SM UU Robin Hoot and His Merry 'Mons

[JustoonSmitts]

With UU finally settling down, I decided to teambuild again for it. UU just feels like a fun tier full of interesting Pokemon that make it feel a little like ORAS OU. Now I wanted to make a team based around (in my book) an underrated and fun Pokemon to use in UU: Decidueye. It's one of my favorite designs from Sun and Moon and much better than I initially thought it was. It turns out it's an under prepared for Swords Dance Sweeper and can catch most opponents off guard.

Team Building Process

Of course, the archer owl was the basis of the team. I found a Swords Dance Z-move set is a force to be reckoned with.

I found Primarina (the Pokemon I actually started with in SM) to be a good partner for Decidueye, taking care of Dragon and Dark types that threaten a sweep.

Next was finding a Pokemon that could handle the Poison Pokemon that threaten both Decidueye and Primarina. Scizor was the best Pokemon I could think of. I use a bulky Defog set.

Now Fire is an issue. While I have Primarina, I decided Scarfed Keldeo would work for faster threats and beating special walls Primarina can't dent. It's also there exclusively for Bisharp.

Up next was Krookodile. I found a set with Stealth Rocks and Taunt made a decent lead to stop usual leads and Knock off their items. Plus, it can deal with the Electric Pokemon that threaten Keldeo and Primarina and defensive Arcanine for Scizor.

The final teammate is Lum Berry Dragon Dance Haxorus. It works by punching holes in teams that rely on Unaware Pokemon like Quagsire or Clefable because those Pokemon would otherwise give me a huge headache...

The Team​

Robin Hoot (Decidueye) @ Decidium Z
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Spirit Shackle
- Sucker Punch

The MVP of his gang of merry 'mons... er, men. The main reason I used Decidium Z over something like Life Orb or Choice Scarf for an offensive set was that Sinister Arrow Raid after a Swords Dance one shots a lot of its usual checks like Nidoqueen and Amoongus after Stealth Rocks. That and a Z-Crystal lets it take less damage from Knock Off and can't be Tricked. Leaf Blade nails Water, Rock, and Ground types. Sucker Punch gives Decidueye priority and punishes offensive Gengar.

Maiden Marian (Primarina) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Primarina makes a good wallbreaker in the tier. Hydro Pump nails Fire-type Pokemon that Decidueye would have trouble with. Moonblast hits the Dark types that plague the owl as well as deter Dragons from spamming Outrage or Latias. Psychic is there to nail Amoonguss and other Poison types should Decidue already use up its Z-move. HP Fire nails Forretress, Scizor, and Bisharp on the switch. Even though it's won me battles before, I'm open to replacing it with something faster like maybe Chocie Scarf Gardevoir.

Will Scarlet (Scizor) @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 96 Def / 160 SpD
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn

Scizor is one of the best Pokemon in UU right now and it proves it doesn't necessarily need a Mega Stone to be good. I opted for Choice Scarf earlier, but decided a physically defensive Defog set would benefit me more. This can come in on Poison types and Toxic that threaten the owl and sea lion and provide useful pivoting with a slow U-turn. It also gets rid of entry hazards with Defog that can cause problems should they stack up. Bullet Punch is great STAB priority boosted by Technician. Roost and Leftovers heal you.

King Richard (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]

This is the Bisharp slayer my team greatly appreciates. The Choice Scarf is there to out pace faster threats like Scarf Krookodile, Infernape, and Scarfed Mienshao, though I may swap it for a Choice Specs for more power. Hydro Pump is its most powerful STAB, while Scald can catch physical sweepers like Flygon, Haxorus, and Zygarde 10% by surprise with a nice chance to burn them. Secret Sword nails not only Bisharp but also Blissey, Cobalion, and Hydreigon. HP Electric is for any Water or Flying type that might want to switch in on the noble pony like Mantine or Tornadus.

Little John (Krookodile) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

This is my typical lead and Stealth Rock setter. The offensive EVs catch opponents off guard by punishing typical leads. Earthquake is STAB to nail Electric Pokemon that can plague my team. Knock Off is there to nail potential switch ins. Taunt shuts down other leads and wall Pokemon. Just be careful if Bisharp leads to punish this.

Prince John (Haxorus) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Poison Jab

Good ol' Lum Berry Dragon Dancing Haxorus. The reason I use this over Flygon or Zygarde 10% is punishing Unaware Pokemon on stall teams thanks to Mold Breaker. Also, Lum Berry is used so that it can get a free heal should the opponent paralyze or burn Haxorus to stop a potential sweep. Outrage should be used and spammed if rival Steel and Fairy Pokemon are gone. Earthquake is there to nail said Steel Pokemon as well as any Fire, Rock, or Electric Pokemon that tries to switch in on it. Poison Jab nails Clefable specifically.

Team Problems

Flyinium-Z Talonflame can cause problems. I don't have a whole lot of Pokemon to really deal with it outside of Krookodile setting up Stealth Rocks. Should I fail to get rocks up or I can't get Decidueye at +2 to nail it back with Sucker Punch, I'm screwed.

Volcanion can also spell trouble. Having two Choiced Water-types doesn't help and I can't really risk Krookodile or Haxorus getting wrecked by Steam Eruption. It really forces me to play carefully.

Hyper offense is a problem because I really don't have any dedicated walls, so even a resisted hit can do a lot of damage.

I've noticed Sun teams can give me problems since I have 4 Pokemon that are weak to their STABS and I have to play VERY carefully in order to secure a win.

Replays

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-533447358 (incoming salt)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-533412287

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uu-533408857​

​

Conclusion​

While it took a while for me to get the team just how I like it, it's served me well on the UU ladder and I wanted to post it here. I'd also like to point out that I'm brand new to team building so this team is far from perfect. Any comments, suggestions, and critiques are more than welcome. Take care and have fun, guys!

Importable

Robin Hoot (Decidueye) @ Decidium Z
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Spirit Shackle
- Sucker Punch

Maiden Marien (Primarina) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Will Scarlet (Scizor) @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 96 Def / 160 SpD
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn

King Richard (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Secret Sword
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Little John (Krookodile) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

Prince John (Haxorus) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Poison Jab

 

[esche]

Hi, that's a cool team you got there, love the theme and the nicknames. I'll leave a rate if you don't mind.

Threats I could find:

• 
  +
  
  Fairies, especially opposing Primarina, but also CM Clefable with Flamethrower since your only Fairy resist is a bulky Scizor, that doesn't even 3HKO Clefable with BP and has no option to boost its damage output. Revenge killing options are restricted to Poison Jab on Haxorus (which does not kill Switching into Primarina is always troublesome and heavily prediction-reliant but on this team Moonblast just gets a kill whenever it comes out... and if you bring on Scizor you might just get bopped by Hydro Pump. I guess pivoting is the only way to really combat that on an offensive team like this, not sure how to handle that without Empoleon...

• 
  You have no Flying resists. NP Togekiss can ruin your day because, again, Scizor is defensive and fails 3HKO Togekiss with Leftovers recovery. I may be exaggerating on the threat level of Togekiss because in practice it doesn't get a NP on anything but Krookodile, Decidueye and Keldeo locked into Secret Sword, and it has to flinch Primarina once at +2, but since your revenge killing options are Scarf Keldeo, which does not 2HKO with Hydro Pump and dies to +2 Air Slash, and Haxorus, which does not kill with Poison Jab (even after 1 Bullet Punch from Scizor and Leftovers recovery) and dies to +2 Air Slash after Rocks, I would at least be concerned about it.
  
  
• 
  +
  
  I don't like how Decidueye is your only Ground resist. Krookodile and, even more apparent, SD Gliscor can have a lot fun versus your team: You don't really want to switch Keldeo into them directly in fear of Knock Off or a direct hit in EQ: Outspeeding and revenge killing stuff like Mega Aerodactyl and, of course, to be healthy in order to check SD Scizor and Bisharp.
  
  
• 
  NP Celebi with Giga Drain/Psychic/HP Fire (that should be the standard moveset given how much of a threat Scizor is) kinda just wins D:
  Fortunately for this team, it isn't used much right now.
  
  
• 
  Raikou. A little bit of damage on Krookodile (1 correct HP Ice prediction for example) means that you die to +1 the next time you switch in.
  Edit: At first I was a little concerned about CM but it doesn't really get a free setup on anything. Specs can still be annoying though.

Some minor tweaks/recommendations (regardless of the change of members in the final step):

• 
  If you opt for a defensive Scizor I would recommend to drop the speed IV to 30 or 29 to make sure you underspeed other Scizor and can U-turn out safely into your check (without letting it get damaged). Nice EV spread btw I came up with the exact same one for my bulky SD variant with just a little more speed (for creep).
• 
  Specs Primarina doesn't really need HP Fire as Hydro Pump just obliterate Forretress and Scizor on its own. I would go with Scald in this slot for a more reliable Water attack that doesn't miss, but I have also seen people use Energy Ball to catch Water immunities like Gastrodon and Jellicent (even though they get bopped by Moonblast too) as well as deal better damage to Empoleon. Good to see you're running Timid, more people should.
  
• 
  Since Mantine just droppped, HP Electric is probably a fine choice as coverage option on Scarf Keldeo if you can manage to keep Rocks on the field because, sadly, HP Electric does not 2HKO standard mixed defensive Mantine from full HP. On a team like this I recommend going with HP Bug instead: Snipes Celebi, which is more common than Mantine, and also hits Starmie and Latias.

There are two different versions of the team that include changes I made. I will drop them both below.

Version #1

• 
  Scizor -->
  
  Defog Empoleon
  I mentioned Empoleon before and it does fit well in this slot simple because it is a Steel type with Defog just like Scizor but has the ability to better check CM Clefable, using Roar to phaze it out. You do lose out on the ability to check Fighting and Ground attacks but, since the next two members I added deal with these attacks just fine, I felt this was a change the team could afford.
  
  
• 
  Primarina -->
  
  NP Togekiss
  How does the saying go? "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Seriously though, I didn't add Togekiss to deal with oppossing Togekiss but to solve the problem with Krookodile and Gliscor. The EV Spread hits the last available Leftovers number while the speed let's you outrun max speed Bisharp, Volcanion and other base 70s. 96 SpA ensure the 2HKO on Bisharp with Air Slash at +2 (assuming you do get the flinch). When I was testing with Decidueye, I noticed that Scald burns are definitely an annoyance and Togekiss' access to Heal Bell can also help with that as well as curing toxic poison on the next member I added (important for stall match-ups).
  
  
• 
  Haxorus -->
  
  CM Latias
  
  Obviously the first two changes don't really help you out with Raikou at all but that's where Latias comes in. Gives you a sturdy Electric resist that doesn't just drop to HP Ice and one of the best checks to Celebi there is. First, I wanted to utilize a stallbreaking CM variant with Stored Power and Refresh on this team but since it doesn't fare as well against offense I changed it too classic CM which still has the ability to pressure stall a good amount as well (especially once Clefable leaves). Besides NP Togekiss obliterates stall itself, so I wouldn't worry too much about that.

Version #2

• 
  Defog Scizor -->
  
  SD Scizor AND
  
  SD Decidueye -->
  
  Defog Decidueye
  I was not confident dealing with Clefable even after I played around with and therefore made Scizor an bulky but offensive SD variant. Definitely wanted to keep the mascot of the team though and therefore simply changed the two roles of Decidueye and Scizor. On Decidueye I opted for a set of Leaf Blade/U-turn/Roost/Defog with a Careful nature and enough speed to outpace Adamant Crawdaunt. Of course it is a little heartbreaking to let go off Sinister Arrow Raid and a trapping move in Spirit Shackle but Scizor does an even better job as a SD variant, in my opinion. The EV spread on Scizor is more offensive to ensure the 2HKO on Bold Clefable without boosts and to pick off Mega Aerodactyl 100% after one Stealth Rock switch-in. 60 Def avoids the 2HKO from Stone Edge after Leftovers and 12 speed EVs are for creeping other base 65s like Alomomola and Umbreon before they hit you with Scald or Foul Play respectively.
  
  
• 
  Rocky Helmet + Taunt -->
  
  Steelium-Z Iron Tail
  With the Decidium-Z removed from Robin Hoot I felt like it was Little John's time to step into the spotlight. 180 BP Corkscrew Crash is a nice lure for Clefable and other Fairies that like to switch into Krookodile and removes them for Latias to successfully pull off a sweep. It also is a 100% kill on Mega Aerodactyl which Krookodile is supposed to check on this team. All credits for this set go to user: Aquadext.
  
  I also made the two changes from above for the same reasons, even though Primarina can still work over Togekiss here if you prefer immediate wallbraking potential over stallbreaking capacity:
  
  
• 
  Haxorus -->
  
  CM Latias AND
  
  Primarina -->
  
  NP Togekiss
  For the reasons listed above.

Holy crap, that was a long rate but I definitely enjoyed trying different things out with this team, it was fun playing with it. Concluding, version #1 has a little more trouble with Aerodactyl but handles Togekiss and Primarina better while version #2 struggles switching into Primarina but deals with Clefable and Raikou better. Let me know what you think of these changes, these are only recommendations of course. Cheers!

Import Version#1

Decidueye @ Decidium Z
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 8 HP / 248 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Spirit Shackle
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance

Krookodile @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Scald

Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 8 HP / 248 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Calm Mind

Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 248 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Roar
- Toxic
- Defog

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 232 HP / 96 SpA / 180 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Nasty Plot
- Heal Bell
- Roost

Import Version#2

Decidueye @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 232 HP / 4 Atk / 136 SpD / 136 Spe
Careful Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Roost
- Defog
- U-turn

Scizor @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Atk / 96 Def / 16 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Swords Dance

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 232 HP / 96 SpA / 180 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Nasty Plot
- Heal Bell
- Roost

Krookodile @ Steelium Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Iron Tail
- Stealth Rock

Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Scald

Latias @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 8 HP / 248 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Recover
- Calm Mind