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INTRODUCTION

Greetings, people of Reborn. As some of you might now, I recently broke up with my girlfriend after 3 years of seemingly perfect relationship. Because of this, I decided not to go to the new year's eve party organized by my friends: you see, each and every one of my friends will bring along their respective gfs, and given that I am still depressed about my love story ended, I am not really prepared to be the only one without anyone to kiss at midnight... So yeah, I have decided to stay at home. And while I am here, I'll be posting my latest and most succesful creation, a NU team that will have the distinction of being the first RMT posted in this forum in the year 2015 (which is starting as I type these words, at least in my timezone). Without further ado, here is the team.

AT A GLANCE

389.gif629.gif531.gif171.gif57.gif210.gif

Quite frankly, competitive battling has become quite boring for me as of late. OU is all about "OMG there are more threats that I can possibly hope to be able to counter, I need to try and have an out for everything!", resulting in battles where strategic switches occur more often than attacks... And well, that most definitely isn't what Pokemon was supposed to be about. Luckily, the lower tiers (and the lower you get, the better) are still rather safe from this phenomenon, and it is still possible to have fun down there: strategizing, guessing the correct switches, wearing down opponents and eventually finding an opening to sweep can be a lot of fun, when you are free from the pressure of "crap I forgot to run a counter for that threat! I am doomed!", which is basically what OU is all about nowadays...

THE TEAM IN DEPTH

389.gif@ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Synthesis

Torterra is the reason why I decided to play NU this gen. I have always loved the design of this Pokemon, but I have always hated its typing, with that crippling double weakness to Ice (on top of a mediocre Special Defense) making it a pain to face anything that runs Ice Beam, competitively and in-game alike. However, In NU this guy (which is actually PU, a Smogon tier that is lower than NU, which can sometimes be an advantage because opponents will have a hard time predicting your moves) can find itself an important niche: you see, all the Rock-type mons (except Probopass) down here are physical attackers, and run Earthquake as a coverage move. And all Ground-type mons (except Seismitoad) are physical attackers and run Stone Edge as a coverage move. With its respectable physical bulk (emphasized by max investiments in HP) and its typing, Torterra can easily laugh at both these moves, and threaten enemies with its powerful STAB moves: with maximum Atk investiments and an Adamant Nature, Wood Hammer can 2KO or even OHKO virtually any Ground- and Rock-type in the tier, with EQ taking care of the few exceptions like Probopass. Mega Steelix, which is rapidly imposing itself as the top Ground-type in the tier, is actually 3KOed or even 4KOed if they go full defense, but the fact is, it can barely 3KO back with Iron Head, with all other moves it gets being less effective than that, and Torterra has a reliable recovery in Synthesis, something Steelix obviously lack. So yeah, Torterra can beat most Rock- and Ground-type mons in one on one situations, which means it will be forcing a lot of switches, and this means I'll have a lot of occasions to use Stealth Rock. This works very well in combination with Vullaby: since my Stealth Rock user is not a suicidal lead, and actually seeks to stay alive as long as possible and contribute to the team throughout the entire match, I can Defog away all hazards on the field, including my own, and rest assured that I'll have another occasion to make up for it by using SR again... Shell Armor is chosen as an ability as part of the mentioned mentality: when you are trying to stay alive as long a you possibly can, using Synthesis to heal in the face of mons that fail to 2ko, you don't want a random crit to ruin everything...

629.gif@ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Toxic
- Foul Play

The first half of my defensive core, this little guy is as bulky as its (in)famous evolved form, courtesy of Eviolite.My team isn't that weak to SR (the only mon weak to Rock actually is Vullaby itself), but Defog is always nice to keep away more dangerous hazards like Toxic Spikes, as well as Screens. Roost is a reliable recovery, which is something you crave when using a NFE Pokemon as a wall (sacrificing Leftovers for Eviolite hurts), Toxic helps to put a timer on opponents, particularly on set-up sweepers that cannot really hurt Vullaby even after a boost or two (believe it or not, but in more than an occasion Vullaby had no problems handling Miltank at +6), and Foul Play is there for Sub-DD Feraligatr: you see, originally there was Knock Off in the fourth spot, because Audino carries it as well and so I thought it would be cool to have it on both halves of my defensive core, to remove items from as many opponents as possible... But then I found out that Knock Off fails to break Feraligatr's sub, and so, with Toxic out of commission, the crocodile was able to set-up in Vullaby's face and then wipe out my team. Enter Foul Play, which is more than enough to solve the problem: I sometimes miss not being able to remove held items, but killing opponents with their own Atk is priceless...

531.gif@ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Knock Off

I honestly fail to see why people would ever consider using Mega Audino as a wall. I mean ok, Mega Audino, being a Mega, has better stats, but are they so incredibly good to make justify losing the passive recovery of Leftovers, along with the single best ability a wall could ever hope to get? I asked myself this question and I came to the conclusion that no, there is no stat boost that will ever justify losing Regenerator. The ability to pass wishes and heal myself at the same time is just too important. In more than an occasion I have found myself late in the game, with Audino still at full health: such is the power of Regenerator. And Knock Off is sweet to take away important items from mons that people tend to switch into Audino the moment they realize it is not the Mega variant, most notably Gurdurr: a Gurdurr without its Eviolite is an easy prey for Granbull, also a Haunter without Choice Scarf won't be able to use Trick nor to outspeed Primeape. The importance of held items should never be overlooked, and this goes double for the importance of taking said held items away.

171.gif@ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Protect
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Ice Beam

This guy was originally supposed to run 252 SpAtk over 252 SpDef, Assault Vest over Leftovers, and Thunderbolt over Protect. I switched to the set you see here after realizing that the passive recovery, helped by Protect, was something I needed, and that Thunderbolt would regularly fail to kill anything significant anyway. Basically, all Lanturn has to do is to absorb Electric attacks while sponging Ice attacks aimed at Torterra (read, Ice attacks from Water mons that use Ice Beam for coverage. Don't you ever ever ever switch Lanturn into an Ice-type mon like Cryogonal, because Freeze Dry is becoming more and more popular these days. Use Audino to wall those), and then complement Primeape by being a slow Volt Switcher: take a hit, tag out with Volt Switch, and grant a free switch-in to a companion. The resulting Volt-Turn engine with Primeape is very powerful, and can force many popular defensive cores open... And well, the extra muscles of the Assault Vest variant could come in handy for that, but I still am iffy about losing passive recovery on such a defensive mon. I would like to get some feedback on which set you guys think is the better...

57.gif@ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Gunk Shot

Scarf Primeape is a handy mon to have in NU. Being able to outspeed virtually every mon that doesn't carry a Scarf of its own, getting an Atk boost off opponent's Defog/Intimidate (which lets him 2ko non-max def Granbull with Gunk Shot, btw) and boasting a pretty powerful Close Combat, Primeape is fantastic for scouting with U-turn early on, and then coming back near the end of the match to finish worn out teams off with a Close Combat rampage. Stone Edge and Gunk Shot are there for coverage, but please be aware that, while they can handily 2ko many mon that resist Close Combat and/or U-turn, they will sometimes fail to OHKO (for example, Gunk Shot rarely OHKOes Granbull even at +1, let alone at +0), so you should only use them on predicted switches. DO NOT CARELESSLY USE THEM TO ATTEMPT A REVENGE KILL, because you might fail quite spectacularly only to be OHKOed back (the unreliable accuracy of both moves doesn't help either). Basically, what you want to do with Primeape is to just spam U-turn to gain momentum and wear opponents out. Then, when the opponent is left with 1-2 Pokemon that are low in healt and/or cannot really take Close Combat, find an opening to send Primeape out (Lanturn helps with that) and push for game by spamming Close Combat...

210.gif@ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
- Close Combat

I am not a fan of running two users of Choice items in the same team, but Band Granbull is honestly a beast. Between its respectable bulk (emphasized by the given spread), Intimidate and its brand new Fairy typing, Grandbull can handily take on most physical threats of the tier, including Sawk, Gurdurr, Feraligatr and virtually every Dark mon around. Between its raw power and its ability to further lower the opponent's Atk, Play Rough is your go-to move you'll use in most situations. The other coverage moves are only there for when you predict a switch-in (by Musharna, Vileplume and Steel-type mons respectively), and shouldn't be used outside of catching the opponent on the switch. On this regard, Close Combat is chosen over Earthquake to nail Steel-type mons, because Eviolite Ferroseed is around.

CONCLUSIONS

Well, here is the team. As fireworks crack outside, I give to you my latest creation: please let's start this 2015 with some polite, constructive and possibly well-explained criticism! If you want to try the team out, feel free too: happy new year everyone!

THE IMPORTABLE

Torterra @ Leftovers
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Synthesis

Vullaby (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Toxic
- Foul Play

Audino @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Knock Off

Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Protect
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Ice Beam

Primeape @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Gunk Shot

Granbull @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
- Close Combat

Edited by Tomas Elliot
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If you have problems with OU, you could always play UU, and lower, which you are. INNOVATION :D. But wow these mons are reaaally good. I had no idea Primeape got Gunk Shot, and sadly you won't run Mega Audino? It has 103/126/126 as defenses. Yeah. Wow. Buuut it has healer. not bad gf not bad. You could still prolong the mega evolution to make use of Regenerator. But I guess that's not good enough? I like this team tho. I might run defensive Torterra, but you have many walls already so ehhh...n_n

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If you have problems with OU, you could always play UU, and lower, which you are. INNOVATION :D. But wow these mons are reaaally good. I had no idea Primeape got Gunk Shot, and sadly you won't run Mega Audino? It has 103/126/126 as defenses. Yeah. Wow. Buuut it has healer. not bad gf not bad. You could still prolong the mega evolution to make use of Regenerator. But I guess that's not good enough? I like this team tho. I might run defensive Torterra, but you have many walls already so ehhh...n_n

If by "defensive Torterra" you mean with 252 EVs in Def instead of Atk, know that I have actually tried it in the past. And I decided to switch to a more offensive approach (but not too offensive, I still run Leftovers and Synthesis after all...) because, without the extra muscles, Torterra failed to beat Regirock, Sandslash and Mega Steelix in one-on-one situations. And well, considering that the whole idea behind its choice was to use it as a reliable check for those very mons... And no, there is nothing you can say to persuade me that a stat boost is worth losing Regenerator. That ability is just too good for a cleric: I can see Mega Audino being a good bulky CM sweeper, but that is not what this particular team needs... Besides, if I have to use a Fairy-type, I'd rather go for something that isn't 2koed by Sawk's Close Combat (hence why I picked Granbull)...

Overall, the team has nice coverage capable of handling most offensive and defensive threats in the tier, so I don't see any particular weaknesses, although Jynx may put in some work if Audino is weakened and Primeape is gone. Great work ^_^

Thanks, I appreciate it. To be honest, in all my test matches (and I have had quite a lot) I have never faced Jynx, not even once. It is a strange coincidence, yes, but as a matter of fact I really don't know how this team would do against her... I guess Audino can handle her? Also, she cannot really switch into anything my team has, with the sole exception being Scald from Lanturn if Jynx has Dry Skin...

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I haven't tested it yet, but by playing NU myself, I have three points to present that will hurt the team, given the ones I like to use in the tier.

First is a mixed set of Electivire (wild charge, t-bolt, ice punch, eq). You can scare it with EQ from scarf Ape, or do well timed switches between mons. If it's combined with a sweeper set from Golurk (like rock polish) and catches you at CC, (as it can live two) it can hurt really bad, especially since those carry band to compensate from a possible intimidate.

Another is an opponent having the same type of Primeape.

Third, the use of Mantine. You can kill with Stone Miss, or try a volt switch to get rid of it. If you switch on it with Lanturn you might have to resort to constant changes between Audino and Lanturn to avoid getting toxiced and kill it to prevent from PP stalling you or worse, forcing you to lose HP due to spikes or rocks.

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I haven't tested it yet, but by playing NU myself, I have three points to present that will hurt the team, given the ones I like to use in the tier.

First is a mixed set of Electivire (wild charge, t-bolt, ice punch, eq). You can scare it with EQ from scarf Ape, or do well timed switches between mons. If it's combined with a sweeper set from Golurk (like rock polish) and catches you at CC, (as it can live two) it can hurt really bad, especially since those carry band to compensate from a possible intimidate.

Another is an opponent having the same type of Primeape.

Third, the use of Mantine. You can kill with Stone Miss, or try a volt switch to get rid of it. If you switch on it with Lanturn you might have to resort to constant changes between Audino and Lanturn to avoid getting toxiced and kill it to prevent from PP stalling you or worse, forcing you to lose HP due to spikes or rocks.

Honestly, Electivire has never given me any serious problem, but I admit it might be because all the exemplars I've faced this far were being operated by noobs (for some reason Electivire is popular among noobs, or at least, I got this impression). No Guard Golurk is dealt with by Torterra, and Iron Fist Golurk, while harder to stop, is still contained by Granbull.

Primeape has indeed given me more than a headhache, I admit being forced to rely on the speed tie in a couple occasions... But I don't really know how to solve the problem! I often try to lure Primeape in with Audino, and Knock Off its Scarf on the switch, but I'll be the first to admit this isn't the best strategy around...

Mantine is... Just another guy. I don't remember ever feeling threatened by it, to be honest...

EDIT: on second thought, maybe Torterra can handle Primeape?

Edited by Tomas Elliot
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A Wood Hammer is enough to dispose of it. However, at +1 the Ice punch will OHKO and CC might 2HKO, that if you switch in. EQ is not enough to dispose of Granbull, so the dog is your best bet against it (if it doesn't carry Gunk Shot, but Ice punch, the most common set)

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The glaring weakness in my opinion is that you have no Special attacking fire power. Lanturn is your only special attacker period and it's base 76 special attack isn't very impressive. If you run into a physical wall you might be screwed.

I know I don't have a special attacker, but the fact of the matter is, I never really felt that I needed it. You see, physical walls in NU are scarce and have some glaring weak spots that can be easily exploited, so I deliberately gambled on that. Not to mention most walls in NU are just that: walls. It might be true that I cannot touch them, but they cannot touch me back either, so I am far from "screwed" even if I face them. But let's have a look at the walls of the tier in detail, shall we?

Mega Steelix cannot beat Torterra, same goes for Sandslah. Using Torterra with this set was a decision I made specifically with those guys in mind, so of course they are not a problem for me.

Torkoal is devastated by the fact that it is often the safest switch-in my opponents have for Primeape, meaning that I can U-turn in its face and immediately send out Lanturn, whose Scald, while not very impressive, is still enough to OHKO Torkoal, whose special defense is quite frankly horrid. Same goes for Eviolite Rhydon, which is also a common switch in for Audino, which means I can play a bit with prediction and knock its Eviolite off.

Eviolite Ferroseed is obliterated by Close Combat from both my attackers.

And we get to the Poison ones: Vileplume and Weezing. Sure, as I lack a Psychic-type special attacker, I of course lack a way to hurt them... But the fact of the matter is, they lack a way to hurt me back either. Neither Vileplume nor Weezing can get past my defensive core, so the idea is to just knock their items off and wear them down untill I calculate they are low in health enough for my attackers to go to town. Weezing is particularly easy to beat this way because it lacks a reliable form of recovery: as for Vileplume, it usually is the go-to switch in for Granbull, meaning that, with a bit of prediction, it can be hurt badly with Ice Fang. The whole point of this team is to slowly wear down opponents anyway, so I don't necessarily need a way to make it past a specific wall in one turn: with a team this solid defensively, I can afford to wait...

This being said, it is still true that I am not really using Lanturn as a wall nowadays (like, I often switch Audino into special attackers anyway, unless it is something Lanturs resists): I still like it because a slow Volt Switch grants free switch-ins to companions, but truth be told, I can live without it. So yeah, if you have some ideas for a Volt Switcher that has better offensive presence and can scare some of the mentioned defensive threats, possibly without ruining the balance of the team, I am open to suggestions :)

Or I could use a bulky CM Mega Audino instead of Granbull and get myself a Musharna, but I am kinda iffy about this option... Wish+Regen is the pulsating heart of this team...

vileplume walls 90% of this team

this team is also looking a little weak to scarf jynx

also sub dd gatr is sub-par in comparison to bulky sd gatr

speaking of sd gatr, this team also kinda gets doodooed on by it

I already addressed the Vileplume bit.

You can say all you want that Sub DD Gatr is inferior to bulky SD Gatr, but this doesn't change the fact that some people will be running it, so I better be prepared. With this moveset, Vullaby has no problems taking on any variant of Gatr, so heck with that.

As for Jynx, I repeat what I said earlier: I never faced one, so I really don't know. However, given that one third of my team has Protect, dealing with scarfers in general shouldn't be that hard... I mean, Audino should generally be able to wall anything not named Psyshock, so all I need to do is to use Protect: if the opponent has indeed scarfed themselves into Psyshock, all I need to do is to switch to Vullaby... Similarly, in situations when I have Vullaby/Torterra out, switch to Audino to tank the Ice Beam, and if they outpredict me and go with Psyshock, I highly doubt it will OHKO Audino, so all I need to do is to double-switch to Vullaby and let Regenerator handle the rest...

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so you just count on yourself outplaying your opponent every turn in every game you play? nice plan.

as for your concerns for a volt switcher, scarf rotom is bulky enough to tank unresisted hits and volt switch with some stall-breaking capabilities with trick. but obviously if we follow the trends you've shown in previous rmts and in this one as well, that suggestion will get shit on. you say you're open to suggestions and improvements but all i see is denial and the whole "i made this it cant get better" bullshit.

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so you just count on yourself outplaying your opponent every turn in every game you play? nice plan.

as for your concerns for a volt switcher, scarf rotom is bulky enough to tank unresisted hits and volt switch with some stall-breaking capabilities with trick. but obviously if we follow the trends you've shown in previous rmts and in this one as well, that suggestion will get shit on. you say you're open to suggestions and improvements but all i see is denial and the whole "i made this it cant get better" bullshit.

I only "shit on" comments that are not helpful/constructive (like yours). If you check my other RMT, you'll see that the moment a guy actually took two minutes of his life toexplain his suggestions and post something deeper than "lol dude this Pokemon is going to destroy you", I immediately thanked him and embraced his suggestions. So please, spare me your selective memory.

Besides, if you dislike me so much and you are so sure that I spout nothing but bullshit, why posting in my topic in the first place? I am a horrible person, so just stay away from me.

If you are here to actually discuss stuff and not to stir drama and bait people into quarrels, then please be gracious enough to answer a question of mine: which Rotom are you talking about? The regular form or the Flying form? Because I don't really think the Flying form would fit in this team, as it would add another Ice weakness that I really don't need. The regular form is something I have never ever used in my (admittedly not that long) NU career, so I am clueless about what it can do: can it really take some unresisted hits? 3 immunities are great, I can see that, so I guess it can find plenty of occasions to switch in... But which moves would it use? Trick/Volt Switch/Shadow Ball/WoW with a Choice Specs?

I am not really that happy about having 3 Pokemon with a choice item, but I guess Trick mitigates the problem...

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then do away with banded granbull. it's better as a fully defensive mon in the first place and since you have nothing to really take on fighting spam teams. dual scarf isnt bad in nu. and if you reread my post, i did not mention flying rotom.

granbull:

Granbull @ Leftovers/Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Play Rough
- Earthquake
- Thunder Wave
- Heal Bell

rotom:

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt/Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Trick

you'll have to excuse my lack of tact in my previous comments as well. was rather peeved at irl issues this morning.

your comments of

OU is all about "OMG there are more threats that I can possibly hope to be able to counter, I need to try and have an out for everything!", resulting in battles where strategic switches occur more often than attacks...

however, show your lack of knowledge in the tier. the immense number of threats in nu is nothing to laugh at. look at these mons and tell me how your team could even begin to handle some of these offensive threats.

Camerupt (Mega)

Feraligatr
Hariyama
Kangaskhan
Lilligant
Mesprit
Steelix (Mega)
Typhlosion

Archeops
Gurdurr
Mismagius
Pyroar
Rotom
Scyther

Cacturne
Gorebyss
Jynx
Kabutops
Ludicolo

Musharna
Samurott
Sawk
Sneasel​

most, if not all, of these an punch holes through your team.

overall i'd give the team a 4/10 just because it's sort of a meh balance squad that gets broken by any combination of pokemon in the list ive provided.

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then do away with banded granbull. it's better as a fully defensive mon in the first place and since you have nothing to really take on fighting spam teams. dual scarf isnt bad in nu. and if you reread my post, i did not mention flying rotom.

granbull:

Granbull @ Leftovers/Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Play Rough
- Earthquake
- Thunder Wave
- Heal Bell

rotom:

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt/Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Trick

you'll have to excuse my lack of tact in my previous comments as well. was rather peeved at irl issues this morning.

You could have just ended it here, and it would have looked like at attempt at actually being helpful. The condescending tone and the great amount of "stealth" insults in the rest of your post show that yes, you are just here to bait me into a quarrell after all, specially that list of threats that my team supposedly is destroyed by, despite the fact that I have already addressed half of those in previous posts of mine (Mega Steelix is particularly hilarious, as its presence in the list clearly shows you haven't even bothered to actually read the OP).

I'll test the changes you have suggested and I thank you for those, but really, untill you have solved your alleged "irl issues this morning" (or untill you have done something about your manners, I dunno) I would really appreciate it if you could refrain from posting in this topic or any other started by me from now on. It is evident you have, for reasons I cannot fathom, a problem with me, and you are just doing everything in your power to belittle, ridicule, and bait me into one of those silly flame fests. I ask of you as politely as I can: please stop.

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