SS PU Iron Defense Cofagrigus Balance

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Introduction
Since PU is the most influenced tier with our current tiering system, it is often subject to many changes. This has been especially evident in recent months with the drop of many Pokemon that were too strong for the metagame followed by a wave of suspects and bans. However, thanks to a good number of tournaments running recently, PU was able to stabilize itself around a number of threats, and this team was created to take advantage of that. Indeed, building in PU right now mainly comes down to entry hazard management, the sand match-up, and the hyper offense match-up. Cofagrigus is an uncommon Pokemon that checks all those boxes quite well, and what would be better to be used in the lowest level of the tiering pyramid than a sarcophagus? With the ability to spinblock Sandslash and Eldegoss, PU's two main spinners, and act as a win condition against both offensive and more fat teams, Cofagrigus is an interesting pick at the moment, especially when combined with entry hazard stacking. With a very solid defensive core and entry hazard stack, this team is aimed to force switches, weaken as many foes as possible, and create opportunities for Cofagrigus to set up and win. Archeops is able to pressure important entry hazard removers like Eldegoss and Sandslash and check Charizard, the main threat to the Ferroseed-Cofagrigus core. Ferroseed can take on most of the other special attackers in the tier, which Cofagrigus struggles with. It also provides Knock Off support, which is crucial for the team. Ribombee acts as a Scrafty check and helps cover other Fighting-types alongside Cofagrigus. Having a cleric is also quite important in PU because of the high usage of status moves such as Toxic Spikes from Weezing and Toxic from Charizard, Jellicent, and Ferroseed; it is also crucial here because of the team's two Rest users. Ribombee completes its support role by bringing valuable speed control; its sheer Speed and Stun Spore impede threats like Jellicent and Doublade. Quagsire and Charizard finish the team off by covering threats like Lycanroc and Doublade in Quaagsire's case and Fairy- and Grass-types in Charizard's case while also helping the team against setup sweepers, as Unaware Quagsire + Roar Charizard covers most if not all of them; Charizard's Roar is also useful for accumulating entry hazard damage. Finally, Charizard can be used as an emergency Defogger if the team falls behind in the entry hazard war.



In-Depth

:ss/cofagrigus:


Cofagrigus @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Def / 64 SpA / 100 SpD / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Hex
- Rest

Cofagrigus is not a pokemon that you will see a lot in PU. Here, it takes on the role of bulky setup sweeper that can serve both as a tank early-game and a win condition late-game. Body Press + Hex is an unresisted combination that can deal a good amount of damage, especially after an Iron Defense and the team's status spam. ChestoRest allows Cofagrigus to stay healthy in the early-game while Ribombee's Aromatherapy allows Cofagrigus to use Rest more frequently in the mid-game. Having a consumable item also means that Cofagrigus is able to take on Poltergeist users, which is a great attribute. The EV spread allows Cofagrigus to 3HKO physically defensive Wishiwashi if it has a status with Hex, avoid the 3HKO from Eldegoss and Aromatisse, and outspeed uninvested Doublade, Quagsire, and Clefairy; the rest is dumped in Defense to increase Body Press's damage while improving Cofagrigus's matchup into Sandslash. While it acts as a spinblocker, Cofagrigus doesn't prevent Sandslash and Eldegoss from using their utility moves like Spikes or Aromatherapy, respectively, so make sure to play around that.


:ss/ribombee:
Ribombee @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 16 HP / 108 Def / 132 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stun Spore
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
- Roost

Ribombee is a really splashable Pokemon that can fit on nearly every PU team thanks to its good role compression. Aromatherapy supports the team's longevity by removing Cofagrigus and Ferroseed's sleep, Stun Spore gives the team a better chance to revenge kill certain threats like Swoobat under grassy terrain and is also useful to allow Cofagrigus to outspeed some threats like Clear Smog Weezing and Jellicent. The 108 EVs in Defense allow it to take on physical attackers like Archeops once Defeatist is activated, Gallade, and Scrafty.


:ss/archeops:
Archeops @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aqua Tail
- Dual Wingbeat
- Stealth Rock
- Roost


Archeops is one of the best offensive checks to Charizard while also providing Stealth Rock and valuable Speed, which is good because the team is fairly passive without it. The combination Aqua Tail + Dual Wingbeat is chosen over the classic EdgeQuake here to put more pressure on Sandslash and Eldegoss to help prevent the removal of the entry hazards. This variant struggles more against Steel-types and Lanturn, which is where Ferroseed and Charizard come in.


:ss/ferroseed:
Ferroseed @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Rest
- Toxic
- Knock Off


Ferrosseed provides the team with a Water resistance and a Steel-type. It has maximum special bulk to take on Jellicent as best as possible. Spikes finishes the entry hazard stacking core, and Knock Off is mandatory to remove foes' items like Charizard's Heavy-Duty Boots, Clefairy’s Eviolite, and Weezing’s Black Sludge. Toxic is yet another way to deal passive damage, and spreading status helps power up Cofagrigus's Hex. In this case, it targets mostly Charizard and Eldegoss. Not having Gyro Ball hurts its matchup into the tier's Ice-types, but Charizard is a much more common threat and you don't want to give Jellicent a free switch, so Toxic + Knock Off is recommended.


:ss/quagsire:
Quagsire @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 132 Def / 124 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover


Quagsire adds to the solidity of the defensive core by providing an Electric-immunity, a counter to a lot of physical setup sweepers and attackers, and a soft check to Charizard. It is able to run a more mixed defensive spread due to Cofagrigus's ability to check Gallade; this gives Quagsire the room to better check Charizard and Ribombee. Toxic and Scald help further spread status; a common target being Wishiwashi.


:ss/charizard:
Charizard @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 128 HP / 128 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Flamethrower
- Roar
- Defog

Defog on Charizard is a very controversial move, as it doesn't prevent Rock-types like Gigalith from setting Stealth Rock at all. However, it should only use Defog if the team would get overwhelmed by Toxic Spikes or if the team is behind in the entry hazard war. Roar is a good tool to abuse the team's entry hazards and also to phaze opposing setup sweepers like Calm Mind + Stored Power Comfey and Swoobat. The extra HP helps it take hits from those sweepers in order to phaze them.


Threatlist

:Jellicent:
Jellicent is a threat to the team whether it's running Choice Specs or its defensive Taunt set. Choice Specs Jellicent can trick Ferroseed or eventually get through it by spamming Shadow Ball. It's necessary to remove its item with Knock Off as early as possible so that Cofagrigus can tank a hit and revenge kill it. Putting enough pressure on it with the entry hazards and aggressive play is also a way to deal with it. For the defensive Taunt set, it is best to paralyze or poison it uses Taunt so it becomes less of a problem.

:Abomasnow: / :Frosmoth:
As this team doesn't have any Ice-resistant Pokemon, it is hard to switch into powerful Ice-type attackers. Sneasel is less of a problem thanks to Quagsire and Ribombee, but Choice Specs Abomasnow and Quiver Dance Frosmoth are important threats to take into account. Although Abomasnow can be restrained through entry hazards, switching into it will always be a pain. Frosmoth is a bit less difficult in the short term, but it can quickly become a problem because Ferroseed doesn't have Gyro Ball. Roar Charizard can force it out in early-game, but you will have to get Cofagrigus set up more early than usual to deny Frosmoth.
:Sandslash:
Life Orb Sandslash is a threat to almost all of the tier. Because Quagisre is not fully invested in physical bulk and Ferroseed is specially defensive, it can overwhelm the team quickly without careful play. Aqua Tail on Archeops helps deny it a sweep and the hazard stack reduces its longevity, but a well-played Life Orb Sandslash can break its way through the team.

Importable
Cofagrigus @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Def / 64 SpA / 100 SpD / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Iron Defense
- Body Press
- Hex
- Rest

Ribombee @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 16 HP / 108 Def / 132 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stun Spore
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
- Roost

Ferroseed @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Rest
- Toxic
- Knock Off

Quagsire @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 132 Def / 124 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover

Charizard @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 128 HP / 128 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Flamethrower
- Roar
- Defog

Archeops @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aqua Tail
- Dual Wingbeat
- Stealth Rock
- Roost

Credits
created by: Lambovino
written by: Lambovino
Quality Checked by: avarice
Grammar Checked by: dex
Art by: sasha
 

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