hi
IceMaster-Mew , I'm your secret santa! You requested for Galarian Darmanitan, and I built a normal-looking team with it and a spicy (but very unreliable one). I hope you like the first team and have fun with the second one
----- (the team)
----- (the meme team)
Tbh I really hate Ice in a sense that it wins vs my favorite types, is so frail, and its the type with Weavile (I hate it so much pls delete it). However, building these two teams made me feel a bit attached to Ice, mainly because its actually strong (wins vs the top types too), and Darmanitan-Galar is such a fun mon.
Building Process
For the Original team:
We start with Darmanitan-Galar, because that's the core you requested. I used a Choice Scarf on it because its Attack is more than enough to delete most Pokemon in the meta that aren't walls. Because of Choice Scarf, there really isn't a matchup where its a liability.
Since Darmanitan is quite slow even with a Choice Scarf, so I paired it with another Scarfer, Weavile. Weavile can clean up a lot of types after Darm and co. blast through them, but the notable ones are Flying, Rock, Ghost, Psychic, and Dragon. Ice Shard is there because I...really didn't have any other move to slot in, plus its a failsafe vs something like Dragon Dance Dragapult.
Since we're currently have the fast Pokemon covered by Weavile and Darmanitan, we have to get a mon that deals with
fat. Kyurem fits the bill, from making Toxapex cry, to whittling down Steel's core, Sub-Roost is just that strong. 56 HP EVs allows it to outlast Seismic Toss users like Blissey, as they are unable to break your sub. Aside from breaking fat, Kyurem can drain the PP of slow but threatening Pokemon such as Gyro Ball Ferrothorn, Heavy Slam Celesteela, and Stone Edge Tyranitar, to name a few.
Ninetales-Alola has Aurora Veil, it prolongs the longevity of the team and makes Kyurem even more annoying to deal with. Encore is used to annoy hazard setters and setup sweepers, as they can take advantage of Ninetales.
Piloswine is our hazard setter, Volcarona and Blacephalon check, and Electric immunity. It's pretty tanky too because of the Eviolite boosts. 12 Atk EVs allow it to always OHKO Volcarona with Rock Slide, as it cannot OHKO you even at +2.
At first, I had Cloyster, but I swapped it to Avalugg because I thought hazard removal > hazard stack. Avalugg is a great mon- you can virtually win 1v1s vs. Swords Dance Scizor with this Iron Defense set, win vs Rock assuming you have removed Nihilego, and remove Close Combatters like Zeraora with it. Sturdy, in conjunction with Heavy-Duty Boots allows it to remove hazards at least once- or kill the offending Pokemon with Body Press.
Here is a replay showing off the strength of Avalugg.
For the meme team:
Zen-Darm is fun. You can sometimes setup Substitute, as most people predict that it's choiced. Salac Berry + Zen mode allows it to be extremely fast, notably outspeeding Adamant Excadrill under Sand, and Regieleki.
However, Physical Walls like Slowbro give it trouble, so Rotom-Frost was added. Rotom-Frost also breaks down slower teams such as Poison, and Ice-Electric coverage makes it hit almost everyone.
We still need a Volcarona / Fire check, so DD Kyurem was added. The EV spread makes it hit 424 speed at +1 (outspeeding Zeraora), the bulk makes it sure that it doesn't die to Dragapult's Dragon Darts or Draco Meteor, gets 5HKO'ed by Celesteela's Heavy Slam under Aurora Veil, and lives anything Volcarona does at +1.
To setup safely, screens are still needed. Freeze dry is now more important because Kyurem isn't running a SubRoost set.
We still need a hazards setter, and without removal, we have to somehow deny Stealth Rocks and Sticky Webs (which hamper Zen Darm). Ghost-typing also helps so that Zeraora just doesnt Close Combat us to death....
Weavile is the best revenge killer and cleaner on Ice teams. I hate this guy. The biggest flaw on this meme team is that 1.) its a meme, 2.) no ground-type means you have to be very aggressive in Electric mu, 3.) There really isnt a Scizor check here (though +2 Rotom does OHKO with Tbolt, while Scizor fails to OHKO it), 4.) Rock, Fighting, Fire, Water Matchups are pretty hard due to the lack of Bulky Kyurem, and 5.) Speed control only being Weavile is pretty rough, as this team is even technically slower than the first one.
That's all, I hope everyone enjoys Secret Santa (so that it would be a thing next year, perhaps?)