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Effective, Creative, & Underrated Sets
(DO NOT POST BAD GIMMICKS!!!)
Standard and common sets are generally effective. After all, that's why they're common and standard. But sometimes a less-common set can be effective. In fact, brand-new sets can be quite effective as well. This thread is for new and creative movesets that can be quite effective, as well as old movesets that have fallen out of favor but have become quite effective in the PU metagame.
What is a new and creative, good moveset?
It successfully pulls off a role, and is not strictly outclassed by others.
It takes advantage of metagame trends.
It has had some success. Post replays / logs to strengthen your case.
Electrode @ Life Orb
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Hidden Power [Ice]
This Electrode is actually incredibly threatening because of the way it breaks down pretty much any answer to Electric-types as your opponent switches them in to take a predicted Volt Switch. For example, Electrode can Toxic Stunfisk on the switch, prevent SR via Taunt, and then do the same thing with HP Ice on the switch next time it comes in; Taunt and Toxic prevents Chinchou from recovering the HP lost from Toxic with Rest; Electrode hits bulky Grass-types like Gogoat on the switch with Toxic and then uses HP Ice on future turns; it prevents Roselia from using Spikes or Synthesis; it prevents Audino from using either Wish or Heal Bell to support its teammates; it stops Clefairy from either setting up SR or with Calm Mind; it breaks down Raichu and Zebstrika by hitting them with a Toxic on the switch, etc.
Building with this set is interesting too. When you remove Chinchou, suddenly Swanna, offensive Pelipper, Regice, Zebstrika, Raichu, Electabuzz, Rotom-S, Floatzel, and Rotom-F all become much more threatening. A Zebstrika that's been taken down to 37% by LO recoil, Electrode's Toxic, and SR damage (surprisingly easy to do) suddenly loses its ability to check physically oriented LO Floatzel because of Aqua Jet. Whittling down Stunfisk with a combination of Toxic and Hidden Power Ice opens up the way for Pokemon like Pawniard, Mawile, and Monferno to sweep late-game. This basically fits well on either Offense (especially with Golem as your SR user - with Golem + Electrode, you have a Chatot answer, a Volt Switch stop, a Normal resist and two Flying resists, and SR -with the ability to pressure Defog users via BoltBeam coverage- all in 2 slots) or on Balance (especially with Swanna as your Defogger).
This isn't exactly a new set, but this was recently made the standard after some discussion I sparked in Discord a few weeks ago. So, you could say this is a PSA to use physically defensive Vibrava rather than its specially defensive counterpart.
If you really think about it, physically defensive Vibrava walls a larger portion of the current meta than the old standard does. While specially defensive Vibrava can address threats like Grumpig, Kadabra, and NP Ninetales more effectively, an Impish nature with maximum investment in Defense will let it check or counter the following: Golem (even at +2, Stone Edge can't 2HKO Vibrava), Rapidash (especially Drill Run Rapidash), Metang, Stunfisk, RP Relicanth, Crustle, Eviolite Adamant Monferno (maximum Defense Vibrava lives a +2 CC from Adamant Eviolite variants), and Camerupt. It also checks Muk lacking Ice Punch (with CB Gunk Shot only dealing 38% maximum), as well as Arbok before either of these Poison-types have setup with Curse or Coil, respectively.
If you post a bad gimmick, your post will be deleted and infracted. NO EXCEPTIONS.
What are some things that constitute a bad gimmick?
Using a Pokemon that has no business being used in PU, for the sake of using it in PU.
Movesets that are inferior and ineffective compared to existing movesets, or use an obscure move for the sake of hitting an even more obscure check or counter.
Movesets that are utterly impractical or are horribly outclassed by another Pokemon. Pokemon such as Beautifly may seem cool, but there is no reason to use it over Butterfree.
Spdef Monferno (Monferno) @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 248 HP / 212 SpD / 48 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brick Break
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Toxic/U-turn
So if scarf Monferno gets a set in smogon analysis, i think SpDef Monferno should too, but I'll just post the set here instead.
It's mainly used on stall, but can manage a spot voltturn balance over camerupt as well, due to nice synergy with vullaby and recovery. It has nice role comprehension in an ice & dark check, sr setter, and slowturn provider. This set speed creeps for neutral cacturne, but running 248/252/8 w/ jolly for neutral Pawniard is just as viable if not more. Brick Break is run over Low Sweep to guarantee the OHKO on standard pawn and do more damage to cacturne/rotom-frost. Fire Punch is another viable alternative for the first or fourth slot to let it check grass types better, but it only really hits Roselia and Brick Break is an generally better stab in this meta, while U-turn is usually the reason why to use it outside of stall in the first place.
Calcs
Pawniard
0 Atk Monferno Brick Break vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Eviolite Pawniard: 232-280 (100.4 - 121.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Pawniard Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Monferno: 73-87 (22 - 26.2%) -- 8.1% chance to 4HKO
Cacturne
0 Atk Monferno Brick Break vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Cacturne: 200-236 (71.1 - 83.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Cacturne Drain Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Monferno: 121-143 (36.5 - 43.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Cacturne Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 212+ SpD Eviolite Monferno: 127-151 (38.3 - 45.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Rotom-Frost
0 Atk Monferno Brick Break vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rotom-F: 126-150 (52.2 - 62.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Rotom-F Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 212+ SpD Eviolite Monferno: 94-112 (28.3 - 33.8%) -- 0.9% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Rotom-F Blizzard vs. 248 HP / 212+ SpD Eviolite Monferno: 57-68 (17.2 - 20.5%) -- possible 5HKO
Regice
0 Atk Monferno Brick Break vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Regice: 134-158 (44.5 - 52.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Life Orb Regice Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 212+ SpD Eviolite Monferno: 116-136 (35 - 41%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
e: changed the "alternative" monf spread to the jolly 8 speed, because it creeps pawn better and gives it 3 more spdef points including eviolite over the original, while sacrificing nothing.
Spdef Monferno (Monferno) @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 248 HP / 212 SpD / 48 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brick Break
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Toxic/U-turn
So if scarf Monferno gets a set in smogon analysis, i think SpDef Monferno should too, but I'll just post the set here instead.
It's mainly used on stall, but can manage a spot voltturn balance over camerupt as well, due to nice synergy with vullaby and recovery. It has nice role comprehension in an ice & dark check, sr setter, and slowturn provider. This set speed creeps for neutral cacturne, but running 248/252/8 w/ jolly for neutral Pawniard is just as viable if not more. Brick Break is run over Low Sweep to guarantee the OHKO on standard pawn and do more damage to cacturne/rotom-frost. Fire Punch is another viable alternative for the first or fourth slot to let it check grass types better, but it only really hits Roselia and Brick Break is an generally better stab in this meta, while U-turn is usually the reason why to use it outside of stall in the first place.
Calcs
Pawniard
0 Atk Monferno Brick Break vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Eviolite Pawniard: 232-280 (100.4 - 121.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Pawniard Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Monferno: 73-87 (22 - 26.2%) -- 8.1% chance to 4HKO
Cacturne
0 Atk Monferno Brick Break vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Cacturne: 200-236 (71.1 - 83.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Cacturne Drain Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Monferno: 121-143 (36.5 - 43.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Cacturne Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 212+ SpD Eviolite Monferno: 127-151 (38.3 - 45.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Rotom-Frost
0 Atk Monferno Brick Break vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rotom-F: 126-150 (52.2 - 62.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Rotom-F Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 212+ SpD Eviolite Monferno: 94-112 (28.3 - 33.8%) -- 0.9% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Rotom-F Blizzard vs. 248 HP / 212+ SpD Eviolite Monferno: 57-68 (17.2 - 20.5%) -- possible 5HKO
Regice
0 Atk Monferno Brick Break vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Regice: 134-158 (44.5 - 52.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Life Orb Regice Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 212+ SpD Eviolite Monferno: 116-136 (35 - 41%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
e: changed the "alternative" monf spread to the jolly 8 speed, because it creeps pawn better and gives it 3 more spdef points including eviolite over the original, while sacrificing nothing.
Beheeyem is a little underrated overall. Whether is the lack of speed, dual stab, or just simply other psychic types fitting better in most teams. Behee finds himself often just slaped in TR teams. So I found this set that could shine some light on his little diamonds. So I know what you are thinking. But Machoker why not just use support Grumpig is faster and can check fire and ice types! Well the answer is very simple. Recover! Sure pig can do what this set does, however with only lefties as his form of recovery it gets worn down really fast. Recover lets Beheeyem become a blanket check for the entire game and the kicker? It has a whooping 125 sp atk base power. And not only that but the difference in bulk is rather minor. Win win!
As for the EVS I found 148 sp def to be the sweet spot to be able to blanket check a myrad of mons reliably even with SR. 248 HP the make it really bulky and the rest in SP Atk with modest nature to hit really hard. Colbur berry is there to nuke cacturne and eat those yummy knock offs. But lefties can be used as well. Overall I've had a lot of success with this and is really fun.
Monferno @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Nasty Plot/Vacuum Wave
- Focus Blast
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Rock]
I made this post for the lure that mon threat, but I thought it would be a great addition to this threat as well.This set lures and makes BBQ chicken out of his checks while checking the usual things physical monferno checks (Stout, Pawn, Cacturne, etc). Special Monferno makes a perfect partner for something like scarf leafeon that can clean easily after. The set is very straight forward; HP rock to hit both Altaria and Pelipper while the 2 stabs destroy everything else. The last slot can be either NP or vacuum wave depending whether you want priority or more power. Keep in mind the calcs are counting +2 for the OHKOs but +0 still easily 2hko. A timid set can be run but it does require SR to get some of the KOs. Have fun roasting. S/O to reverse aim for helping with the calcs.
While this isn't brand spanking new, (I used this during pilo/torterra meta) it is quite unknown and something I think the player base should be aware of.
(Coincidentally, there is a city in Malaysia by the same name. Maybe there they don't ban their creative patrons. Alas, the western world is full of folly.)
Immune to poison, resistant to Normal/Flying and, once risen upon its Magnets of Glory, immune to Ground attacks, this gear is certainly fit for the current meta. Finding set up oppurtunies on a good few of this meta's go-to mons, namely Muk, Trapinch, Probopass, Golem and most defensive Mawile sets, this Klang can supply teams with a much needed Muk stop and win-con all wrapped in one.
A Jolly nature can be used to outspeed Jolly Golem, guaranteeing a Magnet Rise before an Earthquake can come your way, while Adamant gives Klang the needed kick to clean through a weakened team. Frustration is good neutral coverage against its many checks, Fires and Waters namely. Fast Electrics that have means of severely weakening Klang with SE coverage (Raichu and Zebstrika) are also caught off gaurd by a boosted Frustration.
Clear Body is also handy when considering webs and intimidate users, which could otherwise impede Klang's success at cleaning through a team.
Tip: Weaken checks with Frustration upon switch-in. Pair with bulky waters that have access to momentum, allowing for a rinse and repeat process, further weakening the opposing team. Avoid, if possible, knocking out prime set up candidates early to mid game, making way for a late game set up and clean. Feel satisfaction as you float over quaking earth while sipping a refreshing beverage.
+1 252+ Atk Klang Gear Grind (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Trapinch: 242-288 (82.3 - 97.9%) -- approx. 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Klang Gear Grind (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Probopass: 140-168 (53.6 - 64.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Klang Gear Grind (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mawile: 156-186 (51.3 - 61.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Klang Frustration vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Eviolite Monferno: 147-174 (54.6 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Klang Frustration vs. 252 HP / 248+ Def Lumineon: 113-134 (33 - 39.1%) -- 11.4% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Klang Frustration vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zebstrika: 192-227 (65.9 - 78%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Klang Frustration vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Floatzel: 213-251 (68.4 - 80.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Alright boiz I been having hella fun with this mon and climb to 1st rank in ladder with this set;however, I'll be playing a lot of SuMo OU so I figure I give you guys this set so you can have some fun too! Merry Christmas!
I first got the idea about this set when I decided to use Lapras as my Quagmire counter, but I soon realized that Lapras gets walled too easily but all the walls that people paired up with Quagsire like Audino and Clefairy. Therefore, I got the idea of why not make the meme Lapras physical attacker it has dragon dance after all but with a plot twist! Freeze-dry which is one of the best moves in the entire game IMO. Next thing you know it was sweeping teams left and right, balance? NP Stall? What is that? Offense? She got dis HO? She still got dis!
EVs Breakdown
Ok so since is Machoker set custom EVs are a must none of that 252/252 garbage so here we go. I played around a ton with the EVs to find the sweet sweet spot where it can sweep things left and right. First off we got 120 HP this EVs not only helps her be bulky in general that creates gigantic Subs but it prevents things like Defensive Mawile or anything that is passive from breaking your subs unless they get max rolls every single time; It even has 33% chance of eating up a life orb Thunderbolt from Rotom Frost now that's a tank. Next, we got 92 Atk there is no much to explain here because it was simply the remaining EVs, the point of this set is that it can set up on every single defensive Pokemon in the entire tier and boost up to ridiculous amounts so having a lot of attack doesn't matter too much although it does 2hko Rotom-F at +1 and other frail things like Zebstrika. Now onto the juicy stuff and where this set makes its money +120 sp ATK this EVs 2HKos Vullaby, Tangela, Gourgeist, and basically almost everything single mon that Freeze Dry hits for SE dmg, and it OHKOs Floatzel and Leafeon. Finally we got 176 Spe that makes Lapras reach 200 Speed which is enough to outspeed up to base 80 Neutrals like Defensive Altaria but importantly it helps it outspeed none scarf Rotom-F at +1. Checks and Counters
Rose can eat up a freeze dry and punish it with a nice and powerful giga drain. It even eats a +6 waterfall so don't even try to set up with this thing around.
Mirror matches are not fun specially since water Absorb prevents you to use Waterfall and it just loses to the special kind.
Metang can break Lapras's subs and prevent it from setting up althought it can lose but at least it stops it from getting out of hand.
As long as it only has 1 DD Zebstrika can check it, but for the love of Jesus do not volt switch because it can still eat and get to +2 and KO you.
Rotom is a monster and the reason I put a lot of emphasis on my EVs to beat this thing, however, rotom still a great check that can volt around.
Only Choice band Leafeon will OHKO lapras but it can outspeed even with 1 DD and KO if lapras hits SR once although it does get OHKO to a freeze dry. So don't let it get to +2! unless you are scarf.
Regice can eat a +1 waterfall and gets 2hko by a +2 and OHKO with Tbolt or focus blast after Rocks
What if I told you that Special Mawile was viable. You wouldn't believe me at first, probably, until you realize it breaks through several pokemon on the most popular PU team atm, Dundies Stall. Most people expect either defense mawile with rocks or sd sheer force mawile. It lures physically defensive pokemon such as Quagsire effectively as shown in the replay.
Here's the Calcs:
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Mawile Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Audino: 224-265 (54.7 - 64.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Mawile Flash Cannon vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Avalugg: 523-616 (133 - 156.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Mawile Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Altaria: 411-484 (116.4 - 137.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Mawile Fire Blast vs. 248 HP / 112 SpD Eviolite Bronzor: 174-205 (54.8 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Mawile Grass Knot (80 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Quagsire: 411-489 (104.5 - 124.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
And obviously, on Dundies Stall team, Muk only has Poison Jab so 0% to Mawile
Here's the set:
Mawile @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast/Flash Cannon
- Grass Knot
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
I'm still pretty new to the tier, and I've had my share of mediocre postings, but this set is suprisingly good.:
TRICK ROOM GOURGEIST
Gourgeist-Super (F) @ Occa Berry
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Atk / 160 SpD / 8 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Explosion
- Trick Room
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak
This is a weird set, but I'll explain. This set should focus
on coming in and setting up trick room and providing momentum via
explosion. Also, it is surprsingly good against fire types such as monferno due to occa berry.
The EV spread is kind of random, but it helps it survive attacks such as Blizzard from Rotom F and
easily survive Fire Blast form ninetales. Shadow sneak helps pick off weakened threats.
Calcs:
Defensive: 252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 160 SpD Occa Berry Gourgeist-Super: 177-211 (47.3 - 56.4%) -- 81.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Monferno Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 20 Def Occa Berry Gourgeist-Super: 127-151 (33.9 - 40.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Rotom-Frost Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 160 SpD Gourgeist-Super: 324-384 (86.6 - 102.6%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO (184 SpD Ev's lets it survive.)
Offensive:
92+ Atk Gourgeist-Super Explosion vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Eviolite Monferno: 241-284 (89.5 - 105.5%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
92+ Atk Gourgeist-Super Explosion vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ninetales: 273-322 (95.1 - 112.1%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
92+ Atk Gourgeist-Super Explosion vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Muk: 273-322 (65.9 - 77.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
92+ Atk Gourgeist-Super Explosion vs. 252 HP / 32 Def Eviolite Roselia: 253-298 (83.2 - 98%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
92+ Atk Gourgeist-Super Shadow Sneak vs. 80 HP / 0 Def Grumpig: 150-176 (46.7 - 54.8%) -- 56.6% chance to 2HKO
This set is probably at least a little bit well known already, but I'm just posting it because no one else has and Tap said I should. Basically the idea of this set is that although Probopass traps and beats like 90% of steels in the tier in Mawile, Pawniard, Metang somewhat and other Probos, Bronzor is an exception -- it's a notable defensive steel that Probo does not beat due to Levitate. Fortunately, Probopass can beat and/or weaken Bronzor in a 1v1 situation by the help of Smack Down, which nullifies Bronzor's ability. From there, Earth Power 3HKOs the common mixed defensive Bronzor spread. However just remember, due to the unpredictability of Psywave rolls, Probopass can sometimes lose 1v1.
252+ SpA Probopass Earth Power vs. 248 HP / 112 SpD Eviolite Bronzor: 102-120 (32.1 - 37.8%) -- 92% chance to 3HKO
Probopass @ Air Balloon
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 128 HP / 252 SpA / 128 Spe (or however much creep you want, i use this because it's faster than the standard)
Modest Nature
- Smack Down
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch / Stealth Rock
A couple sets from the final months of PU, mostly underrated stuff:
Simipour @ Life Orb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot
- Superpower
Physically based Simipour is an absolute monster to face for any balance or defensive team. Aside from luring many of its special sets checks, like OHKOing sdef Clef most of the time and doing over 80% to Audino, it is pretty much impossible to counter, with the only 3 counters being Muk, Pelipper, and fat Altaria, and the latter two wouldn't want to switch into Simipour anyway (lumineon takes like 40%). Additionally, Simipour can do incredible things like OHKOing Stoutland, almost OHKOing Leafeon. Hydro Pump hits more physically defensive stuff, especially Mawile, and hits harder than Waterfall vs most things anyway.
Krokorok @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
IK this has been hyped a lot recently, but it has been really underrated till freestylerking used it in LTPL which was caused a load of others to then use it. Krokorok has the two dumbest STAB moves in the game which coincidently has perfect coverage (with Stone Edge to then hit Vullaby) so can very easily spam its attacks and wear stuff down. Pursuit is the best part as it screws over the fat Bronzor teams, while also getting rid of the annoying Psychic types like Beheeyem and Duosion which were popping up a lot.
Cacturne @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Seed Bomb
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower
- Double-Edge
No clue if this is original but I like it as a way to lure common checks to its special set, mostly clefairy and muk, while still hitting really hard. Moves are fairly obvious, with Double Edge to hit Muk while doing ~90 to monferno, and potentially 2HKOing Vullaby with rocks (20%) unlike Superpower. Sucker Punch hits redic strong (OHKOs Zebstrika) though it can easily be abused. Bronzor/Mawile are rly annoying but they aren't primary switch ins till they know the set (i have considered using dpulse over seed bomb or superpower as it can 4HKO maw and 3HKO zor but it feels like you might as well use LO).
Raichu @ Life Orb
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Volt Switch / Nasty Plot
- Knock Off / HP Ice
Raichu is another really underrated wallbreaker. Focus Blast and Tbolt together destroy most of the tier as the Electric switch ins people are liking recently struggle a lot with it, whereas pokemon like Roselia have dropped off of the radar. The last 2 moves are pretty customisable, but if you are running it as a dedicated breaker then NP is the better option as it allows you to break through Muk and Clefairy (w/o KO). Vswitch is obviously great for momentum and Knock is really good for screwing over fat teams that rely on NFEs. Personally i've never liked hp ice other than the accuracy (now gourgeist has become uncommon) but it has its merits. Its still really useful vs offensive teams as a RKer and it can often live a special hit while deterring Vswitch.
Chatot @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- U-turn
- Boomburst
- Heat Wave
- Return
Not really huge or anything but Return is a nice way to nab Mime on the switch (2HKOs most of the time), which is really cool when playing offensive teams that often rely on Mime as Chatot has been a slept on Scarfer recently.
I'm here to share another smattering of sets to celebrate the end of the meta. This thread, Good Cores, and Teambuilding Shop have been by far my favorite threads to post in, so I hope you've enjoyed my content up to this point. Here's the last of the new sets I had before the ladder completely died.
Kadabra @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Knock Off
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
Knock Off LO Kadabra is a solid, yet overlooked lure for many defensive Pokemon in the current metagame. For example, Metang normally hard-switches into Kadabra in order to break its Focus Sash via Pursuit. But, when Metang takes a Knock Off on the switch instead, it loses its Eviolite and then just dies to a Life Orb-boosted Shadow Ball on the following turn (guaranteed KO).
This Kadabra does the same thing to Vullaby; Vullaby will often switch into a predicted Psychic and U-Turn on the following turn in order to gain momentum, but will instead lose its Eviolite in the process. With just 9.1% prior damage, LO Dazzling Gleam kills on the following turn. Or, if you know Vullaby is coming in for sure, LO Dazzling Gleam 2HKOes physically defensive Vullaby anyway (however, it is often better to just click Psychic or Knock Off on the switch in most cases). With Vullaby gone or its Eviolite taken away, offensive partners like Jumpluff, Stoutland, Leafeon, Bouffalant, Gabite, Arbok, (or just hazard stack teams in general) all become much more potent.
Like Vullaby and Metang, Grumpig loses the bulk of its HP to a combination of Knock Off and Shadow Ball (80 HP Grumpig loses a minimum of 90.2%). What's more, its Colbur Berry is used up on the turn it switches into a predicted Psychic because of Knock Off, meaning it becomes more vulnerable to Sucker Punch users (Pawniard, Arbok, Cacturne, Mawile, etc.). Other Pokemon that typically enjoy Grumpig being weakened like Monferno and Rotom-F thrive under these conditions as well.
The main point: there's a whole slew of Eviolite dependent Pokemon in the tier that absolutely hate Knock Off followed by a LO-powered hit from Kadabra (other examples: SpDef Clefairy, Duosion, Bronzor, etc.), so Knock Off's utility on Kadabra shouldn't be underestimated.
Dazzling Gleam isn't critical to this set's success, so it can be traded out for Psyshock, HP Ground, HP Fighting, Substitute, T-Wave, Encore, Taunt, or whatever else might fit your team in case Vullaby and other Dark-types have already been accounted for.
Clean kill:
0- Atk Life Orb Kadabra Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Metang: 49-60 (15.1 - 18.5%) -- possible 6HKO
+
252 SpA Life Orb Kadabra Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Metang: 260-307 (80.4 - 95%)
+
6.25% (Stealth Rock)
=
15.1% + 6.25% + 80.4% = 101.75%
Vullaby:
0- Atk Life Orb Kadabra Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Vullaby: 10-13 (2.9 - 3.7%) -- possibly the worst move ever
+
SR (25%)
+
252 SpA Life Orb Kadabra Dazzling Gleam vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Vullaby: 302-356 (88 - 103.7%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
=
2.9% + 88% + 25% = 115.9% (Either needs 9.1% prior damage with min rolls, SR up, or to predict correctly with Dazzling Gleam on the switch)
Grumpig:
0- Atk Life Orb Kadabra Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 80 HP / 0 Def Colbur Berry Grumpig: 52-62 (16.1 - 19.3%) -- possible 6HKO
+
12.5% (SR)
+
252 SpA Life Orb Kadabra Shadow Ball vs. 80 HP / 0 SpD Grumpig: 198-234 (61.6 - 72.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
=
16.1% + 12.5% + 61.6% = 90.2% (Needs 9.8% prior damage and SR up for guaranteed KO if min rolls)
Bronzor:
0- Atk Life Orb Kadabra Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 144+ Def Eviolite Bronzor: 44-55 (13.8 - 17.3%) -- possible 6HKO
+
6.25% (SR)
+
252 SpA Life Orb Kadabra Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 112 SpD Bronzor: 216-255 (68.1 - 80.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
=
13.8% + 6.25% + 68.1% = 88.15% (Needs 11.85% prior damage and SR up for guaranteed KO)
Duosion:
0- Atk Life Orb Kadabra Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Duosion: 55-65 (16.4 - 19.4%) -- possible 6HKO
+
252 SpA Life Orb Kadabra Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Duosion: 322-382 (96.4 - 114.3%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO or
2 LO Shadow Balls:
252 SpA Life Orb Kadabra Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Duosion: 216-255 (64.6 - 76.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Specially defensive Clefairy:
0- Atk Life Orb Kadabra Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Eviolite Clefairy: 22-26 (6.3 - 7.5%) -- possibly the worst move ever
+
252 SpA Life Orb Kadabra Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Clefairy: 286-337 (83.1 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
=
6.3% + 83.1% = 89.4% (assuming Psyshock with min rolls)
Rather than trying to break its switchins like Muk, Vullaby, Monferno, etc., this variant of Cacturne simply lays down Spikes when one of its defensive answers is predicted to come in to take a hit. Stacking up Spikes in this manner will eventually provide the residual damage needed to score KOs with a maximum Attack invested, LO Sucker Punch mid- to late-game. If you choose to run Jolly over Adamant, you can do some neat stuff like Superpower on Pawniard (if Jolly, 229 Speed vs Pawniard's 219), but your Sucker Punch will be considerably weaker as a trade-off.
Mawile @ Shed Shell / Shuca Berry / Occa Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Play Rough
- Baton Pass
- Snatch
- Stealth Rock
Giving Mawile the ability to steal support moves, whether it's a Substitute, a boosting move, or a recovery move can be surprisingly effective. You can snatch a Swords Dance, Substitute, or Synthesis from Leafeon; a Roost from Vullaby; Rest from Muk; Heal Bell, Roost, Cotton Guard, or Dragon Dance from Altaria; Coil from Arbok; Mr. Mime's Healing Wish; Audino's Wish; a Shell Smash from Crustle or Huntail; there are so many matches where you think this would just be dead weight, but Mawile will normally find a move to steal. In the context of Mawile lacking reliable recovery and being used to cover many physical attackers like Stoutland and Dodrio, Snatching a recovery move will let Mawile keep these threats at bay much longer than it could otherwise.
What's more, when Snatch is paired with Baton Pass, Mawile can actually steal a boost and then pass it out to a teammate, so Mawile doesn't necessarily have to make use of the stolen move itself.
The other half of this set is the item: many do not consider Shed Shell when teambuilding with Mawile, but using one allows you to avoid Probopass's Magnet Pull, which improves your chances against TrapMuk teams greatly. Going with Shed Shell also removes any need for Speed EVs (no need to outspeed Probo anymore), which means you can now maximize your bulk. Shuca and Occa berries can be nice alternatives for Mawile, letting you survive attacks like Arbok's Earthquake so that you can successfully Baton Pass out whatever boosts you may have stolen. Play Rough combined with Sheer Force and an Occa Berry can let you remove Altaria by staying in on Flamethrower from defensive variants and hitting it hard in return, or if you predict well when Altaria needs to heal itself or its teammates, Snatch something important like Heal Bell or Roost. If you choose to forgo Shed Shell, be sure to run enough Speed for Modest Probopass.
If you pass up Toxic for its 4th slot, consider using this Bronzor together with a Toxic Spikes setter, like Roselia or Frogadier. Even if your opponent has Heal Bell, Wish, or Defog support (like my opponent did in the replay below), Toxic will slowly chip away HP, which cannot be restored because of Heal Block. These conditions, along with the gross damage Psywave can do collectively turn Bronzor into a downright menace. I went a step further and passed Cosmic Powers to it, but it's still effective with just Toxic / Toxic Spikes in play.
If your team doesn't have a possible second SR setter like Gabite or Prinplup, Stealth Rock is still an option over Toxic or Sleep Talk. Even Gravity is possible here, and when it's paired with Toxic Spikes, it will poison Flying-types and Pokemon with Levitate. RestTalk Bronzor over Toxic Spikes has great stalling potential and can easily beat offensive teams that may run out of gas when trying to take Bronzor down. Toxic by itself is a reliable option that can basically stallbreak when used in tandem with Heal Block.
The last thing that you can do is tweak its EV spread and nature: you can use a fully defensive or specially defensive EV spread, depending on what you're wanting Bronzor to wall.
Rather than using double Water- and Ice-type coverage with both Surf + Hydro Pump and Freeze-Dry + Ice Beam, I think it's better to go with Frost Breath for one of those slots. Frost Breath always scoring a critical hit allows you to bypass Special Defense boosts obtained by other Pokemon, for example Calm Mind users like Duosion and Clefairy. Its most viable 4th slot for breaking is probably Toxic, for whittling away at specially defensive tanks or walls like Regice or Audino when Hydro Pump can't quite score the 2HKO. Thunderbolt can be used as a final option over Toxic in order to take down opposing Lapras and Articuno, too.
Its EV spread places it at 210 Speed total, which lets it outspeed Rash / Naughty 252 Spe Cacturne.
252+ SpA Choice Specs Lapras Frost Breath vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite (Calm Mind) Clefairy on a critical hit: 172-204 (50 - 59.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Lapras Frost Breath vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Duosion on a critical hit: 183-216 (54.7 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Specs Grumpig is adept at luring and removing Steel-types and Vullaby from the game, which in turn allows Grass-types like Leafeon and Jumpluff to really shine. For example, Vullaby will often switch into Grumpig in order to absorb a predicted Psychic so that it can U-Turn out in order to gain momentum, but it is either 2HKOed by Power Gem, or it loses its Eviolite and is locked into one move via Choice Specs + Trick. Klang is murdered by Specs Focus Blast, and Metang is beaten easily by SpecsTrick + Shadow Ball, or just 2 Shadow Balls on the switch. Bronzor has a high chance to live through two Shadow Balls, so just disable that with Trick. With this change in item, you'd also have a breaker for beating Muk (Psyshock OHKOes Muk without any Curse boosts).
252 SpA Choice Specs Grumpig Power Gem vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Eviolite Vullaby: 192-226 (55.9 - 65.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Grumpig Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Muk: 390-458 (94.2 - 110.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Grumpig Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Metang: 164-194 (50.6 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Grumpig Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 100 SpD Eviolite Klang: 208-246 (64.1 - 75.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
In the same way Leafeon is able to run a Scarf set, physically offensive Floatzel can also use a Choice Scarf for unexpected revenge kills and some solid utility. You can either disable something with Switcheroo + Choice Scarf, gain momentum with Baton Pass, or use some of the fastest priority in the tier as a way to clean through a weakened team.
Often times, your opponent will mistakenly assume that Floatzel is using a Choice Band when it sees multiple choice-locked Waterfalls coming out mid-game without any Life Orb recoil, which lets you take faster Pokemon (that have enough HP to live a CB Aqua Jet) like Ninjask, Scarf Mime, Zebstrika, Scarf Chatot, etc. by surprise. Adamant Scarf hits 493 Speed and 339 Attack, which is a nice blend of speed and power. Even if you're affected by Sticky Web, you're still faster than some important stuff like Ninetales at 329 Speed total. Using Jolly is only beneficial if Floatzel is without its Choice Scarf, meaning it's a better option when used together with Switcheroo over Aqua Jet or Baton Pass.
An easy thing you can do to capitalize on physically offensive Choice Scarf Floatzel's Speed and cleaning potential is to pass Swords Dance boosts from Mawile.
Rapidash @ Rocky Helmet / Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD Impish Nature
- Morning Sun
- Wild Charge / Substitute
- Toxic
- Flare Blitz
Defensive Rapidash plays a lot like Torkoal does, only it's faster, has a harder hitting STAB, a passive burn, and reliable (albeit weather-reliant) recovery. It switches into anything that you'd expect a Torkoal to, like Leafeon, Pawniard, Mawile, certain variants of Simisage, unboosted Jumpluff, Ninjask (really just U-Turn users in general), and some other weaker physical attackers that can't 2HKO fully defensive Rapidash.
Abusing contact moves via Rocky Helmet and Flame Body together means you'll be hard switching into a lot of physical attacks, so keeping SR off the field is necessary. This Rapidash can also stall to a certain extent by using a combination of Morning Sun and Toxic while it's behind its bulkier Substitutes. One last thing that RH Rapidash can be used for is switching into Rapid Spin directly when Rocky Helmet will kill. This will keep your hazards in play and faint the Rapid Spin user at the same time.
Toxic is key on this set, considering that many of Rapidash's natural switch-ins (Golem, Gabite, Prinplup, Politoed, etc.) all lack reliable recovery and therefore need to avoid status. It'll also stop Ninetales from hard-walling you (unless that's using Substitute). Conversely, the Pokemon that can eat a Toxic are hit by a super-effective Flare Blitz.
Some other things to note with this set:
Flame Body is a pretty underrated ability, even for standard Rapidash. Given how common physical attackers are in PU (U-Turn has reasonably wide distribution among these Pokemon too), Flame Body will see plenty of use over the course of a match.
Ideally, defensive Rapidash would make good use of Baton Pass, but the move is unfortunately incompatible with Morning Sun.
You can actually run this with Special Defense, and full Special Defense investment allows you to survive the 2HKO after SR against Scarf Rotom-F's Thunderbolt.
252+ Atk Bouffalant Return vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Rapidash: 147-174 (44.1 - 52.2%) -- 15.6% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Jumpluff Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Rapidash: 94-112 (28.2 - 33.6%) -- 0.3% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Ninjask Aerial Ace vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Rapidash: 103-123 (30.9 - 36.9%) -- 70.7% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Monferno Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Rapidash: 138-163 (41.4 - 48.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Mawile Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Rapidash: 92-109 (27.6 - 32.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Leafeon Knock Off vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Rapidash: 94-111 (28.2 - 33.3%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO +2 252+ Atk Pawniard Knock Off vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Rapidash: 157-186 (47.1 - 55.8%) -- 76.6% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Metang Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Rapidash: 150-178 (45 - 53.4%) -- 32.8% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Purugly Return vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Rapidash: 144-172 (43.2 - 51.6%) -- 8.2% chance to 2HKO
0 Atk Vibrava Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Rapidash: 146-174 (43.8 - 52.2%) -- 10.2% chance to 2HKO
Rapidash @ Choice Band
Ability: Flash Fire / Flame Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Wild Charge
- Drill Run
- Baton Pass
Short description, but Rapidash can use a Choice Band well enough to break through some of its usual checks and counters on the switch. Choice Band lets you 2HKO bulky Golem with Drill Run, which can be pretty important for offensive partners that need Golem gone (Electric-types, Dodrio, Stoutland, etc.). CB Flare Blitz 2HKOes specially defensive Vibrava; Drill Run has a good chance to OHKO Chinchou after SR; Wild Charge only needs a little bit of prior damage on Politoed; like Life Orb, Choice Band brings the 3HKO on Lumineon up to a 2HKO; and most notably, CB Flare Blitz 2HKOes 80 HP Grumpig.
252 Atk Choice Band Rapidash Drill Run vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Golem: 174-206 (47.8 - 56.5%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Rapidash Drill Run vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Eviolite Chinchou: 302-356 (85.5 - 100.8%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Rapidash Wild Charge vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Politoed: 312-368 (84 - 99.1%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Rapidash Wild Charge vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Lumineon: 210-248 (61.5 - 72.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Rapidash Flare Blitz vs. 80 HP / 0 Def Thick Fat Grumpig: 175-207 (54.5 - 64.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Adding HP Electric over Toxic or Protect allows Lumineon to do more than just switch into Water-types like Floatzel and pivot out. With Storm Drain activated, Lumineon can do substantial damage to other Water-types with +1 Electric coverage. This lets it lure Pelipper and Swanna, which paves the way for teammates like Monferno to clean or sweep through the opponent's team afterward. I do exactly that in the following replay:
Tect originally created CB Klang, which I used recently for the teambuilding shop here (http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/pu-teambuilding-shop-request-teams-here.3528733/page-16 - Fire Monkey Gaming™) with just one small tweak: Sleep Talk. This set compresses most of what Klang can do into one set - it's meant to act as a "soft" Normal resist; it scores the OHKO without setup on Adamant 252 Spe Golem and Kadabra through Sturdy and Focus Sash, respectively; it acts a slow pivot that can safely bring in its offensive partners; and finally, with the addition of Sleep Talk to this set, it also works as a sleep absorb against Smeargle, Jumpluff, and Roselia. Smeargle dies to CB Gear Grind when you click Sleep Talk on a predicted Spore or Dark Void (just hope Dark Void doesn't miss), and Focus Sash doesn't save it due to Gear Grind hitting it twice.
This set and spread outspeeds even Timid 252 Spe Probopass by 3 points and therefore escapes Magnet Pull with Volt Switch. Or, if bulky Probopass has some prior damage, you can break through with CB Gear Grind. CB Klang fairs decently against other trappers like Trapinch, too: you only have to run 20 EVs in Defense in order to survive its uninvested EQ 100% of the time without entry hazards up. At the same time, CB Gear Grind has a chance to OHKO Trapinch after SR, so you wouldn't need much prior damage on Trapinch in order to avoid losing to Trap-based CroMuk teams.
252+ Atk Choice Band Klang Gear Grind (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Smeargle: 270-320 (107.5 - 127.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Klang Gear Grind (2 hits) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Trapinch: 242-288 (82.5 - 98.2%) -- approx. 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Klang Gear Grind (2 hits) vs. 112 HP / 0 Def Probopass: 140-168 (48.4 - 58.1%) -- approx. 97.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Klang Gear Grind (2 hits) vs. 248 HP / 36 Def Probopass: 138-164 (42.7 - 50.7%) -- approx. 43% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Gabite @ Eviolite
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 180 SpD / 80 Spe Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic / Roar
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
Specially defensive Gabite can easily eat a Hidden Power [Ice] from grounded Electric-types, namely Zebstrika, Electabuzz, Raichu, and Electrode. Staying in and clicking Earthquake on Electrode means Soundproof will no longer be there to protect its teammates from your Chatot. Similarly, by staying in for the KO on Electabuzz and Zebstrika, Jumpluff, Floatzel, or Leafeon no longer have to switch out in order to avoid being revenge killed. And, removing your opponent's Volt Switch immunity (i.e. Raichu or Zebstrika) will in turn cause your own Electric-types to be more threatening. This set can address more than just Electric-types, too. For example, Ninetales, even with +2 and LO, fails to score the 2HKO on specially defensive Gabite.
Its Speed EVs are for Adamant 252 Spe Pawniard.
252 SpA Life Orb Zebstrika Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Gabite: 265-317 (95.6 - 114.4%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
vs
252 SpA Life Orb Zebstrika Hidden Power Ice vs. 248 HP / 180+ SpD Eviolite Gabite: 187-224 (55.1 - 66%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Electabuzz Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Gabite: 228-272 (82.3 - 98.1%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
vs
252 SpA Electabuzz Hidden Power Ice vs. 248 HP / 180+ SpD Eviolite Gabite: 160-192 (47.1 - 56.6%) -- 84% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Raichu Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Gabite: 286-338 (103.2 - 122%) -- guaranteed OHKO
vs
252 SpA Life Orb Raichu Hidden Power Ice vs. 248 HP / 180+ SpD Eviolite Gabite: 203-239 (59.8 - 70.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Electrode Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Gabite: 291-348 (105 - 125.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
vs
252+ SpA Life Orb Electrode Hidden Power Ice vs. 248 HP / 180+ SpD Eviolite Gabite: 203-244 (59.8 - 71.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Energy Ball vs. 248 HP / 180+ SpD Eviolite Gabite: 139-165 (41 - 48.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Raichu @ Life Orb
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Nasty Plot
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt
- Encore
A super underrated set at the moment. Raichu can forgo coverage on its Nasty Plot set in favor of Encore, which allows it to break through many specially defensive Pokemon like CroMuk, specially defensive Clefairy, and Audino by forcing them into a support move. For example, Raichu can lock a Muk into Curse, Rest, or Sleep Talk, letting it NP for free; it can hard-switch into Clefairy's Thunder Wave, use Encore, and obtain a second Lightning Rod boost; it can force Audino into using Wish multiple times, effectively wasting Audino's PP, which in turn grants Raichu opportunities to set up.
There are so many more moves that Raichu can abuse in order to boost its SpA, like Volt Switch from slower Pokemon (ex. Probopass), Sucker Punch, Stealth Rock, and more.
Raichu @ Leftovers
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Knock Off
- Volt Switch
- Encore
- Toxic
This set admittedly looks weird on paper, especially considering you'd normally assume Raichu to run a wallbreaking set of some sort (NP, Knock Off, w/e), but Raichu can work well as a dedicated disruptor. There are a few Pokemon that can take one or two of these moves, but there's nothing in PU that can handle Toxic, Encore, and Knock Off all on the same set. For example, typical Raichu answers like Roselia can handle Toxic and Encore, but can't deal with Knock Off. Muk eats up Toxic and Knock Off due to typing and ability, but Curse variants hate being Encored into a move, and so on.
Murkrow is one of those Pokemon that still has a lot of untapped (heh get it) potential, and is actually very useful in its capacity as a lure, but people just didn't build with it that often for whatever reason. There's a lot of variability in its sets: you can run Calm Mind / Feather Dance / Dark Pulse / Roost with Prankster, Prankster Thunder Wave, Pursuit, Tailwind (find this below) and now I'm bringing you Heat Wave Murkrow.
Heat Wave and Hidden Power Grass on the same set will lure and KO Flying resists, especially Mawile and Golem. You basically threaten something out with the threat of Brave Bird, still click it, and then follow up with whatever move is most applicable (i.e. Heat Wave vs Mawile or HP Grass vs Golem).
Insomnia has some okay utility in preventing Smeargle from setting multiple entry hazards early-game, as well as getting the jump on Jumpluff by absorbing a Sleep Powder and hitting back with a Brave Bird (or, if they already know you're Insomnia, use Sucker Punch instead), but Super Luck will occasionally let you clean more effectively with Sucker Punch, as well as hit these specific targets harder (which can be important when you're up against specially defensive Golem).
Pair this with Stoutland. There isn't a normal resist in PU that can take both of them on at the same time, given that Stoutland beats the Steel-types that Murkrow can't via either Crunch or Superpower. Moreover, physically bulky Pokemon like Tangela and Gourgeist-XL that give Stoutland a hard time are beaten pretty solidly by Murkrow (especially if you're running Insomnia for Tangela).
An older set of mine from about a year ago that was never posted until now, but Prankster Tailwind does pretty much what you'd expect: double your team's Speed for a few turns and sweep with a wallbreaker of your choice after Murkrow is taken out. Tailwind receives priority due to Prankster, so you can use it similarly to how you'd use Focus Sash Kadabra in order to avoid being swept by something like Gorebyss, RP Relicanth, Crustle, etc. The high recoil with Brave Bird and Life Orb is useful for sacrificing Murkrow and bringing out something that can take advantage of Tailwind turns for free.
This is the most effective against offensive teams where the increased Speed actually matters, so it'll obviously be less effective against slower, more defensive teams like stall, semi-stall, and Trick Room. With Hidden Power Fighting and Brave Bird together, you can do some neat things like bring Probopass / Golem / Pawniard in on threat of BB, and then bring them down far enough that they won't be able to beat what they normally do.
Altaria @ Life Orb
Ability: Cloud Nine
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Tailwind
- Roost
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
Altaria forces so many Pokemon out with its natural bulk and typing, so you can use this as an opportunity to use utility moves like Heal Bell. Or, if you enjoy playing Altaria more offensively like I do, Tailwind can be perfect for capitalizing on these free turns it creates.
Timid Cloud Nine is some innovation I've used in the past for countering weather teams, even if they aren't nearly as common as they used to be. Stoutland in Sand is always Adamant, which hits 259 Speed normally (518 Speed in Sand), so as a fellow base 80 Speed Pokemon, Altaria will outspeed Sand Stoutland, even when Sand is up thanks to Cloud Nine and a positive nature (284 Speed). When you outspeed Stoutland, you can either check it with STAB LO Draco Meteor, or set up Tailwind so a teammate can RK Stoutland and sweep through the rest of your opponent's team afterward.
It does the same exact thing to Modest Golduck. Golduck hits 269 Speed outside of Rain (or with Cloud Nine negating Rain Dance's effects on Swift Swim), so at 284 Speed, you have the choice of hitting it first with a STAB Draco Meteor, or setting Tailwind for Altaria's teammates. You obviously can't switch into Golduck, so you would do this by coming in after Golduck's scored a KO or by slow-pivoting into Altaria.
While it doesn't outspeed Adamant Leafeon on Sun, even with Cloud Nine, Altaria can take a hit well enough, allowing it to set Tailwind or go for the OHKO via LO Fire Blast. Additionally, it outspeeds other Sun sweepers like Tangela and Weepinbell, so the worst you have to worry about versus Sun is probably LO Adamant Sawsbuck's Double-Edge or Volbeat's Thunder Wave.
When you use Dragon Dance with this set, normally your opponent will send in a physically defensive Grass-type or try to check you with Mawile, which lets you use Fire Blast freely. Fainting Tangela, Quilladin, Gourgeist-XL, and defensive Mawile is huge in letting Pokemon like Leafeon or Ursaring do as much damage as possible during mid- or late-game.
This works in reverse, too: if you use Fire Blast, your opponent might assume that you're missing Ground coverage (as Dragon coverage / Fire coverage / Toxic or Heal Bell / Roost is a really common set), which would normally allow Probopass or Ninetales to easily come in on Altaria. Wrong - Earthquake right after a Fire Blast KOes Probopass, which can have advantageous effects like keeping your Mawile safe from Magnet Pull or letting your Mr. Mime spam its Psychic or Fairy STABs.
Altaria is set to outspeed Modest Electrode at +1 with the given EVs, as well as OHKO Eviolite Monferno and bulky Probopass with a +1 EQ:
Pokemon that can take a Fire Blast, but not an Earthquake:
+1 120 Atk Life Orb Altaria Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Eviolite Monferno: 276-325 (102.6 - 120.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 120 Atk Life Orb Altaria Earthquake vs. 172 HP / 0 Def Probopass: 354-421 (116.4 - 138.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 120 Atk Life Orb Altaria Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 36 Def Probopass: 348-411 (107.7 - 127.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
120 Atk Life Orb Altaria Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ninetales: 208-247 (72.4 - 86%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Life Orb Altaria Fire Blast vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Probopass: 73-87 (22.6 - 26.9%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
+
120 Atk Life Orb Altaria Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 36 Def Probopass: 234-276 (72.4 - 85.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Pokemon that can take a boosted Earthquake (or may switch into a predicted Dragon Claw), but not a LO 252 SpA Fire Blast:
252 SpA Life Orb Altaria Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Tangela: 281-333 (84.1 - 99.7%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Life Orb Altaria Fire Blast vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Quilladin: 216-255 (66.4 - 78.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Altaria Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Quilladin: 216-255 (82.1 - 96.9%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Life Orb Altaria Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Gourgeist-Super: 265-312 (70.8 - 83.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Altaria Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mawile: 335-395 (110.1 - 129.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Pokemon that are outsped after a Dragon Dance and are OHKOed by either Earthquake or Fire Blast:
+1 120 Atk Life Orb Altaria Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Electrode: 325-385 (124.5 - 147.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 120 Atk Life Orb Altaria Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zebstrika: 356-421 (122.3 - 144.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Altaria Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Jumpluff: 218-257 (74.9 - 88.3%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
(+1 Spe) 252 SpA Life Orb Altaria Fire Blast vs. (Leftovers or Life Orb) 0 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-F: 198-234 (82.1 - 97%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Life Orb Altaria Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Leafeon: 296-351 (109.2 - 129.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 120 Atk Life Orb Altaria Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Simisear: 356-421 (122.3 - 144.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 120 Atk Life Orb Altaria Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rapidash: 325-385 (119.9 - 142%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Altaria Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Simisage: 338-400 (116.1 - 137.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Why use Earthquake over Close Combat? While it is weaker than CC by 20 BP, I do this for two reasons: firstly, you still hit Rock- and Steel-types supereffectively, so you score (most of) the same KOs that you would have with CC, yet you avoid the Defense and Special Defense drops. This means you'll be harder to revenge kill, making it possible to score another KO in some instances. Secondly, a boosted Earthquake hits Mawile for supereffective damage, which is a relevant target that Ursaring should be looking to bypass, as it's currently one of Ursaring's few switch-ins.
This set is meant to be used exclusively with CritPass Combusken; basically, pass Focus Energy and Speed to this thing and watch it take lives. Cross Chop and Night Slash provide Ursaring with its standard Normal / Fighting / Dark coverage, but Cross Chop and Night Slash are used over Close Combat and Crunch, respectively, so as to abuse the increased crit chance from Focus Energy. You no longer have to worry about -1 Def / -1 SpDef from Close Combat if you're using Cross Chop, but as a trade-off, the chance to miss is now there.
You might think Slash as its Normal STAB would be an option too given its higher chance to crit, but a status-boosted Facade will still do more than a critical hit with Slash will (unless the target has boosted its defenses).
Given that you'll be receiving Speed boosts and Ursaring will stay in for more time than usual because of that, Toxic Orb can be traded out for Flame Orb, while Quick Feet should always be exchanged for Guts on this set. But, Toxic Orb can still bluff Quick Feet, which means your opponent won't have an accurate gauge of how much damage you'll be doing until it's too late.
Golduck @ Leftovers
Ability: Cloud Nine
EVs: 248 HP / 128 Def / 132 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Substitute
- Disable
- Calm Mind
Full credit to RawMelon for coming up with this moveset. I looked to see if it could be improved somehow, and have tested Calm Mind and Scald together with RestTalk, which was reminiscent of Suicune. But, this was honestly just more fun during testing.
I created the EV spread, and made it so that Golduck would outspeed Adamant Monferno (262 Speed total). After that, I maximized its HP given that multiple CM boosts would make the most out of that increased bulk, then allocated the remainder of its EVs toward its Defense stat. With Calm Mind boosts, increased bulk, and possible Scald Burns, SubCM Golduck finds plenty of room to setup via enhanced bulk.
Once you're up against a Golduck check, but behind a Substitute, simply click Disable and force your opponent out while you gain the initiative to either Substitute again, Calm Mind, or hit something with a boosted Scald. This set will force a lot of switches, so build this together with hazard stackers like Quilladin or Roselia. Disabling a choice-locked Pokemon like Stoutland when you're behind a Substitute is a hugely satifying tactic, but be sure to switch out of wallbreakers that are faster, like Chatot, Bullet Seed CB Leafeon, and a few others.
It's important to keep in mind that you need multiple ways of removing Water-immune Pokemon like Cacturne, Lapras, Politoed, and Lumineon, which is why you'll see that I paired it with Monferno (Cacturne answer), Raichu or Zebstrika (Politoed / Lumineon / Lapras check), and Drain Punch Quilladin (light Cacturne / Lapras / Politoed / Lumineon check, with Spikes to abuse forced switches). Additionally, Jumpluff can wreck you while you're behind a Substitute, which is why you see Zebstrika and Klang in the following replays.
I should probably apologize for the number of Sawsbuck sets lol, but people often think of it as a lesser Leafeon across all instances, and I really can't agree with that notion. Yes, as far as being physically offensive Grass-types, having the same Speed tier, being able to utilize Chlorophyll on Sun teams, Swords Dance, and Choice Scarf sets goes, they can be quite similar. And while these may seem to be just well-built memes, I've found the following sets to be effective in battles against seasoned veterans and low ladder players alike. This shows that Sawsbuck has a lot of unexplored potential and more variability than just Choice Scarf and Swords Dance sets in a competitive setting.
Sawsbuck @ King's Rock
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nature Power
- Work Up
- Baton Pass
- Shadow Ball
Sawsbuck with Nature Power and Serene Grace has a 40% chance to inflict status (6.67% for burn/freeze/paralysis, multiplied by 2, so 13.34% for each), which you will then use to get in a free Work Up, or Baton Pass once your opponent has been disabled. You can use a different item over King's Rock, but with Serene Grace it has a 20% chance to flinch (when it'd normally be 10% without SG). When a flinch happens, you have a chance to Nature Power again, which in turn gives you another window to fish for status. This combination of flinch and status is both hugely annoying to your opponent and conducive to powering up your team via Work Up.
Shadow Ball grants Sawsbuck important coverage that lets it lure Pokemon it'd normally have a hard time with, like Metang, Mawile, Gourgeist, and even Trevenant. Each Shadow Ball that hits has a 40% chance to lower the foe's Special Defense by 1 stage, which lets Nature Power hit harder after that (or, it forces a switch which you can sometimes use in order to boost via Work Up or BP out).
Important to note: Nature Power isn't counted as an attack; rather, it's a status move that summons Tri Attack, so it dodges Sucker Punch.
Sawsbuck @ Lansat Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nature Power
- Work Up
- Baton Pass
- Substitute
This works the same as above. Inflict status, power up, and then Substitute down to the point a pinch berry activates (+crit ratio via a Lansat Berry, but other berries work), and Baton Pass out the boosts. See the teams I built with these sets here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/pu-teambuilding-shop-request-teams-here.3528733/page-16. Be careful though, this set doesn't actually use a real attack, so Taunt will cause it to Struggle.
Why use this over defensive Tangela, if that has Stun Spore, Grass STAB, and Synthesis already? In addition to those things, defensive Sawsbuck has the ability to run a resist berry for beating Water-types, and it can act as a cleric with Aromatherapy while Tangela cannot. The extra Speed Sawsbuck has also lets it avoid being hit by slower wallbreakers with great coverage like Rampardos, whereas Tangela falls to the 2HKO from its SF LO Ice Beam if it mispredicts while switching in.
44 Speed lets it outspeed max Speed Rampardos, while 48 Atk gives you a high chance to OHKO Golem, to 2HKO defensive Relicanth, a smaller chance to OHKO Rampardos after SR, and most importantly, it lets defensive Sawsbuck OHKO Floatzel after Life Orb recoil and/or SR. You could use Seed Bomb over Horn Leech for some extra kill confirms, but the slight recovery from Horn Leech tends to be more useful overall.
Every single one of Stoutland's defensive answers hates this set. Shadow Ball 2HKOes Gourgeist-XL; Nature Power and Hyper Beam OHKO or earn the 2HKO + possible status on Quilladin, Vullaby, and Tangela; Metang and Bronzor are beaten by Shadow Ball (Bronzor by possible Special Defense drops, too); Mawile takes up to 75% from Hyper Beam; Giga Drain OHKOes Solrock, Golem, and Relicanth; Nature Power dodges Pawniard's Sucker Punch and statuses it, etc. Nearly the only Normal resist that doesn't care about Specs Sawsbuck is Klang, but that is beaten by CB Stoutland's Superpower.
This is reminiscent of CB Stoutland, especially if you run Sawsbuck with a little extra bulk and higher Attack like I have here. It also has virtually the same (immediate) power, but rather than just being stuffed by a defensive Mawile (or being forced to double switch around Mawile like Stoutland is), it has the ability to Baton Pass out in order to improve the matchup. Or, if you choose to run Toxic over BP, you can whittle away at your defensive answers (Tangela, Geist-XL mostly) before it's time to come in and finish them off. Double-Edge receiving STAB, a Choice Band boost, and a possible Sap Sipper boost all supply Sawsbuck with a huge boon to its wallbreaking potential. Megahorn is another possible option to break Tangela, while Seed Bomb can be used for a more powerful Grass-type move, but the set is probably fine as is. The Speed is set so that it outspeeds neutral nature base 85s (Golduck and down) by +1, but it can be run faster or slower to fit your preferences and your team's needs.
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Sawsbuck Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mawile: 72-84 (23.6 - 27.6%) -- possible 5HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
vs
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Stoutland Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mawile: 65-77 (21.3 - 25.3%) -- possible 5HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
(Same replays as Tailwind Altaria - same team used):
Chinchou @ Eviolite
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 180 SpD / 80 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Bell
- Rain Dance
- Volt Switch
- Scald
While RestTalk is less situational than this set overall, Chinchou has some interesting support options in Heal Bell, Rain Dance, and even Toxic that are rarely used. Pivot Rain Dance Chinchou supplies Rain Dance-based teams with the support needed to beat troublesome threats to the archetype, like Regice, Zebstrika, and Rotom-Frost (with Electric-types cleaning after RD is gone and Regice's special bulk allowing it to address staples of Rain like Golduck and specially offensive Floatzel).
You can use this outside of Rain like I have here for a slow pivot with weather and cleric support: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/pu-teambuilding-shop-request-teams-here.3528733/page-16. On that team, Rain Dance's synergistic effects tie the team together well: it reduces how much Fire damage Articuno and Leafeon take, it allows Swanna to absorb status via Hydration, it makes Articuno's and Swanna's Hurricanes 100% accurate, and it powers up Swanna's and Chinchou's Scalds.
Chinchou can also be ran with full Special Defense, but the above spread lets it creep Adamant Golem.
Low Kick is a change that Deej Dy revealed to me in this game here, and given how prevalent Probopass builds have become with the addition of Muk to the tier, it can be a solid option over either Swords Dance or Iron Head. Iron Head's coverage with Low Kick can be somewhat redundant, with the exception of Clefairy being able to eat up both Low Kick and Knock Off. Low Kick still hits targets supereffectively that Iron Head would normally destroy, like Golem, while hitting targets like Probopass and fat Normal-types like Bouffalant or Regigigas (during Slow Start) much harder. 136 Spe EVs let it outspeed Adamant Golem by +1, while 120 HP EVs allow it to survive the 2HKO from CB Stoutland's Frustration / Return:
252+ Atk Choice Band Stoutland Return vs. 120 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Pawniard: 109-129 (41.7 - 49.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Persian @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 30 Def / 30 SpD
- Fake Out
- Water Pulse
- Round
- Hidden Power [Ghost]
Fake Out into a 90 BP (Technician-boosted) Water Pulse first breaks Golem's Sturdy and then follows up with the guaranteed KO, which works well against teams that have a hard time with Golem or with SR in general. I haven't seen anyone switch out of this yet, as most players will assume a full physical set once they see Fake Out. Hidden Power Ghost is used over HP Dark, given that Soundproof Mr. Mime is a likely switchin for Persian's sound-based attacks and is hit hard by HP Ghost. Gourgeist would also wall this set if not for HP Ghost. Something cool you can do with this set is pass Nasty Plot or Calm Minds to Persian via a slow pivot, like CM or NPPass Hypno. Once Persian has received the boost from that slower Baton Pass, you can start your sweep off with a bit of free chip damage from Fake Out.
I believe Enigami was the first player to use Power-Up Punch Regigigas, and he posted it in the first iteration of this thread: http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...-gimmicks-they-will-be-deleted.3522046/page-3, so credit to him for PuP Regi. Unfortunately, he posted it while Tauros was still in the tier, so it was overlooked. Now, however, PuP Regigigas isn't outclassed in this role by anything in PU, and it has more than enough bulk for accumulating consecutive PuP boosts.
I changed Enigami's creation a bit, and rather than using Rock Polish like he did, I used PuP together with Substitute on a team that used both Toxic Spikes and Cosmic Power + Baton Pass in order to bring out Regigigas's full potential. Just PuP Regigigas behind a Substitute is bad enough, but with Cosmic Powers disallowing foes to break its Substitutes, while Toxic ticks away at their HP and PuP powers up Regigigas even further all at the same time is a hilariously overpowered combination.
The EVs allow Regigigas to outspeed Monferno after Slow Start has ended, but it can be run slower for more bulk if desired.
Ninetales @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Energy Ball
- Fire Blast
Calm Mind is a small, but viable alteration on a standard set, which allows Ninetales to create bulkier Substitutes. With its already formidable special bulk, Calm Mind boosts make it much harder to revenge kill, which lets it survive strong Water-type moves like LO Floatzel's Hydro Pump with just 1 Calm Mind. Calm Mind boosts let it net nearly the same KOes as NP does, which you can watch in the replay below.
252 SpA Life Orb Floatzel Hydro Pump vs. +1 0 HP / 4 SpD Ninetales: 237-281 (82.5 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Politoed Scald vs. +1 0 HP / 4 SpD Ninetales: 150-176 (52.2 - 61.3%) -- 95.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Kingler @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Ice Beam
- Crabhammer
- Knock Off
- Agility
While Ice Beam is listed as a possible move in Kingler's Smogdex under OO, I think its utility in the current meta with Yache Leafeon being used so frequently as a blanket Water check is underrated enough to warrant a post here. All you have to do to capitalize on Leafeon's overuse is to click Ice Beam on a predicted switch (Ice Beam is boosted by both Sheer Force and Life Orb), use up Leafeon's Yache Berry, and then use Ice Beam again late-game (after a possible Agility boost) in order to score the KO. Kingler also does well against other Water checks like Tangela, by first removing its Eviolite via Knock Off and then beating it with Ice Beam on a subsequent turn. Ice resists also hate Knock Off (ex. e.g. Grumpig, Bronzor) or STAB Crabhammer (e.g. Rapidash, Ninetales) in all cases, so this is hard to wall perfectly.
Removing bulky Grass-types in this manner allows Golem, Stunfisk, Bouffalant, Huntail, other Water-types like Floatzel, etc. to all become more effective. In the following replay, you'll see some Water Spam teams that I built around this concept, but never shared.
Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock / Sticky Web
- Tail Glow
- Dark Void / Spore
- Baton Pass
When your team is strapped for slots and cannot fit TGPass Volbeat because you still need a SR user, use Smeargle instead. This is a reliable set for Smeargle, as Dark Void and Spore are powerful tools in facilitating a successful TailGlowPass. Pair this Smeargle with fast, specially offensive Choice Scarf users like Mr. Mime, Rotom-F or Chatot, or if you're using Sticky Web + TGPass, pair it with slower wallbreakers that will appreciate the boost in SpA and Speed.
For fun, watch ParaSpam + Sticky Web + TGPass into Scarf Electrode with Electro Ball in the first replay (or TGPass into specially offensive Gourgeist in the others):
Ninjask has quite a few sets that don't see a whole lot of use, even though they're arguably as effective as CB Ninjask. The first set that I'll talk about is Protect Ninjask. Its use over CB Ninjask is threefold: firstly, use Protect for scouting purposes. Secondly, Silver Powder / Insect Plate (same effect) let it bluff the Choice Band while allowing you to switch freely between Protect and its dual STABs in order to gain +1 Speed. Lastly, Protect Ninjask functions well as a revenge killer; it exceeds Speeds higher than all weather sweepers (Adamant 252 Spe Ninjask hits 628 Speed after 1 Protect, outspeeding Chlorophyll Adamant Leafeon by 50 Speed). Given you hit this benchmark in Speed so easily, Ninjask has the option of running considerably more bulk with an EV spread of 136 HP / 252 Atk / 120 Spe and an Adamant nature. Doing so hits 386 Speed, which is more than Modest 252 Spe Electrode and +1 252 Spe Jolly Fraxure. After Protect, you outspeed the majority of the tier (i.e. +1 faster than Chlorophyll Adamant Leafeon), which grants you a degree of protection against most boosted sweepers, save for those with priority (think Sucker Punch Huntail).
Combining Substitute, Toxic, and Speed Boost lets Ninjask weaken its regular switch-ins and bypass Sucker Punch via Substitute and/or Toxic, which is conducive to cleaning through the last of your opponent's team late-game. There are two strategies you can pull off, based on which move you choose for your 4th slot: if Toxic is used, pair this with SDPass Mawile. You can boost Ninjask's Attack, place it behind a Substitute, and cleanly sweep thanks to Speed Boost. Or, if you use Baton Pass, simply pair this with multiple breakers on the same team (Stoutland, Marowak, Specs Mime, Specs Chatot, etc.).
Up until the time you're ready to sweep, keep clicking U-Turn and playing this like CB Ninjask. Then, when Ninjask is finally poised to clean, click Swords Dance instead. It's a pretty devious tactic that works well in the current metagame, however be careful of priority users. Running extra bulk (same spread as above) is encouraged, and doing so lets you avoid the OHKO from +2 White Herb Huntail's Sucker Punch more than half the time. It also lets you avoid being KOed by Purugly's Fake Out (among other light and/or resisted hits) after being forced to eat SR damage.
+2 252+ Atk Huntail Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 268-316 (101.9 - 120.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
vs
+2 252+ Atk Huntail Sucker Punch vs. 136 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 268-316 (90.2 - 106.3%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Purugly Fake Out vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Ninjask: 117-138 (44.4 - 52.4%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
vs
252 Atk Life Orb Purugly Fake Out vs. 136 HP / 0 Def Ninjask: 118-140 (39.7 - 47.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Bouffalant @ Choice Band
Ability: Sap Sipper / Reckless
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Head Charge
- Facade
- Earthquake
- Megahorn
TR Bouffalant hits 103 Speed with a Brave nature and a Speed IV of 0, letting it smash the meta with a "faster" STAB, CB (and possibly Sap Sipper- or Reckless-boosted) Head Charge. Sap Sipper combined with Megahorn gives you the needed counter-play to deal with fat, defensive Grass-types, while Reckless will help Bouffalant do more immediate damage. Your ability isn't always known, so when you run Reckless, your opponent may believe you're running Sap Sipper, which can potentially deter Grass-type moves being used against you. Facade is there as a last ditch move for when you've been burned and your opponent thinks the threat has finally been dealt with, but other coverage options can be used in its place.
Zebstrika @ Life Orb
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Discharge
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Hidden Power [Grass]
- Overheat
Discharge as Zebstrika's main STAB move over Thunderbolt creates awkward situations for your opponent, wherein the Pokemon meant to take a hit from Zebstrika becomes paralyzed. Pivoting out of a paralyzed Pokemon is a reasonably safe play, and is simultaneously useful for bringing in the next Pokemon off of a Volt Switch for free if paralysis occurs. The only case where the drop in power is significant that I know of is Lumineon; in order to still score the KO, SR needs to be up. I enjoy using this set together with other Pokemon that have 30% status moves (ex. Scald - Politoed / Lava Plume - Camerupt / Poison Jab - Muk) and with Hex Misdreavus.
Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave
- Knock Off / Stealth Rock
While the use of Seismic Toss isn't exactly a new development for Clefairy, it still isn't listed as an option on its smogdex entry currently, despite it being better than Moonblast on defensive sets. This combination of reliable recovery, paralysis, and a steady source of damage against non-Ghost-types puts a huge strain on opposing teams, and can often earn Clefairy multiple KOs when it wouldn't have been able to score them otherwise. Clefairy's Seismic Toss is similar to Bronzor's Psywave, in that it feels like it is too much damage to be coming from a defensive Pokemon.
The team shown in the replay below is PokemasterTJ's:
Most players only ever expect it to be a Life Orb variant, so Swanna can be a cool and unexpected Choice Scarf user for rain-based teams. It can act as insurance against faster threats when your Rain Dance users are KOed, or it can score surprise KOes on faster Electric-types like Zebstrika and Raichu, which can be huge in keeping the rest of your rain team alive. Assuming Rain Dance is active, Hydration protects Scarf Swanna from paralysis (similar to Scarf Limber Lopunny), so it'll almost always be faster than its foe. And, Rain Dance boosts its Water STAB, as well as provides an accuracy boost to Hurricane, so it'll be cleaning with a high power STAB move in most cases. Volbeat forms a nice core with this, setting Rain Dance and slow pivoting into Swanna, letting Swanna clean effectively with one of its STABs.
Brave Bird is there to hit specially defensive Grass-types harder, namely Gogoat and Roselia. Given that Swanna will be faster than the majority of the meta thanks to Choice Scarf (486 Speed total), it can use Me First, allowing Swanna to nab the kill on opposing Water-types trying to hit Swanna with Electric coverage (ex. HP Electric Floatzel). Me First can let you Volt Switch out of Probopass (with 1.5x power), hit Misdreavus with a 1.5x Shadow Ball, etc.
The last slot has some wiggle room: Hidden Power is okay, but it is fairly weak without a boost. Ice Beam provides Swanna with coverage against Dragons and can be important for bringing down Altaria, but the coverage can be rather redundant otherwise. Air Slash combined with CS Swanna's higher Speed can win games via flinchhax, but it is rather weak without any boosts. Brine is an interesting option to power through weakened teams, and is fairly powerful with rain up when your opponent has a bunch of Pokemon at or below 50% HP.
Zebstrika @ Leftovers
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Charge Beam
- Magnet Rise
- Hidden Power [Ground] / Hidden Power [Ice]
This set is meant to receive defensive boosts from its teammates and make the most of them by powering its SpA up via Charge Beam. This works best if you have some means of removing your opponent's Volt Switch stop (for example, building this set with RestTalk Trapinch as an offensive partner). Magnet Rise allows Zebstrika to beat conventional Electric checks by floating over them, avoiding Earthquakes and/or Earth Powers, and then Substituting down in order to avoid being statused. Magnet Rise and HP Ground together beat many of the tier's SR users; Flash Cannon Probopass in particular really struggles here.
Alternatively, you can actually just use Charge Beam as a 4th slot on standard Zebstrika. You would basically use it as a finisher move, allowing you to face the next Pokemon in your opponent's lineup with a +1 boost.
Both Sleep Powder and Stun Spore have 97.5% accuracy thanks to Compound Eyes, so put something to Sleep, then U-Turn out. If Sleep Clause is active, paralyze something and U-Turn out. This can be great to incapacitate Mr. Mime or Electrode as either switches in in order to absorb a predicted Bug Buzz via Soundproof. You can dent Zebstrika on the switch as it predicts Sleep Powder with Bug Buzz or U-Turn, depending on whether you can score the KO or not.
Jumpluff can easily run a similar set with Acrobatics over Bug Buzz given it's much faster, but the trade-off for added Speed is lowered accuracy on your status moves.
Meowstic @ Red Card
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Barrier
- Recycle
This set does nothing by itself except for boost its own bulk and force switches via Red Card. Prankster + Recycle allows Meowstic's Red Card to be restored with priority, so it'll always be forcing its foes out when hit by an attack. If you add hazards into the mix, and your opponent has nothing to OHKO this through its defensive boosts, you can rack up entry hazard damage fairly easily. When your Meowstic is getting low, use +1 priority Rest to refill your HP. Beware Taunt though, as this set doesn't actually use an attack.
While this may seem to be completely outclassed by Banded Leafeon, it has a couple "pointers" that do allow it to be an alternate option. These include a slightly higher speed, the secondary Ghost typing, and a more commonly useful ability. The speed allows it to outspeed Swanna, Basculin, Leafeon (duh), along with a couple of completely useless and irrelevant mons (I'm looking at you, Luvdisc). The secondary typing of Ghost gives Gourgeist a second stab, along with the ability to switch in on Normal moves, barring those damn Scrappy Stoutlands, which especially comes in handy with normal spam being so common in the current meta. The Frisk ability allows you to identify what item the opponent is holding, which can often help determine what set they are running. Lastly, while Leafeon has the advantage of having multiple viable sets, making it more difficult for the opponent to figure out which one it is, Choice Band on Gourgeist is just so unexpected in general, so you can use that to your advantage when using it.
Seed bomb is it's strongest STAB Physical Grass move, along with being able to deal supereffective damage on those Water, Rock, and Ground types. Bullet Seed can be used instead as it still provides STAB, but can bypass Sturdy mons like Golem, Focus Sash mons like Smeargle, and break substitutes while still dealing some damage to the opponent, with the risk of most of the time dealing less damage otherwise. Shadow Sneak gives Gourgeist a second STAB, along with priority, which is especially nice against faster mons like Scarf Mr. Mime and Cryogonal. Rock Slide is a great coverage move, as it is supereffective against Fire, Ice, and Flying type mons, which could otherwise switch in with relative ease, such as Rapidash and Altaria. Trick can make many mons virtually useless, most notabley bulky Eviolte users like Clefairy and Bronzor. It also has a few other moves, but are generally much more occasional. Phantom Force can be used as a much Stronger STAB, but is extremely easy to switch in on due to being a two turn attack. Explosion can be used to nuke some annoyingly bulky mon, but losing Gourgeist in the process isn't preferable.
Sadly its still walled by Steel types, most notably Mawile and Pawniard. Even with it's great physical defense, due to it's bad hp, decent-at-best special defense, and lack of any defensive investment, barring those useless 4 evs in defense, it's easily koed by supereffective attacks. While Rock Slide can help with some switch-ins, it has many weaknesses that outspeed it, so they can easily ko if they are able to get in. This includes Rapidash's Flare Blitz, Zebstrika's Overheat, Scarf Rotom-Frost's Blizzard, and Floatzel's Ice Beam, to name a few. Also like most physical attackers, Gourgeist does not appreciate a burn, unless you want to run Facade, which I would not recommend. Missing Rock Slide. Enough said.
While it may not have "swept the entire team", this match against PokemonMasterTJ shows how Gourgeist can identify unexpected sets and take advantage of that secondary Ghost typing against the Scarf Grumpig. http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/pu-526290370 (Turns 7 and 16)
Here are some calcs:
252 Atk Choice Band Gourgeist-Small Seed Bomb vs. 248 HP / 212+ Def Lumineon: 264-312 (77.4 - 91.4%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Gourgeist-Small Bullet Seed (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Golem: 296-360 (98.3 - 119.6%) -- approx. 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Gourgeist-Small Shadow Sneak vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mr. Mime: 210-248 (95 - 112.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Gourgeist-Small Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rapidash: 246-290 (90.7 - 107%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Gourgeist-Small Rock Slide vs. 248 HP / 164+ Def Altaria: 156-184 (44.1 - 52.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
But yeah, that's my (MINE AND MINE ALONE) Banded Gourgeist-Small set. If you actually bothered to read that entire thing, then I applaud you, and hope you will subscribe to my channel, like the video, and post in the comments why I am so awesome. :D
Part 1 of my victory lap for winning an insignificant tour for a fairly dead metagame that I hosted will be commenced by sharing some cool stuff I used along the way
I know 2x posted LO SF Ice Beam over SD but regular Kingler in general is pretty underrated these days and this one drops luring Quilladin for beating, like, everything else. A lot of my building was trying to find a balance between being anti-offense and anti-balance and/or strong stall cores like AltClefZor. Kingler with an Agility up is terrifying for offense, Kingler with a Swords Dance up can smack balance around really nicely. It's not exactly splashable, but I did find it easy to fit things around because it works in a pretty basic and effective way.
Monferno @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Mach Punch
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
Used this on a couple of teams, it's really just for role compression considering how few rockers actually handle Leafeon and grasses in general. It has a lot of downsides, such as losing to pretty much every single remover out there (beats cryogonal ig) but in the cases where you really don't want to fit a Golem or Clefairy this thing works /ok/.
Cacturne @ Focus Sash
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Dark Pulse
- Giga Drain
- Superpower
I think I saw multiple other people running this independently, but basically it drops some power on the premise that if Cacturne puts in work it puts in work anyway for the ability to trade with the ridiculous amount of things in the meta that otherwise outspeed and OHKO you with its awful defenses. It probably goes fine with Spikes but frankly I never really liked Spikes Cacturne much so idk never tried.
This sprite is amazing (Leavanny) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Overcoat
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sticky Web
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Knock Off
This was a little experiment of mine with a sort of semi-webs playstyle. Webs can be pretty useless vs slower balance, stall and semistall, but Sticky Web is only one moveslot which gives Leavanny space to run SD 2 attacks and actually become mildly annoying to bulkier teams putting on a lot of the same pressure Leafeon does (although it needs more support vs Altaria). Besides, Magic Coat and Electroweb just aren't terribly useful anymore.
Mawile @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
Offensive Mawile is very good, and the blanket check that stall teams rely on to blanket it is often Bronzor (or Dusclops until Sir Kay stops building stall). Fire Blast is unreliable at getting through it depending on the spread and trying to get to +4/6 and muscle through it can leave you too weak to do more stuff. It's not only for beating Bronzor if you don't want to run a Pursuit trapper, but the rest of the targets like Metang, non-Colbur BEM, Duosion, and Dusknoir have become a bit less common. Still, I found myself getting enough use out of the slot and it'd certainly have been a better ct if I actually faced a Bronzor. The downside is dropping Iron Head, but that's mostly just being better vs Clefairy and Golem which can be annoying but doesn't prevent Mawile from functioning by any means.
I did bring some other things that don't exactly warrant full descriptions because they aren't too new or anything. 2x's Encore Raichu is a pretty neat set that lets it NP a lot easier, I also messed around with Signal Beam because at +2 you can blow past BEM/Pig/Tang/Leaf without risking FB plus some other less common grasses but that was fairly eh all around. I also used his Scarf Float set (independently from him(, although exclusively with SD pass because it's 1. a really cool receiver given its passable utility without relying on getting passed boosts and the lack of water resists nowadays and 2. pretty ass without boosts because honestly just use Simipour. CM Grumpig is a cool dude because I'm starting to see methods of beating BEM that don't do so well vs other Psychics such as taking advantage of its Speed and Haze defensive Alt. Grumpig is still good I swear. Another weird mon is NP Monferno, it's been around for forever and I hesitate to call it good but of all the things I've posted tailored to adapting to the rise of bulky teams this one in particular really loves the fact that teams carry blanket checks not counters. A fairly reasonable amount of chip and this guy has a decent amount of setup opportunities and comes with the benefit of having genuine surprise factor for being a rare set. It's not just dumb gimmick surprise factor, this puts a lot of pressure if they blindly switch into Altaria or rely on Phys Def Clef to take you on. The last thing I used, albeit for a single game, was Sand (please use evio on baby hippo). I've had pretty limited tests with it (made it this morning, played like 3 test games and then vs Slowbroth) but it was pretty fun since Evio Hippo can more or less pull its weight and Stout's still scary outside of sand. I only thought of the playstyle because I was criticizing it and realized I hadn't actually seen it in forever, but I think it's worth taking a look if you're still interested in this meta.
e: oh yeah forgot to mention offensive altaria is pretty cool but that's going to squad dump anyway
e2: and taunt on defensive mawile is also really sick for crippling pretty much every defensive mon and pressuring that one TR team, i should've looked more closely at my teams before posting
