When I downloaded Shoddy Battle, I scoffed at OU and went straight to it's forgotten little brother - UU. OU simply felt like an old boys' club. There were your stalwarts (Scizor, Tyranitar, Salamence (at the time), Blissey) and there didn't seem to be a huge amount of variety. You want variety...UU has that in spades. So many more interesting Pokemon are viable in UU and it strikes a fun balance between stall and offensive play.
After some experimentation, I first fiddled around with a hyper offense team (its RMT is found here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75343)
As I climbed out of the bottom rungs of the UU ladder, I was met by my first experiences of stall...and was completely stymied. The team simply flopped about and died against any dedicated stall effort. After retiring my favorite team thus far, I took a while finding a new interest. I tried out OU a bit but found that I simply didn't like the metagame. It felt too often like battles were more about the specific Pokemon on each team than on the skill of the battlers. Like battles were won and lost before they began.
I fiddled around with stall in UU but found the battles just plain took too long for my taste when I ran into other stall teams. Then I saw a video of a clever Bibarel set using Amnesia and Curse to stat up to God-level in about three turns and decided to make my team around that...and that's where I got my most successful team to date. Enjoy!
Team Building Process:
As the team came together, I noticed two happy facts. One: I had developed an almost immunity to status as I had three more or less completely immune to it and a few other have additional immunities. Three of the team are immune to Toxic and of the other three, one benefits from it (Guts) and the other can Rest it away. Hariyama can benefit from any status, Milotic can rest any away, and Skuntank has that lovely Lum Berry. It was refreshing to have a team that has so little to fear from status. Two: none of the team was Stealth Rock weak. This gave me the name of the team and also has proven to be incredibly useful. Frequently, opponents will sacrifice their lead to put up those pesky rocks but I just laugh and say, "...what rocks?"
A Closer Look...
Venusaur
Venusaur (Littlefoot) @ Choice Scarf
56 HP / 48 Attack / 240 Speed / 164 Special Attack
Modest, Overgrow
~Sleep Powder
~Sludge Bomb
~Leaf Storm
~Earthquake
In addition to being one on the most dynamic, bulky, and just plain powerful forces in the metagame, Venusaur makes an incredibly lead given a scarf. The EVs allow him to outspeed Swellow. The only thing it misses out beating by not running full speed EVs would be other base 80 scarfers (Altaria, Kabutops, other Venusaur). The only one of these I see even remotely commonly is other Venusaurs, but they are often not too awful to play around with the rest of my team. Plus, Venusaur can't do a ton to other Venusaur anyway.
Typically, my first move is to Sleep Powder. The only exceptions are if I can get an easy KO (Kabutops, Omastar) or would rather not sleep their lead (Hippopotas). Also, I like to keep Venusaur in tip top shape for revenge killing, so I go to Rotom for Ambipom's Fake Out (praying against Pursuit). Then I proceed to burn Ambi and have one less thing to worry about in the late game. As a bonus, if I burn it first, I can usually finish it off with Thunderbolts before its weakened Pursuit takes its toll.
As stated, Venusaur is a great revenge killer in the late game with his great type coverage and pure brute force of Leaf Storm. I find myself using Earthquake very little, but it's nice for the occasional Registeel, Drapion, or Toxicroak.
I honestly don't know why I don't see more ScarfSaur leads. There are few better ways to start a match than with a free sleep. Plus he's naturally pretty damn bulky and a top notch revenger later on. Really, he's the perfect lead if you aren't too stressed about getting up hazards (and yet Ambi is consistently seen way more often). Here's how he matches up against the ten most common leads in July:
Ambipom - As stated, switch to Rotom, burn, then proceed with a full health Venusaur just waiting to revenge or sleep a pesky threat.
Uxie - Sleep Powder. Good riddance, I say. From time to time they will switch or U-Turn out. Whatever, anything that comes in sleeps instead. Fine by me =D
Mesprit - Sleep Powder. For whatever reason, they tend to stay in even when asleep so I switch in Rotom, get a free Sub and then start Shadow Balling if they remain obstinate about staying in.
Omastar - Depending on how I feel, I either Sleep Powder or Leaf Storm for the OHKO (2HKO if they have sash). I don't love sleeping them because they can't really do much but set up hazards and die when hit by a stiff breeze. I'd much rather sleep something more threatening.
Cloyster - Another common hazard-spewer. This one I usually Sleep Powder since the threat of Ice Shard taking out my revenge killer is not good. Also, it's never fun to have a potential Explosion sticking around.
Spiritomb - I honestly haven't seen that many. But if he did show up, I'd probably just sleep him. Special attacking variants can be very obnoxious for my team (Hariyama handles others).
Electrode - This means the rain is coming and Milotic and Toxicroak will have some important jobs this battle. Sleep Powder to incapacitate it after it starts the rain. If it misses, switch to Rotom for the Explosion.
Hippopotas - Well this means a different obnoxious weather condition. Frequently they will Protect on the first turn to scout so I switch in Milotic to Surf. If it Yawns me, that just means I can finish it off and have sleep clause activated since my Milotic is a RestTalk variant.
Qwilfish - Again, a hazard-spewer. I typically go for the Leaf Storm in this case to limit their spikes. I jump for joy if it's Toxic Spikes as the strategy has no impact on my team. Three of the team absorb it. Of the other three, one is Levitating, one has Guts, and one can Rest it away. lol.
Alakazam - Switch to Skuntank on the anticipated Psychic then proceed to wreck shit. Skuntank LOVES Alakazams with a burning gassy passion.
Rotom
Rotom (Buster) @ Leftovers
4 HP / 252 Speed / 252 Special Attack
Timid, Levitate
~Thunderbolt
~Shadow Ball
~Will-o-wisp
~Substitute
Buster is typically my first switch in after Venusaur sleeps something. If it's a favorable matchup, I can get a free Substitute up on the switch to ease prediction. If it's a physical threat I outspeed, I can burn it. Really, Will-o-wisp is the crux of this set. At the expense of the recovery of Pain Split, Rotom is able to incapacitate a huge percentage of the metagame.
I try to get a Sub up as quickly as possible since, from behind it, it can do all sorts of things. It can peck away at a dangerous threat with its not useless special attacks. It can burn away the threats of myriad opponents. A Registeel cannot even explode for a reliable kill anymore. A burned Kabutops is useless. A burned Rhyperior is powerless.
The only thing that gives Rotom HUGE trouble is Spiritomb. Basically all of them carry Pursuit, so I have no choice but to stay in or be OHKO'd. I usually burn it as soon as possible and, once burned, I can outlast its weakened Pursuits and Thunderbolt it to death. If it has Sucker Punch, I have to play a guessing game of Substitutes to come out on top. However, if the opponent's team lacks a Spiritomb, Rotom usually sticks around for most of the battle to threaten Moltres, Milotic, and any physical sweeper.
Hariyama
Hariyama (Hitmonsumo) @ Leftovers
76 HP / 172 Attack / 252 Defense / 8 Special Defense
Impish, Guts
~Bulk Up
~Brick Break
~Ice Punch
~Payback
I am very surprised I haven't seen any other Bulk Up Hariyama as he is honestly an incredible defensive and offensive force. After a single Bulk Up he can sponge just about any physical attack, even super effective ones (of which there are few). After two, uhhh, good luck. Soon Leftovers recovery will begin to outpace your feeble attacking attempts and he can begin OHKOing a huge portion of the metagame. Any special attackers coming in to ruin his fun must face against Milotic.
Paralysis is not a huge boon to this team so I opted for Brick Break over Force Palm. The ability to break screens is just a bonus (and a welcome one - I love breaking dual screens, making the opponent waste two turns setting them up). Ice Punch is for Grass/Poisons who come in hoping for a resisted Fighting attack. It also hits Altaria and Torterra for hilarious damage and they can do little back.
"Why Guts instead of Thick Fat?" you may ask. Well it originally was Thick Fat, to better help sponge hits. But Ice is a relatively rare attacking type in UU and besides, Milotic can wall both types to kingdom come. Also, Fire and Ice attacks are typically specially biased so he really shouldn't be dealing with them at all.
What he SHOULD deal with is errant status inflicters. Back in his Thick Fat days, a Will-o-wisp meant an end to his sweeping intentions. I would often bank on the opponent fearing a Guts variant to avoid that setback but it seldom worked. At once point I asked an opponent why he Will-o-wisped me without fear of Guts. He told me that I was using Bulk Up so I clearly wanted a bulky guy. Why wouldn't I use Thick Fat? That makes perfect sense, so that's why I use Guts now :D. Far too often opponents burn me or Toxic me as I'm in the process of Bulking Up. After this, I sweep that much easier.
This means two solid counters to him are rendered obsolete. All Weezing can do is burn me (for hilarious results) and then sit there helplessly as I Bulk Up in his face. Even Spiritomb, provided they aren't specially based, cannot do much. Once I'm burned and have a few Bulk Ups, they go down without trouble and their Sucker Punches and Pursuits frequently do less than Leftovers recovers back.
Milotics can be a pain for this set, especially Haze variants. But I can scare Milotics away with Venusaur or stall them out with my own Milotic.
Skuntank
Skuntank (Pepe) @ Lum Berry
4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
Jolly, Aftermath
~Sucker Punch
~Pursuit
~Taunt
~Explosion
God I love this little bastard. He is hugely underestimated and I have yet to see another on the ladder. But he always does his job and does it well - kill Psychics or Ghosts and then go BOOM, hopefully on something annoying (Venusaur, Milotic). Additionally, with Taunt he can counter some other fiends too. Namely SubSeeders, StallTres, and Weezing. Really, his analysis on Smogon disappoints me...claiming he is fully inferior to Drapion. This is just not true. Skuntank can solidly counter any Ghost in the tier without trouble and can do the same to Psychics. And once they're gone, he has no problem blowing up on something else (and his Explosion is seldom blocked by a ghost, since he just killed them!). And if need be, he can come in as death fodder against a weakened sweeper, netting a cool 25% from Aftermath.
Basically he comes in on a Ghost as soon as it switches in or he can come in on a predicted Psychic. Once in, Taunt is usually the first order of business. The first reaction of most Ghosts is to Thunder Wave or Will-o-wisp. If Skuntank is faster, they are shut down. If they aren't, his Lum Berry is eaten and THEN they are shut down. And his speed is one of his many underestimated quantities. He sits at a healthy 84 base speed which is much more than most people expect. After the Taunt, one must choose between Pursuit and Sucker Punch. Sucker Punch is good for Ghosts that may have statted up already (Mismagius) but Pursuit is in general a better option as it is guaranteed to hit and often the enemy flees when they can't status him. This strategy works great against Psychics like Alakazam and Uxie as well since they typically can barely even 2HKO and cannot Sub up due to either Taunt or Pursuit.
The real beauty of Skuntank is that he is so darn uncommon. People don't know what to expect when he pokes out his ugly mug. He is consistently underestimated. And by the time the opponent wises up to the fact that he isn't setup bait, he'll have picked off a Ghost or Psychic on the team and then Exploded on something else.
Milotic
Milotic (Daisy) @ Leftovers
212 HP / 198 Defense / 98 Special Defense
Calm, Marvel Scale
~Surf
~Ice Beam
~Rest
~Sleep Talk
I am genuinely not quite sure why EVERY Milotic isn't a RestTalk set. It boasts better recovery, immunity to Toxic, and FAR better stalling potential. Really, Milotic seems destined to be banned to BL when I play this set. It is just almost unstoppable. Milotic is very frequently my last Mon standing and she does her job well. I've had opponents with three Pokemon remaining fail to bring down this behemoth. I've outstalled a Toxistall Articuno. Yes that's a Pokemon with Pressure that resists both of my attacks and whose only goal is to outstall opponents. Milotic is simply overpowered in this metagame.
Rest offers the opportunity to absorb any status you could want and to restore every single HP. Additionally, it allows you to win stall wars as you can simply opt out of using an attack when you rest, netting two more turns of PP loss for your opponent. On top of all that, it activates the fantastic Marvel Scale ability to make Milotic even more of a brick wall. Milotic is EV'd to be able to survive just about anything (and to get a Leftovers number, if your were confused). This is good as it will be coming in frequently to wall bulky waters, to wall physical attackers, to wall fire types, to wall rock types, to wall half the goddamn metagame. And she'll be there to the very end. If my sweepers have all fallen to the cruel hand of fate, Milotic will still be around to stall the game away from the opponent.
Milotic, I love you...but you're totally overpowered.
Toxicroak
Toxicroak (Slippy) @ Life Orb
252 Attack / 252 Speed / 4 Special Defense
Adamant, Dry Skin
~Swords Dance
~Taunt
~Cross Chop
~Sucker Punch
I should preface this section with a brief statement. The previous five Pokemon form a very balanced and successful team on their own. It is a testament to their synergy that I was able to perform adequately even with Bibarel in this last spot. But it became clear that Bibarel was useless and I've still yet to settle on the perfect fit for the hole he left. The other five work together so perfectly, but I can't seem to find a sixth that fits in just right. Suggestions are hugely appreciated.
I needed something physical to stop Chansey and Clefable from walling the team (bar Hariyama) to kingdom come. I tried Torterra, but he didn't pack the power or speed I'd hoped for. Toxicroak was the next option. Very few things wish to take a Swords Danced Sucker Punch and he finds plenty of opportunities to stat up. He can switch into Milotic with complete impunity (and often get some free recovery out of it). He also, along with my own Milotic, provides a buffer against Rain Dance teams. If I can use them to survive the initial onslaught, I can usually pick off the weakened team once the rain stops. Otherwise, he hasn't been around too long so I'm not sure how well he'll do, but it looks promising.
Notable Weaknesses
There are a few weaknesses that plague this team. First and foremost are opposing Venusaur and Milotic. Venusaur just has so many damn sets and it's impossible to counter him until you know what it is. If I try to absorb his Sleep Powder with my Milotic, I run the risk of losing my most important defensive force to a rogue Power Whip or Leaf Storm. My own Venusaur can revenge kill it with Sludge Bomb if need be and, of course, Skuntank can Explode. Milotic, on the other hand, is a whole different beast. Rotom can threaten with Thunderbolt, but is scared of any retaliation. Venusaur can switch in pretty easily, but it's not often that a team with Milotic forgoes a Grass resist so before long Leaf Storm is out of PP. And if I predict wrong, well that just sucks for me. My own Milotic can outstall any other Milotic if it's the only one left but if they have other Pokemon, they get a more or less free switch in as my Milotic doesn't have much offensive punch.
Opponents who spam Substitute can be very annoying as well as I have very little priority with which to break substitutes. This means Subseeders and SubPunchers especially. Finally, as I said, my sixth slot is the weak link of the team. I can't seem to find someone to fit into there. Advice is encouraged!
Well, that about does it. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and I greatly look forward to your advice. Take care :D
After some experimentation, I first fiddled around with a hyper offense team (its RMT is found here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75343)
As I climbed out of the bottom rungs of the UU ladder, I was met by my first experiences of stall...and was completely stymied. The team simply flopped about and died against any dedicated stall effort. After retiring my favorite team thus far, I took a while finding a new interest. I tried out OU a bit but found that I simply didn't like the metagame. It felt too often like battles were more about the specific Pokemon on each team than on the skill of the battlers. Like battles were won and lost before they began.
I fiddled around with stall in UU but found the battles just plain took too long for my taste when I ran into other stall teams. Then I saw a video of a clever Bibarel set using Amnesia and Curse to stat up to God-level in about three turns and decided to make my team around that...and that's where I got my most successful team to date. Enjoy!
What Rocks?
At a Glance:
At a Glance:
Team Building Process:
You'll no doubt have noticed that the Pokemon the team was built around isn't exactly on the team. I guess a team building process vignette is in order, then...
I of course started with my derpy friend Bibarel.
I then noted that status help, whether burn or paralysis, would be very useful for getting this dude into play unharmed and let him set up. I found a friendly status platform in Rotom.
Next I needed a solid defensive core to use to wear down the opposing team into a range where Bibarel can do his job. Registeel and Milotic are simply put, THE defensive powerhouses of UU.
At this point I needed a lead and another sweeper. Remembering the strength of a good stall team in UU, I put a bulky sweeper that could act as a potential wall as well: Hariyama. And for the lead, since Bibarel is going to be statting up to the heavens, he has little need for entry hazards. I wanted a solid anti lead to give me some momentum from the start. Arcanine, with Intimidate, Lum Berry, Toxic, and Flare Blitz could fit that role pretty well. And thus, the first form of the team was born:
I next realized that Registeel wasn't exactly pulling his weight like I'd hoped. He could wall stuff to high heavens, but often couldn't really do much in response and didn't have recovery, which really sealed the deal. Additionally, I found Hariyama to be a much more potent sweeper than I'd ever expected. Unfortunately, he was stymied by Psychic and Ghost types. In the past, I've run teams with Hitmonlee as a sweeper and he has similar weaknesses. I remembered from way back then that I'd developed a splendid response to Ghosts and Psychics in the form of Skuntank!
Next I noted that, though Arcanine aspired to be an anti-lead, he couldn't really do much against many common leads (most irritatingly, Uxie). It wasn't 2HKO'd by Flare Blitz and it was basically free to set up rocks, screens, whatever the hell it wanted. Additionally, I had a very noticeable weakness to two extremely common UU Pokemon: Venusaur and Milotic. I finally settled on a Choice Scarf Venusaur as my lead as a check to both and a response to Uxie (Sleep Powder <3).
And as the team came together, it finally became clear that Bibarel just wasn't pulling his weight. He was stopped in his tracks by Bulky Waters, by Encorers, by Trickers, by status. He was simply unmanageable. So I sadly said goodbye to those oh-so-satisfying, but oh-so-rare 6-0 Bibarel sweeps and looked for a new member. I needed something physical so Clefable and Chansey wouldn't wall my team to the afterlife once Hariyama fell. After a bit of working, I tried out Torterra and finally settled on Toxicroak, with the bonus of being another Milotic counter. And thus, a team was born!
I of course started with my derpy friend Bibarel.
I then noted that status help, whether burn or paralysis, would be very useful for getting this dude into play unharmed and let him set up. I found a friendly status platform in Rotom.
Next I needed a solid defensive core to use to wear down the opposing team into a range where Bibarel can do his job. Registeel and Milotic are simply put, THE defensive powerhouses of UU.
At this point I needed a lead and another sweeper. Remembering the strength of a good stall team in UU, I put a bulky sweeper that could act as a potential wall as well: Hariyama. And for the lead, since Bibarel is going to be statting up to the heavens, he has little need for entry hazards. I wanted a solid anti lead to give me some momentum from the start. Arcanine, with Intimidate, Lum Berry, Toxic, and Flare Blitz could fit that role pretty well. And thus, the first form of the team was born:
I next realized that Registeel wasn't exactly pulling his weight like I'd hoped. He could wall stuff to high heavens, but often couldn't really do much in response and didn't have recovery, which really sealed the deal. Additionally, I found Hariyama to be a much more potent sweeper than I'd ever expected. Unfortunately, he was stymied by Psychic and Ghost types. In the past, I've run teams with Hitmonlee as a sweeper and he has similar weaknesses. I remembered from way back then that I'd developed a splendid response to Ghosts and Psychics in the form of Skuntank!
Next I noted that, though Arcanine aspired to be an anti-lead, he couldn't really do much against many common leads (most irritatingly, Uxie). It wasn't 2HKO'd by Flare Blitz and it was basically free to set up rocks, screens, whatever the hell it wanted. Additionally, I had a very noticeable weakness to two extremely common UU Pokemon: Venusaur and Milotic. I finally settled on a Choice Scarf Venusaur as my lead as a check to both and a response to Uxie (Sleep Powder <3).
And as the team came together, it finally became clear that Bibarel just wasn't pulling his weight. He was stopped in his tracks by Bulky Waters, by Encorers, by Trickers, by status. He was simply unmanageable. So I sadly said goodbye to those oh-so-satisfying, but oh-so-rare 6-0 Bibarel sweeps and looked for a new member. I needed something physical so Clefable and Chansey wouldn't wall my team to the afterlife once Hariyama fell. After a bit of working, I tried out Torterra and finally settled on Toxicroak, with the bonus of being another Milotic counter. And thus, a team was born!
As the team came together, I noticed two happy facts. One: I had developed an almost immunity to status as I had three more or less completely immune to it and a few other have additional immunities. Three of the team are immune to Toxic and of the other three, one benefits from it (Guts) and the other can Rest it away. Hariyama can benefit from any status, Milotic can rest any away, and Skuntank has that lovely Lum Berry. It was refreshing to have a team that has so little to fear from status. Two: none of the team was Stealth Rock weak. This gave me the name of the team and also has proven to be incredibly useful. Frequently, opponents will sacrifice their lead to put up those pesky rocks but I just laugh and say, "...what rocks?"
A Closer Look...
Venusaur
Venusaur (Littlefoot) @ Choice Scarf
56 HP / 48 Attack / 240 Speed / 164 Special Attack
Modest, Overgrow
~Sleep Powder
~Sludge Bomb
~Leaf Storm
~Earthquake
In addition to being one on the most dynamic, bulky, and just plain powerful forces in the metagame, Venusaur makes an incredibly lead given a scarf. The EVs allow him to outspeed Swellow. The only thing it misses out beating by not running full speed EVs would be other base 80 scarfers (Altaria, Kabutops, other Venusaur). The only one of these I see even remotely commonly is other Venusaurs, but they are often not too awful to play around with the rest of my team. Plus, Venusaur can't do a ton to other Venusaur anyway.
Typically, my first move is to Sleep Powder. The only exceptions are if I can get an easy KO (Kabutops, Omastar) or would rather not sleep their lead (Hippopotas). Also, I like to keep Venusaur in tip top shape for revenge killing, so I go to Rotom for Ambipom's Fake Out (praying against Pursuit). Then I proceed to burn Ambi and have one less thing to worry about in the late game. As a bonus, if I burn it first, I can usually finish it off with Thunderbolts before its weakened Pursuit takes its toll.
As stated, Venusaur is a great revenge killer in the late game with his great type coverage and pure brute force of Leaf Storm. I find myself using Earthquake very little, but it's nice for the occasional Registeel, Drapion, or Toxicroak.
I honestly don't know why I don't see more ScarfSaur leads. There are few better ways to start a match than with a free sleep. Plus he's naturally pretty damn bulky and a top notch revenger later on. Really, he's the perfect lead if you aren't too stressed about getting up hazards (and yet Ambi is consistently seen way more often). Here's how he matches up against the ten most common leads in July:
Rotom
Rotom (Buster) @ Leftovers
4 HP / 252 Speed / 252 Special Attack
Timid, Levitate
~Thunderbolt
~Shadow Ball
~Will-o-wisp
~Substitute
Buster is typically my first switch in after Venusaur sleeps something. If it's a favorable matchup, I can get a free Substitute up on the switch to ease prediction. If it's a physical threat I outspeed, I can burn it. Really, Will-o-wisp is the crux of this set. At the expense of the recovery of Pain Split, Rotom is able to incapacitate a huge percentage of the metagame.
I try to get a Sub up as quickly as possible since, from behind it, it can do all sorts of things. It can peck away at a dangerous threat with its not useless special attacks. It can burn away the threats of myriad opponents. A Registeel cannot even explode for a reliable kill anymore. A burned Kabutops is useless. A burned Rhyperior is powerless.
The only thing that gives Rotom HUGE trouble is Spiritomb. Basically all of them carry Pursuit, so I have no choice but to stay in or be OHKO'd. I usually burn it as soon as possible and, once burned, I can outlast its weakened Pursuits and Thunderbolt it to death. If it has Sucker Punch, I have to play a guessing game of Substitutes to come out on top. However, if the opponent's team lacks a Spiritomb, Rotom usually sticks around for most of the battle to threaten Moltres, Milotic, and any physical sweeper.
Hariyama
Hariyama (Hitmonsumo) @ Leftovers
76 HP / 172 Attack / 252 Defense / 8 Special Defense
Impish, Guts
~Bulk Up
~Brick Break
~Ice Punch
~Payback
I am very surprised I haven't seen any other Bulk Up Hariyama as he is honestly an incredible defensive and offensive force. After a single Bulk Up he can sponge just about any physical attack, even super effective ones (of which there are few). After two, uhhh, good luck. Soon Leftovers recovery will begin to outpace your feeble attacking attempts and he can begin OHKOing a huge portion of the metagame. Any special attackers coming in to ruin his fun must face against Milotic.
Paralysis is not a huge boon to this team so I opted for Brick Break over Force Palm. The ability to break screens is just a bonus (and a welcome one - I love breaking dual screens, making the opponent waste two turns setting them up). Ice Punch is for Grass/Poisons who come in hoping for a resisted Fighting attack. It also hits Altaria and Torterra for hilarious damage and they can do little back.
"Why Guts instead of Thick Fat?" you may ask. Well it originally was Thick Fat, to better help sponge hits. But Ice is a relatively rare attacking type in UU and besides, Milotic can wall both types to kingdom come. Also, Fire and Ice attacks are typically specially biased so he really shouldn't be dealing with them at all.
What he SHOULD deal with is errant status inflicters. Back in his Thick Fat days, a Will-o-wisp meant an end to his sweeping intentions. I would often bank on the opponent fearing a Guts variant to avoid that setback but it seldom worked. At once point I asked an opponent why he Will-o-wisped me without fear of Guts. He told me that I was using Bulk Up so I clearly wanted a bulky guy. Why wouldn't I use Thick Fat? That makes perfect sense, so that's why I use Guts now :D. Far too often opponents burn me or Toxic me as I'm in the process of Bulking Up. After this, I sweep that much easier.
This means two solid counters to him are rendered obsolete. All Weezing can do is burn me (for hilarious results) and then sit there helplessly as I Bulk Up in his face. Even Spiritomb, provided they aren't specially based, cannot do much. Once I'm burned and have a few Bulk Ups, they go down without trouble and their Sucker Punches and Pursuits frequently do less than Leftovers recovers back.
Milotics can be a pain for this set, especially Haze variants. But I can scare Milotics away with Venusaur or stall them out with my own Milotic.
Skuntank
Skuntank (Pepe) @ Lum Berry
4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
Jolly, Aftermath
~Sucker Punch
~Pursuit
~Taunt
~Explosion
God I love this little bastard. He is hugely underestimated and I have yet to see another on the ladder. But he always does his job and does it well - kill Psychics or Ghosts and then go BOOM, hopefully on something annoying (Venusaur, Milotic). Additionally, with Taunt he can counter some other fiends too. Namely SubSeeders, StallTres, and Weezing. Really, his analysis on Smogon disappoints me...claiming he is fully inferior to Drapion. This is just not true. Skuntank can solidly counter any Ghost in the tier without trouble and can do the same to Psychics. And once they're gone, he has no problem blowing up on something else (and his Explosion is seldom blocked by a ghost, since he just killed them!). And if need be, he can come in as death fodder against a weakened sweeper, netting a cool 25% from Aftermath.
Basically he comes in on a Ghost as soon as it switches in or he can come in on a predicted Psychic. Once in, Taunt is usually the first order of business. The first reaction of most Ghosts is to Thunder Wave or Will-o-wisp. If Skuntank is faster, they are shut down. If they aren't, his Lum Berry is eaten and THEN they are shut down. And his speed is one of his many underestimated quantities. He sits at a healthy 84 base speed which is much more than most people expect. After the Taunt, one must choose between Pursuit and Sucker Punch. Sucker Punch is good for Ghosts that may have statted up already (Mismagius) but Pursuit is in general a better option as it is guaranteed to hit and often the enemy flees when they can't status him. This strategy works great against Psychics like Alakazam and Uxie as well since they typically can barely even 2HKO and cannot Sub up due to either Taunt or Pursuit.
The real beauty of Skuntank is that he is so darn uncommon. People don't know what to expect when he pokes out his ugly mug. He is consistently underestimated. And by the time the opponent wises up to the fact that he isn't setup bait, he'll have picked off a Ghost or Psychic on the team and then Exploded on something else.
Milotic
Milotic (Daisy) @ Leftovers
212 HP / 198 Defense / 98 Special Defense
Calm, Marvel Scale
~Surf
~Ice Beam
~Rest
~Sleep Talk
I am genuinely not quite sure why EVERY Milotic isn't a RestTalk set. It boasts better recovery, immunity to Toxic, and FAR better stalling potential. Really, Milotic seems destined to be banned to BL when I play this set. It is just almost unstoppable. Milotic is very frequently my last Mon standing and she does her job well. I've had opponents with three Pokemon remaining fail to bring down this behemoth. I've outstalled a Toxistall Articuno. Yes that's a Pokemon with Pressure that resists both of my attacks and whose only goal is to outstall opponents. Milotic is simply overpowered in this metagame.
Rest offers the opportunity to absorb any status you could want and to restore every single HP. Additionally, it allows you to win stall wars as you can simply opt out of using an attack when you rest, netting two more turns of PP loss for your opponent. On top of all that, it activates the fantastic Marvel Scale ability to make Milotic even more of a brick wall. Milotic is EV'd to be able to survive just about anything (and to get a Leftovers number, if your were confused). This is good as it will be coming in frequently to wall bulky waters, to wall physical attackers, to wall fire types, to wall rock types, to wall half the goddamn metagame. And she'll be there to the very end. If my sweepers have all fallen to the cruel hand of fate, Milotic will still be around to stall the game away from the opponent.
Milotic, I love you...but you're totally overpowered.
Toxicroak
Toxicroak (Slippy) @ Life Orb
252 Attack / 252 Speed / 4 Special Defense
Adamant, Dry Skin
~Swords Dance
~Taunt
~Cross Chop
~Sucker Punch
I should preface this section with a brief statement. The previous five Pokemon form a very balanced and successful team on their own. It is a testament to their synergy that I was able to perform adequately even with Bibarel in this last spot. But it became clear that Bibarel was useless and I've still yet to settle on the perfect fit for the hole he left. The other five work together so perfectly, but I can't seem to find a sixth that fits in just right. Suggestions are hugely appreciated.
I needed something physical to stop Chansey and Clefable from walling the team (bar Hariyama) to kingdom come. I tried Torterra, but he didn't pack the power or speed I'd hoped for. Toxicroak was the next option. Very few things wish to take a Swords Danced Sucker Punch and he finds plenty of opportunities to stat up. He can switch into Milotic with complete impunity (and often get some free recovery out of it). He also, along with my own Milotic, provides a buffer against Rain Dance teams. If I can use them to survive the initial onslaught, I can usually pick off the weakened team once the rain stops. Otherwise, he hasn't been around too long so I'm not sure how well he'll do, but it looks promising.
Notable Weaknesses
There are a few weaknesses that plague this team. First and foremost are opposing Venusaur and Milotic. Venusaur just has so many damn sets and it's impossible to counter him until you know what it is. If I try to absorb his Sleep Powder with my Milotic, I run the risk of losing my most important defensive force to a rogue Power Whip or Leaf Storm. My own Venusaur can revenge kill it with Sludge Bomb if need be and, of course, Skuntank can Explode. Milotic, on the other hand, is a whole different beast. Rotom can threaten with Thunderbolt, but is scared of any retaliation. Venusaur can switch in pretty easily, but it's not often that a team with Milotic forgoes a Grass resist so before long Leaf Storm is out of PP. And if I predict wrong, well that just sucks for me. My own Milotic can outstall any other Milotic if it's the only one left but if they have other Pokemon, they get a more or less free switch in as my Milotic doesn't have much offensive punch.
Opponents who spam Substitute can be very annoying as well as I have very little priority with which to break substitutes. This means Subseeders and SubPunchers especially. Finally, as I said, my sixth slot is the weak link of the team. I can't seem to find someone to fit into there. Advice is encouraged!
Well, that about does it. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post and I greatly look forward to your advice. Take care :D
