GurrShroom Magmorott Abdevoir

[ChaoticaMortis]

Hi there.

No, I'm not tennisace. ChaoticaMortis here with my first RMT ever. I've been playing NU since the tier was unofficially established back in 2011, and I've stuck here ever since (I one day hope to resume my fail streak in RU however). NU is the most diverse metagame on Smogon right now, which is both good and bad. On the good side, you have a large variety of viable Pokemon as well as a pretty good player base; on the bad side you have to prepare against those same Pokemon and players. If you've got a decent level of skill it can be quite fun. I've wanted to write an RMT for a long time, but until now I haven't had that good of a team, nor had much to say.

Anyways, this is the team that's gotten me as high as 35/6736 (alt: citizen_snips) on the NU ladder on PO, which I believe to be an accomplishment as I'm pretty awful at this game. I've been using a variation of this team for quite a long time now (about a round and a half) and I'd like to know if there's anything better I could do with it. I'm not the best at team building; I pick a couple of Pokemon that I like using (that I know are viable, of course) and then try to match them up with things that can cover their weaknesses as well as combo with them fairly well. Sometimes this works and has great results... other times I'm glad I'm using an alt that people wouldn't know is mine. After a fair amount of time mixing and matching different Pokemon I finally got something that worked, and since then it has evolved into my current team:

GurrShroomMagmorottAbdevoir
(btw I suck at naming things)​

Name: Gurdurr
move 1: Bulk Up
move 2: Drain Punch
move 3: Mach Punch
move 4: Payback
item: Eviolite
ability: Guts
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 248 SpDef

For weeks I had been seeing posts about how good Gurdurr was; how anti-metagame Gurdurr could be; how ridiculously he destroyed teams that weren't prepared for him. Well, for the most part the rumors are true: Gurdurr is a boss. If you've ever wanted to see a NFE sweep, pick this guy.
This is a standard Bulk Up set, you know, the only set this thing will ever run. Bulk Up boosts Gurdurr's decent Atk and Def to the point of being untouchable after you've gotten a couple in, and this can be quite intimidating. He's also got healing in Drain Punch and priority in Mach Punch with Payback for Ghosts / Psychics (although I tend to just switch out when I see one of those). The SpDef is slightly altered because I wanted it to be an even number for the Eviolite boost (I'm not sure if this mattered).
Gurdurr gets at least one kill per match and forces a lot of switches (fuck your Lickilicky), and he works well with Absol, who can sponge every Psychic attack aimed at him. Bro can also tank hits from most of the physical attackers in the tier (but Amoonguss is better in that regard).
The only problems I've had with him is that Payback rarely finds any use (definitely switching it soon), and that he's kind of weak without the Bulk Up boost, but I usually get one in because there's so much he can set up on! He's rarely dead weight.

Name: Amoonguss
move 1: Spore
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Clear Smog
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
item: Leftovers
ability: Effect Spore
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 116 SpAtk
ivs: 30 Spe

Spore is one of my favorite attacks, and I've been in love with it since I used a Parasect in-game on SoulSilver. Parasect however, sucks ass in competitive play without a ridiculous amount of team support. This fact, and the fact that many of my fellow players had told me good things about Amoonguss, led me to choose it for my team. I can tell you that I wasn't disappointed at all with it.
Again, this is as standard as it goes for a set. Spore puts things to sleep, Giga Drain heals, Clear Smog stops boosters, and HP Ice is nice for utility damage (fuck your Altaria). Amoonguss has great defense and can always take a hit when I need him to (which is often). He completely rofl-stomps Gurdurr, as well as most Fighting, Water, and (a few) Grass Pokemon. He's really the only thing I have to beat Quagsire, but he's very good at doing just that, among other things.
My problem with this guy is that he tends to Effect Spore something to sleep that I didn't want intend, which effectively makes Spore a bit useless. He's also destroyed by the birds, and I don't have much that can stop that.

Name: Magmortar
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Focus Blast
move 3: Thunder(Blast)bolt
move 4: Hidden Power (Blast) Ice
item: Choice Specs
ability: Vital Spirit
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe
ivs: 30 Spe

Honestly I don't know what the fuck I was trying to do with this set. Choice Specs hit ridiculously hard and I still wanted to have a slight increase in speed, but other than that I'm not sure what I was trying to do. Maggy has been a popular special attacker since NU started, and there's a reason why: he's extremely powerful.
This set abuses Choice Specs to do huge amounts of damage to anything that might think it can tank a hit from Magmortar. I find myself often just sending him in on a Tangela and spamming Fire Blast, which surprisingly works most of the time. Thunderbolt for Water Pokemon (although I never use it), Focus Blast for coverage (same as T-Bolt), and HP Ice for when I know another fucking Altaria is going to try and switch in on me. Maggy kills lots of stuff for me, but he also dies very fast. I was thinking about switching this to the LO / Expert Belt + 3 Attacks set simply because I find I often want to switch moves when I can't. This guy is my Jynx counter, so a Choice Scarf set might also be good.
There are many problems with this thing (namely the set itself), but I've still found myself doing pretty well with it. I definitely think this spot in my team could be better filled though.

Name: Samurott
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Megahorn
move 4: Aqua Jet
item: Life Orb
ability: Torrent
nature: Adamant
evs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 144 Spe

I've liked Samurott (along with the other two B/W starters) since I first played Black version. He's often a staple on my teams as his offense and coverage are great, especially if he can net a Swords Dance.
Back to standard sets. Swords Dance boosts Samurott's Atk by +2, which along with Life Orb makes even his Aqua Jet do chunks of the opponent's health. Waterfall for STAB, Megahorn for silly Grass and Psychic types that think they can stop Sam, and Aqua Jet for priority and revenge killing. He's my utility attacker as his coverage is pretty wide and he does good damage to just about every Pokemon in the tier. Hell, he's even got somewhat decent physical bulk. Along with Amoonguss and Magmortar, he makes my team's unintentional F/W/G core, which I sometimes find very helpful.
I have no problems with Samurott. There's not a single thing this bro intends to do that he fails at. He comes in, dances around, and proceeds to whip his mustache around in a violent tsunami of pain and destruction.

Name: Absol
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Sucker Punch
move 3: Superpower
move 4: Night Slash
item: Life Orb
ability: Super Luck
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Absol is one of the most dreaded Pokemon in NU; half the time you see one you're either about to lose a Pokemon or play a really shitty mind game between Substitute and Sucker Punch. I've always liked Absol, and I've had fun with it in every tier I've played. (He's also pretty cool in-game as his Special movepool is fucking huge.)
Standardized tests are destroying our nation's education system. Standardized sets however, keep my team functioning. Absol actually works quite similarly to Samurott: It has Swords Dance, priority, STAB, and a powerful coverage move that would destroy something normally seen as a counter to a Pokemon of its user's type. In fact, I use him almost exactly like I use Samurott. The main difference is that Absol is much more powerful, but much less bulky. Much like Gurdurr, Absol will get at least one kill per match, as well as putting a huge amount of offensive pressure on the opponent's team. He has great synergy with Gurdurr and Amoonguss, who both draw out Psychic Pokemon that Absol loves to pick apart.
Absol is frail, and Sucker Punch fails almost as often as it works, which can sometimes cost me the match (or at least just the Pokemon). I've considered using Skuntank instead, but I'd like more input before I decide.

Name: Loldevoir
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Shadow Ball
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Thunderbolt
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Trace
nature(s): Modest
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe

Behold, the Weather Revenger. Gardevoir is another favorite of mine from generation 3. I've always liked this Pokemon, and when I read up on it in the NU discussion threads I decided I had to have it for my team.
I first found this set in the Gardevoir discussion thread in the NU forums, and instantly fell in love with it. At the beginning of this round, weather was somewhat common, and I was getting frustrated at all the shit that was outpacing my Pokemon and blasting them with high-powered attacks. Gardevoir was the solution to my problem. Most people use Gardevoir as a poor man's Mesprit, but honestly she's just as good offensively as she is as a support Pokemon. Psychic doesn't punch holes like Sucker Punch or Waterfall, but it does its job, and I find myself netting a lot of kills with Gardevoir. Choice Scarf lets her outpace most of the tier and revenge kill just about anything (whether it's a weather Pokemon or not). Trace lets her come in on Pikachus, Flareons (although I don't advise that one), Sawsbucks, and anything else that has an ability that nullifies a certain type's damage.
I got 99 problems and Gardevoir ain't one. Like Samurott, she effectively does what I need her to do in every match, and can sweep weakened teams with ease.

So there you have it, my very first RMT. I hope it wasn't too terrible or too boring. I'd appreciate any constructive criticism, set / team advice, rates, or whatever else you feel like posting. Also sorry if my descriptions weren't terribly helpful, I'd be glad to go into more depth about anything specific that you're interested in.

As for a threat list, I'm not quite sure how to do one properly, but I can say that the birds would give me hell if I saw more of them. Jynx is terrible even when I do manage to counter it with Magmortar. A few of my Pokemon get screwed by the move Trick. Priority hurts Magmortar and Gardevoir. Skuntank can tear a few of my Pokemon apart and I have trouble with it sometimes as well. I guess it would be cool for you guys to help identify things that I might have missed, didn't consider, or just don't know about.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Dell]

Welcome to Smogon sir!

First thing that I noticed right off the bat is that you have a major weakness to Flying, particularly offensive variants like Braviary, Swellow, and Dodrio, all of which are capable of basically shredding wholes on your team. Similarly, once Amoonguss is taken out, Fighting types will give you trouble, mainly Sawk. For example, a Choice Banded Sawk will survive anything you throw thanks to Sturdy and nab a KO on your entire team with Close Combat (aside from Gurdurr, who does have a chance to get OHKO'd with 3 layers of Spikes, and Gardevoir, who only needs one layer of Stealth Rock and to guarantee OHKO, one layer of Spikes, respectively). Life Orb Magmortar and Choice Band Emboar also shines well in the perspective, being able to 2HKO most of your team with just Fire Blast and Flare Blitz alone. Because of the fact that you don't have much special bulk on your team in general, Focus Sash Kadabra can be troublesome, as it's likely guaranteed to score at least one KO on your team.

Because of your team's tendency to cause lots of switches, I highly recommend you provide Stealth Rock support on your team. This will also benefit your sweepers, who will otherwise miss out on some crucial KO's. Regirock could be a replacement of Gurdurr (if you intend on keeping Gurdurr, I will respect that, and I'll try to advise another alternative), as it's able to handle the threats that I've mentioned earlier, and has an easy time setting up Stealth Rock. I feel that Vileplume can also be a well replacement of Amoonguss. Sure, Amoonguss has slightly better defenses and Spore, but Vileplume has access to Aromatherapy (this helps your team a lot, as your sweepers are very susceptible to Will-O-Wisp from Ghosts once Magmortar is gone and Weezing, who admittedly, walls those particular sweepers) , a reliable recovery in Moonlight, better Speed, and higher Special Attack. Also, Effect Spore occurs a lot anyways, and that will often conflict with Spore, as you will likely end up wasting a turn at that same turn....

I hope you consider these options and good luck on your team. :)

 

[ChaoticaMortis]

Welcome to Smogon sir!

First thing that I noticed right off the bat is that you have a major weakness to Flying, particularly offensive variants like Braviary, Swellow, and Dodrio, all of which are capable of basically shredding wholes on your team. Similarly, once Amoonguss is taken out, Fighting types will give you trouble, mainly Sawk. For example, a Choice Banded Sawk will survive anything you throw thanks to Sturdy and nab a KO on your entire team with Close Combat (aside from Gurdurr, who does have a chance to get OHKO'd with 3 layers of Spikes, and Gardevoir, who only needs one layer of Stealth Rock and to guarantee OHKO, one layer of Spikes, respectively). Life Orb Magmortar and Choice Band Emboar also shines well in the perspective, being able to 2HKO most of your team with just Fire Blast and Flare Blitz alone. Because of the fact that you don't have much special bulk on your team in general, Focus Sash Kadabra can be troublesome, as it's likely guaranteed to score at least one KO on your team.

Because of your team's tendency to cause lots of switches, I highly recommend you provide Stealth Rock support on your team. This will also benefit your sweepers, who will otherwise miss out on some crucial KO's. Regirock could be a replacement of Gurdurr (if you intend on keeping Gurdurr, I will respect that, and I'll try to advise another alternative), as it's able to handle the threats that I've mentioned earlier, and has an easy time setting up Stealth Rock. I feel that Vileplume can also be a well replacement of Amoonguss. Sure, Amoonguss has slightly better defenses and Spore, but Vileplume has access to Aromatherapy (this helps your team a lot, as your sweepers are very susceptible to Will-O-Wisp from Ghosts once Magmortar is gone and Weezing, who admittedly, walls those particular sweepers) , a reliable recovery in Moonlight, better Speed, and higher Special Attack. Also, Effect Spore occurs a lot anyways, and that will often conflict with Spore, as you will likely end up wasting a turn at that same turn....

I hope you consider these options and good luck on your team. :)

Thanks for the welcome, although I've been here for quite a while.

Yeah, my weakness to Flying has bugged me for a while, but as you could probably tell I have plenty of priority on my team which allows me to usually revenge kill whatever I need to (although this doesn't work all the time). This is especially true of the birds since they're so frail. In fact, revenge killing is how I get half of my kills with this team. Surprisingly, in most of the matches I've played I haven't had my opponent get down any hazards, meaning when I have to deal with Sawk I can send in Gardevoir who then gets Sturdy and can out-speed and KO.
I know I should be using Stealth Rock, although I can't find anything that causes much offensive pressure that can use it. I mean, Golem's great, but considering he's 2HKO'd be even the weakest SE attack it's hard to rely on him. Rocks would never have been able to benefit me in a match more than an actual Pokemon would have.
Would Armaldo be a good idea? He can set rocks, spin, and has great offense.
I've actually considered using Vileplume for a while as it can do much more damage than Amoonguss, but I also really like Spore. Moonlight doesn't matter as I could just switch one of Amoonguss's attacks for Synthesis if I wanted to. I'll switch em and test it for a while.

I really liked your suggestions, thank you for the advice. :)

 

[WhiteDMist]

Nice team you have there! I believe I'e faced it few times before, so I know how effective your team can be. My biggest concern is actually your Skuntank weakness, since 1-o-1 it can beat everything but Gurdurr, who can't use Bulk Up because of Taunt. My suggestion is to change Gurdurr's EV spread to an offensive one. You won't be surviving a strong Psychic in any regards, so you won't lose too much. The extra offense allows you to reliably beat any Skuntank with Poison Jab before they beat you.

I also see a light weakness to Choice Scarf Rotom-S, who outspeeds your entire team and can hit your entire team or good damage. Perhaps you can replace Payback on Gurdurr with Stone Edge/Rock Slide to ht it hard on the switch? Other than priority and/or revenge kills, you have no other way to beat it (though I guess you can tank a hit with Magmortar and KO it with Fire Blast as long as it doesn't Volt Switch).

My last bit of advice currently is to give Gardevoir a Timid nature. She still gets most of the important kills, and now she can outspeed almost every weather abuser in the tier (unless i's a +2 Gorebyss/Huntail in the rain :/), as well as Jolly Scarf Braviary and opposing Jolly Scarf Gardevoir. Not much else I can say right now, this is a good team! :)

 

[ChaoticaMortis]

Nice team you have there! I believe I'e faced it few times before, so I know how effective your team can be. My biggest concern is actually your Skuntank weakness, since 1-o-1 it can beat everything but Gurdurr, who can't use Bulk Up because of Taunt. My suggestion is to change Gurdurr's EV spread to an offensive one. You won't be surviving a strong Psychic in any regards, so you won't lose too much. The extra offense allows you to reliably beat any Skuntank with Poison Jab before they beat you.

I also see a light weakness to Choice Scarf Rotom-S, who outspeeds your entire team and can hit your entire team or good damage. Perhaps you can replace Payback on Gurdurr with Stone Edge/Rock Slide to ht it hard on the switch? Other than priority and/or revenge kills, you have no other way to beat it (though I guess you can tank a hit with Magmortar and KO it with Fire Blast as long as it doesn't Volt Switch).

My last bit of advice currently is to give Gardevoir a Timid nature. She still gets most of the important kills, and now she can outspeed almost every weather abuser in the tier (unless i's a +2 Gorebyss/Huntail in the rain :/), as well as Jolly Scarf Braviary and opposing Jolly Scarf Gardevoir. Not much else I can say right now, this is a good team! :)

Thanks, it's not the best on the ladder, but I think it's pretty good :D
Yeah, Skuntank is a pain in the ass. I like your suggestions on Gurdurr and I'll definitely try them. I'm worried that Gard won't be able to kill as effectively, but I'll still try out Timid nature. Thanks for the advice bro.

Ok, so I'm going to try Vileplume over Amoonguss, an offensive spread on Gurdurr, and use Timid nature on Gardevoir. I'll post results later.
Also, what set should I use on Magmortar? I know the one I have right now is pretty bad (even though it hits pretty hard).

EDIT: I also seem to get raped pretty hard by Linoone if it can set up...

 

[Dell]

Alright, good luck with your new decisions. I agree with WhiteDMist's input. You can stick with the remainder of the set for Magmortar, or use Life Orb, which is up to you. Though, I would recommend that you carry Hidden Power Grass instead of Ice, that way you can actually reliably break through the Tangela-Quagsire combo, a team combination that has been risen a notch nowadays in the metagame. If you use Offensive Gurdurr, try 252 HP/252 Attack/4 SpD. Keep in mind that you will still fail to revenge the birds at even a +1 Mach Punch, especially Braviary, who only takes 34%-40% from it.

I saw that you had an idea of using offensive Armaldo with Stealth Rock. Yes, it does have the ability to soften up most of Magmortar switch-ins like Grumpig, Lickilicky, and such, though Absol already covers those particular ones anyways. You will be provided with the support of Stealth Rock, but Golem would be the more conservative option, especially against Flying types, as right now, you don't have a safe switch to begin with. Golem also beats any Skuntank and any Rotom-S that lacks Hidden Power Grass.

Overall, you have a good team and stay posted. I'd like to know about your changes soon!

 

[ChaoticaMortis]

Well I got hard-swept by a Linoone and dropped into the 50's, but I played a few matches with my new team set up and one each of them, getting my back into the 30s iirc. Gurdurr's new set is working fine and Stone Edge is hitting a lot harder than Payback did. Vileplume has been doing good; in fact, it's been helping my team just as much as Amoonguss did, but instead of Sporing things it heals my team of status. Gardevoir is still getting good kills as well and I swept a Rain team with her earlier thanks to her tracing Dry Skin off a Parasect. Love Gardevoir!

I'll keep playing later and see if the changes stay consistently good.

 

[jake]

Welcome to Smo

Hey ChaoticaMortis,

I noticed that you haven't updated the OP so I tried to avoid mentioning what others did already, haha. One thing that I noticed is that you're using the best Gurdurr set now but it's almost always better to go with Rock Slide on Gurdurr, if only for accuracy issues (I can't tell you how many matches I've lost because Rock Slide missed a predicted Charizard switch-in...). Stone Edge does net a KO on Rotom-S after Stealth Rock damage, but we don't have SR on this team yet, so I think it's worth going with Rock Slide > Stone Edge on Gurdurr. You'll get the same 2HKO that you achieve with Stone Edge, but with more PP left over and a better chance of actually hitting lol. Also, if you hit Rotom-S on the switch-in, unless you roll very low both times, you will KO with the combination of Rock Slide + Mach Punch.

Musharna and other bulky Psychic-types can be fairly annoying, especially since you have two Pokemon extremely susceptible to them (Gurdurr and Vileplume/Amoonguss) and one frail immunity, which can be easily picked off if you predict incorrectly -- Musharna can even hit it on the switch-in, and if it has a Life Orb, Absol is OHKOed after SR and all of a sudden you're really threatened by Musharna & friends. Likewise, opposing Skuntank can be a bitch like other people have pointed out. I think you'd really benefit from replacing Absol with your very own Mixed Skuntank, who can reliably eliminate several pretty big threats to a Gurdurr and/or Samurott sweep, such as Tangela, opposing Vileplume, Musharna, and Quagsire.

Notably, Mixed Skuntank also fills in the role of wallbreaker for those two that Magmortar had done for you previously, which is all that it seems to have done (unless I'm missing something?). I feel like outside of breaking apart Tangela and whatnot, Magmortar is really just an unwanted burden on your team, since it's Choice-locked and SR weak, meaning you'll have to switch it around a lot and give your opponent a ton of potential free set-up opportunities. Replacing Magmortar's & Absol's roles with Mixed Skuntank allows you to open up a whole new teamslot, which I'm almost 100% sure should be given to Golem. Golem gives you a wonderful check to the birds who sort of trouble you atm, since you have no reliable switch-in and your two revenge killers are easily OHKOed. Golem brings Stealth Rock to the table as well, and one of the best responses to Skuntank in NU. It'd close up a few more of your weaknesses, I think, and give you even more opportunities to abuse the Dark / Fighting / Psychic core that you have.

summary of changes

Consider Rock Slide > Stone Edge on Gurdurr

Change Absol to Mixed Skuntank

@ Life Orb | Aftermath
Lonely nature (+Atk, -Def) | 252 Atk / 216 SpA / 40 Spe
Sucker Punch / Crunch / Sludge Bomb / Hidden Power Grass

Change Magmortar to Golem

@ Lum Berry | Sturdy
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SpA) | 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 Spe
Earthquake / Rock Blast / Stealth Rock / Toxic or Sucker Punch

Hope I helped, and GL with your team!

also @ Linoone: If you keep Gurdurr intact throughout the match, it can tank even a +6 Linoone ExtremeSpeed and OHKO in return with Drain Punch, so yeah.

 

[No Luck Involved]

Hey, I would be inclined to change your Specs Magmortar to Expert Belt or Life Orb. Magmortar's biggest selling point is its great coverage so I definitely would use an item to take advantage of that.

Next I just want to say I agree with Zebraiken's suggestion of changing Absol to Skuntank. You already have Samurott and having two Swords Dancers that are stopped cold by Quagsire isn't very nice lol! My first thought was to change Absol just into an LO + mixed 4 attacks, seeing as it can lure Quagsire so well so that's something you could try too.