A comparative analysis - the main Granbull checks (and some honourable mentions)
This topic is mainly aimed at discussion more than stating the facts. However,
I hope it can be a stepping stone when entering the builder for the uninitiated in gsc uu.
Brief Intro:
So we've come a super long way with this metagame, far enough that a greater majority of its playerbase probably was not involved with it in its outset (myself included but players who pioneered the tier that come to mind are Choolio, Jorgen, Earthworm and later Diophantine). Ah yes, the good ol' days were way back in 2012 when Jorgen posted an list of all the different pokemon in the game on Mt.Silver with many mixed results in tiering, including Mr.Mime and Haunter below UU, Golem Jynx and Rhydon were BL pokemon, and we as a community basically took off from that list which you can still see today, and slowly edited, cut and appended the list as more and more stats came along.
Teambuilding has changed over the course of this tier's nearly decade long history of optimization. The meta, which is still quite untapped for what it's worth, is one in which we can more accurately describe each threat, partly thanks to those who have been tasked with literally shaping the playing-field (today there are actually quite a number of members of RoA and the UU community that have gotten involved and they are too many to mention).
So where does that bring us with building today?
I thought I'd talk about an especially fun activity when I am playing the tier and it's teambuilding. It has to do with normal resists.
Ghost, Rock and Steel types play a very key role in UU ever since Granbull became widely considered an S tier (and for good reason). They not only resist Normal type attacks from the likes of Granbull and Dodrio, the two main STAB Normal type attackers, but they offer some key utility and matchup advantages in the playing field and are the main reason why other physical attackers have to resort to coverage options such as Hidden Power Ground (take pinsir for instance, who cannot benefit from its own STAB with HP Bug without getting walled by Magneton).
The main 4
Let's start with the one that is perhaps the most popular team choice, Haunter
It is the fastest normal resist of the tier and often times the least predictable. It's not quite as malleable to the extent that Gengar is in OU but its different moves means that it can be full of different surprise combinations (eg. D Bond + Boom, Mean Look Trap, Thief sets). It functions in a very similar way to Mr.Mime with its offensive move pool and it comes with the benefit of Explosion to take something down with it. It's the only pokemon that offers a very simple solution to maintaining Spikes and that's by spin blocking Blastoise (Yes, you CAN use Destiny Bond to take out the opposing Rapid Spinner). Unfortunately, its frailty means that it can often be risky to come in on a pokemon like HP Ground Granbull, as it will get OHKO'd after a single boost. Depending on the preference for a specific Granbull set the opponent has and slight variations of the meta, the Haunter user can choose to use Explosion or Destiny Bond to secure safety against this deadly sweeper. Haunter unfortunately has a relatively poor matchup vs the likes of a healthy Dodrio, as it can cleanly get 2HKO'd by Drill Peck.
Common moves: Thunder, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Thief, Destiny Bond, Explosion, Hypnosis
Next is perhaps the next most popular and in some remote cases more reliable, Omastar
Omastar is the first sleep talking Normal resist of the mix and it does exactly what you would expect it do to, wall things and hit really, really hard with Surf STAB off a strong base SpA. It doesn't have to use Sleep Talk but basically that makes it more reliable for taking repeated hits from Granbull and the like. Thief has occasionally been used because it normally has some very valuable special walls to deprive leftovers of, but you are essentially forfeiting the matchup vs non mono Granbull sets if you aren't careful. Its superior bulk means it has a very easy time walling and threatening Dodrio, it can actually survive a STAB eq from a Ground type and trade blows, and doesn't have to worry about HP Ground Granbull 2HKOing it after a single boost, but its Water typing does mean it can get haxed by Thunder from Granbull, a tech designed specifically for it. Omastar has in certain cases seen success on stall teams as well.
Scout your opponent wisely, folks!
Common moves: Surf, Ice Beam, Rest, Sleep Talk, Thief, Hidden Power Electric
Now for one of my favorites, the magnetic triclops
Magneton is like a middle ground between Haunter and Omastar in terms of its speed tier and also the offensive capabilities it offers. It is the only Steel typing in the tier which means it can not only threaten Mono Granbull or any pokemon without Ground or Fighting coverage (hp bug syther, Dodrio, the rare Wigglytuff etc.) but it even can give many Psychic types a run for their money. Among the other options, it's the only one that can actually threaten to take out Curse Rest Sleep Talk Body Slam Hypno completely unboosted (see Kabutops below), thanks to its Thunder 3HKOing it. Magneton is nice in those scenarios where you will give up a bit of the defensive reliability in order to have a really strong wincondition, which is having the Ground type pokemon out of the way to spam the hell out of Thunder. But that is easier said than done, Grounds are super common and its Hidden Powers don't really leave much of a mark on Nidoqueen or Piloswine, which it constantly invites in. Mag can be very restrictive in the builder due to how its weaknesses hold it back (it too risks getting OHKO'd by an unboosted HP Ground Granbull). Personally, I believe that if you choose to go down this route in your builder, you should expect to make some neat double switches between it and your Water type(s).
Common moves: Thunder, Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Ice/Water, Rest, Sleep Talk, Thunder Wave, Substitute
And of course how could we forget Shuckle
If you have noticed a certain trend it's that all of the previously mentioned pokemon share a weakness to Ground typing. That's sort of the main reason why you won't see two of these pokemon on the same team, you are just stacking weaknesses to one of the most common attackers of the tier (an issue you can't just fix by adding a flying type). Shuckle is pretty much a one trick pony. It fits the role of a Normal resist while also being able to take Earthquakes rather reliably. I've seen it stall Piloswine out of its PP, and you know how much of a badass Piloswine is. The main gripe I have with this pokemon is that its very slow and can only be viably used on a Stall team. The other issue is that it lets the opponent have many opportunities to come in with Qwilfish and lay Spikes, so you will have to work extra hard if you want to defend your team from hazards.
Common moves: Toxic, Defense Curl, Flash, Rest, Sleep Talk
The Wild Card
I totally forgot to mention my second favorite normal resist.I guess that shows how much of an impact it leaves on the tier.
What I like about Kabutops is it actually has a good offensive typing at least as far as its coverage and the few resistances to its movepool are concerned: with most Water types out of the way, a Kabutops that is used correctly can actually be very scary to face. Its attacking moves are kind of crappy though (poor fossil resurrections have a nice Rock typing but no good Rock STAB outside of Ancient Power) but that is at least somewhat made up for by access to Swords Dance.
Kabutops unfortunately is frail and also very vulnerable to many different attacks, making it even more susceptible to things Omastar already is. Like holly in her comment below, Kabutops is not meant to actually wall a pokemon like Curse Granbull. But that doesn't change the fact that it's relatively fast and can give it some issues. A Granbull user should think twice before setting up on Kabutops because even if it could be threatening to Kabutops at +1 or 2 with or without Hidden Power Ground, they will just expose themselves to the dangers of multiple Attack boosts (or even an all around +1 boost with Ancient Power). This is one of the gripes I had with Curse Talk Body Slam Hypno or Curse Chansey when people were trying it out.
Common moves: Swords Dance, Ancient Power, Hidden Power Ground, Hydro Pump, Surf, Substitute, Double Edge
The sad disappointments
As honourable mentions we have the ancient relic Graveler and the hardly viable Sudowoodo.
Graveler looks like it could be good on paper due to its typing but it's susceptible to all kinds of status and attacks. The only reason I'm mentioning it at all was because way back people used to use this as a makeshift Rapid Spinner but I can't even tell if that was in UU or in NU. Of course there are some people that have dabbled with some offensive set in today's meta so I suggest you ask their opinions on it (Celebiii holly).
Basically it's a bad exploder and Sudowoodo kind of also is a not so great Self Destruct user (it doesn't even learn Explosion). Pure Rock typing would be nice but with all of the Water types and Ground types it doesn't really have much to offer. Moral of the story I advise against using these last two for the sole purpose of walling Granbull, because they have no reliable recovery and they will get overrun by curse sets.
(I did not mention Slowbro because the topic of discussion is Normal resists, not Pokemon that defensively check Mono Granbull, which is only one threat).
Conclusion
Having a Normal resist isn't always necessary to be successful in GSC Underused (I'm thinking of hyper offense builds), but it still is an important asset to teambuilding, especially for balance and stall teams. Having one too many Ground weaknesses can become a huge liability and it's best not to give pokemon like Nidoqueen or Piloswine too many opportunities to threaten your team.
Which of these Pokemon do you like to use? Let me know because I'm open to different kinds of suggestions and stuff.
This topic is mainly aimed at discussion more than stating the facts. However,
I hope it can be a stepping stone when entering the builder for the uninitiated in gsc uu.
Brief Intro:
So we've come a super long way with this metagame, far enough that a greater majority of its playerbase probably was not involved with it in its outset (myself included but players who pioneered the tier that come to mind are Choolio, Jorgen, Earthworm and later Diophantine). Ah yes, the good ol' days were way back in 2012 when Jorgen posted an list of all the different pokemon in the game on Mt.Silver with many mixed results in tiering, including Mr.Mime and Haunter below UU, Golem Jynx and Rhydon were BL pokemon, and we as a community basically took off from that list which you can still see today, and slowly edited, cut and appended the list as more and more stats came along.
Teambuilding has changed over the course of this tier's nearly decade long history of optimization. The meta, which is still quite untapped for what it's worth, is one in which we can more accurately describe each threat, partly thanks to those who have been tasked with literally shaping the playing-field (today there are actually quite a number of members of RoA and the UU community that have gotten involved and they are too many to mention).
So where does that bring us with building today?
I thought I'd talk about an especially fun activity when I am playing the tier and it's teambuilding. It has to do with normal resists.
Ghost, Rock and Steel types play a very key role in UU ever since Granbull became widely considered an S tier (and for good reason). They not only resist Normal type attacks from the likes of Granbull and Dodrio, the two main STAB Normal type attackers, but they offer some key utility and matchup advantages in the playing field and are the main reason why other physical attackers have to resort to coverage options such as Hidden Power Ground (take pinsir for instance, who cannot benefit from its own STAB with HP Bug without getting walled by Magneton).
The main 4
Let's start with the one that is perhaps the most popular team choice, Haunter
It is the fastest normal resist of the tier and often times the least predictable. It's not quite as malleable to the extent that Gengar is in OU but its different moves means that it can be full of different surprise combinations (eg. D Bond + Boom, Mean Look Trap, Thief sets). It functions in a very similar way to Mr.Mime with its offensive move pool and it comes with the benefit of Explosion to take something down with it. It's the only pokemon that offers a very simple solution to maintaining Spikes and that's by spin blocking Blastoise (Yes, you CAN use Destiny Bond to take out the opposing Rapid Spinner). Unfortunately, its frailty means that it can often be risky to come in on a pokemon like HP Ground Granbull, as it will get OHKO'd after a single boost. Depending on the preference for a specific Granbull set the opponent has and slight variations of the meta, the Haunter user can choose to use Explosion or Destiny Bond to secure safety against this deadly sweeper. Haunter unfortunately has a relatively poor matchup vs the likes of a healthy Dodrio, as it can cleanly get 2HKO'd by Drill Peck.
Common moves: Thunder, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Thief, Destiny Bond, Explosion, Hypnosis
Next is perhaps the next most popular and in some remote cases more reliable, Omastar
Omastar is the first sleep talking Normal resist of the mix and it does exactly what you would expect it do to, wall things and hit really, really hard with Surf STAB off a strong base SpA. It doesn't have to use Sleep Talk but basically that makes it more reliable for taking repeated hits from Granbull and the like. Thief has occasionally been used because it normally has some very valuable special walls to deprive leftovers of, but you are essentially forfeiting the matchup vs non mono Granbull sets if you aren't careful. Its superior bulk means it has a very easy time walling and threatening Dodrio, it can actually survive a STAB eq from a Ground type and trade blows, and doesn't have to worry about HP Ground Granbull 2HKOing it after a single boost, but its Water typing does mean it can get haxed by Thunder from Granbull, a tech designed specifically for it. Omastar has in certain cases seen success on stall teams as well.
Scout your opponent wisely, folks!
Common moves: Surf, Ice Beam, Rest, Sleep Talk, Thief, Hidden Power Electric
Now for one of my favorites, the magnetic triclops
Magneton is like a middle ground between Haunter and Omastar in terms of its speed tier and also the offensive capabilities it offers. It is the only Steel typing in the tier which means it can not only threaten Mono Granbull or any pokemon without Ground or Fighting coverage (hp bug syther, Dodrio, the rare Wigglytuff etc.) but it even can give many Psychic types a run for their money. Among the other options, it's the only one that can actually threaten to take out Curse Rest Sleep Talk Body Slam Hypno completely unboosted (see Kabutops below), thanks to its Thunder 3HKOing it. Magneton is nice in those scenarios where you will give up a bit of the defensive reliability in order to have a really strong wincondition, which is having the Ground type pokemon out of the way to spam the hell out of Thunder. But that is easier said than done, Grounds are super common and its Hidden Powers don't really leave much of a mark on Nidoqueen or Piloswine, which it constantly invites in. Mag can be very restrictive in the builder due to how its weaknesses hold it back (it too risks getting OHKO'd by an unboosted HP Ground Granbull). Personally, I believe that if you choose to go down this route in your builder, you should expect to make some neat double switches between it and your Water type(s).
Common moves: Thunder, Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Ice/Water, Rest, Sleep Talk, Thunder Wave, Substitute
And of course how could we forget Shuckle
If you have noticed a certain trend it's that all of the previously mentioned pokemon share a weakness to Ground typing. That's sort of the main reason why you won't see two of these pokemon on the same team, you are just stacking weaknesses to one of the most common attackers of the tier (an issue you can't just fix by adding a flying type). Shuckle is pretty much a one trick pony. It fits the role of a Normal resist while also being able to take Earthquakes rather reliably. I've seen it stall Piloswine out of its PP, and you know how much of a badass Piloswine is. The main gripe I have with this pokemon is that its very slow and can only be viably used on a Stall team. The other issue is that it lets the opponent have many opportunities to come in with Qwilfish and lay Spikes, so you will have to work extra hard if you want to defend your team from hazards.
Common moves: Toxic, Defense Curl, Flash, Rest, Sleep Talk
The Wild Card
I totally forgot to mention my second favorite normal resist.
What I like about Kabutops is it actually has a good offensive typing at least as far as its coverage and the few resistances to its movepool are concerned: with most Water types out of the way, a Kabutops that is used correctly can actually be very scary to face. Its attacking moves are kind of crappy though (poor fossil resurrections have a nice Rock typing but no good Rock STAB outside of Ancient Power) but that is at least somewhat made up for by access to Swords Dance.
Kabutops unfortunately is frail and also very vulnerable to many different attacks, making it even more susceptible to things Omastar already is. Like holly in her comment below, Kabutops is not meant to actually wall a pokemon like Curse Granbull. But that doesn't change the fact that it's relatively fast and can give it some issues. A Granbull user should think twice before setting up on Kabutops because even if it could be threatening to Kabutops at +1 or 2 with or without Hidden Power Ground, they will just expose themselves to the dangers of multiple Attack boosts (or even an all around +1 boost with Ancient Power). This is one of the gripes I had with Curse Talk Body Slam Hypno or Curse Chansey when people were trying it out.
Common moves: Swords Dance, Ancient Power, Hidden Power Ground, Hydro Pump, Surf, Substitute, Double Edge
The sad disappointments
As honourable mentions we have the ancient relic Graveler and the hardly viable Sudowoodo.
Graveler looks like it could be good on paper due to its typing but it's susceptible to all kinds of status and attacks. The only reason I'm mentioning it at all was because way back people used to use this as a makeshift Rapid Spinner but I can't even tell if that was in UU or in NU. Of course there are some people that have dabbled with some offensive set in today's meta so I suggest you ask their opinions on it (Celebiii holly).
Basically it's a bad exploder and Sudowoodo kind of also is a not so great Self Destruct user (it doesn't even learn Explosion). Pure Rock typing would be nice but with all of the Water types and Ground types it doesn't really have much to offer. Moral of the story I advise against using these last two for the sole purpose of walling Granbull, because they have no reliable recovery and they will get overrun by curse sets.
(I did not mention Slowbro because the topic of discussion is Normal resists, not Pokemon that defensively check Mono Granbull, which is only one threat).
Conclusion
Having a Normal resist isn't always necessary to be successful in GSC Underused (I'm thinking of hyper offense builds), but it still is an important asset to teambuilding, especially for balance and stall teams. Having one too many Ground weaknesses can become a huge liability and it's best not to give pokemon like Nidoqueen or Piloswine too many opportunities to threaten your team.
Which of these Pokemon do you like to use? Let me know because I'm open to different kinds of suggestions and stuff.
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