Absolute Corruption (Peaked #32)

Psycho Cut · Jan 12, 2012

"Power corrupts, absolute power corrups absolutely" - Lord Acton

I don't know about you, but when someone says 'Ubers' the first thing I think of is power, and lots of it. The Uber Tier is where you can field practicaly anything: pokemon with collosal attack stats, pokemon capable of outspeeding anything and pokemon capable of tanking through a cannonball to the face, were there such a move as 'Cannonball to the Face'.

The word 'Power' firmly planted in my mind, I set about creating an Uber Team. The Ubers tier was something I'd dabbled with in the past, and upon revisiting it, I realise I like it even more. There's something very fun about ripping shreds in your opponent's team with extremely high power attacks. I also like the fact I can battle with anything, being able to use pokemon such as Kyogre that I'd never been able to use before.

I decided to go down the path of Hyper Offense. Hyper Offense and Ubers go together like fish and chips. While I'd considered HO a noobish, yet effective, tactic in OU, one that new players could use to quickly get a decent ladder position, I thought What The Heck with Ubers, as Ubers is all about Power. In the end though, this team turned out to be very different from a Hyper Offensive team. True, it has three powerful set up sweepers, along with a Mighty Scarf Kyogre but has a great defensive pivot-core too. It also lacks screens which most conventional HO teams have

This team, so far (not really finished laddering with it yet), has peaked 32 on Smogon, which may not seem like an awesome acheivement to some of you, but it's one that I'm proud of, especially in a tier I am actually relatively inexperienced with. It remains my most successful team in anu tier, and I reckon, with help, it can push it even higher. Although there are many changes I am considering, I found that I couldn't get higher than 41 and, with the team currently residing around the 60s mark, I decided to come to you dear raters, for advice on the best course of action!

Anyway, on with the team. Enjoy!

Team At A Glance

Teambuilding

I didn't put much thought into the original team. I added a Dual Screener, Deoxys-S who, it turns out, has nothing to fear of his ban to Ubers, as he functions just as well there; ExtremeKiller Arceus, because it is AN ABSOLUTE MONSTER; 3 random set up sweepers, Rayquaza, Groudon and Mewtwo and finally a revenge killer, Kyogre, to 'mop-up'. Although one wouldn't expect a team with such little thought behind it to do well, and rightly so, this team shot me up the ladder quickly to a decent position.

It quickly became apparent that I needed some sort of wall, or 'sponge' (and there was this annoying gimmick team on the ladder I wanted to counter). Giratina-O, with its numerous resitances and immunities and astronomical Base HP was perfect. I dropped Groudon, the least effective of the sweepers

It became very difficult to switch into any type of Dragon attack, and it was apparent I needed a steel type on my team. Forretress, who has other benfits such as spinning, was my first port of call.

Palkia was proving an immense problem. He destroyed most of team with his water/dragon coverage and Kyogre couldn't effectively revenge kill as it carries nothing super effective against it. Kingdra was my counter. In the rain (Drizzle+Swift Swim is allowed in Ubers), he comfortably outspeeds Palkia and can happily switch into Surf (gotta be wary of switching into a dragon attack though!)

However, I realised that Deoxys-S was unneccessary. As soon as I faced good players, they managed to simply kill Deoxys-S and stop Arceus setting up, effectively making me start with a 6-5 disadvantage. So, as I was weak to Giratina, I added Darkrai. Darkrai has performed exceptionally not only countering the things he's meant to counter, but being a fanstastic sweeper in general. I made some more changes too: making Giratina more defensive to deal with Arceus-Normal and adding Ferrothorn.

Team In Detail

Darkrai @

Trait: Bad Dreams
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Focus Blast

Why Darkrai?

As I've mentioned, Darkrai was brought onto the team to counter Giratina, who I was having great trouble with. Since then, he has become an indespensible member of my team, and does far more than take out my opponent's Giratina

Set Description

The first thing you've probably noticed is the lack of Dark Void, which, being a great move, may seem odd to you. Allow me to explain. Substitute was needed on this set to avoid status from Giratina and, as Darkrai has no way of boosting it's Speed, it helps a great deal with not getting revenged. Nasty Plot, too, was needed, as I felt Darkrai couldn't sweep effectively without it, and it's great with Substitute. Finally, Dark Pulse, being STAB, is neccessary. It came down , then, to a choice between Dark Void and Focus Blast, and I believe the extra coverage is far, far better. The EVs and nature are obvious, and allow Darkrai to sweep

Am I considering any changes?

Nope!

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Arceus @

Trait: Multitype
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- ExtremeSpeed
- Shadow Claw
- Brick Break

Why Arceus?

Well, why not Arceus? 720 BST, an 80 Power STAB Priority move, Swords Dance, one weakness, collosal movepool. It seemed like a no-brainer to me.

Set Description

After a SD, Extremespeed inflicts heavy damage, which is obviously the main objective here. Extremespeed's +2 Priority is a Godsend, meaning Scarf users fall just as easily and gives an immunity to Thundurus's Prankster Thunder Wave. Brick Break [I added Brick Break for better coverage, for example, against Ferrothorn (Thanks, Somebodys)] and Shadow Claw allow Arceus to hit steels and ghosts, such as Dialga and Giratina respectively. The EVs allow Arceus to outspeed Dialga, Reshiram (non-scarved) and other base 90s with max speed invesment, and, in Dialga's case OHKO with Brick Break. Then, I maxed out attack and dumped the remaining EVs into HP. The Chople Berry is a great item, that often gives Arceus another turn of setting up, as it effectively gives it no weaknesses whilst it still holds it.

Am I considering any changes?

I'm considering replacing Shadow Claw with Shadow Force. Although this hits Giratina much harder, it could easily be manipulated by my opponent and if the Giratina carries Protect, I'm screwed.

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Ferrothorn (M) @

Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Power Whip
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Thunder Wave

Why Ferrothorn?

Ferrothorn is a great addition to my team and, along with Giratina-O, it forms a great defensive core. It's also a great counter to anything Dragon, thanks to it's great typing, which is further augmented by the rain, reducing its main weakness. Ferro also provides me with valuable stealth rock support, as well as being able to cripple sweepers. I often abuse this, setting up with the various Substitutes I have until the sweeper is paralysed, then I KO it, and there you go, a free attack on whatever comes out next.

Set Description

As I said, Ferrothorn provides me with great Stealth Rock support, which is vital in taking out stuff like Ho-Oh and Lugia. Thunder Wave is another useful utility move, crippling sweepers and allowing me to revenge or set up on them. Thanks to Krum's suggestion, I added Toxic, to help cripple common switch-ins such as Giratina and Groudon. Finally, Power Whip [added to hit stuff better than Gyro Ball (I'll be paralysing, you see) (thanks to various people)] is a reliable STAB attack. As for the EVs, I've maxed out SDef to give it more synergy with Giratina-O, which needs to be physically defensive in order to counter Arceus.

Am I condsidering any changes?

Getting rid of Leech Seed for something is one option, as, like I said, it's not so good without protect. However, dropping it would mean that Ferro has hardly any recovery, which doesn't exactly make it a good wall. I'm also considering replacing Gyro Ball with Power Whip, which allows me to hit stuff like Kyogre and Palkia for more damage.

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Tentacruel (M) @

Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Ice Beam

Why Tentacruel?

Tentacruel was added to stop me being detroyed by hazard-based teams, and allow me to set down some of my own.

Set Description

Toxic Spikes and Rapid Spin are the obvious moves here. The former allows me to take down some common threats, such as Groudon, much easier and the former means I don't get destroyed by hazard teams. Scald is another useful move, boosted by Rain and STAB, with a nice 30% burn chance, making it risky for pokemon like Arceus to set up on Tentacruel, when they otherwise would. Ice Beam is for catching everyone's favourite Uber Spinblocker, Giratina on the switch, and dealing damage. Well, more than scald anyway. It's also very useful for coverage in general. I've gone with a SDefensive set to boost Tentacruel's already high SDefence making it good for absorbing attacks from Palkia (who's more of a problem now Kigdra's gone) and the like. It also gives it decent synergy with Giratina-O.

Am I considering any changes

Not yet

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Giratina-O @

Trait: Levitate
EVs: 212 HP / 40 Atk / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Will-o-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak
- Dragon Claw
- Roar

Why Giratina-O?

Giratina-O, along with Ferrothorn, makes an excellent defensive core, one that I can often fall back on. It's also a great Arceus counter, laughing at it's attempts to harm it with even a boosted Shadow Claw, and crippling it back with Will-o-wisp.

Set Description

Will-o-wisp is obviously the main move of this set, as it what allows Giratina-O to counter the dreaded ExtremeKiller Arceus. Shadow Sneak is good STAB priority and is very useful. Dragon Claw is an additional, powerful STAB and Roar is for phazing, which is good for handling set up sweepers (none of my other pokemon can phaze), further complimented by Giratina-O's numerous resistances, and also spreading hazard damage. The EVs are mainly from Smogon, which is where I got the whole 212 HP thing from and, admittedly, I can't vouch for the significance of that. The 252 Def EVs, however, make it easier to wall Arceus, the 4 Speed EVs allow me to outspeed other Giratinas, who commonly don't invest in speed, and the rest is chucked in Attack, for more power.

Am I considering any changes?

If I'm going to make changes, it's most likely going to be on this guy. I could do a great many things: change him to Altered Form, make him a Special Attacker, give him Rest etc, etc. In fact, I'm so clueless about where to go with this guy, it was the main reason I decided to post this RMT now, and not later when the team had (possibly) reached a higher peak. The only thing I'm certain on is that it has to be physically defensive and have will-o-wisp.

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Kyogre @

Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Water Spout
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Surf

Why Kyogre?

Frankly, that's a silly question.

... Oh, ok, I'll explain more. Well, Kyogre's rain is extremely helpful to this team, allowing Kingdra to revenge kill/sweep and Ferrothorn to wall more stuff. Kyogre also acts as a great revenge killer and all-round sweeper with its fearsome Water Spout

Set Description

This is a fairly standard set, tbh, and needs little explanation. Water Spout is move of choice, it becomes scarily powerful with STAB and Rain. Surf is for when Kyogre's HP drops too much. Thunder and Ice Beam give Kyogre BoltBeam and allow it to take out a variety of threats. The EVs etc are pretty self explanatory.

Am I considering any changes?

Although I love the power boost from Modest, I am considering changing to Timid, to get the jump on various mons.

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Last Look

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Closing Comments

Firstly, there are a few things I'd like to point out that really give this team trouble, well, actually, it's only one thing. And that's Toxic Spikes. If my opponent gets two layers of Toxic Spikes down, it's very difficult to win. I've been considering Toxicroak or Tentacruel to solve this problem, but I can't think where they'd fit in. Anyway, I'll upload a full threat list later on.

Anyway, thanks for reading this RMT! I'm very proud of the team and it has really rekindled my love for the Uber tier. I've had quite a lot of fun writing it (even if I did copy + paste most of it from my sppf RMT) and I hope you've enjoyed reading it too. Please take the time to rate the team, I've spent quite a lot of time on this RMT, which I hope shows, and I'd really like to see if I can make this team better.

I'll also upload an importable later.

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So, thanks again for reading, all comments and critism are appreciated, and remember: Power corrupts, absolute power corrups absolutely!!!

Psycho Cut · Jan 12, 2012

Threat List (Uber)

Black = No threat
Green = Slight Threat
Orange = Minor Threat
Red = Major Threat

*If I've left something blank, it's because I've never ever encountered it

Ubers

Arceus - Well, there are very few teams that Arceus doesn't bother at all. But my defensive core, Giratina-O, especially, handles Arceus well.

Arceus-Bug

Arceus-Dark - No threat. The one I've encountered couldn't do much to darkrai or ferrothorn.

Arceus-Dragon - Again, not much of a Threat, as I tend to have faster, super effective hits to bring to bear on it

Arceus-Electric

Arceus-Fighting - Handled easily by Giratina-O

Arceus-Fire

Arceus-Flying

Arceus-Ghost - Handled easily by Darkrai, and, in some cases, Ferrothorn

Arceus-Grass - A slight threat, due to my lack of Super Effective STABs on it. However, it does tend to be walled by something on my team. Not overly common anyway

Arceus-Ground

Arceus-Ice

Arceus-Poison - Arceus-Poison's main job is removing T-spikes, which obviously isn't an issue to me. I have various EQ-users who bring this set down

Arceus-Psychic

Arceus-Rock

Arceus-Steel - Have quite a few SE attacks against it, not much of a problem

Arceus-Water - A slight issue, thanks to its bulk and the fact it resists a lot of my main sweeper's STABs. It's a pain to take down, but usually can't rampage throughout my team.

Blaziken - Dealt with easily by Arceus, who can set up on it thanks to Chople Berry

Darkrai - Scarf variants are a pain, thanks to their quick Dark Void, but after they've put something to sleep, they don't prove much of a problem

Deoxys

Deoxys-A - Dealt with by Arceus and Giratina-O.

Dialga - Few pokemon can hit it super effectively, and those that can are outsped by scarf variants. However, Ferrothorn is a great switch in and scout and, in practice, it's not much of a problem

Excadrill - No problem, Giratina-O walls, and Kygre changes the weather

Garchomp - Scarf variants are annoying but rare, all other variants are dealt with by Kyogre. Arceus and Ferrothorn also handle it well

Giratina - Quite a large pain, as it walls my main sweeper, Arceus, and doesn't take much from Kyogre. However, Darkrai and Kingdra tend to counter it well

Giratina-O - Still annoying, but less of a threat than its Altered counterpart, thanks to it's drop in bulk

Groudon - Groudon's annoying, thanks to it's ability to shift the weather to sun and to tank Arceus and Kingdra's hits, and phaze them out. Walled well by Giratina-O though

Ho-Oh - No problem, after Stealth Rocks, I can KO it in various ways

Kyogre - I actually have some good switch-ins to Kyogre so, relatively, it's not much of a problem

Lugia - Lugia can be a pain when it surfaces, but it is seen so little, I don't feel the need to find a hard-counter too it

Manaphy - Manaphy's similar to Lugia, but less so, as it's outsped (in on way or another) ad KO'd or severly damaged by many of my team members

Mewtwo - Mewtwo's no problem. Giratina, Kyogre and Arceus counter it, the latter being able to grab a SD boost on it

Palkia - Quite a bit of a problem, although Kingdra and Arceus do well against it, neither like switching in, and Ferrothorn, who is the only one who does, doesn't like repeated Fire Blasts. I can usually play my way around it though

Rayquaza - Although it stops many a Kindgra sweep short, it's fraility and weakness to Stealth Rock make it not too troublesome

Reshiram - Rain stops this guy cold, and it's revenged easily.

Shaymin-S - Scarf Variants are annoying, as they outspeed most of my Team. Arceus is a good check though

Thundurus - This guy is annoying, as only Arceus can avoid Thunder Wave without being behind a sub when it comes in

Zekrom - Revenged easily and Ferro switches in with pleasure.

krum · Jan 13, 2012

Hello Psycho Cut, this is a really cool team you made and I got some minor suggestions for you to help it improve without completly changing it. First of all, I think you should change your ferrothorn set to the following:

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
- Toxic
- Thunder Wave

Double status Ferrothorn is a rather unorthodox set to run but it can be very effective although it requires good prediction. First of all, there is not point in running gyro ball and thunder wave together because gyro balls power is based on your opponents speed... Like you said, leech seed isnt too effective without protect and your team is rather offensive so why not run toxic intead? It can help you a ton hitting groudon switch-ins and random grass Arceus or Shaymin-S looking to switch into leech seed. After you use one of your status moves, no one expects another one so the surprise value is great. Careful nature whith max SDef is prefered because ferro is going to be mostly switching into special attackers in the Uber tier.

Now on your Kingdra I dont think substitute is doing anything for you expect avoiding random priority thunder wave from Thundurus and helping you beat Ferrothorns lacking power whip and thunder wave. If those two are not a concern for you, why dont you try a mixed dragon dance set like this:

Kingdra @ Lum Berry
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 92 SAtk / 164 Spd
Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Outrage
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Draco Meteor

At the cost of bulk you gain draco meteor which is a much better trade off and it fits the faster pace of this team. Draco Meteor is a strong stab move that can help you nail physically denfensive pokemon such as Groudon who by the way love to switch into Kingdra to ruin the fun. If you manage to ware down groudon, you take it out with a surprise Draco Meteor giving you the weather advantage.

Hope these minor changes help you and good luck with the team.

Krum.

Psycho Cut · Jan 14, 2012

Ok, thanks for the input, Krum, I'll test those changes out :)

IronGross · Jan 14, 2012

Is Drizzle+Swift Swim legal in Uber?

Psycho Cut · Jan 14, 2012

It is. Ubers is where all the banned stuff goes, not just banned pokemon

Wildfire · Jan 15, 2012

A couple of things,

1) Stick with shadow claw. I use the same arceus with a few differences here and there and I put shadow force on it. Although it hits giratina harder, most opponents will switch out into something that resists or another arceus to set up. Also shadow force hits through anything including protect.

2) Switch chople with lum berry or leftovers. I don't see brick break or superpower often. When a giratina switches in, lum berry would allow it an extra turn to absorb the will-o-wisp. This way giratina won't force you to switch out or become crippled and lose your momentum.

Psycho Cut · Jan 16, 2012

Nah, chople berry's really useful, in my experience. Although Lum does sound good. Hmmm... I'll test it out :)

Somebodys · Jan 18, 2012

I've peaked top 10 with a team really similar to yours. The only pokemon I haven't used extensively is Kingdra having never tried it.

I would recommend putting Silk Scarf and Brick Break (over EQ) on Arceus. After Stealth Rocks you have a chance to 1HKO's Reshirem with +2 Extreme Speed. While still 1HKOing Dialga. Chople Berry really isn't needed at all. The things that typically carry a fighting move still can't 1HKO Arceus allowing you to get a Swords Dance up and still taking them out with Extreme Speed. Keep Shadow Claw. Every time I have put Shadow Force on him it has just made me sad.

Aside from having Will-o-Wisp Giratina has never impressed me. I would go with Rest/Talk just to give it the most survivability.

I also agree with the guy that said Draco Metor over sub on your Kingdra. Which was my first thought when I was reading though your RMT.

Personally for Ferrothorn I would never use anything but Power Whip/Rocks/Protect/Leech Seed. Although I could make a really strong argument for Gyro Ball over Power Whip.

Psycho Cut · Jan 18, 2012

Hi guys :)

Thanks for all the rates!

Ok, I've decided to implement the following changes: Brick Break > Earthquake on Arceus (currently testing out Silk Scarf/Muscle Band) and Krum's DualStatus Ferrothorn.

I've also switched Kingdra for Tentacruel, to help me against Hazard Teams, I'll update that in later, but I'll probably get a new banner made first -.-

Edit: Peaked #36 now :)

Psycho Cut · Jan 21, 2012

Updated Team.

Will update Threat list accordingly later.

More rates please ;D

puregenius · Jan 24, 2012

I suggest 3 things:

1) Timid on Kyogre. Most uber revengers are base 90 +spd, so being able to speed tie is a huge bonus

2) Protect over ice beam/scald. Really depends on how quickly you set up your toxic spikes (scald burns conflict with poison). Protect is great as it lets you scout for obscure sets, as well as stall for rain dish and toxic.

3) Your current nature for giratina o doesn't make sense. Why would you want to reduce your atk when you're not using any special atks? Anyway apart from that i suggest putting on draco meteor. Against standard mixed giratina o, it does (with 0 spa evs and a negative nature) 86-102% damage, as well as allowing you to break phyiscal walls like groudon.

Psycho Cut · Jan 24, 2012

puregenius said:
I suggest 3 things:

1) Timid on Kyogre. Most uber revengers are base 90 +spd, so being able to speed tie is a huge bonus

2) Protect over ice beam/scald. Really depends on how quickly you set up your toxic spikes (scald burns conflict with poison). Protect is great as it lets you scout for obscure sets, as well as stall for rain dish and toxic.

3) Your current nature for giratina o doesn't make sense. Why would you want to reduce your atk when you're not using any special atks? Anyway apart from that i suggest putting on draco meteor. Against standard mixed giratina o, it does (with 0 spa evs and a negative nature) 86-102% damage, as well as allowing you to break phyiscal walls like groudon.

1) I'm considering this. I'm testing out a change that may make me much weaker to Zekrom. If it proves problematic, I'll change it

2) Again I'll test it. There have been situations where I've wished I had protect, but then there have been those where I've got a sneaky kill on a Rayquaza or something

3) Impish does lower SAtk, that's just a typo.

Psycho Cut · Jan 27, 2012

Bump. Added Roar on Giratina-O to help with set-up sweepers, it's worked a charm.

Also having quite a bit of trouble with Diagla, any thoughts?

Edit: Peaked 32 :)