From UU, to RU, and now to NU. To be honest, I've found this one to be the most difficult tier for a Newbie, since there so many pokemon, abilities and strategies compared to the other three tiers (maybe it's just my point of view...). Anyway, I've slowly built a team which is now quite good, but as always some advices would be well-accepted :)
Team Building Process (NOTE THAT EACH POKEMON'S ROLE WILL GO IN DEPTH IN ITS ANALYSIS PARAGRAPH)
First of all, I wanted to put on my team two walls: for Physical Attacks, I went to Alomomola, which has a huge amount of HP as well as a good Physical Def.
For what concerne the Special Wall, Misdreavus seemed to me a great choice: thanks to Eviolite, its Sp.Def. goes very high, and he's also immune to some Physical threats like Fight and Normal moves.
"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer". I've learnt to hate this bastard even in higher tiers, how could I not use Liepard on my team? Besides, a Prankster Pokemon can always be useful.
I can't win a match by simply walling or making my opponent mad, I have to attack too: so I chose Gardevoir for the Special offense...
...and Golurk for the Physical offense, since it's also immune to Alomomola biggest thread (Electricity), and can switch in without getting damaged at all.
A scarfer it's always useful, even if I don't particularly like to be stucked on one single move. "Kingler would fit the role perfectly, since it's quite fast and has the 4th best attack stats in the entire tier", I thought.
It seems like I was thinking wrong: a Focus Sash Gorebyss totally swept me, since it came in on Alomomola, used Shell Smash on my switching turn to Kingler, and outspeeded it to death. I found that Sawk has more speed, so I went for it. At the same time, I realized I had three weaknesses to Ghost, so I switched Misd to Togetic, which can also take advantage of Eviolite and is immune to Ghost Types.
In Depth
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Scald ------> Aqua Jet
- Wish
- Protect
- Knock Off -------> Toxic
As I've already said, Alomomola is my physical wall, helped in that by his awesome Regenerator ability. At first, I've given him Scald and Knock Off: Scald was meant to burn physical threats after tanking them, while Knock Off was mostly useful against Lefties and Eviolite users (like the fucking Tangela, which I could weaken down for then switch to a most approprite counter). There was a problem with this set: Alomomola wasn't able to beat a thing. In one particular fight, I ended up losing against a weak water pokemon (I don't remember which was) 'cause I wasn't able to damage it properly, while he succeded in use Toxic and slowly kill me! So I switched Knock Off with Toxic, that combined with Almomola Def. + Wish + Protect is very good. Besides, I also switched Scald with Aqua Jet: it doesn't do very much, but when an opponent's threat is under 10% HP I can finish it off, regardless of his Speed. Wish, of course, it's also helpful for healing up the other team members (particularly Sawk, which can regain full health and Sturdy with it).
Togetic @ Eviolite
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Tri Attack/Extrasensory (?)
- Toxic
- Heal Bell
- Roost
With an amazing 508.5 Special Defense's stat, Togetic is my special wall for the team. He's also the Heal Bell user: I think, personally, that this move is NECESSARY in this tier, since there are lots of Toxic users, Prankster motherf**kers, and so on... Roost is obviously for regaining health without have to switch into Alomomola and waste two turns (another thing for which Togetic is better than Misdreavus, since it has no healing moves): the loose of the Flying part is also good, 'cause it makes Electric and Ice moves (the two biggest threats to Togetic) useless - even if a Fight move would kill me! I only have a doubt about the offensive move: Tri Attack has the STAB, and combined with Serene Grace could be amazing (40% chance of Burning, Paralyzing or Freezing), but at the same time if my goal would be to Toxic the opponent, I would give it a status condition that would prevent me to do so; Extrasensory would be useful against Fight types and Poison Types (which I can't Toxic), but it doesn't have any Stab on. If I'd stick with Tri Attack, the biggest thread of all to Togetic will be Haunter: if I'd go with Extrasensory, it will be Skuntank.
Liepard @ Red Card (?)
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thunder Wave (?)
- Dark Pulse ---------> Knock Off
- Taunt
- Encore
Liepard, Liepard, Liepard: sometimes I hate her, sometimes I love her. Why? Well, if you have to deal with Pokemon who like to set up, or with Baton Passers (which I totally HATE), the Encore/Taunt combo would be a pain in the a**. But if you don't have to deal with those kind of pokemon, you would probably go down in one hit, sometimes in two, without being very useful. Knock Off, which I chose over Dark Pulse, isn't very strong, but allows you to remove Eviolite and Lefties, so you would be able to destroy those motherf**kers better! Thunder Wave it's the move I love the less, but it's pretty good in slowing down speedy threads. I guess, right now, any of you who are reading would think "what about SWAGGER"? Well, I don't like it: I don't like it at all! I mean, come on! If you're lucky, it's insanely OP: if you're unlucky, it's shit. But most of all, what would happen if the opponent would snap out after only one turn? Boom! Tons of fucking damage, and there we go. Sure, maybe I could run a sash... and speaking of this: what Item should I use? Red Card isn't as good as I thought, since it doesn't work if you die.
Gardevoir @ Focus Sash
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpD (?)
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball ------> Focus Blast
All hail the Queen! Only Glaceon tops her in Special Attack, but it's slower and less bulky on the special side: besides, I don't really think Glaceon has the access to such a varying movepool! Psychic is the good, oldfashioned STAB move, while Signal Beam is good to counter both Psychic and Dark types (even if I would probably switch out on them). Energy Ball has a specific use: combined with Sash, it makes Gardevoir able to crash Shell Smashers like Gorebyss, Huntail and Carracosta. I used to run Shadow Ball, but it's useful only against Psychic (as Signal Beam) and Ghosts, which I would never try to face with the Queen: instead, I have once went down to 2 Crunches by a Granbull, so I've deciced to add the powerful-yet-inaccurate Focus Blast to deal better with Normal types. My main question mark here is, as you can see, on the EV's spread: should I pumped up HP, Physical Defense or Speed, instead of Special Defense?
Golurk @ Leftovers --------> Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock --------> Ice Punch
- Shadow Punch
- Drain Punch
- Earthquake
The main reason why Golurk is on my team is about his part Ground-type, which makes it immune to Electricity: since both my walls are weak to that, Golurk can switch in and simply don't get any damage. I used to run Stealth Rock on it, since I'd like to be able to set up Hazards, but why prevent me to have a great counter to Grass and Flying types like Ice Punch? Tropius will go down with ease against one of those motherf**ing punches! Drain Punch is also very very good, since it allows Golurk to regain health after the hit: against Normal-types, whose STABbed moves can't touch Golurk at all, it's useful as f**k. After a little fight, I've decided to switch Lefties with Life Orb: combine the huge Attack stats of Golruk (5th in the tier, with only 1 point less than the #4) with it, and with his ability Iron Fist (which pumped up Punching moves), and you will have a great physical attacker. I don't particularly like the No Guard/Dynamic Punch combo, since it makes Will-O-Wisp 100% accurate against Golurk, halving down his attack too easy.
Sawk @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide/Stone Edge (?)
Sawk is the scarfer guy, the fast-yet-stong guy to finish up weakened Pokemon or outspeed Speedy/Shell Smashers and crash them down. His movepool offers good coverage, as well as Golurk's one (they're similar): Close Combat is the obvious, strong-as-hell, STABbed move; Earthquake is mostly useful against Fire and Poison types; Ice Punch works well for Grass and Flying types; Rock Slide (on which I can't decide myself: should I stuck with it, or switch to the strongest-yet-inaccurate Stone Edge?) may be a little redunandt, but let's ask to Bug pokemon and Articuno for an opinon... Sturdy is just great, since it allows Sawk to tank every hit and strikes back (even if Hazards break it). All in all, a very good sweeper, expecially in the late turns of the fight.
Team Building Process (NOTE THAT EACH POKEMON'S ROLE WILL GO IN DEPTH IN ITS ANALYSIS PARAGRAPH)
First of all, I wanted to put on my team two walls: for Physical Attacks, I went to Alomomola, which has a huge amount of HP as well as a good Physical Def.
For what concerne the Special Wall, Misdreavus seemed to me a great choice: thanks to Eviolite, its Sp.Def. goes very high, and he's also immune to some Physical threats like Fight and Normal moves.
"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer". I've learnt to hate this bastard even in higher tiers, how could I not use Liepard on my team? Besides, a Prankster Pokemon can always be useful.
I can't win a match by simply walling or making my opponent mad, I have to attack too: so I chose Gardevoir for the Special offense...
...and Golurk for the Physical offense, since it's also immune to Alomomola biggest thread (Electricity), and can switch in without getting damaged at all.
A scarfer it's always useful, even if I don't particularly like to be stucked on one single move. "Kingler would fit the role perfectly, since it's quite fast and has the 4th best attack stats in the entire tier", I thought.
It seems like I was thinking wrong: a Focus Sash Gorebyss totally swept me, since it came in on Alomomola, used Shell Smash on my switching turn to Kingler, and outspeeded it to death. I found that Sawk has more speed, so I went for it. At the same time, I realized I had three weaknesses to Ghost, so I switched Misd to Togetic, which can also take advantage of Eviolite and is immune to Ghost Types.
In Depth
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Scald ------> Aqua Jet
- Wish
- Protect
- Knock Off -------> Toxic
As I've already said, Alomomola is my physical wall, helped in that by his awesome Regenerator ability. At first, I've given him Scald and Knock Off: Scald was meant to burn physical threats after tanking them, while Knock Off was mostly useful against Lefties and Eviolite users (like the fucking Tangela, which I could weaken down for then switch to a most approprite counter). There was a problem with this set: Alomomola wasn't able to beat a thing. In one particular fight, I ended up losing against a weak water pokemon (I don't remember which was) 'cause I wasn't able to damage it properly, while he succeded in use Toxic and slowly kill me! So I switched Knock Off with Toxic, that combined with Almomola Def. + Wish + Protect is very good. Besides, I also switched Scald with Aqua Jet: it doesn't do very much, but when an opponent's threat is under 10% HP I can finish it off, regardless of his Speed. Wish, of course, it's also helpful for healing up the other team members (particularly Sawk, which can regain full health and Sturdy with it).
Togetic @ Eviolite
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Tri Attack/Extrasensory (?)
- Toxic
- Heal Bell
- Roost
With an amazing 508.5 Special Defense's stat, Togetic is my special wall for the team. He's also the Heal Bell user: I think, personally, that this move is NECESSARY in this tier, since there are lots of Toxic users, Prankster motherf**kers, and so on... Roost is obviously for regaining health without have to switch into Alomomola and waste two turns (another thing for which Togetic is better than Misdreavus, since it has no healing moves): the loose of the Flying part is also good, 'cause it makes Electric and Ice moves (the two biggest threats to Togetic) useless - even if a Fight move would kill me! I only have a doubt about the offensive move: Tri Attack has the STAB, and combined with Serene Grace could be amazing (40% chance of Burning, Paralyzing or Freezing), but at the same time if my goal would be to Toxic the opponent, I would give it a status condition that would prevent me to do so; Extrasensory would be useful against Fight types and Poison Types (which I can't Toxic), but it doesn't have any Stab on. If I'd stick with Tri Attack, the biggest thread of all to Togetic will be Haunter: if I'd go with Extrasensory, it will be Skuntank.
Liepard @ Red Card (?)
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thunder Wave (?)
- Dark Pulse ---------> Knock Off
- Taunt
- Encore
Liepard, Liepard, Liepard: sometimes I hate her, sometimes I love her. Why? Well, if you have to deal with Pokemon who like to set up, or with Baton Passers (which I totally HATE), the Encore/Taunt combo would be a pain in the a**. But if you don't have to deal with those kind of pokemon, you would probably go down in one hit, sometimes in two, without being very useful. Knock Off, which I chose over Dark Pulse, isn't very strong, but allows you to remove Eviolite and Lefties, so you would be able to destroy those motherf**kers better! Thunder Wave it's the move I love the less, but it's pretty good in slowing down speedy threads. I guess, right now, any of you who are reading would think "what about SWAGGER"? Well, I don't like it: I don't like it at all! I mean, come on! If you're lucky, it's insanely OP: if you're unlucky, it's shit. But most of all, what would happen if the opponent would snap out after only one turn? Boom! Tons of fucking damage, and there we go. Sure, maybe I could run a sash... and speaking of this: what Item should I use? Red Card isn't as good as I thought, since it doesn't work if you die.
Gardevoir @ Focus Sash
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpD (?)
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball ------> Focus Blast
All hail the Queen! Only Glaceon tops her in Special Attack, but it's slower and less bulky on the special side: besides, I don't really think Glaceon has the access to such a varying movepool! Psychic is the good, oldfashioned STAB move, while Signal Beam is good to counter both Psychic and Dark types (even if I would probably switch out on them). Energy Ball has a specific use: combined with Sash, it makes Gardevoir able to crash Shell Smashers like Gorebyss, Huntail and Carracosta. I used to run Shadow Ball, but it's useful only against Psychic (as Signal Beam) and Ghosts, which I would never try to face with the Queen: instead, I have once went down to 2 Crunches by a Granbull, so I've deciced to add the powerful-yet-inaccurate Focus Blast to deal better with Normal types. My main question mark here is, as you can see, on the EV's spread: should I pumped up HP, Physical Defense or Speed, instead of Special Defense?
Golurk @ Leftovers --------> Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock --------> Ice Punch
- Shadow Punch
- Drain Punch
- Earthquake
The main reason why Golurk is on my team is about his part Ground-type, which makes it immune to Electricity: since both my walls are weak to that, Golurk can switch in and simply don't get any damage. I used to run Stealth Rock on it, since I'd like to be able to set up Hazards, but why prevent me to have a great counter to Grass and Flying types like Ice Punch? Tropius will go down with ease against one of those motherf**ing punches! Drain Punch is also very very good, since it allows Golurk to regain health after the hit: against Normal-types, whose STABbed moves can't touch Golurk at all, it's useful as f**k. After a little fight, I've decided to switch Lefties with Life Orb: combine the huge Attack stats of Golruk (5th in the tier, with only 1 point less than the #4) with it, and with his ability Iron Fist (which pumped up Punching moves), and you will have a great physical attacker. I don't particularly like the No Guard/Dynamic Punch combo, since it makes Will-O-Wisp 100% accurate against Golurk, halving down his attack too easy.
Sawk @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Rock Slide/Stone Edge (?)
Sawk is the scarfer guy, the fast-yet-stong guy to finish up weakened Pokemon or outspeed Speedy/Shell Smashers and crash them down. His movepool offers good coverage, as well as Golurk's one (they're similar): Close Combat is the obvious, strong-as-hell, STABbed move; Earthquake is mostly useful against Fire and Poison types; Ice Punch works well for Grass and Flying types; Rock Slide (on which I can't decide myself: should I stuck with it, or switch to the strongest-yet-inaccurate Stone Edge?) may be a little redunandt, but let's ask to Bug pokemon and Articuno for an opinon... Sturdy is just great, since it allows Sawk to tank every hit and strikes back (even if Hazards break it). All in all, a very good sweeper, expecially in the late turns of the fight.
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