Other Tiers GSC BL Discussion

Hello

The GSC BL list, though not an official tier, seems to have a playable number of mons and an interesting metagame waiting to be discovered. Yet there seems to be no ROA spotlight or dedicated tour related to this tier, so I open this thread to allow people to discuss the metagame possibilities and possibly even host tournaments. There is an ROA UUBL discord server that will host tournaments and allow people to discuss the metagame at large. https://discord.gg/X4BYSB5
 
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Viability Rankings: This is the up to date viability ranking, and is subject to change. It is in alphabetical order, the higher on the list in a particular rank does not correspond to a higher ranking in that rank. Ex. Chansey is not better then tentacruel, they are equally placed.

S+
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Porygon2
S
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Alakazam
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Dragonite
S-
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Donphan

A
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Chansey
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Houndoom
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Jolteon
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Moltres
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Muk
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Qwilfish
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Scizor
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Slowbro
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Tentacruel

B
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Charizard
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Electrode
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Espeon
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Granbull
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Kangaskhan
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Kingdra
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Lapras
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Magneton
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Nidoqueen
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Piloswine
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Slowking
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Smeargle
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Tauros
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Ursaring
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Venusaur

C
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Aerodactyl
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Ampharos
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Articuno
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Clefable
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Crobat
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Electabuzz
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Haunter
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Hitmonlee
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Jumpluff
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Lanturn
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Meganium
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Primeape
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Quagsire
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Sandslash
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Typhlosion
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Victreebel

D
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Ariados
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Blastoise
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Cubone
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Dodrio
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Entei
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Omastar
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Pikachu
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Pinsir
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Politoed
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Poliwrath
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Shuckle

Huge thanks to 275p and IT Waffle Kam with helping me with the viability rankings!
 
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Speed Tiers
Any pokemon that gain enough attention will be added to this list in the future.

378 / Electrode
358 / Jolteon, Aerodactyl, Crobat
338 / Alakazam
318 / Tauros, Espeon, Jumpluff
308 / Electabuzz
298 / Charizard, Tentacruel, Typhlosion, Entei, Dodrio
288 / Houndoom, Haunter, Primeape
278 / Kangaskhan, Moltres, Mr. Mime, Pikachu
272 / Hitmonlee
268 / Articuno, Kingdra, Qwilfish, Gligar, Pinsir
258 / Venusaur, Dragonite, Meganium
254 / Blastoise
250 / Nidoqueen
248 / Smeargle
238 / Magneton, Poliwrath, Victreebel, Politoed
236 / Aerodactyl(-1)
232 / Lanturn
228 / Scizor, Sandslash
218 / Clefable, Lapras, Porygon2
208 / Ursaring, Ampharos, Omastar
198 / Muk, Donphan, Chansey, Piloswine
188 / Granbull
183 / Kangaskhan(-1)
179 / Aerodactyl(-2)
178 / Ariados
168 / Quagsire, Graveler, Cubone
158 / Slowbro, Slowking
143 / Clefable(-1), Porygon2(-1), Aerodactyl(-3)
137 / Ursaring(-1)
130 / Muk(-1), Donphan(-1)
108 / Shuckle
 
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Hey guys, I just played this game a few days ago and I now want to share my thoughts on Donphan. Let's go!

Donphan is one of the physical bulkiest pokemon in uubl! Thanks to its access to roar, it is able to phaze common physical attackers like Charizard and Ursaring and stop them in their tracks. Thanks to its natural physical bulk, Donphan can also be used as a cursed pokemon. I do not know the extent of the curse set yet, so I'll test more with it.


Donphan @ Leftovers
Ability: none
IVs: 22 HP / 26 Atk / 24 Def
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Roar
- Body Slam


Donphan @ Leftovers
Ability: None
Hidden Power: Rock
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Curse
- Rest


Well that's all what I have to say. I'll make another post, when I played a bit more. See ya!
 
After a long time not updating this thread, i have decided to make a pokemon breakdown on certain pokemon that shape the metagame. Starting off with what I see is the strongest pokemon in the tier, porygon2.
It's presence can not be understated by its seemingly mediocre stats and defensively lacking typing, which is instead made up for by its versatility and prowess. The 2 main porygon2 set that i most commenly see are a curse set and a mixed thunder wave set.
Porygon2 @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Curse
- Recover
- Double-Edge/return
- Ice Beam/thunderbolt/thunder
This set is extremely hard to stop once it gets going, because of its reliable recovery in, recover, it stays alive to offset double edge recoil, adding to its power. Furthermore, this allows it to not run rest + sleep talk and adding to its versatility, it most often run ice beam to prevent phazing and haze from donphan and dragonite, 2 other top tiers, but can run thunder/thunderbolt to beat water phazers such as qwilfish, tentacruel, and lapras. It can even run thunder wave for added support for other mons or for it's self if it can still outspeed after a couple curses. This set highlights its benefit over other curse users, so much that it corners the market on that front, unless the curse user has roar or explosion. But this is only one of porygon2's sets which is already meta defining in it's own right, but it would be a sin to not mention it's almost equally defining mixed thunderwave set.
Porygon2 @ Leftovers/none
Ability: None
- Thunder Wave/Double edge/Theif/Nightmare
- Recover
- Thunderbolt/Thunder
- Ice Beam
This set uses it's special coverage and decent special attack to deal consistanly powerful damage and pack sustain and utility into one powerful package. But the main attaction is thunder wave, which requires a bit of explanation, thunder wave, in my opinion, is the most powerful status in GSC UUBL. Why, well for that answer we need to understand the threats of the metagame and how the function. Due to GSC's maxed out EV system, most glass cannon with great coverage do not work in a strictly competitive environment and languish in BL, thunder wave support give them the 2hko potential that other form of support in the metagame simply cant accomplish, such as spikes or baton pass. This allows terrors such as alakazam(benefited by it access to its own thunder wave, but benefits immensely from added coverage), dragonite, and even certain curse sweepers, that can now outspeed certain opponents, such as ursurang. The decreased speed can also defeat haze which is a prominate form of phazing in GSC, which can allow certain powerful threats to bowl over a team instead of being stopped cold. But if thunder wave is not you cup of tea, the double edge is a completely suitable replacement, or another one of porygon2' unique coverage, such a theif to have a long lasting effect if played on a stall team, or nightmare, to break opposing stall.
 
Baton pass is another very prominent force in GSC BL, because of it's potential power and sweep potential. It requires great threat handling to wield effectively, but when it is, it is relentlessly dominating.

Baton pass in GSC differs from other generations in the fact that it is not restricted in any form, meaning it can be used on every single pokemon, which may seem appealing at first, but then you realize that phazing is almost impossible to stop. There is no taunt, suction cups, soundproof, ect. The only reliable way to prevent phazing would be spore from smeargle, which can only be done once. Therefore, the boost that is passed must be immediately useful, which in GSC UUBL is agility, which can facilitate the low speeds of powerful attackers such as ursurang, cubone, muk, or charizard. The pass recipient also must have a set up move to be able to pose a sweep instead of being a slightly powerful threat. This can swords dance, belly drum, or even curse (the speed decrease can be irrelevant if the mon using curse is already faster then the whole team it's facing).

Common baton pass enemies are of course phazers, such as donphan, khangaskhan, and piloswine with roar, or tentacruel, qwilfish, dragonite, kingdra, muk, and drobat with haze. These mons need to be dealt with in one way or another, the most common way to beat them is to either kill them in one hit, or wear them down over the course of the battle, but these mons usually have longevity because of GSC being generally bulkier of a generation thanks to maxed out EVs, meaning it is most optimal to keep the boost passers and recipients alive to get more value out them.
 
After going over porygon2, I thought I might as well cover all the revalent normal types in the tier. But first I'll talk about the type offensively and defensively. Normal offensively has no weaknesses, but 3 resistances in rock, steel, and ghost. Luckily there are very few of those around, with the only defensive check that comes to mind being scizor, and even that can be dispatched with a Hp fire or fire blast. This makes normal a very potent offensive typing and the mons that get stab on normal move benefitting greatly from it. On the defensive spectrum, normal is weak to fighting and resists nothing. This may seem like a point against normal types, but in reality, most normal types in the tier are offensive or use curse, which raises defense on the side where fighting type attack would hit it. The exception is chansey but we will get to that soon enough. Now with that out of the way, lets look at some normal type pokemon.

Chansey: Chansey is a special defensive behemoth, and will almost never die to a special attack. This makes it great on many types of stall teams, but can also function on more balance teams with its access to heal bell, something only the rare granbull has in this tier. Aside from its ability to stop sunny day based teams from accomplishing much of anything, Chansey's effect on the metagame requires a physical attacker that can switch into chansey to be on the team, such as scizor, rest talk users, or even lure sets on special attackers, such as dynamic punch typholsion. Though chansey is not unbeatable, 8pp heal bell can run out quickly if pressure is exerted over an elongated battle, which can then allow it to run out and have a poisoned chansey be incredibly easier to break down. But its presence can not be understated.
Chansey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Heal Bell
- Soft-Boiled
- Present (Present prevents growth users from setting up on it because present is bugged in gen 2, look it up)
- Toxic

Ursurang: Ursurang is one of many curse set up sweepers, and its access to roar put it in competition with Kangaskhan. What makes Ursurang different is it's lower speed which after a curse, makes it phaze out opposing roars from donphan, thereby allowing a sweep. This makes it seem better in theory, but in practice, it has many issues. One being that roar is a far less common form of phazing compared to haze, because of its ease of use, and lack of spikes for roar to chip. This is an issue that plagues all curse sweepers though, and ursurang at least can beat the roar physical check that kangaskhan might not. Well from there we get into another discrepancy, and that is ursurang's bulk, which is only slightly less compared to kangaskhan. But in a game of inches, the ability to survive a hit and fire back can be game-changing, and with ursurang's niche already being in contention with hit taking ability, damage isn't the only game being played here. And from the looks of it, ursurang looks like a thoroughly bad pokemon, but this isnt exactly true. It still excels and cleaning up weakened teams, and a curse boosted return does tear trough common walls such as lapras, slowbro, and even donphan. And it is absolutely a viable pokemon mon for a team that can circumvent its weaknesses.
Ursaring @ Leftovers
- Curse
- Return
- Rest / Earthquake
- Roar

Kangaskhan: After going through Ursurang, Kangaskhan still struggles with the same issue if it went the route of a curse user. But fortunately, it has the stats to go the route of a fast attacker, but unfortunately, its outclassed pretty hard by tauros because of its higher base speed. Another option would be a defensive set, but it hasn't been experimented with yet, and probably won't be because of a lack of a concrete role or objective, normal doesn't wall much on the physical side, or any side without chansey level bulk. So Kangaskhan is in a hard place of being stripped of good options because of it's thorough outclassing in all roles it can be used in with the exception of the curse sweeper. But I'm sure there can still be use for it, because its stats are far from bad, in my eyes, it just needs experimentation.
Kangaskhan @ Leftovers
- Curse
- Rest
- Double-Edge / Return
- Roar

Tauros: At the beginning of this tier's creation, Tauros was not considered a threat, but after more experimentation, it has a defined niche. Its speed, power, and typing lends itself to a powerful late-game cleaner. Against physical walls, it does struggle to 2hko, but after significant chip, being a low as half, donphan is soundly 2hkoed. And if that is possible, imagine less prominent physical walls such as lapras, or even porygon2. Now, this is not something that can go in a start sweeping, because there are many roadblocks to its success. So a good player should chip or kill its checks before it can go it to do the honor of finishing the game. It's niche is respected and feared, and a good player should account for its presence on the battle field.
Tauros (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Earthquake
- Double-Edge
- Sleep talk / Fire blast
- Rest

Smeargle: It's honestly ironic how constraint smeargle's options are. Which makes sense when every attacking move is just a tool against smeargle, and with support options being its only gateway to success, what does that mean for Smeargle? Well, it has 1 niche to its name, aside from a gimmicky spike set which is outclassed pretty hard by qwilfish. Baton pass is its calling card which is a passable niche at best, threatened at every corner by proper phazing. It is used as a lead, where it uses agility, then uses spore (if it lives the initial hit), then baton passes agility to something threatening like charizard, cubone, or pikachu. This is absolutely destroyed by miracle berry leads, and if roar or haze is successful, then all of smeargle work would have been for nothing. Don't get me wrong baton pass can be a fun, rewarding, and downright badass playstyle, it's just there is an inherent risk in the playstyle that makes it not a consistent way to win games. But the niche is there for an enterprising player.
Smeargle @ Leftovers
- Spore
- Agility
- Recover / Encore / Super fang
- Baton Pass

Clefable: Another pokemon which is just outclassed, and by the best pokemon in the tier, Porygon2. It's hard to compete with higher attack, defense, and special attack, along with 32 pp recover vs 16 pp moonlight. One could argue fire blast over bolt-beam coverage, but thunder slams scizor hard enough, and if that isn't enough, then hp fire does upwards of 70%. The only niche I could see a viable use for is a belly drum set with moonlight for repeatable boosting, but even this is on the niche side with it lackluster speed. This pokemon is on the fringer side of all the ones listed before, but at least it has a niche.
Clefable @ Leftovers
- Belly Drum
- Moonlight
- Return
- Fire Blast / Charm / Encore / Shadow ball

Granbull: This is a really niche mon that only functions on offensive teams that need heal bell support, but doesn't want to sacrifice momentum with chansey. In that niche, granbull excels with its respectable attack stat and normal stab. But other than that it doesn't really exist anywhere else in the metagame.
Granbull @ Leftovers
Ability: None
- Heal Bell
- Rest
- Sleep Talk / Roar
- Return

Ok that's all of them, I hope you guys enjoyed this overview, you can join the discord server which is the home for the metagame and the way I was able to gather the information I just showed you. Joining contributes to the metagame so that it can keep evolving. Also VRs will be out REALLY SOON so look out for those. Anyway that all I got folks, have a great day!
 
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Spike smeargle is real, and underrated, given how prominent (and a bit underwhelming) Qwilfish is. Should be a very relevant set, alongside it's others.
 
Spike smeargle is real, and underrated, given how prominent (and a bit underwhelming) Qwilfish is. Should be a very relevant set, alongside it's others.
I will use this as an excuse to write about spikes in GSC UUBL, and the effect it has on the metagame. But first I will note how the spikes metagame works in the tier above. It is a complicated dance of spikers, spike removers, ghost type pokemon that prevent the removal of spikes, and pursuit users that trap the fleeing ghosts. It complicated and a necessary aspect to get ahead in the spikes game, because Raikou becomes a terror with them down. But how does this knowledge translate to UUBL?

Well, the only viable spikes user is Qwilfish(I'll explain soon enough), this is a thoroughly mediocre pokemon with middling stats, compared to the spinners, which are Donphan and Tentacruel. Now with the information, on paper, it looks like a spikes metagame shouldn't exist at all because Qwilfish is awful and Donphan and Tentacruel are up there with the big guns like Alakazam and Porygon2. The spikes user takes this misconception in its favor because a Donphan/Tentacruel user would not want to run a potentially wasted slot in rapid spin if it were not to be used at all in certain games. This allows Qwilfish to set spikes and have them stay there for the entirety of the battle, which greatly benefits the offensive guns of the tier, like Porygon2 and Dragonite. The idea of Qwilfish vs Smeargle is that you only need to get spikes up first, and Qwilfish is faster, having there ba a higher likely hood that spikes will go up at all. And even outside of that, Qwilfish's typing affords it many places to switch in if there is a spinner, such as water, fire, ice, and poison type attacks. This is a stark contrast to Smeargle's inability to switch in too much of anything, and its lower speed making it harder to get spikes up. Though I say its gimmicky and not unviable because it does get support moves, such as pivot baton pass, and spore. But these pros do not outweigh its crippling cons and are not used by most players because of this reason.
 
I'm basically a non-entity in GSC BL so I appreciate your experience in the tier, but why can't Spore/Spikes Smeargle get up spikes 1 time?

Also, as a general point, spikes is an overwhelmingly powerful entity in GSC. Shittiness of spikers I think isn't going to prevent that from being the case. As an observation Surf/Explosion is cool for Cloyster in OU, but a good pokemon it does not make. The general idea is get up spikes, and make spinning prohibitively difficult. If you've got a legitimate offensive plan around it, (in OU something like Nido/Gar/Lax making switching into you a nightmare) then the importance of the spikes support cannot be understated. In principle I think such an approach could be used in BL as well, even if the offensive options aren't quite as potent.
 
I also have pretty limited experience of this tier but it would seem that one advantage spikes Smeargle has over Qwilfish is unpredictability. Spikes from Qwilfish is always obvious whereas Smeargle keeps opponents on their toes with all the different tricks it can pull (spore, agipass, counter/mirror coat, destiny bond etc).
 
So with the tier being rather inactive, it is time for me to step up here and make things more active! I'll talk about a few mons, that I believe deserve to be highlighted!

Electabuzz

At first glance, Electabuzz seems entirely ouclassed by much more stronger electric types like Jolteon and Electrode, due to them possesing a higher speed tier and more power (in Jolteon's case). However, unlike those two, Electabuzz has acess to Cross Chop, which makes it a more reliable mixed attacker by being able to hit everything at least neutral and threatening to OKO Chansey. Having acess to all of the elemental punches, is also great by threatening Scizor and Donphan with Fire and Ice Punch respectivelyLook at those calcs!

Electabuzz Cross Chop vs. Chansey: 352-414 (50 - 58.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Electabuzz Ice Punch vs. Donphan: 146-172 (38.9 - 45.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery Electabuzz Fire Punch vs. Scizor: 245-288 (71.4 - 83.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

While the 3KO on Donphan is rather disapointing, it is still able to weaken Chansey and Scizor really well and therefore it may have a spot on the viabilty rankings. Now let's move on to the next mon!

Primeape

Primeape has a decent speed stat of 95, being able to outrun Chansey and threatening to KO it. Not only that, but it is one of the few mons in the tier, wih access to Meditate, a great set up move, to raise its attack! With a substitue, Hidden Power Ghost and a strong Stab in Cross Chop, Primeape can set up reliably and threatens its opponents. Here are some calcs!

+2 Primeape Hidden Power Ghost vs. Slowbro: 195-230 (49.6 - 58.5%) -- 70.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery +2 Primeape Cross Chop vs. Primeape: 308-363 (92.4 - 109%) -- 56.4% chance to OHKO

As you can see, after two Meditate boosts, Primeape can 2KO its opponents easily, after some chip damage. Of course, you need to set up 2 times Meditate to begin with, but I believe that the trouble is worth it.

Now it's your turn! Do you believe that Primeape and Electabuzz deserve a rise? And if so, why? Provide replays and play the mons if you want to see them rise on the VR! Of course, the viability update will take a long time due to the rest of the council members being busy, but I want to see what you think! So come along and post to your hearts content anything GSC Bl related!
 
GSC UUBL Speed Tiers

Feel free to send me a suggestion for anything you feel should be added!

MinispritePokemonBase SpeedSpeedStat Multiplier
:aerodactyl:Aerodactyl130718+2
:espeon:Espeon110636+2
:tauros:Tauros110636+2
:scyther:Scyther105616+2
:charizard:Charizard100595+2
:tentacruel:Tentacruel100595+2
:kangaskhan:Kangaskhan90556+2
:moltres:Moltres90556+2
:mr-mime:Mr. Mime90556+2
:pikachu:Pikachu90556+2
:nidoqueen:Nidoqueen76500+2
:smeargle:Smeargle75496+2
:victreebel:Victreebel70476+2
:scizor:Scizor65456+2
:clefable:Clefable60436+2
:ursaring:Ursaring55416+2
:electrode:Electrode1403780
:aerodactyl:Aerodactyl1303580
:crobat:Crobat1303580
:jolteon:Jolteon1303580
:alakazam:Alakazam1203380
:quagsire:Quagsire35336+2
:espeon:Espeon1103180
:jumpluff:Jumpluff1103180
:tauros:Tauros1103180
:scyther:Scyther1053080
:charizard:Charizard1002980
:entei:Entei1002980
:tentacruel:Tentacruel1002980
:typhlosion:Typhlosion1002980
:haunter:Haunter952880
:houndoom:Houndoom952880
:kangaskhan:Kangaskhan902780
:moltres:Moltres902780
:mr-mime:Mr. Mime902780
:pikachu:Pikachu902780
:articuno:Articuno852680
:kingdra:Kingdra852680
:pinsir:Pinsir852680
:qwilfish:Qwilfish852680
:dragonite:Dragonite802580
:meganium:Meganium802580
:venusaur:Venusaur802580
:blastoise:Blastoise782540
:nidoqueen:Nidoqueen762500
:smeargle:Smeargle752480
:magneton:Magneton702380
:victreebel:Victreebel702380
:aerodactyl:Aerodactyl70236-1
:hypno:Hypno672320
:lanturn:Lanturn672320
:scizor:Scizor652280
:clefable:Clefable602180
:lapras:Lapras602180
:porygon2:Porygon2602180
:ampharos:Ampharos552080
:omastar:Omastar552080
:ursaring:Ursaring552080
:chansey:Chansey501980
:donphan:Donphan501980
:muk:Muk501980
:piloswine:Piloswine501980
:kangaskhan:Kangaskhan90183-1
:qwilfish:Qwilfish85176-1
:quagsire:Quagsire351680
:slowbro:Slowbro301580
:slowking:Slowking301580
:porygon2:Porygon260143-1
:ursaring:Ursaring55137-1
:donphan:Donphan50130-1
:muk:Muk50130-1
:shuckle:Shuckle51080
 
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TEAM SHOWCASE
ALPHABET CEREAL

(A team of six in alphabetical order)

:gs/aerodactyl: :gs/Alakazam: :gs/articuno: :gs/charizard: :gs/clefable: :gs/donphan:


So about a month ago I signed up to my first UUBL tournament hosted by the Ruins of Alph but it was the third one I've see this year, the previous being 3 months ago, the first being only half a year ago.
I didn't really know what to expect because I really hated this tier. Despite it being between my two favorite tiers by a long shot, UU and OU, Borderline was an entirely different beast from both and I think it took away nearly everything that I love of each of them. The main difference is that everything is very frail but highly explosive in terms of power (and I don't mean that as a pun, there are not any good Explosion users rip) and that meant I was in a completely different ball park from what I was used to. There aren't that many samples so to teach myself how to play by the time the tour would begin I was going to make use of the Ladder for the month of October.

What to do?​

So I was talking to the ruins of alph staff about how I had no idea what to do when Rage inadvertently gave me an idea.
He used a command that showed the first 15 or so Pokemon belonging to the tier that is Borderline, listed in alphabetical order.
So my stupid yet wonderful idea was an excellent way to force myself to use my creativity. The concept was that I was just going to use the first 6 of the list in alphabetical order.
The only caveat is that I don't use lower tiers than UUBL to build the team, otherwise I could simply have cherrypicked whichever pokemon I felt like.

DISCLAIMER​
Unlike with other rate my teams where you proceed building with one pokemon at a time, we already have the core so I will only be adding sets. But we will attempt to follow a process of logical teambuilding.

:gs/aerodactyl:
Aerodactyl @ Miracle Berry
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 22 HP / 26 Atk / 24 Def
- Sandstorm
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Reflect
- Swagger

Aerodactyl is a great Pokemon that functions as an Anti-Lead. Barring the presence of an Electrode, it's tied with Jolteon for the highest speed in the tier which, when paired with the item Miracle Berry (gen2 Lum Berry), makes its move choices uncontestable. Its typing means it can function as a temporary wall (a budget skarmory of sorts) easing off the pressure from Curse Eq Normals that are quite common like Ursaring and Kangaskhan.

But the real gamechanger is that with its speed I can take advantage of the plethora of Special Attackers this tier has to offer, and turn otherwise powerful leads into really bad ones that can't keep up.

You outspeed everything minus Electrode and with Swagger you immediately can cause Alakazam or any other leads to hit themselves in confusion. This is a very good outcome because Alakazam will click Twave most often so you have a 50% chance they will hit themselves and be forced out and a 50% chance they still won't do anything to you. This is basically the same for other leads that may want to click a utility move on the first turn to gain themselves a certain advantage such as Thief (Mr.Mime), Thunder Wave or Hypnosis (Porygon2, Alakazam, Hypno and Mr.Mime), Spikes (Qwilfish, Smeargle) etc.

Hidden Power Rock lets you deal damage to Fire, Ice and Flying types, which are all very common and does a decent chunk to frailer pokemon making it good in the midgame and the early game. It only really threatens Charizard and Moltres with an OHKO, but the damage is still enough to give a confused Pokemon a decent push into the hopeful self inflicted KO.

Aerodactyl Hidden Power Rock vs. Alakazam: 123-145 (39.2 - 46.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Aerodactyl Hidden Power Rock vs. Qwilfish: 94-111 (28.2 - 33.3%) -- 95.1% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

Aerodactyl Hidden Power Rock vs. Dragonite: 163-192 (42.3 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Aerodactyl Hidden Power Rock vs. Porygon2: 84-99 (22.5 - 26.5%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery

Sandstorm guarantees that you will rack up damage on Pokemon that are too preoccupied recovering their health back and functions as a way to help make progress even while you are switching around.
In GSC Sand deals 12.5% so its power is greater than in later gens and actually deals damage rather than just cancelling the passive recovery granted by Leftovers. What's so good about this set is that it's recyclable and every time that it is in it can cause as much havoc as the last.

The only problem is that this set is good in the mid game but somewhat susceptible to gradual damage. While it can do a decent job at forcing certain Curse normals to use Rest, it won't do the job vs Porygon 2.

2.:gs/alakazam:
Alakazam (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 2 Atk
- Psychic
- Attract
- Substitute
- Thunder Wave

That's right FEMALE Alakazam. Female Alakazam is actually competitively viable as proven in a tournament match I recorded. As a special attacker with the highest SpA in the game and only one check with an immunity, Alakazam is free to deal so much damage. With this particular moveset you can cripple many pokemon using Thunder Wave and with Attract and Substitute you can incapacitate all the male Pokemon from attacking you (that's roughly 80% of the entire metagame). Since Attract has a success rate of 50%, when paired with Thunder Wave that makes many pokemon incapable of attacking 75% of the time, giving free opportunities to fish for spdef drops, gain health back while behind a substitute and force switches. With this in mind, it's safe to spam Thunder Wave while blanking opposing Alakazam attempts at paralyzing you, and if you are facing Houndoom, it's always safer to go for Attract first and then Thunder Wave or just switch out.
One of the huge game changes is that this set can prey on status'd Porygon or even cripple it for it to be taken out by other threats.
Psychic is its best move and being female does not affect special stat in any way, so you will be able to unload powerful strikes on all of the metagame minus Houndoom.

3. :gs/Articuno:
Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Dark]
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

There may be better options than this Pokemon but Articuno is certainly no pushover. Some people prefer whilwind and reflect but I felt it could be redundant with the idea I had in mind.
Hidden Power Electric is also nice as an option but the reason I have Hidden Power Dark is to showcase its viability in a metagame where Psychic types are free to run rampant. What Hidden Power Dark enables is to break opposing Alakazam and Mr.Mime substitutes while clicking sleep talk, granting the opponent with fewer opportunities to fish for a SpDef Drop. This is important since it is going to be the primary answer to most special attackers (but not mixed ones like Tentacruel, which doesn't fear it even with Hidden Power Electric). Furthermore Hidden Power Dark does not cut into the overall stats of Articuno like Hidden Power Electric prescribes to do.

4.:gs/Charizard:
Charizard @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Belly Drum
- Flamethrower/ Fire Blast

At first I thought Charizard would be the weak link of the team but I couldn't be more wrong. With how this team plays out, the sequencing of each game dictated mainly by the fast pace of Alakazam and Aerodactyl is perfect to setup Belly Drum opportunities with Charizard. An underrated aspect I found is that Charizard actually checks the Fire types in this tier very well, outspeeding Houndoom and Moltres while brushing off most of their hits as well as Entei's (without HP Rock). This means that if you find an opportunity to lure in Houndoom, you may come in with Charizard for free and deal a lot of damage to whatever is coming in. I suppose Slash could also be nice. If you chip Kingdra a sufficient amount of times, you can set yourself up for a Belly Drum sweep.

5. :gs/Clefable:
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Charm
- Moonlight
- Belly Drum
- Return

I don't know if this is the best option for Clefable but it helped me solve a glaring issue I had with Porygon2, a Pokemon Aerodactyl was only able to hold off momentarily in a good scenario. Clefable unfortunately speed ties with Porygon 2 but it has a very useful tool to stop all other Normal type sweepers that rely on Curse to be effective. Clefable can use Charm to not only dial back the boosts of opposing curse users but also to make their attack even weaker by dropping it by 2 stages. Paired with Moonlight, you can technically come in on a Kangaskhan, Ursaring or Porygon2 as they are setting up Curse if you are cautious and take the blow as you make their attack gradually less significant and then recover whatever hp was lost in the process. If the opponent is unable to switch out or is oblivious to the set, you may attempt to sweep/wallbreak right then and there by clicking Belly Drum while they are at -1 or -2 attack. Unfortunately Belly Drum and Body Slam are incompatible with each other, and I guess another sad aspect of Clefable is that when coming in on Kangaskhan it is somewhat prone to being paralysed.
Clefable Charm was mainly designed to check Ice Beam Curse Porygon 2 but it will be on a losing end against Twave Porygon 2 if the opponent attempts multiple times to sweep.

6. :gs/Donphan:
Donphan @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Curse
- Roar
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin

Donphan to me felt like nothing much, but in reality the utility that it offers is great and it's the only reliable check to Growth Jolteon, which would otherwise steam roll this team, so its presence is more than justified. Roar is a nice contingency plan against sweepers if Clefable and Aero are being over run. Furthermore, Donphan is quite bulky and can setup with Curse and deal devastating blows with Earthquake, making it a viable check to Twave Porygon 2. Since it is slower than Ursaring and Kangaskhan, it always gets a chance to phaze them. Rapid Spin is a utility move and while nice, I haven't had too many opportunities to use it (plus I have 3 flying types and 2 Pokemon that don't switch around so much).

What are the weaknesses?

Paralysis spam. :meganium: :jumpluff: :porygon2: :clefable: :Alakazam: :jolteon: :kingdra:
This team relies heavily on speed to be functional and losing tempo to a 1/4 chance of doing nothing simply doesn't help even the sleep talker of the tier. You could feasibly go full blown RBY and try and trade paralysis between your Alakazam and the opposing Twave or para spreader but its also the most valuable asset for the late game. Donphan can help somewhat mitigate this but sadly, this broken status is everywhere and I don't see this changing in the future when the meta will develop further.

Porygon 2 (mixed sets) :porygon2:
No team is perfect against this, but a P2 set that makes full use of its 105 base SpA is annoying as hell to deal with and making me wish that this clefable were as bulky as they make it seem in DPP.

Physical setup Sweepers :aerodactyl: :donphan: :kangaskhan: :ursaring: :porygon2: :scizor: :sandslash: :Quagsire:
The weird thing is that if you use swaggernyou are potentially helping out your opponent in making them more threatening. Confusion can wear off any turn and that is scary.

Tentacruel; Tentacruel likes to harass everybody all the time. Alakazam isn't exactly a good switch in and neither are Charizard and Aerodactyl. Druid Tentacruel also just becomes impenetrable on the special side after 1 Substitute and it blocks non-volatile as well as volatile status.

Jolteon: Jolteon is another scary pokemon that needs to be shut down as soon as possible or you will enter a world of hurt. I have taken calculated risks against this Pokemon and sacked one or even two members of my team just to avoid getting predicted and swept. Growth is an absolute nigthmare.

Replays
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen2uubl-1685142649-pr9d4u6d7aw6wmxo05sh4nmgkowtw54pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen2uubl-1693021242-5xzbgyl8bz3na99cj623pg4mgpxli1lpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen2uubl-1696033035-jrm08vkvhp2f9dglq5rqscsa2kiz15ipw
For those that want to use the team
Aerodactyl @ Miracle Berry
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 22 HP / 26 Atk / 24 Def
- Sandstorm
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Reflect
- Swagger

Alakazam (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 2 Atk
- Psychic
- Attract
- Substitute
- Thunder Wave

Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Dark]
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Charizard @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Belly Drum
- Flamethrower

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Charm
- Moonlight
- Belly Drum
- Return

Donphan @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Curse
- Roar
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
 
I have an idea for the next 6 in alphabetical order + I think this core of 6 can be used in a different way from what I had planned.
 

BeeOrSomething

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Good day to all, I'm here to make a post about my final thoughts on the gsc uubl VR after over a month of playing and experimenting and seeing some replays.
I would like to note there are a few mons I haven't used but are ranked, for them I'm going off either speculation, seeing a replay and what it can do, or anecdote from another who has used it (though most of these are lower down on the list).
Just want to quickly go over every mon and say what's good about them and what's holding them back, and btw placements within individual tiers ARE ordered, and of course, being a tier list, the vast majority of this is my opinion (again, see previous on mons I can't provide much about).

S Tier: :gs/porygon2: :gs/jolteon:
Porygon2 - The best pokemon in the tier no doubt. Supremely bulky, extremely threatening setup, 32 pp recover, really strong double edge/return after boosted, can run tbolt or ice beam as tech to hit things like omastar, aerodactyl, donphan, etc, or run twave for paralysis for itself and its teammates.
Jolteon - Probably the most threatening pokemon in the tier. This thing is SOOOOO constraining on the builder. If your team does not have an electric resist, it is a bad team, purely because of Jolteon. With its combination of GROWTH, BATON PASS, 130 BASE SPEED, a really good 110 base special attack, an extremely hard hitting thunderbolt or even thunder along with hidden power ice, this thing is capable of blowing through almost everything in 2 hits after a growth, or it can just baton pass out to something like alakazam who can then go on its own rampage with a +1 special attack boost.

A+ Tier: :gs/alakazam: :gs/qwilfish: :gs/kangaskhan: :gs/tentacruel: :gs/kingdra: :gs/dragonite:

Alakazam - Arguably S tier, but I'm keeping it out because it actually has several hard counters, or at least something close to them, like houndoom, slowking, hypno, etc. Here's why it's good: an incredible 120 base speed, a whopping 135 BASE SPECIAL ATTACK, an absolutely incredible movepool leading to many, many different sets that can all prove to be effective, and a quite solid mono psychic typing for this tier. It's hard to predict, and insanely effective no matter what it does, as long as it carries psychic (imo).
Qwilfish - This thing is awesome, and by far the best UU mon in UUBL. Great typing, decent stats, good speed, and most importantly, SPIKES. One of only two spikers viable in this tier (the other being smeargle), qwilfish povides so much value to its teammates like jolteon and alakazam that thrive off of having pokemon that would normally be able to switch in to them a couple times chipped down. Sludge bomb is nice for poison, hydro pump threatens poison resists (the most important of which is donphan, one of only a few good spinners), and in the last slot it can run haze for normal sweepers and other setup users like belly drum quagsire, or it can run curse to be arguably the best tentacruel check in the entire tier (muk has a case for being the best). But obviously, this pokemon is pretty specially weak, lacks recovery, and is fodder into electrics and psychics.
Kangaskhan - You may be thinking: "Tentacruel not in the top 5??? Ludicrous!" And you might be right. But here's why I think kangaskhan is so absurdly good: I didn't start using it until about halfway through the spotlight cycle, but when I did, it was like I saw the light. Mono rest talk kangaskhan is so absurdly effective at eating hits and punishing special attackers that fail to 3hko it and using them as an opportunity to set up curses and break holes or even sweep. Then, there's mono kang with roar over sleep talk, which isn't as effective as it could be due to the very offensive nature of the tier and that a decent chunk of teams have phazers + special attackers being so good. And while I haven't used it myself, Ibby and a few other players have used kangaskhan in the lead with dedge + eq + fire blast +1 to great effect, being a bulky attacker capable of punching holes early.
Tentacruel - The fear of all gsc uublers at the beginning of the cycle, and it continued to be a dominating and commanding offensive force throughout the roa tour and spotlight ladder, but people were able to adapt to it a little and hold it back to the point where it's not quite going to be conistently taking 2 or even more kos, with the most notable ones being curse qwilfish and just muk in general. But on to the good: with its combination of a great 100 base speed, fantastic stats, awesome typing (just like qwil), and swords dance + stab sludge bomb + hydro pump for rocks and grounds, it is able to come in on many things like articuno and moltres and sub up before clicking sd to punch holes. I may have made it seem like it should actually be placed above kang and qwil (lmfao), but in practice, while it is very asserting and needs to be carefully played around, more often than not it doesn't live up to the hype of something consistently able to grab multiple kos due to things like qwilfish, muk, alakazam, jolteon, haunter, and espeon being on almost every team.
Kingdra - The immovable wall. Absolutely absurd typing for the tier, combined with great bulk and speed, this thing nearly invalidates every fire type, a good amount of water types, every ground type, and every rock type from making progress while it remains on the field. With rest + sleep talk for great longevity, a decently strong surf, and dragon breath for spreading paralysis, kingdra is truly an excellent defensive pokemon for all styles of teams, offense and stall alike. What holds it back is that, barring a good predict AND a 30% paralysis from dragon breath, it lets in tentacruel and gives up a sub freely, and while it walls other waters, it is also somewhat walled by them if packing rest (assuming they're a water that actually resists water unlike omastar and quagsire), and it's also pretty free entry for something like kangaskhan or ursaring.
Dragonite - The jack of all trades of gsc uubl. Quite good typing, being the first ground immune listed so far, plus a few other nice resists provided by dragon, great all around stats, and a phenomenal movepool consisting of bolt beam, fire attacks, strong body slams and double edges, haze, thunder wave, dynamic punch, even rest, etc. Thanks to its typing, it hard counters meganium and is an alright switch into venusaur, is a great check to the many fires of the tier, provides good mixed attacking, can spread paralysis pretty easily, and imo one of its best traits is having haze while being bulky and providing this consistent offensive force. However, dragonite can sometimes have issues with its speed tier, can let in rest normals depending on set, has issues with breaking kingdra even with double edge (needing dragon breath or outrage to do so), is bad into articuno, and isn't bulky enough to dodge 3hkos from many strong attacks like alakzam psychic.

A Tier: :gs/houndoom: :gs/moltres: :gs/scizor: :gs/espeon: :gs/smeargle:
Houndoom - The best alakazam check in the tier, good consistent stabs including a 20% chance to drop sp. def with crunch, providing good disruption with its last slot between primarily thief, but also potentially counter, roar, or hidden power of choice between grass, ice, and rock. This pokemon is incredibly consistent, provides valuable defensive utility with removing zam, crushing scizor, and threatening out the grasses, but is ultimately hard stuffed by waters, only being able to fish for crunch drops in a desparate scenario, click thief if its miracle berry (that it carries a good amount of the time in order to increase effectiveness against twave zam) has been burned, or hp grass if it is being stopped by an omastar or quagsire.
Moltres - The rubber chicken. Ground immune, quite bulky, very threatening with sunny day and fire blast, is able to provide utility with roar, or be a wall with rest and sleep talk. Plus, with hp grass, it is able to decently threaten most water types. Any team without tentacruel or a fire resist (not named quagsire or omastar) that has rest is on a timer against giving up a ko to moltres. Under sunny day, fire blasts are nuclear against even neutral targets. However, thanks to gsc making everything bulky, plus that there are so many good fire resists that utilize rest well or are even just able to take many hits before falling, or its two hardest counters (tentacruel and kingdra) being so prominent, moltres is held back from releasing wrath until the late game, at which point there is a possibility its entry points have already been fainted, necessitating careful play and/or lures for its switch-ins and jolteon (one of my favorites of which is actually passing a growth to moltres with jolteon and using hp dragon, which at +1 can always 2hko kingdra). As for the more defensive sets, using moltres' good typing, strong flamethrower, and roar, they are able to provide solid defensive value while spreading passive damage with spikes.
Scizor - With its great typing, combination of baton pass, swords dance, and agility, this pokemon is an excellent stat passer for slower but strong mons, notably ursaring and belly drummers. It can also use swords dance for itself, with a combination of light screen, sd, double edge, and one other move, to win late game once fires have been removed. Lastly, it can use rest talk curse to provide a consistent stop gap against normal type sweepers. Speaking of, with hidden power fighting on either of its swords dance sets, scizor is probably the best p2 check in the tier, as it doesn't take too much from even boosted double edges, can boost its attack faster than p2 can its defense, and do solid damage (though again, I want to emphasize that it's only a check), and of course the rest talk curse set will stuff p2 regardless. Issue with scizor is that it freely lets in fires, and if it wants to run hp rock for non-doom fires then its helpless against everything else, and can still miss out on kos, and lastly takes a lot from stab water and electric moves.
Espeon - 110 speed, very high 130 special attack, and most notably growth + baton pass. These two moves singlehandedly make it worth putting on a team in the face of the almighty alakazam. Espy can function as a late game sweeper, a stat passer, and a mid-game wallbreaker, potentially all at once. However, again, espeon faces a lot of competition with zam, as it shares typing, is slower, and before a growth is slightly weaker. In addition, its movepool is a lot more limited, and if it wants to run recovery instead of hidden power water (for houndoom), it has to use morning sun, which while isn't bad has 24 less pp than recover. Plus, espeon is still walled by slowking, hypno, and chansey, so in an endgame scenario it will lose to them just like zam.
Smeargle - This pokemon can do pretty much anything as a lead, but will pretty much always carry miracle berry, spore, and spikes, the third of which are extremely valuable, just as I mentioned with qwilfish. There is an insane amount of variety in smeargle's sets, from thief to paralysis moves to super fang to phazing to destiny bond and more. As always though, smeargle has nonexistent defensive value with its pitiful stats, resist-lacking typing, and always being a lead.

A- Tier: :gs/muk: :gs/meganium: :gs/articuno: :gs/ursaring: :gs/clefable: :gs/donphan:
Muk - Blanket check to most non-psychic special attackers with its incredible sp. def, amazing tentacruel check, strong sludge bomb with fire blast or thunder to hit resists, a nasty explosion, and boosting with curse or defensive utility with haze or even rest. All around very good pokemon, but held back by many strong physical hits (notably earthquake and stab normal moves), plus while it can take a psychic easily, it can't take two, and most of the time will not be carrying rest, and even less will it be using sleep talk.
Meganium - Destroyer of non-tenta non-lapras waters as well as donphan, and being one of the best checks to jolteon with either light screen or earthquake (depending on if its using sd or support). Using the support set, this pokemon endlessly spams leech seed and is incredible annoyance with spikes up, constantly forcing progress (albeit relatively slow), and if at low hp can just synthesis up. Support Meganium practically makes venusaur viable, as while it is normally a much worse meganium, thanks to its leech seed and poison immunity as well as packing toxic, it dumps on support meg which would otherwise dominate stall teams. As for sd meg, with body slam, eq, and synthesis, it has a lot of longevity while spreading paralysis and hitting surprisingly hard after a boost, and an unboosted earthquake can still do 70%+ to jolteon. However, as mentioned, the progress support meg forces is very slow, it's bad into venusaur stall (which most stall should have venu imo), lets in fires, flyings, and dragonite on both sets, and while it's a very good check into jolteon, it's still 2hkod by +1 ice without LS up and jolteon can just pass out to a fire or something like that.
Articuno - A great defensive wall, ground immune, a decent phazer, has a strong ice beam, and an excellent alakzam check while actually being able to 3hko kingdra unlike houndoom, and dumps on the grasses, dragonite, and nidoqueen and donphan. However, articuno can't really do much to not let in ice resists, especially tentacruel with its toxic immunity or lanturn with sleep talk and stab electric. Plus, if it wants to use all 3 of ice beam, toxic, and whirlwind for valuable phazing, it has to drop sleep talk. Lastly, jolteon can come in on a predicted switch/rest or after a ko and threaten it out with tbolt or growth up.
Ursaring - Monstrous 130 attack stat, curse, stab return, and earthquake. In addition, it makes an excellent stat pass recipient with rest talk and no curse. However, it faces HEAVY competition from kangaskhan, as while kang is a lot weaker, it has the bulk to actually dodge 3hkos from special attacks, and once boosted is still plenty strong enough. But on teams where the bulk isn't as needed, or on bp teams, ursaring is a great physical attacking choice that can be even more threatening than kang in the right scenario.
Clefable - The first belly drummer of the list. Just like gen 4, clefable is just bulky enough to do what it wants well, and while it doesn't have soft boiled, it still has moonlight, which does well enough to serve its purposes. Thanks to stab return, belly drum, moonlight, and a bunch of great final move choices like encore, charm, thunder wave, or hp rock/ground, it is quite a decent progress maker or even sweeper, especially if given a speed boost. It just faces a lot of normal competition, isn't that bulky, needs to drum to provide significant offensive output, and has limited moonlight pp + being slow.
Donphan - The phan has probably had the biggest fall off of any mon in this tier, going from speculated to be A+ back at the beginning of october when gsc uubl was first playable on the spotlight ladder down to (imo) the bottom of A- and arguably by some players even in B+ or lower. However, it still has great traits. Excellent physical bulk, a very strong stab earthquake, rapid spin, and phazing. It's an alright check to non-ice beam p2 in the short term, and a good switch to muk, scizor, tauros, and kangaskhan. Donphan first started to drop when people realized that the OU set isn't viable because there are actually a lot of very good ground resists in this tier, so mono eq isn't going to cut it. HP rock is a good option and used a lot nowadays, but it costs a moveslot, is prediction reliant, doesn't help vs waters or meganium, and it still leaves donphan without consistent recovery unless you drop roar or rapid spin on the sleep talk set, which is hard to fit outside of stall. But, its good traits still keep it usable, even if it requires a lot of support.

B+ Tier: :gs/tauros: :gs/charizard: :gs/aerodactyl: :gs/haunter: :gs/quagsire: :gs/nidoqueen: :gs/magneton:
Tauros - With a combination of a strong stab double edge, a respectable earthquake, a great speed tier at base 110, and ability to tech for its counters like scizor or aerodactyl with fire blast and iron tail respectively, and being excellent at exploiting switches with substitute and spikes support, tauros is a strong physical attacking force and revenge killer. However, tauros has a lot of normal competition, doesn't have great longevity especially with sub, has low special defense, and can't do anything into opposing curse users, so it can be hard to fit.
Charizard - The second belly drummer. Unlike clefable, who is decently bulky but slow, charizard is relatively frail and jolteon weak but quite fast and has good coverage, Unfortunately, it's not fast enough for a good bit, notably alakazam, jolteon, aerodactyl, and more, all of whom can either threaten a paralysis or heavy damage. Because of this, charizard really likes paralysis support and needs to be played carefully due to its negative defensive value outside of switching into other fires (constraining teambuilding), but thankfully there are a great many good paralysis spreaders in this tier, and 100 base speed is still quite solid.
Aerodactyl - Normal resist, excellent speed tier, good movepool including reflect, curse, and phazing. This pokemon can sit on a lot of normal types. However, here's where the issues come in. Aerodactyl has pretty bad offensive output, but if you want to maximize that with hp rock, eq, and fire blast, you have to drop reflect/curse, meaning normal types are now a lot more threatening. Even then, aero is still bad into waters, meganium and venusaur, and donphan, leaving aero in a weird limbo of being good, bad, and mediocre all at the same time.
Haunter - The third UU pokemon experimented with in this tier (after Qwilfish and Nidoqueen), haunter is imo the best non-Qwilfish UU mon in UUBL (not to say the rest aren't good, but we'll get to those later). With a combination of a decently strong tbolt and psychic, explosion and/or destiny bond, thief, haze, and more good utility options, as well as a solid typing, haunter can make up for its pitiful bulk. Unfortunately, it is outsped by tentacruel, really weak to alakazam and espeon, pursuit trapped by houndoom, ohko'd by every earthquake, and generally frail. But with its aforementioned good traits coupled with that it can lure out and explode or dbond on houndoom or even hypno or chansey if they have, haunter is quite a good partner for espeon/zam + spikes cores if you can fit it.
Quagsire - Belly drummer number 3. However, it can do other things too, but we'll get to that. Quagsire is the best all-around jolteon check in the tier. There is no question. Electric immune, not weak to hp ice or even the very rare hp water, and not helpless against physical attackers unlike chansey. It has a respectable earthquake, hidden power rock for flying types, and with belly drum it makes an excellent speed pass recipient. However, all quagsire are hard walled by meganium, but you can tech for that on drum by running sludge bomb in the 4th slot to ohko it at +6 (again, assuming you have a speed boost or meg is paralyzed). However, using sludge bomb means you can't run rest for longevity or body slam for paralysis, and without some form of speed control and good positioning, quagsire is gonna be hard pressed to sweep, even if they don't have meganium, as quag's special defense is pretty low. Alternatively, you can use a more defensive quagsire set with eq, hp rock/toxic, rest, and haze. Haze proves to be very valuable in this tier with the amount of sweepers, and with quag's good typing you can shut down jolteon and opposing curse users. But, this set is hard to fit and is a momentum killer, so it should only be on heavily defensive teams.
Nidoqueen - The first UU mon tried out in UUBL due to it being the best in UU for a very long time (now #2 or even disputed to be worse than that by many players) as well as its excellent movepool, nidoqueen proves to be a disruption pick that is unfortunately held back by the prominence of psychic types, earthquake, articuno, moltres, kingdra, and curse users, and while it can tech for all of these (except psychic types and kingdra), it also means the queen has 4mss. Some of the moves valuable in queen's kit are earthquake (obviously), ice beam, thunderbolt/thunder, moonlight/lovely kiss (cannot have both due to being event moves), thief, roar, and flamethrower. All of these are excellent options, and nidoqueen has solid bulk, decent typing, and alright offenses, but it does not have the moveslots it needs to perform at peak, so it requires a decent bit of support.
Magneton - I'mma be honest, the first time I used this thing, it was as a meme because "oh I have kingdra and dragonite on this team and I need a nomal resist oh hey look magneton funny DragMag in gsc!" Then I discovered that magneton is actually an alright p2 check with rest talk and thunder having the capability to not only 3hko p2 but also paralyze it, plus with 125 base special attack it hits quite hard against other things after I'm able to bring it in with its good typing and ok bulk, most notably on articuno and dragonite that don't have dpunch or a fire move. Of course, mag is earthquake weak (holding it back from checking other normals besides p2 that haven't revealed their entire set), there are a decent number of good grounds and grasses in this tier, and plenty of excellent fire types.

B Tier: :gs/ampharos: :gs/lapras: :gs/chansey: :gs/slowking:
Ampharos - Ampharos was first developed by Ibby as a solid jolteon switch that can both be a mini jolteon by itself with stab electric moves and good coverage (hp ice + fire punch) and check other jolteon with thunder wave. Alternatively, on fatter teams with another jolteon check you can run rest and even sleep talk, but this is harder to fit and generally less useful. Main issues is that ampharos is slow, is competition with jolteon due to also being an electric type, and not being very bulky outside of a few pokemon it matches well into despite its seemingly good defenses.
Lapras - Honestly, rest talk isn't worth running on this. You're left without surf and not being very good into the grounded fires and steels (which you should be able to threaten both easily with a water) or you're left without tbolt and helpless into other water/ice neutral waters. Now onto what it's good for: impeccable coverage with the combination of ice beam, surf, and thunderbolt, and solid utility in the last slot with sing, body slam, rest, toxic, or even perish song (nightmare unexplored). Unfortunately, lapras is a water that doesn't resist fire, so you need another fire resist (that isn't qwilfish) to be safe against them, and lastly lapras is both jolteon weak and takes a lot from the normals of the tier.
Chansey - The blob of the tier, chansey is an excellent special check to all using present, thunder wave, soft boiled, and heal bell. However, chansey lets in every physical attacker under the sun and can't do anything to stop them from setting up, and that includes scizor's stat passing antics. But chansey's excellent matchups keep it worthwhile to use on very fat balance teams and stall, and it also holds the title as the only true jolteon counter, but admittedly also providing a free baton pass into a physical attacker, so it overall isn't as effective at turning jolteon into momentum as quagsire is, and thus I think quagsire is the better jolteon stopgap despite being worse in a vacuum.
Slowking - imo one of the most underrated mons in the tier, slowking is an excellent wall against alakazam, moltres, articuno, aerodactyl, kingdra, blastoise, shuckle, and nidoqueen (bar tbolt). It can also offensively threaten muk, donphan, scizor, tentacruel, qwilfish, charizard, entei, victreebel, and venusaur, though do be aware that it can take quite a good bit of damage from the latter group and should probably not be actually switching in to them. It also has potential to utilize thunder wave, toxic, and maybe nightmare, though I myself have only used sleep talk (I also saw an opp using drum once but it didn't end up doing anything that game or even clicking drum for that matter)

B- Tier: :gs/venusaur: :gs/lanturn: :gs/blastoise:
Venusaur - I already wrote a bit about venusaur in the meganium bit, but basically venusaur is a worse version of support meganium that hard counters other meganium, but because it needs toxic to actually threaten other meganium, it can't run light screen for jolteon and thus really only fits on stall where chansey is employed to stop jolteon.
Lanturn - Basically, a water that can threaten other non-kingdra waters with rest talk tbolt and surf, but is unfortunately pretty slow, ground weak, and takes too much from the normals, however it is very nice into the fires and of course other waters.
Blastoise - Bulky water with rapid spin, toxic helps it not be extremely passive, but still lets in electrics, grasses, tentacruel, and normals pretty scott free

C+ Tier: :gs/scyther: :gs/entei: :gs/jumpluff: :gs/victreebel:
Scyther - This is the first one I can't really provide much about as I've never used it myself or even faced it in battle, so this is gonna be mostly speculation and anecdote from Celebiii. 105 base speed is quite good, and has swords dance and agility + baton pass just like scizor (obviously). Pretty specific pokemon, as it really only fits on like extremely offensive physical offense from what Celebiii told me, but thanks to not being one shot by zam fire punch after spikes (actually spikes immune too) as well as being fast and ground immune, it's a nice partner for things like tauros.
Entei - I know a lot of people rag on entei, but honestly I kinda like it. It can go two ways: sunny day with fire blast, solar beam, and either hidden power ice or rock (moltres/charizard and dragonite respectively, cope against kingdra but that's every fire), or you can go with my patented defensive entei set, being flame + hp rock + RestTalk, which is a good stop against other fires in case you don't want to run triple water but are using something like lapras + qwilfish (meaning you are in need of a good fire check), though admittedly is very specific and still bad into opposing waters like the other fires.
Jumpluff - Pure disruption mon. Stun spore, sleep powder, leech seed, substitute, encore, and hp flying are all fine choices. It's pretty passive but is good at being annoying and spreading paralysis.
Victreebel - Used this a bit myself, the concept of it is that it's basically everything SD venusaur wishes it could be (20 more attack points and actually learns sludge bomb). However, it's frail, doesn't have great speed (only base 70) so it kinda needs paralysis, and has to choose between hp rock and ground (ground is overall better but hp rock makes it a lot safer into aerodactyl and paralyzed moltres/charizard/articuno)

C Tier: :gs/shuckle: :gs/omastar: :gs/electabuzz: :gs/electrode: :gs/hypno: :gs/gyarados:

Shuckle - I don't really ever have the greatest opinion on this mon (outside of webs in oras ou lmao), but I can respect what it does. Extremely ultra passive into any pokemon with rest or a poison immunity, and weak to water, but when paired with chansey and venusaur on stall, it forms a respectable defensive core capable of wearing down the opponent and pp stalling specific mons. Shuckle isn't here to wall entire teams, or even more than like 2 or 3 mons, but what it does is valuable for the very few teams it fits on
Omastar - One day I was building a team that was alright into curse normals with eq, but really bad into mono kangaskhan, and I looked at omastar and realized "hey, this could be pretty good", and I tried it out using surf + thief + haze + rest, and it did alright. Shutting down mono normals is definitely its strongest niche, and thief is nice for mons it can't really threaten (such as kingdra and p2). Unfortunately, it's jolteon weak, weak to earthquake, provides a free switch for opposing waters, and doesn't do as much damage against most neutral targets as you need it to. But, it can be quite good in the right scenarios
Electabuzz - This one is also mostly speculation because I haven't really seen it used at all or used it myself, but I always thought it was a neat mon. Stab electric is excellent in this tier as seen with jolteon, and it has ice punch for good coverage, cross chop for chansey, and can use thunder wave, substitute, thief, or hp grass in the last slot. Issues with frailty, still outsped by a decent bit, competition with jolteon, prediction reliant against grounds, and not great into the normals despite cross chop
Electrode - Hyper offense pick only, provides screens + boom or can use twave + hp ice to do.... idk something but Ibby says it's good so ig the latter is alright. As for the former, it's pretty rare to have this combination, and with its massive 140 speed outrunning everything in the tier, it can allow for nice setup for its teammates, and of course boom + stab tbolt is always nice even if they are pretty weak relatively
Hypno - Excellent zam check, uses thunder wave + seismic toss to spread paralysis and generally be rude, with rest talk for longevity. Can go talk-less and use psychic, or use toxic or screens. Issue with hypno is relative passivity, lets in doom and physical attackers with rest for free, and has 4mss
Gyarados - Started using this mon at the end of the first week of the ladder, tried to make it work for a long time. It has a lot of nice traits but unfortunately has lackluster damage output and is inconsistent. HP flying, hydro pump, thunder, and roar make for a nice mixed attacker with phazing and paralysis potential, but again just doesn't do enough damage with its pitiful 60 base special attack and both special moves having low accuracy, and of course, is jolteon weak and can even provide a good chance for it to switch in on an hp flying.



C- Tier: :gs/mr. mime: :gs/typhlosion: :gs/granbull: :gs/slowbro:
Mr. Mime - Another speculation/anecdote mon, this thing's biggest niche is good speed, psychic typing, and an absolutely incredible movepool consisting of tbolt, ice punch and fire punch, thief, encore, thunder wave, and more. However, just like every psychic, it has competition with alakazam, and is thus very specific. If I used it myself, my opinion of it would probably be different, but for now I'll just leave it here.
Typhlosion - The orphaned child of the fires. It's theoretically awesome: stab fire blast with thunder punch for waters, aerodactyl, and moltres/charizard, earthquake for other grounded fires and lanturn, and hp ice for dragonite. However, it's prediction reliant, really frail, and has very poor damage output despite its seemingly good 109 base special attack. It also faces heavy competition with the other fires, can't do shit against kingdra, chansey, p2, or rest normals, and is generally sub par in every way imaginable. I don't think it's god awful though. It's pretty bad, but its super effective hits do ok damage and it has alright speed so maybe in a good scenario it can do something.
Granbull - Much worse ursaring, but it has heal bell, so ig it can do things. Not very high on this mon but I can see why someone might use it.
Slowbro - Haven't used it, haven't seen it. Idk doesn't seem that great, like slowking but it doesn't check as well what you'd want the typing to check, and unlike future gens, it can't really check physical attackers due to the fact that they're so bulky relative to aforementioned future gens and most will pack some form of boosting meaning that most can eat the bro's hits relatively well. Also jolteon weak. But it's probably not that bad, just very very specific.

D Tier: :gs/crobat: :gs/piloswine: :gs/sandslash:
Crobat Stall mon, alright typing and fine movepool, most notable option being haze (and I think whirlwind but idk). Super passive, but can do things maybe.
Piloswine - One of the UU grounds originally looked at for jolt checking potential, and while it's a solid jolt check, it fails to do almost anything else due to its extreme passivity, lack of ability to stop opposing curse users, and letting in the multiple flying types neutral to ice.
Sandslash - Swords dancer with great coverage in the form of stab eq and rock slide + hp bug. Unfortunately, very slow, not very bulky, lacks recovery, and needs to swords dance to be offensively threatening at which point something that can threaten it will probably have already switched in, like kingdra or meganium.

E Tier: :gs/primeape: :gs/poliwrath: :gs/raichu:
Primeape - Only ever seen Ibby use it, but according to him, Primeape is an alright paralysis abuser with its combination of otherwise nonexistent fighting stab, solid speed tier, meditate, and good coverage with rock slide and hp ghost or double edge. However, it's psychic weak, provides zero defensive value, is outsped by a decent bit, and needs to boost to be threatening.
Poliwrath - Lovely kiss + Belly drum. That's what makes this mon at all usable. Combined with earthquake and return/hp rock, if you can position poliwrath well, it can maybe get one ko before dying to jolteon or alakazam. Basically, low defensive value and needs either pokemon that can kill it to be paralyzed or dead or a speed pass.
Raichu - The basis of this mon's placement is entirely speculation on my part on a random day in the last week of the spotlight cycle. The speculation being that it can dodge the 3hko from +1 jolteon tbolt and thunder wave in return, and then dish out mediocre tbolts, surfs, and hp ices. Asides from checking jolteon and clicking super effective moves, this mon might as well be a dead slot in battle, but hey, it's a jolteon check while having stab tbolt and ok coverage, so it might be able to do something.

F Tier: :gs/dodrio: :gs/girafarig: :gs/kabutops: :gs/pinsir: :gs/kadabra:
Dodrio - Heavy competition from other normal types, mediocre offensive output, low defensive value, walled by scizor and aerodactyl, weak to jolteon. But good speed tier, decently strong double edge, stab drill peck for extra damage on flying weak mons. Arguably the best of the F tiers.
Girafarig - The other one with an argument for best of the F tiers, all this mon does is agility + amnesia + baton pass. If you don't want/need either of those, don't use this thing, but stat passing is always nice.
Kabutops - Swords dance + stab rock + maybe thief or something. Idk, this mon is pretty bad, but it has swords dance and resists normal, so maybe it can do decent damage.
Pinsir - Like kabutops but probably slightly better because not jolteon weak and has a better movepool, but also no normal resist so maybe not.
Kadabra - This mon's entire existence in this tier is theoretical. "This mon COULD be good on like triple psychic teams as a more support-oriented budget alakazam." But nobody ever uses it due to triple psychic teams being extremely constraining and defensively weak, and even if psychic-spam style teams were used more often, there are a myriad of other better psychic types in even the third slot (after zam and espy), notably mr. mime who basically steals the spot of "more support-oriented budget alakazam". But, who knows, zam has a pretty nice movepool, so maybe kadabra can do something. Probably still better than every UR mon.

UR (Unranked): :gs/bellossom: :gs/dugtrio: :gs/feraligatr: :gs/gligar: :gs/golduck: :gs/hitmonlee: :gs/persian: :gs/pikachu: :gs/politoed:
Never used, seen, or even heard discussed any of these pokemon, and for good reason. All of them face heavy competition, are quite bad on their own, and really just have no reason to be used in general. Stay away from these pokemon if you want to make a team that wins.

This post took me 5 hours to write, so if you are one who read all the way through, I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading a rando's thoughts about a tier that you have probably never heard of before this last october.

Have an excellent day.
- Bee

my-image (20).png
 
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Hello hi it is I, the Funny GSC UUBLer. I am gonna talk about some of my favourite Pokémon/Sets I used in the tier

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Jolteon (Growth Sweeper)
Jolteon is undoubtedly the 2nd best Pokémon in the tier. This thing is a menace with 130 base speed (fastest Pokémon in the tier tied with Aerodactyl) and 110 Special Attack. Alongside a powerful Thunder this thing is able to take lives. It's bread and butter set is a Growth sweeper with Thunder and HP Ice. It's also able to pass Growth boosts to its teammates to make them more threatening. Ive experimented with Thunder Wave over Baton Pass as a way to cripple opponents to make Jolteon sweeping easier later down the line
Jolteon @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 26 Def
- Thunder/Thunderbolt
- Baton Pass/Thunder Wave
- Growth
- Hidden Power [Ice]

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]Aerodactyl (CurseRoarHPRockRest)
One of my most used Pokémon in the tier and a underrated Pokémon in my opinion. This set came up as a way to counter the normal types that were ravaging the tier. Aerodactyl's typing gives it a resistance to rock and with its flying type, lets it be immune to spikes. Aerodactyl is able to come in on Normal Types such as Porygon2, Kangaskkhan, Ursaring, and others and be able to curse up with resisting their main stab. With roar your able to phaze them out and then become a threat to your opponents team. The main draw back for this set is Aero is not an offensive threat as Hidden Power Rock doesn't hit as hard you would want it to be even at +6 Attack. Your also giving up speed which is kind of Aero's big thing. However, this set has done me service in the GSC UUBL Swiss Tours and some friendlies so I won't doubt it yet.
Aerodactyl @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 22 HP / 26 Atk / 24 Def
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Roar
- Rest
- Curse

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The Dug (SD Pass Recipient)
Dugtrio was a Pokémon I was thinking could be a funny recipient on SD pass. It's main claim to fame for me is its base 120 Speed. With a SD Pass this Pokémon can easily in theory become a threatening Pokémon, with only Alakazam. Jolteon and Aerodactyl threatening it. A move set I thought fit this Pokémon was QuakeSlide (Earthquake and Rockslide), Sludge Bomb and either Screech or Substitute. I must state this Pokémon is very niche as even at +2 Attack it really doesn't hit hard as I thought it would, but it is fun to use.
Dugtrio @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Sludge Bomb
- Screech/Substitute

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The Bear
THE BEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This Pokémon fills me with copium once I baton pass it +2 Speed and Attack. Nothing and I mean nothing is able to oppose this menace of a Pokémon and I love it. Run RestTalk 2 Attacks and have something like Scizor or Smeargle pass you an Agility and Swords Dance then run wild.
Ursaring @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Earthquake
- Return
- Rest
- Roar

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]Ampharos (Thunder Wave 3Attacks)
I made Ampharos and if anyone says otherwise is lying to you. I came up with this Pokémon as a joke but it turned out to be really good. It boasts an impressive 115 Special Attack with also good bulk (90/75/90). This Pokémon has some issues, mainly being inferior to Jolteon and also slow but its pretty good on fat teams. Being fat offensive Pokémon that can spread paralysis is pretty cool.
Ampharos @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 26 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Fire Punch

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Lanturn (RestTalker)
Lanturn (I will once again take credit into finding this Pokémon) is not as impressive as the other Pokémon but still cool. It's basically a bulky water that is able to threaten other bulky waters other than Kingdra thanks to its Electric typing and an Electric type that no Ground wants to switch into because of it's Water Typing. Also able to check the Fire types in the tier (Houndoom and Moltres). It's poor offensively but defensively its average.
Lanturn @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Rest
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Sleep Talk

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Haunter (Special Lure)
During the beginning of my journey in GSC UUBL, Haunter was a Pokémon I was attracted too. It's Ghost typing lets it wall Mono Normal attackers while also posing as a threat itself thanks to its base 115 Special Attack stat. I made a team around a bunch of Special Attackers and used Haunter as a lure to those who were able to check the Special Attackers (when making the set it was Chansey) and blow up on them. However Haunter is rather a poor Pokémon because other than its ability to wall Mono Normal attackers and access to Explosion, it has nothing to provide for the team. It's really just there to boom.
Haunter @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt/Giga Drain
- Hypnosis/Thief
- Explosion/Destiny Bond/Perish Song

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Primeape (Para Spam Abuser)
Pretty sure I am the only one to use Primeape when the ladder was up (if you also did sorry I'm taking credit). This Pokémon realistically is bad as its a Fighting type with a terrible S.T.A.B and also provides no defensive utility. However, with access to Meditate helping it boost its somewhat average Attack stat and with teammates spreading paralysis, this thing could be scary. Thought it is a Primeape so I suppose it would never happen but maybe on that blue moon it could.
Primeape @ Black Belt
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 14 HP / 24 Atk
- Meditate
- Cross Chop
- Rock Slide
- Hidden Power [Ghost]/Hidden Power [Bug]/Double-Edge

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Kangaskkhan (Lead Set)
I saw this set somewhere (maybe the past GSC UUBL Tour or on ladder, if you are responsible for this set lemme know so I can credit you) and decided to test it. Kangaskkhan move pool is rather impressive. This set takes advantage of luring in some of Kangakkhans checks and then hitting them with moves such as Rock Slide, Thunder, Fire blast, and Earthquake while also packing Double-Edge as a powerful normal S.T.A.B. I haven't used this set a lot but I found it interesting.
Kangaskhan (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast/Rock Slide
- Thunder

But yeah that is all the sets I think were cool that I used. If you do for some reason use these sets please let me know so my ego can inflate!
 

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BeeOrSomething

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tbh there's really no point to this post but I feel like making it for the hell of it
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p2 - this mon is absurdly good. better than anything else by miles
zam - i've come to accept this mon can pretty easily cheese past counterplay and when the opp doesnt have smth that hard stuffs it, zam + spikes goes crazy
qwil - should be on a vast majority of offensive teams tbh
molty - ive come to see dedge and hp ground as solid options thanks to insight from juoean. basically the same as before but a little better
muk - this thing is rlly fat and boom is good. solid coverage too
ursaring - now that ive changed my perspective to see it as a machamp type mon and not a kangaskhan that fails to do what kang does, i respect this mon a lot more, but with relative changes of the list and how good the top mons are, unfortunately i can't move this mon up much.
donphan - i used this thing a bit recently and its not the dogshit people thought it fell off to. v nice normal check, and its utility options are all very appreciated
aero - still does 0 damage, but defensive sets are cool
smeargle - comp with qwil, dies in 2 hits
magneton - thunder is hella strong
lapras - 3 attacks +1 is rlly nice with spikes and team chip, especially if given a growth
clefable - v mid without drumming
haunter - i see its flaws better now, but its utility options like thief and haze, decent SE hits with tbolt and psychic, and boom are quite nice
scyther - i havent actually used this mon still but I have a better view of what it does and respect it more
nidoqueen - doesn't do a lot of damage
hypno - shits on zam, twave is a good move
mr. mime - nice utility options, budget zam
sandslash - swords dance is a good move, the coverage is solid
granbull - outclassed by everything but heal bell is a rlly good move. overall I'd say not worth using except once in a blue moon but this low down not much is
pikachu - if you have good positioning and maybe a growth pass this mon can be nuclear but it kinda needs chip or lucky full paras to truly kill things
piloswine - like nidoqueen but without the utility moves, still hard counters jolt and can ig fish freeze + decent eq
politoed - weak to electric and every physical attacker, hard walled by kingdra, but growth talk + decent bulk and good typing
persian - good utility moves + can prevent setup with screech, roar, and nightmare, but doesn't do like any damage and is super frail also no coverage
hitmonlee - primeape but worse because stronger coverage moves and better sp. def doesn't make up for the bit better speed and much better stab of cross chop that primeape has. still both shit tho
 
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BeeOrSomething

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GSC UUBL SET COMPENDIUM
https://pokepast.es/6cf96f6f132badb2

Aight this has been slowly cooking in the gsc uubl discord for a long time
Started when For 4Lom randomly posted one in the cord like a week and a half or so into the october roa spotlight, I took a look and saw it was pretty incomplete and a couple things were off so I took it upon myself to manage it and just like fix up things and add new sets and mons, and over like two and a half months consisting of like 5-6 separate days where I spontaneously decided I was in the mood to add or change stuff, my efforts have culminated into this

General Disclaimers/Information you should know when viewing:
1. Not every possible option is listed
2. Not every pokemon here is recommended for use by the casual player
3. Pokemon with hidden power somewhere in their set do not have the correct dvs pre-packaged
4. Ordering of the pokemon is done top to bottom according to my personal viability rankings, so essentially the farther down the list you get the less viable the pokemon will tend to be
5. Ordering of the individual moves for each set isn't really ordered in any particular way, so choose whatever suits your needs

I tried to include every possible good option I could

Enjoy

Edit: btw I have been updating it over time whenever I feel like I should change or add something
 
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BeeOrSomething

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Haze Appreciation Post

As gsc uubl has developed, we have come to see the incredibly excellent application of haze as a utility move on offense and defense alike. It is just so incredible to be able to stifle your opponent's threatening setup sweepers, whether curse users like porygon2 or even growth users like espeon. I just want to quickly go over the threat list of setup sweepers susceptible to hazing and every mon that may use haze on its set and their positives.

Primary Threat List: :gs/espeon: :gs/jolteon: :gs/scizor: :gs/kangaskhan: :gs/ursaring: :gs/porygon2: :gs/tentacruel: :gs/scyther: :gs/clefable: :gs/quagsire:
(Espeon, Jolteon, Scizor, Kangaskhan, Ursaring, Porygon2, Tentacruel, Scyther, Clefable, and Quagsire. There are others but they're usually either too fast, like Charizard, or (unfortunately) you won't like ever see them due to being quite niche, like Sandslash or Victreebel.)

:gs/dragonite:
Dragonite
The pinnacle of haze users. With a combo of haze, ice beam, and 2 out of tbolt/thunder, body slam/dedge, dynamic punch, flamethrower/fire blast, and thunder wave, this mon is able to provide excellent utility midgame and/or in the lead if you choose to, as it has excellent all around stats and a very good typing. Excellent mon, able to put a temporary stop to physical sweepers and espeon (but not jolteon unfortunately because of hp ice).

:gs/qwilfish:
Qwilfish
I will admit, haze isn't my first choice on the 4th slot on qwilfish despite what you may think, and I'll explain why. Tentacruel is an extremely oppressive pokemon in the builder and often, in battle, you will have to wiggle your way around it and potentially have to give up a kill or two, but luckily, qwilfish can also be an excellent check to tentacruel in addition to spikes, as it can curse up and take minimal damage from tentacruel's swords dance-boosted sludge bombs, needing to be 5hko'd by the inaccurate hydro pump and always breaking tenta's subs in return with sludge bomb at only +1. Tentacruel is generally such a problem pokemon that curse will be the 4th move on your qwilfish quite a large amount of time. However, if you find you are not in need of qwilfish's tentacruel-checking qualities, then haze is quite a good option, as while curse qwil falters against the several threatening physical setup sweepers, haze qwil can shut them down.

:gs/muk:
Muk
Normally, this mon runs curse, allowing it to provide a potential breaking or in the right circumstances, even a sweeping threat. But a good alternate option that has popped up is haze, which combines muk’s excellent natural bulk and a powerful explosion to potentially pull a 180 on a dangerous kangaskhan or porygon2 who might be attempting to sweep your team. In addition, thanks to muk's big special defense stat, it can come in on jolteon, and if you are predicting them to baton pass out with their growth boost because they know that in a 1v1 their jolteon will lose to your muk, you can haze away the boost instead of having to explode or sludge bombing for middling damage.

:gs/haunter:
Haunter
This mon has a lot it wants to do already so it's tough to fit haze, but it's a very nice option for the usual reasons of stopping physical sweepers, but with the added bonus that haunter has a normal immunity added on, so even if they have like earthquake in the case of some kangaskhan and ursaring or haunter succumbs to a bunch of ice beams or thunderbolts in the case of porygon2 and haunter dies, you can at least make them a lot less threatening for your other teammates. And just like muk, haze + boom can be very powerful, even if haunter's boom is a bit weak relatively.

:gs/blastoise:
Blastoise
Ultra passive pokemon, but with the power of haze (or also roar but ignore that), this mon can somewhat prevent powerful physical setup sweepers from eating its semi-dinky surfs all day and going to town, or even interrupting their sweep if they setup on a different pokemon.

:gs/omastar:
Omastar
This mon is half decent in this tier because of haze. Without it, physical setup sweepers (primarily mono kangaskhan and non-tbolt porygon2) would be able to eat this thing’s hits and eventually boost to a point where they can easily kill omastar. Luckily, with haze, omastar can sit on them endlessly, forcing them to burn all their pp and struggle. Obviously, you would rather kill the mon, but regardless these are massive threats, and stopping them is always good. At the very least, omastar can potentially thief kangaskhan or porygon2, allowing it to maybe beat them relatively quickly instead of having to pp stall. Generally, however, omastar faces a lot of competition, with shuckle invalidating it as a consideration on stall and donphan and aerodactyl giving it competition on balance, bo, and offense, especially since none of these 3 really care about earthquake as opposed to omastar who highly dislikes them.

:gs/quagsire:
Quagsire
Primarily, this thing clicks belly drum, usually with a speed pass or high amounts of paralysis spreading. As a more defensive option though, this mon can fit on very fat teams as not something that takes advantage of the team's bulk but contributes to it, as with haze it can endlessly shut down jolteon and scizor, and in a pinch, something else like tentacruel, scyther, a normal sweeper (besides non-paralyzed clefable), or espeon. This set is a bit difficult to fit and very passive, but it is possibly the best counter to jolteon available and can be quite effective when it works.

:gs/crobat:
Crobat
Only fits on stall teams, and at all usable because of haze. With this, it's able to provide an immediate stop to any setup pokemon in a pinch in large part to its absolutely massive 130 base speed, primarily belly drum users, even charizard, as well as baton passers and general curse or swords dance users. Haze works well in conjunction with whirlwind if you choose to use it on your crobat, as haze provides a quick stop if you need it or instead if you can afford to, you can phaze them out and gather some spikes chip along with it.

:gs/dodrio:
Dodrio (?)
This pokemon suffers so much competition it's absurd. There are like 6 better normal types. However, dodrio can at least distinguish itself. Thanks to its solid base 100 speed, being one of the fastest available pokemon with haze, and its good 110 attack stat and stab double edge, dodrio can haze away the curses of an opposing normal type pokemon like ursaring and hit them really hard with double edge. However, dodrio is extremely frail and tough to fit, so while haze is a good option, you probably won't be using this pokemon in the first place.

:gs/weezing:
Weezing (?)
This mon wasn't even on the vr (due to not being on the template), but essentially it's like the same as muk but worse and outclassed by it. Instead of having big special defense and high attack but low special attack and ok defense, weezing has decent attack and special attack with good defense and ok special defense. That's about it really, this pokemon's usage of haze is the same dance of removing their curse boosts and exploding, but generally, unless you really, and I do mean really, need weezing's better physical defense and bit better special attack, just use muk. However, it's at least worth using haze on.

Honorable Mentions/Pokemon that can learn haze but you really shouldn't be using it on
Kingdra - Stick with the standard surf + dragon breath set. Dropping dragon breath really isn't that worth it, it decreases kingdra's effectiveness by a noticeable amount as you can no longer threaten paralysis to assist your teammates and cripple dangerous threats like alakazam and (on the switch) tentacruel
Tentacruel - Offensive tentacruel is far and away the best set and really the only one you should be using, but if you want to use defensive tentacruel you should probably just use surf, sludge bomb, rapid spin, and rest, cause otherwise a fat set isn't worth much.
Politoed - If you want to give this thing any chance of being usable, use growth + surf + rest talk.
Poliwrath - If you want to give this thing any chance of being usable, use lovely kiss + belly drum + two attacks.

Edit: Haze Kingdra is viable. Ibby made a really annoying team with Haze + dbreath + rest talk Kingdra and it works really well.
 
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I've returned once again to talk about something of this fantastic metagame (This topic could update with the progression of this meta so stay tuned)


The Lead Metagame
Just like every other metagame where team preview is unavailable, there are dedicated leads for every team. These leads could be used to lay down a spike, spread sleep and other statuses, or pass stat boosts for example. Today, I'm gonna go over most of the Lead Metagame while going over some niche ones I might have found interesting!


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ALAKAZAM
Alakazam @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Psychic
- Recover
- Light Screen
- Thunder Wave
In my humble opinion, I think Alakazam is the best lead as of right now. With blazing fast speed and a special attack stat to threaten other leads, there's nothing this Pokémon is unable to do. Its job is mainly to scare out Qwilfish from Spiking or spreading Paralysis with Thunder Wave. Psychic, Recover, and Thunder Wave are somewhat the big 3 of Alakazam's move set as they all do something. Psychic is of course S.T.A.B., Recover is busted this gen please spam it when you have the chance, and Thunder Wave is the best status move in the game. The fourth move is optional. Some really common ones are Light screen to keep you safe vs Houndoom leads, Fire Punch to nuke Scizors thinking they're coming in on a safe Psychic, Thief to steal the opposing Pokémon's Miracle Berry (Gen 3's Lum Berry), and or Leftovers. There are some other ones with good uses such as Substitute with Paralysis, Encore, Counter, Nightmare, and so on.

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QWILFISH

Qwilfish @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Haze
- Spikes
- Hydro Pump
- Sludge Bomb
The feesh has claimed itself as the best spiker in the tier thanks to it having better bulk than Smeargle. Qwilfish has one simple job, to lay down SPIKES. A lot of crucial KOs are possible with spike chip and no one sets spikes down better than Qwilfish. Unlike Smeargle, Qwilfish is able to pose a threat thanks to its actual attacking stats. Hydro Pump and Sludge Bomb are STABS while Haze is to negate boosting attempts. Hidden Power Ground is sometimes used to not allow Tentacruel free switches while Curse can be used to let Qwilfish have a chance to make itself more powerful with Sludge Bomb gaining more power.

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HOUNDOOM

Houndoom
Ability: No Ability
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Fire Blast
- Thief
Houndoom is the one Pokémon that actually is able to threaten Alakazam. With access to the strongest Pursuit and Crunch in the tier, Houndoom is a threat. If you haven't noticed, the big 3 Leads I have so far mentioned are Rock, Paper, Scissors. Alakazam beats Qwilfish, Qwilfish beats Houndoom and Houndoom beats Alakazam (technically there are ways around each one but it still holds true). No Item is used so it can steal the opponents item with Thief however Leftovers and Miracle Berry are fine options if you wanted to drop Thief for another move. With Thief, Houndoom is able to steal opponents' items and can use them for itself. Fire Blast is S.T.A.B and can leave a string on even resists. Other moves are Roar to rack up spikes damage or avoid setup, Hidden Power Ice for Dragonite and Aerodactly who can safely take all of Houndooms attacks, Hidden Power Rock for Moltres, Dragonite and Aerodactyl, and Hidden Power Grass for the Waters such as Slowking, Omastar, Quagsire and so on.

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SMEARGLE

Smeargle @ Miracle Berry
Ability: No Ability
- Spore
- Spikes
- Baton Pass
- Thunder Wave
This painting dog has cemented itself as boostpass's leader. Thanks to it having literally every move in existence, Smeargle can tech itself to whatever the user needs. Want to put the lead to sleep and switch to a counter, want to lay hazards down, want to boost up with Agility or Belly Drum, this thing has it all. Smeargle faces some issues as a lead. Mainly its poor bulk and low speed, letting common Pokemon either kill it or threaten it away. However, underestimating Smeargle is like telling yourself your gonna ace this exam even though you didn't study till the last minute. Anyways Spore, Spike, Baton Pass, and Thunder Wave are what I believe to be the most common moves on this dog. Others include Substitute, the aforementioned boosting moves (Belly Drum, Swords Dance, Agility), Thief can steal opponent's items, and Super Fang is cool to chip your opponents as a last-ditch effort to allow a kill.


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DRAGONITE
Dragonite @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Body Slam
- Haze
(Thank you BeeOrSomething for being useful for once) The best dragon, as the anime watchers would say, finds itself as a reliable lead. Its amazing move-pool and impressive stats due to it being a Pseudo Legendary let it be seen from time to time. Dragonite has impressive bulk, meaning it can take some hits even from non-supereffective moves. Thunder/Thunderbolt allows Dragonite to hit bulk waters hard while also threatening paralysis. Ice Beam is for opposing Dragonites and to fish for freeze. The last 2 moves are really up to the user. Thunder Wave can spread a more consistent paralysis, Haze to remove setup attempts, Dynamic Punch to threaten Normals and play with parafusion (Paralysis + Confusion together), Outrage to hit Kingdra who would normally come in on Dragonite without worry, and many more (Shoutout Extreme Speed, Double-Edge, Body Slam, Rest and others I'm probably forgetting)

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KANGASKHAN

Kangaskhan (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Thunder
Leading off the best-named team of all time, oh shit I left the freezer open, lead Kangaskhan is an interesting specimen. At the naked eye, most GSC UUBLer hiveminds will default this Pokémon to its bland RestCurseDoubleEdgeRoar/SleepTalk, not letting Kang show its impressive move-pool. Even though Kangaskhan has a pitifully low Special Attack stat, the base power of some special moves helps with adding some more punch. Double-Edge is of course stab but can be traded in for Return if you like the no recoil and more PP bonus, Earthquake is to hit Rocks and Steels hard such as Magneton and Omastar. The last two moves can be anything. Rock Slide is to hit flyers such as Moltres, Articuno, and Dragonite, Fire Blast can roast Steels and can threaten burn, Thunder can be used to spread paralysis, and more (Roar, Blizzard, Surf, Toxic, and others)

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THE ELECTRIC TRIO
Jolteon @ Miracle Berry
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 26 Def
- Thunder
- Baton Pass
- Growth
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Electrode @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Thunder Wave
- Explosion

Ampharos @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 26 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunder
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Fire Punch
Ah, Electric types of this tier can be described as the Psychic type of RBY. The 2nd best type behind the Normal typing. With access to the brutal Thunder as their STAB and each doing different things, these guys are a threat to any team. Jolteon is the big bad we all come to love. It's tied as the second fastest Pokémon in the tier, a powerful STAB in Thunder, access to coverage thanks to Hidden Power, and the ability to boost up and pass the boost with Growth and Baton Pass, what else does this Pokémon really need (Levitate, The Special Attack Stat of Mega Mewtwo Y and the speed of Regieleki). Miracle Berry is so Jolteon avoids paralysis or sleep and can successfully boost up to threaten whatever is in front of it or pass it to a threatening opponent. Ampharos is Jolteon Lite, without the speed but makes up with the bulk. Ampharos can tank some non-S.T.A.B super effective hits and can threaten back thanks to its high Special Attack Stat. Thunder Wave cuz blah blah blah paralysis is broken, Thunder and Hidden Power Ice let it have perfect BoltBeam coverage against everything in the tier, and Fire Punch for Pokemon weak to Hidden Power Ice if you feel the power is lacking. Finally, we have Electrode, the fastest Pokémon in the tier. Unfortunately, Electrode is weak even with Thunder, however with access to both Light Screen and Reflect, it can be found on screen HO teams. Explosion lets Electrode do a bunch of damage thanks to it cutting the opponent's defense in half and letting your teammate come in safely.

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JUMPLUFF
Jumpluff @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Stun Spore
- Sleep Powder
- Encore
- Synthesis
The Disruptor, as I would like to call, has tumbled its way into GSC UUBL Lead Metagame with some nasty tricks on it. With access to the fastest sleep in the meta thanks to its access to Sleep Powder, it's able to put the opponent's Pokémon out for a while. If you have not already known yet, paralysis is a powerful status, and Jumpluff arms itself with Stun Spore. The only downside to the move is its 75% Accuracy but getting it off is worth it in the long run. Encore shuts down boosting attempts while Synthesis is there to keep itself healthy. Leech Seed can be used as a way to force opponents to switch out while also letting teammates gain free HP. Reflect lets Jumpluff come in on physical attackers and cripple them with status or encore them for a teammate who resists the move. Finally, Hidden Power Flying/Grass can be used as offensive moves. However, due to Jumpluff's naturally poor attack stat, this shouldn't be a priority.

Now that I've gone over most of the big leads, lemme take some time to go over my favourite (Description will be short)

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POLITOED

Politoed
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 14 HP / 28 Atk
- Thief
- Surf
- Lovely Kiss
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Generation Five's rain setter is back to be the goodest boy. A bulky Water with access to sleep thanks to Lovely Kiss is something anyone would try. Thief is to steal items and Hidden Power Electric to not let waters in for free. It's slow but fun!

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AERODACTYL
Aerodactyl @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 22 HP / 26 Atk / 24 Def
- Curse
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Rest
There was a world where I used to be high on this Pokémon, unfortunately it has let me down in the past couple of weeks. Hidden Power Rock and Earthquake make a Pseudo QuakeSlide (Rock Slide + Earthquake) while Curse helps boost up Aerodactyl's attack stat. Rest so it can stay healthy. Issue with this Pokémon is even with curse boosts its pretty weak due to it not having a proper S.T.A.B.

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LAPRAS
Lapras @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Sing
Lapras is your typical bulky water than can pose a threat with STAB Hydro Pump, BoltBeam and access to sing so you can sleep your opponents. Cool Pokemon that can turn to a powerful sweeper with Growth Boosts.

Anyways that concludes this topic. Thanks to those who read it. I will update this if any more cool leads have been discovered!
 
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BeeOrSomething

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Some funky cool sets that are good

:gs/tentacruel: - Hidden Power Ground
Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 14 HP / 24 Atk
- Swords Dance
- Sludge Bomb
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Ok so you're dropping substitute for this move which can be annoying but in exchange you get a move that when boosted will shatter qwilfish and muk, two of the best tentacruel answers, and also other pokemon that tenta can still threaten decently but would prefer to not have to risk hydro on such as haunter, magneton, and omastar.

:gs/lapras:- Rain Dance
Lapras @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Thunder
Ok so this is just an example but to illustrate, hydro pump under rain 2hkos porygon2. Yeah. Pump under rain is crazy strong and when you throw on a growth pass from a jolteon or espeon lapras just becomes a nuke only held back by its speed and electric weakness. And of course, the signature lapras special means it has plenty coverage to kill everything that resists pump. I'd say this mon is A- tier right now, better than donphan and only slightly worse than articuno on average.

:gs/dragonite: - Curse
Dragonite @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 14 HP / 24 Atk / 26 Def
- Curse
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Haze
- Rest
Cooked up this set recently but it's pretty cool, essentially it's like curse roar kangaskhan but you gain an awful ice weakness in return for some very useful resistances like fire water and ground as well as dragonite just on average having a little better bulk than kangaskhan, haze being better than roar in midgame and lastmon scenarios, and hp flying being better into things that would otherwise be solid into mono kang like haunter and curse + rest scizor.

Edit: This set sucks. I completely forgot haze removed your own boosts for the entire duration of the creation of the set (I was tired when I made it ok) and only realized this like 2 months ago from writing this edit, which I promptly forgot about until now. Apologies!

:gs/jolteon: - Thunder Wave
Jolteon @ Leftovers / Miracle Berry
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 26 Def
- Growth
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder Wave
So essentially the purpose of twave jolt is to work as both its own offensive threat, general speed control, and primarily a check to opposing jolteon on teams that do not need jolteon to pass growths, usually physical-based offense.

:gs/kingdra:- Curse
Kingdra @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Curse
- Return
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Created by Celebiii, the basis of this set is that since kingdra is usually put on a team for its defensive purposes, and if the team wants something that can boost up and sweep on the physical side, kingdra can fill the role. Only having 1 weakness, being to dragon which is only seen on other kingdra, some moltres, and occasionally dragonite is definitely very helpful too.

:gs/moltres:- Agility
Moltres @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Sunny Day
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Dragon] / Double Edge / Hidden Power [Grass] / Hidden Power [Ground]
- Agility
Mostly for when passed a growth, this set is quite effective if you happen to have the right coverage move for your opponent's team or manage to remove its walls before you go for the sweep. However, you have to drop having both double edge and hidden power or one of these coverage moves and something like roar or rest. Cool set though.

:gs/ampharos:- Toxic Talk
Ampharos @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Also created by Celebiii, this set is really really annoying if you dont have the right pokemon on your team to sit on and threaten it like nidoqueen or rest kangaskhan. There are some other pokemon that can sit on it like kingdra and magneton, however those cannot actually threaten ampharos in return so it will just turn into a pp stall ditto (that ampharos will win mind you) to prevent either mons from doing anything to the other team. A little fishy at times but can prove to be a really annoying solid defensive piece that can also wall jolteon and turn its presence into chip damage which is very useful.

Bout it really. Honorable mentions to sets that are neat but I don't really think are too new or cool enough are curse rest scizor, hp ground qwilfish, double edge articuno, sd meg with or without light screen, protect lapras on growth pass, encore shuckle, and haze rest quagsire on turbo fat.
 
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