Poor Man's 'Chomp
Introduction
Before the creation of this team I'd never played RU before but my interest in the tier was piqued when a suspect test of Tyrantrum was announced, obtaining reqs in a completely new tier for me was an enticing challenge. I started out my RU experience by laddering with various teams I'd found but they were less than satisfactory and my record reflected that, but I'd seen enough of the tier to get an idea of what would make an effective team and I decided I'd make my own to get reqs. My team would have answers for the rest of the tier as a balanced offense team, rather than pushing the initiative like a more offensive team or having a blanket approach like stall. I ended up with an effective and fairly unique RU team.
I think my inexperience in RU speaks to both the good (it was effective enough to get me reqs pretty handily) and bad (problems and solutions that would be better dealt with by more experienced RU players) in the team. This is a decent, solid team that will perform well as it is now, but I think has potential and room to be made even better.
The Team
In-Depth
Druddigon @ Rocky HelmetIntroduction
Before the creation of this team I'd never played RU before but my interest in the tier was piqued when a suspect test of Tyrantrum was announced, obtaining reqs in a completely new tier for me was an enticing challenge. I started out my RU experience by laddering with various teams I'd found but they were less than satisfactory and my record reflected that, but I'd seen enough of the tier to get an idea of what would make an effective team and I decided I'd make my own to get reqs. My team would have answers for the rest of the tier as a balanced offense team, rather than pushing the initiative like a more offensive team or having a blanket approach like stall. I ended up with an effective and fairly unique RU team.
I think my inexperience in RU speaks to both the good (it was effective enough to get me reqs pretty handily) and bad (problems and solutions that would be better dealt with by more experienced RU players) in the team. This is a decent, solid team that will perform well as it is now, but I think has potential and room to be made even better.
The Team
I started off listing threats, cores and elements that were common and needed to be dealt with in RU. These included hard physical hitters like Tyrantrum and Durant, bulky Regenerator mons like Tangrowth and Slowking, Wish passers like Alomomola and Aromatisse and Megas like Steelix, Abomosnow and Glalie. My team would be built specifically around dealing with these, every mon was chosen directly in response to what I saw in the tier. I wanted my team to be able to switch around and take hits and through wide, appropiate coverage and type distribution/defensive synergy hit back harder than they could to obtain victory.
The first mon in my team was inspired by a very common mon in OU, Garchomp. Druddigon's solid stats, resistances, movepool and ability in Rough Skin paired with Rocky Helmet would enable it to act as a rocks setter and a punishing physical check in my team and even uninvested its attacking presence wasn't too shabby.
Although I had Druddigon in the team, especially without Leftovers and recovery moves I knew it wouldn't be enough by itself to contain the powerful physical hitters in RU. So I added my second mon, Gastrodon, to the team. It has a nice dual typing which synergised nicely with Druddigon's in forming a physically defensive core, very good defensive stats, instant recovery and provided crucial Water and Ice-type coverage. In tandem they could deal with the likes of Tyrantrum, Fletchinder and Durant.
With my primary physical answers taken care of I turned my attention to the special side. Eelektross caught my eye. Its typing combined with its ability, Levitate, are a huge asset defensively meaning it could deal with Flying, Ground, Steel and Electric attacks very well. Its defensive stats were solid enough and with an Assault Vest it could eat up special hits. On top of that its offensive presence is fantastic with its stats and amazing coverage (Fire, Grass, Electric and Dark puts in a tremendous amount of work) that could pressure prominent Water, Flying, Grass, Ground, Steel and Psychic types. A valuable contributor both offensively and defensively.
Another Assault Vest mon was added to the team, Escavalier. Its typing gave it some key resistances to Grass and Psychic that allowed it to deal with mons the previous mons had trouble with like Meloetta and its own shortcomings, such as its glaring Fire weakness, were patched up by them in turn. It also provided powerful physical Steel and Bug coverage as well as a Pursuit trapper.
I saw that the team was lacking a nuke button that would really dent walls, especially specially weak ones, punish switches and anihilate weaker mons so I added a Choice Specs Meloetta. It has spammable STAB, access to Focus Blast and could chunk if not outright kill hitherto problematic mons for the team such as physically defensive Aromatisse as well as generally just blow a lot of the tier away. Its uninvested Special Defense was also a nice feature.
I needed a physical counterpart to Meloetta so I decided on Emboar. It had the bonus of being able to absorb Wisps and provide a Dark resistance but these were minor points. Emboar's main attraction was its Fire/Fighting STAB and monstrous damage output after combining its good Attack stat, high base power moves like Flare Blitz and Superpower, its ability Reckless and an Expert Belt.
The team looked to have pretty strong overall synergy, its defensive cores working together to blunt the opponents' offenses, its coverage working to hit the opponent and break them down and the wallbreakers punching holes where needed.
I decided against dedicated hazard removal because RU's viable hazard removers like Defog Flygon didn't fit into my vision for the team and it wasn't essential in my opinion for the team to function. The team's lack of speed is very apparent and while it is a weakness it's not debilitatingly so, especially given the way the team is built and designed to be played.
The first mon in my team was inspired by a very common mon in OU, Garchomp. Druddigon's solid stats, resistances, movepool and ability in Rough Skin paired with Rocky Helmet would enable it to act as a rocks setter and a punishing physical check in my team and even uninvested its attacking presence wasn't too shabby.
Although I had Druddigon in the team, especially without Leftovers and recovery moves I knew it wouldn't be enough by itself to contain the powerful physical hitters in RU. So I added my second mon, Gastrodon, to the team. It has a nice dual typing which synergised nicely with Druddigon's in forming a physically defensive core, very good defensive stats, instant recovery and provided crucial Water and Ice-type coverage. In tandem they could deal with the likes of Tyrantrum, Fletchinder and Durant.
With my primary physical answers taken care of I turned my attention to the special side. Eelektross caught my eye. Its typing combined with its ability, Levitate, are a huge asset defensively meaning it could deal with Flying, Ground, Steel and Electric attacks very well. Its defensive stats were solid enough and with an Assault Vest it could eat up special hits. On top of that its offensive presence is fantastic with its stats and amazing coverage (Fire, Grass, Electric and Dark puts in a tremendous amount of work) that could pressure prominent Water, Flying, Grass, Ground, Steel and Psychic types. A valuable contributor both offensively and defensively.
Another Assault Vest mon was added to the team, Escavalier. Its typing gave it some key resistances to Grass and Psychic that allowed it to deal with mons the previous mons had trouble with like Meloetta and its own shortcomings, such as its glaring Fire weakness, were patched up by them in turn. It also provided powerful physical Steel and Bug coverage as well as a Pursuit trapper.
I saw that the team was lacking a nuke button that would really dent walls, especially specially weak ones, punish switches and anihilate weaker mons so I added a Choice Specs Meloetta. It has spammable STAB, access to Focus Blast and could chunk if not outright kill hitherto problematic mons for the team such as physically defensive Aromatisse as well as generally just blow a lot of the tier away. Its uninvested Special Defense was also a nice feature.
I needed a physical counterpart to Meloetta so I decided on Emboar. It had the bonus of being able to absorb Wisps and provide a Dark resistance but these were minor points. Emboar's main attraction was its Fire/Fighting STAB and monstrous damage output after combining its good Attack stat, high base power moves like Flare Blitz and Superpower, its ability Reckless and an Expert Belt.
The team looked to have pretty strong overall synergy, its defensive cores working together to blunt the opponents' offenses, its coverage working to hit the opponent and break them down and the wallbreakers punching holes where needed.
I decided against dedicated hazard removal because RU's viable hazard removers like Defog Flygon didn't fit into my vision for the team and it wasn't essential in my opinion for the team to function. The team's lack of speed is very apparent and while it is a weakness it's not debilitatingly so, especially given the way the team is built and designed to be played.
In-Depth
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Dragon Tail
Inspired by its ubiquitous OU cousin, Rocky Helmet Rough Skin Druddigon performs a similar role in RU. A poor man's 'Chomp? Maybe, but it puts in a whole lot of work for this team. With max HP and Defense investment it can eat up physical hits and punish the attacker for 30 per cent of its HP. This also gives it quite a lot of oppurtunity to set up rocks and spinners such as Hitmontop will be reluctant to try and remove them, or pay a heavy price for doing so. Originally the set had Earthquake over Fire Punch but Fire Punch provides more utility in hitting Escavalier, Durant and to a lesser extent Virizion. Sucker Punch is a very useful move, it could pick off mons low on HP, hit mons weak to it hard, prevent it taking unnecessary damage/getting KO'd or just getting off that extra bit of damage before it did get KO'd, in tandem with its residual damage faster physical threats like Durant would be severely weakened or KO'd themselves when up against Druddigon. Dragon Claw is there as a standard STAB move that deals OK damage most of the time, Dragon Tail is another option in that slot (Edit: After testing further, Dragon Tail is a more effective use of this slot, racking up hazard and chip damage and frustrating the opponent's attempts to gain offensive pressure, plus it adds further to the theme of a poor man's 'Chomp). Despite not having any Special Defense investment Druddigon's Dragon typing and natural bulk allow it to also take Fire, Grass and Electric type attacks. As its main role is to get up rocks and dissuade/punish physical attackers with its Helmet/Skin combo Druddigon pretty much never survived until the end of the match, often sacrificing itself to get damage off against physical threats.
Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
- Ice Beam
Gastrodon is fantastic as a physical wall and can survive hits from just about anything that isn't a Grass type, which are dealt with by Druddigon and Escavalier anyway. Its EV's give it huge physical bulk and speed creep uninvested base 40 Speed mons. Storm Drain is a fantastic ability which negates Water type attacks and boosts its Special Attack, which can prove useful. Scald, the best move in the game, provides STAB and the chance to burn and can be clicked mindlessly in a lot of situations. Toxic is to pressure mons like Seismitoad and Alomomola although care has to be taken not to take Toxic in return. Recover is one of Gastrodon's biggest assets and the reason why I chose it over Seismitoad, allowing it to shrug off and heal against a myriad of physical attackers and adding to its longevity in combination with Leftovers. Ice Beam hits Flygon and predicted Grass type switch-ins. Gastrodon deals with Steelix, Flygon, Rhyperior, Durant, Fletchinder and Tyrantrum very well and the tier's physical attackers can't deal with both it and Druddigon together most of the time.
Eelektross @ Assault Vest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Volt Switch
- Flamethrower
- Knock Off
Eelektross is EV'd to ensure it can take a hit and hit back hard and Assault Vest helps it do this. I chose a Modest nature because Knock Off wasn't there primarily for damage but more for utility and even then it would still hit Dark-weak mons like Delphox and Meloetta reasonably hard and I didn't want to compromise Eelektross' bulk in any way. With its typing and ability Eelektross is a good switch-in against the likes of Steelix and Fletchinder in addition to specially attacking mons. Giga Drain destroys Seismitoad and Gastrodon and does a big chunk to Rhyperior. I originally had Thunderbolt but decided Volt Switch hit its targets like Fletchinder, Alomomola and Slowking suitably hard and would give me momentum but Thunderbolt is definitely still a strong option. Flamethrower roasted the likes of Amoonguss, Tangrowth and Escavalier and 2HKO's Steelix while it can't do much back. Knock Off is just a useful move in general. Its great coverage means Eelektross can take on a wide variety of mons including Water, Flying, Ground, Grass and Steel and it has a lot of utility on this team.
Escavalier @ Assault Vest
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Megahorn
- Pursuit
- Knock Off
Next up Escavalier. With an Assault Vest and its great natural mixed bulk plus its high Attack stat Escavalier proved itself it to be a tough and useful Pokemon. Its typing synergises well with the rest of the team, providing a great switch-in to Grass, Normal and Ice-type moves. It performs very well against prominent mons such as special and even physical Virzion, Abomosnow, Tangrowth (HP Fire needs to be scouted for first), Slowking (although offensive variants with Fire Blast are a problem, as are Scald burns) and Meloetta. Iron Head is STAB and hits mons like Glalie and Aromatisse hard. Megahorn is just a powerful attack that can OHKO Delphox and Houndoom, especially easily after rocks, if they try to switch in and dents a lot of things. Knock Off is great utility and can hit Jellicent and Delphox hard on the switch-in as well. Pursuit is fantastic on Escavalier, allowing it to trap and remove Meloetta and weakened Slowkings.
Emboar @ Expert Belt
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Wild Charge
- Sucker Punch
While all the other mons have pretty standard EV's this set may look a little strange. Offensive Emboar with Max HP and no Speed investment. My reasoning for this is that Emboar's speed is naturally lower than a lot of threats so it would be more useful for it to have the EV's to be able to take a hit from them than to outspeed a few things in the tier and I didn't want to use Scarf as this reduces its power and wallbreaking capacity as well as hampers the team in having Emboar be choice locked which can be exploited by alot of mons.
For example:
252+ Atk Mega Glalie Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Emboar: 322-380 (76.1 - 89.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO vs. 252+ Atk Mega Glalie Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Emboar: 322-380 (89.1 - 105.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
Emboar functions in this team mainly as a wallbreaker, dishing out powerful physical hits and a Wisp and Houndoom switch-in. Flare Blitz is a high base power STAB move which is boosted by Reckless and demolishes mons weak to it and dents a lot of mons not built to take physical hits. These characteristics make it great against Spiritomb, for instance. Superpower, another high base power STAB move hits mons like Scrafty and punishes Steelixes and Rhyperiors and again, mons not built physically sturdy will take a lot from it. Wild Charge is good coverage, benefitting from Reckless, and hits Water and Flying types and punishes switch-ins like Slowking or Togekiss and Sigilpyh on a predicted Superpower. Sucker Punch compensates somewhat for Emboar's lack of Speed and can be used to pick off weakened mons, get damage off before the KO and nail Delphox and Meloetta.
Meloetta @ Choice Specs
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
Specs Meloetta is a monster and together with Emboar provided this team's heavy offensive prowess. It blows away a lot of fat and annoying mons for the rest of the team like Alomomola, Amoonguss and Aromatisse. Oftentimes it can just spam STAB Hyper Voice or Psychic and it takes a huge chunk out of even mons that resist like Tyrantrum and Durant. Meloetta can function as both an early-midgame wallbreaker and in a lot of games I found myself in a situation where the opponent's team had been sufficiently weakened to the point where I clicked Hyper Voice 3 or 4 times to win. It's EV'd for maximum damage output and speed, and is this team's fastest mon, although speed is not essential for this team it is nice to have a mon that outspeeds things such as Braviary. Focus Blast is there to nuke Scrafty and Steelix and I decided to forego U-Turn which people may disagree with but generally I found having Shadow Ball was more useful to avoid getting completely stopped by Spiritomb and being able to hit Jellicent and Cofagrigus a bit harder, although without U-Turn playing smarter around potential Pursuit trappers is more imperative.
Conclusion
Escavalier @ Assault Vest
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Megahorn
- Pursuit
- Knock Off
Druddigon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Dragon Tail
Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
- Ice Beam
Emboar @ Expert Belt
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Wild Charge
- Sucker Punch
Meloetta @ Choice Specs
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
Eelektross @ Assault Vest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Volt Switch
- Flamethrower
- Knock Off
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Megahorn
- Pursuit
- Knock Off
Druddigon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Dragon Tail
Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
- Ice Beam
Emboar @ Expert Belt
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Wild Charge
- Sucker Punch
Meloetta @ Choice Specs
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
Eelektross @ Assault Vest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Giga Drain
- Volt Switch
- Flamethrower
- Knock Off
So there it is, the team I built and used as an RU rookie to get reqs. I'm pretty pleased with what I ended up building and achieving with this team, having accomplished my goals of building a solid team that played the way I intended it to and my goals for the suspect ladder. I'm really looking forward to seeing feedback and hearing suggestions for improvement on this team, particularly from people who might want to try the team out on ladder. Thanks for reading.
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