[NU] Foraging a sweep by stalling!

[Teh JeY]

Hi, peoples + good battlers of this place I joined called Smogon! 0.o

Well, I'm fairly new, but I've been reading around, and there's no place to do an intro topic, so well.. I'm going to try posting my first topic in a place that's probably shadowed and not too actively moderated! I want to try to follow the rules, and my, are there a lot of them! Well, that aside, let's get on topic.

This team I came up with when I was asked for a NU battle. I have established teams that function nicely for every other tier (well, Ubers I definitely need work on v_v I keep forgetting that extremespeed works on Darkrai) except for NU; I usually just threw together random teams.

EXCEPT. This one! I battled with this one for a bit, and it seemed to work out quite nicely! It seemed to check itself nicely, deal with its threats, and dispose of the opponent neatly and efficiently. So, why not see if others think it SHOULD do that?

"FluffJunk"

/*-+-*/
Jumpluff @ Light Clay
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 52 DEF / 252 SPD / 200 S.DEF
Nature: Jolly
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
- Reflect
- U-Turn
/*-+-*/

This is a neat little Lead Jumpluff I kinda made up a long time ago. While working for a UU team, I needed a REALLY good UU Crobat, because I love my Crobat lead. Jumpluff was a candidate, but didn't make the cut (actually, Persian did), this guy sat around in my box, UNTIL, I made this decent NU team. What she does is, Sleep their lead with a nice little fluff of powder, set up an early 8-turn reflect, and U-turn the hell out. Then that's leech seed? Well, usually this Jumpluff survives the opening of the match, and comes in REAL handy later. Whenever I need to break particularly hard-to-break pokemon, or get Reflect back up, I'll leech seed or reflect or powder, and U-turn again into the appropriate counter. Usually, Jumpluff comes up three times in a match, depending on what types of moves I can easily switch in on and set up.

This lead usually disrupts a lot of other leads, and rather than going for a subseed variant that's really popular, this guy's amazing speed trumps many, can set up really nice U-turns with seeds and Powder. I believe the only reason this guy in NU is because Crobat exists.

"The First"

/*-+-*/
Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SPD / 4 S.ATK
Nature: Timid
- Toxic
- Substitute
- Roost
- Ice Beam
/*-+-*/

This defensive bird if fairly nice, though with a slew of weaknesses, was my favorite pokemon before the appearance of Gardevoir (Go ahead, judge me!) She looks fairly nice on a NU team with solid HP and decent defenses, coupled with maxed out average speed. Her weaknesses she tends to ignore with Substitute and Roost, and then stall out opponents I have trouble sweeping otherwise with Toxic and STAB Ice Beam. While more specially adapted, the hits she can take and the statuses she can absorb with her speed and substitute vary across the board.

Even with... 5 weaknesses, she can sub and toxic effectively, especially down in NU. Though, the more aggressive rock types will be met against someone else further down the chain.

"K-Tanker"

/*-+-*/
Miltank @ Leftovers
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP / 188 DEF / 64 SPD
Nature: Adamant
- Heal Bell
- Milk Drink
- Body slam
- Hammer Arm
/*-+-*/

Probably the most peculiar asset of my team besides Articuno is my shiny Miltank! "Why is it Adamant nature!?" "Why does it have Speed EVs!?" To be honest, it seems to work o_o Speed EVs give it a little boost over some speed boosting nature'd pokemon that like to give Miltank trouble, and Adamant over Impish seems REALLY crazy. I'm an offensive person, and I figured in the NU tier, that a little boost in power would be quite a surprise. On top of clericing and being able to heal, Miltank packs a nice punch, making it by a technical standard, a tank! While attack is average at best, the adamant nature gives it a chance to score some 2 or 3HKOs over sluggish 4 or 5HKOs.

"Cerberus?"

/*-+-*/
Dodrio @ Leichi Berry
Ability: Early Bird
EVs: 4 DEF / 252 ATK / 252 SPD
Nature: Adamant
- Endure
- Agility
- Flail
- Drill Peck
/*-+-*/

This one's a killer! And yes, the question mark is part of his name. This is my late-game clean up, unless I get an amazing opportunity to pinch earlier, for this set. Amazing physical attack, chosen the endure/flail set over the popular Choice Band or Sub Flail. This set makes fantastic KOs, by using Agility when it can, endure a powerful attack, activate Leichi, and Flail away. Drill Peck is convenient when Flail doesn't work OR I get a chance to quickly finish off a pokemon. Dodrio has a really nice 100-base speed, and if it gets a chance to fire off agility, you're only hope is a pokemon with poison point or a priority attack. Sure, priorities like to mess this set up, but its initial sweep is powerful, and usually guarantees me at least one KO, if not more.

"GU Fang"

/*-+-*/
Sharpedo @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 76 ATK / 180 S.ATK / 252 SPD
Nature: Hasty
- Surf
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Ice Beam
/*-+-*/

A typical mixed Sharpedo is my Primary sweeper. His powerful Crunch and Earthquake cover a lot of ground, and physically hit hard with life orb. Ice beam and Surf cover just about everything else. Whenever I'm not stalling out with Articuno or Miltank, usually Sharpedo is out cleaning the clock. There are some exceptions to him, but everything Sharpedo can't handle can be manhandled by my secondary Special Sweeper.

"Staya"

/*-+-*/
Gardevoir @ Lum Berry
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 S.ATK / 4 S.DEF / 252 SPD
Nature: Modest
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
/*-+-*/

My pride and joy, the second successful Gardevoir I raised; my first being on my Pearl cart. Basically, this set if for Thunderbolt and Will-O-Wisp. Electric-type attacks are very crucial on any team, and Gardevoir uses them quite nicely, while being able to use a powerful STAB Psychic, and Shadow Ball to ward off other psychic types. Anything that I need crippled to either wall effectively or to prevent from sweeping my team, Gardevoir usually can come in and burn anything that isn't going to scare Gardevoir away (perhaps a familiar dark type? ;D). This is usually my answer to anything Sharpedo can't sweep effectively, after Sharpedo dies, or anything that tries to set up on a tank that can't tank against a switch-in trying to set up. It works out pretty well, regarding her average speech and special prowess. Also, while weak in physical defense, this draws out the possibility to get a KO with Miltank's nifty Body Slam, and its strong special defense allows it to withstand most pokemon it's trying to counter anyways.

[hr]

Well, I hope the team doesn't look too awful to anyone, though it's been fairly successful for me. I'd say the least valuable asset on my team is Miltank, so if you find a weakness I probably haven't encountered yet that needs ample priority to counter, it may replace her. Who knows.

What do you guys think? (Also, is this good for my first post? ;_; )

Edit: After about 5 edits, I finally got the formatting to do what I wanted it to do v_v

 

[tlb31m]

I think that miltank is more of wall with heal bell but i guess i could see where the tanking comes from.Crobat is band from UU battle its BL now and has to be played in OU/BL standered.And Bastiodon and Probopass can wall and stall dodrio so watch out for that becuase if they switch in after the leichi berry it will make it useless having to switch out to a diffrent counter.Other than that I dont see a main counter for this team and I love the diffrent jumpluff very unexpected!! from a 1-10 ide give this team 9-1/2 considering the dordrio having to rely on the berry set and it having to counters (or more) to wall it.If you wanna check out some ubers like you said in the description I have an Uber team that gives good details and your welcome to judge that one as well its called {Heavens gate}.

 

[Alan]

Um, I don't really know anything about NU, because I never play it, but I do know that Miltank wants Seismic Toss >> Hammer Arm. That way it works on ghosts who switch in and junk that resists it.
________
Marijuana Test

 

[Mergy]

Cherno: Miltank can hit ghosts with Fighting moves, so there's no reason to switch to Seismic Toss.

Speaking of Miltank, I know you love that she has an Adamant nature, but you can get the same defense and a higher attack by having an Impish nature and moving 104 EVs to attack instead of defense. You keep 293 defense but gain 5 attack points.

For Jumpluff, I would try fitting Encore in, either over Leech Seed or U-Turn. Encore is one of the best ways to stop a pokemon from setting up, and Jumpluff is fast enough for you to switch in on the opponent's set-up and Encore them before they can attack.

Now I want to address your absolutely massive stealth rock weakness. You have two pokemon who will take 25%, and Articuno, who could really use some spinning to avoid the 50% hit. Your other pokemon (excluding Miltank) are not that much better off hazard-wise, as one has a Life Orb and the other is missing leftovers and is likely to be forced out by a physical attacker and will therefore need a few switchins.

I propose replacing Dodrio with a support Sandslash. This will do three things: One, it gives you stealth rocks on your team, which is a major boon to Sharpedo, and will make forcing switches with Leech Seed and Toxic-stall worthwhile. Two, you'll have spin support, and as such, spikes and rocks will not be as major an issue. Three, it takes advantage of the major resistances to grass, ice, and water you have on the rest of your team.

Secondly, I think you should give Gardevoir Wish instead of Shadow Ball, because Sharpedo and Jumpluff will both have issues switching in multiple times, especially with Sharpedo's Life Orb. Wish gives you a lot more longevity, and will let Sharpedo have a few more chances to wallbreak. Also, change Gardevoir's item to Leftovers or Life Orb; it doesn't need a Lum Berry because you have Miltank to clear you of status.

I hope I helped! :)

 

[Teh JeY]

Eek! I see what you mean about Dodrio. Umm... do you have any suggestions? Drill Peck is open for replacement, i'm not quite sure what would be the best option. Unless, there's nothing dodrio can do agaisnt them, and I should just be wary of them?

Also, Miltank's attack isn't awful; it up to average, so Hammer Arm can really make a difference where it counts. Also, I don't need seismic toss, for ghosts, I have Body Slam.

Edit: Ah, I posted this after I saw your reply! Lemme address you properly as well.

I looked at Encore, but, I'm preferenced to Sleep Powder - Yeah, I may be locked a little with Sleep Clause and stuff, but Encore doesn't seem to play as well for me. If I were to replace something, it would be Leech Seed, as it is my least used move, so I probably wouldn't miss it too much. Though, I really liked it for Sharpedo.

Dodrio is a powerful player, but I see where he is replacable. Thank you very much, I will give Sandslash a few tests, as he sounds like a very large answer to a lot of problems, as you explained, and helps out more than some late-game sweepeing that Dodrio is meant for. I'll see what I can do about training one, and give it a try. I'm guessing he'll probably help out a lot =)

About Wish, I do like that idea. Wish support sounds like a pretty idea with combination of everything else to heal things necessary. I like this idea, I'll see what I have to do about getting that. About the item... I know that Miltank can clear status, but it's one less switch I have to make, right? I always see my Gardevoir getting Poisoned and Paralyzed, and it really helps to get jsut one status release for a powerful attack. Except, I see where that makes sense. I think I will choose a life orb, given her offensive nature, I need her to hit really hard, and then be able to heal with Wish. Or heal someone else.

Thank you for your input, I believe these changes will greatly assist my team =)

 

[Mergy]

What about a different-natured Miltank? As I mentioned before, you gain 5 more attack without losing any defense. Also, I would encourage trying Encore over Leech Seed, as it's such a powerful move.

 

[Teh JeY]

I made the nature change, 5 extra stat points is a given, so thank you =)

I replaced Leech Seed with Encore, and whenever I can find another NU battle, I'll test it out! It wont be tonight and probably not tomorrow, so.

Thank you though ^_^

 

[Bone Dragon]

If you want to get Dodrio down to under 25%, I recommend Sub over Endure because it works better with a stat-boosting move like Agility

 

[Alan]

I know Scrappy lets fighting moves hit ghosts, but normal moves (see return, double-edge) give a STAB that fighting moves dont have on miltank. and Seismic toss is more reliable than Hammer Arm.
________
FULL MELT HASH

 

[Teh JeY]

@_@ Dodrio was kicked off the team with Sandslash, I'll have to edit that later - the switchw as confirmed in a post.

Do you mind explaning how Seismic Toss is mroe reliable? Not that I'm doubting you, I'd just like to know disdvantages/advantages and stuff like that.

 

[Bone Dragon]

Seismic Toss is generally better if you are running one attack on Miltank, to get consistent damage on everything. Personally, since you are running two attacks, I think that you should stick with Hammer Arm