Hi all! So while i'm not exactly new to UU (been playing a little while) this is my first serious attempt at building my own team (I usually pinch them from this very forum), so far it's done ok though i'm only at 1142 at time of writing. I'm hoping to get some help moving a little further up the ladder.
The team:
Let's get onto the sets etc shall we!
The core:
Honestly this thing terrifies me... I dread seeing it on the other team. Choice scarf Darm hits like a truck, has fantastic coverage and once his checks are out of the way is very VERY difficult to stop, on this team he plays a few rolls, he functions primarily as a wall breaker, compliment mence nicely, late game (if he makes it) this guy can roll up entire teams by clicking flare blitz.
Flareblitz is here for obvious reasons, it hits disgustingly hard, even when resisted, very few things want to switch into it. The recoil can be a pain though and tends to shorten Darms life quite a bit (it kills him as often as the opponent). If planning to use this guy to sweep you need to keep him healthy or he'll kill himself.
Stone edge is there primarily for other fire types, gaining valuable KOs on the likes of opposing Darms, chandelure, arcanine and entei, it's also appreciated against flyers, in particular salamence. The accuracy is a rish and I have thought about rock slide but honestly I'd miss the power of stone edge with sheer force.
Superpower is another coverage move, hitting dark types very hard (i'm looking at you hydreigon) and it's good for taking down steel and ice types that I don't want to take recoil damage against. It's also vital for hitting the rock types that otherwise might be a pain.
Finally u-turn, this allows Darm to act as a pivot and get off some chip damage. As Darm is frequently my lead (anti-lead I guess?) this move tends to get used a lot, it's ability to mess up Azelf and do a good chunk to things like galvantula is very much appreciated.
Beedrill-Mega @ Beedrillite
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Poison Jab
- X-Scissor
- Swords Dance
I know, i know, another frail physical attacker but I can't help it, I love this mon! He's been working pretty well, again he runs as a wall breaker or a sweeper late game.
The EVs and nature are standard, max power and speed as there's absolutely no use in boosting his pathetic defense, as they say, the best defense is a good offence and boy oh boy does this guy have a good offence!
U-turn is self explanatory, allowing Beedrill to act as a pivot and forming a little volt turn thing with Darm, also with adaptability it hits so so hard!
Poison jab is another excellent adaptability boosted stab, hitting anything that doesn't resist it very hard, and clearing fairies out of the way for Salamence.
X-scissor i'm not sure of, I have it primarily because if I get sword dance up I don't want to have to use u-turn just to get a bug STAB, this could be replaced by drill run to get coverage on steels that otherwise wall this monster?
Swords dance is a pretty ballsy move on Beedrill if I do say so myself, especially when it takes the place of protect and I'm still not sure it's a good idea? I mean if I get one off then God help anything that gets in this beasts way but it becomes pretty tricky to get a dance off in the first place, swap with protect maybe?
The backup:
So that's defense and offence sorted, sadly my offence has a massive stealth rock weakness! So hazard control is a must, some hazards of my own wouldn't hurt either, chip damage to help Darm and beedrill get those KOs and to capitalize on all the switches the terrible twosome in the core force. With this in mind defog wasn't ideal, also most defog users are flying and would therefore add another rock weakness so I figured...
Forretress @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
I know custap berry looks really odd here and it totally is, originally this guy ran with explosion but one day I decided to try spikes instead and forgot to change the berry. I've actually found it handy to get off that one last rapid spin or set rocks before he dies, though i'm far from sure on it.
The EVs are standard defense Forry, allowing him to take as many physical hits as possible while he sets up or spins.
This guy os pretty self explanatory, spin to keep rocks away, setup rocks and if possible spikes for chip damage and to help with a sweep. Volt switch is nice to get Darm or Beedrill in unharmed.
I've found this guy dies... A lot, his pathetic special defense doesn't help nor his massive fire weakness, i'd replace him if I could but how else do you cram this much utility into one slot?
Threats... From my experience.
The only thing I really hate seeing with this team is DD/sub Gyarados - Seriously this thing sets up all over Slowking, Forretress and Amoongus, it has to be wary of Darms stone edge but happily sets up on him locked into any other move and once it's setup there's no stopping it.
Maybe I've just been lucky?
That's the team, it's far FAR from perfect but it's the best I've managed so far and it does ok. Any help would be appreciated though!
Cheers!
Kelshal
The team:
Let's get onto the sets etc shall we!
The core:
Amoonguss @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
Giga Drain
Clear Smog
Spore
Toxic
Specially defensive Amoongus, this guy is the first half of my regenerator core, his main purpose on the team is to take hits and be annoying, spore helps greatly with that second bit, effectively taking an opposing mon out of the fight and making Amoongus annoying to switch into, toxic is there if I predict a switch into a grass type or to try and catch a switch in after something has been put to sleep.
Clear smog is primarily there to mess with CM suicune but works just as well on plenty of other setup sweepers (feraligator, Curselax, non bounce DD gyarados, SD cobalion etc) which are handled by this beast. Gig drain is there because I needed an attack and getting some recovery is nice.
Amoongus is an excellent check to the fighting and water types that inhabit the tier while also taking electric and grass type attacks for Slowking like a champ.
While he has fantastic bulk Amoongus really needs help with fire, ice and psychic types, which is where he partner in crime comes in.
Slowking @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Psyshock
And this ladies and gentlemen is the partner in crime I was talking about, physically defensive CM slowking checks a lot of threats that Amoongus misses. Regenerator is a great ability that helps keep this monster healthy and happy, his main purpose on the team is to absorb hits, fish for scald burns and given half a chance setup and sweep.
Calm mind is pretty self explanatory, once his checks are out of the way there's often very little a team can do to stop Slowking, scald is his go to move, fishing for burns and getting chip damage where it can, psyshock is there for special walls and the likes of Toxicroak who may want to soak up a scald. Slack off keeps him healthy during sweeps and allows him to outlast most opponents while slowly calm minding up.
Slowking makes a great partner for Amoongus, happily taking on the fire, ice and psychic type hits Amoongus doesn't want to take as well as being a pretty reliable blanket check to physical attackers who don't have a super effective move.
The muscle:
So although the core is tough and pretty good at spreading status and keeping itself healthy it's pretty passive and almost totally lacks hitting power, with that in mind I figured some heavy hitters would be handy.
Salamence @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Tail
- Roost
Life ord special mence is a monster... Draco is his main nuke and the button i'll be clicking 99% of the time when there're no fairies around, with a life orb even resistant pokemon don't want to be taking to many of these!
Fireblast is there for predicted steel type switches as not only will it hit harder it will also mean mence can stay in and hit again.
Dragon tail is there for one reason, to stop this beast becoming setup fodder due to the SpA drop from draco, it does decent chip damage too.
Finally roost is there to help cushion life orb damage and most importantly keep this guy out of stealth rock range.
The EV spread and nature maximize power and speed as he isn't here to take hits.
On this team Salamence functions as a wall breaker with meteors but also as a secondary check to the many fighting, fire, water and grass types the tier has to offer.
Darmanitan @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
- U-turn
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
Giga Drain
Clear Smog
Spore
Toxic
Specially defensive Amoongus, this guy is the first half of my regenerator core, his main purpose on the team is to take hits and be annoying, spore helps greatly with that second bit, effectively taking an opposing mon out of the fight and making Amoongus annoying to switch into, toxic is there if I predict a switch into a grass type or to try and catch a switch in after something has been put to sleep.
Clear smog is primarily there to mess with CM suicune but works just as well on plenty of other setup sweepers (feraligator, Curselax, non bounce DD gyarados, SD cobalion etc) which are handled by this beast. Gig drain is there because I needed an attack and getting some recovery is nice.
Amoongus is an excellent check to the fighting and water types that inhabit the tier while also taking electric and grass type attacks for Slowking like a champ.
While he has fantastic bulk Amoongus really needs help with fire, ice and psychic types, which is where he partner in crime comes in.
Slowking @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Psyshock
And this ladies and gentlemen is the partner in crime I was talking about, physically defensive CM slowking checks a lot of threats that Amoongus misses. Regenerator is a great ability that helps keep this monster healthy and happy, his main purpose on the team is to absorb hits, fish for scald burns and given half a chance setup and sweep.
Calm mind is pretty self explanatory, once his checks are out of the way there's often very little a team can do to stop Slowking, scald is his go to move, fishing for burns and getting chip damage where it can, psyshock is there for special walls and the likes of Toxicroak who may want to soak up a scald. Slack off keeps him healthy during sweeps and allows him to outlast most opponents while slowly calm minding up.
Slowking makes a great partner for Amoongus, happily taking on the fire, ice and psychic type hits Amoongus doesn't want to take as well as being a pretty reliable blanket check to physical attackers who don't have a super effective move.
The muscle:
So although the core is tough and pretty good at spreading status and keeping itself healthy it's pretty passive and almost totally lacks hitting power, with that in mind I figured some heavy hitters would be handy.
Salamence @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Tail
- Roost
Life ord special mence is a monster... Draco is his main nuke and the button i'll be clicking 99% of the time when there're no fairies around, with a life orb even resistant pokemon don't want to be taking to many of these!
Fireblast is there for predicted steel type switches as not only will it hit harder it will also mean mence can stay in and hit again.
Dragon tail is there for one reason, to stop this beast becoming setup fodder due to the SpA drop from draco, it does decent chip damage too.
Finally roost is there to help cushion life orb damage and most importantly keep this guy out of stealth rock range.
The EV spread and nature maximize power and speed as he isn't here to take hits.
On this team Salamence functions as a wall breaker with meteors but also as a secondary check to the many fighting, fire, water and grass types the tier has to offer.
Darmanitan @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
- U-turn
Honestly this thing terrifies me... I dread seeing it on the other team. Choice scarf Darm hits like a truck, has fantastic coverage and once his checks are out of the way is very VERY difficult to stop, on this team he plays a few rolls, he functions primarily as a wall breaker, compliment mence nicely, late game (if he makes it) this guy can roll up entire teams by clicking flare blitz.
Flareblitz is here for obvious reasons, it hits disgustingly hard, even when resisted, very few things want to switch into it. The recoil can be a pain though and tends to shorten Darms life quite a bit (it kills him as often as the opponent). If planning to use this guy to sweep you need to keep him healthy or he'll kill himself.
Stone edge is there primarily for other fire types, gaining valuable KOs on the likes of opposing Darms, chandelure, arcanine and entei, it's also appreciated against flyers, in particular salamence. The accuracy is a rish and I have thought about rock slide but honestly I'd miss the power of stone edge with sheer force.
Superpower is another coverage move, hitting dark types very hard (i'm looking at you hydreigon) and it's good for taking down steel and ice types that I don't want to take recoil damage against. It's also vital for hitting the rock types that otherwise might be a pain.
Finally u-turn, this allows Darm to act as a pivot and get off some chip damage. As Darm is frequently my lead (anti-lead I guess?) this move tends to get used a lot, it's ability to mess up Azelf and do a good chunk to things like galvantula is very much appreciated.
Beedrill-Mega @ Beedrillite
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Poison Jab
- X-Scissor
- Swords Dance
I know, i know, another frail physical attacker but I can't help it, I love this mon! He's been working pretty well, again he runs as a wall breaker or a sweeper late game.
The EVs and nature are standard, max power and speed as there's absolutely no use in boosting his pathetic defense, as they say, the best defense is a good offence and boy oh boy does this guy have a good offence!
U-turn is self explanatory, allowing Beedrill to act as a pivot and forming a little volt turn thing with Darm, also with adaptability it hits so so hard!
Poison jab is another excellent adaptability boosted stab, hitting anything that doesn't resist it very hard, and clearing fairies out of the way for Salamence.
X-scissor i'm not sure of, I have it primarily because if I get sword dance up I don't want to have to use u-turn just to get a bug STAB, this could be replaced by drill run to get coverage on steels that otherwise wall this monster?
Swords dance is a pretty ballsy move on Beedrill if I do say so myself, especially when it takes the place of protect and I'm still not sure it's a good idea? I mean if I get one off then God help anything that gets in this beasts way but it becomes pretty tricky to get a dance off in the first place, swap with protect maybe?
The backup:
Forretress @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
I know custap berry looks really odd here and it totally is, originally this guy ran with explosion but one day I decided to try spikes instead and forgot to change the berry. I've actually found it handy to get off that one last rapid spin or set rocks before he dies, though i'm far from sure on it.
The EVs are standard defense Forry, allowing him to take as many physical hits as possible while he sets up or spins.
This guy os pretty self explanatory, spin to keep rocks away, setup rocks and if possible spikes for chip damage and to help with a sweep. Volt switch is nice to get Darm or Beedrill in unharmed.
I've found this guy dies... A lot, his pathetic special defense doesn't help nor his massive fire weakness, i'd replace him if I could but how else do you cram this much utility into one slot?
Threats... From my experience.
The only thing I really hate seeing with this team is DD/sub Gyarados - Seriously this thing sets up all over Slowking, Forretress and Amoongus, it has to be wary of Darms stone edge but happily sets up on him locked into any other move and once it's setup there's no stopping it.
Maybe I've just been lucky?
Cheers!
Kelshal
