Project USM Research Week [Ended]

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Mac3

im reminded theres no finer place to kiss
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnus
taken from Ark
approved by phantom

USM Research Week
Hey there RU players and welcome to Research Week: USM edition! In this project, participants research suggested Pokemon every week and share their experience. Whoever has the highest ladder score at the end of the week will be declared the winner. For details, see below.



Keep the following things in mind during every Research Week:

  • Be open-minded. Don't just say something is terrible and walk away; look at its stats, typing and movepool and think something up!
  • Feel free to theorymon early in the research period, but make it clear you're doing so. Later in the period, however, you will be expected to back up your posts with hard evidence like logs, actual sets, perhaps even teams.
  • Just because an analysis has been done for a Pokemon doesn't mean there isn't more to explore; it's very likely that something has gone unnoticed.
  • Do not post in this thread complaining about the Pokemon or movesets I choose and / or suggesting ones we should do for future weeks. Feel free to VM / PM me these suggestions, but don't expect me to always listen to you.


A few things to clarify:

  • Sign-ups can be as late as you want, but the week will always end on Sunday.
  • Early period means the first three days of the Research Week, so let's keep the theorymoning to a minimum after this period. The late period refers to the last four days of the research week, where raw evidence and discussion should become the basis of the thread.
  • Discussion is mandatory in order to be considered as a winner of Research Week. If you do not post one somewhat-coherent post that describes the Pokemon that you're using, their roles, and their niche in the metagame, you will be disqualified from winning this week. Please post about your experiences regardless of whether you think you've got a chance to win or not.
  • Finally, I'd like to implore you to all please remember to post and save your replays. Often, these replays are the most informative sources of information about RW Pokemon - you can write a full two paragraphs about the role of a Pokemon, but often that can all be summed up with a video and an explanation of it. How useful are these Pokemon in USM RU? What gives them trouble? What advantages do they have over other Pokemon? How well do they work in the metagame? If you have anything to say about any of these Pokemon, please post about them! Remember, discussion is not limited to this topic, you are encouraged to talk about these Pokemon in the RU chat on Pokemon Showdown, in the official RU Discord, and in the Viability Ranking Thread.




In order to participate you must do the following:

  • Post here with a fresh RW alt (such as RW Ov3r Mac3 or RW eifo) and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
  • Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched.
  • Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using, participate in the discussion!
  • Post logs of this Pokemon in action against other teams - don't just tell us, show us
  • The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown RU ladder with their RW alt at the time the challenge ends.
 
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Mac3

im reminded theres no finer place to kiss
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnus

Hall of Fame
Week 1: eifo
Week 2: HypnoEmpire
Week 3: HypnoEmpire
Week 4: cyanize
 
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Mac3

im reminded theres no finer place to kiss
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnus
Week 1:

Kommo-o @
Ability:
EVs:
filler Nature
-
-
-
-

Kommo-o finally got a powerful physical fighting type move, Close Combat. Kommo-o also got a powerful new z-move, Clangerous Soulblaze, which you get holding a Kommonium Z and using Z-Clanging Scales. This is a 185BP dragon type move which also gives you +1 in every stat. This will not happen if the z-move is used against a fairy type pokemon. Which leads us nicely onto our next pokemon.


Florges @
Ability:
EVs:
filler Nature
-
-
-
-

Florges got Defog from this gen's move tutors. Florges is also one of the few bulky Fairies which can switch in on Z-Clanging Scales Kommo-o, so far from what I've seen Kommo-o seems to be one of the metas largest threats, this will make Florges be one of the best mons for hazard control.


Linoone @
Ability:
EVs:
filler Nature
-
-
-
-

Linoone now has a move to hit steel types for SE damage, Stomping Tantrum. This move doubles in power if the previous move has no affect that turn. It also gets Throat Chop which is a more powerful move to hit ghost types which resist normal + ground coverage.

The ladder part will end Friday Nov, 24th at 8:00pm GMT +1. You will have to have posted atleast one post about the mon you will be researching to be able to win. Make a new alt, for example, RW1/RW Mac3. Happy Laddering!
 
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upload_2017-11-24_15-53-44.png



Linoone @ Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 148 HP / 252 Atk / 108 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Stomping Tantrum
- Extreme Speed
- Seed Bomb

Espeon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Morning Sun
- Dazzling Gleam

Meowstic @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Psychic
- Safeguard

Pangoro @ Lum Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot
- Knock Off

Feraligatr @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Liquidation
- Crunch
- Ice Punch

Aurorus @ Focus Sash
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Stealth Rock
- Encore
- Earth Power


Warning: this posts includes my exeriences with Screens as a playstyle, not just Linoone. If that's a problem I can edit it later on.

Firts of all, shoutouts to Gatorboy. He was the guy who popularized Veil and built this team. All the sets may not be completely the same as Gator's, and I think he also built a new version with Kommo, so hit him up if you want his opinion on what's good and what's not on screens.

This is pretty much the standard Aurora Veil build, but with Meowstic>Alola Sandslash, making use of Dual Screens now that Aurora Veil is banned. It is not as good Veil, but not that far off either. Screens are basically the balanced version of what Veil once was. The Linoone had enough creep for Hoopa and Decidueye, but for some reason i never ran into them, even though i normally face them all the time. I still think it is necessary, though. Unless you want to outright lose to Hoopa, that is. The 4th slot on Aurorus is pretty flexible now that Mantine is gone, but I enjoyed having Earth Power. It is definitely much more useful than Freeze Dry in the current meta. Toxic could also work here. Jolly Lum Berry Pangoro was honestly a tiny bit too weak on Screens. While Jolly may be necessary on "normal" teams (Offense, BO and Balance in this case, as you would obviously not be using Pangoro on stall), Screens can afford to use Adamant, due to the added bulk it provides. I felt a bit forced to use Lum on it, as i lacked a status absorber+mon that kills Milotic (yes, Espeon loses 1v1 because of Haze), but after playing about 40 games or so, I think I would use Life Orb the next time around, as I experienced walls living on a sliver of health way too often. In all honesty, it would probably be more effective to drop Goro and use Dragon Dance Kommo-o+Swords Dance Feraligatr instead, as Calm Mind Stored Power Espeon already 6-0s stall barring the occasional CM Cress (s/o to my boi Ov3r Ac3).

In the end, i quit laddering with a pitiful rank on the ladder. I didn't even manage to get above 1500s. However, i would not blame that on the team. After playing about 30 games or so, I got to around 1450s. The team was working well enough, Linoone was putting in work, and at this point I had only experienced a few setbacks from weird teams and some unfortunate crits here and there. Most of the time my opponents were not prepared for Linoone, and it ended up sweeping a lot. But from there it all went downhill. Suddenly I started running into a ton of teams that matched up great vs me, with unconventional mons and sets that happened to be perfect vs my team. Especially the guy running Ditto was annoying. Partially because Ditto is a ct, partially because his team had a lot of "interesting" sets (read:godawful). Overall the ladder was just a pain in the ass to have to deal with it. There are way too many weird sets, spreads and nonsensical team constructions on the ladder that will catch you by surprise. Every third game or so I would run into something really weird that threw me off, losing me all the progress I had made. I would have laddered some more if I had the time, but I had an exam yesterday, hence most of my time went into preparing for that (Which I killed, I better be getting back a beautiful grade. Then again i criticized communism and I have had my fair share of pretty far-left teachers in the past, so who knows).

I saved a ton of replays for this, so let's have a look, shall we?

Espeon sweeps:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-660932436
Physically Defensive Umbreon Catches me by surprise as I think I am about to win with Gatr. Espy manages to win after sniping Swellow upon switchin.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-661491116
Screens save me from losin to Kommonium Kommoo-o. MY opponent chooses to toxic a +1 Gatr, which gives it a chance to 1v1 Milotic. This tells me that the Milotic is in fact not carrying Haze. I therefore proceed to set up with Espy and just win.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-662386101
Espy just sweeps TR teams outside of TR without difficulties.

Feraligatr sweeps:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-660956404
Screens go up, Gatr clicks DD and wins.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-660958940
My opponent has one answer to Gatr, being Scarf Heliolisk (or so I would assume anyway). Araquanid gives me a risk free set up as it does nothing to Gatr, and my opponent would not dare to go hard Heliolisk in case I Crunch, as he would then lose the game. Basically, it is a 50-50 that I can enforce several times during the game, but did not have to, as I got it right the first time.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-663982064
Linoone was about to sweep, but once again I run into the random PhyDef Umby. It did still get weakened for Gatr, though. After killing his Stoise, not even a Scald Burn could stop Gatr from winning. Had he been a faster Moltres I would have been forced to set up Screens first, but Gatr would still prevail.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-66398714
Stoise is weakened by Goro, opening the door for Gatr to set up and sweep.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-663990015
Milo is weakened by Goro, opening the door for Gatr to set up and sweep.

Linoone sweeps:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-660937844
Linoone sweeps behind screens. S/o to me for trying to help while I was mad at all the random stuff I had seen earlier that day. Probably should have realized it would just come off wrong if I put it in a demanding way, but I was hella tired of seeing all the bullshit people had managed to come up with.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-660954845
Screens+Safeguard means Linoone can safely set up and sweep my opponent’s team once Lix (and preferably also Durant, as a Fightinium version would still kill me behind Screens) got weakened.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-661842565
Linoone wins vs stall by setting up on Cress behind Screens. My opponent throws the game by not going for Curse with Quag on the first turn. Pangoro could also have won, as it takes a Twinkle Tackle behind veil. However, that would take a long amount of time and positioning, and at this point in time I was too tired to bother, so I just went for it, fishing for a high roll or crit. Turns out I did not need that, though.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-663983540
Linoone sets up behind Screens and wins.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-663989885

I pivot into Espy on Milo. My opponent ends up switching out for some reason, giving me the game. Linoone gets a mini sweep at the end.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-663993018
Goro weakens Dhelm for Linoone. Linoone proceeds to set up on Cress and win.

The struggles of playing on the ladder:
Game 1:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-663985489

Didn't bother calcing and automatically assumed he was CB Drap, since he had Pursuit. Turns out he was AV for some odd reason. Thus I ended up Losing my LO on Gatr, which cost me the game.

Game 2:
I had another game vs him, but I forgot to save the replay, my bad. Basically, I assumed it was Subtitute+Leech Seed Whimsicott, but as it turns out, he was in fact Leech Seed+Encore. Encore locked me into Crunch, preventing a Gatr sweep.

game 3:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-663995143
Finally won vs the ditto guy after figuring out his sets. Please, to anyone out there, refrain from using sets such as AV Drapion, Leech Seed Whimsicott and SD Crunch Gatr. It might work once, because your opponent would not expect you to bring such unorthodox sets, but it does not perform anywhere near as well as a standard set would in the long run.

I had a lot of other bullshit thrown at me too, but forgot to save replays because I was angry.

In conclusion:
Espy was probably the mon that surprised me the most during my laddering journey. It performed a lot better than I expected it to do, sweeping a solid amount of teams. Aurorus is also worth a try. It is worthy of being ranked in the VRs in my opinion, as even without screens, it is still a solid dedicated lead. DD Gatr was as good as ever. Goro performed alright, but as mentioned earlier on, it lacked just a tiny bit extra power. Linoone put in the work, though. It is definitely a solid mon in this meta, especially with memento or screens support. Overall, it was pretty fun to just play a borderline brainless playstyle. Clicking buttons and watching stuff drop always feels nice. Admittedly, Screens was tougher to play than I initially thought, but it did not take that long to get a deeper understanding on how to position myself in order to win. I guess pokemon skills transfer across playstyles, though. To be fair I have also played my fair share of veil teams before (and screens a couple of times). In any case, Screens is something I would recommend trying, as it is a nice change of pace from the other playstyles.
 
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Mac3

im reminded theres no finer place to kiss
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnus
Congratulations to this week's winner eifo !

For week 2 of research week you guys will be researching: SD Feraligatr, Webs LO Ribombee, and Defog Cryogonal.



Feraligatr @
Ability:
EVs:
filler Nature
- Swords Dance
-
-
-

SD Feraligatr has been talked about a lot on the RU chat during the past week, it got a new move in Liquidation which is a direct upgrade on Waterfall, 5BP difference. Feraligatr has enough bulk and coupled with a good defensive typing in pure water allows it to usually set-up on mons. Sadly with Swords Dance it is much easier to revenge kill than if it would be Dragon Dance, but this is patched up by the fact that Swords Dance is a much scarier threat to face than at +1.

Ribombee @ Life Orb
Ability:
EVs:
filler Nature
- Sticky Webs
-
-
-

Ribombee is one of the tiers best Sticky Webs setters after it got access to the move in USM. Ribombee can outspeed Salazzle and Archeops, which is something that Galvantula can't do and hinders it quite a bit. With Life Orb Ribombee can also always 2hko no spdef Gligar spreads after rocks using Moonblast. Fairy STAB is in general better than Electric STAB in this meta as well, which gives it another thing above Galvantula.


Cryogonal @
Ability:
EVs:
filler Nature
- Defog
-
-
-


Defog Cryogonal is the last mon you guys will be researching this week. SO far I've used Defog Cryogonal on stall quite a bit and in my opinion it has worked well. Cryogonal is one of the only Defoggers, or hazard control in general which can both Defog on Nidoqueen and be resistant to Ice type moves. This gives it a solid niche over Gligar, although when I used Cryogonal I used it in conjunction with Gligar to beat almost all Rockers.

You will have to sign up with an rw2 account (rw2 mac3 for example). The laddering part will be over by Friday 1st December at 8:00pm GMT +1. Happy laddering!
 



Linoone @ Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 148 HP / 252 Atk / 108 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Stomping Tantrum
- Extreme Speed
- Seed Bomb

Espeon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Morning Sun
- Dazzling Gleam

Meowstic @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Psychic
- Safeguard

Pangoro @ Lum Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot
- Knock Off

Feraligatr @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Liquidation
- Crunch
- Ice Punch

Aurorus @ Focus Sash
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Stealth Rock
- Encore
- Earth Power


Warning: this posts includes my exeriences with Screens as a playstyle, not just Linoone. If that's a problem I can edit it later on.

Firts of all, shoutouts to Gatorboy. He was the guy who popularized Veil and built this team. All the sets may not be completely the same as Gator's, and I think he also built a new version with Kommo, so hit him up if you want his opinion on what's good and what's not on screens.

This is pretty much the standard Aurora Veil build, but with Meowstic>Alola Sandslash, making use of Dual Screens now that Aurora Veil is banned. It is not as good Veil, but not that far off either. Screens are basically the balanced version of what Veil once was. The Linoone had enough creep for Hoopa and Decidueye, but for some reason i never ran into them, even though i normally face them all the time. I still think it is necessary, though. Unless you want to outright lose to Hoopa, that is. The 4th slot on Aurorus is pretty flexible now that Mantine is gone, but I enjoyed having Earth Power. It is definitely much more useful than Freeze Dry in the current meta. Toxic could also work here. Jolly Lum Berry Pangoro was honestly a tiny bit too weak on Screens. While Jolly may be necessary on "normal" teams (Offense, BO and Balance in this case, as you would obviously not be using Pangoro on stall), Screens can afford to use Adamant, due to the added bulk it provides. I felt a bit forced to use Lum on it, as i lacked a status absorber+mon that kills Milotic (yes, Espeon loses 1v1 because of Haze), but after playing about 40 games or so, I think I would use Life Orb the next time around, as I experienced walls living on a sliver of health way too often. In all honesty, it would probably be more effective to drop Goro and use Dragon Dance Kommo-o+Swords Dance Feraligatr instead, as Calm Mind Stored Power Espeon already 6-0s stall barring the occasional CM Cress (s/o to my boi Ov3r Ac3).

In the end, i quit laddering with a pitiful rank on the ladder. I didn't even manage to get above 1500s. However, i would not blame that on the team. After playing about 30 games or so, I got to around 1450s. The team was working well enough, Linoone was putting in work, and at this point I had only experienced a few setbacks from weird teams and some unfortunate crits here and there. Most of the time my opponents were not prepared for Linoone, and it ended up sweeping a lot. But from there it all went downhill. Suddenly I started running into a ton of teams that matched up great vs me, with unconventional mons and sets that happened to be perfect vs my team. Especially the guy running Ditto was annoying. Partially because Ditto is a ct, partially because his team had a lot of "interesting" sets (read:godawful). Overall the ladder was just a pain in the ass to have to deal with it. There are way too many weird sets, spreads and nonsensical team constructions on the ladder that will catch you by surprise. Every third game or so I would run into something really weird that threw me off, losing me all the progress I had made. I would have laddered some more if I had the time, but I had an exam yesterday, hence most of my time went into preparing for that (Which I killed, I better be getting back a beautiful grade. Then again i criticized communism and I have had my fair share of pretty far-left teachers in the past, so who knows).

I saved a ton of replays for this, so let's have a look, shall we?

Espeon sweeps:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-660932436
Physically Defensive Umbreon Catches me by surprise as I think I am about to win with Gatr. Espy manages to win after sniping Swellow upon switchin.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-661491116
Screens save me from losin to Kommonium Kommoo-o. MY opponent chooses to toxic a +1 Gatr, which gives it a chance to 1v1 Milotic. This tells me that the Milotic is in fact not carrying Haze. I therefore proceed to set up with Espy and just win.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-662386101
Espy just sweeps TR teams outside of TR without difficulties.

Feraligatr sweeps:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-660956404
Screens go up, Gatr clicks DD and wins.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-660958940
My opponent has one answer to Gatr, being Scarf Heliolisk (or so I would assume anyway). Araquanid gives me a risk free set up as it does nothing to Gatr, and my opponent would not dare to go hard Heliolisk in case I Crunch, as he would then lose the game. Basically, it is a 50-50 that I can enforce several times during the game, but did not have to, as I got it right the first time.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-663982064
Linoone was about to sweep, but once again I run into the random PhyDef Umby. It did still get weakened for Gatr, though. After killing his Stoise, not even a Scald Burn could stop Gatr from winning. Had he been a faster Moltres I would have been forced to set up Screens first, but Gatr would still prevail.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-66398714
Stoise is weakened by Goro, opening the door for Gatr to set up and sweep.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-663990015
Milo is weakened by Goro, opening the door for Gatr to set up and sweep.

Linoone sweeps:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-660937844
Linoone sweeps behind screens. S/o to me for trying to help while I was mad at all the random stuff I had seen earlier that day. Probably should have realized it would just come off wrong if I put it in a demanding way, but I was hella tired of seeing all the bullshit people had managed to come up with.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-660954845
Screens+Safeguard means Linoone can safely set up and sweep my opponent’s team once Lix (and preferably also Durant, as a Fightinium version would still kill me behind Screens) got weakened.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-661842565
Linoone wins vs stall by setting up on Cress behind Screens. My opponent throws the game by not going for Curse with Quag on the first turn. Pangoro could also have won, as it takes a Twinkle Tackle behind veil. However, that would take a long amount of time and positioning, and at this point in time I was too tired to bother, so I just went for it, fishing for a high roll or crit. Turns out I did not need that, though.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-663983540
Linoone sets up behind Screens and wins.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-663989885

I pivot into Espy on Milo. My opponent ends up switching out for some reason, giving me the game. Linoone gets a mini sweep at the end.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-663993018
Goro weakens Dhelm for Linoone. Linoone proceeds to set up on Cress and win.

The struggles of playing on the ladder:
Game 1:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-663985489

Didn't bother calcing and automatically assumed he was CB Drap, since he had Pursuit. Turns out he was AV for some odd reason. Thus I ended up Losing my LO on Gatr, which cost me the game.

Game 2:
I had another game vs him, but I forgot to save the replay, my bad. Basically, I assumed it was Subtitute+Leech Seed Whimsicott, but as it turns out, he was in fact Leech Seed+Encore. Encore locked me into Crunch, preventing a Gatr sweep.

game 3:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-663995143
Finally won vs the ditto guy after figuring out his sets. Please, to anyone out there, refrain from using sets such as AV Drapion, Leech Seed Whimsicott and SD Crunch Gatr. It might work once, because your opponent would not expect you to bring such unorthodox sets, but it does not perform anywhere near as well as a standard set would in the long run.

I had a lot of other bullshit thrown at me too, but forgot to save replays because I was angry.

In conclusion:
Espy was probably the mon that surprised me the most during my laddering journey. It performed a lot better than I expected it to do, sweeping a solid amount of teams. Aurorus is also worth a try. It is worthy of being ranked in the VRs in my opinion, as even without screens, it is still a solid dedicated lead. DD Gatr was as good as ever. Goro performed alright, but as mentioned earlier on, it lacked just a tiny bit extra power. Linoone put in the work, though. It is definitely a solid mon in this meta, especially with memento or screens support. Overall, it was pretty fun to just play a borderline brainless playstyle. Clicking buttons and watching stuff drop always feels nice. Admittedly, Screens was tougher to play than I initially thought, but it did not take that long to get a deeper understanding on how to position myself in order to win. I guess pokemon skills transfer across playstyles, though. To be fair I have also played my fair share of veil teams before (and screens a couple of times). In any case, Screens is something I would recommend trying, as it is a nice change of pace from the other playstyles.
I’ve been running into phys def umbreon a lot too ngl
 

HypnoEmpire

Yokatta...
Alright, so I decided to try out Cryogonal for this research week because I heard Cryogonal + Gligar was good. I tried it out using the stall team I rmt'd as a base and went from there. First, I'll show you the Cryogonal sets I tried.
cryogonal.png

Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 100 Def / 24 SpD / 136 Spe
Timid Nature
- Freeze-Dry
- Defog
- Recover
- Knock Off / Toxic

OR

Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 100 Def / 160 SpD
Calm Nature
- Freeze-Dry
- Defog
- Recover
- Knock Off / Toxic

These sets function similarly to Articuno in that it can switch into and beat Nidoqueen while keeping hazards away. However, this by itself isn't enough of a reason to use it over Articuno, which offers more support to the team with Heal Bell, so I EVed it a bit differently from the norm. I gave it enough Defense to avoid a 2HKO from Mega Glalie's Double-Edge so it can beat that and keep its Spikes away. On the first spread, it's EVed to outspeed Life Orb Roserade so Cryogonal can Knock Off or Recover before it launches its next attack while the second spread avoids a 2HKO from Life Orb Roserade from full, even if it uses HP Fire into Leaf Storm. I much prefer the first spread because outspeeding Nidoqueen, Feraligatr, Decidueye, Hoopa, etc. is extremely useful, but the second spread can be used I suppose. The only real advantage I could find to using Cryogonal over Articuno is its ability to beat and keep Spikes away from Mega Glalie and its greater Speed stat which makes outspeeding Roserade possible. However, losing out on Heal Bell (which is excellent even with Umbreon on the team as having the 8 extra Heal Bell pp is great) makes it reliant on Umbreon to remove Toxics from Nidoqueen, Gligar, Milotic, etc., which is kinda lame. Pressure is also an amazing tool to have on stall, a tool which Cryogonal lacks. Here's the Articuno set I use.
articuno.png

Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 20 Def / 40 SpD / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Roost
- Defog
- Heal Bell

Next, I'll show you the teams I built with Cryogonal.

Florges mini.png
Drapion mini.png
Cryogonal mini.png
Gligar mini.png
Bronzong mini.png
Quagsire mini.png

I took my rmt and replaced Cryogonal with Articuno. This obviously left me much weaker to status, so I replaced Cresselia with Florges to provide Aromatherapy. I didn't bother using Wish on Florges and instead used a CM Synthesis set with Fairium Z and enough Speed to outpace Jolly Bewear. Florges being vulnerable to Spikes is bad, but Cryogonal beating Roserade and Mega Glalie more reliably definitely made it easier. However, I found some big issues with this change. Florges is way less physically bulky than Cresselia, which is extremely significant in its role as a Fighting-type check. A hit like Banded Bewear's Double-Edge, which would do 59% max to Cresselia, is always OHKOing Florges. I really wasn't enjoying how much more pressure Fighting-types were putting on the team, so I made a couple more changes.

Cresselia mini.png
Umbreon mini.png
Cryogonal mini.png
Gligar mini.png
Mega Steelix mini.png
Quagsire mini.png

This was the most consistent stall build using Cryogonal I've made and it was pretty fun to use, ngl. Team is kinda weak to a few threats like Meloetta, Grassium Z Virizion, and Mega Abomasnow, but I have some counterplay vs them. Hoopa and Decidueye, two big Pursuit targets for Drapion, are handled by Gligar and Mega Steelix respectively. Cryogonal is a better answer to Spikes users, so I figured it would be alright for more important defensive Pokemon on the team to be grounded.
Cresselia @ Psychium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Def / 148 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell

Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 100 Def / 24 SpD / 136 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Defog
- Recover
- Toxic

Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 56 SpD / 136 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Defog
- Knock Off

Steelix-Mega @ Steelixite
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Atk / 40 SpD / 184 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Toxic

Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Recover
- Curse
 

Mac3

im reminded theres no finer place to kiss
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnus
The winner of week 2 of research week is HypnoEmpire congratulations!

For week 3 you guys will be researching: Durant, Snorlax and Tsareena!


Durant @
Ability:
EVs:
filler Nature
-
-
-
-

Durant was one of the aim threats you had to prepare for in SM RU, now after the new games release will it still be? Durant can run 3 main sets, Choice Band which is a great breaker as almost nothing can switch into its Steel + Fighting coverage, while Choice Scarf on the other hand is a great revenge killer as it is already fast with a Choice Scarf it can outspeed many mons at +1, the last main set is Hone Claws which is a very dangerous set-up sweeper. Hone Claws can either run Darkinium Z or Fightinium Z to power up Crunch or Superpower, respectively. These three sets makes Durant a very unpredictable mon which works in its advantage.


Snorlax @
Ability:
EVs:
filler Nature
-
-
-
-

Snorlax resides in quite the high tier on Viability Rankings (A+) although from my experience it doesn't see much usage. Snorlax has 3-4 different sets (if you count AV). The first set is CurseLax with Resttalk, this set becomes extremely hard to take down after a couple of Curses and can also avoid different forms of Status thanks to rest, this means the opponent will have to have a strong physical attacker ready from the get-go or it will be a large threat to the team, Ghost types are also hard stops to this set, unless you run a coverage move instead of Sleep Talk. The next set is CurseLax but with Recycle + Iapapa Berry and Gluttony, this allows Snorlax to have a semi-reliable way of recovering HP. This set also allows Snorlax to carry two attacking options which makes it harder to switch into, sadly this set is much weaker to status as Snorlax being Toxiced loses the mon and the chance to sweep. The last set is Choice Band which is a very strong attacker that isn't that afraid of getting statused, thanks to facade, this allows Snorlax to pressure opposing teams directly which might take the opponent off-guard.


Tsareena @
Ability:
EVs:
filler Nature
-
-
-
-

Tsareena has gotten two new moves in USM, Knock Off and Power Whip, this allows it too be much more dangerous as Doublade isn't a free switch-in any more, which means it can spin easier. I've heard very good things from the LO set which runs Power Whip, High Jump Kick, Knock Off, Synthesis, sadly I haven't had the chance to try Tsareena out but a more defensive orientated set might work as well, this would probably use Rapid Spin and Synthesis with the other two moves being a bit customizable to the team's needs.

You will have to sign up with an rw3 account (rw3 mac3 for example). The laddering part will be over by Friday 8th December at 8:00pm GMT +1. Happy laddering!
 

HypnoEmpire

Yokatta...
I used Choice Band Durant and it sucks. It would be broken if it actually hit moves but it missed half the time when I used it, and having a wallbreaker than can't break walls because it can't even hit attacks sucks. Hone Claws Durant is nice, it actually hits things after a boost. It has less immediate offensive presence than I would like, but having a Z-move that can't miss helps a lot with that. I believe Fightinium Z is best on Durant to nuke Mega Steelix while hitting neutral targets like Kommo-o a lot harder, though +1 Z-Crunch being able to OHKO Doublade and Cresselia is pretty nice. Scarf Durant is a cool revenge killer, but don't use Hustle on it. You will regret it.

I didn't use Snorlax much, but I didn't enjoy using it when I did. A lot of Snorlax's checks are really good and not Pokemon you want to give free turns to. Chesnaught sets Spikes on it, Pangoro and Bewear nuke it and pretty much anything you have to switch into these two since they are so difficult to handle defensively, Doublade gets free turns vs it. It isn't even that difficult to handle for more bulky teams since they usually pack something like Haze Milotic or Quagsire. The first set I tried is standard Rest Curselax and I had a lot of issues with it. Relying on Rest for recovery sucks, especially when you really want a coverage move like Crunch over Sleep Talk. The problem here is that you can't do anything on the turns you're resting, leaving you a sitting duck for setup or for a dangerous breaker to come in. Setting up on passive stuff is nice, but that's hardly a trait exclusive to Snorlax. I don't know, Snorlax is just kinda strange. It wants to be a stallbreaker but it has a tough time stallbreaking at all, and it wants to check stuff defensively but it has a hard time doing that too since there's so much pressure on it to use Rest at nearly every opportunity. Toxic is a funny stall ct though.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-667787662

Recycle Curselax performed a lot better. Having more reliable recovery is excellent and it's nice to not be forfeiting free turns to the opponent with Rest. I didn't like how weak it is to Toxic at first, though when I started thinking of Snorlax as more like Porygon 2 I got over it. It was a lot better than I originally anticipated, anyway. I plan on trying out Choice Band Snorlax before this rw is over, and I might use Tsareena while I'm at it.
 

EviGaro

is a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
RU Leader
I only sort of laddered so eh, but I went a bit out there with Tsareena's set so I figured why not share anyway:

Tsareena @ Grassium Z
Ability: Queenly Majesty
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- Aromatherapy

I was asking around for a good set since people seemed to like this mon a lot, but wasn't really convinced about anything. The bulky set with Trop Kick can be annoying, but in facing it/seeing it in action it seemed highly specific and sometimes just bad. LO three attacks seems ok but unable to fit any utility, and I have a longstanding dislike of LO spinners even if this one has reliable-ish recovery.

I used that set a bit in RU pre-Alpha but well, it was bad. Largely because Trop Kick is an underwhelming stab for a z-move - counting stab z-Power Whip is essentially 75 BP stronger - and no way of hitting Doublade was already a massive issue. So at first glance, USM solved both problems. The nice thing with Grassium is that with Aromatherapy, you don't need to use it as an offensive move as you can heal up Tsareena to full instead, which I have done a fair amount of times somewhat surprisingly. Still, the nuke is nice for some things:

252 Atk Tsareena Bloom Doom (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 8 Def Bewear: 349-412 (91.6 - 108.1%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Tsareena Bloom Doom (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Linoone through Reflect: 219-258 (60.8 - 71.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Tsareena Bloom Doom (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Honchkrow: 245-288 (71.8 - 84.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Two big problems though: It's still not that great as a spinner? I feel like it really needs either U-turn or HJK/Low Kick - or even Play Rough to lure Kommo-o - in that slot but spin seemed like a huge part of its niche. The other problem, though a slightly lesser one, is that Tsareena would really like the adamant nature but it seemed risky in some key matchups, and if you face a Modest Nidoqueen you clean ohko with a neutral nature.

Going back to the non spinner part, Tsareena might have some worth as an offensive cleric, like I considered when thinking of that set at first. There's essentially no competition in that role in the RU metagame as of now, so it might be something to consider.
 

Mac3

im reminded theres no finer place to kiss
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnus
OK week 4, as tier shift is taking longer than I expected I will start this week now.

You will be researching: CM Fightinium-Z Meloetta, Choice Scarf Delphox and NP Hoopa.


Meloetta @ Fightinium-Z
Ability:
EVs:
filler Nature
- Calm Mind
- Focus Blast
-
-

CM Meloetta is a huge threat in the current metagame as many of the most common mons lose to it, such as Kommo-o, Nidoqueen, M-Steelix and Umbreon. This allows it to be very easy to fit onto teams as a stall breaker while also having a relatively easy typing to build around, not taking up any major defensive typings such as steel or water.


Delphox @ Choice Scarf
Ability:
EVs:
filler Nature
-
-
-
-

Choice Scarf Delphox reveng kills many of the popular offensive mons such as, Durant, Kommo-o, Nidoqueen. I'm gonna quote cyanize as he has used Scarf Delphox a lot, "Scarf Delphox revenges basically everything except Feraligatr, has solid offensive presence without having to use weak coverage most of the time, and has access to Trick allowing it to serve a purpose vs bulkier teams as well."

Hoopa @
Ability:
EVs:
filler Nature
- Nasty Plot
-
-
-

Hoopa was very good in late SM as it was one of the only reliable stall breakers in that meta. In USM though I haven't seen it used as much, this migth just because of new toy syndrome or other psychic types like Necrozma and Meloetta getting more usage which pushes Hoopa out of the team slot.

Laddering will end Friday the 22nd GMT +1 8:00pm. Happy laddering!
 

cyanize

Mantra Good I Casted So Many Spells U Idiot
is a Community Contributor
might as well do scarf phox :v alt: rw arctic wind

btw, the full set for those of you who want to use it is
Delphox @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Trick / Grass Knot
 
nvm i'm dipping, ladder is bad beyond belief.
how are u gonna deliberately force 3 speedties in a game for no reason? how do u put the z move on bad abuser and put the scarf on durant? why would u use ur free switch to sack glig? why would u risk both ur wincons vs melo when u have a solid switchin in av king? and how the hell do u get rewarded for trying to throw the game over and over by winning the speedties, getting maximum sleep turns and hitting 5 moves with scarf durant? what even...
 
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