Onyx Tanuki
Ma! There's a weird 'nuki in the yahd!
Okay I suck at making titles for these. But yeah, made a new team for NU that's been doing somewhat decently for me and figured I'd share.
Claydol @ Leftovers
Levitate
Modest
252 HP, 252 SpAtt, 4 SpDef
- Calm Mind
- Rapid Spin
- Psyshock
- Earth Power
This one's a pretty decent spinner, since he's immune to everything except Stealth Rock, which he resists, so he can easily switch in on them. Beyond that utility, he acts as a CM booster, with Psyshock to handle specially defensive opponents and Earth Power to take on Dark type switch-ins and physically defensive pokemon. He's got pretty great defenses even without investment, so as long as I don't swap into a move he's weak to (which, unfortunately, there's a lot of) he can handle his own.
Archeops @ Choice Band
Defeatist
Jolly
252 Att, 4 SpDef, 252 Speed
- U-Turn
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Pluck
Scout and sweeper. Most of the time he's going to be my lead, since he has a fast U-Turn to get out if the opponent's lead can be handled by something else on my team. It's kind of a shame he doesn't have any better Flying moves (well there is Acrobatics, but then I'd have to lose my item) but Pluck is situationally helpful against Tropius and Exeggutor. Once enough of the opponent's team is wiped out that there's a single move he could reliably spam without it being resisted, he comes in and sweeps.
On one hand, I kind of want to use Rock Slide over Stone Edge due to its much better accuracy, but then I'm taking a considerable drop in power, so it's probably not worth it.
Wailord @ Leftovers
Oblivious
Bold
252 Def, 4 SpAtt, 252 SpDef
- Scald
- Clear Smog
- Ice Beam
- Substitute
General bulky water. The main reason I wanted to use him was Clear Smog, since previous iterations of this team had major problems handling CM users like Mega Audino and Musharna, and this cleared that issue up semi-effectively. I say "semi" because he still can't do anything against the likes of Mantine, and if Mantine wasn't a Flying type I'd likely swap it in. He is a pretty decent general-purpose wall though. I went with boosting both his defense EVs over boosting HP because I figure that his HP is high enough that boosting it is just not as effective as it would be for something else that has less than base 101.
Still, as much as I love him as a wall, I know there's got to be better bulky Waters out there, and I'm likely to switch him out. I'm thinking along the lines of Quagsire or Lanturn, or something else that has a decent enough typing and some recovery options as well as something to clear stat changes, like Clear Smog or Haze.
Mismagius @ Choice Specs
Levitate
Timid
252 SpAtt, 4 SpDef, 252 Speed
- Shadow Ball
- Power Gem
- Dazzling Gleam
- Trick
Something of a cross between the standard Mismagius and my usual all-out offensive variant. It gets perfect neutral coverage between its three moves (and Power Gem is often a surprise since so few pokemon carry it). It sacrifices Energy Ball for Trick though, allowing it to ruin setup-reliant pokemon that aren't Mega Audino, clerics, and anything that holds Eviolite. Like Archeops, once enough things get cleared out that he could spam a move and have it not be resisted, he comes in to sweep and/or revenge kill.
Garbodor @ Black Sludge
Stench
Adamant
252 HP, 252 Att, 4 SpDef
- Spikes
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot
- Pain Split
This one's my main answer to Mega Audino. He's got enough Att that he can generally 2HKO one, particularly if it comes in on a layer or two of Spikes. Pain Split I gave it for recovery, but honestly, I've never had the opportunity to use it, so I'm thinking of switching it out for Toxic, Explosion, Rock Blast, or Seed Bomb. I'm also considering swapping him out for Muk; it has worse bulk and speed, but its got higher attack and Shadow Sneak, and I could use Poison Touch over Stench, and all of those factors could help out more in the long run than a couple layers of Spikes.
Interesting note: apparently either Pokemon Showdown's messing up Stench or Gunk Shot, because I actually got a Stench flinch on it during one match with this thing. *shrug*
Meganium @ Leftovers
Overgrow
Adamant
252 HP, 252 Att, 4 SpDef
- Petal Blizzard
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Aromatherapy
Another bulky offense pokemon I can use in walling Water types, and a decent anti-Quag so long as the opponent doesn't have a Sap Sipper to switch into. Thankfully I have yet to see Eviolite Marill in use and the handful of other Fairies can be handled with Petal Blizzard or EQ, so Dragon Tail makes a decent enough phasing move. While I can't heal HP with this team, I at least have Aromatherapy to help out when my team is facing a status user like Rotom.
Levitate
Modest
252 HP, 252 SpAtt, 4 SpDef
- Calm Mind
- Rapid Spin
- Psyshock
- Earth Power
This one's a pretty decent spinner, since he's immune to everything except Stealth Rock, which he resists, so he can easily switch in on them. Beyond that utility, he acts as a CM booster, with Psyshock to handle specially defensive opponents and Earth Power to take on Dark type switch-ins and physically defensive pokemon. He's got pretty great defenses even without investment, so as long as I don't swap into a move he's weak to (which, unfortunately, there's a lot of) he can handle his own.
Archeops @ Choice Band
Defeatist
Jolly
252 Att, 4 SpDef, 252 Speed
- U-Turn
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Pluck
Scout and sweeper. Most of the time he's going to be my lead, since he has a fast U-Turn to get out if the opponent's lead can be handled by something else on my team. It's kind of a shame he doesn't have any better Flying moves (well there is Acrobatics, but then I'd have to lose my item) but Pluck is situationally helpful against Tropius and Exeggutor. Once enough of the opponent's team is wiped out that there's a single move he could reliably spam without it being resisted, he comes in and sweeps.
On one hand, I kind of want to use Rock Slide over Stone Edge due to its much better accuracy, but then I'm taking a considerable drop in power, so it's probably not worth it.
Wailord @ Leftovers
Oblivious
Bold
252 Def, 4 SpAtt, 252 SpDef
- Scald
- Clear Smog
- Ice Beam
- Substitute
General bulky water. The main reason I wanted to use him was Clear Smog, since previous iterations of this team had major problems handling CM users like Mega Audino and Musharna, and this cleared that issue up semi-effectively. I say "semi" because he still can't do anything against the likes of Mantine, and if Mantine wasn't a Flying type I'd likely swap it in. He is a pretty decent general-purpose wall though. I went with boosting both his defense EVs over boosting HP because I figure that his HP is high enough that boosting it is just not as effective as it would be for something else that has less than base 101.
Still, as much as I love him as a wall, I know there's got to be better bulky Waters out there, and I'm likely to switch him out. I'm thinking along the lines of Quagsire or Lanturn, or something else that has a decent enough typing and some recovery options as well as something to clear stat changes, like Clear Smog or Haze.
Mismagius @ Choice Specs
Levitate
Timid
252 SpAtt, 4 SpDef, 252 Speed
- Shadow Ball
- Power Gem
- Dazzling Gleam
- Trick
Something of a cross between the standard Mismagius and my usual all-out offensive variant. It gets perfect neutral coverage between its three moves (and Power Gem is often a surprise since so few pokemon carry it). It sacrifices Energy Ball for Trick though, allowing it to ruin setup-reliant pokemon that aren't Mega Audino, clerics, and anything that holds Eviolite. Like Archeops, once enough things get cleared out that he could spam a move and have it not be resisted, he comes in to sweep and/or revenge kill.
Garbodor @ Black Sludge
Stench
Adamant
252 HP, 252 Att, 4 SpDef
- Spikes
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot
- Pain Split
This one's my main answer to Mega Audino. He's got enough Att that he can generally 2HKO one, particularly if it comes in on a layer or two of Spikes. Pain Split I gave it for recovery, but honestly, I've never had the opportunity to use it, so I'm thinking of switching it out for Toxic, Explosion, Rock Blast, or Seed Bomb. I'm also considering swapping him out for Muk; it has worse bulk and speed, but its got higher attack and Shadow Sneak, and I could use Poison Touch over Stench, and all of those factors could help out more in the long run than a couple layers of Spikes.
Interesting note: apparently either Pokemon Showdown's messing up Stench or Gunk Shot, because I actually got a Stench flinch on it during one match with this thing. *shrug*
Meganium @ Leftovers
Overgrow
Adamant
252 HP, 252 Att, 4 SpDef
- Petal Blizzard
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Aromatherapy
Another bulky offense pokemon I can use in walling Water types, and a decent anti-Quag so long as the opponent doesn't have a Sap Sipper to switch into. Thankfully I have yet to see Eviolite Marill in use and the handful of other Fairies can be handled with Petal Blizzard or EQ, so Dragon Tail makes a decent enough phasing move. While I can't heal HP with this team, I at least have Aromatherapy to help out when my team is facing a status user like Rotom.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-270978259 - This battle showcases a lot of my team strategy fairly effectively I think, as well as a few of its failings. One example comes in the first round in fact; while Meganium is meant to handle Quagsire, that gets ruined when there's a Sap Sipper waiting in the wings (such as his Bouffalant), as it makes using a Grass move a huge gamble until the Sap Sipper is out of the picture, and he made some pretty smart decisions in keeping it around as long as he could. But that's also why I have Dragon Tail on hand. Clear Smog gets some decent action in turn 7 when his Scyther drops in, not only allowing Wailord to survive the second Bug Bite (and, while it was left at low HP, it was still useful later in the battle as fodder). The next time his Scyther came in I was able to Trick Mismagius's Specs onto it, stealing its Eviolite and allowing it to be killed with a Power Gem (which otherwise he'd have survived with at least 15% unless it crit). Turn 27 was where the BS started happening though; while the Drain Punch flinch was pretty lucky, the flinch on Gunk Shot should not have happened, and the crit afterward plus the miss from his Bouffalant's Stone Edge kind of sealed it for him. While it's still possible I could've pulled out a victory, it would have been much tougher without that lucky streak. Either way, it was one of the more fun battles I've had on Showdown.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-270982500 - This was a hard-fought battle, and admittedly I made a couple mistakes in prediction. The first several turns was a lot of mind games and wrestling for the upper hand between our teams, but I believe things started to shift ever-so-slightly in my favor when I brought in Mismagius and knocked his Claydol down to pretty dire levels of HP. I forgot all about Solar Beam Ninetails being a thing when I sent my Wailord in, but the fact he survived it with plenty enough health to Sub up is a testament to its bulk even in the face of its weaknesses, as well as survived the Sun-boosted Fire Blast that followed. Surprisingly enough it was my Claydol that sealed my victory, and in the process settled the score against its screen-setting rival on the opposing side of the field. Close fight with a lot of nice plays.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-270986075 - While this doesn't display my team at its absolute best, I still liked this battle just for how tough the opposing team was. That Vileplume had me scared, since my only means to handle it were Archeops' Pluck (which not only is its weakest move but also would be resisted by the opponent's Rotom and Lanturn) and Wailord's Ice Beam (which as you see in the fight, couldn't quite stand up to Vileplume's Giga Drain). It all pretty much came down to Archeops sweeping his team with Stone Edge, and while it could have ended badly for me, I was lucky enough to hit all three attacks. Closest fight I had with this team that resulted in a win.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-270982500 - This was a hard-fought battle, and admittedly I made a couple mistakes in prediction. The first several turns was a lot of mind games and wrestling for the upper hand between our teams, but I believe things started to shift ever-so-slightly in my favor when I brought in Mismagius and knocked his Claydol down to pretty dire levels of HP. I forgot all about Solar Beam Ninetails being a thing when I sent my Wailord in, but the fact he survived it with plenty enough health to Sub up is a testament to its bulk even in the face of its weaknesses, as well as survived the Sun-boosted Fire Blast that followed. Surprisingly enough it was my Claydol that sealed my victory, and in the process settled the score against its screen-setting rival on the opposing side of the field. Close fight with a lot of nice plays.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/nu-270986075 - While this doesn't display my team at its absolute best, I still liked this battle just for how tough the opposing team was. That Vileplume had me scared, since my only means to handle it were Archeops' Pluck (which not only is its weakest move but also would be resisted by the opponent's Rotom and Lanturn) and Wailord's Ice Beam (which as you see in the fight, couldn't quite stand up to Vileplume's Giga Drain). It all pretty much came down to Archeops sweeping his team with Stone Edge, and while it could have ended badly for me, I was lucky enough to hit all three attacks. Closest fight I had with this team that resulted in a win.