OK so let's just state some facts. PU is filled to the brim with grass, electric, normal and poison types. The Banette set I'm presenting you today is meant to be kind of an anti meta tech against some of the most common mons of those types, the big names that come to mind immediately being like Magneton, specs Pyroar, Lilligent, and Skuntank. I'm aiming to take advantage of these common mons with kind of a neat anti meta Banette set, and so far I've had pretty good success, reaching top 15 on the ladder and just overall being fairly consistent.
Team: https://pokepast.es/3124b7af82ad00f3
Kitagawa (Banette) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Insomnia
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Tera Blast
- Shadow Sneak
- Knock Off
(there isn't a terra blast in the calc, so I scaled EQ damage to base 80)
252+ Atk Tera Ground Banette Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Skuntank: 362-428 (104.3 - 123.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Tera Ground Banette Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pyroar: 344-408 (109.9 - 130.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Tera Ground Banette Gunk Shot vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lilligant: 334-394 (118.8 - 140.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Tera Ground Banette Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Perrserker: 264-312 (93.9 - 111%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Banette Gunk Shot vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Frost: 124-147 (51.4 - 60.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(The hp evs are so that adamant Skuntank can't kill you with a combination of resisted poison jab into neutral sucker punch, and Quaxley can't 2hko with liquidation, while still outspeeding +speed base 50s and neutral speed base 60s. The only other base 65 mons that would run speed in the tier is Kricketune which runs +speed so outspeeds you anyways, and Gothitelle which isn't really a common mon. And opposing Banette I guess, but we have Gabite to punish that.)
Sorry about the essay here, but I wanted to get hyper in depth to kind of justify this mon, as almost everyone thinks this mon is garbage. The main allure of this set is the surprise factor, and using that surprise factor if you play right you can pretty consistently get 1-2 kills every game. This is one of those sets that doesn't really make sense until you try it, but I swear it works. Literally nobody expects you to terra into a ground type, and not only does doing so prevent the opponent from volt switching (which in a sense pseudo traps them by preventing the switch), but it also preserves the focus sash which usually means not only do you OHKO the electric type in front of you but later in the game the focus sash will likely come in and give you a second kill. Ground+poison coverage is near perfect in this tier, with gunk shot sniping ground resists like Lilligent and terra ground ohkoing typical Banette counters like Skuntank. Banette is also a fantastic lead, as you immediately threaten hazard leads like Camerupt and Corcoal, volt switch leads, sleep powder cheese leads, and any defensive rocker that you can't threaten is discouraged from getting them up with magic bounce in the back. While we're on the topic, insomnia is an incredibly useful ability in this tier. While a lot of focus sash mons aren't reliable checks to setup sweepers like Lilligent or Vivillon because they can just sleep you and then 2hko, having the sleep immunity is incredibly clutch. Also, a neat interaction with Toedscool is that even with its ability, insomnia will wake you up at the end of the turn no matter what. With the focus sash Banette checks almost every speed boosting setup sweeper in the tier, with Oricorio being another good example. Knock off is a spammable move that keeps you from being dead weight if you can't terra, and gives the rest of the team an easier matchup against eviolite mons that the team can struggle to kill, Quaxwell and Vigoroth being the 2 big ones. And shadow sneak is super helpful in picking off weakened mons. Normally I cringe when I see people post teams with a focus sash mon that doesn't have something to preserve it like magic guard, but we've setup the team to support keeping the sash intact with magic bounce and defog. The sash is extremely valuable, literally nobody realizes this but Banette actually hits like a truck even if it's just clicking knock off and gunk shot without the terra.
How do they work? (Magneton) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Analytic
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Tera Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Steel Beam
The original concept of the team was just "Banette plus pivots". Which is pretty much how I build most of my teams. Magneton seemed to be an excellent partner for Banette, giving the team some much needed speed, and a mon that very much appreciates the removal of opposing electric and grass types. Steel beam looks stupid as hell, but it's literally the only move that can OHKO AV crabominable, and this team struggles HARD vs that mon. Terra water is nice to snipe Camerupt, while gives a defensive terra option vs stuff like Houndoom or Pyroar. It's also an interesting option against Quaxley for consistent repeated switching into. For some reason that mon has been such an annoyance to this team, but between knock off, rough skin+dragon tail+SD Gabite, and terra water Magneton the team has tools to break it.
This mon is bad (Corvisquire) @ Eviolite
Ability: Big Pecks
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- U-turn
- Defog
- Brave Bird
- Roost
With Mag being a steller offensive pivot for Banette, I picked Corv as a decent enough defensive pivot. This mon isn't really that good of a mon in general, but U-turn and defog are support options that directly benefit Banette, and just like Magneton, Corv appreciates Banette luring the opponents electric type. The rocks weakness hurts, but as we'll get to, the team helps prevent then with magic bounce. Fully specially defensive dodges the 2hko from specs Pyroar and Houndoom flamethrower, which are some major threats to the team. It's also a good answer to stuff like Cacturne, and prevents Slaking from spamming EQ.
TF2 (Hattrem) @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Nuzzle
- Psyshock
- Mystical Fire
- Healing Wish
As mentioned, I picked the Hat almost exclusively for magic bounce. Preventing hazards is paramount to the team, as we've got 2 stealth rocks weaknesses and a mon that relies heavily on keeping its focus sash intact. Hat is a good stop to a lot of hazard setters in the tier; Camerupt, Glimmet and Carkol being prime examples. She loses to most webs setters without terrastalizing, but most webs teams insta lose if webs go up on their own side so they'll be generally pretty hesitant to click sticky webs vs a team that has magic bounce, and even then Corvi can defog as a safety net. It's annoying that Skuntank can get toxic spikes up fairly freely, but obviously the team is built to lure Skuntank. Something else pretty nice is healing wish can reset focus sash if Banette took a hit that didn't activate it, which gives you the freedom to play a little more aggressively with Banette in the early game.
Doge (Houndoom) @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Flamethrower
- Dark Pulse
- Nasty Plot
Houndoom was the next pick, a mon that pairs exceptionally well with Banette and Magneton as partners. I was originally heavy duty boots, mainly because I've got a crippling addicting to that item on fire type mons, but after playing for a while found I rarely needed them. Life orb is the only item that gives me even a shot of killing Crabominable, a mon which as I've mentioned really gives the team issues, especially with how difficult it can be to play against terra types. I've ran into terra water and fairy, and each of the two resists one of Houndooms stabs. I really needed houndoom to offer some much needed wallbreaking potential with nasty plot and terra dark filling that hole, as well as some extra speed for the team. Being able to boost past defensive threats to this team like Gogoat (you can terra and live +1 EQ/horn leech) or Quaxley.
Gabi Tusk (Gabite) @ Eviolite
Ability: Rough Skin
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Swords Dance
The last pick for the team is Gabite. Gabite patches up a decent defensive core for the team. We get hazards, a fire resist and an electric immunity, and then in general just a blanket check to physical attackers like Perserker. Having dragon tail to phase out setup mons like Vigoroth or Gogoat is also pretty important, and the terra steel comes in handy much more often then I would have expected. Like I kind of assumed I'd only be terraing my offensive mons but having the option to turn into a steel type lets the team check so many problematic threats. Swords dance is a nice option to help the team potentially boost through annoying bulk.
Team weaknesses:
Crabominable has proved time and time again to manhandle this team on paper. You'll almost always have to sac a mon to it to get chip off on it, and it's usually going to be Gabite or Corvi. But we do have some nice techs on the team, particularly steel beam Magneton because they will almost always stay in and assume they're going to live a flash cannon.
Pyroar/Houndoom - these mons can be a struggle to deal with, but we certainly have tools for them. Corvi can pivot into most sets, and while we don't have a solid dark resist without terrastelizing the Hat, the team offers fire resists, fire immunities, and normal immunities. These mons shouldn't prove to be overwhelming with correct plays.
Quaxwell - defensively this mon has in the past proved difficult to muscle past, especially when paired with a mon that discourages Magneton. But that was mainly from old iterations of the team, with the current Magenton and Gabite sets, along with knocking it off, it's proved significantly easier to deal with.
Gogoat - I've run into issues against this terra ground bulk up set. Gabite can always phase it out which is nice, but it's certainly a major threat to the team and needs to be respected in the matchup because if it starts to boost it can get out of hand really quick.
Gabite: Gabite seems on paper to be a difficult mon for me to muscle past. I've even ran into this res-talk Gabite set one time and honestly I just wasn't able to break it.
Rotom Frost - What can I say, bolt-beam is really good vs the team. Banette knock off into gunk shot guaranteed kills by the slimmest of margins vs offensive rotom, so you can terra on the volt switch and then live with the sash on the blizzard, and for more defensive variants we have Hat and Houndoom or even Magneton.
Team: https://pokepast.es/3124b7af82ad00f3
Kitagawa (Banette) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Insomnia
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Tera Blast
- Shadow Sneak
- Knock Off
(there isn't a terra blast in the calc, so I scaled EQ damage to base 80)
252+ Atk Tera Ground Banette Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Skuntank: 362-428 (104.3 - 123.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Tera Ground Banette Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pyroar: 344-408 (109.9 - 130.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Tera Ground Banette Gunk Shot vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lilligant: 334-394 (118.8 - 140.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Tera Ground Banette Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Perrserker: 264-312 (93.9 - 111%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Banette Gunk Shot vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Frost: 124-147 (51.4 - 60.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(The hp evs are so that adamant Skuntank can't kill you with a combination of resisted poison jab into neutral sucker punch, and Quaxley can't 2hko with liquidation, while still outspeeding +speed base 50s and neutral speed base 60s. The only other base 65 mons that would run speed in the tier is Kricketune which runs +speed so outspeeds you anyways, and Gothitelle which isn't really a common mon. And opposing Banette I guess, but we have Gabite to punish that.)
Sorry about the essay here, but I wanted to get hyper in depth to kind of justify this mon, as almost everyone thinks this mon is garbage. The main allure of this set is the surprise factor, and using that surprise factor if you play right you can pretty consistently get 1-2 kills every game. This is one of those sets that doesn't really make sense until you try it, but I swear it works. Literally nobody expects you to terra into a ground type, and not only does doing so prevent the opponent from volt switching (which in a sense pseudo traps them by preventing the switch), but it also preserves the focus sash which usually means not only do you OHKO the electric type in front of you but later in the game the focus sash will likely come in and give you a second kill. Ground+poison coverage is near perfect in this tier, with gunk shot sniping ground resists like Lilligent and terra ground ohkoing typical Banette counters like Skuntank. Banette is also a fantastic lead, as you immediately threaten hazard leads like Camerupt and Corcoal, volt switch leads, sleep powder cheese leads, and any defensive rocker that you can't threaten is discouraged from getting them up with magic bounce in the back. While we're on the topic, insomnia is an incredibly useful ability in this tier. While a lot of focus sash mons aren't reliable checks to setup sweepers like Lilligent or Vivillon because they can just sleep you and then 2hko, having the sleep immunity is incredibly clutch. Also, a neat interaction with Toedscool is that even with its ability, insomnia will wake you up at the end of the turn no matter what. With the focus sash Banette checks almost every speed boosting setup sweeper in the tier, with Oricorio being another good example. Knock off is a spammable move that keeps you from being dead weight if you can't terra, and gives the rest of the team an easier matchup against eviolite mons that the team can struggle to kill, Quaxwell and Vigoroth being the 2 big ones. And shadow sneak is super helpful in picking off weakened mons. Normally I cringe when I see people post teams with a focus sash mon that doesn't have something to preserve it like magic guard, but we've setup the team to support keeping the sash intact with magic bounce and defog. The sash is extremely valuable, literally nobody realizes this but Banette actually hits like a truck even if it's just clicking knock off and gunk shot without the terra.
How do they work? (Magneton) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Analytic
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Tera Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Steel Beam
The original concept of the team was just "Banette plus pivots". Which is pretty much how I build most of my teams. Magneton seemed to be an excellent partner for Banette, giving the team some much needed speed, and a mon that very much appreciates the removal of opposing electric and grass types. Steel beam looks stupid as hell, but it's literally the only move that can OHKO AV crabominable, and this team struggles HARD vs that mon. Terra water is nice to snipe Camerupt, while gives a defensive terra option vs stuff like Houndoom or Pyroar. It's also an interesting option against Quaxley for consistent repeated switching into. For some reason that mon has been such an annoyance to this team, but between knock off, rough skin+dragon tail+SD Gabite, and terra water Magneton the team has tools to break it.
This mon is bad (Corvisquire) @ Eviolite
Ability: Big Pecks
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- U-turn
- Defog
- Brave Bird
- Roost
With Mag being a steller offensive pivot for Banette, I picked Corv as a decent enough defensive pivot. This mon isn't really that good of a mon in general, but U-turn and defog are support options that directly benefit Banette, and just like Magneton, Corv appreciates Banette luring the opponents electric type. The rocks weakness hurts, but as we'll get to, the team helps prevent then with magic bounce. Fully specially defensive dodges the 2hko from specs Pyroar and Houndoom flamethrower, which are some major threats to the team. It's also a good answer to stuff like Cacturne, and prevents Slaking from spamming EQ.
TF2 (Hattrem) @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Nuzzle
- Psyshock
- Mystical Fire
- Healing Wish
As mentioned, I picked the Hat almost exclusively for magic bounce. Preventing hazards is paramount to the team, as we've got 2 stealth rocks weaknesses and a mon that relies heavily on keeping its focus sash intact. Hat is a good stop to a lot of hazard setters in the tier; Camerupt, Glimmet and Carkol being prime examples. She loses to most webs setters without terrastalizing, but most webs teams insta lose if webs go up on their own side so they'll be generally pretty hesitant to click sticky webs vs a team that has magic bounce, and even then Corvi can defog as a safety net. It's annoying that Skuntank can get toxic spikes up fairly freely, but obviously the team is built to lure Skuntank. Something else pretty nice is healing wish can reset focus sash if Banette took a hit that didn't activate it, which gives you the freedom to play a little more aggressively with Banette in the early game.
Doge (Houndoom) @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Flamethrower
- Dark Pulse
- Nasty Plot
Houndoom was the next pick, a mon that pairs exceptionally well with Banette and Magneton as partners. I was originally heavy duty boots, mainly because I've got a crippling addicting to that item on fire type mons, but after playing for a while found I rarely needed them. Life orb is the only item that gives me even a shot of killing Crabominable, a mon which as I've mentioned really gives the team issues, especially with how difficult it can be to play against terra types. I've ran into terra water and fairy, and each of the two resists one of Houndooms stabs. I really needed houndoom to offer some much needed wallbreaking potential with nasty plot and terra dark filling that hole, as well as some extra speed for the team. Being able to boost past defensive threats to this team like Gogoat (you can terra and live +1 EQ/horn leech) or Quaxley.
Gabi Tusk (Gabite) @ Eviolite
Ability: Rough Skin
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Swords Dance
The last pick for the team is Gabite. Gabite patches up a decent defensive core for the team. We get hazards, a fire resist and an electric immunity, and then in general just a blanket check to physical attackers like Perserker. Having dragon tail to phase out setup mons like Vigoroth or Gogoat is also pretty important, and the terra steel comes in handy much more often then I would have expected. Like I kind of assumed I'd only be terraing my offensive mons but having the option to turn into a steel type lets the team check so many problematic threats. Swords dance is a nice option to help the team potentially boost through annoying bulk.
Team weaknesses:
Crabominable has proved time and time again to manhandle this team on paper. You'll almost always have to sac a mon to it to get chip off on it, and it's usually going to be Gabite or Corvi. But we do have some nice techs on the team, particularly steel beam Magneton because they will almost always stay in and assume they're going to live a flash cannon.
Pyroar/Houndoom - these mons can be a struggle to deal with, but we certainly have tools for them. Corvi can pivot into most sets, and while we don't have a solid dark resist without terrastelizing the Hat, the team offers fire resists, fire immunities, and normal immunities. These mons shouldn't prove to be overwhelming with correct plays.
Quaxwell - defensively this mon has in the past proved difficult to muscle past, especially when paired with a mon that discourages Magneton. But that was mainly from old iterations of the team, with the current Magenton and Gabite sets, along with knocking it off, it's proved significantly easier to deal with.
Gogoat - I've run into issues against this terra ground bulk up set. Gabite can always phase it out which is nice, but it's certainly a major threat to the team and needs to be respected in the matchup because if it starts to boost it can get out of hand really quick.
Gabite: Gabite seems on paper to be a difficult mon for me to muscle past. I've even ran into this res-talk Gabite set one time and honestly I just wasn't able to break it.
Rotom Frost - What can I say, bolt-beam is really good vs the team. Banette knock off into gunk shot guaranteed kills by the slimmest of margins vs offensive rotom, so you can terra on the volt switch and then live with the sash on the blizzard, and for more defensive variants we have Hat and Houndoom or even Magneton.
