Twists and Turns - An NU RMT

Hey guys my name is Can-Eh-Dian and this is going to be my first RMT. I have been playing competitive pokemon for about 6 months now, lurking in the Smogon Forums and I am really starting to get the hang of the NU metagame. Now the NU meta is very diverse and fun to play in and I often enjoy messing around with fun sets to use to see if they would work. Only recently have I adopted this name as my main account on Showdown while actually trying to build a solid team. After various attempts I finally found a team that fits my play-style very well and that is also very competitive. I like to build somewhat standard teams that create a lot of momentum with u-turn and baton pass, yet have a twist in them (hence the name of my team). Now sorry for the long intro and here is my first successful team: Twists and Turns.

Opening Look:

swellowpic.jpg Torterra.png metang pic.png Musharna pic.jpg Liepard Pic.png Seismitoad pic.png


The In-Depth Team:


Swellow.gif

hyper beam swellow new meta

A Swell Guy (Swellow) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Facade
- U-Turn
- Quick Attack


Swellow is the pokemon that I initially wanted wanted to build this team around and he has become an amazing and crucial member of my team. Swellow is a great mid to late-game sweeper and with the right team support he can excel to his fullest potential. As a player who likes momentum and gaining an upper hand on the opponent, Swellow is just the poke for me. I run Toxic Orb over Flame Orb because I feel like the way to play swellow is to come in for a quick hit and U-Turn out until late game. Overall, Swellow was my favourite poke in Gen 3 and is an extremely valuable member to my team

Torterra.gif



Scarfed (Torterra) @ Choice Band
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 76 HP / 252 Atk / 180 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Bullet Seed
- Stone Edge
- Wood Hammer


Next on the roster is Torterra. Torterra is crucial to my team as he is one of the most effective ways to keep rocks off the field early-game. With all of the pokemon that I have switching and turning my team doesn't appreciate stealth rocks, even though I only have 1 weakness. CB Torterra can effectively take out every single stealth rock lead (barring Probopass) with Bullet Seed to bypass sturdy on things such as Golem and Lvl 1 Dwebble. With the EVs that I have on Torterra I can speed creep Speed Creep Golurk and OHKO with Wood Hammer. He can even deal a ton of damage late game if Musharna spreads paralysis and such. CB Torterra also 2HKO's Alomomola on the switch which is extremely helpful to my team which is quite Mola weak.

Metang.gif



HAL-9000 (Metang) @ Eviolite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Atk / 80 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Toxic


I realized that I had 2 weaknesses to Ice, so I had to find something to counteract that. I had used Probopass on previous teams but I felt like I wanted something with a little more offensive presence. Then I found Metang while looking at the viablity rankings and he fit the role perfectly. Metang's ability to tank hits, spread status and get up rocks, all while maintaining offensive pressure makes it one of the all-stars on this team. The EV's are just the standard Smogon set and they work extremely well. Even in a Jynx-less meta, Metang is still proving to me that he is valuable member on any team.

Musharna.gif

props for original musharna gif... jk


Pro-Life (Musharna) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SDef
Bold Nature
- Moonlight
- Thunder Wave
- Baton Pass
- Psychic


What is a solid NU team without a Musharna. Easily one of the top pokemon in NU, being able to check pretty much every physical attacker in the tier along with decent bulk on the other side. T-Wave is one hell of a move as it allows Torterra to clean up late-game along with Swellow. Baton Pass allows it to bypass pursuit trappers to an extent (damn you taunt skuntank) while also providing key momentum for my team. This momentum can activate Swellow's orb as well as just plain old annoy the opponent. Musharna truly is one of the best pokes in the meta and on my team.

Liepard.gif



SwagPard (Liepard) @ Dread Plate
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant/Jolly Nature
- Encore
- U-Turn
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch


Ever since I came across the pivot Liepard set a few weeks ago I fell in love. Pivot Pard truly is the MVP on this team and every team that I use it on. People may say that it is outclassed by Skuntank, however Liepard has one thing that Skuntank never will, Priority Encore. Nobody will ever set up because Liepard will put a stop to that. The ultimate pokemon when it comes to gaining momentum for your team, Liepard truly is a hidden gem and is my favourite pokemon in the meta right now. I prefer to run Adamant for more power however Jolly can be used for more speed. Liepard you truly are the best.

Seismitoad.gif

franctrode reference inbound

SexyToad (Seismitoad) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Water Absorb
EV's: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Earth Power
- Sludge Bomb
- Grass Knot


Now here's the twist in the team: Choice Scarf Seismitoad. This set has thrown so many people off guard it's not even funny. Everyone thinks that they can outspeed this hilariously slow-looking toad, only to lose their precious pokemon. Seismitoad is a great poke as it has near perfect coverage between its stabs and Sludge Bomb. Though it might not be the most effective scarfer, the element of suprise is truly what make this set one of my favourites to run.


So there is Twists and Turns, my first RMT. I believe that this team truly reflects my play style and I love using it. I am open to any suggestions that anyone may have for my team. I hope you enjoyed reading and please drop a rate!
 

Blast

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Toxic Spikes and Mandibuzz are big threats to this team as you have nothing to absorb the former and nothing that can reliably take out the latter, while it can stall you out with Taunt + Toxic. Using a faster version of Skuntank over Liepard gives you a TSpikes absorber while allowing you to creep ahead of Mandibuzz and Taunt it, while still providing utility in Sucker Punch and Pursuit.

Also you're really weak to Water-types like Samurott since your only resist is Seismitoad which can't beat it without significant prior damage. The easiest way to remedy this is to change Seismitoad's set to a Substitute set with Leftovers, as it allows you to switch in on Hydro Pump, stall out some LO recoil with Sub, and wear it down with Earth Power to the point where it'll take itself down.

Also Probopass fits better than Metang on this team given its dynamics though obviously that's a slightly more trivial change.

Skuntank @ Black Sludge
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Poison Jab
- Pursuit
- Taunt

Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Substitute
- Hydro Pump
- Earth Power
- Toxic

Probopass

get #rekt Brawlfest
 
Dat Blast Thanks for the rate I really appreciate it. I'll tackle your suggestions 1 by 1.

On the topic of Metang, As I stated in the description I wanted something with a greater offensive presence than Probopass to fill that role. I feel that this team doesn't exactly hit the hardest, so I appreciate the extra firepower over the extra utility.

I will test the Skuntank over Liepard switch, however one thing about Liepard that I really appreciate is the extra momentum that it brings to the rest of the team.

I haven't really had too many problems with Samurott and other water types so far as Seismitoad is a good check w/ water absorb as well as having loads of priority on my team. Mandibuzz, however is a huge block to my team and is definitely the thing I have the most trouble with. One way I see to fix both the water type problem as well as the Mandibuzz problem is to replace Scarf Seismitoad with a scarf Electric Type such as Electabuzz but I would like to hear what you guys think about that.
 
FUCK Dat Blast BEAT ME WHILE I WAS AT A PARTY I HATE MY LIFE

Anyways, this is a really solid team. There aren't any massive changes to make, but one threat I see is Charizard. Any variant pretty much wrecks you, as a predicted switch into your random scarf seismitoad with HP grass, and it is free to start spamming Fire Blast and wreck the rest of your team. Common sweepers such as Gorebyss also shit on this team, as you lack any reliable way to revenge them at all, as Seismitoad isn't fast as a scarfer in the first place.

On that note, everything Dat Blast already suggested was what I was going to suggest, including SubToxic Seismitoad and Defensive Probopass, which shits on your Charizard weakness. However, I will add one thing.

However, as I stated you are extremely weak to any setup sweepers, especially if they decide to attack first turn to fuck pivotpard up the ass, and then sweep. Instead, I reccomend you run All-Out Attacker Kangaskhan over Pivotpard, as surprisingly they check a large amount of the same pokemon, but Kangaskhan lets you to revenge kill in case of a misplay, and also helps you break through heavy offense which could cause you issues. Your team is also particularily weak to Sun, so a fake out + sucker punch can help you stall out turns of it. Overall, Kangaskhan eliminates your team's major weakness to any relavant setup sweeper, proving to be a key player in the team's success.

Dat Blast's Seismitoad EV spread is retarded I'm helping fix that lol.

Unlike my nigga Dat Blast, I will highly suggest Defensive Probopass, as it avoids 2HKo from Zard and can allow you to cripple it severely, and it gains you consistant momentum against resisted hits, becoming a great pivot for a team like yours which needs all the momentum it can get. It also shits on opposing Musharna's lifes with Toxic + Steel Typing. It also beats Mandibuzz 1v1 100% of the time so fuck her up the ass.
Fuck Dat Blast taking my ideas and shit fuck him :pirate: WORST USER y/y :[ *jk <3 u nigga*

Cool team, Hope I helped!
__________________________________________________________

Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SAtk / 216 Spd
Modest Nature
- Substitute
- Hydro Pump
- Earth Power
- Toxic


Kangaskhan (F) @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch


Probopass @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 56 SAtk / 200 SDef
Calm Nature
- Power Gem
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Volt Switch
 
Thanks Brawlfest for the rate, your I am definitely going to try out the Kanga set even though it removes one of my favourite sets. Again I really like the utility that Metang has along with a averagely powerful Meteor Mash. However, if Mandibuzz continues to be a problem that i can't handle I will probably make the switch. The Seismitoad set looks interesting and it definitely looks like it is worth a try. I feel that with the Kanga addition + Swellow can deal with Zard fairly well as long as I can get rocks up w/ Metang. Again thanks for your input in helping improve my team!
 
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