https://pokepast.es/bd11044b6f8a573b
Coming at you with a Gen 3 OU Guts Challenge team. The Guts Ladder Challenge is where you use three Pokémon ranked BL or lower. Months or years ago I made an RMT about my last Regirock team, and this one is another flavor of lead Regirock fun. This team should be effective for laddering from 1000 to 1400, with the capability to hit 1500. I hit 1519 starting from 1300 or so, under the name "Rich Evans Laugh". I have no idea if I have any publicly saved replays, but I probably have some private replays I could share if anyone has questions regarding usage.
Unfortunately, only the Regirock and Ludicolo have sets modified from Smogon recommendations, everything else is Smogon Recommended sets, bc I was lazy. I'll be going into a lot more detail with those two fellows.
My last Regirock Guts team was a Crocune setup team, which wins games but does get stally vs Blissey, which is boring and lame. This team is more dynamic, but also more prediction reliant. One note about Guts Challenge teams, you have to make all the BL mons shiny, or it doesn’t count.
Final note before the RMT, I don’t nickname my mons on ladder, because I view then merely as tools, but I do nickname them for the RMT because its funny.
Bijou (Regirock) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Curse
- Rock Slide
- Focus Punch
- Explosion
Stock: Curse set.
Modifications: Focus Punch over EQ, max attack over SpD, Lum Berry over Lefties.
Regirock is by far my favorite BL or lower lead. It has favorable matchups to Zapdos and Ttar, the most common meta leads. It also crushes Smeargle and Breloom with Lum. Regirock's purpose is to kill or cripple something, then explode, ideally getting two KOs and putting you in a numbers advantage. Focus Punch is preferred over EQ because Skarm, which is a very common switch in.
Unfavorable matchups for Regirock are any water type, Celebi, Metagross, and lead Hariyama or Blaziken. SpD has been removed from the stock set; my understanding of that inclusion is for Regirock to survive Offensive Starmie Hydro Pump (or ~95% survive Offensive Suicune Hyrdo Pump). We will be using Ludi to handle all water types that appear in the first few turns, so the additional SpD is not necessary. Fighting types are easily handled by Salamence.
Metagross can be a more difficult problem. Zapdos is the preferred switch if it hasn't been revealed, but Ludi will be needed for subsequent switches unless you confirm the Metagross does not have Rock Slide. Ludi can 1v1 any Metagross or force explosion, but it can leave you very weak to Starmie if Regice is weakened, or CM Suicune if Zapdos is weakened.
Celebi is the biggest problem; of the bad Regirock matchups, Celebi has the biggest set variety. Ludi will help against Leech Seed, but chokes against SD+BP, CM sets, or just high SpD sets. HPFly or Fire Blast from Mence is good, but this team uses CB Mence, so you may be forced into a read, particularly in the early game. Regice is the best switch in, but is real slow and can invite in problem mons, like Metagross or Jirachi.
There are several options to help with the Celebi weakness, but I didn’t find it to be too much of a problem once you figure out the set. At the end of the day, Regirock can always just explode.
Fauna (Ludicolo) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 152 HP / 252 SpA / 104 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Leech Seed
Stock: Rain Dance Sweeper
Modifications: Giga Drain over Rain Dance
Since this Ludi set is primarily a water type answer, we are never going to set rain, and Giga Drain kills water types, particularly Swampert. This set is so good at killing Pert, the only thing that can happen is you get toxic'd. In that case, Pert is going to switch out anyway, and you can hit it with Giga Drain, or a Zapdos HPGrass later.
Since Grass types other than Celebi tend to be pretty rare, you can also Leech Seed all the time, which is helpful for keeping everyone healthy.
This Ludicolo is also required to be female, for reasons I will not explain.
Wamy (Regice) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Atk / 152 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Explosion
- Thunder Wave
Stock: Offensive. No modifications.
No set modifications, and I still made it shiny. For shame. This would probably be better off being a Blissey, but you need three BL mon for Guts teams, so here we are.
I haven’t experimented enough with Regice to make any major changes, but the stock set does its job well. As implied above, its job is Blissey's job, which is to be a special wall. Stab Ice Beam is fantastic, and as stated above, will put the hurt on many Celebi sets. If your opp is a switcher, any Ice Beam switch in is probably not going to like TWave, so thats a great option. Maybe only Steelix is a perfect switch in, which.... unlikely to say the least.
Regice does invite Blissey, but you're going to just want to explode on her. Blissey is rough to deal with without spikes or a really strong physical attacker, so chipping Bliss down with explosion is helpful if you can afford it.
Another strong defensive TWaver option is Registeel. Registeel is probably better overall, but Regice's assistance with the Celebi matchup led me to chose it over Steel. Also, ngl I think Regice is cuter.
Invested Draco Meteor (Salamence) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Brick Break
Stock: Band. No modifications.
The stock mixed set does pretty well too. This could be a CB Aerodactyl for similar effect, or even a Metagross or Ttar. Mence was chosen here for its defensive utility with Intimidate, and for its better coverage over Gyarados. Really, this slot is just here to put out big physical damage with no set up (this team isn't designed to facilitate DD as is) since the early game Regirock plan is to chip the Skarm or Pert with Focus Punch or Ludi.
One idea I had while writing the RMT is Twave and/or roar Gyarados. That would free up Zapdos to run agil or sub pass, but may also make you more passive. Maybe thats something I'll experiment with later.
Stock Zapdos (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Thunder Wave
- Roar
Stock: Offensive. No modifications.
Works very well with Regice. Regice (and Ludicolo) weakens flying and water types, which lets Zapdos do great with late game cleanup. Maybe TWave isn’t needed alongside Regice's, but it doesn't hurt to spread lots of yellow magic. You could switch Mence to Jolly, and run Zap Modest, but I don't think it makes that big a difference. Zapdos is so good, you could probably run just TBolt and still get tons of value out of it.
As stated above, you can't run agil or sub pass with this lineup, because you need a roar user for laddering, as you will run into Ninjask. I guess you could try, but depending on which two of TWave, Roar, and HPGrass you cut, I think that leaves you worse off against problem mon. Dry BP is a suitable option over TWave.
Stock Claydol (Claydol) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Atk / 32 SpA / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Psychic
- Explosion
Stock: Utility. No modifications.
This is my least favorite part of the team, which is a shame. You really want a spinner, because this team doesn't have enough breaking power to deal with heavy stall if a ghost type cucks your Regirock explosion. Claydol was chosen over Starmie as it is a rock resist. While I prefer a full special set with Psychic and Ice Beam, that set looses hard to any Ttar, so it isn't suitable here. I haven't tried full physical Claydol, with Shadow Ball and EQ, but that could be workable. There are like 10 different modifications you could make to this set, but all you really need is a spinner that beats Gengar, and a rock resist, which this set provides.
Final notes.
Very fun team, meant to be played aggressively. Can auto lose to an intelligently played Areo, but if they leave Areo till last mon you can Intimidate stall.
Coming at you with a Gen 3 OU Guts Challenge team. The Guts Ladder Challenge is where you use three Pokémon ranked BL or lower. Months or years ago I made an RMT about my last Regirock team, and this one is another flavor of lead Regirock fun. This team should be effective for laddering from 1000 to 1400, with the capability to hit 1500. I hit 1519 starting from 1300 or so, under the name "Rich Evans Laugh". I have no idea if I have any publicly saved replays, but I probably have some private replays I could share if anyone has questions regarding usage.
Unfortunately, only the Regirock and Ludicolo have sets modified from Smogon recommendations, everything else is Smogon Recommended sets, bc I was lazy. I'll be going into a lot more detail with those two fellows.
My last Regirock Guts team was a Crocune setup team, which wins games but does get stally vs Blissey, which is boring and lame. This team is more dynamic, but also more prediction reliant. One note about Guts Challenge teams, you have to make all the BL mons shiny, or it doesn’t count.
Final note before the RMT, I don’t nickname my mons on ladder, because I view then merely as tools, but I do nickname them for the RMT because its funny.
Bijou (Regirock) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Curse
- Rock Slide
- Focus Punch
- Explosion
Stock: Curse set.
Modifications: Focus Punch over EQ, max attack over SpD, Lum Berry over Lefties.
Regirock is by far my favorite BL or lower lead. It has favorable matchups to Zapdos and Ttar, the most common meta leads. It also crushes Smeargle and Breloom with Lum. Regirock's purpose is to kill or cripple something, then explode, ideally getting two KOs and putting you in a numbers advantage. Focus Punch is preferred over EQ because Skarm, which is a very common switch in.
Unfavorable matchups for Regirock are any water type, Celebi, Metagross, and lead Hariyama or Blaziken. SpD has been removed from the stock set; my understanding of that inclusion is for Regirock to survive Offensive Starmie Hydro Pump (or ~95% survive Offensive Suicune Hyrdo Pump). We will be using Ludi to handle all water types that appear in the first few turns, so the additional SpD is not necessary. Fighting types are easily handled by Salamence.
Metagross can be a more difficult problem. Zapdos is the preferred switch if it hasn't been revealed, but Ludi will be needed for subsequent switches unless you confirm the Metagross does not have Rock Slide. Ludi can 1v1 any Metagross or force explosion, but it can leave you very weak to Starmie if Regice is weakened, or CM Suicune if Zapdos is weakened.
Celebi is the biggest problem; of the bad Regirock matchups, Celebi has the biggest set variety. Ludi will help against Leech Seed, but chokes against SD+BP, CM sets, or just high SpD sets. HPFly or Fire Blast from Mence is good, but this team uses CB Mence, so you may be forced into a read, particularly in the early game. Regice is the best switch in, but is real slow and can invite in problem mons, like Metagross or Jirachi.
There are several options to help with the Celebi weakness, but I didn’t find it to be too much of a problem once you figure out the set. At the end of the day, Regirock can always just explode.
Fauna (Ludicolo) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 152 HP / 252 SpA / 104 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Giga Drain
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Leech Seed
Stock: Rain Dance Sweeper
Modifications: Giga Drain over Rain Dance
Since this Ludi set is primarily a water type answer, we are never going to set rain, and Giga Drain kills water types, particularly Swampert. This set is so good at killing Pert, the only thing that can happen is you get toxic'd. In that case, Pert is going to switch out anyway, and you can hit it with Giga Drain, or a Zapdos HPGrass later.
Since Grass types other than Celebi tend to be pretty rare, you can also Leech Seed all the time, which is helpful for keeping everyone healthy.
This Ludicolo is also required to be female, for reasons I will not explain.
Wamy (Regice) @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Atk / 152 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Explosion
- Thunder Wave
Stock: Offensive. No modifications.
No set modifications, and I still made it shiny. For shame. This would probably be better off being a Blissey, but you need three BL mon for Guts teams, so here we are.
I haven’t experimented enough with Regice to make any major changes, but the stock set does its job well. As implied above, its job is Blissey's job, which is to be a special wall. Stab Ice Beam is fantastic, and as stated above, will put the hurt on many Celebi sets. If your opp is a switcher, any Ice Beam switch in is probably not going to like TWave, so thats a great option. Maybe only Steelix is a perfect switch in, which.... unlikely to say the least.
Regice does invite Blissey, but you're going to just want to explode on her. Blissey is rough to deal with without spikes or a really strong physical attacker, so chipping Bliss down with explosion is helpful if you can afford it.
Another strong defensive TWaver option is Registeel. Registeel is probably better overall, but Regice's assistance with the Celebi matchup led me to chose it over Steel. Also, ngl I think Regice is cuter.
Invested Draco Meteor (Salamence) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Brick Break
Stock: Band. No modifications.
The stock mixed set does pretty well too. This could be a CB Aerodactyl for similar effect, or even a Metagross or Ttar. Mence was chosen here for its defensive utility with Intimidate, and for its better coverage over Gyarados. Really, this slot is just here to put out big physical damage with no set up (this team isn't designed to facilitate DD as is) since the early game Regirock plan is to chip the Skarm or Pert with Focus Punch or Ludi.
One idea I had while writing the RMT is Twave and/or roar Gyarados. That would free up Zapdos to run agil or sub pass, but may also make you more passive. Maybe thats something I'll experiment with later.
Stock Zapdos (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Thunder Wave
- Roar
Stock: Offensive. No modifications.
Works very well with Regice. Regice (and Ludicolo) weakens flying and water types, which lets Zapdos do great with late game cleanup. Maybe TWave isn’t needed alongside Regice's, but it doesn't hurt to spread lots of yellow magic. You could switch Mence to Jolly, and run Zap Modest, but I don't think it makes that big a difference. Zapdos is so good, you could probably run just TBolt and still get tons of value out of it.
As stated above, you can't run agil or sub pass with this lineup, because you need a roar user for laddering, as you will run into Ninjask. I guess you could try, but depending on which two of TWave, Roar, and HPGrass you cut, I think that leaves you worse off against problem mon. Dry BP is a suitable option over TWave.
Stock Claydol (Claydol) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Atk / 32 SpA / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Psychic
- Explosion
Stock: Utility. No modifications.
This is my least favorite part of the team, which is a shame. You really want a spinner, because this team doesn't have enough breaking power to deal with heavy stall if a ghost type cucks your Regirock explosion. Claydol was chosen over Starmie as it is a rock resist. While I prefer a full special set with Psychic and Ice Beam, that set looses hard to any Ttar, so it isn't suitable here. I haven't tried full physical Claydol, with Shadow Ball and EQ, but that could be workable. There are like 10 different modifications you could make to this set, but all you really need is a spinner that beats Gengar, and a rock resist, which this set provides.
Final notes.
Very fun team, meant to be played aggressively. Can auto lose to an intelligently played Areo, but if they leave Areo till last mon you can Intimidate stall.
