SS UU Zarude Bulky Offense

[Band]

Zarude Bulky Offense
Click sprites for importable!
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I came up with this team when I got tired of losing on the ladder, so I tried to use the Slowbro+Zarude core, as they complement each other's weaknesses well, bar the Bug weakness, which Weezing-Galar covers. Then I added some of the tier's best breakers, Mimikyu, Keldeo and Lycanroc-D. Together, they shred teams apart. Keldeo's Hydro Pump is actually insane.

Slowbro

Slowbro @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Teleport
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Future Sight

The Slowbros are honestly some of the best mons on the tier right now. Being capable of coming in against Keldeo's Specs Hydro Pump and not even be 2HKOed without any SpDef investment is actually insane, and since Keldeo is also one of the tier's biggest threats, Slowbro's ability to eat up these hits is very valuable. With the help of Heavy-Duty Boots, it doesn't care about any hazards, aiding it's matchup against Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes, the two most common hazards right now. Slowbro also keeps the pressure up with Future Sight, scaring Weezing-Galar, Roserade, Rotom-W, Rotom-C and Tentacruel while using Psyshock to not be walled by CM Sub Keldeo and for some more immediate damage. Teleport is an amazing tool to bring in Zarude and Lycanroc-D safely too.

Zarude

Zarude @ Leftovers
Ability: Leaf Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bulk Up
- Jungle Healing / Synthesis
- Power Whip
- Darkest Lariat

When Zarude dropped from OU, I thought it wouldn't really be that good, but oh boy was I wrong. Zarude has no Pokemon other than Galarian Weezing and Drapion that don't care about its STAB combination of Power Whip and Darkest Lariat. And even then, Zarude can run Iron Tail for Galarian Weezing and Close Combat is already common on scarf and band sets. It can also U-Turn out of those checks/counters. But I decided to run a Bulk Up + Jungle Healing set, as it lets Zarude set up in front of the Slowbros without having to fear Scald burns. You can run Synthesis as it heals more, but being able to negate status is what really sells JH for me.
calcs

Lycanroc-Dusk

Lycanroc-Dusk @ Life Orb
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Accelerock
- Close Combat
- Crunch
- Psychic Fangs / Swords Dance

Murder dog right now is the tier's best late-game cleaner. It has an amazing ability and all the coverage and moves it needs to succeed. You can switch Psy-Fangs for Swords Dance, but I like them for the occasional Tentacruel, which can kinda annoy this team spreading Scald burns, poison with T-Spikes and Sludge Bomb and remove Slowbro's HDB with Knock Off. Other than that, just chip the opposing team and click buttons.

Keldeo

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Flip Turn
- Surf
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump

Despite it's limited movepool, Keldeo manages to shine on UU, being one of the best offensive threats. If you don't resist it's STABs, you're either OHKOed or 2HKOed by it's Choice Specs boosted Hydro Pumps, and even then, Keldeo can predict switches with it's newly gained Flip Turn and switch to the appropriate check/counter. There's really not much to say, as soon as the Slowbros drop, it just clicks Hydro Pump/Secret Sword and shreds the opposing team. It's also a good defensive check to Bisharp, but be careful to not get it too low as it fear a +2 Sucker Punch if weakened enough.
calcs

Mimikyu

Mimikyu @ Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Shadow Claw
- Play Rough

Mimikyu is also a very good late-game cleaner thanks to Shadow Sneak and its good base 96 Speed, also being an ok answer to Polteageist if it still has its Disguise up. It's ability lets it set up a Swords Dance without having to worry about taking damage, but it has to be wary of status and hazards. Even then, a Lum Berry can be ran, but Mimikyu appreciates the Life Orb boost, since it's not a Pokemon that lasts for too long and a base 90 Attack stat is not that impressive without a Swords Dance boost. Mimikyu's typing is also one of it's biggest selling points, making it immune to Rapid Spins from Tsareena and Starmie. Mimikyu is also immune to Tsareena's eventual High-Jump Kick and scares Starmie out with it's Ghost STABs, though it does fear the Scald burns from Starmie and doesn't appreciate Tsareena breaking it's Disguise and removing it's Life Orb.

Weezing-Galar

Weezing-Galar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp / Toxic
- Strange Steam
- Sludge Bomb
- Defog

I've seen pif talk about N-Gas GWeezing and how much it can affect the opposing team. Here's some key abilities it negates: Regenerator, Magic Bounce, Magic Guard, Water Bubble, Defiant, Disguise, Natural Cure, Tough Claws, Rock Head, Guts, Technician, Speed Boost, Pixilate, Clear Body, and many, many more. Some of these are SO huge. Negating Guts, Regen, Tough Claws and Defiant is extremely beneficial to Gweezing, with the only drawback being it gets a Ground weakness (which is arguably what makes this ability not as amazing as it could be, but you have Zarude for Krookodile and Slowbro for Terrakion) and is now hurt by Spikes, though with Levitate it's unable to absorb T-Spikes. SpDef is run so you can take on special hits such as Volt Switch from Rotom and Sludge Bombs from Roserade and Tentacruel, since Slowbro doesn't want to risk being poisoned and Zarude takes a good chunk and can't heal all the damage off with JH.

Threat List​

Seems like every team I make always loses to scarf Chandelure and Smash Teapot. Chandelure just click it's stabs against the team and wins. As soon as Zarude and Lycan are gone, Polteageist just Shell Smashes and wins. Zarude can come on Shadow Ball and Lycan has Accelerock, but that's it, if they faint I lose.

This thing is annoying as all hell. Can Knock Off/Corrosive Gas Slowbro's HDB and proceed to get a poison with Sludge Bomb or set up T-Spikes. Sludge Bomb does a good chunk to Zarude and it can't heal all the damage off. Lycan and Mimikyu don't want to get burned by Scald and Keldeo needs the Specs for it's huge breaking power, plus Tenta can eat Hydro Pumps/Secret Swords way better if Keld loses it's item. GWeezing also hates losing it's Black Sludge and s

Bulky and powerful. Zarude really wishes it could Knock Off Doublade's item, because Darkest Lariat really doesn't do that much damage. This one is not as bad, but it's still quite an annoyance. Not having Knock Off makes a huge difference.

 

[esche]

hi

from a first glance this already looks like a decent squad but i think theres some improvements you can make to make it flow better:

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tbh vern is just too good not too run rn. this change helps pivoting into keldeo should bro get broken down and gives you better speed control overall since youre lacking a scarfer. vern still checks most of the stuff keld was checking and sports better longevity which i think this team will appreciate. you also get a ground immunity (which isnt super necessary with bro and zarude but still nice to have).

couple other smaller edits:



slack off on slowbro is crucial to stay healthy for rak/lycanroc since weezing is spdef. if you value fs alongside zarude keep it and drop shock but you give up the ability to break sub keldeo then (not that its particularly common or good rn but still). no shock probably means you should go hurricane on vern.



hdb on zarude bc gas fog weezing-g isnt really all that reliable at keeping them hazards off vs ground and steel rockers and you still have recovery. also this might sound odd at first but considering that grass/dark has pretty abysmal coverage i recommend you give close combat > power whip a try.

i also noticed youre lacking hazards yourself completely which is honestly understandable considering everything weak to them runs boots anyway and you might just get away without them on this team (esp bc of the lack of a knock off user that targets vern). i suppose you could squeeze them on lycanroc in the last slot but that also seems a bit unnecessary at that point bc youd much rather be throwing out attacks most of the time. also i cant deny that psyfangs is immensely useful versus all the weezing-g running around and you really wanna remove that thing for zarude to be able to do some work after all so i get it. however fitting rocks somewhere to break sashes and limit attackers that dont opt for boots such as opposing lycanroc and alowak (also vs sun) still sounds very much worthwile. hell even the 6% on resisted switch-ins such as rak and keldeo adds up over time.

personally id probably make a couple more edits and throw a spdef king over bro for better pivoting ability into special threats (including chandelure which you mentioned) and patch up the resulting rak/lycan weakness by going with doub over mimi which retains the sneak priority for teapot and gives you sth that can take advantage of sylv better. this still doesnt fix the "no rocks no knock"- issue" but i suppose seriously incorporating those would be changing a bit much at this point.

sth along the lines of this https://pokepast.es/63ddff460adff72d is what id run probably

anyway i hope you can take away sth from my input/rambling. let me know what you think of these suggestions.

cheers

 

[Band]

Hi! Thanks for taking the time to take a look at this lol.

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I guess I could try to replace Keld with Noiv, but it's just so fun to click Hydro and see something drop or get 2hkoed lol, but I could try replacing it, yea.

slack off on slowbro

Exactly what you said, shock is used only for Keld, and Slack Off is overall a better choice, as shock allows opposing zarude in . I've been thinking abt trying t-wave/toxic, but we'll see, I'll go with slack off for now.

hdb on zarude

Honestly, also a great ideia lol. Gonna replace it.

i suppose you could squeeze them on lycanroc in the last slot

i'd much rather be able to hit tentacruel and gweez. fuck tentacruel

personally id probably make a couple more edits and throw a spdef king over bro for better pivoting ability into special threats (including chandelure which you mentioned) and patch up the resulting rak/lycan weakness by going with doub over mimi which retains the sneak priority for teapot and gives you sth that can take advantage of sylv better. this still doesnt fix the "no rocks no knock"- issue" but i suppose seriously incorporating those would be changing a bit much at this point.

sth along the lines of this: https://pokepast.es/63ddff460adff72d

I'll def try this out!! Looks quite different, but I like it.

Again, thanks for taking the time to sort through this mess lol see ya!