This team is great, and I've had it for a while, so why not RMT it? Originally built around SubCM Raikou in the old days before Swampert and Bronzong went UU, this team has been one of my most successful UU teams and one of my best teams in general for any tier. It has the ability to switch into pretty much any threat in UU while maintaining offensive pressure (as it is a majoritarily offensive team) and access to a fast sweeper, a scarfer, and 2 priority users makes it easy to stop the opponent from sweeping me back. Might as well get right to it, no?
At a Glance:
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Teambuilding:
The team started out, as I said before, with me wanting to use SubCM Raikou. It could set up easily and had fairly few counters- then, it was really only Snorlax (and Chansey if it was still around, I honestly can't remember).
A fighting type was a fairly obvious addition to beat Snorlax (and Chansey?), and a revenge killer was also something I wanted from it, so I could beat the offensive pokemon that stop Raikou from setting up. I chose a scarfcross, without even realizing the synergy between the two pokemon (I'll get to that soon).
I wanted a backup against strong special walls and ground types that gave Raikou trouble, and another pokemon with the versatility to break walls and revenge kill at the same time. For some reason or another, I went with Azumarill.
With 3 relatively bulky attackers- 2 of them choiced, meaning they took entry hazard damage a number of times throughout the match- I decided I needed a wish passer (not uncommon for me, I love wish passing for most teams). Because Xatu could not only switch into a lot of my team's weaknesses as a pivot switch, but also keep entry hazards off the field to some extent, I decided it'd be a good support pokemon.
Having a pokemon to reliably beat grass-types that got in Raikou and Azumarill's way sounded nice, and packing a check to powerful physical attackers like Victini and Cobalion was important. The logical choice was Arcanine with intimidate.
I needed stealth rocks, and I figured Torterra would be nice as it could be the 'G' to my FWG core (with Celebi gone and Ferroseed being weak offensively, Torterra was my only option to lay rocks and beat bulky waters on a grass type)
Well, Torterra didn't exactly work out. While I liked what it could to, its special frality, wood hammer recoil, and its extensive list of weaknesses, it didn't exactly hold up. After trying numerous sets, I decided to change to something else. Empoleon had many of the same typing perks, as well as rocks, and could additionally take on waters better (as long as it carried grass knot). Phazing was icing on the cake, and Empoleon was here to stay.
And now onto the team itself!
Empoleon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Grass Knot
- Roar
Empoleon is the newest member to my team, but it's definitely important. Though if I had to go with 5 pokemon I'd probably drop Empoleon first, he patches up a lot of holes in my team. Being able to Grass Knot swampert, reliably take on special attackers, and switch into u-turns and such is important to my team's longevity. Though I have Magic Bounce on Xatu, being able to guarantee my own rocks is nice. Finally, Empoleon's steel typing is critical in taking on a lot of attackers that would otherwise cause me trouble- especially outrages from Flygon and Kingdra. Phazing makes taking on set-up sweepers much easier, as without roar they can be tough to deal with. Overall, Empoleon is just nice to have around, even if he isn't crucial to the offensive goal of my team.
Considering: Ice beam over Grass Knot, or a different EV spread- possibly some special attack EVs to KO Swampert w/ Grass Knot, or defense to take mixed hits better
Heracross (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Guts
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
Wow. Just wow. Pretty much my most valuable pokemon. Scarf makes it damn fast, outspeeding everything common aside from scarf Flygon, and it still has enough power to wallbreak. As much as everyone praises Hera's dual STAB base 120 attacks, I feel you can't say enough about it. You hit most things with one of the two, at least, and with some simple prediction all you have to do is take out, for example, their psychic type, and you can clean up with CC, or vice versa with Megahorn. As for the other two slots, Stone Edge is pretty much undebatable, as hitting Zapdos and other fliers, in addition to having middle-of-the-road coverage to hit a number of threats who can take one or both of your STABs, is crucial to playing Scarfcross right. As for the last slot, I've tried a number of options. Night Slash unfortunately doesn't hit Dusclops hard enough, and you can handle the other ghosts with stone edge for the most part. As ghosts like to switch in, not out, Pursuit is meh. Sleep Talk is great, and I used it for a while, as it allows you to switch in easily on Roserade and even nab a guts boost, but sleep isn't common enough and the random draw from it can screw you over- not to mention I can just go into Xatu and it's a lot more reliable. EQ is my current coverage move, as it patches up a Nidoking weakness, hits Raikou, and is a good middle of the road coverage move just like Stone Edge- for example, it hits both the opposing Chandelure and the possible Empoleon switch-in. What makes Hera even more dangerous is that one of the things that messes up SubCM Raikou up big are toxic spikes, but if you lay them down, Hera becomes a massive threat. It also happens to resist ground, making it a good Raikou partner, while Raikou switches in easily on flying moves. It really plays into the adaptability of the team's offensive pressure, and you'd be surprised how often Heracross either wins me the game outright or simply cleans up after my other team members have made their respective dents.
Azumarill (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Superpower
- Ice Punch
Azumarill, you look like such a boss in that picture. You can stop showing off, we know you're ridiculously strong and everything. But honestly, Azumarill is a monster. It's only a few attack points short of a +1 or CB-boosted Rayquaza/Zekrom/Groudon after its own CB. STAB Waterfall can OHKO so much it's ridiculous, and Aqua Jet, while weaker, is still quite powerful and can revenge Darmanitan, Nidoking, Chandelure, and a million other things, even 2HKOing Flygon. Ice Punch is great for predicting Roserade and Shaymin switchins, as it OHKOs most of the former and does a huge chunk to the latter. Superpower is situational, but it helps against Empoleon and other bulky waters, as well as hitting Registeel and firmly OHKOing Snorlax (neither of which like taking Waterfalls, but it helps once in a while, I suppose). Azu has enough bulk to switch in or take a hit on a 2HKO most of the time, and plows through a lot of you can't KO it easily enough (and many of the things that OHKO it don't like taking an Aqua Jet beforehand).
Considering: Return for neutral damage, most likely over Superpower.
Xatu (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Psychic
- Toxic
I don't know what to say about Xatu. It obviously has its major shortcomings, but I love having it nonetheless. It's my general switchin when I don't know what to do. Scouting with Protect, or getting up a Wish then passing it to a check to their pokemon, allows me to deal with a lot of threats, and being able to switch in on a number of fighting- and grass- types and either Toxic-stall them or deal significant damage with Psychic makes Xatu very reliable. I've messed with the spread quite a bit, but I've decided that with Xatu's fighting resistance and ice/electric/ghost weaknesses, physical bulk is more important, and it pairs nicely with the specially defensive Empoleon set. I used to run U-Turn over Psychic, but a reliable attack is great for Xatu and I can now beat a plethora of opponents that gave me nightmares before.
Considering: Not much, really... maybe Psyshock as it hits Machamp and Roserade slightly harder, but it's less powerful in general and a clutch SDef drop could be nice off of Psychic.
Arcanine (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 180 HP / 144 Atk / 184 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- Morning Sun
- Wild Charge
- ExtremeSpeed
I've tried out a number of Arcanine sets, too, and I can safely say that, almost all of the time, the best set is a bulky attacker set. The draw to this is that you still hit most of the pokemon you hit before hard enough, minus those you lose out on by not running CC or Crunch, but you also have good bulk with intimidate to take on opposing attackers and you have added longevity from Morning Sun. Though you notably can't deal with Rhyperior any more, have a harder time with Chandelure than if you could run Crunch, and must predict Kingdra much better (as CC from an offensive Arcanine does a ridiculous amount to it), your goal isn't to 'die early as late as possible'. You have the bulk and recovery to live hits and stay in the game, and that's what this team needs. Most people underestimate Arcanine with so many powerful fire-types in the tier, and even leave in things like damage water-types and Bronzong against it, but as far as versatility and utility go, Arcanine's a tough act to match. It works well in this team, and helps bash through the opponent undeniably well.
Considering: Leftovers, but I like the power LO brings to the table to make up for split EVs.
Raikou @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 128 HP / 76 Def / 52 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- HP ice
The main man. The Big Kahuna. Here's the man the team was made around. He sets up on a whole lot of things- most bulky waters can't break his subs reliably, and none of them can break them at all after 1 CM. Setting up a sub is nice on Raikou in so many ways- for example, you can 2HKO Nidoking without boosts if you sub on the switchin, and you mess Flygon up bad. U-Turn doesn't break Raikou's subs with the bulkier spread, meaning that I win if they U-Turn and since I can KO with HP ice, I win if they EQ, provided I got a sub up on the switchin. I also evade status from every wall that wants to toxic/twave/WoW Raikou, which is a whole lot. Protection from scarfers, priority, and other things that could live a hit and kill me with a crit or something after I set up is really nice. Generally, if you don't answer quickly to this guy, you won't have a chance to answer at all- once he sets up, not much stands in his way with his power, good bulk, and amazing speed. Even when he doesn't set up, he's a reliable team player by using sub to get around threats and being able to revenge a whole bunch of things with a Tbolt.
Considering: HP grass to deal with Pert, but Bronzong is so much of a bigger problem that it wouldn't be worth giving up coverage on Gligar, Flygon, and Nidoking.
So, that's the team! Try it out if you want, it works quite well.
Importable:
Please give me feedback if there's anything you can suggest! I'm planning on making a threatlist soon, to give you a better idea of how this team works. Thanks in advance!
At a Glance:
Teambuilding:
The team started out, as I said before, with me wanting to use SubCM Raikou. It could set up easily and had fairly few counters- then, it was really only Snorlax (and Chansey if it was still around, I honestly can't remember).
A fighting type was a fairly obvious addition to beat Snorlax (and Chansey?), and a revenge killer was also something I wanted from it, so I could beat the offensive pokemon that stop Raikou from setting up. I chose a scarfcross, without even realizing the synergy between the two pokemon (I'll get to that soon).
I wanted a backup against strong special walls and ground types that gave Raikou trouble, and another pokemon with the versatility to break walls and revenge kill at the same time. For some reason or another, I went with Azumarill.
With 3 relatively bulky attackers- 2 of them choiced, meaning they took entry hazard damage a number of times throughout the match- I decided I needed a wish passer (not uncommon for me, I love wish passing for most teams). Because Xatu could not only switch into a lot of my team's weaknesses as a pivot switch, but also keep entry hazards off the field to some extent, I decided it'd be a good support pokemon.
Having a pokemon to reliably beat grass-types that got in Raikou and Azumarill's way sounded nice, and packing a check to powerful physical attackers like Victini and Cobalion was important. The logical choice was Arcanine with intimidate.
I needed stealth rocks, and I figured Torterra would be nice as it could be the 'G' to my FWG core (with Celebi gone and Ferroseed being weak offensively, Torterra was my only option to lay rocks and beat bulky waters on a grass type)
Well, Torterra didn't exactly work out. While I liked what it could to, its special frality, wood hammer recoil, and its extensive list of weaknesses, it didn't exactly hold up. After trying numerous sets, I decided to change to something else. Empoleon had many of the same typing perks, as well as rocks, and could additionally take on waters better (as long as it carried grass knot). Phazing was icing on the cake, and Empoleon was here to stay.
And now onto the team itself!
Empoleon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Grass Knot
- Roar
Empoleon is the newest member to my team, but it's definitely important. Though if I had to go with 5 pokemon I'd probably drop Empoleon first, he patches up a lot of holes in my team. Being able to Grass Knot swampert, reliably take on special attackers, and switch into u-turns and such is important to my team's longevity. Though I have Magic Bounce on Xatu, being able to guarantee my own rocks is nice. Finally, Empoleon's steel typing is critical in taking on a lot of attackers that would otherwise cause me trouble- especially outrages from Flygon and Kingdra. Phazing makes taking on set-up sweepers much easier, as without roar they can be tough to deal with. Overall, Empoleon is just nice to have around, even if he isn't crucial to the offensive goal of my team.
Considering: Ice beam over Grass Knot, or a different EV spread- possibly some special attack EVs to KO Swampert w/ Grass Knot, or defense to take mixed hits better
Heracross (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Guts
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
Wow. Just wow. Pretty much my most valuable pokemon. Scarf makes it damn fast, outspeeding everything common aside from scarf Flygon, and it still has enough power to wallbreak. As much as everyone praises Hera's dual STAB base 120 attacks, I feel you can't say enough about it. You hit most things with one of the two, at least, and with some simple prediction all you have to do is take out, for example, their psychic type, and you can clean up with CC, or vice versa with Megahorn. As for the other two slots, Stone Edge is pretty much undebatable, as hitting Zapdos and other fliers, in addition to having middle-of-the-road coverage to hit a number of threats who can take one or both of your STABs, is crucial to playing Scarfcross right. As for the last slot, I've tried a number of options. Night Slash unfortunately doesn't hit Dusclops hard enough, and you can handle the other ghosts with stone edge for the most part. As ghosts like to switch in, not out, Pursuit is meh. Sleep Talk is great, and I used it for a while, as it allows you to switch in easily on Roserade and even nab a guts boost, but sleep isn't common enough and the random draw from it can screw you over- not to mention I can just go into Xatu and it's a lot more reliable. EQ is my current coverage move, as it patches up a Nidoking weakness, hits Raikou, and is a good middle of the road coverage move just like Stone Edge- for example, it hits both the opposing Chandelure and the possible Empoleon switch-in. What makes Hera even more dangerous is that one of the things that messes up SubCM Raikou up big are toxic spikes, but if you lay them down, Hera becomes a massive threat. It also happens to resist ground, making it a good Raikou partner, while Raikou switches in easily on flying moves. It really plays into the adaptability of the team's offensive pressure, and you'd be surprised how often Heracross either wins me the game outright or simply cleans up after my other team members have made their respective dents.
Azumarill (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Superpower
- Ice Punch
Azumarill, you look like such a boss in that picture. You can stop showing off, we know you're ridiculously strong and everything. But honestly, Azumarill is a monster. It's only a few attack points short of a +1 or CB-boosted Rayquaza/Zekrom/Groudon after its own CB. STAB Waterfall can OHKO so much it's ridiculous, and Aqua Jet, while weaker, is still quite powerful and can revenge Darmanitan, Nidoking, Chandelure, and a million other things, even 2HKOing Flygon. Ice Punch is great for predicting Roserade and Shaymin switchins, as it OHKOs most of the former and does a huge chunk to the latter. Superpower is situational, but it helps against Empoleon and other bulky waters, as well as hitting Registeel and firmly OHKOing Snorlax (neither of which like taking Waterfalls, but it helps once in a while, I suppose). Azu has enough bulk to switch in or take a hit on a 2HKO most of the time, and plows through a lot of you can't KO it easily enough (and many of the things that OHKO it don't like taking an Aqua Jet beforehand).
Considering: Return for neutral damage, most likely over Superpower.
Xatu (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Psychic
- Toxic
I don't know what to say about Xatu. It obviously has its major shortcomings, but I love having it nonetheless. It's my general switchin when I don't know what to do. Scouting with Protect, or getting up a Wish then passing it to a check to their pokemon, allows me to deal with a lot of threats, and being able to switch in on a number of fighting- and grass- types and either Toxic-stall them or deal significant damage with Psychic makes Xatu very reliable. I've messed with the spread quite a bit, but I've decided that with Xatu's fighting resistance and ice/electric/ghost weaknesses, physical bulk is more important, and it pairs nicely with the specially defensive Empoleon set. I used to run U-Turn over Psychic, but a reliable attack is great for Xatu and I can now beat a plethora of opponents that gave me nightmares before.
Considering: Not much, really... maybe Psyshock as it hits Machamp and Roserade slightly harder, but it's less powerful in general and a clutch SDef drop could be nice off of Psychic.
Arcanine (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 180 HP / 144 Atk / 184 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- Morning Sun
- Wild Charge
- ExtremeSpeed
I've tried out a number of Arcanine sets, too, and I can safely say that, almost all of the time, the best set is a bulky attacker set. The draw to this is that you still hit most of the pokemon you hit before hard enough, minus those you lose out on by not running CC or Crunch, but you also have good bulk with intimidate to take on opposing attackers and you have added longevity from Morning Sun. Though you notably can't deal with Rhyperior any more, have a harder time with Chandelure than if you could run Crunch, and must predict Kingdra much better (as CC from an offensive Arcanine does a ridiculous amount to it), your goal isn't to 'die early as late as possible'. You have the bulk and recovery to live hits and stay in the game, and that's what this team needs. Most people underestimate Arcanine with so many powerful fire-types in the tier, and even leave in things like damage water-types and Bronzong against it, but as far as versatility and utility go, Arcanine's a tough act to match. It works well in this team, and helps bash through the opponent undeniably well.
Considering: Leftovers, but I like the power LO brings to the table to make up for split EVs.
Raikou @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 128 HP / 76 Def / 52 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- HP ice
The main man. The Big Kahuna. Here's the man the team was made around. He sets up on a whole lot of things- most bulky waters can't break his subs reliably, and none of them can break them at all after 1 CM. Setting up a sub is nice on Raikou in so many ways- for example, you can 2HKO Nidoking without boosts if you sub on the switchin, and you mess Flygon up bad. U-Turn doesn't break Raikou's subs with the bulkier spread, meaning that I win if they U-Turn and since I can KO with HP ice, I win if they EQ, provided I got a sub up on the switchin. I also evade status from every wall that wants to toxic/twave/WoW Raikou, which is a whole lot. Protection from scarfers, priority, and other things that could live a hit and kill me with a crit or something after I set up is really nice. Generally, if you don't answer quickly to this guy, you won't have a chance to answer at all- once he sets up, not much stands in his way with his power, good bulk, and amazing speed. Even when he doesn't set up, he's a reliable team player by using sub to get around threats and being able to revenge a whole bunch of things with a Tbolt.
Considering: HP grass to deal with Pert, but Bronzong is so much of a bigger problem that it wouldn't be worth giving up coverage on Gligar, Flygon, and Nidoking.
So, that's the team! Try it out if you want, it works quite well.
Importable:
Raikou @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 128 HP / 76 Def / 52 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Heracross (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
Azumarill (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Superpower
- Ice Punch
Xatu (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Psychic
- Toxic
Arcanine (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 180 HP / 144 Atk / 184 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- Morning Sun
- Wild Charge
- ExtremeSpeed
Empoleon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Grass Knot
- Roar
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 128 HP / 76 Def / 52 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Heracross (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
Azumarill (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Superpower
- Ice Punch
Xatu (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Psychic
- Toxic
Arcanine (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 180 HP / 144 Atk / 184 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- Morning Sun
- Wild Charge
- ExtremeSpeed
Empoleon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Grass Knot
- Roar
Please give me feedback if there's anything you can suggest! I'm planning on making a threatlist soon, to give you a better idea of how this team works. Thanks in advance!