XY NU Attack on Panda

[HeartlessAngel1993]

I will admit it, I really like Pangoro. Sure Fighting/Dark isn't exactly new anymore, or as good as it was thanks to the introduction of the fairy type, but Pangoro has potential. Especially in ORAS thanks to (And the following sentence has spoilers, so bear with me) it getting Drain Punch and Knock Off as Tutor moves. But for now, this is the team I've come up with surrounding Pangoro. suggestions and feedback are, as always, appreciated!

Pangoro (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Power-Up Punch
- Crunch
- Poison Jab
- Hammer Arm

Unfortunately, Pangoro doesn't exactly have the best movepool at its disposal right now. And since it has god awful speed, a bulky set is the best way to go. I run Assault Vest to give Pangoro some extra special resistance, which actually works really well. Power-Up Punch is a great STAB move that not only gets boosted by Iron Fist, but also Allows Pangoro to set up while doing Damage. Crunch is the best Dark STAB move (Will be replaced by Knock Off once ORAS comes out however). Poison Jab has nice coverage, hitting Fairy Types like Granbull, while Hammer Arm is Pangoro's most powerful STAB (Will be replaced with Drain Punch). Pangoro doesn't really mind the speed drop, being as slow as it is, so its all good there.

I run max HP and Atk EVs, since this a bulky sweeping set, and 4 Spd to give that little extra oomph to Pangoro's special defense. Adamant is for max damage.

Weezing (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Sludge Bomb
- Fire Blast

Weezing and Pangoro really compliment each other really well. Weezing resists Pangoro's Fighting and Fairy weaknesses, while Pangoro is immune to Weezing's Psychic weakness. With that said, Weezing is my physical wall, running a standard set meant to wall and cripple physical threats with moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Pain Split. Sludge Bomb is STAB, great against Fairy Pokemon, while Fire Blast really hurts Steel types. Max EVs in HP and Def max Weezing really hard to take down on a physical side. And as mentioned before, Weezing can really help Pangoro by taking out Fairy Pokemon with its STAB Sludge Bomb.

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

Pangoro's other weakness is Flying types. With that in mind I chose Rotom since it resists Flying moves that would threaten Pangoro, and come in with a kill thanks to Choice Scarf. Volt Switch makes Rotom a great lead, since it can easily switch out of most messes, while Thunderbolt is STAB power, taking out most of the aforementioned Flying types. Shadow ball is great secondary STAB, while Trick is meant to generally mess up Set Up sweepers. Max Speed and SpA investments makes Rotom something to be feared for sure, especially as a lead, and revenge killer.

Uxie @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heal Bell
- Thunder Wave
- Psychic

Though sadly lacking reliable recovery, Uxie still makes a good Specially Defensive Cleric. Stealth Rock can severely hurt an opponent's team while Heal Bell gets rid of statuses inflicting my team (Especially if Pangoro gets burned). Thunder Wave is also great as it helps with Pangoro's speed problem, and Psychic is to get some damage off on anything I can, even if it isn't much. Uxie is another great Pangoro partner, as any Dark move that comes Uxie's way, Pangoro can switch into, since it resists Dark moves 4x. Hax Hp and SpD investments makes up the second half of my defensive core, along with Weezing.

Archeops (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace

Archeops is a great Wall Breaker, having really decent Speed and Awesome Attack. STAB Stone Edge and Aerial Ace really helps Pangoro in dealing with Flying and Fighting Pokemon respectively, While Earthquake provides some great coverage. U-Turn also helps is it creates a mini VoltTurn combo with Rotom. Maxing out it Attack and Speed is the only way to go, and I run Jolly over Adamant so Archeops is given that little extra boost of speed, which is needed to come in and destroy things easily.

Pyroar (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Hyper Voice
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Pyroar is my special Sweeper, and is a great one at that. It is unique as it has access to both STAB Fire Blast and Hyper Voice, two really great moves which can deal a great amount of damage. Dark Pulse provides coverage against Psychic-type Pokemon, while HP Ice is great for Ground and Flying types. Life Orb aids in Pyroar's Sweeping capabilities, while its EV spread is meant for maximum damage. I run Timid over Modest however, as it is important for Pyroar to be able to outspeed threats, since its defenses aren't the best.

 

[Lord Alphose]

Sup, HeartlessAngel

Before I suggest any changes, I want to say that I really like the Uxie-Weezing-Rotom core. Never seen it before, but it's super fun to play with. Also, that Archeops does major work.

Alright, here are things that I saw could be changed while I was playing with this team. First off, on Pyroar I think you can change Hidden Power Ice ---> Hidden Power Grass. Hidden Power Grass tends to be the standard, as it allows Pyroar to hit Seismitoad, which is otherwise an absolute pain in the *cuss. Especially with Life Orb, a less conventional choice as compared to Choice Specs, you now have the option of not trying to hit Seismitoad on the switch and instead take advantage of mis-predicts and easily hit it on the next turn. The next problem I had was Xatu switching in on Uxie. Xatu and Uxie have the same base 95 Speed tier. However, you have no investment in Speed and 94% or Xatu run some Speed. Because of this, I changed Psychic ---> U-turn. It became much easier for me to get a slow switch out of Xatu, giving me the advantage to choose which Pokemon to switch into to counter the opponent's switch, as well as forcing the opposing Xatu to waste any attacks or status on a fully specially defensive Uxie. I you change it, be sure to change the EVs and nature to ---> EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD Careful Nature.

The last change that I suggest making is probably going to be less easy for you to accept. Although this team was built around Pangoro, it really doesn't fit into the team all that well. That's why I made the choice to change Pangoro ---> Gurdurr. Unlike Pangoro, Gurdurr has priority in Mach Punch, which was useful for revenge killing a lot of Pokemon, it doesn't have that 4x Fairy-type weakness, and it just does it's job a lot better. Like you said, when ORAS come out and Pangoro has Knock Off and Drain Punch, it will do a lot better of a job, but now, it just isn't cutting it. Here's the set that I use on Gurdurr, and it's pretty much the standard set:

Gurdurr @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Bulk Up

You've probably seen this set before and it totally is usable.

Well, I hope you try out these changes and I hope that they work for you. Good luck in the future :)

~~LA

Obligatory all-out attacker Kangaskhan mention.

 

[Scarf Buck]

pretty minor change but flamethrower over fire blast on weezing because you don't want to miss and has more pp

also I would suggest flamethrower over dark pulse on pyroar because having a secondary stab is better than hitting mespirit and uxie