[BW2 NU] Rise of Articuno

Discussion in 'Team Showcase' started by meeps, Feb 3, 2013.

  1. meeps

    meeps Well-Known Member

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    Hello, this is my 2nd RMT on the forums, a very successful team that I made with ZoroDark in the NU tier. We wanted to build team atound an "interesting" poke in NU and decided to use Articuno.

    Team at Glance:
    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]


    Peak:
    (13:51:17) ±Porygon: Your rank in Wifi NU is 1/10012 [1561 points / 121 battles
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    Torkoal @ Leftovers
    Trait: Shell Armor
    EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
    Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
    - Rapid Spin
    - Lava Plume
    - Stealth Rock
    - Yawn

    Torkoal, while being one my least favorite Pokes to use and having a reputation as a mighty NU spinner, it must be used and he's very important to the team. The fact that Articuno is 4x weak to Stealth Rock and hazards can wear my team down, the team needs a spinner and Torkoal fits well into the team. Torkoal's excellent physical bulk allows to take physical attacks very well, providing some momentum for the team, taking hits from Emboar and Klinklang. The moveset is quite self-explanatory, Rapid Spin removes hazards from the field. Lava Plume is used as STAB with its nice Burn chance. Stealth Rock supports the team breaking Focus Sash or Sturdy or get closer to KO range of a Poke. Yawn can help chase away pokes, possibly a spinblockers and get off a spin.

    [​IMG]
    Seismitoad @ Life Orb
    Trait: Swift Swim
    EVs: 96 HP / 252 SAtk / 160 Spd
    Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
    - Rain Dance
    - Hydro Pump
    - Earth Power
    - Sludge Wave

    Seismitoad is a rising NU threat, and it is mainly due to its excellent Rain sweeping abilities. Its great coverage allows it to 2HKO and outspeed most of the tier. Its excellent bulk and Electric immunity allows it to easily setup Rain Dance. With Rain Dance, it can support itself, and too an extent Articuno giving it perfect accuracy Hurricanes. Hydro Pump is the chosen STAB move hitting extremely hard in the Rain virtually 2HKOing the whole tier unresisted. Earth Power provides extra coverage hitting other Water-types, such as Alomomola, which is 2HKO'd by Earth Power (physically defensive). Sludge Wave allows Seismitoad to hit Grass-types, such as Sawsbuck or Exeggutor. The given EVs allow Seismitoad to outspeed scarf Rotom-S and Rotom-F in the Rain. Special Attack is maximized to hit as hard as possible and rest is dumped off into HP for extra bulk.

    [​IMG]
    Serperior @ Life Orb
    Trait: Overgrow
    EVs: 20 HP / 252 SAtk / 232 Spd
    Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
    - Calm Mind
    - Substitute
    - Giga Drain
    - Hidden Power [Rock]

    Serperior, while not seeming as much of a threat without Contrary Leaf Storm, is a very powerful threat in NU, capable of sweeping through teams. Serperior is capable of setting up on many pokes with solid bulk and can proceed to sweep through teams with its great power and speed. Calm Mind is used to increase Special Attack and Special Defense and attempt to sweep. Substitute keeps Serperior safe from status, and it can also help it reach Overgrow range, increasing the power of Giga Drain. Giga Drain is the STAB move used, hitting hard and can recover off some damage. Hidden Power Rock is a coverage move, allowing Serperior to deal with Flying, Fire, and Bug types, all resisting Grass. The EVs given allows Serperior to outspeed positive base 110s such as Archeops, Tauros, and Jumpluff. Rest is put into Special Attack for power, and HP for a little extra bulk.

    [​IMG]
    Klinklang @ Leftovers
    Trait: Clear Body
    EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spd
    Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
    - Shift Gear
    - Substitute
    - Gear Grind
    - Wild Charge

    With my team consisting of mainly special attackers, Klinklang is nice for taking down common special walls such as Lickilicky or Regice. It is one of the best setup sweepers in the tier with its great typing and solid bulk, it can set up on many walls and proceed to sweep through teams, being very tough to revenge kill. At +2 Klinklang can outspeed most of the tier's scarfed pokes, and KO them. Shift Gear is the obvious setup move, increasing Speed and Attack. Substitute keeps Klinklang safe from status and Dragon Tail to let it safely setup. Gear Grind is the main STAB attack, hitting for an effective 100 BP. The fact that it hits twice is nice as it allows it to break Sawk's Sturdy or sashes of other pokes. Wild Charge provides extra coverage, hitting Water-types such as Alomomola or Wartortle super effectively. The given EVs allow Klinklang to outspeed other Klinklang that have enough speed to outspeed scarf Haunter at +2, hit as hard as possible and have some extra bulk which makes it so some weak walls such Alomomola can't break its sub.

    [​IMG]
    Mesprit @ Choice Specs
    Trait: Levitate
    EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
    Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
    - Psychic
    - Ice Beam
    - Thunderbolt
    - U-turn

    One day, I was bored trying out random stuff in NU, and decided to try Specs Mesprit. Now it's one of my favorite pokes to use in the tier. It is very powerful with good Speed giving it great wallbreaking power. Psychic is the main STAB move letting it hit really hard. It's preferred over Psyshock as NU has a good amount more physical walls than special walls. Mesprit has access to Boltbeam coverage, along with psychic allows it to hit the whole tier for neutral damage. Ice Beam also lets Mesprit handle pokes like Altaria better. Thunderbolt allows Mesprit to at least 2HKO most Water-types bar the ones with Ground typing. It manages to OHKO physically defensive Alomomola. U-turn allows Mesprit to get momentum on an opponent's switch, such as a predicted Skutank switch.

    [​IMG]
    Articuno @ Life Orb
    Trait: Pressure
    EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
    Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
    - Ice Beam
    - Hurricane
    - Substitute
    - Roost

    The legendary bird this team is built around. While considered to not have really made a big impact in the past, I've found that offensive Articuno is amazing, It has excellent damage output and it is capable of PP stalling opponents with Pressure making it an excellent wallbreaker and stallbreaker. It is capable of dismantling many common walls such as Alomomola, Misdreavus, etc. Ice Beam is used as Ice STAB, which is an excellent offensive typing. Hurricane is used as Flying STAB, hitting Water and Fire-types that resist Ice Beam. Substitute can be used to evade Sucker Punch from Skuntank or Bisharp and along with Roost it can PP stall opponents quite nicely.

    Importable:

    Torkoal @ Leftovers
    Trait: Shell Armor
    EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
    Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
    - Rapid Spin
    - Lava Plume
    - Stealth Rock
    - Yawn

    Seismitoad @ Life Orb
    Trait: Swift Swim
    EVs: 96 HP / 252 SAtk / 160 Spd
    Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
    - Rain Dance
    - Hydro Pump
    - Earth Power
    - Sludge Wave

    Serperior @ Life Orb
    Trait: Overgrow
    EVs: 20 HP / 252 SAtk / 232 Spd
    Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
    - Calm Mind
    - Substitute
    - Giga Drain
    - Hidden Power [Rock]

    Klinklang @ Leftovers
    Trait: Clear Body
    EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spd
    Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
    - Shift Gear
    - Substitute
    - Gear Grind
    - Wild Charge

    Mesprit @ Choice Specs
    Trait: Levitate
    EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
    Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
    - Psychic
    - Ice Beam
    - Thunderbolt
    - U-turn

    Articuno @ Life Orb
    Trait: Pressure
    EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
    Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
    - Ice Beam
    - Hurricane
    - Substitute
    - Roost

    Conclusion:

    This team is really fun to use, suiting my preferred Offensive playstyle. It does have a few major problems, such as Musharna, especially CM + Barrier sets sometimes forcing me to run Crawdaunt on the team (which should be used more). Bisharp can also be pretty threatening, especially when Torkoal goes down. Sometimes as can play around it with Articuno, as it's 2HKO'd with Hurricane or combination of a hurricane and Ice Beam. Anyways, thanks for reading, feel free to steal and rate
     
    Last edited: May 10, 2014
    Finchinator likes this.
  2. Zzyzx Road

    Zzyzx Road Member

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    Strong HO, rare sight in NU for sure - no wonder it's topped ladder, good job there.

    I don't see any flaws, except that if you don't set rain up swiftly SD Sawsbuck will give you nightmares, having no priority moves and your physical wall be weak to Stealth Rock. As a matter of fact it isn't that common so that classifies as random advice, I guess. I'll keep an eye out for this team though, as Sawsbuck outspeeds all of it (except Serperior's HP Rock) and Horn Leech / Nature Power / Frustration KOes it whole at +2. Not a big problem since it can only do so with Life Orb recoil, but could get in a threat list.

    252Atk Life Orb +2 Sawsbuck (Neutral) Nature Power vs 252HP/252Def Leftovers Torkoal (+Def): 77% - 91% (266 - 316 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO.

    252Atk Life Orb +2 Sawsbuck (Neutral) Nature Power vs 160HP/0Def Leftovers Klinklang (Neutral): 138% - 164% (418 - 494 HP). Guaranteed OHKO.

    252Atk Life Orb +2 Sawsbuck (Neutral) Return vs 96HP/0Def Leftovers Water Absorb Seismitoad (Neutral): 121% - 144% (457 - 540 HP). Guaranteed OHKO.
    I'm just curious to know how you deal with it, or if you just let it get two or so kills to RK with Serperior's HP Rock.
     
  3. ZoroDark

    ZoroDark i know everything

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    The way we dealt with it was just fodder whatever poke that was in. It can't live a single pokes attack when it feels lucky and tries to set up.
     
  4. topah

    topah Active Member

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    I saw that Meeps was the one who posted this and I had hoped there wouldnt be that evil Serperior.
    But there it is.

    I cant really think of anything common that counters this team except whats already been said. Maybe Khanghaskhan??

    But yea solid team and I hate that Serperior.
     
  5. Kody

    Kody :]

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    I'm gonna ask for this shit to be locked. Leanr how to make an RMT :[

    Seriously though what can I say? You're by far better than me at NU so I can only suggest a few things.
    Timid on Articuno and run HP Ground over Sub so you beat Bisharp and such.
    Personally I prefer Taunt Seeds on Serperior to prevent set up from Musharna who can be a problem to you.
    My last thing is maybe run Return over Sub on Kling so you can cover the Elecs better etc.

    btw that Mirin Gains guy is so good it's not funny.
     
  6. emac

    emac Emad

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    I've faced this team many a time, and your damn mespirit always seems to donk me. I congratulate you for using such a non-traditional team and being able acheive great success with it! I can see lo brokenzard being annoying to deal with, but for whatever reason, nobody seems to use it! Great Job!
     
  7. Big Bad Booty Daddy

    Big Bad Booty Daddy Big Poppa Pump

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    What a beautiful team, I always battle this and like emac said, get annoyed as f$$#*$ w\ your Mesprit. Ugh you suck.

    This is a ridiculously solid team, it's really hard to give feedback because you cover a large amount of the common pokes in the meta-game. But since I have to rate every NU team because of my fetish for the NU tier. :]

    Psychic types in general look like they can fuck w\ you, but Crawdaunt wouldn't be a bad option, although Sub CM outspeeds if fast and Crawdaunt isn't scarf

    And run HP Ice on Serperior, being able to hit other grass pokes super effectively is pretty nice to do, hits Jumpluff and Archeops the same as well. Hitting Sawsbuck well also helps, since it looks like it can do a number to your team after a Swords Dance
     
  8. meeps

    meeps Well-Known Member

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    k quite a few rates, time to respond

    @zzyzx

    Thanks, Like Zoro said, Bambi can be dealt with, it usually can't find a good time to setup so Torkoal can deal with it nicely

    @topah

    lolmad, can't handle that I'm stronger than you, Torkoal can take hits nicely, serp can deal with it offensively

    @kody

    sorry ]: idk if timid is too necessary, it will allow it to outspeed band sawk rather that tie. substitute is important for Articuno as it's safe from status, evade sucker punch, etc. Ice Beam + Hurricane can 2hko bisharp anyway

    I like calm mind serp, fun sweeping teams even though mushy remains a problem

    being safe from status and shit is nice with Klinklang, I could use return over wild charge though

    that mirin gains guy is scared of me, always asks for draws

    @Emac

    Thanks, specs Mesprit 2gud and a sub LO brokenzard can be very threatening, as sub makes it tougher for serp to revenge kill

    @Cased

    lolmad, Klinklang usually deals with CM Mesprit, and Crawdaunt could deal with subcm musharna

    I could use HP, ice, but losing 2hko on Torkoal sucks, I might think about it
     
  9. Finchinator

    Finchinator IT’S FINK DUMBASS

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    This team is brilliant.
    Thanks for the importable, now I have another NU team, to rely on.
    Anyway, You're weak to Offensive CM Psychic types, like Mesorit or, the one in a million HP Fighting Musharna. (Clarifying on whatCaseDefeat said.)
    Otherwise, strongth Meeps!
    RMT Archive material, IMO.
     
  10. ZoroDark

    ZoroDark i know everything

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    Yeah, CM psychic types were/are a pain, but then again it's incredible hard for them to set up.