Underused Pokemon Matchmaking Phase 2 [Week 29 - Nasty Plot Infernape]

[LRXC]

Here is my Whimsicott and Hydreigon core!

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Encore
- Stun Spore
- Moonblast
- U-turn

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power

I think this is a very nice core with pivot abilities and great wallbreking potential. Whimsicott is the famous cotton candied support mon, annoying opponetts in every match it battles in. I am using a sort of standard set with encore for priority shutdown, stun spore for providing Hydreigon more oppourtunities to outspeed and destroy, moonblast for coverage and a nice stab move, and the of course u-turn for pivoting. I am running bold max defense for a good defensive bulk, so it can take hits and support hydreigon. Whimsicott also resists fairy, Hydreigons worst enemy, and resists fighting as well, another one of hydreigons weaknesses. (Also a nuetrality to bug)
Hydreigon is almost a perfect partner to Whimsicott, providing wallbreaking potential and greatly benefiting from Whimsicotts support. Hydreigon can also switch into whimsicotts counters, and doesnt care about taunt. Hydreigon is also a great special attacking wallbreaker, with almost perfect coverage and dual stab only resisted by fairy. Life orb is there for that extra packing punch.

Some mons that go great with this team include Swampert

, Entei

, Coballion

, and especially Empoleon

, which resists ice 4x, which both are weak to, and also is immune to poison, whimsicotts 4x weakness, and provided many other resistances as well, and it can provide hazard support, and flash cannon stab for faries.

I hope you like my Whimsicott set! Hopefully this still counts even though I was just a little late!

~LRXC Have a nice day!

Also thanks you NV for letting me post this even though I was 10 minutes late! lol ;)

 

[nv]

Reserving Whimsacott and porygon Z

reserving every set-up mon

Reserving Empoleon

Reserving Hoopa

Just wanna make sure you guys do not forget about your reservations as it has been over ~24 hours since you reserved :)

Whimsicott and scarf Hydreigon

Whimsicott @ Leftovers/Pixie Plate
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 132 Def / 128 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
- Encore
- U-turn

This set allows Whimsi to outspeed Pokemon with a base Speed of 100 while taking hits from Pokemon such as Feraligatr and Hydreigon more easily. Covers up fighting and dragon weakness for Hydreigon and potentially locks walls into moves they don't want with encore. Hydreigon covers up Chandelue/fire switchins for whimicott and threatens lots out with powerful coverage. Fire blast is to catch steels (mainly Cobalion). Ideally this match should be used as part of a volt-turn core with a wall breaker

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- U-turn

Please pick a new Pokemon as LittleRunnerXC finished his reservation just over 24 hours after his post, but I will allow it this time lol.

 

[silenced]

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Timid
248HP, 8SPD, 252SPE
-Tailwind
-Moonblast
-Encore
-U-turn/Giga drain

Chandelure @ Leftovers
Timid
252SPA, 252 SPE, 4 SPD
-Substitute
-Calm Mind
-Shadowball
-Fire Blast

I may as well present the monster that is tailwind whimsicott, a pokemon who was huge in getting me reqs for the victini suspect. The two pokemon partner very well together, with chandelure resisting steel, poison and immune to fire while whimsicott tanks dark, water and ground attacks. Both are a massive pain for stall given stall mons don't like being encore locked to become set-up fodder, and stall really hates SubCM chandelure. Against balance and offence, you can abuse your immunities and chandelure's raw power until the time comes to sack whimsicott. At some stage, the opposing player will try and KO whimsicott, risking parahax from prankster stun spore, only to find you used tailwind, and now have 3 turns for chandelure to outspeed every UU threat that lacks sucker punch (hence the choice of subcm) and incinerate what is left.

Its a nasty surprise for players to go up against, and works best against players who are willing to play aggressively thinking that they can win as long as they have a key pokemon or 2 still unfainted.

EV's on whimsicott allow you to outspeed and OHKO M-absol with moonblast after SR, as it is a pain for the core otherwise. Chandelure's is standard. You could run a more offensive whimsicott if you wish though, however I like keeping the moves listed as it allows you to play it as standard until you're ready to set up the tailwind sweep.

Prankster tailwind, despite being more a weapon for doubles, is stilL great in UU due to the large number of powerful wall breakers occuping around the base 80 speed tier, that after the boost outspeed all of the metagame, scarfers included, while retaining great bulk to stomach priority. There would be a lot more choices than chandelure, but I feel chandelure offers the best sort of support against all team types as a partner.

Hazard support is nice to wear things down, and something that reliably checks doublade is needed too. Also if tailwind isn't up, take a lot of care that any toxicroak/heracross/lucario aren't running speed boosting natures as that is an easy way to lose chandelure unnecessarily.

Edit: A disclaimer I should add. Checking back through the team builder, I did use a slightly different EV spread because I wanted M-Absol dead regardless of whether hazards were up or not. Also I didn't actually use SubCM chandelure for reqs (took the opportunity to use victini), in case I mislead people about the practice efforts of the core. I mostly selected chandelure for the synergy, as the sweepers/wallbreakers I used were a questionable feraligatr set, and a jolly lucario (which needs more love over adamant...but thats really another argument in of itself). That being said, I did use tailwind whimsicott and it is a nasty surprise still.

 

[YouthBerry]

First off, I apologize for taking your mon LRXC, it was late at night and I missed your reservation. Hydreigon is a great match to Whimsi! But since that idea was chosen first, I decided to go with a different Pokemon...

AV Slowking.

Slowking @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 64 Def / 188 SpA / 8 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Psychic
- Dragon Tail
- Fire Blast

Slowking is an underrated threat in this metagame imo, being able to absorb numerous blows throughout a match and come back every time thanks to it's regenerator ability. This Slowking is designed to take on all fire types outside of Rotom heat and Chandelure, as it is bulky on both sides of the spectrum. It can take on either Rotom heat or Chandelure from full health though. It also has fire blast to take on the steels that trouble Whimsicott. Ideally this Slowking is used to eliminate Nidoqueen, Cobalion, and fire types for Whimsicott. Whimsi provides help against dark and bug types although Beedrill is a major concern with this core! Basic defensive spread and set for Whimsicott. This duo should be used as part of a bulky offence/balance team.

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
- Encore
- Stun Spore
- Moonblast
- U-turn

 

[nv]

Ok voting time!

We got Shiba's Mega Houndoom, Dr Ciel's Mienshao, DKFirelord's Porygon-Z, Cantalopes's Empoleon, -Tynamo-'s Hoopa, iWanka's Mega Aerodactyl, Eeyore's Froslass, Twerkerella's Mega Swampert, IronBullet's Krookodile, LittleRunnerXC's Hydreigon, silenced's Chandelure, and garlando's Slowking.

My vote is for IronBullet.

 

[LRXC]

I am going to vote for garlando! Great core!

 

[rs]

Dr Ciel

 

[HotFuzzBall]

Voting for shiba

 

[DaSpoofy]

cantalope

 

[Wanka]

shitba

 

[Eeyore]

IronBullet for me

 

[Shadestep]

silenced

 

[InfernapeTropius11]

IronBullet

 

[Hogg]

IronBullet

 

[YouthBerry]

LRXC for me. Hydreigon is the ideal partner for Whimsicott

 

[Tymano]

Shiba

 

[nv]

IronBullet wins with 4 votes, while Shiba almost tied with 3 votes!

I decided this week to go with something underrated that was "recently" banned from RU. I am talking about...

This little bugger can cripple its checks with Sleep Powder, set up with Quiver Dance, and use its Tinted Lens ability to hit resists harder. Have fun and see you guys Friday! :)

 

[HotFuzzBall]

Reserving Entei

Think I'll sit this round out @_@... Can't think of any new and viable Venomoth sets that don't involve Quiver Dance...

 

[rs]

Mega Ampharos and Venomoth

Ampharos @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SpA / 124 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Volt Switch

Venomoth @ Black Sludge
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Sleep Powder
- Roost / Sludge Bomb

This match is pretty simple, mostly trying to set up Venomoth for a late game sweep. An All-Out Attacking Mega Ampharos is able to weaken Venomoth's checks/counters such as Crobat, Doublade, or Aggron and also bring Venomoth in safely with a nice and relatively slow Volt Switch on a Special Wall that switches in. The set for Venomoth is pretty much standard, with Quiver Dance, Bug Buzz, and Sleep Powder being obvious moves to for a sweeper set. The final slot can go to Roost for reliable recovery or Sludge Bumb for coverage. But yeah, here's a nice match for Venomoth :]

 

[Dr Ciel]

Reserving Krookodile.

Venomoth @ Life Orb
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Sleep Powder
- Bug Buzz
- Sludge Bomb

Krookodile @ Dread Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit

Offensive Venomoth is an absolute force of nature in the tier thanks to its solid STAB moves coupled with an amazing ability in Tinted Lens, allowing it to possibly sweep late-game. Due to its weakness to priority and inability to get past Steel types, Krookodile is an amazing partner. Krookodile can take most priority aimed at it, thanks to Intimidate. Krookodile can also swiftly eliminate Steel types with the exception of Cobalion. Krook also provides solid Stealth Rock support to help Venomoth get KO's easier. In return, Venomoth can easily set up on Grass & Fairy Types while also having an easy time setting up on most physical walls.

 

[LRXC]

Reserving Venemoth and Empoleon

Actually not going to do this week.... =( Go ahead and take Empoleon! lol

 

[Eeyore]

Hm. Seeing a lot of Venomoth sets that are trying to make it a better Vivillon. [NOT ADDING SPRITES BECAUSE IT WOULD TAKE SO LONG]

See, the problem is that Venomoth loses to anything priority bar Bullet Punch, Mach Punch and Vacuum Wave, and most of anything else it doesn't resist. Venomoth hates Stealth Rocks, and Scarf, Band and most Specs. Anything that can take a hit pretty well, like Snorlax, Blissey, Reunicles, Cresselia, most Steel Types and Rock Types.

Sub+Disable Venomoth takes its heritage from the scourge of BW OU-- SubDisable Gengar (where did this go?) and its incredibly disruptive activity. Unlike a buffed Vivilon, Venomoth has the option to complete disrupt sweep, set-up and stalling attempts in time. While a few other Pokemon in viable UU can also do this, Venomoth is unique among them that it is fast (unlike Cofagrigus, Slowking, Aromatisse, or Lickilicki) and doesn't already fill another niche of its four-slot syndrome (like Glalie, Haunter, or Cacturne), Mega-Banette is the only other mon that can pull it off, and it doesn't hold the offensive pressure that Venomoth or Gengar do.

Gengar (Venomoth) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Disable / Sleep Powder
- Bug Buzz / Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance

Speed Tiers, and why I'm Timid

So let's break this down. Like other Venomoth, I opt for Timid (though luckily it doesn't seem to be a trend here, Venomoths decent speed tier is tempting to opt for Modest-- do not fall for it!) While the speed boost doesn't seem a ton, especially when Quiver Dance is what most people do first, Timid means pre-Dance you outspeed a decent amount of threats. So many, I'm putting it in this spoiler instead of typing it out.

306 / Lucario, Meloetta, Porygon-Z, Roserade, Venomoth / 90 / +Spe / 252 / 0
300 / Hitmonlee / 87 / +Spe / 252 / 0
299 / Entei, Flygon, Glalie-Mega, Shaymin / 100 / Neutral / 252 / 0
298 / Rotom-C, Rotom-H / 86 / +Spe / 252 / 0
297 / Flygon / 100 / +Spe / 136 / 0
295 / Cresselia, Heracross, Nidoking, Toxicroak / 85 / +Spe / 252 / 0
293 / Haxorus / 97 / Neutral / 252 / 0
289 / Arcanine, Kyurem, Sharpedo, Yanmega / 95 / Neutral / 252 / 0
284 / Chandelure, Gallade, Glalie, Mamoswine / 80 / +Spe / 252 / 0
283 / Krookodile / 92 / Neutral / 252 / 0
280 / Feraligatr / 78 / +Spe / 252 / 0
279 / Lucario, Meloetta, Porygon-Z, Venomoth / 90 / Neutral / 252 / 0

For anyone who hasn't read this chart before it goes
Final Number/Name of Pokemon/Base Speed/Nature/IV/Boost

Now for most Venomoth, this means getting a boost or going right for an attack. Not us, we Go for Sub. Why? Because it means that if the opponent has a strong move, they'll go for it. Disable, and laugh. Now why is this competitive, instead of a dumb gimmick? Well, let's review Venomoth's weaknesses: particularly Special Walls, and Choice Users. Choice Users are pretty obvious-- as no pokemon wants to Struggle. The forced switch means Venomoth gets another Substitute and is again holding momentum, but special walls like Suicune, Snorlax and Reuniclus really enjoy setting up on Venomoth, and Disabling a set-up option or if you're lucky, their primary attack leaves them useless and available to picking off from proper team members. However, if you want a more disabling option, for a longer time, Sleep Powder works for this for a longer time on only one Pokemon. If you have no options against an enemy Krook, or need the Set-up to take down prominent walls, Sleep Powder could be the option for you.

Bug Buzz causes the greatest amount of damage to the most amount of threats. It pressures common checks like Krook and Cress from coming in for free, especially after a boost or two, though Giga Drain deserves more than an honorary mention, as the reliable recovery at the expense of your opponent's HP leaves a slot open, and gives more opportunity for Substitutes. Sludge Bomb works if Fairies are a big problem, or if you want to go full Gengar. Quiver Dance is the prefered last moveslot, as the boost in Speed and Special Attack are exactly what Venomoth needs (besides more HP) to survive. However, if you're running enough Glass Cannons, Roost can add for some reliable recovery: but don't use Giga Drain and Roost. That's a waste of a slot.


Now Venomoth still falls pretty handily to Choice Scarf Users or general boosters like Krook, Mence, Infernape and Mienshao, entry hazards like Rocks and most priority: in Particular, Entei's Extremespeed has a good chance to OHKO after Rocks. A great teammate should be able to take all of these. This teammate is Giratina, however, and subsequently banned in UU.

Blastoise @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 184 HP / 252 SpA / 72 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam / Aura Sphere

Blastoise gets pretty close though. Its natural bulk allows it to take physical attacks pretty easily, and its fear of Electric and Grass are easily taken by Venomoth on a hard switch. 72 Speed outspeeds Machamp, With Rapid Spin to clear hazards, Venomoth can come in without wasting your own hazard set-up. Scald's burn chance pressures physical attackers, as well as ground-types and rock types that tend to pressure Venomoth as well. Dark Pulse adds near perfect neutral coverage, with the added bonus of hitting Psychic-types super-effectively. Ice Beam takes down Flying Types, while Aura Sphere pressures Steel-types. As both are checks for Venomoth, use the needs of your team in deciding that.

Beyond that, entry hazards really help Venomoth. Toxic Spikes helps if you opt away from Sleep Powder, All Spikes help, and Rocks are a staple in the game, but keeping hazards off the field is a necessity. Chesnaught and Tentacruel both give hazards and Tentacruel can spin, but the shared weaknesses can put Venomoth in tricky situations without some strong teambuilding-- in particular checking Mega Aerodactyl, Azelf, Nidoking and Espeon. Close seconds to the partner were Absol, Crobat and Mamoswine, but the common weaknesses to similar threats made the pairings hairy.

Good Luck with your Gengar!

 

[Wanka]

+

sets

Venomoth @ Life Orb
Ability: Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder

Rotom-Heat @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Trick
- Hidden Power [Grass] / Thundebolt

I tossed up a nice hard hitting special attacking core for you guys.

Veno's main checks include crobat, (kinda) and pesky steel types like doublade, aggron, and empo. A mon that came to mind that threatens all of these pokemon is rotom heat. it is indeed a specs variant for the extra power which is nice. you could go for the double electric STAB with T bolt or go hp grass to pop swamperts who will try and come in to get up rocks, it all depends on preferance.

But yeah I think rotom fits nice with its ability to check threats to veno and provide hard hitting momentum support at the same time.

Hope you guys like it!

 

[Lilligant for OU]

Preemptively voting for Wanka

 

[nv]

Ok so we got like 0 submissions compared to "normal" weeks, which I am sad about, but oh well. We got Shiba's Mega Ampharos, Dr Ciel's Krookodile, Eeyore's Mega Blastoise, and iWanka's Rotom-Heat.

My vote is for Dr Ciel.

P.S. I know this is late, but oh well lol.