ORAS UU Threatening Nature

[Pak]

Shoutouts Accelgor as usual

Introduction
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Shockingly, my last ORAS UU RMT didn't actually mark the end of my days actively building and playing my favorite metagame like I half way planned it to. While I do recognize its faults and that its far from an ideal tier, it will always hold a place in my heart, as it's where I really found my footing as a player. The team I'm sharing today does a great job of showcasing the type of stuff I've been messing around with over the last year or so, making use of underrated Pokemon that synergize well and do a great job of combating some of the more popular Pokemon and cores. The top tier Pokemon I aimed to support with this team is one of my old favorites: Taunt Hydreigon. I was pretty tired of building the same old Tentacruel/Swampert/fast mon/Steel that pretty much always resulted from previous attempts with it, so I tried my best to switch it up. Toxic Spikes are essential alongside this Hydreigon set, and given its natural type synergy with Tentacruel, it's usually the obvious first choice. This made me want to take an entirely different approach, utilizing Toxic Spikes Mega Beedrill and going in a more offensive, momentum-based route as opposed to my fatter balance builds of old. Various U-turn users and defensive pivots make Hydreigon's job much easier by often getting it into favorable positions to just wreck everything and truly show why it is arguably (it is) a broken Pokemon. I really liked how the team turned out, so I spammed it a bit in my meh run in ORAS UU cup, and it did pretty well. Now, onto the team.

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Teambuilding Process

I wanted to build around Taunt Hydreigon and Toxic Spikes Mega Beedrill, so naturally they were my starting point. Mega Beedrill gets Hydreigon into favorable positions against Pokemon like Doublade, Mega Aggron, and Tentacruel while threatening this set's most prominent counters in Fairy-types. Toxic Spikes are a must alongside Taunt Hydreigon, aiding it tremendously in wearing down Milotic, Snorlax, and Blissey.

Slowking seemed like an obvious choice in the next slot, offering a a bulky win condition that takes full advantage of Taunt Hydreigon decimating some of its hardest counters in Milotic and Snorlax. Slowking also shores up Hydreigon and Mega Beedrill's shaky matchups against threats such as Cobalion, Entei, and Infernape, while not sacrificing too much momentum as Regenerator can often be relied upon to keep it healthy throughout a match.

Gligar was the next Pokemon added, providing hazard removal through Defog and a great bulky pivot given its fantastic bulk and access to slow U-turn. Additionally, Gligar possesses great defensive synergy with Slowking, aiding it in combating the tier's Fighting-type Pokemon, covering its weakness to VoltTurn, and appreciating Slowking's ability to absorb Water- and Ice-type moves in return.

At this point, the team looked incredibly weak to the balanced Pokemon: Hydreigon and Conkeldurr. Bulky Whimsicott fit was fairly natural, checking both of these threats relatively well, providing additional U-turn support for Hydreigon, and soft checking bulky Water-types.

Lastly, I wanted more offensive presence, specifically on the physical side, a Stealth Rock user, and a Steel-type. Metagross seemed like a great option, filling these roles perfectly and complementing the rest of the team nicely.

In-Depth

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Roost
- Taunt​

As stated above, Taunt Hydreigon is the focal point of the team. While never overly popular, the set had really fallen off with Sylveon's surge in usage at the end of ORAS, so I thought it'd be cool to try it out again. This Pokemon is the team's primary measure in breaking down bulkier builds with Toxic Spikes and various U-turn support. Pretty much any team relying on a specially bulky Pokemon like Snorlax, Milotic, Porygon2, or Blissey to check Hydreigon is immediately put on the back foot after just one combination of entry hazard damage, Life Orb Draco Meteor, and the following Taunt to prevent their respective recovery moves. Once weakened, these Pokemon can no longer comfortably check Hydreigon or Calm Mind Slowking later on, putting vast amounts of pressure on the opponent to heal back up in a timely manner. Given the three U-turn users and bulky pivots supporting it, it's not hard for Hydreigon to come in and out, dish out huge damage and remain healthy.

Beedrill-Mega @ Beedrillite
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Poison Jab
- Toxic Spikes
- Protect
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Mega Beedrill fulfills a number of roles that are essential in Taunt Hydreigon's success. Its U-turn support is invaluable, getting Hydreigon in on Steel-types and other various physical walls that allow it to go to work. There are also few other Pokemon in the tier that are so immediately threatening to defensive Fairy-types, specifically Sylveon, which serve as Hydreigon's hardest counters. Additionally, it is fairly easy for Mega Beedrill to set up Toxic Spikes, an crucial component of any solid Taunt Hydreigon build, given the amount of switches it forces and random Protects Sylveon users will go for in an attempt to scout your next move, or simply to guarantee that is heals from its own Wish. Mega Beedrill also serves as the team's main revenge killer, making it favorable to Mega Evolve as soon as possible.

Slowking @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Slack Off
- Calm Mind
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I love this Pokemon so so much. The amount of utility Calm Mind Slowking offers balance and bulky offense teams like this is simply ridiculous. Primarily, it serves as the team's win condition, appreciating Taunt Hydreigon's ability to wear down some of its most sturdy counters. The rest of the team also complements this Pokemon well, possessing high quality measures to some of its more popular offensive checks like Hydreigon and Celebi. In addition to its sweeping prowess, Slowking is one of the team's main defensive pivots, offering a solid check to threats such as Entei, Cobalion, and Infernape and a safe middle ground against Pokemon like Nidoqueen and Choice Specs Kyurem. To add to its defensive utility, its stupidly good ability, Regenerator, lets Slowking stay at solid amounts of health while pivoting in and out, without always having to sacrifice momentum in order to heal up.

Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 244 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Roost
- U-turn
- Defog
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Specially defensive Gligar is another underrated defensive pivot that will always hold a special place in my heart. Due to its absurd bulk when holding Eviolite and mixed defensive investment, Gligar is capable of pivoting into attackers from both sides like Cobalion, Mega Beedrill, Mega Sceptile, and Nasty Plot Celebi and using U-turn to get the suitable partner into a favorable position. Along with pivoting into these common threats, Gligar is the team's form of hazard removal, a necessary component alongside Mega Beedrill. The synergy it possesses with the rest of the team is undeniable. Slowking covers its two weaknesses in Water and Ice, bulky Whimsicott and Hydreigon provide reliable Knock Off switch-ins, Metagross frees up a moveslot for Gligar to run U-turn, and Gligar gets them all into good spots in return.

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 64 SpA / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
- U-turn
- Knock Off / Encore
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While I do believe it isn't that great of a Pokemon and rides purely on its typing and Speed tier to be effective, Whimsicott was the perfect fit in the next slot. It offered a sturdier answer to Krookodile, Mega Sceptile, and to the incredibly balanced Pokemon: Bulk Up Conkeldurr and Hydreigon, thus making it pair nicely with Slowking as these threats are some of its biggest issues. It also continued the theme of keeping up offensive momentum and getting Taunt Hydreigon into good positions, U-turning on Pokemon such as Entei, Metagross, and Nidoqueen. I opted for a bit of a weird set here, investing enough speed for Cobalion and Infernape, which can be tricky to handle if Slowking is weakened or removed or Beedrill isn't Mega Evolved. Also, for the last moveslot, I was torn between Knock Off and Encore. While Encore is the usual choice due to its ability to act as a catch-all check to set-up sweepers and Mega Sharpedo, Knock Off was an intriguing option. None of Whimsicott's common switch-ins like Forretress, Nidoqueen, Empoleon, and Klefki appreciate losing their items, and they are significantly easier for the rest of the team to handle without them.

Metagross @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
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Hey look, another Pokemon I'm not a huge fan of in ORAS UU, but it also found a spot on this team. I still needed a Steel-type that could set Stealth Rock and threaten Sylveon, and it didn't need it to check Mega Beedrill given that Gligar was already on the team. Metagross fit the bill perfectly while easing the pressure placed on the rest of the team by foes such as Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Sceptile, Haxorus and Dazzling Gleam Celebi. Like Mega Beedrill, Stealth Rock Metagross has a pretty free moveslot to accomplish whatever the team needed. While Taunt Hydreigon and Whimsicott are both solidish answers to bulky Water-types, the team lacked immediate answers. I knew there was no conceivable way to add on a hard answer to these foes so I opted to minimize their opportunities to succeed by putting Toxic on Metagross. This allows Hydreigon and Slowking to comfortably take on Suicune and Milotic among others. Basically, Metagross compressed pretty much everything I needed and took a lot of presssure off of the rest of the team.

Threatlist
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Bulk Up Conkeldurr - haha so fun and balanced it destroys teams with two Psychic-types, a Flying-type, and a Fairy-type. For real, this thing is a huge threat if not handled properly and Whimsicott needs to be kept as healthy as possible to handle it. Basically, the key is killing everything around it with a healthy Whimsicott in the back, which it turns out, is not always easy.

Mega Blastoise - I don't really have a safe switch-in, but it's not completely unmanageable. Whimsicott and Hydreigon are both decent blanket checks and it usually gets chipped down in some way, shape, or form, but yeah, huge threat.

Mega Sharpedo - My two Pokemon that resist its STAB combination both get destroyed by Ice Fang so its kind of like beating Conk in that you just need to keep them healthy enough to take Mega Sharpedo on at the end. Encore on Whimsicott definitely helps, but giving up Knock Off sucks.

Replays
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http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6uu-342532 ORAS UU Cup vs teal6
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen6uu-342416 ORAS UU Cup Bushtush vs masterampharos
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen6uu-696198410 ORAS UU Cup vs Leru

Conclusion
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Over the last couple years, my approach to teambuilding has revolved around maximizing my favorable matchups, giving me the chance to win any game provided that I play well. I feel like there are little other teams I've made to this point that exemplify this notion as much as this one, especially given its relatively small threatlist. I'll probably be headed back to ORAS UU for UUPL, so I figured I'd just show I'm still grinding and share one of my more recent creations. Big thanks to Accelgor for the banner and I hope you all enjoyed!

Import

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Roost
- Taunt

Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 244 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Roost
- U-turn
- Defog

Metagross @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 64 SpA / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Giga Drain
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Beedrill-Mega @ Beedrillite
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Poison Jab
- Toxic Spikes
- Protect

Slowking @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Slack Off
- Calm Mind

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