Introduction:
I've previously made RMTs for two other balance teams featuring Galarian Weezing: one from before the release of Isle of Armor (but after the release of Pokemon Home) and one from after the release of Isle of Armor, so I thought I would make it a trifecta and build another balance team with Galarian Weezing now that Crown Tundra has been released. I also wanted to make a team around Nidoking, because he's a fun and often overlooked option with all of the legendaries that came back with Crown Tundra. Now that Genesect, Naganadel, and especially Landorus-I have been banned, I think this team functions pretty well within the meta. It also will only get better if other Pokemon like Kyurem-B, Zygarde, and Pheromosa end up being banned as well. Also, it still bothers me that Urshifu doesn't have an animated sprite yet lol.
The Team:
Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
Sheer Force and a Life Orb makes Nidoking a pretty dangerous breaker, and you can justify using him more since the Landorus-I ban. I initially got the idea to build around Nidoking after seeing BitBitio mention in their post here that he pairs well with Urshifu. In general, in order to hold up to Urshifu defensively, a team needs either a sturdy Fairy like Clefable or Galarian Weezing, or some other fighting resist like Buzzwole. Nidoking out-speeds and OHKOs these options, so with some good positioning, the combination of Nidoking and Urshifu can pick a team apart. Nidoking's coverage is tremendous and having STAB Earth Power and Sludge Wave on top of the Life Orb and Sheer Force boosts is great. Toping out at 295 speed with a Timid nature also puts him in a decent, although not spectacular, speed tier. Nidoking outruns and OHKOs non-Scarfed Heatran and non-Assault Vest Melmetal with Earth Power, and it also as a chance to OHKO offensive Magearna and Physically Defensive Toxapex. Sludge Wave OHKOs physically defensive Clefable and even Assault Vest Tapu Bulu. It also chunks Tapu Fini and Primarina and will usually KO them with very little prior chip. Ice Beam offers nice coverage against Flying types like Zapdos, Tornadus-T, and Landorus-T, and also Dragons like defensive Garchomp or the Latis/Dragapult if you can catch a switch. Many Landorus-T in particular are defensive Stealth Rock setters right now, so Nidoking can out-speed them and OHKO with Ice Beam. Flamethrower rounds out the coverage by allowing you to hit Steel types like Ferrothorn, Scizor, and Corviknight. I haven't really missed not having Thunderbolt for coverage and I know some people like Substitute as an option, but I prefer Life Orb-4 attacks on Nidoking. Nidoking can be very hard to switch into and he isn't as prediction reliant as Choice-locked breakers.
Nidoking's typing also is advantageous, as having a Ground type is very important with Regieleki running around. Nidoking also can usually switch into Tapu Koko and threaten it out at least once. The Poison typing is also nice because it makes it easier to switch into Fairies like Clef and also removes Toxic Spikes that have become more common.
Weezing-Galar (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strange Steam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Aromatherapy
In my previous two RMTs that I linked in the introduction, I talked a lot about Galarian Weezing and how I love this Pokemon. All of that is still true and I'll end up repeating a lot of it here. Urshifu-S is extremely threatening unless you have a designated switch-in to him, and my favorite is G-Weezing. I've considered using Buzzwole here over Galarian Weezing, but I found that I just prefer the utility that G-Weezing offers (plus I just really like this mon). Only Iron Head Urshifu threaten G-Weezing, and I think that Poison Jab is becoming more common over Iron Head to hit the Tapu Fini better. Strange Steam OHKOs Urshifu back and the 20% confusion chance is always nice. G-Weezing also is a check to other big offensive threats like Rillaboom without High Horsepower, Kyurem-B without Earth Power, Pheromosa without Drill Run, Hawlucha, the rare Conkeldurr and Obstagoon, and Kartana if it's Choice-locked into anything other than Smart Strike. Will-O-Wisp is always great and makes it much harder to switch into G-Weezing. Pain Split is the only form of recovery that G-Weezing has access to (besides the Black Sludge recovery) but it helps that G-Weezing is faster than many of the fatter walls like Blissey/Chansey and Clef, allowing him to recover a good amount of HP. I fooled around with other options like Sludge Bomb and even Toxic Spikes in the last slot, but I found that I like the utility of Aromatherapy best. Since my team relies heavily on Urshifu (along with Nidoking) to carry most of the offensive workload, having Urshifu get burnt or paralyzed is really annoying, so I like having a little more insurance with Aromatherapy, especially with Flame Body Moltres and Static Zapdos being use.
Obviously, another big selling point for Galarian Weezing is its ability: Neutralizing Gas. In case you aren't aware, Neutralizing Gas negates the abilities of most other Pokemon opposing Galarian Weezing. I'm going to quote myself here from one of my previous RMTs to further explain the uses of Neutralizing gas, "There are numerous applications for Neutralizing Gas, and I know that I'm not knowledgeable enough to talk about them all, so I'll just mention a few important ones I can think of at the moment. The biggest one I can think of right now is probably switching in to prevent Regenerator recovery. This can be huge to keep Toxapex, Amoonguss, and Tangrowth low - keeping them in range to be KOed if they switch back in later to sponge a hit. Many people are annoyed by Regenerator (and particularly Pex), so it's really nice to be able to prevent it. Neutralizing Gas can also be helpful in preventing weather or terrain from being set, and removing Magic Guard from Clefable can help in it getting worn down as well. Natural Cure doesn't activate while switching out, so you can keep status on Blissey/Chansey. It's also nice to be able to Burn Xatu and Hatterene with a Wisp and not fear Magic Bounce. Azumarill without Huge Power is checked by Galarian Weezing. Like I said, there are countless ways to use Neutralizing Gas and I'm sure I'm overlooking some important ones, but the point is that it's a great and applicable ability."
The 12 speed EVs I use are just to speed-creep uninvested Tyranitar, and by extension, uninvested Clef.
Mandibuzz @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 152 SpD / 108 Spe
Careful Nature
- Foul Play
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
Mandibuzz is my Defogger, Ground immunity, and Ghost resist. Having a Ghost resist right now is very important with Spectrier being common and Specs Dragapult/Blacephalon always being threatening. Specially Defensive Mandibuzz should normally handle Specs Pult and Spectrier fine, but Spectrier can be annoying if it's a Substitute set with Nasty Plot and either Disable or Will-O-Wisp. I went with Foul Play over Knock Off because I like having reliable damage against set up sweepers like Swords Dance Excadrill and Rillaboom, but Knock Off is obviously fantastic right now and I could see picking it over Foul Play. U-turn is nice on Mandibuzz because it can help you pivot into your heavy hitters in Nidoking and Urshifu. Overcoat is a nice ability for Mandibuzz as well because it lets you be unaffected by Spore from Amoonguss and not get chipped by Sand damage.
For the spread, I used 108 speed EVs to reach 223 speed, because 222 is a fairly common benchmark. Adamant/252 speed Tyranitar hits 221, and although I don't think that set is too common, some Heatran are hitting 222. Since Taunt on Heatran is common, I wanted to give my Mandibuzz a better chance to out-speed them and Defog or Roost before being Taunted. I also like getting above 219 to speed-creep Modest Magnizone and especially neutral-natured Aegislash. It's best to run 248 HP EVs on Mandibuzz instead of 252 to minimize some passive damage, but you can read more about that here.
Slowbro (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Teleport
- Slack Off
I've always liked Slowbro and I think he's in a pretty good spot right now. He's a reliable bulky Water to stand up to things like Blaziken and Zygarde and has a good amount of longevity thanks to Slack Off and the fantastic Regenerator. Scald always makes him harder to switch into and Future Sight can pair nicely with Urshifu and Nidoking to facilitate their breaking. Since my team only has two offensive Pokemon, I wanted to try to squeeze as much offensive presence out of my defensive core as I could. Teleport is also very nice to gain momentum and pairs perfectly with Regenerator and Rocky Helmet. I like Rocky Helmet because it's great against multi-hitting moves like Melmetal's Double Iron Bash and Urshifu Rapid-Strike's Surging Strikes. Rocky Helmet also helps Slowbro punish U-turns from things like Cinderace, Landorus-T, and Pheromosa, although Slowbro is obviously weak to U-Turn. Flip Turn Swampert really doesn't like taking Rocky Helmet damage either. Rocky Helmet can also help make sure that you don't get worn down by Galarian Zapdos after it drops your defense with Thunderous Kick. Heavy Duty Boots are also clearly good on Slowbro to help him switch in more reliably.
Heatran (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 124 SpD / 132 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Earth Power
Specially defensive Heatran is a great "glue Pokemon" that holds together a lot of defensive backbones. Heatran is a great switch-in to threatening Special Attackers like Magearna, Tapu Lele, and Volcarona. Heatran is a very good Stealth Rock setter since many Defoggers like Corviknight or Rapid Spinners like Excadrill don't want to switch into it. Taunt is also great at keeping rocks up if you outrun a slower Defogger like a Mandibuzz without much investment. Taunt is vital to shutdown other bulkier Pokemon that you trap with Magma Storm as well, such as Clefable, Toxapex, or Blissey/Chansey, and is also necessary to beat Volcarona. Earth Power makes sure you're not completely walled by opposing Heatran and helps to wear down opposing Pokemon you've trapped with Magma Storm, such as the aforementioned Toxapex. Magma Storm only having 8 PP can also be annoying, so I like Earth Power adding some flexibility. I do think that Protect or Toxic could both be good over Earth Power, but I just don't like getting completely walled by other Heatran.
I use 132 speed EVs to once again hit the 223 speed benchmark. I like to give myself the best chance to outrun other specially defensive Heatran, since I use Earth Power, and also opposing Mandibuzz, so that I can Taunt them before they Roost or Defog.
Urshifu (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Sucker Punch
Urshifu-S is still one of the best breakers and can dismantle teams that don't have one of a few select switch-ins. I went with Choice Band over a Bulk Up or Life Orb-4 Attack set because I wanted the immediate power, but those are obviously good too. Most of the time, you just use U-turn from Mandibuzz or Teleport from Slowbro to bring in Urshifu and you click Wicked Blow (and sometimes Close Combat). If they have something like a Clef, their own Galarian Weezing, or a Buzzwole, they're usually going to it, and you can just U-turn out into Nidoking; that's really the breaking synergy that this team was built around. Sucker Punch can really help save you in late-game situations, especially since this team isn't very fast, but clicking Sucker Punch with a Choice Band is always a little scary. I prefer Jolly over Adamant nature to outrun key threats like Excadrill and Kyurem, but the added power of Adamant could be nice.
Threats:
I haven't tested too extensively with this team, so I apologize if I overlook some threats.
Replay:
I haven't laddered too much with this team because I've had more fun building/theorizing than playing, but here is a quick replay I got to show it in action a little:
Replay - I know it was risky to stay in turn 1 against my opponent's Landorus-T with my Nidoking, but I was pretty sure it was their defensive Stealth Rock setter, based on the rest of their team, so I felt thought that my Nidoking would outrun and OHKO it. The speed investment in Heatran pays off on turn 10 where I get my Stealth Rocks up before the Tapu Fini can Taunt me. The value of Heatran's Magma Storm, trapping set is also shown as it removes his Tapu Fini. Finally, you can see how Mandibuzz pivots nicely into Urshifu to guarantee to OHKO against my opponent's Galarian Articuno. They forfeit here but I should pretty much have it won with a full-health Galarian Weezing for their Urshifu and a nearly fully-healthy Mandibuzz for their Dragapult.
Conclusion:
I enjoy this team and I think it's a pretty fun balance team. It is a little on the defensive side, but even some of the defensive Pokemon like Heatran with Magma Storm, Slowbro with Future Sight, and sometimes Mandibuzz with Foul Play can provide some offensive power. Mandibuzz and Slowbro U-turning/Teleporting into Nidoking and Urshifu is also fun as it allows you to keep momentum and helps make progress. I feel like this team is fairly well-suited for the current meta and does contain a few less common picks, like Nidoking and Galarian Weezing, which I always like as well. As I said in the introduction too, I imagine that this team would get even better in the future if some Pokemon like Kyurem-B or Pheromosa end up getting banned. Thank you to anyone who read or glanced over this!
Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
Weezing-Galar (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strange Steam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Aromatherapy
Mandibuzz @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 152 SpD / 108 Spe
Careful Nature
- Foul Play
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
Slowbro (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Teleport
- Slack Off
Heatran (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 124 SpD / 132 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Earth Power
Urshifu (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Sucker Punch
Ability: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower
Weezing-Galar (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strange Steam
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Aromatherapy
Mandibuzz @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Overcoat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 152 SpD / 108 Spe
Careful Nature
- Foul Play
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
Slowbro (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Future Sight
- Teleport
- Slack Off
Heatran (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 124 SpD / 132 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Earth Power
Urshifu (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wicked Blow
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Sucker Punch
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Pheromosa is a better teammate than urshifu, because u-turn can bring safely nidoking agaisnt the pheromosa checks and is a good speedcontrol, and gives you a second hazard control.
I prefer clefable on Weezing-galar because it gets wish and can help heatran in later game, helps you with pheromosa, urshifu, zygarde and can beat kyurem b if you keep clef at 100%.
I think heavy duty boots is better on it.