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The UU Dark Horse Project

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Lol so many Fletchinder teams. Look forward to seeing who takes it highest...I can feel this'll be a real competitive Dark Horse...

I like that
 
User: dhsylvester1088
This user has not played any ladder games yet.

DH_Sylvester1088 is my clean alt. Let's get this going!

I'm out. Huntails just trash and this team isn't even close to as good as it was without Smeargle. The idea was to patch up Huntails/Gorebyss speed with priority Tailwind from Fletchinder. Fletch would double as a late game sweeper. I'm honestly having more trouble now due to absolutely no set up opportunities that Smeargle offered with Spore/Dark Void.

CoolStoryBrobat Can I please redo my team? :-(

Yeah, you can. PM me all changes you make to your team, and edit your registration post accordingly.

Also...

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Feraligatr / Scyther / Ampharos / Forretress / Umbreon / Shaymin

Feraligatr / Whimsicott / Heliolisk / Snorlax / Jirachi / Aerodactyl

After at least 5(00) attempts, I finally got something decent, so I'm gonna go in with this.

edit: I changed my team. Countless times. Finally decided to settle on this:

Feraligatr - 0.70957%
Whimsicott - 1.67743%
Heliolisk - 0.92661%
Snorlax - 5.34075%
Jirachi - 7.59440%
Aerodactyl - 10.09509%

= 26.34385!

Scyther - 0.44196%
Ampharos - 6.02151%
Forretress - 11.03860%
Umbreon - 7.53919%
Shaymin - 6.72797%

= 32.4788%!
 
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So, I changed my team up and it is now (with DH in bold):

Rhyperior
Virizion

Snorlax
Fletchinder (because hes pretty stupidly good)
Tentacruel
Aromatisse

Here's one replay showing how bulky Rhyperior, Tenta and Aroma actually are. Aromatisse was able to stomach a +2 LO Bullet Punch from Lucario. It also passes those big wishes (not as big as other pink blobs which shall not be named!).

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-128329668
 
Signing up.

Dark Horses:

Braviary - 0.77150%
Shuckle - 0.70476
Sableye - 3.75194

Above 4% Usage:

Starmie - 5.21870%
Krookodile - 6.90699
Toxicroak - 6.68672
Blastoise - 17.64469%

~23
~33

Probably will change a couple of things, but for right now, I'm set.

Account: ProDH
Proof:
Mi5ghuz.jpg
 
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In as FoopAwesome
ppPogRB.jpg


Manly Squad (plus Shaymin-Cute):
Tyrantrum / Doublade / Stoutland / Hippowdon / Shaymin / Heracross

Tyrantrum - 0.55819%
Doublade - 0.91728%
Stoutland - 1.06212%
Hippowdon - 5.74061%
Shaymin - 6.72797%
Heracross - 12.33118%

= 27.34%
 
So, going into the weekend I have a bunch of good replays with my team. I am currently around 1390 so far! Just a little background, Virizion and Rhyperior are old gen 5 favs of mine and real motivation for this team, along with Fletchinder.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-130411004
My opponent's team is pretty straightforward right from the beginning. Set up hazards with Forry, keep hazards up with Sableye, and keep hazards off their field with Mega Blastoise/Forry support for a Volc Sweep with a turning pressure core of Shao/Hydra. Turn 20 is when I realize that his Volc is bulky and very much so at that! At that point, I was very much concerned if it was the ChestoRest set. It happened to be a Charti Berry, which didn't make a difference to Rhyperior. With all of the appropriate sweepers and supporters gone, Aromatisse is just an impenetrable wall if the opponent doesn't have an answer to this bulky smelly poke!

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-128410260

This is just a quick little tidbit of how much of a troll TentaTroll really is lol Infestation/Scald/Toxic are a dangerous combo. TentaTroll forced a ragequit.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-128403919
This was actually a pretty tough game. My opponent was very smart. I threw out Rhyperior to tank a Drain Punch and he went to Poison Jab predicting the Aromatisse switch-in around 11. By turn 22, it was down to Mega Aero and Volc versus poor lil' fletchinder. I wonder who made it out alive? :-) But, seriously though, Fletch might've been the one to clench the victory, but Aromatisse was the one who put Mega Aero within KO range of acrobatics.

252+ Atk Fletchinder Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Aerodactyl: 77-91 (25.4 - 30.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO


http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-130413667
But, this match here is probably the BEST showcase of this team's capabilities. You can really see how the team goes together. The Aromatisse/Tenta/AV Lax core is very tough to break. The offensive pressure by Virizion and Fletchinder help force a lot of switches. The key double-switch occurred at turn 24. With his Hera locked into Close Combat on Aromatisse, I predicted the Empoleon switch since it carried Flash Cannon which would've obliterated*. I predicted the switch and threw in Virizion to start throwing out it's own Close Combats, which paid off. That was the key move in the game since it put Empoleon within KO range of Acrobatics.

252+ Atk Fletchinder Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Empoleon: 75-89 (20.1 - 23.9%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery

*252+ SpA Empoleon Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0+ SpD Aromatisse: 258-306 (63.5 - 75.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Maybe not obliterates, but you get the point! :-)

So, overall, this team is very good. It counters most of the threats that just dropped with ease as well. AV Snorlax with 252 Def can stomach a psychic and a Focus Blast and OHKO with Crunch on Mega Zam. AV Lax also laughs at Goodra and Volcarona. Lucario is a big threat, but Aromatisse does a good job at handling it. Blissey is big set up bait for Virizion. So, I recommend going out and trying different pokes!
 
Well I have played quite a few games with my Dark Horse account now but due to a ridiculous amount of hax on the account (I mean this alt is cursed, 2 consecutive Tri-attack freezes, crit water pulse confusion faint due to confusion, Discharge para'd can't move next turn crit, with bunch of other crits where the 10% chance feels more like 50%) and the fact that I would like to be playing with some of the new drops, I'll just give a summary of my Dark Horses now if I don't continue with it that much.

Aromatisse: Rather good Pokemon in the tier at the moment. I was running a Physically Defensive set which is what it holds over Florges. Its ability to be the best answer in the tier to a lot of threats including Heracross, Mienshao (without Poison Jab), Lucario (this thing even takes Bullet Punch quite well though if Luc has a steel move it will cripple Aroma a fair bit) and other random assort fighting types, a great answer to Hydreigon. Fairy typing just compliments a lot of the Defensive Pokemon at the moment and Aromatisse with with better Physical Defence, bigger wishes, a strong STAB Moonblast and a rather useful ability make Aromatisse on par or better than Florges at the moment. Though Aroma does have some rather noticeable flaws. It's Physical Defence is still not all that outstanding, and although it can wall Pokemon whose STABs are resisted with only neutral coverage moves all day, it takes a rather big beat from strong neutral STABs and can easily be 2HKOed by these threats, most notably the Fire SPAM pokes, Darm, Vic, Entei and Arcanine. Still a really good Pokemon though.

Rhyperior: Rhyperior was a favourite of mine in UU last gen, but this time around he has been probably the most underwhelming. I'm not saying by any means that Rhyperior isn't a bad Pokemon though. It's Attack is ridiculous and it takes a lot of hits that you would otherwise think that it shouldn't. The main problem with Rhyperior is that it doesn't fit into the tier that well with the bunch of viable Pokemon that threaten it. Granted it has a great niche with a great set of resistances, but its weaknesses to the very prominent Water, Grass and Fighting types at the moment, with Ground types running around too, means that Rhyperior is forced out by arguably way too many Pokemon, and with lack of recovery this weakness is amplified. And although he can take a lot of these attacks even twice or thrice, Rhyperior can be rather easily played around in my experience with the bunch of threats to it running around in the tier.

Fletchinder: Fletchinder in its own right is a great Pokemon. I think we all know by now all the things that it checks really well and so on, but Fletch does have quite a few drawbacks. Fletchinder really does require a lot of support. SR are killer and really need to be gone most of the time for Fletch to do its job. With this SR weakness and relatively poor bulk, Fletch finds himself not being able to abuse its resistances as well as it could, as it still takes a sizeable amount of damage from some the 2x resisted moves, and a bunch more from neutral hits. Though his handy 4x resistances are great for this Pokemon, as well as its ability to sponge 2x resisted hits and weaker Knock Offs. Fletch also really struggles to do much vs. Defensive teams, as there is almost always something that can even take a +2 Acrobatics. Though saying that, Fletch vs. Offensive teams with a SD shines like the God that this mighty bird is granted that the opponents E-Speeds and Aqua Jets are all gone, where it can easily OHKO the offensive metagame with nothing but SR on the field.
+2 252+ Atk Fletchinder Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon: 295-348 (90.7 - 107%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Anything with less bulk than Hydreigon gets shreckt

Fletch cleans a weakened Balanced team with an SD http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-128675037
Another Fletch sweep against an offensive team (would have sweeped with SD but I was wary of Sash Zam) http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-127938971
 
User: dark horse midas: This user has not played any ladder games yet. (computer is too crappy to screenshot)
For the usages I rounded to the nearest tenth to make it easier to add/save time.
Dark Horses: Rhyperior (3.4%) Amoonguss (2.5%) Lanturn (0.4%)
Other mons: Noivern (4.4%) Heracross (12.3%) Arcanine (10%)
Combined Usage: 32.9%
 
My team is doing great tbh, but every time I'm laddering and win a couple of matches either I lose 3 matches due to hax (double crit, missed 2 dracos, Mega Blastoise flinched me twice with Dark pulse, triple WoW miss, Double Gunk Shot miss, etc.) or run into someone high on the ladder (battled koko & bouf and multiple other 1600-1700s guys) and sometimes after the hax I misplay due to rage.

But my teams is great.

Dark Horses:

Shuckle: Great pokemon, better than Donphan, don't know why it has low usage, first of all it can at least get up one hazard with the combination of Sturdy & Mental Herb, has immense bulk, can take up fire-spam (physically defensive shuckle ftw) and sticky web offense is great. Best part though, is Encore, nubs be leading with volc and QD but then ENCORE to the face, switch into Krook, get free kill and moxie. Infestation is meh. Only really use it to break sashes on Galv or Lass or Azelf.

Sableye: Sableye is arguably the best spin-blocker in the meta (Trevenant is meh, Chandy is wrecked by Donphan), since I run double hazard (SR + Sticky Web), I was in a highly need of a spin-block, Physically defensive Sableye cannot only switch on Donphan's EQ, WoW, take another, and taunt/recover game, but it also can take V-create from Scarf Tini and Knock Off for ~70% of the damage, which just makes me more excited for Mega Sableye really. Knock Off + Taunt + Recover + WoW can also stall out CM Slowbro and Crocune if heir health have been lowered. Spin-blocks Forretress & Donphan & Starmie (Situationly) while I leave Mega Blastoise for Toxicroak.

Braviary: Braviary is the best Defog-Blocker in the tier, I have tried Competitive Milotic and Defaint Empoleon a bunch of times in the past, the former lacks coverage (Bulky waters are a pain in the ass) and the latter lacks power, even with SD. however, Braviary is amazing, Jolly 120 Speed allows him to outspeed the fastest pokemon that is affected by Sticky web in the tier: Alakazam. careful with 252 SpD and rest in HP to give him a lot of bulk, and then, Bulk Up + Roost allows him to set up on so many pokemons such as Donphan and Whirlwind-less Hippowdown, Toxic-less Forretress too, after 2-3 Bulk Ups and get rid of bulky electric types and this thing can sweep. Brave Bird + Superpower are amazing coverage, Mega Amph can take a hit at +2 while Doublade walls this set but not really common.

Other Members:

Toxicroak: Standard set, why is he on the team? Priority and Mega Blastoise, the former I lacked and the latter I had problems with, countering CroCune is just a sweet-icing on an already delicious cake. Took me back a bunch of games.

Mega Blastoise: This thing is here not only because of Rapid Spin Support, but if Sticky Web is up, this thing poops all over the place. http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-131055962 <--------- A proof it is amazing, that was a reply of 3-1 match in my opponent's favor after rock slide-flinching my Braviary. (Also proof of my unluckiness lol) Ice beam / Dark Pulse / Hydro Pump is, as I found, better coverage than Dark pulse / Aura Sphere or Dragon Pulse / Hydro Pump, as it while cannot hit Porygon2 or Umbreon (Situationly) it can hit Shaymin and Roserade on the switch in which is really helpful, also hits Celebi harder than Dark Pulse.

Krookodile: LO Jolly Krook w/ Sticky Web support is just friggin' amazing, Hippo walls, but that's not really a problem to the team, Krook has perfect coverage, but always lacked the speed to sweep, Scarf set did a better job but did nothing to stall, LO is amazing. Crunch over Knock off because it's more consistent, I might change it to Knock off though.

Like RowDog, I wanted to post my thoughts on team in case I don't continue cuz I'm getting fucking haxed.
 
Name: ERTHWNDNFRE
Q4rKDdW.png


Mons:
Heracross | 12.33118% |
Rhyperior | 3.42819% |
Froslass | 2.67968% |
Raikou | 4.81461% |
Entei | 7.69140% |
Sharpedo | 1.83095% |

Total: 32%

I tried it out and went 17-4 before committing to it. A little too offensive for my tastes, but when it works, it works.
 
I might have a go at this now.

Alt: The silent rider

Proof of clean alt
View attachment 15189

Dark Horses (so far, more may be added, though I'll stick with these two): Uxie (0.46208), Slurpuff (0.66224)

I'll update this with a full team later Brobat, this is just to declare interest atm since I'm having some trouble picking the final team members at present. Btw CoolStoryBrobat can I start laddering immediately or only once you know my full team?

Oh and I suppose some justification to start. Uxie I've picked because of a few key traits, notably its sacrificial move, bulk and reasonable speed. I'm intending this team to be offensive, if not HO because I wish to see if they can be played as brainlessly as I've always assumed the style to be. It will end up being both a lead and anti-lead with the ability to aid a sweep. At the moment I'm rather thinking it will be what could be described as a poor man's Deo-D, but there will be some differentiation so it doesn't just sit there and sets up hazards only.

Slurpuff is something I have seen tested in one of the research weeks, but I haven't done so myself, or actually seen it preform, so I'm interested enough in it. I think it can do real damage with its trademark belly drum + unburden set, despite the fact UU actually has some quality steel types now. Speaking of those awful steel types, I'm looking at this stage to partner it with cloyster, given one can weaken the other's checks enough so one of them sweeps (also to bypass those bloody sashzams). I'd be rather surprised to see more than one steel type per team given the rampant success fire, fighting and ground moves have in UU so once I get an idea of my full team, I'm going to be reasonably confident that my idea in theory will work well in practice.

EDIT: Thanks for the advice btw brobat. Team mates are hard to pick still, but its been worth my time so far to test before use certainly (And to think I might've gone in blind into this challenge...too much theorymon for me)
 
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Mega Blastoise: This thing is here not only because of Rapid Spin Support, but if Sticky Web is up, this thing poops all over the place. http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-131055962 <--------- A proof it is amazing, that was a reply of 3-1 match in my opponent's favor after rock slide-flinching my Braviary. (Also proof of my unluckiness lol) Ice beam / Dark Pulse / Hydro Pump is, as I found, better coverage than Dark pulse / Aura Sphere or Dragon Pulse / Hydro Pump, as it while cannot hit Porygon2 or Umbreon (Situationly) it can hit Shaymin and Roserade on the switch in which is really helpful, also hits Celebi harder than Dark Pulse.
Unless I am missing something here how is Toise's Ice Beam hitting harder than Dark Pulse on Celebi? Dark Pulse sits at 120 BP after ability boost while Ice Beam is only at 90.
 
I might have a go at this now.

Alt: The silent rider

Proof of clean alt
View attachment 15189

Dark Horses (so far, more may be added, though I'll stick with these two): Uxie (0.46208), Slurpuff (0.66224)

I'll update this with a full team later Brobat, this is just to declare interest atm since I'm having some trouble picking the final team members at present. Btw CoolStoryBrobat can I start laddering immediately or only once you know my full team?

Oh and I suppose some justification to start. Uxie I've picked because of a few key traits, notably its sacrificial move, bulk and reasonable speed. I'm intending this team to be offensive, if not HO because I wish to see if they can be played as brainlessly as I've always assumed the style to be. It will end up being both a lead and anti-lead with the ability to aid a sweep. At the moment I'm rather thinking it will be what could be described as a poor man's Deo-D, but there will be some differentiation so it doesn't just sit there and sets up hazards only.

Slurpuff is something I have seen tested in one of the research weeks, but I haven't done so myself, or actually seen it preform, so I'm interested enough in it. I think it can do real damage with its trademark belly drum + unburden set, despite the fact UU actually has some quality steel types now. Speaking of those awful steel types, I'm looking at this stage to partner it with cloyster, given one can weaken the other's checks enough so one of them sweeps (also to bypass those bloody sashzams). I'd be rather surprised to see more than one steel type per team given the rampant success fire, fighting and ground moves have in UU so once I get an idea of my full team, I'm going to be reasonably confident that my idea in theory will work well in practice.

I'd prefer you not ladder till you get your whole team ready, just for the sake of knowing if it fits within the 35% requirement. I mean, it probably does, but still. If you want to mess with teammates, test on an alt for a bit before posting, if need be.
 
This looks like a fun way to start the revival of my competitive pokemon career. Nice challenge Brobat, good to see your still around. Anyway here is the team I will be using. Alt is Sage's DH(computer sucks just check it if you don't believe me)

Sage's UU Dark Horse Team:
#97 Heliolisk(0.92661%)
#70 Cobalion(1.98697%)
#58 Kingdra(3.59586%)
#53 Trevenant(4.39368%)
#29 Umbreon(7.53919%)
#14 Slowbro(10.22795%
Total Percentage(28.67026%)

Reasons behind Dark Horses
Heliolisk: I remebered that base 109 speed, and thought it would make a good scarfer that could revenge other scarfers like scarfnape not running mach punch or scarf mienshao. Also, dry skin gives it more switch ins on bulky waters going for a scald, and helps it deal with hazards and residual damage.

Cobalion: I wanted a rocks user who could keep momentum, and Cobalion fits the bill. With volt switch for keeping the initiative, thunder wave to cripple checks, and a relatively hard hitting close combat for a support mon, it excels at its role thanks to decent bulk and a fantastic 108 speed.

Kingdra: It's sheer versatility has me suprized why it was so low in usage. Great offensive STABs, a multitude of sets, and unpredictability makes Kingdra scary in team preview. You don't know if it's a DD lum berry, choice specs, or even a mixed life orb.

Good Luck to Everyone in the Dark Horse contest!!!

Edit: restarting on Dark Horse Sage: the team had too much trouble with victini/darm, and hydreigon going 18-7, switching up the whole team
Aromatisse(0.54862%)
Heliolisk(0.92661%)
Cobalion(1.98697%)
Houndoom(5.02664%)
Donphan(8.62624%)
Slowbro(10.22795%)
Total Usage Percentage: 27.34303
 
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Unless I am missing something here how is Toise's Ice Beam hitting harder than Dark Pulse on Celebi? Dark Pulse sits at 120 BP after ability boost while Ice Beam is only at 90.

All of those Celebis that I Ice beamed over Dark Pulse ...
lol I completely forgot about mega launcher thnx


EDIT: Don't want to double post, and I'm not sure how this thing works, but I'm gonna post my ranking right now (peaked 1500) as proof. Might try for more later.

cn5hPwf.png


LC I was just trying a new team and randombattle is when I'm in a hurry and click look for battle on random and then I forfeit right away lol.

80 Win 53 L, I'll tell you at least 20 of these losses were hax.
 
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So I did a ton of work, changing my team literally over a dozen times, succumbing to rage, frustration, hax, and at one point taking my rage out on someone after being at the end of my rope. But I finally made it:

uzonI1h.png

For those who don't understand my username choice "Lagiacrusgatr" go google a picture of "Lagiacrus". It's a monster from the Monster Hunter series, and to me at least, it resembles a Feraligatr on steroids. :]

I literally kid you not, my team went through insane development to the point I eventually revamped it. For the sake of living up to my name, I guess I'll talk a bit about my own Dark Horses for a bit:

Feraligatr, I decided to go in with a Swords Dance set with Waterfall, Crunch, and Aqua Jet, using 56 HP / 252 Atk / 200 Spe Adamant to be able to outrun Honchkrow, since it sits on an awkward speed tier that doesn't let it beat much else. As you can see based on my moves I aimed to basically use Feraligatr like a mini-Crawdaunt. Instead of having the insane amount of power it has with Adaptability, it trades that unreal level of strength for less weaknesses and somewhat-usable bulk that makes it a bit easier to set up. I was impressed with how well this Feraligatr set was holding up, and I had tried Dragon Dance and different variants of Swords Dance for a while, but I personally feel this one is the absolute most effective. I chose Crunch as my primary coverage because I noticed Feraligatr tends to lure Slowbro. A LOT. It got irritating dealing with this fat otter/hermit crab so after seeing Crunch at +2 nearly OHKOes this thing, I was set on using that as my main coverage move. I could have used Ice Punch or something to beat out Chesnaught and the occasional Tangrowth, but losing out on Crunch lends you to getting walled by every bulky water ever. And losing out on Waterfall means losing your strongest STAB move, which you kind of need if you want to get past bulky stuff like Umbreon and Florges after setting up. After settling on my set, I made a little list of what exactly beats this Feraligatr set: Chesnaught, faster mons who can take +2 Aqua Jet like Shaymin and Roserade, Mega Ampharos, Starmie, Hydreigon, Empoleon, etc. So this led me to choose as its partner...

Scyther! Scyther was alright. I saw it a few times in the past and underestimated, only to get cut to pieces each time. I figured there was some untapped potential in Scyther that people didn't expect in UU. Scyther also was able to check a good amount of the Pokemon who gave Feraligatr problems. It turns out in practice, it was...okay, I guess. CB Scyther wasn't the best thing ever, and with U-turn / Aerial Ace / Knock Off, I ran Brick Break to be able to hit Empoleon since I know it's a solid lure for it, but Scyther's biggest shortcoming is it just...isn't super powerful. It's not the type of wallbreaker who punches holes up in stuff, he sort of just spams Aerial Ace and U-turn for a while. And thanks to its typing being terrible and easy to exploit with SR, it put a lot of pressure on me. I got kinda tired of the hit-and-run style, though I will say Scyther pulled its weight a few games, and even at times it was my key to victory.

I put Mega Ampharos on my team because it was able to kill off the bulky Water-types that gave me issues. Phys. Def Mega Ampharos is also the unsung hero of UU, and after messing around before coming to my first team, I decided I wanted to do a semi-VoltTurn team that wore everything down for Feraligatr to clean up later. Mega Ampharos is an excellent pivot and slow Volt Switch user, so I was able to take advantage of this. Forretress was added because I got frustrated trying to "cover all my bases" so I eventually just stuffed Forry in as a secondary physical wall who also utilized Rapid Spin + Stealth Rock. He was also a half-decent check to Cloyster, who gives my team issues, I guess. I put Umbreon in as my special wall who kept everyone healthy because...well he keeps everyone healthy. Chose Shaymin to assist with breaking down bulky waters, namely Suicune. ...But then in one match I saw my Shaymin get stalled out by Suicune as it missed a Seed Flare (that seriously mattered) and I sat there and inevitably lost. Got salty and replaced it with a weird Scarf Celebi with Leaf Storm and Trick. Trick Scarf users are pretty useful to me and have also won me a few games because they hinder stuff and allow setup opportunities, so I figured if I forced it to work hard enough...it would. Also earth powering Scarf Darmanitans is funny, so yeah.

...Sadly though that's where the team stopped shining. I started running into all kinds of things I lost to; I literally lost to a dude with a Ferroseed because my team had no way to break through it, and he was smart enough to play around the Trick from Celebi. Since defensive Mega Ampharos doesn't run Focus Blast, that kind of hindered me badly. I lost a few other games to Lucario, a surprise Sun Team with infernape, Victini, and Shiftry, SubSeed Trevenant, and so on. All kinds of junk. My team also has no real way of killing Forretress immediately so getting guaranteed hazards up by it and then having to use my own Forretress to take pressure off it is kind of annoying. Plus this also wore Scyther down viciously half the time, so I felt some adjustments were needed.

...This is the part where I inevitably gave up after making several changes and attempts to rebuild the team, even removing Scyther as my dark horse. I tried a few other ones who may have fit the bill: Swellow (Kills himself too fast, easy to play around), Bouffalant (Sap Sipper is dope, but Head Charge makes it kill itself. Plus it's slow and usually only gets maybe 1-2 opportunities to smash things up before either being used as fodder to faster teams, or statused), Rotom-C (Could never really get this dude to work honestly. Specs Rotom-C is hype till you realize even with HP Fire, stuff gets in on it), and many more. I even attempted a Hyper Offense Rain team just last night out of desperation to make Feraligatr work. And I just couldn't do it.

...So rebuilding my team again, and at someone else's suggestion, I picked Whimsicott. it hinders stuff and actually has a real useful defensive type. With Encore/Taunt, I could hinder setup, get off a priority Stun Spore, U-turn to the appropriate thing, and go from there. But it would need insane amounts of support. So I tacked on AV Snorlax. Thanks to Thick Fat, Snorlax pseudo-resists Fire and Ice, and with max Defense it stands up to check even Victini and Darmanitan, meaning Whimsicott was fully covered. Had trouble picking my last guy but I settled on defensive Jirachi. To this day I'm not even sure what defensive Jirachi walls aside from Cloyster, but it has access to SR and Wish, and its typing actually works with Whimsicott and Snorlax, so I took it. Wish support's useful for keeping everyone healthy, and Rocks are...well, Rocks. Flinching stuff down when needed is also a big help in the appropriate moment, so yeah. I added Mega Aerodactyl for fast Defog support, ability to piss on non-BP Lucario (Everyone runs Extreme Speed these days), and the fact he also checks Fire-types. Last but not least I put on Heliolisk because bulky waters are annoying, and Suicune eats this team up. And that's just unacceptable. Heliolisk feels like the most replaceable but I can work that out later if I ever decide to go for 1600.

My team seriously hates defensive Arcanine/Mew with Will-O-Wisp, but I try to get past that with offensive pressure, and I've even won a few games against bad matchups because of hax smart play around this kinda stuff. I'll edit this post with replays a bit later once my fingers stop being sore from typing this enormous post

tl;dr: Feraligatr's cool, Scyther's "eh", I changed my old team up, ran into a bunch of roadblocks, settled on the one I have now after a million trial-and-error experiments that cost me points. The end.
 
Foop here, checking in with 1600 ELO.
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I might ladder to 1750 if I catch a second wind. I wanted to design a heavy offense team around 3 sand sweepers, Doublade, Tyrantrum and Stoutland. The rest of the team (Hippo/Hera/Shaymin) was thrown together to break walls and stall. My team's total usage was ~27%. Laddering with such a handicap was difficult, but it was really fun using underused threats.

Here's a rundown on my 3 dark horses:

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Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Swords Dance
- Gyro Ball
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak

Dooobers is here to take advantage of the fighting weakness of the team. Just the mere sight of Doublade deters HJK/CC users from spamming. He provides a much need priority move and can tank so many physical hits. Even with a stealth rock damage, Doublade can tank scarf Darmanitan's Flare Blitz and retaliate the next 2 turns with Shadow Claw & Sneak. Doublade fares really well against Mega-Aero and Metagross and tanks EQs all day (http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-131821152). Dooobers isnt much a team player, but he baits in fire-type attacks for the next sweeper, Tyrantrum....

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Tyrantrum @ Lum Berry
Ability: Strong Jaw
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Head Smash
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang

Tyrantrum is a very one-dimensional poke.
1) Set up a DD
2) Smash a hole in the opponent's team
3) Die to recoil/scarfmon
While he can tank some special hits in the sand (http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-131765480), and smash holes in the opponent's team (http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-131702383)... Tyrantrum's really not that good,
BUT, its such a good feel when you can head smash a forretress at +1 for 60% and die to recoil, essentially blocking its rapid spin.

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Stoutland @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Crunch
- Superpower
- Fire Fang

Stoutland is the ONLY reason to use sand in UU imo. Sand hinders most teams unless you're using a full-stall team that relies on passive residual damage to win, and this dirty dog does work. He outspeeds the whole tier in sand (barring scarf-ape) and 2HKO's all offensive mons. The set is pretty standard, but is very effective as both a revenge-killer and wall-breaker. Combine this sweeping potential with Stoutland's best friend and wall breaking extraordinaire, SD Heracross, and you've got yourself quite the offensive core.
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^^bros

All in all, I had a great time veering away from my usual go-to mons for laddering. Stoutland is fooPAWesome.

Here's a couple more replays that showcase the dark horses: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-131722693, http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-130421307)
 
Fat Lenny, can you explain the evs on doublade? Im just curious why 240 hp and 16 sp def specifically?

But, stoutland is very good though! Definitely underrrated!

I think I can answer that for him. It is for rocks number as it allows Doublade to switch into rocks as many times as possible. It is a really minor thing imo but since it doesn't lose too much bulk from it so it is a nice thing to have.
 
I think I can answer that for him. It is for rocks number as it allows Doublade to switch into rocks as many times as possible. It is a really minor thing imo but since it doesn't lose too much bulk from it so it is a nice thing to have.
Yup, the HP EVs also minimize burn damage. Dooobers can boost up through a burn and still dish out good damage
 
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