ORAS UU Awake and Alive

[Amaroq]

Introduction
​

Hey, everyone. Now that ORAS is drawing to a close and I'm out of the last available ORAS UU tournament in which I'm likely to use this team, I thought it would be a good time to post a team I consider emblematic of my style in a lot of ways. This is fairly standard, basic balance built around a Water/Fairy/Steel defensive core, two boosting win conditions, and Mega Aerodactyl. I haven't used it in any tournaments (I was saving it for either my tiebreaker vs. amber lamps or bracket stage, but then Ice Tea went and won the tiebreaker and I didn't get the chance to bring this out), but it has done very well on the ladder, peaking at 1700 with a GXE of 88.6 and a win/loss record of 54-8. I also earned voting rights during the Hydreigon suspect test using this team. It's a good ladder team because the team's structure allows it to recover from mistakes and react to whatever random, nonsensical sets or plays the ladder decides to throw at the user. I've been trying to branch out as a player and develop more diverse builds, but I'm very comfortable using this team since it derives from my roots as a balance player. The name has a twofold meaning: I like the song, and "awake" and "alive" are two of the things I don't feel or want to be when I'm laddering, especially during periods like the Hydreigon suspect test.

Proof of Peak

Teambuilding Process​

Teambuilding Process

I started with a pretty standard Water/Fairy/Steel defensive core containing Swampert and Forretress for hazard stacking and control and Sylveon for Wish and cleric support.

I added Celebi and Conkeldurr to serve as win conditions to break through bulkier builds, since both benefit from hazard stacking and Sylveon's support options.

Mega Aerodactyl finished the team off by serving as a fast anti-offense Pokemon, outspeeding every unboosted Pokemon in the tier, and providing a key backup check and revenge killer to certain threats that would otherwise give me more trouble.

The Team
​

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Roar

Swampert is the obligatory bulky Water-type and the first component of my hazard-stacking strategy. Swampert checks many prominent Pokemon in the current metagame, such as Entei, Mega Aerodactyl, Mamoswine, Nidoqueen, and more. While normally it can be worn down and is vulnerable to status, Sylveon provides it with semi-reliable recovery and removes status. I can get away with being reckless with Swampert because Sylveon allows it to recover from damage or status that would ordinarily cripple it. Swampert's role compression is very valuable for this team since it allows me to fit my bulky Water-type, bulky Ground-type, Stealth Rock setter, and phazer into one slot. The set is standard. The EVs maximize physical bulk, Leftovers provides some passive recovery, Earthquake and Scald are STAB moves with good power and coverage, Stealth Rock provides passive damage on the opposing team, and Roar lets me shuffle the opposing team around to rack up hazard damage or force out something threatening.

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 244 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Heavy Slam
- Volt Switch

Forretress is my second hazard stacker and my bulky Steel-type. It provides me with a Rapid Spinner, Spikes, and a check to Pokemon such as Sylveon, Beedrill, and Sceptile. Forretress is very similar to Swampert in a lot of ways. It compresses a lot of roles into a single slot and it values Sylveon's Wish support in order to gain the recovery it wouldn't normally have. As with Swampert, I can take more risks with Forretress because I know I can mitigate the consequences through Sylveon's support. Spikes are very useful because this team forces switches through offensive and defensive pressure and can force the opponent to take residual damage without too much difficulty. The EV spread hits a jump point in Defense so that Forretress can take on threats such as Mega Aerodactyl, Mamoswine, and Haxorus more effectively, and the remaining EVs are allocated to Special Defense to handle Pokemon such as Sylveon and Celebi. I chose Heavy Slam over Gyro Ball to check Fairy-types more effectively. Volt Switch is important because it keeps Forretress from becoming a total momentum sink and allows me to Pursuit trap annoying Pokemon such as Chandelure for free.

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Hyper Voice
- Heal Bell

Sylveon is the key support member of my team. Its primary job is passing Wishes to and removing status from my other team members. Its secondary job is checking dangerous Dragon-types, Dark-types, and Fighting-types. Cleric Sylveon is one of the most valuable and splashable Pokemon in the tier because it provides the user with both its support options and the ability to check Hydreigon and Conkeldurr (and others) in a single slot (are you sensing a theme here?). Sylveon is the main reason that this team is successful on the ladder because it allows me to mitigate the consequences of my mistakes by passing Wishes to or removing status from the other members of the team. If I mispredict or get thrown off by some weird ladder set or play, I can just heal my other team members and try again. The EV spread allows me to take on physical attackers more effectively, since Sylveon's special bulk is generally sufficient to handle most special attackers I need it to deal with. Hyper Voice is the obligatory Pixilate-boosted STAB move and does surprising damage coming from a defensive Pokemon.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 48 HP / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball

Celebi is my first win condition and my main source of offensive pressure on the special side. It's this team's primary answer to most bulky Water-types and its secondary source of speed, since everything else is slow, except for Mega Aerodactyl. Celebi benefits from Sylveon's Wish support less that most of the rest of the team, but it still likes being able to switch in essentially for free. Celebi's main purpose in most matchups is to break down the opposing defensive core so that Conkeldurr can sweep, or to sweep after Conkeldurr has broken down the opposing team. Nasty Plot and dual STABs ensure that Celebi can sweep, while Shadow Ball allows Celebi to deal with Pokemon such as Cresselia, Reuniclus, and other Celebi, which would ordinarily be problematic. It also allows me to catch Pokemon such as Metagross and Bronzong on the switch and defeat Forretress, which walls Dazzling Gleam variants of Celebi. The EV spread gives Celebi an additional point of Leftovers recovery and skews certain rolls in my favor (for example, Mega Aerodactyl only has a 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock, which means I can win Pursuit mindgames with a lot less difficulty because I know I'll survive).

Conkeldurr @ Leftovers
Ability: Guts
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 244 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Mach Punch

Conkeldurr is my second win condition (and basically a free win against any team that doesn't have one of the very few checks to this set, like Sylveon and Crobat). It's even more threatening with cleric support, which allows me to heal it at need and not worry about switching it into random Toxics. In fact, I can absorb a Toxic for a temporary boost in power and use Heal Bell to remove it later, assuming doing so is beneficial. Conkeldurr is useful in any matchup because Bulk Up + Guts allows me to beat bulkier teams and Mach Punch helps compensate for the low overall speed of my team when I'm facing offense. Conkeldurr's bulk is also such that it often doesn't need to set up or function as a win condition vs. offense because it can simply tank a hit and recover HP with Drain Punch in order to remove something threatening. The moveset is standard. I run 16 Atk EVs and an Adamant nature for more innate power since I don't feel that Conkeldurr does enough damage otherwise, but I've considered running Careful.

Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace
- Pursuit
- Roost

Mega Aerodactyl is my final Pokemon and my Mega Evolution. It serves as my main win condition vs. offensive teams that can put too much pressure on this build to allow Celebi or Conkeldurr to set up. Mega Aerodactyl also provides Pursuit support and defensive synergy, which allows this team to handle fast threats it would normally struggle with. Mega Aerodactyl is my main source of speed control, since it outspeeds every non-boosted Pokemon in the tier as well as everything slower than +1 maximum speed base 85s. This lets Mega Aerodactyl serve as my primary check to dangerous Pokemon such as Chandelure. Its speed also lets it serve as a secondary answer to Pokemon like Feraligatr and Gyarados, since I can outspeed them after they boost and KO them if they’re weakened. Its typing and coverage allow it to break down offensive teams and clean up weakened balance teams, though it struggles against stall, since it lacks the power to break through stall teams unless it hits something super effectively.

Threat List​

The threat list is far from exhaustive, but these are some of the Pokemon I've found that this team struggles to answer.

Choice Specs Sylveon - This is one of the biggest threats to the team, since my Fairy resist is Forretress. Specs clicks Hyper Voice almost for free and I have to Knock Off its item, double aggressively around it, and use Sylveon to keep my team healthy.

Mixed Metagross - Mixed Metagross with Grass Knot and Hidden Power Fire absolutely dismantles this team's defensive core. I have to get Celebi in unharmed and KO with Shadow Ball or force it to kill itself with Life Orb recoil.

Krookodile - If the user predicts correctly, Choice Band Krookodile can put in a lot of work against this team. I have switch-ins for each of its attacks, but I have to predict correctly in order to handle it.

Gyarados - My answer to Gyarados is basically to Roar it out until I can get Mega Aerodactyl in, rely on Stone Edge to hit, or get Sylveon in and Hyper Voice as it sets up.

Feraligatr - I usually have to Roar it out with Swampert and basically put the problem off until later. If I can set up with Celebi or Conkeldurr before it comes in again, I win.

Conclusion ​

No long shoutout list because nobody else used this team or helped me build it. My friends already know I value them. Shoutouts to Accelgor (you're the best, bro!) for the banner, Shiba for showing me how not to build balance, GrilledClawitzer for kicking Killintime from Skype calls at my request (and for giving me the Conkeldurr spread) and Pearl because I stole his format like the scumbag I am. I like this team a lot and am glad to have the chance to share it with the community. Thank you for reading.

Importable​

Importable

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 240 HP / 248 Def / 20 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Roar

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 244 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Heavy Slam
- Volt Switch

Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Hyper Voice
- Heal Bell

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 48 HP / 208 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball

Conkeldurr @ Leftovers
Ability: Guts
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Mach Punch

Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace
- Pursuit
- Roost

 

[Killintime]

Hmmm ill leave a like cuz you my bro, but all I can say is like:

Pin Missile>Volt Switch
which allows you to go:

Earthquake>Aerial Ace

• Reason I give this change is because your team is mostly a semistall anyways and making your aero get mostly walled by a lot of steels and cruel to some extent is pretty rough. You can probably go without the volt switch but thats up to you really.

 

[LeoLancaster]

I agree with the changes Killintime suggested, and I would also change Forretress' EV spread to 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD with a Careful nature. Most importantly, this lets you handle Choice Specs Sylveon a bit better, and the main things you want phydef for either can't be checked without Gyro Ball or are handled by other team members. 252 EVs in HP are fine because 354 total HP isn't divisible by 8 so you don't take extra hazard damage.

Good luck with the team n_n