Yo. I'm very inexperienced to NU, but I made a team that did surprisingly well on the lower ladder at ~1300. So I thought that it was a good idea to show it here.
Xatu @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Night Shade
- Roost
- U-turn
- Thunder Wave
It's a pretty standard Xatu I think. The only difference is that i put 16 speed. Why? No clue. 240 defense and max health lets it eat loads of attacks though. It survived Knock Offs from Incineroar and a Life Orb Sneasel which was very useful in certain scenarios where I needed that extra chip. It takes U Turns just fine and is one of my two ways of set up prevention. Psychic isn't that useful in my opinion since Night Shade constantly pressures enemies to not risk more paralysis unless their name is Heliolisk. It's also a pretty good slow pivot. Roost is the only reliable recovery so when I'm desperate I could just Roost stall a burn or poison.
Hitmonlee @ Life Orb
Ability: Reckless
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- Mach Punch
- Rapid Spin
I would use Hitmontop since I like it more, but it generally sucks compared to Lee. I could've used Blastoise, but I wanted a harder hitter and priority since I have a lack of set up moves. High Jump Kick hits hard with an Adamant nature and pretty quickly too since Incineroar can't outspeed it. I would've opted for a Jolly nature for Blastoise, but I had another member to deal with the water types. Knock is the obvious choice for its utility of removing items and punishing Ghosts expecting High Jump Kick.
Incineroar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Fake Out
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
One of, if not the most popular choice in the NU tier, Incineroar. He's basically the Lando-T of the NU tier. Knock Off is the safe option for just about anything. Fake Out is for when I want to break possible sashes, extra toxic or burn, general chip, and it's one of my few priority moves. U Turn to just switch for predicted switches, but if I think it's safe i could just Knock. Flare Blitz is a nuke in the tier even without Blaze. I use max health and AV because of the Ghosts, Heliolisk, and Vivillon which is what scares me since I don't have good resists (besides Heliolisk lol) and that I don't like the SD set since Incineroar's so slow and hits hard. Also the fact that some people make their IVs just to outspeed Jolly Incineroar.
Heliolisk @ Choice Specs
Ability: Dry Skin
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Grass Knot
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
Aww ye, my favorite member. He's immune to Ghost and Water, resists Flying and Electricity, hits hard, and deals with the load of Waters in the tier. Dry skin so he could just soak up Scald and fire back with a yuge T-Bolt or Volt Switch. I chose Specs over Scarf since everything's so bulky. 0 attack to be more resistant to potential Foul Plays. Grass Knot was chosen to take on Blastoise, Seismitoad, Steelix, Rhydon, Piloswine, Palossand, and Torterra to some extent. Focus Blast to hit Silvally Steel better, Darks infesting the tier, other Heliolisk, and Ferroseed. Volt Switch and Tbolt are obvious for their usage. He serves as the Volt in the 'VoltTurn core'. He's just really good in general.
Haunter @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Sludge Bomb
- Perish Song
- Will-O-Wisp
Mr. Stopboosting. Haunter was chosen over Mismagius because of the Poison STAB and better raw special attack. This is my answer to Comfey, other fools trying to High Jump Kick and boost their stats. I'm fine with losing the slight increased power of Sludge Wave since Bomb can 2HKO lots of things anyway and the 30% chance of Poison makes switching scarier, hurts Houndoom and Incineroar, and makes Hex more appealing. Speaking of which, Hex was chosen since Haunter works with Incineroar to dampen physical attackers with WIll O Wisp. Perish Song gets Substituting nerds and and anything with Sleep moves. It gets scared out by Mismagius, but Heliolisk and Incineroar dunk them.
Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Roar
The big bad Steel type on every team. Impish nature to give it pretty Physical bulk, but maxing health and Special Defense makes it deal with would be counters easier. Sturdy because that's the only ability it would benefit from. Earthquake and Heavy Slam makes switching less free for just about EVERYTHING in the tier. Stealth Rock usage is obvious. Roar is for the same things as Perish Song, but with the added bonus of getting SR damage on a switch in as well as the the one switching in.
A few things I noticed:
This team has a hard time breaking VIleplume unless I sack something like Steelix.
Passimian looks good against this team.
This is very prediction heavy.
Besides Heliolisk, it's pretty slow.
This team isn't perfect, but I hope you don't go too hard.
Xatu @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
- Night Shade
- Roost
- U-turn
- Thunder Wave
It's a pretty standard Xatu I think. The only difference is that i put 16 speed. Why? No clue. 240 defense and max health lets it eat loads of attacks though. It survived Knock Offs from Incineroar and a Life Orb Sneasel which was very useful in certain scenarios where I needed that extra chip. It takes U Turns just fine and is one of my two ways of set up prevention. Psychic isn't that useful in my opinion since Night Shade constantly pressures enemies to not risk more paralysis unless their name is Heliolisk. It's also a pretty good slow pivot. Roost is the only reliable recovery so when I'm desperate I could just Roost stall a burn or poison.
Hitmonlee @ Life Orb
Ability: Reckless
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- Mach Punch
- Rapid Spin
I would use Hitmontop since I like it more, but it generally sucks compared to Lee. I could've used Blastoise, but I wanted a harder hitter and priority since I have a lack of set up moves. High Jump Kick hits hard with an Adamant nature and pretty quickly too since Incineroar can't outspeed it. I would've opted for a Jolly nature for Blastoise, but I had another member to deal with the water types. Knock is the obvious choice for its utility of removing items and punishing Ghosts expecting High Jump Kick.
Incineroar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Fake Out
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
One of, if not the most popular choice in the NU tier, Incineroar. He's basically the Lando-T of the NU tier. Knock Off is the safe option for just about anything. Fake Out is for when I want to break possible sashes, extra toxic or burn, general chip, and it's one of my few priority moves. U Turn to just switch for predicted switches, but if I think it's safe i could just Knock. Flare Blitz is a nuke in the tier even without Blaze. I use max health and AV because of the Ghosts, Heliolisk, and Vivillon which is what scares me since I don't have good resists (besides Heliolisk lol) and that I don't like the SD set since Incineroar's so slow and hits hard. Also the fact that some people make their IVs just to outspeed Jolly Incineroar.
Heliolisk @ Choice Specs
Ability: Dry Skin
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Grass Knot
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
Aww ye, my favorite member. He's immune to Ghost and Water, resists Flying and Electricity, hits hard, and deals with the load of Waters in the tier. Dry skin so he could just soak up Scald and fire back with a yuge T-Bolt or Volt Switch. I chose Specs over Scarf since everything's so bulky. 0 attack to be more resistant to potential Foul Plays. Grass Knot was chosen to take on Blastoise, Seismitoad, Steelix, Rhydon, Piloswine, Palossand, and Torterra to some extent. Focus Blast to hit Silvally Steel better, Darks infesting the tier, other Heliolisk, and Ferroseed. Volt Switch and Tbolt are obvious for their usage. He serves as the Volt in the 'VoltTurn core'. He's just really good in general.
Haunter @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Sludge Bomb
- Perish Song
- Will-O-Wisp
Mr. Stopboosting. Haunter was chosen over Mismagius because of the Poison STAB and better raw special attack. This is my answer to Comfey, other fools trying to High Jump Kick and boost their stats. I'm fine with losing the slight increased power of Sludge Wave since Bomb can 2HKO lots of things anyway and the 30% chance of Poison makes switching scarier, hurts Houndoom and Incineroar, and makes Hex more appealing. Speaking of which, Hex was chosen since Haunter works with Incineroar to dampen physical attackers with WIll O Wisp. Perish Song gets Substituting nerds and and anything with Sleep moves. It gets scared out by Mismagius, but Heliolisk and Incineroar dunk them.
Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Roar
The big bad Steel type on every team. Impish nature to give it pretty Physical bulk, but maxing health and Special Defense makes it deal with would be counters easier. Sturdy because that's the only ability it would benefit from. Earthquake and Heavy Slam makes switching less free for just about EVERYTHING in the tier. Stealth Rock usage is obvious. Roar is for the same things as Perish Song, but with the added bonus of getting SR damage on a switch in as well as the the one switching in.
A few things I noticed:
This team has a hard time breaking VIleplume unless I sack something like Steelix.
Passimian looks good against this team.
This is very prediction heavy.
Besides Heliolisk, it's pretty slow.
This team isn't perfect, but I hope you don't go too hard.
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