SM RU OwO *notices your Doublade*

[teachable]

Introduction​

Even prior to me actively posting on Smogon, I've always loved this section and have wanted to make my first RMT and post it here. Most of my attempts at teambuilding in SM RU have been some form of balance, which I unfortunately feel like I can't play as well and as such have not exactly liked the teams enough to warrant a RMT. However, from all the laddering I have done with other teams, and an interesting mention of a Thief Linoone + Slurpuff core from MrAldo (sadly didn't work out), I saw plenty of teams packing either 0 answers to Slurpuff or a sole answer to Slurpuff in Doublade. I built this team originally for romantacist but playing on the Zoroark suspect test I realized that I actually liked it a fair bit, and it reminded me somewhat of eifo's Stack Attack team that I loved to use during the Heracross suspect test. So yeah, here's a team starring Slurpuff.

OwO notices your doublade

Teambuilding Process

As this is a Slurpuff-centered team it was the first Pokemon I added and went from there.

Not a lot stops Slurpuff once its already boosted so I thought of how to handle what does stop it. The most obvious Pokemon is Doublade, but there are a few Pokemon like Milotic or Registeel that can stomach a single hit. Since hazard removal in the RU tier sucks, I tossed in my favorite Stealth Rock setter to help wear these Pokemon down. Funny enough, although it compounds my Doublade weakness, the fact that Registeel brings in Doublade was a blessing in disguise. Rocky Helmet Chesnaught was a perfect fit now as it wears it down Doublade, switches into it pretty easily, and gets more hazards up for Slurpuff.

Remember how I said hazard removal sucks? Since that's the case, the most popular form of "hazard removal" in the tier currently is actually Xatu or Espeon. I've always thought of Sneasel as an underused Pokemon in RU, so I decided that it would fit my team by either directly trapping these Magic Bouncers or scaring my opponent into letting me get up hazards while having Pokemon that would otherwise beat my hazard setters. That's not all Sneasel does, as it also provides a secondary wincon via Choice Band Knock Off, Icicle Crash, or Ice Shard depending on the team and how weakened it is. I also hate Dragon Dance Flygon.

At this point I realized that my team was pretty weak to Nidoqueen or Toxic Doublade, which was not good at all. Refresh Milotic with a touch of SpD investment bandaid fixed this issue for the time being. Hazard removal is pretty awful in the tier, but I didn't want to lose at team preview to Sticky Webs teams so I chose Flygon as my revenge killer of choice, even though the lack of power has definitely made me come to hate Flygon but the role compression was necessary.

Playing with the team I noticed I was particularly weak to Mega Abomasnow and still weak to Nidoqueen, so I tried Bronzong for a bit and it remedied these issues well enough, although it is definitely not my favorite Pokemon to use. One perk was Sneasel rarely had to lock itself into Ice Shard, which is great as Banded Ice Shard typically leave it as setup fodder.

The final change to the team was a Stealth Rocker change, again. I noticed that Slurpuff had a really hard time setting up, outside of against burned Pokemon. Uxie is another Pokemon I feel is underutilized, especially with Nidoqueen so dominant, so I opted to try it out with Memento and have been loving it as it also provides me with a somewhat decent pivot into Mega Abomasnow.

In-Depth

-.- (Uxie) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 SpD / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Memento
- Psychic​

Uxie is my team's Stealth Rock setter but does way more than that. Similar to Registeel it baits in Doublade, so that my team can try to weaken it, beats Nidoqueen, and provides me with increased Slurpuff setup opportunities via Memento. I opted for Nascar Uxie as otherwise Sucker Punch Toxicroak was very annoying to deal with, typically requiring me to keep Flygon at 100% to live a +2 Sucker Punch. The given spread allows me to outspeed Jolly Toxicroak (and anything slower such as Nidoqueen), tank a +2 Sucker Punch and kill it with Psychic while retaining some special bulk for repeated switches into Nidoqueen and Mega Abomasnow. I also tended to struggle versus Sun a lot with prior Steel-type Rock setter builds, which Uxie thankfully remedied a bit. Colbur was something that I tried for a few games but overall appreciated the recovery more. Gamefreak pls give Cresselia Stealth Rock ty

>:3 (Sneasel) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Pursuit​

Since I opted to run a Non-Skill Swap Uxie variant, as I needed Memento, to provide myself with some hope of setting up rocks versus Magic Bouncers I chose Sneasel for the team. Sneasel doubles as another way to pressure Doublade with the threat of Pursuit or threat of Knock Off, as Doublade is occasionally a teams only resistance to Icicle Crash.

>:( (Chesnaught) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Synthesis
- Drain Punch​

With a Pokemon capable of beating Espeon and Xatu, I felt comfortable runner my my favorite spiker that would typically lose to those two Pokemon. The set is the standard Fast Taunt Chesnaught that has been very popular for a while, although I opted for Drain Punch over the usual Wood Hammer for the additional chip damage on Durant, since Flygon can't revenge kill it at full health and its otherwise troublesome for my team depending on the Z-Crystal it carries. Taunt + Rocky Helmet + Synthesis alone is enough to weaken and beat Doublade, outside of excessive hazards being up or good Iron Head rolls. Chesnaught also chips Feraligatr enough for Flygon to revenge kill it, should I happen to lose Milotic somehow.

ms starbucks (Milotic) @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 60 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze
- Refresh​

I wanted a Fire resist, something to take on Toxic Doublade, and another Pokemon to check Z-Crystal Durant. Durant can't hope to break through Milotic AND Chesnaught outside of Iron head flinches, which allows me to get chip damage necessary to revenge kill it. The EV spread lets me check Feraligatr as well as possible while letting me avoid the 2HKO from Modest Nidoqueen's Sludge Wave. No Toxic means I struggle a bit with some bulkier Pokemon, but Haze means I can typically force them to kill me and use them as setup fodder for Slurpuff.

O.O (Flygon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Defog​

Flygon has come to be one of my least favorite Pokemon in RU, despite liking it as a Pokemon itself. It just doesn't hit hard enough for me to really desire it as a revenge killer, but I desperately needed the role compression it provides with Defog + a revenge killer for Salazzle, so I chose it and (as you can read above) made the accommodations on my team to ensure it'd be able to revenge what is troublesome to my team. U-turn is one nice aspect of using Flygon, as occasionally a U-turn provides me with either the additional chip damage to revenge kill something, or an opportunity to setup hazards or a Belly Drum.

:3c (Slurpuff) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 30 HP
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough
- Flamethrower / Return
- Drain Punch​

What the team is built around, but surprisingly what I have the least to say about. Not a lot revenges Slurpuff, outside of something like Scarf Durant (goat) or Scarf Salazzle which aren't too common, so once a Belly Drum is setup the game is usually over fast. Flamethrower is mainly for Mega Abomasnow, letting you KO it after Stealth Rocks without using Belly Drum as it will usually stay in on you to prevent you from Belly Drumming for free. It also lets you nail Doublade after some chip from the rest of the team. Return is another option I used for a while to avoid Play Rough misses but overall Flamethrower seems like a better fit for the team.

Threats

Yanmega​

Unless this Pokemon is in versus Sneasel, it clicks Bug Buzz and kills one of my Pokemon every time it comes in. Getting hazards up is almost impossible without this happening as Uxie invites in Yanmega. Thankfully there are some ways to play around this, as Memento'ing as Yanmega comes in allows you to (barely) use it as Belly Drum fodder. Thankfully this thing is incredibly uncommon.

Venusaur and Friends​

This Pokemon is a struggle to deal with even with Uxie, as should Uxie get weakened or it sets up for free, typically I'll still be required to sac Uxie and revenge kill it with Sneasel even if neither of these things happen. The composition of a Sun team also typically leaves little room for Slurpuff to setup. Thankfully Chesnaught checks Leafeon, and Milotic checks Non-Solar Beam Torkoal well (which most opt to run Toxic).

Mega Abomasnow​

This mon basically claims a kill whenever it comes in, and it has an easy time coming in on most of the mons on the team e.g. Sneasel, Uxie, Milotic, Chesnaught.

I'd have more replays but I sadly started suspect laddering too late, and didn't save a lot of my matches also.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7rususpecttest-656681658 - Here's a replay showcasing the only counterplay my team has to Yanmega. I wouldn't have been forced into a Sucker Punch war but my dumbass got spikes up for my opponent and they got a high Bug Buzz roll.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7rususpecttest-656508784 - This replay is the match that resulted in me swapping out Bronzong, as although it hard walled Florges in this particular battle, I had almost no chance to setup on ANYTHING outside of Florges from my opponent.

import

-.- (Uxie) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 80 SpD / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Memento
- Psychic

>:3 (Sneasel) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Pursuit

>:( (Chesnaught) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Synthesis
- Drain Punch

ms starbucks (Milotic) @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 248 HP / 200 Def / 60 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze
- Refresh

O.O (Flygon) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Defog

:3c (Slurpuff) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 30 HP
- Belly Drum
- Play Rough
- Flamethrower
- Drain Punch

and in case you wanted to use Registeel or Bronzong OR Umbreon and need a set

steel zonger breon

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Foul Play

Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Toxic
- Protect

Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Seismic Toss
- Protect
- Toxic

Shoutouts​

Big shoutouts to every regular in the RU community and Discord chat (seriously <3 all of y'all), but especially to those that have been using oddball Pokemon like HypnoEmpire's Articuno or EviGaro's Sigilyph/Sceptile that inspired me to try something different, albeit not quite as original. Another shoutout to the big amount of RU RMTs that have been posted recently, which has definitely encouraged me to get off my butt and post this thing before USUM gets released. Final shoutout to Romanticist and eifo for either listening to me rant or helping me fine tune the team a little bit, in addition to helping me build a lot of other squads.

 

[aVocado]

Incredibly cute title and thread format, love it :3c but I wanna start by saying that yes, sun does kinda shit on this team but it also shits on any offense that isn't specifically prepared for it so that's kinda accepted. Venusaur, once in, just kills anything in its face and is only threatened by Sneasel's banded ice shard. It then proceeds to pretty much OHKO the rest of your team after set up or with appropriate moves/z-moves. Another huge threat is Mega Abomasnow, if it has giga drain you legit just drop to it. With wood hammer it can be slightly manageable since it will eventually kill itself from recoil, but if it has giga drain or has lunar dance/healing wish/wish support, or just giga drain over wood hammer, it'll just break through the entire team. In the same manner, Glalie and Sneasel are also slight problems but those are way more manageable since you have Milotic.

I have some minor changes and fixes in mind that can help alleviate some of these problems and a possible drastic change so bear with me here for a bit:

Uxie: Leftovers to Colbur Berry
Sneasel: CB to Life Orb
Slurpuff: Replace Return with Flamethrower
Milotic: Replace with Umbreon



Starting with the first proposed change, Colbur Uxie which I know you said you tried and didn't like, gives you a better chance vs knock users to either set up stealth rock in front of them or U-turn out for chip and momentum to weaken them. This is mostly just for Sneasel though so you can just ignore this because Leftovers works fine, but it does also help with the Toxicroak weakness you mentioned. Life Orb over CB on Sneasel can help by not making it set up fodder or useless when its locked into Ice Shard/Icicle Crash vs Durant, and to be able to switch moves vs Yanmega/Venusaur/Sun teams in general which sounds nice. Unless CB nets specific KOs that I'm unaware of I feel like LO is the superior item of choice imo. For Flamethrower on Slurpuff, trust me I'm very aware that you absolutely hate missing Play Rough but this might be a necessary evil lmao. Flamethrower does a good bit to Mega Abomasnow which gives you a surefire way to revenge it after it's taken rocks + just the slightest of chip damage, and it also does a respectable amount to Doublade (34.7 - 41.6% vs 252/96 spread.) If you do go with this suggestion then change the nature to Naive.

Now for the drastic change of Umbreon over Milotic, my understanding is that Milotic gives you a fire resist and a guaranteed way of beating Toxic Doublade. Umbreon kinda does both of those already. Foul Play will OHKO +2 Doublade and its sheer bulk will help vs any of the Fire-types in RU. It can be a bit of a momentum sink though which sucks. On the bright side though, Umbreon will also greatly help against Abomasnow since it pretty much hard counters the mixed set while OHKOing the SD set at +2, while taking neutral damage from Venusaur and doing a lot of damage with Foul Play vs +2, though z-move at +2 obviously OHKOs sadly :[


Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
- Foul Play

You can choose to run Moonlight over Protect if wish tect feels like too much of a momentum sink.


sorry if i a butchered ur team :(

 

[teachable]

Uxie: Leftovers to Colbur Berry
Sneasel: CB to Life Orb
Slurpuff: Replace Return with Flamethrower
Milotic: Replace with Umbreon

So far I've liked changing Sneasel to LO, even though you miss out on some sweep opportunities and miss a few Ohkos on bulkier Espeon/Xatu builds its nice not having to lock myself into Pursuit if I'm going for a Pursuit read. Normally I play Banded Sneasel by... mainly click Knock, which works pretty well except doesn't really help with this team in wearing down other stuff.

Flamethrower Slurpuff is OK but I've still been liking Return more, but I'll probably change to Flamethrower overall on this RMT since it seems overall more solid.

Umbreon I haven't been liking personally, mainly because Chesnaught is my switch in to a lot of stuff like Goro/Durant and Umbreon kinda invites these Pokemon in which means Chesnaught gets pretty easily overwhelmed. Overall I think if I wanted to make the team more solid against Mega Aboma and a few other special atkers like Queen this would be a great change but I think goro/durant are overall more threatening to the team w/ Milotic gone.

Colbur Berry Uxie is cool but with Zoro leaving idk, doesn't seem like that cool of a tech for ladder but its definitely in my mind for if I ever bring this team to a tour and my opponent likes Sneasel. Something like Tanga Berry sounds like a cool C-Team tech also, for like Yanmega to setup with Slurpuff lol.