Paraspam is not a new idea in BW OU, having been used to support mons such as SD Gliscor, SD Excadrill and Reuniclus. This time, I chose to build a Paraspam team around Acupressure Tentacruel as the abuser. Once safely brought in on a Paralyzed mon, Tentacruel can proceed to click Substitute, fish a full Para, and start to accumulate Acupressure boosts with little counterplay. My gameplan is simple, spread Paralysis, win the weather war, and watch Tentacruel force the opponent to relive their worst nightmares of Juan's Kingdra (easier said than done).
Criticism and advice is welcome as I am not good at building :)
Drowning Lessons (Politoed) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Encore
- Rest
Politoed is my Rain shaman, enough said.
First and foremost, Politoed's set must contribute to winning the weather war, as Tyranitar's Sand Stream chips my mons and denies my Tentacruel wincon. ChestoRest is my set of choice, allowing 252/252 Bold Politoed to trade blows with the dinosaur and heal up afterwards, which can win the weather war vs. unprepared opponents. ChestoRest also allows Politoed to serve as a status absorber if Breloom's Toxic Orb has not proc'd. Toxic puts Jellicent and Gastrodon on a timer that otherwise blank Tentacruel. Encore is undroppable, serving as a half-measure to Reuniclus and matching up well into HO.
Stitchface (Jirachi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 26 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder
- Iron Head
- U-turn
My first Para spreader is Spdef Jirachi. Jirachi's Thunder is great towards setting up Tentacruel in the endgame, and threatens more damage than Body Slam. Stealth Rock is forced as I am not running other potential rockers. Iron Head chunks Tyranitar as well as Psychic and Dragon mons, and U-turn provides momentum and a safe switch out of Magnezone. 26 Speed IVs and a minus nature are ran to underspeed Rotom-W / opposing Jirachis and bring in other mons safely. Jirachi also serves as my team's psychic check, so I'm running 252/252 Sassy @ Leftovers for max longevity.
The Hero (Breloom) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Seed Bomb
- Stun Spore
My second Para spreader is SubPunch Loom carrying the rarely-seen Stun Spore, which is a very good move providing it doesn't miss. Stun Spore allows me to Paralyze Electric-immune mons such as Garchomp, Thundurus, and Scarf Lando that could otherwise outspeed and kill Tentacruel, without having to run Body Slam over Thunder on Jirachi. Given that Thundurus, Lando, and Latios are common switch-ins to Breloom, there are many opportunities to cripple them on the switch once Breloom gets in. Otherwise, SubPunch Loom serves as a breaker vs. both Sand and Rain, with Focus Punch dealing massive damage to neutral targets, and Seed Bomb allowing Breloom to destroy Jellicent and Gastrodon, provided there is no opportunity to Toxic them. Breloom also provides defensive utility as a status absorber and water resist, saving Politoed's HP for the weather war and preventing Tentacruel from risking a Scald burn. Max Attack Adamant is needed for breaking power. 140 Spe EVs outspeeds Rotom-W with no investment and some Jellicents, with the rest dumped in HP for bulk.
As a more reliable status move, Toxic over Stun Spore is another option that would synergize with Tentacruel's SubTect stalling.
Roulette (Starmie) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Analytic
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Rapid Spin
- Trick
Scarfmie is my Scarfer by necessity (thanks Meridian!) Not a fantastic mon since locking into Rapid Spin is very abuseable, but it enables spinless Tentacruel and I would rather run Scarfmie over Scarf Politoed which is weak vs Tyranitar. Scarfmie can net some KOs because of the surprise factor, especially against Scarfers that don't expect to be outsped (Scarf Lando, Scarf Latios). Trick cripples Reuniclus and in general is a great anti-BS tool, but Thunder can also be ran to clean up games vs Rain. Ice Beam provides a safety blanket vs DragMag and Dragonite in particular which my team is weak to. 252/252 Analytic maximizes Starmie's offense, which is sorely needed considering its average power.
100% Sunshine (Thundurus-Therian) @ Yache Berry
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 216 SpA / 40 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- U-turn
Thundurus is my Swiss Army knife, providing a Breloom check, Tornadus check, Rain abuser, and Ground/Electric immunities in one genie-shaped package. Given that my team is very weak to Thundurus, I opted for a Max Speed Yache set instead of the standard Lefties Sub set, in order to matchup better vs. opposing Thundurus. U-turn is ran instead of Volt Switch to maintain momentum on a Ground-type switch-in.
40 SpD EVs are necessary to avoid being OHKO'd by NP Thundurus's HP Ice and give good odds to survive unboosted Draco. Hasty can be ran over Timid for additional U-turn chip on Latios and Tyranitar, but I prefer to avoid dropping Defense considering that Thundurus is already not running Leftovers.
Instead of U-turn, other options such as Thunder Wave can be considered to catch Latios on the switch, as well as ToxTect (dropping Focus Blast) to ruin Gastrodon or Tyranitar.
George Bush (Tentacruel) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Substitute
- Protect
- Acupressure
Fair and balanced mon. Tentacruel is immortal in Rain and is very hard for opposing rains to deal with. Simply getting this thing in safely vs. Ferrothorn, opposing Tentacruel or a Paralyzed mon eventually nets a free Sub, which allows me to click Acupressure one or more times. Rolling evasion can end the game on the spot, and would-be checks are overwhelmed with the help of a timely Def/SpDef/Spe/SpA boost. Acupressure Tentacruel can notably PP stall Reuniclus with the help of Encore Politoed and has good odds to beat it in the endgame provided you have already paralyzed it. 192 Spe EVs creeps the 310 Spe benchmark, with the rest dumped in HP/Def for bulk.
Threatlist:
ThundurusNearly my entire team is hit for supereffective damage with only Yache Thundy as a flimsy band-aid. In addition, it's one of the few mons that can contest an evasion-boosted Tentacruel thanks to Thunder which does not check accuracy in Rain.
DragoniteSets up on Breloom, Jirachi, or Tentacruel then goes to town. Scarfmie usually stops the bleeding.
LatiosLatios nukes my entire team outside of Jirachi, which is crippled by Trick. Very hard for my team to deal with outside of landing a Stun Spore or Toxic.
Importable
Thanks for reading, again any suggestions would be much appreciated!
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