I've tried most every tier and a lot of OMs, and I realized the other day that I had dabbled only minimally in the Rarely Used tier. I looked around at the pokemon in the tier and had an idea for my lead, and the team expanded from there. I have laddered with it some on an alt, and so far I'm winning most of my matches. I'm no expert on RU so there may be some glaring threat not covered in my team, but from my matches so far and a glance at the tier itself, I seem to have all my important bases covered. I'm sure that's not entirely true, but that's why I'm posting this topic, no?
Teambuilding:
This team started with an idea I had looking at Absol's movepool and my desire to try RU. Absol's movepool is surprisingly wide, but one gem stood out to me: Magic Coat. I suddenly had the idea of using Absol as a lead to reflect hazards and status moves and force hazard setters who didn't carry strong attacks to switch out, giving me a free swords dance boost and the opportunity to do some real damage.
Update One: Replaced Swords Dance with Night Slash and Megahorn with Superpower.
Cinccino was a no-brainer for the next slot, having excellent coverage and great speed. I've used it successfully in UU before, so I figured it could function just as well in RU. There's little to say here; Cinccino fulfills the role of generic fast all out attacker who can hit things hard when such a service is needed.
Of course, at this point I noticed the glaring fighting weakness, and I knew that a ghost type to cover it would be essential if Cinccino and Absol were going to get very much done. Spiritomb is a great support pokemon and can easily beat some of common pokemon in the tier, but really it's main purpose is to switch into fighting moves and burn physical attackers, along with serving as an all around tank.
Update One: Changed Spiritomb to a physical defensive EV spread.
When I looked for a revenge killer/wallbreaker, I settled on Medicham almost immediately. It has immense power, and functions excellently as a scarfer. Besides revenge killing, it can switch into rock and fighting type moves and threaten both types with it's dual STABs. One of the most important offensive pokemon on my team.
Update One: Replaced Trick with Ice Punch.
Sigilyph is a nightmare. It can set up frighteningly easily, switching into things choice locked into fighting moves and gain a free cosmic power boost, and once one is up, it becomes that much harder to kill, giving it even more opportunity to set up another. My final fighting resistance and my last resort if all else has failed. Medicham and Absol can take care of opposing dark types with Hi Jump Kick and Megahorn, respectively, and once those are eliminated, little can stop Sigilyph with a few boosts.
Update one: Changed set from CP to LO+3 Attacks.
I hate status. I despise having my sweepers crippled by thunder wave or my walls crippled by toxic, or anything put to sleep. With Whimsicott running amok in the tier with priority stun spore, I decided cleric support was more important here than ever, and Clefable can perform that role. It has a deal of trouble taking physical attacks, however, and even powerful special attackers can break through it fairly quickly. Magic Guard helps alleviate this somewhat by making sure attacks are the only thing Clefable will be taking damage from, but I still find it dies too easily. The most replaceable member of my team, if there's a better cleric out there.
Update One: Changed Softboiled to Protect.
After realizing that my team was heavily physical based and thus walled almost completely by Steelix, I replaced Cinccino with Galvantula, who I've considered but dismissed from early on.
Crustle beats Absol easily one on one, being able to take a sucker punch and then OHKO with x-scissor, at which point it can set up it's hazards. Beyond that, however, it's not incredibly difficult to deal with, as Medicham wrecks it, as it does so many things. It can keep me from getting hazards up however, and easily counters absol.
Accelgor annihilates Absol if I predict wrong. However, it can't take even an unboosted sucker punch, so if the opponent predicts wrong, it's scratch one ninja bug. It's still a large threat to Absol, stopping my early game strategy if I make one wrong move.
These two are only what I've seen in my laddering so far, and there are certainly more that I can't deal with very well.
I'd post some replays of this team in action, but I usually don't remember to save any while laddering. All I have is this amusing turn one forfeit:
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ru-46853922
And finally, the importable:
At a Glance:
Teambuilding:
This team started with an idea I had looking at Absol's movepool and my desire to try RU. Absol's movepool is surprisingly wide, but one gem stood out to me: Magic Coat. I suddenly had the idea of using Absol as a lead to reflect hazards and status moves and force hazard setters who didn't carry strong attacks to switch out, giving me a free swords dance boost and the opportunity to do some real damage.
Update One: Replaced Swords Dance with Night Slash and Megahorn with Superpower.
Cinccino was a no-brainer for the next slot, having excellent coverage and great speed. I've used it successfully in UU before, so I figured it could function just as well in RU. There's little to say here; Cinccino fulfills the role of generic fast all out attacker who can hit things hard when such a service is needed.
Of course, at this point I noticed the glaring fighting weakness, and I knew that a ghost type to cover it would be essential if Cinccino and Absol were going to get very much done. Spiritomb is a great support pokemon and can easily beat some of common pokemon in the tier, but really it's main purpose is to switch into fighting moves and burn physical attackers, along with serving as an all around tank.
Update One: Changed Spiritomb to a physical defensive EV spread.
When I looked for a revenge killer/wallbreaker, I settled on Medicham almost immediately. It has immense power, and functions excellently as a scarfer. Besides revenge killing, it can switch into rock and fighting type moves and threaten both types with it's dual STABs. One of the most important offensive pokemon on my team.
Update One: Replaced Trick with Ice Punch.
Sigilyph is a nightmare. It can set up frighteningly easily, switching into things choice locked into fighting moves and gain a free cosmic power boost, and once one is up, it becomes that much harder to kill, giving it even more opportunity to set up another. My final fighting resistance and my last resort if all else has failed. Medicham and Absol can take care of opposing dark types with Hi Jump Kick and Megahorn, respectively, and once those are eliminated, little can stop Sigilyph with a few boosts.
Update one: Changed set from CP to LO+3 Attacks.
I hate status. I despise having my sweepers crippled by thunder wave or my walls crippled by toxic, or anything put to sleep. With Whimsicott running amok in the tier with priority stun spore, I decided cleric support was more important here than ever, and Clefable can perform that role. It has a deal of trouble taking physical attacks, however, and even powerful special attackers can break through it fairly quickly. Magic Guard helps alleviate this somewhat by making sure attacks are the only thing Clefable will be taking damage from, but I still find it dies too easily. The most replaceable member of my team, if there's a better cleric out there.
Update One: Changed Softboiled to Protect.
After realizing that my team was heavily physical based and thus walled almost completely by Steelix, I replaced Cinccino with Galvantula, who I've considered but dismissed from early on.
The Team:
Absol @ Life Orb
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Magic Coat
-Night Slash
-Sucker Punch
-Superpower
My lead, who also serves to sweep early game if the conditions are right. Magic Coat is the crux of this set, letting me bounce back hazards at the unsuspecting foe. Usually, after trying to set up in front of it and repeatedly getting bounced by magic coat, people switch out into some offensive check to Absol. With a bit of prediction, I can swords dance on the switch and then wreak havoc with Sucker Punch and Megahorn. Sucker Punch is, of course, the primary STAB, hitting virtually anything that doesn't resist for heavy damage. Megahorn is used over superpower since it still allows me to beat dark types, while not lowering my attack. This set has the most trouble against bulky ghost types like spiritomb who, if they can out predict me, cripple me with status and the like, but even those are beatable depending on what moves I can bounce back. It is always amusing to bounce a support Spiritomb's taunt back at it and then set up a SD and kill. It's incredibly hard to stop after it gets a SD boost so long as I can predict non attacking moves correctly. However, it struggles against Crustle and Accelgor leads, who can both OHKO it, although Accelgor is hit hard by sucker punch.
Update One: Having swapped out Swords Dance and Megahorn for Night Slash and Superpower, Absol now focuses on simply putting the hurt on anything in it's way while surprising and turning the tables on leads, reflecting their non attacking moves.
Galvantula @ Life Orb
Trait: Compoundeyes
EVs: 252 Spa / 4 Spd / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Thunder
-Big Buzz
-Hidden Power [Ground]
-Giga Drain
Galvantula serves the same purpose Cinccino did. A fast, fairly powerful attacker that doesn't need to set up at all. While Absol has to rely on sucker punch to outspeed a lot a threats and Medicham can't switch moves, Galvantula has good power with it's accurate Thunder, and while it's not quite as fast as Cinccino, it can still outspeed a lot of the metagame.
Spiritomb @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
IVs: 0 Atk
Careful Nature
-Will-O-Wisp
-Foul Play
-Pain Split
-Taunt
Spiritomb is my first line of defense against fighting types, switching in then burning them or the switch in with will-o-wisp, which is definitely my most important move. Foul Play is used to not be total taunt bait, and it hits somethings very hard, such as Medicham. Pain Split is used because it's the best source of recovery this set can pull off, and is usually fairly effective because of spiritomb's low HP stat. Taunt allows Spiritomb to beat several pokemon one on one, most notably Amoonguss, who it outspeeds and can taunt before a spore goes, taking a pittance from giga drain and killing it with foul play over several turns if it stays in. It's also fun watching a Medicham or Hitmonlee take 50% of their health because of careless hi jump kick spam.
Medicham @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pure Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Hi Jump Kick
-Psycho Cut
-ThunderPunch
-Ice Punch
Medicham is incredible. It is an amazing revenge killer and sweeper, hitting even resists hard with it's devastating Hi Jump Kick, and taking on fighting types with ease with Psycho Cut. It is my second defense against fighting types, able to switch into fighting moves and KO back with Psycho Cut. ThunderPunch is mostly there to deal with Slowking, who can otherwise wall it easily. Medicham easily sweeps unprepared teams while still serving it's role of revenge killer.
Sigilyph @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Spa / 4 Spd / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Roost
-Psychic
-Heat Wave
-Air Slash
Sigilyph is a monster. It's decent defenses combined with magic guard and the ability to reliably burn physical attackers while keeping itself immune to status makes it able to wall some things even without any boosts. And when it does get boosts, even super effective moves fail to dent it, and stored power only rises in power. It is my final answer to fighting types, although more of an offensive counter, capitalizing on it's x4 resistance to switch in and set up. Once the opposing dark types are removed, Sigilyph usually has no trouble sweeping.
Update One: Changed to LO+3 attacks set, being the second LO attacker on the team and easily countering fighting types by switching into a fighting move and KOing back with Psychic or Air Slash. It has much better survivability than Galvantula with Magic Guard, Roost, and better defenses.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Calm Nature
-Wish
-Softboiled
-Seismic Toss
-Heal Bell
Who DOESN'T hate status? It's the most infuriating feel when your sweeper or revenge killer gets paralyzed, or your tank gets toxic'd, and there's nothing you can do about it. The Generic Cleric is here to solve that problem by curing the team's status with heal bell, along with switching into will-o-wisps and toxics with impunity. It can also pass Wishes to low health teammates, giving Medicham a second chance at life after a crippling Hi Jump Kick miss, or Absol another opportunity to sweep after wrong prediction. And for when Clefable herself is injured, Softboiled provides reliable instant recovery, while seismic toss prevents it from being complete taunt bait, and can finish off weakened or non threatening foes.
All of this said, Clefable can't wall things. At all. It takes weaker special attacks well and can heal the damage back up, but physical attacks drive it into the ground. It was the best I could find for the role of cleric, however, and so it stays. Unless there's a better cleric I'm forgetting about. Suggestions very welcome.
Threats:
Absol @ Life Orb
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Magic Coat
-Night Slash
-Sucker Punch
-Superpower
My lead, who also serves to sweep early game if the conditions are right. Magic Coat is the crux of this set, letting me bounce back hazards at the unsuspecting foe. Usually, after trying to set up in front of it and repeatedly getting bounced by magic coat, people switch out into some offensive check to Absol. With a bit of prediction, I can swords dance on the switch and then wreak havoc with Sucker Punch and Megahorn. Sucker Punch is, of course, the primary STAB, hitting virtually anything that doesn't resist for heavy damage. Megahorn is used over superpower since it still allows me to beat dark types, while not lowering my attack. This set has the most trouble against bulky ghost types like spiritomb who, if they can out predict me, cripple me with status and the like, but even those are beatable depending on what moves I can bounce back. It is always amusing to bounce a support Spiritomb's taunt back at it and then set up a SD and kill. It's incredibly hard to stop after it gets a SD boost so long as I can predict non attacking moves correctly. However, it struggles against Crustle and Accelgor leads, who can both OHKO it, although Accelgor is hit hard by sucker punch.
Update One: Having swapped out Swords Dance and Megahorn for Night Slash and Superpower, Absol now focuses on simply putting the hurt on anything in it's way while surprising and turning the tables on leads, reflecting their non attacking moves.
Galvantula @ Life Orb
Trait: Compoundeyes
EVs: 252 Spa / 4 Spd / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Thunder
-Big Buzz
-Hidden Power [Ground]
-Giga Drain
Galvantula serves the same purpose Cinccino did. A fast, fairly powerful attacker that doesn't need to set up at all. While Absol has to rely on sucker punch to outspeed a lot a threats and Medicham can't switch moves, Galvantula has good power with it's accurate Thunder, and while it's not quite as fast as Cinccino, it can still outspeed a lot of the metagame.
Spiritomb @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
IVs: 0 Atk
Careful Nature
-Will-O-Wisp
-Foul Play
-Pain Split
-Taunt
Spiritomb is my first line of defense against fighting types, switching in then burning them or the switch in with will-o-wisp, which is definitely my most important move. Foul Play is used to not be total taunt bait, and it hits somethings very hard, such as Medicham. Pain Split is used because it's the best source of recovery this set can pull off, and is usually fairly effective because of spiritomb's low HP stat. Taunt allows Spiritomb to beat several pokemon one on one, most notably Amoonguss, who it outspeeds and can taunt before a spore goes, taking a pittance from giga drain and killing it with foul play over several turns if it stays in. It's also fun watching a Medicham or Hitmonlee take 50% of their health because of careless hi jump kick spam.
Medicham @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pure Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Hi Jump Kick
-Psycho Cut
-ThunderPunch
-Ice Punch
Medicham is incredible. It is an amazing revenge killer and sweeper, hitting even resists hard with it's devastating Hi Jump Kick, and taking on fighting types with ease with Psycho Cut. It is my second defense against fighting types, able to switch into fighting moves and KO back with Psycho Cut. ThunderPunch is mostly there to deal with Slowking, who can otherwise wall it easily. Medicham easily sweeps unprepared teams while still serving it's role of revenge killer.
Sigilyph @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Spa / 4 Spd / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
-Roost
-Psychic
-Heat Wave
-Air Slash
Sigilyph is a monster. It's decent defenses combined with magic guard and the ability to reliably burn physical attackers while keeping itself immune to status makes it able to wall some things even without any boosts. And when it does get boosts, even super effective moves fail to dent it, and stored power only rises in power. It is my final answer to fighting types, although more of an offensive counter, capitalizing on it's x4 resistance to switch in and set up. Once the opposing dark types are removed, Sigilyph usually has no trouble sweeping.
Update One: Changed to LO+3 attacks set, being the second LO attacker on the team and easily countering fighting types by switching into a fighting move and KOing back with Psychic or Air Slash. It has much better survivability than Galvantula with Magic Guard, Roost, and better defenses.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Calm Nature
-Wish
-Softboiled
-Seismic Toss
-Heal Bell
Who DOESN'T hate status? It's the most infuriating feel when your sweeper or revenge killer gets paralyzed, or your tank gets toxic'd, and there's nothing you can do about it. The Generic Cleric is here to solve that problem by curing the team's status with heal bell, along with switching into will-o-wisps and toxics with impunity. It can also pass Wishes to low health teammates, giving Medicham a second chance at life after a crippling Hi Jump Kick miss, or Absol another opportunity to sweep after wrong prediction. And for when Clefable herself is injured, Softboiled provides reliable instant recovery, while seismic toss prevents it from being complete taunt bait, and can finish off weakened or non threatening foes.
All of this said, Clefable can't wall things. At all. It takes weaker special attacks well and can heal the damage back up, but physical attacks drive it into the ground. It was the best I could find for the role of cleric, however, and so it stays. Unless there's a better cleric I'm forgetting about. Suggestions very welcome.
Crustle beats Absol easily one on one, being able to take a sucker punch and then OHKO with x-scissor, at which point it can set up it's hazards. Beyond that, however, it's not incredibly difficult to deal with, as Medicham wrecks it, as it does so many things. It can keep me from getting hazards up however, and easily counters absol.
Accelgor annihilates Absol if I predict wrong. However, it can't take even an unboosted sucker punch, so if the opponent predicts wrong, it's scratch one ninja bug. It's still a large threat to Absol, stopping my early game strategy if I make one wrong move.
These two are only what I've seen in my laddering so far, and there are certainly more that I can't deal with very well.
I'd post some replays of this team in action, but I usually don't remember to save any while laddering. All I have is this amusing turn one forfeit:
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ru-46853922
And finally, the importable:
Thanks for reading.
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