Project RU Research Week: Week 14 - Porygon-Z, Marowak-A & Reuniclus

[Oathkeeper]

Braviary @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Defog / Facade / Toxic

Strengths: Scarf Braviary can pivot out into something that beats its checks (namely rocks and steels). Should it need to hit said typings, it does have a nice alternative to Superpower in Close Combat, which it just got this generation. It does speed tie other scarfers like Passimian and maybe Gallade? However, it wins both of those 1v1s with Brave Bird since a Close Combat from either will not OHKO Braviary. Defog is a decent option in the 4th slot for getting rid of hazards that it doesn't like. Toxic can be put in it's place to poison physical walls that could come in on it like Vaporeon, Rhydon, or Gastrodon. Facade also could work as a strong STAB once Braviary becomes statused. Brave Bird, overall, just hits the meta hard aside from the stuff that laughs at it like Steelix. Overall, scarf Braviary looks to be the common set for it.

Weaknesses: As with any Pokemon, flaws are just as present as perks. Rock and Steel types as well as bulky physicals present an immediate problem to this birb. While Close Combat is at its disposal, Steelix, Rhydon, and even stuff like Vaporeon and Gastrodon can eat them up predicting it. Stealth Rock is also a problem knowing Braviary is carrying a fashionable scarf instead of some trend-setting boots. Even if Braviary is carrying Defog itself, it still hurts itself just to come in and get rid of them. Finally, as with any scarfer, clicking a certain move could bring in a setup sweeper to run over its team, but this varies.

Takeaways: Bring a separate hazard control partner so Braviary doesn't waste a turn doing it itself. Bring a Fighting type, a Ground type, or both to deal with Rock and Steel types so that Braviary doesn't have to. Since Rocks and Steels are easy lure for Braviary, bring a setup sweeper/cleaner that deals with them like Virizion or Passimian to take pressure off of the bird. Having defensive switch-ins to Rock, Electric, and Ice like Gastrodon or Snorlax definitely help it out as well.

Below is my video of my research. Enjoy the few moments of irritation as well lol

 

[Sectonia]

I won't attach teams to that image mostly because the teams I did make, I wasn't really too happy with. The two teams in the image are the ones I'm only sorta happy with.

I'll be honest. I hated building with Braviary. I should have built with Rotom-C instead because I just find that to be much more with my style of building. Braviary, to me, didn't really attract itself to my own style because I like pokemon that can provide strong utility even when scarfed, or when holding a different item. Scarf Braviary was decent, but it really wasn't working out for me. I just hated how Braviary just didn't really work with a lot of pokemon when scarfed. It didn't suit my styles of building, which was really more oriented to bulky teams that can take hits and throw them out, with a few breakers that can put on the pressure. And Braviary, being scarfed, shifted my playstyle to more pure offense, which I hugely disliked. I think it's mostly my fault for heavily preferring more bulky teams, but Scarf Braviary just did not meld with the style of building I have. Sub BU Braviary did better, but again, it shifted the team towards more offense than defense that I didn't like. It's difficult to really describe it, but Braviary seems like a much stronger fit for offense than bulky teams, and Sub BU helps it fit on bulky teams, but it will shift the team towards offense a lot more. I think it would have a good place in RU, but it's honestly not to my style at all - Rotom-C is just so much more friendly to my teambuilding ways.

 

[Mac3]

Congratulations to SectoniaServant for winning this week's Research Week!

Oathkeepre and SectoniaServant both chose to research Braviary this week and had different results with it. Oathkeepre thought that it was all-around good, especially if you paired it with fighting or ground types to take advantage of the bulky rock, and steel types that switch into Braviary. He thought scarf was a good set for it as brave bird hits the meta hard while having access to u-turn and utility options like defog come in handy often, and give it a niche over other scarfers like Indeedee. SectoniaServant had different results, he thought that it was hard to build with it, whether that be for Braviary in general or because of the style of teams that he likes. He had rather bad experiences with Braviary because of this, although he admitted that subBU could work on more bulky teams.

We didn’t have any comments on Rotom-Mow this week but from my own experiences with it, I can clearly say that it's a top-tier ‘mon, reflected in the VR as well. Getting access to nasty plot this gen is a blessing for it as it can be a powerful threat without having to lock itself into either an electric STAB or something that lowers its special attack. Stored power is a cool coverage option that hits Virizion and Vileplume which think that they can switch in. It also has access to a multitude of support moves such as defog, will-o-wisp, or trick, which can either remove hazards from the field or weaken its checks.

Moving on, this week’s selection is:

Work Up Silvally-Dragon

Silvally-Dragon @ Dragon Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
- Work Up
-
-
-

Silvally-Dragon does much of the same things that other Silvally forms that use work up do, weaken steel types with +1 flamethrower while having a 120bp STAB move that deals a lot of damage even to resists. Dragvally also has an excellent defensive typing in this meta as it can exploit common FWG cores and come in on many top tier ‘mons and proceed to either attack or set up. It has many options in its move slots, although I have run multi-attack, flamethrower, and flash cannon when using it to hit the types that resist its STAB for a lot of damage. Not being weak to any of the coverage options that bulky steel types usually use also allows it to stay in and 2hko them with flamethrower which isn’t something Steelvally or Fairyvally can do.

Choice Band Snorlax

Snorlax @ Choice Band
Ability: [insert]
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
-
-
-
-

Snorlax is one of the tier’s best ‘mons, and its curse set is extremely dangerous as it allows it to boost its rather weak physical defense while simultaneously boosting its attack stat to ridiculous levels. However, this week you will be researching how well a choice band set can do, potentially luring in normal switch-ins like fighting types or steel types that aren’t expecting a double-edge or coverage option, respectively. It still offers a lot of defensive utility, as even uninvested its special defense allows it to tank a lot of the tier’s special attackers such as Ninetales, Salazzle, Rotom-Mow, and Indeedee.

In order to participate you must do the following:

• Post here with a fresh RW alt (such as RWRU4 Mac3) and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
• Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched.
• Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using, participate in the discussion!
• Post replays of this Pokemon in action against other teams - don't just tell us, show us
• The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown RU ladder with their RW alt at the time the challenge ends. Winners will also receive a permanent spot in this thread's Hall of Fame.

 

[Oathkeeper]

Gonna take that Dragonvally and using the proper notation of RURW4 Oath

 

[Sectonia]

I'll be using RWRU4 Sectonia and I'll be doing CB Snorlax.

 

[EggsAndPeanuts]

Sorry, I totally forgot to post during RW3. This week, I'll be going under RURW4 Eggs and using CB Snorlax.

 

[Loom]

I forgot to post but braviary was indeed epic to use as I went 11-2 with it. I’ll be using RURW4 Loom this round and I’ll be using Dragonvally.

 

[GoldCat]

RWRU4 GoldCat- I'll be using CB lax.

 

[Sectonia]

I didn't make many teams for this week, but I was pretty happy with what I had when I was making teams. The spread for this Snorlax came from Expulso, although he doesn't know what it does (LOL?), it's been nice, and I've not had many reasons to diverge from the spread at all.

CB Snorlax was really interesting, because it had big immediate breaking power, but it also lured in quite a few threats thinking they can just shrug off a hit, and get slammed with a Choice Band boosted Snorlax. It still retained some defensive utility, so it had several chances to switch in, although the lack of Rest made it hard to keep it alive for very long. However, it had insane breaking power with Choice Band, so it definitely pulled its weight when it had to.

There's no stealth rock on this team because I wanted to experiment with no rocks, and it was pretty successful. With my main rock-weak pokemon having boots, it made me think about using Xatu more efficiently, and try to see if I can bounce back rocks successfully. It worked out decently well, and Snorlax didn't need hazard support in the long run, since it was putting out pretty strong hits. Overall, I think Stealth Rock isn't as mandatory as I've made myself think it was, but it's definitely really good support. Snorlax already got a lot of 2HKOs with Choice Band, so Stealth Rock support wasn't mandatory, and that made for a refreshing experience.

 

[GoldCat]

I had a lot of fun using Choice Band Snorlax with it just plowing through any unprepared team. CB Snorlax differentiates itself from its main competition in Bewear, with its massive natural special bulk and resistance to Fire and Ice. I decided to pair lax with an underrated mon in OTR Cofagrigus. Not only is Cofagrigus a terrifying sweeper but it also supports CB lax with Trick Room and covers its Fighting weakness. CB lax is prone to get inflicted with a lot of status conditions so a cleric is highly recommended if you aren't running Facade. I found Vaporeon to work best, as it appreciates Snorlax covering mons like Ninetales, and helps lax with its susceptibility to getting worn down. Aromatisse also works thanks to its Fighting resistance. Lax also loves VoltTurn partners that can safely bring it onto the field.

Set:

Snorlax @ Choice Band
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Atk / 68 Def / 116 SpD / 44 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Darkest Lariat
- Earthquake
- Heat Crash / Facade
The Sp.def is to always avoid the 3HKO after rocks from Salazzle's Sludge Wave.

Replays:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ru-1114963937-axgospr99ki9bvqj6ma543sl4i5vv6apw

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ru-1114969875-myahtu25jsnyt0d8pfgz1qwk9aefir2pw

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ru-1115132509-wglmizfp5tapbb9bds25ufyigkfaf51pw

The team I used:

 

[Mac3]

Congratulations to GoldCat for winning this week's Research Week!

GoldCat and SectoniaServant both used banded Snorlax and had positive results with it, they saw it have a lot of success as a lure as people would switch in ‘mons to shrug off a curselax’s body slam but instead get hit by a banded STAB or coverage. Although not having rest left it easily chipped, GoldCat circumvented this by having wish support in the form of Vaporeon. However, both agreed that Snorlax’s breaking potential with band made up for this shortcoming, and many unprepared teams have a tough time because of the surprise factor.

Sadly we didn’t have any comments on Silvally-Dragon, but from my experiences, I can quickly say that it’s a cool anti-meta threat that can exploit the FWG cores similarly to Drampa.

Moving on, this week’s selection is:

Choice Specs Vanilluxe

Vanilluxe @ Choice Specs
Ability: [insert]
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
-
-
-
-

Choice specs Vanilluxe was a popular set last gen because of the immense breaking power of this set, the ability to summon hail is extremely valuable as it doesn’t allow for passive recovery on the two main ice-switchins the tier has to offer; Snorlax and Copperajah. Many teams also forego a freeze dry resist entirely which makes it so a specs Vanilluxe can completely break down opposing teams.

Choice Specs Ninetales

Ninetales @ Choice Specs
Ability: [insert]
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
-
-
-
-

Choice specs Ninetales was another popular set last gen, although overshadowed by firium-z, but without z-moves this gen, specs Ninetales is able to differentiate itself from HDB as it has much more immediate power, although it is also more prediction reliant. Being susceptible to entry hazards is also a drawback of this set. However, catching an opponent off-guard with the power of a specs fire-move in sun can sway the flow of the battle in your favor.

In order to participate you must do the following:

• Post here with a fresh RW alt (such as RWRU5 Mac3) and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
• Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched.
• Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using, participate in the discussion!
• Post replays of this Pokemon in action against other teams - don't just tell us, show us
• The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown RU ladder with their RW alt at the time the challenge ends. Winners will also receive a permanent spot in this thread's Hall of Fame.

 

[EggsAndPeanuts]

I promise I'll actually post my research this week. I'm gonna use Vanilluxe under RWRU5 Eggs

 

[Oathkeeper]

I'm going to take the good ol' (3^2)tales with the alt RURW5 Oath

 

[Sectonia]

I'll be joining in with RWRU5 Sectonia and I'll use Specs Ninetales.

 

[Oathkeeper]

Ninetales @ Choice Specs
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fire Blast
- Solarbeam
- Psyshock
- Weather Ball

Strengths: Specs + Sun hits hard. Especially on stuff that resists Fire Blast. It can either OHKO or nearly OHKO Salazzle under Sun. Good speed tier by hitting 328 overall. Coverage is nice to hit waters like Vaporeon, Jellicent, etc. Psyshock is a more reliable option to hit Lazzle. It does hit most of the meta with little resistance. Specs does help the ok Special Attack stat of 81.

Weaknesses: While Specs does help Ninetales, it doesn't OHKO want it wants to like Mudsdale as evidenced by my second game in the video below. Even the likes of Vaporeon and Jellicent can live one and just get their HP back. Despite its good speed tier, it can still lose to common scarfers like Passimian, Rillaboom, and even Braviary. There's also many mons that it cannot switch into that you'd think it could like Dhelmise with EQ, Claydol, etc. It also has a couple of guaranteed walls in Coalossal and Snorlax which are common in RU.

Takeaways: Specs is good, but I feel NP is better. Get more bang for your buck and all that. Very few switch-ins, very few counters, deals great damage to most of the meta. Doesn't have overpowering potential, but does hit hard what it needs and wants to.

 

[Mac3]

Congratulations to Oathkeepre for winning this week's Research Week!

Oathkeepre used specs Ninetales and had a mixed review, although it hits very hard with specs, it doesn't quite ohko what it wants to. He also still thinks that np is better, even though specs does have immediate offensive presence, the ability to switch moves and boost to more powerful levels outweighs that immediate power.

We didn't have any comments on Vanilluxe but from my own experiences using it this week I've found that many teams aren't prepared for it well at all. This is explainable as the only reliable switchins are Snorlax, Copperajah, and Coalossal, and as none of them have reliable recovery, specs Vanilluxe easily breaks teams that either don't have one of them, or rely on them to blanket check a lot of special attackers which makes them get chipped very quickly. However, it's speed tier does leave something to be desired, as 282, although good in gen 7, is outsped by a lot of relevant 'mons in the meta right now. Specs also being affected by entry hazards make it so that Vanilluxe has limited switchins if rocks are up, which makes it so you have to take advantage of its breaking potential early on in the game.

As the interest in Research Week seems relatively low as of right now, I'll be pausing it until the June tier shifts have happened, as then some new interesting 'mons will have dropped hopefully.

 

[Mac3]

This week's selection:

Rillaboom

Rillaboom @ [insert]
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
-
-
-
-

Rillaboom has been an RU 'mon for almost the whole generation, however, with the recent DLCs it got access to its hidden ability, grassy surge. Even though terrain has been nerfed this gen, being able to gain passive recovery, and boosting Rillaboom's STAB, makes it so Rillaboom becomes much better. Between banded, scarf, and grassy seed, Rillaboom has no true counters, closest things being Charizard and Weezing, in the former's case being knocked is usually a death sentence while the latter has no form of reliable recovery.

Mixed Virizion

Virizion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
- Stone Edge
- Air Slash
-
-

Virizion is one of the best 'mons in RU right now. It has a multitude of sets which makes it highly unpredictable, cm, sd, specs, or mixed, which has seen some usage in week 1 of snake. Mixed Virizion allows you to beat the standard Charizard + Vileplume/Toxicroak cores that are used to cover either special or physical Virizion.

In order to participate you must do the following:

• Post here with a fresh RW alt (such as RWRU6 Mac3) and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
• Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched.
• Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using, participate in the discussion!
• Post replays of this Pokemon in action against other teams - don't just tell us, show us
• The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown RU ladder with their RW alt at the time the challenge ends. Winners will also receive a permanent spot in this thread's Hall of Fame.

 

[Oathkeeper]

Viriz looks nice and I'm taking it using RURW6 Oath

 

[Aquarius Ghost ❤]

Mac3 when is week 7 gonna go up, mainly since both of the mons in week 6 r either not in ru, or we already know much about it. If you are still trying to test mixed viriz I'll be happy to make an acc and share replays.

 

[Mac3]

Research Week is back! With the new shift, this week's selection will be:

Stakataka

Stakataka @ [insert]
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
-
-
-
-

Banned in SM Stakataka has once again dropped to RU. The best OTR pokemon you could ask for with a solid attack stat, extremely low speed stat, and also being able to boost it's attack with each kill if you make it Lonely with 15 defense IVs. It can also be defensive, as its a steel type without a fire weakness and gets great defensive stats, and also gets access to Body Press in gen 8. Will Z-moves being gone make it balanced? It's up to y'all to find out!

Volcanion

Volcanion @ [insert]
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
-
-
-
-

Volcanion could prove to be a great addition to the RU tier, being able to check threats like Zarude, Cobalion, Entei, and also being able to defog for offensive teams. It also got a huge indirect buff this gen due to the dawn of Heavy-Duty-Boots. This removes one of the biggest hindrances it had in generation 7; Stealth Rocks. It might also be able to pull off a good specs set, thanks to the combination of good stats, good movepool, and high BP stabs, although this loses out on the option of Heavy-Duty-Boots.

Cobalion

Cobalion @ [insert]
Ability: Justified
EVs: [insert]
[insert] Nature
-
-
-
-

Cobalion hasn't been RU since ORAS, and for good reason. Being very customizable, it's able to use SD sets, and also Stealth Rock sets. Having access to moves such as Volt Switch, Magnet Rise, and Rock Polish, you are able to keep your opponent guessing throughout the game. It is also able to check Obstagoon and Zarude for offensive teams while also being able to pivot and set rocks. Calm Mind sets could also prove to be useful in circumventing the common checks, although usually rocks or SD will be more useful.

In order to participate you must do the following:

• Post here with a fresh RW alt (such as RURW7 Mac3) and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
• Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched.
• Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using, participate in the discussion!
• Post replays of this Pokemon in action against other teams - don't just tell us, show us
• The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown RU ladder with their RW alt at the time the challenge ends. Winners will also receive a permanent spot in this thread's Hall of Fame.
• Ladder will be checked Wednesday 9pm GMT +1

 

[Oathkeeper]

RURW7 Oath (Cobalion and Volcanion)

 

[Jaytop31]

RURW7 Jay (volcanion)

 

[zizalith]

rurw7 zizalith (volcanion and cobalion)

 

[Jaytop31]

I'm posting now since i won't be able to post it later due to holydays

​

Strengths : With 130 spa and powerful coverage options with steam eruption and fire blast, volcanion can threaten to ko or heavily damage almost the entire ru metagame. It also packs utility for the team with defog. Volcanion unique typing gives him 4x resist to steel and fire type attack let him take huge attacks such as marowak-a and darmanitan flare blitz, metagross meteor mash and stakataka gyro ball and claim a ko on all of them with either steam eruption or flamethrower.

Weaknesses : Volcanion lack of recovery and reliance on boots means that it will get easily get chipped. It's rather low speed also means that it often needs to take a hit if it wants to deal damage.
Also, even if it has water absorb, it's completly walled by suicune under a sub.

Team used :

​

I also played another team for three games and lost three times so i rather not post it.
I tried to experiment a bit with flame charge to compensate for it's low speed but on the 50 games i did it was usefull in 1 or 2 games so something else in the 4th moveslot like earth power / toxic would be better.
I forgot you need replay for this project so i only have this one where i make questionable play against a trick room team and not realizing stakataka is choice band: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ru-1247263843

​

 

[zizalith]

i didnt actually ladder that much on my rurw7 alt but i do have some thoughts id like to share on my mons.

first up:

Volcanion @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Steam Eruption
- Flamethrower
- Toxic

i first tried subtox as it was seemingly the most threatening set to the common bulky offenses running around after slowking left the tier. owning bulky waters was super cool for stuff like chandy and barbaracle, but i found that bulky waters arent particularly common in the ru ladder; great stuff like milo and mantine are still nu, and their viability isnt really reflected by their usage. meanwhile, the waters that actually get used, like suicune and seismitoad, can often beat it easily. so i felt it was very much a matchup dependent mon in a way that reminded me of sm kingdra; it demolished the common milotic balances at the time, but in the end faded in viability when the water types it beat dropped in usage. getting used by suicune so freely opened up a few other defensive holes in my teams, forcing me to run stuff like boots zarude with it almost always. it also meant mons like xurk could easily get momentum off of it. when i ran it, i often felt like i wanted another fire type with consistent breaking, like chandelure, or more utility, like its defog sets. overall, subtox was not terrible itself although definitely not my cup of tea.


Volcanion @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Steam Eruption
- Flamethrower
- Toxic / Haze

i then moved on to defog sets because it compressed a few roles that made it very appealing to me; a defogger that beat almost every rocker 1v1, a decent breaker once waters are weakened, and a useful defensive typing. i enjoyed running defog sets far more because it allowed me to be more creative in my teambuilding as i could run usually less common stuff like lefties glastrier or no psn type to absorb tspikes. while it often had less ways of making progress vs balances, it was a really consistent remover that could often trade against more offensive teams. i experimented a bit with the last slot on defog; toxic allowed it to beat slower bulky waters in the long term while haze owned non toxic suicunes trying to take advantage of it to set up. i even considered running herb solar beam specifically for seismitoad and gastro. overall it never really won me games the way subtox did, but it played a far more consistent role in my ladder experience, always doing something every match and i ended up using it waay more than subtox because of this.


Cobalion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- Stone Edge

i decided on running this set because every time i heard something about coba it was about the rocker pivot set - which probably isnt even bad, just not the type of mon i like to run - and i wanted to experiment with other stuff to take advantage of that sets splashability. it was a surprisingly consistent breaker and sweeper that caught a lot of ppl off guard, ohkoing stuff like chandelure, marowak, and noivern that usually come into coba for free. excellent mon on offense that compresses a lot of resists while being an incredible breaker against many balance teams. theres not a lot more to say about it, but absolutely pulled its weight very consistently. other items like resist berries and lefties are also very nice, although the life orb boost was important to get some of those KOs which i thought was more important.

i spent more time building with these two than actually laddering but i made this post on my phone so i dont have my teams . ill probably edit them in later