I've been getting into PU over the past two months or so and I've found it to be a really fun, balanced, and diverse metagame. Since the metagame developed into a much more fast-paced, offensively oriented one at the beginning of November, the former best Pokemon in PU, Roselia, had been on the decline. With that shift, I noticed that many teams were insanely weak to Toxic Spikes, as the only other relevant grounded Poison-type is Arbok, a rather uncommon threat. Toxic Spikes wears down some common defensive Pokemon, particularly Stunfisk, which can be notoriously painful to take down or switch into for some offensive teams, and Vigoroth, which can win games even when it's down 1-6. Toxic Spikes can be painful for offensive teams as well, severely limiting the ability of most attackers to put in too much work and putting dangerous sweepers like RP Regice on a timer. I decided to build a team starting with Venipede, which is much more effective at getting up multiple layers of hazards than Roselia.
Teambuilding Process
With Spikes and Toxic Spikes, I decided to use the underrated Purugly for its incredible ability to abuse both hazards with U-turn and Fake out. Deterring Defog through Defiant is an added bonus although actually switching into common Defog users is risky. The addition of Electrode provides me with a fast Volt-Turn core that generally does well against offensive teams, especially with the aforementioned hazards in play.
Relicanth is a really cool Stealth Rock user that's able to pressure most of the common Defog and Rapid Spin users in the tier with the threat of Head Smash. Its offensive presence in addition to its ability to check a lot of key attackers is what made it a better choice than Stealth Rock users that only did one of the two, like Stunfisk or Gabite.
Drifblim is another underrated threat that takes full advantage of Spikes. It synergizes well offensively with the other members of the team, capitalizing on the wearing down of Pokemon like Stunfisk and Probopass through hazards, VoltTurn, and Knock Off. Drifblim is an excellent cleaner, particularly against Sticky Web teams with which I was currently quite weak to. Mr. Mime was added as insurance against a couple key threats, particularly Swords Dance Monferno and Scarf Rotom-F; Healing Wish is valuable as it is for any hyper offense team.
Zebstrika, with its Electric immunity, comparable power and Speed, and ability to hit Grass-types (especially Roselia) harder, turned out to be a better fit for the team than Electrode.
In-Depth
Venipede @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Toxic
- Endeavor
Venipede is the Pokemon whose support this team is built around, and the ability to get up at least two layers of hazards the majority of the time is what sets it apart from other leads Sash Roselia and Frogadier. Max Speed with a Jolly nature lets it outspeed base 110s after one Speed Boost, meaning it's almost always safe to lead with Venipede. Endeavor's use is pretty obvious, and though it's predictable, is actually tough to play around once Venipede's got a boost under its belt. Using Toxic over Protect is unorthodox, but useful; it ensures that Vullaby, Pelipper, and Vibrava can't just sit there and spam Defog, Roosting off Endeavor damage. More importantly, Toxic lets Venipede break Golem's Sturdy without worrying about Sucker Punch mind games. Protect could definitely work here, however, to guarantee that Venipede gets up another hazard against Floatzel and Zebstrika. I also tried Poison Jab in that slot which came in handy a few times, especially against a random Sub SD Lickilicky on the suspect ladder (against Sub SD Bouffalant Drifblim can just come in whenever).
Purugly @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Return
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
Purugly works wonderfully with Venipede; its role on the team is to force passive damage onto opposing defensive Pokemon like Stunfisk while also being very effective against offense due to its Speed and priority. Access to Knock Off is a big part of what allows it to fulfill this role successfully as the removal of Leftovers and Eviolite severely limits the ability of defensive Pokemon to do their job. Originally I had U-turn instead of Sucker Punch, but thanks to 2xTheTap's and Raiza's suggestions, made the change to Sucker Punch to be better prepared for faster offensive threats like Floatzel that can force me to sack a Pokemon after a switch in. The combination of Fake Out, Toxic Spikes, and Sucker Punch is devastating for offensive teams and is particularly useful against weather teams which nearly always lack a way to remove Toxic Spikes, save for the extremely uncommon Weepinbell. Fake Out has a plethora of other applications, such as KOing Custap Berry Golem if Endeavor has brought it down to 1HP, bringing Choice Scarf Rotom-F into Drifblim range, and preventing Kadabra from paralyzing it late-game. All of this is why Purugly was chosen over other Normal-types like Bouffalant and Dodrio; while the latter two are clearly better in terms of raw power, Purugly's role on this team is more about accumulating chip damage on both defensive and offensive teams alike while still being able to revenge kill threats like Raichu and Jumpluff with a decently powerful Frustration.
One pretty common scenario is a Golem lead KOing Venipede with Rock Blast turn 1, leaving its Sturdy intact. In this situation, Purugly should come out and Fake out, then switch on the likely Stealth Rock into Relicanth (though Relicanth can easily tank an EQ if Golem chooses to go to that), which can then threaten a KO with Waterfall or set up Stealth Rock. Additionally, one of the few times I won't lead with Venipede is against Sticky Web users, when Purugly can lead and threaten to KO with Fake Out + Return.
Zebstrika @ Life Orb
Ability: Lightningrod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Completing an excellent VoltTurn duo with Purugly, Zebstrika is another fast threat on the team capable of accumulating damage on the likes of Probopass and Solrock. Zebstrika's pretty important for checking Floatzel and a couple other faster threats, and despite how common and one-dimensional it is, is still great against offense in general, especially in tandem with Toxic Spikes. Thunderbolt + HP Ice is enough to deter all the common Defog users of the tier. Despite Electrode's slightly higher Speed and power, Zebstrika was primarily chosen for Overheat's ability to deal with Rotom-F which is otherwise a pretty annoying threat for the team to face; Overheat is much stronger against Grass- and Electric-types than Electrode's rather weak Signal Beam. Zebstrika also at least deters Raichu from spamming Thunderbolt to get a kill every time. Aside from outspeeding Zebstrika itself, one major point for Electrode is Aftermath, netting useful damage on things like Pawniard.
Relicanth @ Stone Plate
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Head Smash
- Waterfall
- Rock Polish
While normally I prefer Golem as a Stealth Rock user for offense, Relicanth fit the team a lot better here. For one, Golem's reliant on Sturdy in order to do its job well, but with Venipede almost always leading and no way to prevent opposing hazards, clearly is not a reliable option. Relicanth also has a ton more power and is significantly faster than Golem, meaning it's pretty much guaranteed to prevent Vullaby and Pelipper from using Defog (it's actually insane how many times people try to Defog with these two on Relicanth only to get outsped OHKOed). For this reason, max Speed and a Jolly nature is necessary; a lot of other unsuspecting stuff are also outsped: offensive Roselia, Exeggutor, Armaldo, Gourgeist-Super, Solrock, and Politoed, to name a few.
Stone Plate is also unfortunately needed to straight up OHKO defensive Vullaby and Pelipper; I'd love to run another item like Chople Berry or even Wide Lens, but in general its damage output is pretty impressive, hitting things like Exeggutor and Misdreavus ridiculously hard. Earthquake would usually be better over Waterfall (a resisted Stone Plate-boosted Head Smash does more than a neutral Waterfall), but I found that I needed Waterfall to KO Golem and hit Stunfisk harder. Relicanth is Mr. Mime's most frequent recipient of Healing Wish, so while sweeping with Rock Polish obviously isn't its main purpose, it can often do so by taking advantage of its amazing Defense to set up after being restored.
Drifblim @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 12 HP / 240 Atk / 44 SpD / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Knock Off
- Acrobatics
- Destiny Bond
A personal favorite of mine, Drifblim is a great sweeper for hyper offense and fits the team well for a variety of reasons. It's no Linoone, but with only one real turn of setup (since Substitute protects it), Drifblim turns into a late-game power house capable of cleaning house against offensive teams; Stealth Rock and one layer of Spikes is more than enough for it to KO offensive Pokemon like Floatzel and Simisear, and Toxic Spikes in combination with Substitute are key in helping to get other threats like Zebstrika into range of Knock Off. With the rest of the team dedicated to whittling down defensive Pokemon like Probopass, Stunfisk, and Golem, it's not uncommon for Drifblim to clean up balanced teams as well. I've chosen Destiny Bond here over the more common Will-O-Wisp: Will-O-Wisp overlaps with Toxic Spikes on many of Drifblim's checks, and this way I can choose to bring stuff like Pawniard and Rotom-F down with me if they're still health to take +1 attacks.
The Speed EVs let Drifblim outspeed Modest Choice Scarf Floatzel and Timid Choice Scarf Simipour after the Unburden boost. 12 HP lets Drifblim Sub or switch into Stealth Rock three times and reach 25%, enough to activate the Liechi Berry, and the extra SpDef helps it retain enough health for a Substitute against Mr. Mime and Choice Specs Floatzel. Drifblim has a surprising amount of setup opportunities, such as against Mr. Mime, Ninjask, Roselia, and various Normal-types. The introduction of Bouffalant has especially been helpful for Drifblim as it can switch in for free and set up Substitutes. While it's unlikely that Drifblim will get both to +1/+2 and behind a Substitute (though it can definitely happen if you Sub against faster attackers like the ones I mentioned before), usually just getting the Liechi/Unburden boost is enough. Convniently, Drifblim is immune to Monferno's Mach Punch and has enough natural bulk to take Machoke's Bullet Punch from 25%. Finally, while Drifblim by no means can switch in safely to the various Rapid Spin users of the tier, its presence can at least deter them from hitting the move and in some scenarios it can just be sacked to prevent the spin.
Mr. Mime @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Trick
- Healing Wish
Choice Scarf Mr. Mime provides a lot of utility in one slot. First and foremost, it gives me a much-needed surefire check to Choice Scarf Rotom-F and SD Monferno, among other threats. Focus Blast is used over Dazzling Gleam as a way to nail Pawniard and Probopass which could be quite annoying to deal with given a free switch into Mr. Mime. Dazzling Gleam would really only be useful for Vullaby and Vibrava, two Defoggers that the rest of my team does an excellent job of pressuring otherwise; Fraxure is still easily checked by Mr. Mime and Purugly. Healing Wish is useful as always, being especially helpful for Relicanth, but also for Zebstrika if it needs to be healthy enough to check Pawniard, for example. A lot of the time, however, Mr. Mime can simply Trick away its Choice Scarf to something like Stunfisk or Probopass (or even to Pawniard; Zebstrika and Purugly can still outspeed it) as well as to random bulky boosters like Acid Armor Duosion or Curse Munchlax that might've dodged a Head Smash or something. All in all, Mr. Mime is necessary on this team but rather expendable in many games.
Conclusion
As you can see, the team works by stacking hazards and putting immense pressure on hazard removers with Relicanth, Zebstrika, and Purugly, and wearing the opponent down enough to either sweep with Drifblim or simply overwhelm with passive damage and fast attacking. Overall, the team matches up really well against the current metagame, though a few set changes are definitely in order following the upcoming tier shift.
Importable
Venipede @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Poison Jab
- Endeavor
Mr. Mime @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Trick
- Healing Wish
Relicanth @ Stone Plate
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Head Smash
- Waterfall
- Rock Polish
Drifblim @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 12 HP / 240 Atk / 44 SpD / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Knock Off
- Acrobatics
- Destiny Bond
Purugly @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Frustration
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
Zebstrika @ Life Orb
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Poison Jab
- Endeavor
Mr. Mime @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Trick
- Healing Wish
Relicanth @ Stone Plate
Ability: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Head Smash
- Waterfall
- Rock Polish
Drifblim @ Liechi Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 12 HP / 240 Atk / 44 SpD / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Knock Off
- Acrobatics
- Destiny Bond
Purugly @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Frustration
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
Zebstrika @ Life Orb
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
As pretentious as it seems to include replays, I really do feel that these few do a great job at showing how the team works. These were from before I made the change from Electrode to Zebstrika, though it didn't make any difference in these games.
Thanks for reading!
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