SM PU Accelerator

[lockjaw]

Introduction
​

Hey everyone, I'm finally back to the competitive scene after months due to personal issues (my pc was broken), and the first thing I have an interest in doing is getting back to one of my favorite tiers: PU. With that in mind, I've decided to build a new team around Lycanroc-Midday, which gained access do Drill Run and a brand new Z-Move in USM. So, I've decided to build a solid and balanced Bulky Offense team, which is usually the kind of team I build anyway. I wasn't expecting this team to turn out so useful, though, especially for the good peak and GXE (88) I've gotten with it. One of the main goals and wincons is taking advantage of Lycanroc's amazing Speed and good moveset to take on as many foes as possible and perhaps sweep the opposing team.

Teambuilding

My goal was to create a team around Lycanroc-Midday which can act as sweeper with Swords Dance and has an excellent Speed tier of 356, allowing it to outspeed Archeops. Lycanroc's main counters are Gastrodon, Palossand, and Ferrothorn, and a Pokémon that can beat the three with ease would be Eelektross with its Ground immunity and wide movepool. Now, I needed something more defensive, able to tank physical hits with ease and that has a good longevity, and that's where Gastrodon step in. Stealth Rock is essential in any team and there are many setters in PU, but I've chosen Mesprit since it's able to help with Fighting-types, making it easy for Lycanroc to sweep. Skuntank fits well in the team, being able to remove Grass-, Fairy- and Psychic-types from the field, and Pursuit allows it to act as a trapper, being able to handle Mesprit and Jynx, and its typing is helpful agaisnt Lilligant, too, which would be a problem otherwise. To finish the team, I wanted a powerful wallbreaker, able to seriously hurt the foes, and Kangaskhan was the obvious choice due to its great ability and access to Fake Out, which can be useful in sweep situations.

The Team

Lycanroc @ Lycanium Z
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance

- Stone Edge

( - Splintered Stormshards

)
- Drill Run

- Accelerock

Now that it's gotten Drill Run and a new Z-Move, Lycanroc is more useful on the metagame. After one Swords Dance boost, Lycanroc can cause much damage with Stone Edge, Drill Run, and notably Splintered Stormshards, which grants 2HKOes and OHKOes on numerous bulky Pokémon, such as defensive Mesprit, Gourgeist-Super, Miltank, and Clefairy. Drill Run allows it to hit Regirock, Golem, Mawile, and Aggron. Its great Speed that surpasses 350 makes it able to outspeed Pokémon like Archeops, Jumpluff, Raichu, and Alolan Dugtrio, being able to beat the four without a Swords Dance boost in most cases. Accelerock is its STAB and priority move, and even being super fast, Lycanroc still can't outspeed some Choice Scarf users and neither some Pokémon such as Ninjask, Flotazel, and Zebstrika, therefore making Accelerock more of an extra help, while still being able to put Pyroar, Oricorio, Abomasnow, Haunter and Scarf Jynx in trouble since its able to cause a reasonable damage (2HKO with rocks). Accelerock, just like Kangaskhan's Fake Out and Skuntank's Sucker Punch, can help with unexpected sweeps from the likes of Lilligant.

Eelektross @ Assault Vest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch

- Giga Drain

- Flamethrower

- Knock Off

/ - Acid Spray

Eelektross is a monster. Besides having a fair Special Defense coupled with Assault Vest, it doesn't have any weakness, it has a wide movepool, learning moves such as Gig Drain to hit Palossand, Golurk, and Gastrodon, Flamethrower to hit Steel-types likes Ferroseed, Mawile, and Togemaru and Ice-types such as Abomasnow. They all but Golurk lost the 1v1 against Eelektross. Eelektross' Volt Switch is useful to safely bring in Lycanroc and other Pokémon. Boasting the highest Special Defense of the team, Elektross can tank hits from Mesprit, Mr. Mime, and Alolan Raichu, being able to hit them back with Knock Off, which can also remove the item of an opposing Elektross and Eviolite from unprepared players. Acid Spray is an extra help agaisnt matchups with Cradily and Audino that don't like to have their SpDef lowered; however, that's the only reason to use this move.

Gastrodon-East @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald

- Recover

- Earth Power

- Toxic

This Pokémon is just wonderful. Being Seismitoad's brother and Palossand's cousin, Gastrodon can tank good amounts of damage, and it has Recover to increase its longevity, making it harder to beat it. Its typing is one of the best in the game, having only one weakness that can be backed up by Skuntank, its ability making it immune to Water-type attacks and a counter of Flotazel (especially the Bulk Up set), and Kabutops, which can be extremely dangerous in rain teams due to its huge Attack. Scald can save the match with its burn chance, and as aforementioned in the teambuilding section, Gastrodon can take physical hits of the likes of Scarf Primeape, Hitmonchan, and mainly Skuntank. Toxic can help against opposing Gastrodon and can cripple the foes in general.

Mesprit @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Stealth Rock

- Psychic

- Ice Beam

- Hidden Power

​

One of the S-Ranks in the PU viability rankings, Mesprit is omnipresent on the current meta and can act in many different ways. Its balanced stats and the large list of viable movesets make it very annoying. The set I've chosen is the offensive one, and even though the Defensive set offers me more advantages, I'd need something able to spread Special damage. With Colbur Berry Mesprit can survive a Pursuit from Skuntank. Psychic is its main STAB move, and with its Special Attack Mesprit can cause reasonable amounts of damage, and besides that, the chance of lowering the foe's Special Defense is greatly appreciated, too. Ice Beam is Mesprit's best option to hit Skuntank (30~35%) and other Dark-types such as Absol, Shiftry, and Cactune. U-turn is useful but I picked Hidden Power Fire Fire over it, allowing Mesprit to lure Steel-types like Ferroseed and Todegemaru

Skuntank @ Choice Band / BlackGlasses
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly / Adamant Nature
- Crunch

- Pursuit

- Sucker Punch

- Poison Jab

​

This Pokémon is really a multitasker, Defogger, Trapper, Attacker... many functions in only one Pokémon. Skuntank is a key member to the team, being part of the anti-sweep / priority trio with its Sucker Punch and its ability Aftermath which can be very helpful in some situations. Most of the time the team doesn't need Defog or some way of hazard control, so I've decided to go with the Choice Band set which grants more damage output. Skuntank doesn't have a high Attack, but Choice Band backs it up, making it a viable set after all. With Choice Band, Skuntank's Attack surpasses 400, which is great. The nature isn't certain, but it can be either Adamant to hit Mesprit harder and outspeed it anyway or Jolly to outspeed Jolly Passimian.

Kangaskhan @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Fake Out

- Double-Edge

- Earthquake

- Facade

Kangaskhan is one of the most potent wallbreakers of the current metagame along Stoutland. I picked it over the dog due to its better Speed and access to Fake Out. Double Edge + Silk Scarf spread a lot of damage on some Pokémon with below 90% HP, such as Palossand and Gastrodon. Scrappy is used to hit Ghost-types like Sableye, Gourgeist e Haunter. Since the team already had a good amount of priority, I picked Facade over Sucker Punch, which can assure a more consistent way to spread damage with than Double-Edge when Kangaskhan is burned. Facade is also useful against Toxic Spikes team as Skuntank is able to remove them and Kangaskhan is able to take advantage of them. Earthquake grants a more reliable way to hit Qwilfish, Skuntank, and Rock-types, without having to worry about Rocky Helmet.

Threats​

- It's very hard to beat it, its defenses are high and it has Recover to keep it healthy, making it a problem to the team. The only way to beat it is trying to use Toxic against it with Gastrodon, Ice Beam with Mesprit or Acid Spray with Eelektross.

(

) - Choice Band wallbreakers such as Passimian and Primeape are extremely annoying because they can use U-turn and a very powerful Close Combat that can deal a lot of damage to even Gastrodon or Mesprit

- Stall teams, especially the ones with Pyukumuku, are a challenge since it's hard to kill a member of those teams.

- Its huge Special Attack makes it impossible for any of my Pokémon to switch into it.

Conclusion​

This team has really reached my expectations and I've decided to share it with everyone. SM PU isn't a very known and explored tier, and I'd like people to give more value to it because it's actually very interesting. I hope this team get some importance and see some usage in some tour or something like that. I'd like to shoutout my big friends 5gen and ShuckleDeath who trusted the potential of my team and liked it. I also would like to thank Mitsuki who helped me with the translation and structure of the RMT. Finally, I'd like to thank the PU room and everyone who is reading this post.

Extras​

88 GXE + 1#

Importable

Lycanroc @ Lycanium Z
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Drill Run
- Accelerock

Eelektross @ Assault Vest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Giga Drain
- Flamethrower
- Knock Off

Mesprit @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Gastrodon-East @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Earth Power
- Toxic

Skuntank @ Choice Band
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Poison Jab

Kangaskhan @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Facade

The PU guys

Anty , Akir , ShuckleDeath , 5gen , 2xTheTap, Megazard, TONE, Mitsuki, HJAD, Dundies (I miss you), Taskr, allstarapology, Dibs The Dreamer, GeneralAnnoyance, Teddeh, UBERSkitty, iRebel, LordST, Twix, Chrisloud1, Broken Phobias, Terrakion, TJ

 

[Ranbu No Melody]

A way you can weaken stall, beat cradily and strong fighting types would be running Weezing with taunt. But that would mean getting rid of a Pokémon. Maybe running it over Kangaskhan as an option, since you already have two considerably strong Physical Attackers.

 

[gz]

Nice team you got there lockjaw and congrats on peaking the ladder with it, but I still see some possible improvements. First of all, your team is pretty slow for an offensive minded build and paired with no hazard removal + no Taunt, common teams like HO Spike Stack can give you an immense problem. Also getting outsped by probably the best and most used scarfer in the tier, Primeape, is also very risky, with only one fighting resist that hasn't even any type of recovery.

First things first, I would change your Skuntank to a defogging Swanna. This gives you an additional fighting check, which decreases some pressure from Mesprit/Gastrodon, while also providing the so desperately needed hazard removal. Furthermore, it pairs incredibly well with Gastrodon/Eelektross due to the type synergy. I personally would go with a more defensive item like Leftovers/Charti Berry (for potential Stone Edges) for longevity, but still with offensive EVs.

Last but not least, I would replace Kangaskhan with a choice scarf user and the first mons that came in my mind were Primeape and Passimian. I really think scarfed Passimian is the perfect mon for your team cause it deals with Cradily and Audino, which can be a problem as you already stated, but also outpaces Carracosta after one SS. Carracosta looks really threatening to be honest, outspeeding your entire team with only Gastrodon as a switch in. Passimian also forces the opponent to a lot of switching which can either lead to an U-turn+Volt Switch circle or a "free" switch in into your Lycanroc. Primeape also works well, especially against opposing Lilligant, but the lack in power and bulk is notable.

 

[MZ]

GenZeon's changes are quite good, they mean I don't really have to do my job anymore. This rate is assuming you do those things, there's a couple of other things I'd change alongside. The team becomes significantly less weak to Ferroseed, so Mesprit can finally fit U-Turn over HP Fire. Healing Wish also works fine, on this team it looks more like a personal preference thing than one being significantly better. You could also consider Acid Spray over Knock Off on Eelektross, it doesn't quite pressure Clefairy like you want but it does do more for the Audino matchup which is still quite shaky considering that it just clicks Protect on Passimian and hard switches out of Lycanroc every time. Alternately you could try running Focus Punch there with a -Speed nature, but this is more of a last minute idea I had and decided to slap in the rate. Finally, I think the edits make it better to run Earthquake instead of Earth Power on Gastrodon. They do mildly better versus different targets, but all of Earthquake's targets are potentially way more threatening to your team. In particular, getting the OHKO Alolachu and Jynx is nice as both have the potential to be much scarier with Kangaskhan's removal if either is running a Substitute set, both of which have been getting a bit more popular recently. Anyway, here is an edited importable with the combined changes suggested by myself and Genzeon, hope this little piggyback rate was helpful.