OK so there's barely any Nu teams posted here, so I thought I'd take a crack at teambuilding. I've had a lot of success with this team, and while it may not appear super unique off the bat with how many of the top meta threats the team uses, there are a few unique twists I've added. I'm posting this team to posit a hypothesis that I think many people would scoff at, that being that covert cloak is not only a viable choice for Vaporeon in this tier, but arguably one of the better item choices for the mon, at least when you consider its role for this team.
Team: https://pokepast.es/5d47e5514abf667b
This is why I use covert cloak:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-1802713085
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-1802739018
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-1802749947
In terms of... (Vaporeon) @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf
- Haze
I wanted to structure this team around a fairly balanced defensive core of Vaporeon, Sandaconda, and Dudunsparce. So I'll start off with the anchor for the team, specially defensive Vaporeon. Now, let's specifically talk about covert cloak for a second. This tier is littered with moves that have additional effects. I'd even argue more than other tiers, and especially for special attackers. The common theme is, most mons are very free to fish for these additional effects vs Vaporeon, and getting the additional effect even just once can often lead to a late game sweep for them or one of their teammates. Without covert cloak, Goodra and Venomoth will always get a poison vs you eventually, as they have several opportunities to spam it against you before being forced to switch. Hurricane and air slash are other moves that are very common, I fought a terra flying drifblim and if it had flinched me even once, then it would have won 1v1 (second replay). And another big one is Houndoom, if I switch into a nasty plot all it needs is a single dark pulse flinch and it can devastate the team. Serence grace Dudunsparce too, although not as relevent. Even less important things like Frosmoth can be important, since you're going to be eating a ton of ice beams and bug buzzes to the face. Covert cloak turns every single one of these matchups from shaky at best, into a guarantee. And these are just the super common mons, there's also random shadow balls you're going to be eating too for example.
In addition to just being a special sponge to pivot into the ever-present special nukes of mons like Goodra, Vaporeon passes is vital in keeping the team healthy by passing off wishes into mons like our own Goodra or Sandaconda, as well as being able to check the threatening setup mons in the tier with haze. Specifically Venomoth, Oricorio, and Frosmoth for quiver dance mons, Farigaraf and Houndoom as nasty plot mons, and Drifblim as a calm mind mon, some of which will require terrastelizing on (terra grass frosmoth, electric oricorio for example). It's pretty important to not that if you want to beat sleep powder Venomoth, you need to bait out the sleep powderon something else, but Goodra having an immunity to the move helps. Other relevent uses for the terra are to beat practically any Goodra set in the tier as it blocks dragon tail from denying Vaporeon to heal up, it takes no damage from acid armor body press and has no fear against specs terra dragon draco (timid sludge bomb will never 2hko). Retaining the water immunity is incredibly helpful as it in a sense turns you into a water-fairy type, which is incredibly useful for terra dragon specs Clawitzer, a mon that vaporeon is pretty much forced to terra vs. The terra is also nice against terra ice Jolteon, as bolt+beam coverage has a lot of offensive potential vs the team.
Snake Tusk (Sandaconda) @ Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Glare
- Rest
The second part of the teams defensive backbone is with Sandaconda. This mon is an incredible hazard setter and a fair blanket check to the majority of the tier physically giving us a good switch into mons like scarf Passimian. Shed skin offers semi-reliable recovery, and glare supports the offensive pinnacle of the team in Goodra, a mon that can easily just auto win once everything is slower than it. The terra option seems a little weird, and the explanation is even weirder. My main reasoning is that it's there for birds like Braviary or Honchkrow, and again that seems really weird on a mono-eq set. But the main things I'm afraid of is scarf Braviary because it speed ties my fastest mon in scarf Passimian, so hitting it with glare is really all that's important, plus it's going to be taking recoil from brave bird. If it's bulk up, then I've got other tools on the team to deal with it. I've also found a few other niche scenerios where the defensive terra has come in clutch. For example switching into banded zen headbutt from Medicham and then terrastelizing to live the second one, or terrastelizing to eat a hit from Bruxish, as a few examples. It also lets us terrastelize into a grass resist.
Don't Drop That (Dudunsparce-Three-Segment) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
- Roost
- Boomburst
- Dragon Tail ( / shadow ball?)
- Glare
Dudunsparce is here to try and patch up what the rest of the team struggles with. This set guaranteed lives +2 adamant terra water aqua cutter from Veluza even after rocks, and can either pick it off with boomburst or phase it out with dragon tail. Vaporeon can't deal with most bulk up mons, and I got slammed by a few random terra water Muks so my initial response to most of those mons is to dragon tail it out. I originally had shadow ball, and with serence grace shadow ball makes Dudunsparce a pseudo setup sweeper, I go back and forth between the two moves. I think at the moment I lean more towards dragon tail, but I'm kind of undecided. One of the major boons that Dudunsparce offers the teams is it can terra vs incredibly threatening mons like banded Medicham, guts/toxic boost Ursaring or Zangoose, or Passimian, and then fire off a massive boomburst back. Glare offers more speed control to the team that is highly appreciated.
Oricorio-Sensu @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dancer
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Revelation Dance
- U-turn
- Roost
Before I get into the offensive core of the team, I've got Oricorio to patch up further holes for the team. Oricorio can defog vs most webs mons as well as most opposing Sandaconda sets. The team really hates hazards, especially since Vaporeon doesn't have leftovers/heavy duty boots. The other nice thing is Oricorio is a nice backup check to Frosmoth if you can switch into quiver dance, since the fire terra changes revelation dance to a fire move. The fighting immunity is appreciated as well, it's never the safest switch into Medicham or Passimian but it's a good deterrent to keep them from spamming their fighting STABs. Something else that's kinda neat is you can pivot into endeavor from Lycanrock. Accelerock won't ohko you, and Lycanrock lead only runs taunt+rocks+endeavor+accelerock. Also for some reason everyone assumes lycarock ohkos with accelerock, so they always double endeavor on you expecting you to switch. Which is weird since jolly has a chance to not even 2hko.
Goodra @ Choice Specs
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Bomb
Goodra is a god in this tier. Nothing bar Chansey switches into this thing, even Copperaj takes like half from terra draco or gets cooked by fire blast (obviously you can't 2hko it since terra fairy is extremely common but the damage is huge). Almost every game, I terra this mon if I'm not forced to defensively terra Vaporeon or Dudunsparce. Sludge bomb is nice for all the fairy terras in this tier, and is interestingly enough literally the only way this team can kill bulk up eviolite Ursaring (I need to knock the eviolite first). It also poisons fat spdef mons without covert cloak, which is every one of them in the tier except the Vaporeon on this team. Goodra is an incredibly good recipient of wish, as Goodra essentially has a built in assault vest so repeated wishes means Goodra not only has an imposing offensive presence but can effectively switch into a ton of stuff defensively, especially considering the sap sipper immunity. Not to mention, most mons that threaten Vaporeon are resisted by Goodra, for instance you can easily pass into Goodra on stuff like Oricorio or Jolteon or grass types. We're modest over timid because I'm a greedy person using double glare, and against opposing Goodra I've always got Vaporeon in the back. I've also found Goodra to usually be the best lead vs that Morgrem screens teams I've been seing around, since you 2hko with sludge bomb through the light screen (usually), and after that I've found they usually bring in a setup sweeper that Vaporeon is able to deal with, for some reason the most common thing is for them to go out after into Farigaraf to nasty plot+agility, and Vaporeon demolishes that set and easily wastes the screens turns.
Passimian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- U-turn
The last mon to round out the team is Passimian. Great speed control, an ability to take advantage of the surprising amount of intimidate in the tier, a great deterrent to webs and defog, as well as a ton of team utility with knock off and u-turn. Offensively, the fighting terra is also incredibly useful.
The team has several big weaknesses, but overall has tools to deal with almost the entire tier. The main issue I foresee is against stall, IDK how this team could possibly break Chansey+a sturdy fighting resist. It also can struggle to switch into powerful physical water types like Bruxish or Basculin, but even then between water absorb and Sandaconda most banded sets are checked if you play perfectly. Bulk up eviolite Ursaring can be really scary but if you knock it off as they terra then you theoretically always have specs sludge bomb in the back. Medicham and Passimian can be threatening to literally any team, but banded sets need to play around ghost immunities and non banded sets can be checked by Sandaconda. Even against terra water Muk the team still faces some issues as it's difficult to stop after it's cursed a few times, but at the end of the day haze will always outspeed, dragon tail is fairly reliable, and terra draco does 72-85% to max spdef modest Muk.
Thanks for reading! If you guys have any suggestions feel free to let me know.
Team: https://pokepast.es/5d47e5514abf667b
This is why I use covert cloak:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-1802713085
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-1802739018
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9nu-1802749947
In terms of... (Vaporeon) @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Water Absorb
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf
- Haze
I wanted to structure this team around a fairly balanced defensive core of Vaporeon, Sandaconda, and Dudunsparce. So I'll start off with the anchor for the team, specially defensive Vaporeon. Now, let's specifically talk about covert cloak for a second. This tier is littered with moves that have additional effects. I'd even argue more than other tiers, and especially for special attackers. The common theme is, most mons are very free to fish for these additional effects vs Vaporeon, and getting the additional effect even just once can often lead to a late game sweep for them or one of their teammates. Without covert cloak, Goodra and Venomoth will always get a poison vs you eventually, as they have several opportunities to spam it against you before being forced to switch. Hurricane and air slash are other moves that are very common, I fought a terra flying drifblim and if it had flinched me even once, then it would have won 1v1 (second replay). And another big one is Houndoom, if I switch into a nasty plot all it needs is a single dark pulse flinch and it can devastate the team. Serence grace Dudunsparce too, although not as relevent. Even less important things like Frosmoth can be important, since you're going to be eating a ton of ice beams and bug buzzes to the face. Covert cloak turns every single one of these matchups from shaky at best, into a guarantee. And these are just the super common mons, there's also random shadow balls you're going to be eating too for example.
In addition to just being a special sponge to pivot into the ever-present special nukes of mons like Goodra, Vaporeon passes is vital in keeping the team healthy by passing off wishes into mons like our own Goodra or Sandaconda, as well as being able to check the threatening setup mons in the tier with haze. Specifically Venomoth, Oricorio, and Frosmoth for quiver dance mons, Farigaraf and Houndoom as nasty plot mons, and Drifblim as a calm mind mon, some of which will require terrastelizing on (terra grass frosmoth, electric oricorio for example). It's pretty important to not that if you want to beat sleep powder Venomoth, you need to bait out the sleep powderon something else, but Goodra having an immunity to the move helps. Other relevent uses for the terra are to beat practically any Goodra set in the tier as it blocks dragon tail from denying Vaporeon to heal up, it takes no damage from acid armor body press and has no fear against specs terra dragon draco (timid sludge bomb will never 2hko). Retaining the water immunity is incredibly helpful as it in a sense turns you into a water-fairy type, which is incredibly useful for terra dragon specs Clawitzer, a mon that vaporeon is pretty much forced to terra vs. The terra is also nice against terra ice Jolteon, as bolt+beam coverage has a lot of offensive potential vs the team.
Snake Tusk (Sandaconda) @ Leftovers
Ability: Shed Skin
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Glare
- Rest
The second part of the teams defensive backbone is with Sandaconda. This mon is an incredible hazard setter and a fair blanket check to the majority of the tier physically giving us a good switch into mons like scarf Passimian. Shed skin offers semi-reliable recovery, and glare supports the offensive pinnacle of the team in Goodra, a mon that can easily just auto win once everything is slower than it. The terra option seems a little weird, and the explanation is even weirder. My main reasoning is that it's there for birds like Braviary or Honchkrow, and again that seems really weird on a mono-eq set. But the main things I'm afraid of is scarf Braviary because it speed ties my fastest mon in scarf Passimian, so hitting it with glare is really all that's important, plus it's going to be taking recoil from brave bird. If it's bulk up, then I've got other tools on the team to deal with it. I've also found a few other niche scenerios where the defensive terra has come in clutch. For example switching into banded zen headbutt from Medicham and then terrastelizing to live the second one, or terrastelizing to eat a hit from Bruxish, as a few examples. It also lets us terrastelize into a grass resist.
Don't Drop That (Dudunsparce-Three-Segment) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
- Roost
- Boomburst
- Dragon Tail ( / shadow ball?)
- Glare
Dudunsparce is here to try and patch up what the rest of the team struggles with. This set guaranteed lives +2 adamant terra water aqua cutter from Veluza even after rocks, and can either pick it off with boomburst or phase it out with dragon tail. Vaporeon can't deal with most bulk up mons, and I got slammed by a few random terra water Muks so my initial response to most of those mons is to dragon tail it out. I originally had shadow ball, and with serence grace shadow ball makes Dudunsparce a pseudo setup sweeper, I go back and forth between the two moves. I think at the moment I lean more towards dragon tail, but I'm kind of undecided. One of the major boons that Dudunsparce offers the teams is it can terra vs incredibly threatening mons like banded Medicham, guts/toxic boost Ursaring or Zangoose, or Passimian, and then fire off a massive boomburst back. Glare offers more speed control to the team that is highly appreciated.
Oricorio-Sensu @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Dancer
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Revelation Dance
- U-turn
- Roost
Before I get into the offensive core of the team, I've got Oricorio to patch up further holes for the team. Oricorio can defog vs most webs mons as well as most opposing Sandaconda sets. The team really hates hazards, especially since Vaporeon doesn't have leftovers/heavy duty boots. The other nice thing is Oricorio is a nice backup check to Frosmoth if you can switch into quiver dance, since the fire terra changes revelation dance to a fire move. The fighting immunity is appreciated as well, it's never the safest switch into Medicham or Passimian but it's a good deterrent to keep them from spamming their fighting STABs. Something else that's kinda neat is you can pivot into endeavor from Lycanrock. Accelerock won't ohko you, and Lycanrock lead only runs taunt+rocks+endeavor+accelerock. Also for some reason everyone assumes lycarock ohkos with accelerock, so they always double endeavor on you expecting you to switch. Which is weird since jolly has a chance to not even 2hko.
Goodra @ Choice Specs
Ability: Sap Sipper
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Sludge Bomb
Goodra is a god in this tier. Nothing bar Chansey switches into this thing, even Copperaj takes like half from terra draco or gets cooked by fire blast (obviously you can't 2hko it since terra fairy is extremely common but the damage is huge). Almost every game, I terra this mon if I'm not forced to defensively terra Vaporeon or Dudunsparce. Sludge bomb is nice for all the fairy terras in this tier, and is interestingly enough literally the only way this team can kill bulk up eviolite Ursaring (I need to knock the eviolite first). It also poisons fat spdef mons without covert cloak, which is every one of them in the tier except the Vaporeon on this team. Goodra is an incredibly good recipient of wish, as Goodra essentially has a built in assault vest so repeated wishes means Goodra not only has an imposing offensive presence but can effectively switch into a ton of stuff defensively, especially considering the sap sipper immunity. Not to mention, most mons that threaten Vaporeon are resisted by Goodra, for instance you can easily pass into Goodra on stuff like Oricorio or Jolteon or grass types. We're modest over timid because I'm a greedy person using double glare, and against opposing Goodra I've always got Vaporeon in the back. I've also found Goodra to usually be the best lead vs that Morgrem screens teams I've been seing around, since you 2hko with sludge bomb through the light screen (usually), and after that I've found they usually bring in a setup sweeper that Vaporeon is able to deal with, for some reason the most common thing is for them to go out after into Farigaraf to nasty plot+agility, and Vaporeon demolishes that set and easily wastes the screens turns.
Passimian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- U-turn
The last mon to round out the team is Passimian. Great speed control, an ability to take advantage of the surprising amount of intimidate in the tier, a great deterrent to webs and defog, as well as a ton of team utility with knock off and u-turn. Offensively, the fighting terra is also incredibly useful.
The team has several big weaknesses, but overall has tools to deal with almost the entire tier. The main issue I foresee is against stall, IDK how this team could possibly break Chansey+a sturdy fighting resist. It also can struggle to switch into powerful physical water types like Bruxish or Basculin, but even then between water absorb and Sandaconda most banded sets are checked if you play perfectly. Bulk up eviolite Ursaring can be really scary but if you knock it off as they terra then you theoretically always have specs sludge bomb in the back. Medicham and Passimian can be threatening to literally any team, but banded sets need to play around ghost immunities and non banded sets can be checked by Sandaconda. Even against terra water Muk the team still faces some issues as it's difficult to stop after it's cursed a few times, but at the end of the day haze will always outspeed, dragon tail is fairly reliable, and terra draco does 72-85% to max spdef modest Muk.
Thanks for reading! If you guys have any suggestions feel free to let me know.