The Neverused Tier

[jesusfreak94]

I'm sorry if this comes out rude, but this set is terrible. While baton-passing ninjask is okay, it's become much worse after SD and speed boost together was banned, which was quite some time ago. All you are passing in this set is speed boosts, and with ninjask's fragility, even when using protect, you'll get very few boosts as almost everything OHKOs ninjask. (Which makes your EVs absolutely asinine, but I won't get into that.)

To make matters worse, substitute drains a quarter of your maximum HP, and you'll need 4 leftovers boosts to get the HP back. How is ninjask going to survive 4 turns without taking a single ounce of damage? Yeah, you'll get 2 protects, but even the most simple minded individual will be able to predict the protect pattern.

This is all not even considering that if you're hit with taunt you can't do anything at all. I don't know what you're talking about in your other post, taunt is very common.

The only move to ever be banned alongside Baton Pass is Shell Smash. SDPassing was never banned. Besides, the set posted is pretty much the standard set, just with some EV changes and Toxic > X-Scissor. The goal is just to spam Sub and Protect to accumulate enough speed to pass to an offensive receiver, not to stall. Ninjask doesn't need to worry about running out of HP with Sub, since it can stall for 13 turns (maybe 15 with proper HP investment, I can't remember) to get more than enough speed just by hitting Protect -> Sub -> Protect -> Sub over and over. Being Taunt bait kinda sucks, but it's not that bad considering Toxic is probably going to do a lot more damage in the log run than X-Scissor. Taunt is even less of a problem when you realize that Ninjask is so ridiculously fast, it can just BP away before the Taunt even hits.

EDIT: Wow, ninja'd twice. Why did those posts not show up when I previewed this post? 0.o

Oh yeah, and let me just say that this core is pretty incredible in NU. Kind of an offensive core with a little defensive backbone.

Musharna @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SDef
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Moonlight
- Baton Pass

Combusken @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Focus Blast
- Substitute
- Protect

Skuntank @ Life Orb
Trait: Aftermath
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Taunt
- Poison Jab

Musharna naturally lures in Dark and Bug type attacks, especially Pursuit trappers like Absol and Skuntank. Once it has a CM or two set up, it can BP the boosts to Combusken, who eats Bug attacks and (most) Dark attacks for breakfast. Even without a boost, Combusken naturally 2HKOs most of the tier with either Fire Blast or Focus Blast, so it has the potential to do even more damage when you give it a boost or two. Most of the Pokemon in NU that Combusken really has trouble with are bulky Psychic types like opposing Musharna, which Skuntank takes care of. Kind of a twist on the classic Psychic/Fighting/Dark cores.

[#SwoobatForUbers]

I actually find Swoobat to be a underrated major threat. With Simple, Calm Mind, and Stored Power, it can put major dents in the opponent with just 1 turn of set-up, plus it can set up on special attackers reasonably well with +4 Amnesia, and that boost only further empowers Stored Power. Combine that with a nice base 114 speed that can outspeed a lot of Taunt users and you have a major threat when played right. Just watch out for priority. I've swept many a team with it.

[5221A]

I actually find Swoobat to be a underrated major threat. With Simple, Calm Mind, and Stored Power, it can put major dents in the opponent with just 1 turn of set-up, plus it can set up on special attackers reasonably well with +4 Amnesia, and that boost only further empowers Stored Power. Combine that with a nice base 114 speed that can outspeed a lot of Taunt users and you have a major threat when played right. Just watch out for priority. I've swept many a team with it.

Dont forget magic coat (since taunt users and rapid spinners are limited). You are right it is a treat, but not underrated i see a lot of them

[ParaChomp]

On topic of Ninjask on the previous page, I haven't been able to play it right with Regigigas. Any tips?

[jesusfreak94]

On topic of Ninjask on the previous page, I haven't been able to play it right with Regigigas. Any tips?

Yeah, don't use Regigigas.

If you're Baton Passing from Ninjask, the best receivers are those that have a lot of power but are held back by their lack of speed. I've found Marowak to be a great BP receiver since it hits like a nuke, it's pretty slow, and it switches into any random Electric and Rock type attacks aimed at Ninjask with ease. If you can get in a SD along the way, Marowak gets even more power.

If all you're doing is passing speed boosts, Octillery is another neat receiver to try. It has good SpA and a pretty wide movepool, but it also has the bonus of Suction Cups to keep from being phazed out. Even if you want to run a physical set on it to abuse SD boosts, it's not all that bad. You have a good STAB in Waterfall, and Bullet Seed and Rock Blast are always good moves to have for utility and coverage. The last move could be Fire Blast to get past Tangela or something.

[ParaChomp]

Yeah, don't use Regigigas.

If you're Baton Passing from Ninjask, the best receivers are those that have a lot of power but are held back by their lack of speed. I've found Marowak to be a great BP receiver since it hits like a nuke, it's pretty slow, and it switches into any random Electric and Rock type attacks aimed at Ninjask with ease. If you can get in a SD along the way, Marowak gets even more power.

If all you're doing is passing speed boosts, Octillery is another neat receiver to try. It has good SpA and a pretty wide movepool, but it also has the bonus of Suction Cups to keep from being phazed out. Even if you want to run a physical set on it to abuse SD boosts, it's not all that bad. You have a good STAB in Waterfall, and Bullet Seed and Rock Blast are always good moves to have for utility and coverage. The last move could be Fire Blast to get past Tangela or something.

That's the thing, 'Gigas is basically Uber without those stat drops and when those boosts kick in...I still has trouble...maybe it's my moveset. As for your mentions, they're typical and expected. As for me, I like being different by doing stuff like I mentioned.

[#SwoobatForUbers]

Dont forget magic coat (since taunt users and rapid spinners are limited). You are right it is a treat, but not underrated i see a lot of them

Huh...I've been away from competitive for a bit, but I recently did a bit of Showdown laddering, and saw hardly any Swoobat.

[5221A]

That's the thing, 'Gigas is basically Uber without those stat drops and when those boosts kick in...I still has trouble...maybe it's my moveset. As for your mentions, they're typical and expected. As for me, I like being different by doing stuff like I mentioned.

The Ninjask set i gave works, only SD> Toxic. As for Regigigas try this (it shoud be with its normal stats after 2 Speed boosts and S 1 SD)
Regigigas @Leftovers / Life Orb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpDef
Adamant Nature
-Drain Punch / Thunder Wave
-Stone Edge / Confuse Ray / Dizzy Punch
-Iron Head
-Return

Also I found a great core in Amoonguss and Audino, walling lots of threats in the tire:
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpAtk
Bold Nature
Trait: Regenerator
-Clear Smog
-Hidden Power [Ice]
-Giga Drain
-Spore

Audion @Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / SpDef
Careful Nature
Trait: Regenerator
-Wish
-Protect
-Heal Bell
-Return
Woeks even better with Alomomola, due to it liking Heal Bell and counters swellow and the likes.
PO statistics say that Swobat are used in 3.72% of the battels

[Valkyria!]

Seems to be a lack of reliable spinners in NU. Torkoal is currently the one I use, (max HP + Def, Bold nature) and is also my hazard setter. Tentacool is also a good one, with eviolite and toxic spikes.

[locket]

Oh yeah, and let me just say that this core is pretty incredible in NU. Kind of an offensive core with a little defensive backbone.

snip

Musharna naturally lures in Dark and Bug type attacks, especially Pursuit trappers like Absol and Skuntank. Once it has a CM or two set up, it can BP the boosts to Combusken, who eats Bug attacks and (most) Dark attacks for breakfast. Even without a boost, Combusken naturally 2HKOs most of the tier with either Fire Blast or Focus Blast, so it has the potential to do even more damage when you give it a boost or two. Most of the Pokemon in NU that Combusken really has trouble with are bulky Psychic types like opposing Musharna, which Skuntank takes care of. Kind of a twist on the classic Psychic/Fighting/Dark cores.

that's a really neat core! :)
i used the exact same musharna set except with 252 hp / 232 def / 24 spe to out-speedcreep amoonguss and like you said, it's a really great dark-type lure but also one of the best fighting-type counter/checks out there. i paired this with gurdurr as an effective way to clean out absol and skuntank without fearing their attacks.

i also used musharna with an offensive core of rain dance mantine and special samurott with aqua jet. although none of the three really help each other with their weaknesses (although musharna can pick off a weakened amoonguss), a passed calm mind boost is sometimes great i suppose.

however, my main point here is that a double special-attacking water core is amazing. ludicolo/mantine plus samurott is great.
ludicolo with hydro pump / giga drain / ice beam / rain dance (or mantine with hydro pump / air slash / ice beam / rain dance) plus samurott with hydro pump / ice beam / grass knot / aqua jet or megahorn is what i've been messing around with. it probably seems redundant, but water/ice/grass is perfect coverage and breaks down defensive cores (alomomola, amoonguss) with the help of hazards in some cases. i just don't like how all three of these have to run a +spe nature (they really could've used the extra power) but base 70 is actually a complicated speed tier where they need to be outspeeding each other and other things that share similar speed. what one of them may not be able to handle with breaking down a core, the other can finish off. from there, having a physical attacker such as zangoose can pretty much finish off the rest of the opponent's team since it appreciates having those defensive cores weakened.

Dont forget magic coat (since taunt users and rapid spinners are limited). You are right it is a treat, but not underrated i see a lot of them

skuntank is a perfectly capable taunt user, and it's popular anyway since it handles psychic/ghost types.
nobody should even be running magic coat on swoobat since it gets ohko'd by most (or all) of the common stealth rock users. i'd rather use some other stealth rock lead that can also check flying and normal types since those are really threatening in the tier.
also, swoobat kind of suffers from four moveslots. calm mind with substitute is kind of the main draw to swoobat and it really needs that last slot for a coverage move. otherwise, you shouldn't be using swoobat at all.

[5221A]

I saw a Starmie set on PO the other day and it looks like it could work:

Staryu @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Cosmic Power
- Scald

The reason why one might choose Staryu over say, Wartortle to spin is because of two things (if not more). Starmie has reliable recovery in the move recover (derp) and also has natural cure which makes it good to eat up status. Unlike its big brother Starmie, it's purely water. By no means can this poke go offensive but it does its job well.

I also saw someone use this set, but Toxic>Cosmic Power. NU dose have more than a few spinners, but most have little use outside of spinning, but they all have there niches:
Wartortle has good bulk with Eviolite.
Starmie sucks up status and has a good form of recovery.
Armaldo has SD, good bulk and attack.
Baltoy has Immunity to spikes, Toxic Spikes and taks low damge from Stealth Rock.
Cryognal( I think it is NU) has Great Spd and SpDef.
Delibird is um... immune to sleep and toxic/spikes....
Spinda.... has a ok movepool?
Tentacool has good Special Bulk, ok SPd and sucks up Toxic Spikes
Tyrogre has noting good about him (that I know of) awfull stats.
Torkal has SR Bulk and a good movepool.

[locket]

I saw a Starmie set on PO the other day and it looks like it could work:

I also saw someone use this set, but Toxic>Cosmic Power. NU dose have more than a few spinners, but most have little use outside of spinning, but they all have there niches:
Wartortle has good bulk with Eviolite.
Starmie sucks up status and has a good form of recovery.
Armaldo has SD, good bulk and attack.
Baltoy has Immunity to spikes, Toxic Spikes and taks low damge from Stealth Rock.
Cryognal( I think it is NU) has Great Spd and SpDef.
Delibird is um... immune to sleep and toxic/spikes....
Spinda.... has a ok movepool?
Tentacool has good Special Bulk, ok SPd and sucks up Toxic Spikes
Tyrogre has noting good about him (that I know of) awfull stats.
Torkal has SR Bulk and a good movepool.

here's the thing though: what would a competent player (in other words, not a random ladder idiot) use?
i meant to reply to the whole rapid spin issue because i saw the mention of tentacool and all i can say is that it is nothing near usable in my opinion.
but anyway, i'll just make my general statement now that there's more on it.

eviolite spinners are just so pathetically weak that it's not even worth it to even try to use them. they follow the same fate as defensive alomomola and amoonguss do--too many things set up on them.

wartortle is 48th in usage stats. the good news: it's being used less. the bad news: it's still being used enough to warrant such a high and undeserving place. wartortle does not deserve to have the usage that it has for the reason i stated above. rapid spin? can't beat all spinblockers. it can beat golurk?

choice band golurk (4 hp / 252 atk):
choice band earthquake: 208-246 (64.59 - 76.39%) -- guaranteed 2hko
scald: 146-174 (45.62 - 54.37%) -- 48.83% chance to 2hko

utility golurk (76 hp / 252 atk):
earthquake: 139-165 (43.16 - 51.24%) -- 4.69% chance to 2hko
dynamicpunch: 112-132 (34.78 - 40.99%) -- guaranteed 3hko
scald: 146-174 (43.19 - 51.47%) -- 6.25% chance to 2hko not including leftovers

maybe, but not if wartortle is weakened; even then, an earthquake (or hey, why not the unusual no guard dynamicpunch for the extra 50/50?) will dent wartortle to where it's easily picked off by whatever comes in next. wartortle's purpose was to spin, but even against golurk, it's likely that it probably couldn't even get to spin because it'll be at too low of an hp afterward.

now back to my point about being easily setup on, eviolite rapid spin users either have to forego a large amount of defensive investment in order to break substitutes of certain key threats, or they just have to hit shit damage and still lose. wartortle has haze. okay, cool. things like sub bu braviary still maintain a substitute in tact with good health as it brave birds wartortle or whatever wants to try to switch in. the spinner boost defenses. things like sub bu braviary or even sub sd offensive lickilicky (yes, it's actually a usable anti-metagame threat against walls) still do their job by matching defense with attack. it's not worth it to use a weak rapid spinner when it most likely means handing the match over just because you're letting something boost up.

if you had to choose one, maybe tentacool. but then again, toxic spikes are useless in nu with all the amoonguss and skuntank running around. i never understand why people set them up on me when i'm clearly running one of the two. it's just so idiotic.

for non-eviolite rapid spinners that are still shaky: spinda and delibird. delibird is self-explanatory; for spinda, it gets walled by ghosts. i'm assuming standard is rapid spin / superpower / return / sucker punch. golurk gets a free substitute or just takes nothing from an unboosted sucker punch. misdreavus gets to will-o-wisp and/or heal bell. haunter gets to sub and disable.

the only viable ones are armaldo and torkoal. armaldo can set up swords dance or stealth rock. it's not completely weak and can run various types of investment to beat what it needs to. i'm still not really in favor of armaldo though, because it's still extremely shaky against golurk and misdreavus. for torkoal, it can set up stealth rock too, but even rapid spin smashkoal is better than wartortle or any other eviolite user. shell smash as drifblim, golurk, or misdreavus comes in, kill them, then have a free opportunity to spin since torkoal will still have decent health. misdreavus isn't ohko'd, but it does a poor amount with shadow ball after the white herb. haunter outspeeds +2 torkoal, but what's not to say that you're not coming in on a fire blast?

also, if cryogonal was nu (it moved up to ru right before bw2 was released), it would be the almost on every team, charizard usage would go up, certain hazard setters would probably be used a bit less, and so on. nobody gives a crap about cryogonal being weak to stealth rock. it's immune to other hazards, can recover it off, and doesn't care about any special attacker. it even has the speed and offensive presence to be threatening. therefore, you can go offensive or defensive with cryogonal and beat any ghost type in nu.
and side note, cryogonal (alongside kabutops) is the best spinner in ru. it's like 6th in usage or something? people caught on to its usefulness while nu is now stuck with sub-par spinners.

there's my two cents on rapid spinning in nu. :)

tl;dr, wartortle, baltoy, staryu, and tentacool suck. do not use them. they're all weak.

[Blue Harvest]

Wartortle gets Foresight, meaning it can "beat" all spin blockers. In terms of pure Rapid Spinning it is unquestionably the best at getting rid of hazards. The Smogon analysis for Wartortle is pathetic, not mentioning Foresight once (aka one reason Hitmontop is so good in UU). While it lacks the offense of Armaldo, the defenses of Torkoal, and Leftovers / SR from either it is absolutely a superior spinner. It also has a wide movepool beyond just spinning (much more than the other two).

With Wish support Wartortle can last a very, very long time.

You can't seriously call Wartortle bad when Tentacool is as bad, if not worse. What does Tentacool do that Wartortle doesn't? Toxic Spike? As you said, useless in a tier full of Poison types. It auto-absorbs Toxic Spikes too, but I'm sure you can find some other Poison to run on your team.

It isn't a GOOD Pokemon, but NU doesn't really have any good spinners.

[5221A]

It isn't a GOOD Pokemon, but NU doesn't really have any good spinners.

That is why I mentiond Spinda (not Delibird, thats was just for lulz), I mean it sucks, A LOT.
Wartortle has huge bulk and a huge movepool, thats what you get from being around since 1st gen. And like I said, few spineers have use outside of spinning, but those few that do all have something difrent, amog the best Wartotle is there. It is set up bait, but if you are paranoied with that use Seismic toss, only (around) 27 Pokés subs are not broken (if investead) that are in NU, around 12 are used and around 4 commonly carry Sub in there move set. Of those 4 only Braviary and Thorth's subs are not broken by Scald. And Forsight helps with Ghosts. So I don't find it set up bait and like BH said it can last long with Wish support (don't forget Heal Bell). It also has base 80 deffeniise, bosted futher by Eviolite. It also has a great water typing.
But to contray what I said above about common in NU is not true, NU is unexpected. Every thing CAN shine there, that is what makes it so fun. It is a tire where Charzizard is vaible then you know that the tire is ment to use new things.
Take Politoed for example, it was vaible in NU gen 4, it also was vaible in UU. Now look at it, one ability made it the 4th most used poke in OU. A lot of usable Toed sets existe, form support to Speced. Same for Tauros set or Ursaring or Seaking sets. Heck I have swept with LO Seaking and been killed by Pikachu Light Orb. NU is made to try Scarfed Shuckle and CB Caterpei.
Just my weird 2 cents on Wartortle and NU

[Ninja Dewott]

I don't think you should pass NU off as a 'joke' tier designed to make silly sets for rubbish Pokemon. It can be very competitive and equally as awesome.

As for Wartortle, it is, for reasons mentioned by others, unquestionably the best spinner in NU. However, I find that there are so many things you need to consider in NU, that Wartortle can never really find a place in my team. It needs Wish Support, and although there are plenty of great Wish Passers in NU, I don't like using any of them and can never make any work out either.

[jesusfreak94]

I wouldn't say Wartortle is the best spinner in NU, just that it's pretty much the only one that will spin provided you're running Foresight. From my experience, Armaldo is undoubtedly the best spinner due to the fact that it's an excellent offensive threat, and its pretty bulky as well. It can also set up its own hazards as a bonus, if you're ever into that sort of thing.

The thing about Wartortle is that I think it's treated far too harshly. I honestly think it's just a case where a couple people say Wartortle is bad, and then everyone starts jumping on the "Wartortle is the worst thing since moldy sliced bread" bandwagon. There are two main complaints I hear about it, neither of which is as big a problem as everyone makes it out to be. The first is that it's setup bait, and why is that? Mainly because of its low SpA and therefore a weak Scald. It does fail to do a lot of damage to plenty of setup sweepers, and those with a Sub that can survive a Scald just terrorize Wartortle. The solution? Run Seismic Toss! Seriously, by the way some people talk, there's something inherently taboo about running Seismic Toss on this thing. Blissey, Chansey, and Dusclops all get away with it in their respective tiers. Deoxys-D and Xatu also use its twin, Night Shade, at times. There's also Haze, which honestly should shut this argument down on its own. No setup sweeper sets up on a Wartortle with Haze. There's also Yawn, which is a really underrated move. Due to the 5th Gen Sleep mechanics, Yawn effectively forces a switch or knocks out a Pokemon. If you predict a dangerous switch-in or a spin blocker, Yawn it. I can't tell you how many times I've deterred a spin blocker and got a spin off because they didn't want to fall asleep. It also stops any setup sweeper without Substitute.

The other main rejection is that Wartortle doesn't get past spin blockers. In all honestly, neither do Armaldo and Torkoal, which have been both called better spinners. Torkoal doesn't really get past Misdreavus without a burn or Yawn, which is exactly what people criticize Wartortle for. It also gets OHKOd a small percentage of the time by CB Golurk's Earthquake with no prior damage (not likely, since Torkoal's main purpose is getting rid of the hazards that will obviously hurt it), while physically defensive Wartortle survives a 2HKO most of the time. Armaldo doesn't really beat Golurk without Aqua Tail, which is going to cost you either one of its STABs or Earthquake/Superpower, it's primary coverage moves. It doesn't beat Misdreavus outright either without a Lum SD set or something. Wartortle isn't like them, though. It's not that it gets past spin blockers, it's just that it doesn't care. This means that if you run one set to take on one spin blocker, you're pretty much open to the other.

BH pretty much gave the details, but Foresight on Wartortle is a HUGE advantage. Since none of the spin blockers can OHKO it (besides some weird Specs Haunter running Thunder), it will get the spin off if it Foresights the Ghost on the switch. On a team I was using a little while back, I ran Foresight Wartortle as a spinner and to tank random moves, and it never failed to spin unless I played badly and wasted its HP switching in and out of stuff. I don't see why people don't emphasize Foresight on Wartortle. I mean, it's a slash on Blastoise's premier spinner set in UU, and it just gets an AC mention on Wartortle's analysis. BH already said this, but it's also the reason why Hitmontop is such a reliable spinner. It doesn't get past spin blockers either, but that never stopped it.

No, Wartortle isn't the best. But I'd easily say that it's the second best next to Torkoal (who still has to deal with pitiful special bulk, terrible defensive typing, and a weakness to Stealth Rock), and I can assure you that it's nowhere near as bad as people are making it out to be.

[Blue Harvest]

Wartortle is the best at getting rid of hazards (though Armaldo can also do this decently enough) as there isn't much you can do against Foresight. It isn't really setup bait as it has Haze and Yawn (though it is a "free switch in" for anything that doesn't mind a weak Scald or burn).

However more teams work easily with Armaldo or Torkoal. You can't just slap Wartortle on a team and hope it works.

[Ninja Dewott]

I think you may have kinda contradicted yourself a bit there, JF, although I get where you're coming from.

The problem I have with Armaldo is that it does die far too quickly and if you do tailor it to be an offensive threat, this is even more so, and, if you tailor it defensively it can't do much damage, which kinda defeats the main reason you'd take it over Wartortle. The main problem I've seen with Armaldo is its inability to do much to Golurk. Golurk is certainly one of the most used spinners from my experience, and Armaldo is just set-up bait for it, if you encounter such a set.

Wartortle though, as you say, has a great movepool that allows it to come up trumps against most things that'd endanger other spinners. Seismic Toss and Yawn is a great combo, since the former deals with most Sub-users and Yawn deals with anything that doesn't have Substitute. In additon, Golurk never likes going up against Wartortle because it hates scald. There's a lot of competition for Wartortle's moveslots, but most combinations work pretty well, it's just a case of what your team needs.

However more teams work easily with Armaldo or Torkoal. You can't just slap Wartortle on a team and hope it works.

But this. It's what I was on about before, you have to add Wartortle into your Team Building pretty early on, or it doesn't work out.

[jesusfreak94]

I think you may have kinda contradicted yourself a bit there, JF, although I get where you're coming from.

I don't see how. Nothing in that post is really contradictory. Unless you think my position on Armaldo being the best spinner and my defense of Wartortle are contradictory, but even then I never said Wartortle was the best, just that he's not the worst spinner in NU like many claim him to be.

[carrot rust]

Of all the 4th gen to 5th gen changes, NU made the most healthy change. No more hippotas+regirock please! Entry control remains low prioty in the tier, since the available spinners are hard to fit on most teams. Luckily the tier lets people experiment with things like dedicated clerics (rest without sleeptalk+an arometherapy/heal bell poke) and the still underateed double dance+red card. i'll use this exampe.
armalado@ Red card
adamant nauture 192 hp/252 speed/60 atk
sword dance
rock polish
rock slide
x-scissor

This thing(or kingler...) punishes teams damaged by stall in ways you would never dream of in higher tiers, because the free turn of set up, courtesy of its bulk and the things that will swich out of him, can give it the strength it needs to handle the remnants of the opponet's team after your rhydon/ammongus/lickilicky core begins to falter.