A Trip Down UUnder

Donasin

I've been wanting to get some practice playing competitively before I start playing ladder OU. What better place for this than the UU scene? After many battles I've decided that I may actually like UU more than OU. During these battles my team has changed a lot. It went from being based around Moltres/Sandslash to becoming a completely different monster all together. That was rather long winded of me...Let's take a look at my current team, shall we?

Changes are in BOLD.

At a Glance

Is:
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Was:
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Cloyster (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 SAtk
Brave nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Ice Shard
- Surf
- Explosion
- Spikes

I have to really try out this lead but from what I have read it seems to be a great anti-crobat. Not only that but it still serves as a replacement for Arnicuno as it is also an ice pokemon. Spikes give me some damage I wouldn't have had before and if anyone has read my OU RMT you would know how big of a fan I am of explosion.
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Houndoom (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Dark Pulse
- Pursuit
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast

This guy was my lead for a long time. He did fantastic against those 'floating psychic' starters and did not do too shabby against Crobat. Yet now he is the only fire pokemon on the team so he is much more important than he once was. He sees most the action on my team and is a constant life saving, especially against ghost Pokemon. One Nasty Plot and he's ready to go. Changed to shiney so he could match cloyster.
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Ampharos (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Static
EVs: 210 HP/48 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Signal Beam
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunderbolt

I know none of you will agree with me on this but I think the versatility of this moveset is greatly hampered by Choice Specs and it is able to do almost as much damage with Expert Belt vs weaknesses. I changed toxic to focus blast due to almost unamious advice to do so. I also changed HP Grass to HP Ice as to have another dragon counter.I normally hate using choice items but seeing as this guy is made to combat what it is strong against I don't think I'll have a problem using it. I chose toxic over Focus Blast because I don't reallt trust a 70% hit chance. I may change it later. No longer my lead but this has only made his contribution to the team group greater. I chose this fella because 'lighter' electric Pokemon such as Raichu were far too frail for my liking. Ampharos is one of the 'bulkier' eletrics out there and also has the unique ability to use both Rain Dance and Thunder; a dangerous combitation. I'm using him as my lead at the moment because I thought he would be a good Crobat counter. This is turning out not to be as true as I had hoped but them a foolish Crobat does use Rain Dance the results are amazing.
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Sandslash (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Night Slash
- Rapid Spin

While Sandslash is no longer the legendary bird support he was designed to be, he still finds a great niche on this team. Scyther is not a fan of stealth rock and benenifts greatly from Sandslash's presence. That being said this guy can stand on his own and often 1 or 2 hit OKs many Pokemon that would pose a great threat to my team otherwise. If Houndoom is down he also is great versus ghosts with Night Slash.
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Scyther (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk/6 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Aerial Ace
- X-Scissor
- Brick Break
- Swords Dance

The lack of Flying type moves with the legendary birds always got to me. Scyther meet this need with Aerial Ace and also gave me a way to destroy Pokemon that have given me trouble in the past. Ludicolo to be precise. Often fitting with much more power than the birds Scyther has found a home (as of now) on this team. She also allows Leafeon which was using the Sweeper set to move to the Baton Pass set which helps everyone on the team.
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Leafeon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Leaf Guard
EVs: 130 HP/164 Atk/ 216 Spe
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Baton Pass
- Roar

Swords Dance, swords dance, baton pass, use leaf blade if the opponents weak vs. grass, use roar if its strong against it. As most of you can tell by now by team is made up of mostly sweepers so this little fella provides the team with some much needed support and, at the same time, hold his own against many common Pokemon.
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On the side lines (not actively apart of the team):
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Azumarill (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Return
- Waterfall
- Belly Drum
- Ice Punch

Azaumarill's amazing attack + belly drum and maybe a baton pass = sweep. I had him with his rest set for along time but once I got rid of Aranicuno I really needed an ice move on the team. Overall he even does the job of being a sub ice Pokemon better than Aranicuno.
 
Why would you waste a turn for Rain Dance and Thunder when you can just use a powerful Tbolt? And Damp Rock is a waste of an item on Ampharos and doesn't really support the rest of your team.

As for Azumarill I doubt you are ever going to pull of a Belly Drum and survive let alone be able to sweep with it's poor speed. I'd just change him to the standard aqua jet leftovers one.

What does expert belt help Houndoom KO? Dark Pulse is only super effective against psychics. I'd replace that for a focus sash so maybe you can pull off a plot or take a hit if rocks aren't up.
 
Burzum said:
Why would you waste a turn for Rain Dance and Thunder when you can just use a powerful Tbolt? And Damp Rock is a waste of an item on Ampharos and doesn't really support the rest of your team.

As for Azumarill I doubt you are ever going to pull of a Belly Drum and survive let alone be able to sweep with it's poor speed. I'd just change him to the standard aqua jet leftovers one.

What does expert belt help Houndoom KO? Dark Pulse is only super effective against psychics. I'd replace that for a focus sash so maybe you can pull off a plot or take a hit if rocks aren't up.
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Thunder, which is approximately 25% more powerful than Thunderbolt and offers a 30% paralysis rate but it only has a 70% hit chance. With Rain Dance it raises to 100%. But you are right on the item part.

Once again right on the item part but why would I want Aqua Jet when Waterfall is also physical and has a higher base power? Also which set is considered the standard aqua jet one?

Changed by Houndoom as you suggested.

Which Pokemon do you think I should use as my lead? That's my biggest issue right now.
 
What Burzum was saying is that by the time you set up rain dance and then start thundering, you do a total of 180 base damage over the two turns. By that time you could of used thunderbolt twice, dealing 270 base damage (each includes STAB bonus. You are assuming that you will be able to stay in and thunder for numerous turns in a row. You wont. Most people will chase you out, KO you, or bring in a ground type. Plus, you then weaken Houndoom and risk Sandslash getting KOed by stronger water attacks. Rain Dance just isn't worth it.

Aqua Jet is better in this case because Azumarill's slow speed can be bypassed. You're also still planning on getting off a belly drum after switching in and then slowly attacking your foe. At the very least use Aqua Jet. That way you can hopefully kill them before they hit you. Your speed is working against you now.
 
Smallarf said:
What Burzum was saying is that by the time you set up rain dance and then start thundering, you do a total of 180 base damage over the two turns. By that time you could of used thunderbolt twice, dealing 270 base damage (each includes STAB bonus. You are assuming that you will be able to stay in and thunder for numerous turns in a row. You wont. Most people will chase you out, KO you, or bring in a ground type. Plus, you then weaken Houndoom and risk Sandslash getting KOed by stronger water attacks. Rain Dance just isn't worth it.

Aqua Jet is better in this case because Azumarill's slow speed can be bypassed. You're also still planning on getting off a belly drum after switching in and then slowly attacking your foe. At the very least use Aqua Jet. That way you can hopefully kill them before they hit you. Your speed is working against you now.
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Oh okay, I see now. Thank you for the explanation.

I think I'm going to give this Cloyster set a try. This kinda removes the Azumarill issue for now but I'll be sure to change it to Aqua Jet if I am to use him again.
 
the reason aqua jet rocks on azumarill is that it gets priority and STAB rather than freaking out about whether your outrunning threats with waterfall after sacrificing half your HP from Belly Drum. remember that with aqua jet, having ice punch is no longer illegal with ice punch now as a platinum move tutor move. i agree with switching out azumarill though, the team is really quite solid even though i'm no UU expert.

with ampharos, good to see you have swapped out thunder for thunderbolt but there is no need to have rain dance still. with the relatively offensive nature of the team either the standard set in the analysis or the specs set in the analysis would be great, probably use the specs set. http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/ampharos

may i suggest this EV spread for leafeon: 132 HP / 160 Atk / 216 Spe (jolly)
that allows the neccesary speed to outrun base 90's as thats all that is needed. the HP allows neccessary bulk to get up those swords dances and allowing easy use of roar without fainting each time you try. The rest are dumped into attack to aid his crazy leaf blades. wish would also be a nice option over roar, as you will be baton passing to appropriate counteres regardless so roar isn't entirely neccessary and wish passing is really useful.

you might also want to consider baton pass on scyther so the pass doesn't end when you switch out, where you replace it should be either x-scisor preferably so your not walled by steel on both baton passers. thats pretty optional and not completely necessary for scyther but consider it.
 
Thanks Smallarf.

CREAM_93 said:
the reason aqua jet rocks on azumarill is that it gets priority and STAB rather than freaking out about whether your outrunning threats with waterfall after sacrificing half your HP from Belly Drum. remember that with aqua jet, having ice punch is no longer illegal with ice punch now as a platinum move tutor move. i agree with switching out azumarill though, the team is really quite solid even though i'm no UU expert.

with ampharos, good to see you have swapped out thunder for thunderbolt but there is no need to have rain dance still. with the relatively offensive nature of the team either the standard set in the analysis or the specs set in the analysis would be great, probably use the specs set. http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/ampharos

may i suggest this EV spread for leafeon: 132 HP / 160 Atk / 216 Spe (jolly)
that allows the neccesary speed to outrun base 90's as thats all that is needed. the HP allows neccessary bulk to get up those swords dances and allowing easy use of roar without fainting each time you try. The rest are dumped into attack to aid his crazy leaf blades. wish would also be a nice option over roar, as you will be baton passing to appropriate counteres regardless so roar isn't entirely neccessary and wish passing is really useful.

you might also want to consider baton pass on scyther so the pass doesn't end when you switch out, where you replace it should be either x-scisor preferably so your not walled by steel on both baton passers. thats pretty optional and not completely necessary for scyther but consider it.
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I changed up my Ampharos as you suggested. I normally hate choice movesets but I think it could work with this guy. Leafeon has like wise been changed.

I thought about the baton pass for Scyther but I need X-Scissor to deal with Physics if Houndoom dies. I will test it out though just to see how it works.

Thanks for the help.
 
DD Altaria rips through this team. Only cloyster can stop it, and you normally blow it up! I suggest a bulky poliwrath over ampharos, just to deal with weaknesses.
 
Waterfall could work, but Surf does more vs Steelix / Regirock who are often used as anti-Crobat leads. This Cloyster lead beats Crobat leads, and anti-crobat leads alike. Thats why I like it :D

Anyway, I think you should definitely use Focus Blast on Ampharos. With Registeel out of the way, you will have much much easier time sweeping with Scyther and Leafeon.
 
Question:

Now that Crobat is out of UU (for now) is Cloyster still a good lead?

EDIT: Also is there a Eeveelution that would fit my team better than Leafeon?
 
Donasin said:
Question:

Now that Crobat is out of UU (for now) is Cloyster still a good lead?

EDIT: Also is there a Eeveelution that would fit my team better than Leafeon?
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No it is not. Uxie is now the most common lead and Cloyster doesn't like the trick scarf or the Dual screen/memento setup.
 
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