XY UU Balanced VoltTurn: A Guide to King UU's Team (Peaked 1877/#1)

[Kink]

Hello everyone,

This RMT isn't so much looking for rating as much as it is to both showcase my team and help newer players looking for feasible options in the UnderUsed meta-game; I felt it was time to share the team that has made me #1 on numerous occasions, and has held me a top 10 position for over two months.

To start off, this team, affectionately named 1.0, is the first team I made once UU finished beta. It has been refined for months. I have played over 650 battles with this team alone, sporting, roughly, a 480-170 W:L record. I say confidently: this team is the very definition of Balanced VoltTurn in the UnderUsed meta-game.

Victini @ Choice Band
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- U-turn
- Bolt Strike
- Zen Headbutt

Affectionately dubbed "boomer", Victini's role is dual: (1) destroy the team with v-create; (2) regain/relocate momentum. Now, that second role is absolutely essential: Victini's pairing with the other pokes on my team allow it to gain momentum on absolutely any check. This turns Victini into both a wall breaker and an offensive pivot, for it allows me to continue my grip over my opponent using the volt-turn loop. Lose this Pokemon, and you've lessened your chance for victory by about 20%. However, do not fret; bar protect, no Pokemon can prepare for a momentum shift, assuming you have another Pokemon that can take on the opponent's Suicune, Slowbro, Rhyperior, etc. DO NOT fear any hippowdon or Donphan switching in, they will 2KO to V-Create. Now, this takes quite a bit of prediction on the part of the player, so it is vital to not be intimidated by Pokemon like Chandelure that threaten to take away your momentum. Make the safe choice, stay alive. Volt-turn requires offensive presence, especially later on in the game.

The coverage moves are obvious and standard. The reason for running Zen Headbutt over moves like Grass Knot is due to that little hax advantage of flinch, and the added neutral+super effective coverage on 4 more types (fighting, poison, rock, ground). Further, there are ways this team deals with Pokemon like Suicune or Swampert. Let me introduce Mega-Ampharos.

Ampharos @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Volt Switch

The King of forcing switches, Ampharosite is truly underestimated by even the best players of UU, for this offensive powerhouse is even able to take an EQ from adamant Mega-Aero and OHKO with Voltswitch*. This amph doesn't necessarily need the bonus speed to deal with Swampert/Donphan/hippo, cause that's where Forry+umby+predicted V-creates come in; change the evs from 212hp to 252 hp if you find the extra speed is unnecessary. The beautiful thing about Ampharos is its offensive compatibility with Victini. When it comes to offensive pairings versus any defensive check/counter, Tini+Amph can take out ANYTHING. However, there are moments when even the combined offensive pressure seems to fail when Pokes like Slowbro are paired with Blissey, Mew, and Florges/Aroma, which is why volt switch is the crux of this set. The momentum gained allows the volt-turn trap to continue. Support from Umbreon makes status or even 50% damage a joke. And although this solution may seem slow paced impatient losses are what destroy this team. Luckily, there are ways to prevent this from happenng; let me introduce the stall-breaker, spinner, hazard-master, and momentum saver, Forretress.

*stats bro
252+ SpA Mold Breaker Mega Ampharos Volt Switch vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Aerodactyl: 314-372 (103.9 - 123.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Mega Aerodactyl Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Ampharos: 238-280 (61.9 - 72.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Spikes
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch

This Forry sacrifices any offensive capability for pure utility. Perfectly checking Pokemon like Slowbro, Mew, Honchkrow, and others, Forry puts an end to any attempt to ravage the team by dishing out ongoing nuisances. I cannot even mention the amount of mews that try to take on Forry one on one, and lose despite having both will-o-wisp and knock off. This is due to how Forry has both toxic + spikes + voltswitch. The strategy is simple: (1) look at the Pokemon you're facing. Is it stall? If yes, carry on with the spikes + toxic until obvious time to volt switch; (2) is opponent obviously going to switch into forry counter like scarfed Hydreigon? Proceed to predict, volt-switch into Crobat and then u-turn again for free unsuspecting damage. The reason we don't put 0 IVs for foul play is because, believe it or not, rapid spin wins games.

Forry is able to regain the perceived "lost momentum" in an instant. Just press volt switch, and watch your opponent struggle to deal with the offensive core of this team. However, every Pokemon has a weakness, and every Pokemon needs support. Without further hesitation, let me introduce Swampert, our resident check and borderline saviour.

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Roar

Swampert's role is beyond simple: Stop other Victinis, Darmanitans, Mienshaos, Flygons, the clusterfuck of "weaker" attackers like Donphan, Hippowdown, etc. and scarfed special attackers that aren't scary. Oh, and it can also self-sacrifice against opposing Swamperts or at least scare it off. Scald provides the team with an extra hax backbone. Roar is the obvious set-up bait destroyer. The nature of this Swampert protects the rest of the team from an almagamation of threats. With support from Umbreon, Swampert is able to slowly chip away at the other team, or - at the very least - create a standoff situation where you will surely gain the upper hand, because balance beats both HO and Stall as long as the predicts are right. Lastly, predicting when the opponent will get frustrated with Swampert and switch allows you to regain your volt-turn momentum; the speed of Victini and Crobat + the survivability of Ampharos makes this an incredibly viable strategy.

A word of caution. Swampert is Grass Knot bait. At time, teams stack Grass Knot strictly to deal with Swampert. It is imperative you notice the obvious signs of this... example: You use Stealth Rocks and opponent switches into Infernape. You know that ape has either grass knot or nasty plot or both. Do not be fooled, and prepare to use Scarfed Crobat to deal with all post-bulky threats.

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Foul Play
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect

This standard Umbreon is a gem. With the right predictions, Umbreon will force win conditions 4/10 battles you face. Foul play is an incredibly effective move on ANY team that does not have wish support or recovery support, even against mega-Absol*. Use Wish sparingly and conservatively, in the sense that it doesn't hurt to psyche out your opponent and not heal right away. Play mind games: you're an Umbreon that can survive a choice band V-Create at 100% health.

*stats bro
+2 0- Atk Umbreon Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Absol: 261-307 (96.3 - 113.2%) -- 75% chance to OHKO

Crobat @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Defog
- Cross Poison

This Crobat, put it simply, irks people. I mean, why wouldn't it. You don't expect one of the fast Pokes in the meta to carry scarf. However, you'd be surprised by how effective it is. Firstly, scarf automatically allows Adamant, cause no scarfer needs 394 speed. 176 evs hit 340, enough to outspeed scarfshao. Don't bother with scarfape, it's not scary enough. Secondly, those leftover 80 hp evs are a godsend for cleanup sweep situations where Brave bird kills anything under 25% (accounting for hazard damage), or when anything under 50% decides to switch in. Thirdly, and most importantly, choicescarf u-turn is fundamentally anti-meta. Play a scarf-hydreigon. Watch it fail. With support from Umbreon, scarfbat is able to pull of incredibly diverse feats. Even Empoleon can't switch in, for the mega-tinipharos combo wears almost anything down. To put it mildly, scarfbat cleans up.

So, why defog? Cause hazards, particularly toxic spikes+stealthies, are no good. Luckily, there are 3 pokes on this team that can work around that particular hazard, but why risk it? A sure thing is a sure thing, and frankly, scarfbat doesn't need the extra moveslot. Running rapid spin on forry + defog on bat ensures no bad end-game situations where I may have misplayed and be facing a poor hazard situation.


Final Words:
Play well, keep your team alive, and have fun winning.

Special thanks to DatLatias for helping me with the original idea for this team

Some Replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-144346290
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-144698134
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-144788162
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-163000878

Up to-date replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-162994890

Victini @ Choice Band
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- U-turn
- Bolt Strike
- Zen Headbutt

Ampharos @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Volt Switch

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Spikes
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Volt Switch

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Roar

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Foul Play
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect

Crobat @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Defog
- Cross Poison

 

[Calloflochie]

Before I do anything else, you might wanna consider adding sprites which can be found here. If nothing else, it just gives your RMT a bit more professionalism and breaks up the long paragraphs that could make it hard for some readers to follow. Onto the RMT tho; :]

I know you don't want a rate but i'll give one of sorts since there are a few weaknesses that I can't see being fixed without changing the team really significantly but I thought I'd address so that you could shed some light on since this is considered to be that /one/ team you use, similarly to the Quiverpass and then Hail Offense team in BW. Anyway, first things first i'm the realist your team has a very large problem with Hydreigon, not necessarily Scarf but the Mixed LO and Specs sets. These two sets are basically capable of getting a KO every single time they are given an opportunity to come onto the field and while you can play at, well it's volt turn i'll just never give it free turns, in reality that is more than likely going to come about. Now from what I see, Umbreon seems like it's doing it's role as the Special Wall and as the designated Dark resist of the team but have you considered Florges? Florges helps a bunch vs Mega Absol too, which along with many other hard hitters such as CB Heracross, can put in a fair bit of work in on your team given the right support. This obviously doesn't come at a surprise since they are wallbreakers and wallbreakers do thrive most against these balanced teams but yeah, Florges could help out a bit in that regard, especially because you do have two potential momentum killers in Swampert and Umbreon on your team that could allow Heracross or in Mega Abol's case, Forretress, a relatively free switch in followed by an extremely heavy hit. If you don't like that idea, I would also suggest that you could make Ampharos a more Physically Defensive build given that it still hits tremendously hard without a lot of investment and in conjunction with Rest, give you a more long term answer to Slowbro or Cune than relying on Victini's Bolt Strike to do the multitude of damage. Did I also mention Hax is a big threat? Yeah, he is but he's relatively limited to his set up opportunities so not a whole lot to worry about in that regard.

Other than that, there isn't much else I can suggest, it's a great team, (obviously not perfect but let's be real no team in XY is going to be cause it's such a volatile metagame that you can't cover everything) because it pushes past standard archetypes, being able to dismantle Stall with Strong Volturn while still being able to hold it's own with that balanced core and also sporting Mega Amphy and Scarf Crobat? Though regular Crobat basically does the same thing to disrupt offensive archetypes. More extreme archetypes are more problematic for you (such as Extreme HO) but no one can build perfect teams, not even me So yeah, very nice team Kink, I know we have had our differences and we clearly don't agree on a lot of things but I think we can both agree that this is one of the better representations of Voltturn in XY UU (Lol1z would be proud)

Edit: I assume you know the spreads for Florges and Amphy if you wanna try them so I didn't bother to include them like I would for other RMTs I rate but just sing out if you would like them.

Double Edit: Also add an importable :]

 

[Kink]

I appreciate the post, Lochie. Thank you for your editing suggestions. I'd like to address your comments.

Every hydreigon set is revealed the second you lure a draco meteor on Umbreon, which can take all three. The beauty with luring the LO Hydrei with Umbreon is that it can take the combination of draco meteor+protect+superpower. Crobat/Tini can both be switched in after a Draco to deal massive damage with u-turn, or at the very least regain momentum which is the nature of this team. In response to your suggestion of using florges, I've considered this. A couple problems. Foul play, literally, is an incredible move. For specific 1vs1 situations, Umbreon is a lot better suited to dealing with offensive wallbreakers. Even Absol or Heracross don't enjoy switching into a foul play, and honestly, a protect let's you scope to deal with aforementioned threats.

Scarfed Crobat is the best offensive pivot/late-game sweeper available in the tier due to its excellent synergy with Swampert, Forry, and Umbreon. The scarf allows to to push past every scarfed threat bar scarf ape. It also forces switches, which allows me to predict u-turns. The beauty with even false predicting u-turn, is that there are 2 other physically defensive pokemon that can support mistakes. It also always allows you to use u-turn, in any given situation adding chip damage. The problem with making Amph more bulky is that it needs all the power it can get when I pressure stall teams, and other sets like crocune. It'll also lose its niche volt-switch KOs. I find that Amph doesn't need rest support for this team.

Let me know if I forgot to address anything.

 

[DatLatias]

Cool team kink where did you get the idea to use swampert/umbreon/crobat :] The only thing i would recommend to change here is your Victini set, because i think zen headbutt is shit. A V-create hits things that 2x resist fire slightly harder than a neutral zen heabutt (135 bp vs 120 bp) and bolt strike hits harder than stab zen headbutt. I know you're probably only going to be spamming v-creates u-turns, but I think replacing Zen Headbutt with Trick on Victini would have some utility against teams that effectively shut down the rest of your team (against things like BroMoonguss maybe). Trick would allow you to cripple something bulky with a choice band and free up move selection. It could also let you cripple a bulky set up sweep after a few boosts, namely CurseLax. Obviously you won't be using Trick much, but it could give your team some utility in niche situations. noice team mate

 

[Masaz]

I like the team and was thinking of trying it out myself

I definitely second DL's suggestion of putting Trick on Tini as crippling walls is just so damaging to defensive cores and situations for that will come up more often than needing to use Zen Headbutt (seriously V-Create/U-Turn/Boltstrike will almost always be the better options in any situation)

I can appreciate the argument made for Scarf Bat but your current Bat seems to begging for a Band but that's personal preference. This might seem like a nitpick since P2/Download PZ aren't seen too often but putting in 4 SpD EVs would be advisable since with a Download boost even with no SpA invest P2 will hit everything (except Umbreon) for decent damage and PZ at +1 will just hurt period.

I like Defog as it is one of Crobat's best utility options but Cross Poison I really don't care for since other than handling Fairies there's no real situation where you wouldn't just Brave Bird or U-Turn out and unless the Fairies are physically defensive they will get 2HKO by Brave Bird anyways. I feel Taunt/Toxic/Sleep Talk would be better over Cross Poison they all have their uses and really Crobat will just be using Brave Bird/U-Turn a majority of the time anyways so why not give it more options for disruption.

 

[Kink]

Cross poison provides niche kills (2ko Raikou). Taunt on scarfbat is too detrimental to the momentum of the team.

 

[Nysyr]

I think you would be better off with Gyroball over Toxic on Forretress, unless your gameplan to deal with DD hax getting in on Victini locked into bolt strike or Crobat locked into defog is to sac Swampert to roar it out, or Forretress and stall with umbreon (jk, lum berry). Doubledance can even set up on a weakened Forretress.

Also you are quite weak to Ice Beam Mega Blastoise (with aura sphere obv), but I'm not sure if thats something to bother fixing (rare-ish moveset, but I've seen more niche things on the ladder).

 

[Kink]

The first version of this team ran Gyro Ball over toxic spikes. It was a mistake. So was toxic spikes. This forry beats mew 1 on 1.

 

[dodmen]

Hey fren :] You have a really good team and we've had some nice games both on and off the ladder. I must have told you this a million times on showdown by now but I highly suggest that you add at least 44 speed EVs to Mega Ampharos. The benefits of adding enough to simply outspeed Hippowdon, Donphan, and Mega Aggron heavily outweigh the insignificant loss in bulk.

252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Ampharos: 239-282 (62.2 - 73.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Mega Ampharos: 239-282 (63.9 - 75.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

The difference in bulk is negligible, and now you can safely KO those Pokemon without having to worry about getting smacked by an EQ or having to waste time removing rocks later. I know it's easy to say that "those 11 HP will matter one day," but outspeeding these Pokemon will matter far more frequently. Personally I prefer going even further to outspeed Swampert but that's not entirely necessary.

Also I'd say Trick on Victini as well but I don't think that's happening. Other than that, great team [:

 

[Kink]

Dudeman120498, thank you for your suggestion. I'm testing it now.