SM teams and sets
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-373734 -
http://pokepast.es/0e7af846f1fa734d
Wanted to have a team with OTR Aromatisse during Venusaur metagame as I feel like a lot of people only used Venusaur (or Golbat) as Fairy answers on more offensive builds and this set could exploit that easily. The game went well, even if not entirely according to plan at all parts, thanks to Elodin's intelligent play. This is not my favorite all-around build, but there are some elements that I really enjoyed at this time (week 1) and I think something similar can work, perhaps with a bit more support, now.
Aromatisse @ Fairium Z
Ability: Aroma Veil
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Nasty Plot
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Psychic
Not exactly my innovation by any means, but probably the only truly viable Aromtisse set and it's quite underrated, imo. With Steel types surging, HP Fire is now a bit better than Psychic probably (esp. w/ Venusaur banned), but regardless this set goes in with Spikes or other passive damage supporting it in the early-mid stages. Z-Moonblast is quite strong and the natural bulk of Aromatisse is perfect for a bulky win condition like this, I feel. Would like to see others try to use this in the current metagame.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-373351 -
http://pokepast.es/f8887407226ca2b5
The idea was mainly to have a means of counter-acting the typical Goomy nonsense (no offense in saying this, but it's just what I mean for non-conventional stuff that sometimes may not be optimal, but more fun) by having Sand + Stoutland, but it turned out to be a bit dicey overall as the build grew a tad awkward with both Rocks as I feel with only 1 Sand Rusher, you prefer CB Gigalith to lure and break for the Sand Rusher and an alternative Stealth Rocker (especially since one abuser does not appreciate Smooth Rock turns as much as two or three). I was itching to use Diancie, too, since I think it's almost too good not to use on some teams and I think I forced it a bit here, which made the team a bit clunky and I got bailed heavy in the game when Goomy brought some really unexpected and unprepared for cheesy stuff.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-376372 -
http://pokepast.es/447d8fc19e619579
Kinda just liked this combination of Pokemon as it covered most things defensively while also aiming to overload the opposing team with an onslaught of special attacking threats. Special Samurott is underrated and more viable than people think, but still not absolutely fantastic like it was back in generation five, even into generation six -- it should see more usage regardless. Game did not go entirely to-plan as Eternally played well and had a good team with Zangoose that won, but Pohjis gave it one hell of an attempt until the Zangoose got off a Belly Drum (sorry for the weakness man, my bad).
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-376636 -
http://pokepast.es/fb90920c30ea757f
Concept was Sub Toxic Protect Delphox + Klinklang, pretty much. It's a cool core, but perhaps a bit more idealistic than practical. The team itself may also be better with AV Slowbro + something over Guzzlord, but I had a Guzzlord boner at this point, so it turned out this way. Regardless, it's a sound team this way, but it could be improved and I think the concept may be workable, but from various other approaches. I wish it worked here because the week was close, but sadly the team did not end up doing too well. Sadly, this game devolved into nonsense because I played a bit needlessly risky and also got outmaneuvered in the early stages, but the Slowbro pulled through after I got the approximately 50/50 Pursuit roll on the Incineroar on the weighted 50/50 to lead up to that.
Delphox @ Leftovers
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 8 HP / 244 SpA / 56 SpD / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Toxic
- Flamethrower
- Protect
This is the Delphox set I alluded to and I just wanted to spotlight it a bit -- it's my favorite Delphox rn, perhaps alongside Bloom Doom. Regardless, this set has a lot of applications that have been overlooked and I think it pairs well with a lot of physical attackers (Passimian, Klinklang, sand abusers, Medicham, Toxicroak, Gallade) as it can wear out Slowbro and common Rock types (Rhydon, Gigalith, etc.) over time. Also, Protect + Substitute + Toxic in general is so hard for teams to play around if they don't have one of a small pool of things, so keep that in mind, too.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-375699 -
http://pokepast.es/da17a8070d2cf969 (this bro straight up beats 2/3 of teams btw)
My favorite team at the time and still one that I generally enjoy -- this is as close to a masterpiece as any team of mine will get. I wanted to use it against TDK because he's one of the better players and I feel the style would catch people like Rozes off-guard when preparing for me. It is a bulkier team that employs less common Pokemon like Altaria and Weezing and it pretty much revolves solely around Slowbro as a win-condition. It does lose to opposing stall teams with an unaware Pokemon that doesn't get PP stalled or crippled, but otherwise it has done a fantastic job against metagame trends -- it should beat pretty much every Sand team and if you don't play too passive then you can effectively cockblock a lot of offensive structures.
Slowbro @ Waterium Z
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 232 Def / 28 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Rest
I think more people should try to build around Slowbro as a win condition when they get a chance. It is obviously fantastic as a non-passive defensive pivot on balance and even offense, but this approach is surprisingly consistent. This set does great because so many teams rely upon status or less durable offensive Pokemon to shut-down Slowbro from having any longevity/ability to stay in for a prolonged period of time. With hazards, Pursuit, and specific means of wearing things out such as my team, things such as SD Incineroar, Whimsicott, Sceptile, Heliolisk, etc. that threaten Slowbro offensively can often get weakened or eliminated. With Rest, things such as opposing Toxic Slowbro, Silvally-Steel, Gigalith, Xatu, etc. can not pose a threat to Slowbro as you can rest if off after boosting and not much can break through you without critical hits or super effective physical moves.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-378140 -
http://pokepast.es/ba634ddeb42fcd5b (broken af)
Earthquake!
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-377697 -
http://pokepast.es/9d52c09e47725aa8
Pretty standard offense with a Specs Rotom thrown on for good measure. Really liked this against the type of teams these dudes frequented, especially Guzzlord + Toxicroak because they compliment each other so well and are very likely to claim at least one kill each game. This team just is standardish offense with a lot of synergy -- nothing more to it.
Never got to play SM with Tricking, but if I did then I was going to use this --
http://pokepast.es/0c3c4e06cf9cc69f
Another fat team with the Slowbro set I outlined above because this was kinda my favorite archetype for a week or two in the middle of the season. I think it still has a lot of potential and I hope others give it a try, but yea here is another example team like that. Scrafty is also a win condition here which is similarly durable and hard to stop in the long-game w/ certain offenses, which is cool.
Finally, another team around that Slowbro set that had Mega-Audino, which I feel has fallen out of the spotlight in recent months, but is still ridiculously underrated --
http://pokepast.es/0963b72151ff5b42
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-378834 -
http://pokepast.es/df18f76b4772796a
Simple team here -- two fighters + defensive backbone. I liked TPunch LO Medicham here because FLCL uses a lot of Slowbro + Xatu builds and while those are normally very much prepared for Fighting types, I felt with some lures and lasting potential paired with Spikes and the ability to overwhelm with two fighters, letting you be reckless with Medicham early to set up for Passimian later (or vice versa), the team was a good pick. Elodin played this game fantastically, too!
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-378837 -
http://pokepast.es/7abc930f5d43db03
Felt like deviating from the norm and trying a lure oriented Diancie set as opposed to the normal defensive Stealth Rock or Choice Specs variants. The set is fine, but the team itself has a few issues. It seemed sound on the surface, but it doesn't flow too well and I think it relies a lot on 2-3 Pokemon defensively that can be out-momentumed or overwhelmed, so it did not work out as planned throughout the course of this game. Still a cool concept that I hope to expand upon even more moving forward.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-379268 -
http://pokepast.es/5d7a8c367587bb7d
Vikavolt is really neat and this is a pretty generic team with it and Sceptile in attempt to catch teams without a dedicated special wall off-guard or simply overwhelm that. It's one of I have not appreciated fully, but really do like and hope to use in the future more, perhaps with some edits.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-378726 -
http://pokepast.es/4ccda77a9f3eb3ab
Potent team with the Dragon core. It overwhelms a lot of the things that are common in the metagame. This match doesn't show much because it got cut-off from being quality earlier on and then turned into a kill-for-kill type of game where he came out on top ultimately because of his early advantage. Regardless, I really like teams like this that stack such potent and even unexpected things to take advantage of metagame norms and I think they succeed at an exceedingly high rate.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-380272 -
http://pokepast.es/c4cb819033c4c926
One of my more boring builds that revolves around a dual specs core that has an otherwise standard outlook and faced a monotype team fsr -- shrug.
Didn't play Leru because dumb shit, but I was going to use this --
http://pokepast.es/edbb3d0da2da6ab6
Cool Clawitzer set/concept Kushalos came up with that I wanted to try out for myself, but never got to in an actual game (it did quite well in tests, however, and I would advise using something similar to those interested in the Clawitzer themselves).
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-382009 -
http://pokepast.es/9095cb3485cfe4f1
Idea is that you use the Sneasel set with Ferroseed as you lure Xatu perfectly -- you always Pursuit turn 1 and if they Roost or Protect, then you Knock turn 2 as they expect you to be locked in (and if they switch, then it's a done deal usually, so yea). Non-choiced Sneasel is actually quite good and I hope more people flirt with it moving forward. Rest of the team is pretty standard, but I liked fighting Frog+Monkey vs Hootie's generic stuff, so they became my offensive fillers after some thought here.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-384253 -
http://pokepast.es/bdb45f88e6601a31
Really untested team, but Elodin wanted to use Zangoose and I wanted to give him a chance to do so -- came up with this. Not sure if I would advise this to others, but the overall idea can work if perfected a bit. This shit can really be potent, anyway.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-383609 -
http://pokepast.es/daa656915018361e
Pretty much full-on stall that's solid and can probably be used to farm wins for whoever is interested depending upon opponent/match-up.
http://pokepast.es/37c03a73353ae4a1 -- This is my other stall, too, for those interested. It never got used, but I made it at the same time as the one above and considered it myself before deciding that stalling Mr. Click x3 Dundies would not be the smartest idea at the time.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-384404 -
http://pokepast.es/909e27baf7193cbd
Kory wanted to use Vikavolt against Cdumas, so I made another team with it. Varied the defensive fillers to fit team needs a bit and it came out kinda of interesting, actually. I like Vikavolt a lot right now and I think it is viable on more team structures than one may think given that it is pretty slow and SR weak.
http://pokepast.es/a82eff38dc7feecf -- This is my other Vikavolt build I made for this match-up and I think it is quite solid, too, but I personally preferred the former and Kory seemed to, too. Either way, this one is similar and just had a different defensive backbone and offensive fillers given what the defensive backbone leaves the team vulnerable to -- nothing special.
http://pokepast.es/89378037942936d6 -- I personally liked this Gallade a lot against this entire team, but specifically Cdumas. This is a build I really enjoyed in testing afterwards and built in the moment, kinda hoping it would get used. Never got the chance, but I am sold on this team and think it is quite good -- will be even better and more consistent if Gigalith gets banned, too.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7nu-383176 -
http://pokepast.es/2ac4b3ba34f0e660
Just wanted to use the first two offensively with Healing Wish support and came out with this. It's pretty up-to-date in terms of threat coverage and I think it's solid overall, but it can be awkward vs certain defensive cores with a specific hard wall to slow the game down or even vs overwhelming opposing offenses, too.
Unused Sand team I made with CB Gigalith that is meant to overwhelm things for Stoutland or Klinklang to clean things out later on --
http://pokepast.es/e1b4dc88b1c92a22
Vanilluxe set I really wanted to use vs Teddeh's team that developed into this full team, which I find to be pretty cool atm --
http://pokepast.es/9b54fdc31981af96
Second team that I considered for Dundies that I ultimately decided against because it felt kinda bland and I just was not feeling Medicham at the time --
http://pokepast.es/1ce50159c0207fdb
Perhaps I will post later with BW stuff, but I don't have enough ORAS stuff to be worthwhile to post and some of the BW stuff is my old teams from 2-3 years ago, so I will determine if it is worthwhile later.
