NU Team - Comfey Sweeps
Apr 20, 2019, 06:07 AM
(This post was last modified: Apr 20, 2019, 06:38 AM by Bucsfan818.)
Hello there everyone! Hope all is well with you! So yesterday I posted a thread about the best sweeper in NU, Comfey, over in the "Competitive Moveset Discussion" forum. If you are reading this and immediately think "Wait, Comfey?!? Seriously?!?" then I would suggest you go and read that thread before this one so you can understand why Comfey is so good in the NU meta. Now, in that thread I mentioned at the end that I would do a team write up for the team I built around Comfey. Well, here we are. Im going to do everyone a favor and put the entire team in the beginning in a spoiler in case you just want the team and dont care about my thought process and how I built it. So, without further ado, lets get started!
Full team is here:
The way I would recommend building a team is to start with Identifying a Pokemon that you want to use, come up with a role for it, then build a core around it to help it succeed at that role. That Pokemon for me was Comfey. I wanted to use Comfey and the role I wanted was for it to be a set-up sweeper for mid-late games. So here is my set:
![[Image: comfey.gif]](http://www.pkparaiso.com/imagenes/sol-luna/sprites/animados/comfey.gif)
Comfey @ Life Orb
Ability: Triage
EVs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ground]
So if you haven't read the Comfey moveset thread, I will give a quick explanation. Comfey's ability, Triage, gives all health stealing moves +3 priority. So Draining Kiss and Giga Drain will always attack first. Because those moves will always attack first, Speed EVs aren't as important. The 20 Speed EVs allow Comfey to outspeed Max Speed base 60 Pokemon, mainly Incineroar. 252 SpA EVs with a Modest Nature and Life Orb let Comfey hit as hard as possible with it's priority moves. The rest of the EVs went in HP to give Comfey added bulk. Calm Mind is to set-up to help aid the sweep. Hidden Power Ground is coverage against Pokemon that resist Fairy/Grass type attacks. Mainly Steelix and Delphox.
I identified the Pokemon I wanted to use. I have an intended role for it. Now its time to build around it. There are 3 types that really prevent Comfey from sweeping. Fire, Poison, and Steel. Those 3 types resist Comfey's priority moves. So, I needed to add some Pokemon who can eliminate those 3 types. And, well, I went a somewhat unique route with it by not only choosing 2 Pokemon that aren't seen much on the NU ladder, but I gave 1 of them a pretty crazy set.
Before I talk about the 2 Pokemon I chose, I'm just gonna run through some of the options for these roles I thought of originally. Remember, the goal of these 2 Pokemon are to break through Fire, Poison, and Steel types. Delphox was the 1st Pokemon that came to mind as it's STAB attacks are Super Effective against 2 of those types, but tbh I just made a post about another NU team last week and that team included Delphox so I didn't want to use it again. Slowking crossed my mind because, again, its STAB attacks were strong against 2 of those types, but a lot of the Pokemon I needed to break through were SpD walls so i didn't want a Special Attacker as my main breaker. So that kind of narrowed it down to 2 Pokemon for me, Medicham and Gallade. Both are Fighting/Psychic types so their STAB attacks also hit 2 types Super Effectively. I ended up choosing Gallade for the job over Medicham for 3 specific reasons. So lets look at the set and I will explain:
![[Image: gallade.gif]](https://www.pkparaiso.com/imagenes/xy/sprites/animados/gallade.gif)
Gallade @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Psycho Cut
- Knock Off
Like I said, there are 3 reasons why I chose Gallade over Medicham. And they are:
1) Gallade has a way to beat Psychic types like Delphox and Slowking because of Knock Off
2) Gallade has a better set-up move than Medicham in Swords Dance
3) Close Combat is a more reliable STAB Fighting attack than Medicham's High Jump Kick.
Gallade's dual STAB Fighting/Psychic type attacks hit Steel and Poison types for Super Effective damage. On top of that, the 2 fire types I was worried about the most, Delphox and Incineroar, are also weak to Gallade's coverage moves. I'm running a standard Max Attack and Speed EV spread with a Jolly nature. Life Orb is for added power so Gallade can break walls more efficiently. Knock Off is to hit Psychic types like the aforementioned Delphox and Slowking who would otherwise check Gallade. Justified is the ability of choice to punish Knock Off spam.
So now that Gallade is on the team, I went back to looking at the 3 types I needed to beat because I didn't want to only have 1 Pokemon responsible for that role. One thing I noticed was that Water/Ground type Pokemon resisted all 3 types and hit them all Super Effectively. Now there is only 1 Water/Ground type Pokemon in NU, but if you go into the ranks of PU, there are actually 4 Water/Ground types I had to choose from. They are Seismitoad, Gastrodon, Quagsire, and Whiscash. Quagsire is not an offensive Pokemon so it was eliminated from the debate quickly. Whiscash was also eliminated quickly because I didnt want a 3rd set-up Pokemon. So it was between Seismitoad and Gastrodon. I chose Gastrodon over Seismitoad for 1 very big reason, and I made a fun set out of it.
![[Image: gastrodon.gif]](https://www.pkparaiso.com/imagenes/xy/sprites/animados/gastrodon.gif)
Gastrodon @ Icium Z
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 84 HP / 252 SpA / 172 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Recover
Yes, you are reading this correctly. This is an offensive Gastrodon with Subzero Slammer. That is the main reason I picked Gastrodon over Seismitoad. Seismitoad doesnt have a reliable way to deal with some of the Poison types that aren't weak to Ground like Golbat and Vileplume. Gastrodon does. Plus Gastrodon has a way to boost its own SpA with Storm Drain. The EV spread is interesting. Obviously Modest with max SpA for max power, but the 172 Speed EVs allow Gastrodon to outspeed uninvested base 60 Pokemon and lower. Defensive Incineroar and Vileplume are the 2 I care about the most. The rest of the EVs just went into HP for bulk. Scald and Earth Power are the 2 STAB moves of choice. The 30% burn Scald has still has value which is why I'm running it over the stronger Surf. Ice Beam is to hit Vileplume and Golbat with Subzero Slammer being a nuke with OHKO potential depending on the set. I will put calcs below. Recover is to keep Gastrodon alive for longer. Gastrodon is also 1 of my 3 Heliolisk checks.
Subzero Slammer Calcs:
So I have my offensive core in place. Now I felt like I needed Hazard Support to add extra chip damage to make the roles of these 3 Pokemon I already talked about easier.
There wasn't as much thought process here. I had a good idea of the 2 Pokemon I wanted to use for these roles on the team already. So lets just get into it.
![[Image: dhelmise.gif]](https://www.pkparaiso.com/imagenes/sol-luna/sprites/animados/dhelmise.gif)
Dhelmise @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Steelworker
EVs: 156 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power Whip
- Anchor Shot
- Rapid Spin
- Synthesis
Dhelmise was the Pokemon I wanted to use as my Rapid Spinner. The Colbur berry kind of turns Dhelmise into a Choice Scarf Passimian check as it can live it's Knock Offs and helps it to not be Pursuit trapped by Sneasel. The 100 Speed EVs allows it to hit the same Speed as my Gastrodon set, so it outspeeds the same things. Adamant max Attack for power. The rest in HP for bulk. Power Whip is Dhelmise's strongest Attack and allows Dhelmise to defeat most hazard setters in the tier such as Rhydon and Steelix. Anchor Shot is another "STAB" attack thanks to the Steelworker ability and it is nice for trapping Pokemon in with Dhelmise that can't beat it 1 on 1 or allows me to bring in another Pokemon safely in certain situations. Synthesis is to keep Dhelmise healthy. Thanks to its Grass/Ghost typing, Dhelmise also acts as a spin blocker because it is immune to Rapid Spin and Dhelimise is also my 2nd Heliolisk check as long as it isn't running Dark Pulse as it's coverage move.
![[Image: rhydon.gif]](https://www.pkparaiso.com/imagenes/xy/sprites/animados/rhydon.gif)
Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Toxic
Dehlmise is my way to remove Hazards, Rhydon is my way to set them. First let me explain the EV spread. Max HP to increase Rhydon's overall bulk. 16 Atk is interesting. So the way EVs work is for every 4 EVs you put in a stat, that stat goes up by 1 point. For whatever reason, going from 12 EVs in Rhydon's Attack to 16 makes it's Attack stat go up by 2. So that's why the 16 EVs are there. The rest went into SpD to help with Rhydon's weak special bulk as much as possible. Stealth Rock is almost a must have on any competitive team. Rock Blast and Earthquake are Rhydon's STAB moves of choice. I run Rock Blast over Stone Edge because Rock Blast is better for Substitute users like Braviary and it beats Focus Sash leads. Toxic is to cripple walls that like to switch in to Rhydon to make things easier for Comfey late game.
For the last spot on the team, I wanted a Pokemon that could be a Pivot for the team. A Pokemon that I could switch in on weaker Attacks and then U-Turn or Volt Switch out to gain momentum and get my Offensive Pokemon in safely. So I decided to use the best Pivot in the tier.
![[Image: incineroar.gif]](http://www.pkparaiso.com/imagenes/sol-luna/sprites/animados/incineroar.gif)
Incineroar @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 240 HP / 136 Def / 132 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- Knock Off
- Fire Blast
- U-turn
- Earthquake
Incineroar is a very threatening Pokemon in NU right now. Its utility with Knock Off and U-Turn make it an incredible Pivot in the tier. Plus Intimidate is nice to weaken the attacks of Opposing Pokemon. The EV Spread is to just improve Incineroar's all around bulk. Sassy nature with 30 Speed IVs is so that I am always slower than Opposing Incineroar so I get momentum off of U-Turn, but still faster than uninvested base 50 Speed Pokemon like Rhydon and Vileplume. Fire Blast is run over Flare Blitz to hit Steelix harder and so Incineroar doesn't take recoil damage. Earthquake is to hit opposing Fire Types like opposing Incineroar as well as common Fire checks like Rhydon. The Iapapa berry gives Incineroar a form of recovery as long as it doesn't get knocked off.
The goal of this team is to just weaken Comfey's checks to the point where Comfey is able to sweep at the end of the game. Once your opponent has no answer to Comfey, Comfey becomes difficult to defeat because nothing outspeeds it. Focus on eliminating Fire, Poison, and Steel types early game. Gallade can do that with an SD boost or Gastrodon can surprise pokemon like Vileplume and Golbat with Subzero Slammer. It's a fun team to use and kind of a unique one because of Gallade and Gastrodon.
1 way to improve the team, as sad as it is for me to type this, is by removing Gastrodon. Its fun, but its a bit too much of a Gimmick for this team to be viable competitively. Plus, Rhydon is capable at doing most of what Gastrodon is supposed to do anyway. Outside of Comfey, the team is lacking Speed. I haven't tested any replacements, but Scarf Braviary would probably be the 1st one I try.
So here are a few battles that demonstrate how strong Comfey is. Its sweeping ability is insane. The 1st battle on the list is a perfect example.
I really enjoy doing these write ups so I'm going to keep finding new and fun sets to use and build around so I can keep making them. Hope you all enjoyed this write up and I hope you all have a wonderful day
Full team is here:
The Start
The way I would recommend building a team is to start with Identifying a Pokemon that you want to use, come up with a role for it, then build a core around it to help it succeed at that role. That Pokemon for me was Comfey. I wanted to use Comfey and the role I wanted was for it to be a set-up sweeper for mid-late games. So here is my set:
Comfey @ Life Orb
Ability: Triage
EVs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ground]
So if you haven't read the Comfey moveset thread, I will give a quick explanation. Comfey's ability, Triage, gives all health stealing moves +3 priority. So Draining Kiss and Giga Drain will always attack first. Because those moves will always attack first, Speed EVs aren't as important. The 20 Speed EVs allow Comfey to outspeed Max Speed base 60 Pokemon, mainly Incineroar. 252 SpA EVs with a Modest Nature and Life Orb let Comfey hit as hard as possible with it's priority moves. The rest of the EVs went in HP to give Comfey added bulk. Calm Mind is to set-up to help aid the sweep. Hidden Power Ground is coverage against Pokemon that resist Fairy/Grass type attacks. Mainly Steelix and Delphox.
I identified the Pokemon I wanted to use. I have an intended role for it. Now its time to build around it. There are 3 types that really prevent Comfey from sweeping. Fire, Poison, and Steel. Those 3 types resist Comfey's priority moves. So, I needed to add some Pokemon who can eliminate those 3 types. And, well, I went a somewhat unique route with it by not only choosing 2 Pokemon that aren't seen much on the NU ladder, but I gave 1 of them a pretty crazy set.
The Breakers
Before I talk about the 2 Pokemon I chose, I'm just gonna run through some of the options for these roles I thought of originally. Remember, the goal of these 2 Pokemon are to break through Fire, Poison, and Steel types. Delphox was the 1st Pokemon that came to mind as it's STAB attacks are Super Effective against 2 of those types, but tbh I just made a post about another NU team last week and that team included Delphox so I didn't want to use it again. Slowking crossed my mind because, again, its STAB attacks were strong against 2 of those types, but a lot of the Pokemon I needed to break through were SpD walls so i didn't want a Special Attacker as my main breaker. So that kind of narrowed it down to 2 Pokemon for me, Medicham and Gallade. Both are Fighting/Psychic types so their STAB attacks also hit 2 types Super Effectively. I ended up choosing Gallade for the job over Medicham for 3 specific reasons. So lets look at the set and I will explain:
Gallade @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Psycho Cut
- Knock Off
Like I said, there are 3 reasons why I chose Gallade over Medicham. And they are:
1) Gallade has a way to beat Psychic types like Delphox and Slowking because of Knock Off
2) Gallade has a better set-up move than Medicham in Swords Dance
3) Close Combat is a more reliable STAB Fighting attack than Medicham's High Jump Kick.
Gallade's dual STAB Fighting/Psychic type attacks hit Steel and Poison types for Super Effective damage. On top of that, the 2 fire types I was worried about the most, Delphox and Incineroar, are also weak to Gallade's coverage moves. I'm running a standard Max Attack and Speed EV spread with a Jolly nature. Life Orb is for added power so Gallade can break walls more efficiently. Knock Off is to hit Psychic types like the aforementioned Delphox and Slowking who would otherwise check Gallade. Justified is the ability of choice to punish Knock Off spam.
So now that Gallade is on the team, I went back to looking at the 3 types I needed to beat because I didn't want to only have 1 Pokemon responsible for that role. One thing I noticed was that Water/Ground type Pokemon resisted all 3 types and hit them all Super Effectively. Now there is only 1 Water/Ground type Pokemon in NU, but if you go into the ranks of PU, there are actually 4 Water/Ground types I had to choose from. They are Seismitoad, Gastrodon, Quagsire, and Whiscash. Quagsire is not an offensive Pokemon so it was eliminated from the debate quickly. Whiscash was also eliminated quickly because I didnt want a 3rd set-up Pokemon. So it was between Seismitoad and Gastrodon. I chose Gastrodon over Seismitoad for 1 very big reason, and I made a fun set out of it.
Gastrodon @ Icium Z
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 84 HP / 252 SpA / 172 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Recover
Yes, you are reading this correctly. This is an offensive Gastrodon with Subzero Slammer. That is the main reason I picked Gastrodon over Seismitoad. Seismitoad doesnt have a reliable way to deal with some of the Poison types that aren't weak to Ground like Golbat and Vileplume. Gastrodon does. Plus Gastrodon has a way to boost its own SpA with Storm Drain. The EV spread is interesting. Obviously Modest with max SpA for max power, but the 172 Speed EVs allow Gastrodon to outspeed uninvested base 60 Pokemon and lower. Defensive Incineroar and Vileplume are the 2 I care about the most. The rest of the EVs just went into HP for bulk. Scald and Earth Power are the 2 STAB moves of choice. The 30% burn Scald has still has value which is why I'm running it over the stronger Surf. Ice Beam is to hit Vileplume and Golbat with Subzero Slammer being a nuke with OHKO potential depending on the set. I will put calcs below. Recover is to keep Gastrodon alive for longer. Gastrodon is also 1 of my 3 Heliolisk checks.
Subzero Slammer Calcs:
So I have my offensive core in place. Now I felt like I needed Hazard Support to add extra chip damage to make the roles of these 3 Pokemon I already talked about easier.
Hazard Support
There wasn't as much thought process here. I had a good idea of the 2 Pokemon I wanted to use for these roles on the team already. So lets just get into it.
Dhelmise @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Steelworker
EVs: 156 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power Whip
- Anchor Shot
- Rapid Spin
- Synthesis
Dhelmise was the Pokemon I wanted to use as my Rapid Spinner. The Colbur berry kind of turns Dhelmise into a Choice Scarf Passimian check as it can live it's Knock Offs and helps it to not be Pursuit trapped by Sneasel. The 100 Speed EVs allows it to hit the same Speed as my Gastrodon set, so it outspeeds the same things. Adamant max Attack for power. The rest in HP for bulk. Power Whip is Dhelmise's strongest Attack and allows Dhelmise to defeat most hazard setters in the tier such as Rhydon and Steelix. Anchor Shot is another "STAB" attack thanks to the Steelworker ability and it is nice for trapping Pokemon in with Dhelmise that can't beat it 1 on 1 or allows me to bring in another Pokemon safely in certain situations. Synthesis is to keep Dhelmise healthy. Thanks to its Grass/Ghost typing, Dhelmise also acts as a spin blocker because it is immune to Rapid Spin and Dhelimise is also my 2nd Heliolisk check as long as it isn't running Dark Pulse as it's coverage move.
Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Toxic
Dehlmise is my way to remove Hazards, Rhydon is my way to set them. First let me explain the EV spread. Max HP to increase Rhydon's overall bulk. 16 Atk is interesting. So the way EVs work is for every 4 EVs you put in a stat, that stat goes up by 1 point. For whatever reason, going from 12 EVs in Rhydon's Attack to 16 makes it's Attack stat go up by 2. So that's why the 16 EVs are there. The rest went into SpD to help with Rhydon's weak special bulk as much as possible. Stealth Rock is almost a must have on any competitive team. Rock Blast and Earthquake are Rhydon's STAB moves of choice. I run Rock Blast over Stone Edge because Rock Blast is better for Substitute users like Braviary and it beats Focus Sash leads. Toxic is to cripple walls that like to switch in to Rhydon to make things easier for Comfey late game.
For the last spot on the team, I wanted a Pokemon that could be a Pivot for the team. A Pokemon that I could switch in on weaker Attacks and then U-Turn or Volt Switch out to gain momentum and get my Offensive Pokemon in safely. So I decided to use the best Pivot in the tier.
Incineroar @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 240 HP / 136 Def / 132 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- Knock Off
- Fire Blast
- U-turn
- Earthquake
Incineroar is a very threatening Pokemon in NU right now. Its utility with Knock Off and U-Turn make it an incredible Pivot in the tier. Plus Intimidate is nice to weaken the attacks of Opposing Pokemon. The EV Spread is to just improve Incineroar's all around bulk. Sassy nature with 30 Speed IVs is so that I am always slower than Opposing Incineroar so I get momentum off of U-Turn, but still faster than uninvested base 50 Speed Pokemon like Rhydon and Vileplume. Fire Blast is run over Flare Blitz to hit Steelix harder and so Incineroar doesn't take recoil damage. Earthquake is to hit opposing Fire Types like opposing Incineroar as well as common Fire checks like Rhydon. The Iapapa berry gives Incineroar a form of recovery as long as it doesn't get knocked off.
Team Summary
The goal of this team is to just weaken Comfey's checks to the point where Comfey is able to sweep at the end of the game. Once your opponent has no answer to Comfey, Comfey becomes difficult to defeat because nothing outspeeds it. Focus on eliminating Fire, Poison, and Steel types early game. Gallade can do that with an SD boost or Gastrodon can surprise pokemon like Vileplume and Golbat with Subzero Slammer. It's a fun team to use and kind of a unique one because of Gallade and Gastrodon.
1 way to improve the team, as sad as it is for me to type this, is by removing Gastrodon. Its fun, but its a bit too much of a Gimmick for this team to be viable competitively. Plus, Rhydon is capable at doing most of what Gastrodon is supposed to do anyway. Outside of Comfey, the team is lacking Speed. I haven't tested any replacements, but Scarf Braviary would probably be the 1st one I try.
Pokemon Showdown Replays
So here are a few battles that demonstrate how strong Comfey is. Its sweeping ability is insane. The 1st battle on the list is a perfect example.
I really enjoy doing these write ups so I'm going to keep finding new and fun sets to use and build around so I can keep making them. Hope you all enjoyed this write up and I hope you all have a wonderful day
