> Balanced RU Raikou Machamp Core <
Introduction
Hello there! In this thread I wanna show you a balanced RU Team a friend of mine helped me constructing. After some testing I started to feel really comfortable with an 80% winrate (on lower ladder though), so I hope you can enjoy it too!
Teambuilding Process
The basic idea of this team involves setting up potent options for Raikou. After recent tier shits there aren´t too many viable ground types in RU, so Raikou has an easy time dealing massive damage and pivoting around.
Following that we have Machamp as a physical wallbreaker. As Gligar moved up in the tier, you won´t find as many switch in´s for Machamps raw power. Common walls simply die to guts Close Combat, making Machamp a strong physical addition overall.
Next is a solid defensive core capable of setting up hazards and switching into faster pokemon after Machamp took a kill. On the special side we have Registeel for Stealth Rocks, on the physical Slowbro. In the beginning Slowbro was replaced by Blastoise, but Blastoise didn´t provide enough builkyness and no resistance to fighting.
Roserade is the second hazard support in this team. Spikes are nessecary for Raikou to score some important ohko´s, and a STAB Leaf Storm will not hurt you in a Blastoise-heavy meta.
Finally there´s scarf Flygon, a revenge killer/late game sweeper with ground and dragon coverage, as well as last resort Defog.
The Team
Raikou @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Choice specs Raikou deals insane amounts of damage when set up correctly. The only currently viable ground types are Nidoqueen, Donphan, Flygon and perhaps Rhyperior, and none of them wants to take a HP Ice to the face (2hko at least, potential ohko depending on hazards; 3hko on Rhyperior). Volt Switch is the common pivot move you use when generating pressure or when you expect a Florges switch in, Shadow Ball is for Bronzong and Cresselia. Everytime Raikou comes in you force a reaction while staying relatively safe. It can also be used as a late game sweeper, outspeeding most non-scarfers, as well as a powerfull lead when your opponent doesn´t have a ground type.
Machamp @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Facade
- Bullet Punch
Machamps physical power is capable of ohko´ing specially defensive Bronzong as well as Florges and M-Blastoise after rocks depending on investment. Its speed isn´t the greatest but still enough to outspeed the enemy walls; and you also have Bullet Punch as prio hitting Gardevoir, Florges, Tyrantrum or even Lycanrock-Dusk very effective. Knock Off hits ghosts like A-Marowak and walls like Cresselia, Slowbro and Necrozma. Finally you have Facade as a safe and strong move for neutral hits when you don´t know what your opponent is going to switch into. Your primary goal is guiding the way for Raikou by making strong hits on bulky enemies; but in reality, almost everytime you switch Machamp into something slower you get a kill. Predict the Registeel/Umbreon switch in with a double switch and your opponent´s gonna have a bad time...
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 220 SpD
Calm Nature
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
Registeel as a special wall is a monster. It is generally a safe switch into the likes of Gardevoir, Florges, Roserade, Raikou, Shaymin, Necrozma etc. That said, it is not unbeatable by these pokemon, depending on the set. But it also hasn´t lost just because of a super effective hit. With this invesment Registeel get´s 3hko´ed by M-Blastoise Aurasphere and 4hko´ed by Swellow Heat Wave, which is incredibly valuable in the current meta. Registeel pretty much exists to set up Stealth Rocks while poisoning enemy walls and non-walls. Quite some MU´s can be won by Toxic+Seismic toss in combination with Protect stall, having a basic synergy with your leftovers recovery. Still, physical attackers can be quite harmfull for you, which is why we have....
Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Slack Off
- Toxic
Slowbro, our physical sponge. Great switch in for almost all common threats (e.g. Tyrantrum, Zygarde-10%, Arcanine, Donphan, Metagross). Scald hopefully burns away your problems, Psyshock is your second potent STAB move hitting Roserade, Machamp, Virizion etc. Slack Off is for emergency recovery or Toxic stall, as you mainly want to heal by regenerator and leftovers to generate more pressure. 12 SpD may help you survive a M-Blastoise Dark Pulse or 3 Florges Moonblasts, although that isn´t your objective. At first I thought M-Blastoise was the obviously superior water type, but it doesn´t quite serve as a multiple switch in into physical (fighting) attacks; so at least here it is Slowbro´s time to shine.
Roserade @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Spikes
Roserade, a common grass type with nice coverage and most important of all: Spikes. Stealth Rocks and one layer of spikes generate so many more reliable ohkos and 2hkos for your sweepers, it is the perfect addition (e.g.: 252HP Florges gets 2hko´ed by TBolt Raikou after rocks and one layer spikes). But not only in the support role, but as an offensive pokemon too it shines. Lorb Leaf Storm decimates Blastoise and everything not-resisting, Sludge Bomb hits Gardevoir and Florges, HP Fire more or less steel-types (Forretress, Registeel, Metagross). It´s 90 speed base let´s it outspeed walls and ohko Gardevoir and Nidoqueen, though it struggles against fast and strong enemies like Zygarde-10%.
Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Defog
Finally, our revenge killer/late game cleaner Flygon! Fast pivot to generate momentum, Earthquake coverage and Outrage sweeper. A scarf 100 Speed base means you are going to outspeed scarf Gardevoir and even +2 Shell Smash Cloyster. There isn´t much else to say besides Defog as a last resort move to remove all kinds of hazards, e.g. Sticky Web which prevents Raikou from sweeping. Most of the time you won´t need it as your weakness to rocks is pretty low, but it doesn´t hurt having a backup plan. Great offensive typing overall for the coverage we still needed paired with U-turn.
Threats
Although this team is pretty balanced, it does have some specific weaknesses.
+2 Salazzle outspeeds and ohko´s (at max health Z-Sludge Wave is needed for Slowbro) everything in our team except for Flygon. If your enemy has a Salazzle, never risk your Flygon! Otherwhise Salazzle switches in on Registeel or Roserade and you have instantly lost. Try to counter with Stealth Rocks chip damage and Protect on Z-move outplays. Probably the most dangerous mon against this team.
Virizion has the optimal typing to kill both our walls reliably. Not only can it setup with Substitute and Swords Dance, it also takes a hit of Raikou or Flygon pretty well. Luckily, Roserade barely takes a +2 non-Z Close Combat and revenges with a potentially lethal Sludge Bomb. And if that isnt enough, we still have Machamp Bullet Punch to finish it off. Uncomfortable to play against, but be careful and you can handle it.
Swellow becomes a big problem the moment Registeel is dead. Just a little chip damage is enough to ohko the rest of your team. This team is already heavily dependent on its walls in early game, and Swellow shows exactly why. But as long as you keep your opponents option in mind and Stealth Rocks on the field, you should be fine.
When Honchcrow gets a Moxie boost, things get a little difficult. Superpower kills Registeel and everything else potentially dies of one Sucker Punch; especially after rocks. Your best bet is to either play mind games with Sucker Punch and Toxic on Slowbro, hope you live one hit and hope for a Scald burn by Slowbro (Sucker Punch actually has a 60% chance to ohko after rocks damage) or try to stall out Sucker Punches with Registeels protect and Superpower switches to Slowbro. So generally a scary threat, but as it is slower than your main Pokemon you can mostly avoid bad situations.
Conclusion
Truly a balanced team with a good success rate once you get used to it. Pretty standard sets, but effective in synergy. I hope you have just as much fun as I do with this team, and I would really appreciate it if you could point out some flaws I missed! Thanks to klaklak for providing the main ideas and most of the sets, and thank you for your time ^^
https://pokepast.es/94bfd6441a2197fa
Example Replays: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-846871017Introduction
Hello there! In this thread I wanna show you a balanced RU Team a friend of mine helped me constructing. After some testing I started to feel really comfortable with an 80% winrate (on lower ladder though), so I hope you can enjoy it too!
Teambuilding Process
The basic idea of this team involves setting up potent options for Raikou. After recent tier shits there aren´t too many viable ground types in RU, so Raikou has an easy time dealing massive damage and pivoting around.
Following that we have Machamp as a physical wallbreaker. As Gligar moved up in the tier, you won´t find as many switch in´s for Machamps raw power. Common walls simply die to guts Close Combat, making Machamp a strong physical addition overall.
Next is a solid defensive core capable of setting up hazards and switching into faster pokemon after Machamp took a kill. On the special side we have Registeel for Stealth Rocks, on the physical Slowbro. In the beginning Slowbro was replaced by Blastoise, but Blastoise didn´t provide enough builkyness and no resistance to fighting.
Roserade is the second hazard support in this team. Spikes are nessecary for Raikou to score some important ohko´s, and a STAB Leaf Storm will not hurt you in a Blastoise-heavy meta.
Finally there´s scarf Flygon, a revenge killer/late game sweeper with ground and dragon coverage, as well as last resort Defog.
The Team
Raikou @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Choice specs Raikou deals insane amounts of damage when set up correctly. The only currently viable ground types are Nidoqueen, Donphan, Flygon and perhaps Rhyperior, and none of them wants to take a HP Ice to the face (2hko at least, potential ohko depending on hazards; 3hko on Rhyperior). Volt Switch is the common pivot move you use when generating pressure or when you expect a Florges switch in, Shadow Ball is for Bronzong and Cresselia. Everytime Raikou comes in you force a reaction while staying relatively safe. It can also be used as a late game sweeper, outspeeding most non-scarfers, as well as a powerfull lead when your opponent doesn´t have a ground type.
Machamp @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Facade
- Bullet Punch
Machamps physical power is capable of ohko´ing specially defensive Bronzong as well as Florges and M-Blastoise after rocks depending on investment. Its speed isn´t the greatest but still enough to outspeed the enemy walls; and you also have Bullet Punch as prio hitting Gardevoir, Florges, Tyrantrum or even Lycanrock-Dusk very effective. Knock Off hits ghosts like A-Marowak and walls like Cresselia, Slowbro and Necrozma. Finally you have Facade as a safe and strong move for neutral hits when you don´t know what your opponent is going to switch into. Your primary goal is guiding the way for Raikou by making strong hits on bulky enemies; but in reality, almost everytime you switch Machamp into something slower you get a kill. Predict the Registeel/Umbreon switch in with a double switch and your opponent´s gonna have a bad time...
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 220 SpD
Calm Nature
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
- Stealth Rock
- Protect
Registeel as a special wall is a monster. It is generally a safe switch into the likes of Gardevoir, Florges, Roserade, Raikou, Shaymin, Necrozma etc. That said, it is not unbeatable by these pokemon, depending on the set. But it also hasn´t lost just because of a super effective hit. With this invesment Registeel get´s 3hko´ed by M-Blastoise Aurasphere and 4hko´ed by Swellow Heat Wave, which is incredibly valuable in the current meta. Registeel pretty much exists to set up Stealth Rocks while poisoning enemy walls and non-walls. Quite some MU´s can be won by Toxic+Seismic toss in combination with Protect stall, having a basic synergy with your leftovers recovery. Still, physical attackers can be quite harmfull for you, which is why we have....
Slowbro @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Slack Off
- Toxic
Slowbro, our physical sponge. Great switch in for almost all common threats (e.g. Tyrantrum, Zygarde-10%, Arcanine, Donphan, Metagross). Scald hopefully burns away your problems, Psyshock is your second potent STAB move hitting Roserade, Machamp, Virizion etc. Slack Off is for emergency recovery or Toxic stall, as you mainly want to heal by regenerator and leftovers to generate more pressure. 12 SpD may help you survive a M-Blastoise Dark Pulse or 3 Florges Moonblasts, although that isn´t your objective. At first I thought M-Blastoise was the obviously superior water type, but it doesn´t quite serve as a multiple switch in into physical (fighting) attacks; so at least here it is Slowbro´s time to shine.
Roserade @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Spikes
Roserade, a common grass type with nice coverage and most important of all: Spikes. Stealth Rocks and one layer of spikes generate so many more reliable ohkos and 2hkos for your sweepers, it is the perfect addition (e.g.: 252HP Florges gets 2hko´ed by TBolt Raikou after rocks and one layer spikes). But not only in the support role, but as an offensive pokemon too it shines. Lorb Leaf Storm decimates Blastoise and everything not-resisting, Sludge Bomb hits Gardevoir and Florges, HP Fire more or less steel-types (Forretress, Registeel, Metagross). It´s 90 speed base let´s it outspeed walls and ohko Gardevoir and Nidoqueen, though it struggles against fast and strong enemies like Zygarde-10%.
Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Defog
Finally, our revenge killer/late game cleaner Flygon! Fast pivot to generate momentum, Earthquake coverage and Outrage sweeper. A scarf 100 Speed base means you are going to outspeed scarf Gardevoir and even +2 Shell Smash Cloyster. There isn´t much else to say besides Defog as a last resort move to remove all kinds of hazards, e.g. Sticky Web which prevents Raikou from sweeping. Most of the time you won´t need it as your weakness to rocks is pretty low, but it doesn´t hurt having a backup plan. Great offensive typing overall for the coverage we still needed paired with U-turn.
Threats
Although this team is pretty balanced, it does have some specific weaknesses.
+2 Salazzle outspeeds and ohko´s (at max health Z-Sludge Wave is needed for Slowbro) everything in our team except for Flygon. If your enemy has a Salazzle, never risk your Flygon! Otherwhise Salazzle switches in on Registeel or Roserade and you have instantly lost. Try to counter with Stealth Rocks chip damage and Protect on Z-move outplays. Probably the most dangerous mon against this team.
Virizion has the optimal typing to kill both our walls reliably. Not only can it setup with Substitute and Swords Dance, it also takes a hit of Raikou or Flygon pretty well. Luckily, Roserade barely takes a +2 non-Z Close Combat and revenges with a potentially lethal Sludge Bomb. And if that isnt enough, we still have Machamp Bullet Punch to finish it off. Uncomfortable to play against, but be careful and you can handle it.
Swellow becomes a big problem the moment Registeel is dead. Just a little chip damage is enough to ohko the rest of your team. This team is already heavily dependent on its walls in early game, and Swellow shows exactly why. But as long as you keep your opponents option in mind and Stealth Rocks on the field, you should be fine.
When Honchcrow gets a Moxie boost, things get a little difficult. Superpower kills Registeel and everything else potentially dies of one Sucker Punch; especially after rocks. Your best bet is to either play mind games with Sucker Punch and Toxic on Slowbro, hope you live one hit and hope for a Scald burn by Slowbro (Sucker Punch actually has a 60% chance to ohko after rocks damage) or try to stall out Sucker Punches with Registeels protect and Superpower switches to Slowbro. So generally a scary threat, but as it is slower than your main Pokemon you can mostly avoid bad situations.
Conclusion
Truly a balanced team with a good success rate once you get used to it. Pretty standard sets, but effective in synergy. I hope you have just as much fun as I do with this team, and I would really appreciate it if you could point out some flaws I missed! Thanks to klaklak for providing the main ideas and most of the sets, and thank you for your time ^^
https://pokepast.es/94bfd6441a2197fa
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-846868790
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-846872380
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