First RMT on Smogon.

[SpiralSwords]

Though I'm not necessarily naive when it comes to competitive Pokemon. Since the days of DPP (which happened during my high school years), I stumbled upon Smogon and saw the glory of what was compeitive Pokemon. To make a long story short, I just pretty much read almost every article and every setup of many pokemon in various tiers. As a result, I was a decent theory crafter, but I never put it into too much practice so I played sparingly until recently. I saw what BW2 had to offer. Now I'm motivated...I want to take competitive Pokemon much more seriously by taking on the UU meta (I already have an NU team I enjoy) and work my way up through different tiers. After toying around with a few pokemon here and there, here is my team:

Note: Names are based off of the Major Arcana, but I bet you already knew that...


Edit: I've made a few changes to the team as of 11/28/12.

Strength (Rhyperior) @ Leftovers
Trait: Solid Rock
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 244 SDef
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Tail
- Stealth Rock

New Description:
My love for Rhyperior has grown even more with these changes I made. Rhyperior now has more longevity against its counters. It takes Giga Drain well enough to let me get out one Stealth Rock, but still loses to Seed Flare from Shaymin, which is okay. Dragon Tail lets me get some Phazing against set-up Sweepers like Mismagius. Has much more Utility than Megahorn ever did! While it lost a little Atk in the changes, He is still pretty bulky and can still deliver some nasty damage.

*Shoutouts to Enguarde for providing the Calculations on this more specially defensive set and providing the set to me. Shoutouts to TheOnyx for suggesting Rock Blast. Has done much better in testing than I originally gave it credit for.

Old Description:

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Rhyperior @ Leftovers
Trait: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 244 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Dragon Tail

I really love his Solid Rock ability. I lost track of how many times it saved me from a loss. Almost every time I send this guy out, I get out Stealth Rock. It's also broken down a few walls I couldn't get over such as Dusclops. One of the best Physical Walls in UU and a good lead against a decent amount in UU. Edgequake combo to hit almost everything I want and Megahorn is there for the occasional Shaymin or Slowbro though I have thought about replacing it for Substitute to give it just a little bit more longevity.

Lovers (Togekiss) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Def / 192 SDef
Careful Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Air Slash
- Wish
- Heal Bell
New Description: The change from Protect to Heal Bell made Togekiss much more viable as a Cleric. This team had a major problem with status and once toxic or paralysis hit any of my pokemon, it was GG. Now, I don't have to fear that. However, I lose the scouting utility in protect, which means I won't be able to take Physical hits all that well, no more scouting, and using wish on Togekiss will be somewhat of a chore, but its utility in Heal Bell is not to be underestimated. Paraflinch is still effective and lets everyone on my team sweep to some degree. I changed my evs a little bit to let it have some longevity against Physical attacks (in order to compensate for the loss of protect).


Old Description:

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Lovers (Togekiss) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 SDef
Careful Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Air Slash
- Wish
- Protect

"Oh what's that? I can't hear you over the sound of you flinching." Thank you Gamefreak and Nintendo for giving us the best ParaFlinch Pokemon ever. I made it a Special Tank to give Rhyperior a partner in taking all the hits it needs. People have rage quit over this Pokemon and I love it. I can't emphasize how important Thunder Wave is on this team since it helps me outspeed almost everything in UU.

Empress (Froslass) (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Cursed Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Ice Beam
- Destiny Bond

Focus Sash Froslass is underrated. This thing has taken out almost everything that bothers me, espcially Heracross. Switch into whatever, Take hits, Destiny Bond, GG. If I see that something else on the other team is gonna give me trouble in the long run, I just switch and set up two layers of spikes and let Froslass die. If it's immune to Spikes, I do my best to bait it out into a Destiny Bond. Plus not many expect Destiny Bond so it messes with their head as to what other weird tricks I have on the rest of my team. Psychological Warfare with the Empress is godlike and makes people lose games. Even if there is stealth rock, or opposing spikes, my luck will pull me through...

Edit: Nothing changed for Froslass. Still plays the same role.

Fortune (Hitmontop) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Mach Punch
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- Sucker Punch
...and by luck, I mean Fortune. This Technitop only got one, but critical change to its moveset and I felt it was worthy enough to receive some mention. Sucker Punch was changed from Pursuit. This team could tank V-Create from Victini and a Choice Banded Overheat from Chandelure relatively okay (provided there weren't any hazards), but I lacked the capacity to KO them. Sucker Punch is there to help destroy them. Because I have two priority moves, I changed the nature from Jolly to Adamant to help KO Chandelure and Victini. However, I can only KO them provided they have already taken damage either from a previous pokemon or stealth rock (two layers of spikes works as well). However, because it's slower due to the loss of Jolly, I will have a slightly harder time rapid spinning, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to take.

*Shoutouts to TheOnyx for pointing out Sucker Punch was a better option.

Old description:

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This Hitontop is just a mix of Technitop + Rapid Spin. It was a hard choice, but I decided to let go of Fake-out for Rapid Spin since I really need Rapid Spin support. Once Rapid Spin is used, I just proceed to decimate the opponent as much as I can with Mach Punch or Close Combat. Pursuit is just there because Dusclops or Drifblim rarely want to switch out on me.

Tower (Azumarill) @ Leftovers
Trait: Huge Power
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Focus Punch
- Substitute

Just wow. Azumarill is godlike. The Subset is underrated. Registeel is no longer a problem for with this and I can setup on so many things. Registeel? Check? CSpecs Chandelure? Check. Dusclops? Check. I'm set on this build. Also, it's good to mention it has excellent synergy with Togekiss. Azumarill can tank Ice Attacks that Togekiss has a hard time taking. Togekiss's Thunderwave allows it to halt most of Azumarill's checks (sans Suicune), allowing more setup shenanigans. Wish passing is standard with a Substitute user. And on the off chance Azumarill has a status, Togekiss can play Cleric for a little while to help out. Zapdos MAY be a problem, but Togekiss can tank it to some extent, which allows me to thunder wave it, letting Azumarill setup. I chose Waterfall over Ice Punch, because I already have two ways of hitting Grass Types and Zapdos. So yeah...this set does more than what Kingdra ever could.

*Shoutouts to undeadDoctor (Rozonkomo on Smogon) for suggesting Azumarill and Enguarde for suggesting the Subset.

The previous Pokemon:

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Emperor (Kingdra) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Swift Swim
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Hydro Pump

My mid-late game sweeper. Just a standard Choice Specs set. After most of its counters and checks are worn down by stealth rock and spikes, it can destroy most of the opposition with Hydro Pump or Draco Meteor. I only wish it was much faster, but not much else I can choose from at the moment.

Chariot (Nidoking) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sheer Force
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam

My god...CS Nidoking is probably the best change in this entire team. I finally have a decent revenge killer (at least Azumarill came along) and its been pulling its weight. Zapdos without HP Ice fear it. Heracross usually run. It's the perfect counter to those two commonly use pokemon. Plus, not many pokemon can tank it without taking a significant amount of damage and that's without hazard damage. The only pokemon that can switch into it with impunity is CM Suicune (if I'm not locked into thunderbolt), which is actually a danger to the team that I will discuss later in this post. Did I mention Sludge Wave really hurts pokemon that don't resist it? Also, the poison typing is nice because I can get rid of the semi-rare toxic spikes. Mienshao wasn't what I really needed and Nidoking did it all for me.

*Shoutouts to morningsun for suggesting this awesome pokemon.

The previous chariot:

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Chariot (Mienshao) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Hi Jump Kick
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

She will lead you to your death no matter what. It's usually a toss-up between Rhyperior and Mienshao on who leads. Once Mienshao is out there, I just screw with the opponent's mind. "Is he going to U-turn or is he going to hit me?" One wrong guess from my opponent is all it takes for me to start my offense.

New Pros of this team:
+Can really wear down the opponent with Rocks and Spikes (especially with the addition of Dragon Tail)
+Pretty Bulky, but can hit hard.
+Offense is now emphasized with some stalling thrown in there with Togekiss.
+Once it gains Momentum, it becomes hard to stop if I make decent predictions.
+Rarely has trouble with Status now since Togekiss plays a Cleric Role with decent offense.

Cons:
-Suicune. Almost all of its sets give me problems. Crocune can Rest away thunder wave and hit with impunity with a Calm Mind boosted Scald. Doesn't help. Resttalk gives me the same problems (albeit to a lesser extent because it doesn't have calm mind). Nidoking can't OHKO it even with full spikes and stealth rock on the field (at least if I'm doing the calculations right). Hitmontop has a hard time breaking through it. The best thing I can rely on is Azumarill and that's not the best option since most Suicune invest in Def. My only hope is to take it out with Froslass (if it's still alive and has enough health to take a scald and use destiny bond).
-Swampert is a miniature Suicune so it gives me same problems, but to a lesser degree in some cases (at least it can't setup sweep). However, it can completely wall Nidoking for the most part.


If there are any other pros and cons, please point it out.

I'm looking for constructive criticism so be harsh, but within reason. If you think I should replace certain Pokemon, I need a convincing argument for me to consider changing them. Any and all suggestions on movesets, EVs, etc are welcome.

Also, this is my first post on Smogon after lurking for about 2 years through the various parts of it. I hope I have a good time here.

Edit: So now the OP has been updated. Feel free to help out more if anyone can. Thanks to everyone who helped me out.

 

[SpiralSwords]

Quick bump.

I'm actually making a different team for UU since I'm getting frustrated with this one, but I would love it if someone helped fix this particular team since I want to make two different teams in UU.

 

[TheOnyx]

I would recommend Rock Blast>Stone Edge on Rhyperior
to break Sashes on things like Lead Venomoth (If they miss/don't use Sleep Power) and Froslass.
Also, I would use Sucker Punch>Pursuit on Hitmontop to kill Chandelure which is a monster against every team.

I'll add more suggestions later

 

[morningsun]

I feel like you should run the standard CS Nidoking instead of Mienshao. It'll help very much in countering both Heracross and Zapdos. Mienshao doesn't add very much coverage anyways, since you already have Hitmontop. Or you could try out Aerial Ace/ Acrobatics on Mienshao itself. I also feel like Kingdra would really appreciate Rain Dance on one of your Pokemon, if not itself instead of HP Grass. In this case, you should run Life Orb.

 

[SpiralSwords]

Finally someone answers. I guess the OU RMT forum is more popular, but I digress.

@TheOnyx
I actually thought about running Rock Blast over Stone Edge at one point. As of currently, the RNG is screwing me over in Stone Edge's accuracy so I'll run Rock Blast and see where that takes me.

Suckerpunch...okay that's actually a derp moment on my part. Did not think about it when I made this team. Thanks.

@morningsun
I thought about Nidoking, but if I add nidoking, 3 pokemon are my team are weak to ice and I don't know if it's just bad luck, but now there are WAY MORE Zapdos running HP Ice instead of grass like I mentioned in the OP. I may add Sableye in place of Mienshao to help Kingdra run Rain Dance much faster, but I'm not really sure about that change.

Thanks a lot guys and any more suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Enguarde]

Hey there! With the above changes you have a pretty solid team, and if you're still worried Zapdos being a problem you could potentially use a more specially defensive Rhyperior set which can take HP Ice from Zapdos pretty nicely.

Rhyperior @ Leftovers
Trait: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 244 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Dragon Tail

Offensive Zapdos

0 SpA Zapdos Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 244 SpD Solid Rock Rhyperior: 105-124 (24.19 - 28.57%)

Defensive Zapdos

252 SpA Life Orb Zapdos Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 244 SpD Solid Rock Rhyperior: 166-197 (38.24 - 45.39%)

This set can even combat sub CM Raikou with proof from some calcs.

Standard Sub CM Raikou

52 SpA Raikou Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 244 SpD Solid Rock Rhyperior: 102-121 (23.5 - 27.88%)

I've used this set to great success before after being recommend it on youtube. Hope it helps!

 

[SpiralSwords]

Hey there! With the above changes you have a pretty solid team, and if you're still worried Zapdos being a problem you could potentially use a more specially defensive Rhyperior set which can take HP Ice from Zapdos pretty nicely.

Rhyperior @ Leftovers
Trait: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 244 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Dragon Tail

Offensive Zapdos

0 SpA Zapdos Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 244 SpD Solid Rock Rhyperior: 105-124 (24.19 - 28.57%)

Defensive Zapdos

252 SpA Life Orb Zapdos Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 244 SpD Solid Rock Rhyperior: 166-197 (38.24 - 45.39%)

This set can even combat sub CM Raikou with proof from some calcs.

Standard Sub CM Raikou

52 SpA Raikou Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 244 SpD Solid Rock Rhyperior: 102-121 (23.5 - 27.88%)

I've used this set to great success before after being recommend it on youtube. Hope it helps!

I'm not really good at the mathmatic aspects of Pokemon so thanks for putting up the calculations.

I do like the changes to the team, but I'm having a problem with two particular changes that I made:

I tested the team with the change to Nidoking instead of Mienshao. I've liked the results so far as I'm able to take down Zapdos with a little more consistency. However...I kind of hate that Kingdra just became dead weight with the addition of Nidoking. Yeah it can tank hits that Rhyperior may not able to take, but that's it. Should I replace it.

Then there is playtest with Sableye in place of Mienshao. Kingdra became a star in this team and taking out everything left and right, but Sableye becomes a liability.

Sableye @ Damp Rock
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Rain Dance
- Recover
- Taunt
- Foul Play

I kind of hate it without recover, but losing Will-O-Wisp makes me a little pissed. Add to the fact that it can't take very many hits and it becomes a liability. Yeah, having Prankster helps, but maybe I'm just playing it wrong and it can't survive after setting up rain dance. It also becomes redundant with Froslass since I have a taunt user, but situations have arised where I needed Sableye's taunt rather than Froslass's.

So my questions are this:

Do you recommend sticking with Nidoking or Sableye? Depending on the answer, there are a couple of follow-up questions:

If I stick with Nidoking:
Do you recommend taking out Kingdra for a different Pokemon? If so, who?

If I decide to stick with Sableye:
Does anyone have a better set-up for it or is there a better Rain Dancer that I'm not looking at? If you say I should make Kingdra my Rain dancer, should I stick with Nidoking, or go for something completely different?

 

[Enguarde]

It doesn't really seem worth it to have Sableye becoming redundant as a taunter and inducing rain just so Kingdra can rampage. Nidoking fits extremely well onto most UU teams, and yours especially will appreciate the coverage and power it can bring.

So I'd recommend keeping Nidoking in replacement of Mienshao, and perhaps swapping it out for a Sub Punch Azumarril.

SUB PUNCH

Azumarril @ Leftovers
Trait: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Spa)
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall

The main issue you were having with using both Kingdra and Nidoking, was that Nidoking was doing the special sweeping better than it, and was basically just being use to take Flare Blitz's from Darmanitan and Arcanine. So this set here will not only help you with these Pokemon which could cause you big trouble, by being a solid counter to them, and give you the ability to snipe Pokemon like Heracross, Tornadus, Houndoom, Mismagius and Weavile. Heracross, a Pokemon which you highlighted earlier as being a pain since an Aqua Jet can do around (33.77 - 39.73%) to standard Scarf Heracross, and there also won't be much that it can do to you behind a sub. You'll also have a much easier time handling Dusclops since Azumarril can make substitutes greater than 100hp so it's Seismic Tosses, Pain Split and Will-O-Wisp won't me damaging you anytime soon.

Hope this helps!

 

[SpiralSwords]

Thanks Enguarde. It's funny cuz me and someone else were deciding what to replace Kingdra with and we pretty much rounded it down to Dual Screen Cress and CB Azumarill. I did playtest the CB set earlier this morning and as much as I liked it, it did become pretty predictable. I played the subset for a couple of battle and I like the results I got from it (despite only playing 4 battles with it).
1. Come in on HP Ice from Zapdos or Ice Beam from opposing Nidoking or Frosslass.
2.Set up Sub.
3.????
4.Profit.
*Though I am going to miss the Wallbreaking capabilities of CB Azumarill.

I'm also changing Togekiss's Protect to Heal Bell. This team has a huge problem with Status (but what team doesnt?). I lose the scouting ability in Togekiss, but I find that a lot of common Set-up sweepers like to come in on Togekiss when they predict a protect. Maybe it's just my bad luck or something. I'll play around with the EVs to compensate the loss of Protect.

What I'm still kind of peeved at is that I still don't have a direct answer for Bulky Water Pokemon. Most Bulky Water pokemon are Specially defensive, meaning Tbolt won't work very often on Nidoking and often gets OHKO. Azumarill does help a little with the Subset.

I'm going to be updating the OP in a bit. Thanks for your help.

 

[Enguarde]

Yeah I thought about how Milotic and Swampert could be problems which is why I mulled over a few sets before deciding upon suggesting Azumarril.

Swampert won't really like taking hits from Azumarril, as even with its most physically bulky set, a Waterfall will still do about 40% and Focus Punch even more.

Milotic, also which is quite problematic to your team will take about almost 50% from focus punch but since nearly every Milotic in UU is running Rest/Talk the damage is nerfed when Marvel Scale is active. Although Azumarril can potentially break it if can maintain a sub it is pretty risking when its also vulnerable to scald or toxic otherwise.

A way to combat this though could be too change Togekiss to an offensive/cleric Roserade.

Set.

Roserade @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Spa / 252 Spe / 4 SDef
Timid (-Atk, -Spe)
- Giga Drain
- Stun Spore/ Sleep Powder
- Aromatherapy
- Sludge Bomb

Although an unorthodox set I found this very useful when testing out your team as it seems all that Togekiss was doing was sponging Chandelure and paralyzing. This way Roserade can threaten the aforementioned bulky waters with a strong Giga Drain and you still retain the ability to paralyze your opponents with Stun Spore, or put them to sleep if you choose with Sleep Powder. And you also get to keep your Ability as a cleric, take both Grass and Electric moves, whilst having an offensive presence to what other team members are struggling with.

You gained a really great check to fire types in Azumarril in the last team change so your team doesn't seem to miss Togekiss.

So that's my suggestion and hope that helps!

 

[SpiralSwords]

Yeah I thought about how Milotic and Swampert could be problems which is why I mulled over a few sets before deciding upon suggesting Azumarril.

Swampert won't really like taking hits from Azumarril, as even with its most physically bulky set, a Waterfall will still do about 40% and Focus Punch even more.

Milotic, also which is quite problematic to your team will take about almost 50% from focus punch but since nearly every Milotic in UU is running Rest/Talk the damage is nerfed when Marvel Scale is active. Although Azumarril can potentially break it if can maintain a sub it is pretty risking when its also vulnerable to scald or toxic otherwise.

A way to combat this though could be too change Togekiss to an offensive/cleric Roserade.

Set.

Roserade @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Spa / 252 Spe / 4 SDef
Timid (-Atk, -Spe)
- Giga Drain
- Stun Spore/ Sleep Powder
- Aromatherapy
- Sludge Bomb

Although an unorthodox set I found this very useful when testing out your team as it seems all that Togekiss was doing was sponging Chandelure and paralyzing. This way Roserade can threaten the aforementioned bulky waters with a strong Giga Drain and you still retain the ability to paralyze your opponents with Stun Spore, or put them to sleep if you choose with Sleep Powder. And you also get to keep your Ability as a cleric, take both Grass and Electric moves, whilst having an offensive presence to what other team members are struggling with.

You gained a really great check to fire types in Azumarril in the last team change so your team doesn't seem to miss Togekiss.

So that's my suggestion and hope that helps!

I actually considered Roserade before adding Togekiss in the beginning, but with her addition, 3 pokemon are weak to psychic (then again, psychic attacks aren't very dominant) and 3 pokemon are weak to ice. I had Togekiss because it could sponge Special Attacks, which was mainly to draw in Zapdos with HP Ice and any Ice beam users. Roserade almost has the same SpD stat as Togekiss. It will tank a few Special Attacks here and there, but not as much as Rhyperior would tank Physical Attacks. Maybe I'm overthinking it since I have Azumaril or Frosslass to take Ice attacks, but meh.

I'll give Roserade a shot because I've always wanted to try her out. I can't do very much today since I'm very busy with classes on fridays (Hell, thy name is college). I'll do some playtesting tonight and report back tomorrow.

Also, I think that Choice Specs Overheat on Azumarill might 2HKO her since Chandelure is much faster than her no matter what set she runs (unless Overheat is already used, in which case, I may need to bait into using).

The only thing I will miss is Wish from Togekiss because it allows Azumarill to gain back some health (although somewhat unreliably). Then again, I'm using the Subset to play late game or switch into checks for my team. Again, I might be overthinking this.

Thanks Enguarde.