XY UU Madvillainy

[Bouff]

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Well, thanks to the upcoming release of ORAS, XY UU is pretty much going to be finalized in the next week, and a lot more has changed within the past few months, and with that, I've decided to write an RMT (again). I've been using this team for the past 2 weeks with decent success, and my boy KratosMana won with this team against Afro Smash (although he lost the series cause Alan is a haxing chump) in Grand Slam playoffs, so eh, might as well. ;o

If there's two things that are really good in UU right now with the tier developments, it's Gligar and Machamp, with the former rising up to fame with the Specially Defensive Stealth Rock set, while the latter serving as a psuedo-Heracross, with sets like AV No Guard, AV Guts, and CB Guts, which are all extremely good in the current metagame. I also wanted to explore some mons that I haven't tried out before, like IB Rest Cune, and Rotom-Heat (pretend that the MD portrait sprite is RotomH and not reg), which lead to the creation of this team.

Teambuilding Process:

It seems kind of awkward starting a team with a win condition, but Suicune is arguably one of the best set up sweepers in the entire tier, especially with Slowbro out of the tier, and gives me a great defensive pivot, taking on a good portion of the physical attackers, particularly Darmanitan and Entei. There are a lot of variants you can generally use, like RoarCune, IBCune, or just the standard CroCune, and all work pretty well, but I chose to run Ice Beam as it gets Zygarde off the field as fast as possible, as SubCoil variants paired with Spikes and/or support can be an absolute pain in the ass, depending on the opposing team.

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Next, I needed a solid answer for Fighting-types, particularly GutsChamp, who shits all over Suicune considering the fact that it can take advantage of Scald. Crobat was one of the most probable solutions, as it also provided reliable hazard control, tanks Fighting-type attacks with little trouble, and outspeeds a huge portion of the tier, which can be a pain for offensive teams.

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I decided to round off the Balance core with Umbreon, as it gives Suicune and Crobat practically everything they could ask for, as it provides amazing defensive synergy with the two thanks to its massive special bulk, and supports both with Wish and Heal Bell support. It also gives me a nice Psychic-immunity, and a counter to the Nidos (provided they're not physical lol).

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Next, I needed a Stealth Rock setter, considering the fact that pretty much every single good team needs it, making it harder for Fire-types like Darmanitan and Chandelure to switch in to my team. I debated between using Swampert, Hippowdon, Mega Aggron, and even Rhyperior, but then I remembered that this god existed. I chose Gligar because it sets itself apart from the aforementioned SR setters by being able to have reliable recovery and serve as an amazing defensive pivot at the same time, thanks to its access to U-turn. It also gives me a great answer to pretty much any variant of Lucario not carrying Ice Punch.

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I noticed that while I had a very strong defensive backbone, I was still weak to some threats that if I let get in for free, would plow through my team if played right, like Mega Abomasnow and Shaymin. I decided to add Rotom-Heat, as it could deal with them with little trouble, while also forming a nice VoltTurn core with Gligar and Crobat. Both offensive and defensive variants are good, but I chose a defensive one as Scarf sets are Kinda Bad with Hydrei and Zygarde running around the tier, and even if the team is kind of slow barring Crobat, balance teams don't usually /need/ a revenge killer.

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I decided to add Machamp to the last slot of the team, as I found that opposing Suicune, especially Roar variants, could be annoying if I let them set up, and I also couldn't get past CurseLax with the current team. All variants of Machamp are pretty amazing, and all can fit on this team; I was using Choice Band Guts on the ladder and when testing this team, but Anti decided to use AV Guts which is fine tbh, as it gives much more bulk while being able to take on the likes of Sableye and other status users without worry.

In Depth

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Suicune @ Leftovers // accordion
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 240 HP | 252 Def | 16 Spe
Bold Nature
Scald | Rest | Calm Mind | Ice Beam / Sleep Talk


Ever since Slowbro and Heracross left the tier, Suicune has really risen back to dominance in the tier, and it's a great win con for both offensive and defensive teams thanks to its great movepool. Suicune is generally my main switch ins to powerful Fire-types that can prove to be trouble to this team, like Darmanitan and Entei, as well as other, less powerful physical attackers. It generally can find many opportunites to set up, especially against offensive teams, as a good portion of the time their answer to Suicune can be taken down by Crobat, like Roserade, Shaymin, and Toxicroak. None of the moves really need much explanation, other than the last slot. To be honest, Ice Beam is better in this metagame thanks to Zygarde roaming around the tier and being on nearly every single balance team, and also gives me a chance against Toxicroak and other Pokemon that absorb Scald. Sleep Talk was used in Anti's match, however, and I think it saved him, as it lets you attack or set up while asleep, although Zygarde wasn't allowed during that match so Ice Beam wouldn't really have done much. I guess Roar is also an option in the last slot, but I don't really have much hazards to take advantage of it with other than SR. The EV spread is standard, and lets Suicune outspeed max speed Adamant variants of Machamp.

Crobat @ Black Sludge // raid
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 40 HP | 252 Atk | 216 Spe
Jolly Nature
Brave Bird | Roost | Defog | U-turn


Crobat is probably one of the few Pokemon in UU where you can practically slap it on a team and it'll almost always work. Well, not really, but Crobat is probably the most reliable defogger in UU, and fits on nearly every playstyle. I decided to use it due to the fact that I needed something to clear hazards and deter Fighting-types like Champ and Mienshao from plowing through my team. The set is standard, and the EV spread is used to outspeed Noivern while doing as much damage as possible. Outspeeding Alakazam pre-mega is really nice, as even though it doesn't kill, weakening it helps me out a good amount in the long run.

(fun fact: anti was using inner focus on accident during the open match which could've fucked him up real bad LOL)

Umbreon @ Leftovers // shadows of tomorrow
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
Foul Play | Wish | Protect | Heal Bell


Umbreon is the special wall of the team, and really ties the balance core in together, as it gives me a reliable switch in to the Nidos, a Wish passer, and a cleric all in one. It's probably one of the best mixed walls in the tier, and checks a bunch of special attackers, like the aformentioned Nidos, Roserade, and Chandelure, and it's no sitting duck against physical attackers either, as Foul Play does a huge amount to physical set up sweepers, even if they resist Foul Play. It also has great defensive synergy with Crobat, as it has an immunity to Psychic and tanks Electric-type attacks from the likes of Mega Ampharos and Raikou fairly well, while Crobat can switch into Fighting-type attacks with little trouble. WishTect is a pretty reliable strategy, as it gives Umbreon reliable recovery while also scouting what move Choiced Pokemon are going to use.

Rotom-Heat @ Leftovers // fancy clown
Ability: Leftovers
EVs: 248 HP / 124 Def / 136 Spe
Bold Nature
Overheat | Volt Switch | Pain Split | Will-o-Wisp


Rotom-Heat, while kind of niche in the current metagame, checked out a good portion of the threats I was weak to, particularly stuff like Honchkrow, Mega Abomasnow, and Tornadus, thanks to its great set of resistances. Not too much to say about it, since it's a pretty standard set, but I decided to run 136 Speed to outspeed Adamant Honchkrow and 0 Speed base 100s, which, while cutting into its bulk a fair amount, lets me cripple Honch without taking any damage (and to an extent, lets me burn Sub variants). It also serves as a nice defensive pivot, and forms a Volt-Turn core with Crobat and Gligar.

Machamp @ Choice Band / Assault Vest // meat grinder
Ability: Guts
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
Close Combat / Knock Off / Heavy Slam / Ice Punch


Machampion is literally the muscle on my team. It, like Heracross in past metagames, takes advantage of status and 2HKOs pretty much anything that doesn't resist it with Close Combat, and has amazing coverage with Fighting / Dark / Steel. Knock Off is used to mess up Psychic-types like Reuniclus trying to switch in on a Close Combat, and Heavy Slam plows through Florges, Aromatisse, and Whimsicott. I was considering between Stone Edge and Bullet Punch in the last slot, but I realized that Ice Punch smashed Crobat, Gligar, and the Nidos alike, which benefits me greatly, as the sooner I get rid of their Fighting resists, the more chance I have of winning provided I can keep Champ healthy. The EV spread is used to outspeed Florges, and honestly, the item is up to preference, as Machamp appreciates the extra special bulk, but I think I have enough special defense anyway; I decided to mention it since Anti used AV in his match, though.

Gligar @ Eviolite // rhinestone cowboy
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 SpD
Careful Nature
Stealth Rock / Earthquake / Roost / U-turn


Gligar is pretty much the star of the show, and is also the SR user i decided to go with for this team, as it can utilize its slow U-turn pretty effectively, letting me get into an appropriate answer with little trouble, and making my opponent think twice before switching, while also serving as a surefire answer to non Ice Punch Luke, Scarf Hydrei, and a good amount of other attackers in the tier. It, unlike other SR setters, has access to both a good defensive typing and reliable recovery, which made it a prime choice for my team.

Conclusion ​

Unlike most of the teams I've made, this one takes a more defensive approach to the tier, which is a bit out of my comfort zone (well unless it's full stall but i don't make those teams.. :^) ), but I've enjoyed using this for the past few weeks, and I'm quite satisfied with it.

If there's any massive threat that's noticeable, it's Calm Mind variants of Reuniclus and Cresselia, as they plow through Suicune with little trouble and don't really pay any attention to the rest of my team. Choice Specs Kyurem is also an asswipe, as I don't really have anything to tank its attacks and my team is too slow to do any noticeable damage to it. I tried using Snorlax over Suicune, which worked in some aspects, but it made me more weak to offensive mons, like LO Darmanitan and Zygarde, so I was more satisfied with Cune.

Hope you enjoyed reading this, and feel free to try it out!

shoutouts

Hot N Cold i cant even count the amount of squads we built together, lol !_! youve been my bro since uupl, and we've always been looking for each other's advice on the teams we've built, thanks for all the support :]

Mazz my mentor, and p much the main reason where i am today, thanks for everything man, hope u dont leave abruptly (again) :o

Spirit you and pearl need to get into uu asap brethren. definitely the best ru player ive seen, you have a great view on tiering and always know how to help whenever I have trouble with ru stuff, you also have good avatars (not as good as mine obv but still good ;] ), and a great dude whos always nice to talk to. can't wait for spl, should be fun :o

Pearl. (almost tagged wrong pearl lol), another great ru player, always down for a nice match in which i lose in. always nice talking to you man, thanks for being the all the help with ru teams.

namehtmas lol one of my oldest friends, always nice to talk to just about anything. :]

Meru ur such a nerd lmop..good thing ur alive again, ladder wasnt the same without u....ur bw team is bad btw :^)

KratosMana you probably won't see this, but it was fun buildin squads with u, fuga, hnc, meru, and everyone else. gl with rl stuff man

ium is a stupid kid

Dudeman130498 Bud Hertz ZvZ fbc 4trackboy Kushalos Billtodamax the original squadron..even though most of u niggas dont do much anymore (i doubt half of u will even see this), we need to get back in calls like the old days :[

atomicllamas ur a butt

Molk someday i'll be able to beat godly sets like itemless acro eel and scarf rock slide exploud..nah but u helped me get into ru when i first started, and u need to get into tournies...

the klub z0mOG Muk Henry Outrageous Fortune Bedschibaer DOGE EBINEST Ary Crestfall STROKING BLOOD TOTEM
metagamesecrets etaoi Water Drone and every1 else except mush


Wepwn for introducing me to doom, thx big dog

Omfuga definitely the most innovative player to date. never wouldve thought of such successful sets like the legendary choice band earth power kyurem

Limitless hope u drown

uu council, ban everything....

everyone else: Rob. Magnemite TRC aim -Tsunami- complete legitimacy SilentVerse Hollywood Arikado Double01 New Breed Tokyo Tom breh Aragorn the King Jukain aoemica Leer Sweep Santuga Ununhexium Lemonade. Fat Lenny EonX FLCL galbia The Leprechaun gobosox SmashBrosBrawl GlassGlaceon Laga Robert Alfons chaos

importable

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam / Sleep Talk
- Rest
- Calm Mind

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Protect
- Wish
- Heal Bell

Crobat @ Black Sludge
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog

Rotom-Heat @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 124 Def / 136 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Pain Split

Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Roost
- U-turn

Machamp @ Assault Vest / Choice Band
Ability: Guts
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
- Heavy Slam

 

[newfren]

So this is obviously a fantastic team in the current meta, and the only suggestions to make I would have would be to make sure that machamp has CB - it improves your match-up against stall fantastically and doesn't cost you too badly as between synchronise umbreon and restcune you have other options to switch into scalds.

For your matchup against Reuniclus and Cresselia - Umbreon can chew up Shadow Ball reuniclus (the best one) by itself, so the main problem I can see is cresselia. The only thing I could really suggest would be shifting defog onto gligar and running toxic crobat. This gives gligar a hell of a 4mss for advantage against a very uncommon pokemon and also pressures gligar to do a lot of things at once.

You could also run a sort of bulky trickspecs Rotom-H over your current defensive one but that leaves you 1 more pokemon for umbreon to wish-pass to.

 

[IronBullet]

Hey Bouff,

Really solid team man and covers most of the meta really well, but as you said it struggles against CM Reuniclus and Cress. Dragons like Kyurem and Hydreigon also have their way with your team due to your lack of a Dragon resist, so nothing is really stopping them from spamming Specs-boosted attacks. I have a couple of suggestions that I think could work pretty well. What I had in mind was trying out Bulky Krookodile + Florges over Umbreon and Gligar. Krook gives you an excellent check to Reuniclus and Cress, sets up SR to make up for Gligar, and STAB Knock Off + Taunt gives you an effective tool against defensive teams. You can also use Roar over Taunt to make dealing with bulky stat-uppers easier as your team struggles against stuff like Curselax due to your lack of a phazer or Encore user. Set of EQ / Knock Off / SR / Taunt or Roar is ideal. Florges meanwhile gives you an effective counter to Kyurem, Hydreigon and SubCoil Ziggy, and also provides you with a Fighting resist to replace Gligar. It retains Umbreon's ability to Wish and cure your team of status.

Losing Umbreon might make you weaker against Nidos and Chandelure, but Crobat + Suicune + Krook can still handle those two decently well. Rose is not much of an issue as Crobat is pretty much a full stop to it.

Well done on the team, gl and hope I helped!

Edit: I think it might be good to run speed on Krook btw. Running enough to beat Nidoking would be cool as it makes revenging it and Chandelure easier. Lets you outspeed 144 Speed Sub CM Cress too. Oh and also makes it a decent back-up check to SD Luke. So you could use a spread of 248 HP / 60 Def / 200 Speed Jolly. I guess you can redistribute HP / Att / Def as you wish, or even forget the bulk, go with max attack and speed and use it as an offensive Stealth Rocker.

 

[Calloflochie]

Hey Bouff, gonna rate this even though you didn't give me a shoutout you P.O.S

The team looks fairly solid, the only problem I see with a team like yours is having huge troubles with Ice Punch Lucario. It can set up an SD on Machamp locked into anything other than Dynamic Punch and Suicune sleeping without Sleep Talk and proceed to clean sweep your team. I don't agree with IronBullet93 (sorry bud) on changing Umbreon from Florges as then you are literally 6-0'd by a well played Nidoking. Instead what i'm thinking is changing Rotom-H to Intimidate Choice Scarf Krook (mainly since Moxie doesn't really add much to your team) as a means of checking Lucario if it does happen to have Ice Punch (and Honchkrow because Sucker Punch resist + negates Moxie), this way you can easily live an priority and return KO with Earthquake. This also gives you a way to reliably trap Mega Alakazam, which can otherwise do a bit of damage since Focus Blast 2HKOs Umbreon and also helps in your match up vs stall (being able to pressure Jellicent with Krook) so that Suicune can sweep late game. As for changes to EVs, your team seems to stack a lot of roles unnecessarily, like you have Spdef Gligar and Umbreon, then Defensive Rotom-H and Defensive Suicune. It just seems like the overall EV synergy of the team is slightly lacking and that the roles could be more optimized for your team. Obviously, I've changed Rotom-H but Gligar should be more Defensive so you can free up Suicune to potentially run a Sub + CM set so you can reliably beat Zygarde too. Those are more just food for thought/stuff i observed when looking at the team but they might be worth looking into if you want the team to perform better (Afro just brought a terrible squad basically).

Krook Moveset will be below even though you already know it but just putting it there for aesthetics and yeah, thanks for forgetting to shout me out you douchebag ^-^

Krookodile Set

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Superpower

Adamant is basically just there because all the main scarfers of the tier outspeed Krook and the extra power is nice (especially since you still outspeed Mega Zam + Mega Aero anyway :]

[/hide

 

[IronBullet]

Calloflochie No problem man :P consider my reasoning though - I suggested Florges due to the lack of a Dragon resist, as otherwise nothing is stopping Kyurem or Hydreigon from spamming Specs Draco Meteors which can easily run through his team. Nidoking is really not that much of an issue as long as you can play around it. For example he could go to Crobat on the Earth Power / Sludge Wave and then Suicune on the Ice Beam. Sludge Wave then does 43.3 - 51.4% so Suicune can either Scald it or even set up Calm Minds on it. Or he could go to Rotom-H on anything but Sludge Wave, then go to Krook to tank the Sludge Wave and revenge it easily. The threat of Dragons is far more than the threat of Nidoking, who is less common than the likes of Hydreigon, Kyurem and Zygarde. So overall Florges patches up quite a large weakness.

I like your suggestion of Intimidate Choice Scarf Krook though as MegaZam does seem to be a problem, and it gives him an effective revenge-killer. But replacing Rotom-H leaves Bouff without a Flying resist which is so important with stuff like Crobat, Tornadus and Honchkrow around. It also makes him extremely weak to SD Mega Abomasnow. It's hard to fit in Scarf Krook without making him weak to something else, but if you want to try it out over Rotom-H I would suggest replacing Gligar with Jirachi, who sets up SR, gives you another decent switch-in to Kyurem and doubles up as a solid check to Lucario, Abomasnow, Reuniclus and Cress. It also provides you with a Flying resist to make up for Rotom-H. Standard offensive set of Iron Head / Fire Punch / U-turn / SR should work well. The loss of a Fighting resistance isn't too big of a deal with Florges patching it up.

 

[Calloflochie]

Calloflochie No problem man :P consider my reasoning though - I suggested Florges due to the lack of a Dragon resist, as otherwise nothing is stopping Kyurem or Hydreigon from spamming Specs Draco Meteors which can easily run through his team. Nidoking is really not that much of an issue as long as you can play around it. For example he could go to Crobat on the Earth Power / Sludge Wave and then Suicune on the Ice Beam. Sludge Wave then does 43.3 - 51.4% so Suicune can either Scald it or even set up Calm Minds on it. Or he could go to Rotom-H on anything but Sludge Wave, then go to Krook to tank the Sludge Wave and revenge it easily. The threat of Dragons is far more than the threat of Nidoking, who is less common than the likes of Hydreigon, Kyurem and Zygarde. So overall Florges patches up quite a large weakness.

I like your suggestion of Intimidate Choice Scarf Krook though as MegaZam does seem to be a problem, and it gives him an effective revenge-killer. But replacing Rotom-H leaves Bouff without a Flying resist which is so important with stuff like Crobat, Tornadus and Honchkrow around. It also makes him extremely weak to SD Mega Abomasnow. It's hard to fit in Scarf Krook without making him weak to something else, but if you want to try it out over Rotom-H I would suggest replacing Gligar with Jirachi, who sets up SR, gives you another decent switch-in to Kyurem and doubles up as a solid check to Lucario, Abomasnow, Reuniclus and Cress. It also provides you with a Flying resist to make up for Rotom-H. Standard offensive set of Iron Head / Fire Punch / U-turn / SR should work well. The loss of a Fighting resistance isn't too big of a deal with Florges patching it up.

No problem with two team raters brain storming, it just leads to better teams :] One thing to note though is even though he doesn't have a Dragon resist what he does have is Umbreon who can comfortably take any two hits from Specs Kyurem or Hydreigon and Wishtect it's way back up.

Calcs

252 SpA Choice Specs Kyurem Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Umbreon: 192-226 (48.7 - 57.3%) -- 47.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Umbreon: 186-219 (47.2 - 55.5%) -- 17.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

The problem I see though is a 'well played' Nidoking, which I am aware is subjective but due to the nature of Bouff's team and the setting it is most likely to be used (tournaments), I make the assumption that it isn't as easy as 'going to Pokemon on predicted move' since you don't want a team to win or lose based on a 50/50. Zygarde is also handled easily by Cune so that isn't particularly an issue either. As for flying resists, he has a Physically Defensive Suicune and (imo) what should be a Physically Defensive Gligar, so while he doesn't have /resists/ it doesn't mean his team isn't capable of working around the Flying-types of the tier. As for SD Abomasnow, while I can see it being annoying, keep in mind, Machamp is faster and can easily OHKO it and Umbreon is actually faster so if it chooses to set up an SD, it is OHKOed by Foul Play; his limited switch ins is slightly problematic though and can be /somewhat/ remedied by Phys Def Gligar since it easily eats Ice Shards and Wood Hammers and can chip away at it with U-turn. Sorry, I didn't explain my thoughts on why I made the changes a little bit more but hopefully this cleared up my mentally when making the changes and why I think they are the best suggestions for the team

 

[IronBullet]

Calloflochie

Ah fair enough! I agree on that note, but still it's putting Umbreon under a lot of pressure to take hits from these guys as well as the Nidos and special attackers like MegaZam. But I guess without opening up a weakness elsewhere it's hard to replace it. A threat to keep in mind though is Taunt Hydreigon who completely shuts down Umbreon, although with Scarf Krook and Machamp we have two Pokemon who can check it decently.

Yeah in that sense Nido is quite the threat, but when faced with a Crobat or Rotom-H the opponent will almost always go for Ice Beam / Sludge Wave respectively as they both carry moves that easily KO Nido in return. But then again this is relying on prediction so I see your point. I also agree in that he doesn't strictly need Flying resists but Taunt Crobat and Tornadus will easily beat Gligar and Cune, who again has to rely on Scald burns to beat them. You're right about SD Abomasnow though, forgot that Machamp outspeeds it haha. But yeah he definitely has limited switch-ins to it. Hence I suggested Jirachi over Gligar who handles all these threats decently well while also giving him another switch-in to Dragon types. The Fighting resistance lost is a concern but Crobat handles them pretty effectively by itself anyway.

Last point about Zygarde though, Cune beats DD versions but only wins against SubCoil Ziggy if it packs Ice Beam. So his team might run into trouble against it, but I guess Machamp's Ice Punch along with repeated hits is reasonably effective in checking it.

It's fine dw about it, guess I was more concerned about the lack of resistances to certain types while in fact he has effective means of dealing with them anyway. But yeah hope our brainstorming session helps you improve the team Bouff :D