Vorulito
formerly PedroGreg
NEON BLADE
TEAM INTRODUCTION
The team that I'm bringing this time consists of a very aggressive bulky offense with two Pokémon that I consider the soul of the team in Aegislash and Nidoking. I noticed that there are few switch-ins for these Pokémon in the current metagame, so their combination ends up being very destructive if used properly.
During the team presentation I will bring calcs showing the damage potential and the ease they have in destroying classic walls.
In order for the pressure of these two to be exerted more accurately, I made sure to choose partners that act effectively as pivots; we will go into more detail on this in the team development.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TEAM DEVELOPMENT
I will make the development of this team in two parts, because I consider one part the sword and the other the shield. Sorry for the lack of creativity, I based myself on Aegislash because I couldn't think of anything better ROFL.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE SWORD
At first my idea was to build with Nidoking, because as I said it has great damage potential with the combination of sheer force + LO added to its excellent moveset, there are really few things that end up getting into it.
In relation to moveset I chose stabs for obvious reasons and the combination of ice beam + flamethrower because I believe it is the most effective especially because of Tapu Koko and Urshifu-R.
Realize that my idea is to make Nidoking benefit from the excellent pivoting that my team offers and weaken threats mainly for Tapu Koko and Urshifu-R, the former being a late-game monster and the latter having its main threats, such as Toxapex, KOed by Nidoking.
Here are some examples of walls that you can kill in just one hit or weaken a lot and make your team's general mobility much easier, especially in the mid game:
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 178+ SpD Ferrothorn: 380-447 (107.9 - 126.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 88 SpD Corviknight: 283-335 (70.7 - 83.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Landorus-Therian: 458-541 (119.8 - 141.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 248+ SpD Hippowdon: 242-286 (57.6 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tornadus-Therian: 299-354 (82.5 - 97.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Buzzwole: 455-536 (108.8 - 128.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Some examples of the stab damage Nidoking ends up dealing with walls that get in the way of Urshifu-R:
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Toxapex: 304-359 (100 - 118%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking Sludge Wave vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Slowbro: 261-308 (66.4 - 78.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I think it's important to say before anything that I prefer to leave Urshifu-R holding Protective Pads because I don't like him locked by a choiced item, especially when I made a team that destroys everything, so a choiced item only makes your game more difficult since u can’t pivot very well. Not mentioning the advantages of not having to worry about the static of the Zapdos or the chip damage of Iron Barbs' Ferrothorn when they appears on screen.
In my humble opinion Urshifu-R is the best Pokémon this generation; it pivots very well, has excellent STAB moves, has a very good moveset, and is very safe to use, being functional throughout the game. With these synergies in particular, I can't see how I could leave Urshifu-R out, as it ended up being a great addition to the team, and these three together have great offensive potential and extreme mobility. All of the problems that Choice Specs Tapu Koko would have are mitigated with an Urshifu-R + Nidoking core.
Now let's close this incredible core with Tapu Koko, and it's not just any regular Tapu Koko, it's a SPECS Koko.
I must say that Tapu Koko suffers more than others because it's locked into one move by Choice Specs, making it more complicated to use. It requires extra support, and it's not as functional and safe to use as Urshifu-R in the early game or Nidoking after getting a pivot. But trust me, by the moment you have KOed the ground-type pokémon from the other team Specs Tapu Koko has the game practically won for you, there are only a few pokémon faster than her on metagame and the pivot offered by Volt Switch exert a lot of pressure being able even used to KO opponent's pokémon.
Grass knot can be a master key, because when we get into the threats part, I will reveal some pokémons that can be the biggest obstacles to the team's functionality.
Note: And please, stop using Modest Dragapult, I don't know why it became a trend but I've won many games due to Tapu Koko overspeed against that Nature. XD
We close the "sword" part now let's go to the "shield".
THE SHIELD
As the sword part is focused on mobility, pressure and damage, simple things like hazards and electrical immunity are lacking, that’s why I put Landorus-T without regretting.
About his moveset I got Knock off instead of Toxic because I consider it more efficient in fast games, especially against regenerator users like Slowbro and Tornadus-T that tend not to be harmed that much with toxic.
23 IV in Speed allows you to slow U-turn most Landorus-T, giving you the benefit of switching after your opponent.
Now I'm going to show by far my favorite defogger, and will focus on arguing his EVs that may be different from most other Zapdos.
Now let me explain why I choose to simply enable max Def and HP without any investment in Speed. Look at this: 252 Atk Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Surging Strike (3 hits) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Zapdos on a critical hit: 153-180 (39.9 - 46.9%) -- approx. 3HKO
As the team struggles against Urshifu this EV spread ends up being very relevant to assume that Zapdos will always be a switch against him. You will hardly need to worry about not holding a possible Surging Strikesfrom a Pads Urshifu-R.
And let's close the team with the most complex part of all, it was the pokémon that took me the most time to decide and the one that made me the most satisfied.
Tapu Lele, especially with Choice Scarf, is a very common and strong pokémon in this metagame, and my team was having a hard time dealing with it.
So I had the idea of adding Aegislash as the last slot of the team, but with a spread that is more tanky to be able to be indeed a switch to Tapu Lele and still having a very strong damage with Shadow Ball in practically everything that comes in front of him.
The rest of the moveset serves especially to catch Blissey who is a big threat to this team and has priority to deal with Blacephalon and Dragapult even though he is focused on SpA his Atk is still very high.
THREATS
Unfortunately I have a habit of not saving replays, and more important than showing my victories is showing those things that make my team suffer.
However, two threats take a lot of my attention: Gastrodon and Blissey.
They have many ways to be nasty to my team, especially Gastrodon with Scald and Toxic. The only way to kill them is either by weakening them a lot or for some reason my opponent lets me do damage with Urshifu on them.
In general, anything that can wall Nidoking after it receives pivot makes the pressure of the team being lost.
F DMG:
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Blissey: 168-199 (23.5 - 27.8%) -- 78.6% chance to 4HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoking Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Gastrodon: 168-199 (39.4 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Another consideration is regarding Ghost-types (even having ways to kill they). In general, Tapu Lele is the main threatening against offensives in MUs that carry Ghost-types plus Tapu Lele. Even without having a wall for Ghost wall breakers, such as Dragapult and Blacephalon, Aegi can work as a revenge killer or be bringened by pivoting. So it’s essential that this pokémon can be healthy during the game. But the MU with Tapu Lele kinda force the entry of Aegislash and that chipping by her hits can cost the game. Therefore it's essential to bring Aegislash wisely on board because u could be defeated not only by Ghost-types but also by Tapu Lele itself.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONCLUSION
For those who like a fast team, and with a lot of damage in exchange of sacrificing a more "bulky" party, maybe it's an excellent team, I particularly found it very funny and functional to use, especially by the oppressive pressure that this great mobility offers,also by good results on the ladder:
Thank you very much for those who followed the whole process. I will be making the team available to everyone and I will be very happy to hear comments about the team, whether they are praise or constructive criticism!
Attachments
-
62.6 KB Views: 60
-
65.9 KB Views: 57
-
61.4 KB Views: 50
Last edited: