np: RU stage 16 - Ding Dong The Witch is Dead

[phantom]

Whimsicott: This looks stupid at first, but remember that Whimsicott does have Prankster. This means it will set TR up even if the opponent has a Taunt user. Whimsicott has Taunt itself to discourage setup while Encore can force the opponent into using a useless move such as SR or SD over and over again to give a teammate free entry into battle. Whimsicott has a "slow" U-turn in TR to get teammates in safely once it has set TR up. However, unlike most other TR setters, it is pure support and has no offensive presence whatsoever.

Prankster doesn't work that way. It only adds +1 to existing priority. Meaning, if the move was -7 priority, it would go to -6 with prankster not to +1. I'm assuming this is what you meant b/c of the fact that you said it could set up Trick Room before a Taunt user.

 

[Molk]

Aggron @ Choice Band
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Head Smash
- Heavy Slam
- Fire Punch
- Low Kick

I know Aggron was discussed a little on the last page, but i'd really like to see some more people try it out, so i'm going to expand on what was said before. Choice Band Aggron is an exceptionally effective Pokemon in the current metagame imo, and i'm really surprised that it doesn't get more usage (it only barely skims the top 30 and only 24% of those Aggron are actually banded somehow). Anyone who's faced Choice Band Aggron in a match knows just how devastating it can be thanks to its recoil free STAB Head Smash: easily one of the strongest attacks in the RU tier with only ridiculously strong Pokemon such as CB Medicham surpassing it in power. Because of the sheer power of Aggron's Head Smash, Aggron switching in safely often means a free KO for the Aggron user, which is incredibly invaluable, and because of Aggron's great physical bulk and resistances to moves such as Outrage, Return, Brave Bird, Megahorn, Shadow Sneak, Sucker Punch, Foul Play, and Stone Edge, its not especially hard to find an opportunity to get Aggron into the match and heavily punish the opponent. Outside of Head Smash (although this is probably what you'll be using the majority of the time) Heavy Slam provides Aggron with a secondary, 100% accurate STAB that will usually end up at max or near max power because of Aggron's incredible weight. Fire Punch gives Aggron a way around Ferroseed, who can switch into both Head Smash and Heavy Slam, and Low Kick gives Aggron a way of eliminating weakened Steelix, possibly even 2HKOing it with Stealth Rock and a layer of Spikes up. Of course, Aggron isn't the perfect Pokemon: it has to struggle with being slow, possessing a middling Special Defense stat, and some weaknesses to common moves such as Earthquake, Close Combat, and Scald. But all and all CB Aggron is one of the scariest pokemon in RU imo, is one of the best options for breaking down walls and punishing misplays, and should really be seeing some more usage.

Also, i agree that Trick Room is, and always has been a pretty viable and actually quite powerful playstyle in RU because of the amount of slow, bulky physical attackers and great setters such as Slowking, Uxie, Mesprit, and Smeargle to work with (RIP OTR Cofagrigus though ;__;). Anyways, i won't expand too much on Trick Room, as i want this post to stay focused on Aggron individually.

Anyways, to end off this post, i'll add some calcs of CB Aggron so new players/people who haven't used CB Aggron can get an idea of just how powerful it is. (sorry about the lack of hide tags ;-;).

252+ Atk Choice Band Aggron Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 220-261 (54.45 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252Atk Choice Band Aggron (+Atk) Head Smash vs 252HP/252Def Leftovers Alomomola(+Def): 55% - 65% (297 - 351 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO.

252Atk Choice Band -1 Aggron (+Atk) Head Smash vs 252HP/252Def Leftovers Qwilfish(+Def): 61% - 73% (207 - 244 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO.

252Atk Choice Band Aggron (+Atk) Head Smash vs 252HP/252Def Leftovers LevitateUxie (+Def): 60% - 71% (214 - 253 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO.

252Atk Choice Band Heavy Metal Aggron (+Atk) Low Kick vs 252HP/252Def Leftovers Sturdy Steelix (+Def): 46% - 55% (166 - 196 HP). Guaranteed 3HKO. 7% chance to 2HKO with Leftovers

252Atk Choice Band Heavy Metal Aggron (+Atk) Head Smash vs 156HP/0Def Golurk (Neutral): 60% - 70% (216 - 254 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO.

252Atk Choice Band Aggron (+Atk) Heavy Slam (60 BP)vs 88HP/0Def Eviolite Rhydon (Neutral): 43% - 52% (164 - 194 HP). Guaranteed 3HKO. 6% chance to 2HKO.

252Atk Choice Band Aggron (+Atk) Head Smash vs 252HP/252Def Leftovers Regirock (+Def): 42% - 50% (154 - 183 HP). Guaranteed 3HKO. 0% chance to 2HKO.

 

[Punchshroom]

I'd like to know the damage calc against Spiritomb, since Aggron easily tanks Spiritomb's attacks (even Trick!) and I'd like to see if Aggron can smash the little keystone before the incoming Will-o-Wisp.

 

[TROP]

I'd like to know the damage calc against Spiritomb, since Aggron easily tanks Spiritomb's attacks (even Trick!) and I'd like to see if Aggron can smash the little keystone before the incoming Will-o-Wisp.

252Atk Choice Band Heavy Metal Aggron (+Atk) Head Smash vs 252HP/252Def Leftovers Spiritomb (+Def): 80% - 95% (246 - 289 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO.
Now consider most Spiritomb probably won't be using that spread (Specially Defensive/Offensive are the most popular iirc, and the most common physically defensive spread is some weird 252/192 defense spread). And even if it somehow survives and burns Aggron, Spiritomb is pretty much dead after the Head Smash anyway.

 

[Goutland]

CB Aggron is pretty great. It even still OHKOs 252 hp Sigilyph after getting burned by psycho shift. With sleep talk, you become a great answer to Amoongus provided you run dual stab + fire punch, but still a shaky answer to Lilligant, since you're still going to get destroyed by giga drain or petal dance if they opt to quiver first. And if you switch into a quiver you don't even know if they're going to sleep you or not.

Just the fact that there are almost no safe switch ins to a CB head smash is pretty amazing though. Nothing switches into CB Aggron safely, not even resists.

 

[mkizzy]

hi
Recently I've been using a team me and Molk (mostly Molk) made and this team is using Dread Plate Absol which is really really cool (Standard Absol is very cool too!). It almost gets the same power as LO (x1.2 boost vs x1.3 boost) on 3/4 of it's moves (Pursuit/Night Slash/Sucker Punch) with no recoil damage, which is nice because Absol has no way to recover (wish absol lol), and can't afford to take much residual damage if it wants to stay alive long enough to trap, revenge kill, and clean up. It also feigns Choice really well (although choice absol kinda sucks), and can be really useful if for instance you Pursuit a mon like Uxie or Slowking, they switch out, and they switch into a resist like Aggron or Klinklang, they might not expect the Superpower because they might think you're choiced. Ofc this pairs well with Fighting mons such as Emboar and other mons that appreciate Pursuit support like Sigilyph, Entei, and Emboar (Slowking is rude ;-;). Does anyone else have experience with this set? If so, how did it go? o=

 

[EonX]

Choice Band Aggron:​

​

Choice Band Aggron is fantastic in this metagame. That being said, I think a lot of people struggle with something that I, myself, struggled with at first and that's how to support a Pokemon with such lopsided stats. Aggron's special stats and speed are barely 1/3 of its physical defense and 1/2 of its physical attack. There's also the two 4x weaknesses Aggron possesses to Fighting- and Ground-type moves. However, if you look closer, there are many Pokemon that can pair well with Choice Band Aggron. Here's a few:

Mesprit: Mesprit is one of only a few Pokemon in RU that is resistant or immune to both of Aggron's 4x weaknesses. Almost any of Mesprit's sets benefit Aggron in some way. The most notable would probably be Mesprit's TR set as Aggron just flat out destroys stuff in TR. However, outside of the Calm Mind sets (which can still weaken or KO Steels for Aggron) every Mesprit set has benefits for Aggron. The Offensive SR set can lay SR reliably and is one of the best offensive switch-ins to Fighting- and Ground-types. It has U-turn to bring Aggron in safely. All of Mesprit's choice sets carry U-turn on most occasions to get Aggron in safely. The Band set is especially intriguing since it usually runs Fire Punch and ThunderPunch to handle Ferroseed and Slowking to an extent. No matter the set, Mesprit is a great switch-in to one of the most reliable CB Aggron checks in RU, Poliwrath. Mesprit can also put HP Fire on any of its special sets to lure in and take out Steelix, arguably the best CB Aggron switch-in.

Slowking: Another teammate, another Psychic-type. While Slowking isn't immune to Ground-type moves (it doesn't even resist them) it can do one thing Mesprit simply can't; switch into Fire-types that like to revenge kill Aggron. Magmortar, Emboar, Moltres, Typhlosion; they all like to revenge kill Aggron once it has taken out something. Slowking also brings a resistance to Water-type moves to the table as well. Slowking can either slow down the opposing team with paralysis or form a fairly bulky wallbreaking core with Aggron by utilizing its Choice Specs set. Slowking, like Mesprit, can also provide Trick Room support for Aggron if desired. Slowking also has Regenerator to be able to switch-in more aggressively than Mesprit could ever hope to.

Druddigon: This seems odd, but there's one set in particular that can really help Aggron; Mixed Druddigon. Aggron struggles with Steel-types and very bulky physical walls and guess what Mixed Druddigon excels at forcing in and taking out? Yup, Steel-types and very bulky physical walls (bar Alomomola) Steelix, Ferroseed, and Tangrowth are all dealt with handily by Mixed Druddigon. Aggron can switch-in to opposing Druddigon with relative ease while Druddigon is able to resist Water-type moves and switch-in to most Grass- and Electric-types that may attempt to revenge kill Aggron. Flamethrower also deals with Torterra, a very underrated check to Aggron.

Uxie: Same typing and ability as Mesprit, but Uxie is much bulkier at the cost of offensive prowess. Uxie is pretty much the middle ground between Mesprit and Slowking. It takes care of Aggron's 4x weaknesses and is able to spread paralysis rather effectively. However, outside of running the odd HP Fire, Uxie can do nothing to help Aggron with Steel-types, Steelix in particular. That said, Uxie can provide dual screens, SR, paralysis, and TR support depending on the set, so its a solid supportive option for Aggron.

Moltres: The last one I'll cover here, but Moltres is a fantastic offensive partner for Aggron. Moltres levels pretty much every single physical wall that could ever hope to handle Aggron. Moltres's standard Roost + 3 Attacks set deals with everything Aggron wants out of the way. Steelix, Ferroseed, Poliwrath, Tangrowth, Torterra, and Gallade; they all get ripped apart by Moltres's main set while Aggron can easily switch-in to most of Moltres's checks, primarily Regirock. The combination of Moltres and Aggron will put the opponent under incredible pressure due to how powerful each is on opposite ends of the spectrum. Just look out for the shared Water weakness!

 

[Molk]

Hmmmm i know i probably should've posted this when we were talking about hidden gems before, but this is a pretty cool Pokemon Dittocrow and i have been using a bit lately (i even used it during the queen meta and it was quite the cool Pokemon.

Scraggy @ Eviolite
Trait: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Hi Jump Kick
- Crunch
- Drain Punch

Dragon Dance Scraggy is quite the interesting sweeper at the moment, (for anyone who thinks it might be too slow to function, it has just enough Speed to outrun everything up to Drapion and Jynx and tie with Sigilyph after one DD and Timid Accelgor and Scarf Medicham after two, which is just enough for DD Scraggy to function effectively) and despite being an NFE with low stats has a few cool qualities to seperate itself from RU's other Dark- and Fighting-types. Firstly, Scraggy has a pretty good STAB combination to work with in Dark/Fighting, which is resisted by pretty much nothing in RU (Heracross and Toxicroak are the only two fully evolved Pokemon that resist both and they're both stuck up in UU where they can't harm scraggers. Of course this STAB combination might not seem like much when Scraggy only has base 75 Attack to work with, but Scraggy also has a really high BP move in Hi Jump Kick that makes up for that somewhat (BP makes enough of a difference for +1 Scraggy HJK to hit harder than +2 Drapion Crunch vs a neutral target, more than enough to work with). Drain Punch is a really nice STAB for Scraggy too, dealing a decent amount of damage and healing it at the same time, and because Scraggy has a low hp stat and moderately high defenses with Eviolite, it has the perfect stat spread for a move like Drain Punch, also note that because Dark/Fighting hits pretty much everything in RU Scraggy can afford to run HJK and Drain Punch on the same set, which is always awesome. Lastly, Shed Skin is a really effective ability on a pokemon like Scraggy, giving it an 1/3 chance of healing off status at the end of the turn: this makes Scraggy a decently good status absorber and turns potential counters such as Alomomola and Spiritomb into set up bait as long as you don't get really unlucky with Shed Skin, especially with Drain Punch's recovery taken into account. In fact, the combination of Shed Skin, Drain Punch, and Scraggy's STABs mean it can give defensive teams a fair amount of trouble when given the chance. So all in all, if you need a unique and effective offensive Pokemon, give Scraggy a shot! Its been quite cool for me so far, and its by no means a joke.

Also agreeing with Feranfell that Dread Plate Absol is quite a cool Pokemon in this metagame, having almost the same power on your Dark-type STAB without the recoil is invaluable.

 

[Jatul]

Not sure where I should post this but this is a battle I had on the hail suspect ladder
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/rususpecttest-41222752

 

[atomicllamas]

Not sure where I should post this but this is a battle I had on the hail suspect ladder
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/rususpecttest-41222752

If you posted this because you thought hail was banned on the suspect ladder, you are wrong, RU chose to allow hail on the suspect ladder (since it is the only one) in order to test if it is truly broken or not. Otherwise I am not sure why this was posted...

 

[Molk]

eh, now that i wouldn't be double posting, might as well...

Wallbreakers:

Defensive Pokemon such as Steelix, Slowking, Spiritomb, Tangrowth, and Alomomola can be quite the thorn in the side of many players due to their ability to take hits well and support their team: especially when paired with each other in powerful defensive cores. Luckily, there are quite a few Pokemon in RU that have the raw power and/or coverage to give common walls in RU a run for their money, although they aren't truely uncheckable. The Druddigon, Aggron, and Gallade shown above are common examples of wallbreakers in RU, and some of my favorites to use. Choice Band Druddigon can be absolutely devastating to walls because of its amazing STAB, with only Steel-type Pokemon being able to take multiple Outrages with ease: even Tangrowth struggles a bit! Druddigon can run an effective mixed wallbreaker set as well, using Sheer Force Flamethrower to get past some Pokemon such as Steelix and Tangrowth more easily. Choice Band Aggron has already been covered quite a bit in above posts as a scary wallbreaker, but i'll go over how powerful it can be once again. Aggron's drawbackless Head Smash is its claim to fame, and its one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful move in RU, and it can even do serious damage to reasonably bulky Pokemon that resist it: such as Golurk. Aggron is able to switch in on physical Pokemon quite easily too because of its good resistances and massive physical bulk, making sure it can always switch in and punish the opponent's wall if they're not careful. Gallade doesn't really run a Choice Band set very often like the other two Pokemon, but its Lum SD set is one of the scariest Pokemon for defensive teams to face, and the reason almost any good defensive team needs a Spiritomb to keep it in check for at least a little while. Gallade can use its decent special bulk and lum berry to set up on various defensive Pokemon, then just go to town between CC, Zen Headbutt, and Leaf Blade, nothing really wants to take a +2 hit from Gallade bar the aforementioned Spiritomb, and even tomb can be worn down to the point where it can be KO'd by a +2 Leaf Blade. Other good examples of wallbreakers include Magmortar, Medicham, Zangoose, and Emboar.

So, what are your favorite wallbreakers in the current metagame? and why? how important do you think wallbreaking is in the current RU? and how can defensive teams prepare themselves for the onslaught of some of the common wallbreakers (some are easier to take than others)

 

[dcae]

Through my personal RU experience, certain defensive cores in the tier are incredibly difficult to break. One core I was abusing not long ago was Tangrowth + Slowking + Rhydon. Regen and monstrous bulk overall prevents offensive teams lacking a way to go mixed to break this core from winning, and it was very effective. LO Moltres is one mon that can break through most of these bulky defensive cores, barring hax, due to high powered STABs, amazing coverage, and power + speed, making it a threat for slower teams. Generally LO mixed attackers tend to do well against cores in current RU due to most mons in the core being focused on one side of the spectrum, ie Tangrowth with physical defense, Alomomomola with physical defense. Magmortar is pretty irritating to face due to strong LO boosted moves with good coverage.

Obviously, as Molk highlighted, there are certain mons that don't need to bypass the opposing defenses by going mixed or having good coverage. Instead you slap on that Band or Specs and aboos, such as the great CB Aggron.

To address the question of how important wallbreaking is atm in RU, I think it is quite important for offensive teams to deal with the common cores found in defensive teams and bulky offense teams, otherwise they will not have as much success. Dealing with these wallbreakers can be difficult, and when I have to face something especially threatening (ie Moltres to one of my teams), smart switching into something that outspeeds and KOs it is the only way to take it out. Idk about other threats because most of my bulky teams double up on a physically defensive mon to be able to take stuff like CB Esca, Druddi, Aggron, and the like.

 

[ss234]

Wallbreakers are very important for any team imo as without them sweeping with faster, less powerful pokemon becomes much more difficult. Anyways, here are 3 of my favourite wallbreakers:

Everyone knows how specs glaceon works-come in on a neutral attack / double switch, and fire off a ridiculously powerful blizzard. So powerful in fact, that there are only two pokemon in the tier(that aren't awful)which can continually take hits from glaceon-slowking and cryogonal. Esca gets 1HKO'd by specs HP fire, and lanturn can't do enough damage back / gets 3HKO'd. Even king struggles to take shadow balls, but regen means Everything else is basically destroyed, and the two pokes that can counter glaceon are ruined by pursuit. If you're running hail, then specs glaceon makes an excellent choice and really opens up holes for pokes like scarf frotom / scarf ice cream.

Specs slowking is a really underrated set, imo. Between grass knot, fire blast, psyshock and surf slowking 2HKO's everything in the tier with the correct move. Sadly, that's exactly it-with the correct move. This means that to properly break stall teams, you have to predict almost perfectly, or you give free hazard / spikes / spin opportunites. However, if you do get that hit off, then something generally dies / suffers some huge damage.
Thanks to regen and solid bulk, slowking gets to do this multiple times in a match too, which is something breakers such as magmortar lack.

CB golurk, much like specs slowking, is extremely prediction reliant in that the vast majority of teams have immunities / strong resists to it's STAB's and coverage moves. However, thanks to it's huge attack stat, there are only two pokemon in the entire metagame that can even hope to switch into golurk without fear of death-alomomola and tangrowth. Even tangrowth gets 2HKO'd by CB fire punch after sr, and even mola can be 2HKO'd after sr and spikes. Golurk isn't quite as difficult to wear down as king, but it does have a sr resistance and solid bulk, so golurk should get plenty of opportunities to wreck.

CB Braviary is another underrated wallbreaker, much like CB golurk. CB Brave Bird just hits like an absolute truck, 2HKO'ing even alomomola after sr if adamant. Unlike some other birds(*cough*swellow*cough*), it also has solid coverage in the form of superpower to hit steelix, regirock etc. very hard. Although it doesn't 2HKO them, it leaves a huge dent(around 85%), making it incredibly easy for pokes such as klinklang to sweep. Unfortunately, CB braviary does have some large flaws-brave bird causes recoil, which becomes very noticeable when facing pokes such as mola which have huge HP stats. It's also SR weak, making it easier to wear down than some other wallbreakers such as golurk. Nonetheless cb braviary is a very powerful wallbreaker and is capable of breaking through many common cores in the metagame.

 

[EonX]

Wallbreakers are extremely important in RU right now. I would venture to say that you can't make a good RU team without one unless you happen to be using Stall. There are many different wallbreakers in the tier and I have used quite a few. I'll list some that haven't been talked about yet and then cover a couple that I have used and have already been mentioned:

Mesprit: One shouldn't be surprised that I would talk about Mesprit here. While most wallbreakers use raw power to break down defensive cores, Mesprit uses its coverage to accomplish this. Psychic STAB +BoltBeam is able to get through just about any defensive core in RU in just 3 moves! Mesprit's Choice Specs set is a particularly good wallbreaker imo for its ability to use U-turn to scout how the opponent wants to play around it before Mesprit goes about breaking down a defensive core. The CM set can also be played as a wallbreaker to an extent since few things can actually OHKO Mesprit without a super effective STAB move.

Emboar: Molk mentioned this in his post, but CB Emboar is pretty damn hard to switch into when it 2HKOs the entire tier with just 3 moves; yes, even Alomomola is 2HKOed by CB Wild Charge. So yeah, this thing has literally 0 safe switch-ins. Its STAB moves have great coverage and Sleep Talk keeps it from being useless if put to sleep. It might not be incredibly fast, but it can reach the minimum Speed Lanturn benchmark with little effort and that's usually enough for a wallbreaker.

Samurott: The BW Water starter is perhaps the best mixed attacker in the tier right now with high powered moves on both ends of the spectrum. Samurott has great 100 / 109 mixed attacking stats and the movepool to take advantage of it. With just Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, and Megahorn, Samurott is able to push past the vast majority of RU defensive cores. Samurott has Grass Knot and HP Grass available to reinforce its coverage (mainly for Alomomola, but useful for Slowking as well if Samurott runs Superpower as its physical move) and Aqua Jet to overcome its lackluster Speed against offensive teams. It has decent bulk as 95 / 85 physical bulk means that Samurott can stand up to most priority users in the tier as well even without HP or Defense investment. Base 70 Speed may not be fast, but it's good enough to outspeed pretty much any defensive Pokemon not named Uxie or Cryogonal (the latter of which always loses to Samurott anyway)

Rhydon: While Rhydon can be one of the targets that wallbreakers try to get past, it can fill the role of a wallbreaker itself with a Choice Band set that provides amazing power and 3-move coverage. With just Stone Edge, Earthquake, and Megahorn, almost no defensive core in RU is safe from this monster. Add to the fact that SE and EQ are backed by STAB boosts and it becomes that much harder to switch into. It's high risk, high reward with CB Rhydon, but the payout can be huge.

Rotom-C: While Rotom-C is arguably the best Scarfer in the tier, it's no slouch when it comes to wallbreaking either. With a pair of Choice Specs, Rotom-C has the ability to run through the vast majority of defensive Pokemon in RU with little to no effort. Slowking + Tangrowth get destroyed by Leaf Storm alone... yes, Specs Leaf Storm 2HKOs defensive Tangrowth despite the resist and Special Attack drop for the second Leaf Storm. Rotom-C is also capable of utilizing HP Fire to catch Ferroseed and Amoonguss for heavy damage, both of which commonly switch into Rotom-C expecting its Scarf set.

Typhlosion: This is a pretty underrated Pokemon in general right now (mainly because people use the inferior Scarf set... seriously, use it's Specs set people) Like with many other wallbreakers I've mentioned, Typhlosion has great 3-move coverage in Fire Blast, Focus Blast, and HP Rock (or Grass) Now, this doesn't look like it's any better than Moltres or Magmortar until you notice Typhlosion's trump card; Eruption. Although Typhlosion will rarely ever get off more than a single full power Eruption in a match, that will often be all it needs to handle a check later in the match.

Slowking: This was previously mentioned by Silvershadow, but I do have quite a bit of experience with using this set. It's actually my favorite set with Slowking as it still has good enough bulk to switch into most Fire- and Fighting-types with relative ease while it has the power to repel most Pursuit users. There's also a little surprise value here as well since most people expect Slowking to be more defensive only to find out that it comes packing much more power than they anticipated. Another example of a common target of wallbreakers becoming a wallbreaker itself.

Braviary: This thing is great. Brave Bird alone will break through every single Regenerator core in the tier. Like Mesprit and Rotom-C, it has U-turn (Volt Switch in Rotom-C's case) to scout out how the opponent wants to play against it before it comes back in to break down the opposing defensive core. After just a little bit of prior damage, CB Braviary is capable of breaking past Rhydon and Steelix with Superpower. Outside of these 2, SR support alone can and will drop everything into 2HKO range at worst of Braviary's STAB moves.

 

[chimpact]

Sigilyph is a pretty good wallbreaker. It has pretty decent coverage with its STAB and Heatwave for the steel types that it can't hit that hard. What really makes it excel is magic guard; it enables Sigilyph to outlive most walls who can't really hit it hard even when it does not invest in defenses. Being immune to the residual damage from life orb recoil, toxic or burns along with every form of entry hazards forces the defensive pokemon to combat it head on, which most can't do that effectively.

Most players tend to go with the flame orb cosmic power route, which to me seems inferior because of all the set up it requires and its vulnerability to crits.

 

[Molk]

Going to agree with chimpact that Sigilyph is really good at hassling defensive teams because of a combination of its power, speed, recovery, Magic Guard, and coverage. I'm also going to have to agree that Cosmic Power Sigilyph is probably the worst set at the moment to be honest :/. Cosmic Power Sigilyph takes a very long to time to set up because of the low initial BP of Stored Power, which leaves it vulnerable to being KO'd, taunted, tricked, hazed, or crit before it can get to sweeping. Of course it'll sweep some unprepared teams pretty nicely, but i still find it to be inferior to other sets such as 3 Attacks+Roost, CM+Life Orb, and Calm Mind+Flame Orb Sigilyph, which i'll expand on below.

Sigilyph @ Flame Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 16 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psycho Shift
- Psyshock
- Roost

After reading through Branflakes325's RMT: Explosive Ice Cream, i noticed that he was running a pretty interesting Calm Mind+Flame Orb Sigilyph set that looked pretty nice to me on paper, and after testing it out a little bit, i can happily say i'm not even close to disappointed. Calm Mind+Flame Orb Sigilyph basically carries a lot of the positive traits of the Cosmic Power set, such as the fast and accurate burn and the ability to set up a win condition against unprepared teams, but covers some of the flaws that Cosmic Power Sigilyph has as well. For example, while as mentioned before Cosmic Power Sigilyph struggles early on and needs a lot of set up before of the low BP of Stored Power, CM+Flame Orb needs significantly less set up to pose a threat because of Psyshock's decent BP and the fact that Calm Mind boosts Sigilyph's Special Attack stat, and CM+Flame Orb Sigi often only needs 1 or 2 boosts to get going compared to CP Sigilyph often needing to get all the way up to +6, and can even do a decent amount of damage to switch ins unboosted if needed. Psyshock also means CM+Flame Orb Sigi can seriously damage or even KO defensive Cryogonal before it can haze away its boosts and, something CP Sigi wishes it could do. The loss of the defense boost from Cosmic Power might seem annoying at first, but because of Sigilyph's Speed and ability to burn, its really not that bad (unless Sigilyph is up against something immune to burn such as Entei). Of course, this set still shares some flaws with the Cosmic Power set, such as having trouble with Dark-types that can heal status such as Restalk Spiritomb, but overall i think this is a pretty good Sigilyph set, and from my experience its definitely better than Cosmic Power Sigilyph, what do you guys think?

 

[SilentVerse]

Yeah, DittoCrow and I made a team using CM + Flame Orb Sigilyph that I used in SPL, and I gotta say, it's easily become my favorite Sigilyph set since then. The set just has such a nice mix of utility and offensive presence that I find it far easier to slap onto a team than any other Sigilyph set really. While the other good Sigilyph sets are basically only geared towards sweeping or wallbreaking (CM + Roost and 3 attacks), this one has the ability to spread burns early- to mid-game to weaken all of its counters and weaken certain other threats for your team, then sweep late-game with Calm Mind. The only difference between the set that you posted Molk and the one I used in SPL was that I used max Special Attack instead of HP investment, as well as Psychic over Psyshock in order to give Sigilyph much more initial offensive presence. This way, instead of relying JUST on burns to wear down counters (which can take a while unfortunately :s), I could smack things with a powerful Psychic on the switch to 2HKO certain things easier (like Entei who is immune to burns), while also becoming significantly more deadly after a single Calm Mind. Psyshock isn't really necessary with max Special Attack, since it basically only becomes useful for Cryogonal (stuff like Gallade still takes a boatload from Psychic on the switch), who is very very easy to wear down between burning it on the switch and Stealth Rock. However, I suppose that the HP investment does make Sigilyph much harder to kill, which makes Sigilyph even better at spreading burns around. But yeah, this is definitely a fantastic Sigilyph set and one that I personally enjoy to use very much.

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

CM+Flame Orb seems really damn interesting, it looks cool to hit pretty hard but also cripple opposing Dark-types such as Absol and Spiritomb. It looks pretty damn cool, I oughtta try it out.

As for wallbreaking, one of my favorite wallbreakers is probably Escavalier. That thing is a complete boss with its amazing 135 Attack and strong STAB Megahorn allow it to hit absurdly hard and break down many walls. Bug STAB is also really good in RU atm, and Escavalier can tear down alot; its biggest counters, Steelix, Qwilfish, etc. have the problem of being worn down over time; especially by repeated Megahorns and Spikes damage. It also has a nice defensive typing, allowing it to come in on a lot of shit and proceed to start the destruction glory. It's a pretty good wallbreaker.

Aside from that, my thoughts have been covered up pretty well though.

 

[EonX]

I've never used CM+Flame Orb Sigilyph myself, but I have faced it a couple of times before. From what I've seen, it's a pretty cool set. Granted it is a little more susceptible to physical attackers that are immune to burns (Entei and Emboar being the main two) it is a pretty cool set. It pretty much blends the qualities of the CM+Roost and CP+Flame Orb sets to create a pretty flexible set (and as many of you know by now, I'm a big fan of flexibility) That said, as long as you have something to beat RestTalk Spiritomb (Emboar is really cool for this) then CM+Flame Orb Sigilyph can be a thorn in the opponent's side with the ability to support its teammates and sweep on its own if the opportunity presents itself. Very flexible set and one that I need to try out for myself soon.

 

[Explorer]

I'll bring up one more wallbreaker:

Druddigon (M) @ Life Orb/Expert Belt
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spe
Nature: Lonely
-Outrage
-Sucker Punch
-Flamethrower
-Rock Slide/Earthquake

Wallbreaker Druddigon, the unexpected one most of the time. Outrage is your nuke with max investment and a +Atk nature. Sucker Punch lets you pick off weakened Pokemon with good prediction. Flamethrower destroys Ferroseed, Tangrowth, and Escavalier, frequent checks/walls against other Druddigon sets. Earthquake or Rock Slide can be used in the last slot. Rock Slide gets a Sheer Force boost and destroys Moltres and Cryogonal, while Earthquake nails Kabutops and Emboar while having higher accuracy than Rock Slide, but without a Sheer Force boost or pass on LO recoil.

If you decide on Expert Belt, the power will drop a bit, but now all the moves are recoil-free, and you can bluff a Choice Band.

I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned yet.

 

[soulgazer]

I'll bring up one more wallbreaker:

Druddigon (M) @ Life Orb/Expert Belt
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spe
Nature: Lonely
-Outrage
-Sucker Punch
-Flamethrower
-Rock Slide/Earthquake

Wallbreaker Druddigon, the unexpected one most of the time. Outrage is your nuke with max investment and a +Atk nature. Sucker Punch lets you pick off weakened Pokemon with good prediction. Flamethrower destroys Ferroseed, Tangrowth, and Escavalier, frequent checks/walls against other Druddigon sets. Earthquake or Rock Slide can be used in the last slot. Rock Slide gets a Sheer Force boost and destroys Moltres and Cryogonal, while Earthquake nails Kabutops and Emboar while having higher accuracy than Rock Slide, but without a Sheer Force boost or pass on LO recoil.

If you decide on Expert Belt, the power will drop a bit, but now all the moves are recoil-free, and you can bluff a Choice Band.

I'm surprised this wasn't mentioned yet.

Molk posted about it not long ago.

Also, there's a On-Site Analyse on Mixed Druddigon with the same moves you are using (except Rock Slide). The EVs spread is 216 Hp / 252 Atk / 20 Spd / 20 SpA with a Lonely nature which let you 2HK0 Steelix and Tangrowth 100% of the time. It also let you 0HK0 Escavalier ( All that with Life Orb).

 

[Explorer]

Molk posted about it not long ago.

Also, there's a On-Site Analyse on Mixed Druddigon with the same moves you are using (except Rock Slide). The EVs spread is 216 Hp / 252 Atk / 20 Spd / 20 SpA with a Lonely nature which let you 2HK0 Steelix and Tangrowth 100% of the time. It also let you 0HK0 Escavalier ( All that with Life Orb).

Okay, I didn't notice that when I went to post this, thank you.

Does Rock Slide have any merit on this set? Safe KO on Moltres, anybody?

 

[soulgazer]

Okay, I didn't notice that when I went to post this, thank you.

Does Rock Slide have any merit on this set? Safe KO on Moltres, anybody?

The only merit I see on running Rock Slide would be to hit Ice-Types harder ( which force out druddigon, but again they never switch in on it in fear of getting kill by it's powerful attacks) and if your team needs to take care of Moltres/Articuno ASAP. But again, EQ is quite useful as it has neutral coverage with Outrage/Dragon Claw and does more to things like Aggron/Klinklang (Which are big threats).

 

[Molk]

Alright, now that the discussion on wallbreakers has died down a bit, i guess it'll be okay to post something different here.

Druddigon @ Choice Band
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Sucker Punch
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake

Magneton @ Eviolite
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Volt Switch

Lilligant (F) @ Life Orb / Lum Berry
Trait: Own Tempo
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Rock]

So, this is an offensive core i've been using for the past few days or so, and i've got to say, i'm pretty impressed. These three Pokemon work pretty well together! getting past each others checks and counters, covering each other's flaws, and opening up opportunities for each other. For example, whats a Pokemon that Hp Rock Lilligant and CB Druddigon both hate? Escavalier of course! it resists druddigon's Outrage and deals with Lilligant quite handily without Hp Fire, but thats not a problem with Magneton in the mix, as it can easily trap and eliminate the snail with a combination of its Megahorn resist, Magnet Pull, and Hidden Power Fire, eliminating it from the match and making Lilli and Druddigon's job that much easier. Outside of Escavalier, Magneton traps other Steel-types for Druddigon such as Ferroseed and Klinklang, which leaves it more room to Outrage Spam vs a larger amount of teams. Another example is how much trouble Lilligant has with Roselia, Amoonguss, and opposing Druddigon. CB Druddigon threatens all 3 of those Pokemon, especially with all the Speed Creep to outpace opposing Drudd, and can easily switch into at least the first two once Sleep Clause is in effect, making it a great way to pressure these Pokemon. Druddigon also resists Fire-type moves aimed at Lilligant, although some stronger ones like Entei's Flare Blitz can still 2HKO :x. In return, Lilligant can pose a threat to some of the Steel-types that annoy Druddigon, such as Steelix, who takes quite a bit from Giga Drain and hates being put to sleep (well....what doesn't lol), and can set up on Lanturn quite easily, who completely walls Magneton. So, does anyone else have any experience with an offensive core similar to this? If so, how did it go for you? If not, do you have any opinions on the specific pokemon (Druddigon, Magneton, and Lilligant) in the current metagame?

 

[Explorer]

Molk, this is a very interesting core with great synergy and power that handles much of the metagame--many teams could blossom from this core. However, I would suggest a source of hazards and a sleep absorber. Here are my suggestions for teammates:

Omastar (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpA
Nature: Bold
IVs: 0 Spe
-Stealth Rock
-Spikes
-Scald
-Earth Power

I picked Omastar as a hazards setter because it gives you a fire resistance that is much needed. Having all these hazards can change 2HKOs to OHKOs, and now a physical wall is thrown into the mix, as all the Pokemon you gave have offensive EV spreads. The occasional burn from Scald is nice too.

Emboar (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 248 HP/252 Atk/4 SpD/4 Spe
Nature: Adamant
-Flare Blitz
-Superpower
-Wild Charge
-Sleep Talk

This team screams Emboar's name. There are several reasons why I chose it:

• It completes a FWG core
• This core would struggle with Amoonguss if Druddigon were burned or otherwise out of commission, and Emboar destroys Amoonguss with ease.
• Emboar + Druddigon make an excellent wallbreaking core with sheer power and coverage; in particular Emboar removes Steel-types for Druddigon.
• A Bouffalant with Megahorn and Earthquake would also give this core trouble since it basically walls and then outright KOs Lilligant. Magneton is quickly removed with Earthquake, and if Bouffalant can switch in safely, Druddigon will have a lot more trouble wrecking everything. Emboar is an excellent check to Bouffalant due to its power, typing, and its ability to outspeed Bouffalant.

These guys seemed the most effective, but I have other ideas too. I'd be happy to elaborate if you like.