(Read my post #4 for a more recent update)
To start off, let me give a quick and relitively unimportant and uninteresting short story that details why I decided to start learning the NU tier. For the longest time, I have mainly stuck to the OU tier, and I have always been mediocre at it. The funny thing is, though, I did better before I actually knew the tier very well and got much higher on the ladder. But now, I can barely break the 1200s when before I was running around the 1300s and even getting near the 1600s. So now I thought, "Ya know, I remember back when I just jumped right into the tier blindly and just battled it out and somehow racked up wins. Maybe I can recreate this and try another tier!" So my tier of choice was NU, a tier that has interested me for a while. So I pulled up the viability rankings, pulled out some 'mons that interest me, and made a team! And just through a few battles, I have learned some of the tiers features pretty quickly. But my fear of having a good thing crash down because of my lack of knowledge has drawn me here. I want to actually get good at some tier, and whenever I feel like I finally am, realization hits me hard. So here I am, only a few battles in with this team and only one loss out of around 10 and already feeling stressed from fear of losing, crushing my hopes for being good and giving me much mental anguish. So here's the team, give me critique and general info on the tier, and hopefully I actually get it right this time. So let's go!
My Team:
(Did all this work on an iPad, and ever since the recent update, the Internet is a pain to use. Couldn't get the good sprites, so just imagine Typhlosion, Seismitoad, Heliolisk, Archeops, Cryogonal, and Virizion all in a line staring at you. Thank you for understanding and I'll fix this whenever I get to a computer.)
Typhlosion (M) @ Choice Scarf(Did all this work on an iPad, and ever since the recent update, the Internet is a pain to use. Couldn't get the good sprites, so just imagine Typhlosion, Seismitoad, Heliolisk, Archeops, Cryogonal, and Virizion all in a line staring at you. Thank you for understanding and I'll fix this whenever I get to a computer.)
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Eruption
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Typhlosion was my first choice as a mon. Me and Typhlosion go way back, as Silver was my first game and Typhlosion was my first Pokemon. Since then, my Silver has gotten that little fun save-deleting glitch and my Typhlosion has been lost in time (my condolences to anyone else who experienced this tragedy). But with Typhlosion being good in this meta, I can now honor my good ol' friends memory and build a team with him. Typhlosion so far has put in work. Good revenge killer and not much likes switching into its eruption. Fire and Focus Blast are shaky when it comes to dependability, but eh, what are you gonna do. Standard spread, nothing special. And just a few more days until it will get Flash Fire! Once it does, it will further be a great asset to the team.
Seismitoad (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Def / 56 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
Seismitoad has proven to be a very dependable SR setter. It's bulk is good and can switch in to many physical threats, tank a hit, and can scare them with a burn from scald. Earthquake can put pressure on Caracosta, which is great cause otherwise it really puts pressure on my own team, especially if it's Jolly and Virizion is hurt. Used to run Toxic, but this team is a bit too offensive to see it benefit from it. Thus, I run Knock Off to bother switch-ins. He makes the main switch-in to fire type moves, as my team doesn't like it otherwise (still can't wait for Flash Fire!) Again, standard spread with standard lefties for the recovery it much needs and greatly desires.
Heliolisk (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Grass Knot
Funny story, through the first 6 games (which I won), I was running max attack rather than max special attack, and it still put in work! Now with the correct investment, it is still doing much of the same. I honestly don't know if Heliolisk will last in NU for long, cause from my experience, it is a hard threat to handle. While free switch-ins can be hard to come by due to its poor natural bulk, if you get it in, the combo of Volt Switch and Grass Knot makes your opponent wary of switching anything into it. It has great power and the momentum it gives can make anything you switch into an easy kill if your opponent so desires to not switch. To my embarrassment, I just realized what it's ability is, so it also is a good check to Carracosta if the Carracosta isn't Jolly. So there's that. Also, when Typhlosion gets Flash Fire, it will help it with the bad side of its ability.
Archeops (M)
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Taunt
- Earthquake
- Roost
By this point, I needed a physical attacker. Thus, I chose Archeops. I like Archeops. It makes for a good taunt lead, and it can punish certain threats to the team. I honestly don't lead with Archeops too much, leaning towards Seismatoad as my most-used lead. But Archeops is a good lead to sleep-inducing grass-type leads that Seismatoad isn't doing anything against. But from my experience, when I predict the sleep lead, I don't get it, and when I predict a typical SR lead and lead with Seismitoad, they lead with the sleep lead. Just my luck. Regardless, Archeops has its uses and does its job.
Cryogonal @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Freeze-Dry
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Recover
So when I saw I needed hazard removal on the team, I wanted Rapid Spin cause SR on the opponents side of the field is invaluable and SR on my side of the field makes Typhlosion sad because Eruption becomes meh quickly. So I looked at the Viability Rankings for the best Rapid spinner. And I saw Cryogonal. I was very skeptical of Cryogonals ability, but theoreticly, I knew it would've a good fit. This reason is because it handles special and bulky waters that Archeops, Typhlosion, and Virizion (you'll see why) that they don't like and can switch into special grass types that are plentiful and are struggles for Heliolisk, Seismatoad, and Virzion. And on the flip side, Seismitoad covers its poor defense and protects it from Aqua Jet as well as fire moves. And oh yeah, when Typhlosion gets Flash Fire, that will help as well. The spread is pretty standard. HP Ground to make Rock-types think twice when switching in. Now, for the odd thing you may have noticed. I run Safety Goggles as the item. It used to be Leftovers, but I quickly learned that this tier loves sleep inducers, especially for grass-types. This caused problems, as switching in Cryogonal to take on the grass types was fruitless as it would just be put to sleep. Sleep inducers were so anoying that I was thinking of ways to handle it. I thought of putting Sleep Talk on Typhlosion, but that wouldn't be very usefull, as sleep talks unpredictability mixed with Fire and Focus Blasts inefficiency isn't optimal at all, the possibility of using Eruption at low HP is stupid, and losing coverage is meh. Using Virizion isn't a good switch, as it can't do much against the grass types, and if the inducer is SD Jumpluff, Virizion is going down. So Safety Goggles is what I decided, and it doesn't disapoint. Grass types go from a problem to easy to handle, as I'm sure Safety Goggles isn't that common and will be a good surprise. So, as much as I've talked about it, you can see my concern for it is gone and is now a great contributor to the team.
Virizion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Zen Headbutt
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
This is the SD Lum Virizion Set. I needed a Physical Attacker and a partner with Typhlosion for a secondary Win-Con. Virizion does this pretty well. (Not to mention, when Typhlosion gets Flash Fire, it will make a better core, as it forms a better bond between the FWG core on a more defensive level) SD makes it a scary attacker, and it's typing isn't bad defensively as well. Lum protects it from burn, basically inviting the opponent to burn it to get a free SD. And hey, if I can such into something that tries Knock Off and that Virizion can force out, I can easily get Virizion to +3, which can sweep freely if the opponent has no checks. Spread is simple max attack and speed. Close Combat is basically a must-have. I run both Stone Edge and Zen Headbutt over Leaf Blade because grass coverage is already present well enough, and Freeze-Dry hits the things that Grass coverage hits as well. Rocks are handled with Close Combat. I also want a better way to handle Garbador, so Zen is the way to go. So far, Virizion has been quietly sitting on the bench not doing much because most of the games I've won didn't need him. But I imagine that won't last much longer.
Conclusion:
I feel this team has potential. I just need some input on things I can change, such as EV spreads and moves. If you have team-changing suggestions, I'm all ears and would be glad to test it out. And if you could give me general advice for the tier, I would be glad to hear it. Thanks for looking at my team and please give anything you can!
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