Peaked #1 on the ladder on May 4, 2016.
PREFACE
After extensively experimenting with Espeon I was disappointed by it’s movepool and unfortunate stat distribution, which, while good enough to perform many rolls in UU effectively, were not good enough to reliably take on common hazard setters or function effectively in the way I had envisioned on stall.
Xatu, in contrast, has a varied and interesting movepool and it’s stats, despite being relatively lackluster, are nonetheless enough -- in conjunction with its movepool -- to reliably counter many common hazard setters. Not only that, but the particular Xatu spread and moveset I chose were designed to apply offensive pressure and punish the opponent for attempting to set up hazards at all.
After seeing Xatu perform in this roll above and beyond the expectations I had, I decided to make this team, an extremely Xatu-centric stall team where Xatu is the only form of hazard control whatsoever. This was a questionable decision, because Xatu can not reliably counter every hazard setter in UU (either do to typing or not being able to pack all of the coverage moves it needs on one set.) However, I controlled for this by trying to make a team which would not be particularly weak to hazards, should Xatu faint or otherwise be unable to perform it’s role.
Why not simply work additional forms of hazard control and removal into the team? Well, one of the reasons I made this team was as a challenge to myself, knowing that having Xatu as my only form of hazard control would force me to constantly make tough predictions about what my opponent would be doing and whether I should switch in Xatu on dangerous Pokémon like Nidoqueen, who could either set hazards or KO me on the switch.
I do believe that this team has succeeded in helping me improve this aspect of my play, and in the end I was able to top the ladder, which I believe shows that if you play this team well enough it can deal with all (or at least most) major threats in UU and that a well played Xatu really is all the hazard control you need.
However, that’s enough about the team’s captain and inspiration. I will now go through each member of the team, why I chose them, and what role they perform on the team.
DETAILED_ANALYSIS
Hyper Offense (Xatu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Heat Wave
Hyper Offense (Xatu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Calm Mind
- Roost
- Heat Wave
The team’s captain and inspiration, Xatu, does an effective job of countering many common hazard setters in the tier, including Blissey, Cobalion, Chesnaught, Forretress, Gligar, Roserade, and Tentacruel. All of these Pokémon (barring Gligar, which is simply set up fodder and walled until the end of time) can be hit for super effective damage and can do very little to touch Xatu. Xatu can easily come in on all of them, and either attack what’s in front of it for big damage if you anticipate them to stay in for some reason, or CM and apply offensive pressure on the switch out.
Xatu also checks other hazard setters like Aggron-Mega (Xatu can outstall Heavy Slam’s PP at the cost of all, or almost all, of it’s Roost PP,) Azelf (walled relatively well, but can be threatened by the rare Knock Off or Shadow Ball offensive sets [although sets that contain Shadow Ball will virtually never contain Stealth Rocks as well] and there’s always the threat of the boom, although if it chooses to simply boom on Xatu Rocks will not go up and Xatu will have performed it’s primary role,) Empoleon (walled relatively hard and potentially can be set up fodder for Xatu, but Xatu doesn’t enjoy being burned and can’t hit back very hard,) Nidoqueen (defensive Nidoqueen is outsped and hit for super effective damage, and can’t touch Xatu with two calm minds up,) and Swampert (same as Empoleon.)
The only hazard setters Xatu has a truly bad match up with are Krookodile and Mamoswine, and it will take some truly good play to prevent rocks from going up against them (although it is possible -- I’ve done it myself in several instances.)
Calm Mind makes Xatu a potential wincon and allows you to apply offensive pressure, limiting what moves your opponent can make and keeping control of the game. This is Xatu’s greatest gift, as it will punish your opponent every time they bring in an easily walled hazard setter. If you actually manage to reflect hazards, as opposed to simply scaring out the opponent’s hazard setter, all the better. Your opponent will either be unable to remove them for the immediate future (Xatu matches up favorably against some common hazard removers like Forretress and Tentacruel) or, even if they have a hazard remover that can come in relatively safely (such as Zapdos,) they’ll be forced to weigh the benefit of removing hazards against the cost of allowing Xatu to set up.
Xatu is also an easy and reliable switch in against “annoyance” Pokémon like Sableye and zero-attack Whimsicott.
The Power Of Love (Steelix) @ Steelixite
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 52 Def / 208 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Roar
After deciding to build around Xatu, I immediately knew what Mega I wanted to use and what the second Pokémon I added to the team would be. Steelix-Mega deals with numerous threats to the team. It provided a switch in for Beedrill-Mega, Crobat, Espeon, Galvantula, most Gardevoir sets, scarf Heliolisk, Porygon2, Porygon-Z, and Snorlax. It also has excellent utility as a Stealth Rock setter, Knock Off absorber, and secondary status absorber (being immune to both Toxic and Thunder Wave.)
When using Steelix-Mega you inevitably run into the question “why not use Aggron-Mega instead?”
There are several reasons I chose Steelix. Stacking immunities is an important aspect of building stall (in my opinion) and Mega-Steelix adds two immunities vs. Mega-Aggron’s one and moreover, even when weighed against the added weaknesses, I believe that the ground typing is a plus for this specific team when taking into account what other Pokémon I’m using.
Essentially, every Pokémon that threatens Steelix-Mega but not Aggron-mega (Steelix’s biggest competitor for this slot) I have another way of dealing with, and STAB Earthquake is a big plus for countering the tier’s numerous steel types and many of the threats Steelix-Mega checks.
Steelix-Mega also immediately has very good synergy with physically defensive Xatu. Xatu resists fighting and is immune to ground type attacks, while Steelix is immune to electric type attacks, making for the beginnings of a very solid physically defensive core.
Virtue (Umbreon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 SpD
Careful Nature
- Foul Play
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
At this point it was clearly time to start thinking about a team cleric (that is wish passer + heal bell support.) Several options were present in Blissey, Florges, and Umbreon. All three options would have added a new immunity to the team (to ghost, dragon, or psychic.) I ultimately chose Umbreon because of it’s access to Foul Play, preventing it from being set up fodder for the numerous physical set up sweepers in UU which threatened this team.
The EV spread allows Umbreon to live Salamence’s +2 Outrage, and have it be a 3HKO unboosted, meaning that any time Salamence comes in you can freely switch into Umbreon on either the DD or outright attack (and obviously tank a potential Draco or Fire Blast as well, making it a solid counter to any Salamence.) It also provides the team with another easy counter to DD Gyarados, which can barely touch Umbreon with this spread (even after a DD.) It also hard counters more minor physical threats, like Aerodactyl-Mega.
It also allows Umbreon to live Beedrill-Mega’s U-Turn from full health (surprisingly useful as it can be the deciding factor in allowing you to break out of a VoltTurn cycle.)
Book (Quagsire) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Toxic
At this point the team still has several immense, glaring weaknesses. First of all, there’s no switch in for the tier’s hard hitting physical fire types, such as Arcanine, Darmanitan, or Entei. There’s also a big weakness to physical sweepers that can’t be countered by Umbreon, specifically fighting types like SD Cobalion, Heracross, Lucario, Slurpuff, and Toxicroak.
Quagsire deals with all of those threats barring Lucario (there’s a chance Quagsire can be 2HKO’d by Lucario) but Quag does check Lucario, and more importantly hard counters major threats to the team like Cobalion, Slurpuff, and Toxicroak, all of which are more than capable of blowing through the rest of the team.
It also provides a reliable switch in and counter for Zapdos (assuming it’s the standard Defog/Heat Wave/Roost/Thunderbolt set.)
Quagsire also spreads Toxic (which is useful for any stall team.)
Life Goes On (Amoonguss) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Clear Smog
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
Amoonguss was added to the team in order to provide some sort of check to Crawdaunt, the biggest threat to UU stall in my opinion, and also to provide additional insurance against set up sweepers in general with Clear Smog. Spreading Sleep is also nice, as is having another fighting resist, Toxic immunity, and Leech Seed immunity.
It also provides a counter to Sceptile-Mega, which was direly needed as well.
Amoongus also absorbs Toxic Spikes, which is very nice should Xatu fail to prevent them for some reason (for example, being surprised by the rare Toxic Spikes Dragalge.) This is very important in making sure the team isn’t weak to hazards in general (I wanted it to be Xatu-centric but also still able to function reasonably effectively if hazards did go up.)
Sludge Bomb was chosen over Hidden Power Fire for the ability to hit Shaymin and Gardevoir harder, which I can safely say after playing with this team extensively is much more important than hitting various Steel types, most of whom this team already has plenty of answers for.
Old Faithful (Suicune) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Roar
Last, but certainly not least, is the team’s primary physical wall, source of offensive pressure, and wincon in Suicune. Suicune provides a reliable switch in to Entei (Quagsire is a good switch in as well, but doesn’t appreciate getting burned) and many of the tier’s strongest physical attackers, and is particularly useful against those that can hit Steelix-Mega for super effective damage. Suicune also flat out 1v1s one of the few remaining threats to the team, Blastoise-Mega, which can’t touch Suicune after just one CM. Suicune also functions as this team’s best check to Alakazam, particularly the 72% that do not run Energy Ball high ladder (per the March 2016 usage statistics -- fair warning, Energy Ball is more common low ladder.) Suicune is also capable of checking Energy Ball Alakazam, with life orb Zam failing to 2HKO after just one CM (it does not, however, enjoy switching into an Energy Ball.)
Suicune also functions as a spectacular wincon, being able to simply sit on the field, absorb attacks, and CM, phase, and fire off Scalds against many teams in the mid-to-late game period. It possesses massive sweeping potential, even getting past titanic special walls like Blissey 1v1. The only things that really reliably prevent a Suicune sweep are Dry Skin or Water Absorb Pokémon, all of whom this team has ways of dealing with. There’s really not much else to say about this spectacular, iconic Pokémon. It’s an S-rank threat for a reason. It’s just that good.
Oh, there actually is one more thing to comment on. Regarding the speed creep... there’s actually a major Suicune speed creep war going on in the Ladder at the moment, with some people supposedly running up to 60 EVs in speed solely to get a faster roar vs. opposing Suicunes. I firmly believe that is too much, as while being able to phase opposing Suicunes first is extremely nice that much investment begins to seriously compromise Suicune’s ability to actually perform it’s primary role as a physical wall. Moreover, this team has a good check to opposing CM Suicunes already in clear smog Amoongus. Because of this, I’ve opted to run just 12 EVs in Speed, enough to outspeed anyone who stuck the extra 4 (or 8, if they went for the odd HP number) EVs in Speed.
THREAT_LIST
However, again, most Alakazams do not run Energy Ball high ladder, and in absence of that move Suicune is a decent check.
The Gardevoirs that present a problem for this team are the approximately 25% of Gardevoirs that run Focus Blast. With that coverage move Gardevoir is significantly harder for this team to switch into and may require some prediction to play around.
When facing Lucario it’s imperative to keep hazards off the field and Steelix’s Sturdy intact in order to help prevent a potential sweep.
CONCLUSION
While I recognize that this team is not perfect, I think my use of Xatu is fairly creative and I’ve had an immense amount of fun with it on the ladder. Based off me being able to top the ladder with it, I believe it’s quite functional as well. Hopefully you will all have as much fun and success with it as I have. I hope you enjoyed reading this and give the team a spin! Happy battling!
IMPORTABLE
REPLAYS
- vs. pokemonisfun: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-367811030
- vs. Heindalll: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-367339933
- vs. a dangerous Lucario team: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-367689025
- vs. HO w/ Alakazam: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-367134436
- vs. a dangerous Lucario team example #2: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-367002552
- vs. a dangerous HO team w/ Energy Ball Alakazam: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-366983206
- vs. a dangerous Crawdaunt team controlled by current #10 on the ladder xMarth: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-366965236
- vs. Haate: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-366439028
- vs. Im Gay Bottom and his dangerous stall + Alakazam team: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-366771200
- vs. YouthBerry: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-365973829
- vs. ult ritenow: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-365439789
- vs. FFXIII-Lightning and his iconic team: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-363784183
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