SS NU Deception, a SS NU team

[Kizaco]

I got this idea from a YouTube video I saw and built the team from there

The team building process
First I started with zorark and toxicroak, the original idea, which I will get to when I talk about them


then I added quagsire because i like him, and he serves as a counter to set up sweepers


I thought I needed entry hazards so I added garbodor


Then I decided to get a revenge killer in braviary, cause I had used a similar set in ou


And cause I needed hazard support, I added blastoise



And now, the team
The team

Garbodor @ Custap Berry
Ability: Stench
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Toxic
- Toxic Spikes
- Spikes
- Explosion

The suicide hazard entry, maybe being suicide isn’t the best idea, but custap berry explosion is a combo I like a lot, so I can literally go out with a bang, worked better on regirock when I used him because of sturdy, but garbodor is good.

Braviary (M) @ Normal Gem
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Retaliate
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Tailwind

revenge killing is this Pokémon’s speciality, with a normal gen boosted retaliate, anything that is even slightly weakened and not resisted can say goodbye, with tailwind and U-turn, this mon can easily set up speed control for any of the othe moms on their team, with brave bird as a powerful stab move for the extra damage, this mon is useful no matter what.
Quagsire @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Liquidation
- Earthquake
- Recover
My boy, my man, quagsire. This set is pretty standard from what I have seen, substitute, recover, and leftovers are to make it better at staying alive, with earthquake and liquidation being my 2 stab moves. I see people saying to use scald, but liquidation’s 5 base power advantage and using the same attacking stat as earthquake makes it more powerful
Blastoise @ White Herb
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Shell Smash
- Liquidation
- Outrage
My hazard control, with rapid spin for my choice because I also have a hazard setter, this is necessary for braviary to work properly. With white herb shell smash as my set along with rapid spin so I could use it offensively along with hazard support

Zoroark @ Leftovers
Ability: Illusion
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Low Kick
- Swords Dance

Toxicroak @ Leftovers
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Low Kick
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off

I’m talking about both of them because, obviously, they are the same set, same nature, EV’s, everything. The point is because they are the same, it is very easy to deceive, and the best part is toxicroak’s 4x weakness to psychic becomes an immunity when you use zorark. Another reason we needed stealth rock out of the picture was that zorark and toxicroak take different stealth rock damage, so it’s a giveaway if I swap in and a toxicroak takes neutral stealth rock damage.

and that was my team, please do let me know what I’m doing wrong and how to fix it

pokepaste is here
https://pokepast.es/357ffcd3f2036254

 

[skierdude101]

Hi Kizaco, I really like your post and how you explained building process member by member!

First, there's a couple quick fixes to Abilities that could be made that would be important. Toxicroak should almost always be Dry Skin, the water immunity is what makes the pokemon so potent in our NU meta, it essentially allows to you to come in on Vaporeon for free and set up and SD! For Garbodor, Stench is its worst ability that has very little utility. For the set you have on this post, I think Weak Armor would be cool.

Second, lets looks at some items. We got Heavy-Duty Boots this gen and usually you want to be using that item on Pokemon that are weak to Stealth Rock like Braviary, unless your planning on using a specific set like Sub Bulk Up or Choice Scarf. Black Sludge is always better than Leftovers on Toxicroak.

Third, movesets. Since you are trying to use a Custap Garbodor, it might be a good idea to replace Toxic with Endure, that way you can ensure you survive and can get one last move off. I don't really like Retaliate on Braviary too much, I'd rather use Roost and make the set bulkier (HP instead of attack) that way you are able to use it as a pivot and use Tailwind a few times! I don't really see the value in Substitute on quagsire, i think you would be much better off running Toxic. Also, I agree with the Scald instead of Liquidation opinions, getting a burn is more valuable usually than the few extra percent of damage you would be doing. Physical Shell Smash Blastoise is an interesting choice, I think Rapid Spin is a bit of a wasted slot on the pokemon and it would much prefer running strong another attacking move. You could offload the hazard protection to Defog on Braviary instead of Tailwind. I'd say give Earthquake, Liquidation, Ice Punch a try! Lastly, Gunk Shot is just too good a move to give up on Toxicroak, I'd suggest running that instead of Knock Off or Sucker Punch.

So I wanted to give you tips on the current structure of your team so you can improve it without really taking away the essence of what you started with, I want it to still be your team. With that in mind, I'm still going to give my thoughts on the team idea and maybe you can make a version two with some of the new stuff in mind.

I realize that you built your team around disguising Zoroark as Toxicroak, but I don't really find them to be good partners beyond the Supereffective/Immunity to Psychic. They are both pretty frail pokemon so a neutral attack, lets say Thunderbolt, is going to do a hefty chunk to either Pokemon. Also, since they both have the same moveset, the way your opponent will defensively respond to them is essentially the same. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that there are few instances in which it matters to your opponent if its a Zoroark or Toxicroak in front of them, they usually are going to do the same thing either way, so you're not really punishing them for thinking its the wrong Pokemon. A partner that I've always really liked for Zoroark was Frosmoth because the things people would usually switch into Frosmoth (Copperajah, Bronzong, Talonflame) really dislike being attacked by Zoroark.

Hope this helps! Reply if you have questions or updates on the team!

 

[Kizaco]

Hey, thank you for replying, I’m gonna apply the changes you suggested and maybe even swap toxicroak for frosmoth as you said. I’ll try your sets and I’ll post the final pokepaste later if I find the team does better

 

[Kizaco]

I decided to make 2 teams, 1 with frosmoth and 1 with toxicroak
frosmoth
https://pokepast.es/23b92920dacdb955
Toxicroak
https://pokepast.es/a357c7c0ab0b11a0