SS RU Mind Melter II, Ralts-Twin Boogaloo -- SS RU Psychic-Spam Hyper-Offense

[Setendo]

INTRODUCTION​

So Indeedee-F got banned a while ago to the surprise of absolutely no one, so I had to retire my old Psychic-Spam team. Honestly, I thought I'd never get the chance to use it ever again, but then a flood of new Pokemon entered the tier. Indeedee-F got some new checks and counters, so it was allowed back into the tier. I decided to take this time to improve my old team, and honestly I feel like this version is even deadlier than before, even with a whole slew of Pokemon that can give this team trouble.

TEAMBUILDING PROCESS

Teambuilding

Old reliable. It was lethal back then, and it hasn't gotten much weaker. You actually have to use your brain a bit nowadays instead of just clicking Expanding Force, but that's a small price to pay.

This spot originally belonged to Espeon, but with Dark-types being more prominent than ever (especially Umbreon), I wanted a more concrete way of dealing with them. I ultimately settled on Gardevoir since it can still blast things with Expanding Force.

Drapion isn't my favorite Scarfer, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't pull its weight. Not autolosing to Scarf Indeedee-F alone is worth it. Reliably removing items (notably opposing Choice Scarves) is just icing on the cake.

If I wanna blast things with a Specs Expanding Force, I gotta be able to let Indeedee-F outspeed things. Ribombee is a personal favorite web-setter of mine due to its blistering speed and access to Moonblast and Stun Spore

With a lot more Dark and Steel-types, I needed a way of dealing with them. This was initially a Banded Passimian, but I switched it to Gallade since it both benefits from Psychic Terrain and has access to Swords Dance, improving my match-up against stall teams.

Lastly, I wanted some hazard removal and a spinblocker, and Dhelmise provides both of those things plus some serious firepower. It also gives me at least a bit of a defensive backbone.

THE TEAM

Tsar Bomba (Indeedee-F) (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force
- Hyper Voice
- Dazzling Gleam
- Mystical Fire
​

While not as nuclear as it was before, Specs Indeedee-F is still a force to be reckoned with. It does the same thing it did before getting banned: kills things with Expanding Force. The other moves are mostly just filler, though still useful every now and again. Hyper Voice is a good middle-ground for when I don't want to predict if the Dark-type is coming in, and it still hits pretty hard. Dazzling Gleam and Mystical Fire are for Fairy and Steel-Types respectively. 90% of the time, though, I'm just clicking Expanding Force, and most of the team is built around allowing it to spam that move.

Princess Peach (Gardevoir) @ Twisted Spoon
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force
- Moonblast
- Mystical Fire
- Calm Mind
​

To be honest, I didn't expect this set to be as good as it is. I just kinda threw this together on a whim, but it turned out to be surprisingly effective. This thing's main job is to take care of Umbreon and other Dark-types, as well as provide a secondary source of Psychic-spamming. STAB + Mystical Fire covers everything I need it to, and Calm Mind is really good for muscling past bulkier targets like Mantine or Milotic as well as late-game cleaning. Twisted Spoon is really good for bluffing Scarf, and honestly, I've never really felt like I was missing out on the higher damage of Life Orb. Additionally, Twisted Spoon makes Expanding Force exactly one BP higher than Moonblast outside of Psychic Terrain, which I thought was neat. Trace can come in handy for dealing with Mantine or Sun sweepers like Vileplume. Overall, an unorthodox yet very effective set.

Big Meaty Claws (Drapion) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
​

No one likes losing to Scarf Indeedee-F from game start, so Drapion is here to make sure that doesn't happen. It's also pretty good since it outspeeds other common Scarfers like Passimian and Braviary. It doesn't hit all that hard, but frankly, it doesn't really need to. Just removing an item, be it an Eviolite from Porygon2 or a Choice Scarf from a Passimian, can be enough to win me the game. The set is pretty standard: Dual STAB, with Earthquake for Pokemon like opposing Drapion and Rock Slide for things like Charizard or Frosmoth. 99% of the time, though, I'm clicking Knock Off. Sniper is there because OHKOing something off a surprise crit is pretty fun.

Navi (Ribombee) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sticky Web
- Moonblast
- U-turn
- Stun Spore
​

Rimbombee is a really good suicide lead. It's the second-fastest thing in the tier, only outsped by Accelgor. It also hits surprising hard with Moonblast. I chose to go for max Special Attack over max Speed since it's really frail. Plus, it makes Moonblast hit that much harder. Sticky Web is basically my wincon. Once webs are up and the Dark-types are gone, Indeedee basically wins the game. U-turn is good if I think they'll switch to a Magic Bounce Pokemon, and Stun Spore can help my team outspeed certain Pokemon even without Sticky Web. Shield Dust is its only useful ability, but it's at least decent. Not much else to say here, really.

M'Lady (Gallade) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
​

This spot was first filled by a Banded Passimian, but I find Swords Dance Gallade to be just a bit better. This set can easily rip teams apart once it gets set up, especially if there are webs on the field. Dual STAB + Knock Off is pretty self-explanatory, with Swords Dance to help blow past checks like Bronzong and Slowbro-G. While Passimain did have access to U-turn, I find that Gallade greatly improves my match-up against stall teams while also doing pretty well against balance teams as well. Even unboosted, it can still hit deceptively hard. It doesn't get too much screen time since the combination of Indeedee and Gardevoir put in so much work, but it can still do well.

Steamboat Willie (Dhelmise) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Steelworker
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Power Whip
- Anchor Shot
- Knock Off
​

Last but not least is Dhelmise. This Pokemon pulls double-duty as a Rapid Spinner and a spin blocker. Colbur Berry is good for acting as a surprise check to Pokemon like Toxicroak or Passimian. I pulled the EV spread straight from the Smogon Dex, with 84 Speed EVs used to outspeed unboosted Vileplume. I opted for Rapid Spin + 3 attacks because I didn't want to waste turns using Synthesis when I could be dealing damage. Power Whip hits ridiculously hard, and Knock Off is good for removing items and hitting Psychic-types, especially Espeon and Xatu. As much as I wanted to run Poltergeist, I already had two Knock Off users on the team (three including Dhelmise), so it seemed like it'd have poor synergy. I opted for Anchor Shot instead, which still hits really hard and can trap opponents, allow

THREATS

MAGIC BOUNCE
​

Magic Bounce users can deflect my webs back at me, greatly neutering my team. Getting rid of them isn't too big of a hassle (Ribombee can 2HKO Espeon most of the time, for example), but playing around Magic Bounce is still annoying.

BULKY STEEL AND DARK-TYPES

Pokemon like Bronzong, Umbreon, and Steelix can eat up Expanding Forces quite easily. There are ways to work around them, such as Knocking Off their leftover and wearing them down or just using Gallade for its intended purpose, but they can still be a massive roadblock in my plans.

BRAVIARY
​

Scarf Braviary is unaffected by Webs and outspeed the entirety of my team except for Drapion. I either need to paralyze it with Ribombee or remove its Choice Scarf. If I can't do that, it can easily be GG for me.

CONCLUSION

This team isn't quite as much of an auto-win button as it used to be, but it is still incredibly threatening. The new additions of Gardevoir and Gallade have only made this team stronger than ever. It requires a bit more prediction and planning now thanks to all the Steel and Dark-types, but you'd be a fool to sleep on this team.​

Team Import

Indeedee-F (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force
- Hyper Voice
- Dazzling Gleam
- Mystical Fire

Gardevoir @ Twisted Spoon
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force
- Moonblast
- Mystical Fire
- Calm Mind

Ribombee @ Focus Sash
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sticky Web
- Moonblast
- U-turn
- Stun Spore

Drapion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

Gallade (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance

Dhelmise @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Steelworker
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Power Whip
- Anchor Shot
- Knock Off

 

[Aquarius Ghost ❤]

View attachment 274206View attachment 274190View attachment 274208View attachment 274189View attachment 274207View attachment 274209
INTRODUCTION​

So Indeedee-F got banned a while ago to the surprise of absolutely no one, so I had to retire my old Psychic-Spam team. Honestly, I thought I'd never get the chance to use it ever again, but then a flood of new Pokemon entered the tier. Indeedee-F got some new checks and counters, so it was allowed back into the tier. I decided to take this time to improve my old team, and honestly I feel like this version is even deadlier than before, even with a whole slew of Pokemon that can give this team trouble.

TEAMBUILDING PROCESS

Teambuilding

View attachment 274210
Old reliable. It was lethal back then, and it hasn't gotten much weaker. You actually have to use your brain a bit nowadays instead of just clicking Expanding Force, but that's a small price to pay.
View attachment 274211View attachment 274191
This spot originally belonged to Espeon, but with Dark-types being more prominent than ever (especially Umbreon), I wanted a more concrete way of dealing with them. I ultimately settled on Gardevoir since it can still blast things with Expanding Force.
View attachment 274212View attachment 274216View attachment 274232
Drapion isn't my favorite Scarfer, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't pull its weight. Not autolosing to Scarf Indeedee-F alone is worth it. Reliably removing items (notably opposing Choice Scarves) is just icing on the cake.
View attachment 274213View attachment 274217View attachment 274233View attachment 274228
If I wanna blast things with a Specs Expanding Force, I gotta be able to let Indeedee-F outspeed things. Ribombee is a personal favorite web-setter of mine due to its blistering speed and access to Moonblast and Stun Spore
View attachment 274214View attachment 274218View attachment 274234View attachment 274230View attachment 274193
With a lot more Dark and Steel-types, I needed a way of dealing with them. This was initially a Banded Passimian, but I switched it to Gallade since it both benefits from Psychic Terrain and has access to Swords Dance, improving my match-up against stall teams.
View attachment 274215View attachment 274219View attachment 274235View attachment 274231View attachment 274193View attachment 274236
Lastly, I wanted some hazard removal and a spinblocker, and Dhelmise provides both of those things plus some serious firepower. It also gives me at least a bit of a defensive backbone.

THE TEAM

View attachment 274227
Tsar Bomba (Indeedee-F) (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force
- Hyper Voice
- Dazzling Gleam
- Mystical Fire
​

While not as nuclear as it was before, Specs Indeedee-F is still a force to be reckoned with. It does the same thing it did before getting banned: kills things with Expanding Force. The other moves are mostly just filler, though still useful every now and again. Hyper Voice is a good middle-ground for when I don't want to predict if the Dark-type is coming in, and it still hits pretty hard. Dazzling Gleam and Mystical Fire are for Fairy and Steel-Types respectively. 90% of the time, though, I'm just clicking Expanding Force, and most of the team is built around allowing it to spam that move.

View attachment 274190
Princess Peach (Gardevoir) @ Twisted Spoon
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force
- Moonblast
- Mystical Fire
- Calm Mind
​

To be honest, I didn't expect this set to be as good as it is. I just kinda threw this together on a whim, but it turned out to be surprisingly effective. This thing's main job is to take care of Umbreon and other Dark-types, as well as provide a secondary source of Psychic-spamming. STAB + Mystical Fire covers everything I need it to, and Calm Mind is really good for muscling past bulkier targets like Mantine or Milotic as well as late-game cleaning. Twisted Spoon is really good for bluffing Scarf, and honestly, I've never really felt like I was missing out on the higher damage of Life Orb. Additionally, Twisted Spoon makes Expanding Force exactly one BP higher than Moonblast outside of Psychic Terrain, which I thought was neat. Trace can come in handy for dealing with Mantine or Sun sweepers like Vileplume. Overall, an unorthodox yet very effective set.

View attachment 274226
Big Meaty Claws (Drapion) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
​

No one likes losing to Scarf Indeedee-F from game start, so Drapion is here to make sure that doesn't happen. It's also pretty good since it outspeeds other common Scarfers like Passimian and Braviary. It doesn't hit all that hard, but frankly, it doesn't really need to. Just removing an item, be it an Eviolite from Porygon2 or a Choice Scarf from a Passimian, can be enough to win me the game. The set is pretty standard: Dual STAB, with Earthquake for Pokemon like opposing Drapion and Rock Slide for things like Charizard or Frosmoth. 99% of the time, though, I'm clicking Knock Off. Sniper is there because OHKOing something off a surprise crit is pretty fun.

View attachment 274225

Navi (Ribombee) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sticky Web
- Moonblast
- U-turn
- Stun Spore
​

Rimbombee is a really good suicide lead. It's the second-fastest thing in the tier, only outsped by Accelgor. It also hits surprising hard with Moonblast. I chose to go for max Special Attack over max Speed since it's really frail. Plus, it makes Moonblast hit that much harder. Sticky Web is basically my wincon. Once webs are up and the Dark-types are gone, Indeedee basically wins the game. U-turn is good if I think they'll switch to a Magic Bounce Pokemon, and Stun Spore can help my team outspeed certain Pokemon even without Sticky Web. Shield Dust is its only useful ability, but it's at least decent. Not much else to say here, really.

View attachment 274189
M'Lady (Gallade) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance
​

This spot was first filled by a Banded Passimian, but I find Swords Dance Gallade to be just a bit better. This set can easily rip teams apart once it gets set up, especially if there are webs on the field. Dual STAB + Knock Off is pretty self-explanatory, with Swords Dance to help blow past checks like Bronzong and Slowbro-G. While Passimain did have access to U-turn, I find that Gallade greatly improves my match-up against stall teams while also doing pretty well against balance teams as well. Even unboosted, it can still hit deceptively hard. It doesn't get too much screen time since the combination of Indeedee and Gardevoir put in so much work, but it can still do well.

View attachment 274224
Steamboat Willie (Dhelmise) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Steelworker
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Power Whip
- Anchor Shot
- Knock Off
​

Last but not least is Dhelmise. This Pokemon pulls double-duty as a Rapid Spinner and a spin blocker. Colbur Berry is good for acting as a surprise check to Pokemon like Toxicroak or Passimian. I pulled the EV spread straight from the Smogon Dex, with 84 Speed EVs used to outspeed unboosted Vileplume. I opted for Rapid Spin + 3 attacks because I didn't want to waste turns using Synthesis when I could be dealing damage. Power Whip hits ridiculously hard, and Knock Off is good for removing items and hitting Psychic-types, especially Espeon and Xatu. As much as I wanted to run Poltergeist, I already had two Knock Off users on the team (three including Dhelmise), so it seemed like it'd have poor synergy. I opted for Anchor Shot instead, which still hits really hard and can trap opponents, allow

THREATS

View attachment 274221View attachment 274223
MAGIC BOUNCE
​

Magic Bounce users can deflect my webs back at me, greatly neutering my team. Getting rid of them isn't too big of a hassle (Ribombee can 2HKO Espeon most of the time, for example), but playing around Magic Bounce is still annoying.

View attachment 274201View attachment 274202View attachment 274203
BULKY STEEL AND DARK-TYPES

Pokemon like Bronzong, Umbreon, and Steelix can eat up Expanding Forces quite easily. There are ways to work around them, such as Knocking Off their leftover and wearing them down or just using Gallade for its intended purpose, but they can still be a massive roadblock in my plans.View attachment 274220

BRAVIARY
​

Scarf Braviary is unaffected by Webs and outspeed the entirety of my team except for Drapion. I either need to paralyze it with Ribombee or remove its Choice Scarf. If I can't do that, it can easily be GG for me.

CONCLUSION

This team isn't quite as much of an auto-win button as it used to be, but it is still incredibly threatening. The new additions of Gardevoir and Gallade have only made this team stronger than ever. It requires a bit more prediction and planning now thanks to all the Steel and Dark-types, but you'd be a fool to sleep on this team.​

Team Import

Indeedee-F (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force
- Hyper Voice
- Dazzling Gleam
- Mystical Fire

Gardevoir @ Twisted Spoon
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force
- Moonblast
- Mystical Fire
- Calm Mind

Ribombee @ Focus Sash
Ability: Shield Dust
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sticky Web
- Moonblast
- U-turn
- Stun Spore

Drapion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

Gallade (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Zen Headbutt
- Knock Off
- Swords Dance

Dhelmise @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Steelworker
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Power Whip
- Anchor Shot
- Knock Off

Hi bud, I noticed that bulky steels were a problem, but then u can just add trick> hyper voice on indeedee-f so they don't have to be a huge problem anymore. Also, make gardevoir specs so you can just spam its stabs+ mfire to provide a lot of pressure. Imo adding shadow claw> knock off on dhelmise is more effective and you don't have to worry about galarbro and have to waste a whole mon on that. I would say hitmonlee> gallade since hitmonlee is a very good seed abuser, very hard to stop, while also solving ur braviary problem. Finally, magic bounce users should never be a problem since u have drapion + ribombee. Other than those minor fixes your team looks pretty good.

Hitmonlee (M) @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Bulk Up
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge