kokoloko
what matters is our plan!
Anna Molly
♪
Overview
Introduction
Hello again Smogon. I realize I've been posting a few too many of these lately but I really can't help it. UU has basically reached an optimal state to the point that its become really fucking enjoyable to play it, and hence build teams. Interesting ones, at that. The team I'm presenting today is a pseudo-Rain offense team that aims to get a late-game Kingdra sweep and uses the under-appreciated Tornadus. I took the team to the #1 spot on the ladder under the alt Anna Molly pretty easily while only losing once (to massive bullshit, I might add) in its current state. The other two losses were with a previous version of the team that ran Scrafty.
This team is pure offense in the sense that everything hits like nuke, but half my Pokemon are also half-defensive. This leads to a bunch of nice little ofensive and defensive duos/trios that can create multiple win conditions. Snorlax, Slowbro, and Nidoqueen create a nice little defensive core that covers most of the metagame but doesn't give up momentum easily because I'm using offensive sets on all of them. Choice Specs Slowbro and Kingdra work nicely together offensively because the former weakens the latter's counters easily. Tornadus and Kingdra basically wreck everything because Tornadus ensures Kingdra's set up via Prankster Rain Dance. Then there's Choice Band Snorlax and Mienshao which provide me with a nice backup plan in case sweeping with Kingdra becomes sub-optimal. Anyway, here's the team.
In Detail
♪
Overview
Introduction
Hello again Smogon. I realize I've been posting a few too many of these lately but I really can't help it. UU has basically reached an optimal state to the point that its become really fucking enjoyable to play it, and hence build teams. Interesting ones, at that. The team I'm presenting today is a pseudo-Rain offense team that aims to get a late-game Kingdra sweep and uses the under-appreciated Tornadus. I took the team to the #1 spot on the ladder under the alt Anna Molly pretty easily while only losing once (to massive bullshit, I might add) in its current state. The other two losses were with a previous version of the team that ran Scrafty.
This team is pure offense in the sense that everything hits like nuke, but half my Pokemon are also half-defensive. This leads to a bunch of nice little ofensive and defensive duos/trios that can create multiple win conditions. Snorlax, Slowbro, and Nidoqueen create a nice little defensive core that covers most of the metagame but doesn't give up momentum easily because I'm using offensive sets on all of them. Choice Specs Slowbro and Kingdra work nicely together offensively because the former weakens the latter's counters easily. Tornadus and Kingdra basically wreck everything because Tornadus ensures Kingdra's set up via Prankster Rain Dance. Then there's Choice Band Snorlax and Mienshao which provide me with a nice backup plan in case sweeping with Kingdra becomes sub-optimal. Anyway, here's the team.
In Detail
Nidoqueen
- Item: Life Orb
- Ability: Sheer Force
- EVs: 204 HP / 252 SpA / 52 Spe
- Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Focus Blast
- Why this Pokemon?
Nidoqueen gets a spot on this team due to how well it complements the Slowbro / Snorlax core by taking hits from Heracross and serving as backup against Electric- and other Fighting-types. It's also my designated Stealth Rock setter and my go-to Pokemon when I'm not sure what my opponent is going to do, as Nidoqueen is usually bulky and strong enough to beat anything one on one. It's also my Thunder Wave and Volt Switch absorber, two very important things to have on such an offensive team. As weird as it may sound, Nidoqueen is the least important member of the team, so once it has set up Stealth Rock, I usually have no problems sacrificing it to get one of my other heavy hitters in for free.
The moveset should be pretty self-explanatory; Earth Power for STAB, Ice Beam for coverage and to scare away Xatu, and Focus Blast to put a big dent on Umbreon, Snorlax, and Porygon2. The EV spread is designed to outrun the standard Milotic by one point, and by extension, most Togekiss and all Blastoise. Useful stuff when you're trying to set up a Kingdra sweep.
Tornadus
- Item: Life Orb
- Ability: Prankster
- EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Nature: Naive (+Spe, -SpD)
- Hurricane
- Superpower
- Rain Dance
- Grass Knot / Taunt
- Why this Pokemon?
This is the Pokemon I wanted to build the team around, actually. Tornadus is a Pokemon I thought was being severely underrated solely due to the sheer prominence of Raikou and Zapdos in the tier, which--in a sense--make it a bit of a liability to carry. However, when played correctly, Tornadus will absolutely wreck shit. Most of the time, Tornadus's job is to come in and break down defensive Pokemon with a combination of its ridiculously strong Hurricane and Superpower, then right before its about to die, use Prankster to put up Rain Dance so that Kingdra can clean up the mess. You can also set up Rain Dance to get its Hurricane up to 100% accuracy before you start attacking, but most of the time you won't actually have time to do that. The accuracy on its STAB move is a huge downer at times, but to be honest, if you play well enough, you should be at a large enough advantage that you can afford to miss one or two.
EV spread and moveset are standard. Grass Knot sometimes gets surprise kills on Rhyperior, which is nice, while Taunt can be used to prevent set-up in some funky situations like when I'm up against Baton Pass based teams. I use them interchangeably.
Slowbro
- Item: Choice Specs
- Ability: Regenerator
- EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
- Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
- Surf
- Psyshock
- Trick
- Fire Blast
- Why this Pokemon?
Slowbro does a few different things on this team. For one, it takes on the plethora of dangerous physical Fire-types in the tier and forms a great defensive core with Snorlax and Nidoqueen, but because they all run offensive sets, the core doesn't slow the tempo of the team at all. It also forms a nice little offensive duo with Kingdra, setting it up for a late-game sweep by softening up its checks. It also helps break stall via Trick and gives my team a very nice pivot to use against most Choice Scarf users, which is really important to have on offense.
These EVs are standard on Specs Slowbro; although I usually run a bit more Speed, just to creep on opposing Slowbro and Snorlax. The ability to use Trick with Regenerator was a nice little gift that Slowbro received in BW2, which helps this team a ton by crippling things like Porygon2, Umbreon, and CurseLax. Aside from that, moveset is standard too.
Snorlax
- Item: Choice Band
- Trait: Thick Fat
- EVs: 252 Atk / 52 Def / 200 SpD / 4 Spe
- Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
- Return
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
- Why this Pokemon?
Part three of this team's "defensive" core. It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that I'm once again relying on Choice Band Snorlax to do work on my teams, since its easily one of the most reliable Pokemon in the tier. It checks pretty much every special attacker in the tier and is just a really strong tank in general. It also comes with the cool bonus of being able to eliminate Ghost-types for a Mienshao sweep in case my opponent's team happens to be weak to it or I fail to execute Plan A properly (a Kingdra sweep, if that wasn't obvious enough at this point).
The Defense EVs let Snorlax survive a +1 Outrage from Kingdra after Stealth Rock 100% of the time; and just like on Slowbro, I usually run a bit more Speed so I can creep on opposing base 30s. Moveset is standard.
Kingdra
- Item: Life Orb
- Ability: Swift Swim
- EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Dragon Pulse
- Rain Dance
- Surf
- Why this Pokemon?
The star of the show. Given the fact that I wanted to use Tornadus, from the beginning, Kingdra was basically a shoe-in for the team due to being one of the best--if not the best--offensive partners for it. You've seen this set on my previous RMT, and there's a good reason for that. Rain Dance Kingdra is absolutely devastating to any and all teams once it has set up. Even special walls will be hard pressed to tank STAB Rain-boosted Hydro Pumps once they have been weakened a bit. The beauty of it on this team is that Kingdra doesn't even need to take a hit as it sets up like it usually does, since Tornadus literally sets up for it. Kingdra is the Pokemon that wins most of my games and easily the MVP of the team.
EVs are bog standard. Two water moves because Kingdra doesn't really need coverage and its nice not to rely on Hydro Pump unless you absolutely have to. Have a damage calculator handy when using this team, by the way. You don't want to throw away wins due to misses when you didn't even need to risk it in the first place.
Mienshao
- Item: Choice Scarf
- Trait: Reckless
- EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
- Hi Jump Kick
- Aerial Ace
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Why this Pokemon?
Plan B. Both defensively and offensively. Choice Scarf Mienshao has been on the rise lately, and its really easy to see why. Not only is it the fastest viable Choice Scarf user in the tier, it also hits the hardest. Offense versus offense matches are often decided by who carries the fastest Choice Scarf user, so Mienshao's Speed is obviously very important. Mienshao's job is two-fold. The first thing it does is make sure I never get swept by things like Choice Scarf Flygon / Heracross and Weavile (unless is sets up Swords Dance, but it won't). The second is provide me with a backup plan in case Kingdra is unable to sweep late-game. Scarf Mienshao with Pursuit support is actually a really easy way of creating win conditions. EVs and moveset are standard.
Final Look
Conclusion
Importable
Conclusion
As with any offensive team in BW, your long-term thinking skills need to be in tip-top shape in order for it to perform consistently. Use the team preview to your advantage; try to find the path of least resistance when picking a win condition before you even send out your lead. Adapt every turn if necessary and take your time making your moves. Kingdra's great STAB combination will more often than not set up an easy win condition with the help of Slowbro and Tornadus, but sometimes your opponents will be packing multiple bulky Water-type resistant Pokemon, which makes things a bit harder. I've found that there aren't any un-winnable matchups with this team, though, which is cool. Thanks for reading!
Importable
is giant rat (Nidoqueen) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 204 HP / 252 SAtk / 52 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Focus Blast
is genie (Tornadus) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Hurricane
- Grass Knot
- Rain Dance
- Superpower
is hermit (Slowbro) (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Trick
- Fire Blast
is bear (Snorlax) (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 52 Def / 200 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
is seahorse (Kingdra) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Dragon Pulse
- Rain Dance
- Surf
is cat (Mienshao) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Hi Jump Kick
- Aerial Ace
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 204 HP / 252 SAtk / 52 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
- Focus Blast
is genie (Tornadus) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Hurricane
- Grass Knot
- Rain Dance
- Superpower
is hermit (Slowbro) (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Trick
- Fire Blast
is bear (Snorlax) (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 52 Def / 200 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Earthquake
is seahorse (Kingdra) (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Dragon Pulse
- Rain Dance
- Surf
is cat (Mienshao) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Hi Jump Kick
- Aerial Ace
- U-turn
- Stone Edge