Gen 8 SS Battle Tower/OU Toxapex & Dragapult, First Team

[RELIN-Q]

Hey. This is the first actual time I've tried getting into competitive Pokemon because I was interested in getting a high rank in the Battle Tower in the actual game on the Switch. So if any moves look weird to you, it's because I wasn't able to get whatever move it is in the actual game. So anyway it started as a Battle Tower team of 3 Pokemon, Mimikyu, Dragapult (with thunder wave), and Crustle. The main thing I was focusing on was being able to beat Leon's Charizard. That's where Stone Edge Crustle came in. And I was able to beat him. Ok so now I'm thinking that I might want to try it in Pokemon Showdown to test it out, so I also decided to make a full team of 6 so that I could also use this team in the SWITCH Battle Stadium and maybe try to compete in OU Battles in Pokemon Showdown.

Now, into the explanations.

Crunchy (Crustle) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Stone Edge
- X-Scissor
- Earthquake

This crunchy little dirt cup with legs is actually a surprisingly good sweeper in my opinion. Shell Smash almost always guarantees that you'll outspeed the enemy on turn 2, and the ability Study almost always ensures that Shell Smash will go off. X-Scissor and Earthquake are just very powerful sweep moves with 100% Acc and pretty good coverage, especially when boosted by Shell Smash. Stone Edge also crit Dynamax Charizard so that's just always a nice lil treat. I mostly just Shell Smash through the first attack and maybe get a cheeky second one off if the enemy is also setting up on the first turn. Heavy Duty Boots enures that I will not lose Sturdy if I switch out turn 1 and then need to switch back out into a Stealth Rock or something.

Candy (Toxapex) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Recover
- Light Screen
- Toxic Spikes

I love Toxapex. I actually farmed a Shiny for the first time ever and today I got it. It was this one! This is the first Pokemon I added to my team after deciding to make it a full team (it's also one of James' Pokemon from the Anime). Toxic Spikes pairs well with Dragapult, setting up their STAB Hex if anyone decides they don't want to get burned by Scald spam. Regenerator paired with Black Sludge is actually crazy already and then... Well just add Recover and it becomes really hard to die. I had to add Light Screen in place of Knock off or Haze as I was not able to get those moves within PKMNShield :( To be fair though I think Light Screen is a good support choice for this team compared to the other move choices. The typing of Toxapex also pairs well with Corviknight's typing.

Kallista (Dragapult) (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hex
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Thunderbolt

This was the original Pivot backbone of my 3 person team. I since have changed out Focus Sash (cringe) and swapped it with some cool glasses. I also swapped Thunder Wave with Thunderbolt. I'm thinking about switching up U-Turn with Shadow Ball but I haven't run into any issues with U-Turn so far. Dragapult is basically just a fast, hard-hitting killer now. STAB Hex should be set up from Toxapex's Toxic Spikes, Thunderbolt and Draco Meteor could be boosted for a revenge kill and then just swap back to Toxapex, Mimikyu's Disguise, or Clefable to reset the Specs.

Ragdoll (Mimikyu) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Play Rough
- Shadow Sneak
- Shadow Claw

Mimikyu is on Team Rocket as well (a common theme), and definitely one of my personal favorites. On this team they work as a Dragon/Ghost Assassin. They can always take one free hit to set up Swords Dance if you don't switch into a damaging move. If the first STAB Shadow Claw doesn't kill with a critical hit, Shadow Sneak will finish everything off after that. Very good as a "last resort" sweeper, and it really benefits from the setup that Toxapex and Clefable can lend. Aside from that it's just a cool Pokemon that I enjoy using, and the ability Disguise is very good for setting up a sweep.

Alistair (Corviknight) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 204 SpD
Careful Nature
- Iron Head
- Defog
- Roost
- U-turn

Corviknight is one of the picks on my team where I'm not quite sure of. It fits the role well. I figured that I needed a sort of tank/support role and with Corviknight's defensive typing, Roost, and U-Turn, it can be easy to keep the availablility of Defog throughout a match. A lot of the problems I'm having with teambuilding for OU PS & Ingame Battle Tower at the same time is that... I don't have a competetive Corviknight to use on Shield yet, so I don't know how hard or easy it will be to get some of these moves. The Def and SpD EVs are spread to better handle Psychic from Tapu Lele and Shadow Ball from an enemy Dragapult. Recommendations for a better spread (not more-used but potentially just better for the team) would be appreciated. Also gonna try to get this one Shiny next.........

Stardom (Clefable) (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 120 SpD / 136 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
- Wish
- Protect

Clefable is the last Pokemon I added to the team after thinking about a lot of different factors. Originally I have Dracovish in this spot but it's not an OU so I had to choose something else. I decided that another tank/support would be really beneficial to my team. Wish and Aromatherapy were the main moves that I wanted on Clefable, Protect is just a good move if you can predict when a setup sweeper is going to try to do the 'sweep' part, and Moonblast is a great OHKO for most dragon types in the meta like Dragapult. If they don't use U-Turn on turn 1 against Clefable they are dead. Simple as that.

Conclusion
If you made it all the way through my ramblings about shinies and Team Rocket and whatever else I said... Thanks. Please provide feedback to my team on areas I may want to look out for, maybe which mons could be better in the last two slots, or just give general advice. Anything is appreciated I just want to wish that the comments are kind as this is my first ever team. If you comment about switching one of the Pokemon, I'd like you to keep in mind the restrictions of the in-game Battle Tower as well as certain aspects that may be impossible to achieve for this team (such as Jirachi instead of Corviknight or something. I know Jirachi is really good and I would use Jirachi on this team but it isn't available to me in the game so I will not add it).

 

[Slowpoke Fan]

Hello! The team and restrictions you laid out were interesting, so here is my take on how your team can be improved (all of the Pokemon should be easily accessible on cartridge, so you should have no problem with building this team). Let me know if they work for you

Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/4fe164224e883a12

Since you have no access to transfer moves, Clefable will have to make do with the inferior moonlight over soft-boiled on this utility stealth rock + thunder wave set to compress a multitude of valuable roles for the team. But don't let this fool you about the pixie's utility: Clefable will still soak up hits, paralyse unsuspecting steel/poison type switch-ins and set up hazards over and over again. The remaining 136 EVs are dumped into special defence so you don't get swept by shadow ball in Dragapult mirrors.

Speaking of Dragapult, your own should run a modest nature as it lets the dragon hit absurd ranges against most defensive cores. Flamethrower is used instead of thunderbolt as hitting bulky steel types for super effective damage is more desirable.

The standard defog set is used here as Corviknight fares better against physical threats in OU, while body press is run over iron head as the former hits a lot of what Corviknight wants to check (e.g. Kartana, Weavile, Melmetal) super effectively.

Due to the prevalence of defog and heavy-duty boots, toxic spikes are inconsistent from matchup to matchup unless you build specifically to abuse it. Toxic is preferred because Toxapex is guaranteed to hit the move and can status some of its checks that are not immune to poison. Shed shell is used for it to switch into Heatran in a pinch to waste magma storm PP.

TO

Rillaboom has fantastic synergy with your team: grassy terrain weakens earthquake so Toxapex can stay in on ground types for a turn or two to toxic/scald fish them while Clefable and Dragapult appreciate the passive recovery healing off miscellaneous hits. The bulky SD set is used here as a direct replacement for your SD Mimikyu.

TO

Almost every team in SS OU needs a ground type, and your team needs one that isn't afraid of Arctozolt hail in particular as it hits every Pokemon on your team for big damage and can pull off a nasty sweep if it sets up a substitute under hail. Thick Fat Mamoswine is a good stopgap to it as it is immune to bolt beak and resists blizzard/freeze-dry while hitting it super effectively with ground STAB, so a metronome + substitute set is used here to take advantage of the switches it forces (you can set up a substitute on a predicted switch or status move to get more hits off, and metronome rewards you for clicking the same move over and over again, which is often the case with Mamoswine). Not being able to use knock off hurts, but this should still work decently.

 

[RELIN-Q]

Hello! The team and restrictions you laid out were interesting, so here is my take on how your team can be improved (all of the Pokemon should be easily accessible on cartridge, so you should have no problem with building this team). Let me know if they work for you

Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/4fe164224e883a12

Since you have no access to transfer moves, Clefable will have to make do with the inferior moonlight over soft-boiled on this utility stealth rock + thunder wave set to compress a multitude of valuable roles for the team. But don't let this fool you about the pixie's utility: Clefable will still soak up hits, paralyse unsuspecting steel/poison type switch-ins and set up hazards over and over again. The remaining 136 EVs are dumped into special defence so you don't get swept by shadow ball in Dragapult mirrors.

Speaking of Dragapult, your own should run a modest nature as it lets the dragon hit absurd ranges against most defensive cores. Flamethrower is used instead of thunderbolt as hitting bulky steel types for super effective damage is more desirable.

The standard defog set is used here as Corviknight fares better against physical threats in OU, while body press is run over iron head as the former hits a lot of what Corviknight wants to check (e.g. Kartana, Weavile, Melmetal) super effectively.

Due to the prevalence of defog and heavy-duty boots, toxic spikes are inconsistent from matchup to matchup unless you build specifically to abuse it. Toxic is preferred because Toxapex is guaranteed to hit the move and can status some of its checks that are not immune to poison. Shed shell is used for it to switch into Heatran in a pinch to waste magma storm PP.

TO

Rillaboom has fantastic synergy with your team: grassy terrain weakens earthquake so Toxapex can stay in on ground types for a turn or two to toxic/scald fish them while Clefable and Dragapult appreciate the passive recovery healing off miscellaneous hits. The bulky SD set is used here as a direct replacement for your SD Mimikyu.

TO

Almost every team in SS OU needs a ground type, and your team needs one that isn't afraid of Arctozolt hail in particular as it hits every Pokemon on your team for big damage and can pull off a nasty sweep if it sets up a substitute under hail. Thick Fat Mamoswine is a good stopgap to it as it is immune to bolt beak and resists blizzard/freeze-dry while hitting it super effectively with ground STAB, so a metronome + substitute set is used here to take advantage of the switches it forces (you can set up a substitute on a predicted switch or status move to get more hits off, and metronome rewards you for clicking the same move over and over again, which is often the case with Mamoswine). Not being able to use knock off hurts, but this should still work decently.

Thanks for the info! I like your ideas and the pokemon changes make sense. Could I still use Hex on Dragapult since I have Toxic, Thunder Wave, and Scald on the team?

 

[Slowpoke Fan]

Thanks for the info! I like your ideas and the pokemon changes make sense. Could I still use Hex on Dragapult since I have Toxic, Thunder Wave, and Scald on the team?

You can (especially in cartridge), but relying on statusing bulky steels before you can break through them is generally not preferred.

 

[RELIN-Q]

You can (especially in cartridge), but relying on statusing bulky steels before you can break through them is generally not preferred.

I see... Does that mean using Shadow Ball over Hex would help with killing those steel types more effectively?

 

[Slowpoke Fan]

I see... Does that mean using Shadow Ball over Hex would help with killing those steel types more effectively?

It helps with breaking through things in general, the higher base power without relying on status is very important.

 

[RELIN-Q]

It helps with breaking through things in general, the higher base power without relying on status is very important.

Hey so update! I actually have all of them - competetively bred - within the game now, and I got shiny Corviknight (with all the right moves this time... looking at Toxapex...) I've played a few link battles so far using both 6-man and 3-man rulesets, and I haven't lost a match yet.

I still think I'm kind of shaky on the order to use each pokemon in, because Clefairy and Toxapex I want to use early so they can setup status and Stealth Rock, but on the other hand I just want to use Dragapult first to sweep.

Also I had to switch one of the Rocky Helmets out for Hazard Boots because of the Battle Tower Item Clause. I figured the boots would be good on Clefairy because Corviknight doesn't take damage from Stealth Rock.

 

[Kustavan]

I see... Does that mean using Shadow Ball over Hex would help with killing those steel types more effectively?

Hex is good if you are running status spam on many mons such as twave, wisp, and etc. But if you are just using it on a normal balance you should use shadow ball because of the higher base power.