Unofficial Metagames SM ZU - Palpitoad: Safe (Peak 1605 ELO, #1)

The Goomy · Jun 4, 2019

(^^I'm clickable!^^)

(^^Click me for the Importable!^^)

Proof of Peak: https://i.imgur.com/qUmY1TK.png (Myself at #1 and honchkrow at #2)

Peak Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-922069956

Shoutouts to honchkrow for being a horse and building this team with me.

Hello everyone, Steven here. And today, I'm going to bring you guys my first SM ZU RMT! This is a team that I built with my great friend and player, honchkrow (aka Advantage aka iplaytennislol). The tiers that we tend to play, NU and OU, have gotten progressively more stale over the course of Gen 7. When we saw the variety of viable Pokemon in the ZU tier, we thought it would be fun to make some teams and ladder like the ORAS NU days. Little did we know that we were going to stumble across a really unique, but consistent team that saw us racing each other to 1600 and #1 on the ladder. The ZU ladder and community has been really encouraging and friendly to this point and we have both really enjoyed playing this tier and in particular using this team.

Let's get on to the team!

The team began with wanting to use SD Combusken. Combusken is an amazing win condition as it can give itself opportunities to set up and sweep late game thanks to its ability, Speed Boost. In general, we started knowing that we wanted to make bulky offense and this seemed like a good place to start.

Palpitoad. This Pokemon was originally suggested on a different team by CanadianWifier and we found great success with it. Palpitoad gives us a bulky ground that acts as a blanket check to many physical attackers in the tier. In addition, its typing generally makes it difficult to KO without a Pokemon that gives Combusken a free opportunity to SD.

These three Pokemon make up the Bulky Offense core of the team. Rotom-S gives the team hazard removal as well as the ability to pivot. Cro-Wormadam-Trash just wins against certain builds, but in every game it is capable of acting as an excellent answer to the strong normal types in the tier and is a great Knock Off switch in (of which there are few in ZU). Finally, Kecleon is just generally an excellent bulky attacker with Assault Vest and gives the team much needed priority to pick off weakened foes.

Finally, Toucannon gives the team much needed speed control with a Choice Scarf set. Toucannon acts a great anti-lead for the team against most builds, completes a Volt-Turn core with Rotom-S, and has the strongest Brave Bird in the tier. Also, Choice Scarf Toucannon does an excellent job of forcing in Electivire, which gives the team momentum with Palpitoad or can force choice-locked ice moves that Combusken can abuse.

Combusken @

| Speed Boost

Jolly | 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 SpDef

Swords Dance
Flare Blitz
Sky Uppercut
Protect

Combusken is one of the premier late game sweepers in ZU. The initial power of Combusken can be slightly underwhelming, but Jolly is the superior set to Adamant as it allows it to outspeed up to base 105s at only +1 speed. This is critical as it allows Combusken to revenge many more Pokemon late game if necessary. The bulk that Eviolite provides is critical as it gives Combusken many opportunities to set up (in one turn) on a lot of the weaker Pokemon in the tier. In particular, the team tries to forces the opponent into bringing in bulky grasses to handle Palpitoad or fire types to handle Wormadam-Trash. These can be set up fodder in the late game if necessary. Combusken is able to OHKO basically everything on offense after a Swords Dance boost, including Swanna after Stealth Rocks (this is the calc that made honchkrow and I pick Combusken to build around originally).

Palpitoad @

| Water Absorb

Bold | 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpDef

Stealth Rock
Scald
Earth Power
Toxic

Palpitoad is awesome on this team and I think in general. It compresses a lot of roles for the team as it provides a Stealth Rock user, an electric resist, and a fire resist. The differentiating factor between Palpitoad and other Stealth Rock users is that it is neutral to Ground, Fighting, and Ice, all of which are coverage options used by the Electric and Fire types in the tier, namely Electivire, Rapidash, and Combusken. This allows Palpitoad to be a much more reliable or "SAFE" switch in (I had to get the title in there somehow) to these huge threats in the tier without needing to predict. The speed tier that Palpitoad is actually really useful and generally lets it get off fast Scalds against Golems and other slower Pokemon. Palpitoad is able to sap momentum from Electivire users trying to revenge Scarf Toucannon and reliably gets Stealth Rocks in every game as well as punishing switches with Toxic. Overall, an amazing member of the team and is probably the one that we enjoy the most.

252 Atk Electivire Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Palpitoad: 73-86 (20.6 - 24.3%) -- guaranteed 5HKO

Rotom-Fan @

| Levitate

Timid | 248 HP / 252 Spe / 8 SpAtk

Volt Switch
Air Slash
Defog
Will-O-Wisp

Rotom-Fan's role on the team is to act as a bulky pivot. It does this job quite well with its fairly unique typing that allows it to match up well against threats such as Silvally-Fighting and flying types. Rotom-Fan's unique speed tier allows it to outpace Servine, Shiftry, and Pinsir and threaten them with a STAB Air Slash, which is critical for the team. Volt Switch allows Rotom-Fan to get momentum for the team and to put pressure on the opponent about going into bulky normal types as they are a set up opportunity for Combusken. Finally, Defog support is useful as the team has a Scarf Toucannon that wants to pivot in and out and the rest of the team is susceptible to Spikes and would get worn down quickly as no other member has Leftovers recovery.

Wormadam-Trash @

| Overcoat

Bold | 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe

Quiver Dance
Rest
Sleep Talk
Bug Buzz

Wormadam-Trash has Scizor typing and very respectable bulk for ZU, which makes it an excellent switch in to big threats such as Abomasnow, Shiftry, Komala, Beartic, and others. Due to holding a Z-Crystal, Wormadam is able to act as a really reliable Knock Off switch in, which is hugely valuable in ZU. In addition, even an unboosted Savage Spin Out can OHKO many threats that think they can set up alongside Wormadam. Wormadam's obvious weakness to fire types are covered on the physical side by Palpitoad and the special side by Kecleon, so it is generally able to come in throughout the game and Rest off damage and pivot back in later as necessary. The "Cro" set was chosen because it increases Wormadam-Trash's longevity and gives the team another win condition beyond Combusken.

Kecleon @

| Protean

Adamant | 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe

Drain Punch
Sucker Punch
Shadow Sneak
Knock Off

Kecleon is the perfect revenge killer for the team as it provides the role compression of a special wall alongside it. The main threats that Kecleon needs to counter are Kadabra, special waters (Lapras, Floatzel), and special electrics (Zebstrika, Electrode). It is strong enough to not be able to be abused by much of anything after nabbing a kill or pressuring something out. The core of Rotom-Fan, Wormadam-Trash, and Kecleon do an amazing job at handling anything that can abuse Palpitoad and cover the majority of the metagame effectively. Kecleon is the face of bulky offense in ZU in my mind and carries weight in every single game.

Toucannon @

| Skill Link

Jolly | 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def

Brave Bird
Bullet Seed
Rock Blast
U-turn

Choice Scarf Toucannon is an amazing anti-lead and is the second form of speed control for the team alongside Kecleon. Toucannon lies in a really great speed tier that allows it to hit 360 speed when Jolly, which is enough to outspeed everything up to and including Swoobat. In addition to carrying the strongest unboosted Brave Bird in the tier, Skill Link allows Toucannon to punish Sturdy Pokemon such as Golem and Crustle. U-turn completes the Volt-Turn core with Rotom-Fan and helps the team to keep momentum against Toucannon's few 100% reliable switch-ins such as Mawile. Also, Toucannon's presence (particularly with a Choice Scarf) forces Scarf Electivire to come in and either give up momentum by attacking into Palpitoad, risk doubling back out, or give Combusken a chance to set up for free on choice locked Ice Punch. Overall, Toucannon melds the team together into one cohesive unit that can perform well against all archetypes.

Hakamo-o:

Unlike Fraxure, this cannot be taken on with Wormadam-Trash and is dangerous if it is the Bulk Up + DD set.

Bouffalant:

The sub SD set can be threatening and forces Toucannon to never click Bullet Seed. Fortunately Palpitoad does outspeed and can Toxic if it tries to Sub on you.

Bibarel:

Really hard to beat if rocks are up and it gets an opportunity to SD (the only time it does is against Palpitoad)

Lapras:

Dragon Dance sets are scary to face.

This team and this short time I've had in the ZU community has been some of the most fun I've had playing Pokemon in several years. I honestly think that this team is very solid and I know it was able to do well against people on all levels of the ladder. I hope you all are able to teach honchkrow and I something about ZU and please let us know if there are any suggestions to improve the team.

As always, thanks for reading and I'll see you next time~

Peak - https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-922069956

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-922065544
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-921974187
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-921479695
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-921475457
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-921459831
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-921450657
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-921439071
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-920569632

honchkrow · Jun 9, 2019

cool rmt friend, might i suggest updating the ladder peak?:

:]

potato36 · Jun 17, 2019

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7zu-930053952

Great team! However, it is extremely weak to Choice Band Golem. I understand it is a meme team, so I'll let it stand. :] Again, cool team!

Unofficial Metagames SM ZU - Palpitoad: Safe (Peak 1605 ELO, #1)

The Goomy

Whitest Mexican Alive

honchkrow

potato36

Banned deucer.

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