now playing: who came after & underscores - climate
INTRO
what's good. i'm cyan, and i'm back for my second-ever rmt (my teams aren't usually good enough to be worth note haha). if you've played the ru ladder recently, especially the suspect ladder, chances are you've seen this team on the other side of the field or possibly even your own - it spread very quickly and with great sucess, getting a good few people reqs and bringing various people to high ladder rankings 'cept me i'm bad lol and for good reason, as it is a solid team with good matchups versus offensive and bulky teams alike.
TEAM DEVELOPMENT
the aim of the team was to build around taunt
vanilluxe
, a neat mon that has become a rising star due to the decline of bulky steels and its lack of reliable stops outside of those. i originally added subtox
moltres
next as a check to grasses and durant and a way to beat up on bulky steels, as well as for the synergy toxic and hail have together in whittling bulky teams. next, i added
mega steelix
and
milotic
as a potent defensive backbone capable of taking on a wide number of threats in the meta. megalix also provided me with a reliable sr setter which aids vanilluxe in its job of breaking. at this point i realized i was fairly weak to water-types and desperately needed hazard control, so i added grassium z
rotom-c
to take on bulky waters, provide defog, pivot to get vanilluxe on the field easier, and help whittle specially bulky mons for vanilluxe so it has an easier job taking them down. finally, i needed a scarf user in order to revenge fast threats, especially one that can reliably beat salazzle as the team is heavily threatened by it; i decided on
flygon
as it can switch into salazzle lacking hp ice multiple times and threaten it out, and has u-turn to form a volturn core with rotom-c and help get vanilluxe on the field more often. it also provided an emergency backup defogger should rotom-c go down early and moltres still be necessary later on. after playing with this variant a bit, it wasn't all bad but i felt it lacked immediate physically offensive presence as flygon simply wasn't cutting it -- this prompted me to switch it out for cb
zydog
, which gives the team more power and access to the very useful extremespeed, and a potent cleaner to finish the job once vanilluxe and rotom-c whittle the opposing team. since i no longer had a scarf user, i changed moltres to choice scarf, which keeps the dynamic of volturn with rotom-c and still revenges a wide swath of threats, at the cost of the cool synergy of toxic and hail.
THE TEAM
IN DEPTH
climate (Vanilluxe) @ Never-Melt Ice
ability: Snow Warning
4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe | Timid
• Blizzard
• Freeze-Dry
• Taunt
• Ice Shard
- overview:
vanilluxe is quite potent at the moment thanks to the decline of bulky steel types like escavalier, registeel, and bronzong, allowing it to freely use blizzard with little repercussion. it hits quite hard even without using life orb or specs and has a nice speed tier putting it over common mons like nidoqueen, megastoise, and feraligatr, but what really allows vanilluxe to shine is its ability to freeze all its counters access to taunt; this lets it prevent specially defensive mons from recovering, making it harder for them to reliably beat it in a one-on-one and drastically reduces its number of reliable switchins. on top of all this, hail essentially negates leftovers recovery, which means vanilluxe whittles foes like registeel that are reliant on leftovers recovery even better and enables the rest of the team to pick up kos.
- analysis:
blizzard is a pretty obvious choice -- it hits hard and never misses under hail, giving vanilluxe impressive damage output. freeze-dry compliments blizzard pretty excellently, as it nails the water-types that would otherwise stop vanilluxe for huge damage. taunt is the big reason vanilluxe works so well, as you can taunt standard specially bulky stuff like cresselia, umbreon, and porygon2 and prevent them from recovering or statusing you, which makes ice cream so much harder to deal with as it can easily take their attacks and win the 1v1. ice shard is also very nice, as it prevents some mons like flygon and roserade from revenging vanilluxe effectively, and can chip threatening sweepers to put them in range of a teammate. nevermeltice is the item of choice to boost all of vanilluxe's attacks but not wear it down over the course of a match. timid is necessary to outpace feraligatr, megastoise and nidoqueen, among others, which works in vanilluxe's favor as it is able to ko all of them after a bit of chip.
☆彡
cradlesong (Moltres) @ Choice Scarf
ability: Flame Body
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe | Timid
ivs: 0 Atk
• Fire Blast
• Hurricane
• U-turn
• Air Slash
- overview:
choice scarf moltres is a pretty nice revenge killer, as its power allows it to deal big damage to fast threats like salazzle and zydog even with neutral attacks. u-turn is critical because it lets vanilluxe in on the field free to wreak havoc and pairs well with rotom-c to make a threatening volturn core that pivots on steel + water balances effectively. moltres also is a valuable team member because it takes care of vanilluxe's only true enemy in steel types, and it can clean up after the rest of the team has done its job (provided it hits).
- analysis:
fire blast and hurricane are moltres' best two stab attacks, and give it a power behind its punch that most other scarfers can't match. u-turn cores well with rotom-c and vanilluxe and lets moltres gain momentum for the rest of the team to keep up. i chose air slash in the last slot instead of hp grass or flamethrower because of its reliability in hitting threats that moltres aims to revenge, but flamethrower is a perfectly fine option as well.
☆彡
pause (Steelix-Mega) @ Steelixite
ability: Sturdy
252 HP / 88 Atk / 168 Spe | Adamant
• Heavy Slam
• Earthquake
• Stealth Rock
• Toxic
- overview:
mega steelix is the most efficient rocker in the tier imo; its huge bulk and high power coupled with a great defensive typing lend it well to this and many other teams, providing a normal, flying, steel and fairy resist and a generally sturdy tank that can dish out attacks and not be deadweight. it and milotic form an excellent two-mon core, as milotic covers practically every water and most fires in the tier fro steelix, and steelix takes on a few grass types and well as provides general physical bulk to back milotic up.
- analysis:
heavy slam and earthquake are necessary stab attacks, and stealth rock is pivotal to the sucess of any competitive team. sr is especially useful on this team as it combines with hail well to chip opposing bulky pokemon. i originally had curse in the last slot, but i changed it to toxic as pressuring opposing rotom-c is critical for the team, and putting bulky stuff like umbreon, mandibuzz, and cresselia on a timer is always useful; moreover, my team doesn't particularly care for curse's ability to beat gligar, as i have milotic, rotom-c, and of course vanilluxe to deal with that. the ev spread allows steelix to outspeed standard mega abomasnow, which can be problematic for the team should it come in on milotic and not be burned.
☆彡
the city with no wind (Milotic) @ Leftovers
ability: Marvel Scale
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD | Bold
ivs: 0 Atk
• Scald
• Recover
• Haze
• Refresh
- overview:
milotic is probably the most splashable pokemon in the tier atm. it checks damn near everything and is quite difficult to finish off. here, it provides me with a surefire stop to dd feraligatr, mega glalie, mega blastoise, and opposing stealth rock users bar necrozma. it's also my only actual specs yanmega stop, which can be a problem should it get chipped too heavily in a match vs one. it does come with the fatal flaw of letting in threatening attackers like roserade, dragalge, and rotom-c that my team is hard-pressed to switch into reliably, but it's still a pivotal member of the team nonetheless.
- analysis:
scald, recover, and haze are all your standard fare, and make milotic into the hard to break beast that it is. haze is critical to its role on the team in checking setup sweepers that i can't cover otherwise. i picked refresh in the last option over toxic or ice beam as it gives milotic absurd longevity and allows it to be a status absorber for the rest of the team, but ice beam is still a good option as rotom-c, roserade, and dragalge can be problematic to my team, and giving them less switchin opportunities is very appreciated.
☆彡
flippant (Rotom-Cut) @ Grassium Z
ability: Levitate
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe | Timid
ivs: 0 Atk
• Leaf Storm
• Volt Switch
• Defog
• Will-O-Wisp
- overview:
rotom-c carries quite a bit of weight on the team, being the only method of hazard control and the main check to bulky water-types. grassium z is an incredibly useful tool, as it provides rotom-c with a powerful nuke that doesn't drop its spa ond force it to switch out, and lets it take on sr users like nidoqueen, necrozma, and mega steelix more reliably. it also makes rotom-c harder to exploit by switchins in ground types. will-o-wisp is a neat utility slot - originally it was only to prevent kommo-o from setting up for free, but it also proves useful to neuter stuff like mega steelix and makes rotom-c not deadweight vs mega abomasnow, which gets walled by milotic after being burned.
- analysis:
leaf storm is rotom-c's only grass stab, and it gives access to bloom doom. volt switch is the electric stab of choice to let rotom-c gain momentum on opponents and cores well with u-turn moltres, as it brings in steel-types for moltres to force back out and pivot on. defog is necessary to the team, given the crippling rock weakness of two of the members. will-o-wisp, as mentioned before, is a utility slot that has a few different uses; i used to not like it on rotom-c but after using it more it's grown on me. toxic is an option to put bulky mons on a timer and provides synergy with hail to whittle the opposition. psychium z with dream eater is an interesting tech that nails dragalge and roserade, which are both problematic for the team, and still retains the ability to ohko nidoqueen so you can eliminate it after you defog its sr -- however, after using it i've found you miss grass z a lot more than you'd think, and dream eater is a completely useless slot after you use it, so should you burn it on a poor prediction you're sol.
☆彡
duly noted (Zygarde-10%) @ Choice Band
ability: Aura Break
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe | Jolly
• Thousand Arrows
• Outrage
• Extreme Speed
• Superpower
- overview:
zydog is probably my favorite mon in the tier atm - something about the simplicity of a fast mon that can just click buttons without thinking and have an impact is really enjoyable to me. here, it makes for a powerful physical cleaner that can bust through special mons that are hard to break with the other members of the team, and a fast revenger that uses the presence of slower mons as opportunity to do its thing.
- analysis:
thousand arrows is ridiuclously spammable. there are very few sitautions where just clicking thousand arrows ends up poorly as basically everything is chunked for notable damage by it. outrage is surprisingly strong and can net 2hkos on bulky mons that thousand arrows can't break, like milotic, physdef mandibuzz after sr, and spdef cress after sr, but this comes at the obvious cost of being locked in for the next 2-3 turns. getting 2 outrage turns is pretty broke though if you're trying to break an arrows switchin, as their outrage switchin just takes a chunk and you don't have to stick around to face retaliation AND their tarrows switchin is now in range of being 2hkod the next time it comes in, unless it's a gligar or chesnaught. extremespeed is a very handy priority move that allows zydog to take out weakened sweepers from about half hp in most cases. superpower is the move of choice in the last slot to tear umbreon a new one, heavily chunk porygon2, and ohko the problematic mega abomasnow, all three of which are quite valuable to the team.
THREATLIST
-
roserade, abomasnow, and rotom-c are threatening because they can easily bypass or take advantage of moltres and my own rotom-c, which are my only grass resists. shaymin can also prove a bit problematic, but it misses a lot and gets forced out by moltres pretty easily. however, i've specifically tailored my team to not give abomasnow as many opportunities to use attacks, so it's easier to deal with than the other two.
-
immediately powerful special dragons are quite difficult to handle for the team, as although the slower ones give zygarde/vanilluxe free attacks, chances are they'll take something out in the process before giving an opportunity to retaliate. they also come in pretty comfortably versus three of the members of my team, giving them considerable breathing room. noivern doesn't have the bulk, but it compensates by having speed that makes it very annoying to deal with well, as clicking ice shard puts vanilluxe in a very awkward position. kingdra is also somewhat notable, but its combination of lower bulk and being neutral to volt switch and leaf storm makes it much easier to pressure offensively.
-
life orb and specs moltres are hard to switch into... provided they hit, of course :^)
-
specs garde and espeon, while rare, are quite the nuisances if they get the opportunity to pop steelix with coverage moves. meloetta is busted as hell and i have no idea why people aren't using cm fight z more. it's very likely to get two kills or at the very least one and a lot of damage on something else if you see it.
-
due to my lack of a dedicated fighting resist, cb fighting-types are allowed to just kinda use attacks and do damage. sd fighters aren't as effective as they don't really get to set up on anything except a scared steelix or zydog in bewear's case, and just get forced back out by moltres or vanilluxe after netting a ko.
POSTFACE
well, that's the team. i hope you enjoyed my rmt, and if you decide to use it, have fun and may all your hurricanes land. i'm pretty terrible at outros, so i'm just gonna end it off by giving a shoutout to the whole ru community - all you guys are amazing and i'm too lazy to type a list of specific people :x. special mention goes to EviGaro though for having created a team pretty similar to this a good bit before i did :v
IMPORTABLES
Vanilluxe @ Never-Melt Ice
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Taunt
- Ice Shard
Moltres @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Hurricane
- Air Slash
- U-turn
Steelix-Mega @ Steelixite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Atk / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Refresh
- Haze
- Recover
Rotom-Cut @ Grassium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
Zygarde-10% @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Superpower
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Taunt
- Ice Shard
Moltres @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Hurricane
- Air Slash
- U-turn
Steelix-Mega @ Steelixite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Atk / 168 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Refresh
- Haze
- Recover
Rotom-Cut @ Grassium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
Zygarde-10% @ Choice Band
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Superpower
Vanilluxe @ Never-Melt Ice
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Taunt
- Ice Shard
Moltres @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Roost
- Substitute
Steelix-Mega @ Steelixite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Atk / 220 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Refresh
- Haze
- Recover
Rotom-Cut @ Grassium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Outrage
- Defog
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Taunt
- Ice Shard
Moltres @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
- Roost
- Substitute
Steelix-Mega @ Steelixite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Atk / 220 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Refresh
- Haze
- Recover
Rotom-Cut @ Grassium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Defog
- Will-O-Wisp
Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Outrage
- Defog
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