Resource Good Cores in NU

[JCM.]

YANMA + CARVANA CORE GOGOGOGOGOGOGO

Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance

Kangaskhan @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Drain Punch / Earthquake
- Sucker Punch

Dropping a core which isn't necessarily good synergetically, but perform amazingly together. When I'm teambuilding, I often find that these two pokemon gravitate towards the same teams, and for good reason. A combination of them pressures their common switchins in Fighting + Steel types, and they wear them down incredibly well for each other. Pawniard can cripple Gurdurr's Eviolite to make it impossible to tank a Fake Out + Double Edge combination. Same goes with stuff like Ferroseed, who loses to the combination of the two. Overall its a really fun core to play with, has absolutely amazing priority, and lays down heavy offensive pressure to punch through similar checks.

just wanted to talk about yanma + togetic, i dont really think it's as good as carvanha + togetic, because while both are donked by priority, carvanha's moves have higher bp, and its coverage is much better.

 

[Fluze3]

Scyther @ Choice Band / Choice Scarf
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace
- Bug Bite
- Quick Attack / Pursuit

Lanturn @ Choice Specs
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 196 HP / 252 SpA / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass] / Thunderbolt

Sandslash @ Leftovers / Lum Berry
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Knock Off / Stone Edge

Welcome, to the ScySlashTurn core. Ironically, it's also a VoltTurn core as well. How great! Well, what this team does is -- Constantly switching in and out of Lanturn and Scyther. It's a VoltTurn core; what do you expect for it to do. Sandslash is there for a key Rock resist and also provides and removes hazards. Both these pokemon need the hazards in order to snap some nice KOs at any time of the game. These pokemon have perfect synergy with each other, and i'll go into that if it's required. But, you can find a link to the type synergy here. All you do is constantly switch out on walls and slower sweepers until they eventually switch out, die, or give up on life and hit that X button. I find with this core that you have a lot of momentum being gained very quickly. Many people think that you're running defensive pokemon, but they can completely rip through unprepared teams if they have no check to the pokes here. Also, these pokemon provided resistances to common types; namely Poison, Fighting and Bug.

The reason why I picked these pokemon is because they provide key resists to each other and that they have neat coverage in their STABs alone. Cryogonal is a far better Rapid Spinner, but Sandslash's naturally higher defense compliments Lanturn's high Sp.Def, and it also has a Rock resistance. Lanturn isn't the most powerful pokemon, but it has a lot of offensive momentum and can literally OHKO frail pokemon with it. The given EVs on Scyther to maximise offensive stats; Lanturn has to outspeed min Seismitoad and OHKO with HP Grass, and Sandslash has a leftovers number for maximum recovery.

Band, Specs and Lefties are the preferred item, respectively. This team loves having the ability to deal with Weezing, so a psychic type, especially Jynx, work nicely with this core.

If i've missed anything, feel free to comment or PM.

 

[The D-Match]

Defensive core:

Dragalge @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Dragon Tail
- Scald / Rest
- Protect / Sleep Talk

Ferroseed @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock / Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect

Ferroseed has two weaknesses: Fighting and Fire attacks. Dragalge resists both of those. Dragalge has four weaknesses: Ferroseed resists two of them and is neutral to the other two. Even better, Dragalage's natural special bulk and Ferroseed's natural physical bulk work well together, allowing them to take on various threats much more easily. Between the two of them, they have access to even entry hazard with the exception of Sticky Web, and they are capable of forming a defensive core that shuts down many offensive threats. This core is capable of shutting down Feraligatr, Samurott, Seismitoad, and all of the Water-types in the tier. Dragalge can take Fire spam and Gurdurr / Hariyama. Even with minimal Special Defense investment, Ferroseed is able to take on Mesprit and Uxie and Ground-types like Rhydon that Dragalge fears.

Edit: Sprites aren't working for me.

I've used this core and it worked amazingly; the only thing that might threaten it is Typhlosion with Extrasensory or MixMortar. There might be some team support involved to help this, but other than that, it works great!

 

[Pooch13]

Haunter @ Life Orb/Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Energy Ball
- Destiny Bond/Trick

Malamar @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rest
- Superpower
- Night Slash
- Psycho Cut/Topsy-Turvy

This is a more offensive core, and, in my opinion, Malamar and Haunter have great synergy. They both cover all of each others weaknesses and both hitting really hard. Haunter could be the regular scarf set with Shadow Ball/Sludge Bomb/Energy Ball/Trick, but it would be recommended to run Life Orb in synergy with Malamar to hit even harder. It has basic EVs; nothing new. Malamar has Rest/ Chesto, so it can survive longer and dish out more Superpowers. Superpower is for contrary, and Night Slash is for STAB. In the fourth slot, you could run dual STAB (Psycho Cut) or Topsy-Turvy to shut down set up sweepers that might threaten it. 44 Speed is there to out speed uninvested Feraligatr. You might also want a teammate to take care of Spiritomb, cause niether of these pokemon want to deal with it. Having that both of them cover each other's weaknesses and their ability to take out each other's threats works well for this offensive core =D

Just wondering, inst using a modest nature for haunter better? still outspeeds base 80/85 with max speed at +1 and allows it to hit a lot harder taking advantage of its good Sp attack stat. Also I'm wondering why energy ball as coverage? i would run Dazzling Gleam on the 4th slot to hit Spirittomb on the switch.

252+ SpA Haunter Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Spiritomb: 166-196 (54.6 - 64.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

So if a standard Tomb switches in on haunter to pursuit trap him he can be 2HKOed and will have to choose between sucker punch you and risk you switch out or pursuit you and risk the 2nd DG.

 

[Assassin Rogue]

CORE UPDATE

+

+

Vileplume @ Black Sludge
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Moonlight
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Hariyama @ Assault Vest
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 244 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Bullet Punch
- Ice Punch

Probopass @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 56 SpA / 200 SpD
Calm Nature
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave

As time had passed, from the time i posted the core, there have been significant changes in the metagame and this core has changed quiet a bit with respect to the moveset's to adapt. It is my favorite core and one of the most effective core in the metagame.

Vileplume is a great physical wall. It walls/checks a number of physical attackers in the tier some of the notable ones are Feraligatr, BD Slurpuff, Kangaskhan, Liepard, Sawk, Gurdurr. It is a strong answer to common walls in the tiers that are Rhydon, Seismitoad, Lanturn, Poliwrath, Tangela, Steelix, Golem, Qwilfish, Granbull scaring them off with its STABS. It is a decent answer to Shell Smashers bar Omastar. Pokemon with frail defenses do not like to switch to its 110 BST STAB's. Moonlight is its main recovery move keeping the flower always healthy. Hidden power fire dents Ferroseed and Pawniard which are notable top threats. One may use Sleep powder or Aromatheraphy instead of it. Vileplume tanks fighting and ground attack's decently for Probopass which in turn covers its flying, ice and psychic weakness.

Probopass sets up Stealth Rock for the team. It walls most of the Ice, Flying and Psychic Special attackers. It hard walls Chatot, Vivilon, Swellow, Rotom-Fan, Cryogonal, Mesprit, Xatu which are notable stops to Vileplume. It is most reliable counter to top tier threat Slurpuff and 2HKO's all kinds with Flash cannon. Volt Switch maintains momentum for the team, which is crutial for balance playstyle. Thunder Wave Cripples the pokemon which try to switch on it. One might use Taunt instead of Thunderwave, which is notably useful against Ferroseed.

Assault Vest Hariyama is a glue to the core, it is a complete stop to fire spam and decently walls special attackers it is not weak to. It can take special water attacks from Gorebyss, Ludicolo, Samurott, Omastar decently and hit them back hard, in short it covers fire and ice weakness for Vileplume and Special Water, Fighting, Ground moves for Probopass.

note: The core is weak to the wall breakers i.e Archeops, Magmortar, Electivire make sure you are prepared for them ^.^

 

[The D-Match]

Just wondering, inst using a modest nature for haunter better? still outspeeds base 80/85 with max speed at +1 and allows it to hit a lot harder taking advantage of its good Sp attack stat. Also I'm wondering why energy ball as coverage? i would run Dazzling Gleam on the 4th slot to hit Spirittomb on the switch.

252+ SpA Haunter Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Spiritomb: 166-196 (54.6 - 64.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

So if a standard Tomb switches in on haunter to pursuit trap him he can be 2HKOed and will have to choose between sucker punch you and risk you switch out or pursuit you and risk the 2nd DG.

Energy Ball to hit bulky waters such as Toad or Gatr and Omastar super effectively. Also, running timid (w/o choice scarf) lets you speed tie with timid Jynx and also lets you outspeed things such as Vivillon and Kilngklank. Modest is an accepable nature though.

 

[senable]

Defensive Core:

Audino @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell / Toxic
- Knock Off / Double-Edge

Tangela @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Leech Seed
- Sleep Powder

Audino and Tangela form a formidable duo that is difficult to wear down due to their fantastic natural bulk and their access to the ability Regenerator which allows them to pivot around with ease. Tangela has great physical bulk allowing it to wall many physically oriented threats in the tier such as Feraligatr, Pangoro and Kangaskhan. It does however have abysmal special bulk and so it will falter to a lot of the special attackers in the tier. Audino is a fantastic partner since it is able to tank many special attacks that threaten Tangela while providing Wish support to keep the team healthy. Overall this is a solid Defensive Core capable of shutting down many top metagame threats while providing excellent team support in the form of Audino acting as a Cleric and Tangela providing Leech Seed and Sleep Powder support.

Audino and Tangela like to have a field clear of entry hazards to make full use of their abilities. Cryogonal is a great partner since it can remove entry hazards with Rapid Spin and use Haze to check some set up sweepers that the core struggles with such as Shell Smash Gorebyss.

 

[rob.]

Sets

Golurk @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 176 HP / 252 Atk / 80 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Magic Coat
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Shadow Punch / Stone Edge

Qwilfish @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes / Waterfall
- Taunt
- Explosion

I'll just call it an anti-lead core. Both mons' focus on preventing the opponent from setting up entry hazards through the use of Magic Coat or Taunt. Golurk naturally forces out alot of hazard setters such as, Camerupt, Garbodor, Rhydon, Crustle, Regirock, and Steelix with its powerful STAB Earthquake. With Magic Coat, Golurk can challenge faster hazard setters, mainly Archeops. The use of Magic Coat will most likely stop your opponent from attempting to lay more hazards while Golurk is active, which leaves Golurk the opportunity to KO most hazard setters with its powerful attacks. After that Golurk is free to setup Stealth Rock. Qwilfish prevents hazards with Taunt, and through its use Qwilfish can completely shut down hazard leads like Omastar. It can also riddle your opponents side with two entry hazards, Spikes and Toxic Spikes. Explosion is there to stop your opponent from removing your hazards with Rapid Spin or Defog. The cores biggest problem is Cryogonal because it outspeeds and KOes both mons', it's best to pair this core with a powerful Steel- or Fire-type. I would suggest Pawniard because it has nice bulk, great resistances, and its ability inhibits Defog use. Seismitoad is another problem because it threatens both mon's with Earthquake and Scald, but like Cryogonal it can easily be taken care of by another teammate. These Pokemon have great defensive typings along with good bulk, so you're free to change the evs to fit your teams needs. I wouldn't lower Qwilfish's Speed to much because it needs Speed in order to get off Taunt before some hazard setters. And always send out Golurk first if the opponent has an Archeops, Leavanny, or any hazard setter that's faster than Qwilfish. You should bring a Spinner / Defogger because you won't always prevent fast hazard setters from setting up.

 

[ryan]

extending on the probo/slurpuff core:

Slurpuff really appreciates support to help it sweep. This isn't any new or exciting knowledge, but these two are the best at providing the support that Slurpuff needs for tons of reasons. Probopass takes care of bulky Steel-types for Slurpuff, which Liepard offers setup opportunities with Encore. Probably even more importantly, both of them lure in Fighting-types for Slurpuff to set up on. Once Slurpuff's best checks and counters have been sufficiently weakened or simply removed, Probopass and Liepard can come in and lure Fighting-types, then Volt Switch or U-turn out into Slurpuff to give it the one free turn it needs in order to set up for a sweep. This core works really well because Fighting-types are natural switches into these two, and the only ones that can really handle it once it comes in are Encore Primeape, Choice Band Sawk, and any that carry the rare Poison- or Steel-type coverage. Another really fun tactic is to bring Liepard in after a Fighting-type takes out a teammate and Encore it into its attack, sacrificing Liepard but remedying the concerns of random Encore or Steel/Poison coverage.

Core, partly stolen from Davon's original:

Probopass @ Air Balloon
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 172 HP / 252 SpA / 84 Spe
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Thunder Wave
- Flash Cannon / Taunt

Slurpuff @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Play Rough
- Substitute / Protect / Flamethrower
- Belly Drum

Liepard @ Dread Plate
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Encore
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch

I made some changes from his original post as well, mostly optimizations and other options.

On Probopass, I added some more Speed. This is to outrun min Speed base 50s, though you'll probably want to add some more creep. I also added Thunder Wave slashed with HP Fire. If you have Taunt, you really don't need HP Fire for Ferroseed because all it can do is flail its arms and slowly die. You don't need to use Thunder Wave in this slot though. You can use Power Gem, Magnet Rise, or whatever other filler you want.

On Slurpuff, I changed its nature to Jolly. You can use Adamant if you want, but I like outspeeding Scarf Pyroar. Plus, by the time you're ready to attempt a sweep with Slurpuff, anything the opponent has that can live a +6 Jolly Play Rough should either be dead or sufficiently weakened. For example, you should have probably easily been able to hit a Rhydon a time or two or Knock Off its Eviolite. I also added some more slashes after Substitute because it's certainly not necessary. Protect dodges Fake Out from Kangaskhan and Hariyama, making it a lot harder for teams relying on them to take Slurpuff out, and Flamethrower does some decent damage to Ferroseed. I also changed Frustration to Return. This doesn't really matter and using either one will almost always yield the same results, but it gives me an excuse to say that Ditto can't revenge +6 Slurpuff because it doesn't copy the Unburden boost.

 

[Scotti]

Defensive Core

Formula = Dragon + Water + Steel
Core = Defensive Hazard Control Core

A weird looking core that I use a lot. The core pretty much takes on most of the threats in the meta. It offers a counter to water spam, normal spam, fire spam, and slurpuff. I use the core to take on some of the main threats in the tier, and works great for defensive and balanced teams. The core is actually a formula of Dragon + Water + Steel. All you need all those 3 types and it works really well. You could go sligoo + Seismitoad + Probopass or altaria + lanturn + bastidon. As long as you follow the formula it works out well.

Hide

Prinplup @ Eviolite
Ability: Torrent
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Grass Knot

Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Iron Head
- Roar
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock

Dragalge @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald / haze
- Dragon Pulse
- Sludge Bomb

This is pretty much a hazard based defensive core. It uses a formula I made, but it also does what I wanted it to preform. I pretty much can defog away hazards with prinplup, but at the same time can set hazards up with steelix and dragalge. I didn't want to run rocks in prinplup and went with grass knot to hit bulky waters. Steelix is pretty much standard set defensive set, normal spam and slurpuff. I went with spdef dragalge for fire spam. Dragalge also has scald which is nice for burn chance, however I was deciding on haze also because gorbyss is a fgt.

Hope this can help someone out :]

 

[xzern]

Defensive Core

is sets

i am a heron (Altaria) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic/Dragon Pulse
- Roar
- Roost
- Substitute

Hard Body (Bastiodon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Careful Nature
- Roar
- Protect
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock/Magic Coat

cancer on steroids (Audino) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Toxic/Double Edge/Knock Off

Simple, nice, and powerful defensive core. The main point of the core is to spam Roar to wear down opponents with hazard damage. Bastiodon resists all of Altaria's weaknesses (Dragon, Fairy, Ice, Rock); in turn, Altaria resists all of Bastiodon's crippling weaknesses (Fighting, Ground, Water.) Audino is the bulky pivot of the core, able to keep switching in thanks to Regenerator. Additionally, it easily provides Wish and Heal Bell support and extra stalling power. The core benefits well from hazard stackers such as Ferroseed, Omastar, and Crustle.

 

[Brawlfest]

Defensive Core

is sets

i am a heron (Altaria) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Roar
- Roost
- Substitute

Hard Body (Bastiodon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Careful Nature
- Roar
- Protect
- Metal Burst
- Stealth Rock/Magic Coat

cancer on steroids (Audino) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Toxic

Simple, nice, and powerful defensive core. The main point of the core is to spam Roar to wear down opponents with hazard damage. Bastiodon resists all of Altaria's weaknesses (Dragon, Fairy, Ice, Rock); in turn, Altaria resists all of Bastiodon's crippling weaknesses (Fighting, Ground, Water.) Audino is the bulky pivot of the core, able to keep switching in thanks to Regenerator. Additionally, it easily provides Wish and Heal Bell support and extra stalling power. The core benefits well from hazard stackers such as Ferrothorn, Omastar, and Crustle.

I like the core's synergy, but your individual sets are arguable. I hope you realize that Taunt is a thing. I would highly reccomend considering Dragon Pulse on Altaria over Toxic or Substitute, both of which are rather replaceable. Furthermore, Audino makes better use of moves such as Double Edge, Encore, and Knock Off over toxic to stop itself from being setup fodder. Metal Burst is kind of bad on Bastiodon to, ideally you should be running Stealth Rock / Magic Coat / Toxic / Roar.

Oh and 248 HP > 252 on Altaria to minimize SR damage.

Cool core though with solid synergy! Oh and last I checked FERROTHORN wasnt NU bb :]

 

[xzern]

I like the core's synergy, but your individual sets are arguable. I hope you realize that Taunt is a thing. I would highly reccomend considering Dragon Pulse on Altaria over Toxic or Substitute, both of which are rather replaceable. Furthermore, Audino makes better use of moves such as Double Edge, Encore, and Knock Off over toxic to stop itself from being setup fodder. Metal Burst is kind of bad on Bastiodon to, ideally you should be running Stealth Rock / Magic Coat / Toxic / Roar.

Oh and 248 HP > 252 on Altaria to minimize SR damage.

Cool core though with solid synergy! Oh and last I checked FERROTHORN wasnt NU bb :]

was mistake, I meant seed you nugget
and yes I shall edit the post with your sexy recommendations

 

[Pooch13]

was mistake, I meant seed you nugget
and yes I shall edit the post with your sexy recommendations

my biggest issue with your core besides taunt like brawlfest said is that xatu is fairly common so youll forcefully need something for it. tómb might do the trick but for your cores sake lets hope it doesnt go up. Also youll need a spinner or defogger because with 2/3 layers of spikes and/or SR or your side youll easily get worn down.

finally your core is kinda weak to encore users and rain ho (specially ludicolo)

 

[xzern]

my biggest issue with your core besides taunt like brawlfest said is that xatu is fairly common so youll forcefully need something for it. tómb might do the trick but for your cores sake lets hope it doesnt go up. Also youll need a spinner or defogger because with 2/3 layers of spikes and/or SR or your side youll easily get worn down.

finally your core is kinda weak to encore users and rain ho (specially ludicolo)

it's just a core, my good sir, not an entire team

 

[Pooch13]

it's just a core, my good sir, not an entire team

yes sorry, i think it sounded more like a bashing but what i meant is that the core is weak to some playstyles and you ll have to pick the other 3 mons accordingly to what you personally think you can handle better :]

 

[Yellow Cheese]

Defensive Core

is sets

i am a heron (Altaria) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic/Dragon Pulse
- Roar
- Roost
- Substitute

Hard Body (Bastiodon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Careful Nature
- Roar
- Protect
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock/Magic Coat

cancer on steroids (Audino) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Toxic/Double Edge/Knock Off

Simple, nice, and powerful defensive core. The main point of the core is to spam Roar to wear down opponents with hazard damage. Bastiodon resists all of Altaria's weaknesses (Dragon, Fairy, Ice, Rock); in turn, Altaria resists all of Bastiodon's crippling weaknesses (Fighting, Ground, Water.) Audino is the bulky pivot of the core, able to keep switching in thanks to Regenerator. Additionally, it easily provides Wish and Heal Bell support and extra stalling power. The core benefits well from hazard stackers such as Ferroseed, Omastar, and Crustle.

worst core bcuz blob. I can tell by just looking at this core that I would hate to fight against it, good job. and the shitty LO Sawk set poops on your core btw

Why are you using Careful + 252 def instead of Impish/Bold + 252 def on Bast?
why use Calm and 0 atk IVs on Blob with Double edge/Knock off?

 

[TheBluRaichu]

Defensive Core (Pelipper and Wormadam)

Hide

(Sorry about the formatting ATM)
Special Wall

Pokemon: Wormadam (Grass)
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Anticipation
Nature: Calm
EV Spread: 248HP, 8Def, 252SpDef
Toxic
Synthesis/Protect
Signal Beam
Giga Drain
NU has very few special walls, and Wormadam happens to be one of the most unique. Sporting several weaknesses, she is generally overlooked. However, her useful resistances allow her to wall many of the powerful water types in the tier. Toxic is to rack up residual damage. Synthesis is generally the preferred option, although Protect is a situational option to stall out opponents that you can't hit neutrally. Giga Drain is there to recover some health against the Grass types that she walls. Signal Beam is to damage opposing Grass and Psychic type Pokemon.

Physical Wall

Pokemon: Pelipper

Item: Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
Nature: Bold
EV Spread: 248HP, 252Def, 8SpDef
Scald
Air Slash
Roost
Defog
Pelipper may be generally inferior to the powerhouse walls of NU such as Steelix and Rhydon, but his access to defog and great type synergy with Wormadam makes up for his somewhat lackluster stats. Unlike the former physical walls, Pelipper has Roost. He also has a built in burn chance in his main STAB move to increase his physical walling capabilities. Air Slash is a secondary STAB with a nifty chance to flinch slower opponents. Roost is for healing, and Defog is to get rid of opposing entry hazards.​

​

 

[Brawlfest]

Defensive Core (Pelipper and Wormadam)

Hide

Special Wall

Pokemon: Wormadam (Grass)
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Anticipation
Nature: Calm
EV Spread: 248HP, 8Def, 252SpDef
Toxic
Synthesis/Protect
Signal Beam
Giga Drain
NU has very few special walls, and Wormadam happens to be one of the most unique. Sporting several weaknesses, she is generally overlooked. However, her useful resistances allow her to wall many of the powerful water types in the tier. Toxic is to rack up residual damage. Synthesis is generally the preferred option, although Protect is a situational option to stall out opponents that you can't hit neutrally. Giga Drain is there to recover some health against the Grass types that she walls. Signal Beam is to damage opposing Grass and Psychic type Pokemon.

Physical Wall

Pokemon: Pelipper

Item: Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
Nature: Bold
EV Spread: 248HP, 252Def, 8SpDef
Scald
Air Slash
Roost
Defog
Pelipper may be generally inferior to the powerhouse walls of NU such as Steelix and Rhydon, but his access to defog and great type synergy with Wormadam makes up for his somewhat lackluster stats. Unlike the former physical walls, Pelipper has Roost. He also has a built in burn chance in his main STAB move to increase his physical walling capabilities. Air Slash is a secondary STAB with a nifty chance to flinch slower opponents. Roost is for healing, and Defog is to get rid of opposing entry hazards.​

​

The problem with Wormadam is it has no niche. It is completely and utterly outclassed by any other NU grass type. Vileplume running a specially defensive spread is easily more effective by boasting better bulk, higher offensive presence, way better typing, and access to far more utility moves. Unlike Wormadam, it can support a team with things like Aromatherapy and Sleep Powder to provide utility while crippling opponents, and its better typing also can help it remove TSpikes on the switch.
Wormadam can't even compare with other NU grass types. Roselia or SDef Ferroseed easily outclass it, both of which have far higher bulk to the point that they completely eclipse Wormadam, and at the same time both boast better typing and Spikes, one of the most critical moves to any defensive team as it alows them to wear down opponents.
Hell even niche SDef Grass types such as Ludicolo or Cradily should be considered long before Wormadam due again to better movepools, overall stats, and much more useful typing.

Tl;dr its outclassed AF.

 

[TheBluRaichu]

The problem with Wormadam is it has no niche. It is completely and utterly outclassed by any other NU grass type. Vileplume running a specially defensive spread is easily more effective by boasting better bulk, higher offensive presence, way better typing, and access to far more utility moves. Unlike Wormadam, it can support a team with things like Aromatherapy and Sleep Powder to provide utility while crippling opponents, and its better typing also can help it remove TSpikes on the switch.
Wormadam can't even compare with other NU grass types. Roselia or SDef Ferroseed easily outclass it, both of which have far higher bulk to the point that they completely eclipse Wormadam, and at the same time both boast better typing and Spikes, one of the most critical moves to any defensive team as it alows them to wear down opponents.
Hell even niche SDef Grass types such as Ludicolo or Cradily should be considered long before Wormadam due again to better movepools, overall stats, and much more useful typing.

Tl;dr its outclassed AF.

I feel that this can be argued. I know Signal beam is a small niche but I've used many specially defensive grass types and Wormadam is generally the one that performs best (in my experiences). I usually add in Audino or Lickilicky for the Heal Bell support as you mentioned Aromatherapy above. Wormadam just goes with Pelipper better in my opinion, and I'll stick with that. I agree you make excellent points though. I would definitely run Vileplume or Bellossom before Wormadam-Grass on MOST teams. This is one of the exceptions.

 

[Punchshroom]

I feel that this can be argued. I know Signal beam is a small niche but I've used many specially defensive grass types and Wormadam is generally the one that performs best (in my experiences). I usually add in Audino or Lickilicky for the Heal Bell support as you mentioned Aromatherapy above. Wormadam just goes with Pelipper better in my opinion, and I'll stick with that. I agree you make excellent points though. I would definitely run Vileplume or Bellossom before Wormadam-Grass on MOST teams. This is one of the exceptions.

Literally any other Grass-type goes better with Pelipper, since they usually do not share weaknesses (in Wormadam's case, to Rock). There is no real reason to use Wormadam when other Grass-types have better bulk, typing and most importantly support movepools, which is the main strength of Grass-types as far as I'm concerned. You did not give any insight whatsoever as to how Wormadam could possibly perform better than other Grass-types, so I (nor anyone else) sees any reason why you insist on keeping Wormadam, other than 'you like it', but we don't want to see cores that incorporate Pachirisu, Fafetch'd, or Dedenne in this thread if this was a 'good reason'. In other words, please don't set an example.

 

[ryan]

People have probably heard me hyping SmashPass lately because I've been talking about it quite a bit, and I figured it would only make sense to toss out a nice SmashPass core. This isn't really any particular type of core—offensive, defensive, etc.—but if it had to be classified, I guess it's a supporting core, with the whole idea of course being Uxie and Gorebyss supporting a teammate.

Uxie @ Light Clay | Levitate
248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe | Timid Nature
Stealth Rock / Light Screen / Reflect / Memento

Gorebyss @ White Herb | Swift Swim
248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe | Timid Nature
Scald / Substitute / Shell Smash / Baton Pass

I'm sure there are more optimized spreads out there for these guys, but max HP and Speed functions just fine. Uxie makes Gorebyss's job really ridiculously easy. Even with just Screens up, Gorebyss is plenty fat enough to take on nearly every unboosted hit in the tier, including tons of super effective ones, and with Screens + Memento, I doubt it's even possible to OHKO it without a crit. As an example of how easy it is to set up:

252 SpA Choice Specs Rotom Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Gorebyss through Light Screen: 225-265 (71.6 - 84.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-2 252 SpA Choice Specs Rotom Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Gorebyss through Light Screen: 112-133 (35.6 - 42.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Because of this, it's also pretty easy to set up a free Substitute against neutral hits. Passing +2 Atk/SpA/Spe behind a Sub is basically the dream and won't really happen often, but when it does, it's almost impossible to lose.

While setting up with Gorebyss, be wary of things that can dispose of your White Herb. Sticky Web is kind of annoying for this reason, but it's usually not annoying enough to make playing around it in the early game very worthwhile. Intimidate and Knock Off also get rid of White Herb and are quite pesky, but you can Sub up against most slower Knock Off users and keep it up, even without the -2 drop from Memento. Spiritomb is also kind of annoying because of Infiltrator, which bypasses both Screens and Subs with Will-O-Wisp, but you can pass to something that doesn't mind the burn (random Lum Pokemon, physically defensive Xatu, Slurpuff, special attackers). Also, Defog clears out Screens, but just like Sticky Web, it's rarely worth going out of your way to keep your opponent from using Defog if it deters your setup.

Other various stuff to watch out for while setting up:
- phazing
- Liepard's Prankster Encore
- opposing setup Pokemon; if they can set up enough, they can just kill whatever you pass to and/or easily take hits from it
- Taunt
- Trick users; though it rarely happens, if the opponent has a Choiced Pokemon with Trick out after Uxie dies, they can lock Gorebyss into Shell Smash and keep you from setting up at any time during the game

 

[Karen Lilica]

Offensive core (?)

I made this core with the latest tier shifts in mind. Aka, Kabutops coming to NU.

Vileplume @ Black Sludge
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 248 HP / 160 Def / 100 SpA
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Moonlight

Kabutops @ Focus Sash
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge

Xatu @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Heat Wave
- Psychic/Psyshock
- Roost

The idea behind this is that Kabutops can be a lategame sweeper without rain support. Xatu and Vileplume take out his main threats. Xatu is mainly useful for the likes of Gurdurr, Hariyama and Ferroseed (and stealth rockers/spikers) while Vileplume takes care of both Ferroseed, Seismitoad and Accelgor. When all the threats are gone, you can potentially put up 2 swords dances due to the focus sash and also activate the speed boost weak armor provides.

I suggest running this core with a stealth rocker of your choice and a spinner/defogger if your Xatu did not come in on the turn they put up hazards.

 

[Pooch13]

I made this core with the latest tier shifts in mind. Aka, Kabutops coming to NU.

Vileplume @ Black Sludge
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 248 HP / 160 Def / 100 SpA
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Moonlight

Kabutops @ Focus Sash
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Swords Dance
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge

Xatu @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Heat Wave
- Psychic/Psyshock
- Roost

The idea behind this is that Kabutops can be a lategame sweeper without rain support. Xatu and Vileplume take out his main threats. Xatu is mainly useful for the likes of Gurdurr, Hariyama and Ferroseed (and stealth rockers/spikers) while Vileplume takes care of both Ferroseed, Seismitoad and Accelgor. When all the threats are gone, you can potentially put up 2 swords dances due to the focus sash and also activate the speed boost weak armor provides.

I suggest running this core with a stealth rocker of your choice and a spinner/defogger if your Xatu did not come in on the turn they put up hazards.

freeze dry cryo poopies on your core though so something bulky unaffected by freeze dry is almost mandatory

 

[Evan.]

Offensive Core:

+

Obviously Ludi-tops has been an extremely hyped rain offense core that the NU room has been theorymonning about forever. Under rain, these two destroy each others checks and can beat the majority of the metagame with their wide coverage, high offensive stats and blistering speed due to Swift Swim. Superpower can be used over Waterfall on Kabutops or Focus Blast can be used on Ludicolo to help beat Ferroseed.

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Rain Dance / Focus Blast
- Hydro Pump / Surf
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam

+


Kabutops @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall / Superpower