Hello, Punchshroom here. Since the new changes to the tier, many notable pokemon in Cincinno, Emboar, Absol, and Amoonguss have left us, and we received Roselia and Stoutland in return. The tier is currently undergoing lots of changes and players are still trying to adapt.
While losing the cornerstones of offense for the former 3 and stall/balanced for the latter means there are less threats to prepare for, I too have to consider what pokemon can fill the void left behind. So before I can identify the best canditates to fill their shoes, I decided to make a little (extremely annoying) team for easy flexible use before the tier settles down.
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Of course, the immediate standouts are the notorious Prankster users, Riolu and Liepard. Before any of you skeptics declare that this team requires no skill to use, you would be sorely mistaken. You would not get far with or even AGAINST this team without a plan. Whether this team is successful in your hands or fails horribly is all dependant on your skill.
To be honest, I made this team before the announcement of the tier changes to dick around and have some fun. However, now that the majority of my teams have to be remodeled, I'm stuck with this team for the time being. This team utilises phazing to the fullest, and I bring you my super-annoying team, "Shuffling".
Team Building Process
With its unique niche, Riolu became the centrepiece of my phazing strategy. After a Roar, Riolu can simply Copycat spam to repeatedly Roar the opponent before they can do anything, only being interrupted by faster priority moves.
Obviously, shuffling the oppenet around continously would be pointless if they didn't receive any damage. Cincinno was still around at the time, but I went with Golem anyway for my Stealth Rock lead since any opponent daring enough to Taunt it would pay dearly in the form of a Ground Gem boosted EQ. Garbodor provides Spikes for the team, and switches into Cincinno's Bullet Seed easily. With a Rocky Helmet, unwary Cincinno can watch their health plummet with each Tail Slap striking Garbo. Golem also has priority in Sucker Punch, whereas Garbo stops Bulk Up users and recoil attackers(Emboar, Swellow) in general.
Spinners are rare, but I do not want my hard work to go to waste by a single move from the opponent. Misdreavus is my trusty spinblocker as it is the bulkiest Ghost in NU. Missy can also spread burns as well as cleansing my team of status with Heal Bell. Missy acts a backup check to Fighting types like Sawk.
I have never used Riolu before, but I instinctively knew that Riolu's phazing alone may not be enough to bring down teams. Dragonair comes up as my Plan B, and makes an excellent switch to special attacks like T-bolt or Hydro Pump. Instead of the expected parashuffling set, I use a custom set that has Outrage over T-wave for offensive presence. Dragon Tail and Outrage have their negative effects entirely cancelled when selected via Sleep Talk, which I found intriguing, meaning Dragonair can actually fare better asleep than awake! I found this set to be superb at phazing or simply striking down enemies (luck is of course needed when Sleep Talking) and staying alive, and it earns itself a place on this team.
Of course, the plan doesn't always work, and suddenly your opponent is steamrolling you with a choiced attacker or a boosting pokemon that got lucky it's not immediately forced out. The team's slow nature also left it prone to endgame sweeps after my team has been weakened. Absol makes those sweepers pause, with the strongest priority move in the tier threatening to shred if they dare attack. Absol's strength also comes in handy against last pokemon boosters, most notably Musharna, as it is unable to be phazed out. Absol keeps speedy sweepers in check and more often than not snags the final kill.
The team displayed a huge weakness to Ice, with none of my pokemon capable of switching in comfortably or at all. This was also the time where the NU tier changes were announced. Thus, we bid farewell to Absol and looked for another pokemon that could fill his shoes. I had considered Skuntank like everyone else, but then I remembered yet another notoriously annoying Prankster user in Liepard after tracing back to the roots of the team (that being Riolu). Liepard also does a fantastic job at keeping Musharna and other Psychics in check. Its higher speed also expanded the range of pokemon that Skuntank couldn't handle with ease, such as Zangoose, Haunter, and Golurk (without Colbur Berry). It also fits with the nature of the team: to cause switches, and Swagger along with Encore can force more switches than Skuntank ever could (even ironically trapping pokemon and dicouraging switching :P)
The introduction of Roselia into the tier gave me an alternative spiker to use. It is bar none the best switch-in to most specially based Grass types in the tier and can handle most water types with great ease, while also able to shrug off status (though Dragonair is my primary status absorber) and strike back hard. This exposes my Ice weakness even more now, so I contemplated the options in which to replace Golem. Relicanth and Carracosta came to mind. Carracosta has priority, two good abilities as opposed to Relicanth's one, and has sweeping potential in Shell Smash. However, combining offensive and defensive sets on Carracosta is less than ideal. In the end, I settled for Relicanth, who is faster than common Stealth Rock leads Armaldo, Golem, Torkoal and Probopass, packs better defense and Rock Head Head Smash is literally 1.5 times better than Stone Miss.
The team is stabilising itself well, and the introduction of Grumpig to the team has enhanced its performance even more, as it provided a parashuffler, Ice resist and cleric all in one. Golem also made its way back to the team, fulfilling much the same role as it did before, this time trading offensive power for an extra failsafe against status leads, meaning even less pokemon can stop the rocks or itself for that matter. This team is constantly undergoing changes, but feel free to use any version of this team or the one above, perhaps mixing between the 4 interchangeable pokemon seen in the intro.
Once again, this team pleasantly surprises me with its interchangiblity. After stuff like Sawsbuck, Jumpluff and Samurott gave me much hardship, I decided to readapt my team to deal with these threats. Metang resists Grass alongside Normal/Flying and makes for an amazing switch-in to Psychics like Musharna and to a lesser extent, Gardevoir. Frillish boasts equally important resistances to Water, Ice and Fire, meaning Samurott and most Fire-types are more easily dealt with, all the while still spinblocking and keeping itself alive with Recover. The sheer amount of non-Leftovers pokes on such a stallish team could fall to passive damage very quickly. Lickilicky provided a Wishpasser, cleric and phazer in one, with great amounts of bulk to boot.
Relicanth
The Physical Tank and Stealth Rocker
Leftovers
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk) Ability: Rock Head
Head Smash / Stealth Rock / Waterfall / Toxic
For such an unassuming deep-dweller fish, "tank" is not the first thing that comes to mind. However, there is really no better word i'd use to describe it. When we're doing an upward of 35% to Alomomola with an UNBOOSTED physical attack, we are talking raw power right here. Relicanth's job is set up Stealth Rock, which damages all switch-ins, an integral part of Riolu's strategy. Relicanth also takes Fire-, Normal- and Flying-type attacks from the likes of Rapidash, Charizard and Swellow with tremendous ease, and is one of the select few that can stand up to subBU Braviary due to its great physical bulk, Flying resistance and ultra strong Head Smash, putting Braviary between a rock and a hard place. Now that Amoonguss is outta the tier, Toxic is now a safe play, crippling its very likely replacement, Tangela, for the rest of the match. It also pressures Braviary even more, and is a nice move to go for in the rare instance that Head Smash won't do that much. Waterfall is reliable and accurate STAB.
The EVs grant Relicanth maximum power and enough speed to outrun Lapras, one of the few Ice-types that show their face in the tier. The rest go into its meaty HP to beef it up further.
Misdreavus
The Spinblocker and Cleric
@Eviolite
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk) Ability: Levitate
Will-o-Wisp / Taunt / Shadow Ball / Pain Split
The bulkiest Ghost in the tier secures its place on my team. Keeping the hazards on the field is essential, and Misdreavus can beat just about any spinner one-on-one (Shell Smash Torkoal can be stopped by Dragonair). With Garbo replaced, Misdreavus is now my primary switch-in to Fighting types and threatens burns. Even Gurdurr is fighting a losing battle as its health gets depleted while it is unable to Drain Punch for health and can't even Mach Punch Missy for a last ditch hit. While it seems status doesn't trouble my team much due to Roselia's Natural Cure and Dragonair, the rest of my team despise status, especially the Prankster users as their performance is drastically affected, either due to less survivability or missing turn(s). Heal Bell rids my team of these problems and makes it that much harder to outstall me.Heal Bell duties have officially been taken over by Grumpig, but is still an option if not using the pig on the team.
The EV spread is ripped straight from the analysis, letting me outspeed adamant torterra (which can be a problem) before rock polish, and maintains good physical bulk.
Roselia
The Spiker
@Eviolite
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Sp.Def / 44 Spe
Nature: Calm (+Sp.Def, -Atk) Ability: Natural Cure
Spikes / Giga Drain / Sludge Bomb / Toxic Spikes
When Roselia dropped down to NU, many people have already noticed its great potential as a Spiker. I was no exception, and have it replace Garbodor who, while performing its role admirably, had little to no offensive presence. Roselia on the other hand, not only setting up Spikes on most Grass and Water types, can kick ass while doing it too. Many Fire and Flying types who expected an easy switch are met with a Sludge Bomb to the face, even poisoning those unlucky few. Giga Drain wards off Water types, particularly Wartortle, who knows it's well not worth the risk of spinning against Rosy. Rest works nicely with Natural Cure, acting as a Full Restore. While I haven't used Roselia much prior to its introduction to NU, I hold high hopes for it. Credit to Ghosttripsixxx to put Toxic Spikes on Roselia, which sped up the killing process substantially and giving offensive and defensive teams alike great grief. Once your Poison-type (excluding Haunter and Golbat) is gone and Toxic Spikes go up, you'd better pray you can take out my team quick enough before your team succumbs to poison, leaving the survivors easy pickings.
Deviated from FLCL's Offensive Spiker set, as this Roselia must be able to handle Water types, particularly Ludicolo. 44 Speed EVs outspeeds 0 Spe Ludicolo while still getting the drop on standard Choice Band Golurk.
Dragonair
The Bulky Phazer and Status Absorber
@Eviolite
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 Sp.Def
Nature: Careful (+Sp.Def, -Sp.Atk) Ability: Marvel Scale
Rest / Sleep Talk / Dragon Tail / Outrage
First thing you may be wondering: what is up with this set?? Dragon Tail but no T-Wave? Outrage but no Dragon Dance? The reason being: these two Dragon moves lose their negative effects when selected via Sleep Talk, all while having boosted Defense. 2/3 of the time I'm selecting an STAB move, which is handy. What's even more handy is that on a good day, you can Dragon Tail out slower opponents before they can move and not see it coming, or you can do some solid damage to faster but frailer opponents. The best part? If your opponent isn't hitting you for super effective damage, you can stay in and repeat this cycle of smacking your opponents around while you sleep (which activates Marvel Scale), waking up and then Resting again. Dragonair is shockingly bulky and can be really difficult to wear down. Opponents who try to overcome Dragonair with boosts risk being Dragon Tailed out roughly 33% of the time, and if they don't bring down Nair on the final turn of Rest, I can simply Dragon Tail them out actively while maintaning the Marvel Scale boost against the opponent's attack before I wake up thanks to D-Tail's negative priority. Put it short, Dragonair doesn't die easily. I'm looking into the possiblities Grumpig can offer for the team. It frees up a slot of Heal Bell for Missy to run Taunt, can run T-Wave so Liepard can continue its Encore shenanigans, and can also phaze with Whirlwind, not to mention it takes Ice moves like nobody's business. Grumpig's first battle had already resulted in a ragequit. I've a good feeling about this. Braviary was a no go, its awkward mixture of bulk and speed meant it couldn't take the best of both worlds (or even one for that matter). SR weakness was a huge problem and it died too fast to make an impact, not to mention it felt really out of place for the team.
Here's where my problem lies, determining the optimum bulk for Nair. Since Nair commonly shuffles through opponents, it is vital that he can take attacks well from both sides of the spectrum. My old spread has 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 Sp.Def, but switched it with the current spread after taking 50% from Ludicolo's Life Orb Ice Beam. A spread with the maximum possible bulk with the most efficient EV spread (factoring in Marvel Scale) would be really appreciated.
Riolu
The Unstoppable Phazer and Clutch Revenge Killer
@Eviolite
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Sp.Def
Nature: Impish (+Def, -Sp.Atk) Ability: Prankster
Roar / Copycat / Drain Punch / Protect
Here it is, the one that started it all. If you haven't encountered this yet, it will forever be etched in your mind after watching helplessly as Riolu shuffles your team to death for the first time. Now why do people say it needs no skill for it to work or it's a "gay strategy"? The answer: Use Roar, use Copycat over and over. Sounds simple? If only that were the case, but there are many things stopping Riolu from being totally invincible. The first, hazards are a MUST. Without them, Riolu is helpless. So have them set up and stay there. Now what else could ruin Riolu's sweep from there? Priority and Taunt. Fortunately, Taunt only works if Roar has not been used, so once you've got that going, simply Prankster Copycat before they Taunt you. Priority is arguably the biggest issue Riolu has to bypass, and requires stellar prediction.
The opponent can easily disrupt your Roaring chain by using a priority move like Quick Attack or Protect before your Copycat, resulting in you taking damage and/or copying their move in response. Luckily, slower priority would not outpace your Copycat, so the likes of Piloswine, Golem and Gurdurr shouldn't worry you. So how do you overcome this? Use Roar on the turn they go for the priority move. If it is a damaging move, Riolu would take slight damage (none if it is Sucker Punch) but continues to shuffle its opponents around. If it is Protect, the opponent only has a 50% chance to stop the Copycat chain. Also, pay attention to the opponent's abilities, such as Soundproof Electrode and Mr. Mime or Suction Cups Cradily and Octillery.
Remember when I described Riolu as a clutch revenge killer? Copycat has other uses aside from Roar shuffling, such as copying an opponent's attack and using it against him. However, keep in mind that Riolu's offenses are pitiful, meaning this only works against weakened opponents who are unlikely to switch out due to the hazards that should be in place (Killing a Sawk with their own Close Combat is downright hilarious though). Riolu rarely attacks, but when it does, Drain Punch helps Riolu regain health and score some Fighting-type damage. It also should be noted that Riolu's Drain Punch can be Copycatted for a double whammy. I scrapped Endure after realizing Protect serves the exact same purpose, except I don't have to take a hit. Protect also blocks Taunt, which I will Copycat to stop their Taunt, allowing me to proceed with my Roaring chain. Again, prediction is crucial, as your opponent may catch on and simply attack you. Oh man, if you thought Riolu had enough failsafes already, you haven't seen anything yet, as I've yet to unlock Riolu's full hidden potential. Riolu's newest addition to its movepool is Substitute, the 2nd best move in the game. This allows Riolu to block status from the likes of Miltank, Regirock, Alomomola, Tangela and so on and phaze them too, increasing the amount of fodder Riolu can set up against. It's amazing and all, but I'm having trouble replacing Drain Punch and Protect. Protect is fantastic against Taunt and opposing faster phazing where Substitute fails against, and can scoout an opponent's move without sacrificing HP. Drain Punch can be used for emergency Fighting damage which is great vs stuff like Bastiodon, Cradily or Lickilicky as well as regaining health, but its primary purpose is to beat Liepard, provided Riolu hasn't used any other moves against it prior. Both are awesome and difficult to pass up. Substitute also validates the use of Leftovers, which regains all of Riolu's health overtime as Riolu chainphazes without taking damage, although this can compromise Riolu's ability to withstand the first attack and making his Substitute frailer.
The EV spread is again custom, with greater emphasis on physical bulk since Riolu's resistances are mainly physical as are opposing priority moves. A bit of special bulk so it won't die with a touch of a feather, even with Eviolite.
Liepard
The Stallbreaker
Leftovers
EVs: 76 HP / 12 Def / 252 Sp.Def / 168 Spe
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk) Ability: Prankster
Substitute / Swagger / Encore / Foul Play
We've all been on the receiving end of this at one point and my god, was it annoying. However, Liepard manages to tie up all my loose ends. It fixes the speed problem to an extent, being the only Dark type in NU to outspeed Haunter and can revenge kill threats like Zangoose, non-Colbur Berry Golurk, Sawsbuck, non-Scarf Braviary and even -1 Def Sawk. Due to my team's defensive nature, the opponent may try to sneak in a boost or a sub in which they can start wrecking my team. Liepard turns that idea on it's head with its Encore, forcing my opponents to either stay in and continue their useless boosting/subbing or switch out. Either way, Liepard gets the free sub, and commence with the strategy that we all know and love dearly: Swagger + Foul Play. This strategy alone is potential ragequit fuel, and can really screw up an opponent if they are having a bad day. The departure of Absol has also benefited Liepard greatly, since now that Skuntank is the premier Dark-type trapper in NU, many Psychic types have since ditched Signal Beam for Hidden Power [Ground], good news for Liepard. Scrapped Thunder Wave for good, Liepard needs those guaranteed turns of setup.
The EV spread gives Liepard a Leftovers number, max special defense, and enough speed to outrun Haunter, and the rest in defense because.
Goofy as he looks, this guy has solved A LOT of my problems. It has great special bulk like Dragonair has, but offers paralysis support, relieves Heal Bell duties from Misdreavus and can phaze well in its own right. No longer do I cringe whenever I see a Regice, Rotom-F, or Articuno on the opponent's team, as this guy singlehandedly resolves my issues with Ice-types. This guy takes special moves with ease and parashuffles the opposing team around, easing Riolu's rampage later on. The lack of reliable recovery rarely comes into play, as Grumpig would have done enough work by then. Unfortunately, Grumpig is helpless against Dark-types, notably Skuntank. Running a coverage move for him only helps against its switch-in, and even then I'm hard pressed to pass up one of these moves. In the meantime, Relicanth handles Skuntank, but Aftermath can really screw up Relicanth, especially if he's needed to check/counter something later. That's where my next guy comes in...
EVs provide maximum special bulk, which is helpful for phazing boosters such as Musharna, Duosion, Raichu, Swoobat, and Simi-apes.
Oh yeah, he's back, and badder than ever. Since Ice types have been kept in check by Grumpig, Golem has his place on the team again, and returns Grumpig's favor by eliminating Skuntank without triggering Aftermath. I have explained in great length about his reliability in setting up Rocks before, and that hasn't changed. Anyone who dares stand in its way eats a Ground Gem boosted Earthquake (unless you're Mold Breaker...damn you). One thing different about Golem is that he replaced Rock Blast with the more reliable Rock Slide, which improves the subBU Braviary matchup and scores good damage (Rock Blast's annoyingly common 2 hit damage is underwhelming, to say the least). Though Golem now can't break subs, most people don't risk subs against Golem (except Braviary, but that's why Rock Slide's there). It's also much more fun to set up Rocks, then switch to Riolu to phaze the Substituter out, in most cases phazing the common victim aka Ninjask to death and causing ragequits. Sucker Punch is handy priority for fast pokes like Kadabra, Zebstrika and choice locked opponents. Retesting Rock Blast. Also, credit to Manveru123 for suggesting Lum Berry to prevent status leads from stopping me. I'll miss Ground Gem's strength boost, but I wasn't 2HKOing Regirock with boosted EQ and Rock Slide anyway.
EV spread is for maximum Attack and speedcreeps 50 base speeds such as Piloswine and Regirock/ice that invest in 4/8 Speed EVs, the rest in HP.
My Stealth Rockers have proven amazing and accomplish their job time and time again...until Grass-types ruin their fun. If Dragonair isn't on the team, Sleep Powdering Grass-types, particularly physical ones (even without Sleep Powder) can give me a hard time, even the likes of Jumpluff. Yeah. I'd like a Stealth Rocker that resists Grass types while still resisting Normal/Flying assaults, especially if they aren't wrecked by Fighting moves. Guess who? Metang has shown promise already, taking a myriad of hits while setting up Stealth Rock, then striking back. The RU reject has been greatly misunderstood, max defense means Metang cannot strike back: max attack Metang is the way to go. It's attacks have now more bite, doing a minimum of 26% to +1 subBU Bravaiary and can still threaten traditional hazard leads my former two do such a good job at.
Meteor Mash is obligatory STAB, and may give Metang an attack raise to catch an opponent's attention to the Metang threat that he/she should not have underestimated. Earthquake can wreck many hazard leads such as Garbodor, Bastiodon and Probopass (especially Magnet Pull varaints), many Steel-resists such as Electric-, Fire- and Steel-types while KOing Skuntank and Garbo without triggering Aftermath. Stealth Rock duh. Toxic vastly improves the subBU Braviary matchup. After seeing the damage Meteor Mash did after a Bulk Up/Substitute, it would want to Bulk Up to take the hit. This is your chance to badly poison the bastard and stop its shenanigans. If all else fails, there's always Liepard to fall back on. Toxic also works great against Musharna, who is forced to burn Heal Bell PP while Metang suffers no repercussion from Synchronize due to its Steel typing. Being 4x resistant to Psychic while not being weak to Focus Blast helps its cause against Gardevoir as well.
EV spread is for maximum Attack and speedcreeps 50 base speeds such as Piloswine and Regirock/ice AND speedcreeping Golem, the rest in HP.
Frillish (Alternating between Misdreavus)
Spinblocker and Burn Spreader
Frillish unfortunately is not as strong as Missy, meaning he'll have to make do with Night Shade. It's by no means a bad attack though: 100 damage is solid and can break plenty of subs, but not striking for super effective damage can be a bummer. Recover allows Frillish to stay healthy to take on the more offensively-devious pokemon on their team, such as Samurott, Charizard, Glaceon, Sawk and Gurdurr. Will-o-Wisp halves the attack of the opponent and causes residual damage, making it even easier to stall out. Scald may seem redundant with WoW, but it has two main purposes. First, it can burn the opponent through Taunt, in case I miss the WoW on the Skuntank switch-in. Second, it thaws the user: any pokemon that is designed to tank Ice Beams WILL get frozen sooner or later (Grumpig :'( ), so the ability to offset the hax can be very crucial.
Max HP and Def to take on Sawk, Gurdurr, and physical Samurott among others, the rest in Sp.Def.
Lickilicky (Alternating between Dragonair and Grumpig)
Special Sponge, Cleric and Wish Passer
212 HP Wishes can fully heal almost everything on the team and can give them a second chance. Protect allows Lickilicky to receive its own Wish without taking extra damage and can be used to stall out weather and poison damage. Heal Bell is essential for my team, especially the Prankster users who will have their performance diminished by any kind of status. Dragon Tail allows Lickilicky to phaze out stat boosters such as Duosion and Raichu as well as, with the help of hazards, do more damage than he ordinarily would with any other attack.
Max HP for maximum Wishes, max Sp.Def to take on special threats (Lickilicky tends to fare poorly or adequately against physical threats anyway), and the rest in Def just in case.
Old teammates:
Rocky Helmet
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk) Ability: Aftermath
Spikes / Pain Split / Clear Smog / Giga Draina
My premier Fighting and Cincinno check, Garbodor aims to lay down as many layers of Spikes while causing as much damage to the enemy as possible. Clear Smog keeps stat boosters in check (except Musharna and Duosion), while Pain Split keeps me healthy and drains even more health from my opponents. Giga Drain seems gimmicky, but prevents Golurk from coming in for free. With Cincinno and Emboar gone, Garbodor has lost much of its utility and, wanting to test Roselia, replaced him without much thought. While Roselia is living up to my expectations bit by bit, things don't look so promising for Garbo. Chances are, he's not getting back on the team.
EV spread ripped straight from the analysis, the speed again for max speed Golem.
Life Orb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk /252 Spe
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -Sp.Atk) Ability: Super Luck
Sucker Punch / Superpower / Pursuit / Night Slasha
One of the most threatening pokemon in NU, Absol resolves the issues Garbo had with Psychic-type stat boosters, while also dispatching the "last pokemon standing" after Riolu's shenanigans. Absol keeps things from going too awry with the strong priority move in the game, detering all but the most confident of sweepers, while also trapping weakened enemies to ensure their demise. Superpower bashes Regis, Normals and Steels while Night Slash helps negate mindgames. Of course, Absol is now chilling up there in RU, and I doubt we'll be seeing him back anytime soon.
Of all the pokemon to have ever been placed on the team, Absol's spread is without a doubt the most straightforward. Max attack max speed no nonsense, Jolly to not fall behind Gardevoir.
I've never meant for this team to be so rage-inducing, but if you do want to try this team out, expect a lot of forfeits or unfinished battles on your opponent's side. This team takes time to work well, but its greatest strength is its ability to go from defense to offense instantly and can turn a match around like no other. Overall, this team is a blast for me to use. In fact, 95% of all losses were because of misplays on my part, as I always seem to find a way to swing the game to my favor, be it right on time or too late. Rates and recommendations welcome!
Import:
Stealth Rocker:
Special Sponge Phazer:
Spinblocker:
Main Core:
While losing the cornerstones of offense for the former 3 and stall/balanced for the latter means there are less threats to prepare for, I too have to consider what pokemon can fill the void left behind. So before I can identify the best canditates to fill their shoes, I decided to make a little (extremely annoying) team for easy flexible use before the tier settles down.
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Of course, the immediate standouts are the notorious Prankster users, Riolu and Liepard. Before any of you skeptics declare that this team requires no skill to use, you would be sorely mistaken. You would not get far with or even AGAINST this team without a plan. Whether this team is successful in your hands or fails horribly is all dependant on your skill.
To be honest, I made this team before the announcement of the tier changes to dick around and have some fun. However, now that the majority of my teams have to be remodeled, I'm stuck with this team for the time being. This team utilises phazing to the fullest, and I bring you my super-annoying team, "Shuffling".
Team Building Process
With its unique niche, Riolu became the centrepiece of my phazing strategy. After a Roar, Riolu can simply Copycat spam to repeatedly Roar the opponent before they can do anything, only being interrupted by faster priority moves.
Obviously, shuffling the oppenet around continously would be pointless if they didn't receive any damage. Cincinno was still around at the time, but I went with Golem anyway for my Stealth Rock lead since any opponent daring enough to Taunt it would pay dearly in the form of a Ground Gem boosted EQ. Garbodor provides Spikes for the team, and switches into Cincinno's Bullet Seed easily. With a Rocky Helmet, unwary Cincinno can watch their health plummet with each Tail Slap striking Garbo. Golem also has priority in Sucker Punch, whereas Garbo stops Bulk Up users and recoil attackers(Emboar, Swellow) in general.
Spinners are rare, but I do not want my hard work to go to waste by a single move from the opponent. Misdreavus is my trusty spinblocker as it is the bulkiest Ghost in NU. Missy can also spread burns as well as cleansing my team of status with Heal Bell. Missy acts a backup check to Fighting types like Sawk.
I have never used Riolu before, but I instinctively knew that Riolu's phazing alone may not be enough to bring down teams. Dragonair comes up as my Plan B, and makes an excellent switch to special attacks like T-bolt or Hydro Pump. Instead of the expected parashuffling set, I use a custom set that has Outrage over T-wave for offensive presence. Dragon Tail and Outrage have their negative effects entirely cancelled when selected via Sleep Talk, which I found intriguing, meaning Dragonair can actually fare better asleep than awake! I found this set to be superb at phazing or simply striking down enemies (luck is of course needed when Sleep Talking) and staying alive, and it earns itself a place on this team.
Of course, the plan doesn't always work, and suddenly your opponent is steamrolling you with a choiced attacker or a boosting pokemon that got lucky it's not immediately forced out. The team's slow nature also left it prone to endgame sweeps after my team has been weakened. Absol makes those sweepers pause, with the strongest priority move in the tier threatening to shred if they dare attack. Absol's strength also comes in handy against last pokemon boosters, most notably Musharna, as it is unable to be phazed out. Absol keeps speedy sweepers in check and more often than not snags the final kill.
The team displayed a huge weakness to Ice, with none of my pokemon capable of switching in comfortably or at all. This was also the time where the NU tier changes were announced. Thus, we bid farewell to Absol and looked for another pokemon that could fill his shoes. I had considered Skuntank like everyone else, but then I remembered yet another notoriously annoying Prankster user in Liepard after tracing back to the roots of the team (that being Riolu). Liepard also does a fantastic job at keeping Musharna and other Psychics in check. Its higher speed also expanded the range of pokemon that Skuntank couldn't handle with ease, such as Zangoose, Haunter, and Golurk (without Colbur Berry). It also fits with the nature of the team: to cause switches, and Swagger along with Encore can force more switches than Skuntank ever could (even ironically trapping pokemon and dicouraging switching :P)
The introduction of Roselia into the tier gave me an alternative spiker to use. It is bar none the best switch-in to most specially based Grass types in the tier and can handle most water types with great ease, while also able to shrug off status (though Dragonair is my primary status absorber) and strike back hard. This exposes my Ice weakness even more now, so I contemplated the options in which to replace Golem. Relicanth and Carracosta came to mind. Carracosta has priority, two good abilities as opposed to Relicanth's one, and has sweeping potential in Shell Smash. However, combining offensive and defensive sets on Carracosta is less than ideal. In the end, I settled for Relicanth, who is faster than common Stealth Rock leads Armaldo, Golem, Torkoal and Probopass, packs better defense and Rock Head Head Smash is literally 1.5 times better than Stone Miss.
The team is stabilising itself well, and the introduction of Grumpig to the team has enhanced its performance even more, as it provided a parashuffler, Ice resist and cleric all in one. Golem also made its way back to the team, fulfilling much the same role as it did before, this time trading offensive power for an extra failsafe against status leads, meaning even less pokemon can stop the rocks or itself for that matter. This team is constantly undergoing changes, but feel free to use any version of this team or the one above, perhaps mixing between the 4 interchangeable pokemon seen in the intro.
Once again, this team pleasantly surprises me with its interchangiblity. After stuff like Sawsbuck, Jumpluff and Samurott gave me much hardship, I decided to readapt my team to deal with these threats. Metang resists Grass alongside Normal/Flying and makes for an amazing switch-in to Psychics like Musharna and to a lesser extent, Gardevoir. Frillish boasts equally important resistances to Water, Ice and Fire, meaning Samurott and most Fire-types are more easily dealt with, all the while still spinblocking and keeping itself alive with Recover. The sheer amount of non-Leftovers pokes on such a stallish team could fall to passive damage very quickly. Lickilicky provided a Wishpasser, cleric and phazer in one, with great amounts of bulk to boot.
Relicanth
The Physical Tank and Stealth Rocker
Leftovers
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk) Ability: Rock Head
Head Smash / Stealth Rock / Waterfall / Toxic
For such an unassuming deep-dweller fish, "tank" is not the first thing that comes to mind. However, there is really no better word i'd use to describe it. When we're doing an upward of 35% to Alomomola with an UNBOOSTED physical attack, we are talking raw power right here. Relicanth's job is set up Stealth Rock, which damages all switch-ins, an integral part of Riolu's strategy. Relicanth also takes Fire-, Normal- and Flying-type attacks from the likes of Rapidash, Charizard and Swellow with tremendous ease, and is one of the select few that can stand up to subBU Braviary due to its great physical bulk, Flying resistance and ultra strong Head Smash, putting Braviary between a rock and a hard place. Now that Amoonguss is outta the tier, Toxic is now a safe play, crippling its very likely replacement, Tangela, for the rest of the match. It also pressures Braviary even more, and is a nice move to go for in the rare instance that Head Smash won't do that much. Waterfall is reliable and accurate STAB.
The EVs grant Relicanth maximum power and enough speed to outrun Lapras, one of the few Ice-types that show their face in the tier. The rest go into its meaty HP to beef it up further.
Misdreavus
The Spinblocker and Cleric
@Eviolite
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk) Ability: Levitate
Will-o-Wisp / Taunt / Shadow Ball / Pain Split
The bulkiest Ghost in the tier secures its place on my team. Keeping the hazards on the field is essential, and Misdreavus can beat just about any spinner one-on-one (Shell Smash Torkoal can be stopped by Dragonair). With Garbo replaced, Misdreavus is now my primary switch-in to Fighting types and threatens burns. Even Gurdurr is fighting a losing battle as its health gets depleted while it is unable to Drain Punch for health and can't even Mach Punch Missy for a last ditch hit. While it seems status doesn't trouble my team much due to Roselia's Natural Cure and Dragonair, the rest of my team despise status, especially the Prankster users as their performance is drastically affected, either due to less survivability or missing turn(s). Heal Bell rids my team of these problems and makes it that much harder to outstall me.Heal Bell duties have officially been taken over by Grumpig, but is still an option if not using the pig on the team.
The EV spread is ripped straight from the analysis, letting me outspeed adamant torterra (which can be a problem) before rock polish, and maintains good physical bulk.
Roselia
The Spiker
@Eviolite
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Sp.Def / 44 Spe
Nature: Calm (+Sp.Def, -Atk) Ability: Natural Cure
Spikes / Giga Drain / Sludge Bomb / Toxic Spikes
When Roselia dropped down to NU, many people have already noticed its great potential as a Spiker. I was no exception, and have it replace Garbodor who, while performing its role admirably, had little to no offensive presence. Roselia on the other hand, not only setting up Spikes on most Grass and Water types, can kick ass while doing it too. Many Fire and Flying types who expected an easy switch are met with a Sludge Bomb to the face, even poisoning those unlucky few. Giga Drain wards off Water types, particularly Wartortle, who knows it's well not worth the risk of spinning against Rosy. Rest works nicely with Natural Cure, acting as a Full Restore. While I haven't used Roselia much prior to its introduction to NU, I hold high hopes for it. Credit to Ghosttripsixxx to put Toxic Spikes on Roselia, which sped up the killing process substantially and giving offensive and defensive teams alike great grief. Once your Poison-type (excluding Haunter and Golbat) is gone and Toxic Spikes go up, you'd better pray you can take out my team quick enough before your team succumbs to poison, leaving the survivors easy pickings.
Deviated from FLCL's Offensive Spiker set, as this Roselia must be able to handle Water types, particularly Ludicolo. 44 Speed EVs outspeeds 0 Spe Ludicolo while still getting the drop on standard Choice Band Golurk.
Dragonair
The Bulky Phazer and Status Absorber
@Eviolite
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 Sp.Def
Nature: Careful (+Sp.Def, -Sp.Atk) Ability: Marvel Scale
Rest / Sleep Talk / Dragon Tail / Outrage
First thing you may be wondering: what is up with this set?? Dragon Tail but no T-Wave? Outrage but no Dragon Dance? The reason being: these two Dragon moves lose their negative effects when selected via Sleep Talk, all while having boosted Defense. 2/3 of the time I'm selecting an STAB move, which is handy. What's even more handy is that on a good day, you can Dragon Tail out slower opponents before they can move and not see it coming, or you can do some solid damage to faster but frailer opponents. The best part? If your opponent isn't hitting you for super effective damage, you can stay in and repeat this cycle of smacking your opponents around while you sleep (which activates Marvel Scale), waking up and then Resting again. Dragonair is shockingly bulky and can be really difficult to wear down. Opponents who try to overcome Dragonair with boosts risk being Dragon Tailed out roughly 33% of the time, and if they don't bring down Nair on the final turn of Rest, I can simply Dragon Tail them out actively while maintaning the Marvel Scale boost against the opponent's attack before I wake up thanks to D-Tail's negative priority. Put it short, Dragonair doesn't die easily. I'm looking into the possiblities Grumpig can offer for the team. It frees up a slot of Heal Bell for Missy to run Taunt, can run T-Wave so Liepard can continue its Encore shenanigans, and can also phaze with Whirlwind, not to mention it takes Ice moves like nobody's business. Grumpig's first battle had already resulted in a ragequit. I've a good feeling about this. Braviary was a no go, its awkward mixture of bulk and speed meant it couldn't take the best of both worlds (or even one for that matter). SR weakness was a huge problem and it died too fast to make an impact, not to mention it felt really out of place for the team.
Here's where my problem lies, determining the optimum bulk for Nair. Since Nair commonly shuffles through opponents, it is vital that he can take attacks well from both sides of the spectrum. My old spread has 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 Sp.Def, but switched it with the current spread after taking 50% from Ludicolo's Life Orb Ice Beam. A spread with the maximum possible bulk with the most efficient EV spread (factoring in Marvel Scale) would be really appreciated.
Riolu
The Unstoppable Phazer and Clutch Revenge Killer
@Eviolite
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Sp.Def
Nature: Impish (+Def, -Sp.Atk) Ability: Prankster
Roar / Copycat / Drain Punch / Protect
Here it is, the one that started it all. If you haven't encountered this yet, it will forever be etched in your mind after watching helplessly as Riolu shuffles your team to death for the first time. Now why do people say it needs no skill for it to work or it's a "gay strategy"? The answer: Use Roar, use Copycat over and over. Sounds simple? If only that were the case, but there are many things stopping Riolu from being totally invincible. The first, hazards are a MUST. Without them, Riolu is helpless. So have them set up and stay there. Now what else could ruin Riolu's sweep from there? Priority and Taunt. Fortunately, Taunt only works if Roar has not been used, so once you've got that going, simply Prankster Copycat before they Taunt you. Priority is arguably the biggest issue Riolu has to bypass, and requires stellar prediction.
The opponent can easily disrupt your Roaring chain by using a priority move like Quick Attack or Protect before your Copycat, resulting in you taking damage and/or copying their move in response. Luckily, slower priority would not outpace your Copycat, so the likes of Piloswine, Golem and Gurdurr shouldn't worry you. So how do you overcome this? Use Roar on the turn they go for the priority move. If it is a damaging move, Riolu would take slight damage (none if it is Sucker Punch) but continues to shuffle its opponents around. If it is Protect, the opponent only has a 50% chance to stop the Copycat chain. Also, pay attention to the opponent's abilities, such as Soundproof Electrode and Mr. Mime or Suction Cups Cradily and Octillery.
Remember when I described Riolu as a clutch revenge killer? Copycat has other uses aside from Roar shuffling, such as copying an opponent's attack and using it against him. However, keep in mind that Riolu's offenses are pitiful, meaning this only works against weakened opponents who are unlikely to switch out due to the hazards that should be in place (Killing a Sawk with their own Close Combat is downright hilarious though). Riolu rarely attacks, but when it does, Drain Punch helps Riolu regain health and score some Fighting-type damage. It also should be noted that Riolu's Drain Punch can be Copycatted for a double whammy. I scrapped Endure after realizing Protect serves the exact same purpose, except I don't have to take a hit. Protect also blocks Taunt, which I will Copycat to stop their Taunt, allowing me to proceed with my Roaring chain. Again, prediction is crucial, as your opponent may catch on and simply attack you. Oh man, if you thought Riolu had enough failsafes already, you haven't seen anything yet, as I've yet to unlock Riolu's full hidden potential. Riolu's newest addition to its movepool is Substitute, the 2nd best move in the game. This allows Riolu to block status from the likes of Miltank, Regirock, Alomomola, Tangela and so on and phaze them too, increasing the amount of fodder Riolu can set up against. It's amazing and all, but I'm having trouble replacing Drain Punch and Protect. Protect is fantastic against Taunt and opposing faster phazing where Substitute fails against, and can scoout an opponent's move without sacrificing HP. Drain Punch can be used for emergency Fighting damage which is great vs stuff like Bastiodon, Cradily or Lickilicky as well as regaining health, but its primary purpose is to beat Liepard, provided Riolu hasn't used any other moves against it prior. Both are awesome and difficult to pass up. Substitute also validates the use of Leftovers, which regains all of Riolu's health overtime as Riolu chainphazes without taking damage, although this can compromise Riolu's ability to withstand the first attack and making his Substitute frailer.
The EV spread is again custom, with greater emphasis on physical bulk since Riolu's resistances are mainly physical as are opposing priority moves. A bit of special bulk so it won't die with a touch of a feather, even with Eviolite.
Liepard
The Stallbreaker
Leftovers
EVs: 76 HP / 12 Def / 252 Sp.Def / 168 Spe
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk) Ability: Prankster
Substitute / Swagger / Encore / Foul Play
We've all been on the receiving end of this at one point and my god, was it annoying. However, Liepard manages to tie up all my loose ends. It fixes the speed problem to an extent, being the only Dark type in NU to outspeed Haunter and can revenge kill threats like Zangoose, non-Colbur Berry Golurk, Sawsbuck, non-Scarf Braviary and even -1 Def Sawk. Due to my team's defensive nature, the opponent may try to sneak in a boost or a sub in which they can start wrecking my team. Liepard turns that idea on it's head with its Encore, forcing my opponents to either stay in and continue their useless boosting/subbing or switch out. Either way, Liepard gets the free sub, and commence with the strategy that we all know and love dearly: Swagger + Foul Play. This strategy alone is potential ragequit fuel, and can really screw up an opponent if they are having a bad day. The departure of Absol has also benefited Liepard greatly, since now that Skuntank is the premier Dark-type trapper in NU, many Psychic types have since ditched Signal Beam for Hidden Power [Ground], good news for Liepard. Scrapped Thunder Wave for good, Liepard needs those guaranteed turns of setup.
The EV spread gives Liepard a Leftovers number, max special defense, and enough speed to outrun Haunter, and the rest in defense because.
Possible Replacements
Grumpig (May replace Dragonair)
The Special Sponge, Cleric and Paralysis Spreader
Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Sp.Def
Nature: Calm (+Sp.Def, -Atk) Ability: Thick Fat
Psychic / Thunder Wave / Heal Bell / Whirlwind
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Sp.Def
Nature: Calm (+Sp.Def, -Atk) Ability: Thick Fat
Psychic / Thunder Wave / Heal Bell / Whirlwind
Goofy as he looks, this guy has solved A LOT of my problems. It has great special bulk like Dragonair has, but offers paralysis support, relieves Heal Bell duties from Misdreavus and can phaze well in its own right. No longer do I cringe whenever I see a Regice, Rotom-F, or Articuno on the opponent's team, as this guy singlehandedly resolves my issues with Ice-types. This guy takes special moves with ease and parashuffles the opposing team around, easing Riolu's rampage later on. The lack of reliable recovery rarely comes into play, as Grumpig would have done enough work by then. Unfortunately, Grumpig is helpless against Dark-types, notably Skuntank. Running a coverage move for him only helps against its switch-in, and even then I'm hard pressed to pass up one of these moves. In the meantime, Relicanth handles Skuntank, but Aftermath can really screw up Relicanth, especially if he's needed to check/counter something later. That's where my next guy comes in...
EVs provide maximum special bulk, which is helpful for phazing boosters such as Musharna, Duosion, Raichu, Swoobat, and Simi-apes.
Golem (Alternating between Relicanth)
Offensive Lead and Stealth Rocker
@Lum Berry
EVs: 204 HP / 252 Atk / 52 Spe
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk) Ability: Sturdy
Earthquake / Stealth Rock / Rock Slide / Sucker Punch
aEVs: 204 HP / 252 Atk / 52 Spe
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk) Ability: Sturdy
Earthquake / Stealth Rock / Rock Slide / Sucker Punch
Oh yeah, he's back, and badder than ever. Since Ice types have been kept in check by Grumpig, Golem has his place on the team again, and returns Grumpig's favor by eliminating Skuntank without triggering Aftermath. I have explained in great length about his reliability in setting up Rocks before, and that hasn't changed. Anyone who dares stand in its way eats a Ground Gem boosted Earthquake (unless you're Mold Breaker...damn you). One thing different about Golem is that he replaced Rock Blast with the more reliable Rock Slide, which improves the subBU Braviary matchup and scores good damage (Rock Blast's annoyingly common 2 hit damage is underwhelming, to say the least). Though Golem now can't break subs, most people don't risk subs against Golem (except Braviary, but that's why Rock Slide's there). It's also much more fun to set up Rocks, then switch to Riolu to phaze the Substituter out, in most cases phazing the common victim aka Ninjask to death and causing ragequits. Sucker Punch is handy priority for fast pokes like Kadabra, Zebstrika and choice locked opponents. Retesting Rock Blast. Also, credit to Manveru123 for suggesting Lum Berry to prevent status leads from stopping me. I'll miss Ground Gem's strength boost, but I wasn't 2HKOing Regirock with boosted EQ and Rock Slide anyway.
EV spread is for maximum Attack and speedcreeps 50 base speeds such as Piloswine and Regirock/ice that invest in 4/8 Speed EVs, the rest in HP.
Metang (Alternating between Golem and Relicanth)
Physical Tank and Stealth Rocker
@Eviolite
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk) Ability: Clear Body
Stealth Rock / Meteor Mash / Earthquake / Toxic
aEVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk) Ability: Clear Body
Stealth Rock / Meteor Mash / Earthquake / Toxic
My Stealth Rockers have proven amazing and accomplish their job time and time again...until Grass-types ruin their fun. If Dragonair isn't on the team, Sleep Powdering Grass-types, particularly physical ones (even without Sleep Powder) can give me a hard time, even the likes of Jumpluff. Yeah. I'd like a Stealth Rocker that resists Grass types while still resisting Normal/Flying assaults, especially if they aren't wrecked by Fighting moves. Guess who? Metang has shown promise already, taking a myriad of hits while setting up Stealth Rock, then striking back. The RU reject has been greatly misunderstood, max defense means Metang cannot strike back: max attack Metang is the way to go. It's attacks have now more bite, doing a minimum of 26% to +1 subBU Bravaiary and can still threaten traditional hazard leads my former two do such a good job at.
Meteor Mash is obligatory STAB, and may give Metang an attack raise to catch an opponent's attention to the Metang threat that he/she should not have underestimated. Earthquake can wreck many hazard leads such as Garbodor, Bastiodon and Probopass (especially Magnet Pull varaints), many Steel-resists such as Electric-, Fire- and Steel-types while KOing Skuntank and Garbo without triggering Aftermath. Stealth Rock duh. Toxic vastly improves the subBU Braviary matchup. After seeing the damage Meteor Mash did after a Bulk Up/Substitute, it would want to Bulk Up to take the hit. This is your chance to badly poison the bastard and stop its shenanigans. If all else fails, there's always Liepard to fall back on. Toxic also works great against Musharna, who is forced to burn Heal Bell PP while Metang suffers no repercussion from Synchronize due to its Steel typing. Being 4x resistant to Psychic while not being weak to Focus Blast helps its cause against Gardevoir as well.
EV spread is for maximum Attack and speedcreeps 50 base speeds such as Piloswine and Regirock/ice AND speedcreeping Golem, the rest in HP.
Frillish (Alternating between Misdreavus)
Spinblocker and Burn Spreader
@Eviolite
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Sp.Def
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk) Ability: Water Absorb
Night Shade / Will-o-Wisp / Recover / Scald
Say hello to the best Samurott switch-in in the tier! At least the physical ones anyway, special variants with Hidden Power [Grass] can still be a problem. Frillish isn't just here to cockblock Samurott though, it patches up the Fire weakness that the inclusion of Metang has exposed and retains the sacred spinblocking role entrusted to a select few in the NU tier. Among these spinblockers, Frillish is the only one with access to reliable recovery, though the lack of Heal Bell means he still competes with Misdreavus. Frillish however packs excellent resistances to Water, Fire and Ice, so he can still give Missy a run for her money.EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Sp.Def
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk) Ability: Water Absorb
Night Shade / Will-o-Wisp / Recover / Scald
Frillish unfortunately is not as strong as Missy, meaning he'll have to make do with Night Shade. It's by no means a bad attack though: 100 damage is solid and can break plenty of subs, but not striking for super effective damage can be a bummer. Recover allows Frillish to stay healthy to take on the more offensively-devious pokemon on their team, such as Samurott, Charizard, Glaceon, Sawk and Gurdurr. Will-o-Wisp halves the attack of the opponent and causes residual damage, making it even easier to stall out. Scald may seem redundant with WoW, but it has two main purposes. First, it can burn the opponent through Taunt, in case I miss the WoW on the Skuntank switch-in. Second, it thaws the user: any pokemon that is designed to tank Ice Beams WILL get frozen sooner or later (Grumpig :'( ), so the ability to offset the hax can be very crucial.
Max HP and Def to take on Sawk, Gurdurr, and physical Samurott among others, the rest in Sp.Def.
Lickilicky (Alternating between Dragonair and Grumpig)
Special Sponge, Cleric and Wish Passer
Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp.Def / 4 Def
Nature: Careful (+Sp.Def, -Sp.Atk) Ability: Own Temp
Wish / Protect / Heal Bell / Dragon Tail
There are too much pokemon here with Eviolite, most without reliable/any recovery. Huge Wishes are in order, but who to choose? Lickilicky semmed the most viable because of Cloud Nine to stop Weather sweepers...until I learned that Wish and Cloud Nine are illegal together. Balls. However, it has both Heal Bell and Dragon Tail (Audino only has Heal Bell while Alomo has neither), meaning it is neither dead from status nor is it easy setup bait as well as accomplishing the goal of the team: death by residual damage. It has huge bulk on both sides and few exploitable weaknesses, unlike Flareon (I am still considering it though, if only because Roar bypasses Substitute and can form a FWG core with Roselia and Frillish, but those weaknesses...). There isn't too much to say about Lickilicky, other than he refuses to let himself or his teammates go down.EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp.Def / 4 Def
Nature: Careful (+Sp.Def, -Sp.Atk) Ability: Own Temp
Wish / Protect / Heal Bell / Dragon Tail
212 HP Wishes can fully heal almost everything on the team and can give them a second chance. Protect allows Lickilicky to receive its own Wish without taking extra damage and can be used to stall out weather and poison damage. Heal Bell is essential for my team, especially the Prankster users who will have their performance diminished by any kind of status. Dragon Tail allows Lickilicky to phaze out stat boosters such as Duosion and Raichu as well as, with the help of hazards, do more damage than he ordinarily would with any other attack.
Max HP for maximum Wishes, max Sp.Def to take on special threats (Lickilicky tends to fare poorly or adequately against physical threats anyway), and the rest in Def just in case.
Old teammates:
Rocky Helmet
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk) Ability: Aftermath
Spikes / Pain Split / Clear Smog / Giga Drain
My premier Fighting and Cincinno check, Garbodor aims to lay down as many layers of Spikes while causing as much damage to the enemy as possible. Clear Smog keeps stat boosters in check (except Musharna and Duosion), while Pain Split keeps me healthy and drains even more health from my opponents. Giga Drain seems gimmicky, but prevents Golurk from coming in for free. With Cincinno and Emboar gone, Garbodor has lost much of its utility and, wanting to test Roselia, replaced him without much thought. While Roselia is living up to my expectations bit by bit, things don't look so promising for Garbo. Chances are, he's not getting back on the team.
EV spread ripped straight from the analysis, the speed again for max speed Golem.
Life Orb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk /252 Spe
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -Sp.Atk) Ability: Super Luck
Sucker Punch / Superpower / Pursuit / Night Slash
One of the most threatening pokemon in NU, Absol resolves the issues Garbo had with Psychic-type stat boosters, while also dispatching the "last pokemon standing" after Riolu's shenanigans. Absol keeps things from going too awry with the strong priority move in the game, detering all but the most confident of sweepers, while also trapping weakened enemies to ensure their demise. Superpower bashes Regis, Normals and Steels while Night Slash helps negate mindgames. Of course, Absol is now chilling up there in RU, and I doubt we'll be seeing him back anytime soon.
Of all the pokemon to have ever been placed on the team, Absol's spread is without a doubt the most straightforward. Max attack max speed no nonsense, Jolly to not fall behind Gardevoir.
I've never meant for this team to be so rage-inducing, but if you do want to try this team out, expect a lot of forfeits or unfinished battles on your opponent's side. This team takes time to work well, but its greatest strength is its ability to go from defense to offense instantly and can turn a match around like no other. Overall, this team is a blast for me to use. In fact, 95% of all losses were because of misplays on my part, as I always seem to find a way to swing the game to my favor, be it right on time or too late. Rates and recommendations welcome!
Import:
Stealth Rocker:
Relicanth @ Leftovers
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 212 HP / 44 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Head Smash
- Stealth Rock
- Waterfall
- Toxic
OR
Golem @ Lum Berry
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 204 HP / 252 Atk / 52 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Sucker Punch
OR
Metang @ Eviolite
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Toxic
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 212 HP / 44 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Head Smash
- Stealth Rock
- Waterfall
- Toxic
OR
Golem @ Lum Berry
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 204 HP / 252 Atk / 52 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Slide
- Sucker Punch
OR
Metang @ Eviolite
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Toxic
Special Sponge Phazer:
Dragonair @ Eviolite
Trait: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 176 SDef / 80 Def
Careful Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Dragon Tail
- Outrage
OR
Grumpig @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Def
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave
- Heal Bell
- Whirlwind
OR
Lickilicky @ Leftovers
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Dragon Tail
Trait: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 176 SDef / 80 Def
Careful Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Dragon Tail
- Outrage
OR
Grumpig @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Def
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave
- Heal Bell
- Whirlwind
OR
Lickilicky @ Leftovers
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Dragon Tail
Spinblocker:
Misdreavus @ Eviolite
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Heal Bell
- Shadow Ball
- Pain Split
OR
Frillish @ Eviolite
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Night Shade
- Recover
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Heal Bell
- Shadow Ball
- Pain Split
OR
Frillish @ Eviolite
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Night Shade
- Recover
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
Main Core:
Roselia @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 160 HP / 252 SAtk / 96 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Toxic Spikes
Riolu @ Eviolite
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SDef
Impish Nature
- Roar
- Copycat
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
Liepard @ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 76 HP / 12 Def / 252 SDef / 168 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Swagger
- Encore
- Foul Play
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 160 HP / 252 SAtk / 96 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Toxic Spikes
Riolu @ Eviolite
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SDef
Impish Nature
- Roar
- Copycat
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
Liepard @ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 76 HP / 12 Def / 252 SDef / 168 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Swagger
- Encore
- Foul Play
