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Tired of OU? Let's try something you've NeverUsed...
NeverUsed http://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/467.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/539.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/124.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/076.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/359.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/093.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/463.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/277.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/200.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/195.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/476.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/348.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/334.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/114.gif Hi guys! Some of you might have noticed Nica's mounting interest in NeverUsed (NU), or trying to get everyone on the server to play it instead of OU. Don't think that it's a one-or-the-other sort of choice, but it's very easy to learn how to play another metagame outside of OU, and it often helps you understand your battling skills even more and become a better player as a result! Anyway, I'm posting this on Anti's request to sort of introduce everyone who wants to play NU to the NU metagame, which is much, much different from OU. NU is the lowest tier on the listings, so what's down here is essentially "the bottom of the barrel", but don't take that the wrong way. The NU metagame is very unique and many Pokemon can find success here, so let's start by taking a closer look! Wait... what are these differences between NU and OU?
OMG THIS IS AWESOME! Vrai, I'm ready to make my team and thrash you!!That's what you're thinking, right? But you hardly know anything about the metagame yet! I explained a little bit, yes, but let's take a really fast look at some of the most popular threats in NU. You'll notice that at the top of this page I included a bunch of sprites of Pokemon in NU. Well, those are actually the most used Pokemon from March's stats, save Mesprit who has just moved up to RU (and would have settled in at #2, right after Magmortar!). We'll go through the top twenty or so threats in NU, just so you have a quick rundown on the metagame and know what to expect! I'll go through the sets with a format a little like this, with their most common set: http://sprites.pokecheck.org/icon/426.pngName @ Item, Ability What does it do? blah blah blah You got it? Let's go! Top 15 Threatlist![]() http://sprites.pokecheck.org/icon/467.pngMagmortar @ Life Orb, Vital Spirit | #1 Timid Nature; 24 HP / 252 SpA / 232 Spe Fire Blast / Thunderbolt / Focus Blast / Hidden Power Ice or Hidden Power Grass What does it do? Oh man, the big honcho himself. Magmortar rules the roost around NU, and it's easy to see why. He's got great coverage in general, and immense power in those cannons. Life Orb-boosted Fire Blasts are incredibly powerful, and very difficult to tank. He also has extra coverage in Thunderbolt (for bulky Water-types), Focus Blast (primarily for Lickilicky), and HP Ice (for Altaria) or HP Grass (for Quagsire). Vital Spirit also prevents you from putting him to sleep, so beware that! Jolly Nature; 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Close Combat / Earthquake / Stone Edge / Reversal or Toxic What does it do? Sawk is the most powerful Fighting-type in NU, and it sits at a decent base 85 Speed. Its STAB Close Combats hit even resists very hard, so it's important to eliminate it ASAP before it can get too many of those off! Sawk has a small moveset, but enough to get the job done; as such, it will usually be equipped with either a Choice Scarf or a Choice Band. Beware the Fist Plate variants though! Sturdy is an excellent ability, as if you don't have hazards up or you haven't attacked Sawk yet, it will always live at 1 HP and be able to attack again. Timid Nature; 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe Ice Beam / Lovely Kiss or Psychic / Substitute / Nasty Plot What does it do? Jynx is a powerful special attacker, and can really mess with teams. Lovely Kiss is its ace-in-the-hole, despite the 75% accuracy - it seems to hit 100% of the time anyway, and allows Jynx to set up with impunity on a lot of things. Dry Skin was a glorious gift, as Jynx becomes effectively immune to Water-type attacks and gets bonus recovery in rain. Jynx is also one of the few counters to Gorebyss, as it is immune to her STAB moves and can OHKO in return with Psychic! ![]() http://sprites.pokecheck.org/icon/76.pngGolem @ Leftovers, Sturdy | #5 Adamant Nature; 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe Stealth Rock / Earthquake / Rock Blast / Sucker Punch What does it do? Golem has become infamous as a lead Pokemon. Getting up an early Stealth Rock is invaluable, and Golem is essentially guaranteed that thanks to Sturdy. Golem is also surprisingly powerful, and can act as a makeshift check to some dangerous Pokemon if Sturdy is still intact. Rock Blast is particularly helpful against opposing lead Ninjask, who could pose a problem if Golem used Stone Edge. Lum Berry is also usable, if Butterfree proves to be a problem. http://sprites.pokecheck.org/icon/359.pngAbsol @ Life Orb, Super Luck | #6 Adamant Nature; 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Swords Dance / Sucker Punch / Night Slash / Superpower What does it do? Absol is notorious as the primary revenge-killer of the tier; its Sucker Punch does a ton of damage, and will often save your skin if a Pokemon gets out of control. Night Slash provides reliable STAB, so you don't have to rely on them attacking all the time, and Superpower provides the best coverage it can get. Swords Dance rounds it off, and if Absol gets more than a boost or two, it often means GG. Timid Nature; 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe Substitute / Sludge Bomb / Shadow Ball / Hidden Power Ground or Disable What does it do? Haunter is really frail, but quite fast and powerful specially. Its Sludge Bomb is its most powerful move and Shadow Ball gives it decent coverage, while HP Ground hits Skuntank. Disable is particularly useful if you want to use it as a spinblocker, as most spinblockers only run one other move for coverage - you can disable this move as they try to break your Sub, and then you have free reign to do whatever. Choice and Life Orb sets are also fairly common. ![]() http://sprites.pokecheck.org/icon/463.pngLickilicky @ Leftovers, Own Tempo | #8 Careful Nature; 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD Wish / Protect / Return / Dragon Tail or Heal Bell What does it do? Lickilicky is usually seen as a bulky special wall, with massive Wishes. It can check most special threats and recover off the damage as well as support the team with Heal Bell and Dragon Tail. It's also relatively powerful even without investment - those Returns can hurt. Also, SD variants have been known to show up from time to time, so watch out for them, as they can catch you off-guard pretty easily. Jolly Nature; 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Facade / Brave Bird / U-turn / Protect or Quick Attack What does it do? Swellow is one of the fastest sweepers available in NU, and its Facade is absolutely monstrous. It will easily 2HKO most Pokemon in the metagame, and when coupled with Spikes, Swellow is one of the most fearsome Pokemon in NU. Brave Bird provides additional coverage against Pokemon that resist Normal-type moves (read: Ghost-types), and you should really never use Brave Bird against anything but Ghost-types as it causes a ton of recoil damage and is actually less powerful than Facade in most situations. U-turn allows Swellow to flee from an incoming Rock-type, and then switch to something appropriate to deal with it. Protect will activate the Toxic Orb, while Quick Attack allows it to pick off really fast Pokemon or defeat Absol. Bold Nature; 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spe Shadow Ball / Will-O-Wisp / Pain Split / Heal Bell or Taunt What does it do? Misdreavus is most often seen as a physically defensive Pokemon on balanced or stall teams, usually present to keep Sawk in check, prevent hazards from being spun away, and providing Heal Bell support. Misdreavus is incredibly physically bulky, and can check a number of physical threats. It can also use a bulky Calm Mind set, and a more offensive Nasty Plot set to catch its usual checks and counters off-guard. Toxic also appears sometimes in place of Will-O-Wisp; otherwise, Misdreavus struggles to beat Cryogonal. Relaxed Nature; 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD Scald / Earthquake / Recover / Toxic What does it do? Well, you play OU, don't you? Quagsire is one of the few Pokemon who have just barely not enough usage in every other team to remain there. It's fallen all the way to NU, despite being useful in OU! Quagsire makes as a decent physical wall, checking boosting Pokemon such as Samurott and Absol. Scald inflicts burns occasionally, Earthquake provides a useful secondary STAB, and Toxic does... well, Toxic. Recover is perhaps the most important move on this set, though, as it provides Quagsire with a way to recover its health! http://sprites.pokecheck.org/icon/476.pngProbopass @ Leftovers, Sturdy | #12 Calm Nature; 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD Stealth Rock / Earth Power or Power Gem / Volt Switch / Thunder Wave What does it do? Probopass is one of the few available Steel-types in NU, and one of the best as far as Special Defense is concerned. Thanks to its typing, Probopass can check multiple threats, from Swellow to non-Focus Blast Jynx. It also functions as a solid pivot, as it can set Stealth Rock and paralyze half a team with Thunder Wave, then Volt Switch out. Power Gem and Earth Power both check Fire-types, but provide different coverage (Power Gem helps with Butterfree and has STAB, while Earth Power lets Probopass hurt some common switch-ins such as Golem). Volt Switch is the momentum move, allowing the mustachioed compass to switch out of battle as it pleases. http://sprites.pokecheck.org/icon/348.pngArmaldo @ Leftovers, Battle Armor | #13 Adamant Nature; 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe Rapid Spin / Stone Edge / X-Scissor / Earthquake or Stealth Rock What does it do? Armaldo is the most common Rapid Spin user in NU, and for good reason. It's got a great base 125 Attack and two great STAB moves, so it's sure to scare off quite a few Pokemon and most of the hazard setters. It's pitifully slow, though, and it's weak to every kind of entry hazard, so be cautious. Armaldo can also lay Stealth Rock on its own, if you're willing to give up the coverage that Earthquake brings. Stone Edge is its most powerful move; however, if the dismal accuracy of Stone Edge bothers you, you can always opt for the less-powerful Rock Slide. X-Scissor covers Grass-types and in combination with Stone Edge, hits most of the metagame neutrally. http://sprites.pokecheck.org/icon/334.pngAltaria @ Leftovers, Natural Cure | #14 Adamant Nature; 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe Dragon Dance / Dragon Claw / Earthquake / Roost What does it do? Aside from being the only fully-evolved Dragon-type in NU, Altaria has a wide variety of roles it can perform. It can act as a specially defensive cleric with Roost and Heal Bell, a physical brute with Dragon Dance (the listed set), or it can surprise counters with a Choice Specs Draco Meteor. Altaria's typing is very good in NU, allowing it to switch in on various attacks and take little damage, then proceed to set up or do whatever. Altaria isn't immediately dangerous thanks to meh 70 / 70 offensive stats, but it's pretty bulky, and can definitely spell doom if you let it boost too much. Bold Nature; 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD Giga Drain / Sleep Powder / Hidden Power Rock or Hidden Power Ice / Leech Seed What does it do? Tangela is by far the best physical wall available in NU. When equipped with an Eviolite, Tangela's defensive capabilities are equivalent of Skarmory's, although Tangela doesn't have Spikes or Whirlwind. Instead, Tangela has Regenerator, which is an amazing ability, and Giga Drain for recovery and STAB. Sleep Powder is invaluable, although Tangela must beware incoming Magmortar. HP Rock will damage most everything that Tangela's STAB won't (Swellow, Magmortar), but HP Ice often helps against opposing Grass-types like Leafeon. Leech Seed is the final move, and can prevent Pokemon like Magmortar from switching in as easily as they might think. http://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/006.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/272.gifhttp://sprites.pokecheck.org/i/586-autumn.giftl;dr: No, go back and read it. It's all relevant information, and if you want to play NU you best learn about what's in it! Okay, okay, Vrai, I read all that. What do I do now?Well... now, you build a team and test it on the server! There are a ton of Pokemon you can use, and if you want to know their best sets... well, you can just click here and find out! The link I just gave you is a list of all of the Pokemon who have analyses available for NU, although not all of them are done yet (namely, Camerupt, Eelektross, Skuntank, Carracosta, and Granbull aren't done, as well as the newcomers). You can certainly use those Pokemon in the top 15 if you want, but there's a whole world of opportunities for you to explore, and many that I haven't talked about here yet! References and ResourcesList of NU Pokemon analyses A list of all Pokemon in NU, save NFEs (remember, you can sort these by their stats by clicking on the arrows next to each stat!) NU usage statistics Smogon's current NU discussion thread (use this to see what experienced players have to say about the metagame and the sets/Pokemon they are using!) --- Anyway, I hope I didn't go too incredibly tl;dr on you, but I also hope this was a thorough introduction to the NU metagame (and I hope I didn't forget anything ;;)! There's a lot to be said, learned, and discussed, so please post your thoughts and experiences! I'll be on PC's PO server and I'll definitely play an NU match or two if you want, and hopefully so will a lot of other people. I'm excited and looking forward to see all of you who want to try out NU! |
hello people this was made to be posted in and discussed!! :(
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Indeed!
Well I've read through it twice. I will be making a team tomorrow (waaaay too busy 'cause of family stuff today, frown) and look forward to getting shredded by you, Vrai. ;) Out of curiosity, is Knock Off ever seen to mess with Pokemon that rely on Eviolite? If not, is it too uncommon on good Pokemon/gimmicky in general? I love me some Knock Off. Why isn't Regirock seen more? It seems like he could be useful given his two status options, access to Stealth Rock, and very good and well-placed stats. He's also really cool! But yeah, definitely can't wait to try this out. The lack of ugly Gen 5 mons is especially appealing. |
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I definitely love the name of this thread!
but yea, after being an OU ***** ever since DPP came out, BW is when I first entered the fray of the lower tiers. But definitely NU is a creative tier, not everyone runs standard sets, and some of the pokemon can be downright broken as $%^&. I didn't know that magmortar was #1 though, i might have to implement that on my team |
Yeah its fun, but i seem to be getting more than my daily dose of stupid from the ladder too. I mean im in the top 20 and i keep seeing dumb as hell pokemon and sets, for example Endure F(l)ail Pikachu, Specs HP Fire Oshawott. ._.
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Yay not included at above :x oh also adding to my list of annoying Pokemon is Swellow (plus for those that don't know - Absol, scarf Sawk and Egg Cute). Most of those are situational though so as long as all four aren't on the same team I'm okay :x
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Ooh, I love NU. So many oppurtunities for different teams. The most annoying mons are Lickillilies and Throhs. Ugh. :c
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i Like to play UU RU and NU cause theres no weather horts and we can make random team with new techniques ^^
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Hm, should try this someday... thx for the guide, Vrai! >.<
*loads LC team* |
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Cool Title. And even a cooler guide. I admit, I never look at any other tier except Uber, OU, and the occasional UU. But NU looks promising. i'll try playing with it when I get back home.
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NU is the best tier, give it a go people!
nice to see you trying to spread it on here zeb, although a quick warning to the people about the new threats that dropped down and how to beat them (i.e. altaria/flareon for zard, and absol for modt weather etc) might be useful :p |
Oy, might as well start making a team to keep up....what a drag! xp
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I really like your post! Down here you almost never see your team helplessly swept 6-0 or stalled to 213 turn (happened to me once by Gliscor, Hippowdon and Reuniclus). And Pikachu is back for more too. I think you missed one destroyer down here, Clamperl. It's one of the only Pokémon can sweep 6 Pokémon with ease wit 900 SAtk. But personally I prefer Little Cup cuz Pokémons are so much cuter but almost functioning the same way.
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I enjoy watching battle videos where one player sweeps an OU team with a NFE or NU pokemon.
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Anyways, NU is a fun tier and I'd really like to get back into it after I accomplish my goals for other tiers; this seems like a nice platform to do so ^_~ |
As I said before, have you guys seen clamperl in action? After Shell Smash, every thing is pretty much OHKO, only some stay with red health. I was swept 6-0 by that $&@! thing (while trying NU)
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kay so I think my favourites for this tier are basically just two fighting ones. XD; Sawk/Gurdurr are amazing in different ways and and and... ya, only thing I find annoying mostly is Jynx. Absol/Sawk ([email protected] before) aren't as annoying imo.
Also Gurdurr overcomes Doronjo's secret weapon. ;) |
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i just use my favorites when i play. i get tired of seeing the same pokemon when theres over 400 to use but since theyre strong thats another reason why they use em over n over but it'd be nice to see other pokemon than metragross over n over. i havent really seen that many a variety even in the last B/W global tourney. only a few were from this list.
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we have successfully enslaved jynx
discuss |
shnen i love your posts.
I PERSONALLY am pleased, since I noticed basically all of my teams are/were Jynx-weak and this makes me very happy since one less thing to be annoyed about :3 |
So, does this mean that Jynx is banned from NU? Or moved to RU? I don't quite understand what happened to her.
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