Project USM TEAMBUILDING: Week 17: Golisopod

[KW]

Approved by Atomicllamas, OP adapted from SM RU Victim of the Week. Beautiful art courtesy of LifeisDANK

RU Teambuilding Competition

​

Pokemon is a dynamic and evolving game. With new tier shifts, Pokemon, and metagame trends there is always room to create new innovative builds, or to revamp solid old ones with your own spin. That's where RU Teambuilding Competition comes into play! Every week there will be a competition to build the best team possible based around a Pokemon or core I nominate, which the community will vote on. The winners will have their team submission immortalized in the hall of fame, and will have the chance to contribute their own flavor to the RU metagame.


Schedule

- The teambuilding theme Pokemon or core will be posted on Tuesday. Participants will have until the end of the day on Saturday to submit a team.
- Voting will take place on Sunday and Monday. Anyone may vote for ONE team ONCE.
- The winner will be announced and immortalized in the hall of fame, and the other submissions will be added to the compendium as well.


Guidelines

- You MUST have the week's Pokemon or core featured on your team
- You may only submit one team per cycle
- You must provide an import of your team and a description. The description should be of at least of a paragraph and detail your reasoning for your Pokemon choice, notable moveset choices, and general team composition. Sprites are strongly encouraged but not required.
- While innovation is both welcome and encouraged, make sure your team is viable in the RU metagame.
- Don't use slashes, you're submitting a team, not an archetype analysis
- Under no circumstances should you be rude or disparaging about anyone else's build.

Week 17: Golisopod

 

[KW]

Hall of Fame

Week 1 Mega- Ampharos

Eifo http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...on-week-1-mega-ampharos.3617481/#post-7545675

Week 2 - Malamar

EviGaro http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...ompetition-week-3-hoopa.3617481/#post-7551982

Week 3 - Hoopa

MrAldo http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...-week-4-hitmonlee.3617481/page-2#post-7561116

Week 4 Hitmonlee

Eifo http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...n-week-5-sigilyph.3617481/page-3#post-7570457

Week 5 Sigilyph

Ov3r A3e http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...n-week-5-sigilyph.3617481/page-3#post-7570768

Week 6 Necrozma

eifo http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...g-week-6-necrozma.3617481/page-3#post-7592501

Week 7 Linoone

Meru http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/usm-teambuilding-week-8-cloyster.3617481/page-4#post-7600764

Week 8 Cloyster

The Leprechaun http://www.smogon.com/forums/posts/7608493

Week 9 Tsareena

Avocado http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/usm-teambuilding-week-10-ditto.3617481/post-7615778

Week 10 Ditto

Teachable http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/usm-teambuilding-week-11-mega-abomasnow.3617481/post-7627897

Week 11 Mega Abomasnow

Avocado http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/usm-teambuilding-week-12-virizion.3617481/post-7657222

Week 12 Virizion

mofro5 http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/usm-teambuilding-week-13-aerodactyl.3617481/post-7671310

Week 13 Aerodactyl

Mr Aldo https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/usm-teambuilding-week-14-kingler.3617481/post-7676110

Current Leader: eifo

 

[Rio Vidal]

Mega Ampharos Trick Room

Importable

Fabio (Ampharos-Mega) @ Ampharosite
Ability: Plus
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Volt Switch

2nd Class Metagross (Bronzong) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion / Toxic
- Gyro Ball
- Trick Room

Teddy Bear (Bewear) @ Life Orb
Ability: Fluffy
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Frustration
- Hammer Arm
- Ice Punch
- Taunt

Unbound Me (Hoopa) @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

Suicude (Cresselia) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Moonlight
- Lunar Dance

Horny (Escavalier) @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Knock Off

Description

Mega Ampharos - This pokemon seems pretty bad with its slow speed tier and it's undefined role. TR is the only thing I could think of that would let Ampharos excel. The moveset is pretty obvious, Dual Stabs and Focus Blast to hit pokemon like Rhyperior. Volt Switch is used to keep up momentum. Also Ampharos does not have Static because I don't want my opponents pokemon to be slow against a full tr team.

Bronzong - The teams lead and TR setter, since Zoroark will probably lead against thins team every time and threaten Bronzong I opted to go with Colbur Berry TR. I opted to go phys def because I've seen lots of SD Zoroark lately though maybe with Sharpedo being banned that may change. Also this team is highly weak to salazzle so Cresselia my other wall/tr setter is specially defensive to check it as well as possible.

Bewear - Clicks attacks and just watches things drop. Also helps alleviate the teams Dark weakness but only adds to the Fire weakness. Ice Punch hits annoying Ground types like Rhyperior for Ampharos. Opted for LO Taunt so Quagsire and other fat mons couldn't just switch in and click recover.

Hoopa - The second TR setter and gives the team another way to check the ever secondo dangerous salazzle. This pokemon is a very nice late game cleaner in TR. Nasty Plot + Z Blast allows the team to not be totally fucked by Umbreon+Quagsire.

Cresselia - As I have mentioned the teams main salazzle/fire answer. Also the second tr setter. This thing also has access to Lunar Dance giving another cleaner another chance to threaten the other team.

Escavalier - Dark, Ghost amd Fairy checks also very hard to beat under TR with an SD boost. Also hits annoying asf walls like Umbreon asd Milotic for heavy damage.

 

[aVocado]

this pokemon is fucking shit

importable

Ampharos-Mega @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 88 HP / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Zygarde-10% @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Toxic

Xatu @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 152 SpD / 104 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Psychic
- Toxic
- Roost

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Toxic

Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 116 Def / 144 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Toxic
- Moonlight

Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam

Quickly built this just to participate tbh and I couldn't test in real games cuz I played maybe 4 games on ladder and vs meme teams like rock polish head smash donphan. But basically I used an idea that I had in my head and wanted to use for a while now and thats cb zydog + taunt nidoqueen. I might test taunt and toxic nidoqueen or maybe just toxic but for now I'm trying out taunt. the idea is that queen lures porygon2 milotic and cresselia and chips them a bit while preventing recovery so zydog could spam tarrows freely. Toxic over taunt would allow queen to actually cripple them though instead of just chipping for like 30% damage so that's why I'm considering it, especially given how cress can beat queen 1v1.

Xatu is good vs chesnaught/regi and discourages using hazards so thats good. EVs outspeed Timid queen. I opted for a wallbreaker ampharos just to see what he's actually capable of doing but went w/ HP Ice over volt switch cuz I wanna hit Gligar for that delicious damage. Iron Head and EQ on bronzong are to hit mega abomasnow and dragalge respectively. Speed EVs on cress are for adamant honchkrow and anything slower.

Team gets rekt by dd gatr so watch out for that. Also lacks a dark resist but what team doesn't. Use cresselia to outspeed krow/pangoro and hit them with moonblast. One thing to do vs gatr is to not mega evolve ampharos and hit it w/ tbolt, big chance they'll ice punch

 

[Gatorboy]

Mega amph had a cold start for me tbh. But lately its been decent, and is pretty effective on Volt-turn no lie.

Importable

Ampharos-Mega @ Ampharosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 204 HP / 252 SpA / 52 Spe
Mild Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast

Froslass @ Focus Sash
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
[Unhide]
- Spikes
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Ice Beam

Linoone @ Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Extreme Speed
- Seed Bomb
- Shadow Claw

Machamp @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Facade
- Knock Off

Ribombee @ Choice Specs
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Bug Buzz
- Psychic
- U-turn

Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam

Team actually works quite nice, I have success on my 1400 Alt. Team is simple, lead Lass and set up spikes, and just volt-turn around to get the wall breakers in to break through opponent until Linoone or Ribombee can clean.

Fabio: Strong Wall Breaker with enough speed for base 50s like Donphan and Regi, forces switches so Volt is nice and forms a core w/ Ribombee believe it or not. Slow Volt is also always nice to have.

Frosslass: Best lead spiker rn, and can also be saved to spin block if opponent actually has a spinner. Ice Beam is used to actually deal damage, and Will-o-Wisp is used over D bond, bc people always suspect d bond.

Linoone: One of the Wincons of the team. Once its checks get whittled down by the hazards, or just throughout the battle, this thing sets up and sweeps easily

Machamp: Another big Wall Breaker, and if volt-turned into, gets the free Flame Orb activated, this also forces a lot of switches so the hazards will be in effect

Ribombee: A wallbreaker/Wincon for the team. Specs hits hard, and forms the core w/ Fabio for the Volt-turning. Its Speed is also very nice, especially since Swellow isn't seen as much as it was earlier in the meta.

Nidoqueen: An offensive rocker/wallbreaker. We all know what Queen does, I have Flamethrower bc Escav can be troubling for the team otherwise

 

[MohHumG]

Here's my team that I built on the first day of mega amph's dropping and has been a fairly fun and successful team.

The Team

Salazzle @ Choice Specs
Ability: Corrosion
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Overheat
- Flamethrower
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Zoroark (M) @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Illusion
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
- Swords Dance

Gligar (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 240 HP / 200 SpD / 68 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost

Machamp (M) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Facade
- Bullet Punch

Ampharos-Mega (M) @ Ampharosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Dragon Pulse
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Description

Mega Ampharos: So the starting point was of course Mega Amph; I decided to go with rest talk due to its unique typing and access to volt switch in conjunction; while not really feeling and AoA set and agility not seeming the best. Use this mon to pivot into resisted physical attacks while utilising volt switch to pivot into a mon which provides the required pressure. Try to mega as soon as possible, unless you want to utilise static!

Bronzong: Bronzong was an obvious partner for a mega amph balance since they both cover each others weaknesses well alongside the fact that bronzong can take on the special attackers that mega amph dislikes while mega amph takes on some of the physical attackers dislike by zong. Zong also provides stealth rock and toxic to help with the overall aim of the team in wearing down the opposing team to allow for a zoro or lazzle clean, even mega amph possibly taking on a team once its counters are dealt with. Earthquake, while not the best on zong atm, is there for salazzle, a huge threat to this team.

Zoroark: Initially I utilised this as a u-turn mon however as the team progressed, sd became more preferred. It is the most consistent win con for this team with sucker punch being useful against more offensively inclined teams as well as the illusion ability allowing it to cripple mons annoying for mega amph such as gligar.

Machamp: So Machamp has become my favourite offensive fighting type in the tier as of recent. It is able to take advantage of the volt switch and get off a strong hit especially the many special walls that amph invites in such as porygon-2 and umbreon. It also provides my with a way of taking out these mons instead of relying on sd fightinium low kick zoro. It, like zoroark, is able to cripple many defensive walls, like gligar, since many teams teams rely on switching into a resist for what is currently on the field which can easily be predicted and allow for a surprise knock out. This is why I love champ :3

Salazzle: Salazzle provided some much needed specially offensive presence, outside of amph, while taking on the pesky, and underrated, fairy types which champ wouldn't be able to take on. I decided to go with specs due to the suprise KO's it can net, such as offensive queen(a pesky mon for amph) with overheat, and I didn't want to be forced to set up to take out mons such as gligar, answering the question why I didn't go with nasty plot(alongside the fact that priority sucker punch aids the offense matchup, forcing sd zoro). I went with flamethrower as I didn't want overheat as my only fire stab and hp ice over toxic for annoying mons like gligar.

Gligar: Finally, Gligar; while not the best mon in the meta atm, it was perfect for the team. It helps with the physical attackers that amph isn't able to take on such as the offensive fighting types, alongside other useful resistances that the team needed. It provides u-turn to complete the volt turn core and defog for the prevalent hazard stack and stealth rocks that trouble salazzle. The ev spread can definitely be adjusted: I just put enough speed for 222 chester and special defense investment for the troublesome salazzle with a impish nature to help take on physical attackers.

I hope you enjoy the team, any feedback and results with team is appreciated. Feel free to change the sets and spreads to your liking!

 

[eifo]

Hide

Durant check (Ampharos-Mega) @ Ampharosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Dragon Pulse
- Rest / Toxic
- Sleep Talk / Thunderbolt

Broken (Durant) @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- Superpower
- Iron Head
- Crunch

Almost broken (Pangoro) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
- Gunk Shot

V close to broken (Cresselia) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 112 SpD / 144 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Moonlight
- Toxic

The bad set (Flygon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Defog
- Outrage

RuinsTheTier (Nidoqueen) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 120 HP / 8 Def / 164 SpA / 216 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave / Toxic / Fire Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam

M amphy only works as a bulky pivot imo. Offensive can't break stuff and fails to provide much defensively, it's too slow to pull off an agility sweep and it struggles to perform well as a cleric due to its lack of reliable recovery. Admittedly, rest talk isn't necessarily the best set, as always having to switch out whenever you need to use your stab can be a pain. Toxic is also very nice for sniping stuff like p2 and cress. Thus bulky Fabio with dpulse/volt/tox+tbolt or rest talk will prob be the best set(s).

Anyway, this team is centered around M ampharos' ability to act as a pivot for offensive breakers. Both Goro and Durant appreciates this a lot. Fightinium bc it snipes Bewear/Milo/p2 etc (it's the better z by far imo).Cress is there to provice some extra defensive backbone. Scarf Gon bc scarfers are mandatory, f lazzle and defog while horrible on a scarf mon, is quite valuable. Queen is there bc rocks. Regi could also be opted for, as Cress being the sole fairy resist is easily exploitable due to trick shenanigans. I don't like how passive it gets vs Decid and the like tho. You can run tox for Cress/p2 on Queen if you'd like.

 

[KW]

I am pleased to announce that this is the end of the submission period for the first week, with a ton of great entries! We will now move on to the voting stage. As said in the OP anyone will be able to vote ONCE for ONE team. The winning team will be immortalized in the hall of fame. Good luck, some difficult choices to be made.

 

[TJ]

eifo

 

[Cheryl.]

eifo

 

[roman]

exca

 

[eren]

eifo

 

[HypnoEmpire]

eifo, I like that team a lot

 

[Rio Vidal]

eifo

 

[BelmontGabriel]

eifo

 

[Gatorboy]

Eifo

 

[Lazuli]

eifo

 

[Salient]

eifo

 

[KW]

Week 1 Voting is now over. Thanks to The Excadrill, avocado, Gatorboy, MohHumG, and eifo for their fantastic submissions. However, one team must take it all. After hours of crunching the numbers, I have determined that the winner is... Eifo! Congrats! Eifo's team will be added to the hall of fame and all submissions will be added to this week's compendium. The challenge for next week will be up shortly, let's see some more great teams.

 

[KW]

Week 2 Challenge

With the advent of Z-moves Malamar gained the option to omni boost, in addition to its other sets like rest talk. Using Superpower Malamar can quickly become a wrecking ball that spirals out of control, shredding through bulky cores with ease. Malamar is vulnerable however to simply being outsped and being picked off by strong special attacks and bug coverage, making it a challenge to succesfully position even in the late game. Can this week's builders create teams that position Malamar to shine?

 

[eifo]

import

Malamar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Foul Play
- Knock Off
- Superpower
- Destiny Bond

Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Protect
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock

Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Knock Off

Cresselia @ Fairium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonlight
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Toxic

Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Curse

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpD /20 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Bell
- Foul Play
- Wish
- Protect

First of all, this mon is literal trash. It's so bad at everything, to the point where it's almost impossible for a mere human to comprehend. I was expecting Sdef RestTalk to perform decently as a breaker vs bulkier teams, but in all honesty, it was quite underwhelming. It performed decently as a balance breaker, but it was dead weight vs literally every other playstyle. It's useless vs stall thanks to Quag. Vs offense you'll at best be able to live a hit and kill something. Ususally you'll just die without accomplishing anything but being sack fodder tho. In addition to all of the above, it's also annoying as hell to build with. The typings often overlap, and you'd love to be able to run another, much better breaker instead of it, such as zoro, goro, bewear and durant for instance.

With all this in mind, i came to the conclusion that Malamar was not fit for normal teams. So i had to think outside the box. What exactly could this mon do for a certain playstyle, that no other mon could do? The answer i came to was simple: This mon could lure every single one of the best stall breakers in the game, sniping Sub Np Hoopa and Sub SD Decid with infiltrator Foul Play, Goro with Superpower and Lazzle with Knock if need be. "But Drap can just Pursuit trap those two and you already have checks for Lazzle and Goro" Yeah? Well the mon we were given was this pile of shit, so it ain't my fault. A back up plan is also nice in case something goes wrong. And it can be just that, as the scarf allows for it to work as a late game wincon. Fast, unexpected Dbond is also a cool tech to trade vs a mon of your choice. Besides, as I mentioned earleir, it does lure Decid and Hoopa to stay in after they subbed on Regi, as they would expect Contrary Bulky Malamar. Vs Drap Decid would just switch out while protected from Pursuit by its substitute. Not to mention that if the Drap had been whittled a bit, it could sub down until it got into Overgrow and blow it back with the z move (it does 60-71). If Fightinium Hoopa, it would just straight up kill it with AoP. If Ghostium Hoopa, FB still does 65-77, so if it's in range of that it can stay in. If it isn't, Hoopa switches out protected by the sub and comes back later on once the Drap has taken enough damage.

The team is just your staple 5 stall mons with Malamar in the 6th slot. PhyDef Fairium Cress with enough creep for Goro/Bewear, Sdef Glig for Lazzle, Speed on Umby is for creepers such as M Aboma and Spider.

I LOVE MALAMAR

Why did i just waste most of my free time this week on building with a shitmon.....

 

[Gatorboy]

​

Mala hotfire

Ampharos-Mega @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 204 HP / 252 SpA / 52 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast

Malamar @ Normalium Z
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Happy Hour
- Psycho Cut

Zygarde-10% @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Extreme Speed
- Outrage
- Toxic

Persian-Alola @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Parting Shot
- Foul Play
- Taunt
- Toxic

Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Ability: Drought
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion

Venusaur @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Growth
- Solar Beam
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Malamar is actually not that bad **cough cough, eifo, cough cough**. It has the omni boost that gives it good power, and enough speed to outspeed Salazzle at +1. It is a pretty good win con to keep in the back until its ready to sweep, or hole punch for the other team members.

The team is volt-turn with M amph and Perisan A, and works pretty well, as those 2 form a pretty bulky core. Zydog was added as a wallbreaker, and for its speed, and priority, which the team needed. Malamar is the mon of the week, and can be used to hole punch or as a win con for late game, and the last 2 mons form a sun core, which is a late game win con, and check gatr, which the team needed.

Malamar has decent bulk, which allows it to set up with some ease, and after a boost, actually is threatening towards weakened teams. Contrary is a blessing for it as it not only has super power to abuse, but also scares the opponent from defogging, or they will forget about it altogether.

 

[ASKOV]

importable

Malamar @ Normalium Z
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Happy Hour
- Psycho Cut

Roserade @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Spikes

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 248 HP / 100 Def / 160 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Toxic
- Ice Beam
- Foul Play

Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Roost

Durant @ Life Orb
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- Crunch
- Superpower
- Iron Head

Delphox @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Psychic
- Trick
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Not gonna lie, although I'm not a good builder, Malamar was definitely a hard Pokemon to build a team around. I started with Z-Happy Hour Malamar because I felt that RestTalk would hardly have a chance to sweep. Next I wanted something that could set-up Spikes, while also being able to beat some of Malamar's best checks like Doublade, Chesnaught and Fairies, so I added offensive 3 attacks Spikes Roserade, that also could help with bulk water types. Next, I need to add a Stealth Rock user to the team, and a Pokemon that sinergize well with it, so I went with Gligar + Porygon2, that can soft check a lot of things in the meta. Durant was the next choice because I was looking for another Pokemon that's able to break holes in the opposing team, and Durant can also weaken Doublade to a possible Malamar sweep. For the last slot, I needed a Choice Scarf user that could handle Durant, Salazzle and Flygon, so I decided to try Scarf Delphox(shoutouts NU meta), which is actually a fun Scarfer that can do it's job decently well thanks to its good speed tier and good Special Attack. You could say ''why not use something like Scarf Salazzle'' but Trick can be useful to cripple a wall if you don't need the Scarf anymore, although it's not wise to Trick it away if the opponent has something like Hone Claws Durant alive. It also has a decent bulk compared to Salazzle, which allows it to pivot on Pokemon like Scarf Gardevoir and fight type moves from Bewear for example.

The team has its flaws tho, because the defensive core can be overwhelmed and you basically start the game with 5 Pokemon because you don't want to send Malamar until it's safe to sweep, but it's a decent fun team overall, hope you give it a try and enjoy it :]

 

[EviGaro]

Balance? Stall? Defensive cores? What are those?

importable

Banette-Mega @ Banettite
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Shadow Sneak
- Gunk Shot
- Destiny Bond

Archeops @ Focus Sash
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Head Smash
- Endeavor
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt

Malamar @ Normalium Z
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Happy Hour

Roserade @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Spikes
- Sleep Powder

Zygarde-10% @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake

Yanmega @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Bug Buzz
- Air Slash
- Shadow Ball
- Protect

Idea is relatively straightforward, set up rocks and go to threats. I tried to make the team have an easier job against offence, so some priority spam + a speed booster in the back, alongside DBond mind games, are helpful against this matchup but at the same time can make it a bit tougher to break specific defensive cores, and this is where this nonsensical Malamar set comes in. +1 Malamar is still slow, and even with max attack doesn't break anything, but Taunt makes it so you can shutdown recovery/status/even removal in a pinch while having the investment needed to setup more sefely and still tank some scarfers.

Main problem with that team is really getting bogged down and losing momentum, since you can't fall back on much and you have no way of bringing back Malamar if it gets statused. On that note, Regi can be stupid annoying since the switch-in is literally Roserade. Banette can be forced to do too much by checking threats also, which might become an issue. But I think that team was pretty cool and I managed to get some success with it - let's ignore that Yanmega was the main reason why for a moment - so why not share.

 

[KW]

Week 2 is now over! We will now move on to the voting stage. A lot of creative builds this week, and some different approaches to using Malamar's qualities.