Nas
Banned deucer.
Screen, Sub, and Sweep
Introduction:
Hey everyone! With the introduction of Cresselia and Porygon-Z in UU and the parting of Gallade and Honchkrow the whole tier has been in disarray. At first stall seemed the superior team choice as its two main counters were gone, but then Porygon-Z started giving it problems with its seemingly unstoppable Nasty Plot Set. Offensive teams which used to dominate only a few weeks ago were stopped in their tracks by the “Great Wall of UU,” Cresselia. After only a few days of this the entire UU community was demanding Cresselia’s immediate banning from UU, as it could wall a significant portion of the tier with little effort, while being a pain in the ass to remove. Now that the dust has settled, we’ve found that Cresselia is actually set up on by many pokemon, such as Mismagius, Drapion, Absol, etc, and the metagame is returning to a (somewhat) calmer state.
I started off using a stall team like a lot of people were doing, and Cresselia proved to be a cool addition as a physical wall/late game CM sweeper. However, against other stall teams it was basically a 50/50 chance of winning, so I sought to build a team that could deal with stall and offense.
This team was originally inspired by Philip’s dual screen OU team that he used in the 3rd botw, and I thought the same could work for UU. Once screens are up, all of my pokemon are incredibly hard to take down and they can usually boost up behind a sub undisturbed. My main three sweepers (Missy, Cress, PZ) all share the same counters so if one fails in their attempted sweep, they’ll have likely eliminated/crippled their counter in the process so I have an easier time sweeping next time round. You might notice that all my sweepers are special attackers, which would usually prove to be a problem when facing the likes of Chansey, but in fact I specifically chose them based on their ability to actually beat the common special walls of UU. Another element that may have played a part in this team’s success is its defensive capabilities. Should I be forced to sacrifice Uxie before it can set up screens I don’t just have 5 brittle sweepers that can’t take any hits, as Registeel and Milotic (along with Cresselia) form a solid defensive core. This team peaked at #1 on the UU ladder with a CRE of 1678, before I got sick of the metagame and stopped laddering it.
Team Building Process
For my team, I looked at pokemon that could have an easy time sweeping with screens up. I wanted them to have good synergy and work together to break down the opponent’s core and then get a clean sweep. Porygon Z was my first choice as I knew how powerful it was with a NP under its belt.
Mismagius was a good check to opposing Cresselia and Porygon-Z and could take the fighting attacks directed at my own Porygon, so I added her next.
I had faced a team earlier that used a CM/Sub Cresselia that was an absolute nightmare for my stall team, and seeing how well he worked with the other members of my team he became a solid choice I never regretted.
I looked at what I had so far and saw that I was in danger of being swept by opposing PZ/Cress/Mismagius, so looking over the UU list I found Registeel and added him to my team to deal with them. I thought I’d use CroSteel to absorb sleep powders and sweep late game.
I opted for another special tank in Milotic to provide a solid counter to the ever present Moltres, and should Registeel die an early death Milo provided a good back up to Cress and PZ.
Now all I was missing was a screener and a rocker, so Uxie was the obvious choice.
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I had faced a team earlier that used a CM/Sub Cresselia that was an absolute nightmare for my stall team, and seeing how well he worked with the other members of my team he became a solid choice I never regretted.
I looked at what I had so far and saw that I was in danger of being swept by opposing PZ/Cress/Mismagius, so looking over the UU list I found Registeel and added him to my team to deal with them. I thought I’d use CroSteel to absorb sleep powders and sweep late game.
I opted for another special tank in Milotic to provide a solid counter to the ever present Moltres, and should Registeel die an early death Milo provided a good back up to Cress and PZ.
Now all I was missing was a screener and a rocker, so Uxie was the obvious choice.
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In-Depth
Uxie @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Hp/20 Def/236 Spd
Impish Nature
-Reflect
-Light Screen
-Stealth Rock
-U -Turn
Description:
Uxie starts off the match by (hopefully) netting me an early advantage with SR and screens. While it may seem to be wishful thinking to expect my opponent to grant me three turns of set up, there’s usually nothing they can do about it. Amazing defenses coupled with a respectable speed stat of 95 allow this Uxie to beat almost all of the common UU leads. Against Taunt leads like Froslass and Alakazam I’ll always U-Turn first to break their sashes and go to the appropriate counter, but when it comes to Ambipom it becomes a little trickier. I’ll usually switch to Registeel on the first turn, and depending on whether or not they take life orb damage I can make the appropriate move. If they are Life Orbed, it’s likely that they don’t have Taunt, so it’s safe to switch back to Uxie on the Low Kick and set up. If I don’t see recoil, then I can either stay in and Iron Head with Registeel as they likely Taunt or U-Turn, or I can switch to Cresselia and get some damage in/scout their Cress counter.
Moveset, EVs, Nature:
The given speed EVs allow Uxie a speed stat of 285, enough to outspeed all positive natured base 80’s. This can come in handy if I need to get a quick Reflect up against a Venusaur or Kabutops out of the rain, as they can both be problematic for this team. (Venusaur not so much, but Kabutops is very threatening) However, because of the lack of Venusaurs I’ve been facing, I’m thinking of lowering it down to just enough to outspeed Absol. The rest of the EVs were dumped into HP and defense so as to stay as bulky as possible.
Mismagius (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Hp/252 SpAtk/252 Spd
Timid Nature
-Nasty Plot
-Shadow ball
-HP Ground
-Substitute
Description:
Nasty Plot Mismagius has been known to sweep teams clean after its counters have been removed, but under dual screen support Missy has the potential to 6-0 the opponent right off the bat. Its usual counters in Drapion, Spiritomb and Steelix are all destroyed by +2 Missy. Only CB Drapion can really hurt Missy while screens are up and he is easily OHKO’d by Hidden Power Ground. Max Hp/Max SpDef Impish Steelix takes a minimum of 76% from Hidden Power Ground, an easy 2hko. Spiritomb’s Shadow Sneak only manages a pitiful 23.7% - 28.2%, while Sucker Punch is too risky should I set up a Sub or Nasty Plot again. (which I usually do) As you can see, Missy’s usual counters are demolished with little effort, and those pokemon usually serve as the teams Cress/Porygon-Z counter as well. Because Missy so easily gets rid of these pokemon, aiding PZ and Cress, she’ll usually be the first I send out after screens are up.
Moveset, EVs, Nature:
The EVs are straightforward really; 252 Sp.Atk maximizes the damage output, while max speed ensures I at worst tie with other base 105’s. When making the moveset, Nasty Plot and Shadow Ball were given. Calm Mind takes too much time to do to little, as the Sp.Def boosting is completely unnecessary on this fast paced team. I chose HP Ground to deal with Drapion and Steelix, two of Mismagius’s biggest counters, and Thunderbolt was no longer necessary with Honchkrow gone anyway. The last slot was going to go to either Taunt or Substitute, and although I was originally attracted to the idea of shutting down Encore Clefable and friends, I decided Substitute was better overall for setting up on weaker attacks and blocking status.
Trying these Changes:
Taunt over Encore. While I become more vulnerable to Sucker Punch revenge kills, Taunt is useful for shutting down Encore users, specifically Clefable, who can be very annoying due to its Toxic immunity and respectable defenses.
Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Hp/40 Def/216 Spd
Timid Nature
-Calm Mind
-Psychic
-HP Ground
-Substitute
Description:
I’ve taken a lot of shit from random noobs who flame me about using Cress when it is so broken, but I hate to say they’re kind of right. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s broken, but it can definitely be destructive with the right support. To put this very simply; Cress under screens just doesn’t die. How many times I’ve subbed up under screens and proceeded to CM up to +6 while my opponent fruitlessly tries to break my subs, I have no idea. The ability to set up on, and defeat its counters with little effort is something that can be said for very few pokemon. For example, under screens, an Adamant CB Drapion’s Crunch will only deal 31.1% - 36.9%, a 4hko with leftovers. Meanwhile, a +1 HP Ground will deal 53.9% - 63.8% back, a 2hko. This goes for most of its counters, Registeel, Spiritomb, and Chansey are all beaten. If that’s not a good enough reason to use a poke, I don’t know what is.
Moveset, EVs, Nature:
I stayed with the Substitute+boosting move+2 attacks set that Mismagius and Porygon-Z use, because it works. The only trouble I had for this set was figuring out what move to use alongside psychic. In the end I went for Hidden Power Ground because it deals with the steel types that resist Psychic, as well as nailing Drapion for SE damage. Because of Cresselia’s natural bulk, I figured I could lay off the defensive EVs and dump some into speed. 216 EVs in speed allow me to outpace +base 80’s, a number that I like to go for on all my sweepers. I wanted meaty subs that could withstand a Seismic Toss from Chansey, and although I only needed 92 EV’s to achieve that, I just dumped all 252 to maximize overall defenses.
Porygon Z @ Leftovers
Ability: Download
EVs: 4 Def/252 Sp.Atk/252 Spd
Timid Nature
-Nasty Plot
-Tri Attack
-Dark Pulse
-Substitute
Description:
Goodnight stall, Porygon-Z is here! Yes, the sole reason that I haven’t lost to ANY stall team while using this team is probably because of PZ and the huge threat he poses to stall. While under screens Spiritomb can’t hope to break Porygon’s subs, so it poses no threat at all. Other than that there’s nothing that can stand up to this beast on the standard stall team, so it’s usually gg. (For some reason people say that Chansey counters PZ, but that’s nowhere near true. All it can do is Seismic Toss me while I boost up, and then it is 2hko’d)
Moveset, EVs, Nature:
Sub/Plot is probably the best Porygon-Z set I’ve ever used. With Substitute, PZ is able to avoid being crippled by status users such as Chansey, Cresselia, Spiritomb, etc, and easily wins against Sucker punch users such as Absol and Spiritomb. Also, due to PZ’s not to shabby HP stat, his substitutes can actually withstand some weaker attacks with dual screen support, allowing for easy set up. For EVs, I was considering bulking him up with some HP investment, but decided that without Life Orb his attacks needed all the power they could get. The reason I’m running max speed Timid is because I need to beat all those pokemon that hang around the base 80 range, like Venusaur, Kabutops, Adamant Arcanine, and Modest Moltres. (and tying with Timid Tres)
Milotic (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 Hp/40 Spd/216 Sp.Def
Calm Nature
-Surf
-HP Grass
-Toxic
-Recover
Description:
I figured that 3 sweepers would suffice, so I decided to start patching up the teams weaknesses with a solid 1-2 punch core. Milotic got the first slot as it functions very well as a special sponge, and with a significant EV investment he can even take boosted attacks from Porygon-Z and Cresselia, as well as function as a reliable Moltres counter. This pokemon gives me an automatic advantage against Rain Dance teams; their ONLY way of dealing with Milo is Kabutops. With all those special defense EV’s Milo can shrug off Ludicolo’s Energy Balls and Omastar’s HP Grass and effectively neuter them with a Toxic or HP Grass. (Toxic for Ludicolo and HP Grass for Omastar)
Moveset, EVs, Nature:
I’ve used specially defensive Milotic once before and was astounded as how well it functions as a special sponge, and in this specially based metagame its usefulness is unlimited. The decline in Venusaur usage helps immensely, as I now don’t have to waste a moveslot on Ice Beam and can run HP Grass to deal with Omastar, Kabutops, and Quagsire more efficiently. The EV spread is simple; I was just going to run max HP/SpDef but put 40 EVs in speed to get the jump on slower Cresselia, poisoning them before they can throw up a Sub.
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Hp/40 Atk/216 Sp.Def
Careful Nature
-Curse
-Iron Head
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
Description:
Registeel pairs well with Milotic, absorbing the Grass and Electric attacks that are pitched against it. Another Porygon-Z and Cress counter can never hurt either, so what the hell. The decline in Venusaur usage was also met by a similar decrease in Arcanine usage, making a Curse Registeel set possible. (Try using this set in the previous metagame, lol) Essentially, Registeel is my sleep absorber and special wall early to midgame, and he functions as a great late game sweeper when its counters have been removed.
Moveset, EVs, Nature:
This is your standard CroSteel, so there’s not much to say here. Max HP, 216 Sp.Def and a Careful nature allows for great special tanking, and since I have Curse to boost my Defense there`s no need to bother with Defense EV`s. This moveset is always incredibly hard to stop if you lack a powerful Ground, Fighting, or Fire type, but while under Screens, this thing just doesnt die.
Conclusion:
Well, it has been fun using this team and abusing the confused state UU has been in. (while it lasted anyway) This’ll probably be the last UU RMT I post in a while, because I’m going to be starting up in OU again, I seriously can’t stand this metagame. Nevertheless, feel free to suggest any fixes that can make the team better.