Tournament SCL II NU Discussion

etern

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NU Leader


Welcome to the Smogon Champions League 2 Discussion Thread -- NU edition! This thread will be used to discuss NU in SCL II related topics including the players, general metagame trends, matches, predictions and so on. Replays, Usage Stats, Power Rankings, Schedules, and other tour-related resources can be found here.

Commencement
Schedule



Potential NU Starters:

Orange Islanders: Nat, Togkey, Pdt
Uncharted Terrors: Sensei Axew, Kushalos, false
Circuit Breakers: etern, H.M.N.I.P
Power Plant Dynamos: Ren-Chon, Meri Berry
Showdown Shoguns: Gilbert arenas, lax, Ninja, col49
Indigo Platoon: GXE, Finchinator, TDK, snaga
Arena Spartans: OnArceus
Technical Machines: zS, Danny, DugZa
Mt. Silver Foxes: S1nn0hC0nfirm3d, Xiri, Watashi, soulgazer
Studio Gible: aim, kythr, Luck O' the Irish, ProDigeZz

Power Rankings
Replays: (Soon)
 
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Pokeslice

Thanks for the Dance
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Fire squads this year and I’m definitely a fan of the NU representation this time versus last SCL. Some newer faces in the community getting a chance to shine like Tog, Danny, and Ninja can only be a net positive for everyone involved.

Looking at the list, the Platoons seem the scariest to me following GXE’s hot NUPL run, and both TDK and Finch with GXE support sounds fire too. I’m thinking the Shoguns are looking the weakest (sorry Ninja you know I’m rooting for you) with just Ninja at the helm and no real support behind him.

That being said, I’m most excited for the TM’s core when it comes to meta knowledge on top of the wild heat ZS + Danny can cook up. I expect every team they bring to be unique and a bit funky.
 

Expulso

Morse code, if I'm talking I'm clicking
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the Pulso PRs:

1. Kushalos -- Not much needs to be said but I'll throw in the highlights anyways. Seasoned, top-tier player who has been playing lower tiers in official team tours since 2016. His Snake records have been, oldest to newest: 5-4, 7-4, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. He's self-sufficient, but teaming with Sensei Axew gives him a little extra push: both are creative builders who finished #1 and #2 atop the NU SCL sheet last year. No need to overthink this one.

2. aim -- Another very experienced player who has proven his ability to get up-to-speed with metagames and pilot teams at a very high level, going 7-2 in NU during Snake 4. He also qualified for Slam playoffs recently, showing that he's kept up with lower tiers enough to not be dismissed as "crust". Irish's NU support is solid, if not game-changing, and he'll be able to supplement this by calling on the Aim Army for help. He uses creative, off-meta teams, and can outplay even bad matchups.

[fairly large gap here]

3. Nat -- I've struggled with where to put her, anywhere from 3-5 seems reasonable. It may also depend on how you price in cancer risk; with close friends like Ajna and Sage on the roster, I would expect this risk to be low. I love the way the team is constructed to give her the best odds at success. Xiri and zS weeks 1 and 2 are some of the more favorable matchups she could start out with, though perhaps that simply means a loss would tilt her more. I'll largely take her at her word when she says her mental is in a good place now, though, and move on to the Pokemon-playing part of these rankings. She's quite experienced in official tours and can truly win against anyone in the pool. With the motivation that comes from being in such a friendly team environment, and probably the single best supporting core in Togkey and PDT, I expect a lot from the Islanders' NU slot.

4. GXE - Having teamed with GXE in NUPL, I'm quite fond of his approach to the game. He puts forth ambitious team ideas, builds around them solidly and plays very well with them. He is self-sufficient, has put up spectacular results in this recent NUPL, and very rarely turns in negative performances in these subforum tours. Why isn't he higher? The transition to starting in official team tours can be difficult; look only at former Platoon kythr, a close friend of GXE's and a player with a comparable set of results, who came into SCL with huge expectations but started 1-5 in LC. The transition to official tours can simply be a big hurdle. GXE should clear it well, which is why he's in the top half of the ratings, but expecting anything higher can be premature.

5. etern -- I don't have a ton to say here due to his long absence from the game; he is probably a bit crustier than aim and Kushalos, for instance. He's performed well in NU team tours in the past but also hasn't finished positive in a team tour since 2019. He also functionally has no NU support, though perhaps he can corruptly use his status as a former NUTL to recruit a community member to this cause. He seems like a solid bet to go 5-4 or 4-5; I wouldn't expect lower, and there are small odds that he has a spectacular tour like his 8-2 SCL in 2018, since I see only Kushalos as a clear superior if he is in form.

[another gap here]

6. OnArceus -- You might have noticed that there's quite a bit of bias in favor of the boomers in the first half of these rankings. The simple reason is that NU mains' performance has cooled off quite a bit in the past few months. Coming into last SCL, players like OnArceus and Ho3n had just carved up NUPL; now, that momentum has cooled off some, as OnArceus was 3-2 and Ho3n was 3-3, being outshone by turtdoggo for instance. OnArceus' grasp on the meta isn't awful, but he can use some crazy looking shit sometimes and is pretty alone in the builder on the Spartans. I think the success from last year isn't a super reliable predictor and we may see some regression as his style is punished more for its defensive fallibilities and/or fishiness. He may adapt, though, he is the defending champion and went positive in the NUPL i cited as evidence of a cooldown; this lands him only just below the middle of these rankings.

[gap #3]

7. Ren-Chon -- Despite a very ugly sheet record, he rounded into form at the end of SCL 1 to finish even. He's been an active builder and NU community member and isn't particularly lost in-game either; he did well in a Snake 4 semifinals game, too, which makes me reluctant to ding him further on inexperience. I think he's probably going to finish slightly negative but has a puncher's chance against most of the pool. Putting him over my #8 and #9 picks may be controversial, but I think he's gotten his losses out of the way and should be as ready as he'll ever be for a breakout (or at least a few impressive victories in a full-season campaign). Bit of a gut feeling here, he could easily be #9.

8. Xiri -- I'm personally fairly low on Xiri after last SCL. He ended with a respectable record but started something like 1-4 or so?, including a loss from misplaying a >95% position week 1. His numbers are quite solid in the past, 8-3 and 5-5 before the 3-4 last SCL. He needs support and has some in ho3n, but that presents its own problems (namely the teams being crack. ho3n tested with a Wartortle vs me in one of these tours. however they have become more standard-y over these years which definitely gives them potential). That def gives them room to improve on this ranking but I'll stand by this spot for now and wouldn't go above #6 or 7.

9. zS -- zS puts up solid results and has had a great SS NU campaign over the past year or so; I'm happy to see him get a chance as a full season starter (though Danny, also def worthy of a teamslot, could step in if needed). However, I really don't like his team choices. When we teamed in NUSD he basically lost 2 games at preview with low-ranked or unranked mons, and just 1 or 2 losses on those grounds can have a really big impact on your overall record. He still finished positive that tour, but all the points about the transition to an official teamtour that I made in GXE's section apply here too. I'll be rooting for him in most of these games but think there's going to be a lot of pressure and little room to succeed with his out-there team choices; the pool only has one player that seems markedly out-of-touch. Moving on...

[one last gap (of 5 generations)]

10. Gilbert arenas -- No disrespect intended, but with no NU background this will be quite an uphill battle, particularly since this seems to be one of the stronger pools in SCL. He's definitely a skilled player, but I don't think he's outright better at mons (in a neutral tier) compared to any of the names in the top half. His favored playstyle of offense also doesn't mesh super well with the state of the metagame right now, which gives plenty of anti-cheese options (particularly when you don't get flinched). Lax and col may be able to create a few gems, and Ninja can look over teams (though I'm not aware of him as a SS builder), but expectations are low for this slot.

1. Kushalos
2. aim

3. Nat
4. GXE
5. Etern

6. OnArceus

7. Ren-chon
8. Xiri
9. zS

10. Gilbert arenas
 

poh

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SS NU: Gilbert arenas vs zS gotta win this to gain momentum
SS NU: OnArceus vs Kushalos highlight matchup this week, looking forward to this one, slightly favoring OnArceus i think
SS NU: aim vs etern fren
SS NU: Ren-chon vs GXE PR put them fairly far away from eachother but i wouldn't be surprised if Ren-chon wins this one
SS NU: Nat vs Xiri this could go either way but i'm confident Xiri takes this

Gonna try and analyse the games each week (unless they end at turn 14 or something like that)
 

Kiyo

the cowboy kid
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SS NU: Gilbert arenas vs zS i like the cut of zS's jibb, i am excited to see the team choices from both players
SS NU: OnArceus vs Kushalos i feel like this game comes down to some micro decision the nu cord will argue over, hoping to see another classic poh/finch tussle
SS NU: aim vs etern eternally will make a kiyo play from which he cannot recover and joey will convert the w
SS NU: Ren-chon vs GXE 3 letter names get wins, GXE was impressive in NUPL, I expect them to hit the ground running
SS NU: Nat vs Xiri 3 letter names get wins, i wish i had more to say

doing predicts to try and beat poh , it's gonna be easy if he keeps picking vs instead of a player.
will not be analyzing any of the games (unless they end at turn 14 or something like that)
 

poh

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[SHO] Gilbert arenas vs zS [TMS]

Game that kicked off the second edition of SCL. Debut game for zS so the pressure was on him, and that might've cost him the game. marcop didn't know what some NU mons do and tbh his team didn't look great but managed to bring it home for his team, to the surprise of most as he got ranked last in PRs. zS team looked cursed too ngl, the doublade triggered some alarm bells. marcop on the other hand brought a very slow team; i thought it was justified with otr staka but then it clicked rocks so lol.
From preview i think zS had a good matchup, the guzzlord (revealed to be restalk dtail) could shuffle easily having a good matchup vs most of marcops team. Salazzle also looked to close to the game with marcops mowtom as fastest mon. The aforementioned winpath solidified itself more once marcop tricked away mowtoms scarf. zS got his pads passimian ohkoed by a crit which wouldve helped him a lot with marcops slow team but zS still had outs with salazzle. Turn 15 was important for the game but also a weird one lol. Marcop tricks his scarf away leaving him vulnerable to salazzle even more but in turn heavily cripples the guzzlord. Imo zS either had to sack the 18% mudsdale or go to his own mowtom, not sure on that one tho. A couple turns after zS is in a good situation by SD'ing up vs a low vap but then he gets outsped by vaporeon anyway and gets burned. Another misplay was not plotting up on the dhelmise sack turn 24 which wouldve helped zS weaken the vaporeon. Turn 24 onwards it was difficult for zS cause marcops vaporeon kinda won at that point. In the end not the greatest game, some misplays on both ends, iffy teams and a significant portion of rng.
I'm sure zS is alreaddy prepping hard for his next opponent to get momentum back on his side whereas marcop is probably gonna wing it again lmao.


[SPA] OnArceus vs Kushalos [TER]

Highlight game of the week for me but didn't rly live up to my expectations. Kush brought a known team (i think) and OnArceus tried something different with alolan persian. At preview the matchup was slightly favored for onarc but Kushalos had the hazard war to his side as onarc had defog talon, a set that often struggles to keep hazards away. Right at the start already a zen headbutt miss that turned out to be p big. Onarc had an uphill battle from then on cause the garb gets the tspike up, forces talon to come in, mudsdale abusing it etc.
To sum up the game it was Kush getting hazards up and shuffling around onarcs team getting hurt by them + not being able to wish up the team. Once vap died inteleon won. Onarceus is motivated so next week he'll be hungry for the first W.


[ISL] Nat vs Xiri [FOX]

Have to admit i was very curious to see Nat in action. RU player by default but capable to play other tiers. Xiri has been an NU mainstay for a while now so this was also one of the more interesting games to look forward to. Aaaaand nvm trapper plume traps xiris stakataka to clear the way for nat's specs sylveon for the win. Jokes aside xiri brought starmie who absolutely dunked on nat's team... right? Scarf sanda was kinda interesting i guess but also i think he couldve gotten more mileage out of it by maybe glaring something for starmie (idk if it was glare tbh). For some reason Xiri doesnt click ice beam vs the mon that 6-0s him and gets punished for it, also wild from Nat to stay in i think. Good start from Nat with plume being the mvp of the game. Xiri will have to be on point next week playing a disappointed onarceus next week.


[DYN] Ren-chon vs GXE [PLA]

Staka stocks rising. Very good looking teams from both. Gourgeist is a super cool pick (always has been tbh) while gxe brought a solid defensive core and special croak. This game turned out to be the best game of the week. This game also showed the durability of balance in NU. Ren lacking heal bell + the tough mu was looking to be a fairly easy win for gxe. To quote eifo in nu cord "cleric balanc vs non-cleric balance is p difficult" and "the main breakers on ren's team have a matchup where they need to get lots of turns right in a row to make progress". Ren had the tools to dismantle the well-built team his opponent brought but a couple key turns sealed the win for GXE. Moonblast is a cool tech for guzzlord and sitrus eggy so that was fun to see.

[GIB] aim vs etern [BRE]

everyones fav poketuber vs nu icon eternally. I'll be honest, not a fan of the sableye but etern brought it on a suspected croak/something else i can't remember. Nothing really stood out in this game bar the dhelmise 100% accurate power whips lmao. I do wanna say eternally shouldve played a couple sequences better like not getting his staka low, going salazzle or clicking ice beam with gastro instead of toxicing the switchin turn 17. Solid plays from aim overall. I'm sure eternally will bounce back from this.


predicts for this week

SS NU: Xiri vs OnArceus
SS NU: GXE vs Gilbert arenas
SS NU: etern vs Ren-chon
SS NU: Kushalos vs aim
SS NU: zS vs Nat
 
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Kiyo

the cowboy kid
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SS NU: Gilbert arenas vs etern
SS NU: aim vs Xiri
SS NU: Ren-chon vs Kushalos
SS NU: Nat vs OnArceus
SS NU: zS vs GXE
 
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Rabia

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GP & NU Leader
SS NU: Gilbert arenas vs etern

Retired NBA player Gilbert Arenas has brought very nice and standard builds so far and piloted them well, showing his team's strategy of "draft good player regardless of slot, we'll make it work" is valid. I think eternally's advantage is his building versatility, which I think should favor him.

SS NU: aim vs Xiri

j my name is joey

SS NU: Ren-chon vs Kushalos

Kushalos likely beats aim last week if not for a DASTARDLY damage roll on Scrafty. Ren-chon didn't play last week, but their week 1 game against GXE was a well-played one from each side and showed some Pokemon (sets) that Ren is willing to bring out that I actually think would match up well against Kushalos's common builds. As a player, I think Kushalos is better by a notable margin, but Ren seems to be a far more active builder and could snag a god matchup if their prep is on point.

SS NU: Nat vs OnArceus

OnArc been struggling so far and Nat seems motivated, boding very well for her long-term success given how solid of a player she's proven to be. I don't really want to predict an 0-3 start for OnArc because he's genuinely really fucking good, but I think Nat's shown so far that her PR placement was too low, and this is going to be a rough week for him to start gaining momentum in.

SS NU: zS vs GXE

zS crack builds not working so far, GXE played an insanely solid game the first week and played a close one last week despite losing in the end. I think both players here are fun to watch in the builder: zS as stated can bring some WACK stuff that he ends up making work because of how well tested it ends up being, whereas GXE just ends up with a perpetually great read on whatever meta he's invested in at the time. So far, though, I think the latter has looked better in his games, so I'll favor him to win this one.
 

poh

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[FOX] Xiri vs OnArceus [SPA]

From preview i think xiri has the matchup. Plenty of vap abusers and and an eldegoss on the other side so yeah.. Onarceus' groundvally looks threatning once dhelmise dies so this was gonna be interesting although i think vap into croak/helio is difficult to pull off. Early game xiri immediately trades the ground resist with onarcs croak which was surprising to say the least. Now comes a sequence i'm still trying to understand; xiri's aero comes in and forces a bunch of damage on both eldegoss and copper, onarceus dancing around the bird. Xiri has had enough so he dd's up, becoming even more threatning and kos the copper and heavily chips the eldegoss. Now yes onarceus has a vap to switch into aero which then invites the aforementioned helio and croak. But you could easily double back to your own aero and threaten the dry skin mons. Easier said than done i guess. It was pretty sealed for xiri once onarceus revealed he wasn't flame charge groundvally. Idk if much else can be said about this game, xiri was never too much in danger given the matchup. Maybe trading croak initially wasn't the best plan for onarceus? idk
Onarceus is a cool dude so don't let your head down king!!!


[PLA] GXE vs Gilbert arenas [SHO]

Both starting 1-0, who was gonna come out this game going flawless? In contrast with last week, GXE's team look incredibly bland with no real breaker. marcop having trending mon mantine unironically gave him a huge advantage, having a good mu vs almost all the opposing 6. Matchup looking good for marcop too, surely the guy ranked last in PR wasn't gonna start 2-0 right?? GXE didn't rly have something to abuse the mantine so it ended up sitting quite comfortable for the majority of the game. Then the Tsareena started to kick around the steelvally and tangela, pulling the game more and more towards marcop's favor. Fairly easy win for the underdog, starting the tour without a loss.


[BRE] etern vs Meri Berry [DYN]

Small sidenote, meri getting subbed in for renchon. Eternally using trend of the tour mantine while also bringing *rubs in eyes* zoroark?? Croak looking hella menacing too. Meri brought exploud but had to face mantine and copper so not an ideal mu. Not giving the croak free turns is gonna be a task for meri. Nothing much meri couldve done this game i think. The croak was bound to win at some point. Eternally risked the croak turn 41 but mantine won at that point i think.


[TER] Kushalos vs aim [GIB]

Probably the most exciting matchup of the week? Kushalos bringing lizard balance while aim brought weezing balance. Matchup in kush' favor given the dry skin mon into vap + salazzle having a good mu overall. Scrafty looked like it was gonna do little with weezing and talon. Game kicks off immediately with a flame body burn and mowtom boosting to +4 lmao. aim reveals taunt talon so that means scrafty could have a chance in this game. Fastforward to turn 40, scrafty comfortably setting up, looking to bag the w. For some reason kush doesnt rest turn 42 and gets kod by mowtom in the process albeit with a lucky roll. Resting up looked p safe cause if aim plots up he still has the lazzle in the back. I feel like kush sorta gave up at this point idk it's weird. He kinda lets mantine just.. die? Then we have choiced helio losing to vap + ground, an NU classic. Scrafty shouldve won this game given the sets aim brought but ye.


[TMS] zS vs Nat [ISL]

Last we have Nat vs zS. Nat started of well while zS is trying to prevent the bad start from worsening. Never fucking mind, zS brings sun into guzz, mantine and ditto LMFAO. GG af. I mean what can be said about this game lol.

predicts for this week

SS NU: Gilbert arenas vs etern
SS NU: aim vs Xiri
SS NU: Ren-chon vs Kushalos
SS NU: Nat vs OnArceus
SS NU: zS vs GXE
 

Sabella

formerly Booty
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Going to do some predictions here. Ive been watching as many of the NU games i can and have returned to playing the tier recently. Glad to say its much more pleasurable (to me at least).

SS NU: Gilbert arenas vs etern - While Marcop is 2-0 and has half of the shitguns total wins thus far I cant really predict him confidently here. His first game vs zS (who ik is new) played one of the worst games I have ever seen on smogon. Week 2 was fine play by him, his team was eh, dont really understand dual grasses, no dark resist and kinda smashed by anything at +1 and faster than indeedee. As far as his play i expect it to be good. Hes a great tournament player and one i wouldnt expect to make big mistakes but when paired vs etern i think he is suspect to getting baited by common lures. On the other side I think eternally is on equal footing as far as play is concerned but his building has been and most likely will continue to be superior.

SS NU: aim vs Xiri - I dont really know what to make of this game. Xiri has used some cool stuff so far. I've been a fan of watching his games and seeing what interesting stuff he cooks up. He is pretty good playmaker and like Onarc is liable to bring something that will make him play 5 v 6. Luckily the techs/underappreciated mons have hit so far so we will find out this week. Joey to me is very similar to Kush. Great pilot suspect to making mistakes from time to time (maybe even a flex for youtube lol) but with a sturdy team on his hands he should be fine vs anyone. He is 2-0 and both teams have looked good so far. This one is for sure a tossup for me so im gonna bold Xiri here because i think his techs are gonna hit again.

SS NU: Ren-chon vs Kushalos - Ren played very suspect week 1 and iirc was subbed week 2 after the week was over. With Kush you know what you will be getting, solid game play and as long as the team he brings is sturdy he will put up a good fight vs anyone. Ren's week 1 game resulted in a loss and was drawn out very long for mistakes made earlier on. I think Kush wins this.

SS NU: Nat vs OnArceus - Nat's has looked good so far imo. Obviously always prone to tilt but the upside is pretty high. She generally plays very well in w/e she sets her mind to. Her teams the first two weeks have been insanely fucking slow. If i was OnArc i would be trying to capitalize on that. On the other side Onarc cant seem to use a good team. These teams the first two weeks have mons like persian-A and eldegoss which are just dogshit but im sure are there for one thing or another but there are better mons in the tier. I cant even really comment on his play because his teams have handicapped him so much thus far. I think Nat will win this although if Onarc brings a solid enough team I have confidence that he can at least compete this time.

SS NU: zS vs GXE - Yea idk zS played the first two weeks very poorly all around. I know he is new to tournaments so i wont roast any further. Maybe by now the jitters have worn off and his play will show us what he is truly capable of. GXE is pretty solid all around tho, he seems to have a hard on for articuno g but other than that i havent really seen much wrong with his teams or play thus far so i expect him to win this one.
 
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I just want to present a cool, criminally underrated set I used last week:
1665390788121.jpeg

Sandslash @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin

His matchup into most SR setters is insane, especially into all the Rock-types that try to bypass Xatu. Aerodactyl, Diancie, Stakataka and even Copperjah struggle a fair amount to keep up Hazards against him. Slasher also has access to Knock which alongside Toxic, Sand, and strong, STAB Eq makes it really hard for Pokemon to switch into him. Not to mention that Ground hits Poison/Steel so Toxic is naturally good on Grounds. He forms a nice defensive core with his buddy Gigalith covering the SpD side and providing him with sand. The EV spread is pretty flexible but I opted to outspeed Inteleon/Talonflame in sand, as well as Passimian after a Rapid Spin outside of sand, and dump the rest into pdef.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8nu-654098
Here you can see him mandhandling Stakataka and help in pressuring Stall despite his defensive nature
 
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I just want to present a cool, criminally underrated set I used last week:
View attachment 458086
Sandslash @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin

His matchup into most SR setters is insane, especially into all the Rock-types that try to bypass Xatu. Aerodactyl, Diancie, Stakataka and even Copperjah struggle a fair amount to keep up Hazards against him. Slasher also has access to Knock which alongside Toxic, Sand, and strong, STAB Eq makes it really hard for Pokemon to switch into him. Not to mention that Ground hits Poison/Steel so Toxic is naturally good on Grounds. He forms a nice defensive core with his buddy Gigalith covering the SpD side and providing him with sand. The EV spread is pretty flexible but I opted to outspeed Inteleon/Talonflame in sand, as well as Passimian after a Rapid Spin outside of sand, and dump the rest into pdef.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8nu-654098
Here you can see him mandhandling Stakataka and help in pressuring Stall despite his defensive nature
Move should've been called Furry Slaps
 
I had a lot of fun playing/building again which I think is largely due to how cool the NU tier is right now. I spent a lot of time building these and I think that some turned out pretty good & unique so Id like to share what I made.

Click for paste
:Stunfisk-Galar::Talonflame::Jynx::Vaporeon::Persian-Alola::Tauros: BO focused around gaining momentum and abusing JynxTauros
:Sandslash::Talonflame::toxicroak::tangela::escavalier::gigalith: Balance using sand, knock & toxic to whittle teams down
:Stunfisk-Galar::Talonflame::Gourgeist::Starmie::Persian-Alola::Regice: BO similar to the first one but with Regice and Gourgeist
:Quagsire::Xatu::Vileplume::Sylveon::Stakataka::Cryogonal: Stall with trapper Plume
:togedemaru::Xatu::Thwackey::Sceptile::Weezing::Espeon: HO focused around fat setup, Sub Sceptile is the absolute MVP to chip Talon & dodge Status
:Rhydon::Articuno-Galar::Inteleon::Eldegoss::Escavalier::Ditto: BO with the starting idea of SpD Escav+ArtiG.

0 GVally 0 Rotom 0 Indeedee :tymp:

The only team without Stunfisk/Togedemaru/Regen Grass is the full stall since Volt barely makes progress against those mons anyway. Mowtom doesn't appear overpowered because players go to such insane measures to keep him in check, but the constraint he puts on teambuilding doesn't seem healthy to me, he is the embodiment of what ban reasonings in the past have refered to as over-centralization.

Everything else seems relatively manageable, although GVally has admittedly few Counters and could be considered for tiering action. Indeedee seems very similar to Lele, as in it is hard to fit on teams and doesnt offer much in terms of defensive utility. The tier has a fair amount of Steels, Darks and Articuno-Galar, as well as good Protect users so I personally think it is fairly acceptable inside NU, but I can see the argument against it as well.
 
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didn't get to play much but Danny and I went positive (yay) so I'm gonna make the teams I made for us public. Special shouts to gum mncmt outbackrabbit pdt for your help <3

Icy Blue Crew
:glastrier: :aurorus: :grimmsnarl: :kingdra: :indeedee-f: :sceptile:
replay
Even without Light Clay, Screens are fundamentally broken. I wanted to use Sub DD Kingdra or SD Glastrier due to their insane matchup into Kushalos' building tendencies, so I just used both. Kingdra behind Screens can sub on a myriad of staples like Rotom-C Volt Switch, Stakataka Body Press, and even Guzzlord Dragon Tail (lol). Not much to say about the team as its a fairly standard HO, but its worth noting that Grimmsnarl has Spirit Break and speed for Scrafty since Kushalos brought a Dark-type every single week (shoutouts Indeedee being broken), but on average, Lariat or Foul Play is probably a better move.

The Claw
:clawitzer: :passimian: :snorlax: :dhelmise: :talonflame: :stunfisk-galar:
replay
For my next PUBL Water-type with Substitute, I wanted to use Clawitzer to force Toxic on Marcop's bulky Water-types while still being able to threaten Steel-types and the random Scrafty / Snorlax. Passimian has Acrobatics for Scrafty as well as Vileplume, which you can OHKO if your item is removed and you come in on Strength Sap. Taunt on Talonflame and Heat Crash on Snorlax are supposed to help with Vileplume but they both still lose lol. I switched between like 4-5 different coverage moves on Clawitzer before deciding on Fighting + Ice, although it seems kinda obvious looking back. Gave this to tlenit for week 1 of Snake and he 6-0'd with it and it's been successful in other games besides the one it was made for. ty for the nicknames Meri Berry

Brave and the Bull
:tauros: :druddigon: :braviary: :garbodor: :dhelmise:
SilvallySteel.png

replay
I should not have brought this team. I'm not only saying that because the matchup was terrible and quite frankly unwinnable, but I was not feeling the same confidence with this team that I felt with the former two. I wanted to use Choice Band Braviary because of its hilarious damage output, but it brings nothing else to the table lol. Relying on all physical attackers really bites you sometimes as does the reliance on Normal-types for being your main damage output.

I'm tired of making cool team names
:gallade: :rotom-mow: :arcanine: :palossand:
SilvallySteel.png
:vaporeon:
replay
I made this team a while ago but never got a chance to debut it so I gave it to Danny for Bihi. It's literally just CB Gallade with a bunch of pivots and honestly this team isn't that amazing either but it can get the job done. Gallade doesn't put in as much work as one would hope, but it sets up for the SD Rock Slide Silvally-Steel perfectly.
 

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