Greetings everyone. Introductions are cheesy. At any rate, I stepped back from the extremely repetitive (imo that is) OU tier and strolled into UU - and liking it!
For the past couple of days I've been working on this team, after trying out a few I'd seen posted here and having established a feel for UU. Currently I'm sitting at about 1360 cre and rising.
The team's title comes from something I'd later discovered: 4 out of 6 stem from the RBY days, one from GSC and the last one from RS.
The Line-up:
I did an extreme amount of shuffling team members around so I won't go into detail as to how I got to this point. In-depth below ;)
@ Choice Scarf
Modest - 16 HP, 240 Spe, 252 SpAtk
*Leaf Storm
*Sludge Bomb
*Sleep Powder
*Knock Off
This is as solid of a lead as it gets, putting early pressure on opponents while being able to prevent hazards 75% of the time. For some bizarre reason, the standard scarf set recommends EQ/Power Whip as a check to Raikou and Registeel/Chansey. Raikou is banned nowadays, and Knock Off has more of an impact on whatever wall the enemy team sends in. Also frees up more EVs for special attack. Speaking of which, with these EVs I'm able to outrun max speed Swellow. Choice Scarf is fun when opposing leads try to trick their own Scarf on me.
The idea is simple. Put to sleep whatever I suspect is just there to set up rocks - 80% of the time this is Uxie/Mesprit. Generally these two don't care about Venusaur even being there and want to put up SR asap. Rarely do they use Psychic. If the lead is problematic, I mostly switch to Registeel to paralyze and set up my own rocks early in the game. Lead Moltres is a problem, though I generally switch to Azumarill in that case and threaten it back.
Synergy:
Fire -> Arcanine, Azumarill
Psychic -> Registeel
@ Leftovers
Jolly - 124 HP, 154 Atk, 232 Spe [Intimidate]
*Flare Blitz
*Extremespeed
*Toxic
*Morning Sun
This is pretty standard. Since I lack a spinner I wanted to make sure he was as sturdy as he could be, so I left out the Life Orb. Toxic messes with walls, Morning Sun for scouting predicted switch ins while healing off SR damage. Extremespeed for revenge killing, Blitz for stab. Intimidate because it's more useful than Flash Fire in general. Arcanine is usually the one cleaning up rather than actually sweeping, and even if I'd nab a boost, the enemy would probably just switch out on something that resists. The EVs net me 352 HP, a magic lefties number, and 312 speed.
Synergy:
Water -> Venusaur, Azumarill, -Registeel
Rock -> Registeel, Nidoking, -Weezing
Ground -> Weezing
Previously: Houndoom. Immunities to Fire and another Psychic check were nice, but overall I found little openings for Nasty Plot. Arcanine can come in a lot more, and safer. The team was also a lot more special-centered when Doom and Milo were still in it. At the moment it's more balanced, and for the good.
@ Leftovers
Adamant - 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 Spe [Huge Power]
*Substitute
*Focus Punch
*Aqua Jet
*Waterfall
For a few days I used the CB setup with little success. I find the subpuncher a lot more easier to use because you don't have to rely as much on prediction. In other words, it's more dependable. It's Azumarill, I guess. It's there, being bulky, setting up on things and proceeding to smack the ??? out of them. Lacking Ice Punch or Return is hardly ever a problem. Extremely easy to set up a sub against one of the Regis.
Synergy:
Electric -> Venusaur, Registeel, Nidoking
Grass -> Venusaur, Registeel, Weezing, Arcanine
Previously: Milotic. It walled better than Azumarill for sure, but in the end it threatened close to nothing.
@ Leftovers
Bold - 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpDef
*Fire Blast
*Thunderbolt
*Will-O-Wisp
*Pain Split
I needed ground coverage while keeping the enormous flood of Heracross at bay. Enter Weezing. He forms an insanely defensive combo with Registeel, checks other such threats as DDgatr and WoWs whenever it gets the chance. Fire Blast is chosen over Flamethrower because calcs tell me it's a 2HKO on Hera. Flamethrower never is.
Synergy:
Psychic -> Registeel
@ Leftovers
Careful - 252 HP, 4 Def, 252 SpDef
*Seismic Toss
*Thunder Wave
*Stealth Rock
*Shadow Claw
Early game SR. This is usually the second pokemon out, unless Venusaur shares the threat with Registeel. TWave tosses random paralyzes around, mostly to other walls who'd heal away SToss.
Synergy:
Fire -> Arcanine, Azumarill
Fighting -> Weezing, Nidoking
Ground -> Weezing
Previously: Hypno. It had Reflect and Wish over Registeel, but worse stats and synergy. Glad I made the change.
@ Life Orb
Naive - 40 Atk, 216 Spe, 252 SpAtk [Rivalry]
*Thunderbolt
*Ice Beam
*Earth Power
*Superpower
Ah, Nidoking. It serves the team as a very dependable wallbreaker, denting the enemy team left and right while not caring about either Toxic or TWave. WoW only bothers Superpower, which I only use for Chansey.
The team is obviously for Shoddy use; hardly ever will you see a female pokemon in UU, next to Chansey, which further boosts his power. Superpower is a 2HKO to Chansey, which is its only use. Max speed base 80s are outsped, meaning a definite kill on unscarfed Venusaurs and the like. Excellent coverage paired with Life Orb and a Rivalry boost isn't to be underestimated.
Thunderbolt is a 2HKO on Milotic, Slowbro, and Azumarill, hitting around 80-85% on the last two and around 57% on Milo.
Ice Beam hits Venusaur for 83% - 98%, OHKOing after SR damage.
Earth Power is a 2HKO on even Registeel (52%-62%) and a guaranteed OHKO on Rhyperior. I don't even have to mention all the Poison and Fire-types running about in UU.
Superpower, like I said, is only of use when taking out Chansey. Not feeling the Attack drop in any of its other moves is very nice.
This Nidoking tears through slower teams after they're weakened and enjoys the para-support by Registeel. Its counter? Pretty obvious: seasoned players who create their teams so meticulously that they actually keep Rivalry in mind. Teams that are all-female render Nidoking close to useless.
Synergy:
Water -> Azumarill, Venusaur, -Registeel
Ice -> Azumarill, Arcanine, Registeel
Ground -> Weezing
Psychic -> Registeel
Previously: Toxicroak. Water immunity was nice, but it wasn't as versatile as Nidoking. Not being immune to TWave also meant no guaranteed free switch-ins on walls.
Considered using: Primeape. Vital Spirit seemed like a nice answer to Sleep Powder, but even then it wouldn't be a failsafe Venusaur counter.
Final comments
So far I'm really liking this team. It's balanced, able to wall very well and able to sweep very well. Two priority moves and four different statuses to be spread cripple the opposing team in a matter of time. The bulkiness helps in stalling, should that need arise.
Few EQ users can take out Weezing, so I'm pretty safe when it comes to that. RP Rhyperior/Torterra can prove a problem if it's out, but weakened Azumarill can blast both Aqua Jet. The seemingly huge Psychic weakness may seem a problem, but it really isn't. The common Psychic leads often end up asleep the first turn of the game. Zam can't touch Registeel and is OHKO'd by Aqua Jet and outsped by Venusaur. Not sure about Extremespeed but it'll hurt.
For the past couple of days I've been working on this team, after trying out a few I'd seen posted here and having established a feel for UU. Currently I'm sitting at about 1360 cre and rising.
The team's title comes from something I'd later discovered: 4 out of 6 stem from the RBY days, one from GSC and the last one from RS.
The Line-up:
I did an extreme amount of shuffling team members around so I won't go into detail as to how I got to this point. In-depth below ;)
Modest - 16 HP, 240 Spe, 252 SpAtk
*Leaf Storm
*Sludge Bomb
*Sleep Powder
*Knock Off
This is as solid of a lead as it gets, putting early pressure on opponents while being able to prevent hazards 75% of the time. For some bizarre reason, the standard scarf set recommends EQ/Power Whip as a check to Raikou and Registeel/Chansey. Raikou is banned nowadays, and Knock Off has more of an impact on whatever wall the enemy team sends in. Also frees up more EVs for special attack. Speaking of which, with these EVs I'm able to outrun max speed Swellow. Choice Scarf is fun when opposing leads try to trick their own Scarf on me.
The idea is simple. Put to sleep whatever I suspect is just there to set up rocks - 80% of the time this is Uxie/Mesprit. Generally these two don't care about Venusaur even being there and want to put up SR asap. Rarely do they use Psychic. If the lead is problematic, I mostly switch to Registeel to paralyze and set up my own rocks early in the game. Lead Moltres is a problem, though I generally switch to Azumarill in that case and threaten it back.
Synergy:
Fire -> Arcanine, Azumarill
Psychic -> Registeel
Jolly - 124 HP, 154 Atk, 232 Spe [Intimidate]
*Flare Blitz
*Extremespeed
*Toxic
*Morning Sun
This is pretty standard. Since I lack a spinner I wanted to make sure he was as sturdy as he could be, so I left out the Life Orb. Toxic messes with walls, Morning Sun for scouting predicted switch ins while healing off SR damage. Extremespeed for revenge killing, Blitz for stab. Intimidate because it's more useful than Flash Fire in general. Arcanine is usually the one cleaning up rather than actually sweeping, and even if I'd nab a boost, the enemy would probably just switch out on something that resists. The EVs net me 352 HP, a magic lefties number, and 312 speed.
Synergy:
Water -> Venusaur, Azumarill, -Registeel
Rock -> Registeel, Nidoking, -Weezing
Ground -> Weezing
Previously: Houndoom. Immunities to Fire and another Psychic check were nice, but overall I found little openings for Nasty Plot. Arcanine can come in a lot more, and safer. The team was also a lot more special-centered when Doom and Milo were still in it. At the moment it's more balanced, and for the good.
Adamant - 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 Spe [Huge Power]
*Substitute
*Focus Punch
*Aqua Jet
*Waterfall
For a few days I used the CB setup with little success. I find the subpuncher a lot more easier to use because you don't have to rely as much on prediction. In other words, it's more dependable. It's Azumarill, I guess. It's there, being bulky, setting up on things and proceeding to smack the ??? out of them. Lacking Ice Punch or Return is hardly ever a problem. Extremely easy to set up a sub against one of the Regis.
Synergy:
Electric -> Venusaur, Registeel, Nidoking
Grass -> Venusaur, Registeel, Weezing, Arcanine
Previously: Milotic. It walled better than Azumarill for sure, but in the end it threatened close to nothing.
Bold - 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpDef
*Fire Blast
*Thunderbolt
*Will-O-Wisp
*Pain Split
I needed ground coverage while keeping the enormous flood of Heracross at bay. Enter Weezing. He forms an insanely defensive combo with Registeel, checks other such threats as DDgatr and WoWs whenever it gets the chance. Fire Blast is chosen over Flamethrower because calcs tell me it's a 2HKO on Hera. Flamethrower never is.
Synergy:
Psychic -> Registeel
Careful - 252 HP, 4 Def, 252 SpDef
*Seismic Toss
*Thunder Wave
*Stealth Rock
*Shadow Claw
Early game SR. This is usually the second pokemon out, unless Venusaur shares the threat with Registeel. TWave tosses random paralyzes around, mostly to other walls who'd heal away SToss.
Synergy:
Fire -> Arcanine, Azumarill
Fighting -> Weezing, Nidoking
Ground -> Weezing
Previously: Hypno. It had Reflect and Wish over Registeel, but worse stats and synergy. Glad I made the change.
Naive - 40 Atk, 216 Spe, 252 SpAtk [Rivalry]
*Thunderbolt
*Ice Beam
*Earth Power
*Superpower
Ah, Nidoking. It serves the team as a very dependable wallbreaker, denting the enemy team left and right while not caring about either Toxic or TWave. WoW only bothers Superpower, which I only use for Chansey.
The team is obviously for Shoddy use; hardly ever will you see a female pokemon in UU, next to Chansey, which further boosts his power. Superpower is a 2HKO to Chansey, which is its only use. Max speed base 80s are outsped, meaning a definite kill on unscarfed Venusaurs and the like. Excellent coverage paired with Life Orb and a Rivalry boost isn't to be underestimated.
Thunderbolt is a 2HKO on Milotic, Slowbro, and Azumarill, hitting around 80-85% on the last two and around 57% on Milo.
Ice Beam hits Venusaur for 83% - 98%, OHKOing after SR damage.
Earth Power is a 2HKO on even Registeel (52%-62%) and a guaranteed OHKO on Rhyperior. I don't even have to mention all the Poison and Fire-types running about in UU.
Superpower, like I said, is only of use when taking out Chansey. Not feeling the Attack drop in any of its other moves is very nice.
This Nidoking tears through slower teams after they're weakened and enjoys the para-support by Registeel. Its counter? Pretty obvious: seasoned players who create their teams so meticulously that they actually keep Rivalry in mind. Teams that are all-female render Nidoking close to useless.
Synergy:
Water -> Azumarill, Venusaur, -Registeel
Ice -> Azumarill, Arcanine, Registeel
Ground -> Weezing
Psychic -> Registeel
Previously: Toxicroak. Water immunity was nice, but it wasn't as versatile as Nidoking. Not being immune to TWave also meant no guaranteed free switch-ins on walls.
Considered using: Primeape. Vital Spirit seemed like a nice answer to Sleep Powder, but even then it wouldn't be a failsafe Venusaur counter.
Final comments
So far I'm really liking this team. It's balanced, able to wall very well and able to sweep very well. Two priority moves and four different statuses to be spread cripple the opposing team in a matter of time. The bulkiness helps in stalling, should that need arise.
Few EQ users can take out Weezing, so I'm pretty safe when it comes to that. RP Rhyperior/Torterra can prove a problem if it's out, but weakened Azumarill can blast both Aqua Jet. The seemingly huge Psychic weakness may seem a problem, but it really isn't. The common Psychic leads often end up asleep the first turn of the game. Zam can't touch Registeel and is OHKO'd by Aqua Jet and outsped by Venusaur. Not sure about Extremespeed but it'll hurt.