With the recent reset of the UU leader board, I felt it was a nice time to get involved with the UU metagame. Not knowing much about this metagame in general I went in with only one solid idea, to make use of the rather fun CroEntei set I had come across, other than this I was fairly lost with what to use. Because of this the team seemed somewhat random, but in the most functional sense of the word. After a while of laddering I began to run into some problems, and at a general loss to fix this on my own, I decided to make a RMT. So, enough with the introductions, here is the team:
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@ Focus Sash
Snow Cloak | Hasty | 4 Atk/252 SpA/252 Spe
~ Shadow Ball
~ Spikes
~ Thunderbolt
~ Ice Shard
Froslass is a fairly common lead in UU, but it did what I wanted, laid some entry hazards while still being able to hold its own against some of the hazard blocking leads of the tier. The EVs given allow Lass to get Spikes down as fast as possible and hit as hard as it can against those leads that will block its Spikes. The nature was chosen to give a boost to Lass’ speed without damaging either of it’s offensive stats, in order to make use of the handy little tool that is Ice Shard, and it does not really require either of its defenses to be immensely high. Focus Sash means I am pretty much guaranteed at least one layer of Spikes, and helps take down such things as opposing Froslass when an offensive strategy is employed. If Lass is able to survive these first turns it provides a handy set of immunities and helps spin block if needs be (this can come in handy considering the lack of any other kind of spin blocker on this team).
@ Leftovers
Clear Body | Careful | 252 HP/100 Atk/156 SpD
~ Earthquake
~ Iron Head
~ Stealth Rock
~ Toxic
Registeel, one of the mainstays of UU and a very handy member of this team. It provides a very useful dragon resist, while giving nice overall bulk to the team. Stealth Rock adds another layer of entry hazards to help rack up the passive damage that Entei loves. The EVs are those found on the standard Special wall Registeel and they have been used to help patch up the weakness the team has to water types and specially inclined Pokemon in general (as before Entei sets up it does not have the greatest defenses). Earthquake and Iron Head help Registeel do some damage to opposing Pokemon and stop it from becoming Taunt bait (and a possible dead weight in a situation where it is the only remaining team member). Toxic is the move that had the most thought placed behind it. Before Toxic was on this set the team had a very large problem with taking Milotic down. While ResTalk variants still beat this, Toxic helps take care of a large majority of Milotic while Registeel is able to take the damage that Milotic is dishing out.
@ Leftovers
Pressure | Timid | 252 HP/160 Def/96 Spe
~ Flamethrower
~ Calm Mind
~ Rest
~ Sleep Talk
The main purpose of the team, CroEntei really can shine in the UU environment. The generally expected set is an offensive Calm Minder or a Substitute Calm Minder, so CroEntei has an advantage from the start. Status commonly hinders other CM Entei sets, but with Rest this can be easily avoided. The other moves should explain themselves (Sleep Talk to work with Rest, Calm Mind to boost its stats and Flamethrower for reliable STAB). The EVs may seem a little odd for a defensively minded set, but with the given Speed Entei is guaranteed to outrun every possible Venusaur set, which is advantageous as it can set up on many of these sets (all bar those running Earthquake). The basic idea is to bring Entei in once all the Pokemon who wall its STAB have been removed and set up, making full use of its good stats to clear through many Pokemon in the tier.
@ Leftovers
Natural Cure | Impish | 236 HP/252 Atk/20 Spe
~ Roost
~ Dragon Dance
~ Earthquake
~ Outrage
The team had a rather large ground weakness and at times had trouble with certain fire and grass type Pokemon. A nice answer to this was Altaria, who provided a nice amount of bulk and a nice set of resistances. The EVs give Altaria the bulk it needs, while not cutting back on power. The nature helps to balance out the defences and the 20 Speed EVs allow Altaria to outrun neutral nature max Speed base 100s after one Dragon Dance. Dragon Dance is the stat boosting move every physical attacker loves to have, and Altaria greatly appreciates both of these boosts as without them it's not that threatening. Roost is reliable recovery, and Outrage and Earthquake are a good attacking combination as they provide good coverage. The option to run an offensive set came from a desire to have a back up to Entei, especially since Entei is rendered near useless when the opposing team makes use of Rain Dance. While this set has served both purposes rather well, it does not completely cover the Rain dance sweeper problem, but I can not really see a way around this problem.
@ Choice Scarf
Limber | Adamant | 40 HP/252 Atk/216 Spe
~ Blaze Kick
~ Close Combat
~ Earthquake
~ Stone Edge
ScarfLee is one of the two revenge killers I use on the team. It helps the team cover problematic Pokemon such as Raikou and many other faster Pokemon that are a bit too fast for my other Pokemon to handle. The EVs and nature allow it to outrun nearly every Pokemon in the tier (provided they do not have any speed boosts) while maximizing its offensive power. Close Combat is a given, STAB with excellent power and no real worries about the stat drops. Stone Edge helps to provide a check to all non-scarf Moltres as well as other fliers. Earthquake hits the Poison types of the tier, helping with Drapion (who can be rather problematic) as well as the likes of Arcanine. Blaze Kick was chosen for the extra coverage it provides against Venusaur, as there are several variants that Entei cannot handle.
@ Choice Band
Huge Power | Adamant | 240 HP/252 Atk/16 Spe
~ Aqua Jet
~ Ice Punch
~ Superpower
~ Return
Azumarill helps to provide some much needed priority to the team. With the Water type being a major threat within the tier and Entei having a large weakness to Water, it only makes sense to have another resistance to the type on the team. Azumarill’s large amount of power helps to clean up any Pokemon that could hinder Entei’s sweep (especially the aforementioned Water types). The EVs give Azumarill some bulk, as it has no need for speed, which assists in switching into the Water attacks aimed at Entei, and at the same time maximizes its offense to do as much damage as possible. The 16 Speed EVs ensure that Azumarill outruns all other base speed 50s, even if they invest slightly in Speed.
In all of the testing of these team, the only real problem that stood out was something of a lack of an ability to deal with water types on a whole. Weather teams also cause problems on some level (rain in particular).
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Snow Cloak | Hasty | 4 Atk/252 SpA/252 Spe
~ Shadow Ball
~ Spikes
~ Thunderbolt
~ Ice Shard
Froslass is a fairly common lead in UU, but it did what I wanted, laid some entry hazards while still being able to hold its own against some of the hazard blocking leads of the tier. The EVs given allow Lass to get Spikes down as fast as possible and hit as hard as it can against those leads that will block its Spikes. The nature was chosen to give a boost to Lass’ speed without damaging either of it’s offensive stats, in order to make use of the handy little tool that is Ice Shard, and it does not really require either of its defenses to be immensely high. Focus Sash means I am pretty much guaranteed at least one layer of Spikes, and helps take down such things as opposing Froslass when an offensive strategy is employed. If Lass is able to survive these first turns it provides a handy set of immunities and helps spin block if needs be (this can come in handy considering the lack of any other kind of spin blocker on this team).
Clear Body | Careful | 252 HP/100 Atk/156 SpD
~ Earthquake
~ Iron Head
~ Stealth Rock
~ Toxic
Registeel, one of the mainstays of UU and a very handy member of this team. It provides a very useful dragon resist, while giving nice overall bulk to the team. Stealth Rock adds another layer of entry hazards to help rack up the passive damage that Entei loves. The EVs are those found on the standard Special wall Registeel and they have been used to help patch up the weakness the team has to water types and specially inclined Pokemon in general (as before Entei sets up it does not have the greatest defenses). Earthquake and Iron Head help Registeel do some damage to opposing Pokemon and stop it from becoming Taunt bait (and a possible dead weight in a situation where it is the only remaining team member). Toxic is the move that had the most thought placed behind it. Before Toxic was on this set the team had a very large problem with taking Milotic down. While ResTalk variants still beat this, Toxic helps take care of a large majority of Milotic while Registeel is able to take the damage that Milotic is dishing out.
Pressure | Timid | 252 HP/160 Def/96 Spe
~ Flamethrower
~ Calm Mind
~ Rest
~ Sleep Talk
The main purpose of the team, CroEntei really can shine in the UU environment. The generally expected set is an offensive Calm Minder or a Substitute Calm Minder, so CroEntei has an advantage from the start. Status commonly hinders other CM Entei sets, but with Rest this can be easily avoided. The other moves should explain themselves (Sleep Talk to work with Rest, Calm Mind to boost its stats and Flamethrower for reliable STAB). The EVs may seem a little odd for a defensively minded set, but with the given Speed Entei is guaranteed to outrun every possible Venusaur set, which is advantageous as it can set up on many of these sets (all bar those running Earthquake). The basic idea is to bring Entei in once all the Pokemon who wall its STAB have been removed and set up, making full use of its good stats to clear through many Pokemon in the tier.
Natural Cure | Impish | 236 HP/252 Atk/20 Spe
~ Roost
~ Dragon Dance
~ Earthquake
~ Outrage
The team had a rather large ground weakness and at times had trouble with certain fire and grass type Pokemon. A nice answer to this was Altaria, who provided a nice amount of bulk and a nice set of resistances. The EVs give Altaria the bulk it needs, while not cutting back on power. The nature helps to balance out the defences and the 20 Speed EVs allow Altaria to outrun neutral nature max Speed base 100s after one Dragon Dance. Dragon Dance is the stat boosting move every physical attacker loves to have, and Altaria greatly appreciates both of these boosts as without them it's not that threatening. Roost is reliable recovery, and Outrage and Earthquake are a good attacking combination as they provide good coverage. The option to run an offensive set came from a desire to have a back up to Entei, especially since Entei is rendered near useless when the opposing team makes use of Rain Dance. While this set has served both purposes rather well, it does not completely cover the Rain dance sweeper problem, but I can not really see a way around this problem.
Limber | Adamant | 40 HP/252 Atk/216 Spe
~ Blaze Kick
~ Close Combat
~ Earthquake
~ Stone Edge
ScarfLee is one of the two revenge killers I use on the team. It helps the team cover problematic Pokemon such as Raikou and many other faster Pokemon that are a bit too fast for my other Pokemon to handle. The EVs and nature allow it to outrun nearly every Pokemon in the tier (provided they do not have any speed boosts) while maximizing its offensive power. Close Combat is a given, STAB with excellent power and no real worries about the stat drops. Stone Edge helps to provide a check to all non-scarf Moltres as well as other fliers. Earthquake hits the Poison types of the tier, helping with Drapion (who can be rather problematic) as well as the likes of Arcanine. Blaze Kick was chosen for the extra coverage it provides against Venusaur, as there are several variants that Entei cannot handle.
Huge Power | Adamant | 240 HP/252 Atk/16 Spe
~ Aqua Jet
~ Ice Punch
~ Superpower
~ Return
Azumarill helps to provide some much needed priority to the team. With the Water type being a major threat within the tier and Entei having a large weakness to Water, it only makes sense to have another resistance to the type on the team. Azumarill’s large amount of power helps to clean up any Pokemon that could hinder Entei’s sweep (especially the aforementioned Water types). The EVs give Azumarill some bulk, as it has no need for speed, which assists in switching into the Water attacks aimed at Entei, and at the same time maximizes its offense to do as much damage as possible. The 16 Speed EVs ensure that Azumarill outruns all other base speed 50s, even if they invest slightly in Speed.
In all of the testing of these team, the only real problem that stood out was something of a lack of an ability to deal with water types on a whole. Weather teams also cause problems on some level (rain in particular).
