First NU Team - Will It Work?

Question

I felt like doing NU, looked like a fun tier since I could use NFE stuff like Frogadier and Floette and be able to use the most random sets ever. Though I didn't use any NFEs in my first serious team, here it is.

The Team

Guildmaster (Wigglytuff) @ Leftovers

Ability: Cute Charm
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Power-Up Punch
- Drain Punch
- Return
- Ice Punch
Buff myself up with a few Power Up Punches, if I can get those off, I can easily heal off the damage with a Drain Punch and finish stuff off with Return and Ice Punch. Wigglytuff is mostly definitely the wild card of this team, as it can be a hit taker for pivoting or it can easily take down 2+ pokes.

Miss. Magius (Mismagius) @ Focus Sash

Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
I know I could be running a better set, but I have no idea on how to use Mismagius. I get a relatively safe Nasty Plot up with my Focus Sash then do as much damage as I can. I guess that gives some sort of wallbreaking prowess, but help me with a better set here.

Smartass (Uxie) @ Light Clay

Ability: Levitate
EVs: 128 SDef / 252 HP / 128 Def
Careful Nature
- U-turn
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Knock Off
Typical lead, scout, and screener. Since I have a lot of buff-based mons in this team, getting some dual screens up is pretty important stuff if I can pull it off. Uxie also just happens to be able to use Knock Off, so I can destroy items while they try to get around Uxies superb defenses.

Panda Express (Pangoro) @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Storm Throw
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Using Adamant mainly because I can still outspeed most of NU with a Scarf despite how slow Pangoro is. A nice little Choice Scarf user that can get in a nice cleanup sweep and just a hard hitter overall with base 124 attack.*

Golden (Steelix) @ Leftovers

Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Dragon Tail
- Gyro Ball
The second part of my defensive core with Uxie and has proved to be a valuable asset to the team. Steelix's role is to set up rocks and spread Toxics around the opposing team weather it be predicting switches or Dragon Tail. There's no better comfort than having 3 of the other person mons badly poisoned.

Petals (Lilligant) (F) @ Leftovers

Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Hyper Beam
Quiver Dancer. The only real reason why this monster is even NU is because of it's disgusting movepool, which happens to be why I'm using Hyper Beam since I don't enjoy having 2 grass STABs. Still, getting that unexpected KO with the unexpected Hyper Beam is still funny. I'm running HP Fire over HP Rock mainly because I need to be able to hit Steel types. Modest nature for more power, since I'm going to be getting more Speed anyway.

Comments

Try sleep powder on Lilligant instead of Hyper Beam

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While I would've done that, keep in mind that Sleep Powder is inaccurate as anything and getting surprised with a 2-turn sleep isn't fun. I also choose Hyper Beam for the neutral coverage it provides.
I'll definitely try it out though. ;3

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Hyper Beam sucks, go with Sleep Powder.

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Great team!

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It's a great lilligant but I run it with a petal dance with own tempo cuz after a quiver dance petal dance could wreck the other team but that might just be me but great team

Answer 1

Alright. So NU it my favourite tier this Gen. I've been playing it a load and so I have a pretty good knowledge of it, so I'll rate this.

First thing is your weakness to Fire and minor problem with the rather infrequent Ghost in NU. NU is packed with Fire Pokemon; Pyroar, Typhlosion and Magmortar are on just about every team, and they can kill your team off just their STAB alone, and potentially even sweep unboosted if Uxie is gone or weakened (and even then, that Uxie set can barely touch them). Also, you have a little bit of a problem with Ghosts. While there aren't too many of them, Mismagius and Dusclops/Dusknoir could give you problems if Pangoro goes down, since Wigglytuff, your next best counter to them, has nothing that'll KO them fast enough before they burn you or KO you.

Another thing is your team is really slow. Pangoro might have a speed buff, but any Scarfer in the tier can move much more quickly (especially since you are using Adamant over Jolly). Lilligant needs a boost to move quickly. So with all this in mind...

• I like what you're trying to do with Wigglytuff, but to be honest it simply doesn't hit hard enough (base 70 Attack doesn't even hit 300 with full investment). A Power-Up Punch fixes it a little, but it will take a turn to set up, and in that time Wigglytuff might die. Even if you do land a hit, if you're facing something common like Feraligatr let's say, it'll take a hit and finish you with a Waterfall. What I recommend to do it\s replace it with a different Pokemon that does a similar thing but does it better:

Regirock @ Assault Vest
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Power-Up Punch
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch

That Fire resistance is crucial, so Assault Vest Regirock is here to take on them Choiced Fire Pokemon. It has well-rounded bulk with Assault Vest, so it can set up a few Power-Up Punches and deal some damage. Drain Punch is better then Power-Up Punch, but I thought that because I was replacing a Pokemon that uses it, I'd use it here.
This set does, however, forfeit a Ghost resistance, but we'll hopefully get to that later.

• Yeah the Mismagius set needs some change. First thing that goes is the Sash. Mismagius can take a hit, and has some nice Speed thanks to Timid, so really once you get any fast Pokemon away from your opponent's team, Mismagius should have no problem moving before most of the tier. Give it a Life Orb, just for that extra power. 10% HP is a small cost for such an excellent power buff.

• Use Substitute over Energy Ball. It doesn't really hit anything harder than Thunderbolt will (apart from Barbacle and Omastar which Mismagius shouldn't stay in on), so yeah. Substitute will provide you with protection from a lot of things, specifically status which is everywhere in NU with all the Sleep Powders and Lovely Kisses.

• Uxie looks good, but consider using Leftover + TWave + Psyshock over the screens setup. Since your team is slow, it'll really love the extra Speed support from TWave. Psyshock will, um... shock stuff like Haunter. (bad joke ik)

• I question the Scarf on Pangoro. It's still slow; even with Jolly nature, Pokemon like Accelgor outspeed it and don't even need to use Timid (roughly 355 Speed to 380 in that case). I honestly think a typical Life Orb set would be better. Just use the set you have but put the Speed EVs in HP and replace the Scarf of course. And now you can use Hammer Arm over Storm Throw :P

• Steelix looks cool, but think about putting some investment in SDef, maybe just 136 EVs to bring it up to 200. Steelix hits 436 Defence with no investment at all, so I don't think it really prompts too much attention.

• Lilligant is great in NU... but the whole reason it is great is absent from your set :P
  Give it Sleep Powder. It's inaccurate, but hey! If it hits, you can set up all you like. Get rid of Hyper Beam, it sucks. It might be fun to kill people's last Pokemon with the most silly move in the game, but secretly your opponent is thinking about what a silly person you are for using it. :D

Also consider using a Scarf Rotom over Mismagius. Your team needs a revenge killer. It'll also counter most Ghosts, thanks to its fast Shadow Ball.

So yeah! There you have it. You don't need to listen to me, but this is just what I'd do if I were you. :)

Comments

Along with getting great help with the te. O also learned a bunch about NU.
Thanks. ;3

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At least this team has rocks