Hi all! I wanted to come here and do smth a little bit different. At first I was considering posting all the teams I used during NUPL, but truthfully I feel like it would be a waste of time. I wouldn't use most of these teams myself after the dragalge ban, and if rotom-mow is banned almost every single one would be invalidated. I think i used rotom-mow in (7/8) weeks? and won all 7, so obviously i love the dude. Being said I'd love to see it banned just to see the metagame changes, and frankly i want to be able to build a stakataka team without feeling like I lose to plot sets. It's not inherently broken, there are just a lot of constrains on building right now and it is a small part of the problem (being said silvally-ground is worse, do with that what you will). I figured instead I'd post some cool sets I felt like were unexplored, not all of these are going to be meta-defining or something easily built around, just mons I thought were cool and occupied some niches in the metagame. I'll try to give ideas of sets I would use, but I'll also try to leave EV spreads open on a lot of these so people can play around what best works for their own teams. As a side note if anyone is interested in the teams I used during NUPL im always happy to pass any.
Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Seismic Toss/Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Teleport
I got some SLACK for this set when I posted it originally, and I get why. At first glance it looks silly to use it over Sylveon, and I'd agree on a lot of teams it is. Being said for a short time I began preferring clefairy over sylveon in the builder for a few reasons. The first and most important reason is teleport, which can likely hoist any decent mon into viability. Instead of chipping your machamp to 30% vs weezing and never being able to switch it into vaporeon again, suddenly your opponent has to play in a way where they prevent teleport, which is generally much more difficult to do. The side benefits are of course magic guard, an incredible ability, and its low speed which makes it a semi-reliable check into defensive stakataka.
0 Atk Stakataka Gyro Ball (63 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Clefairy: 128-152 (37.2 - 44.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO I love this roll.
I recently saw my manager Luck use it, and despite it not winning I do think with better play (SORRY LUCK), it likely should have and it played a cool roll by eating stakataka and managing to seismic toss it (30% a turn into stak), and repeatedly wish up.
Duosion @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock/Psychic
- Thunder Wave/Toxic
- Recover
- Calm Mind/Future Sight/Night Shade/Shadow Ball etc.
Truthfully I thought I made this set but someone told me
Elias PSY was using this way before I did so shoutout to him. This set was incredibly cool in the dragalge metagame, but still manages to be a very good check into a large part of the special attacking metagame such as eggy-a, rotom mow, indeedee, and others. During this NUPL I looked long and hard at all of the regenners, and amongst known picks like eldegoss and tangela (who i will also talk about), duosion managed to stand out as a cool mon that I've built around a few times.
Tangela @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Knock Off/Leech Seed/Sleep Powder/Toxic
- Leech Seed/Sleep Powder/Toxic/Knock Off
Tangela is another mon I love with a ton of flexibility in its sets. I've evd it defensively or even close to max special defense (although defense is usually preferable). Its an incredibly check into rotom mow and silvally ground, and manages to force progress on its own with a mix of knock off, sludge bomb poisons, sleep, and other annoying tools. It has a pretty good base speed stat for a wall so you can EV speed however you like, and make it whatever you want it to be. Given its incredible bulk, it can even stay in vs mons with SE coverage like talon and cripple them for other mons on your team. Leech seed is a good tool to beat snorlax in conjunction with knock off, but truthfully this mon can run a lot of sets and still do what it needs to.
I've recently taken inspiration from
Togkey and
Danny for a few sets, which i can highlight here. Both are very creative in the builder, and I like to see some of the stuff they've come up with.
Sneasel @ Choice Band
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Triple Axel
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Low Kick
I feel like of all the mons im posting sneasel is likely the one to see the highest increase of usage in NU after seeing some decent tours results, as well as just having a great natural speed, good power, and pairing incredibly well with xatu. Its incredible at revenge killing with its speed and incredibly important priority. Not much to say, just dont use icicle crash like togkey, be a don and hit your axels. (Pretend like mudsdale doesnt have stamina and rocky helmet doesnt exist).
Drampa @ Chople Berry
Ability: Berserk
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 Spe
Bold/Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Surf
- Calm Mind
- Roost
I believe I actually saw
OnArceus use cm beserk drampa before anyone else, although ive also seen togkey use 3 attack and other cool relevant cm mons like diancie (not going to include diancie on its own but cm/moonblast/ep is insane coverage rn). I currently do not love hvoice/fblast sets, after experimenting with coverage this was generally my favorite combo. The other addition to the set I brought was chople, its a bit counterintuitive because leftovers are so good on this set, but i really liked the versatility it added into walls like diancie and stakataka (which surf can beat), as well as sponging a hit from the fighting types in the tier.
Jynx (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Psyshock/Psychic
- Nasty Plot
Oml Jynx is the hill im willing to die on. With escav's usage back to not being stupid, alongside croak, i could make an argument jynx is the single best vapo abuser in the tier (forget that sub mantine garbage pls). Its strong, its fast, its INCREDIBLY frail but i love using it anyways. If i played it better I probably could have won the week i brought it :(
Indeedee-F (F) @ Twisted Spoon
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature / Timid
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force
- Mystical Fire
- Dazzling Gleam
- Calm Mind
Not a new set, but one that definitely does not see nearly enough play. I like it better than specs generally, at +1 modest twisted spoon eforce is likely the strongest possible attack in nu, and this things shreds anything trying to scout it. S/O
turtledoggo1 for bringing this dude one week, definitely the coolest ndd set rn imo.
Escavalier @ Assault Vest
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Drill Run/Close Combat
I so often see escav in defensive roles that people forget how potent offensively it is. I don't particuarly love band due to the excess of scouting and necessary defensive role its plays, but aoa with AV or lefties have been two sets Ive seen relative success with. It pairs best with a strong defensive cast and good hazard removal, but I love the progress this dude can force.
Malamar @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 224 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Superpower
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
One of the parts of the tier i like the least are the limited dark options, i really did enjoy using malamar when i did. Without a fairy or strong bug type move it's really hard to kill, but also can spread knock and eat some important hits from mons like ndd.
I wanna do some honorable mentions here too in the interest of time:
Sitrus Harvest Eggy-A with Sleep Powder/Sludge Bomb last slot- Eggy a has very useful defensive utility in the current meta so people have caught on to sitrus harvest, sludge bomb and sleep powder are both cool tools to hit sylv on this set
Spd arcanine- A bit more niche but I found spd sets have a cool role in walling both copperand salazzle, and scorching sand is good coverage on it right now for lazzle
Braviary- BU sets are cool, not going to do a full post on it bc people have caught on/are catching on to its place in the meta I feel
Endeavor Salzzle on HO- People have begun catching onto this set but its an incredibly potent set on the HO teams its run on
Band Scrafty with intimidate- cool defensive role, and a moveset like knock off, close combat, poison jab/iron head, and assurance puts in work
Side Notes-
Wise Glasses is a cool item on analytic starmie if youre a fellow LO hater
Ebelt Duraludon is strong
Sirfetchd is better than machamp and ill fight anyone on it
Kingler is so strong even with plume usage and water absorb it should see more use, ive even used sd body slam liquidation blizzard as a cool set before (not to mention its really solid speed tier for a breaker)
Ill add any more sets I think of as I remember them, sort of rushed this post out in like 30 minutes. Like I said most of these sets aren't meta-defining, and some aren't even new, just some cool mons to consider and a reminder that even in a tier where building can feel constrained there are still cool ideas to be had.