550387961​

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Importable

Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock
- Encore
- Toxic

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
- Dragon Pulse

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Spikes
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Gunk Shot

Mimikyu @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak
- Play Rough

Excadrill @ Air Balloon
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Rapid Spin

Nihilego @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Power Gem
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt

 

[Jucherz]

plz notice me senpai

 

[Shurtugal]

Hello!

It's hard to really rate teams that would require a lot of changes in order to be better, so I'll just start by giving some general advice and explaining some of the flaws.

First, Excadrill doesn't belong here. Nothing is overly hazard weak to warrant its presence, so you don't need the hazard removal. For the icing on the cake, running Rapid Spin is detrimental to what Webs are supposed to accomplish: momentum. Webs are supposed to keep up the pressure at all times in order to prevent the enemy from removing hazards, but when you run Webs alongside Defog / Rapid Spin it's pretty counterproductive in a way because it eats your momentum by giving your opponent a free turn that Webs simply can't afford to give. As to what you could replace Excadril with, that's up to you. I'll point out some other flaws I see and you can try to patch them up, but anything I could suggest would just be subjective and both close up and open up new weaknesses.

While Webs do require Speed Control, I question if Scarf Nihilego is the mon for this. Nihilego without webs is faster than most of the metagame anyway, so it feels really awkward to be using here. I could get behind maybe a Modest Nihilego so you have insane damage output since WEbs should migtate the need to be running Timid.

Hide

252+ SpA Nihilego Sludge Wave vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Fini: 270-318 (78.7 - 92.7%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Nihilego Sludge Wave vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Fini: 246-290 (71.7 - 84.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

having more damage output helps put things into KO range quicker, which is especially useful as you can begin a lategame sweep sooner with Modest than Timid

It's very important to have multiple members of a Webs team be able to pressure Fini at any given time as often players will sac Fini to remove Webs. Fini is most important over others because this is the common haz control used on offense where you will likely need Webs the most, the second most-important one being Scizor. For these reasons, max attack Greninja is best for achieving (pretty close) to OHKO Tapu Fini with Gunk Shot, whereas uninvested can't KO.

On Shuckle, you should use 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SDef with Bold nature. This allows Shuckle to survive Metagross Mega's Meteor Mash, survive 2hko from Excadrill's Iron Head, and the OHKO from Specs Greninja Hydro Pump. I'd also swap Shuckle's nature from Sturdy to Contraty to help pressure opposing Defog Pokemon. Shuckle is bulky enough to almost never be OHKO anyway, Sturdy is only really useful for saving Shuckle from Critical Hits.

Not much else for me to say, Mimikyu is good on Webs and Serperior is interesting enough. (Although I'm not a fan of Jolly Mimikyu, Adamant is better for strength imo but the drawback to adamant is being slower than scarf lele after webs so it depends on you.)

One thing to note is that you're incredibly stall weak. I suggest using the free slot from Excadrill to pick a Pokemon good at beating stall. Last thing to note is that removing Excadril removes the team's steel type. webs is really HO-based so it doesnt actually need a steel type, but SD Bisharp is a good defiant user steel type that could help out vs stall, tho you'll still need to watch out for Dugtrio and the like. Greninja should be able to get Spikes up to help with Dugtrio as Sableye is pretty pressured by it, Serperior should hit hard enough too; although, replacing Substitute for Knock Off could make Serperior a potentialy wincond if u can knock off chansey on the switch as well.

Keep in mind Bisharp has freedom of item choice, so anything between LO, Dread PLate, or even something like Shed Shell are all viable options on it.

While Bisharp is good, webs doesnt need a steel type. Any potential stallbreaker will nautrally fit in its place.

Good luck!

 

[Jucherz]

Hey, thanks for the rate.

First, Excadrill doesn't belong here. Nothing is overly hazard weak to warrant its presence, so you don't need the hazard removal. For the icing on the cake, running Rapid Spin is detrimental to what Webs are supposed to accomplish: momentum. Webs are supposed to keep up the pressure at all times in order to prevent the enemy from removing hazards, but when you run Webs alongside Defog / Rapid Spin it's pretty counterproductive in a way because it eats your momentum by giving your opponent a free turn that Webs simply can't afford to give. As to what you could replace Excadril with, that's up to you. I'll point out some other flaws I see and you can try to patch them up, but anything I could suggest would just be subjective and both close up and open up new weaknesses.

Replaced it with Bisharp as you suggested. It helped quite a bit. It gives me another way of pressuring Defog users and I can beat stall teams more reliably. Heatran is now a bigger threat though.

While Webs do require Speed Control, I question if Scarf Nihilego is the mon for this. Nihilego without webs is faster than most of the metagame anyway, so it feels really awkward to be using here. I could get behind maybe a Modest Nihilego so you have insane damage output since WEbs should migtate the need to be running Timid.

Hide

252+ SpA Nihilego Sludge Wave vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Fini: 270-318 (78.7 - 92.7%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Nihilego Sludge Wave vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Fini: 246-290 (71.7 - 84.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

having more damage output helps put things into KO range quicker, which is especially useful as you can begin a lategame sweep sooner with Modest than Timid

I wanted to make sure that things like Autotomize Celesteela or Charizard-X won't sweep my team (also I can revenge kill weakened Scarf Landorus-T, Jirachi or +2 Magearna in case Sticky Web is gone), so I used timid nature. Modest is of course a good option too, but I prefer the speed.

It's very important to have multiple members of a Webs team be able to pressure Fini at any given time as often players will sac Fini to remove Webs. Fini is most important over others because this is the common haz control used on offense where you will likely need Webs the most, the second most-important one being Scizor. For these reasons, max attack Greninja is best for achieving (pretty close) to OHKO Tapu Fini with Gunk Shot, whereas uninvested can't KO.

I don't really struggle to beat Fini and keep Sticky Web on the field, so I'd rather keep max SpA on Greninja to make Hydro Pump as strong as possible. Plus Fini will switch in on Greninja a lot of the time to check it, so I can hit it with Gunk Shot on the switch and then finish it off the next turn.

On Shuckle, you should use 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SDef with Bold nature. This allows Shuckle to survive Metagross Mega's Meteor Mash, survive 2hko from Excadrill's Iron Head, and the OHKO from Specs Greninja Hydro Pump. I'd also swap Shuckle's nature from Sturdy to Contraty to help pressure opposing Defog Pokemon. Shuckle is bulky enough to almost never be OHKO anyway, Sturdy is only really useful for saving Shuckle from Critical Hits.

I find Sturdy more useful because even with the evasion boost from Defog Shuckle can't do any harm to the Defoggers. It can't poison Fini or Scizor, Fini will taunt it and Scizor can set up with Swords Dance. Changed the EV spread though.

One thing to note is that you're incredibly stall weak. Serperior should hit hard enough too; although, replacing Substitute for Knock Off could make Serperior a potentialy wincond if u can knock off chansey on the switch as well.

Yeah, you're right. Substitute was kinda useless anyway.

 

[legend slayer]

not a bad team like shurtugal said excadrill was trash use taunt on the bisharp you added, though, or fini can remove them hazards you set. u can also switch that nihilego into a scarftini with hp ground glaciate/energy ball bolt strike and v-create. use a hasty nature if you do this or the +spA - Def because he needs his other stats. Hp ground should OHKO heatran without balloon, Energy ball gives him something against the bulky water types, Bolt strike does good damage to toxapex on the switch and destroys rain teams. Glaciate OHKOs non spD variants of Lando-T and slows down any mon that switches in on the move. V-create is just there for raw power and should be strong enough to OHKO any moderate bulky mons with no resistance.