Note to mods: If, for any reason, you wish for me to post this in the Ruins of Alph thread, please PM me. Also note that I have no clue how to post those little sprite things of the Pokemon, so if anyone can inform me on how to do that, that would be wonderful. Additionally, this is my first RMT, so if there’s anything I missed, please contact me ASAP and I’ll try my best to correct it. Now then...
For better or worse, Supernova has become my signature team. This started as a six Exploders team, but after some tweaks to the team, the number of Exploders halved. Basically, this team was an "experiment" in making a viable, good, consistent Explosion-heavy team. Even after extensive testing (as extensive as I can get with a tier that few people play), I'm not quite sure I succeeded.
Glalie (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Earthquake
- Shadow Ball
- Explosion
Exploder #1, and my Spiker. Glalie is my lead mon. Ice is a horrible defensive typing, so it's rather hard to switch this thing in, hence lead. Furthermore, people commonly run Taunt Glalie (IIRC, I've never fought opposing Physical Glalie) or Hitmonchan as opposing leads to force this thing out. Since it tends to die either in a self-inflicted manner via Explosion, or by being beaten down due to lack of resistances, even after several dozen games or so, I'm still not quite sure as how to use this thing.
What do I mean by that? Well, I don't often Spike with it as you might think I would. That said, since it tends to be forced out so much, it tends to just linger around mid-to-late game.
I mean, I could go switch it to the bulkier set to more reliably set up Spikes, but being able to attack with it lets me dent things to a decent degree of success. I've killed/crippled stuff like Mawile, Haunter, Sudowoodo, and even Relicanth with this set. While I might try out the bulky Taunt version of Glalie, I'll probably still use the physical variant on this team.
Now for the question: How well does Spikes help my team? Well, for one thing, it helps Haunter land the OHKO on Huntail, which is golden. How golden? This team is Huntail-weak. Like, so Huntail-weak I didn't use the team in the ADV NU tour Huntail-weak. Huntail is such a pain that I'm considering dropping a mon on this team to put Huntail on it so Huntail can check Huntail, but that's enough of this tangent for now.
Glalie tends to be Hitmonchan-bait, so I'm considering dropping Shadow Ball for HP Flying as a kind of experiment.
Haunter (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psychic
I can just FEEL the S-rank from this thing. Haunter is that good. It checks so much shit (Murkrow, Pidgeot, can instantly fodderize opposing Tangela with HP Fire, Huntail if I have Spikes support, Hitmonchan, hell it can even dent Bellossom, Swalot, and Relicanth to a degree)
Basically this thing immensely synergizes with this team by virtue of being an offensive check to SO. MUCH. SHIT. This thing is fast and powerful, and tends to be my late-game sweeper most of the time, to an acceptable-to-good degree of success.
That said, even though Haunter is good, it has some shortcomings. For one, the lack of STAB means that if a bulky opponent is standing in Haunter's way that it can't hit for super-effective damage (like say, Sableye (that thing is a real pest), Chimecho, Lickitung, or Flareon) then they can fire back a Shadow Ball or HP Ghost or something that instantly KOs Haunter, which highlights Haunter's frailty. Because of said frailty, I almost never switch it in, as it’s too valuable an offensive check and late-game sweeper to just risk like that, so I basically just send it in after something of mine is KOed. Nevertheless, I've arguably had more consistent performance from Haunter than Tangela, or at least it felt that way.
I mean I guess I could go HP Water/Dark over HP Fire to hit Flareon/Chimecho harder, but I doubt whether or not it's worth the cost of losing the ability to instantly fodderize Tangela, and being able to roast Steels (mainly Mawile, I've never fought a Metang). I went Psychic over Giga Drain because Hitmonchan are everywhere, but with the noticeable upsurge of Relicanth in the meta, Giga Drain is still an option.
And don't even get me started with the OTHER options Haunter has. Destiny Bond, Hypnosis, Explosion (which this Haunter used to have in the original six-Exploders version of this team, being a fast Exploder was the original reason I put Haunter on this team), Perish Song, Mean Look, Will-o-Wisp, hell it even gets Haze IIRC. Those might be fun to toy with.
Nevertheless, this thing is probably the glue and MVP of this team. I'm almost tempted to advocate moving Haunter to mid S-rank in the ADV NU Viability Rankings. Almost.
Sudowoodo (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
Exploder #2, although I don't explode much with Sudo because I've discovered that it'd rather Sub up and dent things with Focus Punch. This thing tends to draw in Hitmonchan, and, to a lesser degree, Mawile, both of whom are dented by Focus Punch.
This thing can check and scare off birds (I need a bird check, because Chimecho lets in Murkrow), Fire types, and I guess Kecleon and Lickitung. Since Sudo tends to force switches, Spikes also helps to wear down the opponent. SubPunch is underrated, but things like Sableye and Chimecho (especially Sableye) are a pain to deal with, partly because this Sudo doesn't hit as hard off the bat as a Choice Bander would. Nevertheless, this thing dents things fairly reliably with SubPunch.
While Huntail isn't as much of a painful switch-in into Sudo as it is for Torkoal, it's still nasty due to Huntail's great physical bulk. I cannot repeat this enough; Huntail is dangerous for this team.
Chimecho (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Defensive Chime, since SubPunch Hitmonchan otherwise decimates my team. I'm sort of lukewarm about this thing. On one hand, it's resilience and power mean that the opponent is usually forced to try and beat it down before it can set up, getting dented in the process. It also runs roughshod over defensive teams lacking Sableye or Perish Song.
On the other hand, it's a free switch-in to Dark-types, who hardwall Chimecho. This thing gives Murkrow a free switch-in, and as I've played with Murkrow, I can say that you do not want to give Murkrow a free switch-in. Due to being utterly hardwalled by Dark-types (and beaten by other Chimecho), I don't send it out as much as you'd think, so I have to say that I don't really remember what else people tried to send against it besides various strong attackers, in an attempt to quickly beat it down.
I'm tempted to try and replace this with Calm Mind Sableye, which boasts one-turn recovery, a Dark STAB that isn't 0%ed by anything, and nice immunities. While I could do that, I'd lose the off-the-bat power of Chimecho's STAB Psychic off a base 95 SpAtk stat, plus the immunity to Spikes and Earthquake. So that's why I'm asking you RMT people for your advice.
Torkoal (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: White Smoke
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Atk / 72 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Curse
- Fire Blast
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
Exploder #3. This thing is durable, with Skarmory-esque defenses, so it can check quite a lot of things. Because of this, I have to be judicious as to whether or not to boom Torkoal, as I might need it to hang around to check something else later in the battle.
Curse is there to put pressure on the opponent, and usually, they respond by switching in Relicanth (which I mentioned before as being increasingly common in the meta), another Rock, or a bulky Water. Because of this, there's the option of putting HP Grass over something so it can lure in 4x weak mons and actually kill something outside of Explosion (I haven't really killed much with it outside of Explosion, always met with a Rock, a Water, or worse, Huntail)
Huntail is a nightmarish switch-in to Torkoal. If you stay in, you're dead if it H-Pumps (unless it misses and you boom on it). If you switch, you're VERY dead if it Rain Dances, as it can then outspeed and sweep this entire team.
As for the EVs and nature of this thing? Bleh, I took that off the old, outdated RS analysis for Torkoal. I don't really know how to optimize it.
Tangela (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 228 HP / 252 SAtk / 28 Spd
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder
Sun sweeper Tangela. This thing is bulky on the physical side, so I can actually send it in on physical attackers, Sleep Powder something, and start SBing away. Because of a combination of this and the fact that this thing is so, SO walled/checked by shit like Flareon, Lickitung, Kecleon, Roselia, opposing sun sweepers, etc, Tangela just feels much more... early/mid-game for me than Haunter ever did.
I've used Tangela as more of a wallbreaker than a late-game sweeper, due to the Sleep Powder thing and the "actually being able to take a physical hit unlike Haunter" thing. However, due to damage taken during early/mid-game wallbreaking and the fact that Tangela is frail on the specially defensive side, I don't think I've ever had a successful late-game sweep with this thing.
Oh, and this thing is my Rock-check. Murkrow comes in pretty easy on this thing, which really sucks. I'm tempted to replace Tangela with Huntail due to the sheer power Huntail has. I don't have much experience with Huntail however, so I don't know if it'd run into the same kinds of problems Tangela would.
Speaking of Huntail, the way this Tangela is EVed, it's outsped by the standard Huntail set, which sucks. I could re-EV it to outspeed Huntail out of rain and Sleep Powder it, but I don't think it'd be worth it because Sleep Powder can miss and I'd rather have Tangela be able to take physical hits.
This team has some pretty disgusting weaknesses though. HUNTAIL, Plusle, Murkrow (who can come in on Chimecho and Tangela), strong special attackers in general, Sableye, things that can wall special attacks, etc.
For those folks looking to jump into the tier:
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/adv-nu-viability-ranking.3503540/
http://www.smogon.com/rs/articles/adv_nu_threatlist
www.smogon.com/dex/rs/tags/nu
Apologizes if I made any kind of error in posting this RMT.
For better or worse, Supernova has become my signature team. This started as a six Exploders team, but after some tweaks to the team, the number of Exploders halved. Basically, this team was an "experiment" in making a viable, good, consistent Explosion-heavy team. Even after extensive testing (as extensive as I can get with a tier that few people play), I'm not quite sure I succeeded.
Glalie (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Earthquake
- Shadow Ball
- Explosion
Exploder #1, and my Spiker. Glalie is my lead mon. Ice is a horrible defensive typing, so it's rather hard to switch this thing in, hence lead. Furthermore, people commonly run Taunt Glalie (IIRC, I've never fought opposing Physical Glalie) or Hitmonchan as opposing leads to force this thing out. Since it tends to die either in a self-inflicted manner via Explosion, or by being beaten down due to lack of resistances, even after several dozen games or so, I'm still not quite sure as how to use this thing.
What do I mean by that? Well, I don't often Spike with it as you might think I would. That said, since it tends to be forced out so much, it tends to just linger around mid-to-late game.
I mean, I could go switch it to the bulkier set to more reliably set up Spikes, but being able to attack with it lets me dent things to a decent degree of success. I've killed/crippled stuff like Mawile, Haunter, Sudowoodo, and even Relicanth with this set. While I might try out the bulky Taunt version of Glalie, I'll probably still use the physical variant on this team.
Now for the question: How well does Spikes help my team? Well, for one thing, it helps Haunter land the OHKO on Huntail, which is golden. How golden? This team is Huntail-weak. Like, so Huntail-weak I didn't use the team in the ADV NU tour Huntail-weak. Huntail is such a pain that I'm considering dropping a mon on this team to put Huntail on it so Huntail can check Huntail, but that's enough of this tangent for now.
Glalie tends to be Hitmonchan-bait, so I'm considering dropping Shadow Ball for HP Flying as a kind of experiment.
Haunter (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psychic
I can just FEEL the S-rank from this thing. Haunter is that good. It checks so much shit (Murkrow, Pidgeot, can instantly fodderize opposing Tangela with HP Fire, Huntail if I have Spikes support, Hitmonchan, hell it can even dent Bellossom, Swalot, and Relicanth to a degree)
Basically this thing immensely synergizes with this team by virtue of being an offensive check to SO. MUCH. SHIT. This thing is fast and powerful, and tends to be my late-game sweeper most of the time, to an acceptable-to-good degree of success.
That said, even though Haunter is good, it has some shortcomings. For one, the lack of STAB means that if a bulky opponent is standing in Haunter's way that it can't hit for super-effective damage (like say, Sableye (that thing is a real pest), Chimecho, Lickitung, or Flareon) then they can fire back a Shadow Ball or HP Ghost or something that instantly KOs Haunter, which highlights Haunter's frailty. Because of said frailty, I almost never switch it in, as it’s too valuable an offensive check and late-game sweeper to just risk like that, so I basically just send it in after something of mine is KOed. Nevertheless, I've arguably had more consistent performance from Haunter than Tangela, or at least it felt that way.
I mean I guess I could go HP Water/Dark over HP Fire to hit Flareon/Chimecho harder, but I doubt whether or not it's worth the cost of losing the ability to instantly fodderize Tangela, and being able to roast Steels (mainly Mawile, I've never fought a Metang). I went Psychic over Giga Drain because Hitmonchan are everywhere, but with the noticeable upsurge of Relicanth in the meta, Giga Drain is still an option.
And don't even get me started with the OTHER options Haunter has. Destiny Bond, Hypnosis, Explosion (which this Haunter used to have in the original six-Exploders version of this team, being a fast Exploder was the original reason I put Haunter on this team), Perish Song, Mean Look, Will-o-Wisp, hell it even gets Haze IIRC. Those might be fun to toy with.
Nevertheless, this thing is probably the glue and MVP of this team. I'm almost tempted to advocate moving Haunter to mid S-rank in the ADV NU Viability Rankings. Almost.
Sudowoodo (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
Exploder #2, although I don't explode much with Sudo because I've discovered that it'd rather Sub up and dent things with Focus Punch. This thing tends to draw in Hitmonchan, and, to a lesser degree, Mawile, both of whom are dented by Focus Punch.
This thing can check and scare off birds (I need a bird check, because Chimecho lets in Murkrow), Fire types, and I guess Kecleon and Lickitung. Since Sudo tends to force switches, Spikes also helps to wear down the opponent. SubPunch is underrated, but things like Sableye and Chimecho (especially Sableye) are a pain to deal with, partly because this Sudo doesn't hit as hard off the bat as a Choice Bander would. Nevertheless, this thing dents things fairly reliably with SubPunch.
While Huntail isn't as much of a painful switch-in into Sudo as it is for Torkoal, it's still nasty due to Huntail's great physical bulk. I cannot repeat this enough; Huntail is dangerous for this team.
Chimecho (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Defensive Chime, since SubPunch Hitmonchan otherwise decimates my team. I'm sort of lukewarm about this thing. On one hand, it's resilience and power mean that the opponent is usually forced to try and beat it down before it can set up, getting dented in the process. It also runs roughshod over defensive teams lacking Sableye or Perish Song.
On the other hand, it's a free switch-in to Dark-types, who hardwall Chimecho. This thing gives Murkrow a free switch-in, and as I've played with Murkrow, I can say that you do not want to give Murkrow a free switch-in. Due to being utterly hardwalled by Dark-types (and beaten by other Chimecho), I don't send it out as much as you'd think, so I have to say that I don't really remember what else people tried to send against it besides various strong attackers, in an attempt to quickly beat it down.
I'm tempted to try and replace this with Calm Mind Sableye, which boasts one-turn recovery, a Dark STAB that isn't 0%ed by anything, and nice immunities. While I could do that, I'd lose the off-the-bat power of Chimecho's STAB Psychic off a base 95 SpAtk stat, plus the immunity to Spikes and Earthquake. So that's why I'm asking you RMT people for your advice.
Torkoal (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: White Smoke
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Atk / 72 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Curse
- Fire Blast
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
Exploder #3. This thing is durable, with Skarmory-esque defenses, so it can check quite a lot of things. Because of this, I have to be judicious as to whether or not to boom Torkoal, as I might need it to hang around to check something else later in the battle.
Curse is there to put pressure on the opponent, and usually, they respond by switching in Relicanth (which I mentioned before as being increasingly common in the meta), another Rock, or a bulky Water. Because of this, there's the option of putting HP Grass over something so it can lure in 4x weak mons and actually kill something outside of Explosion (I haven't really killed much with it outside of Explosion, always met with a Rock, a Water, or worse, Huntail)
Huntail is a nightmarish switch-in to Torkoal. If you stay in, you're dead if it H-Pumps (unless it misses and you boom on it). If you switch, you're VERY dead if it Rain Dances, as it can then outspeed and sweep this entire team.
As for the EVs and nature of this thing? Bleh, I took that off the old, outdated RS analysis for Torkoal. I don't really know how to optimize it.
Tangela (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 228 HP / 252 SAtk / 28 Spd
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder
Sun sweeper Tangela. This thing is bulky on the physical side, so I can actually send it in on physical attackers, Sleep Powder something, and start SBing away. Because of a combination of this and the fact that this thing is so, SO walled/checked by shit like Flareon, Lickitung, Kecleon, Roselia, opposing sun sweepers, etc, Tangela just feels much more... early/mid-game for me than Haunter ever did.
I've used Tangela as more of a wallbreaker than a late-game sweeper, due to the Sleep Powder thing and the "actually being able to take a physical hit unlike Haunter" thing. However, due to damage taken during early/mid-game wallbreaking and the fact that Tangela is frail on the specially defensive side, I don't think I've ever had a successful late-game sweep with this thing.
Oh, and this thing is my Rock-check. Murkrow comes in pretty easy on this thing, which really sucks. I'm tempted to replace Tangela with Huntail due to the sheer power Huntail has. I don't have much experience with Huntail however, so I don't know if it'd run into the same kinds of problems Tangela would.
Speaking of Huntail, the way this Tangela is EVed, it's outsped by the standard Huntail set, which sucks. I could re-EV it to outspeed Huntail out of rain and Sleep Powder it, but I don't think it'd be worth it because Sleep Powder can miss and I'd rather have Tangela be able to take physical hits.
Glalie (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Earthquake
- Shadow Ball
- Explosion
Haunter (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psychic
Sudowoodo (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
Chimecho (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Torkoal (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: White Smoke
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Atk / 72 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Curse
- Fire Blast
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
Tangela (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 228 HP / 252 SAtk / 28 Spd
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Earthquake
- Shadow Ball
- Explosion
Haunter (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psychic
Sudowoodo (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rock Head
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
Chimecho (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Torkoal (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: White Smoke
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Atk / 72 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Curse
- Fire Blast
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
Tangela (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 228 HP / 252 SAtk / 28 Spd
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Sunny Day
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder
This team has some pretty disgusting weaknesses though. HUNTAIL, Plusle, Murkrow (who can come in on Chimecho and Tangela), strong special attackers in general, Sableye, things that can wall special attacks, etc.
For those folks looking to jump into the tier:
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/adv-nu-viability-ranking.3503540/
http://www.smogon.com/rs/articles/adv_nu_threatlist
www.smogon.com/dex/rs/tags/nu
Apologizes if I made any kind of error in posting this RMT.
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