SM NU INDESTRUCTIBLE

[Rabia]

Hi, lads and lasses. Today I'm hitting y'all up with a team that gave me some pretty solid success in this last cycle of NUL, going 3-0 overall. The idea of the team was to build around Substitute + Toxic Delphox, a set that is real fun to mess around with, as well as specially defensive Swords Dance Torterra. From there, I essentially supported it with a defensive backbone of Torterra + Rhydon + Slowbro, provided the obligatory Passimian, and chose Whimsicott as my form of entry hazard removal. I have also had great success with this team on the ladder, being able to easily maintain an above 1500 elo when laddering. It's pretty simple to pilot this team, so I'll start explaining stuff now :]

@ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 180 HP / 252 SpD / 76 Spe
Careful nature
- Swords Dance
- Wood Hammer
- Earthquake
- Synthesis

Torterra serves a very important role: to check Heliolisk. Over the last month or so, Heliolisk has garnered great attention for its ability to wallbreak and take advantage of metagame trends such as the drop in usage of Mega Audino and Type: Null. Because of their departure, you see Heliolisk flexing its movesets much more easily, with options like Thunderbolt, Dark Pulse, and even Hidden Power Ice picking up in usage. Torterra provides me with a generally safe switch into Heliolisk, assuming it lacks Hidden Power Ice of course. It's also a generally solid specially defensive Pokemon, being able to live even Fire Blast from Magmortar and retaliate with an OHKO via Earthquake. Synthesis was necessary on Torterra to let me continuously check Heliolisk, as without it Heliolisk can 3HKO Torterra with Choice Specs Hyper Voice. Swords Dance is a cool move because it lets Torterra really give bulkier teams issues; there is usually no easy way for them to KO Torterra. Hence Torterra finds many opportunities to both set up Swords Dance and break teams.

I went with Shell Armor as the ability so that Heliolisk couldn't cheese Torterra with a Hyper Voice critical hit. The EVs are fairly simple: 76 Speed EVs allow Torterra to outspeed Vaporeon, while the remaining EVs look to bolster Torterra's Special Defense and allow it to take on Heliolisk and other special attackers like Whimsicott and Comfey.

@ Leftovers
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 Spe
Timid nature
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Protect
- Substitute

I chose Delphox set, as I had never used it before, and it sounded fun. The goal of this set is to get Delphox in versus something it forces out like Vanilluxe, Whimsicott, or Comfey, and then set up Substitute. Once behind Substitute, it's quite easy to just click Toxic and begin stalling out switch-ins like Incineroar, Slowbro, Slowking, etc. Delphox serves as this team's check to special attacking Grass- and Ice-types like Sceptile, Vanilluxe, and Cryogonal, as well as Fairy-types not named Diancie. Protect is a cool move because it lets me scout Choice item users like Sneasel and Passimian. If Sneasel clicks Pursuit, then Delphox can KO it with Flamethrower. If Passimian doesn't click Knock Off, then Delphox can stay in safely.

Blaze is the best ability for this set, allowing me to use Substitute to get Delphox low to the point Flamethrower receives a damage boost. The EVs allow Delphox to outspeed maximum Speed Rotom and then go into strengthening Delphox's physical defense.

@ Eviolite
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 Def
Adamant nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

Rhydon serves many roles. The purpose of adding Rhydon to the team was of course to provide Stealth Rock support, but also to check Incineroar. I wanted to try out physically defensive Rhydon, since I knew because of the way the team was going, it would be weak to Incineroar. By nearly maximizing Rhydon's physical defense, I have a great defensive switch-in to most Incineroar variants. It also checks Braviary with its great Defense and the combination of Swords Dance + Rock Blast, letting Rhydon set up alongside Braviary and break any Substitute with ease.

Rhydon's abilities are all useless, so I picked whichever one I felt like. The EVs nearly maximize physical defense while also optimizing Attack.

@ Choice Scarf
Ability: Receiver
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot

Choice Scarf Passimian is quite literally the easiest Pokemon to splash on a team, fitting on essentially any build bar stall very effectively. Because of how threatening Incineroar is, I knew I would want multiple answers to it. Passimian is also an offensive check to Heliolisk and even Decidueye, which is incredibly nice in the current metagame. Passimian provides me with another answer to it, capable of switching in once or twice and threatening Incineroar out with Close Combat. It also gives the team a source of momentum with U-turn, giving teammates like Whimsicott and Torterra a chance to get in versus the bulky Water-types Passimian typically brings in. A fun fact: Passimian lives unboosted Life Orb Draining Kiss from Comfey, allowing it to stay in if at full health versus Comfey and OHKO with Gunk Shot.

Receiver is a useless ability in Singles competition. The EVs maximize Passimian's offensive presence.

@ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot

Slowbro may have the most customizable moveset in the entire tier. The way I chose my moves was to a) beat opposing Slowbro and b) prevent scary wallbreakers like Guzzlord and Alolan Exeggutor from switching into Slowbro with ease. Slowbro provides me with a pivot into Pokemon like Choice Specs Diancie and Whimsicott too, letting me scout what move they want to lock themselves into and then switch to the appropriate defensive check. Slowbro is also an alright check to Passimian if Close Combat from it seems inevitable, although I would advise against recklessly switching this variant of Slowbro into Passimian; losing Slowbro's Assault Vest means it can't check special attackers easily anymore, and U-turn (and Knock Off) will hurt a LOT more than normal given the lack of Defense investment.

Regenerator heals a third of Slowbro's maximum HP every time it switches out, letting it consistently serve as a defensive pivot. The EVs let Slowbro outspeed Palossand and then look to maximize Slowbro's Special Attack while also giving it a boost to its mixed bulk.

@ Life Orb
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid nature
- Moonblast
- Energy Ball
- U-turn
- Defog

By this point, my thought process was that I needed at least something to switch into Guzzlord and Alolan Exeggutor and that I needed a Defogger. Whimsicott provides both of those perks while also switching into bulky Water-types like Slowbro and Vaporeon and immediately threatening them. Whimsicott gives the team another source of pivoting, forming a pivoting core with Passimian quite nicely. Additionally, it gives me another soft check to Fighting-types, further helping that matchup. I did opt for Life Orb > Choice Specs because the idea of being Choice locked into Defog was just not doing it for me. The loss in power is somewhat noticeable against Pokemon like Assault Vest Slowbro and Slowking, but it's worth it in my opinion.

Infiltrator was chosen over Prankster so that I could Defog versus Incineroar. Infiltrator also lets me hit Pokemon like Braviary when they are behind Substitute. The EVs maximize Whimsicott's specially offensive presence.



I hope you guys/gals enjoyed this team, and I hope to see some of you using it in roomtours or on the ladder! I believe it to be one of my most reliable teams in recent building, and if it brought me success, then I believe you too can find some! :]

import

Torterra @ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 180 HP / 252 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
- Swords Dance
- Wood Hammer
- Earthquake
- Synthesis

Delphox @ Leftovers
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Protect
- Substitute

Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 Def
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Swords Dance

Passimian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Receiver
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot

Slowbro @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot

Whimsicott @ Life Orb
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Energy Ball
- U-turn
- Defog

​

 

[Blast]

SR Diancie > Rhydon still keeps Incineroar and Braviary in check but also checks Vivillon better, which throttles you if it's packing Energy Ball. There's also some experimenting you could do with your open Z-Crystal slot: Fairium Diancie's the most obvious one which can help weaken bulky Waters for Delphox, but I think Grassium Torterra could be an option as well if you wanna run Shuca Diancie.

Aside from that, I'd recommend running a Psychic move on Slowbro somewhere since Golbat seems pretty annoying, outside of your Rock-type it can pretty easily Roost off damage from the entire team. Gl dude