Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
had a pretty good first pupl getting thrown into dpp this year - I like to think that my teams are representative of the best possible formula in the current dpp metagame which has shifted significantly towards offense. I built all my teams myself but I had a lot of help testing and talking through from HJAD, poh, and Jarii so thanks to all of you very much. I either won every game, had an unlucky circumstance, or could have won the game if I played a bit better, so I think the quality of these teams are very good and representative of my perspective of the meta.
anyway, that thing would be: electabuzz spikes.
I brought it to all 6 of my games this year, and 5 times with cacturne. I wonder if any of my opponents picked up on this lol. I believe these Pokemon are the best two Pokemon in the tier, but thats a very subjective opinion of course. also, im hiding some of my secret spreads ;)
(click on the sprites for import)
Week 1 vs Heysup:
This team was my first dpp pu team I built and I was still getting somewhat into the metagame. I feel that the best Rhydon item is Rindo Berry without a doubt, since everybody and their mother are running HP Grass lures or stuff like Giga Drain Golbat (as seen in this game). I feel like there are a few inferior sets on this team - I am strongly convinced that Focus Sash is the superior item to Lum Berry on Machoke, and that physical Cacturne is a much better set. I'll explain this on the later teams where I convert to this set. Additionally, I think that mixed Electabuzz is worse than full special with Focus Blast as if you're at full health you can live Ice Punch after Stealth Rock / one round of LO recoil, which you cannot do with a -Def nature. Originally, HJAD had me make Pelipper Agility to provide an additional win condition, but I felt that the utility of Roost was significantly more valuable as it was my only fighting resist on the team. Rapidash is a very good Pokemon and I definitely wanted to use it more this year, but I had trouble fitting it on some of my builds.
Week 2 vs. GeneralAnnoyance:
Here, I was also working on figuring the meta so I wanted to take a different approach. Again I went with Rindo Berry Rhydon but I got tech'd out by HP Water Purugly, which REALLY bugged me at the time lol. I think Sneasel is extremely good as well but is generally inferior to Electabuzz as a fast cleaner on spikes due to the lower base power moves and lack of any relevant coverage. This is outside of the important niche of trapping things like missy and other physically frail pokemon. The priority and extra speed is really nice though, but I feel like to put Sneasel and Ebuzz on the same team you end up compromising a lot of defensive utility and role compression that something like Cacturne can provide instead. CB Licki is outrageously strong as you all probably know, nothing lives CB Explosion except a few things like Probo which drop to coverage. I'm pretty sure Rhydon even drops to explosion lol. broken gen 4
Week 3 vs. Chrisloud:
I think that Poliwrath is a HEAVILY overrated Pokemon and it just falls short of what I wish it could do. It's still pretty good though. The main core I was working around with was the combination of Golbat + Gastrodon, which walls like EVERYTHING. Metang also provides very solid defensive utility along with Rocks. Explosion is to prevent things like Gorebyss setting up on Metang for free, as I feel like explosionless Metang is very prone to getting set up on as its way weaker than you wish it was even with heavy attack investment along with an Adamant nature. Here is where I started using the superior Cacturne set - Jolly 252 Atk with Synthesis. For a Pokemon so frail, Cacturne's defensive value is phenomenal because of Pokemon like Gastrodon, which it can repeatedly come in on without any fears and force it out or set up spikes, and then recover when needed. I understand that without Dark Pulse it invites Grass resists a lot more easily and is somewhat easier to play around? but sucker punch is so incredibly strong with max attack investment that you just one shot stuff like Electabuzz and absolutely shred offensive builds with hazards up, while taking advantage of the defensive builds once you wear down the grass resists, as seed bomb just beats so many staples of BO and balance like Poliwrath (obv can't switch in and Poli can outspeed but Poliwrath can't switch into Cacturne), Gastrodon, Rhydon, etc. It takes advantage of the metagame and provides really valuable amounts of role compression that I like on the team.
Week 4 vs. Col49:
FUCKING RIP the 8-0 dream two weeks in a row. It may be a broken record by now but i would like to reiterate that I should have won this game if it wasn't for some absolute max rolls and sleep turns. the crit on gorebyss helped him more than me as his gorebyss was modest - so i ended up being forced locked into outrage for an extra turn. ANYWAY. Sudowoodo is FIREEEE. a rock type that threatens grounds with powerful Wood Hammer is so useful and criminally underrated. Shame it was sleeping so long. This is where I started using the Focus Blast Electabuzz and I definitely was not disappointed in tests. Gabite is a really cool scarfer that has been picking up traction for good reason - Dragon resists in dpp pu all get blown tf back by earthquake, and nothing runs hp ice coverage and prefer to run hp grass (or hp water .-.) to hit the big boys like rhydon and gastro. Poliwrath was subpar again, and I really think this Pokemon could use a drop in the VR. It doesn't even check what it should (rhydon, waters, etc) and the rise of stuff like pelipper is really killing it in my opinion. also, its just a bit too weak for this tier.
week 5 vs obii:
Electabuzz spikes back at it again but with Glalie as the spiker. I opted to run Low Kick on Cacturne because i was originally prepping for banks who i had seen some probopass from (and i was starting to realize that probo was a really good Pokemon). I originally had Block Curse Rest Lickilicky instead of Zangoose but obii is my bro and I really didn't want to do that to him. interestingly enough i got the idea to use Zangoose instead thanks to Kushalos testing with me some and it ended up winning the game for me. i would also like to reiterate that the cross chop miss only made it so i didn't have to risk a Static paralysis into full para multiple times because Zangoose kod Electabuzz with Quick Attack after the Life Orb recoil and hazard chip IF he switched out on the revenge Cacturne Sucker Punch ((he would have also had to dodge a Static paralysis since the speed drop would allow Cacturne to kill him) on top of hitting the cross chop)). Anyway, this is where i started realizing how good of a Pokemon Probopass was since it just got rid of so much bothersome stuff to so many teams. Also, fast Shuca Berry Probopass is the best set - do not run max hp max spa because you need to outrun as much as possible and it will really matter and the HP investment doesn't help you that much. Zangoose is ridiculously strong even without setup, but it is prone to getting worn down very very fast.
Finals vs. Heysup:
I'm not incredibly proud of the way this game went because I feel like I could have played better. Regardless, this team was pretty solid but lacked a few defensive points that I would have liked. I really like the Muk set as it can capitalize on so much in the metagame (just make sure that Probopass traps all the opposing steels) and part of the reason I was sad about how this game turned out is that Heysup brought the only steel in the tier that beats this team, which was Magnemite. Kudos on that pick, I was not ready for it, and I'm pretty sure I won if heysup brought any other steel type since they got trapped by Probopass. Gorebyss was a somewhat sloppy or moreso rushed pick on this team but I wanted something that could immediately threaten Rhydon but also function as an additional win condition - theres probably a much better alternative than it on this particular squad.
if anybody is interested I have organized screenshots of my teams, but I also took a screenshot before I re arranged order so I could provide a bit of insight into my building process.
Anyway, thanks to HJAD (and the real behind the scenes shadow managers teddeh and dibs) for picking me up and to the deddenes for having such an amazing season. go clutch these finals! carry me team, sorry i couldn't get a win when we really needed it this week!
in conclusion, the best team formula in the current dpp pu meta is electabuzz spikes
Golem @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Atk / 224 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Toxic
Monferno @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- Mach Punch
- U-turn
The idea of the team is fairly simple, spread toxic and break down fat walls and have Mr.Mime and/or Drifblim clean. The Bouffalant was something me and TJ had came up with. I had prepped for a really fat build or just straight up stall so you can Toxic Avalugg or anything else you need to that would otherwise wall the standard Frustration Earthquake SD set. I honestly cant remember exactly what the EV spread was for but we found that it was nice to just invest in Spdef to help have bulkier subs and just be a better special tank. Rest of the team is fairly self explanatory. Mawile Is the 2nd breaker and allows you to have a secondary stall MU and just a great wallbreaker. Mr Mime speed control and Healing wish for if Mawile gets chipped hard. Drif is a solid underrated cleaner in ORAS and gives the team yet another win condition and is great when things are chipped by the previous breakers. Golem is solid on any build and this is no different, gives the team rocks and spreads Toxic for some nice chip. Monferno rounds of the team as a nice momentum gainer + a Pawniard and Leafeon resist which was much needed.
Vs Yogi (Week 4)
Bronzor @ Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Bold Nature
- Psywave
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Rest
Beheeyem @ Life Orb
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Recover
Bouffalant @ Leftovers
Ability: Sap Sipper
Happiness: 0
EVs: 248 HP / 180 SpD / 80 Spe
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Frustration
- Toxic
Raichu @ Life Orb
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Nasty Plot
Monferno @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Slack Off
I had prepped for a Hailstorm (Hail and Sand) that Yogi kept telling me he was going to bring lol, so one of the sets is a bit odd but I'll explain. (he didnt bring the team but still a very fun team and not bad at all) Had Started off with Bronzor because the team I was prepping for had Hippopotas Stoutland and Specs Glaceon so Bronzor walled a majority of those. Gives me some nice rocks, normal ice flying resist. OTR trick room cleaned and broke pretty nicely against the build so I wanted to use LO TR with Recover. Stacks weaknesses with Bronzor but still felt like it was a solid choice. Same Beheeyem set from last week (love using this thing.) gives the team just about everything it did the other one. Hadn't used Raichu in most likely years in ORAS and I think it's a bit underrated, The coverage was perfect for the match up and just a nice breaker against most builds. Leafeon with Chilan Berry was a back up plan against Sand Rush Stoutland to be able to tank the hit a bit easier as I dont outspeed w sand up. If you're going to use this in just a regular match I would use Lum. Monferno was to have some momentum and Slack Off was a cool little move TJ had recommended to reliably switch into Glaceon and heal up as you force them out. Had trouble this week making a team that was good against Hailstorm and still had a solid MU against standard stuff but I think it turned out pretty well.
Duosion @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Acid Armor
- Recover
Just like vs Pearl I was expecting some very fat stuff from False (didnt pan out but was a fun game none the less.) Simipour was a mon I wanted to test out and this set does pretty great work against standard stalls, the coverage is really nice. Ran breaker Mawile again here but this time It was 4 attacks with Fire Blast for Avalugg. Yeah another Bouffalant but this time with Taunt, but I believe it was for annoying Bronzor more. Tank Golem again to again give rocks and all the great resists it gives teams. Mr Mime with Taunt + NP is next, really great stall and balance breaker. Duosion was the last and it had given me some more bulk and a cool little Win condition on it's own. Took my first and only L this week as I hadn't prepped for hard Offense so props to False for the awesome prep!
All these teams don't have hazard control which is somewhat of a problem, In testing I did have it on the 1st and 2nd but didnt feel like most of the removers fit well. Screwed me over g3 but didn't really have an issue with it in w3 or w4. Thanks for reading and thanks again for being a great manager bro and giving me a chance in ORAS TJ
This is a team that I quickly dug up in our team chat when I was subbed in within like an hour of the deadline. I picked this team because it looked pretty simple to use and had a clear objective: Zebstrika and Rapidash (which I'm now dubbing as the HorseCore) are both solid offensive mons with zebra serving as a great pivot with a solid selection of coverage and Rapidash being a cut above other Choice Scarf users with its speed tier along with a good STAB move to click when things are cleared up late-game. Ursaring and Machoke are solid enough bulky wincons, Victreebel provides setup, priority and a sleep move, and Bronzor just does Bronzor stuff. Not a bad team to begin my BW PU career with so I'm happy with how it turned out!
And now we turn to this and I have no idea what the fuck this team was if I'm honest lmao
The Simipour resist is Simipour and Gabite + Natu is by no means a long-term defensive core, but I was still able to pull a W. Aaron Judge is a very solid and well-rounded player so I'm not sure why the team I was provided with sorta fished for a matchup, but anyway Specs Swoobat was a nice option for stuff like Vigoroth, CM Duosion, etc. and it was a nice offensive pivot to boot. SD Quick Feet Ursaring is terrifying and it was enough to scare off Torterra and let Scarf Simipour clean up. uhh sf mawile did nothing this game lol
The only team I myself built this PL but easily my favorite. I prepped for weather and trick room with Jumpluff, Scarf Golduck and TR Bem which are all solid mons on their own merit. But no I faced Baton Pass which didnt cross my mind at all because I don't understand smogon's silly transivity with oldgens bans and that PU past ORAS is largely unaffected so whatever. Jumpluff is nasty cos Flying Gem Acrobatics and fast and balanced oldgens sleep and it gave CB Throh and Bem chances to shine, the former of which is my sleep sponge and is an all-around cool dude. Uhh I think the spread was for +2 Shiftry? Cant recall. Lets be real tho I only lost because I didnt play the one endgame turn safely which guaranteed my victory, but my mind slipped with what my opponent's speed control was and they had solid metagame experience so oh well, that's on me
anyway bw pu is wacky and fun and pupl was good first exposure to the metagame. thanks again for the fellas who gave me a chance as well as the teammates who provided some of the builds i ended up using, and hopefully I'll do better if I end up getting picked again next year :)
This PUPL went a lot differently than I thought it would; initially when I signed up, I thought I'd go for like 3k since the assumption was I'd only be building and checking teams given my overall lack of tour experience. Many had different plans for me though, as right when shit hit the fan, I was subbed in. I didn't really have too much fun on that front, since I generally overpredicted and choked in my games against sam i yam and Jarii, but I built a lot of creations (some totally unused!) that I'm proud of. Here are some of the USUM and ORAS creations I passed my team, enjoy!
This was my favorite battle of the entire PUPL; I probably put the most effort into this match, repeatedly testing with gasquake, and offering up all the ORAS expertise that I had accumulated since ~2014 to my team lol. Gas and I also have top synergy since we've been building together for such a long time; but, the area in which we are probably incompatible is our battling style and which team archetypes we prefer: he enjoys piloting offense more, while I prefer something closer to bulky offense or balance. Another factor that went into shaping gas' team here was how familiar I am with Shane's style of building (he tends to use hyper offense with stuff like offensive Rose, Pawniard, Rotom-F, etc.), and so I immediately called out that he'd be weak to Monferno. This team here also helped confirm that for me. At first, I concentrated on building Monferno balance, but then after seeing that gas wasn't too comfortable with the idea of using Bronzor, we switched it up and went with something more offensive. I built the first version by myself, while we all pitched in for the second squad. The Golem spread used in the second version is the same as the one found in my ORAS sample, and Natural Gift Yache Leafeon was a tech I suggested so that Leafeon could remove Altaria for both Monferno and Pawniard while also serving as a soft check to Floatzel. Many called out correctly that if Shane was really going to be that weak to Monferno, that we should use Slack Off so that it'd be around for the long haul (there was also little need for 3 SD users in Leafeon + Pawniard + Monferno). All this prep paid off nicely, and gas was really at the top of his game in this match.
This was a team I built solo right before PUPL started, and at the time, I really felt this was sample-level. While people were adamant that Clefairy was a poor fit for the meta, that kind of discourse mostly stemmed from people who weren't using it together with Quagsire. QuagClef as a defensive backbone covers a ton for Balance, or at least, it used to before the meta became so much more offensive starting around week 2 of PUPL. Yogi brought some cool stuff, like CB Kabutops to break Quag, and Avalanche Destiny Bond Froslass to use Avalanche's negative priority to net a surprise KO with DBond. But, Raiza played flawlessly around that Froslass tech, and while Yogi was able to set up three layers of Spikes with Lass, it really didn't matter with our team's primary wincons in CM Oricorio-E, Scarf Dodrio, and CM Clefairy being immune to Spikes.
This team is actually really weak to offensive Mesprit (with boosted Dazzling Gleam / HP Fighting or Fire / Psychic or Psyshock breaking most team members), and as PUPL passed, more and more players gravitated toward offensive Mesprit, while at the same time, the meta slowly moved away from teams utilizing specially defensive Alolan Sandslash as a primary component to their defensive backbones. Raiza was comfortable enough with this team that he actually reused this team in week 4 against Rexus, and you could tell from that loss just how much teambuilding diverged from setups like this one over the course of PUPL.
Given I've built with and battled LordST quite a few times (maybe the only council member other than Akir that I test with), I had a good idea of what he'd bring and what he would predict us to be weak to. I originally passed Pearl this team below, thinking LordST would both be Mesprit weak and vulnerable to Primeape with that pivoting continuously on his offensive Mesprit, but after Pearl saw that Qwilfish was effectively the fire resist here, he was worried about Simisear taking that version for a ride, so I provided a second version below with Regirock and Hitmonchan to remedy that weakness to some extent. Regirock was there for a second reason, as I also assumed LordST would also try to take advantage of my tendency to rely on specially defensive Alolan Sandslash + defensive Gurdurr by using something like Stoutland. Ultimately, Pearl and gum forgoed the Normal resist here and opted for an even more offensive version with AV Guzzlord for the Simisear switch-in, with Scarf Rotom-F, SR Golurk, and CM Z Mesprit over my version with Regirock, Z Rotom-F, CB Golurk, and Scarf Mesprit.
This squad was built by me and TSR, with TSR throwing in some extra flavor and spicing up the team with Substitute Guzzlord. The idea was to first stack hazards with Froslass and Mudsdale, while Guzzlord would ideally set up Substitute on the Pokemon it normally threatens out. From there, Guzzlord and Roar Mudsdale would then provide the chip and remove the counters that Primeape would need gone to clean up late-game. Unfortunately for us however, Gondra's team really only had one pick that Guzzlord could really set up on with Substitute freely (Victreebel), so match-up prevented TSR from using Sub Guzzlord to its fullest. He can probably tell you what the spread is for (I don't quite remember at the moment, but the spread is pretty much optimal). In retrospect, this was a set that really feels good when it works out, but it seemed like it may have been better to just go with the standard for this specific battle.
I tested the team later and it performed well against other known players. Here's a good example of the team vs Tondas: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pu-921159973
This was a teambuild with Many. We went back and forth for a while thinking about what we should pass Jmash, and while I thought we should pass him something he was more comfortable with, like Pinsir (since he had done well with that week 1), we ended up building this for him. Despite Jmash doing well early-game, FLCL was in top form and kept up those doubles he likes doing, repeatedly forcing out Roselia with Oricorio-G and keeping up pressure with Gurdurr backed by Healing Wish Mesprit. He pretty much never yielded momentum to Jmash and it was more or less over from mid-game onward. The team uses Toxic Spikes Roselia, and already at matchup, FLCL's team didn't mind and even capitalized on these with Guts Gurdurr and Facade Stoutland (the other members, Oricorio-G, Mesprit, Alolan Sandslash, and what looked like Heal Bell Lanturn didn't care at all about Toxic Spikes).
In building this team, I found a really nice Mudsdale spread that I think should be popularized:
This survives two Earthquake from CB Mudsdale + two Frustration from CB Stoutland + two Liquidation from Scarf Kabutops (assuming no Defense drop from Liquidation), while the SpDef lets you live the 2HKO from Eelektross's Giga Drain.
After we suffered a crushing loss at the hands of the Victreebels in week 2, I was subbed in for week 3. Week 2 shouldn't have been as bad as it was, as there were some issues with the teams brought that week; for example, I tried to notify the builder of lax's week 2 team that it was overwhelmingly Lanturn weak, but despite hearing that, no changes were made... kind of a bummer, but I couldn't really do more to rectify that.
Going in, I wanted to reverse our fortune here, so I spent extra time prepping for this match. I understood which Pokemon chad i yam relies on most in building, what kind of plays he likes to make (I faced him on ladder during the week I was prepping for our match), and even noted the EV spreads he sticks to. The prep was kind of exhaustive, and it really didn't pay off in the end because instead of sticking to his comfort picks like Z Sub / CM / Roost / Air Slash Oricorio-E, SpDef Gurdurr, Future Sight defensive Mesprit, SubDisable Froslass, Rock Tomb Regirock, etc., he went in with a slow and bulky Kangaskhan build that I simply didn't expect. I had brought Psychium Z Lycanroc and Victreebel for Gurdurr, Victreebel and Gastrodon for Regirock, Play Rough Skuntank for a potential Guzzlord pick, Icicle Spear Scarf Alolan Sandslash for beating his Oricorio-E (even behind a Substitute) and knocking out Froslass turn 1 with a faster Iron Head, etc. I received some criticism after the match for my Victreebel set, but the set makes sense when you consider that, after already running a Z crystal on Lycanroc, you can no longer run one on Vic; at the same time, Gurdurr requires enough chip to be in range of an unboosted Shattered Psyche, which Rocky Helmet helps accomplish when you switch Vic into Gurdurr's Knock Off.
Things were going relatively well early-game, but the turning point happened when I expected Kangaskhan to switch out of Gastrodon and into Tangela (at which point, I switched to my Victreebel), resulting in me losing Vic to Kanga earlier than I had hoped. From there, it was all downhill. I had a way to bring it back late-game and calc'd Tangela's uninvested Giga Drain on Lycanroc, which left me with just enough wiggle-room to set up with Swords Dance. I should have set up again under the assumption he'd sac Mesprit to the Z move, but I really didn't map out this part of the match too well.
The team used here was effectively a remake of TSR vs Gondra (week 1) with Claydol over Mudsdale, Chople Alolan Sandslash for living HP Fighting Mesprit, and Specs Guzzlord over TSR's Sub set. The pastes look different enough, but the same general synergy is still there. While I was okay with using this version, I was honestly really wanting to use my Hail Balance squad; but, Many was adamant that I use some kind of wallbreaker that could lay on more immediate offensive pressure instead given he predicted the Dedennes would maybe start using a more defensive team this week. I did have a good matchup with Guzzlord beating Swanna, Simisear, and Ludicolo on paper, but in the actual battle I incorrectly assumed, based on Jarii's setup, that Simisear was there to lure Guzzlord for its offensive partners (Ludicolo and Swanna) so that they could clean or wallbreak more effectively (hence my switch from Guzzlord to Claydol, when I could have dropped the free-est of Draco Meteors instead). That wasn't his strategy however, and instead he just pivoted out to Eelektross from Simisear on Guzzlord after firing off a Specs Overheat. In retrospect, I think my Hail balance would have just won from match-up with Scarf Aurorus eating the majority of his team alive (save Eelektross), so I was admittedly a little salty afterward lol.
This game happened during the week both Many and Megazard thought our team was out of the running, so our team brought some wonky stuff (and we were successful despite bringing mostly questionable stuff). My ParaFusionFlinch squad has gone through so many different versions, and I've basically been rebuilding this for each meta since maybe ~2017 (one of those versions is found here). Sawsbuck can be really annoying if it gets the right match-up and has basically been my spirit animal since making this post. You can bet that I have an updated version with Cincinno now. >:) The beginning of this game was unfortunate, as Glare Chople Drampa didn't get to do anything, but Jmash piloted this well and this was overall a fun match to watch.
This team features an underrated defensive threat that I thought could be used to good effect this PUPL with not many players prepping for it, Shiinotic. It was semi-popular early meta, then offensive Shiinotic was developed by Slowbroth. Afterward, people stopped finding reason to use this and it really fell off in post-Kingler meta, up until Tone started pushing offensive Shiinotic again. I always thought the defensive variant was fine, with that finding good utility in answering Gurdurr and Hitmonchan, which were honestly on every team this PUPL it felt like. At the beginning of the match, you could tell lax was a little reluctant in using this, but by the end, he was calling this PU Vileplume lol (just watch the first 3 turns).
I built this first version, but a second configuration was then provided to lax by TSR and Many, with Carracosta over Regirock and a few moveset changes (still not entirely sure why that was necessary, but this provided the win regardless).
2x PU Vileplume Squad (unused)
TSR edited version
---
There are a few more teams that I was partially responsible for, but in the interest of brevity, I wanted to show you guys one last set:
I developed Z Reflect Type Omastar during this PUPL run, and really really wanted my team to run this. We did end up running Omastar during Semifinals with Serene Grace's team, but not this set.
Lygophobia withdrew Silvally!
Lygophobia sent out Tangela! Pointed stones dug into the opposing Tangela!
Omastar used Shell Smash! Omastar's Defense fell! Omastar's Special Defense fell! Omastar's Attack rose sharply! Omastar's Special Attack rose sharply! Omastar's Speed rose sharply!
Turn 8 Omastar used Reflect Type! Omastar's type became the same as the opposing Tangela's type!
The opposing Tangela used Sleep Powder! It doesn't affect Omastar...
Omastar used Wring Out! (The opposing Tangela lost 88% of its health!) The opposing Tangela fainted!
Omastar @ Normalium Z
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Surf
- Reflect Type
- Wring Out
There are three main purposes for Normalium Z here: Z Reflect Type lets Omastar boost its SpA by +1 while copying the foes typing; Z Wring Out is 190 BP Breakneck Blitz (or for regular Wring Out, just Power = 1 + 120 × (Target's Current HP / Target's Maximum HP), with the max being 121 BP against full HP targets); and, Normalium Z allows Omastar to Shell Smash even when Taunted.
There are a lot of applications for Reflect Type; for example, Skuntank can no longer finish you off with Sucker Punch, you can setup on Roselia by now resisting Grass x4, you can make it so that Lanturn's Volt Switch (and many other moves) hit for neutral damage, you lose your weakness to Mach Punch, etc. While this is walled by Jellicent and Cradily (lol), a boosted Wring Out lets you break past a slightly weakened Guzzlord or Lanturn more easily.
The team I was using it on until our most recent tier shift:
Screens Reflect Type Omastar
There's another set I like, but we didn't use this either:
Endure is basically here to prevent you from being RKOed by Primeape. The basic sequence is: Endure, eat the CC, and activate Weak Armor for +4 Speed total, then sweep through teams that use Scarf Ape as their go-to option for speed control.
Anyway, that's it. Hope the rest of you had an enjoyable PUPL!
This PUPL has been weird for me, I joined it just to keep playing PU vs players better than the ladder but just in a "chill mode". It turns out our team didn't have enough support and I ended up building most SM teams, and passing teams is something I dislike cuz to me teambuilding=2/3 of the game and skill/luck are the remaining 1/3. Anyway, I love building so I was able to make enough teams with different playstyles and Pokémons which was an exciting challenge. Hopefully all these builds below will give an accurate picture of what the PU meta looks like.
I don't feel like writing "X player used Y team in Week Z", so if you want to see the teams being used, check all the replays of the Hearthome Haunters. Several teams weren't used though, just made extra teams and revamped old ones so as to be able to swap teams and have all the different good combos showcased.
I won't write descriptions. Instead, I will first post most of the "unorthodox" sets that nobody else (or very few people) used and that cannot be found on the smogdex. Let's go!
Dazzling gleam for Gurdurr and Guzzlord. Cursed Body is awesome and turns it into a great Gurdurr counter. You know what froslass does? Then you can guess what this one does. Water absorb is useless.
Standard+40spd (Mudsdale) @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Stamina
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Atk / 128 Def / 40 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Rock Slide
Eelektross anti-lead. Gigadrain cannot 2HKO it from full thanks to 40 spD.
SpDef Tank (Mudsdale) @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Stamina EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Rock Slide
This one hits less hard but is really fat and can take on mesprit and guzzlord much better (as well as eelektross).
Very well adapted to the current meta (adapted to Guzzlord and Mudsdale lol). GrassKnot+48 spa 2HKOes leftovers 252HP mudsdales. The rest is obvious. Struggles vs Froslass and Tangela (not that much but cannot force them out without flamethrower).
Jellicent and Froslass don't synergize well with qwilfish as spinblockers. Revenge makes sure Opposing sandslashes go down if they try to spin of you (or you can spam scald).
I don't know what you guys use. I like 168 def to tank primeape's CC after rocks. Otherwise it's standard.
176+ AV (Hitmonchan) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Iron Fist EVs: 188 HP / 176 Atk / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch - Stone Edge
- Rapid Spin
176+ OHKOes bulky froslass after rocks.
Chople Lead (Aggron) @ Chople Berry
Ability: Rock Head EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Head Smash - Toxic
Should be standard, best set by far. The Evs allows it to tank CB superpower from stoutland after rocks (with chople), so primeapes Closecombat too since it is weaker. Toxic cripples mudsdale quagsire tangela etc. If you want to destroy stall, use it.
All-Out Attacker (Simisage) @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Leaf Storm
- Superpower
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Simisage isn't ranked but it's perfectly viable and is a cool choice as speed control+wallbreaker. Superpower hits Guzzlord sandslash and audino; Rockslide hits articuno pompom and simisear. HP ice targets altaria tangela and victreebel mainly.
ChestoResto (Throh) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Circle Throw
- Knock Off
- Rest
Nobody likes throh, everyone likes gurdurr more. Throh isn't good but it can a good sweeper due to its enormous spdef bulk and ability that ignores quagsires unaware. ChestoResto is the best set imo. Ice Punch is usable over Knock off if Victreebel is annoying.
For some reason it wasn't added to the smogdex. Original idea by @ Tone, I just like it faster with energyball. Pretty good wallbreaker and gurdurr/guzz check. Pair it with regirock or aggron which can get rocks up and help it demolish stall.
horses in the back (Crabominable) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Atk / 52 Def / 152 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Ice Hammer
- Drain Punch
- Substitute
- Toxic
TJ wanted to use the set, I just made a spread. Spdef sandslash with EQ can't break the sub. Speed is for tangelas and everything that speed creeps tangelas (lol). EVs guarantee 2HKO on max HP tangela.
Other sets:
-Specs Berserk Drampa. Gets a spatk bonus once in the game which can be a gamechanger in many scenarios.
-Scarf Defog skuntank: good role compression and emergency defog. Foulplay and punishment are viable on it.
-CB primeape. The analysis exists but nobody ever uses it. It's a cool fast and powerful attacker in this meta were fast and strong stuff are rare.
-CB floatzel (waterveil). Fast and strong and has lowkick for guzzlord. Traps froslass with pursuit.
-SubToxic Skuntank: explained here: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/pu-next-best-thing-week-18-poliwrath.3647537/#post-8052586
-Spdef Gurdurr. An idea that was brought up several times throughout PU's history but was succesfully showcased by Taskr in week1 vs me. I hope you will post it since you made it popular by winning vs me in this unlikely battle.
Basically you pair it with Mudsdale or regirock as physical walls, and invest in spdef so as to check Guzzlord eelektross and froslass better, as well as being able to threaten mesprit more. Sometimes you will need AV chan, sometimes physical gurdurr, but spdef gurdurr can be valuable role compression vs guzzlord and eelektross.
Finally, I'm done! My time in PU is over for now, I've played this tier too much and it's really time to take a big break from it. I hope you enjoyed this post, I dumped almost everything I had that could be new or interesting to be looked at.
Thanks TJ , Specs and Sam I Yam for being awesome friends and always be cool. Also Raseri I'm glad we met, you're a really nice dude too. Don't ever ask me to build shit again in a PL, I've had enough with this one wtf. I really appreciated talking with you guys, I wish you the best of luck in the future. Also I know one of the teams here is yours TJ, but I didn't feel like moving the teams and I suppose you will post it and explain it anyway (ban cryo man, it never dies).
I hope PU will get more fortunate tier shifts in the future and that gen8 PU will be different than "fighting-types-vs-fighting-checks and fire-types-are-broken".
I also am aware that most of these teams are outdated now cuz ferro dropped and mesprit left. Luckily for people who wanna use these teams, I'm not a mesprit enthusiast and don't use it that much (unlike fellow user sam i yam whose whole teambuilder must be outdated now :/).
GL in rest frens!
PS: sorry for not describing the teams. If you have questions just PM me. Sorry for the long post too, that's my goodbye to PU :x
Team - Replay
The game I lost but could have won. I didn't get the opportunity to build too many teams due to having a hectic overnight work schedule, but I was really happy with this W1 team, and its by far the most consistent one I built during all of PUPL. This team draws influence from a number of different places, primarily my very own current gen ZU sample team that utilizes a very similar core of Shiftry + Swanna + Electivire, as well as Marowak as a unique offensive Stealth Rocker that I was inspired to utilize by Durza watching him use it versus LightPinkYoshi in his own ZU game. This team also features a really cool tech in Volt Switch Klang that allows the mon to function as a slow pivot for some of my frailer wallbreakers. Shoutouts Akir This team originally featured Stoutland over Monferno, but Many was correct in insisting we had some sort of Vigoroth check, although I severely doubted EviGaro was gonna bring it; Encore + Slack Off is really cool, just wishing we could have had fit U-turn on it somehow to use as another pivot. Fairly satisfied with the team overall, however, and if I had not been a dumbass choking lately game, would've been a really awesome victory from a BW player easily deemed the hardest BW slot in the PL. P.S. Special Shiftry from Evigaro's team was really cool to see.
Quick sidenote, I also had this Week 1 Team Sketch that I never really got around to filling out. The premise was fairly similar to the first except that Vileplume + Lunatone acted more as backbone structure of the team, and Raichu was going to try to be some specially defensive all encompassing Electric check (which Asssault Vest didn't exist this gen, I confused it during initial team sketching with Rocky Helmet for which came out Gen 5/6.) I might come back around to this in the future just because Vileplume saw such little use this PUPL, I was actually shocked, and Lunatone is fun as well.
Team 1 - Team 2 - Replay
Opting out of Week 2 due to knowing ahead of time I was gonna have a 45 hour work week, this week I started off wanting to build around Grass + Stoutland which was a strong offensive ORAS core idea, as well as DD Fraxure who seemed to have a good matchup versus most of cb aaron judge's builds. We all went out different ways with how we wanted to carry out this kind of teambuild, and with a lot of help yet again from Akir we traded Simisage for Jumpluff as a all around utility mon for helping Fraxure set up and providing a Throh check which otherwise we really didn't have. I really liked my version with Simipour more because it was more in line with my original team structure with just a seemingly minor Simi change. However, despite Natu not being my favorite Pokemon to build or use, Natu proved to be a valuable asset to the second version of the team keeping Stealth Rock off the field and was again a suggestion made by Akir. Serene Grace ended up bringing a different version than what I had built versus cb aaron judge that featured Stunfisk and Mawile over Gigalith and Beheeyem, and he pulled out a W, so I couldn't be much prouder of him.
Team - Replay
After taking a bit of a hiatus Week 3, we returned to BW PU with yet another fantastic opponent in our path: HJAD. Wanting to go back to Simisage + Stoutland but putting a bit more emphasis on Normal Spam and trying out Shell Smash Huntail again in a post Choice Scarf Rotom-Frost metagame, out popped this team structure. Beheeyem once again became the Fighting resist of the team and it always pairs nicely with Stoutland. Stunfisk was this week's hyper awesome cool Stealth Rocker and it allowed us to check Electric-types and opposing Scarf Dodrio in the same slot. The team we ended up bringing in my opinion became a totally different team, as when you change Simisage and Stoutland for Shiftry and Monferno again the team becomes unrecognizable, especially if you told someone it was supposed to feature Normal Spam. These changes were justified by giving the team strong priority, a Vigoroth check (HJAD I actually would expect to bring Vigoroth, at least more likely than Evi; funny how it ended up oppositely W5.), and an answer to Bronzor. Still I think Normal Spam has its rightful place in BW PU if built properly, and I hope its a playstyle I'll have time to come back to sometime in the future.
Team - Replay
And then there was this team. It's the game I won but definitely should have lost. Yeah, yeah I know I'll address the elephant in the room here in a second. Here's the thing. We thought that our team was out of PUPL Semifinal contentions after Week 4, according to statements made by both Megazard and Many in PUPL Kinglers teamchat. So I literally threw all the remaining team ideas I had been storing and incorporated them all onto one team. These ideas included BP Mienfoo into something fat, Choice Specs Grumpig, Choice Scarf Phione, and trying to use Simisage for the third week. I've built in a row. Ngl this team is a bit of a gargled mess and minutes before I played tondas we were still working out some of the kinks. Some of the biggest ones was the complete lack of a Bronzor answer, so we changed Grumpig to have Trick. Then we had no priority so we had Sucker Punch on Graveler but then we changed it again to Fire Punch for Bronzor. The game itself I know I choked in a couple places and yes the early gg was on purpose to psychologically alter tondas' mind. However, no one was actually willing to ask me why I did that and just made conjectures. Because it wasn't until the game was over I realized there was an actual 50/50 to be had by U-turning as tondas went into Throh, when every game mattered Week 5, I did what I did, and I'm not overly proud of myself. But I'm proud of all the hard work we put into Week 5 after being told we were out. I'm sorry tondas that game unfolded the way it did and if I could do it over I would. In light of all this, I really do think we should rank Mienfoo somewhere. CM and / or SD passing with Regenerator is really good + it resists Stealth Rock.
I'm not much for closing words so here's this from PUPL Kingler teamchat after thinking we were out Week 4.
"If we are just going to be completely honest, I wasn’t feeling 100% about moving from TJ’s team when I played PUPL IV with Sam Kush Specs TJ last year to a team where I had a dispute with Pearl and just overall many (pun intended) people I have never really gotten the chance to talk to. But I’m really happy with the team I’m on now. We’re much more friendly and have more open discussion than the PUPL team I was on last year."
And I couldn't have asked more out of you guys. See you all next year and don't forget to Fling those Choice Scarves with your Audinos!
(/me winks at pearl)
hey PU gang, this was the first major PU tour I decided to take part in after the little bit of a hiatus I had earlier in the year and I was anxious to prove that I could come back from the awful showing I had in exhibition. (click the sprites for imports)
Week 1 I started off with a tough matchup against Ktut who is regarded as one of the better players in the PU community and one of the more innovative builders. Due to his outlandish approach to building I figured that I would try to employ some more basic strategies against him in hope to exploit the gaps he might have in his team. The first strategy was a pretty basic Hail core of Abomasnow and Alolan Sandslash and I chose Abomasnow over Aurorus because I noticed it does great against a lot of his common defensive cores and Hail in general is kind of an anti-bullshit playstyle. SpD Gurdurr + Scarf Healing Wish Mesprit was the next strategy I wanted to use since Gurdurr/Mesprit is a very true and tried core that can work against most teams but I decided to deviate from the standard physically defensive Gurdurr set and opt for a specially bulky set instead since I didn't really have a special sponge on my team and it helps against a lot of special attackers like Guzzlord in particular, this set ended up paying off in the game since his Mesprit couldn't deal enough damage to revenge kill. The match was really intense and definitely the closest match I've ever played so I'd advise giving it a watch if you haven't already.
Going into this week against Shane I knew he isn't really a fan of bulky playstyles so I wanted to bring some mons that are generally good against offense. I was thinking that Speed tiers would be key in this battle since offense vs offense is usually determined by which mons can trade against each other and not give up momentum so this team ended up being really fast and also a bit jank. The team itself ended up working really quite well in testing so I decided to give it a shot. Swanna and Simisear are usually massive threats against any offense that doesnt have a Lanturn and Shane's replays showed that he didn't use it too much either. Primeape+Eel is quite a common VoltTurn core that can annoy defensive cores. Lastly I wanted something that could switch in on Hitmonchan as well as another Rock resist so I settled on Scarf Golurk since its quite a strong scarfer that helped me out against CM Mesprit as well as catching a lot of pokemon that think they're faster off-guard. The actual game went pretty badly since my Alolan Sandslash managed to get defence dropped and crit meaning I lacked a good Ice resist against his scarf Aurorus and forced me to revenge it with Primeape which either let Froslass in for free or allowed Carracosta to Shell Smash and when I did get a chance to ko Aurorus I missed Focus Blast
This is definitely my proudest creation this pupl that has been dubbed the 'broken absol team' by multiple people in my slam chat. There wasn't much thought process about what I wanted to bring this week I just knew that I'm usually able to pilot offense well and this team allowed me to outplay if I needed to. I probably would've even gone as far as to rmt this team if Mesprit didn't rise. Lead Lycanroc and LO Froslass provided hazard support and fast Taunt whilst also having an offensive presence. SD Combusken and Shell Smash Carracosta provide good win conditions whilst SD Absol and CM Mesprit break down defensive cores really well. it was originally scarf Mesprit but due to the amount of priority on the team I felt as though I didn't need one and it would've just been an inferior set to CM Mesprit. The game was really straight forward as I only need to switch once in the match to win.
I noticed that gum liked to use a lot of Mesprit/Skunktank/Mudsdale kinda defensive cores so i thought Pinsir would be a perfect pick since it is able to break them apart and I also think it was an underrated pick in general for that meta since its able to outrun and threaten offensive Mesprit. Specs Aurorus is another underrated pick but I decided to go for it because defensive Alolan Sandslash kinda fell off a bit from recent weeks since them kind of builds tend to struggle with CM Mesprit too much. Aurorus was also there to open up holes for Scarf Mesprit to sweep late game and in turn scarf Mesprit could support my breakers by giving them a second chance or heal up one of my defensive checks since they all lack their own reliable recovery. The game went pretty well and ended up being quite close but I think I managed to play well with my breakers and done well to avoid getting counter swept by Costa.
Overall I'm pretty happy with my PUPL performance this year round and I'm glad I still managed to go positive despite being 1-2 down at one point. I was also really happy teaming with all the people on the Octilleries, especially for that memorable first week when we being the supposed favourites despite being labelled as the worse team so I wanna thank TONE especially for drafting me.
pupl was a mixed bag for me. on one hand, i really do love oras pu; it's easily one of my favourite tiers, and i love how there is still so much room for it to grow and develop. there's lots of room for innovation, a wide number of viable pokemon, and pretty much no stall (which is always a massive boon). on the other hand though, i was incredibly short on time for the entirety of the season; my job ramped up, and so i was working almost twice as many hours as usual, and the very limited free time that i was left with had to be spent preparing for wcop. my lack of free time became so dire that i ended up missing out on prep entirely for more than half of my games.
despite my lack of time, as well as predictions going 0-10 in favour of my opponents (i think megazard is the only user in this community who actually rates me as a player ), i managed to finish with the 2nd best oras pu record. all things considered i think thats pretty acceptable for a 3k buy.
week 1 vs teddeh
i didn't have any time for prep this week so i recycled an old team that i used back in ltpl but put band stoutland over specs chatot. while the matchup didn't turn out to be that great (teddeh made a nice pick of sd monferno, which almost won from preview) i think i possessed enough tools to win the game if i had've played better. i got into a cycle of playing passively and was never really able to grab any meaningful momentum. the game meandered along until i misplayed, giving up eviolite on my vibrava, and teddeh quickly took advantage to take the game.
week 3 vs shaneghoul
no time for prep again this week. i ended up using a team that i found in a pokepaste in the victreebels server. i think lst made it, but i could be mistaken. the matchup seemed like a fascinating one at preview, but shaneghoul decided to give up his scarfer turn 1 vs an otherwise very floatzel-weak team and thus i was able to float my way to an easy win.
week 4 vs rawmelon
so this week i finally had some time to prep. i spent an hour or so making this really cool articuno + trapinch offense team that i was excited to try out! obviously trapinch is not legal in this tier anymore and so when it came time to battle i found that my team was invalid. i scrambled to find something else to use, i still wanted to use articuno, and so i decided to reuse an old articuno + trapper team that i used in pu open finals, putting probopass over trapinch (i could've swapped for probo on the team i had prepped, but it didn't really fit with the offensive build i was going for). unfortunately the matchup here was pretty horrendous as i had almost nothing to stop sub rampardos from smacking me up, and so rawmelon took the w.
week 5 vs specs
no time for prep this week either, but i did come in with an idea. i noticed that all of my opponents thus far were going to considerable lengths to try and counter-team my standard balance/semistall builds, so i opted to switch it up and use hyper offense this week. this is a team that pearl and i made together way back when for one of his ltpl games and it was exactly the kind of thing i was looking to use. the matchup here ended up being pretty decent, especially considering that specs didn't pack hazard removal. after overcoming a difficult opening, mr. mime shut down my lead smeargle with taunt, i was able to use pretty much all my members to decent effect to overwhelm my opponent and take the game.
semifinals vs pearl
i had missed out on playing pearl during the regular season because i wasn't available the week we matched up, so i was stoked to see that we had matched in playoffs. i wanted to bring sub + cm grumpig this week, because i had noticed a lot of his builds were almost 6-0d by it (the same trend i noticed when prepping for our matches during pu open in 2016). ninetales was also a pokemon that intrigued me, plus i'd never really used it before, so i though it might catch pearl off guard. i went searching for a team with both of these pokemon and managed to find one made by slowbroth. i edited a few moves/evs here and there, but this is definitely not my team, so credit where it is due. the matchup was absolutely astounding for me in this one and i basically won from preview with both grumpig and ninetales doing massive work.
Sorry for the repost, the original one has been deleted for no reason.
Yo! EviGaro drafted me for my effective builds, so I was making the teams for the Misdreavus. However, I never did one fight, press F. The names that have a star by their side indicate that they were my teammates.
One of my favorite build ngl. The team is centered around Carracosta. Offensive Mesprit wins against any Fight types, set up the rocks and baits Skuntank with U-Turn so Carracosta can boost itself against it. The Ground immunity is useful too for Mudsdale. Hitmonchan spins and take care of any specially offensive threat. Skun offers the speed control and weakens any Mesprit from the opponent for Costa. Pom-Pom and Victreebel are here to neutralize any Gastrdon/Gurdurr/Tangela.
Classic KangaSpikes I guess. Qwil set up the hazards with Sand-A and kills something when the job is done with Destiny Bond. Sand-A offers the spin and beat any kind of Oricorios and Skuntank for Shiftry. Primeape is here for the speed control and punishes any kind of Defog from the foe. Shiftry helps to deal with Mudsdale, Regirock and Claydol. Its Dark type is useful to pressure Mesprit and Sableye. Sensu is another wincon but it can also be use as a spinblocker. The fact that it has a second Taunt for the build ensures the presence of the hazards. Kanga abuses well of the Spikes with its priorities but this, you already know.
This one is based on the Ludicolo+Lycanroc core. Checking Hitmonchan is imporatnt here, so Silvally-Fairy works well. It pivots and provides Defog. The duo made of Guzz+Metang is really good. They check each other weaknesses and are solid defensively. This Guzzlord AV set is special but not useless. Crunch is for CM Pom-Pom/Mesprit. Draco Meteor hits better Qwilfish, Gurdurr, Omastar, Skuntank and Persian-A. Poison jab prevents Ludicolo and Fairy types to be too effective and Fire Blast touch Sand-A and Victreebel (Ferro too now I guess). The spe def spread serves to tank Focus Blast from Raichu-A/Simisear at +2 after SR. Finally, Scyther is the Scarf. It lures well Regirock/Mudsdale for Ludicolo with U-turn, traps stuff to weaken them and revenge kill any Sand-A Jolly with Brick Break for Ludicolo.
Ok I know, this team is not optimal but I made it for the MU against ma boi Tlenit. There is nothing to say, this build is pretty boring but it worked well against the opponent (even if it's obvious that this can be improved). Dodrio and Ludicolo are great together. Dodrio Scarf RK any Swift Swim/Slush Rush users that outspeed it while Ludicolo beats any bulky physical mons like Tangela, Mudsdale, Gatrodon/Quag and Regirock for the burb. Silvally-Fairy is the usual Fight types counter and Guzzlord check that can provides the usual Defog+Parting Shot (we're getting used to it lmao). Regirock set up the rocks and wins against the Oricorios, Skuntank and other Silvally-Fairy. Eel brings a minimum of special def with the AV and a good answer to Froslass, Swannam Qwil and to set upers because of Dragon Tail. Gurdurr is the second wincon that can abuses of Sand-A, Aggron, Carracosta and Primeape.
A fun build that exploits offensive Spin+SR Kabutops. It is another team based on MU of course, so this build must be used against someone who doesn't use Aurorus (which was the case with Raichy).
Based on Lycanroc, this one is a remake from the Feliburn vs Tlenit1 of the week 2. MU build, as usual. This team has a lot of difficulty to pass stall, but I took the risk when I saw that Robjr was not the kind of guy to manipulate teams focused on bulk. The defensive core based on Tangela and Lanturn is really decent, but it can be defeated by Guzz/Freeze-Dry users, so AV Hitmonchan was a good choice to fix that. Mesprit SR pressures Gurdurr, weakens Mudsdale/Tangela/Guzzlord with Ice Beam and gives another chance to sweep to Lycanroc. Dodrio outspeeds every Ludicolo/Victreebel/Sand-A and other Scarf (the usual speed control). Lycanroc is the wincon that can against the mons that this build fears, which are Skuntank and Dodrio.
The hail team of lord Squash17! Abomasnow and Alola Snowslash form a good core for this kind of climate. The scarf on Aboma allows to outspeed the flight type like Oricorio, Froslass, Poke of rain, and so on. Wood Hammer over Giga Drain is prefered because it allows to touch Audino / Cryogonal and the current AV users. The Snowslash is classic except for the nature Adamant to type a maximum. Scarfs and Fire / Fight won against this core, so adding a Qwilfish that set up the hazards and a Sableye for the spinblock and the Fight immunity is pretty nice. Thanks to its Ghost type and its priority Taunt, it allows it to keep the entry hazards on the ground easily. It also helps to win the duel vs Primeape / Hitmochan / Gurdurr coupled with Qwilfish which, with the rocky helmet, can weaken these Poke. Then a Poke that could come on the dark types like Guzzlord (which currently has no switch in the tier) was needed. Hitmonchan fulfills this role perfectly thanks to its investments in HP and AV. Its speed allows it to outspeed the Ludicolo without the rain, the others Hitmonchan, Adamant Kangashkan / Stoutland. Finally we have a solid rock trap setter. Mesprit brings momentum and put the pressure to Spiritomb / Sableye and Persian-A because Hitmonchan does not touch these first two Poke and the team is relatively weak to them. Dazzling Gleam can also touch Guzzlord the big threat.
SCARF CRAB! You already saw that team in the "Underrated sets" thread. "Scarf Crabominable offers a super fun and cool looking tech that can pick your opponent off guard and has been tested to do so. Crabominable itself doesnt have too many free switch ins and the few ones like Gurdurr is bodybagged by offensive altaria. Altaria gives perfect synergy thanks to its typing that takes fighting and fire types that could threat crabominable and in exchange crabominable can switch in against things like Aurorus that would like to Blizz OUT altaria and drain itself back to health with its drain punch. Top to that Altaria helps you with weather MU's with its cloud nine. Z-move is there to give an extra damage for draco meteor and avoid once sp atk drops - even when we are talking about base 70spatk user, but thanks to its coverage, it really can put itself into work because its mostly hitting 4x weaknessed mons like a-slash, guzzlord, abomasnow and now even ferro. The rest of the lacks the few weaknesses of the core. This team is still based on the MU, so you must keep care at Lycanroc that can 6-0 the build with the right conditions.
A remake from the team for Gondra week 1. It is still based on Carra (I really like this mon) and the build completes its weakness in general.
There is a lot of builds that I've lost since all of my teams were in my last PC (the same PC that broke recently). On the 15 or 16 original teams there is 9 builds that I could find. Better than nothing I guess :^)
hey look at me, i can finally post here! incredible. After making the apparently famous decision to only build, I was placed on the Octilleries. Shoutouts to TONE for actually buying me. Hopefully I was worth it? I'm just gonna post my favorite teams, cut up into generation. Starting BW cuz I built mainly that.
Week 1 ended in a loss for this team, but that was largely cuz Drud forgot that Golduck has Cloud Nine. Beyond that, the team performs very well and it is always a pleasure to play. SubDisable Muk was actually a tech first used by EviGaro but I stole it for spikestack and it does wonders thanks to not actually having many switchins that appreciate the coverage or the poison chance. Dwebble is the dedicated lead, as it is able to just set up rocks then a layer of spikes then the rest of the team can voltturn to their own delight. I guess the other big "new thing" is the fact that this Swanna is Modest. Timid doesn't hit any benchmarks, so I just went full power and that carves out more of a niche for Swanna I think. Volt Switch Klang has gotten heat in the past because people think Volt Switch is there for damage, but Klang is there to supply important resists to Ice, Flying, Normal, etc, and not be a total momentum dump. Zebstrika is Zebstrika, it is an absurdly easy mon to throw on teams and get results. Last mon is SD Jumpluff, to provide stallbreaking and a wincon. There is also a second version of the team with Throh > Muk, and this adds consistency and a phazer at the cost of offensive presence.
This team is about as Akir as it gets honestly: Voltturn + heavy wallbreakers. Beheeyem is very standard Specs with enough speed to outrun Audino and grab the 2HKO after rocks and Leftovers. Support Pluff is straightforward, just sleep and Encore as needed, with Acrobatics nuke and U-Turn in the wings. Throh is the glue and the stallbreaker with Bulk Up, which might surprise some to learn that Throh is actually a pretty good blanket check to most special attackers. DryPass Mawile is completely new as no one has ever considered putting BP on Mawile ever so I take full credit. But seriously, it is a great fit to check things like Stoutland and Dodrio while setting rocks and keeping momentum going. Stoutland is...Stoutland...it hasn't changed in 3 generations. The +SpAtk Swanna is back too, but with Brave Bird this time over Hurricane.
This is the most obvious CT I have ever built in my life. cb aaron hadn't used a mon faster than 105, so I added QF Ursa who hits 106 speed. All of his rockers are walled by Natu as well, so the core was easy. Natu keeps hazards off and has a slow U-Turn to help Ursa come in cleanly. CB also had SunBel as their fastest mon, so Scarf Simipour outspeeds everything he brought. Gabite is then added as padding to his more common attackers like Rapidash and add rocks. Honestly a good team so far, so the rest is just tech. Specs Swoobat can 1v1 all variants of Beheeyem, Klang, and Duosion with Unaware, 2HKOing them all. Also checks Throh and Vigoroth while still having U-Turn for momentum. The last is a tech I wanted to try and saw the chance to hop on it: Sheer Force Mawile. Team needed a Normal/Flying resist and a wallbreaker and Mawile does it all. The matchup was intensely on our side but CB is a good player so he almost pulled it out anyway. The moral of the story is to not be too lazy with building, even though watching CB learn the meta and have his teams evolve into what they were in finals was great to watch.
Few unused teams I built, so I will go through them fast. Dark Gem Shiftry was made when people really started hyping Beheeyem, so I cooked up a surprisingly powerful Sucker to KO that thing...and also the Normal Resist is Vigoroth since HJAD taught me that a fast Vigoroth can do that..and also Beheeyem is max speed so it outspeeds Natu. Second team is a long-stretch variation of the W4 team with more genuine consistency but is different enough...also you could make Simipour Scarf and then Mime Specs and that will also work really well. Last team is anti-offense with Scarf Vanilluxe being the wincon. It is very dry Voltturn otherwise, but the fact that Ice resists are becoming more and more rare means that Vanilluxe is a cool checkmate to try out.
Chrisloud1 is a cool guy with his own style, so I mainly just suggested edits to his builds in DPP. Regardless, I did build a few backups cuz I knew Chris was busy. He ended up using the first in W2. Also lol Machoke
First team took an interesting approach to the metagame that I had been wanting to try: instead of a scarfer, this team would use priority and Substitute to force unfavorable 50/50s and proceed that way. Using that idea, this team doesn't inherently need to have/worry about a scarfer. Machoke was used as the lead to throw the opponent into a reactionary stance turn 1, a necessary commodity for the plan to work. Rhydon's EVs are so that it outspeeds base 105 after RP (the mons beyond I hard counter so hey) with the rest into HP to survive the potential HP Grass from Electabuzz. Overall a neat team, but it demands a silky smooth first few turns to get momentum going.
Team 2 was unused but still had some good stuff in it. Macoke lead again but I was experimenting with it. The Marowak SubSD set is meant to be a good check for Electabuzz that can also use the opportunity to set up. Scarf Victreebel is a set I thought would be really good this year and even though it wasn't used I still think I was right intuitively. Outspeeds the entire unboosted metagame and nukes, etc. Occa Berry Metang was a set I had for someone in particular but can't remember who (edit: I remembered that it is for Heat Wave Xatu)...either way, replacing it with Shuca Berry is also a good call. Interesting balance team.
ORAS:
I didn't build ORAS because Rawmelon had that slot and I trust Rawmelon to do it his way and he did.
There were understandably a lot of people who were busy building for SM, buzzing here and there, so I felt like the slots were 'covered' more or less. Regardless, I did whip up a few teams for just-in-case scenarios and this is the one i feel is unsalvageable. Had a few neat tricks, and was meant to really hate on Gurdurr. Tangela was both Leech Seed and Leaf Storm, meant to hit things hard while still punishing Gurdurr and Guzzlord. Dragonium Guzzlord is a favorite just so u can punch through without nuking your own SpAtk in the process. Bulky Froslass is also a favorite because this team heavily wants Spikes to help break other teams down, so logevity is appreciated. After that it is fairly speed-built: Bulky Mesprit with HW to keep Guzzlord and Ape healthy, Ape is the best scarfer in my opinion so he works as a wincon, Silvally Fairy added so Guzzlord doesn't 100% run train on this team. Not the best team, but I speedbuilt it in case somebody else didn't finish theirs by battle time.
Hey! So this was my first PUPL and I think I did very well for a start: 3-2. I had the honor to play every week for the Ollivine Octilleries and so I built new squads respectively - and I gotta say they turned out pretty well in my opinion. So let's go in detail!
That was the team I spent the most time working on. It was built around SD Dodrio, which fell out of interest during that time, so I had to bring it back! I built a Voltturn-Core around it since it's hard to bring in. Specs Lanturn should threaten out the likes of Regirock, Mudsdale or Carracosta and lure in Grass type that Dodrio likes to setup on as well as Dragon types that Primeape likes to KO. The other three should form the defensive backbone that can chip away at Dodrios and Primeapes checks with Toxic. SubToxic Skuntank especially helps with luring in Regirock and getting the necessary chip.
All in all, that is a team that lacks nothing really - it has power with Specs Lanturn and SD Dodrio, speed and overall decent matchups against all archetypes. When playing Stall, you want to play your SubTox Skuntank as well as your breakers smart to get around the fat. Guzzlord is also a threat that needs to be watched out for. However, I think you can position yourself well enough to the point that you won't always be forced to sac something. Also: The Guzzlord player has to guess which STAB he wants to click: Dark Pulse to hit Metang or Draco to hit Skuntank.
The next team is built around one of the most decent Voltturn cores I found so far - Choice Band Primeape + Icium-Z Rotom-Frost. I basically wanted to create a team that features the non Scarfed Primeape, since I think it's one of the best breakers in PU while standing completely in the shadows of it's premier Choice Scarf set. Something I realized after I finished the team was the mindfuck the offensive core causes. When looking at my team, you'd probably think "Scarf Ape, Z-Dodrio, Iapapa Rotom" - but that's where you would be wrong! Often times Dodrio picks up something for free because of that one wrong assumption.
For the Stealth Rock Setter I wanted to have Healing Wish Mesprit specifically. Not only because I had to compress a fighting resist and the SR setter in one slot but also I am able to recover up Dodrio's Bravebird recoil. Also with U-turn you can trap your opponent in an endless Voltturn cycle, which is always fun.
The defensive backbone is pretty standard. Not too passive that you give up too much momentum. Gastrodon might look like the complete opposite of "not too passive", however, often times Gastrodon is the Pokemon you'll get the most progress out of since you stop fast Pokemon like Primeape or Mesprit with Protect-Scouting.
When it comes to flaws, I wouldn't count too many. Stall seems more difficult but can be dealt with by smartly voltturning around your opponent. Also CB Stoutland is a threat to the team since my dedicated Normal Switchin is Gastrodon but, like Guzzlord, you can position yourself and since the team is rather offensive you should be able to do that.
Team 3 is the one I regret building the most. I like the idea of Eelektross luring in Ludicolos checks and killing them with Z-Superpower, however, compressing all the needed roles into the last 4 team-slots was impossible. And so I went into week 3 with a team with a lot of holes. Drampa weak, Gurdurr weak, shaky flying resist, hard Stall MU as well, CM Mesprit weak (I mean every team without Skunk was weak to it but still!) - in order to pull out wins with this team you need to play aggressively.
Eitherway, I liked the idea of spike stacking so Ludicolo's checks - Audino, Guzzlord, Hitmonchan...- slowly get torn apart. Mesprit really helps with that by also luring them in while U-turning out on them to get in Eelektross. Trick is on Mesprit's set to not auto-lose to Stall. Roar on Mudsdale is interesting too. Of course, it has a nice synergy with the Spikes from Froslass but mainly I realized my Gurdurr weakness and I wanted to kinda get around that.
That team doesn't really have a "defensive backbone" so to speak. Since that's Bulky Offense, you want to rely on your Offense - you want to prepare everything for an endgame with Ludicolo (That was seen very well this week, but you have to have a lot of luck if you only rely on Ludicolo winning). At least it has the basics in 2 fightings checks, a special sponge and a physical sponge.
Ah yes, I remember that my creative energy for building faded that week. I built crazy teams from week 3 to 4 but nothing really pleased me so I said to myself: "OK, find a nice breaker you never built with before and just go standard."
I started to give Drampa the best partner it can have: Primeape. It's crazy how well they work together. Primeape forces your opponent to go passive for a moment. They switchin Mudsdale, Tangela, defensive Mesprit, Oricorio or something else. Drampa almost every time comes in and claims a kill. This week was a nice showing of this core's functionality - so watch the replay if you haven't already!
For the defensive core I went, as I said, standard - Mudsdale, SpDef Alolaslash to deal with Mesprit mainly and Utility Jellicent with Dazzling Gleam since I really didn't like the Guzzlord matchup. SubCM Mesprit always was my go-to when I wanted something that can break stall and give me certain utility for the team (it was its resistance to Ground in this case).
I think, when it comes to weaknesses, there aren't many. Simisear really messed me up this week, that's why I changed Hex > Scald on Jellicent (You find the updated version of the team in the link).
I really feel bad for this team. I genuinely think it has great tecs and matchups vs all archetypes. I just had to misplay so badly so I couldn't show it off it's not even funny. Q_Q Eitherway, whining is not the reason why I'm here, I want to tell you why I think Sub - Max Speed Crabominable had/has a place in this meta.
When I learned something this PUPL, than it is that Eelektross can support any breaker in the tier - Crabominable isn't an exception. Eel lures in everything that's specially defensive which Crabominable feasts on. Max Speed allows it to outspeed Spdef AlolaSlash with the standard spread and everything that's slower like Jellicent, Max Speed Drampa, 0 Speed Lanturn or 0 Speed Roselia. With Substitute I wanted to do 2 things: One: Be a nuiscance to Stall (what is their counterplay? Especially with the option of Healing Wish Mesprit in the back) and Two: Guarantee me a kill every game - let me touch on that a bit more in the following paragraph.
What is your opponent doing when they see a seemingly fast Max Atk Life Orb Crabominable? They have to guess. Crabominable is able to kill every Pokemon in the tier (shoutouts VOTW) so they have to pivot in on the guessed move. The scenario in my head was the following: LOrb Crab is in, the opponent has Alolaslash and Mesprit in the back; with Substitute I eliminate every guessing game on my side and kill something for sure! Now the last question of the set is: Why Life Orb? Very simple: I want to be able to kill Quagsire with Drain Punch + Ice Hammer. There is nothing more to it. Also, I don't always have to Sub up! Sometimes clicking buttons is enough; so it isn't as self-destructive as Life Orb + Substitute might seem at first.
That was a lot about Crabominable - but the team is built around it afterall so I had to talk about it! Especially since it's such a strange set. As its offense core partner I chose Lycanroc not only because its Stealth Rock allows the team to be very frightenning with earlygame pressure but also because Lycanroc enjoys to pick up the weakened bits of the opposing team with a strong Z-Move.
The defensive backbone was a pain to build. In the end, in order for me to deal with all the threats in the tier, I chose Quagsire to deal with Fightings, Normals and Rock Types and Altaria to deal with Grass and Fighting types and to have a Defogger. There was no other combination of Pokemon that could fulfil these needs.
I really felt happy participating in my first PUPL- and my first team-tournament on Smogon ever. I got to know many nice guys thanks to the Ollivine Octilleries Discord, I was able to learn more about Teambuilding and I could play great games against experienced players! I hope I can play next time as well and maybe not choke away the last and most important game! :^)
), i managed to finish with the 2nd best oras pu record. all things considered i think thats pretty acceptable for a 3k buy.
). ninetales was also a pokemon that intrigued me, plus i'd never really used it before, so i though it might catch pearl off guard. i went searching for a team with both of these pokemon and managed to find one made by slowbroth. i edited a few moves/evs here and there, but this is definitely not my team, so credit where it is due. the matchup was absolutely astounding for me in this one and i basically won from preview with both grumpig and ninetales doing massive work.
