This set is all about softening up your opponent and setting up the rest of your team for an eventual sweep. Bring Uxie in on any one of the multitudes of Pokémon that are unable to do appreciable damage to it thanks to its colossal Defense, and use Yawn or Stealth Rock. Your opponent will probably switch to something like Heracross that will force Uxie to flee, but that is just fine. With such great tanking stats, Uxie will be able to switch in repeatedly without difficulty, allowing you to rinse and repeat the Yawn/Stealth Rock process until you have both slept a Pokémon and Stealth Rock is out on the field. At this point, when you bring Uxie out, you can just start using U-turn while your opponent goes to their counter, choosing the appropriate Pokémon each time. Obviously, this set will force a ton a switches, so it works best in concert with Spikes. The choice of the fourth move depends entirely on what holes need to be covered in your team. Thunderbolt gives Uxie a leg up on Gyarados and Starmie. However, Grass Knot knocks Rhyperior on its behind (Tyranitar is only 4HKOed) while Protect lets you scout Choice Band users, gives you a free pass on the turn Yawn activates, and gives additional Leftovers recovery. Psychic receives STAB and hits Heracross and Infernape, but Psychic attacks are generally liabilities in D/P, and Uxie should try to U-turn out of much of what Psychic hits anyways.
A tanking Pokémon without access to an instant HP restoration move like Recover normally spells disaster, but Uxie definitely has the stats to pull off the Rest / Sleep Talk combination which has the potential to greatly increase its longevity. Uxie is a premier Gyarados counter, so the Electric attack is a must. Clearly Thunderbolt does more damage, but if you want to have some fun with the novelty Charge Beam, it has the potential to boost Uxie's mediocre Special Attack to a more respectable level (and since Thunderbolt is not going to OHKO anything anyway, why not?). Again, the choice between Psychic and Grass Knot should be based on what sort of defensive coverage your team is lacking. 144 EVs in Speed makes certain that Uxie will outspeed all neutral nature Gyarados before a Dragon Dance. Other OptionsIn the way of offense, Uxie has access to Energy Ball if you dislike Grass Knot, and Shadow Ball lands a super effective hit on Azelf, Alakazam, and Mesprit. However, it won't even 2HKO Azelf or Alakazam without a sufficient amount of Special Attack EVs or a Calm Mind boost. If you are desperate to damage Garchomp/Salamence, Hidden Power Ice could be used. Support wise, Calm Mind is available to boost Uxie's average Special Attack score, and with 95 base Speed, it would have an alright shot at a late game sweep. Psych Up could be used to copy Calm Mind boosts, but there is little it could do with them after that. Uxie has access to Light Screen and Reflect to augment its effectiveness as a support Pokémon as well as Thunder Wave to spread status around your opponent's team and even Trick Room is usable if you want to build a team around it. As always, Toxic is viable for tankish Pokémon like Uxie for general stalling purposes. EVsThere are suggested EVs listed with the sets, but always be sure to max out Uxie's HP. For countering Gyarados, 144 EVs in Speed is helpful, but not required. The rest should be pumped into Defense. It really is a shame that Uxie's Special Attack is not high enough to OHKO stuff without significant expenditures that cannot be made lest you imperil its tanking ability. OpinionUxie has a hard time differentiating itself from both Cresselia and Mesprit. The "sturdy floating Psychic Pokémon" category has grown a lot this generation, and even with a wide movepool, it is difficult to find a set that works better on Uxie than on the others. For example, Uxie could run a Calm Mind, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Grass Knot set with some success, but Mesprit does that sort of set a lot better because of its higher Special Attack and access to Ice Beam, so what's the point? It seems to me that not learning Ice Beam is the blow that may relegate this guy to the usage level seen by Articuno in the past. That said, any Pokémon with defenses that rival those of Suicune should be able to make a niche for itself. Since your opponent will have no idea whether you are packing Psychic, Thunderbolt, Grass Knot or some combination of the three at the start of a match, they will have remarkably hard time choosing a Pokémon to switch in that is capable of doing appreciable damage to Uxie without risking a big hit. CountersYet again, this list changes dramatically based upon the offensive moves you elect. Without Grass Knot, Tyranitar and Rhyperior walk all over you; without Psychic, Heracross, Infernape, and Gengar have a field day. There are several Pokémon to whom Uxie poses no offensive threat to and that don't particularly mind switching into Stealth Rock, that are able to come in and start their own set up. The major threats of this type (with the reason for each in parentheses) include Bronzong (Stealth Rock / Hypnosis), Celebi (Baton Pass), Raikou (Substitute / Calm Mind), Lucario (Swords Dance / Calm Mind), Metagross (Agility), and Jirachi (Calm Mind / Wish passing). Beware of Pursuit users like Weavile, and take care to keep Uxie from getting Poisoned or Burned if you are not running the Rest / Sleep Talk set—either condition will ruin it. Blissey and Snorlax beat Uxie in the long run as well. |
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