Hi! I'm still somewhat new to the competitive scene of Pokemon, so I'd appreciate any help on this team. I haven't played showdown in a while, and my old LC team had vullaby, and since it got banned, I figured I would just make a new team altogether. I got some mons and ideas from this YT video by serene grace:
I would guess that it's a balanced team given the roles that they each play, (again, I'm somewhat new to all this,) but if it doesn't fit the balanced team definition, let me know and I can update the description title.
Grookey @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- Grassy Glide
- Drain Punch
I'm envisioning this as the main sweeper of the team. On switch in, he activates grassy terrain and grassy seed, getting the def boost and the acrobatics double damage, as well as the priority for grassy glide. Drain punch is there for extra coverage, as well as healing. I imagine this is a pretty good mon, however, I'm pretty bad with playing the seed mons, for instance, OU's acrobatics Hawlucha with electric seed. I'm probably not playing them right, but regardless, my Grookey keeps dying to mons with stuff like first impression, as well as misc fire flying and poison moves. So I would be very open to subbing him out for a different mon if you think I should go a different route.
Anorith @ Eviolite
Ability: Battle Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 156 Atk / 76 Def / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor
- Rapid Spin
This was kinda my own creation, so it may be bad, haha. I got the EV spread from the Dwebble in SG's video, as they seem to fill (sorta) similar niches. Rapid spin has been pretty useful for me in clearing hazards, and rock slide and x-scissor have put in some work as far as damage goes. I USED to have the 1st slot as stealth rock, as I imagined him as a rock setter, but I ended up changing that to Mudbray. Swords dance has done decently well--I envisioned this mon as a hazard remover/pivot-of-sorts, but if I found myself in a favorable position, I might as well set up and dish out as much damage as I can. But I'd be curious for some other opinions as to what could go in that slot instead of SD.
Natu @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Bounce
Level: 5
EVs: 40 HP / 76 Def / 196 SpA / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Air Slash
- Psychic
- Roost
This was again taken from SG's video, albeit with a slight change. I added air slash to get flying STAB and it's worked out pretty nicely. Air slash and psychic are the main STAB attacking moves, with roost for recovery. Heat wave is to check some steel types, like pawniard, however, in my time with playing this team, I haven't ended up using heat wave ONCE. So, I'd be very open to putting a different move in that slot.
Frillish @ Eviolite
Ability: Cursed Body
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 116 Def / 156 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Hex
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
I wasn't expecting to like this mon as much as I have, Frillish has really pulled its weight. Hex is the main attacking force with its STAB, but its also benefits from the double damage that it gets from the opponent being burned, which is where scald and will-o-wisp come in. Recover is basic recovery. I was expecting this mon to do poorly against some dark types like scraggy and whatnot, but it's bulky enough to have done pretty well. It also usually survives the odd non-STAB shadow ball from a mon, so that's good. Pretty happy with this one.
Mudbray @ Eviolite
Ability: Stamina
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Heavy Slam
- Close Combat
I imagine this as the "lead" although I won't have it lead if I see dewpider. It sets up rocks, and then tries to sweep for as long as it can. Earthquake is good STAB, and close combat and heavy slam give other powerful coverage, I used to have it running high horsepower for fear of the 50% damage cut earthquake gets on terrain, but I got frustrated with high horsepower missing, so I changed it to earthquake. In theory, that'll conflict with my grookey's grassy terrain, but it hasn't been an issue... yet. I'll probably change it back the moment it becomes a problem, haha. I like heavy slam, but it honestly hasn't done much for me. I'm wondering if I should change it to something that'll check dewpider and grubbin, like rock slide. Curious what you all think should go in this 3rd slot.
Munchlax @ Eviolite
Ability: Thick Fat
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 SpD
Impish Nature
- Thunder Punch
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
This is pretty much a bulky/attacking/pseudo-stall rest mon. Rest and sleep talk as self explanatory, and earthquake is a good attacking move. I'll usually use this to counter fire types, because of earthquake and think fat. Instead of thunder punch, I originally ran body slam, which offered SATB and nice paralysis. However, I noticed my team was weak to water types (because my grookey always dies, haha) so I gave it thunder punch as some kind of coverage, since I couldn't really fit it elsewhere on the team. Also, I got into a few times where I was stalling against a stalling frillish, and I was somewhat annoyed by sleep talk occasionally using body slam (with the foe being immune) so I imagine this fixes that. I'm not married to that, however, so I'm curious what others think. Maybe I could forego another attacking move at all, and replace it with curse, leaving earthquake as my only attacking move, even though it'd be helpless against flying-types. Curious what you think.
I mentioned the weak points and changes I'm thinking of throughout, but it seems to me like this team has been doing pretty well, and that it's been my own misplays that have brought it down, haha. The fact that some mons were created by an experienced player certainly helps, although I hope I managed to put the pieces together into a somewhat unique way. Thanks in advance, and let me know if you want any more info!
EDIT: After some tweaking, I replaced mudbray's heavy slam with rock slide to counter bug leads, and I swapped anorith's sword dance for facade, so that I can have him tank statuses. Especially since he's my hazard remover, if he switches into toxic spikes, I figured he should at least benefit from it. I *didn't* change those moves in the above listings, just in case I made the wrong call and you think I should change them back. I found that I have a tough time countering pawniard's sucker punch, even though I have almost every mon has some kind of coverage move for it, so let me know how else I can counter that.
REPLAYS:
I'm not that good (mid 1200s on the ladder) but I was somehow randomly matched against LC's no.53 player on the ladder (in the mid 1500s) and managed to beat them. (I didn't find that fact out until after the battle, haha.) Link: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1384561085
Another replay, with a grookey sweep. (Hey! I actually managed to play grookey correctly!) This was before I swapped mudbray's heavy slam for rock slide, so he didn't KO blipbug fast enough in this match. Link: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1384552202
Grookey @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- Grassy Glide
- Drain Punch
I'm envisioning this as the main sweeper of the team. On switch in, he activates grassy terrain and grassy seed, getting the def boost and the acrobatics double damage, as well as the priority for grassy glide. Drain punch is there for extra coverage, as well as healing. I imagine this is a pretty good mon, however, I'm pretty bad with playing the seed mons, for instance, OU's acrobatics Hawlucha with electric seed. I'm probably not playing them right, but regardless, my Grookey keeps dying to mons with stuff like first impression, as well as misc fire flying and poison moves. So I would be very open to subbing him out for a different mon if you think I should go a different route.
Anorith @ Eviolite
Ability: Battle Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 156 Atk / 76 Def / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor
- Rapid Spin
This was kinda my own creation, so it may be bad, haha. I got the EV spread from the Dwebble in SG's video, as they seem to fill (sorta) similar niches. Rapid spin has been pretty useful for me in clearing hazards, and rock slide and x-scissor have put in some work as far as damage goes. I USED to have the 1st slot as stealth rock, as I imagined him as a rock setter, but I ended up changing that to Mudbray. Swords dance has done decently well--I envisioned this mon as a hazard remover/pivot-of-sorts, but if I found myself in a favorable position, I might as well set up and dish out as much damage as I can. But I'd be curious for some other opinions as to what could go in that slot instead of SD.
Natu @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Bounce
Level: 5
EVs: 40 HP / 76 Def / 196 SpA / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Air Slash
- Psychic
- Roost
This was again taken from SG's video, albeit with a slight change. I added air slash to get flying STAB and it's worked out pretty nicely. Air slash and psychic are the main STAB attacking moves, with roost for recovery. Heat wave is to check some steel types, like pawniard, however, in my time with playing this team, I haven't ended up using heat wave ONCE. So, I'd be very open to putting a different move in that slot.
Frillish @ Eviolite
Ability: Cursed Body
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 116 Def / 156 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Hex
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
I wasn't expecting to like this mon as much as I have, Frillish has really pulled its weight. Hex is the main attacking force with its STAB, but its also benefits from the double damage that it gets from the opponent being burned, which is where scald and will-o-wisp come in. Recover is basic recovery. I was expecting this mon to do poorly against some dark types like scraggy and whatnot, but it's bulky enough to have done pretty well. It also usually survives the odd non-STAB shadow ball from a mon, so that's good. Pretty happy with this one.
Mudbray @ Eviolite
Ability: Stamina
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Heavy Slam
- Close Combat
I imagine this as the "lead" although I won't have it lead if I see dewpider. It sets up rocks, and then tries to sweep for as long as it can. Earthquake is good STAB, and close combat and heavy slam give other powerful coverage, I used to have it running high horsepower for fear of the 50% damage cut earthquake gets on terrain, but I got frustrated with high horsepower missing, so I changed it to earthquake. In theory, that'll conflict with my grookey's grassy terrain, but it hasn't been an issue... yet. I'll probably change it back the moment it becomes a problem, haha. I like heavy slam, but it honestly hasn't done much for me. I'm wondering if I should change it to something that'll check dewpider and grubbin, like rock slide. Curious what you all think should go in this 3rd slot.
Munchlax @ Eviolite
Ability: Thick Fat
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 SpD
Impish Nature
- Thunder Punch
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
This is pretty much a bulky/attacking/pseudo-stall rest mon. Rest and sleep talk as self explanatory, and earthquake is a good attacking move. I'll usually use this to counter fire types, because of earthquake and think fat. Instead of thunder punch, I originally ran body slam, which offered SATB and nice paralysis. However, I noticed my team was weak to water types (because my grookey always dies, haha) so I gave it thunder punch as some kind of coverage, since I couldn't really fit it elsewhere on the team. Also, I got into a few times where I was stalling against a stalling frillish, and I was somewhat annoyed by sleep talk occasionally using body slam (with the foe being immune) so I imagine this fixes that. I'm not married to that, however, so I'm curious what others think. Maybe I could forego another attacking move at all, and replace it with curse, leaving earthquake as my only attacking move, even though it'd be helpless against flying-types. Curious what you think.
I mentioned the weak points and changes I'm thinking of throughout, but it seems to me like this team has been doing pretty well, and that it's been my own misplays that have brought it down, haha. The fact that some mons were created by an experienced player certainly helps, although I hope I managed to put the pieces together into a somewhat unique way. Thanks in advance, and let me know if you want any more info!
EDIT: After some tweaking, I replaced mudbray's heavy slam with rock slide to counter bug leads, and I swapped anorith's sword dance for facade, so that I can have him tank statuses. Especially since he's my hazard remover, if he switches into toxic spikes, I figured he should at least benefit from it. I *didn't* change those moves in the above listings, just in case I made the wrong call and you think I should change them back. I found that I have a tough time countering pawniard's sucker punch, even though I have almost every mon has some kind of coverage move for it, so let me know how else I can counter that.
REPLAYS:
I'm not that good (mid 1200s on the ladder) but I was somehow randomly matched against LC's no.53 player on the ladder (in the mid 1500s) and managed to beat them. (I didn't find that fact out until after the battle, haha.) Link: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1384561085
Another replay, with a grookey sweep. (Hey! I actually managed to play grookey correctly!) This was before I swapped mudbray's heavy slam for rock slide, so he didn't KO blipbug fast enough in this match. Link: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1384552202
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