np: NU Stage 10 - Blackbird

[Infernis]

If not a ban, I'm sure we can all agree to gaze scornfully upon anyone who uses it. It could be legal just like drinking far too much and wandering into the woods to punch trees is legal.

 

[Arcticblast]

I would instead like to suggest another topic to suspect based on certain assumptions:
a) We know at some point Contrary Serperior will be released

Ever heard of the Azure Flute?

No?

It was a key item programmed into Pokemon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum that would allow you to battle Arceus in the Hall of Origin. It was never released.

 

[jake]

Let's reserve suspect discussion for the suspect thread when it comes out. Stick to the metagame itself here, please! Talking about cool mons or sets you've used, how you handle certain threats, etc is all acceptable here - just don't talk about whether or not something will be banned. We have a whole thread for that coming shortly.

(I'm not going to delete the previous discussion posts posthumously, but any further discussion of banning anything is going to be deleted. You can talk about how good you think a potential suspect is, but please do not push for banning discussion in this thread. Thanks guys!)

 

[Brambane]

LYNCH LIEPARD

On another note, Trick Room is seriously good in this meta. Because the likes of Primeape, Scolipede, Jynx and even Mandibuzz have sped up NU, it is MUCH easier to abuse Trick Room than it was in the past. I've been using Audino / Musharna / Muk / Eelektross as my main "core". If you thought Touncher was good outside of Trick Room, wait till you see the sucker in it! Just be sure to carry Toxic, or else defensive teams will give you trouble.

 

[DTC]

i wouldn't say mandibuzz really helped trick room teams at all. he beats a lot of the trick room sweepers. i like that you are using eelektross on your TR team, though, because it can get past mandibuzz.

i think trick room teams are pretty decent atm, but i wouldn't use a sacrificial TR setter like solrock because it's just not worth it unlike the boosts you get from rain/sun. just use stuff like mushy, beheeyem, and audino. you might also want to include some mons with thunder wave on your team so they can take advantage of the slowed down opponents when trick room isn't up (which is fairly often because it only lasts 5 turns).

 

[Fusxfaranto]

Yeah, I'm not sure TR is really that much more effective this meta. There are a lot of faster threats, but there's also a ton of priority (Kanga, Samurott, Metang, Golem, etc.), and Scolipede is a pretty huge annoyance to the psychic types that TR teams tend to rely on. Also, a lot of the mons in the middle speed tiers (e.g. Sawk, Braviary) have switched from speed boosting natures to attack boosting natures, which has definitely made it harder to switch things in on them.

Speaking of Braviary, has anyone else been using it lately? Adamant CB is incredibly powerful, and the threat of setting up with Bulk Up can really put your opponent in a tough position.

 

[Punchshroom]

I believe Mandibuzz has boosted the viability of defensive teams greatly. She has a slew of moves that can harass offensive and defensive pokemon alike, and in general can be quite a pain to bring down even with SE moves (not unlike Musharna mind you). Having a pokemon that can slow down the offensive pace of the meta, if even a little, is not a bad thing to have.

 

[Cherub Agent]

Ah, I was hoping that someone would bring up Braviary, as there's a groovy set I've recently been using now and then that I wanted to share, but Smogon was down. It's essentially a double dancer (a Pokemon that sets up with the appropriate move depending on the opponents team, which one can see thanks to Team Preview). The set is the following:

Braviary @ Sharp Beak
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 204 Spe
- Bulk Up
- Tailwind
- Brave Bird
- Roost

This set truly is fearsome. You really do need Rock- and Steel-types removed (I used Power Herb Charizard to lure them out and crush them, as well as Band Sawk to have a secondary way of smashing them and to generally prevent Stealth Rock which Wargle and Charizard love). I'm not 100% sure I've got the right EVs here as I'm on my phone and am going off my memory here, but they are meant to outspeed Scarf Charizard under Tailwind, with Attack maximized and the rest in bulk.

So yeah, you either set up Tailwind if you see that your opponent has an offensive team, or Bulk Up if your opponent has a defensive team. Brave Bird is disgustingly powerful after a Bulk Up and the Sharp Beak boost, easily 2HKOing max max Alomomola without Stealth Rock, damn near OHKOing Rotom-S, and other crazy feats. Practically every single offensive Pokemon is utterly mauled by Brave Bird without a Bulk Up, which is excellent for sweeping under Tailwind. Non frail offensive Pokemon such as Scarf Charizard also don't stand a chance, even without Stealth Rock. Roost is useful for when Braviary has to go the Bulk Up mode, or take an attack here and there. And God forbid the opponent uses Scarf Tauros to try and intimidate Wargle, as it's just a free Attack boost. You can also Brave Birs around a bit early game to feign a Choice set I suppose. So yeah I encourage you to give WARGLE a whirl; I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Here are some calcs I'd like to show you guys. The first are without a Bulk Up, ie against offensive Pokemon/ bulky mons weak to its STAB, while the latter are after a Bulk Up, ie against bulkier Pokemon or Pokemon that resist its STAB

252+ Atk Sharp Beak Braviary Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard: 304-358 (102.35 - 120.53%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Sharp Beak Braviary Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tauros: 259-306 (88.69 - 104.79%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Sharp Beak Braviary Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Gardevoir: 351-414 (103.23 - 121.76%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Sharp Beak Braviary Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Leafeon: 300-354 (89.82 - 105.98%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

+1 252+ Atk Sharp Beak Braviary Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 309-364 (57.86 - 68.16%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Sharp Beak Braviary Brave Bird vs. 240 HP / 252+ Def Musharna: 297-351 (68.59 - 81.06%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Sharp Beak Braviary Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Tangela: 324-384 (97.29 - 115.31%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Sharp Beak Braviary Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Carracosta: 144-171 (49.82 - 59.16%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Sharp Beak Braviary Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Rotom-S: 174-206 (72.19 - 85.47%) -- 81.25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Sharp Beak Braviary Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Mandibuzz: 355-418 (83.92 - 98.81%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock


Just to give you lot an idea of what Wargle can do ;)

 

[scorpdestroyer]

Bastiodon @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Magic Coat
- Metal Burst
- Roar

I've been using this set since stage 9 and it's been pretty useful, at least for me and at least for the ladder. It works v. well vs Scolipede leads because it can constantly deflect Spikes back at Pede, can roar if it swords dances, and metal burst works well because Scolipede usually runs aqua tail and not EQ anyway. Against a sr lead, I can usually deflect the rocks and phaze as the opponent tries to set up again, while having metal burst to remove whatever thing that threatens my team. Magic Coat can also bounce back taunt. It requires some prediction to be successful though, but most of the time youre not that disadvantaged even if you predict wrong.

Also, not even Kanga EQ can OHKO this even with sturdy broken if you fully invest in defense so I guess you can lure and kill stuff.

 

[Pen Ink]

Mandibuzz is turning out to be really cool. It's actually very good at taking hits and I think the most obvious thing to do is just pair it Musharna and Sawk. Musharna and Mandibuzz take hits and spread status and Sawk abuses that. Then you just throw in Spikes and Stealth Rocks due to the sheer amount of switches the opponent is forced to do. Mandibuzz alsogives another Dark type option in the Psychic-Dark-Fighting core besides Skuntank, which is nice since Mandibuzz gives a lot of utility that Skuntank, well, doesn't.

Other than me listing other obvious cores though, Coil Eelektross is really cool right now. It pretty much shits all over Braviary and has good enough bulk to set up on special attackers like Jynx if you really have too. It has Drain Punch for semi-decent recovery and it tanks physical hits after a Coil or two as well. It's a tad bit slow, but it has enough bulk to survive the hits it needs to and you can invest in some speed EV's to outspeed some key mons. It loves Thunder Wave support, ergo Musharna. The only thing it really loses to after you've set up is bulky grass types and Seismitoad. Bulky grass types can be dealt with by running something with Sleep Talk to take the Sleep Powder, but Magmar is also a pretty nifty option with Vital Spirit. Magmar actually does check Seismitoad too with Hidden Power Grass, or you could just run your own bulky grass type. Seismitoad with HP Grass checks itself too, and you could always just invest in a couple of speed EV's to outspeed opposing Seismitoad.

Magmar is pretty underrated, too.

 

[Punchshroom]

Ah, I was hoping that someone would bring up Braviary, as there's a groovy set I've recently been using now and then that I wanted to share, but Smogon was down. It's essentially a double dancer (a Pokemon that sets up with the appropriate move depending on the opponents team, which one can see thanks to Team Preview). The set is the following:

Braviary @ Sharp Beak
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 198 Spe
- Bulk Up
- Tailwind
- Brave Bird
- Roost

This set truly is fearsome. You really do need Rock- and Steel-types removed (I used Power Herb Charizard to lure them out and crush them, as well as Band Sawk to have a secondary way of smashing them and to generally prevent Stealth Rock which Wargle and Charizard love). I'm not 100% sure I've got the right EVs here as I'm on my phone and am going off my memory here, but they are meant to outspeed Scarf Charizard under Tailwind, with Attack maximized and the rest in bulk.

So yeah, you either set up Tailwind if you see that your opponent has an offensive team, or Bulk Up if your opponent has a defensive team. Brave Bird is disgustingly powerful after a Bulk Up and the Sharp Beak boost, easily 2HKOing max max Alomomola without Stealth Rock, damn near OHKOing Rotom-S, and other crazy feats. Practically every single offensive Pokemon is utterly mauled by Brave Bird without a Bulk Up, which is excellent for sweeping under Tailwind. Non frail offensive Pokemon such as Scarf Charizard also don't stand a chance, even without Stealth Rock. Roost is useful for when Braviary has to go the Bulk Up mode, or take an attack here and there. And God forbid the opponent uses Scarf Tauros to try and intimidate Wargle, as it's just a free Attack boost. You can also Brave Birs around a bit early game to feign a Choice set I suppose. So yeah I encourage you to give WARGLE a whirl; I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Actually Cherub, Braviary speedties with ScarfZard with 200 Speed EVs at +2; 204 EVs are needed. This set looks pretty potent though as Flying has amazing coverage on the tier right now, so looking forward to giving it a whirl.

Mandibuzz is definitely proving her worth, she boasts similiar resiliance to Musharna, only she's fast enough to make use of Taunt as well as Roost's Flying-type removal to stall threats. Foul Play also ensures she isn't a sitting duck vulture, detering most from switching in to risk massive damage. While she has annoying weaknesses, only STAB super effective hits will really faze her, which basically limits us to Ice, Electric and Rock types.

Ice - While Jynx is threatening what with Lovely Kiss and Nasty Plot to threaten a OHKO on Mandibuzz, she obviously cannot risk switching into Foul Play. Heck, switching into Taunt can also limit her options by stopping Lovely Kiss and Trick, as even Life Orb Ice Beam cannot OHKO a healthy specially defensive Mandibuzz and has less than 50% of a chance to OHKO physically defensive Mandibuzz. However, STAB Foul Play only 2HKOes Jynx at best, which a 0 Attack IV Jynx with Leftovers can avoid. Jynx can still beat Mandibuzz, but is the riskiest Ice-type to attempt doing so. Other Ice-types such as Regice, Glaceon, and Rotom-Frost handle Mandibuzz much better, primarily due to low Attack, good bulk, and lack of Dark weakness, so Jynx may not totally eclipse other Ice-types in this regard.

Electric - Electric-types are admittedly more risky, most do not have the bulk to shrug off Foul Play comfortably, no matter how low their Attack stats may be. Pokemon such as Eelektross, Zebstrika, Raichu and Luxray hesitate to switch in non-chalantly, so basically the safer switch-ins are relegated to Fan-tom, the aforementioned Frost-tom, Stunfisk and Ampharos, and really they do not serve that great a purpose outside of safer switch-ins to Flying-types, but that role is usually occupied by...

Rock - Rock-types (if not Steel-types) are very common due to their resistances to Normal-Flying and access to Stealth Rock, but when it comes to checking the Normal-Flying threat, they usually either rely on super effective strikes or/and the target's frailty to bring it down. However, now they are presented with Mandibuzz, a bird that not only shrugs off most of their attacks with high bulk and Roost, but also deals solid damage to them with Foul Play as opposed to the Brave Bird they expected from most Flying-types. While Rock-types have the type advantage, Mandibuzz has better speed, bulk and recovery by her side, which can allow her to outlast stuff like Golem, defensive Armaldo, or support Carracosta when coupled with Toxic and a physically defensive spread. However, while Rock-types tend to have respectable Attack stats which Foul Play can utilise, they also have impressive bulk, meaning they could potentially lay a beatdown on Buzz before/while they succumb. Rock-types can either:

• rely on powerful (invested) moves like Stone Edge or Head Smash to dent Mandibuzz. SmashCosta and especially Rampardos are good canditates, the latter OHKOing even the bulkiest of Mandibuzz with just a positive nature, the obvious downside is that Foul Play can wreck them (Buzz can also Taunt Costa to stop its Smash). A Relicanth or Lairon with Attack investment is your best bet at wearing down Mandibuzz, as they boast both impressive bulk and power to stand up to the vulture.
• have a move that can hit Mandibuzz hard while she is Roosting. Regirock's Drain Punch which increases longevity and Armaldo's STAB X-Scissor are prime examples, though they'd want Attack investment for these moves, which are weaker than their Rock moves, to keep Mandibuzz on guard. Keep in mind that offensive Armaldo should watch out for Foul Play, so the weaker but more resilient Regirock can be the safer option.
• stall Mandibuzz right back. This is easier said than done when Mandibuzz can Taunt you, preventing you from using status on it. Bastiodon does a remarkable job at stopping Mandibuzz by using Magic Coat to block her Taunt. It should be noted that if you're attempting to stall Mandibuzz out, Rock-types aren't necessarily the go-to option.

 

[Aasgier]

Punchshroom: Don't forget Gardevoir, who deals 45% to to max/max Mandibuzz as well with T-Bolt, if it runs maximum investment and a boosting nature and Expert Belt/Life Orb, which is easily a 2HKO after SR (and in case of mixed investment, will more than likely 2HKO even without)
Charizard's Fire Blast can also deal a lot, but needs Sun or a boosting item to 2HKO for sure after SR. The rare Solar Power Choice Specs in the sun cleanly OHKO's Mandibuzz (regardless of investment) with Fire Blast.

 

[DTC]

Mandibuzz is turning out to be really cool. It's actually very good at taking hits and I think the most obvious thing to do is just pair it Musharna and Sawk. Musharna and Mandibuzz take hits and spread status and Sawk abuses that.

the old psychic / fighting / dark core is always good. if you want to make the core a little more bulkier, you could always try gurdurr over sawk. gurdurr loves the paralysis/poison wearing down his opponents even more than sawk, but the core doesn't really fix gurdurr's problem of musharna / missy unlike skunk(mandibuzz can "beat" them, but he's very prone to getting statused and mushy / missy can just switch out with no fear). however, this core has a much better defensive backbone.

magmar is a decent option in this meta because of vital spirit, but SR and the lack of recovery wear it down way too much. it's not really the best option because of psychock / trick and the ease it can be worn down (although jynx will similarly be worn down from this). sr really sucks for magmar because it prevents him from taking advantage of the extra bulk eviolite grants him. i'd honestly say sr hurts magmar more than charizard because charizard a) still has his immense offensive prowess b) can roost it off and c) gets him down to blaze range.

speaking of charizard, use it, it owns. stop being afraid of sr; the best sr preventers synergize well with charizard both offensively and defensively too. it can also run a billion amazing sets n_n

 

[Punchshroom]

Well Mandibuzz isn't unstoppable, but I find that Mandibuzz rivals Musharna in terms of how hard it is to take out. Both have splendid bulk, are incredibly resilient to neutral hits, reliable recovery, options to keep status at bay (Taunt/Sub and Heal Bell + Synchronize respectively), and even have decent offensive presence to the point where pokemon that can lay a beating on them often hesitate to switch in. It's harder to deal with a Mandibuzz that it may seem, rarely will you nonchalantly switch in your poke and expect to halt Mandibuzz cold: a Taunt set and a SubRoost set can have different counters altogether (I didn't mention Nasty Plot because it's piss weak, Jumpluff at least has a 165/110 base power Acrobatics to complement its equally weak offense), so there will be times you get walled yourself: attempts to stall/boost against Mandibuzz are countered by Taunt/Whirlwind respectively; pokemon that aim to bring down Mandibuzz can struggle with a SubRoost set, especially if said pokemon is slower (usually STAB Rock users).

Mandibuzz is a very solid defensive pokemon that can hold its own, and is likely leading the charge of stall/bulky teams back into the limelight: a welcome change in balance for NU.

Edit: Agreeing with DTC that Charizard will rip your shit up if you're not careful. Stealth Rock is of course an issue, but that is literally the only problem I have with Charizard. The combination of power, speed, coverage, adequate bulk, boosting options and recovery are honestly things that should appeal to most players, but they choose to focus on that one flaw and dismiss it entirely or 'force' themselves to run a spinner even if they acknowledge it sucks. I don't even run a spinner with my Zard: all I have to at least prevent SR from being set up is Mold Breaker Sawk and Samurott's Waterfall flinch against Golurks.

Most players who set up SR against a spinner-less Charizard go: "Yes, now Charizard is no longer a threat!" Need I remind you that Charizard still has 50% of its health left, which it can either Roost to recover or inch itself into Blaze with Substitute or Life Orb. SR's also not stopping it from attacking you outright, and here's the tricky part: you can never be too sure on what a Charizard is running until it attacks, and with power like that you don't want to screw up. Between Sunny Day, 3 attacks + Roost, Swords Dance or Power Herb Solarbeam, there is pretty much no pokemon that can withstand assaults from Charizard safely on the switch.

The current NU meta also displayed a more notable weakness to Fire attacks, or perhaps more specifically Charizard (Rapidash is still underwhelming :[ ), making Charizard one of the top wallbreakers in the meta, right up there with Samurott. Just make sure you play around its SR weakness, and Charizard will amaze you.

 

[Pen Ink]

magmar is a decent option in this meta because of vital spirit, but SR and the lack of recovery wear it down way too much. it's not really the best option because of psychock / trick and the ease it can be worn down (although jynx will similarly be worn down from this). srreally sucks for magmar because it prevents him from taking advantage of the extra bulk eviolite grants him. i'd honestly say sr hurts magmar more thancharizard because charizard a) still has his immense offensive prowess b) can roost it off and c) gets him down to blaze range.

speaking of charizard, use it, it owns. stop being afraid of sr; the best sr preventers synergize well with charizard both offensively and defensively too. it can also run a billion amazing sets n_n

oh, i definitely agree that charizard > magmar. magmar does have certain niche qualities that do stand out from the rest, but Charizard is all around the bettermon if you're just looking for a powerful fire type. and yeah, sr seriously fucks with magmar; it's the difference between a 2hko and 3hko against jynx's psychic, which is pretty lame. i'd honestly only use magmar with proper wish support (and to an extent maybe a spinner, but wartortle is lame and does nothing besides spin really), from something like alomomola, and even then it's really a long shot unless my team has very hard problems with tangela, vileplume, jynx, etc. atleast magmar + alomomola + grass type is a fwg core, but like i said charizard > magmar. ironically, magmar also suffer froms 4mss in terms of hidden powers; it needs hp grass to check things like seismitoad, but then it's completely walled by charizard, and subroost can just set up in its face. magmar could possibly beat it if magmar is already behind a sub, but fire blast only has 8 pp and it misses. so you really have to choose between getting forced out by charizard and other fire types or water types. id honestly say that the lack of thunderbolt totally shits on magmar's consistent viablity, tbh.

yeah, charizard is a really great mon this gen, people need to use it more. subroost is wonderful, and you can just run it with jynx or tangela to get something asleep as set up bait. charizard also has the wonderful 100 speed stat which makes the scarf set actually compete with other scarf sets, as it outruns jynx andprimeape. that being said, a blaze boosted fire blast can really spell the difference between winning or losing, so the sr damage isn't as much of a hindrance as many people seem to think it.

 

[Ashley11]

Magmar is honestly a one hit wonder type of pokemon. Its main focus is to counter the grass types your foe might have, and then it is completely outclassed in every other aspect. If your team is really weak to grass types it is understandable to use magmar, but if you want a very strong fire type, like pen link said, Charizard is the way to go.

Charizard is great in this metagame, and it is very versatile. You can use a subroost, scarf, roost and 3 attacks, or sunny day.

 

[Dell]

Yeah Magmar isn't necessarily dead weight, but it is essentially the awkward combination of a Pokemon that utilizes its bulk and power, as both are usually not enough in most occasions. Eviolite in combination of Vital Spirit allows it to check a good amount of specific Pokemon like most Grass- and Ice-types, but the presence of Stealth Rock greatly cripples that when attempting to check Jynx. As for offensively, Magmar doesn't get to utilize its offensive presence as much as Charizard due to the lack of Life Orb and slightly lower Special Attack, but it is still high enough to hit most Pokemon reasonably hard with STAB Fire Blast. The decent amount of bulk that it does have thanks to Eviolite allows it to make some interesting use out of Will-o-Wisp, which can annoy a lot of Pokemon in general and give switch-ins like Alomomola or most Rock/Ground-types a harder time checking it. Magmar can also find opportunities to setup a Substitute against most Pokemon that can hardly leave a scratch to it, being most weak attacks.

Agreeing with most of the above that Charizard is an amazing Pokemon in the metagame. Not only is Charizard is one of the most difficult immediate attackers to switch into (especially its Life Orb set), but a lot of people tend to misinterpret its Stealth Rock weakness as a major detriment towards its playstyle and such much less of a threat. On the contrary, however, it can actually be quite potent for Charizard itself because of how much of an easy time it has of taking advantage of Blaze late game. It also forces switches so much naturally because of its great Speed stat and how much power it sports overall, which buys it a lot of opportunities to use Roost when necessary. Swords Dance Charizard is interesting in the fact that it's able to lure a lot of the common switch-ins from its special set. It is just an incredibly versatile Pokemon that is able to utilize a lot of offensive sets to good success thanks to its ability to go physical or special, which has very distant checks and counters from one another.

Speaking of Fire-types, what do you guys think of Combusken in the current metagame? It's still quite a bit of a rare sight because of its frailty, but I see a lot of potential despite this. Combusken has a great STAB combination, and Life Orb and Speed Boost gives it the ability to sweep most weakened teams. It also has a good matchup against arguably the most reliable revenge killer in the metagame, Kangaskhan, thanks to it being able to block Fake Out with Protect and resisting Sucker Punch. It can also either ease prediction with Substitute or run options like Hidden Power Electric/Grass to decimate most of its common switch-ins.

 

[Ashley11]

Combusken is an ok pokemon to use, and the best set for it to use probally is its special attacking set. It can demolish many things, and even sweep lategame since it has speed boost. I usually run Fire Blast/Focus Blast/Protect/Hidden Power Grass or Ice. Use Hidden power grass if you want to beat seismitoad and use hidden power ice if you want to beat altaria.

The main problem with combusken though is that it has 2 moves that are a bit unaccurate so if you miss it might put you in a disadvantage or cost you the game. I am not sure about the physical attacking set since i have never tried it before. The other thing about combusken is that charizard outclasses it as a special attacking fire type at times since it has focus blast and fire blast as well and is fast already, and has reliable recovery. It honestly just depends on the team if you want to use combusken or not, but a lot of the time I would rather use charizard despite its stealth rocks weakness.

 

[Pen Ink]

so i know there's already a thread for serperior, but i feel like more people will see it here. lately i've been running anti-lead serperior.

Serperior @ Leftovers
Trait: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Spd / 184 HP / 72 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Glare
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Giga Drain

this thing is great. golem, golurk, and seismitoad are all scared shitless by it. this causes a ton of t1 switches, which is the perfect opportunity just to glare or knock off. in reality, golem has sturdy and golurk isn't even always 2hko'd by giga drain, but most people don't really take that into consideration because they know a taunt is incoming. 184 hp ev's is a leftovers numbers. i'd run a higher leftovers number with more hp but i added in about 30 SAtk ev's to help the golurk 2hko. the rest of the special attack is what's left over after hitting the leftovers number. i've been running 252 spd ev's just because, but i might bump it down to outrun base 105's. i've been thinking of running meadow plate, which guarantee's the 2hko on golurk, alomomola, 0.39% on wartortle, etc. i also might run hp rock for charizard and other rock types. hp ice is also a decent option.

i'd really recommend trying this set out. a t2 glare on charizard, jynx, scolipede, etc, can really turn momentum extremely in your favor, besides the fact that all those mons are now crippled.

 

[scorpdestroyer]

I agree with Combusken being a great Pokemon. Its ability is like a free choice scarf with the liberty to switch moves and its ability to come in multiple times due to no sr weak is great compared to most other fire-types. I usually run hp electric for Mantine, Swanna, mola and Zard. Its downfall is that it can't outspeed most scarfers after one boost and dies to most priority but is great to use in general. Apparently i heard a physical set with Eviolite and sd is good to use but I won't comment much on that since I haven't used it.

 

[skylight]

I agree Serp is a good lead, however, I use Taunt/CM/Giga/HP Rock rather than Glare or Knock Off because most leads are a) generally slow, b) only really have leftovers and you'd 2HKO them with Giga Drain anyways (due to Sturdy). But yeah, I think it's good in this meta especially where people have taken a great liking to Golurk and Seismitoad. Also, I wouldn't really risk it 1v1 (using Glare, like you said) with Charizard and Jynx because the chance of carrying choice scarf is too high, and not even versus Scolipede because you either die on the turn you Glare (252 Atk Scolipede Megahorn vs. 184 HP / 0 Def Serperior: 320-378 (94.95 - 112.16%) -- 68.75% chance to OHKO), or you Taunt and it attacks outright, in fact most Scolipede would outright attack so it can get the OHKO rather than stay in and wait to be 2HKO'd by HP Rock.

 

[Annoyer]

one mon that doesnt get much recognition in this metagame imo is munchlax. its the best counter to jynx in the metagame with its resttalkwhirlwind set and ive been using it on a semistall team with a combo of mandibird / garbo / munchlax and munchlax does such a great job of checking a lot of hard to check stuff such as charizard and jynx and just phazing through opponents teams. i get how some people say its set up fodder but its not really set up fodder at all when the mon just gets phazed out next turn. resttalk is generally a not reliable strategy but with munchlax's good bulk, it can pull it off pretty well. munchlax's bulk along with thick fat gives it a really cool niche in the meta and it should definitely be used a bit more.
along with that, garbodor is also a mon that should be used more as well. sure scolipede can set up spikes faster but not nearly as reliably as garbodor. garbodor's rocky helmet makes wearing down stuff like kangaskhan so much easier and garbo definitely fits on more defensive-oriented teams better than scolipede.
i know that everyone loves kanga but people should also try out tauros da bull. for one, it hits a lot stronger with the sheer force life orb set, it can use substitute to set up on missies that run shadow ball (which is like 90% of the ladder), and its faster than non-scarfed jynx/primeape. you can also use zeb's set which is sub endeavor rock climb zen headbutt and this set allows you to weaken alot of tauros' counters such as alomomola, regirock, and a lot of bulky shit. another cool thing tauros can do is run pursuit to catch jynx that try fleeing away from it and because of that, it can be a really great jynx check. although kanga has more utility, the power tauros has is definitely an important aspect it has over kanga.
*_*

 

[Pen Ink]

I agree Serp is a good lead, however, I use Taunt/CM/Giga/HP Rock rather than Glare or Knock Off because most leads are a) generally slow, b) only really have leftovers and you'd 2HKO them with Giga Drain anyways (due to Sturdy). But yeah, I think it's good in this meta especially where people have taken a great liking to Golurk and Seismitoad. Also, I wouldn't really risk it 1v1 (using Glare, like you said) with Charizard and Jynx because the chance of carrying choice scarf is too high, and not even versus Scolipede because you either die on the turn you Glare (252 Atk Scolipede Megahorn vs. 184 HP / 0 Def Serperior: 320-378 (94.95 - 112.16%) -- 68.75% chance to OHKO), or you Taunt and it attacks outright, in fact most Scolipede would outright attack so it can get the OHKO rather than stay in and wait to be 2HKO'd by HP Rock.

glare and knock off is really for the t1 switch, most of the time. hp rock would only be a paralyzed charizard.

but yeah serperior is cool and more people should use it.

 

[Ashley11]

What do you guys think of offensive miltank? it is just over the golden benchmark 95 speed and has a powerful attack stat and has the abilities scrappy and sap sipper. it just seems good to me and i want to know what you think about it.

 

[watashi]

i don't think it's that much better than kangaskhan who can probably accomplish more than miltank. sure it has that nice immunity to grass, but it has to give up scrappy meaning it is walled by misdreavus and haunter unless it chooses to use the weak and situational punishment. personally i think miltank should be sticking with defensive sets or at least the curse set simply because they are so effective at tanking attacks if the opponent lacks a fighting-type. also, it's attack is not that strong and leaves it walled by basically every physical wall in the tier. there are better offensive normal-types in the tier and in my opinion miltank should just stick to doing what it does best, which is to act as a really bulky support pokemon.