Introduction
Hey guys, and welcome to my third RMT! This is my second RMT for the NU tier, which is the tier I play the most. For anyone who wants to check out my first NU RMT using Sticky Webs Offense with Ursaring, the link is here. But this time, I've come with a more balanced team to post. It is an adaptation of a balance team TTFTW passed to me a while back. Though it was a great team, I decided to add in some more offense. I picked Jynx to throw on to this squad because an early game wallbreaker really allows this team to whittle down the big threats that must switch into attacks they otherwise wouldn't with the defensive tanks out of the way.
This team features a bulky Stealth Rocks+Rapid Spin Rindo Berry (Or alternatively Colbur Berry) Claydol, SD Lum Berry Samurott, Scarf Rotom, a very tanky Ferroseed, Defensive Toxic Spikes Weezing, and standard Nasty Plot Jynx.
(Oh yeah and all the nicknames suck oops)
Hey guys, and welcome to my third RMT! This is my second RMT for the NU tier, which is the tier I play the most. For anyone who wants to check out my first NU RMT using Sticky Webs Offense with Ursaring, the link is here. But this time, I've come with a more balanced team to post. It is an adaptation of a balance team TTFTW passed to me a while back. Though it was a great team, I decided to add in some more offense. I picked Jynx to throw on to this squad because an early game wallbreaker really allows this team to whittle down the big threats that must switch into attacks they otherwise wouldn't with the defensive tanks out of the way.
This team features a bulky Stealth Rocks+Rapid Spin Rindo Berry (Or alternatively Colbur Berry) Claydol, SD Lum Berry Samurott, Scarf Rotom, a very tanky Ferroseed, Defensive Toxic Spikes Weezing, and standard Nasty Plot Jynx.
(Oh yeah and all the nicknames suck oops)
The Team
Clay Dolan (Claydol) @ Rindo Berry/Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 16 Def / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball/Earth Power
Now, look. I realize SR+Rapid Spin Claydol isn't all that good and Claydol isn't all that good period, but the decent bulk and solid SpDef Claydol provides right off the bad is pretty nice. It does have the burden of setting up rocks AND spinning away hazards, which can be a pain at times, but surprisingly, this thing has done its job pretty well. I still believe this set isn't all that good for most any other team, though, and could perhaps use work. Luckily, this team meshes well together so Claydol isn't under pressure that much at all. I've been advised to go with 3 attacks and switch the Stealth Rocks over to Ferroseed, but for now, I'm keeping it this way. Psychic is obviously the main STAB move for this mon, and the final slot can be used to run tons of moves, from Shadow Ball to Earth Power to Ice beam and the list goes on, but I've found that Shadow Ball and Earth Power are the two most useful second attacks Claydol has to offer as to help neutralize the biggest threats to the team.
Pharaoh S. Reed (Ferroseed) (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 140 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def / 108 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Gyro Ball
Probably the best wall on the whole team is Ferroseed. Ferroseed is so fun to toy around with, as it can 1v1 almost everything that isn't a fire type or grass type. Gyro Ball is the only way this thing can attack, not that it finds itself doing so all that often. Mr. Pharaoh here acts as a hazard setter and stall mon, and a really nice way to whittle down physical attackers. The 108 SpDef is there so that this mon isn't easily knocked out by a special attack so long it is still holding Eviolite. It isn't an uber specific number for any reason, but it helps a lot in tight spots where all Pharaoh needs is a Leech Seed and a Protect to perhaps stall a special attacking mon. Recommendations I've gotten for this mon is to replace Spikes with Stealth Rocks so I can run three attacks and Rapid Spin on my Claydol, but Spikes have come in clutch so many times with chip damage that I prefer it over rocks on this pokemon.
Wendy Zing (Weezing) (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Sludge Bomb
- Dark Pulse/Pain Split
- Toxic Spikes
This is a fairly standard Weezing for Toxic Spikes and as a defensive wall. I found myself at first using some randomly high number of EVs in SpDef to see if it would help at all, and Weezing still hardly stood a chance against most every special attacker. The only thing that may be different is the Dark Pulse/Pain Split. I personally have yet to run Pain Split on this Weezing. I have before on other teams I have with Weezing to good effect, so I believe it would work well here. However, crippling everything with Will-O-Wisp, thus weakening the attacks of many of the pokemon Weezing has to face that much weaker, allows for me to explore more options in place of Pain Split, as Weezing tends to lose health very slowly throughout battles. I've run Taunt, but it wasn't that good because Weezing isn't outspeeding much. Dark Pulse is nice to screw over people who switch into Psychic and Ghost types, and while it doesn't tend to do that much, it does provide very nice chip damage onto pokemon with that typing. I believe after testing that Pain Split is better, but Dark Pulse is a fun option. Other than that slot, this is a very standard Defensive Weezing.
Samantha Rott (Samurott) (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Megahorn
- Swords Dance
Now we're to the offensive side of the team, which is where things get fun. This is a standard SD Samurott, a mon that's been vitally important to this team time and time again. And honestly, one reason it is so badly needed is that it is one of the two(!) physical attackers on the whole team, if you wanna count Ferroseed as a physical "attacker". Before adding Jynx in, this was the only consistent offensive presence the squad had, but it always has the capability to get a couple kills a game. I've seen special Samurott occasionally used as an early game wallbreaker, but the SD set I use almost exclusively as a late game cleaner.
Roman Thomasson (Rotom) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
Another offensive presence for this team that can come in at any time is Choice Scarf Rotom. Rotom is the Choice Scarf user in NU, and almost always seems to have some effect on the game. Whether it be tricking to steal Eviolite to make a pokemon easier to be swept, Volt Switch chip damage, or just straight killing things with Volt Switch, Thunderbolt, or Shadow Ball, Rotom always finds some quirky way to help me out. It's by no means the best pokemon or best offensive presence on the team, but being able to trick things like Rhydon, Gastrodon, Ferroseed, and defensive pokemon such as those is such a nice utility that can change the game when the momentum is up in the air.
Jinx (Jynx) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lovely Kiss
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock
- Nasty Plot
(Jynx unfortunately has the crappiest nickname out of the whole team, because what kind or normal name can you make out of JYNX? Need time to think on that one? I'll wait.)
Jynx is the member I added to this team in place of a Camerupt that, other than being able to set up rocks, was complete dead weight to the team. This is the standard Focus Sash Jynx set, and Jynx is one of the most reliable and fun sweepers in NU right now. Send it in as a lead or early in the game when no hazards are up on your side of the field, and watch the battle timer run down as your opponent frantically looks through their team looking for sleep fodder. Jynx gives this team the offensive pop it needed to quickly take out threats and walls so that the rest of the team can shine and whittle down the opponent.
Ideas for Change
This team is fairly solid, and with a lot of testing testing on the suspect ladder and a fair amount on the regular ladder (all laddering done on my KipUp alt account btw), I didn't find too many wholes in the team. The most extreme change I would actually do (and I probably wouldn't, I'm just saying I MIGHT be crazy enough to do this) is to swap Claydol out for something like Sandslash or even Kabutops, both of which can set up Rocks and Rapid Spin. They would also function as physical attackers. But, I feel like the team is pretty strong already. Of course, leave any feedback you want though! I would very much appreciate it!
The Weaknesses
I found that the squad is really, really weak to Pyroar and AV Magmortar, but otherwise, almost everything else is easily handled. Mismagius can be an issue sometimes, and an opposing Choice Scarf Rotom can be a bit frustrating, but with a couple spikes, a Toxic Spike, and Stealth Rocks all up, everything is whittled down super easily.
That's it for this RMT, shoutout to TTFTW for being kind enough to pass me, in essence, the blueprint for this team! I was originally gonna use this team in the NU Open, but seeing as I'm a sub, I thought it would be nice to get everyone's feedback and perhaps give newer NU players a fairly solid team to start out with. Drop any and all constructive criticism below, I'd appreciate it :)
-BiscuitSpartan/BiscuitRoman/KipUp
Team hastebin: http://hastebin.com/ditedajune.md
