Introduction
it's getting about that time in the generation where continuing to play the same old tier i've been playing (i.e. OU) has gotten kinda stale, so i decided to give PU a shot. despite having a muck around on the ladder for a few days and scoping out some replays/recordings, i still feel as if i'm only just grasping the current metagame; so please bear with any misinformation i might spew out.
i had an offensive build in mind when attempting to construct this team and i think i've stuck to that fairly well. in doing a bit of research on the tier, i'd discovered a fun-looking (albeit potentially outdated) core designed by 2xTheTap in the good cores thread that i wanted to have a crack at playing with.
by the way, the RMT's called'medusa' because hydreigon has 3 heads 'jungle fever' because it has a bunch of jungle-y animals and i'm uncreative, not the racially fetishistic term or the crippling disease :]
The Squad
broccoli dude (Simisage) @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot
as the first half of the offensive core, simisage's purpose is to remove problematic walls such as stunfisk or golem and weaken things like audino and grumpig for zebstrika to clean up with more ease afterwards. the standard all-out-attacker set listed on the dex seems to be working adequately so far in terms of its synergy with the rest of the team, but i was also recommended a nasty plot set to serve as a late-game win condition (which i'm unsure about, so i'd appreciate any pointers). as the primary wallbreaker of the team, i usually attempt to get it in early-game to punch holes in the opposition for the rest of the team to pick up from.
monotone dude (Zebstrika) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Overheat
zebstrika - the other half of the core - tackles pokemon like floatzel, jumpluff, and vullaby which would otherwise cause big problems for simisage. hidden power ice was chosen over grass due to redundancy in coverage as well as gaining the ability to take huge chunks out of gabite & defensive altaria in particular. in many games, this functioned effectively as a pivotal lead and/or revenge killer. life orb is the preferred item over choice specs here, as i feel the ability to switch up moves is the key to successfully wallbreaking without having to rely on dicey predictions all the time.
as both an offensive tank and the resident hazard-setter of the team, metang checks or forces out some of the problematic mons (namely grumpig, chatot, and choice-locked stoutland) that plague the rest of the team. i ultimately chose pursuit over bullet punch to pick off weakened psychic types and more fragile pokemon to remove them as threats entirely, but the lack of priority sometimes makes me second guess that decision. although it's far from optimal, metang can also help deal with (or weaken) dangerous pokemon like machoke and dragon dance altaria in a pinch.
insect dude (Vibrava) @ Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-Turn
- Roost
- Defogvibrava checks the fire and electric types that are able to spam STABs or pivot around (respectively) my team while providing a sturdy defogger to fall back on. i deviated from the standard specially defensive spread here to have a buffer for stronger physical pokemon such as golem, machoke, monferno, and stoutland. it's been working out so far, but i'd like some advice on whether or not to revert to a specially bulky vibrava depending on what i need to be able to check.
pork dude (Grumpig) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 84 HP / 252 SpA / 172 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Tauntmachoke (and to a lesser extent, monferno and status ailments/hazard setters) were looking like an increasingly large annoyance so i added grumpig as a soft check to all of these things. originally, i'd opted for a substantially bulkier modest variant but was steered in the direction of speed creeping monferno and anything slower than neutral max speed base 81. although it may sometimes suffer in its job of tanking stronger hits and lacks any form of recovery, i like this set a bit more than a plain old cleric due to the nature of the team and personal preference of playstyle.
amphetamine dude (Ninjask) @ Insect Plate
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-Turn
- X-Scissor
- Aerial Ace
- Swords Dance
in the last slot, i wanted a setup sweeper to break bulkier teams as well as something that could grab momentum as well as zebstrika does. ninjask came to mind on account of its ability to 2HKO (or in some cases OHKO while unboosted) big threats with its STAB moves alone, alongside the capacity to bluff a choice band to gain the upper hand in some situations.
however, monferno was also suggested by multiple others. while it works similarly to ninjask in the way that it can set up and fire off high-powered STAB moves, its access to priority and arguably superior offensive typing can be an asset to the team (not to mention the dark resistance). i've played a few games with both ninjask and monferno in this spot but i'm torn on the decision; likely because the team isn't optimized for monferno in its place. while i really like ninjask in this slot, i'm definitely open to recommendations on how i could modify the team to work better with monferno.
Conclusion
in closing, i'd really just love some advice on whether i'm on the right track here and also how to deal with things like dragon dance altaria, which i've had trouble with a few more times than i'd like to admit.
Importable
it's getting about that time in the generation where continuing to play the same old tier i've been playing (i.e. OU) has gotten kinda stale, so i decided to give PU a shot. despite having a muck around on the ladder for a few days and scoping out some replays/recordings, i still feel as if i'm only just grasping the current metagame; so please bear with any misinformation i might spew out.
i had an offensive build in mind when attempting to construct this team and i think i've stuck to that fairly well. in doing a bit of research on the tier, i'd discovered a fun-looking (albeit potentially outdated) core designed by 2xTheTap in the good cores thread that i wanted to have a crack at playing with.
by the way, the RMT's called
The Squad
broccoli dude (Simisage) @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot
monotone dude (Zebstrika) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Overheat
zebstrika - the other half of the core - tackles pokemon like floatzel, jumpluff, and vullaby which would otherwise cause big problems for simisage. hidden power ice was chosen over grass due to redundancy in coverage as well as gaining the ability to take huge chunks out of gabite & defensive altaria in particular. in many games, this functioned effectively as a pivotal lead and/or revenge killer. life orb is the preferred item over choice specs here, as i feel the ability to switch up moves is the key to successfully wallbreaking without having to rely on dicey predictions all the time.
heavy dude (Metang) @ Eviolite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
as both an offensive tank and the resident hazard-setter of the team, metang checks or forces out some of the problematic mons (namely grumpig, chatot, and choice-locked stoutland) that plague the rest of the team. i ultimately chose pursuit over bullet punch to pick off weakened psychic types and more fragile pokemon to remove them as threats entirely, but the lack of priority sometimes makes me second guess that decision. although it's far from optimal, metang can also help deal with (or weaken) dangerous pokemon like machoke and dragon dance altaria in a pinch.
insect dude (Vibrava) @ Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-Turn
- Roost
- Defog
pork dude (Grumpig) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 84 HP / 252 SpA / 172 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Taunt
amphetamine dude (Ninjask) @ Insect Plate
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-Turn
- X-Scissor
- Aerial Ace
- Swords Dance
however, monferno was also suggested by multiple others. while it works similarly to ninjask in the way that it can set up and fire off high-powered STAB moves, its access to priority and arguably superior offensive typing can be an asset to the team (not to mention the dark resistance). i've played a few games with both ninjask and monferno in this spot but i'm torn on the decision; likely because the team isn't optimized for monferno in its place. while i really like ninjask in this slot, i'm definitely open to recommendations on how i could modify the team to work better with monferno.
Conclusion
in closing, i'd really just love some advice on whether i'm on the right track here and also how to deal with things like dragon dance altaria, which i've had trouble with a few more times than i'd like to admit.
Importable
broccoli dude (Simisage) @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot
monotone dude (Zebstrika) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Overheat
heavy dude (Metang) @ Eviolite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
insect dude (Vibrava) @ Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
pork dude (Grumpig) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 84 HP / 252 SpA / 172 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball
amphetamine dude (Ninjask) @ Insect Plate
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace
- X-Scissor
- Swords Dance
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot
monotone dude (Zebstrika) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Overheat
heavy dude (Metang) @ Eviolite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Stealth Rock
insect dude (Vibrava) @ Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn
pork dude (Grumpig) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 84 HP / 252 SpA / 172 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball
amphetamine dude (Ninjask) @ Insect Plate
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace
- X-Scissor
- Swords Dance
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