So I think this team represents probably one of the most interesting moments in the NU metagame - that one sliver of time (which was only for like, what, three days?) where the only things that were discovered for the NU metagame were the release of Skill Link Cinccino, the new move tutors, and Regenerator Amoonguss. This was arguably my favorite stage of the NU metagame, which now has a lot of other things added to it, like Toxic Boost Zangoose and IMPOSTER DITTO ._. this thing is gonna ruin the meta. BUT anyways, I approached Raseri almost a week ago and asked him to build a team with me. We both agreed that Choice Band Cinccino was going to be one of the best pokemon in the metagame, so we decided to use that as our first Pokemon. From there, we gradually formed a Choice item team, because those are always the most effective ones! This team just uses a 6-mon offensive core, basically, because all of the Pokemon on this team can sweep on their own (they've all done it at least once), while at the same time they have a small amount of defensive synergy. Not much is needed anyway, just because of the sheer force of Banded Tail Slap / Brave Bird / Head Smash, or Specs / Fire Blast / Psychic, and so on. Just because of how fast the metagame has started to evolve, this team has pretty much lost its luster. It never did quite overtake FLCL on his conquest for number 1, but damn did it get close when I was at number 5 and he was at number 4... imma catch you one day FLCL WATCH YOUR BACK. Anyways, Team Frame!
5 minute teams ftw
@ Choice Band
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Head Smash
- Fire Punch
- Superpower
- Stealth Rock
I'll lead with this thing occasionally, since it provides Stealth Rock for the rest of the team, along with the fact that Mold Breaker beats Golem and other Pokemon with Sturdy (take THAT, Probopass). This is honestly one of my favorite Pokemon to use, because its very high risk, VERY high reward. As in if you get it in on something that can't do anything to it or that you outspeed, something is going to die. Head Smash rapes face, obviously, and is the move of choice whenever I come onto the field. I mean seriously I could go on for days about how powerful Head Smash is coming off of 165 Attack, but I won't because I think everyone here has used something that does 65% to Tangela. With a physical attack. Fire Punch is here just to provide a more accurate way to hit things, and it doesn't even matter that its not STAB coverage because Fire hits a lot of things super effectively anyways. Did I mention that I use it when I can't afford Head Smash recoil? Yeah, that too. Superpower means GG golem / other Sturdy Pokemon with SR. That ensures that most of the time Stealth Rock does not land on my side of the field. However, if I can scare something out, then I'm probably fine to use Stealth Rock as I please. Rampardos is one of the best wallbreakers in this tier, despite being so slow.... ;-; it gets outspeed by max speed Band Emboar, which I've been seeing more of lately, which in turn sucks for Rampardos because of Superpower on Emboar. I can't even Head Smash it to death :( but I have teammates to revenge kill Emboar with, so it's all good.
@ Choice Band
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Blast
- Tail Slap
- U-turn
This probably the best set for the best Pokemon in this metagame right now, Ditto notwithstanding. Pick one attack, and there is a whole list of Pokemon that you can 2HKO with it. Bullet Seed? 2HKOes SpDef Regirock and at least dents Probopass / Bastiodon (i've done ~1/3 do Bastiodon before with Bullet Seed :O ). Rock Blast? Drifblim, Musharna if you predict wrong, other things that are hit neutrally. Tail Slap is the big daddy. I think we all know how it works now, but let me reiterate: with Skill Link, it is a 125 Base Power STAB move with 85% accuracy, no drawbacks, and the capability to breaks Subs, Sashes, and Sturdy. That is one hell of a move right there. You can get away with just spamming that, honestly, because anything that does not resist it faces a 2HKO at best. This is the Pokemon that does most of the work, easily getting 2 KOes per game. It's also the fastest Pokemon on this team, meaning that I rely on it to take down things. Between this and Absol, not much is effectively sweeping this team, Of course, it's nowhere near as good now because of how popular Ditto is sure to become, but I mean, with that out of the way, you can still 2HKO Amoonguss without breaking a sweat. What's not to love?
@ Life Orb
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Night Slash
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
When I first heard about this set from DTC, I was pretty skeptical just because of how weak it seemed. I mean yeah, it was Absol, but it only had a Life Orb boost and you couldn't carry Swords Dance! However, after a lot of playtesting with it, I'm a believer in this set. It boasts a lot of power even with only a Life Orb boost, and Sucker Punch is this team's only form of priority, meaning its critical for this team to function. It's also my only effective answer to quite a few things: faster things, weather, other Absol, etc. In that sense Absol is a major team player because Sucker Punch allows it to revenge kill so many things at once. Night Slash is here just so that I can actually KO Musharna before it becomes too much of a nuisance. Pursuit is useful for things switching out, though I've never used if effectively because nobody is ballsy enough with their Pokemon to avoid a Sucker Punch to the face... Superpower dispatches other Absol as well as Probopass and Bastiodon should they decide to show their faces.
@ Choice Specs
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Baton Pass
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
This team was my first time using Musharna (having only thought about it one other time on my Combusken team r1 over Combusken :o), but I have to say I'm quite impressed with Specs Musharna! It has a lot of surprise value, because nobody really expects it to have Choice Specs or even be a defensive set. Psychic kills a lot of things, OHKOing things that really surprised me. I originally had a set of Shadow Ball and HP Fighting instead of Signal Beam and HP Ground, but after talking about it in #neverused, I came to the conclusion that this = better coverage. Signal Beam still OHKOes Absol, while HP Ground now hits Skuntank for super effective damage, which is a big plus since Sucker Punch users in general kind of mess with this team.
@ Choice Specs
Trait: Vital Spirit
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
The man, the myth, the LEGEND of Choice Specs Magmortar. Quite possibly the most powerful special attacker in our metagame, just one Fire Blast from this monster burns a good 1/3 of the tier into a nice crisp. Another third needs two Fire Blasts for them to be seared into oblivion. As for the other third, that's where coverage moves come into play. Specs Focus Blast is great for Magmortar vs. Magmortar, since its a comfortable 2HKO with Stealth Rock on the ground, while they fail to 2HKO back unless they have the same situation against me. Thunderbolt hasn't seen much use lately, but its great for messing with all these tanky Carracosta with Stealth Rock, since it's a clean OHKO with no hazards at all. HP Ice is for whenever there's a Flying-type Pokemon that I can KO with Thunderbolt, and Amoonguss is in the back. It's just a safety measure really, but it also helps vs things like Altaria, hitting them for a solid OHKO after rocks, even if Altaria is specially defensive.
@ Choice Band
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Return
- Superpower
- U-turn
Probably one of the coolest Pokemon in this metagame, Braviary is actually really hard to stop if you don't have a Rock or Steel-type with which to resist Return and Brave Bird. Even then, Superpower is there to have a word with them. Braviary provides a Ground-type immunity, which nobody else on the team has. In many cases, that's proven crucial since if they do use Earthquake, they've given me the opportunity to smash with what is, in essence, the best Braviary set. Brave Bird is what I use near the end of the match, or whenever it needs to go down with a band as opposed to a lowly Return. Speaking of which, CB Return is really powerful, doing a lot of damage to things expecting a Brave Bird, such as Zebstrika, other electric types, etc. U-Turn is for scouting purposes, though with this team's defensive synergy not being ideal, it don't really see much use. Not much else to use though, so what the heck.
So yeah that's the team. Things that mess me up include: Sucker Punch users, Scarf Emboar, Ditto. End list. At the very least that's all I can see atm! Hope you guys like this :D
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Head Smash
- Fire Punch
- Superpower
- Stealth Rock
I'll lead with this thing occasionally, since it provides Stealth Rock for the rest of the team, along with the fact that Mold Breaker beats Golem and other Pokemon with Sturdy (take THAT, Probopass). This is honestly one of my favorite Pokemon to use, because its very high risk, VERY high reward. As in if you get it in on something that can't do anything to it or that you outspeed, something is going to die. Head Smash rapes face, obviously, and is the move of choice whenever I come onto the field. I mean seriously I could go on for days about how powerful Head Smash is coming off of 165 Attack, but I won't because I think everyone here has used something that does 65% to Tangela. With a physical attack. Fire Punch is here just to provide a more accurate way to hit things, and it doesn't even matter that its not STAB coverage because Fire hits a lot of things super effectively anyways. Did I mention that I use it when I can't afford Head Smash recoil? Yeah, that too. Superpower means GG golem / other Sturdy Pokemon with SR. That ensures that most of the time Stealth Rock does not land on my side of the field. However, if I can scare something out, then I'm probably fine to use Stealth Rock as I please. Rampardos is one of the best wallbreakers in this tier, despite being so slow.... ;-; it gets outspeed by max speed Band Emboar, which I've been seeing more of lately, which in turn sucks for Rampardos because of Superpower on Emboar. I can't even Head Smash it to death :( but I have teammates to revenge kill Emboar with, so it's all good.
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Rock Blast
- Tail Slap
- U-turn
This probably the best set for the best Pokemon in this metagame right now, Ditto notwithstanding. Pick one attack, and there is a whole list of Pokemon that you can 2HKO with it. Bullet Seed? 2HKOes SpDef Regirock and at least dents Probopass / Bastiodon (i've done ~1/3 do Bastiodon before with Bullet Seed :O ). Rock Blast? Drifblim, Musharna if you predict wrong, other things that are hit neutrally. Tail Slap is the big daddy. I think we all know how it works now, but let me reiterate: with Skill Link, it is a 125 Base Power STAB move with 85% accuracy, no drawbacks, and the capability to breaks Subs, Sashes, and Sturdy. That is one hell of a move right there. You can get away with just spamming that, honestly, because anything that does not resist it faces a 2HKO at best. This is the Pokemon that does most of the work, easily getting 2 KOes per game. It's also the fastest Pokemon on this team, meaning that I rely on it to take down things. Between this and Absol, not much is effectively sweeping this team, Of course, it's nowhere near as good now because of how popular Ditto is sure to become, but I mean, with that out of the way, you can still 2HKO Amoonguss without breaking a sweat. What's not to love?
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Night Slash
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
When I first heard about this set from DTC, I was pretty skeptical just because of how weak it seemed. I mean yeah, it was Absol, but it only had a Life Orb boost and you couldn't carry Swords Dance! However, after a lot of playtesting with it, I'm a believer in this set. It boasts a lot of power even with only a Life Orb boost, and Sucker Punch is this team's only form of priority, meaning its critical for this team to function. It's also my only effective answer to quite a few things: faster things, weather, other Absol, etc. In that sense Absol is a major team player because Sucker Punch allows it to revenge kill so many things at once. Night Slash is here just so that I can actually KO Musharna before it becomes too much of a nuisance. Pursuit is useful for things switching out, though I've never used if effectively because nobody is ballsy enough with their Pokemon to avoid a Sucker Punch to the face... Superpower dispatches other Absol as well as Probopass and Bastiodon should they decide to show their faces.
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Baton Pass
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
This team was my first time using Musharna (having only thought about it one other time on my Combusken team r1 over Combusken :o), but I have to say I'm quite impressed with Specs Musharna! It has a lot of surprise value, because nobody really expects it to have Choice Specs or even be a defensive set. Psychic kills a lot of things, OHKOing things that really surprised me. I originally had a set of Shadow Ball and HP Fighting instead of Signal Beam and HP Ground, but after talking about it in #neverused, I came to the conclusion that this = better coverage. Signal Beam still OHKOes Absol, while HP Ground now hits Skuntank for super effective damage, which is a big plus since Sucker Punch users in general kind of mess with this team.
Trait: Vital Spirit
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
The man, the myth, the LEGEND of Choice Specs Magmortar. Quite possibly the most powerful special attacker in our metagame, just one Fire Blast from this monster burns a good 1/3 of the tier into a nice crisp. Another third needs two Fire Blasts for them to be seared into oblivion. As for the other third, that's where coverage moves come into play. Specs Focus Blast is great for Magmortar vs. Magmortar, since its a comfortable 2HKO with Stealth Rock on the ground, while they fail to 2HKO back unless they have the same situation against me. Thunderbolt hasn't seen much use lately, but its great for messing with all these tanky Carracosta with Stealth Rock, since it's a clean OHKO with no hazards at all. HP Ice is for whenever there's a Flying-type Pokemon that I can KO with Thunderbolt, and Amoonguss is in the back. It's just a safety measure really, but it also helps vs things like Altaria, hitting them for a solid OHKO after rocks, even if Altaria is specially defensive.
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Return
- Superpower
- U-turn
Probably one of the coolest Pokemon in this metagame, Braviary is actually really hard to stop if you don't have a Rock or Steel-type with which to resist Return and Brave Bird. Even then, Superpower is there to have a word with them. Braviary provides a Ground-type immunity, which nobody else on the team has. In many cases, that's proven crucial since if they do use Earthquake, they've given me the opportunity to smash with what is, in essence, the best Braviary set. Brave Bird is what I use near the end of the match, or whenever it needs to go down with a band as opposed to a lowly Return. Speaking of which, CB Return is really powerful, doing a lot of damage to things expecting a Brave Bird, such as Zebstrika, other electric types, etc. U-Turn is for scouting purposes, though with this team's defensive synergy not being ideal, it don't really see much use. Not much else to use though, so what the heck.
So yeah that's the team. Things that mess me up include: Sucker Punch users, Scarf Emboar, Ditto. End list. At the very least that's all I can see atm! Hope you guys like this :D
