(NU) How to Win in a Crazy New Metagame

Let's get one thing out of the way: NU is still in it's very early stages, and people are still discovering awesome new stuff seemingly every day. However, after a couple hundred games I think I've come up with a team that utilizes some of the strongest threats while also dealing with some of the craziest stuff in this metagame.

There aren't exactly a ton of people on the ladder, but I've gotten pretty close to the top with multiple accounts using this team or similar variations of it. I haven't quite gotten to 1400, but my peak was around 1370 which I'd say is pretty good and is top 25 or so right now. Anyway, let's just get on to my team:



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Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Relaxed Nature
- Earth Power
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock
- Scald

The God Frog. This is one of the strongest sets in the metagame, and chances are you're not going to be able to kill this guy without a strong grass attack. He's absurdly bulky and a complete menace. I often lead with him if I don't see a grass type that I feel my opponent will drop immediately to scare me off, and if that's the case I will 100% get rocks up, knock off some items, and maybe leave a burn or two along the way. You don't want to try and tank some hits from this guy either, because his strong STABs hit pretty hard coming off of his decent base stats. With Water Absorb he can easily single-handedly shut down almost every water sweeper in the tier that doesn't carry HP Grass. Feraligatr? Carracosta? Yeah, right. Even a +2 Earthquake from Feraligatr is barely gonna scrape the Toad, and I can go for the burn or knock off in return to completely cripple you with whichever way I feel like. This guy is the MVP in most of my games, as he consistently tanks and cripples key threats and gets up the ever-important Stealth Rock in basically every game.


Archeops
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature
- Acrobatics
- Rock Slide
- Roost
- Heat Wave

Yeah, no item. If Flying Gem were released I fully believe Archeops would be too much for the metagame, and every team would be forced to run Rhydon or something to even have a chance against this monster. Having no EVs in HP ensures you can switch into Stealth Rocks twice without activating Defeatist, which gives Archeops several chances to come in and launch off an outrageously strong Acrobatics or Rock Slide. There are times I wish I had Earthquake, but there have been more times where I've had a 30% Archeops ready to revenge kill something, but I go for the Roost on the switch and am back to dealing massive damage. Heat Wave gives me a guaranteed OHKO on Durant which is extremely important. I'm pretty sure that it maims the little bug even with Defeatist activated because that thing's special defenses are laughable. Archeops has one more base speed than Durant, meaning I have a guaranteed outspeed as long as he's not running SubSalac (which is pretty much guaranteed to sweep me) or Scarf (which I can outplay). Overall he's one of the most monstrous Pokemon in the tier and gives me all kinds of strategic advantages.


Hariyama @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Knock Off

I've tried all kinds of things in this slot, and there are several excellent fighting Pokemon in the tier to try. Machoke, Gurdurr, Sawk, Throh, and Primeape are all really strong options, but I always come back to Hariyama. The ability is really a tough choice; there's status all over this tier and Guts can actually give this sumo a fast-track to a sweep. I've settled with Thick Fat, however, to give myself a more comfortable switch-in to the likes of Typhlosion and Magmortar. Lots of Typhlosion are (smartly) running Hidden Power Grass lately with the popularity of Seismitoad and Carracosta. I don't feel good about switching the Toad into Typhlosion anymore, but Hariyama on the other hand has no problem taking anything from those guys except the unlikely Extrasensory. Hariyama is a tanky mofo, and Thick Fat ensures that I can comfortably switch into an Eruption and then Fake Out to permanently weaken it, and then I'll likely get to fire a free Knock Off on the inevitable switch. Having a double priority combo in Fake Out and Bullet Punch is absolutely invaluable and gives me a fix in several panic scenarios. This guy would be even better if he got Mach Punch instead of Bullet Punch, but I can't complain too much. Overall a great mon.


Pyroar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Hyper Voice
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Pyroar here is very similar to Typhlosion, but there are a few reasons I prefer Pyroar. For starters, I appreciate the Ghost immunity, and a lot of Mismagius I've ran into run Shadow Ball/Energy Ball as two of their moves, so Pyroar is an emergency possibility against her. Pyroar also has a speed advantage while not sacrificing very much bulk and having the exact same Special Attack stat and an extra powerful STAB. So it's really up to preference, and I find Pyroar to be extremely cool. Rivalry is way too risky of an ability since everybody tends to keep their Pokemon's gender at random, so I've gone with Unnerve which actually kind of has some uses since their are some cheese Sitrus Berry Harvest strategies that I've run into. There really isn't any other options in terms of moves: Fire Blast is obvious, Hyper Voice hits like a truck through subs, Dark Pulse nails all the strong ghosts and psychics in the tier, and HP Grass is to nail Seismitoad/Golem/Carracosta/etc on the switch-in for a clutch OHKO that can easily turn the tide of a battle.


Gourgeist-Super @ Leftovers
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SDef
Careful Nature
- Leech Seed
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak
- Protect

One of my favorite Pokemon of all-time ever since I first saw it. I even got him to work relatively well in OU back when X and Y first came out, but now that he's dropped to NU he's an absolute menace. Many, many teams out there are completely swept by this guy because they simply can't do anything to him. I strongly believe specially defensive is the way to go, what with Will-O-Wisp being available to burn any physical threats. This guy can easily take random non-STAB Ice Beams and get a Leech Seed going in return. As with many Pokemon, this guy suffers from some serious moveslot syndrome; if I could have Seed Bomb, Substitute, Pain Split, and Toxic on this set it'd be the greatest Pokemon of all-time haha, but I have to make sacrifices. I often wish I had Seed Bomb, but the extra priority move is just too important to me even if it's weak. How many times have I activated Sturdy while a Carracosta gets off a Shell Smash that would otherwise finish off the rest of my team? The answer is quite a few times. Protect is better than Substitute imo because the pumpkin is just so damn slow, it's better to get the guaranteed Lefties+Leech Seed recovery.


Weezing @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Bomb

An old favorite and someone I've always used in the lower tiers because he's just so damn good at countering fighting types and most physical Pokemon in general. He's not a great Durant check, but he can take a couple +1 Iron Heads and KO the bastard back with Flamethrower. Gurdurr, Sawk etc are essentially hopeless against this guy, although I have to be careful with giving Gurdurr a Guts boost in combination with a couple Bulk Ups, because a really strong Mach Punch can easily finish off most of my team. I've considered HP Grass or even Toxic over Thunderbolt and Sludge Bomb because they actually don't see a whole lot of use, but Tbolt has still gotten me some Feraligatr KO's while Sludge Bomb can hurt Granbull quite a bit. Overall this guy can completely dominate a team that relies too heavily on physical threats, with Will-O-Wisp being the main thing that screws them over. My team has a lot of burn and Weezing is part of what helps spread it.

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Major Threats:

Durant - SubSalac is pretty much a guaranteed victory as long as you bring it out at the right time. If it's brought out against Gourgeist it's gg, there's basically nothing I can do. Other sets like basic Hone Claws and Scarf are beatable but still monstrous.

Mismagius - Big trouble. Gourgeist can generally take an unboosted Shadow Ball but can't exactly do a whole lot in return. Archeops outspeeds and destroys it of course but absolutely cannot switch in to anything. Chances are a Mismagius will take out a couple mons.

Archeops - No one really wants to switch into anything, but I have plenty that can crush it. Weezing can take an Acrobatics and burn in return, Seismitoad can also Scald, Hariyama can Fake Out/Bullet Punch to get it into Defeatist range, but something is definitely going to take a lot of damage from it before I get it down regardless.

There are obviously more threats but those are the three that scare me the most in general when I'm playing. I know this team is quite good but there are definitely improvements that can be made, and I'm seeking your help for those improvements! Rate away! :) <3
 
i'm on my phone so i can't bother to explain too much so my "rate" will probably look half-assed, but i generally agree with you on the pokemon you could have problems with. you could try something like doublade over gourgeist which handles durant very well and does a considerable amount to archeops and mismagius with shadow sneak before they can hit you. it also gives you the flying-type resistance your team kind of wants

i think weezing seems a little odd on your team and you really want some sort of safety net against special water-types like omastar since they can break through mid- to late-game. there's several options to explore like perhaps assault vest muk to provide another source of priority and check mismagius and special water-types while retaining a second fighting-type resistance, or some kind of choice scarf pokemon for revenge killing

someone could probably come up with more solid suggestions but these seemed to retain your team structure the most while cushioning you against problematic pokemon
 
I have to agree with changing Gourgeist for Doublade, tbh. Doublade offers so much more for your team than Gorgeist does. I also agree with Weezing looking oddly out of place here, but I can't really come up with a mon to replace it yet. This is because I just started playing this meta myself. The best thing I can come up with to replace Weezing is a mon with Defog or Rapid Spin.

I would also have you consider using Typhlosion over Pyroar, as Typhlosion is a phenomenal wallbreaker, and quite honestly, it's arguably the best fire-type in the tier (as well as Magmortar). However, I can see why you would be using Pyroar, as it has that Ghost-type immunity for Mismagius. I am sorry for the kind of "half-assed" rate, but as I said I am just figuring out this gen's NU now.
 
Looking at the team, it isn't bad at all. This said, I do see major flaws against pokemon such as Shell Smash Omastar, Dragon Dance Feraligatr etc. since at +2 or +3 you really have nothing that wants to switch in or hit it. On top of this, the team is overly weak to Flying types, which is a huge flaw in the current tier where pokemon such as Archeops, Fletchinder, etc. run rampant.

I find that Gourgeist is uneeded, and like the above two raters, reccomend running Tank Doublade over it. Simply put, it is far bulkier, but more importantly acts as a significant counter to most flying types in the tier, as none of them have viable ways to do important amounts to damage to it, to the point that they would come close to KO'ing it, making it a good glue on a team like yours. On top of this, it offers priority and a better answer to fairy types, which is key.

The next thing I would do is to run Scarf Rotom-F over Weezing. On a team like yours, it is absolutely necessary to have a dedicated revenge killer, as you oftentimes will be put in a position where weak priority isn't enough to kill a powerful sweeper, possibly losing you a match. Rotom-F outpaces all of the previously mentioned sweepers at their respective +1's and acts as a safety net for the team, while also again helping to check flying types. More importantly, it can trick walls its scarf to help tear them down, and definitely helps the team out more than weezing.

Minor Changes:
Seismitoad: Since you are relaxed Earthquake > Earth Power just because it is your strongest possible STAB.
Archeops: Your current set is completely stopped by both Rhydon and Golem, and for this reason I reccomend you run Earth Power > Heat Wave only because it offers more coverage against Rocks and Steels rather than Steel types only.
Hariyama: Assault Vest > Leftovers and Stone Edge > Fake Out. You will find that with an Assault Vest, Hariyama actually becomes a fearsome tank, and it shoots up its viability significantly. Stone Edge is necessary to hit flying types, while Fake Out is honestly a waste of a slot, as other pokemon on your team with the above suggestions revenge far more reliably.
Pyroar: Flamethrower > Dark Pulse because a super effective Dark Pulse is as strong as a STAB Fire Blast is anyways, making it pointless on the moveset. Instead by running Flamethrower, you have a reliable STAB to fall back on when you cannot afford to miss late game, which is far more significant than Dark Pulse which gives you no important coverage.

Cool team!
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Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Gyro Ball / Iron Head
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance / Toxic


Rotom-Frost @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Blizzard
- Trick
 
Thanks for the help guys! I never thought of Doublade over Gourgeist, but it makes perfect sense and instantly patches up a pretty big hole the team has. As much as I love the pumpkin, Doublade just seems like a better idea.

I'll try out the Rotom as well, I'm curious to see how he performs because I've yet to see a single Rotom-F in all my time in NU!
 
I'd say run Sitrus on Archeops - sure, not getting boosted Acrobatics immediately is kind of annoying but if you get down to Defeatist range you have a good chance to hop right back, and you can then use Acrobatics still. It can help you live a little, especially in a case of crits.
 
the moves to choose on archeops depend on what you're really concerned about. heat wave is actually very useful to land a clean OHKO on durant. but yea, either earthquake or earth power is good to have on there as it has more uses

if my speed tiers aren't mistaken then rotom-a is outsped by +2 timid omastar, so the team is still weak to it with those changes. you're better off with regular rotom or a different scarf user that isn't susceptible to whatever you used weezing for

also, i honestly don't see the purpose of brave and gyro ball doublade unless someone wants to point out what i'm not seeing. iron head hits so many useful slower pokemon for more damage like spiritomb, rhydon, and so forth. you need an adamant nature and some speed creep to be able to get off a good hit on spiritomb before it uses will-o-wisp since it shares the same speed tier with doublade. and with iron head you also don't lose to granbull 1v1...
 
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the moves to choose on archeops depend on what you're really concerned about. heat wave is actually very useful to land a clean OHKO on durant. but yea, either earthquake or earth power is good to have on there as it has more uses

if my speed tiers aren't mistaken then rotom-a is outsped by +2 timid omastar, so the team is still weak to it with those changes. you're better off with regular rotom or a different scarf user that isn't susceptible to whatever you used weezing for

also, i honestly don't see the purpose of brave and gyro ball doublade unless someone wants to point out what i'm not seeing. iron head hits so many useful slower pokemon for more damage like spiritomb, rhydon, and so forth. you need an adamant nature and some speed creep to be able to get off a good hit on spiritomb before it uses will-o-wisp since it shares the same speed tier with doublade. and with iron head you also don't lose to granbull 1v1...
Brave in general is used to hit faster pokemon, although I 100% agree with you that it is outclassed by Iron Head.

Idk about the speed tiers, but in general most of the omastar on the ladder atm are all modest but ok.
 

soulgazer

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also, i honestly don't see the purpose of brave and gyro ball doublade unless someone wants to point out what i'm not seeing. iron head hits so many useful slower pokemon for more damage like spiritomb, rhydon, and so forth. you need an adamant nature and some speed creep to be able to get off a good hit on spiritomb before it uses will-o-wisp since it shares the same speed tier with doublade. and with iron head you also don't lose to granbull 1v1...
Spiritomb can also carry Foul Play or a CM set and beat you easily.

Brawlfest Gyro Ball is ass just for the reasons above, also what does Sacred Sword hits that its STABs doesn't?.. the only Normal-Type that can actually threaten Doublade iirc is Pyroar (which loses 50%+ of its health with Stealth Rock and an Iron Head on the switch, which makes it impossible for it to switch on you again later on.) and Fire Blast Tauros (doesn't enjoy taking Iron Head on the switch either). As for Toxic, why would you give up Swords Dance on a Pokemon that can set up on so many threats and clean teams so easily? =/

Doublade>Gourgeist is good, as it help you cover those threats. (use Shadow Sneak / Swords Dance / Iron Head / Shadow Claw with 252 Atk / some Speed Evs (to creep Spiritomb and maybe even min Speed Rhydon, its all preference) / rest of the EVs in HP for bulk with an Eviolite).

You could also consider Sleep Talk over Dark Pulse on Pyroar as you don't really have anything that enjoy taking a Sleep Powder when switching in on Venomoth and Vivillon that can also somewhat beat them (if they boost on the switch they can beat Pyroar though, so keep that in mind). Actually, another good option would be to give Pyroar a Choice Scarf too; you lose a wallbreaker but you gain a revenge killer that can help you revenge kill Durant, Virizion, and could even outspeed +2 Timid Omastar and OHKO with Hidden Power Grass :)

I'm also supporting Assault Vest>Leftovers on Hariyama and Stone Edge>Fake Out.

EDIT: make it Guts too.

Finally, I would keep Weezing, as it gives you a secondary check for Fighting-types as Doublade doesn't enjoy taking a Knock Off (which Gurdurr and Sawk should always carry by the way) and a good pivot in general n_n. I would give it Pain Split>Thunderbolt though for some recovery (you could also try out Toxic Spikes if you want to).

EDIT: I tried to cover your team's threats as much as possible, but unfortunately this team doesn't have much for Sawk's CB Earthquake; a way to deal with it could be to drop Weezing for a good Ground-type resist, but I will leave this to you since I don't want to change the team too much by myself :/

Final Team would be Seismitoad / Archeops / Scarf Pyroar / Doublade / Weezing / AV Hariyama !
 
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scorpdestroyer

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Not rating but Gyro Ball is the better move to go with Shadow Claw imo, simply because with the move Doublade gets to threaten Zangoose, which otherwise 2HKOs with Knock Off; Gyro Ball is a OHKO while Iron Head is not. Gyro also nails things like Primeape and Sawk (Gyro + Sneak KOs after SR), which Iron Head cannot do (and the latter can threaten Doublade hard). Running Gyro also means Sacred Sword isn't 100% mandatory to hit Zangoose, so Doublade can run Shadow Claw to hit Water-types and opposing Doublade a little harder. For this team I'm leaning more towards using Gyro just so it can threaten Sawk and Zangoose without having to risk saccing Weezing. Plus, it already has decent switch-ins to Rhydon and Spiritomb in Weezing and Hariyama. Of course Iron Head is viable but just gonna point out that Gyro has a use as well
 

Blast

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Actually I think a mix of what the other raters said would probably suit this team best. First off, agreeing with everyone else on Doublade > Gourgeist for reasons already listed. I also agree with changing Hariyama to an Assault Vest set with Stone Edge with Fake Out. I like Soul's suggestion of Scarf Pyroar too, as it fills your team's need for a revenge killer without screwing around with the general synergy of your team. That all out of the way, your team is really vulnerable on the special side--your primary defensive pivots (Toad + Weezing) are physically defensive and Hariyama gets easily worn down, which leaves you open to a lot of powerful special attackers like Water-types. You're also extremely weak to passive damage, as Spikes-stacking teams can easily overwhelm you due to your lack of hazard control. I think specially defensive Togetic would fit well over Weezing, providing you a reliable specially defensive wall as well as Defog support, and retaining many of Weezing's resistances to Fighting / Ground / Bug / etc while being arguably more resilient due to its access to Roost.

Togetic @ Eviolite
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Calm Nature
- Defog
- Dazzling Gleam
- Roost
- Thunder Wave / Heal Bell / Baton Pass
 
Spiritomb can also carry Foul Play or a CM set and beat you easily.

Brawlfest Gyro Ball is ass just for the reasons above, also what does Sacred Sword hits that its STABs doesn't?.. the only Normal-Type that can actually threaten Doublade iirc is Pyroar (which loses 50%+ of its health with Stealth Rock and an Iron Head on the switch, which makes it impossible for it to switch on you again later on.) and Fire Blast Tauros (doesn't enjoy taking Iron Head on the switch either). As for Toxic, why would you give up Swords Dance on a Pokemon that can set up on so many threats and clean teams so easily? =/

Doublade>Gourgeist is good, as it help you cover those threats. (use Shadow Sneak / Swords Dance / Iron Head / Shadow Claw with 252 Atk / some Speed Evs (to creep Spiritomb and maybe even min Speed Rhydon, its all preference) / rest of the EVs in HP for bulk with an Eviolite).

You could also consider Sleep Talk over Dark Pulse on Pyroar as you don't really have anything that enjoy taking a Sleep Powder when switching in on Venomoth and Vivillon that can also somewhat beat them (if they boost on the switch they can beat Pyroar though, so keep that in mind). Actually, another good option would be to give Pyroar a Choice Scarf too; you lose a wallbreaker but you gain a revenge killer that can help you revenge kill Durant, Virizion, and could even outspeed +2 Timid Omastar and OHKO with Hidden Power Grass :)

I'm also supporting Assault Vest>Leftovers on Hariyama and Stone Edge>Fake Out.

EDIT: make it Guts too.

Finally, I would keep Weezing, as it gives you a secondary check for Fighting-types as Doublade doesn't enjoy taking a Knock Off (which Gurdurr and Sawk should always carry by the way) and a good pivot in general n_n. I would give it Pain Split>Thunderbolt though for some recovery (you could also try out Toxic Spikes if you want to).

EDIT: I tried to cover your team's threats as much as possible, but unfortunately this team doesn't have much for Sawk's CB Earthquake; a way to deal with it could be to drop Weezing for a good Ground-type resist, but I will leave this to you since I don't want to change the team too much by myself :/

Final Team would be Seismitoad / Archeops / Scarf Pyroar / Doublade / Weezing / AV Hariyama !
Yah, scarf pyroar would be really good as it lets you keep weezing. Also Timid Scarf Typhlosion outspeeds timid +2 omastar (and moth/vivillon, not virizion tho), you lose hyper voice but eruption is really kewl.
 

Punchshroom

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And then what do I do after the Power Herb is gone?
Use Acrobatics. No one said you can only run one Flying move on Archeops, in fact Power Herb Sky Attack's main use is to power up Acrobatics while making it able to hold an item that does not hinder its Flying-type move(s)'s power at any point, unlike Choice sets or Sitrus sets. That said, if two Flying moves are not your cup of tea you don't have to run it, but if Archeops's Flying STAB is what you're looking to abuse, Power Herb Sky Attack is better than having no item.
 
Use Acrobatics. No one said you can only run one Flying move on Archeops, in fact Power Herb Sky Attack's main use is to power up Acrobatics while making it able to hold an item that does not hinder its Flying-type move(s)'s power at any point, unlike Choice sets or Sitrus sets. That said, if two Flying moves are not your cup of tea you don't have to run it, but if Archeops's Flying STAB is what you're looking to abuse, Power Herb Sky Attack is better than having no item.
It is better to run No Item simply because you open room for filler, such as Knock Off, U-Turn, and Roost which have far more utility.
 
since hariyama's hp is more than double his defense, you'll get more out of it by investing in special defense to take special moves far more comfortably

252 SpA Choice Specs Typhlosion Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Thick Fat Hariyama: 163-193 (33.1 - 39.2%) -- 99.9% chance to 3HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Typhlosion Eruption (150 BP) vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Thick Fat Hariyama: 118-139 (27.4 - 32.3%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
 
Spiritomb can also carry Foul Play or a CM set and beat you easily.

Brawlfest Gyro Ball is ass just for the reasons above, also what does Sacred Sword hits that its STABs doesn't?.. the only Normal-Type that can actually threaten Doublade iirc is Pyroar (which loses 50%+ of its health with Stealth Rock and an Iron Head on the switch, which makes it impossible for it to switch on you again later on.) and Fire Blast Tauros (doesn't enjoy taking Iron Head on the switch either). As for Toxic, why would you give up Swords Dance on a Pokemon that can set up on so many threats and clean teams so easily? =/

Doublade>Gourgeist is good, as it help you cover those threats. (use Shadow Sneak / Swords Dance / Iron Head / Shadow Claw with 252 Atk / some Speed Evs (to creep Spiritomb and maybe even min Speed Rhydon, its all preference) / rest of the EVs in HP for bulk with an Eviolite).

You could also consider Sleep Talk over Dark Pulse on Pyroar as you don't really have anything that enjoy taking a Sleep Powder when switching in on Venomoth and Vivillon that can also somewhat beat them (if they boost on the switch they can beat Pyroar though, so keep that in mind). Actually, another good option would be to give Pyroar a Choice Scarf too; you lose a wallbreaker but you gain a revenge killer that can help you revenge kill Durant, Virizion, and could even outspeed +2 Timid Omastar and OHKO with Hidden Power Grass :)

I'm also supporting Assault Vest>Leftovers on Hariyama and Stone Edge>Fake Out.

EDIT: make it Guts too.

Finally, I would keep Weezing, as it gives you a secondary check for Fighting-types as Doublade doesn't enjoy taking a Knock Off (which Gurdurr and Sawk should always carry by the way) and a good pivot in general n_n. I would give it Pain Split>Thunderbolt though for some recovery (you could also try out Toxic Spikes if you want to).

EDIT: I tried to cover your team's threats as much as possible, but unfortunately this team doesn't have much for Sawk's CB Earthquake; a way to deal with it could be to drop Weezing for a good Ground-type resist, but I will leave this to you since I don't want to change the team too much by myself :/

Final Team would be Seismitoad / Archeops / Scarf Pyroar / Doublade / Weezing / AV Hariyama !
Um... Weezing is immune to ground. Levitate. So uh, he has a perfect mon for Sawk's CB/EQ combo. All he has to do is keep Weezing alive for a while.
 
Wtf Sawk as Mold Breaker EQ 2HKO's always.
It's always these kinds of things that I overlook when building teams... However people do run sturdy and sometimes inner focus. And without running a calc I can tell you immediately that if it's burned it's not doing jack to Weezing.
 

scorpdestroyer

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It's always these kinds of things that I overlook when building teams... However people do run sturdy and sometimes inner focus. And without running a calc I can tell you immediately that if it's burned it's not doing jack to Weezing.
The point is that Weezing can't switch into Sawk, so Sawk will always get a kill either way because of hitting on the switch --> outspeeding and hitting again
 
I tested out this team for a bit, and I can honestly say I felt that Pyroar could be replaced. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but I definitely use it the least amount of any member. Perhaps look through Special attackers and see who could do what Pyroar does but can also take out Mismagius?
 
I looked trough this team and asked myself one question : how do you handle ludicole in the rain ? pyroar : down

archeops and seismitoad dont like its stabs . (does archeops outspeed a swift swim user ?) gourgeist doesnt like an ice beam and weezing aint gonna take some hydros. Im really curious about how you play around it. also run that av on that hariyama. It is way better than leftovers
 

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