XY NU Oblivion

[Blast]

Oblivion

Introduction:

With ORAS right around the corner, I figured I'd do one more quick RMT before the metagame changes immeasurably. It's not some trophy team that went undefeated through some massive tournament or whatever, but it's a fun team that uses some pretty underrated sets and Pokemon. I built it around the start of the Kabutops meta and made a sizable amount of changes along the way, but I think it's reached a level of consistency where it's worth sharing without resorting to super cookie cutter stuff. The team obviously isn't perfect and still struggles considerably against a notable amount of threats, but I figured I'd RMT it and get some advice firsthand.

In-Depth:

Tangela @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 236 HP / 48 Def / 224 SpA
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Leaf Storm

Offensive Tangela was the first Pokemon I wanted to use when I built the team. It seemed like a fun set to use, and I figured it would only be better in the Kabutops meta, with Water-types and physical spam bound to be on the rise. Regenerator makes it a fantastic pivot, and unlike defensive variants, it can actually apply some decent offensive pressure to teams with Special Attack investment. Grass typing is also actually really good in this tier because it provides pretty much a hard stop to physical Water- and Ground-types, both of which are extremely important threats to cover. The EV spread allows me to always live a +2 Kabutops Stone Edge after SR, with the rest in SpA since 8 EVs almost never matter. Other than that, the set is pretty self-explanatory; I've considered Ancient Power > Leaf Storm in the past to hit and Flyers and Fire-types, but I decided to just stick with Leaf Storm to get a bigger hit off on stuff like Cryogonal. I'm still certainly open to trying it out, though.

Flareon @ Choice Band
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Quick Attack
- Baton Pass

Choice Band Flareon is another set that doesn't get nearly as much usage as it should. Its hype sort of died down in the last few months since Hollywood posted his first RMT, but it's still a really powerful wallbreaker, and synergizes excellently with Tangela which is another plus. The main reason I chose it over another Fire-type was because of Flash Fire, which makes it a really good offensive check to Typhlosion (a pretty huge feat for bulky offense teams lacking Hariyama), and the ability to punish Weezing and Gourgeist's Will-O-Wisp that much more is great. The set is just the standard, though other moves are certainly viable in place of Baton Pass; Sleep Talk lets it switch into Lilligant's Sleep Powder (though it's kind of an unreliable move) and Will-O-Wisp is nice to burn Pawniard and bulky Waters on the switch.

Kabutops @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet

Kabutops is a pretty straightforward Pokemon. It spins, gives me some extra priority, and rounds out an FWG core with Tangela and Flareon. It also notably gives me a check to birds thanks to its Rock typing, which is super useful as well. I typically don't like Rapid Spin in general (I still don't), but it's still a nice trait to have, and Kabutops does a pretty good job at spinning when it needs to. I still find it better not to rely on it too much though, since it's a pretty huge momentum suck and Kabutops in general has a sort of iffy matchup against a lot of hazard setters.

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

Standard Scarf Rotom is standard. Provides a ton of utility both offensively and defensively with its amazing typing; it checks birds and Klinklang, and gives me a much-needed revenge killer for stuff like Gorebyss. I chose the Thunderbolt variant over Will-O-Wisp because I already have plenty of ways of dealing with and weakening Ground-types, so I don't think it's entirely necessary. It's definitely an option, but I prefer Thunderbolt on this team to do more to Gorebyss and the like. Anyway other than that there's not much to say about Scarf Rotom, if you've played NU then you know exactly what it does.

Mesprit @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Energy Ball
- U-turn

Mesprit is one of my favorite Stealth Rockers to use in NU. Its typing provides really neat synergy with my team, giving me an additional check to Ground-types, a Psychic resistance, and a Fighting resistance, while setting up Stealth Rock and pivoting out with U-turn. I like it a lot better than Uxie in general because I hate how passive Uxie is; Mesprit can actually dish out decent damage when it needs to, and it still gets up rocks in like every game. The EV spread is designed to outspeed max Speed Samurott and kill it off with Energy Ball—you can run a faster spread if you want, but I actually prefer it to be slower than opposing Mesprit so I can get a slower U-turn off and bring in Sneasel. You could also try out moves like Ice Beam or Thunderbolt over Energy Ball for Xatu, but Grass coverage is clutch.

Sneasel @ Eviolite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Ice Punch
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard

I originally added Sneasel on a whim because I needed a fast cleaner that could check Psychic- and Grass-types, but it actually managed to really impress me as I was using it. It gives my team some extra Speed, some more priority (specifically, it revenge kills Grass-types, which is really useful as my team can struggle to RK stuff like Lilligant otherwise), and a way to weaken walls midgame with Knock Off. I like Swords Dance Sneasel better than LO + 4 attacks because it's a much better cleaner, since the rest of my team can help break down walls so that Sneasel can sweep late-game. Lack of Pursuit can be a bit of a bummer sometimes, but you're usually fine without it.

Threatlist:

Knock Off: Anything with a strong Knock Off (most notably Fighting- and Dark-types) can force some tricky mindgames. Nothing on my team likes losing its item, and most of my Pokemon aren't bulky enough to take multiple hits. Generally, the best way to beat them is to play aggressively and apply maximum pressure so they can't deal too much damage.

Water-types: Tangela is my only Water resist, so any Water-type that can break through it is pretty dangerous. Luckily, they can't really switch into much, and my team has a good amount of ways of forcing them out and maintaining pressure, but they definitely shouldn't be underestimated. Special shoutout to the almighty MIXED FERALIGATR which actually does give this team some trouble if played right n_n

Scyther: Eviolite variants aren't too big of an issue, but Choiced variants with U-turn are pretty annoying due to the fact that my only Bug resists are either frail or donked by a coverage move. Again, it's important to apply as much pressure as possible (as well as getting up Stealth Rock) to limit its switchins. Sneasel is also important in checking this guy if you can weaken opposing teams enough, since if you can set up with Sneasel before Scyther can do too much then it deals with most variants pretty handily.

Shoutouts:

bop

Fuck shoutouts, I'll save that for my 1K or something

You guys should know who are anyway

Conclusion:

That's pretty much it. Like I said, the team has its fair share of issues, but it's about as solid as I can manage without using ridiculously generic shit. I'm sure I've built better teams than this, but they're all much more boring than this one. Hopefully everyone else can help make it even better

Importable

Tangela @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 236 HP / 48 Def / 224 SpA
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sleep Powder
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Leaf Storm

Flareon @ Choice Band
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Quick Attack
- Baton Pass

Kabutops @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Trick

Mesprit @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Energy Ball
- U-turn

Sneasel @ Eviolite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Ice Punch
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard

 

[FallenSword912]

Why exactly is your Flareon running baton pass? Other than that this team is sick. I find that I like choice scarf mesprit far better than the stealth rock version, but that's just me

 

[Ares]

Hey Dat Blast really cool team you have here, using a ton of underrated threats.

The team already has most of its problems ironed out and the only drastic change I could think to suggest is to replace Seismitoad > Mesprit as your Stealth Rock Pokemon. This would provide you with a switch in to physical Water-type Pokemon (unfortunately Grass coverage still hurts :/) and a good switch in to Knock Off so that way you don't have to rely on offensive pressure to deal with that, it could also help with Scyther a bit being able to switch in and check it. Mesprit is a fantastic rocker however and brings a lot to the table so I would understand if you wouldn't be overly sold on switching it out.

Cool team, hopefully we see some good ones from you when ORAS comes out!

 

[ium]

i personally like knock off over waterfall on four attacks kabutops and i think it would be nice so that you can wear down things like seismitoad and gurdurr faster while giving less risk for tangela to take a knock off or toxic

also i suppose that using hariyama over flareon can buffer you against knock off and special water-type attacks while not opening yourself to fire-types and freeze-dry users any more significantly than with flareon

 

[g]

Hi Datblast, cool team! (i actually planned on using Tangela and this team gives me a great starting idea n_n) apart from the Knock Off over Waterfall change Ium already suggested (which is awesome for weakeking stuff like Gurdurr so that it struggles to switch into Sneasel and such the only idea i have is to run Colbur Berry over Leftovers on Mesprit. Colbur Berry helps with your Knock Off weakness as it lets Mesprit beat Knock Off users such as Gurdurr waaay easier and can also be useful if you decide to run Hidden Power Figthting over U-turn to beat Dark-types such as Pawniard. I also assure you you will not miss Leftovers all that much thanks to Levitate protecting Mesprit from Spikes making it kinda "resilient" to residual damage by itself.

The problem with special water types is pretty common in teams that use Tangela and a possible solution i have come up with is changing Kabutops with Lanturn. Lanturn might seem like a weird choice but it is a quite reliable switch in to Water-types, resists Flying meaning that it is a decent Scyther check (better than Kabutops if you use Twave), can keep up offensive momentum with Volt Switch, and lures in A TON of Pokemon that give a free hit to Flareon. I guess you lose Rapid Spin but you have already said your team doesn't really need it that much and gaining Heal Bell is a fair tradeoff imo.

lanturn

Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 40 HP / 216 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Heal Bell
- Thunder Wave / Toxic

Good luck with your team!

 

[watashi]

vileplume is a threat for this team as it cleanly beats half of it one-on-one, and nothing enjoys switching into it. for that reason i would not replace mesprit with seismitoad or flareon with hariyama as they would cause your team to fare even worse against vileplume

the only suggestion i have is to replace mesprit with defensive uxie to improve your matchup versus offensive knock off users by paralyzing them, as well as take on vileplume's attacks a bit better

 

[Blast]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, really means a lot :)

FallenSword912 Baton Pass is mostly filler, but it's used like a pivot switch out of bulky Waters on the switch (basically it's like a U-turn that doesn't do damage). Scarf Mesprit is a good set, but my team can't afford to run it since I need rocks and Kabutops really doesn't have room for it.

boltsandbombers Yeah Jolly is worth testing, I mainly used Adamant because I wanted the strongest Aqua Jet possible, but that's a good suggestion.

Montsegur I can't really afford Seismitoad for the reasons FLCL said :/ It could probably work if I made some additional changes but that would most likely lead to a whole new draft of the team.

ium Yeah I'll try out Knock Off on Kabutops. I considered Hariyama myself before, but like Fooly said, it makes me too susceptible to Vileplume.

galbia Colbur on Mesprit sounds pretty cool and I'll probably test that out, but I'm not entirely sold on Lanturn. It loses a lot of offensive power and Aqua Jet, which is fairly important because Kabutops is my strongest priority user and best check to Ludicolo.

FLCL I agree that Uxie would help a bit against certain stuff but it does make me weaker to Water-types. I'll look into it though.

 

[Kushalos]

Liked for the Sneasel, seriously this thing is amazing needs to be used more ._.

As for the team, I really like it one of the best I've seen in a while(pls put in team showcase). I'd consider changing Kabutops spread slightly like remove 4 HP evs and make IVs 29 for LO number. I would personally ignore all the other advice except for the one FLCL gave and ium's Knock Off suggestion. Good job on team definitely stealing ;o.

 

[soulgazer]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, really means a lot :)
FLCL I agree that Uxie would help a bit against certain stuff but it does make me weaker to Water-types. I'll look into it though.

How does Uxie > Mesprit make you weaker against Water-types? Uxie can switch more easily on Special Samurott, Ludicolo, Swanna, and other fast Water-types and cripple them with Thunder Wave, which will help your team handle them. You can easily run enough Speed to outrun Timid Max Speed 70s on your SpDef Uxie to make sure you can cripple them before they get off a second hit (not familiar with calcs, but it can come in handy) + cripple Klinklang as they will most likely try to set up on Uxie (Klinklang rarely runs too much Speed, and if it does it only run enough for like Max Speed neutral 80s). Tangela handles the physical Water-types. Only matchup I can think of where Mesprit is better than Uxie for the team is against Seismitoad, which won't have too much trouble setting up Stealth Rock against Uxie.

Here's a suggestion so this post is considered a rate:

Try Toxic over Quick Attack on Flareon if you do go SpDef Uxie > Mesprit (which I think is worth trying out). Or if you are real, try Natural Gift with the Grass-type 100BP move (I think its Liechi?).

cool team dat blast ;)

@ below yes, but it doesn't make him weaker to them lol, and Thunder Wave support is quite nice with Tangela and Flareon. Mesprit isn't his only way to beat Water-types and Mesprit only really help his team handle Seismitoad a bit better while Uxie would make it easier for Dat Blast to handle Vileplume, Fighting-types, and Special Attackers.

 

[Ares]

How does Uxie > Mesprit make you weaker against Water-types? Uxie can switch more easily on Special Samurott, Ludicolo, Swanna, and other fast Water-types and cripple them with Thunder Wave, which will help your team handle them. You can easily run enough Speed to outrun Timid Max Speed 70s on your SpDef Uxie to make sure you can cripple them before they get off a second hit (not familiar with calcs, but it can come in handy) + cripple Klinklang as they will most likely try to set up on Uxie (Klinklang rarely runs too much Speed, and if it does it only run enough for like Max Speed neutral 80s). Tangela handles the physical Water-types. Only matchup I can think of where Mesprit is better than Uxie for the team is against Seismitoad, which won't have too much trouble setting up Stealth Rock against Uxie.

Here's a suggestion so this post is considered a rate:

Try Toxic over Quick Attack on Flareon if you do go SpDef Uxie > Mesprit (which I think is worth trying out). Or if you are real, try Natural Gift with the Grass-type 100BP move (I think its Liechi?).

cool team dat blast ;)

I think Dat Blast just ment that his KOing potential is significantly less with Uxie > Mesprit as Mesprit can KO a lot more water types with Energy Ball.

 

[Blast]

Yeah I mean like Mont said the main thing about Uxie is that it's a ton more passive, Mesprit has an advantage of being able to more proactively deal with most Waters thanks to EBall. I'll definitely try it though, I'll toy around with the EV spread to see what I like better. Also thanks :)

Thanks to Kushalos for the compliment too, though I like never run 29 HP IVs cause lazy + it honestly doesn't matter lol