ORAS NU Offensive team

[CandyLander]

I've entered an NU tournament online and I've spent the last days practicing on showdown, but today I decided to definitively build my team around my experience.

First, I focused on the win condition, a setup sweeper. My options were Barbaracle, KlingKlang and Omastar, Vivillon and Lilligant.

I left in Omastar and Lilligant because I can offer either one of them weather support,, and also because their moves never miss based on accuracy.


But then I chose Lilligant over Omastar because her counters (flying, fire, poison, ice) are mostly week to stealth rock and thus easier to wear down during the battle.

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Lilligant @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Rock
- Sleep Powder

As I said above, stealth rock support is crucial for Lilligant. For a rocks setter, I was left between Steelix, Rhydon, Miltank, Archeops and Mesprit. But I chose Rhydon based on his ability to threaten fire, flying and poison types.

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Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Megahorn

Lilligant @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Rock
- Sleep Powder

This duo's main weaknesses are Grass, Fire Ice and even Water types, seeing that unboosted lilligant doesn't hit very hard, and I don't want to use her as an early game wallbreaker but as a late game sweeper.

To deal better with Vileplume, Roselia and other grass types as well as Jynx and other ice types, I chose Pyroar. I chose Pyroar over Magmortar because of speed.

And to deal better with bulky water types and fire types all at once, I'm left between either Lanturn or Lapras. I chose Lanturn for Volt Switch, making the team more offensive and less balanced oriented.

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Pyroar @ Life Orb/Choice Specs
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Hyper Voice
- Hidden Power Grass
- Will-O-Wisp

Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 144 SpD / 112 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Ice Beam/Heal Bell
- Hidden Power Fire/Heal Bell/Thunderbolt

Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Megahorn

Lilligant @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Rock
- Sleep Powder

I want to give Lanturn Heal Bell just to help Rhydon, but I have to experiment to see if it fits an offensive set like this and if Assault Vest isn't better than Leftovers.

This team still misses
1 - a second u-turn/volt switch user to make a core with Lanturn
2 - A real way to threaten out Hariyama other than Will-o-wisp in Pyroar, and that's only if I choose Life Orb over Specs
3 - Rapid Spin/Defog support
4 - Sunny Day to make Pyroar hit very hard and make Lilligant twice as fast. Sunny Day isn't crucial, since Lilligant won't hit any harder because I don't pack Solar Beam.
5 - Coverage to hit Fighting types and Weezing.

Right now, the hazards control options that seem like would fit the team are Xatu and Pelliper. Both also get u-turn and deal with Hariyama. Xatu, though, is less reliable, but also has a much bigger offensive presence, dealing with Weezing, who my team otherwise suffers against.

Pelliper is more reliable with defog over magic bounce, but even Hurricane doesn't hit quite hard enough. And I already have a scald user.

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Xatu @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Roost
- Grass Knot/Heat Wave
- U-turn

Pyroar @ Life Orb/Choice Specs
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Hyper Voice
- Hidden Power Grass
- Will-O-Wisp

Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 144 SpD / 112 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Ice Beam/Heal Bell
- Hidden Power Fire/Heal Bell/Thunderbolt

Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Megahorn

Lilligant @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Rock
- Sleep Powder

Even though I said earlier my team suffered against Hariyama, Weezing is a much bigger threat. And also, my Xatu can easily switch in on a Hariyama knock off and then proceed to roost/psychic to get a three hit KO. Dealing with Weezing is much more important, since it resists Lilligant's STAB and stops a potential late game sweep.


For the last slot in the team, I originally pictured Liepard, but, after some showdown testing, it didn't come in too useful as far as setting up Sunny Day goes. Meanwhile, strong normal type Tauros gave my team a bit of a problem, being able to 3HKO Rhydon, my only switch in, who doesn't get any form of recovery, while also running over Pyroar, Liepard, Lanturn and Xatu.

So, for the last slot, I'm considering Swellow, who outspeeds Tauros and OHKOs right back. Of course, it can't switch in but it's still a solid check. Floatzel could also fill this slot but it would rely on Hydro Pump. Persian could also fit this slot but it doesn't even OHKO Tauros when unboosted.

Guts Swellow also benefits from Xatu and Lanturn's volt-turn core. But I have to be really careful with rocks, since rocks damage + toxic orb + possible rocky helmet and aftermath damage can knock out Swellow in one or two turns.
I've been building this team for the last few hours, so now I need a rest from pokemon. For now, the team looks like this.

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Swellow @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Protect

Xatu @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Roost
- Grass Knot/Heat Wave
- U-turn

Pyroar @ Life Orb/Choice Specs
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Hyper Voice
- Hidden Power Grass
- Will-O-Wisp

Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 144 SpD / 112 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Ice Beam/Heal Bell
- Hidden Power Fire/Heal Bell/Thunderbolt

Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Megahorn

Lilligant @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Rock
- Sleep Powder

If you read the whole thing until here, you may notice I gave up on setting up Sunny Day. Oh well, is happens. Pyroar appreciates it but doesn't need it for it's life like a swift swim or Chlorophyll user would, and Lilligant getting faster doesn't really improve much.

 

[Pilo]

I wouldn't call your team poorly made, but it does lack focus in some areas. What I mean by this is while half of your team is centred around breaking threats that inhibit Lilligant in hopes of helping it sweep, the other half revolves around taking hits well while not dealing much damage or on forming small synergies that don't necessarily help the team succeed as a whole. For starters, Lanturn seems to have very little merit on this team. Even with full SpAtk investment, its damage output is pitiful and it takes tons of offensive pressure away from your team. Because of the spread you use, Lanturn also struggles to pivot into special attacks effectively since no HP and 144 SpDef is meant to function in tandem with an Assault Vest. I also noticed that heal bell is relatively useless since, as you stated, its only use was to heal Rhydon of Will-o-Wisp burns which it should never have to switch into/stay in on since Xatu and Pyroar can easily Bounce/Absorb them. Furthermore, I think that dedicating a Heal Bell user specifically to something like Stealth Rock Rhydon which unlike the DD set makes for a poor wincon is not a valuable use of space on your team. If you're looking for a Water-type that better suits an offensive team, look no further than Samurott. It can wallbreak for Lilligant as well as dispatch some of its checks with its strong Water-type STAB attacks. It also functions as a great late game cleaner and can easily plow through weakened teams.

I think Xatu can stay because it provides the ever so valuable role of hazard control which in a tier heavily centralized around hazards is definitely something any team can appreciate, especially if it lacks hazard removal. Plus, it can keep up momentum with U-turn and can threaten a lot of mons with either a strong psychic attack or one of its coverage moves. My only suggestion is that if you opt for Grass Knot as your coverage move you also try using Psyshock. Grass Knot takes care of physical walls like Gastrodon or opposing Rhydon who can easily take a Psyshock and hits the weaker defensive sides of Pokemon like Hitmonchan and AV Hariyama the latter of which you briefly mentioned.

Although Guts Swellow is strong, your team lacks a scarfer and most of its members are easily revenge killed by opposing Pokemon that hit certain speed benchmarks. Because of this, I thought you might want to try the rather uncanny scarf Tauros. It can weaken a lot of Lilligants checks and vice versa making them great partners and because of its speed tier can run a Naughty nature slightly making up for the decrease in power since it must forego its Life Orb. Pursuit is slashed on the set because it helps deal with Jynx which is a real nuisance and can cause your team some problems, especially if it runs a choice scarf (which Naughty Tauros still outspeeds).

tl;dr

Samurott > Lanturn
Scarf Tauros > Swellow

sets

Samurott @ Lum Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Aqua Jet
- Megahorn
- Waterfall

Tauros @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Rock Climb
- Earthquake
- Zen Headbutt / Pursuit
- Fire Blast

Stay sharp.

 

[Rapture]

scarf tauros in a non sceptile meta :o, interesting choice to say the least. Anyways hi, CandyLander. For a tournament team this is a pretty standard team for NU at the moment so good job with that. I've alway liked Lilligant + Fire Type since the two types play well off of each others checks, smth fast like swellow doesn't hurt as well. Like I mentioned, these are all pretty standard sets, but there are still some changes you can make to optimize your build.

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  - The change to Magmortar from Pyroar would really be useful since the team as is struggles versus sleep users like Vivillon and You don't have much for ice types like Abomasnow and Jynx. The loss in speed kinda blows but I'd argue Magmortar is better at breaking down teams for lilligant. The standard AV set works fine here and i'll be sure to leave the set at the bottom of this post with the rest of my recommendations.
  
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  - My second pokemon change would be to replace Swellow with Banded Tauros. Between Choice Band and Double Edge / Earthquake / Pursuit / Facade you keep a lot of Tauro's team cleaning potential while avoiding having to rely on inaccurate moves on both Tauros and Magmortar. The main reason for this change is that guts swallow isn't all that viable in NU since it tends to be outclassed by Choice Specs Swellow. Running that however would leave you lacking with a strong physical attacker. Tauros has a lot more attacking power and still has a pretty high speed tier to handle more offensive teams.
  
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  - On Lanturn I would keep the ev spread you have and replace Leftovers with a Shuca Berry. This gives you a way to play around strong ground type attackers like Rhydon and Torterra alongside Xatu. With this set I would just run a moveset of Scald / Volt Switch / HP fire / Ice Beam.

New sets

Lanturn @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 144 SpD / 112 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power Fire

Tauros (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Facade

Magmortar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Flame Charge

Hope my changes help and good luck in the tournament :o