I saw a few matches on the Showdown Replay site playing GSC NU (mostly between Isa and Earthworm in games like this) and it got me nostalgic for that time because I always thought NU was a cute tier.
The legal mons can be found in this post on a long-dead forum. Basically everything explicitly listed in NU and all NFEs not listed in upper tiers are fair game.
So I figured I'd make a simple post prompting people (mostly the resident experts tagged but also other dudes well versed in old gen lower tiers) to talk about nu. And of course, to give people something to start with (especially the majority of people who are uninitiated with this super tiny tier), I decided to make a "quick hits" (or rough viability ranking) of nu.
And maybe a sample team too because I felt like building:
The legal mons can be found in this post on a long-dead forum. Basically everything explicitly listed in NU and all NFEs not listed in upper tiers are fair game.
So I figured I'd make a simple post prompting people (mostly the resident experts tagged but also other dudes well versed in old gen lower tiers) to talk about nu. And of course, to give people something to start with (especially the majority of people who are uninitiated with this super tiny tier), I decided to make a "quick hits" (or rough viability ranking) of nu.
the main players:
the interesting departures:
probably garbage or outclassed:
- dewgong: perhaps the best general-purpose tank in the tier. sleep talk with dual stab is probably the most dependable set; it can also use encore if something's cursing up. You could even use a perish trap set if you feel like gimmicking.
- dugtrio: powerful, fast ground-type.
- fearow: strongest stab double-edge in the tier, and a speed stat that outpaces pikachu
- hitmonchan: 105 base attack is huge in this tier, and it can capitalize off the rock types you need to handle fearow
- lickitung: curse, swords dance, belly drum. pick your favorite setup and go to town. perhaps the most underrated nu mon atm.
- mr. mime: the best mon in the tier. can go simple with a sleep talk set or can use more advanced strats featuring screens & bp & encore & status & such.
- rapidash: sunny day fire blast from this thing packs a punch.
- shuckle: the hardiest rock type (and mon in general) in the tier. can punish non-sters with toxic and deter setup with encore. doesn't really do much outside of that though.
- stantler: return + eq is a great attacking combo. also gets interesting moves in cray, hypnosis, and screens.
- sudowoodo: the offensive rock type of the tier.
- pineco: sets up spikes, spins, explodes.
- haunter: fast mixed attacker type. ghost is a great type in this tier.
- pikachu: hold a light ball and this thing is super dangerous. base 90 speed is actually hard to surpass in this tier.
the interesting departures:
- ariados: spider web passing can get a free kill. it's guaranteed to survive a mr mime psychic and switches in pretty easily on the hitmons. can also pass agility pretty decently.
- azumarill: tanky water that can drum up at any time.
- corsola: instant recovery on a rock type makes for a really dependable fearow check. grass weakness is a shame for fighting rapidashes though.
- delibird: alternative to pineco in the spikes game. stab ice beam is its main draw; with it, delibird easily wins 1-v-1s against opposing pinecos. Doesn't switch in on as much stuff, though.
- kingler: sder with powerful des even before setup. can play for the crit against shuckles too, and sub can be used to dodge its toxics.
- ledian: another bper with agility. +2 drumtung can 6-0 teams. access to both screens gives it utility outside of a simple bp role. switches in on hitmons easily & also has solid spdef to tank hits from mime.
- magcargo: 2x ground weak can be exploited, but it's probably the best rapidash check in nu. also tanks fearow nicely.
- mantine: rock and tbolt weaknesses are bummers, but spdef for rapidash and non-bolt mime is good. has access to haze to stop bp/curse strats too. plus, unlike dewgong, it's a solid stop to hitmons, curse or otherwise.
- murkrow: pursuiter for mime (which it outspeeds, as it does pikachu). drill peck gives it favorable matchups against fighters and grasses: hp dark makes it easier to pursuit stuff & also hits pika harder if krow is your "faster than pika" mon.
- octillery: 308 special attack means its surfs/pumps pack a wallop. can also use return with screech/curse to hit opposing waters. or it could just use a st set to be a slower, less tanky, but more threatening dewgong. excellent at forcing shuckle's fat ass out.
- pidgeot: bulkier, albeit weaker, version of fearow. still outspeeds pika which is the important part. takes max rolls to 3hko with mime psychic which is the important damage range.
- sunflora: solid special attack, growth, and the best special bulk of the three grasses in the tier. no powders, but it would struggle to get around st mime anyway.
- tangela: tangela is weird. it can set up growths in front of fighters and is a super reliable check to duggy and rocks, but it can't handle the surfs and thunders you'd want your grass to be able to take. defense stat lets it avoid being 2hkoed by fearow dp while 2hkoing in return with +1 hp ice. can use powders but would probably rather use synthesis for longevity than use powders that are likely to be absorbed by st mime no problem.
- graveler: rock type with stab ground moves. main reasons it doesn't get used more than sudo are 1) lower hp takes a significant chunk of survivability away against fearow, and 2) 2x weakness to grass and water are very abusable; fearow can run hp water for laughs and rapidash runs hp grass normally.
probably garbage or outclassed:
- aipom: pure normal typing can be handy in a handful of cases, but this is mostly outclassed.
- arbok: glare, eq, stab sludge bomb are a decent combo on paper. can come in on hitmons pretty easily. unfortunately just about every rock in the tier smashes it, and it doesn't really do enough to mime, either.
- dunsparce: basically outclassed by tung. the main things it has going for it are glare and a higher attack stat without setup.
- hitmontop: mostly outclassed by chan, which is faster with better attack. the defense rarely helps. that said, if you want a spinner that isn't pineco for some reason, top is probably better suited for that role. it's also a little better at tanking physical hits if you want to use counter.
- farfetch'd: bper that can also pass sds on top of agis. also can perhaps do some damage with stick-boosted return? lol. for the most part it's pretty bad though; it can't really switch in on anything.
- parasect: checks hitmons, pika (sort of), and can even threaten mime with hp bug. also gets spore.
- persian: second fastest thing in the tier next to duggy. kinda frail, but also has stab de and hypnosis and screech to play with.
- raticate: super fang is a fun move. also outspeeds pika.
- seadra: its kinda like a fast octillery. wimpy attack stat lets it down, though.
- seaking: it's like kingler with worse attack and speed but better special bulk. lack of power off the bad, though, makes it less useful.
- sneasel: immune to psychic, excellent speed, and decent enough attack to work with. but with that movepool I have no idea what it would really... do? probably a screech set?
- venomoth: its funny. its a sleeper that obviously cant take much abuse from mime but can keep it out with hp bug to potentially catch something else with a powder. tanks hitmons well, too.
- xatu: switches in on fighters a little easier than mime does. solid speed tier too. doesn't seem like it'd be terribly useful though.
- cubone: thick club can make for some strong attacks & a half decent bp recipient.
- dragonair: if pika runs hp fire this could be a decent check. idk what the set would be tho, this would strictly be a defensive mon. probably twave and ice beam or screens or something.
- eevee: can pass growths to pikachu. lol.
- flaaffy: unfortunately pika still 3HKOs with Surf but its better than what everything else musters: getting 2HKOed.
- houndour: alternative pursuiter for mime if you're a baby who's scared of tbolt. problem is, unlike murkrow, it doesn't have a decent speed tier nor any other decent common matchups, plus it doesn't really hold up well against multiple tbolts, either.
- magnemite: the only steel in the tier. theres probably some use for it.
- snubbull: only heal beller available. considering how many things will generally run st though, its probably not worth.
- voltorb: fastest boom in the tier. also gets mirror coat to fuck with mimes and pikas and haunters and such. grounds and grasses are also a lot rarer than in other tiers so you might even be able to get away with twave tbolt in the last slots without worrying about running hidden power.
And maybe a sample team too because I felt like building:
All mons have leftovers ofc. (There's no Pika before you get smart with me)
lickitung:
-body slam
-swords dance
-protect
-iron tail
Super tanky and can force some awkward situations with SD (I assume so anyway; never actually tried it lol). Iron tail over EQ to hit Shuckle hard, Bslam to set the stage for a late game setup. Protect gives me lefties and can potentially catch a boom from Sudo/Haunter/Grav, which is always fun.
mr. mime:
-psychic
-shadow ball
-rest
-sleep talk
Shadow Ball keeps other mimes out. I just don't like stale games and want the option to mess with opposing mimes with Sball in case they have Tbolt for my witch bird. Unfortunately this means I can't really para pikas, but on the plus side that also means I'll also always break a sub if I don't rest.
hitmonchan:
-hi jump kick
-hidden power ghost
-rest
-sleep talk
HP Ghost to be able to hit Haunters. Those precious few HP evs from HP Bug are not worth it lol. Hitmonchan hits surprisingly hard and is surprisingly tanky. It keeps Dewgong and Sudowoodo from just owning me, too, so it's super vital to have around. I'd rather run ST than Curse for this reason: if Sudo starts Cursing I need to start smashing it pronto.
murkrow:
-drill peck
-pursuit
-rest
-sleep talk
Figured I'd try it. The idea is basically "screw mime".
sudowoodo:
-rock slide
-earthquake
-curse
-self-destruct
Maybe I should run Rest. Idk. But sometimes I find that I need to be able to boom on Fighters and such. I use this instead of Graveler to live Pika Surfs & because it's just longer-lasting in general against the likes of Fearow.
dugtrio:
-earthquake
-rock slide
-rest
-sleep talk
lol. I run this mostly because I want something faster than Pika, which is super important in this tier. As is being immune to Thunder without insta-dying to Surf imo. I run ST because I don't want this thing getting worn down; he's my lifeline against Pika.
lickitung:
-body slam
-swords dance
-protect
-iron tail
Super tanky and can force some awkward situations with SD (I assume so anyway; never actually tried it lol). Iron tail over EQ to hit Shuckle hard, Bslam to set the stage for a late game setup. Protect gives me lefties and can potentially catch a boom from Sudo/Haunter/Grav, which is always fun.
mr. mime:
-psychic
-shadow ball
-rest
-sleep talk
Shadow Ball keeps other mimes out. I just don't like stale games and want the option to mess with opposing mimes with Sball in case they have Tbolt for my witch bird. Unfortunately this means I can't really para pikas, but on the plus side that also means I'll also always break a sub if I don't rest.
hitmonchan:
-hi jump kick
-hidden power ghost
-rest
-sleep talk
HP Ghost to be able to hit Haunters. Those precious few HP evs from HP Bug are not worth it lol. Hitmonchan hits surprisingly hard and is surprisingly tanky. It keeps Dewgong and Sudowoodo from just owning me, too, so it's super vital to have around. I'd rather run ST than Curse for this reason: if Sudo starts Cursing I need to start smashing it pronto.
murkrow:
-drill peck
-pursuit
-rest
-sleep talk
Figured I'd try it. The idea is basically "screw mime".
sudowoodo:
-rock slide
-earthquake
-curse
-self-destruct
Maybe I should run Rest. Idk. But sometimes I find that I need to be able to boom on Fighters and such. I use this instead of Graveler to live Pika Surfs & because it's just longer-lasting in general against the likes of Fearow.
dugtrio:
-earthquake
-rock slide
-rest
-sleep talk
lol. I run this mostly because I want something faster than Pika, which is super important in this tier. As is being immune to Thunder without insta-dying to Surf imo. I run ST because I don't want this thing getting worn down; he's my lifeline against Pika.
