Introduction
Hi everyone! Its been a bit since I posted an RMT (and really played PS much), but I'm back with a team I've really enjoyed using over these past few weeks and wanted to share with you all. The team started around Glare+CM Drampa, but after realizing how useless that set was I switched over to SD Type:Null and man that thing is great. Before losing Silvally-Steel to NU it felt really complete, and so now I'm trying to figure out how to tweak the team in order to to not have it invalidated by the new rises/drops. Without further ado, on with the team.
Teambuilding Process
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Started out with Glare+CM Drampa. Regardless of which STAB I'd ultimately choose, I knew I'd need some way to break through steel-types, so Banded Passimian was chosen as the first addition. SR Palossand was the second addition, meant to deal with the fighting-types (and physical attackers) that can force Drampa out, and doubles as a spinblocker. Scarf Mesprit was the next addition as it provides a good revenge killer as well as Healing Wish to revive Drampa should I play stupidly with it. Skuntank was the next addition; I was leaning towards Hyper Voice Drampa at this point because the team felt kind of weak to faries, and that would require ghosts to be eliminated. My final choice was Silvally-Steel, which provided me Defog, as well as completed a reliable pivoting core with Passimian and Mesprit. Unfortunately, Drampa just wasn't cutting it, and the team was struggling with special attackers like Magmortar, so I switched out Drampa for Type:Null, who can reliably switch in on stuff like Gastrodon and wreak havoc. Unfortunately, Silvally-Steel was taken from us, so I've been trying to work in something to fill in that final slot. So far I've been running with Silvally-Water and I like it, but it still leaves me a bit weaker to stuff like Oricorio and electric-types than I'd like, which gets to the tweaking I alluded to in the introduction. Alright that was really long, onto the in-depth analysis.
In-depth Analysis
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 248 HP / 248 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
Return | Rest | Sleep Talk | Swords Dance
Star of the show, Type: Null. I actually forgot this was in the tier for a while while looking for a Drampa replacement, I almost chose Zangoose. EVs maximize special bulk, with the speed creep to beat neutral base-60s. Swords Dance is the setup move of choice (why doesn't this thing get curse), with Rest+Sleep Talk for recovery. Return is here for STAB and hits pretty hard without boosts thanks to a respectable base-95 attack. This thing just eats up special attacks like no tomorrow, definitely satisfied with how it preforms.
Ability: Receiver
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
Close Combat | U-turn | Knock Off | Earthquake
I'm so happy this thing got Knock Off and Primeape didn't. Passimian packs a massive punch and anything slower that isn't stupidly bulky (like Musharna) is getting chunked. Even defensive mesprit takes ~30% from Close Combat. An adamant nature was chosen because the power bonus is especially helpful, and the added speed doesn't help me beat anything that the team can't necessarily handle (like Mesprit). Knock Off is a nice move that helps against bulky ghost-types and eviolite users to pave the way for Type:Null. I barely use the fourth move, though Quick Attack might be useful against offensive teams now that I think about it.
Ability: Water Compaction
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
Shadow Ball | Earth Power | Shore Up | Stealth Rock
Another pokemon where I cannot express my joy at the movepool addition it got. I don't know how a higher tier hasn't taken it yet either, its basically the classic bulky support pokemon complete with usable STABs, reliable recovery, and to top it all off good utility moves. I opted for Rocky Helmet over Colbur Berry since I didn't have much insurance against Scrappy Normal-types like Kangaskhan although with Silvally-Steel gone I lose my main insurance against Zangoose so its definitely still usable. I opted for Dual STAB, but one of them can be switched out for Toxic which helps vs mons like Gastrodon and Oricorio-Sensu on the switch. Shore Up gives longevity and counteracts the lack of leftovers. Lastly, Stealth Rock is here because every team needs it. Much like Type:Null, I'm really liking Palossand.
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Psychic | U-turn | Ice Beam | Healing Wish
Mesprit somehow always manages to work its way onto my teams, and it always does exactly what I want it to do. EVs go fast and Choice Scarf lets it revenge pokemon like Carracosta, as well as faster threats. Psychic hits pretty hard, and U-turn lets it pivot around. Ice Beam was chosen in the 3rd slot to hit Skuntank, but I think I've used the move maybe 1-2 times? Healing wish is just a nice utility move, and is really useful to bring back Palossand or Type:Null back lategame. Really solid and definitely fitting of its spot in S Rank.
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 Atk / 108 SpD / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
Crunch | Poison Jab | Sucker Punch | Pursuit
The Skunk (again) makes its way onto one of my teams. I'm really happy that so many different pokemon got Defog, because now I can run all the moves I want on it and it has not failed me yet. Speed EVs creep mons like Timid Abomasnow, although that can be tweaked depending on your wants/needs. Crunch/Poison Jab are the main STAB moves, with Sucker Punch there to snipe faster threats. Pursuit is a move that I'm not particularly good at using (slowly getting better), but I keep it there because it always feels great when I get it right. Since Skuntank has high HP I figured that investing in Special Defense would give me better bulk, but EVs can be taken out of speed into its defenses.
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
Surf | Flamethrower | Defog | Parting Shot
I really miss Silvally-Steel. But such is the fate of lower tiers, and Silvally-Water isn't all that bad right? I ended up choosing Water Silvally because Physical Water-types were particularly scary for this team to go up against, and also didn't compound too many weaknesses with the pokemon I already had. Surf is the main STAB move, with Flamethrower as coverage for Grass-types such as Ferosseed and Lurantis. Thunderbolt is an option in that slot, as is Ice Beam or Toxic depending on your tastes. Defog is nice because Silvally-Water can force a decent amount of switches, and beats most SR setters in the tier 1v1. Parting Shot gives me instant momentum™, which is helpful to get Type:Null more setup opportunities, or to help me maneuver around with Mesprit/Passimian.
Threat List
Replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pu-686368602
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pu-686130227
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pu-687343242
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pu-687562580
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pu-691782332
Considerations
Conclusion
Thanks for reading and have a nice day!
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