Balance and Conquer

[Bassmaster4]

Balance and Conquer

Hey Smogon, i'm back here with my third RMT, and this is the best team i've made so far. This team is just a basic balanced team with a physical and special wall, supporter, physical and special attackers, and revenge killer. The main goal is really to get the main walls out of the way using Roserade and then sweep with my offensive Pokemon, which seems to work out pretty well most of the time. So, without further ado, lets begin.

Team Building Process

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This isn't the exact process, but it covers most of the changes and ideas in my head.

I started off with the same team build I said in the intro; special/physical wall and attackers, supporter and revenge killer. I decided I wanted to change my special wall, because Umbreon wasn't working out for me, so I chose Suicune. I also knew better than to have two water type walls, and I also wanted SR support, so I dropped Slowbro and chose Hitmontop as my defensive wall.

So, I tried out the Hitmontop and Suicune combination, and it failed be greatly. Suicune would at max switch in on a special attack, take about 35%, get off a Scald and be forced to Rest, to which my opponent would bring in something to take down Suicune. Hitmontop, just isn't a good physical wall, even with Intimidate, obviously because the opponent could still switch in and not get the attack drop. So I scrapped Hitmontop and Suicune, and changed my walls to Gligar and Mew.

I used Gligar and I loved it. It countered Mienshao and Heracross, the two most prominent Fighting types in UU. I also learned to realize that Mew isn't a great wall. Weak to U-turn, Shadow Balls from Chandelure, and just overall OK defensive stats in general turned me away from him. I looked at the synergy between Gligar and the other common special walls in UU, and I realized that Snorlax does wonders with Gligar. I was also having problems with Raikou. It was a Sub/CM set, and the most he would do in a game was kill (maybe) one Pokemon. I went on the hunt for a new special attacker, and I came across Zapdos, who although was weak to SR, performed much better in my team.

After I added Snorlax to the team, I thought that I had found the best UU defensive core of two pokemon. The only thing that presents a glaring weakness is Mienshaos of Heracross that carry HP Ice (yes people do that), and Machamp With Ice Punch. These threats were so rare that I decided to keep the core like it was. Zapdos was an amazing addition to my team over Raikou. It was a standard Roost/Life Orb set, but only thing wrong with adding Zapdos was that I had two Pokemon weak to SR. In order to patch up the SR weakness, I dropped Crobat because he wasn't doing too much for the team except for Taunting and sometimes Brave Birding.

The final addition to my team, Sharpedo, filled all the role Crobat had and more. He was fast, (after Speed Boost of course), and a true powerhouse. He also isn't weak to SR, so I only had one Pokemon weak to it, which I was fine with.

Robin (Gligar) (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
Gligar is the physical wall of the team, walling Mienshao and Heracross, the two most prominent fighting types in UU. It can take almost any physical hit, set up SR, and Toxic walls, or really anything. It has near perfect synergy with Snorlax, walling every fighting move that Snorlax can't take. He also has immunities to Ground and Electric attacks, which can be used to your advantage.

Kickass (Snorlax) @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 208 HP / 124 Def / 176 SDef
Careful Nature
- Body Slam
- Whirlwind
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
Snorlax, the special wall on the team, can tank almost any special hit, retaliate with a body slam, which does a surprising amount, phaze, and just be a boss in general. His ability gives him resistance to Fire and Ice, which renders Chandelure useless against him. The only thing that really threatens him is Nidokings and Nidoqueens with Focus Blast, and that doesn't do too much. I highly suggest using Thick Fat over Immunity because you can just Rest off any Toxics thats happen to come your way. One last and final thing; I am NOT using Chansey over Snorlax. I understand that Chansey is a good special wall, but I love the power the Snorlax has behind it with no Attack investment, and the fact that it can Whirlwind, which has saved me so many times from boosters.

PoisonIvy (Roserade) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Substitute
- Giga Drain
- Leech Seed
Roserade is the most important and useful Pokemon on the team. It breaks walls like no tomorrow, opening up the gates for Mienshao, Sharpedo and Zapdos to switch in and sweep. It counters most walls in UU, the exception being Snorlax. That's right, only one exception. Roserade comes in, is faster than most walls, puts them to sleep, Leech Seeds them, Subs and repeats. The EV spread is to take hits to keep Roserade's health high, so she can wall as many walls (wallception) as possible. Snorlax, or at least the RestTalking one, can Body Slam Roserade for overs 50%, to the point where it's not worth staying in.

Flash (Sharpedo) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Waterfall
- Protect
Sharpedo is the physical attacker of the team, and it does its job well. With an ability that allows for easy sweeps and near perfect coverage, the only things that stands in its way when it's got a few Speed Boosts under its belt is priority, which isn't too common in UU. Sharpedo is a crucial member to the team and the only drawback about with him is that SR and Life Orb recoil add up pretty quickly, so don't do too many switch-ins with him.

Thor (Zapdos) @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost
Zapdos is the only special attacker of the team, but it does its job well. It is the only Pokemon i have that is weak to SR, and it (like Sharpedo) has a problem with SR and Life Orb. Luckily, Zapdos can learn Roost, so Roost on a predicted switch to a special wall and Zapdos should be at a healthy amount of HP.

Rocky (Mienshao) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Hi Jump Kick
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace
Mienshao is the Scarfer and revenge killer of the team. With an already nice base speed of 105, plus a Scarf makes it lightning fast. Hi Jump Kick destroys everything that doesn't resist it, and even some Pokemon that do. Aerial Ace is for Heracross. Not many people expect it, and end up losing their Heracross (not that it mattered, I have Gligar).

Key Threats

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- The only sets that threaten my team are the variations that carry HP Ice. These are extremely rare, so I don't think i'll be changing the core because of that.

- Pretty much all Machamps carry Ice Punch and Dynamicpunch, so the opponent having one of these usually means I have to sacrifice one of my Pokemon in order to get a safe switch in.

- Most Azumarills carry Ice Punch/Waterfall/Superpower, so these things really screw over my defensive core.

- Another Pokemon with a Fighting/Ice combo, Weavile rips my defensive core to shreds. Band sets are not as bad because I can usually predict what move he will use and switch into the appropriate wall and force a switch.

- Some Nidokings have Focus Blast and Ice Beam, but he isn't nearly as much of a threat as the above Pokemon. Snorlax can tank hits fairly well, Rest off damage, the Sleep Talk in order to phaze or Body Slam.

Importable

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Robin (Gligar) (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Toxic
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake

Flash (Sharpedo) @ Life Orb
Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Waterfall
- Protect

PoisonIvy (Roserade) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Substitute
- Giga Drain
- Leech Seed

Kickass (Snorlax) @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 208 HP / 124 Def / 176 SDef
Careful Nature
- Body Slam
- Whirlwind
- Sleep Talk
- Rest

Thor (Zapdos) @ Life Orb
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost

Rocky (Mienshao) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Hi Jump Kick
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace

Conclusion​

There's really not much to say about the team other than state that it is extremely weak to Pokemon with Fighting/Ice move combos and repeat the goal: Use Roserade and to destroy the walls, defend with the core, and sweep when time allows. Thank you all for viewing my team, all feedback is appreciated.

 

[Pkn range6]

Hey there this is a nice team that I have a similar version of. I would recommend replacing roserade with a phyiscally defensive blastoise. It will help out with your teams ice weakness, zapdos SR weakness weavile, azumarill. It can help against machamp if you get the scald burn on it. Also your mienshao should run a jolly nature and reckless over regenerator to outpace jolly flygon and darmanitan. Here's some calcs with reckless and without reckless on some common threats.

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252Atk Mienshao (Neutral) Hi Jump Kick vs 4HP/0Def Levitate Flygon (Neutral): 82% - 97% (249 - 294 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO.
252Atk Reckless Mienshao (Neutral) Hi Jump Kick vs 4HP/0Def Levitate Flygon (Neutral): 98% - 116% (298 - 352 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO. 92% chance to OHKO.
252Atk Reckless Mienshao (Neutral) Hi Jump Kick vs 4HP/0Def Raikou (Neutral): 97% - 114% (313 - 370 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO. 84% chance to OHKO.
252Atk Mienshao (Neutral) Hi Jump Kick vs 4HP/0Def Raikou (Neutral): 81% - 95% (262 - 309 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO
Bascially OHKO with SR up.

One last thing consider using HP Grass over ice to hit rhyperior and swampert.

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Jolly>Adamant (mienshao)
Reckless>Regenerator (mienshao)
HP Grass>HP Ice (Zapdos)
Blastoise @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Roar

 

[Hypnotize]

hi cool team ^ ^
I tried it and it seems really nice.
I would recommend, however, to change the hp ice zapdon in hpgrass for swampert
for Roserade I would recommend to lay rest instead of sleep powder and put sludge bomb in place of substitute, or if you want to do more 'bulky can use a set of spikes Roserade in such a way as to make indirect damages, even to pokemon as scarfdarmanitan that is one most of the pokemon 'used in underused.
the rest is a really good team, maybe put in place to return to body slam snorlax but does not change much.
good luck ^ ^

 

[Bassmaster4]

@ Pkn range6

Hey there this is a nice team that I have a similar version of. I would recommend replacing roserade with a phyiscally defensive blastoise. It will help out with your teams ice weakness, zapdos SR weakness weavile, azumarill. It can help against machamp if you get the scald burn on it. Also your mienshao should run a jolly nature and reckless over regenerator to outpace jolly flygon and darmanitan. Here's some calcs with reckless and without reckless on some common threats.
...
252Atk Mienshao (Neutral) Hi Jump Kick vs 4HP/0Def Levitate Flygon (Neutral): 82% - 97% (249 - 294 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO.
252Atk Reckless Mienshao (Neutral) Hi Jump Kick vs 4HP/0Def Levitate Flygon (Neutral): 98% - 116% (298 - 352 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO. 92% chance to OHKO.
252Atk Reckless Mienshao (Neutral) Hi Jump Kick vs 4HP/0Def Raikou (Neutral): 97% - 114% (313 - 370 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO. 84% chance to OHKO.
252Atk Mienshao (Neutral) Hi Jump Kick vs 4HP/0Def Raikou (Neutral): 81% - 95% (262 - 309 HP). Guaranteed 2HKO
Bascially OHKO with SR up.

One last thing consider using HP Grass over ice to hit rhyperior and swampert.
...

Jolly>Adamant (mienshao)
Reckless>Regenerator (mienshao)
HP Grass>HP Ice (Zapdos)
Blastoise @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Roar

Thanks for the suggestions! The Blastoise idea is nice, but Weavile really isn't that common enough in order for me to switch out Roserade, my most valued Pokemon. He also doesn't have good recovery, so I think he fails as a wall in that area. The problem with my team is not that I have three Pokemon weak to Ice, so much as Pokemon with a Fighting and Ice move on the same set. The Rapid Spin idea is cool too, but You can just switch in Zapdos on a physical wall and Roost on the switch.
I really like the Reckless idea, I never even knew it had that ability until now. The only drawback I can think of is when the opponent gets 3 layers of spikes up, which isn't too common. Thanks for the suggestion, i'll definitely be using it

@ Hypnotize

hi cool team ^ ^
I tried it and it seems really nice.
I would recommend, however, to change the hp ice zapdon in hpgrass for swampert
for Roserade I would recommend to lay rest instead of sleep powder and put sludge bomb in place of substitute, or if you want to do more 'bulky can use a set of spikes Roserade in such a way as to make indirect damages, even to pokemon as scarfdarmanitan that is one most of the pokemon 'used in underused.
the rest is a really good team, maybe put in place to return to body slam snorlax but does not change much.
good luck ^ ^

Thanks for the suggestions! The change from HP Ice to Grass has helped my team a lot, though I have to play around Flygon a bit more, it's great.
The point of the Roserade set is to Leech Seed walls, put them to sleep, and then just stall them out until they switch out (at that point i'm behind a sub and free to do whatever I want), or sacrifice their wall. The Leech Seed+Black Sludge+Giga Drain combo keep me at high health, and replacing Sleep Powder with Sludge Bomb would hinder the set greatly in stopping walls, because they could keep recovering or whatever they want to do. Thanks for the suggestions again!

 

[Organization Member XIV]

I have to suggest Chansey over Snorlax. Chansey is physically bulkier, has Thunder Wave for guaranteed paralysis as opposed to a 30% chance with Snorlax's Body Slam. Chansey also has reliable recovery in Softboiled, and can set up Rocks. If you do use Chansey, I suggest this set:

Chansey
Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Def, 252 HP, 4 SpDef
Bold Nature
Seismic Toss
Softboiled
Stealth Tock
Thunder Wave

With that change, I suggest replacing Stealth Rock on Gligar with Knock Off to cripple opposing Gligar, Chansey, Porygon2, and basically any Scarfer or wall with Leftovers or Eviolite.

 

[Bassmaster4]

I have to suggest Chansey over Snorlax. Chansey is physically bulkier, has Thunder Wave for guaranteed paralysis as opposed to a 30% chance with Snorlax's Body Slam. Chansey also has reliable recovery in Softboiled, and can set up Rocks. If you do use Chansey, I suggest this set:

Chansey
Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Def, 252 HP, 4 SpDef
Bold Nature
Seismic Toss
Softboiled
Stealth Tock
Thunder Wave

With that change, I suggest replacing Stealth Rock on Gligar with Knock Off to cripple opposing Gligar, Chansey, Porygon2, and basically any Scarfer or wall with Leftovers or Eviolite.

Thanks for the suggestion! Alright, i'll give in and try Chansey, but do you think that it would be better to then switch Gligar out for Cofagrigus, since I have Chansey to set up Rocks? Adding Coagrigus would get rid of the Ice/Fighting weakness that i've previously stated.

 

[Organization Member XIV]

Thanks for the suggestion! Alright, i'll give in and try Chansey, but do you think that it would be better to then switch Gligar out for Cofagrigus, since I have Chansey to set up Rocks? Adding Coagrigus would get rid of the Ice/Fighting weakness that i've previously stated.

It's basically your choice between whether you want to cripple Pokemon by getting rid of their item or whether you get rid of the Ice/Fighting weakness. Just try Cofagrigus and see how it works compared to Gligar is what I say.

 

[Not Jacky]

Hi! While I know that you're trying out Chansey over Snorlax, I think the most suitable for this particular team is Choice Band Snorlax. Most notably, it traps and kills Ghost-types, which can lead to a Mienshao sweep. This stresses Snorlax's main advantage over Chansey (its damage) and has more synergy with your fairly offensive team. Your current variant is incapable of hurting Ghost-types at all; CB Snorlax checks Chandelure and Offensive Trick Room Cofagrigus. Also, RestTalk Snorlax really isn't used to its full potential as you only use one entry hazard, and a large part of RestTalk Snorlax's job is to phaze.

Snorlax

Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Nature: Adamant
- Return / Body Slam
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Earthquake

The next change I suggest is changing Roserade's Giga Drain to Sludge Bomb. Grass-types are immune to Leech Seed, and 3 out of the 4 relevant ones (Roserade, Abomasnow, Shaymin, Rotom-C) are hit super effectively with Sludge Bomb. The high chance to poison is also stacks nicely with Leech Seed.

Next I suggest making Sharpedo a mixed sweeper, running Hydro Pump over Earthquake. Earthquake doesn't do much for you; it hits Registeel, Cobalion, and Empoleon. Registeel is checked by everything on your team except Snorlax, Cobalion takes around the same damage from Hydro Pump (from personal experience Earthquake doesn't even OHKO while Hydro Pump OHKOs Naive variants), and Roserade/Zapdos/Mienshao all beat Empoleon. Hydro Pump, on the other hand, allows you to hit threats like physically defensive Zapdos, Bronzong, Hitmontop, and Gligar harder. Splitting EVs isn't even a big deal, as you don't need to maximize Speed thanks to Speed Boost.

Sharpedo

Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 136 SpA / 120 Spe
Nature: Naughty / Lonely
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Hydro Pump
- Protect

The last change I'm going to suggest is that you change Mienshao's nature to Jolly, as it lets you outrun Scarf Flygon and Scarf Victini, both of which OHKO Mienshao.

 

[Bassmaster4]

Hi! While I know that you're trying out Chansey over Snorlax, I think the most suitable for this particular team is Choice Band Snorlax. Most notably, it traps and kills Ghost-types, which can lead to a Mienshao sweep. This stresses Snorlax's main advantage over Chansey (its damage) and has more synergy with your fairly offensive team. Your current variant is incapable of hurting Ghost-types at all; CB Snorlax checks Chandelure and Offensive Trick Room Cofagrigus. Also, RestTalk Snorlax really isn't used to its full potential as you only use one entry hazard, and a large part of RestTalk Snorlax's job is to phaze.

Snorlax

Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Nature: Adamant
- Return / Body Slam
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Earthquake

The next change I suggest is changing Roserade's Giga Drain to Sludge Bomb. Grass-types are immune to Leech Seed, and 3 out of the 4 relevant ones (Roserade, Abomasnow, Shaymin, Rotom-C) are hit super effectively with Sludge Bomb. The high chance to poison is also stacks nicely with Leech Seed.

Next I suggest making Sharpedo a mixed sweeper, running Hydro Pump over Earthquake. Earthquake doesn't do much for you; it hits Registeel, Cobalion, and Empoleon. Registeel is checked by everything on your team except Snorlax, Cobalion takes around the same damage from Hydro Pump (from personal experience Earthquake doesn't even OHKO while Hydro Pump OHKOs Naive variants), and Roserade/Zapdos/Mienshao all beat Empoleon. Hydro Pump, on the other hand, allows you to hit threats like physically defensive Zapdos, Bronzong, Hitmontop, and Gligar harder. Splitting EVs isn't even a big deal, as you don't need to maximize Speed thanks to Speed Boost.

Sharpedo

Trait: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 136 SpA / 120 Spe
Nature: Naughty / Lonely
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Hydro Pump
- Protect

The last change I'm going to suggest is that you change Mienshao's nature to Jolly, as it lets you outrun Scarf Flygon and Scarf Victini, both of which OHKO Mienshao.

Hey thanks for the suggestions.
-I don't think the Choice Band Snorlax would work to my advantage fully. Changing him to a CB set would mean I don't have viable recovery, making him fail as the special tank that he is. Thee only Ghosts in UU are Chandelure (walled by Snorlax, then i can Whirlwind), Cofagrigus, and Dusclops (which are walled by Roserade).
-Although hitting Grass types is nice, I don't encounter them too often, and Giga Drain is great for the plethora of bulky waters in the tier.
-I'm using the mixed Sharpedo and it works great. I never realized how little EQ helped me out.
-I'll also use Jolly Mienshao. I just changed Regenerator to Reckless, so i'll have the same damage output as before, which is really nice.
Once again, thanks for all the suggestions!