XY RU Lizardman (peaked 1488)

[gorex]

Introduction
My main tier during BW was OU, so you could pretty much say I am new to RU, I started at the start of XY. One day, I suddenly thought of Banded Druddigon, like it just randomly popped into my head, so I went to check the tier Druddigon was in. RU. I decided to build a team in RU around this random thought, thinking it would be nice to try out a new tier, maybe I will do well, maybe I will do badly, but at that time, I was thinking that the team would do really badly, since I had essentially been playing OU for a very long time, and I thought that it would take me a long ass time to grow accustomed to RU as it was a new tier to me, and to build a decent team would take me a long time. I was surprised when this team brought me relative success on the ladder, considering that this is my first team ever built for RU, and it eventually got me to peak at 1488 (I would aim for 1500+ to make it look better, but Showdown had to be dead at this time, so I couldn't get those last few ladder points). What is with that random song? Well, I pretty much put in a lot of effort building this team for it to do well, and it did very well for me, and i thought putting a song there would be damn fucking cool. I thought I would make an RMT of this team since ORAS is coming out soon, but I am not retiring this team. So without further ado, let's move on to the teambuilding process, after this long ass intro

Teambuilding Process

So obviously, since Banded Drudd was what I thought off, I rolled with it, and never changed it since then

I went with Dugtrio next, since spamming Outrage is one of the best things ever, and Dugtrio could help with trapping steels and rocks to enable Drudd to spam Outrage all over the other team. It could help with beating fast stuff like Virizion, Cobalion, Delphox and Meloetta to name a few

Doublade was my next option, since another thing that stopped the spamming of Outrage was Fairy types, and Doublade sets up all over Aromatisse and Slurpuff, pretty much the only ones you will ever see, to potentially sweep through the entire team

My team so far got beat by physical walls such as Alomomola, Gligar and Amoonguss mainly, and a mon that could beat all of them with its STABs was easily Mega Abomasnow, so it naturally went on my team.

One look at my team so far would easily scream "SCARF MOLTRES WRECKS YOU", so I went with specially defensive Rhyperior to check Scarf Moltres, and to set up rocks to wear down the opposing team easier

I needed more special presence on my team, and having watched RU battles in the past, I knew that Specs Meloetta was a really good wallbreaker, so I just put it on my team.

Since I pretty much covered how I put the different mons in my team, let's move on the movesets of the team and how the team synergises.

Team

Breakdown of Movesets

Druddigon @ Choice Band
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
-

Outrage - Good STAB to spam to tear through defensive teams
-

Gunk Shot - Good bait for Fairy types
-

Earthquake - To wear down Rock and Steel types in general
-

Fire Punch - Takes on Escavalier and prevents Levitators from coming in on expected EQs

Banded Druddigon is a fucking beast. Banded Outrage tears through stall with stuff like Gligar, Steel and Rock types gone. Gunk Shot to lure Fairy types in to take a chunk of it or even kill it, since this slot is normally Dragon Claw since being locked into a Dragon-type move and not being able to switch out on Fairy types that like to come in a turn after isn't fun. Earthquake wears down Rock and Steel types for Dugtrio to come in afterwards to trap and kill them. Fire Punch is mainly to take on Escavalier and since being locked into Earthquake and giving Cresselia a free turn to set up or heal up is no bueno, Fire Punch can be used as an alternative way to hit Steels. The speed I run on this spread is to outspeed Alomomola and hit it hard with Banded Outrage.

Dugtrio @ Life Orb
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-

Aerial Ace - Mainly helps to beat Virizion
-

Earthquake - STAB option, helps with trapping and killing Steel and Rock types
-

Stone Edge - Hits flying types like Moltres hard
-

Sucker Punch - Mainly to hit scarfers like Scarf Delphox

Dugtrio's main function on the team is to get rid of Rock and Steel types for Druddigon to come through and wreck with Outrage. A Life Orb is chosen over Focus Sash or Choice Band because of the ability to switch up moves and still hit hard. Earthquake is the main STAB move of choice. Stone Edge helps hit Flying-types super effectively. Aerial Ace helps with trapping Virizion and instantly killing it off. Sucker Punch is mainly there to get off damage on or kill scarfers like Delphox or Heliolisk.

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature
-

Swords Dance - Set-up move of choice for late-game sweeping or denting stall heavily
-

Shadow Claw - STAB move of choice that hits really hard after a SD
-

Shadow Sneak - Priority move that can clean late game against weakened teams
-

Iron Head - STAB move of choice that hits really hard after a SD and nice based flinch

Doublade complements Druddigon so well, covering all of its weaknesses, being Fairy, Dragon and Steel really nicely. It can set up really well since it can come in on quite a lot of the main mons, for example, Virizion, Cobalion and Aromatisse. It can heavily dent stall after stuff like Gligar and Aromatisse are weakened, and it can do late game sweeping against a weakened team. The speed is there to help speed-creep Rhyperior

Abomasnow-Mega @ Abomasite
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 172 HP / 252 SpA / 84 Spe
Mild Nature
-

Earthquake - Helps hit Steel types that think they can switch in freely
-

Giga Drain - STAB move of choice that helps hit stuff like Alo and Slowking hard
-

Blizzard - STAB move of choice that helps hit stuff like Gligar and Amoonguss hard
-

Ice Shard - Priority that can help pick off weakened threats

Mega Abomasnow complements my team well, since it so far really has problems with defensive walls like Alomomola, Gligar and Amoonguss, and Mega Abomasnow can deal heavy damage to them with its STAB moves, Giga Drain for Alomomola and Blizzard for both Gligar and Amoonguss. The speed helps me outspeed Rhyperior without speed investment. Earthquake helps hit Steel types that think they can switch in freely.

Rhyperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 244 HP / 240 SpD / 24 Spe
Careful Nature
-

Stealth Rock - Hazards to help weaken opposing teams
-

Earthquake - STAB move of choice that helps with steel types that Drudd struggle with
-

Rock Blast - STAB move of choice since it can break sashes if necessary and fuck Stone Miss
-

Roar - Helps phase the opposing team and stop set-up sweepers in its tracks

Specially Defensive Rhyperior helps me to take on Scarf Moltres well, and it provides Stealth Rock support for prior weakening of the opposing team for my sweepers to have an easier time cleaning up. Earthquake helps weaken Steel types for Druddigon as the STAB move of choice. Rock Blast helps hit stuff like Moltres on the switch-in and can deal with the really uncommon Lead Sash Archeops since Rock Blast is a multi-hit move, which guarantees that the sash gets broken. The speed helps me outspeed Doublade (ooh...the delicious speed creep war)

Meloetta @ Choice Specs
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-

Psychic - STAB move of choice that can dent stall teams heavily
-

Hyper Voice - STAB move of choice that can dent stall teams heavily and fuck up Dark types
-

U-turn - Helps bring momentum to the team, can be used predicting Spiritomb switch-ins
-

Shadow Ball- Hits Slowking and Cresselia harder

Specs Meloetta is in general another one of those awesome wallbreakers that can hit hard off a really respectable base 128 SpA and dent stall teams heavily. I went with Specs Meloetta instead of CM Meloetta since I wanted a special attacker that could hit really hard from the get-go instead of having to set up. Psychic and Hyper Voice are the main STAB moves of choice which don't really need any further explanation. U-turn can help provide momentum against predicted Spiritomb switch-ins. Shadow Ball helps hit stuff like Slowking and Cresselia harder

Shout-outs

GET HYPED

FatPinkUU for being my buddy in Competitive Tutoring and we hit it off really well when we first met online so w/e, having a penguin mom must be fun

galbia becuz fren

fleurdyleurse becuz singaporean swag and fren ???

i cannot think of anybody else to shout-out atm, i might just update this whenever i can think of any

Importable

Importable

Druddigon @ Choice Band
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Gunk Shot
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch

Dugtrio @ Life Orb
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Sucker Punch

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak
- Iron Head

Abomasnow-Mega @ Abomasite
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 172 HP / 252 SpA / 84 Spe
Mild Nature
- Earthquake
- Giga Drain
- Blizzard
- Ice Shard

Rhyperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 244 HP / 240 SpD / 24 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Roar

Meloetta @ Choice Specs
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Hyper Voice
- U-turn
- Shadow Ball

Final Words
And there you have it, my first RMT and imo the best way to send off XY. Hope you people can point out the mistakes with my team and let me know in this thread. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.

 

[g]

Hi gorex this team looks very solid and there aren't many weaknesses all around. The only problematic things i can see for your team are bulky Calm Mind Psychic-types like SubCm Meloetta and Cresselia who can be annoying later in the game if they come in on the right Pokemon and you have to play very smartly around them. I also see that your team has some problem with entry hazards, namely Toxic Spikes which can be easily set up on Doublade or Meloetta by Qwilfish and Drapion and doesnt really appreciate Stealth Rock that much with Abomasnow being weak to them and Druddigon and Meloetta often switching around. Probably the best way to fix this problem is probably to change Meloetta with Offensive Utility Skuntank. While Skuntank doesnt have the Wallbreaking capabilities Meloetta has it gives you a powerful Psychic-check, a Defogger and Toxic Spikes absorber as well as powerful priority that can be very useful in not being trapped by Dugtrio while still being able to check Doublade well.
My second suggestion is to try Swords Dance Virizion over Abomasnow. Virizion does the same thing Abomasnow does beating Physical walls such as Gligar and Alomomola quite easily and really appreciates Druddigon's wallbreaking support to sweep later in the game. I think it fits very well in a team that would be very slow and its ability to also check Clawitzer (which is a ridicolously big threat) as well has some of the offensive Fire-types thanks to its speed is also a powerful asset that it has over Mega Abomasnow.

Sets

Virizion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Leaf Blade
- Zen Headbutt / Stone Edge

Skuntank @ Black Sludge / Dread Plate
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Atk / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Defog
- Sucker Punch
- Taunt / Punishment
- Foul Play

 

[Molk]

Sup dude, this looks like a pretty solid team. However, there *are* a few things you might want to change.

First off, i'd probably replace Earthquake on Druddigon. Imo you really don't need it here. Every single Steel-type in RU (except Magneton, who still hates getting hit by either) gets smacked around by Fire Punch anyway (vs a target what's weak to both, Fire Punch is only two BP weaker, and Durant, Escavalier, and Bronzong get hit significantly harder by Fire Punch). As for Rock-types, the only one that's really super common in RU is Rhyperior, and Outrage hits that harder thanks to Solid Rock! As for potential replacements for Earthquake. I'd suggest trying out either Sucker Punch or Dragon Claw there. Sucker Punch gives you a decently powerful priority move to let you get the jump on Pokemon like Delphox or Meloetta in a pinch if you ever need to, while Dragon Claw gives you a decently powerful and reliable Dragon-type STAB move to work with that doesn't force you to stay in for a few turns like Outrage does.

I'd also suggest trying out Life Orb Druddigon. It might not have *quite* as much power as Choice Band Druddigon, but the ability to switch moves when needed is quite nice, especially when you don't take Life Orb Recoil when using Fire Punch and Gunk Shot. This is totally optional though.

As for galbia's post above, i'd definitely agree with trying out Virizion in Abomasnow's slot for all the reasons that he mentioned. It really seems like it'd be a good fit to me. so thumbs up on that

I also agree that your team currently has some trouble with Toxic Spikes. However, i'm not exactly sure how i'd go about fixing that. Skuntank>Meloetta is definitely an option, but honestly i really like Meloetta there for whatever reason :x.

Hope i helped!

 

[CutForBiebarel]

The only major flaw that I can see with this team is that it seams somewhat vulnerable to sharpedo after a bit of softening. I think if you ran sucker punch over earthquake on your banded druddigon, this would be immensely helpful in dealing with sharpedo as that will take a massive chunk out of its hp and allow ur other priority users to revenge it.