Project NU Research Week [Week 7: Gigalith and Indeedee-F]

[Pokeslice]

OP adapted from Daiyaga's UU Research Week thread | Hosted by Roxiee Pokeslice and Corthius | Banner by greenandgrey77 | Originally Hosted by Expulso | Approved by Rabia and Finchinator

Welcome to the first edition of SS NU Research Week!

tl;dr description:

• We provide two Pokemon for you to research; usually, one will be a frequently used Pokemon with a new set, while the other is an uncommon Pokemon.
• Anyone interested in testing them out creates a ladder alt and ladders with these Pokemon.
• After laddering, players discuss their thoughts about the Pokemon. Sharing the the sets you used on the research Pokemon or the team(s) you used to ladder is very helpful!
• Whoever has the highest ladder score at the end of the week will be declared the winner

Keep the following things in mind during every Research Week:

• Be open-minded. Don't just say something is terrible and walk away; look at its stats, typing and movepool and think something up!
• In return, we will try to explain why each Pokemon/set is chosen and suggest ways to make it succeed.
• Feel free to theorymon early in the research period, but make it clear you're doing so. Later in the period, however, you will be expected to back up your posts with hard evidence like logs, actual sets, and perhaps even teams.
• Just because an analysis has been done for a Pokemon doesn't mean there isn't more to explore; it's very likely that something has gone unnoticed.
• Do not(Underline) post in this thread complaining about the Pokemon or movesets we choose and / or suggesting ones we should do for future weeks!
• Please PM us any suggestions, complaints, or other feedback, and we will be happy to talk discuss it.
• Our Discord are Roxiee#7869 & Corthius#5579; you're also welcome to VM / PM me on Smogon.

A few things to clarify:

• You can sign up any time in the week, but the week will always end on the weekend.
• Early period means the first week of the Research Week, so let's keep the theorymonning to a minimum after this period.
• The late period refers to the last week of the research week, where raw evidence and discussion should become the basis of the thread.
• Discussion is mandatory in order to be considered as a winner of Research Week.
• You must make one somewhat-coherent post that describes the Pokemon that you're using, their roles, and their niche in the metagame, you will be disqualified from winning this week.
• Please post about your experiences regardless of whether you think you will win, we appreciate it!
• Post and save your replays. Often, these replays are the most informative sources of information about RW Pokemon - you can write a full two paragraphs about the role of a Pokemon, but watching it in battle can be even more informative.
• If you have anything to say about any of these Pokemon, please post about them!
• You are encouraged to talk about these Pokemon in the NU chat on Pokemon Showdown, in the official NU Discord, and in the Viability Ranking and Metagame Discussion Threads.

In order to participate you must do the following:

• Post here with a fresh RW alt (such as NURW# Roxiee or NURW# Corthius) and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
• Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched!
• Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using; participate in the discussion!
• Post logs of this Pokemon in action against other teams - show rather than just tell
• The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown NU ladder with their RW alt at the time the challenge ends.
• Winners will also receive a permanent spot in this thread's Hall of Fame.

Sample Discussion Template

[Sprite/Video/Banner/Image/(Not mandatory]
Introduction (Doesn't need to be long)
Set(s)
Discussion(Pros/Cons/Replays/Calculations)
Conclusion

[Week 5:

Click Me!]

 

[roxie]

Hall of Fame

Cycle 1 - Offensive Wishiwashi & Galarian Mr. Mime won by KuraiTenshi26 (NURW1 Kurai)

Cycle 2 - Noctowl & Golurk won by pattek (NURW2 pattek)

Cycle 3 - Sirfetch'd & Toxtricity won by your____bro (NURW3 down bad)

Cycle 4 - Virizion & Sigilyph won by daniYSB (NURW4 badfish)

Cycle 5 - Jellicent & Arctozolt won by Turtledoggo21 (NURW6 Turtle)

 

[Expulso]

Week 1:

Offensive Wishiwashi

Wishiwashi-School @ Choice Specs
Ability: Schooling
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- U-turn
- Scald

Wishiwashi is known for being a bulky pivot, using its excellent 45/130/135 defensive stats to reliably take on attacks. However, people tend to forget that Wishiwashi also has 140 Attack and Special Attack, making an offensive set an interesting yet unexplored possibility. The Choice Specs set provided lets Wishiwashi outspeed Clefairy, although you can run 164 Speed EVs to outspeed min-speed Piloswine. Hitting an absurd 624 Special Attack after a Choice Specs boost, Wishiwashi can do absurd things like OHKOing Cofagrigus, easily 2HKOing Specially Defensive Clefairy, and 2HKOing Silvally-Water with a Water-type attack. This set takes wallbreaking to the extreme, although not running Leftovers / Protect compromises Wishiwashi's durability. Is this set worth running to basically secure a KO every game and destroy common balance cores, or is Wishiwashi simply too slow for this to work?

you cannot use the standard Wishiwashi analysis set; it's a top mon in the meta, so we already know that set is good

you can use some sort of mixed attacking version instead of Specs, though, as long as you are investing in offensive stats pretty heavily.

NP Mr Mime-G

Mr. Mime-Galar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Psyshock
- Ice Beam / Focus Blast
- Rapid Spin / Focus Blast

Reaching a speed tier higher than Silvally is extremely valuable in this tier, and Mr. Mime-G's Base 100 speed lets it do just that. Only a few Pokemon resist Psychic in the tier, and a +2 Ice Beam is capable of hitting most of them hard [Silvally-Dark, Ferroseed, Stunfisk-G, Skuntank all take significant damage]. A +2 Focus Blast hits them harder at the cost of losing accuracy and a secondary STAB attack. Does its very good speed tier and access to the new speed-boosting Rapid Spin give it a niche as a Nasty Plot sweeper?


In order to participate you must follow instructions at bottom of OP.
Use the prefix NURW1 on your ladder alts this week.

This week will end on Friday, May 15th at 11:59 PM GMT-4.
extended! this week will end at Saturday, May 16th at 11:59 PM GMT-4.

 

[Expulso]

nurw1 expulso - mr. mime-g for sure, maybe also wishiwashi

ok now im done double posting dont infract me x.x

 

[Elias PSY]

nurw1 fish

Wishiwashi ofc

 

[Oathkeeper]

NURW1 Oath

Using da fishifishy!!!

 

[wooper]

nurw1 wooper

definitely using wishi and i wanna try out mime too!

 

[xerovis]

NURW1 rovis,

doing wishi

 

[Marigold]

NURW1 Kurai

Wishi Gang

 

[joules]

NURW1 j0ules

wishi

 

[S1nn0hC0nfirm3d]

NURW1 Ho3n

Mime time

 

[Expulso]

I am pushing the deadline back from today at midnight gmt-4 to Saturday at midnight gmt-4.

Please post by then, though! I'm planning to share my thoughts later tonight.

 

[Elias PSY]

Specs fish

Wishiwashi-School @ Choice Specs
Ability: Schooling
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
or 208 HP / 252 SpA / 48 Spe
Modest Nature / Quiet Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- U-turn
- Scald / Earthquake

Thoughts on wishiwashi

Some positive traits:

Specs is an incredibly strong wallbreaker.Common waters resists/checks (namely eldegoss/toxicroak) are blowned up by ice beam,even watervally and opposing wishiwashi are helpless being 2hko and 3hko respectively by hpump.

Calcs

252+ SpA Choice Specs Wishiwashi-School Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Wishiwashi-School: 120-141 (40.8 - 47.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Wishiwashi-School Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Silvally-Water: 162-191 (48.9 - 57.7%) -- 95.7% chance to 2HKO]

Specs set aren't common so you can lure special walls that attempt to wall the common leftovers set (i.e clefairy,lanturn with earthquake) and often get one kill by entry.

Some drawbacks :

He is slow.The lack of hps mean he is very weak to hazards because common offensives mon will 2hko it after stealth rocks.

Calcs

252 Atk Life Orb Toxicroak Gunk Shot vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Wishiwashi-School: 175-208 (61.6 - 73.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Silvally-Dark Multi-Attack vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Wishiwashi-School: 127-150 (44.7 - 52.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (neutral)
252 SpA Indeedee-F Psychic vs. 212 HP / 0 SpD Wishiwashi-School in Psychic Terrain: 118-141 (41.5 - 49.6%) -- 84% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock (scarfed)
252 SpA Choice Specs Indeedee-F Psychic vs. 212 HP / 0 SpD Wishiwashi-School in Psychic Terrain: 178-211 (62.6 - 74.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Mold Breaker Sawk Close Combat vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Wishiwashi-School: 153-180 (53.8 - 63.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Rapidash Wild Charge vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Wishiwashi-School: 132-156 (46.4 - 54.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

So you take one kill then die next turn.Thus he need some support.Wish is mandatory so wishiwashi can take some powerful hits(clef is the best on because teleport).Aromaterapy is an option too removing toxic damages.

Overall,specs wishiwashi can shine but he need more support than others offensive waters types like watervally,drednaw or arctovish because of his poor bulk !

 

[Marigold]

optional music, if you feel like it

Thrilling, fast-paced, high-octane gameplay. If you're not living for the hunt, are you even truly alive?

Specs Wishiwashi

This research ladder race was actually my first dive into the SS NU tier. Joules and I are friends that used Wishiwashi almost religiously in USUM ZU, specifically with the Specs set. We were surprised to see Wishiwashi available in a tier that doesn't really use Mareanie, and even more shocked that the standard set wasn't the oppressive breaker one (impish lefties, seriously?), so we figured joining this research week was worth a shot!

The Bruiser from the Sea

Wishiwashi-School @ Choice Specs
Ability: Schooling
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- U-turn

The Pros
- Ridiculous natural bulk for a wallbreaker which can be used creatively even in the endgame
- Can force favourable trades even if the type matchup says otherwise
- Easily forces predictable switches, which can nab momentum with decently strong U-turn
- Puts the fear of GOD into the opponent when their Abomasnow takes 70%, or some other ungodly calcs
- Capable of inducing incredible levels of adrenaline output, please contain hype responsibly

The Cons
- As the game progresses, Wishiwashi loses its ability to force trades when chip damage adds up
- Hazards, stray U-turns, status all significantly hamper Wishiwashi's performance
- Low speed means that Wishiwashi is forced to take a hit first usually, but it can outspeed key threats like Cofagrigus, Clefairy, Ferroseed, and more
- Hydro Pump can miss and is required for Wishi's most bullshit damage calcs, but such is the price for obscenely strong power

The God Squad
<--- (Click for importable!)

FWG Wallbreaker Spam

When you see Specs Wishiwashi, it's important to not just focus on its ability to kill things. Its offensive support roles with pivoting and bringing in partners safely are also very useful! Most of the team is self-explanatory but I did have to tailor two teammates specifically to work even better on this Wishiwashi squad.

The combination of wallbreaking, pivoting, and support this set offers is amazing for a Wishiwashi offense team. SD Silvally-Fire greatly eases Clefairy/Alcremie + Cofagrigus matchups and is able to bait in Quagsire for Wishiwashi or Abomasnow to just claim a free kill. U-Turn is arguably physical Silvally-Fire's biggest niche over Rapidash, and it just works on this team's main offensive core. An offensive defogger with a good matchup against Stunfisk-Galar and Ferroseed is incredible, and the Piloswine matchup isn't a big deal when both Abomasnow and Wishiwashi punish it really hard.

Mixed Abomasnow works very well to dismantle Ferroseed/Cofagrigus + Clefairy teams that could give Wishiwashi an ounce of resistance. It also finds a lot of opportunities to enter the field safely when Silvally-Fire and Wishiwashi force switches and abuse them with U-turn. Punishing Eldegoss is also a big deal when using Wishiwashi (even though Wishiwashi can 1v1 that in a pinch), and Abomasnow is a very threatening way to do so. In other words, Abomasnow completes a powerful wallbreaking Fire-Water-Grass when placed alongside Silvally-Fire and Wishiwashi. Together, these 3 can dismantle the entire tier's defensive counterplay.

The Ladder Run + Replays

Overall, I had a pretty smooth ladder run and finished at top 200 of a relatively quiet ladder. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed pushing Wishiwashi to its limits in this tier. Here are some replays of different aspects of its power:

Stereotypical early-game Wishiwashi trades. High bulk and even higher-octane power can make it difficult for unboosted offensive teams to trade with this beast. This is unique of a wallbreaker, as they typically have poor fast offense matchups.

Late-game cleanup through Wishiwashi's bulk and power alone. It's crazy how Wishiwashi's bulk can actually let it clean up vs offensive threats if they don't have their boosts up.

Wishiwashi can facilitate another breaker if the Wishiwashi matchup is awful. Even against water absorb Lapras + Eldegoss, Wishiwashi is useful in being able to scare the opponent into defensive walls that are fodder for a Wishi teammate like Abomasnow.

More early-game trading and mid-game pivoting. Wishiwashi can always fulfill a role at any given point of a game, even if its breaking capabilities are crippled and its health is chipped.

If you want to see plenty more of my games with this team, check out NURW1 Kurai at the replay website. Wishiwashi wasn't the only threat that tore teams apart :]

In Summary

Hopefully I could open your eyes to the raw power of Wishiwashi and the enthralling gameplay that comes alongside using it, I consider the fish army to be a very worthwhile use of a teamslot if you can afford it. Wishiwashi is such a unique pokemon and nothing really plays quite like it, being useful in many stages of the game provided your creativity and adaptiveness are top-notch. Wishiwashi has been one of my favourite low tier picks for a long time, and I think it will continue to be so in the future. If your playstyle is very aggressive and you play like a reckless yet calculated bruiser, then Wishiwashi may be an ideal pick for you!

 

[joules]

Alright boys and girls, time to talk about one of my all-time favourite Pokémon and the only reason I spent any time playing gen 7 ZU, Wishiwashi!

First and foremost, my ladder results:

And the set I used on every team:

Wishiwashi Specs

Fish Orgy (Wishiwashi-School) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Schooling
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- U-turn

This set makes Wishi an absolutely insane wallbreaker, with the ability to 2HKO every mon in the tier that doesn't have Water Absorb, and to take one of almost any unboosted move in the metagame. Some of the most impressive offensive/defensive calcs in the tier are found below:

Offensive/Defensive Calcs

252+ SpA Choice Specs Wishiwashi-School Hydro Pump vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Cofagrigus: 297-351 (93.1 - 110%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Wishiwashi-School Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Eviolite Clefairy: 196-232 (56.9 - 67.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Wishiwashi-School Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eldegoss: 292-344 (90.1 - 106.1%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Rotom-Fan Thunderbolt vs. 212 HP / 0 SpD Wishiwashi-School: 198-234 (69.7 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Indeedee Psychic vs. 212 HP / 0 SpD Wishiwashi-School in Psychic Terrain: 210-247 (73.9 - 86.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

These calcs in particular are notable because this Wishi set speedcreeps Cofagrigus and Clefairy in order to steal some early game KOs. I can't count how many times I queued into a Cofag team, lead Wishi and surprise OHKOd it on turn 1. Sets without SpD investment cannot switch into Wishi, and even those that have investment have to pray they don't get chipped, out-predicted, or for a Hydro miss. Even the most common resisted Silvally sets take a fatty 50%+ for switching in, and with no reliable recovery you consider that some U N H E A L A B L E D A M A G E. Some notable threats to this set are Water Absorb Lanturn (although I didn't see a single Lanturn all week and I assume they have to run Volt Absorb for Toge, Rotom-Fan and Jolteon), and Abomasnow, who takes Hydro/Ice Beam well especially with Veil up and threatens to out-trade with Giga Drain. To cover some of these holes and help Wishi shine, I ran this team:
(click for paste)
I ran Ferroseed for the obvious grass/electric resist and rock setting, and it ended up being the perfect Eldegoss switch-in when my opponent tried to revenge Wishi. Knock + Gyro Ball are enough to 1v1 and make sure the rocks stay up by punishing the Rapid Spin. Unaware Quagsire is THE Wishi partner because it switches into every SD Silvally set that tries to punish Wishi when it reverts to Solo form, and scares Electric types like Rotom-F and Jolteon from clicking STAB against Wishi when they see the Quag in the back. The only time Quag lost 1v1 against something Wishi couldn't deal with is when a hail team unironically pulled out the Whirlpool Perish Song Lapras against my Quag. Still won that game though xd. Silvally-Dark ended up being the star of the team, with SD/Multi/PsyFangs/Iron Head being enough to sweep most of the tier with a free turn, but that was only after Wishi opened the game up early.

The main playstyle I used with Wishi was to anti-lead with it most of the time and punish rock setters with an OHKO knowing that Rotom could defog later. This allowed a lot of space to switch around with Quag and Ferro so that Wishi can come back in to threaten a second KO or let Silvally sweep.
Even when the anti-lead gets anti-anti-lead with some weird ass Cofag speed investment, Wishi still came clutch and broke open the game in the first 5 turns, not only claiming souls but getting crucial chip and scouting revenge sets.
Not even sash hazard leads stop Wishi from claiming the early tempo, and with the support of the Quag/Ferro defensive core you can whittle down even Eldegoss into Hydro range, and if this guy let me finish the game I swear on Kurai's life I would have claimed all 6 with Wishi.
Aaaaand a little bit of early game pressure + late game cleanup with some Silvally-Dark breaker support goes a long way in this tier.
Oops! I dropped this replay, no one watch it isn't against anyone in this thread.

I found that in most games, it was hard not to give Wishi a free KO, and the only way to play around it was to have one of the two dedicated counters or to take the damage and try and trade out instead of switching and letting Wishi claim something for free. Wishiwashi really is a monster and this tier feels like a fish bowl that Wishi is simply too big for. Overall I had a great time with this mon and had some great games, especially against Ho3n who I had ~3 matches with throughout the week and it was close every single time! GGs to all, hope to see you next time!

 

[S1nn0hC0nfirm3d]

Mr. Mime-Galar

Looks like I may have been one of the only few people that tried out Mime, and I have to say its nothing too good for the moment.

My direction for this mon was that it could be an additional sweeper / hazard support with NP and Spin, and lastly Focus Blast and Psyshock for coverage. Personally, with mime's great speed, Psyshock was underwhelming, and I really wanted Ice Beam more than I wanted it. This was for Cofag, Rotom-S, and Sandaconda mainly, which all had a ton of representation, and a strong, special Ice STAB would have been great. Either way though, relying on Focus Blast for even just neutral coverage becomes unreliable for how many times it's warranted, and so it isn't the greatest wincon. Instead, I tried to play it as another sweeper that still supports the team by removing hazards while keeping the SR from the suicide lead.

I went with a classic Veil team with Drednaw as a lead, and Abo for Veil. These two appreciate mime for Rapid Spin, and Abo especially can be brought back into the game if it needs SR gone to come in again. Silvally-Dragon helps as a sweeper that can set up on Rapidash if it say revenge kills mime or abo. NP Taunt Persian-Alola is great for its fast Taunt against bulkier builds, and having its physical def with Veil giving it a great opportunity to NP. SD Croak was the last mon, as it helps the team be additional Dark-, Poison-, and Fighting-type resistances for the team. Check the past below!
https://pokepast.es/cbc7df65a794bb73

Here is a replay where Mime works as a great midgame revenge killer. It uses Veil to tank a U-Turn from Ninjask, and secured a Rapid Spin so that Silvally-Dragon had enough bulk to secure a sweep. Here is another where Mime works well on the Sticky Web MU for HDB and removing webs, but is killed by a Sanda because it lacks Ice Beam.

Mime is okay for some teams that can fit its support, but often doesn't pull through due to its limited coverage. I do think it can be a bit better with Ice Beam / Focus Blast coverage rather than Psyshock, though.

 

[Oathkeeper]

Specs Wishiwashi

Although, my experience with it was short, there are some things to report.

Positives: The typing is nice. Offensively and defensively. Given Specs and it's already high SpAtk, it hits anything hard with it, and its coverage moves in Ice Beam for Grasses, EQ for Croak, and U-turn pivoting. There's not a lot of things that can comfortably switch into this since Wishiwashi can be unpredictable, however, it mostly excels at using Hydro or U-turn. As I just said, pivoting it great since it's slow and can bring in another wallbreaker, scarfer, etc. Getting back to its defensive typing and stats overall, they're very nice and it's able to take hits and fire right back. Being only weak to Grass and Electric is good since you can role compress teammates like Eldegoss (which I chose) and Piloswine for spinning and rocks, respectively. It does do well against physical tanks like Cofagrigus, Dubwool, Quagsire, etc.

Negatives: It's slow, slow. Did I mention it's slow? This is a double-edged trait. It's useful for pivoting, however, it means most of the time, it subjects itself to being hit first which is not ideal, even for a bulky mon. It struggles against Arctovish, Abomasnow, Rotom-Fan, Toxicroak (if not clicking EQ on the switch), etc. Most of the meta outspeeds it and this just further reinforces my previous comments. It is Volt Switch vulnerable and it hurts. This also means the opposing team gains momentum and works towards the win.

Takeaways: It's a nice slow pivot. Has great bulk in 40/130/135 and can take hits. Great typing in both aspects of battling. Carry good defensive partners for it, click Hydro or U-turn 95% of the time. The slow trait can be it's best friend or worst enemy, or both!

 

[xerovis]

Sorry its late, no worries about competing anyway as I didn't play enough games so mine is mostly for knowledge sharing.

Since Specs Wishiwashi is quite simple in the way it works and would have its damage and tanking capabilities well explored by those who chose to utilize it above, I went a unique route for research and try a Mixed Offensive set! Wishiwashi has equal attacking stats and so with investment reaches the same attack stat as Rhyperior, Conkeldurr and Darmanitan which is nothing to slouch at. In addition many players expect non-defensive Wishi to be Specs, and so as soon as Ice Beam or Hydro Pump is seen, the special checks like clefairy come in. I didn't run U-Turn since this set wanted physical and special stabs but it could have been run in place of something.

set

Wishiwashi-School @ Leftovers
Ability: Schooling
EVs: 252 Atk / 208 SpA / 48 Spe Brave Nature
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Earthquake
- Liquidation

I didn't have much time this week and unfortunately didn't have a chance to play many games, however I did manage to explore the capabilities of this set in some ways.

Positives:
-Worked well as strong and versatile Anti-Lead - Favourable match-ups against almost every common lead
-Good mixed breaker late game with a great surprise factor
-Still has enough natural bulk even without HP investment to tank hits
-Enough power on both sides to dent most things that don't resist it

Negatives:
-Without HP and Def investment, it can't perform in the same way as defensive pivot wishi. It actually is OHKO'd by some things that bulky Wishi would survive, such as Banded Unfezant's Brave Bird

252 Atk Choice Band Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Wishiwashi-School: 214-253 (92.6 - 109.5%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
VS
252 Atk Choice Band Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 208+ Def Wishiwashi-School: 168-198 (57.1 - 67.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

-Has 4MSS
-Obviously lacks the breaking power brought by Specs
-Longevity suffers by not having protect on the set
-appreciates wish support to be as effective as possible


A few replays:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nu-1115728326 - Wishi is able to surprise Cursola with liquidation, and also muscle through Light Screen Orbeetle and Lanturn using its mixed power.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nu-1115742126 - Wishi waits until late game to clean out Calm Mind Duosion, a sleeping Quagsire and Skuntank

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nu-1115734769 - Wishi comes up on lead clef hoping to surprise with liquidation however it reveals that it is physical clef. Wishi takes advantage Cofag by taking it out with Hydro after switching into a trick room, then using the trick room to get a jump on Golurk. <-- this does show a downside of going mixed in that Specs hydro would have easily KO'd cofag in that situation.

Despite being a bit wishy-washy with its attack investments, this set may have some merit on the right team. The best Wishi set in current NU is certainly defensive, and I wouldn't recommend using this Mixed set in serious play until finding the right team build on which to let it work for you. Based on the other posts the Specs set is also quite effective as a fearsome breaker.

If you're interested, feel free to do more exploration with this set along with changing around EV investments. This really was a jump into research week in the spirit of "what the heck, lets see what happens"!

 

[Expulso]

I used Mr. Mime-Galar and found it to be unimpressive.

I thought that using a spinner with good speed and offensive presence would be valuable, since the surge in Drampa's popularity means that Eldegoss, the most common form of hazard control, is often a liability because it lets this dangerous threat come in for free.

It does have good offensive presence; Nasty Plot lets it break through special walls like Clefairy, it gets good coverage in Ice Beam, Psychic/Psychic, and Focus Blast, and Rapid Spin lets it outspeed every Scarfer at +1. However, the obvious problem is that the above movepool requires 5 slots. Mr. mime really does not want to give up one of its offensive moves, but it kind of has to.

Every two-move combination has problems - I ran Psyshock + Focus Blast for a while, but then realized that I was somehow using a special attacker walled by Cofagrigus. Psyshock + Ice Beam is annoyed by Piloswine, while Ice Beam + Focus Blast does not like needing to depend on Focus Blast's accuracy to hit stuff like Rotom-Frost which Psyshock would reliably damage.

Its lack of recovery also reduces its ability to be an effective Rapid Spinner; it needs to be brought in through double switches, and any incorrect plays there can cost you dearly. This lack of durability means that having Mr. Mime-G as your only form of hazard removal is inadvisable on balance / bulk offense teams [offense like Ho3n's veil could probably get away with it].

Tl;dr: Mr. Mime-G is a Rapid Spinner that can also clean, but separating those roles into two other Pokemon seems better than compressing both into Mr. Mime-G. Mr. Rime is better than Mr. Mime-G as a Rapid Spinner with offensive presence; it's actually stronger and also has recovery, making it much better at things like switching into Rotom-Frost despite being slower than it. Other fast Pokemon, such as Rapidash and Liepard, are more reliable and powerful.

I brought it on these two standard teams; I didn't rly build around Mr. Mime-G as much as I just used Mr. Mime-G on teams that would appreciate a spinner with speed and good coverage.

Mr Mime-G sets:

team 1

Mr. Mime-Galar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Rapid Spin

team 2 mime

Mr. Mime-Galar @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Screen Cleaner
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast

Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nu-1111225587 <-- Mr Mime-G does some good damage with Psyshock and FBlast while beating hazard setter Garbodor, but this is the Mime-G set somehow walled by Cofag, haha.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nu-1115509763 <-- Mr Mime-G's chip-ability and lack of defensive utility it provides bites me in the back, as I end up getting swept by a Ninjask; if this slot went to a Pokemon with recovery and/or better defensive attacks, I might be safer against sweepers like this.

the rest of my replays were fairly low ladder and didn't give that much info, but most are public under NURW1 Expulso.

 

[Expulso]

Thanks to all who submitted, and congratulations to KuraiTenshi26 for winning! [close one, so I had to break the tie with GXE].

Here's a quick summary of each mon, compiled from your responses. Thanks so much for these excellent, well-written posts!

OFFENSIVE WISHIWASHI

+++ Power is through the roof; it can 2HKO pretty much everything in the tier by just clicking Specs Hydro Pump
+ Good bulk allows it to take a hit if it stays healthy. Water resists and Pokemon that hit it super effectively are often KOd early on due to its crazy power; then, late-game, it can get another kill because most neutral attacks cannot KO it.
- Hydro Pump is inaccurate but necessary to make the most of its power [e.g. OHKO Cofag].
- Its low speed means that you are vulnerable to damage before attacking
- Hazards, misc. U-turns, and status all limit the number of times Wishiwashi can come in and force trades

In the future, I would love to try this with Healing Wish. Thanks so much for the posted teams, I might swap a mon out for Indeedee-F or Mr. Mime and see whether Healing Wish makes up for this set's few flaws!


MR. MIME GALAR
+ Good speed tier
+ Good coverage options and offensive presence means it can remove hazards without being a free switchin for powerful wallbreakers (unlike eldegoss)
- Probably outclassed in the above role by Mr. Rime
- mediocre power without a boost
- No recovery means it can't be a reliable spinner
- 4MSS; Ice Beam / Focus Blast is probably the best attack combination, however

 

[Expulso]

Week 2:

NOCTOWL

Choice Specs

specs (Noctowl) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature / Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Hyper Voice
- Heat Wave
- Air Slash / Sleep Talk

nasty plot

balance breaker (Noctowl) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Substitute / Hyper Voice

With Nasty Plot and Tinted Lens, the long-forgettable bird got some fascinating new tools this generation. Choice Specs Noctowl is able to tear apart the few Flying-resists that might try to switch in [most people do not know that it gets Tinted Lens!]. This lets it do ridiculous things like having a chance to OHKO Togedemaru with Hyper Voice. u can also just bop it with heat wave, but killing it with a resisted attack is sick. A Boots + Nasty Plot set is also effective to tear apart balance cores such as Clefairy / Eldegoss / Quagsire / Rotom-Fan; nothing is able to switch in reliably, especially since Rotom-Fan takes up to 65 from Hurricane or 55 from the more reliable Hyper Voice. Its speed tier would also let it Sub up on many of these mons.

Having been banned from PU, this mon clearly has the power to be a threat; can this ability to plow through resists carry over to NU, or will it have too little speed and/or too few opportunities to switch in?

GOLURK

Anti-meta SR

anti-pilo sr (Golurk) @ Yache Berry
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Dynamic Punch

rock polish

rock polish (Golurk) @ Life Orb / Colbur Berry
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Shadow Punch

choice band

choice band (Golurk) @ Choice Band
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Shadow Punch
- Stone Edge

With 124 Attack, Golurk is one of the strongest mons in the tier; it also gets access to the ever-useful Stealth Rock and excellent coverage moves. However, it gets very little NU usage due to the omnipresence of Sandaconda and Piloswine, which set Rocks, take up the "ground-type slot" most teams have, and can both either cripple Golurk with paralysis or KO it with Ice-type attacks.

Can Golurk function effectively as an anti-meta Stealth Rocker? Can its exceptional attack stat give it a niche with Choice Band? Can it run Rock Polish to sweep weakened teams [despite its susceptaibility to priority?]

I'm excited to find out!

please try a set that is not the standard SR set listed below. imo it's mostly outclassed by other rockers anyways ;p
(you can try some games with the standard SR set in order to compare, but make sure you try a new set as well).
for sr, you can try my anti-piloswine sr set or experiment with your own unique anti-meta SR set (e.g. Lum to better take on Sandaconda).
in addition to sr, i recommend you at least consider Rock Polish / CB because it's hella cool ;o

standard sr:

In order to participate you must follow instructions at bottom of OP.
Use the prefix NURW2 on your ladder alts this week.

This week will last until Tuesday, May 26 at 11:59 PM GMT-4.[/SPOILER]

 

[Oathkeeper]

Going with Lurky boi and using the alt NURW2 Oath

 

[pattek]

gonna try out noctowl as NURW2 pattek

 

[FlowerHater45]

Could I use a quagsire lure SR Golurk set? I feel like it qualifies as different from the standard SR set.

Golurk @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Grass Knot
- Shadow Punch

 

[Expulso]

Could I use a quagsire lure SR Golurk set? I feel like it qualifies as different from the standard SR set.

Golurk @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Grass Knot
- Shadow Punch

Yeah - that's super cool actually, haha, havent thought of grass knot on it. go ahead!
(just post what your laddering account name is)