NU Sets Popularized by SPL

By scorpdestroyer. Art by Bummer.
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Introduction

Musharna

Smogon Premier League, or SPL, recently concluded its sixth round, in which top players in almost every official tier competed with each other for the prestigious trophy. NU was one of these tiers. Throughout the tournament, innovative sets were born as players tried to take advantage of metagame trends to counterteam and outwit each other. This article will talk about some of these sets and how they've since become standard fare.

Calm Mind + 3 Attacks Uxie

Uxie

Metagame trends:

The metagame when this set was created was heavily centralized around Mega Steelix, which checked just about half the tier, including Normal-, Rock-, and Psychic-types and many physical attackers. Teams leaned towards the bulky side, with slow but tough defensive cores running around.

What it does:

Calm Mind Uxie works best in a slower metagame, which allows it to set up on a larger portion of the metagame without getting forced out. While the Substitute + Calm Mind set suffers from a lack of coverage, Calm Mind + 3 attacks Uxie gives up the insurance against damage and immunity to status provided by Substitute for a few benefits. This variant of Uxie is significantly faster than Substitute + Calm Mind Uxie and thus needs less support, as it can now outrun a variety of threats, including Mesprit, Sawk, Lilligant, and Samurott. By sacrificing Substitute, Uxie can take full advantage of its colorful movepool, as its last moveslot can now be tailored to the team's needs. The coverage moves shown above were the most popular at the time. Signal Beam enables Uxie to check Psychic-types effectively, discourage Dark-types from switching in, and defeat Malamar. Grass Knot was a boon because it has 120 Base Power against the omnipresent Mega Steelix, enabling Uxie to 2HKO it at +1. Grass Knot also grabs OHKOs on Quagsire and Rhydon and deals huge damage to the likes of Samurott and Feraligatr. Meanwhile, Hidden Power Fire beats other Steel-types, such as Mawile, Klinklang, and Ferroseed.

As mentioned, Uxie's wide movepool makes this set easy to customize based on the team. Teams weak to Calm Mind Xatu and Defog users such as Prinplup, Mantine, and Pelipper can opt for Thunderbolt in the last slot to effectively deal with them. Now that Mega Steelix is out of the tier, Giga Drain is Uxie's best option for a Grass-type move in the last slot; it still smacks Quagsire and Rhydon but also gives Uxie some form of recovery. Shadow Ball is also viable to hit opposing Psychic-types as well as a Roosting Xatu hard. It really all depends on which threats Uxie is needed to deal with.

Choice Band Sneasel

Sneasel

Metagame trends:

Fast threats, including Archeops, Heliolisk, and Typhlosion, were becoming very popular when this set was created; most of these outsped the majority of the metagame, with Archeops for instance sitting at a whopping base 110 Speed. Sneasel's base 115 Speed and extremely dangerous STAB combination made it very effective at outspeeding and threatening to KO all these fast threats. Unfortunately, Sneasel's counters were extremely common. Mega Steelix was the king of the tier, while Hariyama was a hot choice for a Fire-type switch-in. In addition, Sneasel's main sets at that time faced a few issues. Its Life Orb set is easy to wear down in combination with entry hazards, while the Eviolite set really lacks power before a Swords Dance.

What it does:

At the cost of being locked into one move, Choice Band Sneasel means that Sneasel is no longer worn down by Life Orb recoil while still packing a huge punch; because its STAB moves are so dangerous and easy to spam, being locked into one is not too huge of a disadvantage. Sneasel outruns a lot of relevant Pokémon and nothing likes switching into a Choice Band-boosted Knock Off, making this variant very powerful against offensive teams.

Choice Band-boosted Low Kick enables Sneasel to predict and take care of two of its biggest counters, Hariyama and Mega Steelix, by 2HKOing them on the switch. At the very least, both of these common Pokémon could be worn down greatly and taken advantage of later in the game. After Mega Steelix was banned from the tier, Choice Band Pursuit Sneasel began rising in popularity for being able to trap and KO the very common Psychic- and Ghost-types and also wear down Pokémon as they switch.

Healing Wish Musharna

Musharna

Metagame trends:

At the time of this set's creation, Fighting-types were popular: Hariyama was common because of its ability to check most Fire-types and many special attackers, Sawk simply hit like a truck, and Gurdurr was a reliable bulky Fighting-type that had priority Mach Punch and good staying power with Drain Punch. Most Fighting-types were also able to wear down their common switch-ins with Knock Off: Uxie lacked reliable recovery, Mesprit just wasn't bulky enough to keep switching in, Vileplume was beaten by Sawk's Zen Headbutt, and Xatu could be beaten by coverage moves such as Stone Edge.

What it does:

Musharna is probably the most reliable Fighting-type switch-in in the tier, especially with a Colbur Berry. It avoids being 2HKOed by from these Fighting-types' most powerful moves and can retaliate by KOing them with Psyshock. For example, Virizion can only manage to 2HKO Musharna with a +2 Life Orb Leaf Blade, while Musharna retaliates by nearly OHKOing it with Psyshock. In addition, unlike Uxie, which has similar bulk, Musharna has Moonlight to keep itself healthy, making it more consistent at sponging hits in the long run.

Bulky Healing Wish sets were soon discovered, as Musharna's bulk enabled it to pull off a Healing Wish most of the time. Healing Wish sacrifices Musharna to fully heal a teammate. This is great in a metagame leaning towards the bulkier side, as it enables the Musharna user to play more recklessly with frailer offensive Pokémon to wear down opposing bulky threats and then use Musharna to heal its teammates up after Musharna's usefulness expires. Baton Pass enables Musharna to pivot out of its switch-ins and avoid Pursuit, while Signal Beam enables it to defeat Malamar reliably. Musharna can also run many other moves in the last slot, including Heal Bell, Thunder Wave, Calm Mind, and Yawn.

Fast Spikes Garbodor

Garbodor

Metagame trends:

Xatu was commonly used as a stop to Garbodor. It heavily discouraged Spikes-stacking, as bulkier variants of Xatu can threaten to switch in and bounce the Spikes back while forcing Garbodor out with the threat of a Psychic-type STAB move. In addition, Rhydon was common and could easily switch into Garbodor; Seed Bomb Garbodor was rare at the time this set was created and uninvested Seed Bomb couldn't even 2HKO bulky variants of Rhydon anyway.

What it does:

With maximum Attack and Speed investment, Garbodor now outruns most variants of Xatu; hardly anybody runs max Speed Xatu because investing too many EVs into Speed cuts a bit too much into its bulk. As a result, any Xatu that tries to switch into Garbodor is outsped and 2HKOed. Thus, Garbodor can discourage Xatu from switching in and set up Spikes more easily. With Attack investment, Garbodor now also achieves the 2HKO on most Quagsire, Rhydon, and Kabutops with Seed Bomb, meaning that they aren't entirely safe switching in on Garbodor either. While this investment slightly decreases Garbodor's bulk, it still can function as an emergency check to contact moves thanks to Rocky Helmet and Aftermath while also providing the extremely useful Spikes and Toxic Spikes, all in one teamslot.

Hariyama with coverage moves

Hariyama

Metagame trends:

Mantine and Xatu were high in popularity when this set was created; the former was common because it could check top threats such as Mega Camerupt, Mega Steelix, and Feraligatr, while the latter was popular as a Fighting-type check that could deter entry hazards. Garbodor was also very popular throughout the tournament, as it was NU's most reliable Spikes and Toxic Spikes setter and could also check Fighting-types very well. Hariyama's usual set was Fake Out / Close Combat / Knock Off / Bullet Punch, making Mantine, Xatu, and Garbodor very safe switch-ins.

What it does:

Hariyama's role as a bulky tank that counters most Fire-types and checks many special attackers is not compromised with this set. Sacrificing one of Hariyama's priority moves enables it to lure in and defeat Mantine and/or Garbodor, while doing consistent damage to Colbur Berry Xatu. Defensive Garbodor is 2HKOed by Earthquake, while Mantine is OHKOed by Thunder Punch, meaning that hitting them on the switch with the appropriate coverage move will leave them unable to take on Hariyama's teammates, as they both lack reliable recovery.

Assault Vest Magmortar

Magmortar

Metagame trends:

At the time of this set's creation, bulky cores consisting of Mega Steelix and Mantine were very popular. These two made great partners, and many players used the duo to deal with a lot of offensive threats. Mega Steelix walled almost every Normal- and Rock-type while switching into Electric-type moves, while Mantine would help Mega Steelix sponge Fire- and Water-type attacks. Sometimes, bulky Grass-types would round out this core. Because of Mega Steelix's dominance, Fire-types that could force it out and deal large damage to it were on the rise as well, namely Mega Camerupt and Typhlosion.

What it does:

Soon, it was discovered that Magmortar could demolish the bulky cores running around with Fire Blast and Thunderbolt. Unlike Mega Camerupt and Typhlosion, which depended on Rock Slide and Hidden Power Electric, respectively, to deal with Mantine + Mega Steelix cores, Magmortar can outspeed and defeat both members of this core with a powerful coverage move without being locked into the move. An Assault Vest enabled Magmortar to double as a soft check to Fire-types as well as break through defensive Grass-types such as Tangela and Vileplume. In addition, Magmortar was a counter to most Lilligant sets thanks to Assault Vest and Vital Spirit. Unlike other Fire-type checks, such as defensive Mantine, Magmortar can fit onto more offensive teams as well. Hidden Power Water was a popular alternative coverage option to hit Mega Camerupt, but now that Cameruptite has been banned from NU, Hidden Power Grass is the better option to deal with Quagsire and Rhydon.

Bulky Swords Dance Scyther

Scyther

Metagame trends:

Scyther in general has always been a good Pokémon, although Mega Steelix's presence hampered it a little bit. Bulky Swords Dance Scyther's bulk and typing meant it could set up on a host of Pokémon and help the team to take on Grass- and Fighting-types, but it lost a lot of popularity after Mega Steelix entered the tier. Choice Band and Choice Scarf sets were generally more popular, as they could take advantage of Mega Steelix's omnipresence to U-turn out of it into a powerful wallbreaker such as Typhlosion or Sawk for a free hit.

What it does:

Bulky Swords Dance Scyther with U-turn was popularized during SPL. It combined the bulk and setup capability from the original bulky set and the ability to use U-turn from Scyther's Choice sets. Scyther is able to switch into hits from Grass- and Fighting-types relatively easily thanks to its increased bulk from Eviolite, and it also makes a good check to Malamar thanks to Swords Dance, U-turn, and enough bulk to take a boosted Knock Off. U-turn enables Scyther to pivot in and out of Pokémon such as Mega Steelix early- or mid-game, and gain momentum for the team in general. When the game enters its closing stages, Scyther can then set up a Swords Dance to clean up the opposing team, as a boosted Aerial Ace is usually good enough to clean up weakened opposing Pokémon.

Hex Rotom

Rotom

Metagame trends:

Mega Steelix and Mega Camerupt rises during SPL were a huge hit to Rotom's most common set, the Choice Scarf variant. Mega Steelix was extremely centralizing and checked the majority of physical attackers in the tier, while Mega Camerupt rose to prominence due to its ability to hit very hard and safely switch into many Pokémon. With their omnipresence, Rotom could no longer spam Volt Switch freely because it could allow one of these threatening Ground-types a free switch. Mega Steelix and Mega Camerupt were very powerful and a free turn usually meant that they could heavily damage something on the opposing team. In addition, Rotom could no longer use Trick as safely as before due to the presence of these Mega Evolutions, which were immune to Trick. This meant that Choice Scarf Rotom had to rely on predicting and using Shadow Ball, which does not 2HKO them anyway, meaning that its Choice Scarf set lost a lot of effectiveness.

What it does:

With a Spell Tag, Rotom can bluff a Choice Scarf and lure in the aforementioned Ground-types, as opponents think that they have a relatively safe switch-in. Spell Tag's power boost for Rotom's Ghost-type STAB moves is actually enough to enable it to 2HKO fast Mega Camerupt with Shadow Ball after Stealth Rock damage. The other perk of this set is the combination of Will-O-Wisp and Hex. Will-O-Wisp is quite a safe move to spam, as most of Rotom's switch-ins are not immune to burns. This allows Rotom to wear down Mega Steelix much more easily, as well as catch unsuspecting Hariyama off-guard. A burned enemy also doubles the Base Power of Hex, allowing Rotom to deal an impressive 60-70% damage to Mega Steelix. The combination of burn damage, entry hazards, and a powerful Hex often meant that Rotom can take down these bulky Ground-types or at least render them incapacitated and unable to continue to check Rotom's teammates. Hex Rotom is usually paired with Pokémon that can do with a little bit of help to get past Mega Steelix and Mega Camerupt, such as Kangaskhan and Klinklang.

Conclusion

Creative sets created by Smogon Premier League's players show how much room for innovation the NU tier has. This thread in the NU subforum serves as a compendium for creative sets used in SPL and is authored by the players themselves, so feel free to check it out. In addition, the replays from all the SPL matches can be found in this thread, if you're interested in watching some of the best players in action from almost every official tier.

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