Project Secret Santa

hihi sasha and Merry Christmas!
You asked for an offensive team built around NP Mesprit, so I come with the Mesprit with the nastiest of plots. definitely didn't get carried away with the artwork

First off, for some reason I thought I was building around Specs Mesprit, hence the name of the team. Good thing I double checked. Imma be honest, I usually build more balance-based teams, but I've been meaning to dip my toes outside, so this was a great opportunity. With said lack of experience, I figured to have a lotta pivots, making it easier to gain that momentum while minimizing risk. A couple of slightly unorthodox sets ended up on here, but I think they still work to benefit the team enough to justify. Watch out for Steel mons tho, since while I did change some of the sets a little to help, they're still scary.
:mesprit:
As you asked for, Nasty Plot Mesprit. Pretty standard set, Colbur Berry could be changed without Scrafty being here anymore, but I'd say it's still fine. I originally had Dazzling Gleam in the last slot, but ended up replacing it with Healing Wish to help with the team's durability, which it very much lacks.
:sneasel:
Mesprit loves having parties with Dark mons, so I decided to pair it with Sneasel. Sneasel was intended to be SD, but I changed it to AoA with Low Kick cuz of that Steel weakness. And Knock Off support for Mesprit is as great as ever.
:togedemaru:
Just a fun Scarfer for some speed control. Fills in a lotta other roles too, between being a pivot, great typing for soft-checking a bunch of stuff, and Lightning Rod to block Volt Switch (tho Iron Barbs can also be used). Its last slot can be either Toxic or Nuzzle, with Nuzzle helping cripple potential Mesprit threats, but I personally like having a Toxic user on my teams.
:archeops:
Not the most common set in the world, which admittedly makes some sense with Defeatist, I wanted a fast Stealth Rock setter and didn't feel Lycanroc, the other mon that came to mind, didn't fit in as well. This set can definitely be changed to your liking, specifically the last two slots with stuff like Stone Edge, Earthquake, Dual Wingbeat, etc. But the way I see it, the more pivots the better!
:whimsicott:
Needed some hazard removal, and found Whimsicott's typing to be the best option in conjunction with the rest of the team, despite playing a more supportive role than offensive. Also another pivot and Encore to further support Mesprit and friends.
:jellicent:
I felt that the team was focusing more on Speed than actual power, so I wanted a powerful wallbreaker. It especially benefits from Healing Wish, getting Water Spout up to maximum power again, and the rest of the pivots to maintain that power.

Also made a more balance team before the Scrafty ban, but figured I'll still post it: :mesprit::sandaconda::lanturn::charizard::whimsicott::scrafty:

So have a ho-ho-holly jolly Christmas! Also s/o to gum for hosting!
Thanks a bunch for the team and the art you made is super cute I can't get over it! Merry Christmas!
 

MZ

And now for something completely different
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:Absol::Silvally::Weezing::Eldegoss::Gigalith::Ribombee:
Hey SergioRules I got your Absol request. It's not too crazy of a mon and there wasn't a weird set, so rather than go something nonstandard I figured I'd try to come up with a fun partner for it. Silvally-Fighting struck me as a pretty interesting partner that can make use of the way Absol pressures most walls that annoy it (the rest of the team has to help shoulder the load on weakening Doublade and you'll probably be using Weezing and Gigalith for other Weezing a bit), plus Absol likes to draw in and weaken those Fairies if the other team lacks a SSI. Not sure what I prefer on LO vs CB, and there's a few other alternate sets there too. If I'm being honest, the other 4 are just a really standard fat balance core I threw on and don't matter a ton, I think you could be doing Quag or Wishi or Sandaconda stuff too and it wouldn't matter a lot. Fine tune it to whatever suits your taste. The focus is more on getting some use out of that specific Absol+Silvally pairing. Scarf Ribombee is nice though and seemed to work well with the pair, plus without it you can't expect to beat Terrain and some other shenanigans. Enjoy!
 

5Dots

Chairs
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LeafeonChristmas.png

Art by Radon220
Hello Felines , happy Christmas! You asked for SD + Dig Leafeon, and I'm happy to provide! Leafeon was interesting to build around, and matched up nicely with trends like Gigalith Sand, Jellicent, and Wishiwashi being commonplace in PU right now. Having Knock Off was also a bonus, which is especially important given how many Pokemon are reliant on Boots to keep themselves healthy.

:ss/Leafeon:
Leafeon at +2 is able to cleanly OHKO Silvally-Steel after Stealth Rock, as well as completely destroy Togedemaru and Magneton without even prior need to setup! Neutralizing Gas Weezing requires switching into Stealth Rock twice as well as Knock Off for +2 Dig to work.
:ss/Gigalith:
Since Leafeon didn't need to run synthesis, I felt more free to run Gigalith as my Rocker! I replaced Earthquake with Rest, as Gigalith needed the extra longevity to deal with opposing Gigaliths. More or less a standard Gigalith set; worked nicely as Gigalith appreciates Leafeon being tacky enough to take on Sandslash, Wishiwashi, and opposing Gigalith, as well as the Knock Off support.
:ss/Sandslash:
What Sand team is complete without Sandslash? Rather than focus on Sandslash's offense or defense, I decided to blend in the best of both worlds. Enough speed to outpace Perrserker outside of Sand, and Jolteon inside. A secondary Knock Off user, a Rapid Spinner, and Sand Rush make it a good Pokemon to stick on teams.
:ss/Doublade:
Doublade was my Rapid Spin blocker and a secondary wincon. With a solid defensive typing, sufficient STABs, and good offenses, Doublade can pick up on what Leafeon missed and sweep teams with SD + Sneak.

:ss/Wishiwashi:
Wishiwashi is a multi-purpose Pokemon that served as a general wall (though mostly physical), secondary Grass- and Water-resist, and the slowest pivot in the meta. RestTalk allows it to be a great status absorber, while Scald's high power and burn chance prevents it from being passive at all. Wishiwashi does nicely against Weezing and physical attackers like Doublade, Sand setters, and more, but should be very wary of getting worn down by residual damage and Taunt.
:ss/Audino:
Needed a secondary way of dealing with status, and a third Knock Off user didn't seem too bad. Audino was needed for its excellent special bulk and large Wishes, and could heal off damage with Regenerator.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a happy new year!
 
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twinkay

these bugs love all the sugar in my blood
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merry christmas Shaneghoul

:abomasnow: :sandslash: :doublade: :ribombee: :gigalith: :wishiwashi:
https://pokepast.es/d914bd6e2d0fabff

:abomasnow: :frosmoth: :archeops: :vikavolt: :qwilfish: :silvally-fairy:
https://pokepast.es/5dc4716779831943

sd abomasnow is like postmodern queeniecoded so like a made a balance and a non-ho. i could've been boring and made a standard ho but i was feeling exciting so i built with the forbidden abomasnow+frosmoth core which is queenie because they wear down each other's checks so one of them has a better chance of winning. silvally-fairy can also lure charizard if ppl still fall for that. for the balance i definitely wanted to build with specs ribombee because wearing down steels is good for abomasnow obviously and wishiwashi is also a nice pivot for getting him in against his good matchups. i made it soundproof because changing sand could be a flop and it honestly can be useful vs vikavolt but if you don't want to give away the set it can also be snow warning. hope you enjoy!
 

Oathkeeper

"Wait!" he says, do I look like a waiter?
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Merry Christmas user Heracross2.0

I have your non-TR Heat Crash Rhydon team right here!

:ss/rhydon: :ss/tangela: :ss/charizard: :ss/ribombee: :ss/silvally-steel: :ss/wishiwashi-school:
Deck the Walls

Seemed like a pretty easy approach with what you were wanting. Standard offensive Rhydon set with Crash like you asked. Tangela for defense. Charizard for hazard control. Bee for sweeping/cleaning once Steels and Poisons are gone ofc. Steelvally is a backup sweeper with Rock Slide since most of the team could struggle against opposing Zard. Which brings us to SpDef RestTalk Wishiwashi as a hard counter to it. I do hope you love it! Big shoutout to recently apppointed PUTL and good friend Shaneghoul for his help here. I did manage most of the team, but he provided excellent advice and help.​
 

SergioRules

||blimp||
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Hi 16bit and Happy Holidays! I have a big soft spot for your request of a Whiscash team, though I prefer specially oriented sets over DD. Regardless, I tried to put together a decent enough team together to make the best use of its unique properties...at least until Scrafty got banned and ruined the team I had. I've been traveling a lot recently do I'm trying a bit to rush this out before the deadline, but it should still work!
For reference, this was the original team, and luckily one change kept the team still pretty good.


DRAGON DANCE WHI$CASH-MONEY
- So starting off with the requested mon, all I had was DD Whiscash. I figured that a mon like it can never go wrong with EdgeQuake coverage, and Liquidation is a nice STAB option otherwise but you could potentially use Substitute or Toxic for ease of set up or wearing down checks (though you might change the item to Leftovers with these options). The given EV spread maximizes damage output and lets Whiscash outspeed base 110 Speed Pokemon like Archeops after one DD. You can potentially drop more speed just to beat Charizards or what have you, but the original Scrafty version struggled a bit with Arch. The main focus of the rest of the team is to facilitate a late game Whiscash sweep after its checks and counters have been heavily damaged or fully taken out.
- My immediate next step in building was to see what mons just completely hard wall Whiscash. My mind immediately went to Eldegoss as a bulky Grass type that can easily shrug off the little damage it takes from Stone Edges and heal up with Regenerator. What better way to counter this than by negating Regen altogether? NGas Weezing keeps Eldegoss from healing up with its switches and also decently checks most other Grass-types that give Whiscash trouble. You can potentially replace Taunt with Toxic Spikes to wear down other bulky Pokemon that limit Whiscash's sweep.
- Eldegoss acts as both hazard control and a cleric, as any status will destroy Whiscash's sweeping ability, and Leech Seed can help heal off the Life Orb damage you might be racking up.
- Next is the good ol' sand core that's kind of defined this era of SS PU. Gigalith does the same thing every Gigalith does, being a good blanket check to many special attackers and setting up Stealth Rock. Its Sand Stream also aids in wearing down Whiscash/Sandslash checks. Sandslash provides another opportunity to either heavily damage things with Swords Dance or support the team with Knock Off, getting rid of Leftovers and Boots that, again, help set up Whiscash for a sweep late game.
- The last slot goes to Specs Ribombee. While this was originally a failsafe to DD Scrafty, even after looking at the team post-ban, this helps with many other Fighting-types that would give the rest of the team trouble like Gallade, Hitmonlee, and even a rare Sawk. Switcheroo also allows it to cripple a wall like Ferroseed that would give Whiscash trouble.

Thanks for the fun request! I hope you enjoy and have a great New Year!
 

16bit

What does your soul look like?
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https://pokepast.es/33442196fc09740c

Happy Holidays 5Dots! My thought with Magmortar was that it's advantage over Charizard was being able to learn the move Taunt with the main disadvantage being Magmortar's lack of recovery, so I went with a stallbreaking set on a fast paced team. Eldegoss has great synergy with magmortar and forms a defensive backbone with Gigalith, and Sandslash + Sneasel are great breakers that can deal with more offensive threats. Future Sight + U-turn Guno should able to enable all of Magmortar/Sandslash/Sneasel to break through the threats they need. Hope you enjoy!
 

romanji

eepy
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:gallade::togedemaru::jellicent::eldegoss::gigalith::sandslash:
Merry (very late) Christmas and Happy New Year UberSkitty, but here is my attempt at doing triple Choice items. Sorry for the lack of an explanation but I’ve been super busy of the holiday break and was focused on other things. I hope you enjoy this concoction I made up!
 

Chloe

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NUPL Champion
happy new year MZ! im sorry im a bit late with this request (you'd think i'd have learnt after being late the last 4 times) but i hope you like it. you asked for an alolanrat team for usum! i was rly glad to get this request bc at the time i did NOT feel like building ss, so this was great. i built a few teams, hopefully you like one of them at the very least!

:raticate-alola::jellicent::primeape::silvally-dragon::sandslash-alola::mudsdale:
https://pokepast.es/6ffa134d19da5119
so we have the funny rat with the z crystal so he can bypass hustle, jolly to outspeed victreebel, and then specs jelli to spout on the bulkys like muds and regi that wanna come in on it. and then primeape to get them both in + also break in the meantime. the rest is just filling defensive holes and providing hazard support. scarf slasher is there for speed control, i initially had scarf ape instead but i liked the breaking power of ape to help get through rat's checks. there's not rly too much else to say here. i like how offensive it feels while still being capable defensively. i am not good with words

:raticate-alola::aurorus::tangela::lanturn::sandslash-alola::silvally-fairy:
https://pokepast.es/d133058296d8b5b7
this is generally the same idea except aurorus over specs jellicent. tangela and lanturn are defensive glue that generally switch into most things. slasher-alola abuses the hail and also switches into freeze-dry aurorus better than lanturn can. you already know what these mons do so i dont rly know what to put in these descriptions really :blobsad: silvally-fairy just in case tangela got knocked, also helped vs drampa, also provided removal and pivoting.

:raticate-alola::ferroseed::jellicent::mudsdale::altaria::cryogonal:
https://pokepast.es/4e66bd7890ba4535
idk how i feel abt this one but i felt like spikes could be worth it given the calcs i was seeing of raticate. so i just generally built defensive mons around that that should cover everything. i hate how passive this is and only included it bc i had it in my builder and thought heck might as well

:raticate-alola::grumpig::ferroseed::sableye::mudsdale::raichu-alola:
https://pokepast.es/7f1196d6a19e8220
this is a better spikes team imo even if it has a grumpig on it. i like grumpig bc hes silly looking and also bc thick fat mon in a tier where simisear and aurorus are both prevalent :bite:. rat + spikes ferro + sableye to stop spin seemed like a fun core. mudsdale sets rocks and also provides extra defensive utility. i didnt rly know what to put last but fast mon that pivots, so it was either primeape or something fun, so i went with something fun. you could switch to a primeape if you wanted https://pokepast.es/a68605ea74cfe71c but thats not as fun and i already added grumpig so like im committing at this point. while on the note of thick fat grumpig, i initially kinda was tempted to try defensive thick fat raticate on a team and send it but i really didn't like its bulk and typing as much (simisear could just get around it with focus blast, aurorus does substantially more to it) but oh well.

:raticate-alola::jellicent::sandslash-alola::mudsdale::eelektross::primeape:
https://pokepast.es/0410633187b25f32
this is a very standard team with an alolan rat, so if all else fails this should work :blobthumbsup:

thank u for ur request, hope ur having a good holiday season, and sorry again for being late!
 

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