https://pokepast.es/7860747b2d26915a
I usually only post teams in the Shared Power thread if I reach the top ladder spot with them. I'm making an exception for this team because I like the concept and the peak in the 1520s was okay. The way forward with this team is unclear to me. I feel there's still meat to be pulled off the bone, though. This team looks like a balance at first glance but definitely plays like HO. Most wins will involve breaking with Zangoose and Wo-Chien before cleaning up with Breloom against fat or Ting-Lu against offense. This team is pretty typical for me in that it eats offense alive but struggles against bulkier opponents.
I wanted to build Guts Belly Drum Clefable because it would be funny, but it turns out that Clefable doesn't get Belly Drum anymore. Bummer.
I think Guts is pretty bad, and Toxic Boost is worse. Shared Power is Technician Priority: The Tier, and self-inflicted chip of 6%+ every turn seems like throwing your Pokemon as sacrifices onto the altar of revenge killing. Great start, right? But I decided to build around it anyway because a) 1.5x boosts are very rare and b) a few good players like The Educated Fool have run Zangoose recently, and I wanted to see what they see in the weasel.
From a Guts core, the next step is to solve the revenge killing problem. I tried webs and scarf indeedee, but Zangoose and Conkeldurr still aren't really fast enough in this meta. Taking away their priority options takes away their best tools, too.
Then I hit upon the idea of limiting revenge killing by just tanking every hit. Houndstone, Wo-Chien, and Ting-Lu are the best defensive tools in the tier. Houndstone runs offensive movesets a lot of the time, I've wanted to try Foul Play for a while on Wo-Chien, and Ting-Lu has a juicy movepool, so making them Guts attackers fell together. I originally had Body Press on everything because it gets boosted by Guts, too, and is a little silly.
Finally, I swapped out Conkeldurr. The speed tier is just not enough to justify a midgame role (and you do need a good speed tier in this meta, even with Mach Punch, to outspeed other priority). The team needed rocks, so I added the only Guts/Stealth Rock mon, Larvitar. Breloom replaced Clefable because Clefable wasn't doing anything and I needed something that stands up a little bit to stall.
The Team
Larvitar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Guts
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Earthquake
- Rock Tomb
Larvitar is the only Pokemon with Stealth Rock and Guts. On the downside, you're using an LC pokemon. On the other hand, Stealth Rock and Guts. The bulk is quite lacking. Stealth Rock and Guts. It's pretty slow. Stealth Rock and Guts.
Actually, the speed tier is oddly okay. Larvitar outspeeds Ariados and Perserkerr. Beyond that, Rock Tomb and Taunt mean that opposing Lycanroc leads have to pick between picking up the kill or setting rocks, since the speed drop puts them into Taunt range next turn. EQ as STAB deals enough damage to keep the opponent honest, and Rock Tomb also helps prevent anything from setting up too much on Larvitar. Larvitar is obviously a suicide lead here, and since you want to activate Guts, there are few situations where I wanted to lead something else.
Zangoose @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Toxic Boost
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Quick Attack
- Knock Off
- Protect
Zangoose donates Toxic Boost and is one of our main breakers. On a team this slow, Quick Attack is essential. Tera Normal enables Quick Attack cleaning. Since Zangoose is often our best revenge killer, Protect slots in to activate the Toxic Boost boost in the face of dangerous threats. After using Zangoose, my conclusion is that it's not as bad as I thought, but the speed tier is awkward. This mon is one of the clearest examples of 4MSS. You need Facade to break, Protect for Toxic Orb, Quick Attack to make up for the just okay speed, Close Combat for Steels, and Knock Off for Ghosts. Without one of those, each set is lacking something.
Wo-Chien @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Tablets of Ruin
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Trailblaze
- Foul Play
- Power Whip
Wow, what a STAB heavy moveset, sure hope this team has Adaptability. Knock Off is a spammable move, but the really fun Dark move is Foul Play. Almost everything in the tier has a higher Attack stat than Wo-Chien. The Guts and Toxic Boost boosts still apply to Foul Play, though, so Wo-Chien can cash in on some nuclear power. Before Calyrex-Ice caught a ban, Wo-Chien could outspeed and OHKO any set. Power Whip is a nice high BP option, which I'll get into more with Breloom. All that said, Wo-Chien's main role is to provide Tablets of Ruin. The damage reduction puts a finger in the dike of our defenses while the Toxic status pokes more holes.
Houndstone @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Fluffy
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Poltergeist
- Body Press
- Shadow Sneak
- Protect
Outside of Zangoose, this is probably the most natural set on the team. Houndstone donates Fluffy but is also a surprisingly powerful breaker. Shadow Sneak is important priority for a slow team like this one. Notably we're running raw Fluffy without rain or Flash Fire. With Toxic Orb chipping us down every turn, I decided that this team didn't have the time to accomodate a slow-paced Heatran, nor did the team have the ability to keep hazards off for Ceruledge or Pelipper. Houndstone takes an offensive role instead of forming that defensive core. As always, Poltergeist is a great move because it ignores opposing Fluffy, which gives a lot of this team trouble.
Ting-Lu @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Body Press
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Throat Chop
Man I love Earthquake, even though it is inconsistent. 100BP of Fluffy-dodging STAB is so hard to find. However, Levitate is everywhere, so the main move for this set is Body Press. With Fluffy, Tablets of Ruin, and heavy Defensive investment, Ting-Lu serves as a tank to put a stop to physical sweepers. Saving Ting-Lu for the endgame works pretty well since not a lot can beat it one on one. However, this Ting-Lu does not have the usual staying power and cannot remain on the field for long. Protect is necessary to win those 1v1s in the endgame. Otherwise, Ting-Lu fails to score OHKOs while taking 2HKOs from Baxcalibur and Dragapult.
Breloom @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Mach Punch
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Tera Blast
Breloom is supposed to shore up the matchup against fatter teams. Teams that would otherwise wait for Toxic to take its toll on the team have to play proactively against Breloom. Focus Punch is not a meme here. This team has power from Toxic Boost and Guts, but provisioning 4/6 abilities defensively does leave the squad a little weaker than most offenses. Using high BP moves like Focus Punch here, Power Whip on Wo-Chien, and Facade on Zangoose help to close the power gap. Focus Punch is the same strength as Adaptability Close Combat, for example. This Breloom set is a Tera hog as it cannot otherwise touch Ghosts. Tera Fairy baits in and blows up Giratina. Tera Blast is another non-contact move, helping in the Fluffy matchup. I think that every Shared Power teams needs a Fairy or Tera Fairy. The dragon spam matchup is not one that can be solved by traditional tanking since Dragon's Maw is too strong. Immunities are the best bet, so I slot a Tera Fairy on nearly every team (or I mean to and forget).
Threats
- Fluffy nearly cancels the Guts and Toxic Boost effects. This team has no other way of boosting, so breaking becomes difficult. Anything with a resist can switch in freely, especially as we've foregone most status moves, too.
- Long Reach takes away our best defensive tool and leaves the problems of Guts exposed. This team does not have many options for coming from behind if an opposing offense starts to sweep with Fluffy out of the way.
- Zamazenta boosts up out of reach, especially the Tera Steel set with Levitate. But hey, it's physical HO, losing to Zamazenta is just how it goes.Spikes - Hazards take a heavy toll since we have no removal.
I'd appreciate any advice on how to beat bulky playstyles. If this team can't break immediately, it struggles to exert long-term pressure. Guts stinks.
Replays
Unfortunately, I didn't save any losses. However, the first two games have some rough moments that show off some weakness.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9sharedpower-2194906869?p2
Against Rain HO. The game was won basically by switching in Houndstone and Wo-Chien. Includes some harrowing moments against Palafin where our lack of Speed was dangerous since his priority out sped mine.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9sharedpower-2194714467?p2
Taunt Larvitar shows off the speed tier, and Tera Fairy Breloom clutches it out against a bulkier offense.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9sharedpower-2195268802?p2
Wo-Chien blows up Calyrex with Foul Play. This game wasn't that interesting beyond that part, kind of a weak Guts team with the typical issues.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9sharedpower-2189027263?p2
This isn't a replay of this team, but it features a game I played with The Educated Fool that shows an alternative for building around Zangoose. Scrappy solves the coverage issue, allowing Zangoose to drop Knock Off, I assume. Zangoose's middling speed tier is papered over with Tailwind, as well. Importantly, both of these aides are provided by Decidueye-H, so the team didn't have to go very far out of the way to accomodate Zangoose. Really neat piece of building. I won this game, but to be fair, he did tag me with a loss later that week. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9sharedpower-2192769084?p2
Thanks for any advice.
