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Pretty weird week for me, time to write a short (lol) post. The mons weren't bad, but laddering was a big pain this time fsr. Didn't want to play much but then I tilted down and tried to get a decent ELO back, so I ended up doing 85 games this time around. also I'll share the teams before going on with the sets so I'm sure I won't forget it.
(click the sprites for the importable)
The idea of the team was to lure steel-types with Z-Aura Sphere Togekiss to let Pidgeot spam Hurricane even more freely. It was originally Z-Water togekiss to lure Rotom-H, but I changed it to Z-fight considering the team's MU against steel-types (especially Empoleon) was pretty bad. Rhyperior + Amoonguss let me handle Electric-types pretty well (except for HP grass Manectric-M, but screw that set). Amoonguss also provides a switch-in to Primarina, Scizor, Altaria-Mega and Cobalion (except Steelium variants) and can slow 'mons like Infernape, Cobalion, Nidoking and Nihilego down to help Togekiss and Pidgeot. Rhyperior checks the flying-types and Rotom-Heat that were a serious headache to my original core, while also checking most Aerodactyl-M variants and providing rocks to the team. Silvally-Steel was added to provide a secondary check to Scizor (as Amoonguss loses agaisnt SD variants if something else has been put to sleep), a Latias check and pivoting thanks to Parting Shot. Finally, Scarf Hydreigon came in as a Crawdaunt and Chandelure check which provides speed control and additional pivoting to bring Pidgeot in.
(click the sprites for the importable)
This team was based around Pidgeot-Mega+ CB Zygarde-10%, as I noticed a lot of switch-ins to Pidgeot (most notably Heattom, Nihilego and Empoleon) were weak to Zydog to some extent. I went for Work Up>Heat Wave here 'cause I didn't really need to hit Steel-types with Pidgeot, and the SpA boost could prove more useful. Scizor was then added to provide more pivoting that Pidgeot and Zydog could abuse while providing some speed control with priority and a check to Latias and Mamoswine (I should probably go for a bulky spread on Zor instead of an offensive one tbh). Nihilego provides rocks, a check to the birds, a special sponge for the rest of the team (also HP Ice Nihilego 'cause screw Gligar), and some kind of steel-type lure with Gigavolt Havoc. Krook provides speed control, Pursuit trapping, an actual electric immunity and a check to Aerodactyl-Mega and opposing Krooks. Finally, Tentacruel provides hazard removal and a check to Primarina,non Z-Thunder Nihilego, Infernape, Cobalion and Lucario. Made several variants of that team, notably using Nidoking over Zygarde, but I'd rather keep it for myself and polish it a bit 'cause I really liked it and want to play it more.
(click the sprites for the importable)
I tried building teams around slow wallbreakers that could abuse the paralysis Amoonguss spreads on 'mons like Infernape, Cobalion, Nihilego, Moltres, Hydreigon or Latias. SD Bewear was my choice for this team. Altaria is another wallbreaker that takes advantage of Amoonguss' paralysis while providing a somewhat sturdy answer to Fire-types that really threatened my original core. Rhyperior came next as an electric immunity, a bird check, a rocks setter and a catch-all physical tank. Hydreigon provides speed control and pivoting thanks to U-turn while pressuring the Psychic-types that cause trouble to Bewear and Amoonguss, and Bulky SD Zor rounds up the team by providing additional speed control, a win condition that can abuse the holes punched by Bewear and Altaria, and a Latias and Mamoswine check. Extremely weak to Nidoking if you can't get a paralysis or can't trade Rhyperior for Nidoking.
Now, let's talk about Stun Spore Amoonguss and Pidgeot-Mega.
Stun Spore Guss
It was definitely interesting to build and play with. Stun Spore is definitely a good option on Amoonguss that lets it support its teammates even more by paralyzing some threatening 'mons in the current metagame that it usually can't do anything about if something is already sleeping, such as Nidoking, Moltres, Cobalion, Infernape, Lucario, Nihilego, Hydreigon or Latias. Getting that paralysis off is often much more valuablethan sleep because of the speed reduction allowing wallbreakers with average speed (Nidoking, Bewear, Necrozma, Volcanion and Primarina being prime examples) to outspeed and KO these threats, when they normally would be forced out even when they're sleeping (unless you want to risk a turn-1 wakeup). It's even more interesting considering that, unlike sleep, paralysis doesn't have a turn limit, meaning that they can't just stay in to burn turns like they could with sleep (Also, as people are expecting Amoonguss to put a 'mon to sleep when it comes in, they will be reluctant to send these threats unless you put something to sleep, meaning that running both Spore and Stun Spore is definitely a viable possibility to catch people off-guard). That also means that said 'mons can still threaten you after coming in on Amoonguss though, and that's definitely a problem to take into consideration when building.
Another problem of Stun Spore Amoonguss is finding the slot for it, as Amoonguss' tried and true moveset simply doesn't have room for it without making Amoonguss unable to handle some threats it's supposed to handle (non-HP Fire Guss loses to SD Zor 100% of the time, for example). Giving Spore up has been what worked best for me so far, but replacing HP Fire with Stun Spore can also work if the rest of your team can handle SD Scizor.
Finally, Stun Spore's accuracy sucks, and it actually mattered way more often than I thought it would.
But the advantages of paralysis support definitely outweigh these negatives, so Stun Spore Amoonguss is a good option.
It wasn't bad per say, but I can't say that it was good either. Pidgeot really struggles in this meta where the popularity of Moltres made "solid" bird checks like Rotom-H, Empoleon and Nihilego much more common, as it has a lot more trouble getting past them than the burning chicken. But it still has a few tricks up its sleeve, namely a higher speed tier, perfectly accurate Hurricanes, a normal/flying-typing, and access to Work Up + Refresh. First one may not sound like much, but being able to outspeed and 2HKO Terrakion and Latias (ok it's a roll) and OHKO Gengar and Celebi is actually pretty neat. Second pont is honestly a godsend, 'cause having 110-BP STAB with litteraly no drawbacks whatsoever is every mon's dream. Its different typing means Pidgeot is not quad-weak to rocks, making hazard removal not as important as with Moltres. It also means Pidgeot can much more reliably revenge kill Doublade and Crawdaunt as it is immune/neutral to their respective priorities. Finally, Work Up + Refresh lets Pidgeot fight 1v1 against the bulky walls it's not supposed to break through (like Florges, Sylveon, Non-Roar Empoleon and Blissey) with its standard set, bringing it some kind of unpredictability and variety that really helps it differenciate from its competitors in Tornadus and Moltres. Hurricane's power also means Pidgeot will force a lot of switches that it can easily take advantage of, as it has a pretty good synergy with offensive threats such as Terrakion, Zygarde-10%, Nidoking,CB Stakataka or Krookodilethat can abuse Pidgeot's common switch-ins like Empoleon, Rotom-Heat, Aerodactyl-Mega, Nihilego or Manectric-Mega to wreck havoc.
But even with these positive traits, having a poor match-up against common defensive glues for BO and against fat balance cores (Florges+Steelix-M, Hippo+Empo -ok this one is setup fodder for Work up + Refresh if Empo lacks Roar) and a poor match-up against common offensive threats (Manectric-Mega, Zeraora, Aerodactyl-Mega, Nihilego) puts it in an awkward spot where it's supposed to put in work against more offensive teams, but struggles to do so.
I think another big problem is the fact that it takes up a mega slot in a meta where said mega slot is so valuable. Manectric-M, Aerodactyl-M, Altaria-M, Sharpedo-M, Steelix-M ... There's a ton of excellent picks for a mega slot that tend to be so desirable that Pidgeot will often be overlooked.
tl;dr
-Pidgeot-Mega has enough tools to differentiate itself from its competitors, but its opportunity cost and poor match-up with several metagame staples (I guess that's the correct term ?) really hold it back.
-Stun Spore is a cool option on Amoonguss, but it's hard to fit in its moveset because of how important its other moves are.
Tsubasa (Pidgeot-Mega) @ Pidgeotite
Ability: Tangled Feet
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Work Up
- Roost
- Refresh
I only test the Stall-breaker set this week and IMO Stall-breaker set is one of its best set right now. Pid fulfills its job as a Stall-breaker, pressuring common SpD walls with 2OHKOs such as Fairies with Work Up. People must be desperate to hard switch MegaLix, Aggron-M into potential Heat Wave and usually scout for Pid's moveset if possible, thus creating many opportunities to set up . However, meta trends with Moltres checks and offensive checks prevent Pid from sweeping that easily. During my laddering, Pid is often forced to switch out after setting up so it either wallbreaks, with or without boost, and clean up the game without boost late game. That being said, Pid's niche over other Mega slots and Togekiss who is a more popular stall-breaker still make it an interesting pick .No mons in the tier likes to switch-in 100% accuracy Hurricane with that crispy 30% confusion ratio. In addition to chipping with Hurricane, Toxic support is appreciated to further wear down offensive checks. Furthermore, Pid has enough bulk to stomach a ScarfDrei's Draco Meteor from full or eating an univested T-bolt from Latias, increasing its usefullness when there are no other options.
Roost Aero-M is the worst to face for this set. However, for non-Roost set, Stealth Rock + Hurricane dealing around 45% to pre-Mega makes chipping Aero down easier. The same applies for chipping down other checks like Rotom-H, Mane-M.
Well, building with Pid is out of my comfort zone because I haven't explored UU that much to use this mon before. Although Pid has great breaking power, against the top threats in UU, this mon will not last long to shine so I went with the defensive core Bronzong+Tentacruel, which I had experience with. The next partner is Sylveon, strengthening the defensive utility of the team. Now Pid has solid supports to pivot around, I steel lack a Ground type, speed control and a physical breaker. I opt for ScarfKrook and Stall-breaker Kommo-O with Dragonium Z( which is not that great when facing Fairy TT) + flamethrower because team is looking Scizor-weak.
Squad is solid enough to get pass 1400s. However, Dual Dance Coba is a pain.
I also test out Twilight team because Fight-Z Scizor is one of the best partners to Pid, pressuring its biggest threats: Aero-M, Nihilego, MegaLix, Aggron-M. Great team man!
tl;dr
Although the current meta is against Pid, Stealth Rock + Hurricane is great for chipping down its check. Having 100% acc Hurricane + 30% confusion ratio create a unique niche over other Mega slots and definitely make it worth using.
In addition to Hurricane Spam on offensive MUs, Work Up set greatly enhances bulky MUs and is one of the best sets IMO. Rate: 4/5
I really enjoy this week because things went unexpectedly good with a mon that I did not touch before.
Thank you for reading! See you next week :)
I love underdog's comeback story, and Pidgeot getting a mega evolution is one of my favorite aspect from Mega Evolution. Mega Pidgeot's place in this meta is a weird one; accurate Hurricanes will always be relevant, but, incredibly, its speed tier is inadequate for the current UU meta, where Mega Bee, Mega Mane, Zeraora and to a lesser extent Mega Sceptile is everywhere, alongside with the ever present Scarf Hydreigon. Only tested the set that includes Defog this week, and it was decent. Strong, fast wallbreaker that can use the free turns to clear hazard is very useful. Not sure if Heat Wave is ultimately the best option for coverage move, but HP Ground for Mane and Zera switch ins are nice. Overall, Mega Pidgeot is a perfectly usable but not actually necessary wallbreaker in the meta, and I enjoyed it immensely. 3/5 on usefulness, 4.5/5 on confusion hax winning games.
Zeraora @ Choice Band
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Knock Off
- Close Combat
- Quick Attack
Speaking of mediocrity, CB Zeraora is a weird pokemon to play with. A fast, not so strong electrics have always been present in UU (Mega Manectric, Scarf Rotom forms of the past) and Zeraora's lack of power is still apparent even with Choice Band. Zeraora needs super effective hits to deal damage, and not being able to change moves is very detrimental to it. the power boost of CB isn't enough to justify it over LO/Expert Belt/Z crystals. Not a fan. 2/5
Stun Spore Amoongus is... the epitome of OO. Foul Play/Synthesis/HP Fire is more useful but surprising switch ins with Paralysis is always nice. When Parahax strikes, this set is really good. When it doesn't, Amoongus still does what it does best, soaking hits and sleeping 1 pokemon. 3.5/5 because its still doing the same thing over the usual set.
(I'm still not sure how to attach sprites, so my analysis will always be the plainest of them all, sorry)
Hey everyone! So I only played with Pidgeot this week! I made it just past 1500 before I tilted hard and dropped back down to about 1480. Anywho, let me tell you my detailed thoughts about Mega Pidgeot.
How to use it:
Either main Pidgeot set is good, but I personally prefer the pivot set as you can see here. The best way to play Pidgeot is to play the long game, lure in your checks, let them get worn down, and then clean up at your soonest opportunity. Pidgeot can break ANY team late game HERE is a fantastic replay to show this off. It does get a little haxxy at the end, but the general idea still applies. Even this team with 3 solid flying checks can struggle with a lategame Pidgeot. Pidgeot is absolutely a mon that loves hazard support for this reason. There were also many games Pidgeot managed to pick off something slower like a softened Terrak or a Celebi. Pidgeot isn't going to be exerting the immediate pressure a lot of megas do, but rather, it takes it's time looming overhead, and swoops in when the opponent makes a mistake, kind of like a bird of prey.
Partners:
As you can see, one thing every team I posted has in common is that it has a water/ground type or a Rhyperior. These partners are practically mandatory for anyone wanting to deploy Mega Pidgeot, as they help with so many of Pidgeot's answers like rocks, electrics, and Rotom-H especially. One that can set rocks is especially recommended for this reason since it can really mess with Rotom-H and Aero-Mega, two of the most common checks. But Gastro also has it's values to it, so don't be afraid to use that if you want another rocker. The Water/Ground types also gain value in dealing with Empoleon, one of the most common and frustrating Mega-Pidgeot answers in the whole meta. Other good partners include spikes setters like Klefki, as hazards can mean the difference between life and death for some of Pidgeot's checks. Other mons that can break steels and rocks like fighting and grass types are also very welcome, hence me using Heracross on team 2, and Celebi on team 1. Mons that can check Scizor are also very important, as it's one of Pidgeot's worst matchups that makes Moltres more enticing. I've deployed Rotom-H on every single team for this reason, and team 3 also has Fire Punch Rhyperior. Pidgeot also appreciates speed control, hence me using Klefki on two of the teams. Pidgeot is fast but it isn't the fastest, so one needs to be very careful of the faster megas like Beedrill, Manectric, Aero, etc. as well as some faster mons in general like Zera and Crobat.
Conclusion:
Pidgeot-Mega is a mon that requires a lot of support and a patient player to work, but it's by no means a bad mega or a bad pokemon. It can be a little tight on teambuilding since it demands a lot out of it's partners where as other megas usually end a team rather than start it and are thus more splashable, but any player that's willing to take the steps to make a Pidgeot work will certainly be rewarded by what it can do.
I used Mega Pidge this weak, and it was very nice to have accurate Hurricanes. As several others have mentioned, Pidge tends to force alot of switches, so depending on how aggressive you are, you can capitalize on these switches by making doubles.
Pidge is very nice vs the offense killer, Mega Sceptile, as well. I think that's a huge benefit, as offensive builds tend not to prepare for Scept, and usually it destroys. However, Pidge can reliably deal with it thanks to Roost. Overall, Pidge is a solid mon in the tier and is worthy of more attention.
Roserade is a Pokemon that was severely hit by the power creep in gen7, making it fall down to RU. However, its offensive capabilities paired with good speed, interesting offensive typing, access to Sleep Powder and Spikes has made it gather some attention lately from the UU community and with that we wanna see if Roserade really can surpass its frailty and competition to carve itself a niche.
Bisharp didn't really get much love last time it appeared here with its SR set, but hopefully this time it'll be a bit more appreciated. This week we are gonna test how well Bisharp can do with a Choice Band boosting its already high Attack and how much that can backfire at it by hindering the potential to swap between moves.
Custap Snorlax has been seen some play lately as it couples a very bulky Pokemon with an item that screams surprise factor to it. However, it has several things going against it, from the Fighting-type spam the tier has to just not being able to do the same job a regular Snorlax would. With this, we wanna know the researchers opinions on this set.
Sign up with a fresh USMRW11 alt, and post your results, as well as your own thoughts on the Pokemon in question. You are free to edit your signup post if your post count is a concern. For this week, the deadline will be Sunday, March 3rd, at 11:59 pm GMT+1. My co-host moutemoute or I will check everyone's ladder scores then and decide the winner. Good luck everyone and happy researching!
Doing all 3, CB Bisharp sounds like some budget Weavile so there might be some potential. Idk how long I'll use Lax tbh, but w.e I'll give it a try at least
USMRW11 Dana
I'll try Roserade for sure, and maybe CB Bisharp.
Roserade might be cool on hyper offense as a wallbreaker that can bring some utility to its team in the form of Spikes/Toxic Spikes/Sleep Powder. Being a one-time check to Specs Primarina is also cool considering how destructive that thing can be.
CB Bisharp sounds like both a budget AV Bisharp (Pursuit trapping) and a budget SD Bisharp (high power), hope it'll be better than that.
With a few days late, Week 10 comes to an end. Congratulations to Mapplle who won this week. Now, let's get to it.
Choice Band Zeraora
Players have been disappointed by Zeraora this week. While they agree that Zeraora can hit harder thanks to Choice Band, Mapplle, Lazadamn agreed that even with Choice Band, Zeraora is blocked by common physical walls suchs as Gligar or Hippowdon which means it's pretty hard to justify to use Choice Band over another item like Life Orb, Expert Belt or a Z-Crystal. Twilight and Mapplle also highlighted the fact that Zeraora doesn't have the best physical movepool and the fact that it doesn't have access to U-turn sucks. They also pointed out that Choice Band Zeraora has pretty bad 4MSS and it needs to do some great predictions to be as much effective as possible.
Amoonguss
A few players tested Stun Spore Amoonguss this week and while Twilight said that he prefered Spore over Stun Spore, Daiyaga pointed out the fact that Stun Spore allows to Amoonguss to cripple some of its checks such as Nidoking, Hydreigon, Lucario or Latias which can help a lot its teammates since they will be able to outspeed those threats. On the other hand, Twilight and Mapplle agreed that this set of Amoonguss has 4MSS which means it needs to get rid of another useful move such as Hidden Power Fire or Spore.
Mega Pidgeot
Mega Pidgeot has been the most tested Pokemon this week! A lot of players highlighted the fact that 100% accuracy Hurricane is really dope. However, Mapplle, Twilight and Daiyaga said that Mega Pidgeot struggles in the current metagame since a lot of its checks are faster than it (Mega Manectric, Zeraora or Mega Aerodactyl). While Mapplle said that Mega Pidgeot faces a huge competition from Moltres, Daiyaga pointed out the fact that thanks to its speed and typing, Mega Pidgeot is better revenge killer which can threaten Pokemon like Doublade or Crawdaunt much more effectively than Moltres. Daiyaga and Twilight also said that Mega Pidgeot forces a lot of switches and Twilight told us that it allows Mega Pidgeot to be a decent defogger thanks to that and its speed. Even if Hurricane is great, Twilight said that Mega Pidgeot has a bad movepool overall which means it doesn't have a lot of offensive options. Daiyaga and Mapplle also pointed out the fact that Mega Pidgeot faces competition from the other Mega Evolutions since it requires a Mega Evolution slot. Twilight liked a lot Work Up Mega Pidgeot and told us it's a pretty effective way to pressure both offense and bulky archetypes. Last but not least, Smallsmallrose highlighted the fact that Mega Pidgeot paired well with Ground-types and Spikes Support and it's also a Pokemon which should be use to weaken during the whole match its checks which allows it to shine in the endgame.
That concludes our findings, good luck for Week 11!
Apoligies in advance as I don't think I'll be playing that many games this week, so I am basing some of these sets on very few games. It's just been much harder for me to enjoy laddering with how stale I am finding gen 7 right now, so I'm just going to early post. I was having a pretty good run this week and had success with all the sets. Some I did have my doubts about, but I think they were all decent or at least semi-viable. I think I only did about 20 games on ladder, then if a tour popped up I just played a bit more there. I hope you enjoy using the teams if you choose to do so and again, sorry for the lack of games to back-up all my points.
Custap Snorlax
<Click Sprites for Importable>
This is the Snorlax team I built. Don't ask me what the EV spread does, I just wanted Max Atk and for it to have a lot of SpD bulk. I made it hit a benchmark that I can't remember then threw the rest into Def. MegaToise seemed like a cool partner to pressure a lot of the steel types that wall Snorlax and gave me a hazard remover. Kommo-o gave me a breaker + SR. Doublade acts as my fighting check as Snorlax doesn't like them. Krook for speed control and Sylveon as my Hydra check. Doublade, Toise and Snorlax lack recovery so it was nice. I went 9-1 with this team.
I want to start with the fact that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing with the EVs or the moves to carry on this set. I pretty much through it together after discussing it a bit on PS and hoped for the best. I thought I'd be complaining again this week just like with CB Snorlax, but I was honestly quite impressed with the use of Custap on it. I didn't really know what ability to use, but I opted for Thick Fat as I didn't really want my berry popping so early. In some cases it would be nice, but in most I'd rather get put into the 25% range then BOOM. I discussed this in the PS Chat and I came to the conclusion that Curse or 4 Atks would probably be best for this set. I went with Curse because there are actually a few scenarios where you might want something to put you in range before removing them, which is where Curse comes in nice. Not to mention it boosts the power of Self-Destruct when in berry range. I can safely say that the set has some 4MSS issues like CB though.
Anyway, I went with Stab + Fire Punch which was the best coverage imo, Facade being an option as Snorlax is susceptible to status. This is a huge downside for a Curse set and it also really sucks that it has access to no recovery. The combination of this made it so easy to wear down especially with the hits it had to tank. Essentially, once I started Cursing up I just had to commit to it unless I felt it needed to be conserved. The best thing I liked about the set was probably the surprise factor as most Pokemon would outspeed and just revenge it, so people rarely expect it. Snorlax still does the usual thing it does of absorbing Special Attacks which was nice for this team as I could rely on it to tank hits from Manectric or Moltres. I've already mentioned the biggest negatives to this set, but the others would be the meta just not supporting it well. Fighting types being everywhere makes it so hard to pull this Pokemon off effectively. The other thing is you may not end up getting dropped into Custap range meaning it won't always get the chance to surprise kill something, which is where Gluttony may be better. While I never tested it out, I think Pursuit over Curse would work just as well. This would let it take advantage of the switches it makes and racks up chip dmg on them.
My CB Bisharp squad which I ended up using. I just decided to use Mega Glalie cos I've wanted to use it for a while+ it gives Spikes support still for Bisharp. Amoonguss as my bulky pivot, gives Spore support. I'm a sinner for using Togekiss, but the stall match-up turned out to be ass so I needed it. Krookodile gives me a SR user and the Taunt is nice for keeping hazards on and off. Finally Scarf Ape for speed control. I went 5-0 with this team.
Bisharp @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Pursuit
- Low Kick
Okay so I actually found this set to be pretty hard to build around. I'm not saying this team perfectly supports it, but it is legit the best I could come up with. Maybe this is just me though, so it might not necessarily be an issue with the set or anything like that. As far as coverage options went, I think it is absolutely necessary to run Pursuit otherwise there is legit no reason to use this. Just like I said before it acts like a budget Weavile by essentially trying to do the exact same thing it does, except it is much slower. I also don't think Sucker Punch is that good on this set, as it becomes way too easy to outplay once they realise you are banded. This really sucks as Bisharp is very slow, meaning it can't rely on revenging something or prevent it being revenged like it normally would. While I never pressed Low Kick that much, I think it is one of the best coverage options it can run to hit Aggron and Cobalion etc. As far as the effectiveness of the set goes it was okay at best, I would say it has enough to distinguish itself from AV Bisharp as it doesn't really care much being locked into Iron Head or Knock Off. It just comes in on other choice locked mons or on a free switch and hits something hard. The best thing was defo trapping things like Latias and Celebi as not many players expect you to be carrying SD + Sucker. As far as the other Pokemon I have tried for research week using Choice Band, this is definitely the best one that can pull it off decently well.
I just felt like trying Specs Roserade out and seeing how effective it could be. First partner was scarf Krook cos I knew I'd probs slap it on at some point. Manectric appreciates Krook trapping Lati and Roserade breaking bulky ground types. Kommo-o + Primarina core was then added. Finally, AV Scizor as Latias is a big threat for this team + makes a nice pivot core with Manec. Yeah, I know it is basically what Pak used after I checked. I went 5-0 with this team.
Roserade imo really shines right now especially with how much Primarina and Kommo-o are being spammed. It takes advantage of these Pokemon so much (I'll explain as to why it beats Kommo-o in this post), and nets a lot of momentum for offensive teams. It can provide a lot of utility for offensive teams which is amazing whether it be in the form of Sleep Powder, Spikes, Stun Spore or T-Spikes. While Roserade hits like an absolute truck it is fairly slow compared to a lot of threats in UU but being faster than base 85 like Kommo-o is great for it. The biggest downside I can say I have found is how hard it is to incorporate this into a team. It is pretty difficult to build around or implement onto a squad, which is why you can't really run it outside of some offense teams that can afford to do so. It is very easy to compare this to Amoong due to their typing and the nature of them wanting to spread Sleep Powder or Spore respectively. While they both have different roles, it isn't hard to point out Amoong is simply easier to put onto a team because of how much better it can take advantage of its great defensive typing. Taking 90% Min from CB Bullet Punch from Scizor is kinda sad for it to be able to revenge it. Overall, Roserade has solidified an even greater niche in the tier as of right now and I think it is defo worth using.
Specs Roserade is pretty hit or miss tbh, as being locked into something can potentially suck for it if you miss-predict. However, in a lot of cases most things don't take a Specs Sludge Bomb or Leaf Storm well even if they resist it. In most cases I found Leaf Storm to be the most spammable move, then HP [Fire] as Steel types were the most common switch-in to it. Like, it is so strong that it 2OHKOs Mega Aggron lol. I opted for Spikes on this set, because it forces so many switches that it usually had an easy time setting at least one or two up. I personally am not a fan of using LO for a few reasons one being recoil damage. While Specs avoids this it does become pretty prediction heavy. But, it doesn't always become a huge issue for it + Spikes help minimise this by pressuring your opponent to Defog. The biggest downside of Roserade in general is it being very frail, it can eat a few resisted hits but it doesn't take them that well. It is actually pretty nice that it can come into Primarina at least once or twice especially with how popular it is. Maybe this set has some potential, but I think it favours switching up moves a lot more imo as the damage difference between Specs and LO isn't too significant that it would become a big deal.
This is a team I'm actually Cash built for me so s/o to him. I had a team of my own with this set, but it ended up being pretty identical to the team above, so at least this has a few differences. Krook for speed control + Pursuit support. Kommo-o can run a DD set now, as Aggron is carrying SR. Aggron acts as the Lati + Scizor check. Rotom-H as another Scizor check + Defog user. Bulky Prima as a status absorber + Hydra check. I didn't get the chance to play that many games with this team, but I've used the set multiple times for the last 2-3 weeks so I have the knowledge to talk about it.
I'm just going to say that this is without a doubt the best Roserade set you can run on it. Poisonium-Z is just so damn nice for nuking something, two notable Pokemon being Hydreigon and Kommo-o. Hydra dies after SR dmg and Kommo-o just gets OHKO'd if it is the very common Mixed Clanger. It lures these Pokemon in so well, especially Kommo-o which resists its coverage and is immune to Sludge Bomb because of Bulletproof. While you give up on some damage LO provides, I think it is well worth the exchange. Sleep Powder is as broken as it is on Amoonguss, effectively giving something a free turn to set-up and sweep or for this thing to simply put in some work. It just makes Roserade in general such a problem to switch into, because once your check is put to sleep it can look to break through it or switch into a Mon freely that can do so. Overall, I am really loving Roserade and would use it a lot more if I can fit it onto any future teams. I didn't grind enough games to grab good replays of this set other than it pressing Sleep Powder and forcing a lot of switches (I ran into two Blissey teams >.<), so you are just gonna have to go off my word. I know Daiyaga is using this same set or something similar, so I'm sure he will have some good ones to prove the effectiveness of the set.
uwu
TL DR;
- I had low expectations for this set, but it defo impressed me. Custap was nice for surprising something and killing with Self-Destruct. It still eats Special hits well. The set has no room to run Rest meaning it can't cure its status or heal itself. Meaning you kind of just have to commit to the let Snorlax get weakened until in range, unless you use Wish support. Set still has some 4MSS as it can't run all the coverage it wants. I still think Snorlax as a whole is very niche / difficult to pull off effectively as of right now, but Custap might give it the extra edge it's been wanting.
- CB Bisharp was okay, I think it can defo pull the set off well tbh. I think Sucker Punch isn't worth it on this set. It prefers the coverage of Pursuit + Low Kick imo. It doesn't take advantage of Defiant as well as the SD set, but a +2 Banded hit will basically nuke something super hard. Just like any choice locked set it becomes a bit prediction reliant, but it doesn't mind being locked into Knock Off or Iron Head most of the time. It defo has enough to differentiate itself from AV Bisharp, so I'd say it has potential.
- Roserade is pretty good right now. It takes adv of a lot of meta trends like Prima + Kommo-o. Specs isn't awful, but it likes switching up moves. It does break extremely well if you predict right with a Specs and Spikes alleviate this need for prediction. Poisonium-Z is absolutely amazing on Roserade for nuking Hydra and Kommo-o. Sleep Powder is just as broken as Amoong using Spore giving your team free set-up opportunities or allowing Roserade to break more. However, this Pokemon is really hard to build around or fit onto a team.
Cool week as usual, I really do enjoy trying out these cool sets or Pokemon. If a set or Pokemon really catches my attention I'll give it a try, otherwise I think this will probably be my last big/post for a while, just a bit burnt out. Keep up the good work Darksafadao and Moutemoute Mootmoot as well as all you peeps that participate each week to keep this thread running smoothly ^_^
Anyway, pretty cool week once again. I didn't build too much 'cause I didn't feel inspired, but it was definitely fun using these 'mons. Had some doubts about Bisharp, but it wasn't hot garbage. I've played 45 games so far, and peaked around 1515 max. But enough chatting, let's get to the point.
Choice Band Bisharp
42 339 (Bisharp) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch / Low Kick
- Pursuit
Why the hell did that thing work out so well. It was definitely kinda hard to build around because of Bisharp's flaws (average speed, having STABs commonly resisted) being much more problematic when it has to be choice-locked, but its high power combined with STAB utility moves (Knock Off and Pursuit) and a strong but unreliable priority made it surprisingly effective at supporting its team by Pursuit trapping problematic threats for its teammates, or knocking some items off. Yeah, AV Bisharp does the same thing, but the difference in power is actually pretty noticeable, especially on Pursuit and Iron Head (Infernape is 2HKO'd by Iron Head, for example). The main selling point of the set really is Pursuit, as its power combined with some surprise factor allows Bisharp to trap and remove/cripple 'mons that can prove problematic for its teammates, such as Blissey, Empoleon, Nihilego, Doublade ... Hell, even Florges and Sylveon, who are supposed to resist the move, still lose around 30% of their health when they switch out.
It definitely didn't work as a wallbreaker though, because Bisharp still doesn't do much damage unboosted, even with Choice Band. Obviously, getting a Defiant boost makes its wallbreaking power skyrocket, but it still isn't enough to allow it to break defensive teams. i think, just like Absol-Mega, the thing preventing CB Bisharp from being a terrifying wallbreaker is the low power of its main dark-type STAB. Sure, having STAB Iron Head helps a bit, but Steel resistances are extremely common in the tier, with all the bulky water- and steel- types running around. When I realized that, I decided to use Bisharp almost exclusively as a Pursuit trapper, and its ability to reliably chip special walls and trap defoggers not called Rotom-H or Gligar (Rotom dies from +2 CB Pursuit if it switches out tho, same for Gligar if its Eviolite has been knocked off) came in handy several times.
Also, using Sucker Punch instead of Low Kick might seem weird, but after testing I realized that I almost never used Low Kick because you often are in that weird situation where if you click Low Kick and your opponent decides to stay in you're dead, and Knock Off deals good enough damage to bulky steel-types. Sucker Punch on the other hand helps a bit with the speed problem that I extremely briefly mentioned earlier, and the damage difference compared to LO Sucker Punch actually matters against a few 'mons, the most notable one being NP Celebi, who dies 100% of the time from Adamant Choice Band Sucker Punch (Jolly is 87.5% chance to kill). It is also guaranteed to kill a healthy Rotom-H, so there's that.
But overall I d'ont have much to say about this set. It's a bad wallbreaker but a powerful trapper that can only work if its team actually benefits from Bisharp's trapping.
Click the sprites for the importable
(if you know what these numbers mean, you are one sick fuck)
When I realized Bisharp's trapping potential, Z-Drake Latias quickly came in as a 'mon that could abuse Doublade, Empoleon and Blissey being trapped by Bisharp. The red ranger also helps chipping the bulky steel-types to help getting them in range of +1 Devastating Drake. Swampert acts as my rocker and also acts as a catch-all physical check while providing an electric immunity. It also pressures Gligar and Rotom who give Bisharp some trouble as it can't trap them reliably. Mienshao provides pivoting and a special sponge alongside Knock Off and Fake Out support + some speed control. Tentacruel is my check to Primarina and Fairy-types in general, and provides hazard removal to the team. Last is Togekiss who provides speed control and a Krook check, and I honestly can't remember why I put that set over a standard scarf set, but the clutch heal bell came in handy a few times.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-868997542 - Bisharp traps Blissey, putting it in range of +1 Psyshock. It also killed Starmie, but tbh I don't understand why my opponent went for HPump there. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-868920812 - That one time where Band Sucker Punch was useful (should've let Bisharp die to get damage on Mamoswine tbh, 'cause at this point finding opportunities to bring it in was tough, and Mamoswine was extremely scary). https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-868916372 - Once again, Bisharp trapped Blissey and got chip on Aggron. Choked a bit afterwards by letting Blissey heal itself, but it still did what I wanted. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-868025383 - Bisharp traps Empoleon, Latias 1v5's the rest of my opponent's team. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-868040480 - Bisharp traps Doublade and kills it, and pressures Diancie throughout the game, getting the chip I needed to put it in range of Latias' Psyshock. It even helps afterwards by killing Slowbro after the CM war and killing Tornadus later on.
My early thoughts weren't wrong for once. Roserade manages to carve itself a niche in the current metagames thanks to a combination of high power, slightly above average speed, good enough coverage, useful typing and excellent support moves. Let's develop all these points. Oh, before I go on, I should mention that I only tried Z-move Roserade, mainly 'cause I got lazy when theorycrafting, but also because I don't see much merit to choiced sets, as individually Roserade's STABs aren't that scary. Also the choice of the Z move is honestly not too hard, as Poisonium Z lets Roserade neutralize Kommo-o and Hydreigon much more reliably while providing a decent nuke against everything else, while Grassium Z is only an overall nuke (helps a bit at tackling Tentacruel, Empoleon and Gligar, so it's still useful).
High power : Should be obvious, Roserade hits surprisingly hard thanks to its base 125 SpA combined with an extremely strong STAB in Leaf Storm, and Sludge Bomb still deals reasonable damage, especially when you take the chance to poison into account.
Slightly above average speed : 90 Speed is not definitely not fast af (boyyy), but it still puts Roserade above threats like Nidoking, Kommo-o, Primarina, Tentacruel, Rotom-Heat, Altaria-Mega, Blastoise-Mega, and speed ties with Moltres. Roserade's still outsped by threats like Terrakion, Cobalion, Nihilego, Aerodactyl-Mega, Manectric-Mega, Zeraora, Hydreigon, Latias, Krookodile or Sharpedo-Mega, but saying that it's slow would be a lie.
Good enough coverage : its STAB combination complements each other pretty well, as Sludge Bomb hits the common Dragon-, Fire- and Flying-types like Moltres, Infernape, Latias, Rotom-Heat, Hydreigon and Altaria-Mega for pretty reasonable damage. Particularly, hitting Altaria-Mega for super effective damage is what sets Roserade apart from the other Grass-type breakers of the tier, as all of them struggle to do anything against the fluff boy. Oh, but Steel-types and Amoonguss can take that STAB combination without any problems you say ? Yeah, that's why Roserade got that wonderful thing called Hidden Power Fire, which, combined with its ability Technician, actually becomes a move with good power and not a joke of a coverage move, letting Roserade get pretty good chip on all Steel-types (34% minimum on Aggron-Mega, and Steelix-Mega is 2HKO'd 100% of the time. Do I really need to mention that Cobalion is 2HKO'd and Scizor is OHKO'd ?). That also means Roserade manages to have a surprisingly good MU against the Steel+Fairy balance cores (Florges + Steelix-Mega, that kind of shit)
Useful typing : Grass/Poison is one of the rare types that resist Primarina's STAB combination, and considering how broken Primarina is atm, that makes Roserade's typing not garbage. It also has a few useful tricks that go with it, notably being able to win the 1v1 against Amoonguss.
Excellent support moves : Just look at the options I put in the first slot lol, Roserade has a ton of moves to take advantage of the switches it can force, and all of them are useful to some degree. Sleep Powder and Stun Spore are definitely my preferred moves, as Roserade doesn't have a good enough MU against Defoggers like Gligar or Empoleon to make Spikes worth it. On the other hand, Sleep Powder and Stun Spore are guaranteed to cripple what comes in (provided they don't miss). Choosing which one is better is kinda tough though, as Sleep Powder will make one 'mon useless for the rest of the game, while Stun Spore lets Roserade threaten the 'mons that usually outspeed it, meaning Roserade can more easily kill them later if they switch into a move they're not supposed to (like Cobalion switching into a HP Fire, or Aerodactyl into a Leaf Storm, or Hydreigon into a Sludge Bomb).
All of that combined makes Roserade a potent offensive threat in UU that can still support its teammates, whether its through status or hazard stacking. Also, having an offensive 'mon that can somewhat check Primarina is definitely welcome, as more offensive teams tend to struggle switching into that beast (unless you have a Tentacruel in all your teams I guess ?).
But, of course, Roserade still has downsides. And this post is already taking me way too long to write so I won't delve too much into it.
Its first big problem is its lackluster bulk. While Roserade's special bulk is decent, it's still not exceptional in any way, and its physical bulk suck absolute dong, meaning Roserade is easily killed by neutral moves. To take a few examples, Cobalion 2HKO's with Iron Head, Nihilego 2HKO's with Sludge Wave, Zeraora 2HKO's with fucking Plasma Fists (and CC has a good chance to 2HKO after rocks), Krook OHKO's after rocks with EQ (ok it's a roll) and do I really need to show the damage of Terrakion's Stone Edge, Infernape's Flare Blitz or Aerodactyl-Mega's Stone Edge ? And I only limited the list to 'mons that outspeed Roserade, 'cause they're the most likely to kill Roserade, but you still get the point : it struggles to switch into anything, even resisted moves.
I already mentioned the speed issue in the list of positives, but I still have to mention it : while Roserade outpaces a big portion of the metagame, it's still outsped by another big portion, meaning that 'mons that can naturally revenge kill it aren't exactly uncommon.
Another issue for Roserade is fan favorite Kommo-o, as it naturally resists both Leaf Storm and HP Fire, and is immune to Sludge Bomb thanks to Bulletproof. That means Roserade can struggle a lot if decide to go for a LO 3Attacks set, 'cause :clanger: is extremely common atm and naturally counters this set. That also means that playing Roserade without a Z is a pain, so that's some kind of opportunity cost, as you have to give the Z move to Roserade or accept the fact that one of your 'mons will give free turns to Clanger and build with that in mind (just play Kebia berry Thunder Wave Togekiss, smh).
But overall Roserade is a decent pick in the meta, that can put in a lot of work if its team can make up for its flaws (spoiler : mine didn't), so give it a try someday if you haven't.
Click the sprites for an importable
This is a team that I built several months ago and quickly scrapped as I wasn't satisfied with the result, but since it already had a Roserade i decided to pick it up and try to make something decent, and it didn't exactly go as according to my plan. Anyway, the team started with Blastoise-Mega, Roserade came in as a way to pressure bulky waters and fairy-types, especially Primarina. Doublade came afterwards as a check to Zor, Fighting-types and Latias that all had the potential to give my original core some trouble. Rotom-Heat came next to check Scizor throughout the game (also Defog support since I didn't use Rapid Spin on Stoise) and some pivoting. Scarf Krook brought speed control, electric immunity, and Psychic immunity to the team. Finally, Cobalion provides rocks to the team, additional speed control 'cause that shit was slow as hell, and some early-game offensive pressure. I'm honestly not quite satisfied with that team, but it somewhat worked so ... Also you'll probably see in the replays, but I changed the team a lot as I went on, notably having Rapid Spin on Blastoise for some time, and changing Roserade's support move from Sleep Powder to Spikes/Stun Spore (don't have replay with Stun Spore tho) pretty often.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-868815379 - Roserade gets free switches on Alomomomomomomomola and pressures my opponent's team from there, as there isn't a lot that can switch in if I make half-decent predictions https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-868515204 - Roserade manages to get in on Primarina, then puts Kommo-o to sleep and kills Rotom-Heat before being forced out. It also dies to Primarina's Psychic later on, but that actually helped me as I could Pursuit trap Primarina to put it in Blastoise's range and avoid giving free turns to Kommo-o.
tl;dr
Choice Band Bisharp was okay as a Pursuit trapper, but it's not as good of a wallbreaker as other Choice Band users, and being locked into a move really sucks for Bisharp even if knocking items off here and there helps making progress in the game. However, this set's ability to reliably remove a handful of specific targets makes it interesting and effective with the right support. Definitely a set I liked even if it was frustrating at times, 7/10
Roserade struggles a tiny bit in the current metagame, but it has the tools to carve itself a niche as an offensive 'mon that provides utility to its team (basically an offensive Amoonguss). It really likes metagame trends (aka Primarina and Altaria's popularity) and can defend itself against the 'mons that give it trouble thanks to Stun Spore and Sleep Powder. 6.5/10
Why does writing these posts take so goddamn long smh
Focusing on Roserade this week by looking at a bunch of different sets instead, dno why just fancied it. Got tired of trying to build so many different teams around roserade kinda so a few of them are a bit sucky compared to the others ;p
Was actually pleasantly surprised by roserade this week, went in thinking it would be a right pain to build around and often not do a thing in matches, but neither were particularly the case, except for team z-growth where suicune and cresselia kept winning all my games instead lmao (ty research week 8 for making me realise how much i love balance cres honestly).
Did also play some games with banded bisharp, and i'll give some thoughts on it below, but I felt I wrote enough here as it is without adding another large analysis for bisharp too.
Bisharp @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD or 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature or Jolly Nature
- Pursuit
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
Banded bisharp was pretty cool to run, banded knock off from it was a generally amazing spam move just like with crawdaunt. While it struggles to swap in a lot due to not amazing bulk, when it gets the opportunity to come in safely it's power is insanely high. It kind of needs to run pursuit over low kick, however it can often just get 2hkoed by the things it wants to pursuit trap without AV so it needs to be brought in on u-turns / after a sac which makes it a bit iffy of a trapper. Unfortunately this causes it to have a move typing combination which is fairly easily dealt with by bulky steels etc, since it doesn't have coverage for them, especially the 2 megas.
The major issue to me though is that once the enemy knows you are banded, you are so easy to take advantage of, especially if you get locked into sucker punch, which is very dangerous to click most of the time because if they decide to set up you've essentially given them 2 free turns of set up / healing etc, since they know you are locked in. The same can also be said about pursuit, if with a pokemon that can heal up, and they correctly predict you pursuitting them you essentially allow them back to full, or even worse being locked into pursuit after a sac as they go into something like m-altaria to set up.
Another big problem is choosing between speed or bulk. In order to pursuit trap better, the more HP it has the better really, but if it wants to use it's power to deal with things like m-altaria it'll need 252 Spe Jolly in order to outspeed, or 216 to outspeed adamant max speed scizor, 220 to outspeed toxic volcanion etc to name a few, severely limiting it's ability to take hits and actually pursuit trap stuff. Therefore it has an awkward mix between wanting Bulk to pursuit trank and Speed to hit other things, since it has at best unreliable priority that is easily manipulated if locked into, unlike crawdaunt mentioned earlier.
Roserade
Going to seperate this research week into lots of different roserade sets, because it has so much variety on it honestly. Will only put a couple of replays against each team however due to there being a lot of them. Peaked around 1550 so far, but dropped down since after testing out different sets.
Ranking the sets based upon my opnion after this week in this section, but the main analysis's are below! (and also the details of what each set actually is)
1st
- Good power + Utility stacked together, without needing to be choice locked or waste z-moves, makes this definitely the best set in my books. Being able to use spikes while still nearly having specs power seals the deal for me.
2nd
- Amazing power and movepool makes for an incredibly difficult pokemon to switch into with good support. Dropping spikes also gives it the ability to utilitise it's fantastic coverage, for instance dazzling gleam to ohko kommo-o and hydreigon. Only a very select few pokemon can resist all it's moves, and most of them won't be able to tank it, so it really only falls to prediction and/or blissey to tank hits from this without needing to sack mons.
3rd
- Surprisingly good special bulk, coupled with leech seed and giga drain to be able to passive restore your hp back makes for an amazing primarina counter compared to tentacruel, while still retaining the ability to actually kill it in return unlike blissey and empo. Less frail then the other sets too so it can actually cope with pursuit trapping slightly better. Natural cure + poison typing + Multiple methods of passive healing makes for a defensive pokemon that can do work without needing too much defensive support.
4th
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- Same offensive moveset and power as the Z-Poisonium set except it also has the ability to boost up and become dangerously powerful in exchange for utility. Customisable item makes it very unpredictable, since z-leaf storm and z-sludge bomb are both very valid options, while life orb will boost all 3 moves indescriminantly making them very hard to tank. Ranking lower than life orb / specs however as they have the raw power without boosting up and in life orbs case gets to keep its utility, but this set is certainly more dangerous if allowed to set up.
5th
- Speed tier allows it to outspeed the whole unboosted tier with scarf, so it is actually a lot better than it seems. A great movepool ensures that it can hit most pokemon with a supereffective move allowing it to not care so much about not having a boosting item on it. Preys greatly on surprise factor (a bit like scarf celebi a few weeks back), allowing it to nab kills on all sorts like hydreigon, celebi, terrakion etc. especially if you make sure not to reveal it too soon by only attacking against slower mons or on switches at first.
6th
- Placing this for the Z-Sunny day set not for the Z-Weather ball set, as I wouldn't ever use the second outside of a sun gimmick team. While it might seem slightly gimmicky itself at first, the power up it offers isn't to be understated, while requiring set up (say on forcing a switch), it essentially combines the effect of the scarf set permanently until switch with the power of the specs set (except for sludge bomb) for 4 turns after, so if the enemy isn't expecting it it can easily sweep. Unfortunately losing out on grass stab until it sets up is the main reason I'm rating it so low though, not necessarily needing the z-move though as it only needs to use it when it needs the speed boost, so it doesn't necessarily lose anything from using normal sunny day. The power in my eyes is that it preys on the conceived notions of what checks a roserade by hoping they think faster mons are eenough to check it, which can allow you to sweep unexpectedly.
7th
- By no means a bad set, but it just seems inferior compared to the life orb set except when it gets to use it's z - move on a mon such as kommo-o. The fact it can also ohko things like moltres / hydreigon on swaps is also nice, but these mons outspeed or speed tie with it so require luck / full-hp and not a dragonium-z to actually pull off these ohkos outside of swaps. It can also be fairly obvious if you've already attacked and the enemy sees no life orb and you swapping moves and/or using spikes/sleep powder, leading to them baiting it out, after which you are essentially just the life orb set but weaker. It's not like killing those mons is unique to this set either, since any set running dazzling gleam can ohko the dragons too, and poisinium-growth is much less reliant on sleep powder accuracy while still pulling off exactly the same kills, not even needing the z for hydreigon/moltres if it runs life orb instead.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-869927706 - More a showcase of NP ape quite frankly, but roserade stops swampert getting up its rocks and then procedes to deal with klefki too, so can't say it did nothing. http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-869946963 - Again roserade doesn't do too much, but it does kill scizor and force empoleon into a situation where it has to kill itself to defog spikes away (wondered why it bothered until i saw gengar was sash not sub-z tbh).
One of the best sets on roserade imo, with powerful attacks, recovery in giga drain, a great stab combination and spikes to boot. Leaf storm is an option for the 2hko on gligar, but I prefer giga drain normally for longevity.
252 SpA Life Orb Roserade Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 100 SpD Eviolite Gligar: 129-152 (38.6 - 45.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Roserade Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 100 SpD Eviolite Gligar: 222-263 (66.4 - 78.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (enough to 2hko with spA drop unless he roosts immediately after 1st one).
Great matchup vs balance since it can 2hko the fairies sizeably, and deal with every other common balance mon with ease other than gligar unless running leaf storm. Unfortunately it narrowly misses the guaranteed 2hko with HP fire on m-aggron, but it is close enough that any chip will push it to guaranteed.
252 SpA Life Orb Roserade Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Florges: 257-304 (71.3 - 84.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Roserade Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Empoleon: 118-140 (31.7 - 37.6%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery 252 SpA Life Orb Roserade Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 176 SpD Hippowdon: 330-390 (78.5 - 92.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery 252 SpA Life Orb Technician Roserade Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 48 SpD Steelix-Mega: 247-291 (69.7 - 82.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Technician Roserade Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Filter Aggron-Mega: 154-183 (44.7 - 53.1%) -- 31.6% chance to 2HKO
It's stall matchup could be worse as it has spikes, but unfortunately roserade struggles to beat most common defoggers in and out of stall , except for rotom-h which it can 2hko with sludge bomb and scizor which it ohkos with hp fire. It does however greatly threaten 2/4 common rapid spinners, in blastoise and tsareena, while easily dealing with tentacruel albeit taking a lot of damage during the process, and forcing starmie to not be able to go for a rapid spin due to being ohkoed after.
Tl-dr: Great balance matchup, great offensive spikes settermore built for balance than froslass and mega glalie since it has much more longevity and great stab combination. It's stall matchup is bad but it can at least keep itself healthy by giga draining on blissey and can put spikes up to force defogs. It's offence matchup heavily depends on the enemy however, since it is easily outsped and killed and walled by kommo-o, but when it outspeeds or given a free swap in it hits dangerously hard. It's fraility is a big problem however, since it can be easily revenge killed, and pursuit trapped, and it's ability to deal with offensive scizors relies on it being at very near full hp, however on the plus side since bulky scizors are far more common now that last point is often not a big deal. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-869879766 - Couldn't find any better replays than this unfortunately. It did get it's spikes up and eat hits from specs primarina though, so did of demonstrate what it does lmao.
The premise of this set is to act as a great special wall that can wall primarina incredibly while actually threatening it back unlike empoleon / blissey/non-sludge wave tentacruel, while also as a spikes setter. Unfortunately like tenta it gets 2hkoed by psychic, but it is faster so will be able to come out with a lot of hp thanks to giga drain and black sludge unless it has to switch into it first.
252+ SpA Choice Specs Primarina Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Roserade: 101-119 (31.1 - 36.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Primarina Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Roserade: 222-262 (68.5 - 80.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ SpA Choice Specs Primarina Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Roserade: 87-103 (26.8 - 31.7%) -- 36.5% chance to 4HKO after Black Sludge recovery
4 SpA Roserade Giga Drain vs. 92 HP / 0 SpD Primarina: 174-206 (53.7 - 63.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
4 SpA Roserade Sludge Bomb vs. 92 HP / 0 SpD Primarina: 206-246 (63.5 - 75.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
This works essentially for any non supereffective attacks, or at least non stab ones from most mons. Unfortunately it is physically frail, but not quite as much as the other sets due to HP investment, so can actually tank pursuits a little better. It also has to drop HP fire, so has to rely on pretending it has it until its revealed all 4 moves to scare scizor off.
It has decent balance matchup too like previously, since while it no longer has as good power, its sludge waves still hit fairies pretty hard, meaning they can't swap in easily unless at full hp without any spikes up or they'll get 2hkoed.
4 SpA Roserade Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Florges: 162-192 (45 - 53.3%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
4 SpA Roserade Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Florges: 162-192 (45 - 53.3%) -- 86.3% chance to 2HKO after 1 layer of Spikes and Leftovers recovery
Unlike before however, it has much better stall matchup as while it can't break stall itself, setting up a leech seed on blissey will stop it from being able to freely stay in lest it massively heal up your team.
Another benefit over other teams however is that due to not running HP fire, it can afford to run natural cure, and therefore act as a massive status sponge, with immunity to toxic and the ability to switch away burn/paralysis.
Big issue to me however is that it requires quite a lot of building around, as it preferably wants a rapid spinner so it doesn't keep defogging its own spikes, and needs help dealing with counters such as latias and pursuit trappers.
Tl;dr - More passive, but has surprisingly good spDef paired with pretty decent healing that can also passively heal it's teammates too in leech seed. Unlike a lot of passive pokemon however, it still has enough power to threaten fairies. Faces a lot of competition from klefki as a defensive spikes setter however, as it has 2 (3 with magnet rise) immunities to common types, and the ability to counter pokemon such as altaria and latias. Natural cure allows it to act as a status sponge, meaning it isn't threatend by status like a lot of defensive mons however, and therefore doesn't necessarily need as much defensive support, allowing it to have offensive support instead (eg. krook/aero for pursuit trapping dangerous mons etc). Role compression of both a special wall and spikes is however a great combination, that klefki just can't perform to same level without wasting a moveslot on recycle + iapapa as it doesn't have longevity otherwise.
Roserade @ Firium Z / Normalium - Z
Ability: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Solar Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Weather Ball
- Sunny Day
Click Sprites for team importable
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-869855038 - Good example of how it can still work well without wasting it's z-move, since i never actually used it for fear of having my speed hazed away. http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-869845942 - Normally this would have been a super easy win, but sylveon with spdef made it a bit harder. Good example of how the +1 speed makes this really powerful, since it outsped and killed terrakion and pidgeot. http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-870356013 - Great example of how it sweeps once it's used it's z move, outspeeding latias and manectric and scoring ko's everywhere.
This set is based around sweeping with +1 speed and solar beam on the Z-Sunny day set, and essentially giving it a further 1.5 boost to hidden power to make it 135 BP fire move. Hidden power fire is chosen over weather ball on the Firium-Z set as it can still be used outside of sunshine.
Normalium-Z weather ball is another option however, as it is a customisable 160 BP move that is normal type outside of sunshine and fire type in sunshine (with stab under sunshine). Can opt to run 4th move coverage if using this and have another mon run sunshine instead with a heat rock, depending on how much you want to build around it.
The main problem with this set is obviously that it has to spend a turn setting up sunshine, but in practice it's not actually that hard considering the amount of switches it forces. A secondary problem however is you have to bluff giga drain / leaf storm until sunshine is up and you can actually use your solar beams, but a lot of the time these bluffs will give you the opportunity to set up sunshine in the first place.
Tl;Dr - Powerful but hard to use sweeper, amazing coverage that tears through balance as discussed before on previous sets, with 3 stab moves as opposed to 2. As it still struggles with latias in particular however though, a pursuit trapper as a teammate is ideal. Lack of a grass type move that can't be used outside of sunshine is a problem, but with its counters removed it tears through teams. Nicest thing about this set in my eyes is that unlike a lot of z set up pokemon, it doesn't have to actually use it's z-move to do most of the set up, as it's only the +1 speed it loses out on without it.
Saw this one mentioned, so I'll cover it, but I'm not a big fan of it because z-sludge wave isn't a huge amount stronger than life orb sludge wave and takes up the Z-move that a teammate would probably want to use for it, with the only major benefit really being killing kommo-o. Tested both spikes and sleep powder on this set too, but I dislike the inaccuracy of sleep powder personally, and think spikes is a lot better. Found it very difficult to build around too compared to other sets, hence the really sucky team for this one.
On the plus side, tricking kommo-o into thinking it's safe and then ohkoing it is brilliant.
252 SpA Roserade Acid Downpour (175 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Kommo-o: 297-351 (102 - 120.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
It also does land the ohko on hydreigon (after rocks / with chip) and moltres, however it is outsped by the first and speed ties with the second, so this is only a move to make if you want to risk speed tie / have enough hp to tank hydreigon and know it aint carrying dragonium-z.
252 SpA Roserade Acid Downpour (175 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Moltres: 316-373 (98.4 - 116.1%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Roserade Acid Downpour (175 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Hydreigon: 303-357 (93.2 - 109.8%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
One big problem with this set however, is that it can't fight gligar, as it needs life orb to 2hko with leaf storm, and without it'll just keep lowering it's HP.
252 SpA Roserade Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 100 SpD Eviolite Gligar: 171-202 (51.1 - 60.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (wish calculator factored in the reduced hit on next lmao)
Tl-dr - Trades long term power and the ability to fight gligar for a one off nuke that can kill some pokemon that would otherwise check it. Once it's z-move is used up however, it's just a knock off 3 attacks life orb set with less power, so I'm personally not a fan, as the other sets have ways of dealing with kommo-o and hydreigon too with the choice sets, that arent one tricks. Also Difficult to build around due to taking up Z-move and especially on the non spikes ones where it doesn't even provide that utility.
Roserade @ Poisinium-Z / Life orb / Grassium - Z
Ability: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Growth
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Click for team importable.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-870039909 - Heavily dents doublade, tears through altaria even with it trying to not mega evolve to survive it, and with cress's help deals with nasty plot azelf.
Separating this one from the Poisinium-Z set because of 3reasons, a) I feel it is vastly superior to sleep powder, b) Its purely offensive unlike spikes, c) the option to run life orb/grassium-z. Essentially the same thing as a work-up set. Set up on switches and wreck havoc. Unfortunately however, unlike the set-up of z-sunny day, it gains no speed boost, and therefore needs a lot of support to clear out its counters first.
It essentially runs the same way as the previous set, however has the ability to set up instead, giving it a vastly more powerful z-move. With good twave support from klefki or cresselia (as in team) or other mons, this can seriously sweep very easily thanks to its speed tier. Essentially solves most of the problems with the previous set in my eyes, however the lack of spikes is a downside.
Tl-dr: Same frailty problems as before, but the ability to set up and destroy teams a lot better is helpful. Also offers it the ability to be more customisable with its item, such as z-leaf storm or life orb instead being much more unpredictable. Roserade causes a lot of switches which really helps it provide lots of opportunities to set up. Loses out on utility, but sleep powder is very hit and miss and the prevalence of defoggers in tier makes spikes quite hard to keep up for any reasonable amount of time anyway, making this arguably more potent. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-869917202 - Struggling to find better replays than this, its a great example of it sweeping past 2 mons that should otherwise outspeed it (beedrill + heracross) but i mean i could easily have won without it there anyway lmao. http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-869918329 - Guess this one demonstrates what it can do too by having it still fast enough to do stuff after twave? -shrug-
Personally really like this set, as very few people expect it and it can actually sweep pretty easily, and ohko lots of mons that aren't expecting it eg. hydreigon, terrakion, and it outspeeds whole unboosted tier thanks to being 306 speed base. Fabulous moveset allows it to hit a lot of the team with supereffective moves too, while still retaining decent power thanks to 125 Base spA with powerful stabs.
Can also ohko kommo which will probably expect to be completely safe against a roserade thanks to dazzling gleam, without wasting a z-move like the Poisinium-Z set.
Unfortunately Leaf Storm suffers the same as the Poisinium-Z set since it isn't boosted and cant 2hko gligar because of it, and it is probbably the easiest move for pokemon to switch into if it decides to lock itself into it because the other moves are far more likely to get a 2hko afterwards.
Tl;dr - Able to claim a lot of surprise kills, and outspeed the whole unboosted tier. Powerful stab moves, but no life orb / specs boost means it needs much better prediction to work on swaps. Easy to take advantage of once locked in, but none the less a force to be reckoned with in a good matchup. Nothing it can do vs stall unfortuntely however, and its' balance matchup is shakey at best due to being choice locked. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This set seems obvious when you really think about what roserade has, a powerful set of stabs and technician boosted hidden power, along with a nice set of possible coverage moves for the 4th. I chose dazzling gleam however, as it ohkos kommo-o and hydreigon, and 2hkos latias. Kommo-o being the very important one here as it takes nothing from the other 3 moves due to being immune to sludge bomb.
It's moveset is near unresisted, chandelure / salazzlebeing the only pokemon that comes to mind that resists all 4 moves, with the latter being very frail, and very few resisting the triple stab + technician combination due to steel types being heavily dented by specs HP fire.
This set has great matchup vs balance teams in particular, as can be seen from the calcs below,
252 SpA Choice Specs Roserade Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 180+ SpD Empoleon: 235-277 (63.1 - 74.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Roserade Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 176 SpD Hippowdon: 650-768 (154.7 - 182.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Roserade Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 100 SpD Eviolite Gligar: 255-301 (76.3 - 90.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Roserade Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Florges: 294-348 (81.6 - 96.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Roserade Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Sylveon: 342-404 (86.8 - 102.5%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Technician Roserade Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Filter Aggron-Mega: 178-211 (51.7 - 61.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Roserade Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 48 SpD Steelix-Mega: 306-361 (86.4 - 101.9%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Technician Roserade Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 48 SpD Steelix-Mega: 284-336 (80.2 - 94.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
It is worth noting that while it's speed tier isnt anything special, it still outspeeds various threats such as nidoking, togekiss, kommo-o, suicune, etc thraetening ohkos on them all, and heavily denting rotom-heat too,
252 SpA Choice Specs Roserade Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Togekiss: 380-450 (101.6 - 120.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Roserade Leaf Storm vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Nidoking: 393-463 (129.7 - 152.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Roserade Dazzling Gleam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Kommo-o: 488-576 (167.1 - 197.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Roserade Leaf Storm vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Suicune: 528-624 (130.6 - 154.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Roserade Sludge Bomb vs. 240 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-Heat: 204-240 (68 - 80%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
It is however easily revenge killed due to its frailty and getting locked into moves, but if it can be brought in with good team support it's absolutely deadly for any team not carrying a blissey or a chandelure to tank.
Tl;dr - Nigh unresisted stab movepool that is further rounded off by great non stab coverage. Decent speed tier that lets it outspeed various 284/295 speed mons that are very threatening and ohko them (except for rotom at 297/298 which it needs chip on first). Frail however which means it is easily pursuit trapped / revenge killed after getting trapped into moves. Incredibly difficult to swap into except for stall teams however, which means it will always put in work as long as it is brought in safely.
Alright, i've not tested much games with Snorlax (5-6), not much with bisharp (10ish) but much more with Roserade (30 at least).
I didn't have much inspiration in my builds this week to be honest, i've basicly put those mons in pretty regular teams.
I don't have replays this week sadly, i didn't get matches that can make those Pokémon shine enough (for exemple, Roserade made me win a lot of matches thanks to Spikes but that's all, i don't have replays showing an awesome offensiv pressure or such).
(Sorry for the poor formating this week, if i get soem free time tommorow i'll try to make it a bit easier to read)
Krookodile @ Groundium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Fire Blast
Snorlax overall is pretty fun in UU. You got a pretty cool coverage and Normal STAB is pretty neat considering the poor Ghost typing we got and that its coverage can shrekt most Steels. This set has been pretty neat to test but was hard to setup. I've tested both abilities for Snorlax to see which one would work and i think Thick Fat is better than Glutonny. Glutonny kinda forces you to use your Custap berry at 50% Health which you can reach pretty fast in the game considering you might sponge some hits with your Lax. But sometimes i didn't want to use my Custap that early and was either forced to keep my Lax or waste early my Self-Destruct. Thick Fat was helping checking some mons easier like Mamoswine but also keeping that Custap for later on. So yeah, with the game i experienced i think Thick Fat is better overall.
Pros :
Poor switches in the tier, specially for offenses teams : your coverage is pretty cool even thought you might suffer that 4MSS (Crunch / Equake / Firepunch) but still, you're hitting pretty hard and that's a huge pro
Pretty surprising for the oppenent, helps to catch off some threats, both offensive and defensiv
Helps checking few mons that might be annoying, pretty cool chubby sponge
Convs :
Your speed, godamn your speed is annoying. I've used a spread to outspeed Doublade but being slower than defensiv walls for an offensiv mon that can't setup is rude
You're easy as hell to cheap considering you got no way to recover
Suffers from being compared to Bewear which does the same work but being faster / better typing / with recovery
You're too weak to Knock-Off and you're being useless if you waste your Custap without exploding
Bisharp :
Bisharp @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
Araquanid @ Splash Plate
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 24 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Sticky Web
- Magic Coat
Infernape @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
- Stone Edge
Alright so, that's the worst team i've ever built ngl. But i wasn't inspired at all with this set. So i've try to add it as it was a regular Bisharp in a sticky team. I didn't enjoy playing it. Feels like it was Zeraora tier. Like Zeraora, locking yourself is annoying but you got kind of poor damages, specially if you already Knocked some Pokémon that can easily sponge you afterwards. On the other hand, it's doing a cool Pursuit trapper work but why would you pick Bisharp Band when you can run Krookodile. It can offer some cool things against offensiv teams and my experience might be biased considering i hate the team i built but against some bulkier teams with things like Hippo you are just not threatening at all.
Pros :
Cool trapper
Against offenses you can make an awesome work
Convs :
Being locked in a move is just so bad. You can't outplay your oppenent with SuckerPunch and another move
Your STABs are pretty low (80 / 105 and 65 / 70) which leads to this sad conclusion : you're hitting like a 3yo kiddo
You're MU reliant. Against anything but offenses you'll just end up doing nothing more than a regular Bisharp would have done
Lacking SD is a pain, you don't put as much pressure as you should
Why would you pick Bisharp to Pursuit trap when you can do it with Krooko or Scizor
Roserade
Last but not least, Roserade. I love this mon so much and i truly enjoyed using it. It's an awesome alternativ Pokémon to Amoonguss for offensiv teams but also Balanced teams in need of Spikes support. Being a Primarina check is also a huge plus for it to get his place in UU considering the poor amount of in we can get. But, unlike Amoonguss and Empoleon, you can directly threaten it. You can also threaten Scizor with a huge boosted HpFire and many other Steels. Back when Breloom was here it already had its place in the tier but i truly think it's an underated Pokémon in the tier. Like Estarossa in his post showed us (great work mate it was pretty cool to read your feedback), Roserade got some pretty cool / viable sets in UU that can catch off some of its checks.
To say I was excited for this week was an understatement, seeing as Roserade is one of my favorite Pokemon. Tried 2 sets this week, the Z poison set and LO Synthesis. Here are my (inadequate compared to other poster's) analysis on Roserade:
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 144 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Terrakion @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
First off, Z-Roserade. To me the most obvious benefit of using Technician Roserade is OHKOing Scizors. Being low on usage and Viability Ranking means no one expect the HP Fire. I've never been a fan of Offensive frail Spikers and the Sleep Powder Poisonium set was gaining in popularity so that was the set I tried to use first. Verdict: it's definitely not as good as it as last gen before Z moves, but Roserade is strong. Its fast enough to be threatening to slow walls, and its specially bulky enough to stomach 1 or 2 hits and hit back. Might want to try Giga Drain next time over Leaf Storm, but Leaf Storm was strong enough for me not to do it. 4/5
Next is LO Synthesis Roserade. Its basically the same thing, but this offers a more consistently powerful attacker that can last quite a bit with Giga Drain and Synthesis, but lack the one nuke to remove checks. LO amped Roserade's power quite a bit compared to the Z move set, but the power in Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb to bombard stuff is fun. Z move is better for Roserade since this set really amplified the lack of Physical Defense and I didn't use Synthesis that much so maybe Sleep Powder or Spikes are better. 3/5
Fun week. Might do 1 Pokemon per week like this since I ended up playing quite a bit and were able to learn the subject better.
I take Roserade and CB Bisharp just to 1400s this week. Building with Roserade was tough for me.
Roserade
I tested two Roserade sets this week: SashSpikes (most plain set) and Poison-Z set ( favoured by many people, including myself). Generally, Roserade is an offensive counterpart of Amoongus, but also bringing unpredictability because Roserade can run many sets.
IMO it does the work in HOish team because Sash guarantees a Spike or some mons going down due to Roserade's offensive power. Outside of HO teams, LO/recovery/Z set are more useful because they provide more utilities.
Roserade has its niche with its typing and great SpD in HO team, such as checking Primarina.
On BO teams, Roserade can be a nice check to fellow grass-types, Chesnaught and Amoongus, forcing them out and use Spikes/ Sleep Power. Roserade also has nice MU against offense teams with Poison-Z nuking dragons. Replays: ( BackAtYouBroSpicy BO team) Consistently check Amoongus Clutch clean-up Conclusion
Roserade is a solid pick on different archetypes and can run many viable sets.
It is hard to scout for Roserade movesets due to its offensive power, with the Poison-Z set punish wrong switch-ins.
Roserade can be a solid check to fellow Grass-types, Chesnaught and Amoongus, and click Spikes/ Sleep Powder. SashSpikes: 3.5/5
Poison-Z: 3.5/5
Bisharp
Bisharp @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Pursuit
- Low Kick
I also tested Bisharp because I wanted to punish Defog while using a Spike team.
Overall, I enjoy CB Bisharp. With Bisharp dominantly running SD set, CB set has an easier time surprising people and putting in work. With CB, Bisharp acts as a breaker/trapper rather than its usual sweeper role because of low speed and locked Sucker Punch easily being taken advantage off.
On the offensive side, Bisharp has its own niche. Adamant Bisharp guarantees OHKO on Cobalion, which is nice since Cobalion has been seen as one of its's solid checks. With Justified mons gone, Bisharp has an easier time annoying bulky walls with Knock Off. Moreover, the fact that people don't expect Pursuit Bisharp makes trapping Psychic-types or fragile mons easier. Pursuit still does a tons even if you lose the 50/50.
On the defensive side, Bisharp won't last long in battle. Most of the mons that Bisharp wants to Pursuit blow it away. +2 Celebi and +1 Latias still nuke Bisharp hard even if Bisharp invest 252HP. Depends on the need of the team, Bisharp can adapt its spread. However, with Jolly Bisharp hitting 262 and lacking Sucker Punch, it is easily RK.
252+ Atk Choice Band Bisharp Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Cobalion: 336-396 (104 - 122.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Bisharp Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Steelix-Mega: 200-236 (56.4 - 66.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Bisharp Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Filter Aggron-Mega: 150-177 (43.6 - 51.4%) -- 6.6% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 236 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Heat: 240-283 (80 - 94.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Bisharp Pursuit vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latias: 230-272 (76.4 - 90.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Bisharp Pursuit vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Celebi: 210-248 (61.5 - 72.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Bisharp Pursuit vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Nihilego: 190-225 (52.9 - 62.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 SpA Latias Devastating Drake (195 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Bisharp: 282-333 (84.4 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 SpA Latias Gigavolt Havoc (185 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Bisharp: 357-421 (106.8 - 126%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Celebi Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Bisharp: 194-229 (58 - 68.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Nihilego Gigavolt Havoc (185 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Bisharp: 264-311 (79 - 93.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Conclusion
CB Bisharp niche lies more in the surprising elements, snapping its Steel checks or non-CM Latias. However, RK Bisharp is easy with its low speed. CBSharp: 3/5
Tl;dr
Roserade is a solid pick on different archetypes and can run many viable sets. ( Madlad Estarossa did a wonderful job here)
CB Bisharp has its own niche of extra coverage compared to the SD set but once CB is revealed, it is harder to use and requires 50/50 predictions.
