~~~~UBER SUN-ORIENTED TEAM~~~~
Hello everyone!! GokartMozart here with my first successful Uber team so far. I have reached the double digits on the Smogon Uber ladder (currently 63) and have hovered around there for some time. You might've seen this team under my PO name, Mozart, and with that have seen how well it works! Even still, though, there are problems that I would love some suggestions on solving. Without wasting too much text, let's go ahead and get started with the process:
So I decided to start off with the main man himself: Groudon. He's been my favorite legendary so far, and I have always wanted to build the perfect team around him!
Next I wanted Blaziken; a fast, strong fire and fighter who could withstand a few hits. He worked well for quite some time, however, he has since fallen off of the bandwagon. He has ended up hindering me more and more frequently, as well as being all but completely walled by Giratina. So, he was swapped out:
Enter Bulk-Up Dialga. As it turns out, he works as a divine counter to Kyogre (typically the death of Groudon just by showing up) taking on even the fastest of Water Spouts, and has trouble only with Arceus' Earthquakes, but a few bulk-ups typically remedy that. But even Dialga became a bit lackluster, and I was in need of a better special/semi-physical attacker. So...
Enter the God himself. Rock type Arceus, as recommended by shrang, has really helped the team by leaps and bounds. Yeah, he's ARCEUS, so he's just naturally a great big threat. However, now I have a reliable counter to opposing sun teams that pack mirror pokemon like Reshiram, and can definitely bring down Ho-Oh and Lugia easier.
What good is a sun-based team without a dragon to abuse the weather? Enter my new favorite dragon, Reshiram. It's nice to have an ice resistance too for a Dragon. He likes hitting hard and leaving though, being spec'd.
Of course being a sun team, it would help to have a rapid spinner/stealth rocker. Forretress works quite well, taking on ground, rock, and (to an extent) water attacks very well, which hinders the team a bit. It may not be much, as Stealth rock only hurts Reshiram on the team, but it's enough to be a problem to be dealt with.
What?!? Venusaur?!?!? Yeah, one match I got a guy saying to me "get that shit out of ubers, lol". It is a ballsy move I suppose, but Venusaur, to the best of my knowledge, is the best sun abuser there's ever been. After a few growths, this guy can even take out Forretress with HP Ice, and even Kyogre upon switch-ins with Grass Knot.
What better way to end a sun team than with the "God of Pokemon"? Yeah, Scarftwo never disappoints; high special attack with the best combination of special attacks in the game makes him land at LEAST one OHKO every time he hits the field.
So there's the mental process, and here's the description of this group of all-stars:
Groudon @ Lum Berry
Trait: Drought
EVs: 200 HP / 200 Atk / 108 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Thunder Wave
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
This is a typical Para-Dancing set for Groudon. The lum berry is for early Giratinas or somesuch trying to poison/burn him, thus sort-of nullifying the Swords Dances. Earthquake is for typical stab, and to hurt Kyogre if I'm anticipating a switch in to stop sun effects. Stone Edge, though risky accuracy-wise (and believe me, it does miss a surprising number of times, even up to three in a row...) handles anticipated flying dragon switch-ins, and latios or latias even though they're not as commonly seen anymore.
Arceus-Rock @ Stone Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Judgment
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
.........Yeeeeah, this guy. Arceus makes me feel like a huge dick just being on my team. Why? Because he, quite unabashedly, RAPES everything in his path. He's a great answer to many opposing threats, and even halts physical attackers in their tracks with Will-O-Wisp. After a few Calm Minds, this guy can take down the likes of even specially defensive Ferrothorn, and of course demolishes any and all opposing fire pokemon who wish to take advantage of the sun. The God of Pokemon? Yeah, I'd say that's accurate.
Reshiram @ Choice Specs
Trait: Turboblaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Blue Flare
- Fusion Flare
- Dragon Pulse
Reshiram, apart from being my favorite dragon, has proven himself to be completely unique with it's typing giving it great STABs, and Turboblaze which helps Flash Fire users be completely useless. The quintessential hit and run pokemon, with Choice Specs Reshiram even hurts switched in steel types with Draco Meteor, and still hits Dragon types with a solide Blue Flare. The only other option I've thought of is SolarBeam for a coverage against ground/water/rock types that might otherwise prevent Reshiram from progressing. However, the only prominent water user is Kyogre who would otherwise make SolarBeam terrible even with Specs. So yeah, any recommendation for other potential moves would be nice.
Forretress (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Atk / 144 Def
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Payback
- Earthquake
Ah, Forretress. You do take physical dragon hits like a boss, and can set up Stealth Rock and sweep away ones around me in a jiffy. The only problem with this guy on my sun team is the opponent abusing the sun and shooting him down, though that doesn't happen too often. He can block off dragons and, to an extent, strong special attacks and he does indeed do that job well. Earthquake and Payback are for Giratina and other Steels that would make this guys job much more difficult, with investments in attack so that those attacks can at least do something to make the opponent think.
Venusaur (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SAtk / 216 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Growth
- Grass Knot
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Ice]
If you read the team building process, you would know that this choice for my Uber team has been ridiculed by opponents before. However, barring Kyogre (and even he's not TOO big of a threat against this guy other than making his job less fun) this guy can handle many more threats than he leads on to do. After two Growths, which is surprisingly quite typical, this guy can take out and dragons with HP ice, and anything else with Grass Knot or Sludge Bomb that don't resist them. Even Forretress falls in the face of HP ice after an appropriate amount of successful Growths. Still debating whether or not to use Energy Ball instead of Grass Knot, except it REALLY helps against opposing Groudons and other heavy pokemon that don't resist it. All in all, he does his job well, and does it ESPECIALLY well in the sun, thus making him nice for a sun-based team.
Mewtwo @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Psystrike
- Thunder
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
BAMF. In one word, that's how I would describe Mewtwo. Undoubtedly he is the All-Star of the team, being able to hand seriously ANY threat that this team faces. Choice Scarf was chosen because after testing, I realized I had no reliable switch in to Choice Scarf Kyogre, but with the scarf Mewtwo outspeeds him, and hits with an incredibly effective Thunder thanks to his already god-like Special Attack. Psystrike is for any and all Blissey that DARE switch in to a more specially oriented pokemon, ice beam is for dragons, and flamethrower to abuse with the sun. What else can you say, except certified BAMF!!
~~~~THREATS~~~~
As stated in other RMTs, what team DOESN'T have Arceus as a threat? With 17 different possibilities for typing, I always find Ghost and Ground being the main threats. I've stated some pokemon being able to deal with him, but generally I can't save everyone from this guy, and he always knows how to take down at least ONE of my team members.
In a bar fight between Groudon and Kyogre, who would win? Obviously it's Kyogre, because he's just that dangerous. Scarf Kyogre poses a threat to non sun-based teams, and an even greater one to mine own! Typically Mewtwo and Dialga work as semi-counters, but he always seems to rain on my parade (pun intended) and take down at least one team member...sorta like Arceus actually. Hm.
Yeah, this guy sucks. He knows how to make Mewtwo's counter Thunders less accurate, and any and all fire attacks simply that much weaker (as they are, they're typically fine, but a 50% boost is always nicer), though I do typically pack precautionary moves like Stone Edge on Groudon and Ice Beam on Mewtwo, etc. Still, if he has enough EVs invested in him, Rayquaza can seriously hinder me.
~~~~CONCLUSION~~~~
So that's the team! Thanks for reading and hope for good ratings! Don't worry about being too harsh; I always love a good criticism of ways to improve the team! Like I said, I am in the double digits on the Smogon ladder, though it may be mainly due to the server being reset. Hopefully with any recommendations and realizations of other weaknesses my team may have, I will keep it that way, maybe even peaking at #1 someday! That said, I'm just rambling now.
Thanks again, and happy rating! Mozart, out!
