A Wonderful Group of Underdogs

CXZ

So, Smogon here would be the suspects for my odd little experiment in the UU tier:

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Gallade
Ability: Justified
Item: Leftovers
Moveset:
  • Bulk Up
  • Drain Punch
  • Pyscho Cut
  • Shadow Sneak
Nature: Impish
EV's:
  • Atk: 200
  • Def: 200
  • Spd: 108

My favorite Pokemon in any game, as well as the Pokemon that I have found to have an attack for any sort of situation. I have boosted my Gallade's poorer stats, as well as bolster it's already strong ones. After a single Bulk Up, it is capable of taking most hits, as well as dishing them back out again, healing itself with drain punch in some situations. It may not have the best priority move in the book, but Shadow Sneak has shown to be a saving grace in some situations. Gallade is a staple to this team.
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Primeape
Ability: Defiant
Item: Choice Scarf
Moveset:
  • Close Combat
  • Stone Edge
  • U-Turn
  • Brick Break
Nature: Adamant
EV's:
  • Atk: 252
  • Def: 4
  • Spd: 252

My wonderful little revenge hitter, this guy is. My Primeape's role in this team should be obvious enough to anyone just glancing at this; I throw him out, he attacks, things usually fall down after the attack, then I pull him back in, nothing much more to say. It is very capable in speed and attack, as well as maybe taking a single hit before CC, however I'd like something that could replace brick break, perhaps. I don't seem to use the attack much.
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Quagsire
Ability: Unaware
Item: Leftovers
Moveset:
  • Stockpile
  • Recover
  • Seismic Toss
  • Toxic
Nature: Sassy
EV's:
  • Atk: 56
  • Def: 200
  • SpD: 252

Oh, this one... Oh, how many people have been in a frustrated rage when going up against her. My Quagsire, as a stall tank has seen next to no competition in the field. A single stockpile usually seems to do the trick whenever I throw her in, then it is nothing but recover spams, toxic spreads, and seismic tosses all over everywhere. The only things that seem to get it is a well placed grass move, roar, or toxic. I have no complaints with this Pokemon, really.
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Aggron
Ability: Rock Head
Item: Air Balloon
Moveset:
  • Automatize
  • Earthquake
  • Head Smash
  • Hone Claws
Nature: Careful
EV's:
  • Atk: 252
  • SpD: 252
  • Spd: 4

Okay, the metal head... My Aggron is not the best of the team, however by no terms is he the worst. Although I prefer to use a combination of both Automatize and Hone Claws, I do start with the speed boost, simply for the hope I can get the drop on the opponent and use Aggron's attack well. I wouldn't mind replacing him for something more durable, however it would draw a tear to my eye to see him go.
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Arbok
Ability: Shed Skin
Item: Black Sludge
Moveset:
  • Coil
  • Earthquake
  • Gunk Shot
  • Sucker Punch
Nature: Impish
EV's:
  • Atk: 200
  • Def: 56
  • Spd: 252

Now, this one and the one after it are a bit controversial in my mind. Both usually go down quite quickly, compared to the rest, however, if they do hit, they usually carry with the attack an incredible amount of power. Arbok holds the place on my team as a possible tank surprise-kill or a risk attack to try and poison the opponent.
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Lunatone
Ability: Levitate
Item: Leftovers
Moveset:
  • Calm Mind
  • Earth Power
  • Ice Beam
  • Psychic
Nature: Timid
EV's:
  • Def: 252
  • SpA: 200
  • SpD: 56

As I said before, my Lunatone isn't one known for staying on the field for too long. It usually gets in a single attack or two before seeing stars, however I enjoy the confusion it give the opponent as some don't expect the attacks it throws out or what it is capable of doing. If there is another Pokemon with a better typing/moveset, I'd be happy to change it out for this one.
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Now, for those of you looking this over, I can't help but wonder what your thoughts are. Possibly along the lines of "This is an RU Team, it's bound to lose in this tier, what are you doing with this?" However, I can't help but notice that this team wins about twice as much as it loses. So, now that I have laid my cards on the table, I ask you to please help me win more than twice as much. Please may you rate my team, Smogon, I would love your advice on how to keep my rarely used Pokemon strong against the under used.
 
Hey there. If you could add some pics then it would make it much nicer to read, and then I may be able to give it a rate.
 
Thanks for adding some pictures.

Alright, welcome to Smogon and UU! This is a really fun tier, where a lot of things are viable, well more so than OU. Now, this team is going to have to go through a lot of changes, and I might have to completely rebuild this team because a lot of these Pokemon are unviable in this tier.

It seems to me that your team is built around Gallade, which is great. However, I don't think that the Bulk Up set is the way to go, since he is outclassed by Scrafty in that regard. The Swords Dance set however is a good idea, and can take out physical walls like Gligar for the rest of your team if you run Ice Punch and Night Slash. Night Slash provides perfect coverage alongside Close Combat/Drain Punch, and handles Slowbro and Cofagrigus nicely while Ice Punch mauls Gligar and Zapdos. This set serves as a great wallbreaker which the rest of the tiers fighting types can't do as Heracross is walled by Gligar and Cofagrigus, Scrafty takes too long to set-up and Mienshao also can't break through Cofagrigus. For the nature, go with Jolly since it allows you to outspeed Specs Chandelure/Modest Chandelure in general, and you still 2HKO all the physical walls in the metagame. You only need to run 164 speed ev's to outspeed Chandy(tying with Hera is pointless since most are Scarf and you can't KO anyway. And you tie, which is stupid. Why tie when you can outspeed? Bad analysis there).

Having a Pokemon to take advantage of this would be a good idea then. There are many Pokemon that really appreciate these walls being taken out-and none more so than Heracross. If you have played UU at all, you will know that MoxieHeraboss is a beast when his checks/counters have been eliminated(not that there are many), and since Gallade does such a good job at this then Heracross is free to sweep late-game. Obviously, you need to put him over Primeape since Primeape is fairly terrible in UU, and RU as well. Also, Gallade and Heracross are both fighting types but have farily good synergy together since they both have incredibly different roles. The typing really isn't an issue, since Hera is a late game sweeper and won't be taking hits and neither will Gallade. Gallade takes out Gligar, Cofagrigus, Zapdos(SubRoost, the only set that seems to pose a problem, is outright 1HKO'd on the Roost, while defensive sets are 2HKO'd with ease. After rocks, he should be a non-issue for Heracross) and Arcanine to name a few. The few ghosts that outspeed Gallade, namely Mismagius, is very rare and is going to be seriously damaged by Heracross, and Gallade is such a boss that he isn't even 1HKO'd(seriously, Gallade is awesome)by Mismagius's Shadow Ball.

Now, we need some sort of defensive backbone. Obviously, neither of these guys can take hits at all-especially powerful Flying and Ghost type moves that plague both Gallade and Heracross. I suggest using Porygon2. Porygon2 has an offensive presence, isn't crippled by burn unlike Snorlax and has reliable recovery in Recover. Download is the preferred ability, as the fact that Pory's mere presence will prevent people from using Fire Blast on Chandelure means that it isn't really necessary. Also, this is an offensive team, and Pory will really appreciate the extra boost from Download(Analytic is a poor choice of ability IMO). Porygon's fighting type weakness is taken by Heracross and Gallade(to an extent), although Heracross can trap Specs Chandelure locked into HP Fighting nicely and Gallade can set-up on it. That's the extent of it though really, since they aren't ment for taking powerful hits. If you'd prefer to run Trace to avoid Earthquake's from Flygon and hard-counter Chandelure then that's fine-they are both great abilities. The set would be 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe for maximum power and the 4 Speed ev's speed creep other Porygon2's.

You are still going to have trouble taking on the likes of Mienshao / Heracross's powerful assaults, since Mienshao's Hi Jump Kick does a ton to everything on your team. Cofagrigus is a nice idea, as Cofagrigus is a great sweeper on it's own with the Offensive Trick Room set, and forms a really nice core with Porygon2. It does of course cover your weakness to fighting types very nicely. Shadow Ball / HP Fighting has perfect coverage, while Nasty Plot allows him to raise his SpA to massive levels. Even after Trick Room has ended, both Porygon2 and Gallade can abuse it nicely. Although Gallade seems fairly fast, he can wreck offensive team when Trick Room is up thanks to his coverage and the fact that he misses out on many top tier threats like Heracross and Nidoking.

You still have a quite significant weakness to fire types however, as things like Victini and LO Darmanitan rip your team to shreds. Rhyperior makes a good addition to this team, able to tank Fire type moves, as well as counter Raikou with ease as long as you go with the specially defensive spread. His biggest counters, namely Roserade and Shaymin, are both handled by Heracross with ease and both can be hit very hard on the switch-in. 244 HP / 16 Att / 248 SpD with an Adamant nature is the best set at the moment, allowing him to handle many special attacking threats with ease. He makes a far superior choice over Lunatone, who doesn't really have any worth in any tier.

The final member needs to patch up some of the holes. First off, strong water attacks can pose a problem, although there aren't that many, as will Earthquakes. Also, stall teams can pose some problem if Gallade is continually phased out. Rotom-C seems to solve all of these problems, thanks to an immunity to ground and resistance to water. Trick also enables him to cripple a wall such as Roserade or Suicune who can pose a threat to Heracross's sweeping power, and he is an effective revenge killer on top of this. HP Fire is for Heracross mainly, Leaf Storm is his most powerful move when something needs to be killed fast, Volt Switch gives you momentum and an opportunity for Gallade, Heracross or any of your team members really to wreck things. I've already explained the purpose of Trick.

I hope that I have helped you out. I'm sorry that I had to rebuild your team, but it seems quite solid now. Here are the sets and importable:


Gallade (M) @ Lum Berry
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 164 Spd / 92 HP
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch
- Night Slash

Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Trait: Download
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature
- Tri Attack
- Discharge
- Ice Beam
- Recover

Cofagrigus @ Leftovers
Trait: Mummy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Def
Quiet Nature
IVs: 30 Def / 30 SAtk / 30 SDef / 0 Spd
- Trick Room
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

Rhyperior @ Leftovers
Trait: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 244 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail

Rotom-Mow @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Trick

GL with the team, and welcome to UU!
 
Hi, first of all here are some things you may change:

Your Gallade has room for more EVS you may want to put in Speed, and the 56 Atk EVs on Quagsire aren't doing anything (seismic toss is not affected by them). I would put them in HP instead (maybe that's a typo).

I would recommend a jolly nature on Gallade, because the speed is useful and after a bulk up you are taking most physical hits easily, also the afore-mentioned EVs. You seem to be using a lot of set up sweepers and tanks, so something like sacred sword Cobalion could hit a lot of your team hard: that's just an example, not neccesarily. I would recommend getting a spinner and maybe a spin-blocker and some entry hazards, as in UU those are really common, for good reason. An easy change could be giving Aggron stealth rock instead of hone claws. It doesn't really need the boost if you give it an adamant nature, and the accuracy is only patching up Head Smash's base 80...
Another idea is to switch Aggron for Bastiodon, if you want a more defensive approach. I would recommend this set:

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Bastiodon @ air balloon
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Sassy
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Def/ 4 SpD
-Metal Burst
-Stealth Rock
-Roar
-Taunt

Taunt + Metal Burst mean that you can guarantee hitting the enmy hard, and with sturdy, even hitmontop isn't KO ing with close combat( or any other pokemon). Stealth Rock is something you direly need and Roar helps rack up damage with them.

Maybe you could switch lunatone for claydol. It's pretty similar, but it can spin and is more defensive. I would also change Arbok for a spike setter drapion, maybe with whirlwind like roar on Bastiodon, or sniper + scope lens abuse.


Of Course, the best way to make it more effective, is to take away UU threats like Chandelure, flygon, kingdra, victini and darmanitan (to name a few) and move it down to RU. Otherwise, the ideas already posted seem great, if making it more of a solid UU team.

GL and I hope I helped
 
I like using lower tier pokemon in UU myself, however you're brave to use 6. As mentioned in the post above me; having 5 pokemon rely on setup can be really bad for you so I would reconsider that.

You mention you need to replace Brick Break on Primeape, I'd suggest Ice Punch.

I can't be harsh on Lunatone as I've honestly never seen nor heard of one used in UU until now. But as you already have great Special walls Nidoking should replace it. It gives better coverage and packs power.

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Nidoking @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Earth Power
-Ice Beam
-Thunderbolt
-Fire Blast

You can use Sludge Wave over Fire Blast for better accuracy on Grass types but Levitate Bronzong does then completely wall you.

Overall I admire the challenge of using this team but there is a reason they live in lower tiers, but if you win 66% of your matches they must be doing something right. Hope I've helped and good luck.
 
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