An Attempt To Make Eelektross Work In RU

[colourcodedchaos]

Hello! I tried to make a decent RU team before and, well... failed miserably. This is another attempt, though I am hampered slightly by the fact that it must include Eelektross, because Pimp Daddy E is god. Also, he's got my kids in a lockup somewhere and it's this or five million dollars in used non-sequential bills. If anyone can give me a hand with the team and making it more competitive while still including Eelektross, that'd be really great, ta.

Cryogonal @ Icicle Plate
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 192 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Hidden Power Fire
Reasons for Inclusion: Cryogonal's the best Rapid Spinner in the tier and it's very well-equipped to deal with entry hazards, taking no damage from Spikes (Toxic or otherwise) thanks to Levitate. That all said, I prefer my team to be able to hit back at people rather than just sit there like lemons, as does Pimp Daddy E, so this most special of snowflakes is my lead. STAB Ice Beam and HP Fire work well, and the Timid Nature gives it more chance of getting shot of those hazards - I tried using a Modest Nature, and while it hit like a speeding bus (relatively speaking), it kept getting outsped by annoying Fire-type coverage moves.

Durant @ Choice Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
- Superpower
- X-Scissor
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
Reasons for Inclusion: I used to despise Choice items, but I've been playing this for a while and once you get switching down, they're a really good fit for Durant. This moveset has all the coverage you need and the resistances from its Steel typing come in pretty handy. Also, Fire-types die to Rock Slide more easily this way, because God I despise Fire-types.

Flareon @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Nature: Calm
- Wish
- Protect
- Lava Plume
- Roar
Reasons for Inclusion: I don't hate this Fire-type, though. Look at it. It's too cute to hate. Flareon's designed to switch into attacks, dump a Wish or Lava Plume down, and switch out. I took Lava Plume over Flamethrower because this little furball's goal is to spread heals among my team and burns among the oppositions, not do damage outright, and Roar synergises with that better than Toxic does; it's easier to spread burns through the entire enemy team with phazing than with straight-up killing, even though Toxic is a great move.

Sceptile @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Substitute
- Giga Drain
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power Rock
Reasons for Inclusion: Sceptile hits hard right off the bat, especially later on in the game (Wish support is pretty damned useful in that regard) after Life Orb recoil and Substitute damage racks up - which it does in my experience, even with Giga Drain. The coverage is excellent, Hidden Power Rock deals with those pesky Fire-types, Focus Blast is just generally great... it's the standard Sceptile set, there's nothing else to say about it.

Qwilfish @ Black Sludge
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Nature: Impish
- Spikes
- Pain Split
- Waterfall
- Thunder Wave
Reasons for Inclusion: Rounding out the apparently-mandatory FWG core, Qwilfish is the team's defensive lynchpin, a creeping terror in the form of a neon-pink novelty condom. Thunder Wave's the move of choice rather than Taunt or Haze, since I've tried all three and TW's been the most generally useful. Haze is kind of a close second, though; people using my team's setup time for their own setups can be annoying, but I think that it's better dealt with via phazing moves.

Pimp Daddy E (Eelektross) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Nature: Careful
- Coil
- Thunder
- Drain Punch (aka. Daddy's Pimp Slap)
- Aqua Tail
Reasons for Inclusion: As an Electric-type with no weaknesses and an immunity to Spikes, Eelektross really ought to be seeing more play than it gets. However, it doesn't, and Pimp Daddy E's skills are left to rot. This moveset involves me making use of the Pimp Daddy as a lategame sweeper, tanking hits from the remaining opposition and healing with a Coil-boosted Drain Punch. Aqua Tail lets it hit Golurk reliably after a Coil boost, and Thunder benefits hugely from the accuracy boost of Coil.

So, that there's Pimp Daddy E's Harem Of Much Better Pokemon. Again, any help is very much appreciated. =]

 

[Pen Ink]

so I don't really play RU, so I don't have much constructive criticism, but may I possibly suggest Return -> Aqua Tail or Fire Punch on Eelektross? Return is a pretty mediocre coverage move in general, but the reason I suggest something over it is because Golurk completely walls your set otherwise, and Golurk is used in RU. Aqua Tail hits Golurk and other Ground types hard, while Fire Punch still lets you hit Golurk and bulky Grass types like Tangrowth and co. You might even want to try Giga Drain to hit Quagsire, but I think Aqua Tail or Fire Punch are the better options.

one thing I did notice is that if either Sceptile or Qwilfish are gone, Moltres or Emboar and Entei respectively are tough for this team to deal with. I'm not totally sure what to change to patch up this slight weakness since those Fire types are actually checked decently well if Qwilfish and Sceptile are kept throughout the match, but my idea would be to switch Cryogenal to something that would patch up the synergy on the team a bit or check some of those Fire types. perhaps Druddigon to switch into Fire types moves, although Druddi is still 2HKO'd by Superpower, Hurricane, and Stone Edge. Mixed Druddigon would actually fit well into this team though to lure out physical Eelektross checks like Tangrowth and Steelix, while synergizing well.

Return -> Aqua Tail / Fire Punch

Druddigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 20 SAtk / 84 Spd
Brave Nature
- Outrage
- Flamethrower
- Dragon Claw
- Sucker Punch

Durant

Durant, Flareon, Qwilfish

 

[colourcodedchaos]

Thanks for the tips! I'll try that out. =]

 

[atomicllamas]

Hey colourcodedchaos, cool team, and I love when someone builds around a mon that isn't often seen in RU, that being said I do have a few suggestions for your team that I think could help out a little bit.

I actually agree with Pen InK that Druddigon would be a good replacement for Cryogonal on your team, as your team doesn't really need Cryo when it has very little trouble with hazards. That being said, I do not think that the mixed set is the best choice, as your team lacks Stealth Rocks (the best hazard there is!), so I recommend this Druddigon set:

Druddigon @ Leftovers
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 176 HP / 80 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Outrage/Dragon Claw
- Stealth Rock
- Sucker Punch
- Earthquake

This set helps to alleviate your problem with fire types, because Druddigon resists fire, can set up rocks which really hurt Moltres and Entei, but still provide you with a strong offensive presence. Outrage/Dragon Claw depends on your preference, although the power behind outrage is actually really nice.

My next suggestion for this team involves Flareon, who although is a great mon on stall teams, seems really out of place to me here, as your team isn't trying to wall the meta and force switches, it is a bulky offensive team using strong and (mostly) bulky mons. You do however, lack a scarfer, which would help deal with your problems with Moltres and Entei (especially after I remove Flareon from your team), and you are missing a ghost, which is generally just very useful when you are spike stacking, and now you have rocks too, which leaves you with one very good option for a scarfer.

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball

Both of it's weaknesses are covered by Durant, while also having the ability to fend off ghosts by itself, meaning it has alright defensive synergy with your team.

The Final suggestion I am going to make is switching Eelektross to a special set, and Sceptile to SD unburden, as Eelektross has really good special coverage (unlike its meh physical move pool) and Sceptile makes a great cleaner after Durant wall breaks for him.

Sceptile @ Flying Gem
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Leaf Blade
- Drain Punch
- Swords Dance

Eelektross @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 152 Spd / 252 SAtk / 104 HP
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flamethrower
- Giga Drain

This allows Sceptile to work as a physical late game sweeper which is more effective on your team due to the presence of CB Ant to wall break. The change to Eelektross will give you a bulky pivot with a semi-slow volt switch that allows you to get another mon in for free. The speed EVs on Eel are to creep on uninvested Lanturn+, so I basically creeped a common walling speed tier. This is also a great set for wall breaking allowing for an easy Sceptile clean late game.

Once again, cool team and good luck!

 

[Pen Ink]

Just to clarify, the main reason I chose the mixed set was under the assumption that you will be keeping Eelektross physical. Sucker Punch can totally be replaced by Stealth Rock on my set since it's mostly filler, but if you're going to use atomicllamas's Druddigon set I would use his rate, as then mixed Druddigon won't really mesh well with this team if you're running special Eelektross.

 

[colourcodedchaos]

So, the final team (as adjusted by Pen InK and atomicllamas) is as follows:

Druddigon @ Leftovers
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 176 HP / 252 Atk / 80 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Stealth Rock
- Sucker Punch
- Earthquake
Reasons for Inclusion: As was pointed out by atomicllamas, since none of my team has that much of a problem with entry hazards (aside from maybe Durant), there's no real need for a dedicated spinner. Thus, Druddigon can make an appearance with a potent physical set backed up with Stealth Rock, something my team's also been lacking because I'm sort of an idiot. I'm not exactly the hugest fan of Outrage's lock-in so Dragon Claw is preferred, but we'll see how it turns out first. Also, Dragon's still a pretty good defensive typing, so he can switch into Fire-type attacks that might take out the small ballistic missile listed below.

Durant @ Choice Band
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
- Superpower
- X-Scissor
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
Reasons for Inclusion: I used to despise Choice items, but I've been playing this for a while and once you get switching down, they're a really good fit for Durant. This moveset has all the coverage you need and the resistances from its Steel typing come in pretty handy. Also, Fire-types die to Rock Slide more easily this way, because God I despise Fire-types.

Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
Reasons for Inclusion: Flareon gets booted off the team because, well, it's really neither fish nor fowl as far as the composition was concerned. The set was all about providing Wish support to the other members of the team, but it wasn't working as well as I'd hoped it would. Rotom's a much better fit; a Scarf user with Trick can leave the opposition's walls with a crappy item in place of a more useful one, and the rest of the set can deal with annoying Ghost-types as well as Moltres and Entei. Another suggestion from atomicllamas there.

Sceptile @ Flying Gem
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Leaf Blade
- Drain Punch
- Swords Dance
Reasons for Inclusion: Sceptile dominates the metagame for several reasons, and this set is but one. Once Durant has done its job, breaking walls and doors and teeth and suchlike, this little monster comes in with the huge Acrobatics blast and proceeds to mop up from there, ripping other teams apart with the speed boost from Unburden and the odd Swords Dance. This means some changes to other team members, as Sceptile's special set was my primary source of special-based hurt. No longer!

Qwilfish @ Black Sludge
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
Nature: Impish
- Spikes
- Pain Split
- Waterfall
- Thunder Wave
Reasons for Inclusion: Qwilfish is the team's defensive lynchpin, a creeping, Spikes-spitting terror in the form of a neon-pink novelty condom. Thunder Wave's the move of choice rather than Taunt or Haze, since I've tried all three and TW's been the most generally useful. Haze is kind of a close second, though; people using my team's setup time for their own setups can be annoying, but I think that it's better dealt with via killing them outright.

Pimp Daddy E (Eelektross) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 104 HP / 252 SpA / 152 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flamethrower
- Giga Drain
Reasons for Inclusion: Pimp Daddy E, that most pimping of pimps (can you tell I'm white yet?), has made a few changes to take advantage of his amazingly diverse special movepool at the behest of atomicllamas. Thunderbolt is the primary offensive STAB, with Volt Switch there in case he needs to call in a physical sweeper or wallbreaker. Flamethrower and Giga Drain are there for coverage, though the latter also gives reliable healing.

Thank you both so much for the help you've given me; it's invaluable and I'm looking forward to seeing what can be done with the team! Who knows, I might even ladder with this gimmick. =]