Other [PU Beta] Abomasnow Bulky Offense (Peak @1545 w/ 86% gxe)

[Mango Smoothie]

Introduction
PU HYPE! I've been waiting for PU to come back for what seems like forever and its now finally here. This team was posted in the PU discussion thread, but I had enough success with it that I felt it only right to RMT it (and also I won't be able to ladder much in the upcoming weeks since classes start in a few days). The team is probably best described as bulky offense, relying on catch-all checks to common threats and give Abomasnow the opportunity to come in and wreak havoc. It has been a lot of fun to play and even managed to pull a 31-2 WL record on the ladder, peaking at #11 (I lost the screenshot I had of the peak rip). Completely unrelated to the team but I figured out how to make an image partially transparent in Gimp so that's where the banner came from, I originally had them all wearing scarves and hats, but transparencies look so much more sleek.

Proof of Record

Proof of Peak/Record

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pubeta-624742046 <- Rating drop at the end

I lost the screenshot of the ranking with the 86% GXE but it was at the 31-1 point so "please take my word for it" is the best explanation I can give.

Teambuilding Process

Abomasnow was the starting point, and to account for its pretty prevalent fire/fighting weakness, Lanturn and Granbull were added. They also form a nice defensive core covering most of the prominent threats with a combination of their resists/typing. Golurk was added as a secondary fighting-type check and also for rocks. Banded Passimian was added next as a fast-ish threat, but it was switched to Scarf for necessary speed on this team. Last, but certainly not least, Skuntank was added for Hazard control support and also for some priority.

In-Depth Analysis
Arborium-Z (

) @ Life Orb
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
Blizzard | Giga Drain | Ice Shard | Focus Blast
Abomasnow is the centerpiece of the team and preys on teams that rely on water-types like Lanturn or Piloswine as their ice-type answers. Blizzard is spammable STAB under Hail and chunks anything not named Miltank of Magmortar really hard. Giga Drain is secondary STAB that has the added bonus of providing Abomasnow with semi-reliable recovery. Ice Shard is priority to pick off weakened faster mons like Scyther. Focus Blast complements the other STAB options well by beating on steel-types like Ferroseed and the aforementioned Miltank. Abomasnow is also my favorite gen4 pokemon so there's that.

Fishium-Z (

) @ Leftovers
Fishium-Z (Lanturn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 40 HP / 136 Def / 252 SpD / 80 Spe
Calm Nature
Volt Switch | Scald | Toxic | Protect
Lanturn forms the first part of my defensive core, and gives me some leeway with fire-types. EVs are kind of wonky but they maximize special defense, outspeed Adamant Golem, and hit 401 HP. Volt Switch gives momentum on predicted switches and is especially useful to bring Abomasnow in early. Scald burns everything and acts as a more reliable STAB option. Toxic lets Lanturn pressure grass-types like Lilligant and also put setup sweepers on a timer. Protect is used in the final spot to scout and also get some extra recovery.

Dogium-Z (

) @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 208 Def / 48 Spe
Impish Nature
Play Rough | Earthquake | Thunder Wave | Heal Bell
I'm not entirely sure how Granbull dropped down to PU this generation but I'm not complaining it stops most all physical attackers dead in their tracks with a combination of ability and status effects. EVs Maximize physical defense and outspeed Piloswine in case I need to kill a weakened one. Play Rough is primary STAB which hits pretty hard despite no attack investment. Next we have Earthquake which beats the fire and steel-types that can eat Play Rough. Thunder Wave cripples attackers and is also pretty spammable since because hax. Heal Bell was used in the last moveslot to clear the team of status, but its not used that often.
Robotium-Z (

) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
Shadow Punch | Earthquake | Ice Punch | Stealth Rock
Golurk is a mon that I've got mixed feelings about because on the one hand its powerful and pretty bulky but on the other hand its usually just not bulky enough and slow to be easily pressured by the things its supposed to check/keep in check. EVs maximize strength and power. Shadow Punch/EQ are dual STAB, with Ice Punch to hit most defoggers for super effective damage. Rocks are rocks. I initially chose Golurk as a secondary fighting and normal check, but its not super effective at doing that. I don't know it feels a bit out of place on this type of team but at the same time I can't think of something to replace it with.

Monkeyum-Z (

) @ Choice Scarf
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Close Combat | U-turn | Earthquake | Rock Slide​

Now Scarf Passimian might seem like an odd choice considering Primeape is in the tier as well, but hear me out on this; Passimian is much bulkier than Primeape could ever be, allowing it to take hits like priority and chip and still be able to clean late-game, which aligns more with what the team needs. Passimian's first two moves are really the only ones I ever used, EQ and Rock Slide were chosen because they seemed like good options when building the team. Close Combat is the obligatory STAB with U-turn for momentum. There's not much to say its pretty straightforward and does exactly what it needs to for the team.​

Skunkium-Z (

) @ Black Sludge
EVs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 144 Spe
Adamant Nature
Poison Jab | Sucker Punch | Crunch | Defog
Mandatory Musharna answer and 2nd priority user, Skuntank. EVs hit 240 which was recommended from the NU analysis, while maximizing attack. I went only STAB on the skunk since I felt like I had enough to pressure steel-types between Abomasnow, Golurk, and Passimian. Poison Jab lets you hit fighting-types like Hitmonchan hard and keeps up hazard pressure (since Golurk is an eh spinblocker at best), with Crunch/Sucker Punch acting as dark coverage for psychics and faster frailer attackers. Lastly, Defog is here for hazard control.

Replays
VS Sun - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pubeta-622604803
VS Balance - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pubeta-622126102
VS Balance #2 - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pubeta-618590343

Threatlist

- Weezing can come in on a lot of the team which grants free opportunities to spam WoW or set toxic spikes. Abomasnow is my best way to handle it, but it threatens basically everything on the team minus Lanturn who it whittles away at with burns or poison.

- Since I lack any true normal resists and Granbull isn't the most difficult to wear down, normal spam cores can put in a lot of work against this team.

Conclusion
This team has been incredibly fun to play, and while it has some hard matchups to win none are 'unwinnable'. On a more general note, I'm really excited for SM PU. While I miss the days when the strongest special attacker I had to worry about was Specs Floatzel, I'm enjoying the wide variety of teams I can build and face on the ladder. Anyways, thanks for reading, and click the links below for the importable.


Thanks for reading and have a great day!​

 

[gz]

Really cool team you got there Mango, but you should definitely run a Z-Move. I tested it with Z-Heal Bell and with Fightinium-Z on Abomasnow and both worked amazingly. Also I feel like special Skuntank does more for your team with Pulse/Acid/Taunt or Pulse/Blast/HP Grass.