Azelf in ubers! (peaked 21st on leaderboard)

EDIT: Locking this thread since its ancient.

The team at a glance:

Hey guys. ShinyAzelf with my second uber RMT here. This team is peaked 21st on the leaderboard, but I've been dropping since then. My win:lose ratio is about 3:1 now, which isn't necessarily good since I want to be consistent. If any one of you have any advice for me, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

Now the team in depth:

Azelf @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Stealth Rock
-U-turn
-Trick
-Explosion

First of all, I'd like to credit shrang for this set. He posted it in the quality control section, I saw it and I tried it out. Guess what, its one of the greatest leads I've used. Azelf steals the momentum for my team early in the match. I'm almost always starting with U-turn to scout for any in-coming switches, or to switch out. I only use Trick on the first turn if I know the opponent is going to lay up Stealth Rock. Stealth Rock is used after I trick a Choice Scarf onto my opponent. Explosion is used to take out anything I can't take out.

I use Jolly nature to get as much speed as possible, and the following EVs mean I can hit as hard as possible with U-turn and Explosion, and outrun as many things such as ScarfOgre. The remaining 4 EVs are put into Defense to take those Extremespeeds from Deoxys-a and Rayquaza slightly better.

NOTE: Azelf fairs much better if its shiny. Make yours shiny!

How Azelf fares against all the uber leads:

Darkrai: I lose to Choice Scarf variants but I stay in anyways just to see if he is. If he isn't, I go to Scizor to absorb sleep, and sometimes hoping for a miss. I really need to solve this issue of Dark Void. If he is Choice Scarf and uses Dark Pulse, I send out Scizor and U-turn to gain the momentum again.

Deoxys: No one uses it, but U-turn.

Deoxys-a: U-turn to Scizor and Bullet Punch/U-turn.

Deoxys-d: Trick him the Scarf, set up Stealth Rock, and play accordingly.

Deoxys-s: U-turn, some of them are scarfed and they Trick me sometimes. U-turn to Scizor and U-turn/Bullet Punch.

Dialga: Trick, and then set up Stealth Rock. If he attacks with Draco Meteor, go to Wobbuffet and kill it.

Garchomp: Never see them as leads, but probably Trick as they will Stealth Rock.

Giratina: Trick, and then set up Stealth Rock.

Giratina-o: U-turn to Kyogre or Groudon, play accordingly from there.

Groudon: Trick him the scarf, and set up Stealth Rock.

Ho-oh: Kind of a threat, sometimes I U-turn to Palkia or Kyogre, and sometimes I Explode.

Kyogre: U-turn to Palkia. U-turn softens the blow from Water Spout which is great.

Lati@s: U-turn or sometimes even Trick just to get rid of their Soul Dew.

Lugia: Trick them the Choice Scarf, set up Stealth Rock.

Manaphy: Never seen this as a lead, but U-turn or Trick would do.

Mew: Trick, as they usually Stealth Rock.

Mewtwo: U-turn to Palkia or Scizor and act accordingly from there.

Palkia: Kind of a threat. Either U-turn to Wobbuffet or Explode.

Rayquaza: U-turn to Scizor, then switch to Palkia to take the Fire Blast/Flamethrower.

Salamence: U-turn to Scizor. Pretty much same as Rayquaza.

Shaymin-s: I see if they're Scarfed by staying in, if they are, go to Scizor for BP if they use Air Slash/Seed Flare. If they are not scarfed, U-turn to Scizor and BP/U-turn.

Wobbuffet: Never seen one as a lead, but probably U-turn as he suspects me to Stealth Rock.

As you can see, Azelf does fairly well against most leads, by giving my team momentum. I love this Azelf!


Groudon @ Leftovers
Ability: Drought
EVs: 200 HP/112 Atk/108 Def/88 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Thunder Wave
-Swords Dance

Groudon is a force to be reckoned with. Thunder Wave helps my teammates sweep (especially Kyogre) and makes it easier for it to handle too. Swords Dance to boost my attack to insane levels (800 attack after 1 SD). Earthquake is STAB and hurts a lot even without an SD. Stone Edge is for coverage and hits Lugia, Lati@s, and Giratina-o.

Adamant nature because I want to hit hard. The EVs give me the least poison and SR damage I believe, and the EVs let me outrun neutral base 100s with 4 Speed EVs. The rest is put into Defense to boost my ability to take hits. This set was tooken right from Smogon.


Kyogre @ Choice Specs
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP/4 Spe/252 Sp. Atk
Modest nature
-Surf
-Water Spout/Sleep Talk
-Thunder
-Ice Beam

Kyogre is so beast with Choice Specs. It hits so hard. An offensive Dialga took 71% from Surf, and Giratina-o sometimes gets 1HKOed by Ice Beam after Stealth Rock. Since I'm slow, I don't expect Water Spout to be too useful since I'll be hitting last and that is why I have included Sleep Talk. With Sleep Talk, Darkrai is no longer an issue, and I can demolish it with one of my boosted attacks. Thunder and Ice Beam are for coverage and do great at dealing huge amounts of damage to many ubers.

The nature allows me to hit as hard as I can. EVs provide me bulk and power, while outspeeding base 90s who don't run speed EVs. Surf hits most ubers for a lot of damage and really helps once Palkia is gone so I can spam it. Thunder hurts Palkia, and is 2HKOed by it and that para hax is also great. Ice Beam hits many dragons for super effective, 1-2HKOing them all except for Specially Defensive Dialga and some bulky Latias who have CM.


Wobbuffet @ Leftovers
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 28 HP/252 Def/228 Sp. Def
Nature: Calm
-Counter
-Mirror Coat
-Encore
-Safeguard

Wobbuffet is my safety check against many choice pokemons. It is almost always the pokemon I go to after one of my pokemons die. Counter + Mirrow Coat is a great combination, backed up by Encore means I always get a few kills or a free turn to go to Groudon to set up or Kyogre to hit like a monster. Safeguard is there because sometimes I Encore Blissey into Toxic and I don't want my teammates to get it. I might consider Pursuit since I do have Scizor and Blissey's T-Wave can be directed at Groudon while Toxic can be directed at Scizor.

The EVs means I get as much Leftovers recovery as possible, and the rest is put in the defenses to maximize bulk. Calm nature is used to increase my special defense to take all the powerful special attacks in the uber metagame.


Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP/100 Atk/156 Sp. Def
Adamant Nature
-U-turn
-Bullet Punch
-Pursuit
-Superpower

Bullet Punch is a very strong priority to move and Scizor is sent out to pick off weakned pokemons. U-turn again brings my team momentum as to what to go to, and is a strong move against the psychic pokemons in this tier. Pursuit to trap Choiced pokemon trying to escape, and Superpower is really for Dialga and steels, though I have never used it yet. Don't think Scizor gets many choices other than that.

Adamant nature so I can hit harder. The HP EVs for bulk, Special Defense EVs to take the special hits better, and Attack EVs to hit harder. I might try a more offensive or bulkier EV spread. Suggestions?


Palkia @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Sp. Atk/252 Spe
Timid nature
-Draco Meteor
-Spacial Rend
-Thunder
-Surf

Palkia is my revenge killer. It hits 492 speed, and can revenge kill many things, weakened or unharmed. Draco Meteor hits VERY hard and OHKOs Giratina-o and even does approximately 90% to Giratinas. Spacial Rend is when I'm sweeping and don't need the extra power that Draco Meteor provides me. Surf is for secondary STAB and hurts a lot in the rain. Thunder also works in the rain, and is my main check to Lugia and Kyogre.

Timid nature is used so I can speed tie with opposing Palkias who also run Choice Scarf Timid. Max speed to outrun everything, max special attack to hit as hard as possible and the remaining 4 EVs into HP to take hits better. I am considering taking out one move for Fire Blast, so it functions well in the sun too because half of its moveset is destroyed if the sun is up. I really want to keep both Kyogre and Groudon on this team. Suggestion?


Well folks, this is my team. Thanks for reading, and thanks for giving me feedback. If you find any flaws (of course there are flaws), please inform me. I read all feedback and change my team a lot of the time too! Thank you again!


-ShinyAzelf

About your kyogre... I would use sleep talk over water spout as water spout hasn't been very helpful to me in any occasion. What I like about your team is that it's not over 60% weak to dragon

Your Kyogre may be slow but that is why your Groudon is helping it out since it is spreading paralysis with T-Wave. Not unless does that help Groudon, since it can set up a Swords Dance a little easier and sweep, but that also helps Kyogre pull off a sweep as well with Water Spout imo.

I used to ladder with a nearly identical team about a year ago, except Groudon was my lead and I had Rayquaza instead of Azelf, so it's good to see that it still works. You have a very common core that's been around for a long time, but I really don't understand your use of Wobbuffet. I mean, you don't have a fragile set-up Poke like Rayquaza who greatly benefits from Encore, and Groudon is fairly self-sustaining thanks to Thunder Wave. Because Scizor can deal with most Scarfed Pokemon (besides Kyogre, but you have Palkia), you can use Wobbuffet's slot for something that keeps up with the offensive pace of your team. Although there are a lot of directions you can take with this, I'd recommend trying out Life Orb Mewtwo over Wobb, since it's one of the best all out sweepers in Ubers. It also works nicely with your Choiced Pokemon, since if Mewtwo can successfully go kaboom on Blissey, it's unlikely your opponent will have anything else to sponge Kyogre's or Palkia's attacks. Not only does Mewtwo beat Lugia, Darkrai and Lati@s, you can explode on any troublesome Blissey, Ho-oh or Wobbuffet at your discretion, which can open up a huge hole in your opponent's team for another Pokemon to exploit.

Mewtwo @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive nature (+Spe, -SpD)
- Aura Sphere
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
- Selfdestruct

The loss of Wobbuffet makes you slightly weaker to Choiced Pokemon, which is why it's important that you make Scizor bulkier. Stick with the standard 200 HP / 56 Atk / 252 SpD Adamant spread because it maximizes Scizor's Special Defense, which is vital when you're continually absorbing Dragon-type attacks. Right now, you're at risk of being 2HKOed by Palkia's Spacial Rend with SR up, so the little extra bulk can help prevent this from happening. Although I've never been a fan of Modest Kyogre, you should probably give it 40 Speed EVs since most people are starting to use 36 Speed on their base 90s. You can also try out Timid with max Speed, but regardless, make sure you stick with Water Spout instead of Sleep Talk, since you already have Scizor (and maybe Mewtwo?) to beat Darkrai. If you want a Fire move on Palkia to abuse dual weather, you should definitely replace one of its two Dragon-type attacks. It's all a matter of preference, and I've always used Draco Meteor on Palkia since I find it to mostly be a hit-and-run Pokemon, but just replace whichever you don't use as frequently.

Nitpick: If you are going to be using Wobbufet, go with Tickle > Safeguard, since you can kill walls like Lugia with 4-5 Tickles and Pursuit from Scizor.

Hi SA, lovely to see Ubers Azelf getting some fun use =D

Anyway, Iconic's pretty much said everything I would say. I do notice a slight weakness to Stall and maybe a bit to Ho-oh, though, since you don't really have anything (Apart from Kyogre) to really punch down walls with. Even one layer of Toxic Spikes will cause you a fair amount of grief. Iconic's Mewtwo suggestion is good, and I would suggest that you try it, but also consider replacing Wobbuffet with a Mixed Dialga if Mewtwo doesn't appeal to you:

Dialga @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk/252 SpA/252 Spe
Nature: Hasty
-Bulk Up
-Outrage
-Draco Meteor
-Fire Blast/Thunder/Brick Break

You can use the slower version if you like, but I personally like faster Dialgas, heh.

Anyway, the reason I said you have a slight Ho-oh weakness is because your Kyogre is too slow!! I'd suggest 220 HP/252 SpA/36 Spe with the same nature to outspeed at least standard Ho-oh.

Also, since Scizor is pretty much the only thing taking Dragon hits for the team, I'd suggest a Roosting Scizor:

Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 152 HP/124 Atk/232 SpD
Nature: Adamant
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Pursuit
-Roost

This Scizor does almost everything you want it to do apart from Superpower Dialga on the switch, and you shouldn't be trying to do that anyways. With Roost, Scizor becomes more durable, and allows you to use LO, which (I think) should still nab you the 2HKO on 252/0 Deoxys-S after Azelf's U-Turn.

Hope I helped, good luck with your team.

As others have said, it's a well made team for the current metagame. With that said, no one is using stall for whatever reason, so it's only natural that the team is going to be sorta stall-weak.