Spice UUp Your Game: Hocus Pocus

By avarice. Released: 2021/10/28.
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Art

Art by anundeadboy.

Introduction

Spice UUp Your Game, a series of UU-based articles that shows off underexplored sets and Pokémon within the UU metagame, has returned for Sword and Shield! The metagame is more stable now that it has adjusted to the release of Crown Tundra and tier shifts. This issue will feature some of the dastardly Dark-types that have been on the rise this October.

Belch Hydreigon

Hydreigon

Hydreigon has finally returned from its time in OU and has seen a lot of exploration. Life Orb + Roost, Choice Specs, Choice Scarf, you name it. One set that stands out from the others though is Belch. Z-Belch was run in SM UU for the purpose of luring and eliminating Fairy-types. With the loss of Z-Moves, Belch has to be ran alongside a Berry and manually activated, but Hydreigon's newfound access to Nasty Plot more than makes up for this. The combination of Nasty Plot and Salac Berry makes sweeping possible, even with Belch eating up a moveslot. Opponents are no longer safe simply preserving their Azumarill or Primarina! Substitute allows Hydreigon to safely activate Salac Berry and evade status like Toxic from Aegislash or Spore from Amoonguss. Salac Berry is really useful given how Hydreigon's Speed tier still leaves it outsped by Pokémon such as Jirachi, Latias, and Mienshao. Even if Hydreigon does not pull off a full sweep due to the (practically) mono-Dark coverage, taking out a Fairy-type can be big for a teammate like Keldeo.

ChestoRest Galarian Moltres

Galarian Moltres

Galarian Moltres is a solid sweeper already with both Nasty Plot and Agility. When feeling spicy though, Hurricane can be dropped for Rest. While this makes Galarian Moltres theoretically walled by Fairy- and Fighting-types, it can often boost past them or just make them flinch with Fiery Wrath. Rest helps in the Chansey and Umbreon matchups, as they can no longer wear it down with Toxic. With those Pokémon gone, other sweepers like specially offensive Clangorous Soul Kommo-o can sweep more easily. Chesto Berry makes it safe to use Rest and provides a safe boosting sequence of eating a hit, getting the Berserk boost, and healing back to full HP with Rest. Chesto Berry can also be useful against a greedy Amoonguss on occasions for a free Nasty Plot as well. This Galarian Moltres set is best on hyper offense teams with other sweepers and entry hazards to overwhelm the opposition.

Sneasel

Sneasel

Not even PU by usage, Sneasel can be surprisingly efficient as a wallbreaker, especially with Buzzwole departing during tier shifts. Sneasel has a solid Speed tier above common Pokémon like Latias, Salamence, and Lycanroc-D. With Life Orb, it checks Pokémon such as the aforementioned Dragon-types and defensive staples like Amoonguss and Slowking thanks to its STAB combination. Inner Focus comes with the added bonus of blocking Intimidate from Salamence and Krookodile this generation, while Ice Shard is able to pick off weakened Choice Scarf users like Hydreigon and Mienshao. Sneasel is extremely frail but can boost when forcing out Pokémon like Aegislash or more passive foes like Slowking. Sneasel functions best on hyper offense teams that can overwhelm Pokémon like Azumarill and Primarina, which otherwise give Sneasel a hard time. Choice Band Sneasel with Teleport Slowking support can work on bulkier teams, but it is hard to justify over other wallbreakers.

Closing Thoughts

Even with strong Fairy- and Fighting-types in the tier, these diabolical Dark-types are able to be extremely useful and will certainly continue to be, whether Latias stays in the tier or not. Be sure to try them all out!

HTML by Ryota Mitarai.
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