So what I made this pretty fun PU balance team a little while back, and I've been tweaking it for quite a while now. I originally had monferno over grumpig, and something like rotom I think over floatzel, but through many, many games thought the changes I have here would be much better. And the changes have worked very well, so far. But I have REALLY been enjoying the dragon/fairy/double steel defensive core with support Banette in the back, so because of that I'm always looking for ways to improve it.
Basically, I want to see what specifically I'm weak to in the tier, so I can adjust accordingly. I know I'm weak to steel types, or to be specific I'm weak to Pawniard and sheer force Mawile. I've been considering making vibrava faster to outspeed Pawniard, but the bulk it's at right now prevents Pawniard from 2hko-ing it and that may be more important than being faster (especially since sucker punch). But I'll go over the team now.
Banette @ Leftovers
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Phantom Force
- Gunk Shot
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute
Starting with Banette, this is what I originally built the team around. I'd been meaning for months to try out a sub+phantom force moveset, and I've been really happy with the results I've gotten. Banette's attack stat is fantastic, and gunk shot is fairly spammable whenever phantom force isn't safe, as it's only a little bit less powerfull. Phantom force from behind a sub is generally extremely safe because no normal type really appreciates a free switch into Banette behind a sub; Audino can't break the sub with knock off if it gets burned and takes too much dammage from gunk shot+burn to 1v1, chatot loses 1v1 anyways, Ursaring takes almost 80 from gunk shot, Stoutland has to take a burn to break the sub, etc. Plus Banette just beats stuff like chatot/Bouffalant/Audino 1v1 anyways even without a sub. Speed is for max speed base 45 pokemon, but Banette really shines on the team once I've spread paralysis around.
Grumpig @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
The main reason I added Grumpig to the team was because I needed a solid answer to stall. Taunt gives me that utility. I can't touch psychic types but there aren't very many that are in the tier that can really threaten the team anyways. And besides Kadabra isn't a switch in regardless. The team sports double thunder wave and a floatzel as it's only form of speed control, which is kinda iffy but overall hasn't been too bad. PU is a slow tier in general, and most crazy fast things (like the electric types in the tier) are walled by my defensive core. Thunder wave makes Banette incredibly valuable.
Floatzel @ Life Orb
Ability: Water Veil
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Focus Blast
Floatzel is the fastest pokemon on my team and hits basically everything in the tier for insane dammage. Kind of funny to think, this is my only steel "resist". But anyways, Floatzel is one of the best pokemon in the entire tier and has fit onto the team quite well by patching up a lack of speed and power issue the team had before.
Mawile @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Play Rough
- Toxic
- Baton Pass
Mawile is the first part of the defensive core. The team originally featured 2 U-turn mons and a volt switch mon, so it had a ton of momentum gaining potential. But I had to sacrifice that, and I think the sacrifice was justified. Not too much to say, it's a stoutland answer that the team needed (because of the potential of letting banded stout in for free on banette), and it's a check to stuff like machoke/grass types/etc. Toxic helps out versus more bulky teams, and baton pass is one of the best things that defensive mawile has access to. Play rough hits more things for my team then Iron head (specifically pawniard and machoke).
Vibrava @ Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Defog
- Roost
Next is Vibrava, my ground immunity. Vibrava is a great answer to stuff like golem, fire types like flareon/rapidash, and checks the steel types I'm weak to like mawile and pawniard. Pawniard can't 2hko and I run enough speed to outspeed Mawile. It's also a Arbok answer and my defogger.
Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled
- Wish
- Moonblast
The last pokemon is Clefairy. The only move I'd really want over wish is heal bell, but I have status absorbers for sleep powder (banette), and for toxic/scald/will-o-wisp (clefairy) so I didn't think I really needed it. The reason wish is nice is because it can keep Mawile healthy: thanks to the big difference in HP stats of the 2 pokemon, a wish from clefairy can heal Mawile by a lot. It can also pass wishes a few times into Banette or Grumpig more often then you might think.
