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sickist because fuck murder dog (not u Katy you're goated and always make god-tier squads) admittedly scarf panda is pretty cool but i cannot dissuade AV + broken regenerator
Zarude is among UU's newest additions, and its extraordinary bulk, good power, high Speed, and surprisingly solid typing that allows it to effortlessly check Pokemon like Polteageist and Krookodile gives it a definite niche within the tier. Hopefully you guys can show off what this monkey can really do!!
Pretty cool balance team with Scarf Zarude. Of course Zarude + Slowbro is a really nice core, since a lot of Zarude's best checks get smacked by Future Sight. Same thing goes for Cobalion, which provides rocks and benefits from the other two mons' ability to handle bulky Water-types. Weezing does Weezing things, Noivern helps keep up the momentum with U-Turn, and Golisopod is just a nice anti-meta mon in general right now with its priority and STABs giving it a solid matchup against Slowbro, Zarude, Celebi, Starmie, Krookodile, Palossand, etc. I wanted to incorporate a Fire-type like Incineroar in here somewhere but couldn't fit it. Let me know what you think!
explanation: team built around bulk up zarude, with galarian-weezing as a defogger and bulky tank to take hits from terrakion and opposing zarude. claydol is a lycanroc-dusk check and threatens this and terrakion with earth power, ice beam is there to lure in krookodile, palossand, noivern and rotom-mow. claydol is also the stealth rocks-setter on this team with teleport to gain the momentum advantage.
zarude has bulk up and its two stabs, which after a bulk up hit really hard, its coverage is close combat for bisharp, obstagoon, and sharpedo.
darmanitan is great user of choice scarf and is also here to maintain the momentum with u-turn, therefore it can bring in either of its teammates to check things or to give them an opportunity to set-up and dish out damage. doublade is great physical tank and physical sweeper alike with swords dance, shadow sneak for priority and iron head as its stab and close combat to break thru steels like cobalion. rotom-wash is the special sweeper with nasty plot + 3 attacks; hydro pump and discharge as its stabs and volt switch as another stab and adds to the offensive nature of the team with maintaing the momentum this team gained.
I started off the team with CB Zarude + FS Slowbro + SD Tflame, which is a basic offense breaking core. I added Weezing-G as a check to Goon, Mamo, and Terrak, as well as to burn MImi and Defog. After some switching around, Tflame didn't really fit, so I removed it, made Bro TWave and Zarude into Bulk Up, to better handle the rotoms. I then added Cobalion as more insurance vs the rocks and Goon, as well as it being my rocker. Having VoltSwitch gave me a pivot core between it and slowbro, so I added Golurk as a breaker to take advantage of that. Golurk is also my main Rak/Lycan answer. Noivern was slotted into the 6th slot to have a better matchup vs Roserade and hazard setters in general. Taunt is the key to this set, as it shuts down setup attempts or hazard setting attempts, as well as helping vs Stall. Roost can also be used here, and it's honestly probably preferable, so I'll slash it. After looking at it, Noivern was a scary matchup, so Slowking was slotted in instead for it's superior special bulk. The team has some unique techs, such as Corrosive Gas Weezing for Chansey and boots mons. Psychic Fangs variants of Lycanroc-Dusk are especially annoying for this team, as well as Toxic Spikes being quite irritating to deal with. Overall, it's a cool team in my opinion at least that can showcase Bulk Up Zarude pretty well.
Edit: I cant beat that claydol stuff, its too fire :( also this looks really similar to the first team posted this week, but I promise I didnt copy, this was all original work.
Zarude seems to have quite the good movepool (and it does) but the lack of knock does suck, so instead I went with thief + itemless, and it went suprisingly well. It's pretty easy to steal boots from pivots like noivern and incineroar, who assume Zarude would switch out and that it's choiced, only for them to be suspectable to hazards.
It was only natural to pair it with Weezing G, who not only sets t spikes, but also checks fighting types for it. Cobalion's the rocker and set up sweeper, checking offensive threats like Lycanroc and Mimikyu in a pinch. Starmie runs a bulky spinner set, as it appreciates the longevity boots + recover brings for spinning longer. It especially apreciates Zarude switching agaisnt the rotoms while acting as a knock off sponge, while it in return checks fighting types and provides the team a status sponge.
Barraskewda completes a momentum core with Zarude, allowing it to capitilize on the mons Barra brings in, which includes the slow brothers and rotom wash. It outspeeding the entire unboosted tier is great for cleaning more frail / weakened teams, and with aqua jet it can rk Talon and Lycanroc. Finally is Mamoswine, who can suprise mons that would normally offensively check it, such as Terak, only to be rk'lled by an EQ, as people assume Zarude is the scarfer. Icicle spear is neat to avoid misses and bypass disquise or focus sash. Oblivious ignores annoying intimidates that prevents it from cleaning late game as well.
Edit: I hope this team isn't too similar from other submissions (Zarude+Cobalion+Weezing G is a pretty popular core I guess) and this team is centered around T spikes plus utilizing Zarude's unique typing.
Congratulations to driftingover who has won this week!! Your team will be added to the OP shortly :3
Week 7: Heracross
Use whatever set you want! Here are some recommendations:
Heracross @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Facade
- Knock Off
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Knock Off
- Spikes / Stone Edge
Heracross is often overshadowed by other wallbreakers like Terrakion or Lycanroc Dusk, but nothing really has the same level of immediate power and flexibility as Heracross does. It's also got a unique defensive typing, allowing it to easily trade with Pokemon like Zarude if needs be. How will you build with it?