I was really into gen 5 showdown and had a pretty fleshed out UU team; this team started with a few staples from that team, and rotom-w and dusclops are the only relics left of that. That being said, I still feel like there are some matchups that I have trouble with (both due to my team comp and my inexperience with the meta), so I'll run through the team first, then talk about the pokemon that are bringing me down.
Flygon-jinn (Flygon) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- First Impression
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Defog
Originally brought to the team with Scarf and outrage, Flygon now kind of serves as a revenge killer for the team; it looks to finish a kill with first impression or a well placed earthquake, then u-turns away before it can face too much trouble. I really feel like the only time I can defog is if I switch in on someone really determined to set hazards for multiple turns because Flygon feels to frail to switch in, defog, and then switch out or do something without basically being spent as a body. Leads 2nd most.
Scott Summers (Dusclops) @ Eviolite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Taunt
This was actually not on my initial team, but switched in for jellicent as a better tank. My playstyle used to be very stally, with a dusclops, rotom-w, and umbreon whittling the opponent down while keeping my tanks relatively healthy until a zoroark or heracross come clean up. Now dusclops still does this moderately well with pain split to stay alive, but I feel like knock off is very abundant and it's tankiness goes down considerably, to the point where I often feel like it can't tank 2 knock-offs in a row (powered knock-off into no-eviolite knock-off). I feel like I obviously shouldn't be putting myself in this position, but in some matchups it happens because I don't really have a better target to take the hit.
First (Rhyperior) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Stealth Rock
This started out a lot tankier but I ended up switching him to a more attack-based build on the suggestion of someone I asked for help on showdown. He's my main source of physical damage, and my would-be answer to dragons except Hax nuked it anyway (bless the suspect test), noivern is special anyway, and no one besides me seems to run flygon. He struggles to find use on the team being anything other than a buttload of health to take a physical hit, but he answers incineroar and araquanid pretty nicely (araquanid is a bit more sweaty palms but he kills if stone edge doesn't miss). Sometimes I literally just use him to throw up stealth rocks and if he lives I'm lucky. I think he could be replaced if there's a better stealth rock user to implement.
Zoroarksux (Lucario) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Flash Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
The sweeper of the team. I chose special over physical because A) sometimes special can just come in and kill a pokemon whereas physical can tend to need more setup, and B) it can often get a free pass from switching in on a will-o-wisp or intimidate, where my opponent thinks I need to switch out or something but I actually get to setup or take a free shot. It's a fantastic answer for corsola-g, especially switching in on a will-o-wisp because they always follow up with a strength sap while I get a nasty plot in. However in many circumstances, Lucario feels almost helpless as a sweeper, he's just slower than a lot of pokemon that don't need setup to run wild on a team. Heliolisk is a good example of a pokemon I'll mention later, who gives my team a lot of trouble and Lucario just can't take him no matter how set up he is.
Wally's bae (Gardevoir) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Mystical Fire
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Energy Ball
This is a pokemon I've actually been misusing and getting better with recently. I used to use him as sort of a finisher who would wait until the coast was pretty clear to wrap up, but I've been using him more now to get picks/revenge kills. Sometimes I wish it could hit a little harder (like I think about swapping in chandelure), but the trace is also nice here and there.I'm getting to a pretty happy place with it, especially since I have 3 pokemon that serve as tanky characters that gardevoir will gladly let take her place after she drops her bomb.
Hi-Jean (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 180 Def / 80 SpA
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder Wave
- Pain Split
This actually ends up being a pretty critical role in the party, with decent special defense bulk and thunderwave crippling mons that would otherwise cripple my team. Another great answer to incineroar, rotom-w serves to harass the opponent with thunderwave and pain split, with volt-switch more often being my attack of choice to switch a pokemon in for free thanks to it's lower speed. The EVs were recommended by another player, I do not recall why it was split that way.
A few pokemon that tend to give my team trouble are: tsareena, incineroar, sirfetch'd, sylveon corsola-g, and heliolisk. Tsareena and heliolisk can hit most of my tanks very effectively, with knock off on tsareena threatening to 2hko my dusclops, plus as a bonus flygon cannot first impression it. Heliolisk can switch in very safely, resisting my rotom-w, melting my rhyperior, and threatening my sweepers in a very dangerous way, outspeeding everyone but scarfed gardevoir on my team. Incineroar and corsola-g have been slightly easier to manage, but if I get to a higher level of play where opponents stop sitting there with corsola-g for no real reason, it can easily pop in, hamper my team with a parting shot or cursed body, and gleefully swap out to a better threat. I just notice that incineroar switches into my dusclops incredibly well, and it can really put the hurt on rhyperior with darkest lariot if rhyperior switches into it, or it can parting shot if it's not an AV incineroar. Sylveon (and to a much lesser extent espeon) prove very difficult to deal with due to the only physical dealers I have being pretty vulnerable to Sylveon's damage (special and fairy). Gardevoir or a boosted lucario are my only real answers, as it doesn't really care about dusclops whittling it down.
I appreciate insight onto how I can improve this team, both for the meta and against the specific threats I indicated. If it seems like I have some tools that I'm not utilizing properly, I would also appreciate having them pointed out.
Flygon-jinn (Flygon) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- First Impression
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Defog
Originally brought to the team with Scarf and outrage, Flygon now kind of serves as a revenge killer for the team; it looks to finish a kill with first impression or a well placed earthquake, then u-turns away before it can face too much trouble. I really feel like the only time I can defog is if I switch in on someone really determined to set hazards for multiple turns because Flygon feels to frail to switch in, defog, and then switch out or do something without basically being spent as a body. Leads 2nd most.
Scott Summers (Dusclops) @ Eviolite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Taunt
This was actually not on my initial team, but switched in for jellicent as a better tank. My playstyle used to be very stally, with a dusclops, rotom-w, and umbreon whittling the opponent down while keeping my tanks relatively healthy until a zoroark or heracross come clean up. Now dusclops still does this moderately well with pain split to stay alive, but I feel like knock off is very abundant and it's tankiness goes down considerably, to the point where I often feel like it can't tank 2 knock-offs in a row (powered knock-off into no-eviolite knock-off). I feel like I obviously shouldn't be putting myself in this position, but in some matchups it happens because I don't really have a better target to take the hit.
First (Rhyperior) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Stealth Rock
This started out a lot tankier but I ended up switching him to a more attack-based build on the suggestion of someone I asked for help on showdown. He's my main source of physical damage, and my would-be answer to dragons except Hax nuked it anyway (bless the suspect test), noivern is special anyway, and no one besides me seems to run flygon. He struggles to find use on the team being anything other than a buttload of health to take a physical hit, but he answers incineroar and araquanid pretty nicely (araquanid is a bit more sweaty palms but he kills if stone edge doesn't miss). Sometimes I literally just use him to throw up stealth rocks and if he lives I'm lucky. I think he could be replaced if there's a better stealth rock user to implement.
Zoroarksux (Lucario) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Flash Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
The sweeper of the team. I chose special over physical because A) sometimes special can just come in and kill a pokemon whereas physical can tend to need more setup, and B) it can often get a free pass from switching in on a will-o-wisp or intimidate, where my opponent thinks I need to switch out or something but I actually get to setup or take a free shot. It's a fantastic answer for corsola-g, especially switching in on a will-o-wisp because they always follow up with a strength sap while I get a nasty plot in. However in many circumstances, Lucario feels almost helpless as a sweeper, he's just slower than a lot of pokemon that don't need setup to run wild on a team. Heliolisk is a good example of a pokemon I'll mention later, who gives my team a lot of trouble and Lucario just can't take him no matter how set up he is.
Wally's bae (Gardevoir) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Mystical Fire
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Energy Ball
This is a pokemon I've actually been misusing and getting better with recently. I used to use him as sort of a finisher who would wait until the coast was pretty clear to wrap up, but I've been using him more now to get picks/revenge kills. Sometimes I wish it could hit a little harder (like I think about swapping in chandelure), but the trace is also nice here and there.I'm getting to a pretty happy place with it, especially since I have 3 pokemon that serve as tanky characters that gardevoir will gladly let take her place after she drops her bomb.
Hi-Jean (Rotom-Wash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 180 Def / 80 SpA
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder Wave
- Pain Split
This actually ends up being a pretty critical role in the party, with decent special defense bulk and thunderwave crippling mons that would otherwise cripple my team. Another great answer to incineroar, rotom-w serves to harass the opponent with thunderwave and pain split, with volt-switch more often being my attack of choice to switch a pokemon in for free thanks to it's lower speed. The EVs were recommended by another player, I do not recall why it was split that way.
A few pokemon that tend to give my team trouble are: tsareena, incineroar, sirfetch'd, sylveon corsola-g, and heliolisk. Tsareena and heliolisk can hit most of my tanks very effectively, with knock off on tsareena threatening to 2hko my dusclops, plus as a bonus flygon cannot first impression it. Heliolisk can switch in very safely, resisting my rotom-w, melting my rhyperior, and threatening my sweepers in a very dangerous way, outspeeding everyone but scarfed gardevoir on my team. Incineroar and corsola-g have been slightly easier to manage, but if I get to a higher level of play where opponents stop sitting there with corsola-g for no real reason, it can easily pop in, hamper my team with a parting shot or cursed body, and gleefully swap out to a better threat. I just notice that incineroar switches into my dusclops incredibly well, and it can really put the hurt on rhyperior with darkest lariot if rhyperior switches into it, or it can parting shot if it's not an AV incineroar. Sylveon (and to a much lesser extent espeon) prove very difficult to deal with due to the only physical dealers I have being pretty vulnerable to Sylveon's damage (special and fairy). Gardevoir or a boosted lucario are my only real answers, as it doesn't really care about dusclops whittling it down.
I appreciate insight onto how I can improve this team, both for the meta and against the specific threats I indicated. If it seems like I have some tools that I'm not utilizing properly, I would also appreciate having them pointed out.
> 
: Noivern is by far the best mon in the current meta thanks to its unique typing and Heavy-Duty Boots allowing it to be a much more effective choice for teams looking to add a slew of useful resistances to their roster. Here, it can provide a similar offensive glue role that you are attempting to have Flygon provide here. Flygon has little to no real defensive utility and is mostly used as a Choice Scarf user to revenge kill offensive threats, whereas Noivern has a lot more capability to switch into threats such as Cobalion, Golisopod the newly-dropped Keldeo, as well as use its impressive speed to be able to be able to pressure things like Pangoro, Roserade, and Lucario. It can also use Defog just like Flygon, and while it doesn't manage to completely prevent hazards, it has the unique typing and mix of offensive and defensive capabilites to remove Spikes and/or Steath Rock in a pinch. I'd recommend using a set of Hurricane / Defog / Roost, with either Flamethrower or Draco Meteor in the last slot, depending on if you feel more insecure against Doublade or Rhyperior. 44 Defense EVs on Noivern also allow it to live an unboosted Stone Edge from Cobalion, even after Stealth Rock damage if you manage to take a Knock Off somewhere beforehand.
> 
Unfortunately Dusclops isn't very viable in the current UU metagame, mostly due to Incineroar being the next mon up after Noivern for best in the tier, making Knock Off usage rampant, which Dusclops obviously hates. On top of this a ton of Pokemon in general also run Toxic which really ruins Dusclops's day, as well as there being other monstrously strong Knock Off users such as Choice Band Pangoro and Dragon Dance Necrozma. This is where Jellicent comes back in as you mentioned you using it before. Jelli has a lot of things going for it in the current UU meta that give it an overall big edge over Dusclops. Its unique typing allows it to be a very hard counter to Keldeo and Cobalion, which Noivern appreciates as it gives it a ton of back up against some of the tiers premier offensive threats. Jellicent also isn't reliant on Eviolite for its bulk, meaning it can run Colbur Berry which gives this team a number of positives. It can trade damage with opposing Incineroar, tank a Knock off from Pangoro and burn it with Will-o-Wisp, and prove a pretty safe pivot into Escavalier. It also has access to Recover, which is much more reliable for keeping it healthy compared to Dusclops's Pain Split. It can also manage to shut down Wish passing from Umbreon and Sylveon with Taunt, making it much easier to break down traditional balance cores over a longer game. This works extremely well in conjunction with another change I made with another member of the team. 
> 
: Gigalith fills an extremely similar role to Rhyperior for this team with a single exception: Sand Stream. While you do lose out on a Ground-type and by extension a Volt Switch immunity, I would argue that this loss only makes your team marginally weaker to Toxtricity, while not really changing the matchup against Rotom-Wash and Rotom-Mow, since they can very easily KO most Ground-types in the metagame. Gigalith gains a Special Defense boost because of its ability, making it a great special tank and a much better response to threats like Choice Specs Sylveon, Gardevoir, Chandelure, Draco Meteor Noivern, and Polteageist. 
> 
: Cobalion fulfills a similar niche to Lucario in this slot. However, its natural bulk and speed tier is much more desirable for bulky offensive teams such as this one. Lucario is typically relegated to extremely offensive teams and Cobalion can better contribute to a defensive backbone on these kind of teams. Cobalion still will act as a setup sweeper with Swords Dance, but will manage to get itself on the field easier and have more setup opportunities. I would recommend an SD set with Occa Berry and Stone Edge to be able to more easily push through Noivern, while also being able to hit Chandelure and Golisopod. However, sets with Leftovers, Lum Berry, or Shuca Berry can also perform fine. Megahorn can also be used if you want to be able to cleanly KO Reuniclus and Celebi at +2. 
> 
: While Choice Scarf Gardevoir is a neat revenge killer that, like Lucario, has a good niche on heavier offense teams, it's dual Psychic typing manages to be a little unfortunate for it as far as defensive utility goes. Weezing manages to be a much better fit due to its Levitate ability, making it another mon to help deal with Ground-types, as well as providing a second Dark-type resistance, since Cobalion can be quite risky to switch into Pangoro and Incineroar. Weezing also can carry Toxic Spikes, which as I mentioned previously, mesh very well with Jellicent and Noivern. An offensive Weezing set goes a long way, giving you a decent pivot into scary mons like the aforementioned Pangoro and Golisopod while also not being super passive. 
> 
: Finally, Celebi substitutes Rotom-Wash on this edit, as it provides a secondary win condition that carries much of the same utilty against Ground- and Water-types such as Rhyperior, Milotic, and now opposing Rotom-Wash. With this change, I recommend a Nasty Plot Celebi set featuring its new move Pollen Puff, which is a decently strong Bug-type coverage move that allows it to destroy opposing Celebi as well as Reuniclus, which previous edits that I have discussed has managed to make the team noticeably weaker to those two mons in particular. Celebi can also help muscle through a large amount annoying mons for Noivern, allowing it to pose a much bigger threat later in the game. 
