BADLANDS
note: this is from SSD IV (i.e. it is pre-crown tundra dlc and not recommended for use in current SS UU)
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Introduction
All things considered, I'm new. Most people probably know that, and some would even see it as one of my defining character traits. I haven't been on this site for a long time, but I have a list of accomplishments I'm proud of considering my short tenure. This includes lots of things; moderating the UU forum, Contributions & Corrections work, and, up until now, a UUPL run that I had been very proud of. That was until Snake came around and, to my surprise, I was drafted as a starter in UU.
I was not expecting that at all. Usually those spots are given to people who are around for longer, or who have more accomplishments, or they're just... better. I have never been very confident in my abilities as a player and that still rings true today, though I've gotten quite a few confidence boosts lately. I was suddenly ushered into a role where I had a lot of responsibility; I had to win games week in week out for my team in an official setting, and I didn't have much help when it came to prep because of Snake's limited slots per team, though I did have some external assistance that I'll get to later on.
So that brings us to this team. I was not really experienced with prepping teams each week like this, so every team I made ended up feeling really hit or miss. As I kept playing and building, I could actively feel myself getting better, and I ended up creating this team for my game vs CBU in the first round of playoffs. While it may not be absolutely incredible - and I'm sure vivalospride will tell me it sucks with some form of slander on my building fundamentals - it performed well and felt really, really good. Without further ado, let's get into it.
Teambuilding Process
Despite the order of the Pokemon in the team and the screenshot, this team was originally built around Chandelure. I just changed the order to account for the order of the songs in the album they were originally named after, which wasn't BADLANDS fwiw.
Chandelure is an extremely lethal wallbreaker that decimated a lot of the Pokemon CBU was fond of bringing to his games - the likes of Slowbro and Palossand got trashed by it, and his Ghost resist was usually Zarude, so Fire Blast was certainly not easy for him to switch in to. I originally wanted to use a Specs set but I didn't like its lack of longevity, so I went with a Heavy-Duty Boots set that uses Flame Charge to act as a potential late-game sweeper.
Next up was the tier's gold standard for speed control, defensive and offensive utlity behemoth Noivern. While Noivern fits on literally every team and does whatever it wants, it had a specific purpose alongside Chandelure; bring it in against things that don't threaten it like Sylveon and check and revenge kill things that do threaten it like Keldeo and Terrakion. Like just about everything else, Noivern shared incredible defensive synergy with the lamp, so it earned its place very quickly on the team.
Next up was Noivern's partner in crime, Slowbro. I was admittedly fairly weak to opposing Noivern at this point and I also wanted a defensive pivot that could handle Terrakion, Mamoswine and the like. Slowbro was a perfect fit. I did admittedly want to use its Galarian brother but unfortunately I couldn't quite fit that onto the team, so I had to make up for it in other ways, primarily using Chandelure as a Fairy resist.
Zarude was an amazing Pokemon before the Crown Tundra hit thanks to its slew of resistances, its great power, its high Speed and the sheer utility it provided in a single team slot. Usually I had been using a standard Boots set with Power Whip / Darkest Lariat / U-turn / Jungle Healing, but CBU had been spamming Cobalion at this point so I wanted to be safe vs that. Thus, I changed Jungle Healing out for Close Combat, which would've ended up coming into play in the actual game had I gotten into a certain scenario.
The de-facto rocker and check to all kinds of strange and niche mons that I feared like Tsareena, that also acted as my primary Zarude answer: Cobalion. Between getting safe Volt Switches out on things that my breakers can take advantage of like Slowbro, Doublade and Noivern - and also absolutely slamming potential cheeses with things like Linoone - this mon was just the best fit for the job. I went with a Shuca berry set to deal with Mamoswine, which I got completely throttled by the week before... wasn't making that mistake again. Ended up getting KO'd by one anyway but hey that's life. Speaking of Mamo...
I wanted something that would absolutely nuke the entire tier so I went with the mon that farmed me the week before. Mamoswine patched up some issues I had with general Volt Switch spam and an inability to reliably KO Noivern, but it was primarily here to support Chandelure by taking advantage of checks like Incineroar, Gigalith and the like. It was probably the best pure wallbreaker pre-Crown Tundra and as such it found its way here.
In-Depth
Being the star of the show is an honour for any Pokemon, and this time it went to Chandelure. Notorious for being one of the most lethal wallbreakrs in the history of the tier, it's definitely not wise to give it a free turn. This set had been popping up a little bit during Snake, notably used by hs in his game vs SoulWind, where it managed to grab a lot of KOs. I opted to make use of it during my game vs CBU upon seeing that was generally not too strong against it and that he used a lot of Pokemon that would give it free Shadow Balls like Slowbro and Palossand. I didn't actually end up clicking Flame Charge during the game, but the Chandelure definitely came in quite helpful, taking out two Pokemon on its own. It also acts as this team's primary Fairy resist (with Slowbro acting as a backup "resist"...) and can check stuff like Cobalion in a pinch, though that was never really going to be necessary with Noivern + Slowbro.
Truth be told, I can't tell you what those EVs do. Also not got a clue why I named this thing Hurricane without having Hurricane on the set, but here we are. Noivern's role was described above already but basically, it revenge kills everything while also defensively checking half the tier. I went with a U-turn variant on this team so that I could get a positional advantage on big threats like Sylveon. This Pokemon was omnipresent and for good reason; its blazing Speed and great utility is just too much for most teams to pass up on, not without good reason at least. It fit this team like a glove, like it did most others.
Slowbro is Slowbro. It laughs at physical attackers (or just kinda, stares at them???) and these days it uses them for free momentum - something very valuable when you have a Chandelure and a Mamoswine on your team. The spread, if memory serves, was used to ensure that Terrakion could not OHKO at +2 without Megahorn; Stone Edge should do about 99.6% max. Aside from that, it acted as a reasonably sturdy answer to things like Keldeo, Noivern (which I specifically carried Ice Beam for) and Cobalion and it could even tank a hit from something like Zarude in order to get another team member in safely. There's not much to say, it's not that flashy; just a nice defensive glue that ties this team together pretty well.
Okay, maybe it's not LITERALLY a god, but those stats would really make you think it is. Seriously, Zarude's stats are nuts. It's so strong, so bulky and so fast and it's just an absolute nightmare to actually keep it down. I love the Boots set because it's easy to use it as a long term answer to super annoying Pokemon like Polteageist and the Slowtwins (if you have Jungle Healing, which I didn't). I went with an abnormal change to Close Combat this time to nail Cobalion on the switch, and it also alleviated the team's general weakness to Bisharp... which I actually ran into, though I didn't get to slap it with a CC thanks to Chandelure frying it. It's a very lethal offensive glue and it made building a lot easier while it was still top-tier. Definitely one of the Pokemon I miss using most.
Cobalion has been a UU staple forever now, though that's looking to change soon... :sob:. On this team, it acted as my Stealth Rock setter and a reliable offensive check to Mamoswine, Bisharp, Zarude, etc. while being able to use Volt Switch to bring in my breakers on things they could threaten out like Slowbro, Noivern, Doublade, and Galarian Slowbro too! It's always ol' reliable when it comes to its role. Shuca Berry allowed me to switch into Mamoswine once; while Chople Berry would've been nice for Bisharp as well as Terrakion and other powerful Fighting-types, the Chandelure + Noivern + Slowbro core covered those already, so I felt this was more appropriate. In the actual game, it got rocks up and died. Very fitting.
If Chandelure is a candle, Mamoswine is a bonfire. Nothing handles it. Nothing. Not even Slowbro could reliably answer this demon, as shown by the fact that my Mamoswine managed to just... 2HKO it outright. I went with the Slamoswine to reliably deal with Galarian Weezing and Sylveon, though I didn't expect the latter to come based off CBU's trends. This mammoth is an unbelievably powerful breaker that went under the radar for quite some time, but once it was discovered how powerful it actually was, it reaped many, many lives. Huge threat and I'm very glad I brought it, it put in a ton of work.
Threatlist
Specs Sylveon is unsurprisingly very difficult for me to deal with considering my fairy resist is Chandelure, which isn't exactly bulky. Defensive sets are a little easier to handle because Chandelure is bulky enough to set up Calm Mind on them and Mamoswine can nail them with Heavy Slam; Slowbro can also bring both Pokemon in safely, since it can stomach uninvested Hyper Voices with its SpDef investment. There's no real way to beat Specs Sylveon defensively here; ensure it can't get in safely on Noivern and you should be okay, since everything else threatens it a fair amount or pivots out on it.
Specifically the rarer SD Megahorn variants. If it can OHKO Slowbro, you're in for a rough time. Noivern can revenge it after some damage but forcing that damage onto it isn't the easiest thing. Aggressive play can make this doable - harding Cobalion into a non-CC attack to stall out LO recoil, for example - but in general it's gonna claim a mon or two.
Never thought I'd be the one building a Heliolisk-weak team, but here we are... it just kinda volts eternally and there isn't a ton you can do about it unless your Mamoswine is at full HP. Thankfully it never really actually breaks anything and it's hard pressed to click anything that isn't Volt Switch, but god its Speed tier is super annoying. Try not to let it get in for free on Slowbro, at least. Scarf Rotom is annoying for the same reason but at least that one has to use its brain before clicking Volt Switch.
Shoutouts
I'm really proud of how I did this Snake. For someone who's pretty much entirely new to the scene, I'm glad I could put up a respectable performance. I don't have much to say that I haven't already covered, and I've already done mass shoutouts in my past two RMTs, so I'm just going to make some really quick shoutouts for two relevant groups in particular.
~
Averardo Prinz mncmt Sjneider FMG 1 True Lycan snaga Xiri Shrug Steve Angello Qwello Lee TPP Z Strats Specs HANTSUKI
My official teammates and one of the most wonderful groups I've been a part of on this site. You guys were all great, even if your records say otherwise; between an excellent environment in our team chat, a willingness to help displayed by everyone, and scouting support that would make even Aurella jealous, you guys really helped to make my first official team tour experience one I can look back on fondly, despite all the confidence and mental issues I had during the season. I hope you all go far in your respective tiers, you're capable and deserve it. I'm glad I got to know all of you.
Accelgor Adaam Aliss avarice Chloe Highways hs Indigo Plateau Juno lydian martha Sabella vivalospride
I don't think I've forgotten any of my unofficial helpers here, but it was a while ago so possibly. You guys were really, really great. I don't think I would've gotten anywhere near the level of success I managed if not for you guys letting me constantly bounce ideas, giving me your own ideas and advice, spamming test games with me whenever I asked or just giving the confidence boosters I needed. I know some of you weren't really familiar with the tier, but you still put in all the effort you could to help me, and I really appreciate that more than I can say. Thank you so much.
And as always, thanks to the rats. I love y'all. <3
~
Thank you for reading! Here's an importable version of this team, not that it's much use anymore. It was an honour to get the opportunity to play in this tournament and I hope I get more chances to continue playing in officials, so here's to the next one! :3
note: this is from SSD IV (i.e. it is pre-crown tundra dlc and not recommended for use in current SS UU)
~
Introduction
All things considered, I'm new. Most people probably know that, and some would even see it as one of my defining character traits. I haven't been on this site for a long time, but I have a list of accomplishments I'm proud of considering my short tenure. This includes lots of things; moderating the UU forum, Contributions & Corrections work, and, up until now, a UUPL run that I had been very proud of. That was until Snake came around and, to my surprise, I was drafted as a starter in UU.
I was not expecting that at all. Usually those spots are given to people who are around for longer, or who have more accomplishments, or they're just... better. I have never been very confident in my abilities as a player and that still rings true today, though I've gotten quite a few confidence boosts lately. I was suddenly ushered into a role where I had a lot of responsibility; I had to win games week in week out for my team in an official setting, and I didn't have much help when it came to prep because of Snake's limited slots per team, though I did have some external assistance that I'll get to later on.
So that brings us to this team. I was not really experienced with prepping teams each week like this, so every team I made ended up feeling really hit or miss. As I kept playing and building, I could actively feel myself getting better, and I ended up creating this team for my game vs CBU in the first round of playoffs. While it may not be absolutely incredible - and I'm sure vivalospride will tell me it sucks with some form of slander on my building fundamentals - it performed well and felt really, really good. Without further ado, let's get into it.
Teambuilding Process
Despite the order of the Pokemon in the team and the screenshot, this team was originally built around Chandelure. I just changed the order to account for the order of the songs in the album they were originally named after, which wasn't BADLANDS fwiw.
Chandelure is an extremely lethal wallbreaker that decimated a lot of the Pokemon CBU was fond of bringing to his games - the likes of Slowbro and Palossand got trashed by it, and his Ghost resist was usually Zarude, so Fire Blast was certainly not easy for him to switch in to. I originally wanted to use a Specs set but I didn't like its lack of longevity, so I went with a Heavy-Duty Boots set that uses Flame Charge to act as a potential late-game sweeper.
Next up was the tier's gold standard for speed control, defensive and offensive utlity behemoth Noivern. While Noivern fits on literally every team and does whatever it wants, it had a specific purpose alongside Chandelure; bring it in against things that don't threaten it like Sylveon and check and revenge kill things that do threaten it like Keldeo and Terrakion. Like just about everything else, Noivern shared incredible defensive synergy with the lamp, so it earned its place very quickly on the team.
Next up was Noivern's partner in crime, Slowbro. I was admittedly fairly weak to opposing Noivern at this point and I also wanted a defensive pivot that could handle Terrakion, Mamoswine and the like. Slowbro was a perfect fit. I did admittedly want to use its Galarian brother but unfortunately I couldn't quite fit that onto the team, so I had to make up for it in other ways, primarily using Chandelure as a Fairy resist.
Zarude was an amazing Pokemon before the Crown Tundra hit thanks to its slew of resistances, its great power, its high Speed and the sheer utility it provided in a single team slot. Usually I had been using a standard Boots set with Power Whip / Darkest Lariat / U-turn / Jungle Healing, but CBU had been spamming Cobalion at this point so I wanted to be safe vs that. Thus, I changed Jungle Healing out for Close Combat, which would've ended up coming into play in the actual game had I gotten into a certain scenario.
The de-facto rocker and check to all kinds of strange and niche mons that I feared like Tsareena, that also acted as my primary Zarude answer: Cobalion. Between getting safe Volt Switches out on things that my breakers can take advantage of like Slowbro, Doublade and Noivern - and also absolutely slamming potential cheeses with things like Linoone - this mon was just the best fit for the job. I went with a Shuca berry set to deal with Mamoswine, which I got completely throttled by the week before... wasn't making that mistake again. Ended up getting KO'd by one anyway but hey that's life. Speaking of Mamo...
I wanted something that would absolutely nuke the entire tier so I went with the mon that farmed me the week before. Mamoswine patched up some issues I had with general Volt Switch spam and an inability to reliably KO Noivern, but it was primarily here to support Chandelure by taking advantage of checks like Incineroar, Gigalith and the like. It was probably the best pure wallbreaker pre-Crown Tundra and as such it found its way here.
In-Depth
Gasoline (Chandelure) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Flame Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast
- Flame Charge
Ability: Flame Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast
- Flame Charge
Being the star of the show is an honour for any Pokemon, and this time it went to Chandelure. Notorious for being one of the most lethal wallbreakrs in the history of the tier, it's definitely not wise to give it a free turn. This set had been popping up a little bit during Snake, notably used by hs in his game vs SoulWind, where it managed to grab a lot of KOs. I opted to make use of it during my game vs CBU upon seeing that was generally not too strong against it and that he used a lot of Pokemon that would give it free Shadow Balls like Slowbro and Palossand. I didn't actually end up clicking Flame Charge during the game, but the Chandelure definitely came in quite helpful, taking out two Pokemon on its own. It also acts as this team's primary Fairy resist (with Slowbro acting as a backup "resist"...) and can check stuff like Cobalion in a pinch, though that was never really going to be necessary with Noivern + Slowbro.
Hurricane (Noivern) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 104 HP / 152 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- U-turn
- Roost
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 104 HP / 152 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- U-turn
- Roost
Truth be told, I can't tell you what those EVs do. Also not got a clue why I named this thing Hurricane without having Hurricane on the set, but here we are. Noivern's role was described above already but basically, it revenge kills everything while also defensively checking half the tier. I went with a U-turn variant on this team so that I could get a positional advantage on big threats like Sylveon. This Pokemon was omnipresent and for good reason; its blazing Speed and great utility is just too much for most teams to pass up on, not without good reason at least. It fit this team like a glove, like it did most others.
Colors (Slowbro) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Def / 188 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Slack Off
- Teleport
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Def / 188 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Slack Off
- Teleport
Slowbro is Slowbro. It laughs at physical attackers (or just kinda, stares at them???) and these days it uses them for free momentum - something very valuable when you have a Chandelure and a Mamoswine on your team. The spread, if memory serves, was used to ensure that Terrakion could not OHKO at +2 without Megahorn; Stone Edge should do about 99.6% max. Aside from that, it acted as a reasonably sturdy answer to things like Keldeo, Noivern (which I specifically carried Ice Beam for) and Cobalion and it could even tank a hit from something like Zarude in order to get another team member in safely. There's not much to say, it's not that flashy; just a nice defensive glue that ties this team together pretty well.
Young God (Zarude) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Leaf Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- Darkest Lariat
- Close Combat
- U-turn
Ability: Leaf Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Power Whip
- Darkest Lariat
- Close Combat
- U-turn
Okay, maybe it's not LITERALLY a god, but those stats would really make you think it is. Seriously, Zarude's stats are nuts. It's so strong, so bulky and so fast and it's just an absolute nightmare to actually keep it down. I love the Boots set because it's easy to use it as a long term answer to super annoying Pokemon like Polteageist and the Slowtwins (if you have Jungle Healing, which I didn't). I went with an abnormal change to Close Combat this time to nail Cobalion on the switch, and it also alleviated the team's general weakness to Bisharp... which I actually ran into, though I didn't get to slap it with a CC thanks to Chandelure frying it. It's a very lethal offensive glue and it made building a lot easier while it was still top-tier. Definitely one of the Pokemon I miss using most.
New Americana (Cobalion) @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- Volt Switch
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- Volt Switch
Cobalion has been a UU staple forever now, though that's looking to change soon... :sob:. On this team, it acted as my Stealth Rock setter and a reliable offensive check to Mamoswine, Bisharp, Zarude, etc. while being able to use Volt Switch to bring in my breakers on things they could threaten out like Slowbro, Noivern, Doublade, and Galarian Slowbro too! It's always ol' reliable when it comes to its role. Shuca Berry allowed me to switch into Mamoswine once; while Chople Berry would've been nice for Bisharp as well as Terrakion and other powerful Fighting-types, the Chandelure + Noivern + Slowbro core covered those already, so I felt this was more appropriate. In the actual game, it got rocks up and died. Very fitting.
Castle (Mamoswine) @ Life Orb
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Knock Off
- Heavy Slam
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Knock Off
- Heavy Slam
If Chandelure is a candle, Mamoswine is a bonfire. Nothing handles it. Nothing. Not even Slowbro could reliably answer this demon, as shown by the fact that my Mamoswine managed to just... 2HKO it outright. I went with the Slamoswine to reliably deal with Galarian Weezing and Sylveon, though I didn't expect the latter to come based off CBU's trends. This mammoth is an unbelievably powerful breaker that went under the radar for quite some time, but once it was discovered how powerful it actually was, it reaped many, many lives. Huge threat and I'm very glad I brought it, it put in a ton of work.
Threatlist
Specs Sylveon is unsurprisingly very difficult for me to deal with considering my fairy resist is Chandelure, which isn't exactly bulky. Defensive sets are a little easier to handle because Chandelure is bulky enough to set up Calm Mind on them and Mamoswine can nail them with Heavy Slam; Slowbro can also bring both Pokemon in safely, since it can stomach uninvested Hyper Voices with its SpDef investment. There's no real way to beat Specs Sylveon defensively here; ensure it can't get in safely on Noivern and you should be okay, since everything else threatens it a fair amount or pivots out on it.
Specifically the rarer SD Megahorn variants. If it can OHKO Slowbro, you're in for a rough time. Noivern can revenge it after some damage but forcing that damage onto it isn't the easiest thing. Aggressive play can make this doable - harding Cobalion into a non-CC attack to stall out LO recoil, for example - but in general it's gonna claim a mon or two.
Never thought I'd be the one building a Heliolisk-weak team, but here we are... it just kinda volts eternally and there isn't a ton you can do about it unless your Mamoswine is at full HP. Thankfully it never really actually breaks anything and it's hard pressed to click anything that isn't Volt Switch, but god its Speed tier is super annoying. Try not to let it get in for free on Slowbro, at least. Scarf Rotom is annoying for the same reason but at least that one has to use its brain before clicking Volt Switch.
Shoutouts
I'm really proud of how I did this Snake. For someone who's pretty much entirely new to the scene, I'm glad I could put up a respectable performance. I don't have much to say that I haven't already covered, and I've already done mass shoutouts in my past two RMTs, so I'm just going to make some really quick shoutouts for two relevant groups in particular.
~
Averardo Prinz mncmt Sjneider FMG 1 True Lycan snaga Xiri Shrug Steve Angello Qwello Lee TPP Z Strats Specs HANTSUKI
My official teammates and one of the most wonderful groups I've been a part of on this site. You guys were all great, even if your records say otherwise; between an excellent environment in our team chat, a willingness to help displayed by everyone, and scouting support that would make even Aurella jealous, you guys really helped to make my first official team tour experience one I can look back on fondly, despite all the confidence and mental issues I had during the season. I hope you all go far in your respective tiers, you're capable and deserve it. I'm glad I got to know all of you.
Accelgor Adaam Aliss avarice Chloe Highways hs Indigo Plateau Juno lydian martha Sabella vivalospride
I don't think I've forgotten any of my unofficial helpers here, but it was a while ago so possibly. You guys were really, really great. I don't think I would've gotten anywhere near the level of success I managed if not for you guys letting me constantly bounce ideas, giving me your own ideas and advice, spamming test games with me whenever I asked or just giving the confidence boosters I needed. I know some of you weren't really familiar with the tier, but you still put in all the effort you could to help me, and I really appreciate that more than I can say. Thank you so much.
And as always, thanks to the rats. I love y'all. <3
~
Thank you for reading! Here's an importable version of this team, not that it's much use anymore. It was an honour to get the opportunity to play in this tournament and I hope I get more chances to continue playing in officials, so here's to the next one! :3
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