Hello, it's me, the guy with a broken magic carpet. I took a bit of a break from playing Pokemon before the Magneton suspect test and during that the NU metagame was incredibly awful so I really only came back in full force after the stupid thing was banned. That didn't stop the metagame from being pretty bad though, since Sneasel is running amok and destroying offensive teams left and right. I decided to both abuse this silly ice weasel and build a team that doesn't struggle with it as much as other offensive teams. Pawniard is the MVP of the team, forming a nasty Dark spam core with Sneasel AND being one of the best offensive Sneasel checks. My teambuilding process basically involved adding support for this core, Ludicolo easily takes on Poliwrath, which troubles both of my Nastiez and also on Mawile, which can trouble a weakened Pawniard. Then I added hazard support and 3 Fighting resists so that I'm not 6-0'd by Gurdurr and Scarf Primeape. Those "support" mons also double up on most of Sneasel switchins - Garbodor for Audino, Granbull and Pawniard, Golurk for Mawile and Regirock, Uxie for Poliwrath and Carracosta. This team composition is basically designed to give Sneasel as much support to lay waste on the opposing team as possible. I got reqs using mainly this team and it's free to use for everyone since I probably won't be using it ever again after we get rid of Sneasel :).
Decimation (Sneasel) @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Icicle Crash
- Pursuit
- Ice Shard
Sneasel is the best mon in NU. It has 115 base speed. It spams STAB Knock Off all the time. It can Pursuit things. It has STAB priority. It flinches "counters" such as Mega Audino and Quagsire to death with Icicle Crash. Basically, Sneasel does it all. Without a doubt the most threatening Pokemon to offensive teams, requiring Choice Scarf or decently strong unresisted priority to be revenge killed. Sucker Punch is resisted, Fake Out doesn't flinch, so Sneasel is more priority resistant than some would think. It truly is an amazing Pokemon that always does the heavy lifting for this team.
Nasciturus (Pawniard) @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
As I said in the introduction, Pawniard is both the perfect Sneasel check and partner in crime. Even though they're both Dark types, they only have a couple switchins in common. Pawniard beats all of Granbull, Mega Audino, Mawile easily and can take on others like Miltank, depending on the set. Little Bish is also one of my main weapons against bulky teams, which Band Sneasel struggles against. Last but not least, Pawniard acts as a Defog deterrent so my hazards are likely to stay on the field once I get them up.
Feverish (Ludicolo) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
Ludicolo is a scary scary sweeper for both offensive and defensive teams, giving them trouble with incredible speed under rain and boosted Hydro Pumps, respectively. Easily deals with Poliwrath and Mawile, eats Lanturn for breakfast and only sometimes misses Hydros :'(. Ludi is always incredibly dangerous and somewhat hard to prepare for and it's a lot better than at any point in Gen6 with Cryogonal and Mantine at probably their lowest ever in this gen. Did I mention it puts in work against Rain teams? Consistently underrated, consistently great.
Bleed in Me (Garbodor) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Drain Punch
Garbodor does a lot of heavy lifting for the team. Checks Fighting types such as Hariyama and Sawk (who hesitates to lock into Zen Headbutt in fear of Sneasel and Pawniard) and other dangerous physically offensive threats such as Scyther. Rocky Helmet damage racks up quickly, especially combined with Aftermath, but everybody already knows how good that residual damage is. Garbo also provides invaluable hazard support which is crucial for breaking down bulky teams. Toxic Spikes are especially useful for Pokemon with recovery such as Miltank.
Paragnomen (Golurk) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 64 Atk / 176 Def / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- DynamicPunch
- Stone Edge
The second hazard user on my team is Golurk. This cool af robot also doubles as a spinblocker and a Sneasel bait. There are very few people that don't click Knock Off on turn 1 against a Golurk so you can usually get a free kill on Sneasel
Eternity (Uxie) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 120 HP / 252 SpA / 136 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Giga Drain
Uxie acts as a glue of the team. It fills the role of an offensive Fighting check and a blanket check to a lot of different things: Malamar, Samurott etc. 3 attacks CM is a really cute set that fits well on this team because I need the 3 move coverage to hit everything I want. Psychic is used over Psyshock because of Gurdurr. I don't really care about winning CM wars because I have 2 Dark types to take care of Psychic types. I don't know if there's a better spread out there but this has been working fine for me. Changed the EV spread for more bulk while still outspeeding most relevant Fighting types except Primeape which loses to Golurk and Garbodor anyway.
Importable:
Decimation (Sneasel) @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Icicle Crash
- Pursuit
- Ice Shard
Nasciturus (Pawniard) @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
Feverish (Ludicolo) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
Bleed in Me (Garbodor) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Drain Punch
Paragnomen (Golurk) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 64 Atk / 176 Def / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dynamic Punch
- Stone Edge
Eternity (Uxie) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Giga Drain
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Icicle Crash
- Pursuit
- Ice Shard
Nasciturus (Pawniard) @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
Feverish (Ludicolo) @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
Bleed in Me (Garbodor) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Drain Punch
Paragnomen (Golurk) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 64 Atk / 176 Def / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dynamic Punch
- Stone Edge
Eternity (Uxie) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Giga Drain
Threatlist:
Those are the singular mons that I struggled with the most during laddering, some specific cores gave me a lot of trouble and there are probably more threats I'm weak to which smarter teambuilders will probably figure out. :)
Shoutouts to the NU room and the NU community, you're all awesome :]
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