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Teams for getting into NU! These teams have been selected from our Teambuilding Lab, RMT subforum, Bazaar, and user submissions to make it easier to jump into the tier. If you have a team you'd like included, feel free to post your team here with sprites, an import, and a description of the team. After consulting with the other NU mods and other experienced players I will post when new teams are added to the archive.
As sample teams are meant to be easy to use, I think Veil deserves a spot on here. Aurora Veil finds itself in a lot of variations. Aurorus and Alolan Sandslash the essential part of this team, as Aurorus sets the hail and rocks and Sandslash sets the Aurora Veil. Really the last 4 mons are really easily changeable, but I believe Virizion, Barbaracle and Turtonator make best use of it. Running the Z Move is a possibility on every of these mons, I just really enjoy Devastating Drake Turtonator.
(I can make variations of this, if u want)
Aurorus @ Focus Sash
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Encore
- Stealth Rock
Originally this team was built around the legendary bird Articuno. After some games i realized it isn't the perfect fit for this team. Aurorus is. Aurorus provides an emergency flying and normal resist which the team lacks. Also ice resists arent very common at the moment. Even some natural resists like the popular fire type in the tier, such as Incineroar, Delphox and Emboar do not appreciate a Refrigerate and Choice Specs boosted (!) Hyper Voice. Frost Breath is for random Calm Mind users and Special Defense boosts.
Hey NU!
I thought about which playstyle I should post a sample team of, because I think all of them are viable. I have build stall, hyper offense etc
I do mainly stick with building balance teams it just fits me the most.
So regarding the team, I build this for Zamrock because he is in my nupl team this year. Then shortly after I used the team to get reqs with. So you can say its battle tested and certaintly good if in the right hands.
Balanceboys
Incineroar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Atk / 108 SpD
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Darkest Lariat
- Fake Out
- Flare Blitz
Vaporeon @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
- Toxic
Hitmonlee @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 232 HP / 56 Atk / 208 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
I started building a team around a mon I wasn't so familiar with in Vileplume, a bulky mon with a great support move in sleep powder. I realized sleep powder Vileplume can pair well with Slowbro because it can take any strong grass or electric move from threats like rotom mow or sceptile aswell as being able to put any mon to sleep so Slowbro can set up easier. I also wanted a good rocker that isnt so passive so I added Sd rhydon to add a reliable rocker aswell as a bulky offensive threat to mons like Braviary and dodrio aswell as a flying resist to pair with Vileplume. I then realized my team was lacking a relible sneasel and Freeze-Dry check to I added emboar to be able to revenge these mons. I wanted a pursuit trapper since mons like meloetta and slowking are very prevalent in Nu right now and sneasel is just generally good. Last is golbat which is a reliable hazard remover and a bulky pivot which is always nice to gain momentum since my team isnt the most offensive.
Wouldn't be an NU Sample Thread without Rain, now would it? The first four mons make your standard rain core, and Garb is to absorb TSpikes. Last mon Delphox provides a Freeze-Dry resist, an auxiliary Grass resist, and a cleaner that functions well outside of Rain. Pretty simple and self-explanatory.
Machamp is basicly the best wallbreaker in SM NU with a very few switch ins, only issue that it has that it's fairly slow and not necassary bulky to take multiple hits. Because of this you want to give Machamp as much free switch ins as possible this is why VoltTurn works really well with Machamp, Rotom-Mow is basicly able to deal with everything Machamp does not like (Slowbro, Golbat to an extent, Jellicent) Golbat to get rid of hazards so Machamp takes less damage when switching in. Sneasel is for trapping Psychic types which this team right now does not like, and having strong priority is always nice. Slowbro and Steelix are there basicly to check most of the metagame with Golbat as well.
Machamp @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Facade
- Bullet Punch
Stall team that has everything you want it to have, nothing too special besides the SubRoost Pressure articuno which is a goat mon. Just to say Vikavolt destroys this team.
Audino @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Knock Off
- Toxic
Bronzor @ Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Psywave
- Toxic
- Rest
Rock-Z Virizion + Scarf Vanilluxe is a really cool combo, both forces Fire-types to come in which puts alot of pressure on those Fire-types. When either one of those die the Fire-type of the opponent has probably taken alot of damage, if not you always have Slowbro + Incineroar to check those as well as checking Psychic types. Golbat + Steelix is again to check everything in the metagame at least a little.
Virizion @ Rockium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 244 HP / 96 Atk / 168 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Toxic
Different version of my week 1 NUPL Webs team vs Kiyo, now that Meloetta is banned and threaten defog users more I replaced it with Z-Malamar, nothing too much to say about other then that you try to set up / nuke to weaken the opponant, set up / nuke again. This team has just really good synergy.
Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock
- Encore
- Knock Off
I'm kind of a noob at SM NU, so please give feedback on replacements for faulty team members. This team uses Seismitoad and Musharna as the glue, and four offensive mons. Scrafty is dd, a good set overall. Medicham is a powerful revenge killer/wallbreaker. Rotom generates momentum, and Braviary takes on stall.
Scrafty @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- High Jump Kick
Musharna @ Fairium Z
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Dazzling Gleam
- Moonlight
- Calm Mind
Medicham @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pure Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Thunder Punch
- Trick
Rotom-Mow @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Leaf Storm
- Will-O-Wisp
- Foul Play
Braviary @ Leftovers
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 208 SpD / 16 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Substitute
- Brave Bird
- Roost
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
A team I believe to be superior to my first one.
Musharna @ Fairium Z
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Dazzling Gleam
- Moonlight
- Calm Mind
Houndoom @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
Poliwrath @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Waterfall
- Encore
Vileplume @ Black Sludge
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Moonlight
- Sleep Powder
Miltank @ Leftovers
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Milk Drink
- Stealth Rock
- Body Slam
- Toxic
Samurott @ Buginium Z
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Megahorn
Dodrio @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Early Bird
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Brave Bird
- Jump Kick
- Knock Off
Houndoom @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Flame Charge
- Dark Pulse
Pretty straight forward HO team, I began with Froslass which just came in the tier. Amazing offensive typing that can also spinblock which is amazing for HO + it has Spikes, Destiny Bond is for if you need to get rid of some major threats for your team if necassary. Archeops is almost a staple as suicide lead, fast, strong, has Taunt and Endeavor not more much said about it. Rotom-Mow is for the pivoting / wallbreaker of the team + amazing typing strong, everyone knows what Rotom-Mow does and well it just fits here. Samurott as sweeper what this team still needed, there aren't much Balance cores that can deal with SD Samurott since they rely on Slowbro to deal with Water-Types. I needed a Choice Scarfer that is faster then +2 Barbaracle, Scarf Delphox, Scarf Emboar and threatens them all. Dodrio was my choice, it outspeeds +2 Barb and all the other scarfers I said above and is able to threaten them with either Jump Kick and Brave Bird. As last I need a wincon what isn't weak to Fire-Types, Flame Charge-Plot Houndoom fits the most as last there.
FerroSeis balance:
Ferroseed @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 148 Def / 112 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect
Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
Kingler12345 asked me to make a team with Ferro + Seis as defensive core for NUPL, so basicly its a nice defensive SpikeStack core that is able to deal with most of their weaknesses. Fighting-Types are an annoyance for the team right now and the team still needed hazard removal, Defog wasn't an option with SpikeStack so Golbat wasn't an option. Xatu was the only solution. Now the defensive core is done the team needs some offense and speed, Scarf Emboar gives the team speed, power and finishes the Water-Fire-Grass core. Druddigon is a pretty cool wallbreaker that people don't prepare for, able to break the balance cores / decent bulk to survive hits as well. The team needed a spinblocker and a wincon so the obivious choice is Mismagius, Misma is able function as both what the team really needed at the end.
I have here a hyper offense team utilizing one of the new drops, Froslass. I wanted to use something that forces a lot of switching to take advantage of Frosslass's spikes, so I chose Vivillon. I needed a fast mon, first one that comes to mind is sceptile. I wanted something that could switch into ice moves, so I went with z move Vaporeon, it can also setup on choice locked sneasels. Next I needed rocks, so I went with an offensive mesprit set, by I also think a defensive set could work and give me a better matchup versus Barbaracles. Offensive mesprit is good for putting pressure on golbat though, which sceptile struggles with. Last step I needed something that could revenge sceptile so I went with braviary. Braviary also can somewhat take advantage of Defog with defiant, but I haven't experienced it yet since there's only really golbat in this tier for defogging.
I started this team off with SD Buginium Z Sandslash-Alola - a fun sweeper with the ability to OHKO Slowbro at +2. It's pretty weak, so i decided to add a Froslass to provides some Spikes support. Aurorus was then added for both Stealth Rock and Hail support - with Icy Rock to help my Sandslash. That base was very weak to Emboar, so i added a Slowbro to check it. I needed another wallbreaker, and I was weak to Houndoom, so I added a Guzzlord next. I finished off the team with a Scarf Vanilluxe for both speed control and hail support. I went with Explosion instead of Flash Cannon to give an easy switch to Sandslash.
First, I’d like to give a shoutout to Kay who really helped me finish off this team. Another shoutout to my friends neomn and Stan Soojung who have always been nice, funny, and friendly in the NU room.
I know it looks bad when you first look at it - Shedinja? Mawile? Lampent? But with the right support these guys come together to create the perfect shed stall in SM NU.
Shedinja walls an incredible amount of things in the SM NU metagame - Mowtom, Sceptile, Vikavolt, Slowbro, Virizion, Cryogonal - I could go on. Saftey Goggles now allow it to wall Vanilluxe, a high-rising Pokemon in the metagame. Goggles also allow Shedinja to be immune to sleep powder and sandstorm damage. Shedinja’s ghost typing allows for situationally risk-free switch-ins to block spinners like Cryogonal or Hitmonlee.
Protect lets Shedinja scout for super-effective coverage and it runs useful support and priority for other needs of the team.
Lampent @ Eviolite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Psychic
- Fire Blast
I know you’re thinking bad things about this right now. This is one of the few things that completely walls Emboar, which is considered to be the best mon in the meta at the moment. 12 SpA EVs allow Lampent to OHKO Barbaracle with Energy Ball, while Barbaracle would think that it can setup or easily kill Lampent. Lampent can also 2HKO Emboar with Psychic while only getting 4HKO’d by Reckless Wild Charge. Rest can be an alternate option as well as Emboar might just kill itself to recoil.
252+ Atk Barbaracle Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 248 Def Eviolite Lampent: 224-266 (69.3 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
12 SpA Lampent Energy Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Barbaracle: 288-340 (101 - 119.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
-------------------------------------------
12 SpA Lampent Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Emboar: 180-212 (49.8 - 58.7%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO
Lampent also walls other fire types in the tier, such as Delphox and Typhlosion, while giving Normal- and Fighting-types problems as well.
Mawile @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Toxic
Mawile is also a hugely underrated mon in NU. Its a perfect Knock-Off absorber with Intimidate providing even less damage on Mawile’s already respectable defense. Mawile can also set Stealth Rocks, which punishes switches and helps wear down the opposing team. Mawile’s great defensive typing allows it to check the likes of Sneasal, Dodrio, Accelgor, Scyther, Braviary, Ambipom, Cinccino, Druddigon, Minior, and others.
Audino-Mega @ Audinite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Dazzling Gleam
- Heal Bell
Now some more standard Pokemon for a stall team. Audino-Mega is ridiculously bulky with great typing that compliments Shedinja especially well. Ghost immunity and Dark resist along with huge bulk on both ends allow it to use its wonderful support movepool to its full potential. Wish can be used to pass HP to teammates which lack recovery, such as Lampent and Mawile. Dazzling Gleam can hit Fighting-types and Dark-types like Scrafty, Hitmonlee, Sneasel, and others. Heal Bell can provide a way to prevent Toxic from wearing down the team extremely fast.
Hitmontop @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Close Combat
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Foresight
Hitmontop is the hazard removal and Special dark check on the team. Hitmontop works great with Mawile to provide a double-Intimidate synergy that continuously keeps dropping the opponent’s attack. Hitmontop is crucial to the team in that it checks Houndoom and Inciniroar, which the team would otherwise have trouble with. It is also important in the fact that it keeps hazards off its side of the field to allow Shedinja to switch in as much as needed. Foresight can be used effectively to nearly guarantee a spin to remove hazards.
Xatu is a wonderful tool to help aid in keeping hazards off the field, which is crucial with Shedinja. Heat Wave is for Steelix, and Grass Knot is for things like Rhydon, which pressure Xatu with super effective hits but threaten to set dangerous hazards that prevent Shedinja from doing its job. U-turn helps with pivot support to ease prediction and provide momentum.
Hope you all like the team, its been something I've been wanting to do for a while in SM NU.
basically specs guzz is sick, cryo is here for rotom cut mostly, whilst providing spin support and a ice resist, if specs ice cream clicks flash cannon just act accordingly, Delphox is here for speed control, Granbull beats fighting types and sneasel, samurott can whip teams that dont have a scept or a mowtom, rhydon is for rocks and breaking sub bu braviary.
(oh yeah and scarf delphox is the barbaracle answer, as it outspeeds standard barbs at +2)
this is THE sun team
pretty brainless hyper offense, set rocks, set sun, kill things with the rest of the team
sawsbuck and victreebel are the main sun sweepers, sawsbuck is pretty weak unboosted but it can still ruin things without a boost, victreebel can just start killing things off the bat and just gets scarier after a growth
delphox is the vanilluxe check and also likes destroying things with sun boosted fire blasts
whimsicott is actually pretty legit on sun since fairy stab is enormous and when sun runs out it's still really fast and it keeps its growth boost
main threats to watch out for are like vanilluxe and incineroar, vanilluxe messes up most weathers so it's like what can i do, incineroar walls half my team but probably gets really annoyed by having to wall half my team with no recovery
also this team struggles with fatter teams in general i think
Regirock @ Heat Rock
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
- Sunny Day
- Stealth Rock
Liepard @ Heat Rock
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Encore
- Sunny Day
Shout outs to the NU room for helping me build this and make edits, I really appreciate it. Specifically, thanks i like cute things, neomn, and Z+V for making edits! Togedemaru Balance
This team is the GOAT team of SM NU. Emboar clicks Flare Blitz three times, and if there's a Water type, surprise, there are four water answers on the team. Speaking of answers, Vikavolt has none, the best being other Togedemaru, which Emboar beats anyway. So Emboar and ice cream don't get worn down by rocks, Xatu's job is to prevent them from setting up.
The main issue with this team is it really needs Stealth Rocks up to get going, since the idea is to get the opposing Emboar as weakened as possible, since this team is pretty weak to it. Therefore, it may be wise to keep your Xatu healthy in an MU with Emboar, as well as Seismitoad to ensure you have rocks up the entire game. Another big threat to the team is Vanilluxe, which is also something you need rocks up against. The best way to beat Vanilluxe is to win some 50/50s, and if you lose that, you have to force it out with Emboar. Druddigon also can be problematic, since it can get rocks up on Xatu, as well as break the team if ice cream isn't healthy.
Other than those minor flaws, this team can be very successful, and, even I, a relatively new player to NU, has found success using this team. If you manage to find any other problems, please be sure to let me know! Thanks again to the NU room for helping me build this team, and I hope many others find success using it like I did.
This team is pretty simple, it is just full offence without setting up. Ambipom would be your lead with Fake Out, since it has STAB with technician which gives Fake Out decent power. Return can just be a STAB move with Aerial Ace being a Technician boosted flying type move with no accuracy whatsoever. Ambipom is a pretty good revenge killer as well. Mega-Audino is the healer of the team, with Wish, Heal Bell, and Toxic to deal some damage to the opposing team. Mega-Audino also has Magic Coat to ensure that those hazards get bounced back. Braiviary is our defogger, which if you do not know what that means is a hazard cleaner. It has Roost for recovery and U-Turn to switch out. Clawitzer is the main sweeper of the team, without having to set up. With Mega Launcher, i put on Pulse moves and slapped on Choice Specs to give those Pulse moves 2.0x power. Sludge Wave and Ice Beam are for coverage. Druggidon is the bulky member of the team with some nice moves with good damage, the only thing that destroys it is fairy moves. And finally Ciniccino. I call Ciniccino is the other counterpart of Ambipom since they share abilities like Skill Link and Technician. Ciniccino can destroy many opponents with Skill Link + Rock Blast / Bullet Seed / Tail Slap. Ciniccino does decent damage to any opponent and is a great team member. This team has given me some success in Never Used since i am new to it, any tips please feel free to reply to me!
Team: https://pokepast.es/68d248cd1c3ecaad
Gonna drop this team here as it's performed well during this current suspect test and when I started this tier a few days ago there weren't many teams on this thread I wanted to use. I'm going to preface this by saying that this team definitely has problems, the biggest of which is an emboar weakness and has some difficulty dealing with golbat. However, I was able to top the ladder with this in a relatively short number of games so maybe it's doing something right.
This is a fairly standard balance team based around late game sweeping with life orb hitmonlee and choice specs sceptile under tailwind. The two big offensive mons compliment each other pretty nicely as sceptile puts huge pressure on some of the mons that counter hitmonlee such as whimsicott, weezing, slowbro and garbodor, all of which take big damage from a specs leaf storm. Hitmonlee's life orb high jump kick is one of the most powerful fighting moves in the game and so can ohko a huge number of threats that sceptile can't touch. I've given this lo hitmonlee sucker punch instead of rapid spin because it's slightly more powerful than mach punch, it ohkos delphox and mismagius and because i think rapid spin lee is sub-optimal. It's wort noting that you can run reckless boosted double edge over sucker punch as well if you want to hit golbat, aromatisse and whimsicott on the switch.
Piloswine is my favourite rocker in this tier and offers great offensive presence and tankyness. The fact that it has ice shard is also really helpful for this team as i haven't opted for a scarfer. Having multiple forms of priority is really important for revenge kiling.
The last three offer a good defensive core that can deal with set up sweepers (whimsi's encore), status (vap's heal bell) and hazards (cryogonal's spin). Although I got shit for using a more defensive whimsicott, it's preformed pretty nicely for me, allowing me to tank multiple big fighting moves throughout a match and still get off a tailwind in the end game. Bluffing grass moves is pretty nice as well. I've given it enough speed to beat +1 scrafty but I didn't feel the need to give it max as cincinno (which admittedly is a big threat) and sneasel (which has ice shard anyway) were the only attackers it would otherwise outspeed. Of course, this set is can be switched out for a faster and more aggressive spread but i enjoyed using this. Cryogonal and vap are fairly self explanatory and together, these three offer pretty good synergy.
After scrapping maybe like 5 versions of the final mon slot, this is probably one of the most consistent Trick Room builds at least what I've experienced (because the lowest accuracy move is Draco Meteor which should almost always be Z'd first and if you miss like me you'll like this team). Uxie is the standard rocker/trick room lead that should be staple on every Trick Room build due its sheer bulk and utility alone. Mental Herb this time around instead of Colbur berry or Darkinium z to minimize the team's weakness to taunt/encore and it eats a knock off from almost anything at least once. I also decided not to be cute this time and make Uxie non-min speed to have a slower u-turn in trick room because Incineroar is really annoying to "outslow" in trick room and is a threat to the team otherwise. Mega-Audino is a key member for setting up Trick Room against basically any special attacker in the tier and Healing Wish support and Magic Coat to deter hazard stacking match ups from ever being an actual issue. Exeggutor-Alola as the offensive Trick Roomer of the team because NP Slowking gets its neck chopped off by Sneasel's pursuit and there's literally only 2 fairies in the tier so Dragonium Z + Draco Meteor is two free kills. Also incredibly easy to set up vs literally every grass type in the tier and every water type in the tier that don't carry ice coverage and Steelix which is the only rocker noobs play on ladder. Hariyama is important because the only fighting resist that people play is like Slowbro which gets deleted by Vikavolt and Exeggutor-Alola and everything else is 2HKO by Knock Off or Facade. Fake out over Bullet Punch is super key because this team is otherwise weak to opposing specs Vikavolt and it makes leading with Hariyama more viable. 128/128 defense ev's because Hariyama's health is huge and blah blah blah something about huge health pools with low defenses, also it survives a Delphox Psyshock after rocks. Choice Specs Vikavolt is a offensive behemoth that zaps everything after the grounds get weakened by the rest of the team and bypasses subs with Bug Buzz so set up sub mons are not the bane of this team's existence. Volt Switch over my usually preferred Sleep Talk because setting up Hariyama's Guts or setting up for the next round of Trick Room. Mega Audino with Magic Coat should (keyword should) be enough most of the time to stop sleep inducing set up sweepers and eat any one +1 z move boosted special attack.
The last member of the team is so expendable and is usually unimportant to the grand scheme of things other than a backup abuser, but Marowak proves to be more competent (not saying too much) than all the other options I've experimented with. Without a joke, there's almost no mons that are not only slow but have enough sheer power to burst through the defensive lord that is opposing Mega-Audino. Rampardos relies on inaccurate moves which is gross, Emboar kills itself after like one Flare Blitz, and Ursaring is just bad Hariyama in every other matchup. This team also loses hard to the fringe but often spammed on ladder sub bulk up Braviary set otherwise. Marowak fills both these weaknesses in one along with being a nice electric immunity. In a realistic scenario, you'll set up SD on either Braviary's Bulk up/Roost or Mega-Audino's Wish/Protect and you should be able to spam double edge/earthquake to 2HKO them. If you ever actually manage to set up an SD outside of these two scenarios, it will kill something. No Bonemerang because hitting moves > breaking random sashes and subs that don't matter.
To generally talk about the team, Barbaracle gets its shell served on a seafood platter by pretty much every member of this team. It's main weakness still is Sub Bulk Up Braviary if they get a high roll or some shit but there's nothing more you can add to the team to improve the matchup without neutering the team and max defense Mega Audino is so nigh unkillable if Marowak ever dies. Other than those two mons, late game choice specs Vanilluxe rko's the team if you let Mega Audino and/or Hariyama die early.
Hariyama vs Vikavolt Calcs (chance of killing a lead Vika early or at least leave it in rocks range if they're feeling cheeky):
252+ Atk Hariyama Fake Out vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Vikavolt: 50-59 (14.3 - 16.9%) -- possible 6HKO
Against Braviary
0 Atk Braviary Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Marowak: 142-168 (43.8 - 51.8%) -- 10.9% chance to 2HKO
(just keep pressuring it with rocks and Hariyama fake out and you won't lose 10% of the time)
252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 32 Def Braviary: 252-297 (62.3 - 73.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak Double-Edge vs. +1 252 HP / 32 Def Braviary: 335-395 (82.9 - 97.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Against Audino-Mega
0 SpA Audino-Mega Dazzling Gleam vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Marowak: 87-103 (26.9 - 31.8%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
+2 252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Audino-Mega: 316-373 (77 - 90.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(this thing literally doesn't die to shit lol)
Hyper Balance
I've thought for a long time about altering certain members of the team, and may do so in the future, but all in all each member puts in their work. If you've read the underrated pokemon thread, you've probably heard of my scrafty set. It's main perk is shed skin, letting it slip through the grasp of status. You'll be dragon dancing to heaven before they realize their burn is useless and your shed skin activates. Sweeps, wallbreaks, is very bulky (can survive a focus blast from non life orb sceptile) scrafty has all it needs to be an essential member of the team. Gurdurr is real nice to, my second status beating pokemon, it can sweep with its priority mach punch, bulk up, and amazing defensive prowess. Next, I have a pokemon that utilizes status, Lilligant, who is quite underrated in the fact of how deadly quiver dance+Normalium Z is, blowing through anything close to a counter. Slowking's future sight is monstrous, putting extreme pressure on the opponent and landing surprise kills. It acts as the catch all special tank, and is what mainly turns this team into a more balanced playstyle. Rhydon is cool, sets up rocks, can wallbreak with swords dance (it outspeeds the slow brothers and aromattisse) while acting as a catch all physical tank. Lastly, the king of kings, is ditto. Ditto can sweep. Ditto can check dangerous threats. Ditto can revenge kill. Ditto can spinblock. Ditto can do anything. This little buster is impossible to check/counter, since it assumes the guise of something on the opponents' team. He will clean in the end if nothing else can finish the job.
The Team:
Gurdurr (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Atk / 64 Def
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Bulk Up
Scrafty (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Rest