XY UU Research Week #7

[Mazz]

Welcome, UUers and all those looking for an excellent comp. 'mons experience! A fresh tier means a fresh installment of Research Group!

Keep the following things in mind during every Research Group:

• Be open-minded, don't just say something is terrible and walk away; look at its stats, movepool, and typing and think something up!
• Feel free to theorymon early in the research period, but make it clear you're doing so. Later in the period though, you will be expected to back up your posts with hard evidence like logs, actual sets, perhaps even teams.
• Just because an analysis has been done for a Pokemon doesn't mean there isn't more to explore; it's very likely that something has gone unnoticed.
• Do not post in this thread complaining about the Pokemon I choose and / or suggesting ones we should do for future weeks. Feel free to VM / PM me these suggestions, but don't expect me to always listen to you.

A few things to clarify:

• Early period means the first three days of the research week, so let's keep the theorymoning to a minimum after. The late period refers to the last four days of the research week, where raw evidence and discussion should become the basis of the thread.
• Sign-Ups close Monday nights (about three and a half days of sign-ups), so be sure to sign up before they close!
• The prizes for Research Week have been decided; winning a research week will grant you half-ops on our IRC channel, #xyuu. Win five, and you get a nomination for a Community Contributor badge.
• You must post a ladder ranking in order to win the above prizes.

This Week's Research Pokemon:

Articuno | Moltres | Vivillon | Noivern
​

How useful are these Pokemon in XYUU? What sets can they run effectively? What gives them trouble? What advantages do they have over other Pokemon? How well do they work in the metagame? If you have anything to say about any of these Pokemon, please post about them! It doesn't matter if you've used them or have just faced them in battle, anything is fine (but please, do try them). Just be sure to back up your posts with good competitive reasoning. Remember, discussion is not limited to this topic, you are encouraged to talk about these Pokemon in #xyuu as well!

The Research Group Challenge:

In order to participate you must do the following:

• Post here with a fresh alt and the name(s) of the Pokemon you will be using.
• Use at least one of the Pokemon being researched.
• Post your experiences with the Pokemon you're using, participate in the discussion!
• Post logs of this Pokemon in action against other teams - don't just tell us, show us!

The first stage of the challenge will be very relaxed so theorymon will be allowed as long as its backed up by good reasoning. During the later stage, discussion will be expected to be backed up by hard evidence, such as teams, actual sets, and logs. The winner of the challenge will be the person who has the highest ladder ranking on the Pokemon Showdown UU ladder on the alt they registered at the time the challenge ends. Prizes are currently being discussed with higher powers, so hang tight while I find something worth your guys' attention. Winners will also receive a permanent spot in the XYUU Hub Hall of Fame (once it exists).

Current Participants:
-Bouffalant (Vivillon)
-effyouzion (Noivern)
-s_aman (Noivern)
-radianthero156 (Vivillon)
-ScraftyIsTheBest (Vivillon)
-MTKZ (Moltres / Noivern)
-Jellied Eels (Vivillon)
-Arcanine Lion (Articuno)

 

[Mazz]

And once again, discussion regarding the Research Week Suspects is a prerequisite to winning; its heavily implied in the OP, and will now be a factor in who wins this week. This isn't simply a ladder challenge, The Dark Horse Project is, so naturally some discussion is required. Right under each of the Pokemon is a bunch of questions that you could answer if you can't think of anything to discuss.

Also, I'm removing the "not allowed to participate if you don't submit a ranking", seeing as it was met with some negative criticism. However, I'd like some ideas as to how I could improve participation in these Research Weeks, as I like to think the community enjoys doing them.

 

[Bouff]

Alt: Shiny Metal Rods
Pokemon: Vivillon

gonna be fun af. compoundeyes sleep powder + hurricane is a bitch, has a great boosting move. only problem is, is that it has a shitty defensive typing, kinda odd speed but by no means bad, and sr weakness is always a problem.

My avatar is retarded

 

[effyouzion]

Started off using Articuno but he's literally the LVP of everything. Gonna use Noivern instead.
alt: effnozion

 

[s_aman]

Alt : remake_rs
pokemon : noivern
View attachment 12021

 

[radianthero156]

alt:
View attachment 12032

pokemon: guess who (vivillon)

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

Alt: Vivillon Time
Pokemon: Vivillon

This seems interesting, Vivillon looks like it has a lot of potential because of Sleep Powders that rarely miss and Quiver Dance+Hurricane, which makes this thing seem really scary.

proof of fresh alt

 

[En]

Alt: So many birds
Pokemon: Moltres & Noivern

Coincidentally I actually had a dual birds team with these two already in it, had some pretty good success with them as well. Noivern is a pretty decent choice scarfer and moltres is an excellent specs user. It'll be interesting to see how they fair in the current metagame.

 

[Bouff]

Ok, early analysis tiem.

Vivillon @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Bug Buzz
- Quiver Dance
- Hurricane

This thing requires a bit of support, but not so much that it's completely unviable. obviously, rocks should be off the field before you want to pull of a sweep so that your sash isn't broken by anything that outspeeds while you try to quiver/sleep powder. Modest is to increase the maximum damage output, as even at like +3 hurricane is still a 3hko on lax or florges. I'm not going to explain the moveset because it should be fairly obvious.

Vivi should usually be partnered up for a mon that has good synergy with it and can support it, like Swampert, who can take care of the steel and fire types who fuck it over, while setting up rocks and phazing at the same time.

I'm not going to show all of my wins obv, but here are some replays where Vivi reks and keks:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-109542637
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-109545329
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-109547417

 

[Jellied Eels]

Alt: roast toast
Pokemon: Vivillon

Proof of clean alt

View attachment 12077

Alright so I played a couple of games. Vivillon is surprisingly decent - it's very threatening to teams that use Umbreon or Mew as their main special walls for obvious reasons. The threat of Sleep Powder makes it a pain to work around and it's relatively easy to grab two boosts late-game and clean up. The problem is that Vivi requires a ton of support, especially compared to something like offensive Venomoth which functions very well as a stand-alone mon.

Here's my team :

Hide

Vivillon @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Bug Buzz
- Sleep Powder
- Quiver Dance

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 228 SDef / 248 HP / 32 Spd
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp

Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 156 Spd / 252 SAtk / 100 HP
Serious Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Def / 244 HP / 12 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Calm Mind

Rotom-Heat @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Trick
- Will-O-Wisp

Mienshao @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- Substitute
- Baton Pass

Relatively straightforward - I went with SpDef Mew which is imo the most reliable Defogger in the tier and pretty much the only one (fuck forry) who can comfortably Defog at multiple times during the match. Nidoqueen and TrickScarf Rotom-H make sure that the things that are a full stop to Vivillon are crippled (namely Florges, P2, Snorlax and Mega Aggron lol) and SubPass Mienshao is just a great help if you want to set up smthg frail. There's also a lot of special spam to make sure Vivi's checks (ie anything bulky) are softened enough.
Still with all that support it struggles to do anything but put smthg to sleep and fire off a +1 Hurricane and then die a lot of the time. I dunno maybe it's just me but not once have I felt the match would have gone worse if I had used Venomoth instead of Vivi.
Also Crocune is a bitch to Vivillon

 

[ArcanineLion]

Pokémon: Articuno
Alt:

Nobody else was using it, so I figured I'd try it out. Before even testing it out I can tell it's going to need support to work. That 4x SR weakness is bad, & it's not the fastest thing either. I'm going to try a whole bunch of moves on it to try get the best out of it, but I can't imagine it doing well in all honesty. Here's hoping it surprises me.

 

[effyouzion]

Might as well post my ranking now since I went up pretty fast and idk how much more I'll be able to play this week:

My set:

Noivern @ Choice Specs
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 Atk
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hurricane
- Boomburst
- U-turn

Noivern is pretty meh. Does his job, but never the MVP or something that makes you think "wow I need him on more teams!" Frisk + u-turn and his nice speed are the main reasons you use this guy. For the most part scouting is all you do until late game when you might clean up some slower, weakened threats. For this reason I like choice specs a lot more than life orb. But no matter what make sure you have a boosting item: his offenses are pretty weak without one.

I usually lead with him. It's nice to be able to see if that Victini lead is scarfed or banded. Hurricane and DM are obvious stab moves, but frankly they don't get used too often. Boomburst doesn't have accuracy issues or the power drop so when it comes to cleaning up late game that's generally what you're gonna spam unless you're going for the super effective hit or there's a ghost type around. It also goes through subs just in case you need to do so.

Overall I doubt I would use this guy again. Nothing about him is really exceptional.

 

[Mazz]

Despite effyouzion's high-ranking, I'd still like to encourage everyone else to post their ladder screenshots (and maybe some closing remarks about the Pokemon they used). Week 8 will be up sometime tomorrow night.

 

[pokemonisfun]

so did anyone manage to make a non quiver sleep powder hurricane vivillon?

 

[Bouff]

no hilarious because then i could just run yanmega

pretty fun imo to use this thing

 

[Jellied Eels]

Well in the end I didn't really play that much ._.

View attachment 12267

there's no way I would've gone for 1840 Glicko anyway

For some closing statements :
Vivillon definitely has a niche but what really sucks is that :
- it provides no synergy which really narrows down the type of team you can use it on
- it only gets one shot at a sweep and with no guaranteed results compared to something like Yanmega
Overall I'm not saying its a bad poke by any stretch of the imagination simply because buge is such a great offensive typing in UU right now but I would rather use Venomoth / Yanmega which both get multiple chances to set up during the match.
tbh I gave the team a whirl on my main alt with freakin Lilligant in its place and haven't looked back

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

So I haven't laddered that much, but I have done enough battles to come to a conclusion on this Pokemon. Anyways, I have gone ahead and tested Vivillon, and I must say it did better than I expected. Vivillon is a pretty remarkable late game sweeper; Compound Eyes is a great ability (see: Galvantula), and it can incapacitate something with a Sleep Powder that will rarely miss, and proceed to grab a Quiver Dance boost or two. As long as Porygon2 and Steel-types are out of the way, you shouldn't have trouble sweeping with Hurricane and Bug Buzz. The only problem I've had with Vivillon is that it has a bit of a hard time setting up die to its immense frailty. It works well on pretty offensive teams, and it's not splashable, but it's a fun Pokemon to build around and can definitely get work done when played correctly. And of course, here's a ranking screenshot:

Ranking Screenshot

 

[radianthero156]

didn't really have much time for laddering, and used a very inconsistent team built in 2 minutes, which ended up giving me this pretty bad record, but it was very fun to use vivillon haha. basically, the set i used was this:

Vivillon @ Life Orb
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane
- Sleep Powder

there aren't other viable sets really, vivillon is pretty much an one trick pony. the idea is to come on something that will switch, like an earthquake from scarfed mons, then gather quiver dances. then you can sleep whatever they switch-in, and procceed to 2-3HKO it with its powerful moves. grass types that are immune to sleep powder will get OHKOed by +1 hurricane, so heh. for me it worked best as an exceptional mid-game breaker, dismantling cores or weakening important walls, though it also swept some times.

here are some replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-110579622
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-110585115 (should have lost after turn 1 if not hax, but funny match anyways)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-110592266
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-111493157
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-111496095

 

[The Shellder Smuggler]

I did Articuno.

View attachment 12381

Set Uno (Haha I'm a loser):

Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Gentle Nature
- Freeze-Dry
- Roost
- U-turn
- Toxic

This is supposed to be a stall set. Toxic + Roost stall, U-Turn to pivot out, and Freeze-Dry to counter water types.

Replays:

The fucking showdown shit wouldn't work, so I copy and pasted what happened in the battle:

Hide

Articuno used Freeze-Dry!
The opposing Exploud lost 23% of its health!
The opposing Exploud used Boomburst!
Articuno lost 47% of its health!
Articuno restored HP using its Leftovers!
Turn 2
Articuno used Roost!
Articuno regained health!
The opposing Exploud used Boomburst!
Articuno lost 55.0% of its health!
Articuno restored HP using its Leftovers!
Turn 3
Articuno used Roost!
Articuno regained health!
The opposing Exploud used Boomburst!
Articuno lost 53% of its health!
Articuno restored HP using its Leftovers!
Turn 4
Articuno used U-turn!
The opposing Exploud lost 19% of its health!
Articuno went back to ArtsyArticuno!
Go! Ampharos!
The opposing Exploud used Boomburst!
Ampharos lost 97% of its health!
Turn 5
Ampharos has Mega Evolved into Mega Ampharos!
Ampharos breaks the mold!
The opposing Exploud used Boomburst!
Ampharos lost 3% of its health!
Ampharos fainted!
Go! Cloyster!
Turn 6
Cloyster used Shell Smash!
Cloyster's Attack sharply rose!
Cloyster's Special Attack sharply rose!
Cloyster's Speed sharply rose!
Cloyster's Defense fell!
Cloyster's Special Defense fell!
The opposing Exploud used Boomburst!
Cloyster hung on using its Focus Sash!
Cloyster lost 99% of its health!
Turn 7
Cloyster used Icicle Spear!
The opposing Exploud lost 28.0% of its health!
A critical hit! The opposing Exploud lost 28.0% of its health!
Hit 2 times!
The opposing Exploud fainted!
Ajudelga87 sent out Honchkrow!
Turn 8
Cloyster used Ice Shard!
It's super effective! The opposing Honchkrow lost 100% of its health!
The opposing Honchkrow fainted!
Ajudelga87 sent out Umbreon!
Turn 9
Cloyster used Icicle Spear!
The opposing Umbreon lost 15% of its health!
The opposing Umbreon lost 13% of its health!
The opposing Umbreon lost 13% of its health!
The opposing Umbreon lost 13% of its health!
The opposing Umbreon lost 13% of its health!
Hit 5 times!
The opposing Umbreon used Payback!
Cloyster lost 1% of its health!
Cloyster fainted!
The opposing Umbreon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Go! Articuno!
Articuno is exerting its pressure!
Turn 10
Articuno used U-turn!
It's super effective! The opposing Umbreon lost 18% of its health!
Articuno went back to ArtsyArticuno!
Go! Aerodactyl!
The opposing Umbreon used Moonlight!
The opposing Umbreon regained health!
The opposing Umbreon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Turn 11
Aerodactyl used Stone Edge!
The opposing Umbreon lost 39% of its health!
The opposing Umbreon used Curse!
The opposing Umbreon's Attack rose!
The opposing Umbreon's Defense rose!
The opposing Umbreon's Speed fell!
The opposing Umbreon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Turn 12
Aerodactyl used Stone Edge!
The opposing Umbreon lost 26% of its health!
The opposing Umbreon used Moonlight!
The opposing Umbreon regained health!
The opposing Umbreon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Turn 13
Aerodactyl, come back!
Go! Articuno!
Articuno is exerting its pressure!
The opposing Umbreon used Curse!
The opposing Umbreon's Attack rose!
The opposing Umbreon's Defense rose!
The opposing Umbreon's Speed fell!
Articuno restored HP using its Leftovers!
The opposing Umbreon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Turn 14
Articuno used Freeze-Dry!
The opposing Umbreon lost 17% of its health!
The opposing Umbreon used Payback!
Articuno lost 47% of its health!
Articuno restored HP using its Leftovers!
The opposing Umbreon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Turn 15
Articuno used U-turn!
It's super effective! The opposing Umbreon lost 10% of its health!
Articuno went back to ArtsyArticuno!
Go! Nidoking!
The opposing Umbreon used Payback!
Nidoking lost 31% of its health!
The opposing Umbreon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Turn 16
Nidoking used Earth Power!
The opposing Umbreon lost 42% of its health!
The opposing Umbreon used Curse!
The opposing Umbreon's Attack rose!
The opposing Umbreon's Defense rose!
The opposing Umbreon's Speed fell!
The opposing Umbreon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Turn 17
Nidoking used Earth Power!
The opposing Umbreon lost 30% of its health!
The opposing Umbreon fainted!
Ajudelga87 sent out Porygon2!
The opposing Porygon2's Download raised its Special Attack!
Turn 18
Nidoking used Earth Power!
The opposing Porygon2 lost 27% of its health!
The opposing Porygon2 used Ice Beam!
It's super effective! Nidoking lost 69% of its health!
Nidoking fainted!
Go! Starmie!
Turn 19
Starmie used Psyshock!
The opposing Porygon2 lost 33% of its health!
Starmie lost some of its HP!
The opposing Porygon2 used Thunderbolt!
It's super effective! Starmie lost 91% of its health!
Starmie fainted!
Go! Aerodactyl!
Turn 20
Aerodactyl used Stone Edge!
The opposing Porygon2 lost 40% of its health!
The opposing Porygon2 fainted!
Ajudelga87 sent out Darmanitan!
Turn 21
The opposing Darmanitan used Flare Blitz!
It's not very effective... Aerodactyl lost 73% of its health!
The opposing Darmanitan is damaged by recoil!
Aerodactyl used Stone Edge!
It's super effective! The opposing Darmanitan lost 80% of its health!
The opposing Darmanitan fainted!
Ajudelga87 sent out Gardevoir!
The opposing Gardevoir traced Aerodactyl's Rock Head!
Turn 22
Aerodactyl used Stone Edge!
The opposing Gardevoir lost 100% of its health!
The opposing Gardevoir fainted!
ArtsyArticuno won the battle!
Ladder updating...
Ajudelga87 left.
Ladder (probably) updated, but score could not be retrieved (timeout).
Ladder (probably) updated, but score could not be retrieved (Error: socket hang up).
ArtsyArticuno left.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-112039366

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-112154001

Comments:

These three replays, out of 7, showed the most of Articuno's set. Articuno suffers from one thing commonly seen in UU: Stealth Rocks. This is because Articuno has a x4 Stealth Rock weakness, which can suck completely. Of course, I had Starmie to Rapid Spin them away. Two switch-ins with Stealth Rocks up KO Articuno. With a lot of offensive presence coming from Pokemon that counter Articuno (Darmanitan, Aerodactyl...), using Toxic + Roost was never an option, as Articuno wasn't going to stay on the field long. Freeze-Dry was used once or twice, and pulled a KO off on Noivern. U-Turn was my most used moved however, as I do have a decent speed and switched out very quickly, while doing pathetic damage. This set is not good for stalling, especially in an environment such as UU.

Set Dos:

Articuno @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Hidden Power [Ground]

This is an offensive set. Articuno's offensive movepool is as barren as the sahara desert. Still, it has a respectable 95 Special Attack, and can use Ice Beam, Hurricane, and HP Ground for almost Neutral coverage. Roost is used to cover LO damage.

Replays:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-112177832
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-112179713 (I swept with Nidoking for the first four pokemon, but watch until the end, where Articuno KOs Blastoise and OHKOs Aggron)

Comments:

LO Articuno hits hard, even with such a small offensive movepool. Hidden Power Ground is incredibly strong, even for 60 BP. Hurricane is incredibly strong, as it was seen OHKOing a Max HP (I believe) Abomasnow. Roost helped recover health back. Surprisingly enough, Ice beam wasn't seen much.

I can add more replays if needed.

Overall, Articuno has a decent niche in the UU meta. Although it is threatened by the likes of Rock Blast Shell Smash Cloyster, Darmanitan, and Aerodactyl, it can put a dent in a lot of the pokemon that neutrally hurt it.

 

[En]

Moltres analysis:

Moltres @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spd
Nature: Hasty / Timid
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Hurricane / Air Slash
- Hidden Power Grass
- U-Turn

Out of all of the possible sets I tried for moltres, this one worked the best over all. The choice specs variant packs a huge punch on any unresisted mon, which is to be expected coming from a 348 Special Attack without the nature boost. Even with this amazing power moltres has a major setback, it has quite a terrible movepool. Although its stab fire blast and hurricane are to be feared; it basically relies on hidden power for its coverage which is not exactly a good thing. Out of all the hidden powers you are forced to use HP Grass is probably the best. It allows moltres to hit things like Quagsire, Swampert, and Gastrodon for 4x supper effective damage. Moltres' speed also doesn't do it any favors. Being out sped by almost all common offensive threats in the tier isn't exactly a good thing, especially when things like mienshao carry stone edge 90% of the time. Even with all of these downsides moltres was still an invaluable member to my team and works incredibly well in dual-bird cores.

Noivern analysis:

Noivern @ Choice Specs / Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator / Frisk
EVs: 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spd
Nature: Modest / Timid
- Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse
- Hurricane / Air Slash
- Flamethrower
- U-Turn / Switcheroo

Wow. Just wow. Noivern is simply amazing with a choice scarf. Almost all noivern that you see in UU are the standard Specs set that spams draco meteor. Since this is the most widely used set, when you run into a noivern with a choice scarf it catches you completely off guard. With its base 123 speed, it reaches the colossal 345 speed with a modest nature. This is higher than all other common choice scarfers in the tier. With Noivern's lightning fast speed it can run other natures as opposed to the common timid that all other noivern run. Draco Meteor and Hurricane are used when you need absolute power instead of the accuracy of Dragon Pulse and Air Slash. Flamethrower is used to hit steel types that resist both of Noivern's stabs. U-turn is used for momentum and switcheroo is used just like trick, to cripple opposing walls or set-up poke's. Scarfed Noivern, although a bit out in left field, will constantly bring good results to the table as well as be a valuable member of any team looking for an agile special scarfer.

Ladder Proof:

My ranking is rather low due to the fact that I assumed I'd have more time to play this week. (Or maybe it's because I'm bad, lol.)

 

[The Shellder Smuggler]

Moltres analysis:

Moltres @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spd
Nature: Hasty / Timid
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Hurricane / Air Slash
- Hidden Power Grass
- U-Turn

Out of all of the possible sets I tried for moltres, this one worked the best over all. The choice specs variant packs a huge punch on any unresisted mon, which is to be expected coming from a 348 Special Attack without the nature boost. Even with this amazing power moltres has a major setback, it has quite a terrible movepool. Although its stab fire blast and hurricane are to be feared; it basically relies on hidden power for its coverage which is not exactly a good thing. Out of all the hidden powers you are forced to use HP Grass is probably the best. It allows moltres to hit things like Quagsire, Swampert, and Gastrodon for 4x supper effective damage. Moltres' speed also doesn't do it any favors. Being out sped by almost all common offensive threats in the tier isn't exactly a good thing, especially when things like mienshao carry stone edge 90% of the time. Even with all of these downsides moltres was still an invaluable member to my team and works incredibly well in dual-bird cores.

Noivern analysis:

Noivern @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator / Frisk
EVs: 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spd
Nature: Modest / Timid
- Draco Meteor / Dragon Pulse
- Hurricane / Air Slash
- Flamethrower
- U-Turn / Switcheroo

Wow. Just wow. Noivern is simply amazing with a choice scarf. Almost all noivern that you see in UU are the standard Specs set that spams draco meteor. Since this is the most widely used set, when you run into a noivern with a choice scarf it catches you completely off guard. With its base 123 speed, it reaches the colossal 345 speed with a modest nature. This is higher than all other common choice scarfers in the tier. With Noivern's lightning fast speed it can run other natures as opposed to the common timid that all other noivern run. Draco Meteor and Hurricane are used when you need absolute power instead of the accuracy of Dragon Pulse and Air Slash. Flamethrower is used to hit steel types that resist both of Noivern's stabs. U-turn is used for momentum and switcheroo is used just like trick, to cripple opposing walls or set-up poke's. Scarfed Noivern, although a bit out in left field, will constantly bring good results to the table as well as be a valuable member of any team looking for an agile special scarfer.

Ladder Proof:

My ranking is rather low due to the fact that I assumed I'd have more time to play this week. (Or maybe it's because I'm bad, lol.)

This is good an all, but wouldn't Noivern appreciate Specs more, due to its already incredibly high speed?

 

[En]

This is good an all, but wouldn't Noivern appreciate Specs more, due to its already incredibly high speed?

Of course, all offensive mon appreciate a nice boost. However I was using a dual-bird core with Moltres and Noivern and Moltres basically needs the choice specs to really make up for its downfalls and I really didn't want to use two specs pokemon on my team. When I tried out the scarf on noivern it really surprised me how well it actually did. It is faster than all common choice scarfers in the tier (without the need of a timid nature) and can hit all of them like a truck with stab Draco Meteor. Scarfed noivern is also a good check (if you want to call it that) to specs noivern, since it can OHKO it while also not giving away that you are scarfed because your opponent will probably assume you won the speed tie. Even without specs noivern is still a formidable threat, give it a try, you'll be surprised on how well it does.

 

[The Shellder Smuggler]

Of course, all offensive mon appreciate a nice boost. However I was using a dual-bird core with Moltres and Noivern and Moltres basically needs the choice specs to really make up for its downfalls and I really didn't want to use two specs pokemon on my team. When I tried out the scarf on noivern it really surprised me how well it actually did. It is faster than all common choice scarfers in the tier (without the need of a timid nature) and can hit all of them like a truck with stab Draco Meteor. Scarfed noivern is also a good check (if you want to call it that) to specs noivern, since it can OHKO it while also not giving away that you are scarfed because your opponent will probably assume you won the speed tie. Even without specs noivern is still a formidable threat, give it a try, you'll be surprised on how well it does.

If I ever use a choice item on Noivern, it'll be specs. Moltres would rather appreciate LO, or scarf.

Everything else is pretty good though

 

[En]

If I ever use a choice item on Noivern, it'll be specs. Moltres would rather appreciate LO, or scarf.

Everything else is pretty good though

The specs set is superior in terms of damage output but I was looking for something less common and predictable. I'll add specs to my set. I just posted the set that I had the most success with, even though it isn't exactly the norm.

 

[ArcanineLion]

I also used Articuno, & although I didn't get to ladder as much as I'd hoped to, I have to admit I found it to be more underwhelming than The Shellder Smuggler did. Here was my set:

Articuno @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Freeze-Dry
- Hurricane
- Hidden Power Ground
- Roost

Pretty much the same as The Shellder Smuggler's set, but with Freeze-Dry in place of Ice Beam. I found that the utility of hitting Water-types surprised a lot of people, & it warranted it's use over Ice Beam. It surprised all the Mega Blastoise, Suicune, & Slowbro that thought they were safe. Hurricane did hit very hard (when it hit), & funnily enough I barely got to use HP Ground or Roost. The 4x Stealth Rock weakness is a big disadvantage, & I used Mega Blastoise as my spinner, but having to bring it out to spin away hazards before I could bring in Articuno was a little annoying, but I guess that's the case with anything weak to SR, especially considering how SR weak my team was.

The reason why I found it to be underwhelming was because a lot of the matches I won, I either didn't or barely got to use Articuno, which made me feel like I could have had something else more useful on the team because I was never thinking "Oh I really should bring Articuno out to get this win". When I brought it in, I'd say maybe 50% of the time, it did something useful, but it never really won me a game without getting lucky (check the replay). I also had other members of my team that could deal with everything that Articuno could, but maybe I'm just being harsh. On someone else's team, it might be more of an MVP.

Here was my full team:

Hide

Articuno @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 SAtk / 30 SDef / 1 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Hurricane
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Roost

Blastoise @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Rapid Spin

Flygon @ Choice Band
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Darmanitan @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Rock Slide
- U-turn

Honchkrow @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 248 HP / 8 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Night Slash
- Brave Bird
- Sucker Punch
- Roost

Rotom-Mow @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder Wave

Unfortunately, Showdown's replay feature wasn't working for me for a lot of the battles (anybody else get that a lot?) so I couldn't save many battles, let alone ones of Articuno doing work.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-112273887 - OHKOed a Celebi with a crit Hurricane, KOed a Starmie with Freeze-Dry, then brought a Nidoking down to 8% before succumbing. Despite KOing 2 Pokémon & almost taking 3, this is an example of it being underwhelming. It got lucky with the crit, the Starmie was on half health already, & I was a little surprised to find it didn't carry Thunderbolt.

If I can find some more time, I'm going to try Articuno in a different team. There's potential for a good niche in UU, I liked the set I used, I just think there are far too many better options for a team slot than offensive Articuno.