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UU -- Are we really using the best?

This Altaria is rather slow, common calm minders will be still faster and one step ahead of you. Also wasting a turn just to Psych Up and get back to your original stats is meh. Rather have Toxic there to screw with walls and stuff.

It's good that the common Calm Minders are faster than you, because then when you Psych Up, you get their boosts too, so they're not going to be ahead of you if you get the chance to Psych Up.
 
  • Some of the most powerful special walls in the game all exist in UU. This is because Blissey does the job so damn well in OU theres no real room so people discount others. Muk, Mantine, Noctowl, Shuckle, Cradily and Lapras are actually among the bulkiest things in the entire game but still offer their own niche's.
  • All of the top 3 strongest special water Pokemon in the whole game are all UU's. Gorebyss, Omastar and Clamperl have the highest special attacks of any water type in the game. (Discounting Kyogre and Palkia)
  • Lanturn, a UU is the only thing that can resist Boltbeam and water attacks.
  • Relicanth's Head Smash is actually just as powerful as a Rampardos Stone Edge. Except Relicanth has twice the defenses of Rampardos and a second STAB.
  • There are actually 3 Pokemon in the game with no weaknesses. Sableye, Spiritomb and Mr.Mime with Filter. Except Mime has Baton Pass and the support movepool from hell to justify itself.

I really don't understand the point in this. What are you arguing? That UUs are very usable? I didn't think anyone actually thought that no UU has a shot in OU.

Filter reduces SE damage by 1/4, not 1/2, so it still has a weakness to Ghost and Dark and Bug.

As for "Are we using the best?", there is no best. People will always think they are using the best, and that "best" will change. Is Rampardos still the "best" glass cannon in OU? Is Rhyperior still the "best" defensive Ground? "The best" is subjective, it's pointless to constantly strive for it.
 
Yeah you got that right, but can she really take a boosted attack?


Anyway..
Are we using the best? --> a really underrated sweeper in UU I've encountered is Omastar. This thing wrecks almost everything in rain dance with Life Orb. Also Kangaskhan is one of the most bulky hard hitters in UU, with an awesome ability.. I can definitely vouch for that - the restalk set is amazing, although the sub punching set is probably just as good.
 
-chris, do not know if you noticed, but this thread regards UUs in UU, not OU. We are talking about the centralization around a few like swellow, meg and hitmons, and it is a more general question. Not really "what is the best?" so much as "Are the pokemon we are centering around (using a lot) really that powerful?" Mostly because a lot of "less seen" UUs are potentially even more dangerous, especially for those who do not have them in mind when team building.

Thanks guys for catching my cacturn mistake-- I kind of zoned out there. xD

I don't see any particular harm in using standard UU Pokemon. People complain about it, saying things like "treating it like OU" and such, but the truth is that people will use what is effective, and there's no point in complaining about that. If it's so terrible YOU use the creative Pokemon and you can have all sorts of fun with them. Smogon is a competitive site, and winning is the goal rather than having fun by using "creative" Pokemon.

I could care less if people use standards or not really, not complaining. I am just wondering if they are really the best options in UU. I have the toughest time dealing with sets people make themselves I find. Moreover, I find that scyther, swellow, and ninetales are some of the hardest things to sweep with since most enemies have 3 or 4 viable switch ins cause they are so afraid of them. >.>
 
I should get back into UU, I love the beedrill set I use.

anyways, my team has one or two standard pokemon on it, but actually thats just because I think he looks cool (cough ninetails cough)
 
a really underrated sweeper in UU I've encountered is Omastar. This thing wrecks almost everything in rain dance with Life Orb.

This is completely true - Omastar is a beast. With Surf/IB/Ancientpower/HP Grass it OHKOs the vast majority of Pokémon in UU, and 2HKOs the rest. Swap Surf for Hydro Pump and it even 2HKOs some Blisseys, though the extra power is usually overkill and missing 15% of the time will screw you over.

Pair it up with a suicidal RD/Taunt/Thunder/Explosion Electrode @ Wet Rock lead, and Omastar is all but guaranteed to sweep. The only REAL counters (able to switch in) are priority Hitmontop and Water Absorb/Dry Skin Pokémon who aren't OHKO'd by his other moves (Lapras and Toxicroak). Sashers, Scarfed Rotom, and Meganium are pretty much the only revenge killers, unless Omastar has taken a buttload of Orb damage already (meaning it has swept half your team). Bulky statusers like Hypno and Clefable can also revenge-paralyze, but with Phione or Dewgong on your team it's easy to see that coming and Hydration it off.

In short, Omastar is the most powerful Pokemon I've ever seen or used in UU. With minimal setup it sweeps teams effortlessly.
 
  • Some of the most powerful special walls in the game all exist in UU. This is because Blissey does the job so damn well in OU theres no real room so people discount others. Muk, Mantine, Noctowl, Shuckle, Cradily and Lapras are actually among the bulkiest things in the entire game but still offer their own niche's.
  • All of the top 3 strongest special water Pokemon in the whole game are all UU's. Gorebyss, Omastar and Clamperl have the highest special attacks of any water type in the game. (Discounting Kyogre and Palkia)
  • Lanturn, a UU is the only thing that can resist Boltbeam and water attacks.
  • Relicanth's Head Smash is actually just as powerful as a Rampardos Stone Edge. Except Relicanth has twice the defenses of Rampardos and a second STAB.
Cradily is hardly even UU anymore with the prevalence of Sandstorm. The problem with some of the ones listed are their weaknesses (Muk, Noctowl) or at least lack of resistances (Lapras) that make them UU. Lanturn is a better example, it's a fantastic special wall for soaking up non-super effective hits.
Gorebyss is so overlooked...with Rain Dance set up, it's at LEAST the best UU special sweeper, for sure. Ah yes, with competition with Omastar.
Shedinja also resists boltbeam + water.
Relicanth is superior, for no recoil. Hooray.

Swap Surf for Hydro Pump and it even 2HKOs some Blisseys, though the extra power is usually overkill and missing 15% of the time will screw you over.
20%...

Since you mentioned Electrode, he's a pretty awesome lead too. I give him Thunderbolt/HP Fighting/Explosion/Protect for UU. Protect to screw up Persian's faking out, HP Fighting for Steelix/Aggron (on a switch in expecting thunderbolt/explosion).
 
I haven't used it in a long time, and I only had mixed success when using it before (probably due to me being a horrible battler at the time instead of merely bad), but I've always thought a Wring Out/Brine Omastar could work. Something like...

Omastar @ Life Orb
Modest / EVs: 72 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 184 Speed
Ability: Swift Swim
- Wring Out
- Brine
- Hidden Power Grass
- Ancientpower/Ice Beam

72 HP gives it 299 HP for minimum Life Orb damage while 184 Speed lets it outspeed Jolly Swellow in the rain. Wring Out is 121 power when the enemy is at full health, while Brine is 130 power (not including STAB or rain!) when they dip below half health. That Water/Normal combo is only resisted by Shedinja in UU, and Ancientpower takes care of it. HP Grass helps deal with the Water Absorbers while Ice Beam is an option for Grass types/Altaria if Shedinja doesn't scare you. Grumpig takes Wring Out pretty well, but as soon as it gets below half health, Brine rips it apart.
 
Meh, pretty sure everyone knoes about omastar. I really do not care for it much myself since I prefer to start attacking right off the bat >;d

I have seen elctrode-omastar so many times though, it is just not surprising anymore.
 
Cradily is hardly even UU anymore with the prevalence of Sandstorm.

What are you trying to say here? I'm confused, since Cradily missed the OU cut-off by 25 places and there's no auto-weather in UU and a lot of Rain teams besides so Sandstorm, well, isn't prevalent.
 
I haven't used it in a long time, and I only had mixed success when using it before (probably due to me being a horrible battler at the time instead of merely bad), but I've always thought a Wring Out/Brine Omastar could work. Something like...

Omastar @ Life Orb
Modest / EVs: 72 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 184 Speed
Ability: Swift Swim
- Wring Out
- Brine
- Hidden Power Grass
- Ancientpower/Ice Beam

72 HP gives it 299 HP for minimum Life Orb damage while 184 Speed lets it outspeed Jolly Swellow in the rain. Wring Out is 121 power when the enemy is at full health, while Brine is 130 power (not including STAB or rain!) when they dip below half health. That Water/Normal combo is only resisted by Shedinja in UU, and Ancientpower takes care of it. HP Grass helps deal with the Water Absorbers while Ice Beam is an option for Grass types/Altaria if Shedinja doesn't scare you. Grumpig takes Wring Out pretty well, but as soon as it gets below half health, Brine rips it apart.

The problem is that Surf 1 or 2HKOs every non-resist (and hell, most resists) in UU anyway. Why waste the extra spot when you can surf twice, or use a SE attack?
 
What are you trying to say here? I'm confused, since Cradily missed the OU cut-off by 25 places and there's no auto-weather in UU and a lot of Rain teams besides so Sandstorm, well, isn't prevalent.

I mean that I see Cradily a lot in OU matches thanks to Tyranitar/Hippowdon support.
 
I lost my UU team when my com burst, but i remember that i had a defensive Altaria using a set like this

Altaria @ Life Orb
- Toxic
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Rest

It gets completely walled by Bastiodon, but that's about it. Special tanks gets a Toxic, Rock/Steels get an earthquake, and Draco Meteor hits everything else.

--------------------------
And all my UU teams had a Butterfree lead.

Butterfree @ Choice Scarf
- Toxic
- Stun Spore
- Sleep Powder
- Tailwind

You just can't avoid one of the statuses.
 
How is it walled by Bastiodon when it has Earthquake? Shouldnt that 2hko bastiodon? You mention yourself that EQ is for rock/steel types.
 
Well, i've never tried an EQ against it for fear of metal burst. Most of the times i just switch out to set something else up (It was used in my toxistall team)
 
I've used one before ... poor speed and frailness means it needs a lot of support. It a natural fit in a BP team though.
 
I surprised I hardly ever see Sandslash in UU. It's a bit likea UU Donphan w/o Roar and Knock off, but it has a bigger offensive movepool and can attempt a sweep. Looks like most people'd rather stick to Steelix/Drapion/Leafeon/Poliwrath/Claydol for their physical tanking.
 
Sandslash is without doubt, my preferred rapid spinner. That said, I don't really want to use a rapid spinner. Heck, I don't really want to use Sandslash, not when I can use Nidoking. Sorry slash, but nidoking's a beast. :P
 
I think you could use a Rapid Spinner. Heck, ANY team with both Scyther and Swellow could use a Rapid Spinner, not to mention Lapras as well. You're not going to keep rocks off the field forever.

From the start I knew I was going for an all-offensive team, and after a while the team started to shape out with more even resistances for better switch ins, a more UU (rather than OU) mindset, and a game plan also. My most recent team was: Luxray, Swellow, Nidoking, Aggron, Scyther and Lapras.

One thing I didn't understand in your post was the "mindset" explanation. What makes your mindset more UU than your other mindset? (By the way, half your team are some of the most common UU Pokemon, and Lapras and Aggron are common enough).
 
To be fair, with scyther being completely walled by steelix, and people finding new counters to it (Muk is a counter that I have seen used more), Scyther will probably not be the most common uu anymore. The hitmons, swellow, nidos, and manectric probably take that title. Which reminds me, chou with all the physical sweepers why use Luxray over Manectric?
 
Intimidate, completely forgot about that ability. I suppose that is enough of a reason to use him in this physically based uu metagame.
 
@umbarsc-- If I can't keep rocks off the field, that's not a problem with the team/mindset, but rather a problem with my skill (ie, not enough skill). As for why this team is more UU-ish, that's because the 6 have been better adjusted to switching into hits from UU pokemon.

@Kinglerdude-- Luxray and Manectric aren't really comparable imo. One is a physically-oriented bulky sweeper/disabling support poke, and the other is a special sweeper. That's like asking "Why use Gyarados when you can use Starmie?" imo. Luxray is my lead, and Intimidate + 120 base attack makes it a completely different poke.

Though manectric does looks good too, but I guess in terms of weaknesses it's hard to fit both in the same team. :/
 
Actually chou I wasn't comparing them. I just noticed how your team was incredibly offensive on the physical side, but seemed to lack a bit in the special side. So when I saw you had a physical elc pokemon, I thought why not replace him for a special elc pokemon to give you that edge.

Although leading with intimidate is a good idea in todays game, especially with the ammoung of fake out pokemon we have (fake out top, persian, kangaskhan, ect. leading).
 
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