With urshifu being banned I decided to make a new basic balance team template to use as a base for later teams. It doesn’t do anything incredible but produces pretty consistent results.
Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/ef4c9acb734195d1
Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Focus Blast
- Knock Off
- Giga Drain
I hadn’t used tangrowth in a while, and now that urshifu is gone I believe it has gotten much better. I originally had this as a Rocky helmet defensive set, but the team needed a dedicated special wall so this fills that role, however, even without any defense investment tangrowth serves as a great counter to a pretty much all of the physical threats that pex is weak to.
Zapdos @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Defog
This is a pretty standard offensive defogger zapdos set. 20 speed puts it at 241 which is just enough to outspeed the multiple 240s around, and modest with 236 SpAtk hits like a truck. I chose discharge over volt switch for added hex synergy.
Toxapex @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Haze
- Recover
Pex works great alongside tangrowth at covering each other’s weakness, t spikes allows for some instant 130 bp hexes with spectrier and haze prevents setup attempts.
Spectrier @ Leftovers
Ability: Grim Neigh
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Will-O-Wisp
- Calm Mind
- Hex
Urshifu being banned makes this mon even better in my opinion. I often, however, find specs and scarf sets overly unreliable where this set is much better at cleaning up weakened mons. I also chose calm mind over nasty plot to more easily set up against other special attackers. In the early game this can still get great chip if played correctly and possibly burn one of their physical threats, waiting for its late game where it can clean up most weakened teams.
Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Even before urshifu’s ban this set was great, but now that there are less tapu finis and buzzwoles around this is even better. It is a rocker, revenge killer, item remover and late game sweeper all at the same time. While rocks and scarf aren’t great synergy this mon generally only stays in for one turn in the early game anyway so having a choice between knock and rocks against their defensive counter works really well. The speed tier is also great at outspeeding things like +1 exca.
Cinderace @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- Gunk Shot
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
This is just the jack of all trades all round great mon which I doubt I need to say much about. I decided not to run sucker punch because krookodile has the fast dark type attack already, and this team was having problems with pex. The 4 coverage moves makes this very very tricky to play around.
Overall I don’t think the team is outstanding but it’s solid and produces results if played well. It’s getting a few more wins than losses at around 1700 right now, but I’m not looking for anything spectacular as I am more looking for a base to work on. While the lack of a fairy type is a potential weakness I didn’t really want to jam one in for no reason and I don’t think the team really needs it.
