A Return to Familiar Territory

[Kyuzeth]

Hello, everyone! I've been getting into the RU tier as of late and despite its beta stage, it's still an incredibly fun tier to play in with all the new things Gen VI has bestowed upon us. There's one team I've been meaning to make an RMT of, so without further ado, let's get right down to it!

Gurren (Rhyperior) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 64 Atk / 192 SDef / 252 HP
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Megahorn
- Ice Punch
​

Rhyperior serves as a good anti-lead and can take a crapload of moves thanks to its investment, while hitting a lot of prominent threats quite hard with its great Attack stat. Its investment allows it to survive moves like LO Heliolisk's Grass Knot and Surf, for one, while it endures neutral and 2x SE moves from both sides with great success. All in all, AV Rhyperior is extremely reliable and guaranteed to always at least do something in the match.

Earthquake and Stone Edge are the obligatory, hard-hitting STAB moves that Rhyperior carries. Even without much Attack EVs nor Choice Band, these moves still hit hard enough to wipe out what needs to be wiped out. Megahorn allows for an easier way to deal with Grass- and Psychic-types, Slowking being a prominent one of the latter type. Finally, Ice Punch covers Virizion and Gligar, two Pokémon that could potentially cause Rhyperior a lot of trouble.

Vilara (Delphox) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Fire Blast
- Psyshock
- Grass Knot
​

Ah, Delphox. The prime Fire-type of the RU tier and for good reason: amazing Special Attack and Speed stats combined with the variety of three dangerous sets it can run, each with its own checks and counters. CM Delphox is a fantastic late-game cleaner and functions incredibly well in a dual-offense core with Zoroark, a more all-around sweeper. The two can clean up one another's checks, in this case Delphox cleaning up all the Bug- and Fighting-types in the tier. Its staggering power even allows it to pull off a 2HKO on AV Slowking with hazards on the field, a Pokémon that would normally be a check. It's such a dangerous Pokémon, because virtually nothing can come in on it without taking a load of damage.

The moves should be self-explanatory. Calm Mind allows for mind-blowing power in conjunction with LO, while Fire Blast obliterates everything apart from CM/AV Slowking. Psyshock strikes physically weak, yet specially strong opponents, as well as Fighting-types that may trouble its team, while Grass Knot covers Rhyperior and Slowking, the latter of which is always OHKOed, the former 2HKOed after a boost with Spikes on the field.

Antenora (Froslass) (F) @ Red Card
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Destiny Bond
- Taunt
- Ice Beam
​

A lethal hazard setter and annoyer, Froslass is predictable yet still incredibly dangerous. It's easily the best Spiker in the tier because of its Ghost-type, its ability to spinblock and set up hazards at the same time, access to Taunt to prevent itself from being Taunted and having Destiny Bond to eliminate a slightly slower thread that could pose a problem to the other team members. It's really the combination of all these traits that makes Froslass so reliable.

Red Card is an item choice I personally like, because weak physical attacks activate the Red Card and allow for Froslass to set up more Spikes or heckle the next opponent with Taunt or Destiny Bond. Spikes is an absolute necessity for this team to nab some OHKOs, such as Zoroark's OHKO on Cofagrigus with Knock Off. Destiny Bond allows Froslass to dispose of an otherwise threatening Pokémon on the opposing team, Taunt gives Froslass the ability to force switches and stack Spikes and Ice Beam is there for Grass- and Flying-type switchins.

Volteer (Eelektross) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 52 Atk / 148 HP / 56 SDef
Quiet Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Superpower
- Grass Knot
​

Another Pokémon that I feel deserves more attention, Eelektross is a powerful beast that mainly uses its incredible versatility to win battles. The main draw about Eelektross is Assault Vest combined with its enormous offensive movepool, giving it several sets to use with just AV alone. Having Levitate augments this trait of checking dangerous Pokémon, as Rhyperior and other Ground-types will have to rely on other moves than their precious Earthquake, while they're usually dealt with by Grass Knot.

Thunderbolt is the necessary special STAB for Eelektross, which complements well with its coverage moves. Flamethrower hurts Grass- and Steel-types, most prominently hitting Virizion, Registeel, Durant and Escavalier. Grass Knot, as previously addressed, gives Eelektross the ability to check Rhyperior, a Pokémon that can wall Eelektross without said move. Lastly, Superpower is a filler coverage move that hits Normal-types like Exploud, but I'm considering running Knock Off over it.

Eelektross's EV spread is unpolished, so I'd like to get some suggestions for good mixed AV spreads.

Braveheart (Braviary) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SAtk
- Brave Bird
- Return
- Superpower
- U-turn
​

KACAW-- okay, sorry. Braviary is the big KACAW of the tier, though, punishing Defoggers while being a dangerous-as-shit sweeper because of its high natural power and a Speed stat that makes it a great Scarfer. If Froslass is down and I still need to eliminate a faster threat, Braviary flies in to deal with them. Notable examples are Adamant Unburden Hitmonlee and non-Scarf Delphox. Defiant is the icing on the cake, which is what makes it such a great Scarfer; when switching in on Defog, Braviary has x2 Atk and x1.5 Speed, which makes it nearly unstoppable aside from priority.

Brave Bird smites everything without high Defense or a resistance to it, while Return is a somewhat weaker but safer alternative STAB. Superpower is necessary to deal with Rhyperior, while U-turn still hits Slowking and other Psychic-types hard while giving Braviary the ability to scout.

Delusys (Zoroark) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Illusion
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 SAtk / 252 Spd / 252 Atk
Naive Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Flamethrower
​

To say the least, Zoroark is an underrated brute in RU. With its amazing mixed offenses, there is a large variety of Pokémon that Zoroark can take on. It barely outpaces Delphox and has both the strongest Knock Off and Sucker Punch in the tier, which makes it one of the best, if not THE best Dark-type available in the tier. There is so much this thing can check and many teams are unprepared for it. The offensive synergy with Delphox is to be noted as well, in Zoroark's case dispatching of Psychic- and Ghost-types.

Sucker Punch provides really good priority, smashing slower priority users and punishing Scarfers that attempt to outspeed it. Knock Off is simply devastating for the power and support it provides; Pokémon like Slowking, Braviary and Yanmega really don't like their item having been knocked away from them. Taunt is kind of unusual, but completely turns supporters like Cresselia and Froslass into setup bait and these can easily be chipped off by Knock Off; combined with the fact it can force switches, I feel like Taunt is really potent on Zoroark. Lastly, Flamethrower is necessary coverage that melts Durant and Escavalier, two prominent threats in RU.


And that wraps it up! I'll gladly await and consider any suggestions I'll get. Thank you for reading!

 

[Kyuzeth]

Apologies for the inconvenience a few minutes ago; I somehow pressed the Submit button by accident. Team's fully posted and ready for RMTs (not trying to bump my thread, just explaining the inconvenience).