Cores Through the Ages
In Pokemon, the word "core" refers a group of 2 or More Pokemon which work well together. Whether this be through synergy, coverage, or removing each other's counters, there are any cores that have been discovered and proven to work well, and many cores yet to be discovered. Having a solid core is the starting point of building a solid team.
The purpose of this thread is to take a look at cores that exist over more than one generation and discuss how they work in every single generation, how they change, how effective they are and what teams utilize them. Similar to the Pokemon through the ages thread, but without just focusing on single pokemon, but on the synergy 2 or more pokemon have with each other, since that is the cornerstone of every competitive team.
Skarmbliss
I am going to start with the probably most well known core in the history of pokemon, Skarmory + Blissey. Skarmory and Blissey form a defensive core that couldn't be any simpler - Blissey is the arguably best special wall in GSC OU, Skarmory is the arguably best physical wall in the tier. Both pokemon can take several support roles on a team (Skarmory can Phaze, Curse, Toxic and even use Thief, Blissey provides Heal Bell and Toxic support). Due to the rather lackluster damage output of both Pokemon they have to resort to residual damage to take down foes - a spiker is usually seen on Skarmbliss teams, as well as a spinner or a spinblocker, since at least some form of hazard control is needed to wear down foes. Despite its big popularity in the earlier days of competitive GSC the core has fallen down rapidly in usage because Blissey is very often considered deadweight on many teams as the omnipresent snorlax hugely capitalizes off it and because the general playstyle in GSC shifted more towards offense. Mixed attackers, Exploders and offensive Spikes control are common now and most offensive teams are able to break through the core, even without anti-skarmbliss mons like Charizard.
Alternatives: Skarmory + Raikou is a quite similar core and forms the defensive backbone of many teams. Raikou has no special weaknesses, access to Reflect and Roar and unlike Blissey it has an actually impressive offensive presence, at the loss of Heal Bell in the core. Miltank works very well with that core though, since it provides a Mixlax check besides Heal Bell.
Nothing really changed in the basic idea of the core in gen 3, it just got a couple of new tools. Most important is that Skarmory got Spikes and that there are 3 layers of Spikes now, allowing it to rack up residual damage alot faster. A little less relevant, but still important addition to Skarmory's movepool is Taunt, allowing it to prevent Spikers to set up on it. Blissey got new toys to play with in Wish for more team support and Calm Mind, which actually makes it an offensive threat to be reckoned with. A new threat that can dismantle the core quite easily when played right are the trappers Magneton and Dugtrio. Despite new threats the Skarmbliss core still found its way on many stall teams.
Yet again, the concept of the core does not change at all, Skarm takes the physical hits, Blissey takes the special ones. There are quite a few new things to support this core, first of all there are more and new entry hazards. Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes are new effective ways to take down mons with residual damage. Skarmory gets an instant recovery move now too. The problem with the trappers gets manageable with the introduction of Shed Shell. On the other hand there are also new wallbreakers and especially the physical/special split introduced in Gen 4 which can give the dynamic duo a hard time.
With the introduction of Eviolite in BW Blissey's little sister Chansey became relevant again, as it is the better wall now with the only real downside being the loss of Leftovers. Because of team preview trappers became alot easier to handle and because of permarain being almost everywhere Skarmory loses a big special weakness. The change of Sturdy mechanics was a slight buff for Skarmory, despite that not alot changed. But after 4 generations the metal bird and the pink blob are still commonly seen on stall teams, something that doesn't really change in XY either. Despite the simplicity of the idea in the core it is yet one of the most effective defensive cores there is.
This was a rather short recap of skarmbliss over the generations, feel free to add or correct things or go ahead and post your own cores. It doesn't neccessarily have to be longliving cores like this one.
