Other Metagames [BH] The Drill Run

Varrio

Varrio

The Drill Run
melmetal.gif
mandibuzz.gif
ferrothorn.gif
zamazenta.gif
excadrill.gif
primarina.gif



Introduction

This is my first BH RMT and my first Gen 8 RMT, yay! Anyway, the team was created using random sets in the BH thread and some from my own ideas to fit the current horrifying meta. It revolves around Excadrill and Melmetal. I have noticed that the current meta is very heavy on steel types with very less ground resists. Hence, I decided to start a team around the very popular but fairly new Adabtability Choice Band Excadrill set. So without further ado, let's jump right into the RMT.

The Team

excadrill.gif


Excadrill @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Double Iron Bash
- Sunsteel Strike
- Bolt Beak

This is a very strong set and nobody really expects it to do so much damage. I don't really know about the calcs and stuff, but this thing one shots most defensive Steel types without Fur Coat and other types weak to Ground with the move Earthquake. Double Iron Bash gives a 240BP 30% Flinch double-hit move which is preposterous. Sunsteel Strike for general STAB, annoying Shedinjas and Unaware defensive mons. Bolt Beak for Water types or Flying types. Jolly nature to outspeed other attackers which are not a +Spe nature. Eg. Adamant Kyurem/Zekrom

melmetal.gif
melmetal-gmax.gif


Melmetal-Gmax @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Anchor Shot
- Spectral Thief
- Roost
- Will-O-Wisp

An utterly insane bulky mon which also hits like a truck. This is my go-to switch for Zacian-C, Zekrom, Barraskewda, Dragapult, etc. Rocky Helmet takes care of Shedinja and hurts U-Turn abusers. Anchor Shot to trap something which is setting up and doing <15% damage to you. Spectral Thief to steal those boosts and punish them. Roost for recovery (because it looks cooler than Recover or Slack Off) and Will-O-Wisp to burn other attackers which have Choice Band or something. If a Dragapult tries to Entrainment-block you, just Max to block the Entrainment and use Max Phantasm or G-Max Meltdown. Will definitely force them to switch.

ferrothorn.gif


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Leech Seed
- Anchor Shot
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

This is usually the lead Pokemon for setting up rocks, seeding the opponents and trapping them to Toxic-stall them. Also my immediate response to Darmanitan-Galar-Zen and Reshiram. Primordial Sea will prevent Mold Breaker Fire types from harming it. Also a good typing, resisting Water, immune to Poison and Spore. Does not have as much Defense as Melmetal but it's still surprisingly tanky. A good support mon for the team.

mandibuzz.gif


Mandibuzz @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Nuzzle
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
- Slack Off

This mon has comparatively less bulk than the other support mons in the team, but it is usually a very annoying hazard-remover and bouncer. Magic Bounce is very useful against Dragapult, completely shutting it down. Nuzzle and Knock Off to troll anything that switches in. Rapid Spin to remove hazards while keeping your hazards in place and boost speed by a tad bit. Slack Off for recovery (No Roost this time, don't want to lose the Ground immunity). The typing is not the best but it's immune to Psychic and Ground, resists Ghost and is weak to 4 common attacking types. But you have Melmetal or Ferrothorn to switch in for those weaknesses. Which leads us to...

primarina.gif


Primarina @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Recover
- Psystrike

A really good set given by MAMP as a Special Defensive tank. Primarina is very good against Kyurem or other special attackers, being immune to Dragon and resisting Fire and Ice. Although it is weak to Electric and Poison, so you can switch to Ferrothorn for that. Also has a very high Sp. Atk, close to its Sp. Def so you can pressure the opponent as well. Poison Heal is better than Leftovers and also blocks other status moves like Spore or Nuzzle. Scald for Water STAB and 30% Burn rate, Moonblast for really good Fairy STAB, Recover for... recovery. Psystrike was a filler move I chose to take care of things like Quiver Dance Eternatus. It's basically Photon Geyser with more PP and without the mold breaking effect. I really liked this set. Thanks MAMP mate.

zamazenta.gif


Zamazenta @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Shift Gear
- Spore
- Sunsteel Strike

And finally, the other physical sweeper of the team. Poison Heal Zamazenta is a unique set but works decently. Poison Heal is useful for recovery and is a good status move absorber. Has good speed to Spore anything in its way and setup with Shift Gear. Close Combat is for STAB and Sunsteel Strike is for coverage + Shedinja. Yes, Shedinja is really scary. Anyway, it feels a bit weak with just one Shift Gear but Fighting type STAB is useful against the Steel-heavy meta. Although if there is a better set which works like this with more power then please reply below. I don't have much more to say about this.

Replays

Here are some replays I have collected. I haven't peaked the ladder with this team or anything, and my timezone is pretty bad for BH but I have seen progress. Any improvements would be much appreciated.
​

 
Last edited:
Hey, this isn't a bad team start. Here are some possible improvements for you to test:

On Ferrothorn, you really need reliable recovery, and Leech Seed doesn't count since Magic Bouncers can totally shut it down; I would use one of the 50% recovery moves in its place. I suggest you remove Toxic and replace it with Knock Off in order to have better utility against defensive mons like Toxapex, Shedinja, and Melmetal. This also lets you win vs Shed Shell imposter, as otherwise it just switches in and gets a free recover on you every time, and honestly what is Toxic really doing for you? Basically you don't want to give those defensive mons totally free switches because they'll just pivot out on you. Alternatively you could run a hazard control move there, since Ferro is an okay hazard remover. With reliable recovery and Knock Off, you'll be able to make a lot better use of Ferrothorn's resistances and bulk.

Also, Ferrothorn is a really bad counter to Darm-GZ, as banded Icicle Crash does about 60%, though in theory you can use it as a pivot: I.E. you bring it in on the Icicle Crash, switch to Melm to force it out then pivot Ferrothorn back in to recover later. That's the theory anyway. In practice, a good player won't let you do that more than once or twice, as that pattern gets telegraphed easily enough.

Mandibuzz is an okay defensive mon though I haven't had much success using it myself. The Dark resistance is fairly irrelevant, because this set still loses to most Dark-types' sets in the meta including Shell Smash Bisharp, Tyranitar which will just Knock Off you, and Umbreon which usually runs Poison Heal + Knock Off meaning you can't even paralyze it. It But you're right that you need a special wall/psychic resist, because as it stands, a Sheer Force special attacker will roll right over your team. For this reason I suggesting Magic Bounce Snorlax with this set:

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Fur Coat / Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Attk / 252 Def / 252 Spd / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Slack Off
- Spectral Thief
- Teleport / Knock Off
- Will o Wisp / Knock Off / Rapid Spin

This set gives you a switchin into SF Mewtwo and Eternitus, while still letting you pivot around. I would recommend Fur Coat so that you can switch into Specs Psystrike from Mewtwo, Lunala and Necro-DW as well, because it's another thing you lose to otherwise. Magic Bounce is also useable here, but you will be 2hkoed by specs or setup Psystrike users otherwise, so in your situation FC is probably just better.

You have said your Zamazenta set is only decent, and I agree as it relies on getting that crucial spore off to do real damage. Your team is still weak to setup users and Shedinja, so I think you could use a prankster Ghost type to shore that up. The best one we have is

Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Attk / 252 Def / 252 Spd
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spectral Thief
- Roost
- Haze
- Teleport / Destiny Bond

This isn't the best Prankster by far, but too many of your mons let Shedinja in for free, so you really need a Ghost type so you can pivot out on it. You still run the risk of taking a Pain Split, but of course, but there's little to be done about it without totally rewriting your team. You will have to play carefully with Primarina because you'll need it to absorb Knock off and status aimed at Dusclops.

Minor changes

On the Primarina set, I would replace Psystrike with Will-o-Wisp; this is a lot better for the long game because it punishes defensive mons coming in, and a lot of PH sweepers happen to be weak to Moonblast including Zekrom, Umbreon, Zamazenta. So you can just click that against them as they switch in and deal a healthy amount of chip. This also lets you hit Sturdy Shed, which you really need to be able to do. You're still not improof since the imp will just recover on you, but it's better than what you had for sure. Psystrike isn't worth running unless it's a STAB move because Psychic isn't a great defensive typing right now.

Excadrill really doesn't need double steel moves: I know that DIB is more powerful than Sunsteel, but the calcs don't really change that much. I can't think of anywhere where you'd get a 2hKO with DIB and not get one with Sunsteel (maybe Snorlax is this way?) Either way, consider running Switcheroo over DIB to punish defensive mons, or Court Change for a desperado move.
 
SuperSkylake said:
Hey, this isn't a bad team start. Here are some possible improvements for you to test:

On Ferrothorn, you really need reliable recovery, and Leech Seed doesn't count since Magic Bouncers can totally shut it down; I would use one of the 50% recovery moves in its place. I suggest you remove Toxic and replace it with Knock Off in order to have better utility against defensive mons like Toxapex, Shedinja, and Melmetal. This also lets you win vs Shed Shell imposter, as otherwise it just switches in and gets a free recover on you every time, and honestly what is Toxic really doing for you? Basically you don't want to give those defensive mons totally free switches because they'll just pivot out on you. Alternatively you could run a hazard control move there, since Ferro is an okay hazard remover. With reliable recovery and Knock Off, you'll be able to make a lot better use of Ferrothorn's resistances and bulk.

Also, Ferrothorn is a really bad counter to Darm-GZ, as banded Icicle Crash does about 60%, though in theory you can use it as a pivot: I.E. you bring it in on the Icicle Crash, switch to Melm to force it out then pivot Ferrothorn back in to recover later. That's the theory anyway. In practice, a good player won't let you do that more than once or twice, as that pattern gets telegraphed easily enough.

Mandibuzz is an okay defensive mon though I haven't had much success using it myself. The Dark resistance is fairly irrelevant, because this set still loses to most Dark-types' sets in the meta including Shell Smash Bisharp, Tyranitar which will just Knock Off you, and Umbreon which usually runs Poison Heal + Knock Off meaning you can't even paralyze it. It But you're right that you need a special wall/psychic resist, because as it stands, a Sheer Force special attacker will roll right over your team. For this reason I suggesting Magic Bounce Snorlax with this set:

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Fur Coat / Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Attk / 252 Def / 252 Spd / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Slack Off
- Spectral Thief
- Teleport / Knock Off
- Will o Wisp / Knock Off / Rapid Spin

This set gives you a switchin into SF Mewtwo and Eternitus, while still letting you pivot around. I would recommend Fur Coat so that you can switch into Specs Psystrike from Mewtwo, Lunala and Necro-DW as well, because it's another thing you lose to otherwise. Magic Bounce is also useable here, but you will be 2hkoed by specs or setup Psystrike users otherwise, so in your situation FC is probably just better.

You have said your Zamazenta set is only decent, and I agree as it relies on getting that crucial spore off to do real damage. Your team is still weak to setup users and Shedinja, so I think you could use a prankster Ghost type to shore that up. The best one we have is

Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Attk / 252 Def / 252 Spd
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spectral Thief
- Roost
- Haze
- Teleport / Destiny Bond

This isn't the best Prankster by far, but too many of your mons let Shedinja in for free, so you really need a Ghost type so you can pivot out on it. You still run the risk of taking a Pain Split, but of course, but there's little to be done about it without totally rewriting your team. You will have to play carefully with Primarina because you'll need it to absorb Knock off and status aimed at Dusclops.

Minor changes

On the Primarina set, I would replace Psystrike with Will-o-Wisp; this is a lot better for the long game because it punishes defensive mons coming in, and a lot of PH sweepers happen to be weak to Moonblast including Zekrom, Umbreon, Zamazenta. So you can just click that against them as they switch in and deal a healthy amount of chip. This also lets you hit Sturdy Shed, which you really need to be able to do. You're still not improof since the imp will just recover on you, but it's better than what you had for sure. Psystrike isn't worth running unless it's a STAB move because Psychic isn't a great defensive typing right now.

Excadrill really doesn't need double steel moves: I know that DIB is more powerful than Sunsteel, but the calcs don't really change that much. I can't think of anywhere where you'd get a 2hKO with DIB and not get one with Sunsteel (maybe Snorlax is this way?) Either way, consider running Switcheroo over DIB to punish defensive mons, or Court Change for a desperado move.
Click to expand...

Dusclops isn't doing well, losing to some sets like Octolock Toxapex and stuff. Also knock off shuts it down. I think I'll keep Zamazenta because I just dropped 50 points. Once Excadrill dies I have nothing to sweep with.

As for the Snorlax, I went with Magic Bounce.
 
why are you leaving Dusclops on Octolock and Knock Off when you can just switch out to Primarina or something? If you run teleport you can even get the slow pviot on those octolock users and bring in Excadrill or something? I feel like you might be playing the team too passively or something. This gen is faster paced than last gen and you can't afford to stall all the time.
 
SuperSkylake said:
why are you leaving Dusclops on Octolock and Knock Off when you can just switch out to Primarina or something? If you run teleport you can even get the slow pviot on those octolock users and bring in Excadrill or something? I feel like you might be playing the team too passively or something. This gen is faster paced than last gen and you can't afford to stall all the time.
Click to expand...

Dusclops already died to Darm-Galar-Z V-Create and took it down with Destiny Bond. I mistyped.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top