Hi, this is my first post on smogon so I'm not too sure what to add in, but a little background to my team is that I've played my team up to 1832 rank max in AG ladder and now I've decided to switch to uber. I've ranked up to 1400 in the first day and I've been undefeated up until this point, so I just wanted to check with fellow ubers players how my team is in this meta and see if I can make up to any adjustments. Here is my team:
Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Sticky Web
- Toxic
- Encore
- Stealth Rock
Shuckle is an extremely important lead pokemon in my team in that he sets up stealth rock as an entry hazard and sticky web as a pure nuissance. Often times I'll launch in a sticky web first turn (unless I see that there's a magic bounce pokemon in the other team) and then follow it up with a stealth rock for some extra hurt and guaranteed 2HKO's on primal kyogre from physical attacks and 2HKO on primal groudon from special attackers. Shuckle also checks a leading power herb xerneas because I can simply encore first turn, then sticky web, stealth rock, encore again, toxic, and place xerneas in a geomancy loop, cutting off immediate danger. For pokemon that often set up swords dance or substiture or the such, I can encore, sticky web then switch off to a pokemon with roar. I can also take out darkrais who use dark void + nasty plot and I shut down a smeargle completely. Mental herb is used to get a guaranteed sticky web on the opposing team. If my opponent has a sableye/espeon/diancie in their team, I will not lead with shuckle. I use shuckle over galvantula simply for his anti-set capabilities.
Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Leech Seed
- Encore
- Protect
- Substitute
Whimsicott is my main threat stopper/killer, being able to kill off any threat who managed to set up on me (through sleepset). Leech seed in the first turn allows whimsicott for immediate recovery followed by a protect, and I can go in a protect/substitute loop (with unpredictable and random substitutes in case my opponent decides to play smart and switch out). Any pokemon that tries to set on whimsicott will take an encore head on and will be forced to switch out, upon which I will use substitute for stalling purposes. This allows whimsicott to be an indirect attacker in the case that the opposing player will be forced to switch out multiple times and take repeated stealth rock damage, cancelling out focus sash deoxys or any other large threat, and assuring a priority OHKO from my other pokemon if defog/rapid spin is used. For defensively oriented pokemon or simply pokemon who use status moves (dark void darkrai or klefki for example) I tend to use substitute and then catch them in an encore, forcing another switch. Since whimsicott forces many opponents to switch out, they'll be taking constant stealth rock damage if it's set up and be heavily weakened by the time my sweepers come out. With 0 IV's in its HP pool and 0 EV's, whimsicott can generally substitute every turn so I'm not forced to protect and get killed right away after switch. Whimsicott is also extremely useful against dragon type attackers because I can just switch whimsicott in, use encore, leech seed/substitute and begin subseed trolling, guaranteed to take out an opponent who isn't grass or has magic guard/magic bounce. Also an anti-set pokemon thanks to encore.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Scizor is another anti-xerneas pokemon and can in almost all cases 2HKO the likes of clefairy and eviolite chansey. Bullet punch with technician is boosted to 60 BP, which is then increased to 90 BP thanks to choice band and STAB makes it a 135 BP priority move. Also handles extremekiller arceus very well especially if they plan on using extremespeed constantly, and can deal heavy damage on the likes of kyogre if switched in to check scizor. Scizor is easily checked by most steel/water/fire type pokemon which are very common, but never goes down without leaving a dent for my other pokemon to deal with easily, even killing DD rayquaza and not letting many set pokemon to have a chance to attack without priority. Scizor also OHKO's both mewtwo Y and darkrai after stealth rock damage and takes out any deoxys-A threats. Pursuit can be used to check pokemon like latios/latias and in general scizor competes extremely well even in the likes of the AG meta, simply for its checking capabilities with a large amount of resistances.
Mewtwo-Mega-Y @ Mewtwonite Y
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psystrike
- Aura Sphere
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
Mewtwo-Y is probably the best sweeper I have on this team thanks to its reliably base speed and its capability of carrying a modest nature and safely attack first while sticky web is up. Mewtwo's attack flexibility allow him to OHKO several large threats (including darkrai, greninja, blaziken, rayquaza, salamcence) and 2HKO just about anything else. In general, thanks to sticky web, my mewtwo can outspeed timid mewtwo-Y and deal more damage at the same time, assuring victory against other mewtwo. With a whopping 535 attack, mewtwo-Y massively sweeps opposing teams and massively dents the likes of extremekiller arceus and has the ability to 2HKO most stall tanks. The only issue with mewtwo is that I have no room for taunt so an already set up defensive pokemon becomes a nuisance for mewtwo-Y and can heavily inflict seismic toss/toxic damage on him. However, mewtwo-Y proves to be one of the best uber pokemon to date and his raw power + speed make him one of if not the greatest threat of ubers.
Darkrai @ Life Orb
Ability: Bad Dreams
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Void
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt
- Nasty Plot
Darkrai proves to be an anti-status pokemon with taunt and can check just about any threat with dark void. If whimsicott encores a psychic attacker in a situation where whimsicott is guaranteed to die and I use protect + encore, I can switch in darkrai, set up a nasty plot on their switch out, and wreak havoc on teams. However, I have no room for recovery options for darkrai, but his checking capabilities prove a worthy pokemon. He also has the ability to check larger threats to my team such as sucker punch yveltal users (who tend to OHKO mewtwo-Y) and can make several other pokemon set up bait for him. Darkrai's high speed with timid and massive power with life orb turn him into a fast special sweeper, able to completely knock out an entire team that isn't expecting a whimsicott encore switch combo. Often times my opponent will use a magic bouncer opponent or have one in their party, and since most players switch into the magic bouncer in the hopes that I'll dark void, I can either set up a nasty plot or simply dark pulse and annihilate a team in that manner. Darkrai is also very rarely checked by geo xerneas despite weakness and resistances, and can take out any other dark type pokemon in the game.
Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpA
Naughty Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Stone Edge
And last but not least, is my primal groudon. Primal groudon has excellent defensive tanking capabilities able to wipe out swords dance/dragon dance extremespeed setters and OHKO's almost every single pokemon in the game with precipice blades, lava plume, or stone edge. Groudon is also anti-baton pass with roar and can mess up a smeargle + espeon team completely when shuckle isn't an option. With sticky web and stealth rock up, groudon attacks first over many pokemon despite his low speed and can OHKO any focus sash user out there. Any pokemon struggles against a faster groudon and usually takes more than 1 pokemon to deal with him. Groudon is easily checked by kyogre, but I'm able to use precipice blades for a nice 70%+ health removal (excluding stealth rock) and kyogre can then be taken out by a bullet punch from scizor. Groudon also has the ability to wipe out a banded or life orbed rayquaza and proves to be one of the best attackers in ubers. I've wanted to put sleep talk into his movepool but four-move syndrome holds him back from that option. I make my groudon carry a naughty nature because I like having lava plume as a viable option for attackinh (so no adamant) and groudon can still tank several special attacks from opponents. I use groudon over kyogre simply because of his mass coverage and ability to take out a kyogre or at least heavily dent a kyogre once they switch in to groudon, something kyogre struggles greatly with. With 504 base attack, precipice blades OHKO's almost anything that doesn't resist the attack, and stone edge covers flying types very well. Lava plume is an extremely good move for pokemon like surperior or ferrothorn. In general, when sticky web and stealth rock are up, I can safely use groudon as my second pokemon and have swept full out teams with groudon alone, even up at 1400 rank in ubers.
In conclusion, my team holds out extremely well against set up teams or baton passers, and takes out any defensive team thanks to taunt + roar and a mixture of raw power and speed. The most dangerous counters to my team are often mega kangaskhan with sucker punch, as sucker punch is a guaranteed kill on mewtwo and mega kangaskhan can take out whimsicott first turn even with focus sash thanks to its parental bond. My team also struggles with scarfed yveltal due to oblivion wing and sucker punch, assuring a kill on both mewtwo-Y and darkrai, but groudon and scizor hold out enough to kill yveltal. Defoggers also aren't an issue since I can encore and set with them, and with sticky web up, mewtwo-Y can attack two times on xerneas (killing it) even with a first turn geomancy. Deoxys-A also has mass killing capabilities once scizor and whimsicott are taken out and the opposing side has no stealth rock up, but groudon can counter fairly easily. Other than that though my team seems to do extremely well and unless my opponent sets up something unexpected, I can close out most teams. Still, is there anything unique in ubers that I should be aware of? How would I be able to prepare? Any suggestions on my current pokemon's movesets/choice of pokemon that should force me to switch to something else?
Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Sticky Web
- Toxic
- Encore
- Stealth Rock
Shuckle is an extremely important lead pokemon in my team in that he sets up stealth rock as an entry hazard and sticky web as a pure nuissance. Often times I'll launch in a sticky web first turn (unless I see that there's a magic bounce pokemon in the other team) and then follow it up with a stealth rock for some extra hurt and guaranteed 2HKO's on primal kyogre from physical attacks and 2HKO on primal groudon from special attackers. Shuckle also checks a leading power herb xerneas because I can simply encore first turn, then sticky web, stealth rock, encore again, toxic, and place xerneas in a geomancy loop, cutting off immediate danger. For pokemon that often set up swords dance or substiture or the such, I can encore, sticky web then switch off to a pokemon with roar. I can also take out darkrais who use dark void + nasty plot and I shut down a smeargle completely. Mental herb is used to get a guaranteed sticky web on the opposing team. If my opponent has a sableye/espeon/diancie in their team, I will not lead with shuckle. I use shuckle over galvantula simply for his anti-set capabilities.
Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Leech Seed
- Encore
- Protect
- Substitute
Whimsicott is my main threat stopper/killer, being able to kill off any threat who managed to set up on me (through sleepset). Leech seed in the first turn allows whimsicott for immediate recovery followed by a protect, and I can go in a protect/substitute loop (with unpredictable and random substitutes in case my opponent decides to play smart and switch out). Any pokemon that tries to set on whimsicott will take an encore head on and will be forced to switch out, upon which I will use substitute for stalling purposes. This allows whimsicott to be an indirect attacker in the case that the opposing player will be forced to switch out multiple times and take repeated stealth rock damage, cancelling out focus sash deoxys or any other large threat, and assuring a priority OHKO from my other pokemon if defog/rapid spin is used. For defensively oriented pokemon or simply pokemon who use status moves (dark void darkrai or klefki for example) I tend to use substitute and then catch them in an encore, forcing another switch. Since whimsicott forces many opponents to switch out, they'll be taking constant stealth rock damage if it's set up and be heavily weakened by the time my sweepers come out. With 0 IV's in its HP pool and 0 EV's, whimsicott can generally substitute every turn so I'm not forced to protect and get killed right away after switch. Whimsicott is also extremely useful against dragon type attackers because I can just switch whimsicott in, use encore, leech seed/substitute and begin subseed trolling, guaranteed to take out an opponent who isn't grass or has magic guard/magic bounce. Also an anti-set pokemon thanks to encore.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Scizor is another anti-xerneas pokemon and can in almost all cases 2HKO the likes of clefairy and eviolite chansey. Bullet punch with technician is boosted to 60 BP, which is then increased to 90 BP thanks to choice band and STAB makes it a 135 BP priority move. Also handles extremekiller arceus very well especially if they plan on using extremespeed constantly, and can deal heavy damage on the likes of kyogre if switched in to check scizor. Scizor is easily checked by most steel/water/fire type pokemon which are very common, but never goes down without leaving a dent for my other pokemon to deal with easily, even killing DD rayquaza and not letting many set pokemon to have a chance to attack without priority. Scizor also OHKO's both mewtwo Y and darkrai after stealth rock damage and takes out any deoxys-A threats. Pursuit can be used to check pokemon like latios/latias and in general scizor competes extremely well even in the likes of the AG meta, simply for its checking capabilities with a large amount of resistances.
Mewtwo-Mega-Y @ Mewtwonite Y
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psystrike
- Aura Sphere
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
Mewtwo-Y is probably the best sweeper I have on this team thanks to its reliably base speed and its capability of carrying a modest nature and safely attack first while sticky web is up. Mewtwo's attack flexibility allow him to OHKO several large threats (including darkrai, greninja, blaziken, rayquaza, salamcence) and 2HKO just about anything else. In general, thanks to sticky web, my mewtwo can outspeed timid mewtwo-Y and deal more damage at the same time, assuring victory against other mewtwo. With a whopping 535 attack, mewtwo-Y massively sweeps opposing teams and massively dents the likes of extremekiller arceus and has the ability to 2HKO most stall tanks. The only issue with mewtwo is that I have no room for taunt so an already set up defensive pokemon becomes a nuisance for mewtwo-Y and can heavily inflict seismic toss/toxic damage on him. However, mewtwo-Y proves to be one of the best uber pokemon to date and his raw power + speed make him one of if not the greatest threat of ubers.
Darkrai @ Life Orb
Ability: Bad Dreams
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Void
- Dark Pulse
- Taunt
- Nasty Plot
Darkrai proves to be an anti-status pokemon with taunt and can check just about any threat with dark void. If whimsicott encores a psychic attacker in a situation where whimsicott is guaranteed to die and I use protect + encore, I can switch in darkrai, set up a nasty plot on their switch out, and wreak havoc on teams. However, I have no room for recovery options for darkrai, but his checking capabilities prove a worthy pokemon. He also has the ability to check larger threats to my team such as sucker punch yveltal users (who tend to OHKO mewtwo-Y) and can make several other pokemon set up bait for him. Darkrai's high speed with timid and massive power with life orb turn him into a fast special sweeper, able to completely knock out an entire team that isn't expecting a whimsicott encore switch combo. Often times my opponent will use a magic bouncer opponent or have one in their party, and since most players switch into the magic bouncer in the hopes that I'll dark void, I can either set up a nasty plot or simply dark pulse and annihilate a team in that manner. Darkrai is also very rarely checked by geo xerneas despite weakness and resistances, and can take out any other dark type pokemon in the game.
Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpA
Naughty Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Stone Edge
And last but not least, is my primal groudon. Primal groudon has excellent defensive tanking capabilities able to wipe out swords dance/dragon dance extremespeed setters and OHKO's almost every single pokemon in the game with precipice blades, lava plume, or stone edge. Groudon is also anti-baton pass with roar and can mess up a smeargle + espeon team completely when shuckle isn't an option. With sticky web and stealth rock up, groudon attacks first over many pokemon despite his low speed and can OHKO any focus sash user out there. Any pokemon struggles against a faster groudon and usually takes more than 1 pokemon to deal with him. Groudon is easily checked by kyogre, but I'm able to use precipice blades for a nice 70%+ health removal (excluding stealth rock) and kyogre can then be taken out by a bullet punch from scizor. Groudon also has the ability to wipe out a banded or life orbed rayquaza and proves to be one of the best attackers in ubers. I've wanted to put sleep talk into his movepool but four-move syndrome holds him back from that option. I make my groudon carry a naughty nature because I like having lava plume as a viable option for attackinh (so no adamant) and groudon can still tank several special attacks from opponents. I use groudon over kyogre simply because of his mass coverage and ability to take out a kyogre or at least heavily dent a kyogre once they switch in to groudon, something kyogre struggles greatly with. With 504 base attack, precipice blades OHKO's almost anything that doesn't resist the attack, and stone edge covers flying types very well. Lava plume is an extremely good move for pokemon like surperior or ferrothorn. In general, when sticky web and stealth rock are up, I can safely use groudon as my second pokemon and have swept full out teams with groudon alone, even up at 1400 rank in ubers.
In conclusion, my team holds out extremely well against set up teams or baton passers, and takes out any defensive team thanks to taunt + roar and a mixture of raw power and speed. The most dangerous counters to my team are often mega kangaskhan with sucker punch, as sucker punch is a guaranteed kill on mewtwo and mega kangaskhan can take out whimsicott first turn even with focus sash thanks to its parental bond. My team also struggles with scarfed yveltal due to oblivion wing and sucker punch, assuring a kill on both mewtwo-Y and darkrai, but groudon and scizor hold out enough to kill yveltal. Defoggers also aren't an issue since I can encore and set with them, and with sticky web up, mewtwo-Y can attack two times on xerneas (killing it) even with a first turn geomancy. Deoxys-A also has mass killing capabilities once scizor and whimsicott are taken out and the opposing side has no stealth rock up, but groudon can counter fairly easily. Other than that though my team seems to do extremely well and unless my opponent sets up something unexpected, I can close out most teams. Still, is there anything unique in ubers that I should be aware of? How would I be able to prepare? Any suggestions on my current pokemon's movesets/choice of pokemon that should force me to switch to something else?
