Revolutionary New Sets

Every day, revolutionary, metagame-defining, new sets are being invented. The folks in Quality Control, however, are very strict about their policy, that each set must have been tested for it to appear on-site. Well, I would like to make the point that sometimes aspiring battlers cannot wait. They need to know the new sets as soon as they are invented, so I have decided to write this article to show everyone why we need new QC policy, and show some of the new sets that were recently created by the OU ladder. Because, if the Smogon community does not learn about these sets, then I fear our ladder will dissolve into chaos. These sets have allowed me to ladder up to an incredible rating of ACRE 1207 on PS. My win-loss ratio was 0-0. That's undefeated, people! So now you must see why I just had to show you these sets. Without further adieu, here they are in all their glory:

Shedinja @ Life Orb
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Ball
- X-Scissor
- Sandstorm
- Sand-Attack

With this set, Shedinja can wall a multitude of threats, support itself and its team, AND dish out heavy damage, making it one of the strongest Pokémon in the game. Tell me another Pokémon that can do all of that because I bet you can't. Shadow Ball and X-Scissor are the best STAB moves Shedinja has. Typical smartypants—who are in the minority of players and, as such, you shouldn't listen to them—may try to lure you into using the vastly inferior Shadow Claw or even Shadow Sneak (yuck!). But, if you've scored consistent A's on your reading exams, you should know that Shadow Ball has 80 Base Power, thus it is always better than those two moves on Shedinja. I mean, 70? 40? That's pathetic! Sandstorm removes hail, which will not let Shedinja live for long. Steel-types will wall Shedinja all day, though, so Shedinja needs a Ground, Fire or Fighting move to take care of them. Its only Fire moves are non-damaging and Hidden Power, its only Fighting move is Hidden Power, and the only non-Hidden Power Ground moves it learns are Dig (which is two turns long and thus useless) and Mud-Slap (which is Mud-Slap). Oh, wait! It learns Sand-Attack too! Since it has "Attack" in its name, it must surely do damage. Life Orb provides extra power to Shedinja's moves at the cost of recoil. This is fine because if you do simple math, it only loses .10 HP every time it attacks. Shedinja has terrible defenses and HP, so maximum EV investment in Defense and Special Defense is required to mitigate this.

Shedinja requires Rapid Spin support, as it is weak to entry hazards. However, this set requires absolutely no support other than that. The best check is the combination of entry hazards and a spinblocker, but these days, with the onset of Foresight Hitmonlee, not even that is a hard counter to Shedinja.

Rotom-S @ Air Balloon
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Telekinesis
- Volt Switch
- Air Slash
- Thunderbolt

Rotom-S is the only Pokémon capable of having a triple immunity to something. If you don't realize how broken this is, then you don't play Pokémon. Since it has a triple immunity, it will maintain its immunity even if its balloon is popped. It will maintain its immunity if facing an opponent with Mold Breaker. It will even maintain its immunity if the opponent uses Soak. This means it will never be hurt by Ground attacks. Telekinesis is there so that it can bestow upon the enemy its blessing, and let them too be immune to Ground, ensuring a fair match to all. And what's better, if Rotom-S encounters any type of attacker other than Ground, it can simply Volt Switch out! Air Slash and Thunderbolt are there so it can hit back with massive damage.

This set requires absolutely no support at all, as it is meant to support the team by giving it a 3x immunity to Ground. It can be countered by a Pokémon with Mold Breaker, Soak, and a non-Ground-type attack. Which is... Basculin and Basculin-B. Start running them, people!

Abomasnow @ Damp Rock
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rain Dance
- Ice Shard
- Wood Hammer
- Leech Seed

While it may seem strange to put Rain Dance on Abomasnow, this set is one of the premier Rain Dancers in the tier. When people see Abomasnow in Team Preview, they automatically assume that it is of the hail variant. By using this set, Abomasnow can possibly bluff the opponent into leading with their hail counter, allowing Abomasnow to summon rain 99% of the time. This set runs Soundproof so that hail doesn't get in the way of rain, but Snow Warning can alternatively be used to further bluff the opponent. Ice Shard gives priority STAB, which is useful to revenge kill threats and bypass Abomasnow's poor Speed. STAB Wood Hammer is so strong that it can crush even the strongest of walls, such as Deoxys-A. Leech Seed gives it some kind of team support outside of Rain Dance. Damp Rock extends the time your rain sweepers have to work with.

Abomasnow is another supportive Pokémon; it should, however, be paired with one other Ice-type Pokémon to further extend the illusion of hail—Cloyster is best. However, as you will see later in the article, Cloyster is outclassed by Shuckle, so it's really up to you. This set has no counters and can only be checked by priority and Pokémon faster than it. The number one check is Scizor, but it's so rare that it's not even a threat.

Ninjask @ Quick Claw
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
- Protect
- Substitute / Toxic
- Baton Pass
- Swords Dance / Roost

Quick Claw Ninjask is the new cool as far as Baton Passing goes, beating out even Mental Herb Ninjask. It is so good that it is almost guaranteed to pass +6 Speed, +2 Attack, and a Substitute to your sweeper. Protect/Substitute stalling allows Speed Boost to work its magic, while Swords Dance boosts Attack. After Ninjask acquires all of the boosts it can efficiently get, use Baton Pass to... well... pass. Now, Quick Claw lets Ninjask occasionally go first, which is crucial because it allows Ninjask to have no Speed investment. While you may be wondering "how does this help Ninjask," no Speed investment simply lets our little bug spread its EVs to its defensive stats, thus more bulk. Roost can be used as an alternative over Swords Dance to allow Ninjask to regain health and repeatedly wall certain threats such as the dangerous Sky Uppercut/Focus Punch/Brick Break/Low Sweep Breloom, but Ninjask generally prefers to pass Attack instead of having more survivability. Toxic can go over Substitute to put the opponent on a timer, which works well in tandem with Ninjask's stalling nature.

Ninjask needs a recipient to pass to, which ideally should have reasonable defenses to take hits so that it can sweep with ease. A bulky physical attacker, such as the famed Shedinja, is perfect to take advantage of the Attack and Speed boosts. Although Taunt hinders its ability to do anything but Struggle, Ninjask is such a master that not even foul wordplay and gesture can slow it down!

Smeargle @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- ExtremeSpeed
- Storm Throw / Rapid Spin
- Dual Chop
- Flame Charge

This guy is a boss. ExtremeSpeed is Smeargle's primary sweeping weapon, being an 80 Base Power STAB move with priority of +2. With Technician boosting Storm Throw to 60 Base Power and the move having a 100% critical hit ratio thus ignoring defensive stat changes, Smeargle is capable of annihilating defensive stat boosters such as Bulk Up Beartic, Coil Dunsparce, and the dreaded Iron Defense Aggron. Alternatively, if a team lacks Rapid Spin support, Smeargle can always use it over Storm Throw, but it will be left helpless against Rock- / Fairy-types! Dual Chop gets powered up to 60 Base Power as well and hits twice, dealing double damage while breaking Substitutes. Flame Charge allows Smeargle to hit Skarmory, among others, giving Smeargle the excellent neutral coverage of Fire/Dragon/Fighting.

Technician Choice Band Smeargle is such a monster that no one can even check it, let alone counter it. With the ability to boost its Speed with Flame Charge and break Substitutes with Dual Chop, Smeargle is the threat that defines today's metagame.

Shuckle @ White Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge / Hidden Power Grass
- Bug Bite / Infestation / Gyro Ball

As mentioned earlier, Shuckle has started to become the primary Shell Smash user of the OU tier. With Sturdy guaranteeing setup and White Herb removing the defense negations, it is incredible. After a Shell Smash, it has enough power to OHKO physically-defensive Deoxys-D! Wielding the famed EdgeQuake coverage, along with additional Bug-type STAB, Shuckle is an incredible sweeper on any team. Alternatively, Shuckle can run Hidden Power Grass to hit the ever-present Quagsire, the bane of setup sweepers everywhere. Shuckle can even run Infestation to trap a helpless opponent and spam Shell Smash. As the saying goes, the more the merrier!

Shuckle needs a teammate to Rapid Spin away entry hazards, as it cannot afford to take damage from them (Sturdy will be negated). Smeargle makes an excellent partner for this reason. If using Smeargle, Shuckle can use Gyro Ball instead of Bug Bite to hit the Fairies that wall Rapid Spin Smeargle. Flygon is probably Shuckle's best check, resisting Stone Edge and being immune to Earthquake, while taking neutral damage from Bug Bite. Therefore, Shuckle could use a partner that can eliminate it. I recommend using Unown, since it is capable of hitting Flygon for 4x super effective damage with Hidden Power Ice and is immune to Ground-type attacks. Also, keep this quiet, but I also heard rumors that Unown is now part Fairy, making it immune to even Dragon-type attacks! (When you get Unown in-game and see if it actually does not align with what I said, please blame my neighbors.)

These sets, and many like them, are being invented daily by the ladder. I will leave you with one message: QC needs new policy. They are corrupt and bureaucratic, and this attitude cannot be permitted to foster in our community. We must root out the source of this corruption before it's too late. We must rally behind the banner of the OU ladder. We must OVERTHROW QUALITY CONTROL!

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