ORAS NU np: Different World (peaked top 40!)

[cyanize]

ik the main mon of this team is a different song but I like this one better ok
​

Yo, what's good? I'm cyan, and I've decided to do my first RMT for a team I've been using for a while and have had a good amount of success with, bringing me up to 37th on the ladder and winning a couple of room tours and games vs good players. I haven't had the chance to use this team in any big tours (and I probably won't ever use it now that I'm doing this RMT) but I will be featuring the heart of this particular RMT in the future - if you ever see LO-less Hydro Pump, be scared cuz I might catch you with it :oo

The Team!

Preset Junkies (Samurott) @ Wave Incense
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Swords Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Megahorn
- Aqua Jet

One day, I was thinking on the potential of Samurott's great mixed attacking stats and eventually took inspiration from Infernape's mixed NP set in UU and created this set. Normal SD Samurott is a very prominent threat in NU but it struggles with immediate power and is stopped by the large amount of physical walls in NU, some of which don't even resist water. SD + Hydro Pump seeks to take advantage of the physical stops that don't resist its STAB such as Garbodor, Weezing, Miltank, Def Mesprit, Carracosta, Xatu, and Def Omastar, while putting out slightly higher neutral damage than Waterfall and luring unaware opponents.

Survive (Scyther) @ Eviolite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace
- Roost
- Swords Dance

Next, I thought about what would most appreciate Samurott luring in physical walls while also providing good type synergy with it, and I decided on Scyther. Scyther really enjoys Samurott beating up Rock and specially frail Steel types and in turn takes on Grass types that Samurott doesn't enjoy, and also checks Fighting types and helps with other miscellaneous threats that are faster than Mesprit such as Jynx and Magmortar. It also helps pivot into Samurott giving it more opportunities to set up or punch holes, and forms a cool bulky offense VolTurn core with my next team member.

Different World (Lanturn) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 132 SpD / 124 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Lanturn + Scyther make a very potent VolTurn core that can pivot and chip their way through teams due to their incredible defensive synergy. AV Lanturn also provides an actual fire and water check as opposed to Samurott who drops at the sight of coverage, and it contributes as well as a general special tank. It also also helps weaken and/or KO Water types that Samurott can't hit such as Mantine, Pelipper, and Poliwrath. I changed to HP Grass Lanturn right after Gastrodon dropped but changed it back to HP Fire because I was having problems with Ferroseed, though this leaves me a bit susceptible to other bulky waters that aren't weak to Electric.

Carrier (Steelix) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 244 HP / 128 Atk / 128 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock

Now, I needed a hazard setter and a more sturdy Physically defensive mon that didn't get hit hard by Rocks and Normals. Steelix is one of the most important members of my team, and helps versus MDino, fast normals/birds, and checks ice types and psychic types in emergencies. Basically just a great glue/filler that blanket checks a lot of threats to the team.

So Baked (Skuntank) @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Acid Spray
- Fire Blast
- Defog

My next priority was hazard control, and I wasn't exactly keen on using Hitmonchan so as to not make my team extremely susceptible to will-o users, especially Rotom, while still outputting good damage and supporting the last members of my team. Defog Skunk with Acid Spray is really nice to take advantage of things like Rhydon and Gastro that think they can come in for free, and Shuca Berry is awesome for getting off last minute Defogs on mons that expect to KO with EQ or even revenge them if they are sufficiently weakened. Skunk helps check Lilligant and other Grasses not named Abomasnow, which my team struggles with a bit. It also synergizes well with Mesprit, since it can drop the SDef of things that come in on Skunk and then switch out on Ground moves, and cause them to switch or get bodied. At one point, I had HP Grass instead of Acid Spray, but Acid Spray is just so insanely useful that I had to make the switch.

Mindreader (Mesprit) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Signal Beam

Mesprit, my last member, serves to break... everything, tbh. Specsprit is ridiculously good in the meta rn and hits so many things for so much damage, and helps weaken mons for Samurott and Scyther to clean. It also contributes to the VolTurn, as I thought that was a good way to capitalize on the switches that Acid Spray causes. Mesprit 's raw bulk also allows it to be a soft check to Hitmonchan and a one time switchin to things that threaten the rest of my team such as Tauros, Jynx, Archeops, and Magmortar. Back when this team was originally created in Scept meta, it was Scarf so that just in case Skunk and Scyther failed to check it Mesprit could comfortably revenge, and it also gave me a better matchup versus shell smashers. After Scept was banned, I decided that the extra power was very helpful and the Speed not nearly as necessary.

importable

Preset Junkies (Samurott) @ Wave Incense
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Swords Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Megahorn
- Aqua Jet

Mindreader (Mesprit) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Signal Beam

Carrier (Steelix) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 244 HP / 128 Atk / 128 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock

Survive (Scyther) @ Eviolite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace
- Roost
- Swords Dance

Different World (Lanturn) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 SpA / 132 SpD / 124 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Scald
- Volt Switch
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]

So Baked (Skuntank) @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Acid Spray
- Fire Blast
- Defog

So, that's the team! I've really enjoyed using it, and I think this is one of the best teams I've ever built lol. All the elements just mesh so well, and there aren't really any prominent things that make me just click x, though there are a few troublesome mons that I have to play well to get around.

spoopy

: Not the worst thing ever to face, but it can get really annoying to face since I don't have any grass moves. However, Specs Psychic 2hkos after rocks and specially defensive sets get shredded by Megahorn.

: I have Fire type moves to hit Seed with, but it was much easier to deal with back when Special Skunk was an uncommon set; now, if I send in a Skunk on it the player will automatically know something's up. Similarly, HP Fire Lanturn used to lure it really well, but that also began to fall off as a surprise slot. Mesprit can weaken it to the point where other members can revenge, since Specs Ice Beam does about 30.

: bran bonzor. No, seriously. I can barely touch this thing outside of +2 Megahorn - Skunk's Fire Blast is easily Rested off.

: SubTox Mantine is hard to kill with proper prediction, since Lanturn's only Electric STAB forces it out. Skunk can get an Acid Spray off and scare it out, but I have to play very carefully around it.

: Ice Types than can hit Lanturn are problematic because my only Ice check is Lanturn. Aurorus and Abomasnow can be revenged by offensive members due to their lower speed, but I really hope I never face a SubRoost Cuno bc that kinda just 6-0s me lol

: Yama is more difficult to face than other fightings due solely to its ability to switch in on practically anything on my team and threaten my Fighting switchins with Knock Off. Luckily, most don't run Stone Edge, but with Rocks up it's quite obnoxious to face.

: Mixed Costa literally 6-0s me (good thing it's also rare xd) and boosted 3 attacks Barb is hard to deal with if it's not weakened. Having max Adamant wave incense Aqua Jet helps with the matchup versus these however.

And now, time for some shoutouts.

s/o

shoutouts to MARCU5theBAW5 for being a cool user, and finally getting that +
shoutouts to PrinceLucian for being awesome, really helpful and supportive unlike some other drivers Earth
nah jk earth you're great n_n
shoutouts to cute mascot Yogibears for rooting me on, hope you'll be back for good soon
shoutouts to nv for being a great user and probably one of the first people to ever notice my presence on the nu forums lol
shoutouts Kenny for being a great new addition to the nu community, and for thinking I'm awesome in return
shoutouts Watchog for being the coolest rodent this side of Smogon
shoutouts to qsns , bird crew , Drangonn. and erisia for liking my post in the underrated sets thread and helping me know I'm not really crazy by running this set lol (btw anyone reading this who hasn't liked that should go do that now :])
shoutouts Adaire for being a subpar user x_x
shoutouts Allstar for being another subpar user x__x

s/o

okay, I guess you guys are pretty cool but messing with you is fun
and finally, shoutouts Advantage , quziel , boltsandbombers , Sir Kay , ryan , Blast , Silver Aurum , Punchshroom , Shaneghoul (good thing @ doesn't alert under hide tags hehe) and the rest of the NU room mods/owners for being great presences, users, and just being all around cool people.

i'm so sorry if I missed anyone, but I haven't forgotten you I swear D:

Well, there goes my first RMT. I have no idea what to say now because I'm really awful at closing out long pieces of writing so...
....

uh....

see ya!

 

[Pilo]

I really like the dynamic of this team and mixed rott is a really neat idea. That being said, I think I can still make a few improvements.

Without a doubt you should run HP Grass > HP Fire on Lanturn. I know you went over the reasons why you don't want to use it but quite frankly a Lanturn set that's walled by Gastro is inadmissible.

The second major change I'd like to make is Hwish > U-turn on mesp. U-turn is cool and all but your Voltturn core is already fine as-is and Hwish allows you to play more aggressively with rott early on which is nice since you lack a Lum Berry. It can also give you a second chance at sweeping so it's definitely not something to be underestimated.

On a side note, what are the 8 Speed EVs on lix meant to creep? I would really like to know.

Stay sharp.

 

[Rapture]

I would probably recommend changing lanturn back to hp grass. At first glance gastrodon puts a decent amount of pressure on the team and having another way to damage it would really help. To help with the ferro matchup you could try 3 attacks bulky scyther with knock off > Swords Dance. Being able to knock off the eviolite from things like rhydon and lefties from steelix on the switch can pave the way for scyther to clean late game if need be. You lose the ability to pressure fatter teams with this change but with a Sd samurott and Specs Mesprit that really shouldn't be an issue. U-turn on mes seems superfluous with scyther and lanturn on the same team so try one of trick or h-wish imo.

 

[pancake]

hey this is a minor change and I'm seriously not that good at nu (lol) but i didn't get a shoutout so I'm gonna rip on your team :^)

I'd suggest using healing wish > u-turn on mesprit because it pairs well with SD Rott, Lanturn, and Steelix. U-turn isn't doing anything particularly great for your team and Healing Wish can give Samurott another chance to set up and Lanturn to recover (and better check threats like Magmortar).

but yeah awesome team :]

 

[cyanize]

I really like the dynamic of this team and mixed rott is a really neat idea. That being said, I think I can still make a few improvements.

Without a doubt you should run HP Grass > HP Fire on Lanturn. I know you went over the reasons why you don't want to use it but quite frankly a Lanturn set that's walled by Gastro is inadmissible.

The second major change I'd like to make is Hwish > U-turn on mesp. U-turn is cool and all but your Voltturn core is already fine as-is and Hwish allows you to play more aggressively with rott early on which is nice since you lack a Lum Berry. It can also give you a second chance at sweeping so it's definitely not something to be underestimated.

On a side note, what are the 8 Speed EVs on lix meant to creep? I would really like to know.

Stay sharp.

I've been running HP Grass until about a week ago and I found HP Fire to be much more useful, as I can at least wear Gastro down with Toxic or threaten it slightly with other mons - +2 Megahorn almost ohkos sdef variants, Lix does a decent bit with EQ and aforementioned Toxic, Scyther can do more than 2 at least, Mes 2hkos def variants, and skunk threatens it with Acid Spray. However, with Ferro I don't have any of this pressure since it chews pretty much every hit thrown at it bar Fire Blast, and as I stated that's gotten a bit predictable. I'll try it out some more though.

I've never tried HWish Mes on this team, though pivoting on mons that have been weakened by Acid Spray or are scared to death of Psychic is nice. I'll try it on there.

8 Spe Lix is only for 4 Spe Lix lol

 

[cyanize]

To help with the ferro matchup you could try 3 attacks bulky scyther with knock off > Swords Dance. Being able to knock off the eviolite from things like rhydon and lefties from steelix on the switch can pave the way for scyther to clean late game if need be. You lose the ability to pressure fatter teams with this change but with a Sd samurott and Specs Mesprit that really shouldn't be an issue.

I never thought of Knock Off Scyther. It also helps versus Rotom, why have I never tried this before lol
Though tbh being able to immensely pressure balance builds that rely on defensive Audino with SD is super nice. It seems like a cool option, I'll give it a shot.

 

[cyanize]

hey this is a minor change and I'm seriously not that good at nu (lol) but i didn't get a shoutout so I'm gonna rip on your team :^)

I'd suggest using healing wish > u-turn on mesprit because it pairs well with SD Rott, Lanturn, and Steelix. U-turn isn't doing anything particularly great for your team and Healing Wish can give Samurott another chance to set up and Lanturn to recover (and better check threats like Magmortar).

but yeah awesome team :]

i'm only human D: my bad.
everyone seems to be recommending hwish so i guess i really should use that lol
thanks for the rate :]

 

[WhimsicottIsBroken]

Hey dude, I hope you are well, props on the team, it's effective and a blast to use. I completely agree with the aforementioned Healing Wish over U Turn on Mesprit.

I'd consider Black Sludge on Skuntank over Shuca Berry, Scyther's U Turn and Lanturn's Volt Switch will allow you to get maximum use out of it, as well as the switches that Acid Spray forces, it assists Skunk in checking the Pokemon it is intended to ie. Haunter, Lilligant, Vileplume, Mega Audino, Weezing, Garbodor, Cacturne etc. throughout the match as well as making it a more consistent Defogger. You are also more likely to get some use out of it before it gets Knocked Off than Shuca Berry. I can see the merit in Shuca Berry for weak Ground moves from Stealth Rock setters that noobs use such as Sandslash and Claydol, but EQs from mons that higher level players use ie. Earthquake from Colbur Golurk, Rhydon are still going to savage Skuntank even with the damage reduction.
I would also switch to the following EV spread on Skunk;
EVs: 252 SpA / 108 SpD / 148 Spe

HP Grass > HP Fire on Lanturn as previously suggested, because despite your denial Gastrodon is a real menace to this team. Alternatively you could run standard Lanturn with either Leftovers or Shuca Berry. Although this would make your team weaker against Pyroar it makes Lanturn a better switchin to EQ Magmortar, opposing Lanturn, Mantine, Poliwrath etc. due to Heal Bell making Scald burns an irrelevance. Heal Bell also supports your team superbly which despises status.
This would also enable you to run either Thunder Wave or Toxic to cripple things.
Finally Shuca Berry enables you to take Ground moves from foolhardy Archeops, Golurk, Rock Polish Rhydon after it has boosted, Steelix, Magmortar etc. and KO in response, as well as lead safely against Stealth Rock variants of these Pokemon (barring Mag ofc)
I hope this rate is beneficial man,
Peace,
~WhimsicottIsBroken

 

[cyanize]

I'd consider Black Sludge on Skuntank over Shuca Berry, Scyther's U Turn and Lanturn's Volt Switch will allow you to get maximum use out of it, as well as the switches that Acid Spray forces, it assists Skunk in checking the Pokemon it is intended to ie. Haunter, Lilligant, Vileplume, Mega Audino, Weezing, Garbodor, Cacturne etc. throughout the match as well as making it a more consistent Defogger. You are also more likely to get some use out of it before it gets Knocked Off than Shuca Berry. I can see the merit in Shuca Berry for weak Ground moves from Stealth Rock setters that noobs use such as Sandslash and Claydol, but EQs from mons that higher level players use ie. Earthquake from Colbur Golurk, Rhydon are still going to savage Skuntank even with the damage reduction.
I would also switch to the following EV spread on Skunk;
EVs: 252 SpA / 108 SpD / 148 Spe

HP Grass > HP Fire on Lanturn as previously suggested, because despite your denial Gastrodon is a real menace to this team. Alternatively you could run standard Lanturn with either Leftovers or Shuca Berry. Although this would make your team weaker against Pyroar it makes Lanturn a better switchin to EQ Magmortar, opposing Lanturn, Mantine, Poliwrath etc. due to Heal Bell making Scald burns an irrelevance. Heal Bell also supports your team superbly which despises status.
This would also enable you to run either Thunder Wave or Toxic to cripple things.
Finally Shuca Berry enables you to take Ground moves from foolhardy Archeops, Golurk, Rock Polish Rhydon after it has boosted, Steelix, Magmortar etc. and KO in response, as well as lead safely against Stealth Rock variants of these Pokemon (barring Mag ofc)
I hope this rate is beneficial man,
Peace,
~WhimsicottIsBroken

Black Sludge sounds interesting. I've always preferred Shuca on Special Skunk for emergency Defogs, ability to get severely weaken or threaten Rockers 1v1 while also getting rid of the rocks. Black Sludge wouldn't give me that luxury, but instead would give me better ease in pivoting into Ghosts and Plume. I'll give it a shot, along with the spread you mentioned which I assume is to make Skunk a bit better pivot, though outspeeding Specsprit and other Psychics is really nice.

I've always thought AV Lanturn works better on this team exclusively for its ability to check Pyroar better, since if I can force it out a few times it can be revenged by AJet. Also, I really appreciate the extra offense that it provides and the auxiliary Ferro/Gastro check that it provides, as well as a nice way of weakening unsuspecting Grasses. I'll see how the defensive set works, though.

thanks for the rate n_n

 

[WhimsicottIsBroken]

Yeah in hindsight you could consider hitting 260 speed with Skunk to outspeed Specsprit with a minor investment of 32 EVs in Sp Def plus Black Sludge to help buffer against all the Shadow Balls, Sludge Bombs, Giga Drains, Dark Pulses etc.
It's objective - personally I would go with the bulkier spread, I wouldn't put too much stock into outspeeding Specsprit since the only moves it will use on Skuntank are Ice Beam, Signal Beam, U Turn or Healing Wish, none of which scratch Lanturn. Lanturn, Scyther and Skuntank combined mean it's not really a significant threat to this team.

I can see that Assault Vest Lanturn works well on the team but I worry for you massively if Mantine lands a Scald burn as you switchin, because then Mantine can just switch out, and once Lanturn dies after being worn down by burn and attack damage over the course of the match, Mantine walls the remainder of your team. Not quite to the same degree but this would also be a problem with opposing Lanturn burning you on the switchin. I think this necessitates Heal Bell + Toxic on Lanturn and a bulkier standard spread as EQ Magmortar is a huge threat to the team. This in turn makes you more susceptible to Gastrodon which I'm currently attempting to think of an effective solution for. Granted Mesprit learns Energy Ball but that's to be expected at this point, so you're not going to catch skilful players out.

 

[aVocado]

How do u deal with golurk

And Electivire? both seem to shred ur team

 

[cyanize]

How do u deal with golurk

And Electivire? both seem to shred ur team

Golurk shreds like every balance team tbch. I just have a lot of solid tools to revenge it. It also has limited opportunities to switch in since all but one or two of my team members can do big damage or ko it outright on the switch. Shuca Skunk also helps here since it chews one EQ and hits back with Dark Pulse.

EVire requires a bit of prediction, though generally I try and scout its moveset then go to Mesprit on a predicted EQ. Mesprit takes one of anything and does a lot of damage/KOs back. I can also keep it from getting in safely by spamming Scald with Lanturn, since outside of Lanturn's VSwitch/IB/HP nothing on my team lets it in.