Project RU Research Week: Week 14 - Porygon-Z, Marowak-A & Reuniclus

[sol]

OP adapted from the UU one | Hosted by Mac3 | Approved by phantom

​

Welcome to the first edition of the Sword and Shield RU Research Week! In this project, participants research suggested Pokemon every week and share their experience. Whoever has the highest ladder score at the end of the week will be declared the winner. For details, see below.

Keep the following things in mind during every Research Week:

• Be open-minded. Don't just say something is terrible and walk away; look at its stats, typing and movepool and think something up!
• Feel free to theorymon early in the research period, but make it clear you're doing so. Later in the period, however, you will be expected to back up your posts with hard evidence like logs, actual sets, and perhaps even teams.
• Just because an analysis has been done for a Pokemon doesn't mean there isn't more to explore; it's very likely that something has gone unnoticed.
• Do not post in this thread complaining about the Pokemon or movesets we choose and / or suggesting ones we should do for future weeks. Feel free to VM / PM us these suggestions, but don't expect us to always accept them.

A few things to clarify:

• Sign-ups can be as late as you want, but the week will always end on Tuesday.
• Early period means the first three days of the Research Week, so let's keep the theorymonning to a minimum after this period. The late period refers to the last four days of the research week, beginning on Friday, where raw evidence and discussion should become the basis of the thread.
• Discussion is mandatory in order to be considered as a winner of Research Week. If you do not post one somewhat-coherent post that describes the Pokemon that you're using, their roles, and their niche in the metagame, you will be disqualified from winning this week. Please post about your experiences regardless of whether you think you've got a chance to win or not, we appreciate it!
• Finally, I'd like to implore you to all please remember to post and save your replays. Often, these replays are the most informative sources of information about RW Pokemon - you can write a full two paragraphs about the role of a Pokemon, but often that can all be summed up with a video and an explanation of it. How useful are these Pokemon in SS RU? What gives them trouble? What advantages do they have over other Pokemon? How well do they work in the metagame? If you have anything to say about any of these Pokemon, please post about them! Remember, discussion is not limited to this topic, you are encouraged to talk about these Pokemon in the RU chat on Pokemon Showdown, in the official RU Discord, as well as in the Viability Ranking Thread.

This Week's Selection

Porygon-Z

Porygon-Z @ [insert]
Ability: [insert]
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
-
-
-
-

PZ is a very unexplored mon right now, which makes it a perfect candidate for research week. Having great coverage in normal + ghost, you can either go adaptability or download, which has a bit more risk involved. Honestly I haven't used Porygon-Z much so can't talk much about it, but as I said its unexplored, so it'll be interesting to see what y'all do with it!

Marowak-Alola

Marowak-Alola @ [insert]
Ability: [insert]
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
-
-
-
-

Marowak-Alola carves itself out a niche as an electric immunity without actually being a ground type. It also is an extremely strong breaker, which is rare in the current meta, often allowing it to trade itself out even in unfavorable matchups. There are multiple disadvantages it has to Chandelure though, mainly being prone to chip from stealth rocks and also being significantly slower. However, the immunity to electric attacks could very well make up for these flaws.

Regen CM Reuniclus

Reuniclus @ [insert]
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
- Calm Mind
-
-
-

Reuniclus has two main sets in this meta, AV and Magic Guard CM, however, for this week I'd like you guys to try out Regen CM. This set is much like what Slowbro generally uses, but with some slight differences. Reuniclus has more bulk than Slowbro, and also has different weaknesses, trading a Ground weakness for a bug one, additionally, it's much stronger unboosted. However, it does have some downsides, mainly being weak to status, so for this week, the main interest is in whether these traits make it better or worse than its competition in Slowbro.

In order to participate you must do the following:

• Post here with a fresh RW alt (such as RURW14 mac3) and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
• Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched.
• Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using, participate in the discussion!
• Post replays of this Pokemon in action against other teams - don't just tell us, show us
• The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown RU ladder with their RW alt at the time the challenge ends. Winners will also receive a permanent spot in this thread's Hall of Fame.
• Ladder will be checked Sunday the 28th, 9pm GMT +1

 

[sol]

Hall Of Fame

Week 1: Drampa & Persian-Alola

Goldcat

Week 2: CM Indeedee & Toxicroak

SectoniaServant

Week 3: Braviary & Rotom-Mow

SectoniaServant

Week 4: Work Up Dragvally & CB Snorlax

Goldcat

Week 5: Specs Ninetales & Specs Vanilluxe

Oathkeepre

Week 6: Rillaboom & Mixed Virizion

No winner.

Week 7: Stakataka, Volcanion & Cobalion

Jaytop31

Week 8: Drizzle, Drought & Snow Warning

Goldcat

Week 9: Regidrago, Sylveon & Galarian Slowbro

Goldcat

Week 10: Barbaracle, Necrozma & Crobat

Mac3

Week 11: Indeedee, Tornadus & Sharpedo

sparrow's tail

Week 12: Aerodactyl, Screens & Starmie

eifo

Week 13: Cresselia, Mudsdale & Toxic Spikes

eifo

 

[sol]

This week's selection:

Persian-Alola

Persian-Alola @ [insert]
Ability: [insert]
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
-
-
-
-

Persian-Alola recently dropped to RU in the latest tier shift, its gotten moderate use in RUPL (2 times in week 4). In conjunction with Fur Coat, its support movepool of Parting Shot, Taunt, and Toxic, as well as solid offensive options in Knock Off and Foul Play, make Persian-Alola a viable pivot within the RU metagame, although unexplored as of right now.

Drampa

Drampa @ [insert]
Ability: [insert]
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
-
-
-
-

Drampa is one of the tier's few dragon types. It has been used a solid amount of times in RUPL, as with its typing has a lot of good resistances coupled with a monstrous 135 base special attack stat is able to fit on multiple teams. It can run a multitude of different sets, Choice Specs, Life Orb, or even a more defensive defog set if necessary. It finds lots of opportunities to come into play in the meta right now, with a lot of fire types and grass types being some of the most used 'mons in RUPL as of right now.

In order to participate you must do the following:

• Post here with a fresh RW alt (such as RWRU[insert week number] Mac3) and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
• Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched.
• Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using, participate in the discussion!
• Post replays of this Pokemon in action against other teams - don't just tell us, show us
• The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown RU ladder with their RW alt at the time the challenge ends. Winners will also receive a permanent spot in this thread's Hall of Fame.

 

[413X]

I'm super excited abt this project. I'm using Drampa rn on the alt RWRU1 413X and I made a team to showcase how much work it can do. I probably will post the team later but idk.

 

[Sectonia]

Like the guy above, I am also excited for this project. I'll be participating in this challenge with RWRU1 Sectonia, and I'll be using Persian-A for this challenge.


Persian-Alola @ Leftovers
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 Spe
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Parting Shot

The set above is what I'm using for Persian-A in this challenge. There's probably an ideal set for it, but I think this set works for me. 68 speed EVs is for Vanilluxe, and allows me to taunt even the fastest Vanilluxe that isn't choiced. This allows me to get a leg up vs Veil teams, and ensures that they're less annoying to take down. The team I've built is meant to try and see what kind of structures I can pull off with Persian-A as a utility wall. I'm excited to see what happens afterwards.

E: I did screw up the alt ;w;

 

[GoldCat]

RWRU1 GoldCat- Drampa. I might look into Persian-A if I have the time.

 

[Oathkeeper]

Alright, doing this so let's go. Using the alt RWRU1 Oath - Drampa

I'll be using this set for the old timer:

Drampa @ Choice Specs
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 136 HP / 252 SpA / 120 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hyper Voice
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast

This set just destroys things. This is a SM PU set and it still works here in SS RU. I went 120 Speed EVs to creep uninvested base 50s, max out the SpAtk and then the rest went into HP. Draco hits everything hard except Fairies and Steels but that's what Hyper Voice and Fire Blast is for, respectively. I have Focus Blast there to hit stuff like CurseTalk Snorlax. Other than that, not much to say here about a great wallbreaker.​

 

[sol]

I'd like to remind you guys to make a post today to be able to win this week. Oathkeepre GoldCat 413XPlayz SectoniaServant

 

[Oathkeeper]

Importable

Drampa @ Choice Specs
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 136 HP / 252 SpA / 120 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Hyper Voice
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast

Silvally-Fairy @ Fairy Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Multi-Attack
- U-turn
- Defog

Copperajah @ Leftovers
Ability: Heavy Metal
EVs: 252 Atk / 92 SpD / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Heat Crash
- Power Whip
- Stealth Rock

Indeedee (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Dazzling Gleam
- Mystical Fire

Vileplume @ Black Sludge
Ability: Effect Spore
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Strength Sap
- Sleep Powder

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 188 HP / 152 Def / 168 SpD
Careful Nature
- Body Slam
- Darkest Lariat
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

So, I went with Specs Drampa to start. It has perfect coverage with the heavy hitting Specs set. Focus Blast is there to hit Snorlax harder than any of the other moves (even STAB Draco). Since I wanted to go with a Dragon-Fairy-Steel core, I chose Fairyvally with Defog as the next partner. It's a nice Fighting check to Passimian, Virizion, and I guess Bewear. Copperajah being the rocker of the team and the Steel type of the core. I could've gone AV, but a rocker was needed lol. Standard set really with Heavy Metal helping Heavy Slam and Heat Crash while Power Whip deals with stuff like Rhydon, Jellicent, and Mudsdale. Then comes in the scarfer of the team in Mandeedee (Indeedee-M). It serves as the biggest Fighting check for the team since it outspeeds all the viable ones including the threats mentioned previously; and of course has the nice coverage options in Dazzling Gleam and Mystical Fire to hit Darks and Steels. Vileplume is next. It is my default switch in to almost everything physical attacking while having that nice standard set. Lastly is Snorlax. This chubby thing easily switches into Fire and Ice moves while also switching into practically anything special attacking.
​

Findings:

• This team quite literally half beats and half loses to Fighting types. Meaning, half the mons lose to Passimian, the other half beats it. But this is okay, I have ways around it (i.e. Plume always comes in on Pass).​
• CurseTalk Snorlax (or any) can take advantage of this team. Since I have no Fighting types at all on this team, I'm kind of at the mercy of Specs Focus Blast​

 

[GoldCat]

Set:

Drampa @ Chople Berry
Ability: Berserk
EVs: 248 HP / 76 Def / 172 SpA / 12 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Roost

This is the set I've exclusively used and also by far my favorite Drampa set. It doesn't have the immediate devastating power of Choice Specs but what it lacks in strength it makes up in longevity and utility. Roost variants in general, are great because you're actually able to use Drampa's defensive merits throughout the whole battle instead of only once or twice. Calm Mind is so good on Drampa, as it has a lot of setup opportunities against the many Fire- and Grass-types as well as common defensive mons like Xatu, Steelix, and Jellicent. It also gives Drampa the power of Specs as well as a means to negate the drop from using Draco. Calm Mind + Berserk also allows Drampa to beat lax as you avoid the 2HKO from +1 Body Slam and you just boost with CM and Berserk until you obliterate it. Ideally, you need Drampa to be burned before trying to take on lax. If you get paralyzed you're slower than Snorlax even after a Curse which puts you in a risky situation where you could easily lose to one unlucky turn. The HP and Defense EVs coupled with Chople allows Drampa to live CB Passimian's CC. Chople Berry comes into play in almost every game, as most teams try to revenge kill Drampa with their Fighting-type. Using Drampa as a Fighting check is so much fun and extremely useful.

Overall, I found Drampa to be exactly how effective as I thought it would be, but it was nice to finally see the destructive power of Drampa at first hand.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ru-1103192980
Shows how Drampa mauls through fat. I had plans for laddering more so I've only two saved replays as I was waiting for higher quality games/better showcasing of Drampa. Next time I'll just save all my battles to make sure I've enough to showcase the mon.

The team I used:

Really fun team and solid as I went 45-8 with it.

 

[Sectonia]

I started the team with the Persian-Alola set that I mentioned above - the defensive set. I added Claydol to serve as the partner to Persian-Alola, and to handle special threats that Persian-A wasn't equipped to deal with. Togedemaru was next up - it was put to help my defensive core deal with Galvantula, and also provided speed control to me. I could probably run Zen Headbutt on the Togedemaru set, but Scarf Nuzzle has come in clutch quite a few times, so I would say it was a success. Virizion was next, and create a core of sort with Persian-A and Claydol - they could pivot in, and get Virizion in safely. I wanted to try special Virizion, although now that I'm looking back at this, I would have preferred to have ran a SD set on Virizion and made Salazzle a Nasty Plot set. Salazzle was next, and I decided on the SubToxTect set because I had never tried it, and I wanted to do so. Finally, Qwilfish provided a secondary physical check, since it checked some of the fighting types that Persian-A was never capable of handling. IT also created a FWG core with the second half of my team.

Findings:

It did pretty decent on taking the role as a physically defensive pivot, and someone suggested a Nasty Plot set to me, but I never got to try it out, unfortunately. You definitely need a fighting check to pair with this since Fighting-types still hurt this pretty hard, but in a pinch, it can eat a hit because of Fur Coat. Overall, it wasn't an active detriment to the team, and I think it can be viable in the current meta.

- SubToxTect Salazzle gets you cussed out by quite a few people on ladder - I've even had one person throw a slur at me for using it. Although I never did see it until after I came back to evaluate the game to see if I could use it for a replay - I did not.

- Snorlax whoops this team hardcore - I'm super dependent on Parting Shot, Intimidate, and Virizion to pressure out Snorlax, and cut down on its offensive presence - it uses Salazzle as set up bait, so I literally can't have it stall out any important threats unless I'm capable of shutting it down fast - this team can't really do that. So I got hurt pretty hard by Snorlax - Taunt Qwilfish was a late addition to the team, and was meant to help support the Snorlax matchup - It was still pretty rough.

- The number of Frosmoths that just stayed in to Quiver Dance versus Persian-A is... astonishing to say the least. I won too many games bc they didn't hit Bug Buzz right away and I could ruin their attempt to sweep by pivoting out with Parting Shot and going hard Togedemaru.

-The number of Galvantulas that weren't Sticky Webs was also alarmingly high - I've had cases of Galvantulas just spamming Thunders and never getting up Sticky Webs so they would lose bc they never had webs up...

E: Added thoughts on Persian-A.

 

[sol]

Congratulations to GoldCat for winning this week's Research Week!

Drampa was used by multiple of this week's testers and has gotten positive feedback. A defensive cm roost set was used by GoldCat in order to maximize its defensive capabilities while also allowing for set up on multiple high ranking 'mons. He used chople berry in order to lure fighting types that usually come in to revenge Drampa, instead most likely getting ohkoed after a cm. Oathkeepre used a specs set which maximizes power as early as possible, and doesn't have a switch-in in the tier, teams have to rely on prediction in order to have a switch-in. Drampa seems to be a good offensive dragon following the banning of Goodra, as it is much more powerful and has a secondary STAB, but is also much slower which doesn't allow it to come in and pressure opposing teams as much as Goodra did.

SectoniaServant used Persian-Alola and had decent results with it. He used it as a physical defensive pivot thanks to its ability Fur Coat, although you need to pair it with another physical defensive 'mon to beat the fighting types that Persian-A loses to. He thinks that Persian-A has a viable place in the meta, although from what I've gathered doesn't seem to be anything special. I tried using NP Persian-A during the week, and although it can catch some teams off-guard, it simply isn't strong enough, especially with Snorlax being on many teams thanks to the prevalence of fire-types.

Moving on, this week’s selection is:

Indeedee

Indeedee @ [insert]
Ability: [insert]
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
- Calm Mind
-
-
-

Indeedee is one of, if not the best pokemon in RU right now. It’s scarf set is one of the fastest scarfers commonly used in our tier, while still packing a punch with psychic-terrain boosted STAB attacks. Another common set is it specs set, which is almost uncounterable in the tier, with teams relying on blanket checks and prediction to beat it. This is why, this week we will explore a calm mind, which alleviates the need for prediction, and if you get a calm mind off, it could be more powerful than specs as well, depending on the item, although it takes a turn to set up which might prove to be too big of an obstacle as Indeedee is relatively frail and doesn’t offer much defensively.

Toxicroak

Toxicroak @ [insert]
Ability: [insert]
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
-
-
-
-

Toxicroak was A ranked in gen7ru, but has been left largely unexplored this gen, even though many gen7ru mons have risen which should in theory make Toxicroak more viable. However, many top tier pokemon beat Toxicroak, the aforementioned Indeedee outspeeds and revenges, Salazzle revenges non-scarf sets and so does Raichu-Alola. However, other top tier pokemon such as Virizion, Vileplume, Steelix, and Bewear all get taken advantage of by specific Toxicroak sets, whether that be SD, NP, or even choiced sets such as Scarf. Toxicroak is very customisable which should make it an interesting ‘mon to research.

In order to participate you must do the following:

• Post here with a fresh RW alt (such as RWRU2 Mac3) and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
• Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched.
• Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using, participate in the discussion!
• Post replays of this Pokemon in action against other teams - don't just tell us, show us
• The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown RU ladder with their RW alt at the time the challenge ends. Winners will also receive a permanent spot in this thread's Hall of Fame.

 

[Oathkeeper]

Using the alt RWRU2 Oath

I'll be using this set:

Indeedee (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Dazzling Gleam
- Mystical Fire

Indeedee just hits stuff so hard it's not even funny. Not even Snorlax is safe from the likes of Psyshock with Psychic Terrain up. It has near-perfect coverage with Gleam + Fire to hit Darks and Steels, but it's going to want to click STAB 98% of the time, but I plan to remedy that. Anyway, off to building for me!!!!​

 

[Sectonia]

Using the alt RWRU2 Sectonia

I will be using Toxicroak, although the exact set has yet to be decided for me. I'll probably try out multiple sets to see what they're like.

 

[EggsAndPeanuts]

I'm using the alt RURW2 Eggs, and also this set:

Indeedee (M) @ Twisted Spoon
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Mystical Fire
- Dazzling Gleam

I like the idea of bluffing a choice item and slapping someone with a coverage move. Twisted Spoon Psyshock is nearly as powerful as life orb, and I'm running it on a bulkier team that appreciates more longevity.

 

[gorex]

rwru2 gorex - croaker

 

[HonchTheConch]

Toxicroak @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Sludge Bomb
- Focus Blast

Going under the user: RURW2 Conch

I'll probably try some other sets and use like different items and stuff but I feel special is probably better than physical right now since unlike every other fighting, croak was cheated and didn't get close combat. Not having to worry about burns is nice too

 

[Oathkeeper]

​

: Mandeedee was the choice I made for this research week. I have to admit that while scarf or specs are the ideal items for it, LO CM was kind of nice to use when I did get to use it lol. I believe I got to use it in games 4 and 5 with game 5 having a better use.

: Scarf Passimian was one of my ways to beat Steels along with Charizard and Rhydon. It mostly pivoted and whatnot, so it didn't do much outside of that.

: The Plume was my blanket check (as it always is). I tended to use it a lot when I saw a physical attacker on the field and it did its job very well. I even managed to put an SD Toxicroak to sleep in G4 and turned out to be helpful to Indeedee.

: The rocker for the team as well as a secondary Steel beater and Salazzle counter. It did some work but mostly saw X eyes, but that's ok. I had it in case I needed it to do its job as described above.

: Standard Zard set of Fire Blast, Roost, Toxic, Defog which let me cripple Jellicent and Rhydon if need be. I used it to bop lead Accelgor twice on the same opponent. It also managed to defog away screens in one of the early games.

: Was unsure why I added this thing to the team, but then I realized I had to no way to beat Snorlax once Passimian was gone. It's always nice to have backups! I ran Sacred Sword > CC to ignore Defense boosts from Curse on said Snorlax. Never got it try it out tho. There was one game where Viriz was the wincon once Xatu was out of the way, but the opponent forfeit before I could go through with it.

TAKEAWAYS:

• Salazzle can potentially be a problem once Rhydon goes down. I do have Indeedee (not scarfed tho) and EQ on Passimian, however.​
• Opposing Indeedee (especially scarfed) can be hazardous to this team as well since I lack a Steel type and my scarfer can't even outspeed it should it be scarfed too.​
• Funny enough, Raichu-A is also a problem for this team since, like Indeedee, I have no Psychic switch in except for my own Indeedee which prefers to stay healthy to hit hard with LO CM.​

Yes, the screen size sucks but I fixed it for future vids. Also, I know I spelled Research wrong lol.​

 

[Sectonia]

This was the team I was rocking pre-drops, and it did pretty damn well. Scarf Toxicroak did a lot for my team - it revenge killed all of the threats I needed it to, and it was a valuable asset to the team. Dry Skin came in clutch a few times too, so I would rate this team a success. Unfortunately, after the drops, it got a bit worse, due to me not being able to reasonably handle all of them, so I took it upon myself to build another team, this time, around an idea that I wanted to try out - Nasty Plot Toxicroak.



NP Toxicroak performed pretty well for me. This team was created post-drops, so it includes two of the new drops - Scarf Rotom-Mow and SpDef Vaporeon. NP Toxicroak did pretty well, like the scarf set, and I was proud to say that it got me decent results too, so I would call this a success as well. There was an older version of this team with Defog Silvally-Fairy, which you can see in a replay I will link for this team. The current version works much better, in my opinion, after I got into a game where Steelix continued to threaten out Silvally, despite it having Flamethrower. So eventually, I settled on Charizard as the replacement Defog user, and it worked out pretty well for me.

Findings:

Toxicroak's Scarf and Nasty Plot sets did really well in my experience. Scarf revenge-killed a lot of relevant threats pre-drops, and post drops, it was still revenge killing important threats too. Nasty Plot was very strong, although in this set, I sorely wanted Vacuum Wave over Shadow Ball - a shocker, but that was my experience.

Sableye was such a great partner for Toxicroak - I'm astounded. Everytime I started building around Toxicroak, I always inevitably came back to Sableye, because it was just such a great absorber for Psychic-types, and in turn, crippled the pokemon that could reasonably scare out Toxicroak, so they became a non-issue. Honestly, this was such a great partner it felt like I was rediscovering my love for Sableye in RU.

/

They turned out to be pretty good Stealth Rockers, in my experience, and paired well with Toxicroak + Sableye. I ended up picking them for different purposes. Steelix was picked for the Scarf team because I wanted an electric immunity, and Copperajah was picked for the Nasty Plot team because I wanted a specially defensive steel.

/

I explored the idea of a specially defensive water type, and I have to say, it produced very good results - the ladder likes Cramorant right now, and this just completely shuts down the Surf + Hurricane set - Vaporeon served as a cleric that could help the team out vs Salazzle, which I was very grateful for.

Replays:

Only one for each team, but I felt that they were good showcases.

Scarf Toxicroak cleans up - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ru-1105589980

Nasty Plot Toxicroak is crucial to winning the endgame - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ru-1108145813

 

[EggsAndPeanuts]

I ended up making two teams during research week, with two different Indeedee sets.

The first team used the set I posted earlier that week.

Twisted Spoon Calm Mind

Indeedee (M) @ Twisted Spoon
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Mystical Fire
- Dazzling Gleam

,
It worked quite well. Combined with webs from vikavolt, this indeedee could easily bluff scarf or specs, and if it got a calm mind up it could easily finish a game due to its power and wide coverage. The other pokemon on the team were mostly added to shore up some weaknesses.

The biggest issue with this indeedee set was simply that it wasn't choiced, leaving it slower and weaker than its choiced counterparts. While being able to setup sweep is a large boon, it isn't able to clean quite like scarf or wallbreak like specs.


Later that week, late at night, I had a brilliant idea. Think about how often you click Indeedee's coverage moves. They're pretty situational, and a lot weaker than Psychic or Psyshock. Why not drop Dazzling Gleam in favor of something else? In my brilliance, I came up with Scarf Calm Mind Indeedee.

Scarf CM Indeedee

Indeedee (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Mystical Fire
- Trick

This set lets Indeedee act as a revenge killer, setup sweeper, and lets it cripple walls that might be able to tank a psyshock. The second team used this pretty well, and in most games it acted quite a lot like regular Scarf Indeedee. But in games where my team benefited from its variable nature, Indeedee excelled. It paired well with the rest of the team, and served its job nicely. In certain situations, I could use it as an alternative wincon to Malamar.

I'm pretty sure this is a highly situational set, however, but it's tons of fun to play with.

 

[sol]

Congratulations to SectoniaServant for winning this week's Research Week!

Oathkeepre and EggsAndPeanuts chose to research calm mind Indeedee for this week’s research week. Both agreed that it had it’s niche, as being able to set-up and switch moves is very nice, although they still believed that it’s choice sets were more viable as they either had the capability to revenge almost everything or had more immediate power. Being able to bluff choice specs with twisted spoon was a big positive according to EggsAndPeanuts as it could sweep late-game thanks to its power and coverage, which I agree with from my own experience of using it. EggsAndPeanuts also tested out scarf trick cm Indeedee, being able to cripple walls with trick and then hopefully sweep late-game, which also allows Indeedee to act as a normal revenge killer early game. He did admit that this set was highly situational however. Oathkeepre used life orb, and experienced that Indeedee didn’t get many set-up opportunities because of its bulk, however if it did get set up it hit very hard and was nice to use.

SectoniaServant used Toxicroak during this week. He used two different sets, scarf and nasty plot, having success with both sets. When using the scarf set he found that it could revenge everything it needed to with a set of STABs, earthquake, and knock off. This allows it to revenge Salazzle, specs Indeedee, work up Silvallys, and more. After drops he decided to use nasty plot Toxicroak, again having success with it, although he admitted that np Toxicroak experiences from 4MSS, as it wants to run focus blast, sludge wave, shadow ball, and vacuum wave. Dry skin helps it greatly as it can take advantage of Vaporeon’s high use rate as well as being able to set up on will-o-wisp Jellicent and deal minimum 80% damage with a +2 shadow ball, ohkoing it after minor chip. I tried specs Toxicroak to have more immediate power, and illeviate the problem it faces with 4MSS. However, this set does make you have to rely on prediction as well as focus blast, which is prone to missing.

Moving on, this week’s selection is:

Rotom-Mow

Rotom-Mow @ [insert]
Ability: [insert]
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
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Rotom-Mow was one of the recent May tier shifts. It has a multitude of sets that it can run viably being specs, scarf, defog, or np. This is because of its strong grass and electric STABs which allow it to make going into a ground type to block volt switch a 50/50, because of this Rotom-Mow has already established itself as a premiere threat in this meta. This makes choiced sets viable to either exploit its good speed tier and power to revenge a multitude of threats. It also got access to nasty plot in gen 8 which makes it so Mowtom can also boost it’s special attack, which makes it so specially defensive waters cannot stay in and force it to drop it’s special attack with leaf storm. As its a levitating ‘mon which isn’t weak to rocks it also is a viable defog user, using the good match-up vs common rockers such as Mudsdale and Rhydon to click defog. I encourage you guys to test out a multitude of sets with Rotom-Mow to explore one of the new drops and figure out which set is most to your liking.

Braviary

Braviary @ [insert]
Ability: [insert]
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
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Braviary was another of the drops that we got this month, again having different viable sets: choiced or bulk up. Choiced sets are able to either 2hko the tier with powerful attacks such as brave bird and close combat, or revenge most unresisted offensive ‘mons. It also gets access to u-turn, which ensures that it can gain momentum against predicted switch-ins and switch out into a different breaker such as np Ninetales or lo Virizion. It can also be used as a set-up sweeper with bulk up, being able to beat a lot of the rock- and steel-type ‘mons that like to switch in to it thanks to the defense boost and roost removing the flying-type on the turn it is used. Heavy-duty-boots massively helps this sets viability this gen as it doesn’t have to be afraid of rocks when it switches in. Again, I encourage you to try multiple sets.

In order to participate you must do the following:

• Post here with a fresh RW alt (such as RWRU3 Mac3) and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
• Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched.
• Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using, participate in the discussion!
• Post replays of this Pokemon in action against other teams - don't just tell us, show us
• The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown RU ladder with their RW alt at the time the challenge ends. Winners will also receive a permanent spot in this thread's Hall of Fame.

 

[Loom]

RWRU3 Loom - Braviary

 

[Sectonia]

Using the alt RWRU3 Sectonia - I will be doing Braviary as well, as I've already used Rotom-C a fair amount in recent times.

 

[Oathkeeper]

I too will be taking 'Murica bird. I'm using a scarf set with it and will be using the alt RWRU3 Oath

 

[EggsAndPeanuts]

RURW3 Eggs, and Rotom-Mow is looking pretty fun.

Scarf NP Mowtom

Rotom-Mow @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Leaf Storm
- Nasty Plot
- Trick

I like this set, and it's pretty common for rotom sets to only run Volt Swtich and their STAB move. This set doesn't get to use its other strengths, like access to wisp and defog, but those can be easy to build around.