NU and RU Pokemon in UU

first post lol

Only recently started playing UU, and I have found that Drapion really works well in UU. Its high Defense stat makes sure it can keep the hard-hitters like Heracross at bay, while they cannot do all that much (unless they're packing Earthquake). On the other hand, without any investment, it can cleanly 2HKO Heracross back with Aerial Ace. As a defensive tank, it learns great moves, such as the ever-useful Toxic Spikes, and can rack up damage by using Whirlwind and Dragon Tail, making use of the entry hazards. It also has access to the ever-useful Pursuit and Taunt, and can use both effectively.

However, depending on the team, it can also function as a sturdy attacker. It can be used as a Choice Bander packing Night Slash, Cross Poison, Aerial Ace and Earthquake, it can hit hard. Using Sniper as its ability, both Night Slash and Cross Poison can reach ridiculous amounts of damage, and it happens pretty often. You can also opt for a Swords Dance set.

One of my favorite sets:

Drapion w/ Leftovers
Jolly Nature
248HP/8Def/252Spe

Ability: Battle Armor
- Swords Dance
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Torment/Ice Fang/Aqua Tail/Aerial Ace

Bring Drapion in on a Psychic or Ghost Pokémon, which appear quite frequently. Looking at their Pokémon, opt to use either use Swords Dance (when there's no obvious counter to Drapion), or Torment when it's obvious there's a counter. Torment will hamper the Pokémon switching in enough, since it will only be able to fire off one strong move (usually a Ground move) before its stopped dead in its tracks. Once you get a Swords Dance in, not much can stop it. If you want to use an all-out attacker, opt for Ice Fang, Aqua Tail or Aerial Ace.
 

ss234

bop.
Welcom to UU Hakmeister. Really solid post too-nice job man. On Drapion, I generally prefer Taunt over Torment, much like the set in RU. Aqua Tail I think should be the top move on the last slot-since Aerial Ace is gimmicky and weak at best, while Crunch hits Zapdos and Flygon hard enough IMO. Still, great job and welcome to smogon.

Edit: Added the mighty Sawsbuck.
 
Thanks for the welcome :D I mentioned Aerial Ace when you don't have a reliable way to handle Heracross, although I am going to be honest that I haven't tried using other attacks against the beetle. I generally just use Aerial Ace when my team is weak to Heracross. Otherwise, I have to agree with you that Aqua Tail is a fantastic move.
 
Sigilyph is really good and an underrated threat. With a speed of 97, Magic Guard and several boosting moves it obliterates defensive teams and he still holds his position against offensive because of his way of tanking fighting attacks and his 97 base speed.

This set I'm currently using:



Sigilyph @ Life Orb Magic Guard
4 HP 252 SpA 252 Spe Timid
-calm mind
-roost / HP Fighting
-psychic / psyshock
-air slash

Yes, it has no coverage against steels but he doesn't need it so much. Cobalion takes neutral damage to Air Slash and has a weak special defense. Registeel and Empoleon take literally no damage without hidden power Fighting. Still with HP fighting Registeel is not an 2HKO at +1. While Empoleon takes 48-57% at +1. Snorlax takes a minimum of 50% with psyshock at +1. With max Speed to outrun a large portion of the metagame. Only 14 UU pokemon outspeed it. And most players don't even know that he has such high base speed (97). Max Special Attack to create the most havoc. Base 103 SpA backed up with Life Orb hurts a lot. With only 4 HP scarfed Heracross has a 37% chance to KO with Stone Edge. So you could buff his defense to 48, I think, and then his max damage is 99%. With his typing he gets a lot of switch-in opportunities, like fighting pokemon. And having no hazard damage is really nice.
 
One of my favorite NU moms to use in UU, an who I currently using, is Sawk, to great effect.


Sawk @ Life Orb
Inner Focus
Jolly (+Spe, -SAtk)
6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Close Combat
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Ice Punch
Sawk is wonderful because it's almost like a physical Nidoking. The only thing that separates the two is that Sawk takes LO recoil. It has good offensive typing, great coverage, enough defenses to take a neutral hit or two, and just enough speed to pass as a sweeper, especially late-game. First I used Mienshao, but it's frailty was unnapealing, and it's coverage was good but not great. Sawk's STAB Close Combat hits incredibly hard, and the rest is coverage. Earthquake is as always a great move, hitting five types for super-effective damage with 100 power and no drawbacks. Stone Edge is key on this set as, after Stealth Rocks, it will always OHKO Paraflinched Togekiss, something not many Pokemon in UU can claim to accomplish. Ice Punch rounds out the coverage, hitting Pokemon that resist or take little damage from the Edgequake combo, namely Flygon, Claydol, and Gligar. Inner Focus may seem like an odd ability at first, but consider this: With Life Orb equipped, and the prevalence of Spikes in UU, Sturdy's effect will almost always be nullified before it can be utilized. Also consider the fact that any Ambipom using an obligatory Fake Out (and maybe thinking they'll break Sawk's sturdy,) will be destroyed by a Close Combat when Fake Out doesn't flinch. Overall, in my opinion, Sawk is an amazing Pokemon in UU play, hitting many prominent threats hard and being able to take a few hits.
 
Time to bring this guy back.


Charizard @ Salac Berry
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 16 HP / 240 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Substitute
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake

This guy. THIS GUY. The strategy is to get a favorable switch into something you know will switch out. Belly drum on this turn so you have +6 attack. Sub on the next turn to activate the Salac Berry. Sweep. Mind you Fire punch gets a Blaze boost at this range.
 

ss234

bop.
Sorry, but if you're going to run Charizard then you should run the sun sweeper set. That is incredibly unreliable and is easily revenge killed and almost impossible to set-up.

@Complications: I'm not sure why I'd run Sawk over Heracross. Heracross is a much better attacker thanks to Megahorn, and Stone Edge does heavy damage to Zapdos as well. Gligar isn't much of an issue since Gligar can't do anything back. Being able to destroy Ambipom is cool though, but it's a small niche.
 

destinyunknown

Banned deucer.
One of my favorite NU moms to use in UU, an who I currently using, is Sawk, to great effect.


Sawk @ Life Orb
Inner Focus
Jolly (+Spe, -SAtk)
6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Close Combat
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Ice Punch
Sawk is wonderful because it's almost like a physical Nidoking. The only thing that separates the two is that Sawk takes LO recoil. It has good offensive typing, great coverage, enough defenses to take a neutral hit or two, and just enough speed to pass as a sweeper, especially late-game. First I used Mienshao, but it's frailty was unnapealing, and it's coverage was good but not great. Sawk's STAB Close Combat hits incredibly hard, and the rest is coverage. Earthquake is as always a great move, hitting five types for super-effective damage with 100 power and no drawbacks. Stone Edge is key on this set as, after Stealth Rocks, it will always OHKO Paraflinched Togekiss, something not many Pokemon in UU can claim to accomplish. Ice Punch rounds out the coverage, hitting Pokemon that resist or take little damage from the Edgequake combo, namely Flygon, Claydol, and Gligar. Inner Focus may seem like an odd ability at first, but consider this: With Life Orb equipped, and the prevalence of Spikes in UU (...)
I don't understand why would you ever use Sawk instead of Mienshao or Heracross, which have either better typing, abilities and stats. On one hand, Heracross has a great secondary typing that lets it break through Psychic-types, while also letting it act as a kind of fighting-type check. Heracross also has two great abilities in Moxie and Guts, which makes Heracross a superior option when running any set, whether it is Scarf, Band or (another advantage) being able to use Swords Dance. The only real reason to use Sawk over Heracross is Ice Punch as it lets it defeat Gligar, but Heracross can already beat Gligar with Swords Dance. On the other hand, Mienshao can beat Gligar with Hidden Power Ice anyway, so Sawk is outclassed by Mienshao in that respect, as Mienshao is faster, has Regenerator and access to U-turn.
 
Heracross also carries a few more weaknesses due to its dual-stabs most significant being flying and fire, and Sawk can be a lot more effective at taking on Flygons. That moveset is just my personal, but I failed to mention a large variety of other coverage moves Sawk carries, including the other Elemental punches. Also, I'd imagine you'll agree that Heracross is most effective as a Scrafed revenge killer/sweeper, and not as a LO Attacker, while Sawk, at less IMO, functions better without the Scarf.
 


Samurott @ Life Orb / Lum Berry
Trait: Torrent
92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Swords Dance
-Waterfall
-Megahorn
-Aqua Jet

Samurott does well as a sweeper in UU thanks to its ability to hit common revenge killers Chandelure, Darmanitan, and Victini with Aqua Jet while breaking walls Slowbro, Milotic, and Tangrowth with Megahorn. Megahorn is the main draw of the set, and is the only reason to use this over a comparable Feraligatr set. Because Megahorn hits Grass-types Super Effectively and is sufficient to break most other Water-types, this set is great at undoing Fire/Water/Grass cores. Having priority, decent bulk, and good defensive typing mean that Samurott is adding meaningful support to your team and playing a role even if it isn't sweeping. Should you get into Torrent range while at +2, Aqua Jet will get many OHKOes on faster pokemon. The EVs focus on outspeeding defensive Roserade; if you know whether you are facing defensive or offensive Roserade, use Swords Dance or Megahorn, respectively, when it switches in.
 
Didn't reply earlier about the Rock Gem- I'd use rock gem because I don't want my hopes and dreams of activating Unburden ruined by a ghost switching in to stop a Fake Out/HJK activation of Unburden, because then you're screwed. No, it won't do enough to Cofagrigus or Dusclops to be worth it, but it is certainly better when dealing with Mismagius/Chandelure. It also shuts down Togekiss/Zapdos/etc switch ins that may hope to resist fighting/ground coverage and KO Hitmonlee back. It's mostly my preference, fighting gem/ground gem is just as viable if you really want it to be.

Also, because you're allowing BL2 and weather reliant (or benefiting, if that fits better) pokes, two more-


Leavanny @ Life Orb / Leftovers
Trait: Chlorophyll
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpAtk)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Swords Dance
Leaf Blade
X-Scissor
Return

Well, it's kind of obvious that we're presuming sun is up here, as otherwise this thing is going to die to 75% of attackers. Run Jolly if you're worried about sun not being set up consistently/you expect to get off a Swords Dance. Anyway- I like this thing. A lot. It requires some support- Steel types ruin it, and they will need to be eliminated before this thing tries to sweep. Beyond steels, however, after 1 SD it 2HKOs the entire tier, and after 2 SD's you're going to outspeed and OHKO the entire tier as long as rocks are up. Teammates to consider for this thing are Magneton, Victini, and Chandelure- as they can either kill the steel types and make way for Leavanny or provide more free opportunities for the rest of your team to set up, as your opponent will be forced to save the steel types or else face Leavanny with no counters.


Venomoth @ Black Sludge
Trait: Shield Dust / Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
Sleep Powder
Quiver Dance
Substitute / Roost / Baton Pass
Baton Pass / Bug Buzz

A lot of this comes down to choices. I personally run a Sleep Powder / Quiver Dance / Sub / Baton Pass Moth, which of course is walled to high hell and back by anything and everything with Taunt. Suggested set carries Baton Pass and Bug Buzz, which deals with phazers better (except Dragon Tail/Circle Throw phazing) but also loses out on subs that can be always so helpful. Teammates to consider would be a non-choiced special attacker with good coverage (Chandelure, Nidoking, Kingdra, Shaymin, Raikou, and Porygon-Z), and possibly a dual screens user that will ease setting up. I'm pretty sure I forgot to explain what this set actually does, so a brief explanation- Quiver Dance on an attacker that can't hurt you / Sleep Powder one that can. Preferably save sleep powder for phazers that might try and come in and ruin your fun. Quiver Dance anywhere from 1 to 6 times, depending on how much is necessary / how much of an *** you might want to be, then Bug Buzz sweep or Baton Pass to something that can make better use of boosted stats. Also- Shield Dust is an amazing ability. Not flinching on Fake Out/not getting burned by Scalds/not getting flinched by Air Slashes/not getting para'd by Body Slams makes setting up just so much easier. Tinted Lens is better if you plan on using Bug Buzz and not actually bothering with Baton Pass.
 
This example has 2 niches in UnderUsed; a defensive tank or a Sunny Day sweeper. IT's actually a really good Pokemon.


Tangrowth @ Leftovers
Regenerator
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish / Bold Nature
- Power Whip / Giga Drain
- Earthquake / Hidden Power Ice
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed

This set here is probably what Tangrowth is best known for, being able to sponge hits with relative ease while slowly killing off opponents. Its defensive investment prevents things like Azumarill or Rhyperior from 2HKOing with Ice Punch and Megahorn respectively. It is recommended that Tangrowth play off of its slightly lower Attack stat, as Gligar will eventually be beaten by this set, unlike Snorlax or Porygon2, who can wall the Special variant with relative ease. Power Whip allows Tangrowth to lay a beating on the bulky Water-type Pokemon found in the tier, while also damaging the array of Ground- and Rock-type Pokemon available to the UnderUsed tier. Earthquake gives Tangrowth the chance to nail Fire-type and Raikou switch-ins for super effective damage. Sleep Powder incapacitates the opponent, giving you free reign to use Leech Seed and slowly whittle away at the opponent's health while restoring your own.


Tangrowth @ Life Orb
Chlorophyll
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Power Whip
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

Unlike the tank variant, this variant of Tangrowth is designed to be used on a Sunny Day team. It takes advantage of the surprise factor, with most opponents believing it to be the tank spread. This is when Tangrowth is free to nab a Swords Dance boost and take advantage of its doubled speed. Power Whip hits the Water-, Ground-, and Rock-type Pokemon available to the UnderUsed tier for very heavy damage after a Swords Dance boost. Earthquake is targeted at the Fire-types and grounded Electric-types in the tier, and creates solid coverage alongside Rock Slide, which hits the Flying-type Pokemon that resist Tangrowth's other two attacks, and hits the Electric-types not affected by Earthquake (see Zapdos and Rotom-H) for super effective damage.

Overall, Tangrowth is a very solid Pokemon that should always be considered if your team is in the neighbourhood for a physical tank or if you're making a Sunny Day team.
 

destinyunknown

Banned deucer.
Honestly, the Swords Dance set is pretty niche and needs a ton of support to work, not mentioning that tangrowth is so slow that even under the sun it's outspeed by any choice scarf user in the tier (which means Darmanitan, Heracross, Timid Chandelure, Raikou etc can revenge kill it). While I definitely see it can be useful, if you're talking about the ''two best/most viable'' Tangrowth's sets on UU, you should definitely include the Choice Specs set instead of the Chlorophyll set. Tangrowth is extremely bulky (and can act as a check to pokemon like Flygon, Cobalion or Kingdra, but with Choice Specs, it can be actually threatening offensively, as a 110 Base Special Attack Leaf Storm wrecks everything when boosted by Choice Specs.

As a choice user Tangrowth also has the great asset of being able to recover HP via Regenerator, which lets Tangrowth switch in, deal damage and being able to survive throughout the battle and allows Tangrowth to play both a defensive and an offensive role, making it one hell of an offensive pivot.
 

Galvantula @ Life Orb/Choice Scarf
Compoundeyes
4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
- Thunder
- Bug Buzz
- Energy Ball
- Charge Beam/Substitute/HP Ice


I've been using this guy a lot lately, to great success. With 108 base speed, and 97 base Special Attack, he is an incredible revenge killer, and also functions well as a late game sweeper. Compoundeyes boosts Thunder's accuracy to 91%, making it a very strong and reliable STAB option. Bug Buzz is secondary STAB, and Energy Ball is for coverage. The last move and the item are just preference. I personally prefer Life Orb and HP Ice, although I've tried the others and they work quite well. He does need a lot of support though, due to his Stealth Rock weakness and piss weak defences, but despite this, he usually gets 2-3 kills for me each game.
 

ss234

bop.
Great suggestions guys. I'll be adding the tank and Specs set of Tangrowth, Galvantula, Venemoth, Samurott and Leavanny later.
 
slivershadow234, the reason you should use cryo over raioku is an offensive spinner that is able to take hits from raioku that are scarfed
 

Charizard @ Life Orb
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Spd / 4 HP / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- Roost

Need a suicide Pokemon that can blast through walls in the late-game, especially against walls lacking offense or toxic? Charizard can do just that, but also can be a cleaner once its counters are removed.

Dragon Dance may seem a bit strange, but I have used this multiple times in UU, and it works quite effectively as a wallbreaker, as long as the wall lacks Toxic, or cannot hit it with a Super-effective move. The selling point? Charizard cannot be burned, and is also immune to both forms of Spikes. Flare Blitz is the big wallbreaking STAB move here. Earthquake allows Charizard to deal heavy damage to slower Pokemon that will try to threaten it after switching in, such as Empoleon, Raikou (after 1 DD boost), and Chandelure. Roost is actually very important, as it allows Charizard to set up on those walls lacking offense that he plans to break, as long as they lack toxic. Thunderpunch might seem appealing to hit Water-types like Slowbro, but Roost allows Charizard to heal off Seismic Toss and Night Shade, giving him more time to set up.

However, this must be done later in the game, once its counters are gone, as early on, switch-ins like Slowbro and Snorlax will try to wall it. Also, a weakness to Stealth Rock can be a bit annoying to deal with (though, as long as you have Rapid Spin, Charizard should be okay). It also has weakesses to the common Water, Electric, and Rock type moves. Despite this, if you want a wallbreaker in UU that cannot be burned, give Charizard a shot. Be sure you pair it with a Rapid Spinner!
 

destinyunknown

Banned deucer.
Great suggestions guys. I'll be adding the tank and Specs set of Tangrowth, Galvantula, Venemoth, Samurott and Leavanny later.
I don't think Leavanny should be added because it's just a worse Sawsbuck- it has roughly the same power and speed, but is stealth rock weak, has a worse typing (both offensively and deffensively), an arguably worse Grass-STAB and can't touch flying type pokemon or stuff like Chandelure, Cobalion or Arcanine . There are also some other pokemon that should be removed but I will expand on that later.
 
Despite a good number of resistances, Leavanny has a lot of crippling weaknesses. I mean A LOT. Including two 4x weaknesses to Fire and Flying type moves.
 

ss234

bop.
Okay, I won't be putting Leavanny in, or that Charizard set A Dude. A 4x weak mon to SR should not need set-up, and it will have too much difficulty getting up a Dragon Dance. That, and Kingdra does a better job at getting up a Dragon Dance.
 
Silvershadow, did you even read the information? It is meant to sweep or wallbreak late game. Also, one can easily pack some Rapid Spin support to blow away the rocks. Just look at Volcarona.
 

destinyunknown

Banned deucer.
@A dude: Silvershadow is right, Dragon Dance Charizard isn't effective (have you even tried it?), and even if it can work with the obscene amount of support it requires (removing all its counters, getting Stealth Rock off the field AND being able to get a chance to set up), at the end you're probably wondering why you aren't using Kingdra, Darmanitan or Victini instead.
 

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