I'll be posting a lead set for Gen 9 NU, and the subject is...
Cinccino!!
Cinccino @ Focus Sash
Ability: Skill Link
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Tidy Up
- Encore
- Tail Slap
- Knock Off
When you think of HO, you'll usually think of weather (i.e rain, sun), Sticky Web, and the traditional hazard lead + 5 setup Pokemon. However, with Cinccino gaining Tidy Up in Gen 9, there is an HO style of hazardless HO, with Cinccino as the lead of those teams. With this moveset, Cinccino can mess up opposing lead Pokemon for opposing HO teams, being able to create a hazardless early game. With Focus Sash, you can Tidy Up turn 1 if you wanted to, or use Tail Slap or Knock Off to force chip on opposing Pokemon. Encore works nicely with Tidy Up, as you can create setup opportunities by locking opposing Pokemon into moves like Stealth Rock, Sticky Web, Dragon Dance, Swords Dance, Spikes, etc, which also works against the other lead HO Pokemon, specifically Galvantula and Araquanid. Knock Off lets Cinccino hits Basculegion, Chandelure, Hisuian Typhlosion, Bronzong, Brambleghast, Decidueye, and Pokemon who use Tera Ghost super effectively. Knock Off is also nice to force progress on Pokemon such as Registeel and Galarian Slowbro, which is useful for its teammates. With Tera Ghost, Cinccino becomes immune to Fighting and Normal moves, which can potentially let you Encore the Pokemon who try to use a Normal or Fighting move against Cinccino. Once Cinccino goes down, you'll want to offensively pressure your opponent to prevent hazards from going up if the opponent has their hazard setter later in the game.
Why use Cinccino over other Tidy Up HO lead Pokemon?
Since Tidy Up Smeargle and Tidy Up Furret aren't real in NU, I'll explain why you would use Cinccino over other HO leads in Gen 9 NU. With Cinccino using Tidy Up to create a hazardless (early) game, Pokemon that are weak to Stealth Rock have the freedom to use other items than Heavy-Duty Boots. Scream Tail, Galvantula, and Araquanid can't prevent hazards, and Infernape, Lycanroc, and Froslass will have to deal with speedties. Plus, those 4 Pokemon don't have the ability to remove hazards if they get on your side of the field. HO Leads such as Smeargle and Brambleghast who can remove hazards can be taken advantage of with faster Pokemon such as Dragon Dance Scale Shot Flygon. Cinccino is also the fastest HO lead Pokemon used in NU aside from lead Booster Energy: Speed Scream Tail, which is useful vs the slower HO leads.
Teammates
Scyther @ Eviolite
Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Dual Wingbeat
- Close Combat
- Trailblaze
Scyther is a huge winner of Cinccino creating an (early) hazardless game, as it can use Eviolite instead of Heavy-Duty Boots to give it extra bulk, which is nice to be able to have a little more comfort to setup Swords Dance, allowing it to be a really scary breaker on HO teams, thus forming a common HO core of Lead Cinccino + Eviolite Swords Dance Scyther in Gen 9 NU. Tera Electric on Scyther lets Scyther resist Kilowattrel's STABs and have a paralysis immunity.
Other Flying-types such as Minior and Tornadus can be used with Cinccino. Minior likes Stealth Rock being off the field so it Stealth Rock won't put it in range of a powerful attack OHKOing it while in its Meteor form. Tornadus can use items such as Sitrus Berry on Bulk Up sets or something like Adrenaline Orb on Nasty Plot sets to take advantage of how common Intimidate is in Gen 9 NU.
Pokemon such as Flygon, Tauros-Paldea-Aqua (or as I like to call him, Waterbull), Toxtricity, and Chandelure are nice on HO teams to be able to overwhelm Steel-types alongside Cinccino making progress against Steel-types with Knock Off and Encore. The ability to wear down Steel-types is useful if you want a Flying-type like Scyther to sweep late-game. Flygon provides an Electric immunity and Ground immunity and can be an alternative Pokemon to lead with in games if the opponent has Sticky Web Galvantula. Waterbull's Initimidate allows it to check attackers like Flygon and is useful to have some utility on HO teams. Toxtricity can use Pokemon such as Klefki and Vileplume as setup fodder, and Cinccino tends to lure in those Pokemon for Toxtricity. Chandelure can use items such as Air Balloon due to Cinccino keeping hazards off and can provide Memento support for its teammates to have a little more breathing room for a teammate to setup and sweep.
Uxie and Scream Tail are also nice teammates for Cinccino HO teams. These two Psychic-types can utilize their bulk to be able to be potent breakers once they setup. Uxie can provide utility with Encore, and Scream Tail utilizes Psychic Noise to shut down HP recovery. Since Scream Tail on HO uses Booster Energy: Speed, it appreciates Cinccino's ability to remove Sticky Web.
Cinccino Checks
Steel-types such as Bronzong, Klefki, Registeel, and Copperajah give Cinccino trouble, but they generally don't like to lose their item by a Knock Off. (And Bronzong takes super effective damage from Knock Off) Intimidate Pokemon such as Incineroar and Waterbull give Cinccino tough times, Waterbull can use a STAB move + Aqua Jet, and Incineroar can cripple Cinccino with Will-O-Wisp + Parting Shot. Vileplume and Galarian Slowbro can hold Rocky Helmet, which Cinccino doesn't like if the Pokemon switch in on a Tail Slap. Vileplume can use Strength Sap to lower Cinccino's Attack and recover HP, and Galarian Slowbro can also recover HP via Slack Off and can potentially status Cinccino with poison or paralysis. Opposing Cinccino can force awkward situations about what move to go for if the opponent decides to use Tera Ghost on their Cinccino to become immune to your Cinccino's Tail Slap. There's also the Cinccino speedtie you'd have to deal with if neither of them have a speed boost(s). Priority moves can also be used to revenge kill Cinccino, but keep in mind Encore and Tera Ghost means you'll need to be careful when using Mach Punch, Fake Out, or Sucker Punch.
Soo, there you have it. A lead Cinccino set that created a different type of HO used in Gen 9 NU. Have fun using lead Cinccino! :)