Team Study [Week 5: Silvershadow234]

This is a very effective offensive team built around setting up hazards and abusing them by using pokemon that usually force the opponent to switch. Like most offensive teams, Silvershadow uses hazard lead Smeargle. Smeargle is one of the best "leads" for an offensive team out there since it learns both Stealth Rock and Spikes. Coupled with Focus Sash Smeargle usually sets up at least a layer of Stealth Rock and Spikes. Spore is one of Smeargle's best traits since it gains SS another turn to set up entry hazards. Explosion is the cherry on top since it enables Smeargle to pseudo-spinblock against most spinners. Thus SS doesnt need a teamslot for a spinblocker that much.

Looking at the team structure I immediately see offensive cores. Firstly the core of CB Druddigon and OTR Slowking. This great duo has great defensive synergy as they cover each others common weakness well. Druddigon can take on Electric and Grass types while Slowking beats Ice types. The use of Trick Room is a great why of capitalizing on both their subpar speed stats. Under TR very few pokemon actually outspeeds Druddigon and Slowking. Adding Magneton just increases the effectivity of the core since Steel types like Escavalier are easily taken out making life easier for Druddigon. Druddigon can now spam outrage freely koing everything in sight especially with the hazard support from Smeargle.

Magneton doesnt only aid Druddigon + Slowking but also Lilligant. Lilligant, one of the best set up sweepers in the tier, hates Escavalier and Ferroseed since most of the time its using HP Rock with which Lilligant cant do enough damage. Magneton easily traps Escavalier and Ferroseed with Magnet Pull and koes them with HP Fire. Lilligant can thus easily sweep the opponent.

The use of Substitute is a more unorthodox option since the standard set uses Sleep Powder. Because SS already uses Smeargle I think most of the time the Sleep Clause will be active rendering Sleep Powder useless. The use of Substitute thus protects Lilligant from status. Substitute, because Lilligant forces switches, helps ease the prediction required to successfully sweep. It also protects against Sucker Punches from the likes of Absol and Spiritomb.

Emboar's role is to check and revenge slower pokemon that threaten to sweep, pokemon like Sceptile and Gallade are easily revenged. Emboar has a nifty Fire and Fighting dual typing which is neutral to Rock making it the perfect switch in to Grass types most notably Lilligant whom can threaten to sweep SS's team. Emboar is SS's lategame cleaner as coupled with hazards it can easily beat weakend teams with powerful Flare Blitzes.

The only weakness I could find is Omastar who is pretty much the bane of offensive teams. If Omastar gets an opetunity to Shell Smash on Druddigon's Fire Punch or Emboar's Flare Blitz and Slowking is weakend your a dead man.

All in all this is an effective team abusing hazards with powerful yet still able to take a hit pokemon. Really cool team!
 
This is a team that really just combines so many things, but doesn't overwhelm itself. You've got HO elements with Smeargle, a TR core of Slowking/Druddigon, a nice FWG core or Slowking/Lilligant/Emboar, and even the rarer in RU Drag(Druddigon)Mag(neton). The goal of this team is to achieve a Druddigon sweep with TR up after Magneton, Fire Blast Slowking, and Emboar have gotten rid of Steel types. He also includes HP Rock Lilligant as another win condition, one of which also very much appreciates the removal of Steel types. Slowking and Emboar can also be backup win conditions should the opportunity arise.

I'd say the strongest part of this team is just the constant pressure. This is necessary for the team since he chooses not to pack a spin blocker, which is typically used when you have a suicide hazard lead. However, constant pressure is better in the current metagame, as the most common spinner (Kabutops) can beat the most common spinblocker (Spiritomb) of the tier. Said spinner is also very frail and can only switch in safely on Druddigon and Emboar when locked into Fire type moves. Everything else will take a large chunk of damage out of him, and with hazards from Smeargle, it will be very hard for it to pull a spin off. Cryogonal can spin rather easily on this team thanks to its speed, but it risk being either complete set up bait or easily OHKO's, which isn't bad at all for the team. Offensive Rocks Druddigon can cause some trouble to this team, since it outspeeds his own Druddigon, can hit Magneton with Earthquake, and can use Trick Room to its advantage against the latter half of this team. Aerodactyl leads can be troublesome since his Smeargle lack Magic Coat (Which I personally would try out over Explosion). Expert Belt Electivire can be annoying if it switches in on Magneton, but it gets revenged rather easily. All these threats can be handled, but can definitely cause some trouble.

All the EV spreads are very very simple, with 252/252 being used on everything bar Magneton. Speed EV's let it outspeed standard SD Gatr and Qwilfish. Using Substitute over Sleep Powder lets him set up against Magmortar, and doesn't involve the risk of Sleep Powder missing against things that might try to beat it via status such as Amoonguss and Uxie. It can also be used to wait out a miss against Moltres and as said before, Magmortar. Fire Blast is used on Slowking to lure in and kill Escavalier and Ferroseed for Druddigon. These Pokemon can also use TR to their advantage, so it is essential they're taken out first. Explosion on Smeagle gives him a way to do damage, possibly getting a KO or KO if they have to switch back into hazards. It also keeps Smeagle from being complete set up bait for something with Substitute. I'd probably try Magic Coat in this spot for Aerodactyl and opposing Smeargle so you don't have to rely on winning the speed tie. Really, the only underrated thing on this team would be the use of Substitute on Lilligant. I guess TR sweeper Druddigon hasn't been used as much recently, but it's still used on most TR teams. The only thing I want to ask about is why Own Tempo over Chlorophyll on Lilligant? You aren't running Petal Dance, Confuse Ray is a rare gimmick, and Hurricane and probably anything that runs Signal Beam with just KO it. Overall a really solid team that combines many different elements without being a mess and handles the majority of RU threats very well :]
 

dcae

plaza athénée
is a defending SCL Championis a Past SCL Champion
A quick look through this team, and we can see instantly this is an offensive team, thanks to the suicide hazard lead and the offensive sets featured on all the Pokemon. This particular offensive team seems to be based around a couple win conditions. The main one is the mini TR with Choice Band Druddigon and OTR Slowking, while the backup one is Magneton KOing Steels to open up for Choice Band Druddigon and Lilligant.

Onto the team. The first Pokemon we can see is Smeargle, which is immediately recognizable for its hazards role. For this team, it sets up Spikes and Stealth Rock while also providing Spore support. The final flexible moveslot is the underrated Explosion. Despite the nerf for Gen V, the utility it carries on Smeargle is excellent. It is a move almost never expected on Smeargle, and as such, people will never be using stuff like Protect or switching in a Ghost type on it. It gives Smeargle some decent offensive presence to perhaps take out a Pokemon trying to set up on its hazards. There isn't much to say about hazards + sleep, this is a standard strategy that is effective and forces every RU team to have a way of dealing with sleep. Now, since this is an offensive team, and pressure is everything, Silvershadow234 forgoes running a spinblocker. This is quite important because most spinblockers are a loss of momentum for offensive teams, and the only truly offensive one is a bit restricting. Thus, offensive pressure is incredibly important on this team, which further proves Explosion's utility here.

As with most RU teams, Silvershadow234 packs a Choice Scarfer to deal with boosting threats getting out of hand or to get surprise kills. The chosen Scarfer is a standard Emboar, which actually functions in several roles for the team. First and foremost is being a revenge killer. Despite Emboar's low 65 Speed, it can still outspeed relevant threats and KO them before they get too dangerous, making it a reliable answer to things like LO Sceptile. Thanks to its decent bulk and neutrality to Hidden Power Rock, Emboar checks most offensive Grass types magnificently. Aside from its revenge killing jobs, Emboar has Sleep Talk as its fourth moveslot. Due to the omnipresence of sleep in RU, packing a method to deal with it is vital, and this team uses Sleep Talk Emboar. Since these functions cannot be done much by any other Pokemon in RU, Emboar's utility for this team is important.

With the utility Pokemon for this team analyzed, it is time to look at some of these multiple offensive cores. Teams like this one are delights to observe because enough looking and one can see several cores, all tieing into one another, and all providing variable win conditions. It isn't often to find cores that can function optimally with each other, and that is what makes teams superior to others. The first offensive core that can be found in this team is one of my personal favorites: a mini TR core involving Druddigon and Slowking. Slowking may be known for its pivot set, but it is really this OTR set that is the bane of offensive teams. Flipping speeds around bother an opponent tremendously, and with Slowking's coverage, only itself can take on this set. Psyshock is chosen here over Nasty Plot because dealing massive damage to the opponent with coverage is a priority, and boosting takes a back seat. OTR Slowking's favorite partner is Choice Band Druddigon. I've already showered CB Druddigon with praise on every team I've used it on, and under TR, it becomes an even greater threat. Since not every team packs a Steel type, and since CB Druddigon is so powerful, clicking Outrage essentially means one is racking up a couple KOs no matter what. Mono Dragon is top notch in RU, and with its bulk backing it, CB Druddigon can just rampage through teams if TR is up. Even if it isn't up, that bulk will allow Druddigon to get an attack off at least. This core is extremely dangerous, as the pressure maintained by these two Pokemon, especially if TR is up, can generally be too much for bulky to offensive teams to handle. This seems to be the team's main condition.

A second offensive core can be spotted here, intertwined with the previously mentioned one. Magneton + Druddigon is a mini variant of the infamous DragMag strategy, and it works solidly in RU as well. Magneton handily takes care of stuff like Steelix and Aggron and opens for Druddigon to Outrage without worrying about anything switching into its attacks. This specific Magneton set focuses on bulk moreso than sheer power, which allows it to effectively switch into threats such as an opposing Druddigon. This is a standard moveset, but Volt Switch gives the team some free momentum, which most of the team actually cannot provide without double switches. Magneton does not simply support Druddigon, however. It also takes care of Steel types for the secondary win condition, Lilligant. Personally speaking, Lilligant is one of the more threatening Pokemon when looking at team preview, and Magneton aids Lilligant's lacking coverage. Since Escavalier and other Steels are trapped and eliminated by Magneton, Lilligant can run Hidden Power Rock over the rising Hidden Power Fire, and take out Fire types that interfere in a Lilligant sweep. The most notable feature of this Lilligant set is Substitute. Since this set has been paired with Smeargle, which has Spore, Sleep Clause is likely to be activated when Lilligant comes in. This would make Sleep Powder an unnecessary move. Since it is already unreliable, Substitute offers greater benefits to Lilligant than Sleep Powder would have. Despite clashing with Life Orb, Substitute protects from Sucker Punch and status, especially paralysis and sleep. This allows it to sweep more easily.

There is another core on this team, but more on the defensive end. We can see a FWG core between Slowking, Lilligant, and Emboar, however offensive the sets may be. This brings desirable synergy to the table. Thanks to this core, if worst comes to worst and the offensive pressure is lost, Silvershadow234 can fall back on the tried and true FWG synergy. In addition to this, Magneton comes in handy as a Steel type, able to resist Dragon type attacks, and thus shut down most Druddigon, which are the greatest threats to a FWG core. The final piece of this defensive puzzle is Druddigon, which can take all the dirty hits thanks to its massive bulk and great resistances, shutting down opposing FWG cores. Through this, we can spot that this team is incredibly well built due to not only its ability to keep offensive pressure well and find win conditions thanks to two strong win conditions, but it also has a very underrated defensive core to fall back on, with all major threats being covered by the several defensive cores.

However, with all teams come a few issues. One EV spread I have issues with is CB Druddigon's. Now, since the Pokemon is part of a mini TR core, it is completely understandable why it would Brave nature with 0 Speed IVs. Despite this, since this isn't a full TR team, I think Druddigon is better off running 24 EVs in Speed in order to speed creep relevant threats while not under TR. As I mentioned previously that this isn't a full TR team, not being under TR is quite common, and thus Druddigon loses every time in a mirror match with an opposing Druddigon. Since under TR the only thing that can cause issues to it is Scald burning Druddigon from pivot Slowking, I think this is a tradeoff worth making in order to have the better matchup without TR. A couple issue mons I see off the bat are Omastar and Fighting types. I will address each one individually. Omaster is a general problem for most offensive teams, but right now, if it gets setup on your Scarf Emboar locked into Flare Blitz, its essentially over. Druddigon is the only thing that can beat it at that point thanks to Sucker Punch, but Sucker Punch can be PP stalled. This is definitely a Pokemon to tread carefully around. Another threat I see to this team are Fighting types, with a couple sets in particular: Fighting Gem Hitmonlee and Life Orb Gallade. These are both scary due to the fact that the team only has one answer to Fighting types, with that being an offensive Slowking, which can be taken out by both of the aforementioned mons. Fighting Gem Hi Jump Kick deals a ton of damage to Slowking, making it very hard to switch into. After the speed increase from Unburden, the team is hard pressed to revenge kill it. LO Gallade is also a hard hitter, with LO Close Combat being quite hard for offensive Slowking to switch into. Since it also gets Night Slash, Slowking is not a reliable answer. These things are the biggest weaknesses of this team imo.

Overall, this is a team I would love to use. Very well teambuilt thanks to those impressive variety of cores, offensively oriented, and is top notch in general. One of the better offensive RU teams I've seen.
 

ss234

bop.
K it's been a few days since the last post so imma comment on the posts made.

So ya first off the team is heavily centred around getting up entry hazards with smeargle and the keeping up the pressure to stop spinning. This makes it easier for lilligant, slowking and scarf emboar to sweep, and druddigon is a far more effective breaker with sr and spikes(mola is now 2HKO'd by outrage). Magneton is the utility poke, and handles escavalier, klinklang and also weakens some of lilli's counters, such as amoonguss.

As for the weaknesses, I totally agree. Omastar is always a major threat to any offensive team lacking scarf rotom / manectric(just ask molk). I don't use flare blitz on emboar at all if omastar is present or it's a hazard variant-luckily it can't set-up on much else, but ya huge threat. Gallade / fighting spam can also be painful since slowking is my only fighting resist. With gallade I normally resort to simply pounding it with strong attacks to stop it setting up. Seeing as magneton is the only poke it can set-up on, I normally spam volt switch. If all else fails, emboar is a good revenge killer. Hitmonlee is always dangerous due to the fact that you can't revenge it with fast scarfers and the fact that it's resistant to the most powerful priority sucker punch. Keeping slowking healthy is mandatory, however as dcae mentioned fighting gem hjk still does a truckload to slowking. Luckily after fighting gem is activated it's a lot less scary, since it doesn't have the powerful hjk and if it then switches out it lacks the speed boost. Reversal lee can also be scary because full power reversal nearly 1HKO's slowking iirc after the +1 berry activates(idr wat it is called ;-;). So basically ya fighting types are scary :[

Finally, the drudd suggestion of outspeeding growth + crustle sounds really cool. It was mainly to not get destroyed by opposing drudd in tr, but seeing as tr isn't up most of the time outspeeding growth + crustle + most drudd can be very useful so I'll be sure to try it out :]
 

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