Introduction:
Hello friends, this is a team that I made after listening to august tell me about how great Uxie and Escavalier were when used on the same team for paralysis support. He gave me a bunch of damage calcs and I was pretty impressed, as Escavalier could pretty much wreck even Pokemon that resist it with its STAB moves. I got pretty interested in RU after that, and I went straight to the usage stats to see what was used and read a lot about the Pokemon in analyses. The first Pokemon that stood out to me was Entei, an old favorite of mine. I really wanted to use it on my team so I decided to try and build around both the core with Uxie and Escavalier and then with Entei. I needed Rapid Spin support, and a lot of people said good things about Kabutops (another old favorite) so I chose to go with an offensive spinner set that has a bit more durability than the one on-site (Leftovers rather than Life Orb). After all these changes, I knew I needed a Choice Scarf user because I needed a way to prevent opposing sweeps, and Rotom looked like the perfect choice because of its immunities to Ground-, Normal-, and Fighting-type moves and its handy base 91 Speed. My last Pokemon was Nidoqueen, partially because I heard very good things about it, partially because I needed a way to break down all walls without risking any of my sweepers.
The general goal of the team is to get down Stealth Rock early and spread paralysis when I can. After doing that, I can get rid of Stealth Rock on my side with Kabutops and start a mid-game sweep with either it or Nidoqueen to break down anything in my path. Once I remove most walls, I can try to sweep with one of my many sweepers; if Uxie has paralyzed the opposing team as necessary, I can send out Escavalier and spam a powerful STAB move, but if that hasn't happened, I can stick with Entei and try a slower sweep with Calm Mind. I generally use Kabutops only as a spinner because I'm in the habit of preserving spinners for as long as possible, but if the need arises, I send Kabutops into the fray to do a bit of damage after a Swords Dance boost if it doesn't happen to go out mid-game. The basic goal follows the principles of most heavy offense teams—do as much damage as possible and rely on synergy and momentum instead of using defensive prowess. This basically guides all my battles, and if you want to try out the team, definitely play with this mindset.
Closer Look:
Uxie @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Thunder Wave
- U-turn
- Psychic
Most teams don't have dedicated leads, but I figured that I would choose one because that's how I play heavy offense. Uxie almost always leads unless I see either a Smeargle or an Accelgor. If one of these two are present, I send out Rotom and Volt Switch out to take a decent chunk of health and then find a favorable matchup. Unless one of my Pokemon looks like it will be immediately expendable from the start of the battle, Uxie becomes sleep fodder in the first situation. Stealth Rock is fairly important because of the hard-hitting Fire-types in the tier, but I can do without it provided I have a decent backup plan for Moltres or Entei in the situation.
Against offensive teams, I try to paralyze as many Pokemon as possible because it really helps when I want to take Escavalier out for a spin. However, Thunder Wave's use comes in handy for late-game Entei sweeps as well, as I can set up Substitute with greater ease and boost up much quicker. I chose Psychic because Uxie is my primary answer to most Fighting-types. The defensive spread and EVs allow me to survive even super effective hits, so Uxie can actually stick around for quite a while.
U-turn is obviously used to retain momentum, and it can get me out of sticky situations against Dark-types while still doing damage. It also has more perks, though, as it lets me form a sort of VoltTurn core between Rotom and Uxie. This comes in handy more than usual, actually, because I can always predict switches and either wall the opponent appropriately or do some decent damage with Rotom. U-turn also helps against the occasional Sceptile that attempts to set up on Uxie, as it breaks the Substitute and allows me to switch out to a better-equipped Pokemon for the job.
Kabutops @ Leftovers
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Swords Dance
- Rapid Spin
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
Like I said before, I prefer reliable spinners over strictly offensive ones. While Kabutops may still appear fully offensive given the set, I chose to run Leftovers instead of a Life Orb because I want reliability, and I hate losing 10% of my health every time I go for a Rapid Spin.
Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Wave
Nidoqueen generally makes her appearance mid-game because she sweeps so easily. If I play correctly, I can dispatch at least two of my opponent's Pokemon before having to do much else. Her sweeping is critical because it allows me to play with a lot more ease in the late-game with Entei and Escavalier, as the opponent loses most of his walls in the process of trying to bring Nidoqueen down.
Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power Ice
- Trick
Rotom is pretty much strictly for momentum, and I tend to use it a lot even though it is weak. I almost always try and use at least one Pokemon with a Choice Scarf on almost all my offensive teams because it allows me to be a bit more lenient and give the opponent a free boost that I can correct later on.
Escavalier @ Choice Band
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Pursuit
- Return
I was very surprised as soon as I started using Escavalier, as it OHKOed almost everything that my opponent could throw at it. I'm pretty happy to say that august was definitely right, and Escavalier has been one of the team members that has pulled the most weight in the late-game. I generally don't send out Escavalier early on because its base defenses are very high, and I like keeping its bulk intact so that I have an easier time when sweeping. It can take some fairly powerful hits (it's even survived Hidden Power Fire from random Pokemon), and once an opponent expends its best chance of keeping Escavalier in check, it can really soar. If Uxie has done its job and paralyzed a lot of my opponent's team, Escavalier doesn't even have to worry about tanking hits, which is always a boon.
I chose a Choice Band set because Escavalier doesn't really need to switch moves, given that its only options for coverage are Pursuit and Return. I use Megahorn about 90% of the time because there's really no need to use any of the other moves, but if my opponent is carrying a lot of Pokemon that resist Bug-type hits, then I go for an Iron Head. I typically never use Pursuit, so it's an unimportant moveslot, and I only use Return when I see an opposing Moltres or Entei and I don't have Stealth Rock up. Entei takes very heavy damage from Megahorn anyways, so if I do have Stealth Rock up, I generally use Megahorn. Given the Choice Band and Escavalier's low base Speed, I believe the spread and nature are pretty self-explanatory. I chose Swarm because the boost to Megahorn can sometimes come in handy.
Entei @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 136 HP / 120 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Lava Plume
- Hidden Power Grass
Entei is an old favorite of mine so naturally I wanted to try it out. It's been a great late-game sweeper and really good addition to the team to say the least. If I see a bulkier team in team preview, I know that I'll probably try and finish the game off with an Entei sweep, granted that Nidoqueen doesn't already do the job. I've actually been very impressed by how powerful the weaker moves on Entei are after a few boosts—if I can rack up a few Calm Minds I can generally sweep pretty easily in the late-game. Entei's base 100 Speed is great because it allows me to outspeed a majority of the unboosted tier.
I chose to run Lava Plume over Flamethrower because of the burn chances. They have the same PP, and while the small bit of damage is pretty apparent when Entei is unboosted, I don't usually attack until Entei is boosted sufficiently anyways. Hidden Power Grass provides the coverage I need, and for some reason people tend to forget that Heatran can carry it, as they send out Kabutops and don't use Aqua Jet only to get wrecked by a super effective move. Substitute is to give me momentum and ease prediction, as I don't have to worry about what the opponent responds with when I am protected by a Substitute.
The spread gives me the bulk I need to effectively soak up hits with my Substitute, and it provides 101 HP for each Substitute I make. 405 HP gives me a Stealth Rock number, and while it isn't really important due to Leftovers recovery, I still like being safe in case I get hit by Trick or something. The Timid nature lets me tie with positive nature Kabutops, but from what I gather it seems that most people run Adamant because of Aqua Jet anyways.
The surprise value of this set has actually been ridiculous. If I don't let my opponent see what set I'm running on Entei, they almost automatically assume that it is a Choice Band or Life Orb version. This set plays completely differently, so it's easy to see why predicting the wrong set is quite problematic. I have contemplated using less bulk with Flamethrower or Fire Blast so that I can sweep earlier, but the sheer amount of times I have survived an Earthquake or Stone Edge from an Unburden Hitmonlee or Sceptile is incredible.
Export to Text:
Code:
Entei @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 136 HP / 120 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Lava Plume
- Hidden Power [Grass]
Kabutops @ Leftovers
Trait: Battle Armor
EVs: 4 Def / 252 Spd / 252 Atk
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Rapid Spin
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Wave
Uxie @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 160 Def / 252 HP / 96 Spd
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
Escavalier @ Choice Band
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Megahorn
- Iron Head
- Pursuit
- Return
Rotom @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Trick
Conclusion:
The team has been exceptional for me, and during my first ladder run it achieved a near-undefeated record of 30-1, with the only loss coming from Molk in a battle with ridiculous hax on both sides. It's basically a cookie-cutter offense formula that you can mix and match with to make a team that suits you; the formula works well in pretty much every tier except for those that lack viable spinners. While this team has been really successful for me, there have been a few weaknesses that I've had to play around, namely Life Orb Sigilyph and some variants of Sceptile and Lilligant. I've been able to do so, but I've had to rely on Entei or Escavalier a bit more than I would usually like. Aside from these, I really haven't had many problems with this team. It has matched up well against most teams I've seen, so there haven't been many tough situations where I've been put at a disadvantage from the start. Thanks to august, DittoCrow, Pocket, and ShakeItUp for dragging me into this tier, it's actually a ton of fun. If you see something you think could be done better on my team, feel free to point it out. Thanks for reading.